by Edward Ridenour
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I want to address the question as to why Old Testament men had multiple wives and God never condemned it, because it is a very valid question that is not understood in Christendom, and therefore not sufficiently answered. In fact, the answers given are given primarily because of a lack of understanding, and in no way satisfy the inquirer. So, let me give you the true Biblical answer for this question.
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As Christians, our existence no longer shares the original creation of Adam and Eve. We are a new creation in Christ and the nature that formerly existed in us and still exists among the unregenerate, we no longer have in common. Much of what applies to them in their being does not apply to us anymore. Yes, we still exist in flesh and blood and water, but a change has been made to the Christian that has not occurred to the non-Christian.
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In the beginning when God made man, he was a creature that was made in God’s image, but there was no connection between God and him. He was an entity by himself similar to all the other creations of God, like animals, angels, Seraphims, Cherubims, etc. Men were not the sons of God by this creation. When Scripture speaks of “sons of God” in the Old Testament, it is identifying those who were of righteousness through their faith in God and walked with Him, yet no connection to God existed. The term did not depict “fallen angels”
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With women being created from man and connected to him as his “bone and flesh,” declared by Adam, she was inferior in her creation, as opposed to his creation, him being “first formed” from the earth. Her strength and being came from him. In every way she was the lesser and weaker of the creation of the man. God spoke to and called out to Adam, not Eve. However, in the garden, she was relatively equal to man, because she needed him for nothing. All was naturally provided. When she sinned, by eating from the forbidden tree and causing Adam to sin, it ended that equality she possessed. It placed her directly under the authority of the man and completely dependent upon and subject to him. How? They were cast out of the garden, where everything perfect for her existence was no longer. The Apostle Paul writes in 1Timothy 2:9-15 the required consequences and dispositions for Christian women, in the flesh, to exemplify their subjection due to her “transgression.”
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From the beginning of man’s existence, it was God’s intention for polygyny to exist for the woman’s sake. Hence why God permitted and never condemned the practice, but in the law regulated it, which is seen in Exodus 21:10 and Deuteronomy 21:15-18. As long as the man took a virgin girl, a widow, or eventually one with a “Certificate of Divorce,” he could marry as many as he desired in conjunction with his ability to provide their requirements.
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Kings, such as David and Solomon had many wives and concubines who were of that sexual eligible status stated above. The reason they could have so many wives is because they were acquired by the kingdom for them to produce offspring, and their pleasure as well. So, once acquired, they would always be the possession of the kingdom and be taken care of till death or their approved wish to be released, if still eligible. But never released once married to the king. All of their provision was taken care of from the treasury of the kingdom. This is the meaning of God giving David all the wives of King Saul (2Samuel 12:8). Since King Saul was dead, every wife and concubine he had married were now available to David to marry, as well as any female virgin who had been acquired for Saul for future marriage. Saul’s death freed all those who he had made a one-flesh marriage with (Romans 7:2b). They were now either virgins or widows and were eligible to be taken for a wife by David, or set free for another man, if he chose to do so.
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It wasn’t until David took (sexually intimate, married) another man’s wife (2Samuel 11:4) that God condemned him. This reveals the connection of the man and woman, where she is lesser than the man in their original creation. Hence, why the female could never have more than one husband, because she is “flesh and bone” of man and he is not flesh and bone of her. Because of this, the female could only be connected to one male. There was that distinction between the two.
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For David to take Uriah’s wife Bathsheba was adulterous, because she was presently joined in flesh and bone to Uriah her husband. A woman could only be joined to one man, because she came out of man, even if the man was joined to other women. If she was joined to more than one man, she would be an adulterer, including the man who took her. All because of who she was created from and the construct of her being. This causes her to be under the power of a man not men, and the man not under the power and authority of a woman.
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The O.T. gives credence to this fact of her being under his power. It is seen in marriage for a virgin, where her guardian often chose and negotiated in covenant with a man who wanted her for a wife. She could make no decisions or agreements with another without approval from a male guardian. When a man married her, he would “spread his skirt” over her showing that dominance. In fact, the Mosaic Law describing the prohibition of uncovering the nakedness of a man’s wife was described as uncovering the man’s skirt and revealing his nakedness. Hence, David was guilty of uncovering Uriah’s skirt. This shows again the make-up of her connection to man as being a part of man and not the man being a part of her (Ezekiel 16:8; Deuteronomy 27:20; Ruth 3:9).
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We know from Scripture that all those who have truly believed in Jesus Christ and confessed their sins have been born-again, regenerated and have been made “a new creation” in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. The key to the change as to why polygyny is no longer acceptable under the law of Christ is because of this new creation aspect. Where the woman was once lesser than the man in her creation at the beginning, she is no longer after her conversion in Christ. And how do we know this? Well, the Apostle Paul told us why polygyny is no longer accepted when he was teaching the Ephesians the expectations of a husband to his wife and the wife to her husband in Ephesians 5. In that discourse, he declared something, which is totally missed in Christendom, which explains completely why polygyny is not a valid condition as being a new creature in Christ.
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His declaration revealing what this new creation has changed for both the male and female is what he said in 5:30-32 “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning the church.” Can you see the change? He is stating the same thing that Adam stated in the beginning. But since born-again believers are no longer of that original creation, the born-again female is no longer the bone and flesh of man in her born-again creation, as she was at the beginning. She has now, only in Christ, been made equal to the man in her creation, being made a “son of God,” as is the male. The Christian female’s being is not connected to the flesh and bone of man, but rather the flesh and bone of Christ, as is the man, making them equal in existence bodily.
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Because of this, now no man has power in there created make-up over the Christian women. Not that they no longer have any authority and responsibilities over females in this world in the flesh, which is obvious by the other teachings of Paul and Peter, yet their being now in Christ has changed for two becoming one-flesh. Hence, why a Christian man taking more than one wife is now adulterous. So, now, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. And whereas in the O.T. wives had no ability or power to put away her husband, she now can and must when the conditions of fornication are present. This is the teaching of Christ for marriage, whom we are one with, as is seen in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Because of our connection to Christ, a whole new way of marriage exists, than what existed when we were still in our original creation.
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When you read what Jesus taught regarding marriage to the Pharisees and others, you see Him teaching marriage as it will be for the regenerated sons of God exclusively (see my article “BIBLICAL MARRIAGE: A Christian Exclusive”) This is why the Pharisees couldn’t believe what they were hearing, because they had no clue of what Jesus was speaking of. And you know what? Christendom still doesn’t know either. He told the Pharisees, the man putting away a wife, except for fornication, and then marrying another would be an act of committing adultery. Well, first off, a sexually fornicating spouse was stoned to death. They were never put away. And it didn’t matter anyway, because the man could have more than one wife, so how could he commit adultery if he put a legitimate wife away and marry another eligible female? This they couldn’t understood from centuries of Mosaic Law and polygyny.
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And yes, this means all who are not a new creation in Christ are still existing in their original created nature and defiled. So, it doesn’t matter whether polygyny or polygamy (Both male and female having more than one spouse) is practiced or not. However, if they choose to, they can emulate Christ’s instruction on marriage and live accordingly, but they will only benefit in having a proper marriage, because until one is born-again and become Christ’s flesh and bone and body their marriage is still defiled, and they will not inherit and enter into the kingdom of God.
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The making of a marriage (sexual intimacy) before God between a male and female was always depicted in the O.T., as it is in the N.T. The conditions of making a marriage are still the same. However, the law and conditions of it, as well as the consequences of violating it has changed for the Christian.