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    Torah and Marriage

    Posted by Lev/Christopher on July 22, 2008 at 10:14am
    in Torah Studies

    STATEMENT

    As many in this group are more than aware there is currently an explosive controversy surrounding the validity of plural marriage or polygamy amongst Messianics and Nazarene Israelites. Since everyone is apparently taking 'positions' in the Messianic community and since people understandably want to know what ours as Messianic Evangelicals is, this post will hopefully answer this question especially as we have members in groups supporting both pro and anti positions.

    Our position has two essential components:

    1. THEOLOGICAL;
    2. PRACTICAL

    1. Theological

    An exhaustive and honest study of the Scriptures that excludes religious tradition and irrational carnal gut-responses, and which takes all scripture into account without prejudice, leads one to the inevitable conclusion that:

    (a) Heterosexual monogamy, as exemplified by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, was, and is, the normative marriage lifestyle enjoined for the vast majority of both Old and New Testament believers;

    (b) Celibacy (complete sexual abstinence, from light bodily contact to full intercourse) is the only lifestyle permitted before marriage;

    (c) Celibacy is mandated only as a rare exception upon those called by YHWH to live in a single estate as adults (e.g. the prophet Jeremiah);

    (d) Heterosexual polygyny is permitted and sanctioned by YHWH in only two situations: (i) In times of war or other circumstances, for the general population, where there is a surplus of women who, being unable to find husbands, are either forced into the sin of harlotry, to marrying unbelievers, or into a celibate condition against their wills; or (ii) In times when YHWH calls honourable and spiritually mature men (like Abraham, Jacob and David) with the resources to do so, provided they do not outrageously multiply wives as did Solomon. Specifically, these are a small minority of wise and loving men with a shem (Is.4:1), not in the worldly sense, but in YHWH's eyes who may bring Him glory in living this way. Furthermore, according to our understanding of the Seven Festivals and their deeper spiritual meaning, this would exclude those who have not received Torah, thus excluding antinomian Evangelicals from this practice, as this is strictly a sanctioned practice within Torah-observant Israel itself where the practice may be righteously regulated and the parties held to strict accountability.

    2. Practical

    (a) Because of the extreme mental, emotional and spiritual dysfunctionality of the vast majority of men and women in these end times, who are barely able to keep a monogamous marriage together, we feel that polygyny should be actively discouraged, though not forbidden where the criteria in #1d above are fulfilled. This means the practice should not be promoted, that doing so attracts, in the vast majority of cases, the most basal of men whose motives are not pure and who in any case are incapable of living the lifestyle, and whose practicing of this principle will, in the vast majority if cases, lead only to misery and family fracturing, leading to a disasterous witness for the Messiah, something this already injured world with its disintegrating nuclear families absolutely does not need at this time.

    Accordingly we believe that this principle will not have any significant meaning for the Body of Messiah until (i) the Great Tribulation, when we believe there will be a disproportionate number of marriageless sisters in search of loving, protection and family love; and (ii) The Millennium when (a) there will be a vast excess of women over men; and (b) amongst the survivors there will be a large number of honourable and spiritual men with a shem who will have been sufficiently refined by the 7-year tribulation to be in a position to live this lifestyle righteously, responsibily and maturely.

    Conclusion

    This ministry (MLT) regards this principle generally to be a handicap to the Great Commission in a world that is unprepared for it, and for this reason wishes to discourage giving this subject any prominence beyond clarifying what Scripture says about the subject, accepting those men and women and their families already practicing it coming to Messiah and/or Messianic Israel. We have an extensive webpage that examines this question to settle the scriptural witness and to guide the small minority who practice this lifestyle at the Holy Echad Marriage (HEM) archive and network for those who wish to examine this subject in greater depth. This web archive (last updated in 2005) will eventually be updated and put online again on our homepage to reflect our current position.

    We do not wish to be distracted by a debate on this subject in our discussion groups and it remains for each enquirer to come to an honest conclusion on the subject. We believe that such discussions as are currently raging, in both pro and anti camps, have for the most part taken unreasonable and sometimes radically extreme positions which are either untrue to the Scriptural witness on the subject or which do not demonstrate the proper spiritual restraints and balances such as we seek to impose here that avoid Lashon hara. We wish to encourage both sides to come to a sensible truce in the Messianic Movement, where honourable men and women are found, and will happily arbitrate if we feel there is a call for this.

    In the meantime we desire that there be no stumbling block be set that would impair or destroy our fellowship in Messiah. May YHWH give shalom.

    19 July 2008


    One of the members in this network who has publically stated her disagrement with this ministry, who shows indices that she adheres to kabbalistic doctrines with its occultic roots (see What About kabbailsm?), has submitted a paper on her personal page outlining her exegesis of the bible teaching about polygamy without wishing to start a discussion. Since this is a free forum, I am placing her paper here for comment. My own remarks are in italics.
    _______

    Why Polygamy Has Passed Away Though the Torah is Still for Today

    A very key understanding to Torah, which is really Genesis-Revelation, not just the first 5 books as the orthodox Jews wrongly believe, is to understand that this 66 book Torah is progressive revelation. In other words, one covenant and one law builds upon the other.

    This is an assumption that is contradicted in a number of places. The Melchizedek was not added to the Levitical - it replaced it. Moreover, the Melchizedek pre-existed the Levitical, the Levitical replaced it under the Old Covenant, and then the Melchziedek was reinstituted in the New Covenant. This is the testimony of the Epistle to the Hebrews. However, I notice that the author is a disciple of Monte Judah who rejects Hebrews. This means that she does not follow the majority who agree to the Protestant Canon of Scripture. Finally, the idea of a progressive revolution is contradicted by the divorce laws - first, they were strict. The in the Old Covenant they were relaxed because of the hardness of men's hearts. Finally, Yah'shua reinstituted the original strict regulation. So in two instance we have a picture of an original idea, a fall from that ideal (devolution rather then evolution), and then restoration. Kabbalism tends to follow the Greek pagan notion of gradual evolution from the 'primitive' to the 'advanced' but the Bible teaches an original completion follwoed by apostacy and then restoration.

    For instance, the Mosaic Torah does not do away with the precepts given to Avraham or Noah. Nor does the Renewed Covenant do away with the Mosaic Torah or Avrahamic Covenant or Noahide precepts. They all build upon each other and ALL are to be obeyed and kept.

