A Bible question for a beginner...

[Because_He_Lives!]

Hello

I am a new Christian. I've always considered myself Christian and attended church when I was younger but as I said in my introduction to new members thread.. it was not until recently that I truly accepted Christ into my life and devoted myself. In other words, I didnt really know the true meaning of being born again until these past few months.

So.. I started reading the Bible from the beginning. I read the Bible on an online read the Bible program. I have been reading Genesis for the past month and after reading each chapter, I read study guides on it too.

I have a question for all you who have much more knowledge of the Bible than I do..

In Genesis, Jacob had two wives and two concubines. We do not accept marrying more than one person in our society today so my question is this..

Why was it acceptable at the time and what happened to change that? I know there is a good answer and I know somebody can tell me but I am really wanting to know.

Thanks :)

[spbluebird]

I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you, as I'm also just starting to study the Bible in depth and am learning as I go as well. I was saved 19 years ago, but just recently started realizing just how much I need to have a close relationship with the Lord instead of just going through the motions of being a Christian.

Anyway, I really just wanted to say hello since we seem to be at similar points in our walks with the Lord. :wave :hug

[Because_He_Lives!]

Thanks bluebird. :)

I feel kind of ashamed that I never read the Bible. I know passages out of it but never sat down and read it from the beginning and studied it. Now that I am doing that, I have a need to learn all I can. That is why I post this question.

Hopefully someone who knows will answer.

Good luck to you and its better we start later rather than never!:)

I just hope I can finish the Bible before we are raptured out of here!

But I'd rather take my time and study in depth as I go along than try to hurry though it.

[countmeworthy]

I believe part of the answer to the question asked is 2 fold. Even though man was fallen, the genetic cells were still a lot purer than they are today & in order to populate the earth quicker, men were allowed to have more than one wife. I'm not sure why a man could have a concubine. I'm sure there are some Bible scholars in our mix who could answer the question better than I.

But nontheless, I do not know of any account in the Old Testament where the man with more than one wife had a happy marriage. Sarai gave her handmaiden to Abram out of HER own wishes to 'help God'. And all that did was cause jealousy, disharmony and feuding. To this day, Abrahams 2 sons, Issac and Ishmael do not see eye to eye and are still fighting each other. (Arabs/Muslims and Jews)

[Paidfor]

Hello

I am a new Christian. I've always considered myself Christian and attended church when I was younger but as I said in my introduction to new members thread.. it was not until recently that I truly accepted Christ into my life and devoted myself. In other words, I didnt really know the true meaning of being born again until these past few months.

So.. I started reading the Bible from the beginning. I read the Bible on an online read the Bible program. I have been reading Genesis for the past month and after reading each chapter, I read study guides on it too.

I have a question for all you who have much more knowledge of the Bible than I do..

In Genesis, Jacob had two wives and two concubines. We do not accept marrying more than one person in our society today so my question is this..

Why was it acceptable at the time and what happened to change that? I know there is a good answer and I know somebody can tell me but I am really wanting to know.

Thanks :)

Hi Because He Lives! Welcome to RRBB and welcome to the Body of Christ.

It was not acceptable for Jacob to have two wives. He was a sinner. One of the major themes of the Bible is how God's plan moves forward in spite of man's sin. God is showing that He will take that which is totally corrupt and bring good from it.

[Because_He_Lives!]

Thanks for your answers paidfor and countme... :)

I kind of felt like God didnt approve of someone having more than one wife and concubines but that He has a greater purpose with people like Abraham and Jacob. He made promises to them and the promise had to do with them generating many descendents as God chose.

Both of you make good observations. Thanks for sharing them. :)

[DavidNR]

In Genesis, Jacob had two wives and two concubines. We do not accept marrying more than one person in our society today so my question is this..

Why was it acceptable at the time and what happened to change that? I know there is a good answer and I know somebody can tell me but I am really wanting to know.

The Bible doesn't proscribe polygamy. Marriage was and pretty much always has been a complex exchange of property and power. In a nutshell, the husband is to care for the wife - or wives. And the more wives a man has, the more "resources" he'd better be able to make available.

Abraham's wife was barren and directed him to take Hagar to wife for purposes of having a son, Genesis 16. God blessed the product of that sexual union (Ishmael). Gideon had "many" wives and, while he lived things were OK, perhaps. After his death, not so much (Judge 8). David, Solomon, et al, all had many wives. Some of these wives caused trouble for their husbands, let alone Israel. But... to really have a lot of wives, the husband has to wield a lot of power, both physical and financial - like David and Solomon.

However, God's ideal plan is for one husband with one wife. Like Adam and Eve. I interpret 1 Timothy 3:12 to make this clear in terms of what makes for a good husband.

Polygamy is illegal in the US, but it is not illegal to have a harem - you just can't be married to the women at the same time...

[The Learner]

Hello

I am a new Christian. I've always considered myself Christian and attended church when I was younger but as I said in my introduction to new members thread.. it was not until recently that I truly accepted Christ into my life and devoted myself. In other words, I didnt really know the true meaning of being born again until these past few months.

So.. I started reading the Bible from the beginning. I read the Bible on an online read the Bible program. I have been reading Genesis for the past month and after reading each chapter, I read study guides on it too.

I have a question for all you who have much more knowledge of the Bible than I do..

In Genesis, Jacob had two wives and two concubines. We do not accept marrying more than one person in our society today so my question is this..

Why was it acceptable at the time and what happened to change that? I know there is a good answer and I know somebody can tell me but I am really wanting to know.

Thanks :)

Welcome to the Body :hug

First thing to remember is this. It is God's plan for man to have one wife and a woman to have one husband. However, with the fall of Adam came sin, and with sin came death and corruption.

Death, specifically child death, is one of the main reasons that we see polygamy in the Old Testament. Life was very hard for ancient people, and families needed children to survive. Most people lived off the land and so forth, and they needed children to help them work the ground and livestock as well as to make clothing, shelter, etc.

The thing is that childbirth is a very dangerous process. Many women and children died during childbirth in ancient times. Also without the benefit of modern medicine child mortality rates were very high.

So generally what we see in the Old Testament is a man with one wife who is the matriarch, she has special status in the family, along with several concubines who are there to bear children. This was good if the wife was barren, or even good for producing as many children as possible. The more children that were born meant that more children would survive. This way the family could survive and elder members would have younger generations to take over more of the workload and look after them.

Like I said, this certainly was not God's plan, and this came along because of sin. If man had not sinned then there would be no death. Childbirth would be totally safe, and all offspring would survive. There are other implications, but you get the idea.

I hoped this helped you out a bit.

[Because_He_Lives!]

It helps. I see that just because someone had more than one wife didnt mean that it was ok with God. Thank you all for commenting.

[Hernando]

Can I point out, that under certain conditions, a man was required by the Jewish law to have more than one wife. If a man's brother died without children, then the surviving brother would marry the widowed wife and have children for the deceased brother.

I have often heard preachers condemning polygamy, but I don't recall any supplying me with good scripture to back it up.

Thus, I can't agree that all polygamy is sin, or prohibited by scripture.