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NASB | 1 Kings 11:3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Kings 11:3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God]. |
Subject: Does God endorse polygamy? |
Bible Note: "Everyone else appears to be aware of this fact and are avoiding it because of its implications." Ahem, who is avoiding issues here? You seem to be able to answer everyone substantively, but fail to have time for me. I hate to shatter your ego (or libido), but your pro-polygamous position is not nearly as untenable as you are declaring it to be. Let's take a look: 'Nathan then said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!'"' --2 Samuel 12:8 What we are seeing here is not an advocacy of polygamy, but rather a declarative statement summarizing the fact that David assumed Saul's position as king of Israel, with all of the material aspects of that position that Saul had possessed. Did God give David those wives? Absolutely, just as everything anyone has is given by God either actively or permissively. In God's economy, "giving" can mean "allowing to have." Here are some examples: "For thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as exiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword.'" --Jeremiah 20:4 He gives the land of Judah to Babylon not as a reward for Babylon's faithfulness, but as judgment toward Judah. Likewise, Assyria is ordained by God to plunder the land of Israel, but that divinely-ordained gift is really given to ultimately enact judgment on the Assyrians as well (Isaiah 10). Likewise, God gave permission to Satan to torment Job, and in the New Testament, with regard to sinners, "Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them." --Romans 1:24 Would you say in this instance that God giving people what they want implies that God approves of what they do? God gave people over to homosexuality...therefore God is happy that they are homosexuals? Ultimately everything falls under the umbrella of God's providence (from the word "provide"), so God giving Saul's wives to David does not necessarily imply an APPROVAL of polygamy, even though in this case he temporarily TOLERATES it. And, when we look at how often Genesis 2 is given as a pattern in the New Testament, it is pretty clear that polygamy is not preferred by God. --Joe! |