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I am sick of hearing people like Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and other Christian right wing people saying that the Bible's "definition" of marriage is "one man and one woman". Apparently these people never really studied the Bible as any beginning student of the Bible knows the definition of marriage in the Bible was one man and possibly many women.
I am NOT advocating polygamy but I am simply making a factual statement. The Bible defined marriage as one man and multiple women. Moses had at least TWO wives, with good proof showing he actually had THREE wives, in addition to a concubine. King David had at least SEVEN wives and THOUSANDS of women in his concubine. Jacob had multiple wives. Abraham had at least THREE wives and the list goes on.
God did NOT forbid Old Testament followers to have more than one wife. The Law even has instructions for the man with more than one wife (Deuteronomy 21:15). Even in the New Testament multiple wives were allowed as the instruction that elders must be “the husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2). This would logically conclude that others had multiple wives but an elder should only have one wife.
As mentioned above, most Christians are COMPLETELY CLUELESS to God allowing and even promoting multiple wives in the Old Testament. If they do read about it, they are not comfortable with it and avoid it. The fact remains that God did NOT prohibit multiple wives in the law, and He did not rebuke those who had more than one wife.
The nation Israel comes from the offspring of the four “wives” (2 wives, 2 concubines) of Jacob. One thing is certain, the Bible does NOT condone the marriage of two women or two men, but it does condone the marriage of one man to multiple women. I just wish the people on TV would stop saying "one man and one women", as that is NOT the Biblical definition of marriage.
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
(Genesis 2:24)
Genesis 4:19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
Genesis 26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
Judges 8:30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.
Samuel 25:43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives.
Kings 20: 2-3 And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Thus says Ben-hadad: ’Your silver and your gold are mine; your best wives and children also are mine.’”
Ahab, king of Israel, had multiple wives, and not one disapproving word from the prophets or God Himself can be found.
I guess you just ignore the other dozens of verses that say otherwise.
Jacob had two wives, Rachael and Leah, whose 12 sons were the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. Solomon had hundreds of wives. Polygamy is not condemned in the Bible. The Bible recommends that a man have but one wife (or none), but more than one wife is not forbidden.
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
(Genesis 2:24)
1 Corinthians 6:16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
Your understanding of "one flesh" is not Biblically correct. "One flesh" simply means to have intimate relations with another women. Hence the above verse in I Corinthians clarifies this. Moses married two wives, yet he was "one flesh" with the both of them. King David had at least seven wives & thousands of women in his concubine, yet he was "one flesh" with all of them.
The term, "one flesh" did not mean that a man could not be "one flesh" with more than one woman. It simply meant to have intimate relations, during which time the two people become "one flesh". The Scriptures reveal that Jesus and Moses knew what "one flesh" meant when Moses authored Genesis 2:24 as a man may be "one flesh" with more than one woman. So a guy who has sex with a prostitute becomes "one flesh" with the prostitute even though he never marries her, as shown by 1 Corinthians 6:16
Jacob had two wives, Rachael and Leah, whose 12 sons were the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. Solomon had hundreds of wives. Polygamy is not condemned in the Bible. The Bible recommends that a man have but one wife (or none), but more than one wife is not forbidden.
Exactly. Most Christians are clueless on this topic and keep repeating the mantra of "one man & one woman" that their Sunday School pastor told them. Maybe if these people would actually STUDY the Bible they proclaim they follow they would quickly realize that polygamy was very commonplace and never forbidden by God.
Even on top of that, many of the prophets had concubines (women who were NOT wives but merely would be used for child bearing). King David had 1,000's of these women.
To the OP: You have to remember that the Old Testament has been overruled by the New Testament. Rules that applied then do not apply now. Food prohibitions etc. Christians follow the New Testament. Jesus put it very plainly.
Mt 19:4 "Haven’t you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ Mt 19:5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ ? Mt 19:6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.
Because of this, the general rule has been one man+one woman=marriage. Anything else is a corruption of God's will.
..... The nation Israel comes from the offspring of the four “wives” (2 wives, 2 concubines) of Jacob. One thing is certain, the Bible does NOT condone the marriage of two women or two men, but it does condone the marriage of one man to multiple women. .....
I have yet to find a Biblical quote that forbids marriage, or any other relationship, between two women. As far as I can tell, it is not mentioned in the Bible. If you subscribe to the theory that failure to find a Biblical condemnation means it is permitted, then lesbian marriages should be just fine.
To the OP: You have to remember that the Old Testament has been overruled by the New Testament. Rules that applied then do not apply now.
The New Testament qualifications for a bishop or deacon were, among others, " a man of one wife" which clearly suggests that polygamy was not uncommon in the early church.
Exactly. Most Christians are clueless on this topic and keep repeating the mantra of "one man & one woman" that their Sunday School pastor told them. Maybe if these people would actually STUDY the Bible they proclaim they follow they would quickly realize that polygamy was very commonplace and never forbidden by God.
Even on top of that, many of the prophets had concubines (women who were NOT wives but merely would be used for child bearing). King David had 1,000's of these women.
Find me a passage where God specifically condones polygamy.
Just because these folks fell by transgression does not mean that God condones it.
Samson fell into Lust by Delilaliah (sp?). David fell by Absolom. Solomon fell as well. God made it clear he did not condone their actions. He took his Spirit away from Samson.
There are plenty of Scriptures to demonstrate how God does not condone more than one wife.
Matthew 5:31-33
31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Exodus 20:14
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Polygamy is Adultery. Written in stone by the Creator Messiah himself (Colossians 1:14-17)(John 1).
Those that fell into apostasy, while some may be Justified by Faith, will still be accountable for those decisions in the Eternal court.
Last edited by Mikelee81; 05-14-2012 at 08:58 AM..
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