This is a good example of "descriptive" versus "prescriptive" parts of Scripture. What does this mean?
Descriptive tells it like it is.
Prescriptive tells it like ought to have been, should be, and must remain.
Polygamy in the Old Testament was a description of how people lived their lives; it was not "prescriptive" - meaning God did not command it. Nowhere in the Bible did God ever tell anyone to marry more than one wife. Rather, God temporarily allowed it to happen.
In actual fact, whenever you read about polygamy in the Bible, it always leads to trouble or even disaster. Several examples are found in the following passages:
- Sarai and Hagar (Genesis 16)
- Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29-31)
- Hannah and Peninnah (1 Sam. 1)
- Solomon and his many women (1 Kings 11)
Polygamy is actually condemned once in Deut. 17:17:
And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away,
nor shall he acquire for himself
excessive silver and gold.
It is also condemned several times in the New Testament (1 Timothy 3:2 & Titus 1:6) because it degrades the value of women (see 1 Peter 3:7) and goes against God's design for marriage (Genesis 2:24). Marriage, after all, is a picture of the relationship between Christ and his Church (Eph. 5:32) where the husband represents the former and his wife (singular) the latter.
[Answered by Pastor HM]
