The Deceptive Myth of Polygamy
A rant by Rev Walter Mwambazi
Even though the Bible does not outrightly call out polygamy as sin, I can assure you that it leads to it.
There is this perception that polygamy is fine because the patriarchs in the bible were polygamists and God didn’t really speak against it.
Further, there has been a long call among a number of “brethren” to support the idea. Whenever you hear brothers in the faith speaking this way, as far as I am concerned, they are already compromised and have “side chicks” on a regular basis. This I guarantee!
Reminds me of those who frown at the message of holiness, morality and consecration as a lifestyle.
Anyone who frowns at such messages is secretly living a depraved lifestyle of licentiousness, lewdness, debauchery and depravity! They just need to find a way to justify it, and what better message than the hyper-grace message?
Anyways, I had digressed…
So, today I want to break that myth completely by showing you the harvest that came with polygamy among the patriarchs.
Let’s take a closer look…
Abraham
He always loved Sarah and she remained the love of his life. Haggar was a bad idea given by his wife when they felt God had delayed in His promise (25 years of waiting).
As for Keturah and her children under Abraham, she comes into the picture after the demise of Sarah.
Interestingly Isaac remained a monogamist even with an arranged marriage. ☺️
Jacob
He was tricked by his uncle (I suppose it was his trickery coming home to roost – after all he did steal his brothers birthright).
He loved Rachel but his uncle got him to marry Leah instead. Then the two women competed and used their servants to birth further children. As a result, Jacob ended up with three unwanted “wives”.
Study his life to see the pain he got as a result of this. That included living for over 20 years thinking his favorite son (from his favorite wife) had been killed. He was a broken man!
Elkanah
This is the father to Samuel, the greatest judge Israel ever had. Look at the contention and bitter rivalry that existed between his two wives Hannah and Peninah. Very sad
King David
He married many wives and look at what it cost him. He had a divided house, children murdering each other, and a succession dispute that led to deaths of more of his descendants.
The spirit he had certainly passed onto his son Solomon.
Solomon
Where do I even begin! I think the best would be to just to let the Bible speak for itself.
Read 1 Kings 11:1-11 to see what happened. The man “lost it” completely! Though he repented at the end of his life, his lifestyle caused a split in the Kingdom immediately after his demise. And it was downhill from thereon.
梁
In short, he got so many women in his life such that the wisest man that ever lived became a fool, turning his heart against his God and doing the very things he had so carefully warned his people not to do (Proverbs). He became an idolator, a sorcerer, and a serious womanizer.
The above led to terrible consequences for his children and their descendants. The glory of God that had been experienced by the Israelites departed. They literally experienced Ichabod on account of this wanton polygamy.
I could give more examples but it’s in your face. The pain of polygamy for families and their children is enough to tell any wise man that it’s not God’s will.
Besides, there are enough scriptures that insinuate it’s not God’s will.
But perhaps the greatest indictment against anyone who thinks of going down this route of polygamy is found in Malachi 2.
God calls out men, and priests for allowing an injustice against the women of Israel. He literally makes this statement below…
I am about to denounce your offspring; I will scatter feces on your faces, the feces of your festivals. Then I will lift you up to me, and you will know that I have sent this command to you so that my covenant with Levi can continue to exist, says the LORD of heavenly forces.
Malachi 2:3-4 CEB
Eh! Feces?
Don’t blame me, it’s the Bible!
Why? Read the rest of the passage and you’ll see what He has to say about marriages and this polygamous mindset.
So, the bottom line is this…
God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman. That was His plan (hence Adam and Eve), but man in his avarice and lust decided to get more.
The results are never that peaceful. For every one successful polygamous marriage, I can point at dozens full of drama, pain and serious hurt.
So, yes Zambia is a secular and traditional state with this ongoing for decades so that it is culturally right, but it does not make it morally and ethically right.
So, don’t get deceived into this. Remain with that one wife of your youth and be faithful to her!
Selah!
Note: Attached picture is for illustrative purposes only! It’s a very popular telenova on Zambezi Magic TV