[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Isit a sin to have more than one wife? [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Thereis no law in the Old Testament against it, and there are manycharacters in the Old Testament who have more than one wife. Gideonin Judges 8:30 “had many wives.” Abijah in 2 Chronicles 13:21“took fourteen wives .” Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 11:21 “tookeighteen wives.” The list can go on. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Theclosest that the Pentateuch comes to it is Deuteronomy 21:15-17 whichsays, “If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved,and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and ifthe firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then on the day when heassigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may nottreat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the sonof the unloved, who is the firstborn, but he shall acknowledge thefirstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion ofall that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength...” [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Wealso know that there is no law in the Old Testament against divorce,and in fact allows it by Deuteronomy 24:1-4 which says, “When a mantakes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyesbecause he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her acertificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out ofhis house, and she departs out of his house and if she goes andbecomes another man's wife, and the latter man hates her and writesher a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends herout of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be hiswife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take heragain to be his wife,...” But Jesus told the Pharisees whoquestioned him about it in Matthew 19:4-8, ““Have you not readthat he who created them from the beginning made them male andfemale, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and hismother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become oneflesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore Godhas joined together, let not man separate.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]WhileJesus did not address the question of polygamy, it is easy to see howthe same reasoning he used against divorce, could also be usedagainst polygamy. To wit, Genesis 2:24, the passage Jesus referredto in discussing divorce, so says “Therefore a man shall leave hisfather and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall becomeone flesh.” It doesn't say 'Therefore a man shall leave his fatherand mother and hold fast to his WIVES, and THEY ALL shall become oneflesh' ![/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Jesussaid he came to fulfill the Law and the prophets, so it might leadone to ask, 'Which Law is he fulfilling?' Because clearly, inby-passing what Moses said in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, Jesus is abiding bythe true law of God as it is introduced in Genesis and refined inExodus, Numbers and Leviticus, where everything that God says becomespart of the Law. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]So,the Law referred to in Genesis 2:24 could just as easily apply topolygamy as it does to divorce. And as there is no direct Law aboutit, did not God in Isaiah 1:18 say, “Come now, let us reasontogether...”? [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Thereis no law in the Old Testament against it, and there are manycharacters in the Old Testament who have more than one wife. Gideonin Judges 8:30 “had many wives.” Abijah in 2 Chronicles 13:21“took fourteen wives .” Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 11:21 “tookeighteen wives.” The list can go on. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Theclosest that the Pentateuch comes to it is Deuteronomy 21:15-17 whichsays, “If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved,and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and ifthe firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then on the day when heassigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may nottreat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the sonof the unloved, who is the firstborn, but he shall acknowledge thefirstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion ofall that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength...” [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Wealso know that there is no law in the Old Testament against divorce,and in fact allows it by Deuteronomy 24:1-4 which says, “When a mantakes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyesbecause he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her acertificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out ofhis house, and she departs out of his house and if she goes andbecomes another man's wife, and the latter man hates her and writesher a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends herout of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be hiswife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take heragain to be his wife,...” But Jesus told the Pharisees whoquestioned him about it in Matthew 19:4-8, ““Have you not readthat he who created them from the beginning made them male andfemale, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and hismother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become oneflesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore Godhas joined together, let not man separate.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]WhileJesus did not address the question of polygamy, it is easy to see howthe same reasoning he used against divorce, could also be usedagainst polygamy. To wit, Genesis 2:24, the passage Jesus referredto in discussing divorce, so says “Therefore a man shall leave hisfather and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall becomeone flesh.” It doesn't say 'Therefore a man shall leave his fatherand mother and hold fast to his WIVES, and THEY ALL shall become oneflesh' ![/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Jesussaid he came to fulfill the Law and the prophets, so it might leadone to ask, 'Which Law is he fulfilling?' Because clearly, inby-passing what Moses said in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, Jesus is abiding bythe true law of God as it is introduced in Genesis and refined inExodus, Numbers and Leviticus, where everything that God says becomespart of the Law. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]So,the Law referred to in Genesis 2:24 could just as easily apply topolygamy as it does to divorce. And as there is no direct Law aboutit, did not God in Isaiah 1:18 say, “Come now, let us reasontogether...”? [/FONT]