    Yes and no. As we have seen there are examples of devolution followed by re-volution. The idea of unformitarianism is not to be found in Scripture - rather there is to be a restoration of everything as it was in the beginning.

    With that said, while polygamy was PERMITTED long ago, this was primarily due to the fact that King David, Father Avraham, etc did NOT have as much revelation about the Torah as we do today.

    This is scripturally obvious when King David will pose questions in the Psalms that we have the answers for today. He would ask YHVH about the nature of the future Messiah. David and the Prophets never got to meet YahShua in the flesh. They never got to read the gospels or the Brit Chadasha. This is why we read that the angels and prophets longed to see what the apostles were able to see. Of course, we now know through the revelation of YahShua as the Torah clothed in Flesh, the answer to that question.

    There is no debate as to the unfolding revelation of the person and mission of the Messiah. However, to extend that into all forms of revelation is without warranty. Does any one suppose that they are more 'advanced', 'holy' or 'enlightened' as Enoch who was taken off the earth? The idea smacks of racism and arrogance. Our forefathers were by no means less than us or we would not continue to be called the Children of Abraham in the New Covenant.

    As much as King David was anointed, he did NOT have as much revelation as we do about Torah, just as Avraham did not have as much revelation as David did.

    Says who? Who here can say, with hand on heart, that they know they are a friend of YHWH?

    Though the perfect wondrous Torah was given to Adam in the beginning, sin caused much of this knowledge to be lost, and especially after the Flood, Yah had to slowly work on restoring this Torah.

    Says who? Is YHWH limited by the irresistable (and mythical) force called 'evolution'? This doctrine smacks of occultism.

    Because, through Messiah, we have such revelation of the Torah, polygamy is no longer permitted. At one time Yah winked at this cultural custom and even permitted it under Torah, but as more and more light was allowed to shine upon our minds and hearts through Messiah, the polygamy issue was done away with.

    Says the Scriptures where exactly? Were are we told that polygamy has been "done away with"? Didn't Yah'shua uphold every letter of the Torah? And didn't He tell us to? What does the writer mean by "cultural custom"? Is she suggesting that YHWH authored "cultural custom" in Torah?

    This is why Apostle Paul made it clear that to be a bishop or leader, one must only have ONE wife, because many of the pagan Greeks coming into the faith had multiple wives and so, though they could come into the faith and not have to divorce all their wives, they could not take leadership positions. Interestingly, the Hebrew culture had not practiced polygamy for several hundreds years when Messiah YahShua arrived on the scene in the 1st century.

    Where is the historical evidence that the pagan Greeks had multiple wives? There is none. Greek and Roman culture was monogamous. Is the author aware (or even interested) in the exegesis of the Greek MIA (first)? It is also wholly inaccurate to say that Hebrew had not practiced polygamy for hundreds of years. Where is the evidence for this?

    YahShua also stated in the gospels in discussing divorce that "from the beginning it was not so". In other words, when the FULLNESS of Torah had been originally handed to Adam, the writ of divorce was not necessary. Now, that the FULLNESS of Torah has been restored again through the second Adam, we see that both divorce and polygamy are things that should NOT happen if our hearts are not hard. For from the beginning, Adam had only ONE wife, not many.

    What the author says about divorce is absolutely correct. But where in the B'rit Chadashah Scriptures, or anywhere else in the Bible, does it say polygamy should not happen? It doesn't. That Adam had only one wife is irrelevent - he also went around naked and was a vegan. That was the beginning. Things have moved on a bit since then. By the same token one could argue that we should have no children and become nudist nut- and fruit-eaters.

    I hope this explains scripturally why Torah is still commanded for us to keep today but polygamy has been done away with once and for all!

    It doesn't explain anything. This is one of the worst pieces of exegesis on the subject I have ever seen, only marginally better than the one given by Herbert W. Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God whose arguments are being used by anti-poly Messianics (this follows in the next post)..

    Here is the second article being used to defend exclusive monogamy. What follows is a book produced by our ministry which refutes all the terrible exegesis:

    Polygamy is a Transgression

    You may be surprised to learn that Abraham was not a polygamist — that David completely repented of it — that YHWH’s legal statutes made polygamy illegal in ancient Israel!

    YHWH DID NOT sanction polygamy in Old Testament times. Contrary to the suppositions many have accepted, YHWH FORBADE IT — and PUNISHED for it.

    Abraham Was NOT a Polygamist
    Many people recall at once a few Old Testament instances of plural wives, and ASSUME that YHWH sanctioned polygamy. That assumption is absolutely false! YHWH has NEVER approved, nor made lawful more than one living wife for any man. Quite the contrary, He FORBADE IT, even to the kings of Israel, and that by written STATUTE!

    Abraham WAS NOT A POLYGAMIST. While Sarah, his wife, lived, he never married any other woman.
    Abraham had an illegitimate son by Hagar. But that was an adulterous SIN. Although it renders it nonetheless a SIN, I think we can recognize extenuating circumstances. Sarah was barren. For a wife in ancient times to go childless was felt to be a disgrace. It was Sarah, Abraham’s own wife, who brought to Abraham her servant handmaid, asking him to produce a child for Sarah by this servant woman. We can imagine Hagar to have been attractive, and not necessarily lacking in voluptuous charms simply because she was a servant. The temptation, under these circumstances, at Sarah’s instigation, might have been great. Certainly the very invitation coming from Sarah would have made it harder to resist. Abraham was a strong man. But the temptation appears to have been stronger. All humans have sinned. Abraham was human. Abraham lied when he twice claimed Sarah was his sister, fearing for his own life.

    Abraham was not without sin. But neither this adultery, nor the two lies were sins of the nature that springs from a wrong attitude of mind or heart. Abraham, in his heart, was always obedient to YHWH. There was no spirit of hostility or rebellion. These sins were of the flesh — under temptation — not malicious or rebellious sins of the heart. But THEY WERE SINS! YHWH forgave Abraham’s sins of spiritual weakness, committed under heavy temptation.

    Nevertheless, we all must REAP what we sow — even though YHWH forgives our sins upon repentance. YHWH refused to approve this adulterous act of Abraham’s. He rejected the illegitimate son, Ishmael, from the birthright. This transgression produced jealousy between the women. It resulted in trouble, controversy, suffering.

