Angelstarspeaks
Angel Writings, Stories, Scripture, PoetryPolygamy; Marriage and Adultery
Many leaders in the Old Testament are described as having multiple wives. Does that mean that polygamy is acceptable to God?
No. God did not say polygamy was acceptable to Him, although for a while–like divorce–it was allowed in the Old Testament. 1 Corinthians 7:2 makes it very clear that marriage is one man and one woman:
“Each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.”
Christian marriage has always been ONE man and ONE woman.
The Bible treats polygamy as wrong. Consider the warning given to prospective and actual kings of Israel:
“16: But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17: Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold” (Deut. 17).
The mentioning of Noah becoming drunk and disgracing himself is mentioned, but certainly not condoned (Gen. 9: 20ff.). I submit that God was not pleased with polygamy, an aberrant from the monogamous marriage God put in place, but that he did two things: (1). God tolerated polygamy during the maturation of his people and (2) he sought to regulate the evil practice.
God’s teaching remains one man, one woman (Matt. 19: 4, I Cor. 7, Rom. 7: 3, 4, Eph. 5: 22.). “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30
“But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.” – 1 Corinthians 7:2-3
The relationship of husband and wife in marriage is the same as the relationship between Christ and His church.
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride [the church] has made herself ready.” – Revelation 19:7
Marriage is a reflection of Christ’s relationship with the church–one groom (Christ) and one bride (the church).
Not two Christ’s marrying (two homosexual men).
Not two churches marrying (two homosexual women).
Not Christ and many churches (polygamy).
Marriage is ONE man and ONE woman.
In Matt. 19:4 we are told by Jesus that God created one “male and [one] female” and joined them in marriage.
Mark 10:6-8:”But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ‘and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.
The two as one is the pattern on how marriage was to be conducted from the start. NOT three or four as one.
Eve was taken from Adams body and given back to him as his wife (singular) showing God’s approval of what the marriage union is to be like. God always spoke of man’s “wife,” as singular, not wives. Notice it also states one father one mother.
This was to be a permanent union between man and woman that they might be helpful to one another (Genesis 2:18). Marriage represents a relationship of both spiritual and physical unity.
Polygamy was not wrong in ancient cultures, but was a departure from the divine institution that God ordained.
The fact that every polygamist in the Bible like David and Solomon (1 Chron. 14:3) were punished. This should be evidence that this is not God’s will.
1 Kings 11:3 says Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines violating the principle of monogamy that he was given through the law of Moses. Consider that Solomon at one time was the wisest man in the world. In I Kings 11:4: “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” Notice Solomon became a polytheist because he was influenced in polygamy. In his case many wives, became many gods. Scripture has always commanded monogamy (Ps.128:3; Prov. 5:18; 18:22; 19:14; 31:10-29; Eccl. 9:9).
Matt. 22:24: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.” This is based on the commandment found in Deut. 25:5-6: “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. “And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ”
Multiple wives was tolerated but never with God’s approval. Jesus told the Jews, “Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way” (Matthew 19:3-8). The Mosaic law aimed at mitigating, rather than removing, evils that were inseparable from the state of society in that day. Its enactments were directed to the discouragement of polygamy; to prevent the injustice frequently consequent upon the exercise of the rights of a father or a master; to bring divorce under some restriction; and to enforce purity of life during the maintenance of the matrimonial bond.
The Bible says adultery is not a choice, one does not have to acquire another wife to solve his urges. Jesus said if you look upon another woman with desire (married or not) it is adultery, a sin.
Paul insisted that a leader in the church should be “the husband of one wife,” a deacon or elder must have one wife… Titus 1:6.
The Bible clearly and decidedly states that God does not condone or allow the practice of polygamy over and over again.
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