Polygamy

Polygamy simply put is a man having more than one wife. Was it practiced back in Bible times? Yes, many of the famous characters of the Bible had more than one wife. It is important to note that the ancient Judaic (semitic) culture in the beginning was mostly nomadic sheep and goat herdsmen. So it was very desirable to have many people working the herds, and providing security for the tribes. When we examine that culture, we see the benefits in having many people in one tribe, so polygamy was beneficial to the entire tribe, when we take into account the dire need for lots of workers, and soldiers. Children were highly valued by women in those times, and considered a great blessing from the Lord.
So what did Judaic polygamy look like in those times? A man would take more than one woman to be a wife, and each wife had a separate dwelling (tent, room, house etc.) for them, and their children, also they had their station in the family, usually under the direction of the number one (oldest) wife. Each one was provided for, and cared for. There were also other instances that would necessitate polygamy as seen in Deut. 25:5 ‘ If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her’.
Also at the time the Israelite people were in Egypt they were being enslaved by Pharoah, and he commanded all the baby boys be killed by drowning them in the Nile River, we don’t know how often this happened or how many people were killed, but some archaeologists have stated that there was a surge in infant burials during that time of Egyptian history. These actions by the Egyptians caused a sharp decline in the male population, and thus a shortage of available men of marrying age in the years to come, probably facilitating the need for polygamy, because they still multiplied greatly in the land of Egypt as it stated.
But if God created one man and one woman in the beginning, why does it seem that He condones polygamy as practiced by the Israelite people? Why would He allow polygamy. The answer is simple, and yet illusive in today’s culture. 1 Cor. 11:8-9 ‘ For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man’. This is why it was possible for some men in the Bible to practice polygamy in certain circumstances. The Judaic form of Polygamy was honorable because it was loving, and benevolent. Because a man had to be wealthy to have more than one wife, most people probably did not practice polygamy, unless it was a matter of necessity, because in reality one woman is all that a man needs.
Do People in this modern western culture practice polygamy? Yes. Many people practice polygamy unknowingly, because marriage is permanent. Because this modern culture has the attitude that they can get divorced and remarried as often as the need arises, they wind up with more than one spouse. So in reality it is a satanic form of polygamy, that encourages divorce, adultery, and child abuse, which is the cause for most of the social ills that we are experiencing today. For example, if a man is married, and divorced three times, he has three wives, providing that the wives were not divorced and belong to someone else in the first place. So he has three wives and doesn’t support them, and the wives may have married someone else and are practicing adultery. So in reality he is guilty of adultery by proxy, that’s why the Lord Jesus said: ‘every man that divorces his wife causes her to practice adultery’, because marriage is permanent.
So we have the two types of Polygamy, Judaic, and Greco-Romanic. One was honorable, and benevolent, the other was, and is satanic by nature, and fatal in practice. The Greco-Romans hated Judaic Polygamy, and thought that anyone that practiced it was a barbarian. Men, and women in the ancient Roman world could divorce their spouses. If a woman wanted to divorce their spouse, they would be granted legal emancipare, which is where we get our modern day word emancipation. Herod, and Herodias is a great example of this, she divorced Phillip, Herod’s brother, and married Herod, and what did John the Baptist tell Herod? ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife’.
Even though it may be admissible to have more than one wife, it has never been admissible for a woman to have more than one husband. Christians do not practice Judaic polygamy simply because of the fact that we are not to be heavily invested in this life, like Paul said: those who use the world should be as though they do not make full use of it’, and ‘those that are married should be as though they are not’. He said these things to stress the importance of pulling away from the world, and focusing on spiritual things. That’s why Paul said that a Elder should be the husband of one wife, so that he can spend quality time being an Elder, and be a good example to the younger men. It was not because of some obscure, non-existent law about monogamy that Paul said these things.
It is good if a man does not practice Polygamy, especially the Greco-Roman kind that is practiced in the modern western world. If you are in an adulterous marriage, repent before it is too late, if you really love someone, you will tell them the truth. Practice the Truth.