    How many realize that even the Arab-Jewish strife over Palestine, today, was brought on by this very THREE-CORNERED TRIANGLE, and the ensuing jealousy of the two women, Sarah and Hagar, over the one man, Abraham? The Jews are the children of Sarah, through Isaac, born later by a miracle. The Arabs are the children of Ishmael.

    In Genesis 21:8-21 is the record of Hagar’s departure from Sarah and Abraham. YHWH ordered Abraham to send away the concubine Hagar and her son, and Abraham OBEYED. This was at the time Isaac was weaned. Abraham had, after this, no more relations with Hagar, — see Genesis 25:6 where you will read that Abraham’s CONCUBINES’ sons were sent away.

    Sarah’s death is recorded in Genesis 23:1-2. It was after that (Gen. 25), that Abraham married Keturah. This, of course, was a perfectly legal marriage. THERE WAS NO POLYGAMY — NO DIVORCE.

    Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are termed, in both Old and New Testaments, “the Patriarchs.” Yahshua came to confirm the PROMISES made to “the Patriarchs.” The unconditional promises YHWH made to Abraham were repeated to both Isaac and Jacob.

    Isaac Had Only One Wife
    Isaac was no polygamist! There is no mention whatever of any wife for Isaac other than Rebekah. There is no mention of any concubines, or of any act of adultery.

    Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, like her mother-in-law, Sarah, was barren. But Isaac did not take things into his own hands and have children by her handmaids, or by concubines. Neither did Rebekah do as Sarah had done, and resort to bringing a servant girl to Isaac to produce a son for Rebekah in this proxy manner. Instead of using human reason, taking things into his own hands, Isaac TRUSTED YHWH!

    Gen 25:21 And Isaac prayed to יהוה for his wife, because she was barren. And יהוה answered his prayer, and Rebakah his wife conceived.
    If only we could learn to TRUST YHWH to work out our problems!

    JACOB: One Wife After Conversion
    Jacob is a name that means “Supplanter”. It was YHWH’s will that Jacob receive the birthright instead of his older brother Esau. But in his earlier life Jacob did not rely on YHWH. He took the matter in his own hands, aided and abetted by his mother.

    As he stole the Birthright from Esau by unfair means, and received Isaac’s blessing by a lying deception, so his father-in-law, Laban, deceived Jacob. Laban supplanted Jacob’s PROMISED and LOVED wife, Rachel, with his elder daughter Leah. Leah was foisted on Jacob by fraud. According to YHWH’s marriage laws, Jacob could have rejected her — put her away as soon as he discovered the deception. In that event, he would never have been truly married to Leah — YHWH would not have bound them as one flesh. But when Jacob accepted her as his wife, she became his ONLY true wife, in YHWH’s sight, as long as they both lived.

    But Jacob was not yet converted. He leaned to his own understanding. He did not seek wisdom from YHWH, nor did he seek to OBEY YHWH. He did what seemed right to him, in his own selfish interest. So Jacob lived in polygamy with two wives, and also had children by their two personal maids.

    But you read of Jacob’s conversion in Genesis 32:24-30. He then put idolatry out of his household (Gen. 35:2-4). YHWH appeared to him, changed his name to ISRAEL (”Overcomer”, or “Prevailer with YHWH”), and re-confirmed the PROMISES. Then YHWH took Rachel, his second wife (Gen. 35:19), leaving only his first and true wife, Leah.

    So, following his conversion, Jacob had but his one original wife. Jacob had repented. He lived no more in polygamy after his conversion.

    A Worldly Custom
    It is of course true that it was a worldly custom, in patriarchal times, and in the days of the Kingdom of Israel, for kings and wealthy men to take plural wives. A harem was one of the symbols of royalty.

    But YHWH FORBADE polygamy for the kings of Israel. Here is YHWH’s LAW respecting polygamy by Israel’s kings:

    “When you come to the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, and shall possess it and shall dwell in it, and you shall say, ‘Let me set a sovereign over me like all the gentiles that are around me,.... “And he is not to increase wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor is he to greatly increase silver and gold for himself. Deu 17:14,17

    It is spoken of as “THIS LAW” in verses 18 and 19.

    Deu 17:18-19 “And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his reign, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. “And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he learns to fear יהוה his Elohim and guard all the Words of this Torah and these laws, to do them”

    Israel’s first king, Saul, had plural wives. But in this he disobeyed YHWH and followed the custom of the kings of the worldly nations around Israel. It was SIN. It was not approved by YHWH.

    David REPENTED of Polygamy
    David had several wives. But after his tremendous sin of taking Bathsheba and having her husband murdered, David repented, in real heart-rending repentance. And he never repeated the sin. Very few seem to realize what actually happened.

    See 2Samuel 12:9-12. “Now therefore,” said YHWH (verse 10), “the sword shall never depart from thine house; BECAUSE THOU HAST DESPISED ME, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.” Notice, David despised YHWH — not merely the commandment of YHWH, as in verse 9, but also the very PERSON of YHWH! He did it by taking this woman as his wife. Therefore the sword was never to depart from his HOUSE.
    2Sa 12:9-12 ‘Why have you despised the Word of יהוה to do evil in His eyes? You have killed Uriyah the Hittite with the sword, and his wife you took to be your wife, and you have killed him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

    And now, the sword does not turn aside from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriyah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am raising up evil against you, from your own house, and shall take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ‘For you did it in secret, but I shall do this deed before all Yisra’el, and before the sun.”

    The HOUSE OF DAVID, at that time consisted solely of these plural WIVES, and his children. This was a tremendous, super SIN. YHWH was meteing out tremendous superpunishment.

    Now notice the next verse:
    “Thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am raising up evil against you, from YOUR OWN HOUSE ....” His own house included his wives and children. WHAT evil? YHWH has just said the SWORD will now come upon his house his family. YHWH continues: “.... and shall take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.”

    Notice this was to be done in the sight of THIS sun — before that very day’s sunset. YHWH continues: ‘For you did it in secret, but I shall do this deed before all Yisra’el, and before the sun.” The Septuagent Version translates it “THIS sun” here, as in the preceding verse. So a neighbor or neighbors defiled David’s wives publicly, in the open sun that very day — ravished them. YHWH said “I shall take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor.” This was done publicly that very day.

