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. This is why 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. They were not fallen angels. Yet no connection to God existed.
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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 of the creation of the man.
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From the beginning of man’s existence, it was God’s intention for polygyny to exist. 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 I am sure 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. 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, as well as any who were still virgins and had been acquired, to choose whoever he wanted. Saul’s death freed all those who he had made a one-flesh marriage with. They were widows and could be taken as a wife by another.
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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 being 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. There is 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, as well as the man. 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. And if you noticed, the sin was never placed at the feet of Bathsheba. Since men had that authority over them, the man answered to God for such a violation, as is seen with David.
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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. 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.
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There are other examples that show this reality, but let’s get to where we discover what and why this all changed for those who are professing Christians.
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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 of 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 more 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 creation, the female is no longer the bone and flesh of man in her 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 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.
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Because of this, now men do not have that power in there created make-up over the 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 his being now in Christ has changed for two becoming one-flesh. Hence, why taking more than one wife is now adulterous. Now, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. And whereas in the O.T. women could not put away, 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 exixted 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. 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, much of the church still doesn’t either. He told them, the man putting away a wife, except for fornication, and he, 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. So, it doesn’t matter whether polygamy (Both male and female having more than one spouse) is practiced or not. 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 and the consequences of violating it for men have changed, however.