Duke Jeyaraj
Two years ago we uploaded this video on our Youtube calling Polygamy a sin. Here it is:
Someone who watched this video put this pro-polygamy comment which I reproduce in full:
Add a comment…To those questioning God’s approval of polygamy, let’s see what the Bible says. Abraham was a polygamist. Jacob, who later was renamed Israel (from whom the 12 tribes of Israel came) was a polygamist. These were hardly men who discounted God’s will. The most telling evidence comes in 2 Sam. 12:7-12. Here we have the prophet Nathan quoting God in condemning David for his adultery with Bathsheba. In verse 8, God says that He (God) gave David his master’s wives and then goes on to say that if he (David) wanted even more, God would have given him more. But because of his sin, verse 11 says that God is going to take away David’s wives and give them to another individual man who will have his way with them. If God hates polygamy, why did God give David those wives? And why did God offer to give David even more? More importantly, why would God take those wives from David and give them to another INDIVIDUAL man rather than giving them to several men so that the women would have monogamous marriages? Regarding Paul stating that Christian leaders be restricted to having one wife, such restrictions indicate that polygamy was found in the early Christian church. If everyone was monogamous, why would Paul feel the need to include that restriction? It would be like prohibiting leaders from being idol worshipers or unbelievers. Since the church contained none such, such prohibitions would be silly. Specifically banning polygamy for leaders shows that polygamy WAS practiced in the early Christian church and that polygamist men might have been considered to be bishops if it weren’t for this restriction. Such a ban wouldn’t have been needed had there been no polygamy in the church. Having extra wives and the extra kids that they’d produce would require polygamist men to spend more time with family and less of their time on other matters than monogamist men. They’d have less time to dedicate to being a church leader and tending to the needs of the flock. Because of this, men with just one wife would be better suited to serve the Christian community as a leader. Paul wasn’t condemning polygamy but rather simply making sure that church leaders had time to adequately deal with the responsibilities of being church leaders. Banning such leaders from practicing polygamy also kept them from possibly offending potential Greek converts whose culture denounced polygamy. In 1 Cor. 10, Paul tells Christians to abstain from allowed behaviors if those behaviors could cause non-believers to be offended and reject the Christian message. The bottom line is that polygamy is in no way condemned by God in the Bible. In an ancient letter between two brothers who were Christian shows that polygamy occurred in the early Church – https://www.foxnews.com/science/christian-letter-bible-discovery-rare Also, many women would rather be the second or third wife to a rich man than be the only wife of a poor man. The woman may be a career woman with a child who would love to go to work and know that their kid is at home being taken care of by a sister wife rather than dropping the kid off at daycare. She also knows that she won’t have to come home to housework since the other wife who stays at home will do it. The stay at home wife is grateful that she doesn’t have to leave her own kids and that the working wife may allow her to stay at home if the husband’s wages wouldn’t otherwise allow it.
The above words are not mine as I have already mentioned. It is a comment by a viewer in response to my anti-polygamy video (link above). And this is my brief response to this comment:
Let me give brief answers to your points: 1) The “God telling David ‘I gave you wives argument’ – In the Old Testament God gives people over to their lusts, sinful desires. Exodus 8:32, Pharaoh hardened his heart; Exodus 9:12 – God hardened Pharaoh’s heart; The lesson: if you were stubborn in doing something, God says Amen to our freewill. David’s slide into Polygamy, I believe, resulted in God saying in disgust, “I gave you wives…” When the prior record is clearly this pattern – One man for one woman (Genesis record) – 2 Samuel 12:7-12 (your favorite proof text) should be interpreted this way: God was only saying Amen to David’s stubbornness and never approving his polygamy; The King of Israel should not multiply wives. This was God’s Clear counsel (see Dt. 17:17). I see this command this way: “If you have one wife, O King of Israel, be satisfied. Do not seek to add more women to harlem!” The straight-forward text of Dt. 17:17 concerning God’s plan for Kings with regard to the number of wives they can have should have priority when it comes to knowing how many wives one can have! A clear passage – Dt. 17:17 for example – takes precedence over a seemingly-confusing passage such as 2 Sam. 12:7-12. 2) “Only elders were stopped from having multiple wives in NT” argument; God’s will was this: those who were already married to many wives should not divorce those extra wives. Having made one mistake (polygamy), they should make another mistake (divorce extra wives). These polygamist had to care for their wives (I Cor. 7:20 – Each one should remain in the condition he was called’). But since Polygamy was never part of God’s plan (Jesus himself said, A man will leave his father and mother and be joint to his wife (singular)), Paul never encouraged it. So the rule was this: only those with one wife qualified for church leadership. My request: please do not twist Scriptures to promote immorality. Jude 4 warns those who do that are “designated for condemnation”.
(Duke Jeyaraj leads Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission. Among other things, this ministry seeks to use Social Media action to grab the Google Generation from going to Gehenna. Please reach us via 918886040605 if you want to support this ministry).
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