    But at that point, David repented. All that is mentioned, in this particular text, is: “And David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against יהוה.” (verse 14) But you will read of David’s private prayer of repentance to YHWH in the 51st Psalm — the prayer of a really broken and contrite heart.

    It was REAL repentance. David TURNED FROM polygamy.

    The next words in this text in 2Samuel 12 are: And Nathan said to Dawid, “Also, יהוה has put away your sin, you shall not die”

    Even Concubines Put Away

    Do you see what YHWH did? He meted out to David a tremendous punishment — YHWH took all his wives, leaving Bathsheba only. With David’s first and only legitimate wife, Michal, probably dead (see 2Sam. 6:23), YHWH also had cleared the way for Bathsheba to become the legal wife of David. Apparently this was done, that she might be the mother of Solomon, through whom YHWH was to keep His unconditional, dynastic promise to David — a lineage of Yahshua — and a prophet used in writing Scriptures.

    After that David was away from Jerusalem. But, returning there were ten concubines (his former harem). Here is what David did with them: ”And David came to his house at Yerushalayim. And the sovereign took the ten women, his concubines WHOM HE HAD LEFT TO LOOK AFTER THE HOUSE, and put them in a protected house and supported them, BUT DID NOT GO IN TO THEM. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.” 2Sa 20:3

    Just as David kept the ten concubines “in widowhood” — that is, he had no relations with them, for they had been defiled — so he put away his other wives (2Sam. 19:6) BECAUSE THEY TOO HAD BEEN DEFILED by a neighbor (2Sam. 12).

    David had truly repented. He practised polygamy NO MORE! When David was becoming old, he went “fully after YHWH” (1Kings 11:6). He was “a man after YHWH’s own heart,” because his heart was right. He did repent. He had been a warrior. In his younger life he went after many women. BUT HE REPENTED!

    His heart turned to YHWH. His life’s race ENDED in victory — he “went fully after YHWH.” It is not the one who starts out with the biggest burst of speed, but the one who finishes first AT the END of the race who wins it.

    His son, Solomon, started out righteously, unselfishly, relying on YHWH. But, “when Solomon was old,” he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines it must have been a record harem. And his wives turned away his heart from YHWH, and to their idols.

    It was SIN! Regarding it, YHWH’s Word says: “Thus Solomon did evil in the eyes of יהוה"
    (1Kings 11:6). There was polygamy in ancient Israel. But it was SIN! YHWH CONDEMNED IT! — He never condoned or sanctioned it. They reaped what they sowed.

    What YHWH Joins in Marriage
    Also Israelites practiced what YHWH had forbidden — divorce and remarriage. On this, Yahshua said: “Because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses (NOT YHWH) allowed you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever puts away his wife, except on the ground of whoring, and marries another, commits adultery. And whoever marries her who has been put away commits adultery.” (Matt. 19:8-9)

    YHWH has NEVER legalized divorce and remarriage. It is not allowable today.

    Yahshua said, in this same connection: And He answering, said to them, “Did you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female,” Notice, Yahshua was dating this from the BEGINNING. And YHWH NEVER CHANGES! ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? Notice, a man shall cleave to his WIFE — NOT WIVES. And they TWO — not he and several wives — shall be one flesh. Therefore, what Elohim has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matt. 19:4-6). It is what YHWH joins together. That is the definition of MARRIAGE. YHWH does not join together one man with plural women! Any woman a man may “marry” according to man’s codes, in addition to the wife YHWH joined him to, is NOT his wife, so long as his real wife lives. Any additional women, whether in polygamy, or by divorce one at a time, is plain ADULTERY! YHWH never joins the second, let alone the additional “wives.” They are NOT truly wives — they are adulteresses, and the man becomes an adulterer. THIS BREAKS YHWH’S LAW. IT IS SIN.

    Yahshua put us straight on monogamous marriage.
    YHWH made ONE wife for Adam — not a harem! He started the human family out as He ordained they SHOULD go — a family of ONE man and ONE wife!

    And, remember, YHWH gave this absolute COMMAND regarding future kings of Israel — telling them they must not do as the pagan nations around them (whose kings had their harems): “NEITHER SHALL HE MULTIPLY WIVES TO HIMSELF!” Saul, Israel’s first king, DISOBEYED that command. He let demons take hold of him.
    YHWH deposed him, and put David in his place. David started out in polygamy, but YHWH punished him. HE REPENTED thoroughly, and he finished his reign with his ONLY living wife. Solomon finished his life in polygamy and idolatry — and YHWH, in punishment, rended the KINGDOM away from his son, Rehoboam.

    YHWH DID NOT CONDONE POLYGAMY! He PUNISHED those who practised it! It was ALWAYS SIN! It is SIN today!

    Hosea and other prophets constantly dwell upon the thought of monogamous marriage as being a symbol of the union of YHWH and His people, and denounce idolatry as unfaithfulness to this spiritual marriage-tie.

    Yahshua to Marry ONE BRIDE
    The marriage relationship, in the New Testament, is the type of the relationship between Yahshua and His Bride Israel.

    The worldly churches are MANY. Those who claim the NAME Christian — Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox Catholic, hundreds of Protestant churches — all claim to be, combined, the Church which Yahshua started. They seem to believe, somehow, that when Yahshua returns to earth to marry His Bride, that Yahshua will be a POLYGAMIST — that He will marry HUNDREDS of Brides — have HUNDREDS of WIVES! THEY ARE ALL WRONG!

    Yahshua will marry but ONE BRIDE = ISRAEL — the True Bride of YHWH — and all these worldly churches will be on the outside looking in!

    “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him praise, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His WIFE (NOT WIVES) prepared herself.” (Rev. 19:7).

    Let us, then, understand it once and for all! Polygamy is a SIN. YHWH condemns it! It is ADULTERY! IT HAS NEVER BEEN APPROVED OR CONDONED BY YHWH AT ANY TIME, IN PATRIARCHAL DAYS — IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES — OR NOW, TODAY!

