He who finds a wife...

I promised I would say a bit more about polygamy.  Here it is, but my hubby did it. I went to bed the other night, and he stayed up and prayed and pondered and studied.  He came up with this:

 

Adam had 1 wife - Eve.  This is how marriage was introduced by God, and is the foundation of any Biblical understanding of marriage as being unalterable - there was NEVER the slightest hint that this was not God's single and most holy intention.  Adam had neither additional wives, nor concubines - neither before, nor after the fall.

 

In 1 Corinthians 7:2 the Apostle Paul, speaking with the very authority of Heaven, declares: "let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband"; adding the provision than just as it is UNNATURAL for a man to have a multiplicity of wives, so it is likewise UNNATURAL for a woman to have a multiplicity of husbands.

 

Revelation 21:9b declares:  "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife." 

 

From Genesis to Revelation there is a singularity in the concept of marriage partners - one husband, one wife.

 

By the example given from the beginning of creation, He did notify His people that marriage is to be one man and one woman.  By the recording in His Word, it is recorded, and WE KNOW IT TODAY.  That you are positive or not is your responsibility, as God cannot make His will and purpose more plainly, or more simply.  One bride.  One groom.  God is immutable, that is, unchangeable (Hebrews 13:8-9a  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines ")

 

That Old Testament history shows that many (not all)  were engaged in polygamy is not proof of God's approval, but more rather of His grace.  Any attempt to stretch Scripture to indicate that the practice of polygamy in the Old Testament is prescriptive, and ought to be practiced today, is being "carried about with various and strange doctrines."

 

Please notice the singularity in the following sample verses.

 

Proverbs 18:22 "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favour from the LORD."

 

.Song of Solomon 4:12;6:3  "A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed...  I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;"

 

Eph 5:28b; 31b  "he who loves his wife loves himself... and the two shall become one flesh"

 

Ephesians 5:23  "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church..."

 

The uniting together of a man and of a woman into the marriage relationship is a picture of the redemptive work of Christ - one sinner, one Saviour.