Polygamy in the Bible

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on January 17, 2011 at 6:08am

 

Hu? Dude (Misty)  what in the world? :)

 

>>I really would like you to get rid of the notion in your head that God controls every moment of our lives.

 

He knows the number of hairs in my head and not even a sparrow falls without His knowledge. You are correct at saying that God does not control every moment of our lives in the since we are not robots, we have the ability to choose due to the liberties God has granted us. However before the foundation of the earth He already knew how it would all play out because is according to His pleasure how things play out and He had already decided when He would intervene and when He would not in our lives by allowing our choices or frustrating them. So God is in control and micro manages all things on Earth.  Some believe He does not micro manages, but I am not among those people. Nothing in the universe happens without His knowledge, His permissive will or His decretive will.

 

>>If this were true then why do people die from accidents, natural disaster etc?

 

How does your statement prove God is not in control of every moment of our lives? 

 

I am truly trying not to be overly critical, but... I am concerned with you biblical views and I am certain that so is LT and Carla (admin). I understand the differences so far as I see them are in secondary issues, from what the word teaches and what you believe.

 

Blessings bro. 

Permalink Reply by Misty Eyes on January 17, 2011 at 6:18am

David,

 

First of all my eyes are misty thinking where the human race is headed and people living without God in their lives.

Secondly, this thread may look confusing because what Amanda an I are talking about started with one of my comment in one of her blogs.

 

Well she asked why God doesn't get involved in our every day lives and I explained to her about original sin. Please go back and see the thread for more clarity.

 

Thirdly, I'd like to ask you if God was indeed in control of minute by minute lives then why do accidents, death etcc happen to us? I am saying that this is a natural process. God is not in total control of our lives, we are. This is why people, if they choose to, can give over their life to satan if they wish.

 

Blessings.

 

Permalink Reply by Michael Vernon McEntire on January 17, 2011 at 11:28am

Wow, Bradley's suggested topic here has really proved to be a very fertile seed for a lot of great discussion!  It even had me and LB apparently recapitualating Saint Augustine's and Saint Thomas Aquinas' (separated by centuries!) discussion of whether Hagar was a concubine and whether it was possible that Abraham committed a mortal sin in this matter.  This most recent discussion about God's Sovereignty vis-a-vis man's supposed or apparent free-will is especially important, IMHO, and I hope it stays open somewhere in All About God, but I wonder if the intent of Bradley's originally suggested topic has been statisfied.  Usually, when people talk about the polygamous families of the Patriarch's and the great king's of Judah, especially David and Solomon, it's because they're bothered that God sanctioned or tolerated polygamy then. 

Permalink Reply by Michael Vernon McEntire on January 18, 2011 at 2:40pm

That's all any of us can do, Bradley.  However, I think there are two important lessons we can take from these stories: (1) The LORD does not throw away people who make bad decisions.  (2) The LORD accomplishes his designs even in or through situations that appear to be very messed-up. 

Permalink Reply by Michael Vernon McEntire on January 20, 2011 at 1:12pm

That is a very interesting reply, LB, and I hope that the members of our Community don't simply react to it reflexively, in a knee-jerk fashion.  Life-long, absolute monogamy has become the exception in Christianity.  Oh sure, there are church-granted annulments and divorces "on Biblical grounds" that make the de facto serial polygamy that is common among Christans seem to be less common than it really it is, but the truth is that most Christian congregations are full of the kind of demi-family situations that would have driven the Apostles and the pastors they appointed in every church nuts!  Moreover, and here's the important point, we need not suppose that the LORD cannot or will not bless the Christians in these situations!  Now, having said that, I hasten to add that of course the LORD would still prefer to join one man to one woman for life because that is how He joins himself to his Bride, but we live in a world where we still have to make-do with less-than-ideal situations because we still sin.   

Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on January 20, 2011 at 5:37am

^t“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ^u‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^vthe two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ^wWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷ They said to him, ^x“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Because of your ^yhardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^{9 z}And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”¹

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But he said to them, ^a“Not everyone can receive this saying, but only ^bthose to ^cwhom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs ^dfor the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

^t Gen. 1:27; 2:18, 21–23; 5:2; [ch. 21:16]

^u Eph. 5:31; Cited from Gen. 2:24

^v 1 Cor. 6:16; [Mal. 2:15]

^w 1 Cor. 7:10

^x Deut. 24:1–4

^y Mark 16:14; [Mark 3:5; 6:52; Heb. 3:8]

^z See ch. 5:32

¹ Some manuscripts add and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery; other manuscripts except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery

^a 1 Cor. 7:2, 7–9, 17

^b [ch. 20:23]

^c ch. 13:11

^d [1 Cor. 7:32]

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Mt 19:12

Permalink Reply by Carla on January 20, 2011 at 2:44pm

LB,

Here is a quote from John McCarthur..  short and sweet:

 

"Now here we are introduced to this interesting family, one husband and two wives. In those days, you recognize the fact that polygamy was a part of culture. It was a part of the custom of certain societies and although it is never promoted in the Scripture, it is never approved in the Scripture, and although it always, every time it appears in the Bible brings about heartache and pain and agony and judgment, still God was patient in overturning the culture, as the priority was to communicate the basis of His saving Word. That is not unlike many cultures today where missionaries go where polygamy exists and polygamy is down the list of priorities for them. First, they must get the people to make a commitment to God and then begin to instruct them in God's principles for marriage. "

Permalink Reply by Carla on January 21, 2011 at 8:06am

LB,

People have different motivations for typing the responses as they do...and spending much time to prove their point. I don't need to be right on this...but I will tell you that I am not in agreement with you.  We each need to check our motivations before the Lord before posting.

 One thing I want to acknowledge is this:

And Bro. McCarthur does not seem to have done his research at all by inferring that polygamy is a thing of the past when he says, "in those days, you recognize the fact that polygamy was part of culture" when some 85 percent of the world’s societies are polygynous (the form of polygamy we are talking about), but only 14 percent are monogamous, according to data quoted in a research paper submitted to the American Journal of Sociology in 2000 by Stephen Sanderson, titled "Sociobiology, Status, and Parental Investment"

 

Is Stephen Sanderson a Chrisitan?  Is he a polygamist?  I don't know this person?  Is he speaking from a Christian perspective? 

~Carla

Permalink Reply by Carla on January 21, 2011 at 10:45am

LB,

Sis. Carla I don't have any personal knowledge of whether Stephen Sanderson is saved or not but I don't suppose salvation is a requirement for intelligence or accurate data gathering, is it? 

if this man is not a Christ Follower..the datahe has compiled should have no bearing what-so-ever in our discussions--or his opinion.  the bible gives instructions for the one's who belong to the Lord.

 

I agree with you on this... "Prove ALL things!  Hold fast that which is good."

 

Let's leave it at that.  This discussion is in risk of becoming divisive and i don't believe either one of us wants that.

 

Blessings, Carla

Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on January 21, 2011 at 6:01am

^LB,

^{24 t}Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

^t Cited Matt. 19:5; Mark 10:7; 1 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 5:31; [Ps. 45:10; 1 Cor. 7:10, 11]

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Ge 2:24

How can a man become one with his wife, if there are other wives involved?????

Rita

Permalink Reply by Michael Vernon McEntire on January 21, 2011 at 6:58am

One FLESH, Rita.  Conjugal union.  When we try to make it more than that, we set up unrealistic expectations.  It represents our union with the LORD.  (Yes, Clive S. Lewis, our relationship to Christ is HYMENAL.)  I don't think that it would be wise for any man today to intentionally take more than one wife, and by that I mean that ideally neither husband nor wife would ever have been married before, or again.  Sigh, our world is NOT ideal.  Moreover, even LT and his wife and John McArthur and his wife don't enjoy the kind of union that we will have with the LORD.  We are one flesh with our wives, and we hope there is fidelity, but with the LORD, we are ONE SPIRIT and there always will be fidelity, at least on HIS part.  We are joined to the LORD in an intimate embrace that men and women who do not know Christ Jesus try to find in each other and never do! 

Permalink Reply by Leonard T on January 21, 2011 at 7:53am

Michael,

 

Twice now you have chosen to use my name in your illustrations. I am curious as to why you have chosen my name to single out in these illustrations?

 

Lord Bless,
LT

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