    THE TRUTH ABOUT BIBLICAL MARRIAGE
    Copyright (c) 2003 MLT - May Not Be Reproduced Without Permission

    Index

    Acknowledgements
    Introduction

    PART I - Explaining Concepts

    1. Words, Words, and More Words

    2. Headship and What Marriage Isn't

    3. Today's Immorality

    4. Our Changeless God

    5. What Yahweh Says About Multiple Wives

    6. The Normality of Plural Marriage

    7. The Rise, Fall, and Restoration of Plural Marriage

    8. Greeks versus Hebrews

    9. Men of the Bible with Plural Wives

    10. The Mystery of Echad

    PART II - Defeating the Critics

    11. One Flesh

    12. Unisexual Commandments?

    13. The Truth About Adultery

    14. The Husband of But One Wife

    15. Do Not Multiply Wives

    16. Toleration and Evolution

    17. Obedience to the State

    18. Covetous and Lusty Christians

    19. The Lamech Red Herring

    20. Abraham the Monogamist?

    21. A Salvational Issue

    22. Monogamy-Only Vows

    23. The Abuse of Marriage

    24. Plural Marriage and Testosterone

    25. The Canaanite Warning

    26. From Eden to the New Jerusalem

    27. Did David Marry a Mother and Her Daughter?

    28. Put Away Your Plural Wives!

    PART III - Bypassing the Churches

    29. Restoring Biblical Marriage Today

    30. The Restoration of Torah

    This book was hasily written to meet a sudden need in the mission field, and specifically in Nyanza Province, Western Kenya, and was sponsored by New Covenant Ministries.


    It is therefore dedicated to the polygamous peoples of this and other regions of Africa and Asia who have been bypassed and stigmatised by the 'traditional' churches because of their 'unacceptable' lifestyle.


    I am endebted to two of my wives who during the two weeks this work was prepared were going through enormous personal struggles - to Kryztina, my third wife, who was giving birth to our third child, Franciszek, at the time; and to Kasia, my fourth wife, who was diagnosed as having a serious life-long illness that will possibly reduce her capacity to function as a housewife, mother and minister in the future. I salute their bravery. And finally, to my children who during this time indulged their father during his many hours of absence.


    Finally, I wish to thank my Heavenly Father, Yahweh, and His Son Yah'shua (Jesus) who in this, and all my other writings, have always been my driving force. May this little tome bring glory and honour to their Names.

    Introduction



    Books and tracts on Christian polygyny - the marriage practice of a man wed to two or more wives simultaneously - began to appear in the West in the last decade of the 20th century, with the earliest modern Biblical exegesis being offered a decade before that in the 1980s, but were not widely circulated. The 1990's marked the appearance - principally in the United States - of materials directed towards Westerners in a bid to convert them to plural marriage as well as to gain acceptance of this lifestyle in a society traditionally hostile to it.


    The purpose of this short book is not to convert people from the monogamy-only secular and religious cultures (who dominate and control the political and ecclesiastical scene) to plural marriage but to defend those who are already practicing it, and specifically those who have not known Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and His salvation. We here show that plural marriage is an honourable biblical practice and worthy of respect.


    A secondary purpose of this work is to guide those who have been practicing polygamy in a non-Christian context into living it in a way that is both acceptable and pleasing to the Creator, Yahweh-Elohim, by exposing them to His Torah, His Holy Law. This will mean some readjustments on their part so that this lifestyle is lived in a pure and God-honouring way. Some of these adjustments may mean turning away from tribal traditions that have existed for centuries if not millennia such as, for example, clitorectomy or female circumcision, which is not required by Torah and which is not pleasing to Yahweh our Heavenly Father.


    This book was written over a two week period. It will almost certainly not be the last edition but be modified in the light of experience in the mission field, and especially to meet local needs. It does not claim to be exhaustive and is a summary of the more important biblical aspects of plural marriage culled from my main website at www.nccg.org/fecpp, the largest polygamy site on the internet. There the reader will be able to find numerous articles that expand on the several themes presented here.


    The Christian polygamy that is presented in this book is not the same kind that has evolved principally in the United States which I consider defective in many ways, and which has also been discredited on a number of occasions. I present here what I call Echad or Oneness Marriage. Echad Polygamy is not Old Testamant plural marriage: it is plural marriage elevated to its final and complete form in the New Covenant through Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), and reflects the glory of the heavenly Mystical Marriage of the Messiah to which all Christians are called.

    Part I: Explaining Concepts



    "Are you a monogamist or a polygamist?" someone once asked me. I was very tempted to answer "polygamist" but changed my mind. "Neither", I replied. My friend, who knew that I was married, and had heard that I had more than one wife was puzzled. "Are you single?" he asked. "No," I replied as I watched his face wrinkle in disbelief, "I am married."


    And that's the truth. I am married to three wives but I am neither a monogamist, a polygamist, nor a single man. Now, it is true, that as far as the English language is concerned, I am a polygamist - or to be more accurate, a polygynist, but as far as the Bible is concerned, I am simply 'married'. My government may not accept that I am married, and my neighbour may not accept that I am married either, but the God of the Bible - Yahweh-Elohim - most certainly does.


    The words 'monogamy' and 'polygamy' do not exist in the Bible, and have been borrowed from the Greek language. You will search in vain for them. In the Scriptures you are either 'married' or 'unmarried'. Though the Bible nowhere gives a definition of marriage, when you assemble all the scriptures on marriage together, you are left with only one possible definition, which is this:


    "Biblical marriage is a vow, covenant or agreement, made between one man and one or more women of the Covenant, of their own free will, in the presence of two or three witnesses, in which they promise to be faithful to each other for the rest of their lives."

    We are not told how many women a man may marry, only that he should not marry too many. He should, in fact, only marry as many as Yahweh gives to him, which will be as many as he is able to properly love and take care of. Kings who have the wealth for large families are warned not to multiply wives because of the very temptations that were to ruin Solomon:


    "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself" (Deut.17:17, NKJV).

    Chapter 1: Words, Words, and More Words



    Unlike Hebrew, the original divine language of heaven, our own English tongue incorporates words that have a doctrinal content. And so if someone asked me: "Are you a bigamist?" I will deny it, not because the word doesn't mean a man married to two women at the same time, but because it is used in a negative, criminal way. And I am not a criminal. Actually, I am a trigamist, but that word isn't in our language yet!


    A monogamist is a man who is married to only one woman. I used to be one, I should know. A polygynist is a man who is married to two or more women. I am one of those too. However, I did not become a different kind of person when I married a second wife - I did not enter into a different form of marriage. I simply kept on marrying. Today I have three wives, and tomorrow I may have more.


