BEWARE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE LAND AND THE SONS OF THE COUNTRY!

BY PASTOR T. O. BANSO

Relationships are very vital to greatness in life. Therefore, you must be careful about those you relate to. There are the daughters of the land and the sons of the country – they’re essentially the same except for the difference in sex. Your life will be much better without a close relationship with them.

In Genesis 27, we find the first use of the phrase “the daughters of the land,” and it was used in a negative context. “And Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?’” (Genesis 27:46 NKJV).

Although Rebekah’s motive was to provide a strong reason for Jacob to run away from his brother, Esau, after deceiving their father to get the blessing meant for Esau, she had a valid point.  The daughters of the land wouldn’t make a good wife or a good daughter-in-law.

Esau’s Error

Esau had earlier married the daughter of the land, which became a problem to the family. It was therefore necessary to ensure that his brother didn’t make a similar mistake. Genesis 26:34-35 says, “When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah” (NKJV). Did you see that?

From this scripture, you could see that Rebekah’s concern was a legitimate one. Tell me that parent who wouldn’t be concerned that his or her child should not make a wrong choice in marriage especially if an older child had made a wrong choice.“Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: ‘You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother’” (Genesis 28:1-2 NKJV).

That was the error of Esau – he married Canaanites, which God had forbidden Israelites so that they wouldn’t seduce them into idolatry. Beware of the daughters of the land; avoid their male counterparts, the sons of the country. The Bible forbids unequal yoke with non-believers (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). You can’t marry just anybody on the grounds of love, beauty, material possession, etc., or because he or she attends your church or fellowship. There are so many daughters of the land and sons of the country in churches and fellowships today looking for children of God to marry and quench the fire of God in their lives!

Dinah’s Error

Dinah, the daughter of Leah, committed a big blunder by seeking the company of the daughters of the land, and she got what she didn’t bargain for. Genesis 34:1-2 says, “Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her” (NKJV).  What was Dinah looking for from the daughters of the land that she had to expose herself to sexual harassment and dehumanization? Why did she go to see the daughters of the land where she was raped by the son (price) of the country?  Could it be because she was looking for love outside the family? Firstly, her father, Jacob never loved her mother. The Bible shows us in Genesis 29:32 how Leah kept hoping that with every pregnancy and child she had for Jacob, she would be able to win over his love but that never happened. It was possible that the lack of love for her mother affected Dinah making her look for love outside the family but in the wrong place. This was a possibility.

Another possible reason could be because she was the only girl of her mother so she needed the company of fellow girls, but that shouldn’t have been the daughters of Canaan – the daughters of the land (Genesis 30:19-21). But being the only girl of her mother should not be enough reason to visit the wrong place and join the wrong people who she wrongly thought would be friends. She went to see the daughters of the land but the prince of the country – the son of the country – lusted after her and raped her. Where were the daughters of the land to protect her? The truth is the daughters of the land and the sons of the country are no different – they have the same father, the devil.

Be careful. If you’re in the wrong place with the daughters of the land, you’ve just positioned yourself to be noticed by the sons of the country, and you have no control over what happens thereafter. What is a daughter of Zion doing at a party organized by the daughters of the land? They’ll lure you that you don’t have to dance there – just accompany them. You don’t have to drink alcoholic drinks – you’ll be served a non-alcoholic drink. Of course, you’ll meet the sons of the country there, and the daughters of the country will even introduce you to them. But don’t be surprised if the daughters of the land you call your friends set you up for one of the sons of the country. Yes, you’ll be given a non-alcoholic drink but it can be a drugged drink. You’ll live to regret what may happen thereafter.

Daughter of Zion, you were wrong in the first instance to have gone to the party with the daughters of the land. You were wrong to think that you could eat with the devil once you have a long spoon! How naïve you were! The sons of this world are shrewder in their generation than the sons of light (Luke 16:8). Bad company corrupts good character (1 Corinthians 15:33). If you walk with the wise you shall be wise but the company of fools shall be destroyed (Proverbs 13:20).

Judah’s sin

Also relevant to this message is Judah’s sin. “It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.  And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went in to her. So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him” (Genesis 38:1-5 NKJV).  Please take note of that phrase: Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. Judah, an Israelite, departed from his brothers! Don’t depart from your brothers to join the sons of the country or from your fellow sisters to join the daughters of the land – the consequences, in the long run, are usually unpleasant even if in the short run everything appears to be alright.

Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adullamite. Who is an Adullamite? That’s a citizen of Adullam, an ancient Canaan city – the Canaanites were godless and God had vowed to destroy them and had given the land to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:7-8). God renewed the same covenant with Isaac and Jacob. He had charged Israel not to intermarry with them. But Judah, the ancestors of the tribe of Judah went to a Canaanite city and married a Canaanite. That was the foundation of Judah’s later sin of sleeping with his daughter-in-law, Tamar – the wife of his first son, Er, who had died. She seduced Judah, who, taking her for a prostitute, slept with her, and impregnated her (Genesis 14:13-30). Compare Judah’s lust with Joseph’s righteous stand. In Genesis 39, Joseph, unlike Judah, refused the sexual advances of an Egyptian, Potiphar’s wife, the daughter of the land.

