Home About Us Apostolic Free Library Questions & Answers Guestbook Order Online Search The Network

What about Deuteronomy 21:15?

 Submitted: 4/7/2009
Post a comment or
ask a follow-up question
 
Question: Deuteronomy 21:15 says, 'If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated....' 1. Who gave the instruction in Deuteronomy 21? 2. Is there a case where the old testament fathers were corrected by God for having more than one wife.i.e. Abraham with concubines, Jacob, David, Solomon etc.?
Answer: 1. This instruction was not given as an authorization for men to have multiple wives. It was given to deal with a situation that could arise because man has violated one of God's principles. The same can be said of the Mosaic rules dealing with divorce and remarriage. These rules don't suggest that God was okay with divorce and remarriage, only that he recognized the reality of it and the problems that came from it. But Jesus said, 'Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so' (Matthew 19:8). Now that the Holy Spirit has been poured out, God expects all men to live by His original holy standards.

2. Someone said, 'We are not punished for our sins but by our sins.' The fathers were rebuked by their own unwise choices. All one needs to do is read of the bad fruit that came from their marriages to multiple wives.

If you have your heart set on marrying more than one woman, then you need to become a Muslim, a Mormon, or an African tribal chief. But don't look to the Bible to justify your own lust.


Copyright © 1999 - 2024 || Rosh-Pinnah Publications :: PO Box 337 :: Carlisle, PA 17013-0337