So feel free to point out the errors.
ok, one more try
I'm using
BLUE for the site authors text
There are some stipulations in the law that are connected to this subject. Matt. 22:24: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.” This is based on the commandment found in Deut. 25:5-6: “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. “And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ”
This is the one place that God actually could force a polygynous marriage. If a mans brother already has a wife then he is commanded to take the widow also. This is a unique circumstance. But it is allowed, permitted, not condemned.
Multiple wives was tolerated but never with God's approval. Jesus told the Jews, "Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way" (Matthew 19:3-8). The Mosaic law aimed at mitigating, rather than removing, evils that were inseparable from the state of society in that day. Its enactments were directed to the discouragement of polygamy; to prevent the injustice frequently consequent upon the exercise of the rights of a father or a master; to bring divorce under some restriction; and to enforce purity of life during the maintenance of the matrimonial bond.
again, God hates divorce. The author is speculating and injecting his opinion on polygyny.
In 2Samuel 12:8 God GAVE David his wives. He would have given him more if he had asked.
The Bible says adultery is not a choice, one does not have to acquire another wife to solve his urges. Jesus said if you look upon another woman with desire (married or not) it is adultery, a sin.
Here is the major root of the misunderstanding, the whole debate as it were.
Can a single man look upon an unmarried maiden with desire? Is he committing adultery? Of course that action is not adultery. Gods commandment is to not covet your neighbors wife. To covet is to lust, to unjustly desire, to want something that belongs to someone else. It is acceptable to want something that you CAN have. You can lust after a prize pearl. A choice piece of property. That fine ox at the market.
Jacob looked upon Rachel with desire. She was an unmarried maiden, not the wife of another man. There is a difference between a maiden and a woman. Jesus said it is wrong to commit adultery... it is adultery to even look upon a woman (not a maiden) with lust (unjust desire). Just as David did when he saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof. It was not wrong for him to recognize her beauty, but he crossed the line when he desired to take her as his own. She belonged to another man. That is coveting, lusting, unjust desire.
Paul insisted that a leader in the church should be “the husband of one wife,” a deacon or elder must have one wife... Titus 1:6.
Some are given the gift of teaching or leading, some are not. If Paul thinks a deacon or elder should have one wife then so be it. What of the other men that are not deacons or elders? Or, does this teaching follow Gods stand against divorce? A deacon or elder must prove themselves good leaders by retaining their first marriage? A divorced elder would set a bad example to the flock. Likewise, what wisdom would a man have gained by never marrying?
Could a bachelor elder give good guidance to a married couple that was having problems if he himself had not experienced marriage?
The New Testament teaches that, “Each man [should] have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband” (1 Cor. 7:2). Monogamous marriage teaches us the type of the relation Christ has between himself and His bride, the church (Eph. 5:31-32). The church is called the bride, collectively as one (singular) each person is not a bride, as in plurality of wives and marriages.
or is it? Matt.25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
God gives an example of using Himself as the husband of two brides, read Ezekiel 23.
How many wives did Adam have in Gen.2:24? One, God did not take two wives out from his side. Monogamy has always been God's standard for the human race.
From the very beginning God set the pattern by creating a monogamous marriage relationship -one man and one woman, Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:27; 2:21-25). It cannot be interpreted he became one with “each wife”; then this would mean he would be a husband to each, committing adultery. God certainly could have made two or more wives for Adam, this would have endorse the idea of polygamy, but he made only one.
Yes we are to have our own wives and our wives their own husband. We are not to have other mens wives and wives are not to have other husbands. That is the sanctity of marriage. It still does not preclude polygyny. A man has his wives and they all have their husband. The husband is one with each wife as a wagon wheel is one with its' spokes. Each spoke is different yet part of the same wheel. To add another spoke does not cause another to be removed. It all becomes a greater ONE. one plus one is one. It's marriage, not math.
If God had given Adam two wives then everyone would be claiming that We must have at least TWO wives! Again, it was a baseline marriage.
The Bible clearly and decidedly states that God does not condone or allow the practice of polygamy over and over again.
so the author states his opinion again. God speaks against divorce and against adultery. Not against polygyny.
