Polygamy violates God’s order of creation

By Bishop Dave Chikosi

In the comments section under my last essay to this newspaper, one person using the alias “Ko Barika Rakaipeyi” challenged me to make the Biblical case against polygamy.

He/she wrote: “Lets have the Bishop post something on polygamy to be specific and the culture of the bible of marrying . . . Proof on the table Bishop Dave Chikosi.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to respond to the challenge until I woke up the next day to find an essay by (Mr) Learnmore Zuze making the patently false statement that polygamy, slavery and incest were “practices that were condoned in the Old Testament but are now sinful and even blasphemous according to the New Testament.” That was all I needed to scramble as quick response.

Incest expressly condemned, not condoned

Contrary to (Mr) Zuze, the Old Testament (OT) is very clear as well as very severe in its condemnation of incest:

“Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!” (Deut 27:22). See also the Lev 18:6 prohibition)

It does appear from scripture that Abraham married his half-sister (Gen 20:12). But please note that this was some 400 years before the Levitical Law was given at Mt Sinai. The governing principle in such a pre-Sinai situation is summed up by Paul:

 “Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break” (Rom 5:13).

Abraham therefore did not sin in marrying his half-sister. In any case, people were marrying their close relatives before the Law was given. Where do you think Cain got his wife from? He obviously married his sister. There was no Law yet to forbid that.

Besides, the genetic lineage of Adam and Eve was still almost perfect at this time, so that marrying a sister would not have caused any birth defects.  Centuries later, after sin had taken its toll things would change biologically. The genetic pool became so degenerated and contaminated that marrying a close relative would cause birth defects.  To stop all this God imposed a prohibition on interbreeding.

The OT does not condone polygamy

(Mr) Zuze and Mr Gumbura share a common belief with regards to polygamy. They both believe it is condoned in the OT. To these two strange theological bedfellows I have one simple question: How many wives did Adam have?

The answer to that question should be sufficient to dispel any confusion on their part as to what God’s original intention for marriage was. That intention is stated in Genesis 2:18: “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Note its one helper, not two, three, four or more.

And after this declaration of intent, God then forms one woman out of Adam’s side. Not two, three, four or more. The divine pattern of monogamy is established right there and then in Eden. And after the formation of the one woman then came those immortal words that we hear at almost every wedding: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). Not “shall be joined to his wives.” No sir! The divine pattern was, and still is, one man and one woman.

Unfortunately the first man to violate this order of creation and marry more than one wife was a godless man called Lamech. After marrying his two wives, Lamech also commits murder. Evidently he had very little control over both his anger and sexual drive. He then goes home and brags to his two wives that he has just killed someone. Very impressive!

But what is of interest to us in this discussion is the divine silence in the face of both Lamech’s polygamy and murder. God says nothing about both. But since when does divine silence mean consent? Does anybody seriously think that God’s silence is a condoning of both acts by Lamech?

The difference between description and  prescription

Contrary to (Mr) Zuze and Mr Gumbura, the OT does not condone polygamy. Nor does it condemn it. It simply describes it. The same goes for slavery, which is also neither condoned nor condemned in the Bible. Regulated in both Testaments yes, but condoned, no.

There is a world of difference between description and prescription. The Bible describes polygamy, but it never prescribes it. God tolerated it among the Israelites, but He never approved it or blessed it. Why? Because polygamy violates the order of creation. In the beginning God made one man for one woman.

And so the million dollar question is: why did God tolerate polygamy in the OT, seeing it was so incongruous and dissonant with the monogamous paradigm set out in Genesis 2? The answer is surprisingly simple. God tolerated polygamy for the same reason He tolerated divorce i.e. the hardness of the human heart. This was Jesus’ answer to a group of Pharisees in Luke 19:

3“The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”  4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 

Watch the underlined phrases. Jesus is appealing to the order of creation in this passage to establish theological norms in society. He says “at the beginning . . . the two shall become one flesh.” Not the three, four or more. But “because of the hardness of your hearts” God made concessions.

Both divorce and polygamy are concessions. They are God’s permissive Will, not His perfect will. One need not be a rocket scientist to see how this follows logically.

Jesus is not a polygamist

Unfortunately both Mr Gumbura and (Mr) Zuze miss the powerful symbolism presented to a fallen world by the institution of marriage. From the very beginning, marriage was intended to mirror the faithful relationship between Christ and His Church. He is the Groom and she is the Bride, and herein lies the mischief of polygamy.

Polygamy mirrors something totally different from what the Bible teaches about the character and nature of the Groom. The reason God cannot sanction polygamy is because Jesus is not a polygamist. He is betrothed to only one Bride to which He remains faithful. Not two, three, four or more Brides.

True, there are many false brides and there is a harlot church out there. But Jesus does not give them a time of the day. They are too ugly to even catch His attention. But both the false bride and the harlot church will end up in the Lake of Fire. There is only one Bride of Christ and one Church of the Living God.

My final thoughts on bended knee

If anyone thinks that the mere bowing of the knee constitutes worship then they need to think again. When a young man proposes to a girl on bended knee who is he worshipping? Does God lose sleep over this?

Be not deceived. The true worship of Yahweh in the New Testament has nothing to do with a physical posture. This is not yoga where certain physical postures become the royal road to union with Brahman. The NT nowhere commands us to kneel, bow down, close our eyes or clasp our hands in worship or prayer. It simply gives us examples of people who prayed on bended knee. But once again, description is not prescription.

But what the NT does command us to do in worship is in fact the very thing that many non-Charismatics are quite reluctant to do i.e “to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing” (1 Tim 2:8). How ironic! The fact is that one can kneel or prostrate outwardly but inwardly have a heart far from God. You can have the form without the substance.

Which reminds me of the story of the rebellious little guy sitting in the back seat of his mother’s car. He takes off the seat belts and decides to stand for the rest of the trip. Mother is alarmed and tells him to sit down several times, but the boy is defiant. Finally mum reaches over and forcibly pulls him down. The boy sits down quiet for a moment or two, but then angrily blurts out: “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside!”

Some Christians are like that – kneeling down on the outside but standing up on the inside. If only they knew that physical posture is not what the Father is seeking. Jesus told us what the Father is really seeking. He said “the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” (John 4:23). 

Kneel, stand, sit, crouch, squat, bow, stoop, huddle – take your pick. But whatever you do in worship make sure you do it in Spirit and in Truth.

[Bishop Dave Chikosi has a new 2014 book project titled: “Supersize Me Lord! Why You Should Pray Big, Hairy, Audacious Prayers.” Excerpts can be viewed here http://www.supersizemelord.com]