Samson’s reckless indulgence

Of course, I can’t forget to mention Samson’s sin and his ordeal in the hands of daughters of the land and the sons of the country. Samson was an Israelite, and Israelites were not supposed to intermarry with non-Israelites. But Samson insisted he must marry “a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines” despite his parents’ objection to it (Judges 14:1-3). Eventually, this girl was given to his friend after he left the marriage ceremony in anger because the Philistines coerced the lady to entice him to get the answer to the riddle he had posed to them.

Thereafter, Samson went in to another daughter of the land, a harlot at Gaza, one of the five major cities of the Philistines. He had to depend on his enormous power to escape being captured there by the sons of the country, the Gazites (Judges 16:1).

Not learning his lesson from this incident, Samson again went after another daughter of the land, Delilah, a Philistine woman, who betrayed him to the sons of the country, the lords of the Philistines, for eleven hundred pieces of silver by revealing to them the secret of his power (Judges 16:4-21). He was captured and eventually died with his enemies.

The Tragedy of the prodigal son

The tragedy of the prodigal son is a very familiar story. But I’m concerned about what he did when he was in penury.  He went to join a son of the country deceiving himself that he would be a friend and give him a lifeline. Many people still live in this self-delusion thus progressing in error. Your salvation is not in the hand of any son of the country even in his country! Your salvation is in the hand of God.  

I imagine that this prodigal son was a Jew who took off to a gentile region to enjoy his wealth and wasted it on prodigal living. But look at what his life degenerated to. When he was in a financial mess and joined the son of the country (citizen of the country), he didn’t give him a lifeline; he only sent him to work in a piggery (Luke 15:14-16). Jews don’t raise pig; they don’t touch it or eat it – it’s an unclean animal (Leviticus 11:7-8). But look at where the prodigal son found himself. His gentile friend didn’t want to know whether he was a Jew or not.  The prodigal son kept sinking further in the miry clay of sin.  The prodigal son compromised his belief and worked in the piggery hoping he could eat some of the food for the pigs. That’s nauseating, but he was even denied – his compromise didn’t make his life better. Ultimately, that’s what happens to most compromisers. Even those who appear to have gained some things end living a miserable life despite what they’ve been able to accumulate by their life of compromise.

Hunger made the prodigal son repent; he headed back home. If he had been able to overcome starvation, he might not have returned home as early as he did. But the son of the country had no compassion for him. Don’t place your hope in any son of the country. Let your hope be in your heavenly Father. Return to Him today. Don’t prolong your suffering in the company of the daughters of the land or the sons of the country.

Divine warning

Beware! Don’t fellowship with the daughters of the land and the sons of the country. Don’t let them be your bosom friends or advisers. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t love them because God’s Word says love your neighbour as yourself  (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 5:43; 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Romans 13:8-9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). In fact, Jesus raised the bar when he gave a new commandment to love one another “as I have loved you” (John 13:34; 15:12).

Not everybody can be your friend just as you can’t be everybody’s friend. Proverbs 12:26 says that the righteous should choose his friends carefully, therefore be wise.

Don’t be deceived by the attraction of the possessions or the opulent living of the daughters of the land and the luxurious lifestyle of the sons of the country. Don’t be envious of the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73:2). They’re walking on slippery ground (Verse 18). Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you (1 John 2:15-17).   1 Corinthians 7:31 warns that as you interact with this world, you shouldn’t misuse it, don’t become attached to the things of this world, for the form of this world is passing away. 

Don’t get engrossed with the things of this world and forget that you’re a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). You’re a child of light not of darkness – there’s no fellowship between light and darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14).  

Conclusion: Separate yourself from the daughters of the land and the sons of the country (2 Corinthians 6:17). Be holy and separated unto God (Leviticus 19:1-2; 20:7-8. 26; 1 Peter 1:15-16). Separation isn’t the same as isolation because according to 1 Corinthians 5:10, you would have to leave this world to avoid these people. You must, however, be on your guard in your interactions; don’t let them influence you. You’re the salt of the earth; ensure you don’t lose your flavor; let your light shine before them that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:13, 16). You’re not to judge the daughters of the land and the sons of the country but to seek their salvation by living right, loving them, praying for them and preaching to them.

God, your Father, is holy and wants you to be holy. Your destiny is at risk and your eternity is in danger unless you heed this divine warning. Learn from the lives of Dinah, Esau, Judah, the prodigal son, and Samson in the Bible, and other contemporary examples you may be aware of. Beware of the daughters of the land and the sons of the country!

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.

T.O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website:www.cedarministry.org