    I am not ashamed either. I can look back in my Bible and see that some of the most blessed servants of Yahweh had more than one wife. The relationship some of these men had with God is described as a friendship. Yahweh never criticised them for having more than one wife. He never said having more than one wife was a sin. No-one was ever punished for having more than one wife. People were punished - quite severely, actually - for adultery, and also fornication, but no-one was ever accused of being an adulterer or a fornicator because they had more than one wife. Indeed, in one passage the Bible actually says that Yahweh gave a man all his wives as a gift from heaven, and would be willing to give more (2 Samuel 12:8). Obviously Yahweh, our Father-God, who hates and detests sin, would never give a man a gift that would lead him to sin. Marriage - one man married to one or more women within reasonable limits - is never, ever, ever described as a sin, or as adultery, or as fornication. Ever. Indeed, biblical marriage is the most natural thing in the world. And it is blessed by Yahweh.


    It is important, I think, that as Christians we speak only of what the Bible says. And since the words 'monogamy' and 'polygyny' (or 'polygamy') don't exist within its pages, we shall use them as little as possible in this book. We will let Yahweh do the speaking for us.


    There's one other English word I do need to mention before I end this topic - and it's also derived from Greek - which is polyandry. Polyandry, which is a very rare practice indeed, is one woman being married to two or more men. And it certainly isn't biblical. Not only is this not marriage but, worse, it is perversion, as we shall see.

    Chapter 2. Headship and What Marriage Isn't



    The Bible is very clear about teaching that the husband is the head of both his marriage and his family as a whole. We have a word to describe that in English called 'patriarchy'. It means 'father rulership'. The Scriptures teach that the husband is the head of his household in the same way that Christ is the head of the Church (Messianic Community). And the Church, as you know, consists of many people. This comparison of marriage with Christ's relationship to the Church is called an allegory. What this means is that Christ isn't literally married to us but that His relationship to us is like a marriage: He's the boss and we do what He says. Similarly, the husband is the boss and his wives are supposed to do what he says. But there's more to it than that: with the boss's job comes a big responsibility. Christ loved the Church (us - the community of believers) so much that He laid down His life for us. A husband has to be willing to love sacrificially in the same way.


    This, then, is God's condition that man be the boss. He has got to love like Christ. And that's why he can have more than one wife but only if he is going to behave like Christ. Don't think that gives a man married to only one woman the right to be unloving, selfish and tyrannical: his job description is still the same whether he has one wife or ten. He has to love and serve them in the same way that Christ served His disciples when He washed their feet and was willing to die for them.


    Marriage, then, does not allow a woman to marry more than one man. Let's see what the Scriptures teach:


    "So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man" (Rom.7:3, NKJV).

    According to the Law of Moses, a woman is an adulteress (and worthy of death) if she marries a second husband whilst the first is still alive. Only after her husband has died can she remarry.


    Now perhaps, as a woman, you may think this is unfair. Perhaps you think that because your husband can have more than one wife you should be able to have more than one husband. If that is true - if you're right - then using the same thinking we can all become polytheists. In fact, that would give you the right to be a Christian, Muslim, Jew and an Animist all at the same time. Unfortunately the Scriptures say:


    "But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor.11:3, NKJV).

    What this means is that men and women have different rôles in life. They may be equal in some things but they are unequal in others. Yes, the husband is appointed by God to be the boss. You may think, "Well, that's nice for him, but what about me? That's not fair!"


    Before you convince yourself that God is being unfair to you, consider these facts. Firstly, because women are far more tender, sensitive, and loving than men as a rule, far more women come to salvation in Christ than men. As I will show later, the odds are in a woman's favour 7:1. If you're a woman, you've got a sevenfold better chance of making it to heaven than a man because of the way Yahweh has made you. Isn't that rather unfair on the men? Not really, someone has to be the boss - someone has to lead - and Yahweh made man that way. The price of having the qualities of a leader and protector is that he is made up different emotionally, making it harder for him to sense the truth. Given that there are probably seven times as man men in hell as women, who do you think is being given the best deal here?


    "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the Church (Messianic Community); and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the Church (Messianic Community) is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church (Messianic Community) and gave Himself for her ..." (Eph. 5:22-25, NKJV).

    This is the way God has set things up so we really aren't in a position to argue with Him. If you were to make a list of pro's and con's for being a man or a woman in a godly marriage I think you will find that they balance each other very nicely, even if the man has ten wives. In some things the men are going to be better off, and in others it's going to be the women.

    Chapter 3. Today's Immorality



    Western civilisation is definitely anti-marriage. Just look at the statistics and you will see for yourself. In some countries, half of all marriages fail, and up to 80% of common-law marriages. It's not a good record. It's a lot better in Africa and Asia. Today Westerners live what some call "serial polygamy" - they marry one woman, dump her, marry another, dump her, and so on. The result is shattered homes and families. Children are shuffled around between fathers, stepfathers, lovers, and others. There is little stable home life. They grow up insecure and even more promiscuous than their parents. Men secretly have mistresses, married women have affairs.


    Although the West has given the world many good things, one of its gifts is not stable marriage or family life. To find that, we have to turn to Asia and Africa. And though there are serious abuses there too, they do at least more closely approximate what the Bible calls 'marriage'. Over 80% of all societies recognise biblical marriage - a man married to one or more women. The West says it is 'abnormal' but the West is in a minority. And the West is hardly in a position to moralise. The West, with all its sodomy and paedophilia, is perverse. It may have more money and power but that doesn't make it morally right.


    We do owe the West a great deal for bringing the Bible and the Good News of Christ to Asia and Africa, but we could probably do without most of their churches which have suppressed biblical marriage and forced happy families to split up because of their "monogamy-only" doctrine. Rightly, they are now being rejected.

    Chapter 4. Our Changeless God



    Human beings change all the time. We are constantly inventing new rules for living, new laws, and new ways to have relationships with each other. Needless to say, Yahweh-Elohim - the Lord God - does not look too kindly upon such things. "I am Yahweh, I do not change," said the Most High to the prophet Malachi (Mal.3:6).


    What does that mean exactly? It means that His nature, behaviour and laws are consistent and unchanging. If Yahweh changed, it would mean that lying is OK now even if it wasn't yesterday. If He changed, it would mean that homosexuality was wrong in the past but is OK today. If He changed, it would mean worshipping lots of gods was wrong in the past but OK today. And if He changed, it would mean that having more than one wife was OK before but not any longer.


