Polygamy

Hagar and Ishmael's explusion from Abraham's house

This has nothing to do with our homestead, but I had an interesting conversation with a coworker today about polygamy. The conversation began because we had read in the news that Fundamental Latter-Day Saint leader, and polygamist, Warren Jeffs had tried to commit suicide in jail. The resulting conversation touched off a debate about just what the Bible says about the subject of polygamy.

I did a little research, and here's what I found. The Bible (Old Testament specifically), is filled with examples of great men of God having multiple wives. David and Solomon are prime examples. David is largely considered Isreal's greatest king and God himself even declared him to be a man after His own heart. Solomon is also considered the wisest king in Isreal's history. Neither of these men were ever scrutinized by God for having multiple wives. However, I was surprised to learn that they were in fact living in sin through their polygamy. In Deut 17:14, 17, God strictly forbids Isreal's kings from taking "many wives" because "his heart will be led astray." Notice, God didn't say his heart might be led astray, He said it will be led astray. Therefore, David and Solomon were living in direct contradiction to God's command. However, this command did not seem to extend to all Israel, but only to the king.

So if polygamy, in general, is not condemned in the Old Testament, what does the New Testament say? Practically nothing. The only time plural marriage is even spoken of is in 1 Timothy and Titus, when elders and deacons (i.e. - church leaders) are commanded to have only one wife. So what are we to think from this?

There are some who say that God told church leaders to have only one wife because their time could be be better spent serving the church than in juggling a huge family. Therefore, we should follow the same example. I don't think this is true. Paul told us not to marry at all because if we're unhindered by family, we can spend 100% of our time serving God. If we were to take that example, none of us should be married. But we all know marriage is not a bad thing, and that God extablished it as a good and beautiful union.

My opinion is that, while not morally wrong, plural marriage is just not a good idea. Just like being rich is not a sin, you also have to realize that having great wealth opens you up to all kinds of other temptations...greed and pride specifically. In the same way, having multiple wives opens the man and women up to all kinds of other temptations they wouldn't otherwise face. Having multiple wives can lead to jealousy and animosity amongst wives. The man might play favorites or one wife can bear him children while the other can't.

One example of this is Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. Abraham married Hagar with Sarah's blessing (one she gave without ever consulting God) so she could bear him children, but jealousy crept in and Sarah began treating Hagar badly. When Sarah finally became pregnant and birthed Issac, she treated him better than she did Hagar's son Ishmael. Did you know that the Muslims consider Ishmael the descendant of their whole people? So Issac went on to be the descendant of Jews and Christians, and Ishmael became the descendants of the Muslims. God told Hagar that Ishmael would be a "wild donkey" and would constantly in conflict with others. Sound anything like the constant struggle between Jews/Christians and Muslims that continues to this day? If Abraham had never taken Hagar as his wife, would the conflict ever have occured?

Solomon's lust for more wives was insatiable. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Someone tell me how a man is supposed to love, care for, and deeply know 700 women. This is one of those cases where his greed got WAY out of control. At this point, it was no longer about love but about power. To Solomon, his wives became a status symbol, and were nothing but property to him. In addition, his lust for more wives caused him to marry foreign women, somthing that was expressly forbidden by God. Was God prejudice or racist? Absolutely not! He knew that if Solomon married foreign women, they would bring foreign religious influence into his life and the lives of all Isrealites. He was right, because Solomon started building altars to and worshipping other gods, while trying to worship the God. And this is coming from the wisest king in Israel's history.

Polygamy was by no means present across the board in the Old Testament. Among the men who had only one wife are Adam, Noah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Boaz, Job, Isaiah, and Hosea. In fact, it is in the story of Adam that we see God's ideal for marriage. God ordained marriage between one man and one woman. He gave man one woman to be his helpmeet, not 700.

I often think about polygamy being akin to slavery. As hard as it is to believe in this day's culture, the Bible never condemns slavery. In Biblical times, slavery was a common thing, and instead of trying to abolish the institution, God meant to regulate the treatment of slaves. He sought to ensure that slaves were treated fairly by their masters. God knew that with slavery, just as with polygamy, people were opening themselves up to temptations they would never have had to face otherwise. Pride, greed, and malice are all sins a slave owner would be tempted by. Thomas Jefferson, who disliked slavery but owned slaves, commented that anyone who owned another person was much more likely to devalue life and humanity by giving in to a feeling of superiority.

Based on what I see in the Bible, I can not condemn polygamy as immoral or sinful, but it is a bad idea, and very little good can come from it. If we wish to live by God's ideal and learn from the mistakes of our forefathers, we'll steer clear of it. Not to mention the fact that you'll go to jail for it in this country. That would kind of put a damper on the whole experience.