By the way, here is
the first thing I think I ever wrote in defense of multiple wives (in the forum thread where I discovered how far people go in condemning it). I think you need to be logged in to view the thread, so I will just quote it here:
"Beginning with the title, “Is Polygamy sinful?” Polygamy is a man marrying more than one wife, or a woman marrying more than one man. One is sinful, often punishable with death, the other is not sinful at all. The title assumes that they are both sinful or both not.
The relationship man to woman, and the relationship woman to man, is completely different. Unless one believes that a man can marry a man, or a woman can marry a woman. This is also often punishable with death.
The idea that polygyny (marrying multiple wives) and polyandry (multiple husbands) are the same, and therefore both are adultery or neither are adultery, can easily bring your soul into damnation.
Proverbs 17:15
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.
The idea that polygyny is wrong is found no where in the Bible. It is made up, and is even less reasonable than celibacy, in that it accuses of adultery, which is not a light accusation.
First it is against reason to believe that marrying more than one wife violates the marriage bond of the first wife. It is one of the most basic ideas that a woman becomes one with the man, not the man becomes one with the woman. The woman was made from man, and God gave that as the reason they were to be one in marriage.
Of course more than one woman can become one with one man, just as more than one person can come into one room. But to become one with another man it must violate the first oneness, just as a person can not be in two rooms at the same time, they must leave the first room to enter the next.
Even before the Bible was written this was understood and binding. It was taken for granted in the Bible, just as it is taken for granted that marriage is not a sin.
Polygyny is no more a sin than marriage, it is only less common except among the wealthy because it is harder to afford. Just as a man should be able to support a wife before he marries he should be able to support multiple wives before he marries more. This is also why Solomon, the richest man, probably also had the most wives.
Even if marrying multiple wives was wrong, it is obviously not the same as adultery, and is never treated in an even similar way in the Bible.
The fact that God’s servants married multiple wives should make this clear. Adultery is a damning sin.
1 Corinthians 6
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Even with things that were forbidden by the law, the actions of the prophets (except, of course, where they were condemned) were meant to reveal how the law must be interpreted.
Luke 6
3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;
4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
At that same time in David’s life he married multiple wives, which was not even forbidden as the shewbread was. David was a man after God’s own heart.
God made them male and female, and the nature of the creation of that bond allows multiple wives. He did not make multiple wives for Adam, but what if he did? If you say that because he made one wife, therefore we should marry one wife, what if a person did not marry at all? God did not make Adam alone, in fact he said it was not good that he should be alone. Is it then equal to adultery to not marry?
And if God had made two wives for Adam, would you say that it is equal to adultery to marry only one wife, because God made two? It is just as wrong as that to say it is equal to adultery to marry three wives.
Lamech was the first polygynist mentioned in the Bible, though not necessarily the first in history. He was of the line of Cain, but if you notice, he also had children that were herdsmen, musicians, and metalworkers. Is the Bible trying to throw a bad light on these things also? (Slightly off topic: there is good reason to believe that he was not a murderer, but had acted out of self defense, which was why he said he would be avenged if he was killed far more than Cain would be avenged; in saying this he would actually be condemning Cain’s act.)
Noah took only one wife, probably either because he could not support more than one because of building the ark, or more likely, there was hardly any one to marry in that depraved culture. Notice that the animals were also in pairs of male and female, yet many animals have multiple females to one male, apparently by God’s design. That is just something to notice.
A bishop or a deacon can not marry more than one wife according to 1 Timothy 3
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober... One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;”
“Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.”
These scriptures forbid not being married as much as they forbid marrying more than one wife. It is simply necessary for those who have this position to have a wife, and only one, and also they apparently must have children.
There are situations where it is best not to marry at all, and also situations where a person simply should not marry.
Jeremiah 16
16 The word of the Lord came also unto me, saying,
2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
3 For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
In the article that Noah Wood quoted...
Quote
Was Abraham, David Solomon condemned or approved for practicing polygamy? Well they certainly did not get blessed for it!
God told David that he had blessed him
with multiple wives.
2 Samuel 12:8
And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
And Ruth was to be blessed by being like Jacob’s two wives.
Ruth 4:11
And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
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.
I do not see what the writer is trying to say. There is not a single case in the Bible where anyone is punished for marrying more than one wife.
God never condoned polygamy but like divorce he allowed it to occur and did not bring an immediate punishment for this disobedience.
God said in the Old Testament that he hated divorce. If David had used divorce he would not have been a man after God’s own heart. Polygyny, however, was obviously condoned in him.
“Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.” This is the command of God, and he has never changed it.
Firstly to “multiply” does not mean “to have multiple.” As God said to Adam, “be fruitful and multiply,” this did not mean “have more than one child.”
Also these commands were given for kings to limit them, kings that God never wanted Israel to have.
Notice that it limits silver and gold a similar way. It does not say that kings should not own more than one item of silver or gold. It commands that the king should not seek to gain it through being king. David and Solomon both kept this command; David got his wealth through the strength in arms that God gave him, and Solomon got his wealth through the wisdom God gave him, and both these kings attributed their wealth to God.
God said that he would make Solomon rich, and he also said that he gave David multiple wives.
Also notice that the reason a king should not seek to multiply wives by his kingdom is not because it is adultery, but because in seeking to multiply wives he would not consider to choose who he ought to marry, but would marry corrupt women.
Solomon had married one hundred and forty wives when he wrote the Song of Songs, depicting the marriage blessed by the Holy Ghost. This was before his heart was turned away, when God loved him and had blessed him more even than his father. Also, his beloved wife in describing him boasts of his love he has towards the daughters of Jerusalem.
Also see this attitude towards her fellow wives of Solomon:
Song of Solomon 1:4
Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
Scripture has always commanded monogamy (Ps.128:3; Prov. 5:18; 18:22; 19:14; 31:10-29; Eccl. 9:9).
Look these scriptures up. He takes places where the Bible refers to “a wife,” and then says that the Bible commands monogamy, listing these scriptures as if they are examples of commandments. It is obvious why he does not quote any of them in full. None of them are commandments as he implies.
The fact is that God never commanded polygamy or divorce. Scripture says (Bible) He only permitted it because of the hardness of their hearts (Deut. 24:1; Matt. 19:. Matt. 5:31-32: “Furthermore it has been said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.” God hates divorce as well as polygamy, since it destroys the family (Mal. 2:16).
He says “polygamy or divorce,” then says that God only permitted “it” because of the hardness of their hearts, then gives examples referring to divorce. The Bible never equates divorce and polygyny, this idea is made up, so that arguments against divorce could be used to condemn polygyny.
He says God hates divorce as well as polygamy, then gives a Bible reference. Again it says nothing about what he implied: it is the verse that says God hates divorce. It seems that the writer is trying to make false impressions.
If polygyny destroyed the family then Solomon would have been the last person God would have chosen to describe the blessed marriage through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Whatever the patriarchs or any Christian did wrong does not change the fact the Bible condemns it.
Except that Christ condemned the Pharisees for not thinking in the opposite way. Not only does the Bible never condemn it, but it condones it in approving those who do these things as faithful followers of God.
The fact is that God never commanded polygamy or divorce.
Another thing to note is that he lists Hosea among those who were polygynists, referencing this verse:
Hosea 3
1 Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
Again it is plain why he did not quote this verse in full. If he actually read this and believed that this was Hosea marrying a second wife, he of course saw that God commanded it. Yet he says anyways that God never commanded polygyny.
However I do not think that this is Hosea marrying a second wife, but rather him being reconciled with his wife who was unfaithful to him. She is called an adulteress; an adulteress is by definition a married woman.
Some of his arguments can be made against doing other things that make no sense that they would be sins.
For instance, riding camels.
“It was done by several people in the Old Testament, but is not mentioned afterward.
It is never commanded, and never condoned.
It was not wrong in ancient cultures, but it was a departure from the divine institution that God ordained.
God never condoned riding camels but like divorce he allowed it to occur and did not bring an immediate punishment for this disobedience.
God said that he hates riding camels and divorce, because they both destroy the family (Mal. 2:16). Riding camels 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.
Scripture has always commanded not to ride camels (2 Kings 2:12; Jeremiah 22:4; Habakkuk 3:8; Zechariah 10:3; Job 39:19-25; Revelation 18:13).
Those who rode camels were always punished by God, this should be proof that it is not God’s will. The fact is that God never commanded riding camels or divorce.
Just because the patriarchs did it does not change the fact that the Bible condemns it.
The Bible clearly and decidedly states that God does not condone or allow the practice of riding camels over and over again.”
I do not want to sound too sarcastic, but I do want to neutralize the emotional impact of this article. These ideas lead to accusing Christians of committing adultery, and this is seriously dangerous. They should not be given a place in our feelings any more than in our minds.
This is also why I have written so much. All these things need to be said, because I stand by my brothers in Christ: I should not take it lightly when they are accused of adultery."
