DISCLAIMER: I KNOW KL WAS NOT ENDORSING ANYTHING HERE, I WAS JUST THINKING THAT HIS POST WOULD BRING UP QUESTIONS THAT MANY LURKERS AND VISITORS HERE ALREADY STRUGGLE WITH. SINCE HIS QUESTION IS A GOOD ONE, I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO ADDRESS IT FOR THOSE WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH IT, THAT'S ALL.
DEFINITION
Polygamy is the state of having more than one spouse concurrently. The word cell "poly-" means multiple or many. There are two forms of polygamy: Polyandry, which is when a woman has more than one husband (think of the similarities between the words polyandry and husbandry) and Polygyny, which is when a man has more than one wife (think of the similarities between the words polygyny and other female "-gyn" words such as gynecology). In the bible, the prevalent form of polygamy was polygyny: Multiple wives.
SCRIPTURAL INSTRUCTION
Men of congregational stature were required to have only one wife (Deuteronomy 17:17, 1 Timothy 3:2, 12, Titus 1:6). Other places in the Bible also show that a man is to have one wife, and a woman is to have one husband (1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Timothy 5:9).
God made only one woman for Adam to be his other half, and the two of them together were considered as a complete whole (Genesis 2:18-24). This concept is reinforced in that it takes only one man and one woman to produce children. Extra mates are unnecessary. Note that God didn't create more than one wife for Adam. Note, also, that whenever Christ spoke of marriage, he always spoke of it in monogamous terms, not polygamous: Matthew 5:31-32, 18:25, 19:5, 9, 29, Luke 14:26.
The only times polygamy occurred in the bible was when men chose to take extra wives (Genesis 4:19, Genesis 29:18-29, 1 Samuel 1:2, 2 Chronicles 24:3); it was never due to God advising this style of marriage.
DIDN'T GOD GIVE WIVES TO DAVID?
Some people believe that God decreed polygamy, pointing out that scripture states God "gave" multiple "wives" to king David at 2 Samuel 12:8
I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!
What are we to make of this?
First of all, note that this states David was given his master's house, and his master's wives into his keeping.
This "master" was King Saul. We know this because God Himself chose King Saul to be Israel's first king (1 Samuel 9:15-17). And, during Saul's reign, David was a prominent servant in Saul's palace (1 Samuel 16:21), making it so Saul was David's master. Because Saul constantly went against God's direct orders (1 Samuel 13:1-13, 1 Samuel 15:1-27), God chose to take Saul's family out of the royal line and replace it with David and his descendants instead (1 Samuel 16:1-13).
In other words, Saul was David's master, God took everything away from Saul's line and gave it all into David's keeping as the next king.
And this does not mean that David married any of Saul's women when he took the reign, as it only states that they were given into David's keeping, along with everything else that God gave into his keeping. Nowhere will you find in scripture that any of David's wives were formerly married to Saul.
To be left into David's "keeping" basically meant that they weren't kicked out on the streets. Very likely, they were kept to function as servants and helpers around and about the palace.
GOD'S TOLERANCE OF HUMAN NATURE
Although it is clear that God originally intended for marriage to be a monogamous union, it is equally clear that the people of those days overstepped this with their polygamy.This causes many people to question:
If God does not approve of polygamy, why did He allow so many people to practice it?
This is because we are in the midst of a major issue: Who has the right to Universal Sovereignty.
What does this have to do with polygamy?
It has to do with letting humanity prove whether we can successfully live under our own rules without God's interference. This means God stays out of our "business"; letting us go with our faulty wisdom in order to see whether we have what it takes. Part of this means tolerating polygamy in some cultures.
IS TOLERANCE THE SAME AS APPROVAL?
Keep in mind that allowing it is not the same as approving of it. The bible shows examples of God allowing a situation even though He didn't actually approve of it. The Moses Divorce Certificate is one example (Mark 10:4 in reference to Deuteronomy 24:1-4). And on two separate occasions God allowed Abram's lies to cause a king to take Abram's wife, even though God clearly didn't approve of the situations (Genesis 12:14-17, 20:1-6). God even allowed David to make the mistake of taking another man's wife and killing the man, although He didn't approve of the actions (2 Samuel 11).
Therefore, the argument that allowing something signifies approval is a weak argument indeed.
CONSEQUENCES OF POLYGAMY
Because polygamous men were treating some of their wives unfairly, God made sure to create laws to protect the additional wives and their children (Exodus 21:7-10, Leviticus 18:18, Deuteronomy 21:15-17).
It is also worth noting the problems that came up due to the surplus wives being jealous of one another (Genesis 16:1-6, 29:30-30:15, 1 Samuel 1:1-8).