    Well, the gods of people's own invention may change, but the One and only True God, Yahweh, does not. He does not change. He said so to Malachi. Moreover, His Son doesn't change either:


    "Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb.13:8, NKJV).

    The Father doesn't change, the Son doesn't change. God (Elohim) does not change. He doesn't change His mind about His laws and statutes. And why not? Because:


    "The counsel of Yahweh stands forever" (Ps.33:11, NKJV)

    Solomon understood that when he said:


    "I know that whatever God (Elohim) does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God (Elohim) does it, that men should fear before Him" (Eccl.3:14, NKJV).

    How could we ever fear Yahweh - have deep respect for Him - if we couldn't be sure whether He would change His rules from one day to another? We would become paranoid. We wouldn't know what to believe. We could never trust Him.


    Imagine you are a man with four wives. You are living Yahweh's marriage laws faithfully. Then suddenly, someone comes along to you and says: "Um, sorry, but since 3 April AD 33, polygamy has become illegal and sinful. You are now living in sin. You have got to get rid of all your wives except the first one!"


    How would you react to that? How could you trust a God who one minute says you are blessed and law-abiding and the next minute that you are a sexual pervert and lawless? Would you trust such a God? Yet this is what Western Christians have been teaching for centuries! They are telling us that from the moment Christ died - or perhaps from the day of Pentecost - having more than one wife is 'suddenly' bad.


    Personally, I do not trust man-made laws, and I am not about to throw out two of my wives and their children just because a Pope or an evangelist or a pastor or a priest doesn't believe in Yahweh's marriage laws. It's none of their business anyway! Did you know that you don't need a priest or a minister to marry you? Whilst such traditions may exist, the Bible nowhere says you have to have one. All that is required is a vow made in the presence of witnesses. And that's the way it was done for thousands of years, even in Europe, until the state started meddling around about three centuries ago. Of course, it's nice to get your Pastor's blessing, and even better to celebrate a marriage with all your brothers and sisters in Christ, but you don't have to. And if anyone tells you that you are sinning if you don't marry in church or register with the state they are either ignorant or lying.


    Marriage is Yahweh's gift to mankind. He has pronounced it good. See what the apostle James, Yah'shua's (Jesus') half-brother said:


    "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17-18, NKJV).

    Are you married with one wife? She is a gift of the Father to you. Are you married with several? They are gifts to you. Are you a woman with or without sister-wives? Your husband is Yahweh's good gift to you.


    Governments, ministers, and popes may go and change marriage laws, but it's frankly none of their business, and Yahweh does not recognise their presumptive and blasphemous acts. For He says:


    "God (Elohim) is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent" (Num.23:19, NKJV).

    Listening to some ministers you get the impression that they want God to repent for 'permitting polygamy'! Well, He isn't about to repent, because His laws and statutes on marriage haven't changed. He isn't so stupid or foolish as those men and women who think they can tamper with His Law. Yahweh's moral and ethical Law is immutable - unchangeable (Heb.6:17). There is no law against having more than one wife and therefore, "until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law" (Rom.5:13, NKJV). This being so, it cannot be a sin to have more than one wife. In fact, as we shall see, the Law defends the right of a husband to take more than one wife.

    Chapter 5. What Yahweh Says About Multiple Wives



    So what does Yahweh-God actually say about having multiple wives? Is there so much as a hint that He is displeased with a man having multiple wives? Let's see what He Himself has said:


    "If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights" (Ex.21:9-10, NKJV).

    Well, that's pretty clear, isn't it? If I take another wife, I shall not lower the standard of living of my other wives, or deny her her nuptial rights. In other words, I had better make sure I can afford to take another wife and have the ability to be as physically affectionate with the previous wives as before! It means I have to work harder! There's a price for me to pay.


    Is Yahweh hinting here that having multiple wives might be wrong? People, of course, like to read all sorts of things into scriptures that they don't like. It's called 'twisting the scriptures'. We have to ask ourselves: what is the plain sense of the scripture under study? And does this agree with what the other scriptures say? For surely Yahweh doesn't contradict Himself!


    Married men have many obligations. For instance, if a wife leaves me and then wants to come back home to me again, I am obliged to have her back even if I have married again since. And do you know where it says that? In the New Testament!


    "Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife" (1 Cor.7:10-12, NKJV).

    Men can't dump their wives. Their wives have a claim on them. That's Yahweh's ruling. If you refuse to have her back - or your second wife refuses to have her back - and your first wife goes off and marries another, you are both forcing her to commit adultery and you become adulterers yourselves! Here is an instance of where refusing to have multiple wives can be adultery, not the reverse.


    As we know from the history of marriage, sometimes the various parties can be unloving or unloved. It can happen in marriages where there is one wife or more. Where that happens, and where a husband may be tempted to show partiality, Yahweh specifically protects the second wife. Note that he doesn't tell the husband to release the second wife because he is living in a sinful, adulterous relationship, but to at the very least force him to be fair when it comes to inheritance rights:


    "If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his" (Deut.21:15-17, NKJV).

    Here Yahweh is protecting an unloved wife from discrimination. He doesn't tell her to leave, because that would go contrary to the marriage covenant, but forces the husband to be fair at least as far as property inheritance is concerned. This passage not only recognises the legitimacy of multiple wives but legislates to protect the children raised up in such an arrangement.


    He also protects women against unscrupulous men just out to have a bit of sex on the side, making clear that sex is the act of marriage and nothing else:


    "If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days" (Deut.22:28-29, NKJV).

    Whether this man is unmarried or already married is besides the point: the Most High is simply saying that sex and marriage are indistinguishable, and that you cannot separate the right to have sex from the responsibility of being a husband and a wife, and all the Laws Yahweh has created to protect the estate of marriage. In fact, Yahweh repeats this commandment, saying: "If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife" (Ex.22:16, NKJV).


    A man who sleeps around is a great sinner. He is responsible for the care of every woman he has slept with if she is a virgin! To take a woman's virginity away is the act of marriage. Like it or not, you're married to her and must take care of all her needs! That is the price for sex.


    Did you know that if you have a brother who dies without leaving a male heir to inherit his property that you are obliged to marry the dead brother's wife? It's called the Law of Levirate:


    "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. But if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.' "Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him; and if he stands firm and says, 'I do not want to take her,' "then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, 'So shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother's house.' "And his name shall be called in Israel, 'The house of him who had his sandal removed'" (Deut.25:5-10, NKJV).

