Famous married Bible couples: Both spouses good, one bad-one good, both bad
By Elizabeth Prata
Our Sunday School class is going through the book of Esther. We had spent 26 weeks going through the Doctrine of Providence, when that class concluded, one of our teachers thought going through Esther would be a good extension of the subject. I love the doctrine of Providence and I hadn’t deeply studied Esther before, so I hopped into his class.
We read of Haman, of course, the main antagonist. And then we read two times of Haman’s wife, Zeresh. She is mentioned in Esther 5:14 where Zeresh listened to her husband’s woes about hating Mordecai. She was the one (along with Haman’s friends) who suggested building the gallows. THAT cheered Haman up! Nothing like killing a man you hate to make you happy! Then Zeresh is mentioned again in Esther 6:13 where she (along with his friends) said oops, your star is falling, your influence will dry up and you won’t win against Esther.
Those two were a power couple in a negative way. That thought got me thinking about couples. There are those who spurred each other on in Godly ways, a united pairing displaying God’s glory. And I thought of couples who spurred each other on to evil deeds and eventually fell. And then couples where only one of the two was obedient and faithful and hung in there to give God glory. Let’s take a look at a few, and not the most famous ones, either.
BOTH ARE GOOD
Priscilla and Aquila: This was a married pair mentioned in the New Testament 6 times in four different NT books! Each time they are mentioned they’re always mentioned together. They were a pair, united by marriage in the Lord, working solidly with each other for God’s glory. They taught, they hosted, they labored at their trade, they were consistent and committed. Together they were a super-duo, relying on the Spirit and advancing the church with their dutiful example.
BOTH ARE BAD
And then we have Couples who spurred each other on to bad works. Their pairing in marriage seemed to combine not the holiest of attitudes in them to greater heights, but the more depraved attitudes in them combining to descend them to greater depths.
Ahab and Jezebel. The Bible notes that the pair were evil each in their own way displeasing God constantly. (1 Kings 16:33). Jezebel incited her husband to many wicked deeds, which he willingly performed. (1 Kings 21:25). Two bad apples combining to make a polluted apple pie, this combo did much damage to the people around them.
Ananias and Sapphira: These two were counted in the early church as members, perhaps believers (more on that in a minute), and who joined in with the initial thrust to donate. They sold some land and promised the yield to the church. When Ananias stepped forward to give it at Peter’s feet, he actually only provided part of it, and Peter by knowledge of the Spirit caught Ananias in the lie. Ananias was struck dead. Sapphira a few minutes later, she, having confirmed her husband’s lie. They both colluded against the Holy Spirit and they separately confirmed greed in their heart.
There is great debate about whether the duo were actually believers or not. Piper thinks no, that they were phony Christians. MacArthur thinks yes, they were believers.
But isn’t it awful to leave people wondering if you were actually a true believer at all? Was theirs a case of bad company corrupting good character? Did one infect the other with leaven, spoiling the whole marriage? Was one unable to overcome the flesh and influence the other toward evil? Or were both simply greedy and allowing that one prevalent sin to have them?
ONE GOOD, ONE BAD
Lot and Mrs Lot: We do have many examples of these pairings: Lot and Mrs Lot. Mrs Lot was unveiled at the last minute as clinging to the world, not looking ahead to righteousness. Yes, Lot did some stupid things, but the Bible calls him righteous. (2 Peter 2:7). He must have done something right, his married daughters came with him instead of staying with their husbands. (A Lot of Righteousness). Mrs. Lot clung to the world (and became part of it).
Abigail and Nabal: Another one-good-one bad pairing we find in Abigail and Nabal. Their story is recorded in 1 Samuel 25. Nabal was described as “harsh and evil in his dealings”. His own servants and his wife described Nabal as “a worthless man”. Yet Abigail’s patience in living with this brute is obvious, and her intelligence in approaching David to persuade him to leave off murdering Nabal and his men, is also seen. Abigail is blessed by David in Yahweh’s name: David said, “blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed…” (1 Samuel 25:33).
In the same way, you wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won over without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your pure and respectful behavior. (1 Peter 3:1-2).
In this case, Nabal was not won over, David was. Nabal died soon after and David proposed marriage to Abigail.
A bad marriage is hard. A good marriage is hard. But if one of the pair isn’t saved, it just makes things so difficult because you are both pulling in different directions. Even if both claim to be saved but one is a lot less mature in the faith, again, difficulty.
“We’ve all heard it said that marriage exposes our own sin and selfishness, and that the marriage relationship sanctifies us with an intensity that can be, at times, quite uncomfortable.” ~Two Sinners and One Sinless, CBMW, By Elisha Galotti.
Job and Mrs Job: When the chips were down (waaaaay down), Mrs Job told her husband he might as well “curse God and die”. Maybe she blamed Job, more likely she blamed God, doubting Him. In Job 2:9 she blurted to her husband,
“Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”
It seems that perhaps Mrs Job was annoyed to the extreme of her husband’s acceptance of God’s work in their lives. Thankfully Job did not take his wife’s ‘advice’ and eventually all was restored to Job. Interestingly, we read nothing of Mrs Job in her husband’s restoration happy ending. We read he received a house, more animals than before, and additional children, who grew to receive an inheritance and the Bible even records the names of the first 3. But no name for Mrs Job and no mention of her in the epilogue. Perhaps she had reaped what she had sown.
Hosea and Gomer: This pairing was again one of extreme difficulty and heartache. Hosea was righteous and Gomer was a troubled sinner for most of the marriage. She was an adulteress, she had an illegitimate child(ren, perhaps 3), she caused Hosea years of pain and embarrassment. Hosea patiently and lovingly sought Gomer, forgave her, took her back in with patience and deep commitment. Eventually she settled. Hosea’s love for his sinning wife was not diminished by her sin, he maintained loving faithfulness. From that, Hosea grew in deeper understanding of the forgiving love of God.
Marriage is two sinners each trying to subdue their own flesh nature. Without Christ, it can be a conflagration. With Christ, it’s still hard. I pray that if you, dear reader are in a difficult marriage, that you diligently search out Bible verses addressing your situation. And I humbly ask you to think of the couples in the Bible who each made a successful marriage, and what made some of their marriages unsuccessful.
The key point is, you are not alone. The Holy Spirit is with you.
We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit—the power that brought about resurrection life, softened hearts of stone, and gave eyes of faith when we were blinded by sin. Yet sometimes in marriage, in the dismal moments of anger, hostility, or painful hurt, we forget that we’re not doing this alone. Sometimes in our sin and failures, we forget that the power and help of the Holy Spirit is ever present, ever helping, ever convicting, guiding, prompting and empowering us to do what is right. ~Two Sinners and One Sinless, CBMW, By Elisha Galotti
