Old men wanting younger women is a something I've not really explored, I'm not yet to the point of the king in 1 Kings 1.
So, What does it mean to be equally yoked?
I don't know. I've wondered that myself. I guess they hook up an older ox with a younger one to balance each other out.
But the bible says the unequal yoking has to do with unbelievers. And if you think about it, we are a new creation which also means new species. So to marry an unbeliever would be marrying another species. A lower life form.
I was going to pass on some of my favorite jokes when I realized you meant yokes. Well, I don't eat a lot of eggs...
From the very first time mankind plowed the earth to plant seeds to renew their means of survival -- the problem of how to efficiently do this was a very real and necessary concern.
Keeping the source of power aligned with each other, so as to insure that they "pulled" in the same direction to keep their paths "straight". This is where the yoke come in to use.
Being "equally yoked" to me means being of the "same mind", on the "same page". Moving forward "shoulder to shoulder".
One partner is capable of "pulling" the other along ( but this can become exhausting). Trying to "push" your partner along usually leads to damage (or accidently "pushing" them off a cliff).
Without both of you being of like minds and progressing at the same pace -- you both will tend to be pulled or pushed off the path you should be on --often times into a ditch that is impoosible to extract yourselves from. (I left the word "impoosible" in because I like the way it sounds.
Now, there is always the possibility that "eventually" the two of you come to an agreement that keeps you both moving straight, but that usually means one or the other submitting (which most times means they are just going along for the ride).
Another point of veiw (and perhaps the simplist one) is when you break an egg and mix the yoke with the white; you mix something of substance (the yolk) with something that is devoid of any real substance (the white) and end up diluting the thing of substance and therefore changing it. Make sense?
A man playing a guitar stopped me on a Memphis street and asked "How do you get to the Grand Ole Opry?"
well I understand it completely jewell . I have been married twice . I was not living a Godly life at that time and married women I met in that lifestyle. I was saved and realize now that God knew that if I had stayed with the ex I never would have come back to him. You have to have a Godly mate or they will eventually lead you back into sin. Least that's my opinion
simply put a christian marries a christian.It would be hard to be married to a nonchristian.The moral values is a problem.along wirh other things.Dennis
Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts and feelings out there on the chat forum! It's a great way to get to know the "real" you in a meaningful way.
I agree with Chosen2B. Very nice reply. Hope it inspires more comment . . .
In fact, it moved me to read more of your responses, and you express yourself very transparently and intelligently. {God bless you for keeping up with that young man who speaks science-eeeze to the seventeenth power. How we worship our own intellects!}
I guess I was hoping someone might have seen an application to spiritual maturity in the equally yoked . . . I think you touched on that? Would someone who is well versed in scripture, for example, be "equally yoked" with a new believer? What if the well-versed partner is the woman?
Does this stir any new thoughts out there?
Thank you again, Archimedes, for your elegant reply ~
To be equally yoked is more than just to share a burden, although it is that. Equally yoked, to me, means so very much more.
Equally strong.
Equally dedicated.
And most important of all, pulling in the same direction. This is where most relationships fall short, for slight differences in spiritual alignment (not philosophies, but in goals) at the outset can generate tremendous strain as both continue to grow toward the God of their understanding.
In the old days (and in Wyoming still) Oxen were paired. if one wanted to stray right a tad, then it was paired with one that wants to stray to the right. It was only together they were (are still in Wyoming) able to cut a straight path through the ground they were set to till.
They were mated pairs and commanded a premium on the market, for such a union is rare and precious indeed.
For me, I am strong, sometimes headstrong and tend to move too quickly. So I need a mate that will temper my rashness with patience, my stubbornness with reason while aiming at the same goal: peace, love, and harmony.
Excellent talking point and a further analogy of what I was saying about one partner" pulling" the other.
"Would someone who is well versed in scripture, for example, be "equally yoked" with a new believer? What if the well-versed partner is the woman?
In my opinion this example will work. At least it is better than no agreement on scripture. But over a period of time, the partner ( the well versed one) that is "pulling" the other partner along will "tire" of this onesided relationship.
It is only when the other partner continues to learn scripture and approaches the level of their spouse -- will this continue to work.
The other part of the question is a "loaded one". Men are mandated by God to be the "Head of the House" ( which entails more responsiblity and a servants heart then rewards).
Men also find themselves more in positions of authority then women do. All this causes some men to feel that they have to "control" or "dominate" women.
These type of men are the one's that would have a problem with the wife being more Scripturally Literate then them. Their "manhood" would be threatened by it.
I see no problem with the wife being better versed than her husband. It should be an incentive for the husband to catch up and a oportunity to spend time together in The Word.
