The Lord commanded Israel not to make marriages with the idolatrous nations around them. “Thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers.” {5T 328.2}

Herren befalede Israel, at ikke gifte sig med de afgudsdyrkende folk omkring dem. »Du må hverken give en af deres sønner din datter eller tage en af deres døtre til din søn; thi så vil de få din søn til at falde fra Herren, så han dyrker andre guder og Herrens vrede vil blusse op imod eder og han vil udrydde dig i hast.« »Thi du er et folk, der er helliget Herren din Gud; dig har Herren din Gud udvalgt til sit ejendomsfolk blandt alle folk på jorden. Det er ikke, fordi I er større end alle de andre folk, at Herren har fattet velbehag til eder og udvalgt eder, thi I er det mindste af alle folk; men fordi Herren elskede eder og fordi han ville holde den ed, han tilsvor eders fædre.«