Multiple Wives

[Ovedya]

How many wives did Joseph (Jesus' earthly father) have?

How many wives did Peter have?

How many wives will Jesus have in eternity?

Who then is our pattern for marriage?

Look, you can have as many wives as you want, and you can use any number of "Biblical arguments" you want as justification. In the end your motivations for wanting more than one wife are either the result of a really twisted reading of the Bible, or you are just following the lusts of your flesh. Or maybe it's both.

Either way you're headed for trouble.

[RebekahDavid]

Herein is where i see the real root of the problem:

"The only question to me in this whole thread is that of whether or not it is a sin for a man to have more than one wife. "

Is it just me or

Shouldn't your question be is it pleasing to God? Divorce was permissible but is it what pleases God?

I pray that i would want to question and turn my heart towards what pleases God and not just what " He will allow me to get away with"

Love your sister in Christ,

Rebekah David

PS. and i do see the warning of that attached to the rule for the Kings

[WayneB]

I guess my question is....wouldn't multiple wives be a curse from God, thus making sense on why it's wrong and you should want nothing to do with it?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

You just put into words what I was thinkin' brother.

I love my wife of 27 years with all my heart BUT one is enough!!!!! I can't even imagine what it would be like to have more than one woman telling me to wash the dishes, pick up my stuff, telling me I'm not sensitive enough...

Seriously, there is but ONE Bride of Christ and ONE Bridegroom being Jesus Himself. Marriage between a man and a woman is a prelude, a metaphorical expression, of the upcoming eternal marriage between Jesus and His Bride, the Church. There is not more than ONE Church. There is not suppose to be more than one bride in any marriage. That is my simple understanding.

[MrsSealedEternal]

I guess my question is....wouldn't multiple wives be a curse from God, thus making sense on why it's wrong and you should want nothing to do with it?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Not more so than actually being one...

[eric]

Well said, Ovedjah. Once again someone looking for loopholes. The bible is like an insurance policy. You have to read the small print.

[Ovedya]

Yep.

I don't know why someone would want more than one wife anyway. Just trying to get along with me is difficult enough for one woman. I'd hate to think of what would happen if some sort of alliance was formed against me.

I've heard that the Chinese symbol for war is two women in a kitchen. How precise is that?!

[Lionroot]

We have have been discussing the holy men of God specifically Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Gideon and many others. That is to say they lived holy lives. They never divorced. They provided for their families. They did not use women as sex toys and discard them, as men do today with increasing frequency. They did not abandon their children. In short, they were obedient to God.

I am going to say this to your face.

If you believe that polygamy was a part of what made these men live holy lives, you are a sick man.

Nebula,

I never said that. In fact earlier I asked which came first, holy lives or many wives? Remember I said in the case of the man after God's own heart it was certainly his holy life, that is to say, set apart unto God. The same can be said of Abraham, Moses, Gideon, and a host of others.

I do not think that marital status can make you holy. Only that you can be holy regardless of your marital status.

Your the one trying to make a connection.

God Bless,

Robert

[WayneB]

I've heard that the Chinese symbol for war is two women in a kitchen. How precise is that?!

[Lionroot]

...at the root of Polygamy is self gratification ...

I hate to shock you guys...but this can be true. It can even be true in monogamous marriages as well. When people marry for such hollow reasons their relationships fail. Perhaps that is why Christians are divorcing for the first time at a rate equal or greater than non-Christians. Samson was a monogamous man who married for such reasons. He saw a woman desired her and married her. His marriage to her is an example of this exactly.

Paul wrote, it is better to marry than to burn with passion, but that doesn't mean that more is not required to make a successful marriage.

God Bless,

Robert

[Lionroot]

The "wives" God gave him were of Saul's household, and were symbols (along with everything else in Saul's house that was given to him) symbols of his absolute regal authority and sovereignty as the rightful successor to King Saul as ruler over Israel.

Thats a great theory but that is simply not what the scripture says.

"I gave your master's ...wives into your arms." -NIV

"I gave thee thy ...master's wives into thy bosom" -KJV

The language of the Bible has a trancendent quality that allows us to understand the meanings of words and phrases. The Bible repeats itself, and reveals the deeper meaning of these phrases. God very specifically chooses the words of Sarai. She said:

"I put my servant in your arms" -NIV

"I have given my maid into thy bosom" -KJV

You all know what she meant. Hagar was given as a wife into Abram's arms (or bosom). So it is clear what this phrase meant to the Israelites, who were steeped in the Torah. Within this list of blessing on David, the phrase carried its meaning to them as they read it, as it does to you now.

God Bless,

Robert

"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.