Multiple Wives in Old Testament.Why not since in NT and now?

[delta]

A Question from many non-Christians: [inconsistency?]

Yes, in Old testament were NOT ONLY among His people, but also many in His prophets, messengers and some kings/leaders that they had more than one wives.

Wondering why God allowed the multiple wives at that times...is that considering a sin (at the OT time)?

Why God is not allowing it any longer after the cross?

What's the reason of God allowing multiple wives at that time?

[fccool]

It kind of goes along with your question about lying. God allowed many things because He lets us choose.

For example:

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

2Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.

3And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

4Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

5And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

6But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

7And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

8According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

9Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

10And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.

11And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

12And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

13And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

14And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

15And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

16And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

17He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

18And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

20That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

21And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

22And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

It is clear from the passage that God did not want Israel to have a king. He warned them the consequences and told them what would happen if they did. They did not believe Him and wanted the king anyway. God allowed them to make that choice, even though he disapproved of it.

The same is with multiple wives... and many ungodly things that you and I do every single day. He reveals to us His will, warns us of the consequences, and lets us make a choice.

[Dr. Shane]

I am not convinced that God does not allow multiple wives today. Only that those with multiple wives are not to be in church leadership. From what I understand, there are churches in Africa that allow converts with multiple wives to keep their wives even after getting baptized.

[Woody]

This is an interesting point. Usually the church does not allow people to join who have "visible" sins. And if a member displays a "visible" sin ... then they become subject to discipline.

So, by allowing multiple wives ... is the church saying that it is not a sin?

[Dr. Shane]

I don't think it is a sin. Where does the Bible say it is a sin? It is outside of God's plan but so is war, divorce and meat-eating.

[Curly]

I minister to the Maasai people in Kenya and in their culture they do practice having multiple wives. It is not just "visible" but it becomes life and death for the wives. If the husband discards them -- they are left alone in society with no one to take care of them, no way to eat, or take care of their children. When young Maasai men become Christains they are to take no more than one wife, but it is quite different in requesting the older men to get rid of the wives they have.

For more about the ministry Maasai Development Project check out www.4mdp.org

As far as visible sins, that reminds me of a check list. The Bible tells me God wants my heart and He wants to write His laws on my heart. Does that mean only visible sins are wrong, not the invisible ones?

[Woody]

Quote:

As far as visible sins, that reminds me of a check list. The Bible tells me God wants my heart and He wants to write His laws on my heart. Does that mean only visible sins are wrong, not the invisible ones?

Hi Curly. Welcome. It is good to hear of your culture and experience.

You make some good points here. And I agree with them. I was simply stating what our church does. I don't necessarily agree with what it does. I do feel that all sins are sins ... both visible and hidden. And I think that it is between the individual and God to discover and correct. I don't think we need to be in the business of applying discipline because someone has sin ... either visible or not.

[carolaa]

I minister to the Maasai people in Kenya and in their culture they do practice having multiple wives. It is not just "visible" but it becomes life and death for the wives. If the husband discards them -- they are left alone in society with no one to take care of them, no way to eat, or take care of their children. When young Maasai men become Christains they are to take no more than one wife, but it is quite different in requesting the older men to get rid of the wives they have.

That's exactly what I was wondering about, thanks. So what happens to an SDA widow in that culture? Is a SDA man then allowed to take her as a 2nd wife? Or does the church take care of her?

[carolaa]

Wondering why God allowed the multiple wives at that times...is that considering a sin (at the OT time)?

Why God is not allowing it any longer after the cross?

Maybe He allowed it in the beginning, as well as after the Flood, so the earth would populate faster.

[delta]

I heard one of the basic responses about this multiple wives issue proclaims that:

"Never ask anything about multiple wives before you make a clear and simple distinction between 'MULTIPLE WIVES' VS 'HIDDEN WIVES' "

"God knows everything about any consequence of your future but He also doesn't forcefully restrict you to obey His original plan about one on one---very first couple and family, Adam and Eve- back to Eden as His recommended model. You can have as many wives as you can but wait,! This is only in the fundamental principle that your wives must KNOW each other personally and all AGREE to serve the same husband!

This' the scenario of what really happened in the Old Testament age.

1. When you want to add some extra wives, you need to NOTIFY your existing wives. Yes! Let her/them know.

2. Husband and wife[wives] need to stay in one roof as a family. So if you want extra wife, ask your new member to living together with other choir members while at the same time don't forget to ask your existing choir members if they agree with the new comer.

3. Never think to have rotation. Remember, family need to stay together so that you don't need to make your homework about daily or weekly schedule of visitation to wives.

==>Whenever comes to your mind to have additional wives without your existing wives know about it, this is simply called an adultery since you have a hidden agenda of hidden wives.

Now, keep in mind that because sin is more and always increasingly more today [including the jealousy-related sin + new diseases, of course] do you think it is safe to build a family with multiple wives today?