    Many ministers will tell you that Christ abolished this Law but He didn't. In fact, it was cited in a discussion on the resurrection (Mk.12:19ff). It makes no difference that the state has created its own laws about property rights in place of Yahweh's Laws. Does Yahweh change for the state? Is India, Britain, Kenya, Singapore or the USA more important than God?

    There was a time when the Jews were being pretty faithless to their wives. Indeed, the Jewish leaders had invented their own laws outside the Bible (called the Talmud) which said that a man could divorce his wife if he didn't like the look of her. Yah'shua (Jesus) harshly condemned these man-made laws and traditions. And Yahweh ordered those men who had divorced their childhood sweethearts in order to marry pretty young wives to take their first wives back home again:


    "Yet you say, "For what reason?" Because Yahweh has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. "For Yahweh-Elohim of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence," Says Yahweh of hosts. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously." You have wearied Yahweh with your words; Yet you say, "In what way have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of Yahweh, And He delights in them, "Or, "Where is the God of justice?"" (Mal.2:14-17, NKJV).

    The state may allow you to abandon first wives but Yahweh doesn't. And certainly a man who deals treacherously with his first wife doesn't deserve a second. How can he take care of a second wife if he can't take care of the first one?


    There are many laws in the Bible about who you can and can't marry (like not marrying near relatives, and not marrying a widow and her daughter simultaneously). And you are only permitted to marry two sisters provided the sisters are not jealous of each other (Lev.18:6ff; 20:8ff).


    Now if having more than one wife were a sin, would not Yahweh have said so directly, instead of legislating to protect this form of marriage?

    Chapter 6. The Normality of Plural Marriage



    As we study our Bibles carefully we not only discover that having multiple wives is permitted but that it is perfectly normal, and to such an extent that Yahweh allegories His relationship to Israel, and Christ to the Church (Messianic Community), in the language of multiple marriage. We can confidently say, then, that plural marriage is not only fully integrated into the way of life of Israel and the Church (Messianic Community) but that it is positively promoted as a symbol of the relationship between the Divine and the fellowship of those who are saved.


    A common accusation levelled by Westerners is that plural marriage belongs to the Old Testament whereas monogamy is the rule of the New, as though the two were somehow antagonistic and as though Yahweh suddenly changed his moral and ethical laws. They say that because multiple marriage is nowhere mentioned directly in the New Testament that this is evidence enough that it was done away with by Christ. However, you cannot argue from silence. If Christ said something like, "It is written, if a man has two wives ... but I say to you that a man shall only have one wife," then the matter would be settled for Christians, but no such Torah modification exists. The Rabbis themselves, strongly influenced by Greek- influenced Western culture, did not outlaw polygamy until a thousand years after Christ, and then only for a thousand years. Instead, what do we find? We find Paul saying that anyone who forbids marriage is teaching a doctrine of demons:


    "Now the Ruach (Spirit) expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which Eloah (God) created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth" (1 Tim.4:1-3, NKJV).

    'Traditionally', of course, this passage has been 'interpreted' to mean forbidding a man from taking one wife to be "forbidding to marry". But as we know this is not how the Bible defines marriage. If I have one wife, and a priest says to me, "You can't take a second wife", then the meaning is the same: he is forbidding me to marry in the biblical sense. He is giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. That's right, the doctrine that a man may only have one wife is demonic! It is plain evil. Anyone who outlaws plural marriage is therefore an agent of those powers who oppose Yahweh's Kingdom.


    Notice that this is a "latter times" phenomenon. According to the New Testament, the "latter times" or "last days" began at Pentecost (Shavu'ot) when the prophecy of Joel was fulfilled:


    "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says Eloah (God), That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17, NKJV).

    We have been in the "latter times" or "last days" ever since as a specific kind of wickedness unfolds. In our 21st century we are witnessing the fulfilment of many New Testament prophecies as the end-time scenario winds itself up. The banning of multiple marriage is a sign of it.


    We know that plural marriage existed amongst the early Christians from the sayings of Paul. For instance, he writes:


    "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles -- that a man has his father's wife!" (1 Cor.5:1, NKJV).

    Now had Paul meant that a son was sleeping with his mother, he would have said that "a man has (or "went into") his mother". Quite clearly a man had been sleeping with one of his father's plural wives, a sin as recorded in Leviticus:


    "The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness" (Lev.18:7-8, NKJV).

    Notice that there are two categories - mother and father's wife, the latter a plural wife and not the same as the man's mother. This all Jews understood, and it is the latter Paul is referencing here.


    Many ignorant Christians accuse King David of the imaginary 'sin of polygamy'. Quite apart from the fact that we have established beyond doubt that plural marriage is not a sin, it is perfectly clear that David's sin was not 'polygamy' but adultery against another man's wife, namely, Bathsheba, wife of Uriah. To this crime he added the sin of murder, murdering her husband so he could have Bathsheba to himself. And his punishment, as we know, was great. However, his sin was not marrying more than woman, as is made very plain in the following passage:


    "Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says Yahweh-Elohim of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of Yahweh, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon" (2 Sam.12:7-9, NKJV).

    In these three verses, Yahweh condemns murder and adultery whilst saying that it is He who gave David his plural wives in the first place and would have given him more wives had he not been satisfied with just the ones he had! Now how can having multiple wives be a sin or adultery if Yahweh says plural wives are a gift to a godly man .... that is, godly before David turned to adultery and murder?

    Wherever you look, you will find scriptural consistency. Marriage - one or more wives per husband - is a gift of Yahweh. I repeat, nowhere in the Bible is having multiple wives declared a sin or adultery by the Most High. Nowhere! Such 'sins' are in the imagination of fallen man.


    This was not the only time that Yahweh blessed multiple wives. Leah, first of four wives of Jacob, declared upon the birth of her son Issachar:


    "Leah said, "God (Elohim) has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar" (Gen.30:18, NKJV).

    Here Leah clearly understands that she has become pregnant and had another child after she thought she was past giving birth because Yahweh is blessing her for giving her husband her maidservant to be his fourth wife.


    The Scriptures are plain: plural marriage is divinely sanctioned and protected. Prophets and wives themselves understood that multiple wives were Yahweh's gift both to themselves and their husbands.

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