Marry לָקַח

We are in chapter twenty-one of Leviticus with our word for today. לָקַח take, grasp, seize, accept, receive, fetch, to take a wife. It is used 965 times in the Old Testament. Most of the uses of our word are used in the basic sense to take. Here is a good example. Exodus 16:33 And Moses said to Aaron, קַ֚ח “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” It is used 75 times in the sense to take a wife, to marry. Genesis 11:29 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor וַיִּקַּ֨ח took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Genesis 24:37 My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not תִקַּ֤ח take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell. This is how our word is used in our passage today. Leviticus 21:1, 7-9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them … They shall not יִקָּ֔חוּ marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they יִקָּ֑חוּ marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy. The priests were forbidden to marry prostitutes and divorcees. In the pagan religions, there were temple prostitutes serving with the priests, but prostitution was forbidden in Israel. Deuteronomy 23:17 None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. When you read the qualifications for pastors, elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, you can’t help but see that a church officer’s wife and family are an important part of his ministry. 1 Timothy 3:2, 4-5, 11-12 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife … He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? … Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. All believers must be careful in choosing spouses. I’ll close with these great reminders. 1 Corinthians 7:39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 6:14–18 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?  Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”