Marriage Series - Polygamy and It's Problems Part 1

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Why do Christians make such a big deal about a man marrying only one wife?  All over the world, for thousands of years, polygamy has been a common practice.  Men marry multiple wives. Or men have a wife and multiple concubines. Or men have a wife and a mistress.  Sometimes polygamy is supported by the laws of the land. Sometimes it is not. But we have to admit, polygamy is very, very common. So why do Christians insist that polygamy is to be avoided and that marriage is between one man and one woman?

 

There are two reasons Christians oppose polygamy. The first reason is because God has designed human beings for monogamous marriage.  Polygamy means marriage with many women as wives of one man. Monogamy means one wife. God’s original design was for one man, Adam, to be married to one woman, Eve.  God set this as a pattern right from the start.  In Matthew 19:5, Jesus references creation and describes marriage by saying, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Two become one. Three do not become one.  Three cannot become one.  But one man and one woman can indeed become one flesh. Monogamy is God’s original plan for marriage.

 

But there is another reason Christians make a big deal about marrying only one wife. We know from observing the world that polygamy is full of problems and horrible consequences that should be avoided if we want to live in peace with our family. Just look at the problems that came to Abraham when he took Hagar to be his second wife: jealousy, conflict, rejection. You can read all about it in Genesis 16.  From the day Abraham took a second wife, he and his family began to suffer. They suffered even though his first wife, Sarah said it would be OK. It was not.

 

Or look at Abraham’s grandson Jacob. His marriages are described in Genesis 30. Jacob had two wives, Leach and Rachel. But he did not, he could not, love them equally. Jacob loved Rachel, but Leah was not loved. Even so, Leah did give birth to six sons and one daughter. Still Rachel had no children. So she became very jealous of her husband’s first wife. There was no unity in that three-way marriage. There was no harmony or mutual understanding. When Rachel finally had a child, she named him Joseph.  But the jealousy between his mother and his father’s first wife caused him great problems.  His half-brothers hated him so much they wanted to kill him. Only by God’s grace did Joseph survive their plan to murder him.

 

We see from the Bible, and from observing life today, that the world we live in is broken. Because we have rebelled against God and have chosen to go our own way, we forget that God’s original design is very good for us and for our children.  Brothers and sisters do not forget the goodness of God shown in creation. Help your people choose God’s good and gracious design for marriage: one man and one woman together in loving unity.

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

 

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