Polygamy
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Malachi 2:13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.
14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”says the Lord Almighty.
So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”says the Lord Almighty.
So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Ya. And scripture implies it continued even in NT times (and the reasons for this practice in ancient times were rather complex). Neither condemned nor condoned, one could say. Does this leaves us with "freedom" in this issue? A freedom that one necessarily do not need to use. A Q maybe not needed to be asked. The #1 priority Q s to ask is what can bring us closer to Him.
Why not?
2 Samuel 12:9
Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
2 Samuel 12:9
Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Well, there is a huge difference between us all being imperfect because of our sinful nature and between somebody living openly in a serious, "mortal" sin like adultery.Such a man neither can receive a good testimony from God nor he can be heard by God.
"We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will."
John 9:31
And we also know very well that David, Moses, Abraham etc were godly persons and God gave them very good testimony and heard them.
Also, notice the difference between a real adultery (when David took the wife of another man) and how severely God punished him and between having 600 another wives and God saying nothing about it.
N
2 Samuel 6:16
16 And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
James 4:17
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Deuteronomy 17:17 - Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
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Well, there is a huge difference between us all being imperfect because of our sinful nature and between somebody living openly in a serious, "mortal" sin like adultery.Such a man neither can receive a good testimony from God nor he can be heard by God.
"We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will."
John 9:31
And we also know very well that David, Moses, Abraham etc were godly persons and God gave them very good testimony and heard them.
Also, notice the difference between a real adultery (when David took the wife of another man) and how severely God punished him and between having 600 another wives and God saying nothing about it.
I will appreciate if you have a quote so I can know what you mean.
But exactly as you said - he fell into idolatry, not into adultery. The problem was not that he had more than one wife, the problem was that having so many wives led him to their pagan gods.
If he would take just girls from Israel, everything could be different.... like Christians marrying only Christians.
But exactly as you said - he fell into idolatry, not into adultery. The problem was not that he had more than one wife, the problem was that having so many wives led him to their pagan gods.
If he would take just girls from Israel, everything could be different.... like Christians marrying only Christians.
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The Bible is clear, in the case of Solomon, that having many wives, albeit foreign, not only led himmastray, but helped destroy the Kingdom of Israel.
"11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.[h=3]The Lord Raises Adversaries[/h]9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” 1 Kings 11:1-11
I'm just reading 2 kings, so this is fresh in my mind!
"11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.[h=3]The Lord Raises Adversaries[/h]9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” 1 Kings 11:1-11
I'm just reading 2 kings, so this is fresh in my mind!
Nothing against that. It just cannot be used against polygamy in the OT as such.
Sometimes even one wife can lead man astray (or at least try like the wife of Job), sometimes 3, sometimes 1000
And sometimes not, Abraham had 8 wives and was faithful to God, David has 600 and remained faithful to God etc.
Sometimes even one wife can lead man astray (or at least try like the wife of Job), sometimes 3, sometimes 1000
And sometimes not, Abraham had 8 wives and was faithful to God, David has 600 and remained faithful to God etc.
Nothing against that. It just cannot be used against polygamy in the OT as such.
Sometimes even one wife can lead man astray (or at least try like the wife of Job), sometimes 3, sometimes 1000
And sometimes not, Abraham had 8 wives and was faithful to God, David has 600 and remained faithful to God etc.
Sometimes even one wife can lead man astray (or at least try like the wife of Job), sometimes 3, sometimes 1000
And sometimes not, Abraham had 8 wives and was faithful to God, David has 600 and remained faithful to God etc.
Your responses are fantastic. There's a significant distinction between polygamy, adultery and idolatry that to some are completely blurred for the sake of an emotional argument being attempted to be made. It may not be as acceptable a practice now in society but then that accounts for much of the bible's ways deviating from the 'norm' of society, of which, regardless of our flesh, we're bound to follow. Polygamy was an acceptable practice deemed approved by the Lord in the old testament.
G
This is going to sound crude- but we are all adults here. Polygamy is essentially a man telling his first wife "your body does not satisfy me and I need someone else in addition to you." This is not love, but utter selfishness. A woman can't help but feel unloved, debased, unworthy, ugly, lacking, etc in this scenario. God does not mean for women to feel this way. It is not Christian. Christianity lifts up and edifies.
The New Testament very clearly teaches monogamy.
Romantic love, when divided, is diminished. A man can not love more than one woman at a time. He might like and feel affection for whomever he is bedding- but he will only love one. Why do so many cheating husbands stay married and fob off their mistresses with a promise of divorce that is never actualized? In some cases, money- but I think in MOST cases it is because he loves his wife, and not his mistress.
The same is true for women.
The New Testament very clearly teaches monogamy.
Romantic love, when divided, is diminished. A man can not love more than one woman at a time. He might like and feel affection for whomever he is bedding- but he will only love one. Why do so many cheating husbands stay married and fob off their mistresses with a promise of divorce that is never actualized? In some cases, money- but I think in MOST cases it is because he loves his wife, and not his mistress.
The same is true for women.