I don't know about you but the Bible clearly said that even though God allows the multiple wives but that's never the original plan of His so He never recommend a multiple wives family.

How much more we need to be careful about multiple wives in this peak hour of sins, just before the closing moment of the world history."

"So in OT God allows multiple wives, hardly so. But there's nothing in the Bible that God allows hidden wives. Never. Show me from the Bible if God agrees about "Hidden Wives"

-Quoted from a quarterly "Adventist Home seminar" Sabbath,

Spring 2005

[Gerr]

A Question from many non-Christians: [inconsistency?]

Yes, in Old testament were NOT ONLY among His people, but also many in His prophets, messengers and some kings/leaders that they had more than one wives.

Wondering why God allowed the multiple wives at that times...is that considering a sin (at the OT time)?

Why God is not allowing it any longer after the cross?

What's the reason of God allowing multiple wives at that time?

INFLATION!!! I can barely afford ONE wife!!!

Gerry

[carolaa]

I don't know about you but the Bible clearly said that even though God allows the multiple wives but that's never the original plan of His so He never recommend a multiple wives family.

That's a good point. I don't think you'll find anywhere in the Bible where God asks a man to take on more than one wife.

[delta]

..so if supposedly you are technically have triple income more than today ...then guess what?

[Dr. Shane]

Throughout much of history multiple wives were practical. Boys were much more likely to die from childhood illness so society had more adult women than men. Women were not in the workforce for the most part and needed someone to take care of them. So if women are dependent on men and there are more women than men, some men are going to have to have more than one wife.

That was far from an ideal situation. There was a lot of jealousy and men typically had their "favorite" wife and the other was neglected most of the time. Certainly not God's ideal.

[Neil D]

INFLATION!!! I can barely afford ONE wife!!!

Gerry

Um...Your wife is full of hot air, you say, Gerry? If I were you, I wouldn't make that case....even if you wanted more than one wife.... ROFL

[Woody]

Neil .... you have made a good point. When saying someone is 'inflated' ... it is best to refer to ones self. But in this case he 'seems' to be stating that his 'wife' is so inflated that he can hardly manage her. He needs to seek counsel from Olger on this matter IMHO.

I've noticed a lot of inflation and deflation. The result is a lot of hot air going around.

BTW I would just love to know what you edited. Be brave neil ... Go for it.

[Guest Neil D]

Hmmmmm....wasn't so much inflation of wife as regretting that he has only ONE wife to support....And if he wanted more than one wife, even under the most favorable of circumstances, tis best not to rue that you have ONLY one due to the high costs of keeping that ONE wife...

Oh well....you know, hiding behind this rock of late seems to be getting more comforatable....Don't know that I will peek around it for a while....there is a lot of debrie suddenly piling up around it....

[Woody]

Neil. I am getting more and more confused by all this. You mean that he was not just complaining about his wife's hot and inflated air ... but he is complaining about the cost of having more and more hot air around him with an additional wife?

It sounds like he doesn't have a very good opinion of women. And I recall him having an 'issue' with women on another thread.

Maybe we need to have him clarify about all this ....

ROFL

[Guest Neil D]

Neil. I am getting more and more confused by all this. You mean that he was not just complaining about his wife's hot and inflated air ...

[Woody]

Quote:

that was me putting words into his mouth and playing with monkey wrenches

NEIL. You mean that YOU are the cause of all this trouble?

YOU would put something in someone's mouth?

You would play with wrenches? How many wenches do you have in your tool box?

[Guest Neil D]

Quote:

that was me putting words into his mouth and playing with monkey wrenches

NEIL. You mean that YOU are the cause of all this trouble?

[Woody]

Hardor Fright Stores? I Might have been to one of those. I don't know. Do they have good prices?

[Gerr]

..so if supposedly you are technically have triple income more than today ...then guess what?

Seriously, the Plan of Salvation is about restoration, not only restoration of broken relationships but also restoration of old forgotten or ignored truths. Jesus often said, "You have heard it said of old, but I say to you...."

Take divorce, for example. Because of sin, some accommodation for divorce was given through Moses. By the time of Christ, the excuses/reasons had become very loose. Jesus reaffirmed the original plan, i.e. "in the beginning it was not so."

Another example is diet. As a result of sin, meat eating was permitted. During the end times in which we live, God gave us the health message calling us back to the original diet given to man.

In the theological areas, the forgotten/ignored truths of the non-immortality of the soul, the trampled law of God including the Sabbath, will be restored prior to the coming of Christ.

While I find no obvert condemnation of polygamy in Scripture, I believe God is also trying to restore His original plan in this area.

Gerry

[Kevin H]

God prefers to have us learn by expirence instead of imposing his will on us. So was there a lesson to learn in these multi-marriages? Did it teach us that if you engage in this behavior you will live happilly ever after, or do we find a theam of "You'll be sorry"?

[Amelia]

*gp*

Curiously I can't find anywhere where God rebuked anyone for multiple wives.