Recently a nationally leader and minister to Mormons/LDS has gone down some sinful paths and then has decided to return to polygamy. It’s been so heartbreaking to watch. But it brings up the question, what about polygamy? Because it’s still practiced today.
Some of the Mormon church still practices polygamy and it was actually mandated “for all time” in the early LDS church. Muslims can have up to 4 wives which many do in places like Africa. The people in the jungle populations often have multiple wives. And then there are the people in the Bible in the Old Testament that had many wives and concubines, even leaders such as Daniel and Solomon.
God’s Design
God originally made man in his own image. To do so, he made them male and female and they joined together in a covenant to form marriage. The Bible is clear that this was not many people in the marriage, but two. The male. The female
and the two shall become one. (Genesis 2:24)
Jesus reaffirmed this original purpose and original union.
“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5).
Again we see it is male and female, this was from creation, it was marriage and it was two people.
Nowhere in Scripture do we see this creation changed by God. We don’t see any command or expansion of this. It is man who
When Sin Entered In
Cain killed his brother and a curse was put on his head. The Lord would still show him mercy and spared his life. But he “went out from the presence of the Lord” (Gen 4:16).
He would go on to have a wife and children and grandchildren. Several generations later came Lamech. He was the very first one to take two wives.
Lamech was not known for his righteousness. In fact, he openly told his wives he was a murderer (Gen 4:23).
Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
As in almost every occasion, someone breaks the barrier of sin and people begin to join in. This appears to be what happen. It appears like they took as many women as they want. It’s interesting to note to that God expresses his deep sorrow at what he sees on the earth.
When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal… The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:1-3, 5).
Was this evil because of polygamy? Was it because of the unbridled lusts of men? Was it because of evil in general? The answer is likely all of the above. And it was then that the LORD decided to send the flood onto the earth.
This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
Wickedness was so bad that the LORD God felt it necessary to destroy everyone. But he saved Noah and his family. And there’s something worth noting here in regards to polygamy.
Righteous Noah had only one wife. His sons also had only one wife. There was not polygamy being practiced in this righteous family.
But What About Abraham?
Yes, Abraham had two women. One was his wife, Sarah, and the other was Sarah’s personal servant, Hagar.
God promised that Abraham would bear children through Sarah, and when it didn’t happen for many years, Sarah suggested that Abraham sleep with her servant Hagar. He did and she became pregnant. Then she lorded it over Sarah. Sarah then became an abusive wife so bad that Hagar ran off to the desert with her son.
Her son, Isaac, was not yet old enough to care for them both. Had they stayed in the desert they both would have died, and God had plans for Hagar and her son. So he told them to return to Sarah. Not Abraham but Sarah.
And for thousands of years since it’s been a mess. The brothers have been at war with one another – Isaac, the son of the promise and Father of the Jewish people, and Ishmael, the son of the Law and father of the Arabic and Persian world we see in Islam.
But how this came about was not of God. God wanted them to bear a son through the son of the promise, Isaac. The Bible never recognizes Hagar as a wife of Abraham, but only the servant of Sarah. Abraham took care of her and provided for her, but she wasn’t his wife.
Additionally Hagar’s soon Ishamel was never referred to as Abraham’s son. He was called the “bondwoman’s son” (Gen 4:23). And when Abraham goes up to offer his son as a sacrifice, Isaac, the son by Sarah, is called “his only son” (Gen 22:2).
This was not the case of polygamy. Hagar was not ever Abraham’s wife. Sadly, he treated Hagar as a concubine. And when her son was old enough, God sent Hagar and her son away. He didn’t say to divorce her and let her go. God hates divorce. But with Hagar, he said to let her go.
The Mess of Jacob and Esau
We also see that Jacob and Esau took multiple wives and their family was a disaster. There was jealousy, discord and problems everywhere. It wasn’t about peace and covenant and unity.
The Kings Like David and Solomon
But what about the others? Like David who had many wives and Solomon who had an abhorrent amount of wives and concubines?
What they were doing was in direct defiance of God’s commands, especially for leaders. He says in Deuteornomy 17:17 (KJV) that kings are “not to multiply wives for himself.”
Neither David nor Solomon were perfect in righteousness.
David defied this law and multiplied his wives, he slept with Bathsheba, a married woman even as he was married, he killed Bathsheba’s husband trying to protect himself and more.
It was not God’s permission or approval for any of this. God still loved David. But his actions were in direct defiance of God.
But what about when God GAVE David women and children?
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.
What was happening here is when there was a transfer of power, all of the former king’s possessions, wives and children were given to the new king when the old king had died. The new wives and children were no longer with a husband and a father, but they were given a step-father through the new king. He had the responsibility of caring for them.
He wasn’t condoning polygamy. Nor did he take the families away from Saul. Saul was dead. Now these women and children needed someone to look after them and that was given to the successive king.
But what about Solomon?
And when it came to Solomon it was worse. Not only did he multiply wives but he married foreign wives who served other gods. This, too, was in direct defiance and against God’s will (1 Kings 11). And it was wives who caused him to stumble and worship other gods.
“His wives caused him to turn away from God. As Solomon grew old, his wives caused him to follow other gods…So Solomon did what the Lord said was wrong” (1 Kings 11:3-4, 6).
So why didn’t God blast all of these people in the Bible? Send fire and lightning down on them? Because it is kindness and patience that leads to repentance. Unfortunately they did not repent.
But just because God did not strike these men down didn’t mean he was endorsing polygamy. If anything, he was protecting the women from becoming widows and orphans. God still has to deal with the result of man’s evil.
But What about the New Testament?
“As we have already said, Jesus himself said “the two shall become one” (Mt 19:1-11). That’s pretty clear. But then even the apostle Paul seems to indicate one woman and one man.
The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife” (1 Cor 7:4).
It doesn’t say wives here but rather “wife.” Nor does it husbands but “husband.”
The truth is polygamy was never a command or an endorsement from God. It was not his intent as we see in Genesis in creation and from the very words of Jesus. God’s desire has only and ever been two. In these changing cultural times where polygamy is even championed on tv, let’s hold fast to the truth of Jesus.