Polygamy: The Christian's perspective

Complied by Solomon Tweneboah

“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:21-25, NKJV).

Many patriarchs and devoted men of God in the Bible, in the likes of Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon, had multiple wives. Nonetheless, these men had close, intimate, and personal relationship with God; with some getting inspiration from God to write books or portions of the Holy Bible. Currently, some pastors, some leading church members, some Christians, and even some non-Christians, believe and argue that polygamy should not be shunned by Christians. They are of the view that God does not abhor polygamy and so the Christian church should endorse it.

Beloved Christians, let us not forget that Christ is the founder of Christianity, and all beliefs and practices in Christianity must be ordained by Christ. In the Bible, from Adam to Matthew, all the people who believed God looked forward to the coming Savior. So also, people who lived from the time of the cross until today, look backwards to the cross for salvation. Christ is the center around which all faithful ones cluster and derive their joy of salvation. God has used holy men such as Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, and many others in the olden days. But all these people had their individual shortcomings or mistakes just like anyone of us today. This, therefore, does not make any if these people role models for Christians

Christ only is the author and finisher of our faith as Christians (Heb 12:2): The Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End – and everything in-between (Rev 22:13). Christ lived among men and taught men the best way of life. He showed men the way to get back to God. He lived a life of example unto us that we, as Christians, must follow His steps. The Bible declares that Christ alone lived without sin: He committed no sin. Therefore, Christ's life is the pattern for Christians, not the life of any other human being.

While on earth, Christ gave His followers clear-cut instructions on marriage on divorce when He was asked a question in Matthew 19:3-9.

3 “The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

In the words of Jesus, in the beginning He Who created human being created male and female. And that a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. That is the definition of marriage: two people, male and female, becoming one flesh. That is how God made it in the beginning, and Christ maintained that it had not changed. Not a man joining two, three, five, ten, or fifteen, etc. women to become one flesh. No, not at all; that is not the institution of God. Not a woman joining two, three, five, ten, or fifteen, etc. men to become one flesh. Not a man joining another man or men to become one flesh. Not a woman joining another woman or women to become one flesh. The explanation of Christ was simple, clear, and without any ambiguity: ONE MAN JOINING ONE WOMAN AND THE TWO BECOMING ONE FLESH. It does not matter what Abraham, David or Solomon did, Christ confirmed that God's principle concerning marriage had not changed. What or David or Solomon did never changed the institution of God.

Apostle Paul wrote letters to his fellow Christians and explained this same principle which he received from Christ. Paul never taught anything different from the teaching of Christ. Christ will not teach one principle and then instruct Paul to teach another thing contrary, no, not at all. What God made in the beginning is the same thing Christ re-taught, and that is what Paul preached. If we leave out the teaching of Christ and try to understand the writings of Paul in isolation, we will be confused. Peter admits that the writings of Paul contain things hard to understand and that people twist them to their own destruction (2Pet 3:15). But when we lay the teaching of Christ as the foundation, then the writings of Paul will make a lot of sense.

Coming to the issue of divorce, Christ made it clear that Moses commanded you to give a certificate of divorce because of the hardness of your heart, but it was not so from the beginning. Because of the hardness of your heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wife, or marry multiple wives but that was not so from the beginning: that is not how God designed it. Today, because of the hardness of our hearts, we are permitted to become gay, lesbians, bisexual, transgender, queer, beastialist, etc. but all these were not so from the beginning.

 

God bless you as spend time to listen to His word.