Caller: My question is does the Bible specifically say that there is a person that you are supposed to marry or not?
Pastor Doug: Well the Bible does give specific guidelines on the kind of person you are supposed to marry but you're probably not going to find in the Bible, Linda, where it says Linda, marry George Baker or something like that but it will tell you first of all, marry somebody who is in the same faith as you. You should not marry outside of the faith. You're being unequally yoked. You want to marry someone who is going to be a compassionate husband and a man of God, a good family man. And so there are criteria in the Bible where God gives guidance.
Now there are examples in the Bible where the Lord supernaturally guided people in regard to whom they were to marry, as in the case of Isaac and Rebecca. And God providentially brought together Jacob and Leah. Jacob thought he wanted to marry Rachel and ended up first marrying Leah and she became the great-great grandmother of Jesus.
So, God through providence will arrange meetings and also through His word, He will give you principles that'll guide you to the right person - and you can follow those. Second Corinthians 6:14 talks about not being unequally yoked, and that doesn't just mean someone who's not a believer. If you've got your PhD, you might find you're not compatible with a high-school dropout. Culturally - we just had a question about races - and while the Bible says all people are made of one blood, you want to consider the culture and heritage of the people you're marrying. Sometimes there are family squabbles because people grow up with certain traditions and culture, they marry someone with completely different traditions and culture, and it can create some interesting scenarios.