We must realize that rival situations will emerge in polygyny because women were given a strong desire for their husbands (Genesis 3:16), making it unnatural for a woman to share a husband; and scripture makes it clear that God does not approve of unnatural situations (Leviticus 18:23, Leviticus 20:12, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Jude 7). As for polyandry (multiple husbands), this too is against what God intended, because He made the man to be the head of the woman (1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:23), and a woman can have only one headship. Otherwise there will be problems as to whom she should be obedient to if the husbands have differences in their headship. Therefore, multiple marriage is an institution that works against God's will.
SPOUSAL RESPECT
A man who truly loves his wife will not put her in that position, for a man is supposed to be good to his wife and treat her well (Ephesians 5:25,28-33, Colossians 3:19, 1 Peter 3:7). A godly woman would likewise be monogamous, for she is to respect her husband (Ephesians 5:33), which would include not pitting his headship against another man's headship. The original plan from God only made room for monogamous marriages (Deuteronomy 17:17, 1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Timothy 3:2,12, 1 Timothy 5:9, Titus 1:6).
CONCLUSION
It is clear throughout the bible that polygamy is a version of marriage that God never decreed. Polygamy is a vice of human origin that runs against God's holy standards and creates problems within the family unit. However, it is important to realize that allowing something is not the same as condoning it. Scripture makes it quite clear that polygamy is against God's plan, making it a sin.
"The Bible DOESN'T say that polygamy is a sin!"
"If God allowed polygamy, then why should it be against the law today?"
"Why should a man be stuck with only one wife, when Jacob had four?"
And so on and so forth. I'm sure everyone here has heard similar things from other people.
And since he did bring up a question about it, and a bazillion people lurk and visit here, I thought it would probably be a good idea to address it.
If I'm running ahead of everyone, I can take the posts down. No biggie.
That is correct as people would be stumbled by it. And yes they were rhetorical.
The point that I was trying to make is that God has no physcial sense of right and wrong. It is not action that defines what makes things a sin or not. If that were the case, you would have an awful lot of issues.
The only right and wrong to God is one that acts in love even if those actions are contradictive physically.
Grateful :giverose:
"The Bible DOESN'T say that polygamy is a sin!"
"If God allowed polygamy, then why should it be against the law today?"
"Why should a man be stuck with only one wife, when Jacob had four?"
And so on and so forth. I'm sure everyone here has heard similar things from other people.
And since he did bring up a question about it, and a bazillion people lurk and visit here, I thought it would probably be a good idea to address it.
If I'm running ahead of everyone, I can take the posts down. No biggie.
Well that makes sense. It is an interesting subject. Don`t take it down.
I actually think that polygamy makes sense when women are not considered equal with men, despite the common interpretation of Paul's words on that subject. The reason is because it protects women from financial poverty in society's where they are not allowed to support themselves. Its an argument for women having equal rights with men as was the case in Genesis before the fall. Then polygamy doesn't function as any protection, so its moral reasons for being become less. That`s a good thing.
Grateful :giverose:
He is saying the opposite.
Agape,
Grateful :giverose:
"The Bible DOESN'T say that polygamy is a sin!"
"If God allowed polygamy, then why should it be against the law today?"
"Why should a man be stuck with only one wife, when Jacob had four?"
And so on and so forth. I'm sure everyone here has heard similar things from other people.
And since he did bring up a question about it, and a bazillion people lurk and visit here, I thought it would probably be a good idea to address it.
If I'm running ahead of everyone, I can take the posts down. No biggie.
Hi sis MM:hibye:
Please don't remove anything. There are "some" out here who love and appreciate that you share your research and insights with us. For me this forum is an online study of the Bible, with questions and answers I've never even thought of so...plus who knows how many lurkers are also learning new truths everyday by being drawn,"accidently", searching for that "ring of truth":giverose:
Onward and Upward :cheer::cheer::cheer:
sis
"The Bible DOESN'T say that polygamy is a sin!"
"If God allowed polygamy, then why should it be against the law today?"
"Why should a man be stuck with only one wife, when Jacob had four?"
And so on and so forth. I'm sure everyone here has heard similar things from other people.
And since he did bring up a question about it, and a bazillion people lurk and visit here, I thought it would probably be a good idea to address it.
If I'm running ahead of everyone, I can take the posts down. No biggie.
Hi sis MM:hibye:
Please don't remove anything. There are "some" out here who love and appreciate that you share your research and insights with us. For me this forum is an online study of the Bible, with questions and answers I've never even thought of so...plus who knows how many lurkers are also learning new truths everyday by being drawn,"accidently", searching for that "ring of truth":giverose:
Onward and Upward :cheer::cheer::cheer:
sis
Im with Lee on this MM. Good reseach from the Bible. Thank you.:heartbeat:
Grateful :giverose:
Y'know, Beau...if someone ever accidentally gets killed, you are setting yourself up to be the first suspect in an investigation.
Ya might wanna consider that. :heartbeat: