Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Vaughn
I can show you several quotes where you have equated it to sin.. you have said it is WRONG..... you have said is unthinkable to you that God is against it in the NT.... care to give me another meaning of SIN?
The argument here is that if you say Polygamy is WRONG because it wasn't so from the beginning then you must use the same textual argument for Divorce or either leave both of then alone....
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Due to the progressive revelation of God we always interpret the old testament in the light of the new. It is all the Word of God. Jesus revealed Gods original intent as we read in
Matthew 19
Mat 19:3 And the Pharisees came to Him, tempting Him and saying to Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
You see the Pharisees, as we, are always trying to look for loopholes around Gods intended purpose. Men were divorcing their wives just for not pleasing them in any and every way. Don't like the way you cook dinner. They asked is it lawful (or is it sin) for A MAN to put away HIS WIFE. One man and ONE WIFE not wives. This does not that this was not the case but it is not the meaning of the Question. There were two schools of thought at the time that of Shammai and that of Hillel and they were trying to trap him into siding with one or the other.
Mat 19:4 And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning "made them male and female",
Not falling their trap he goes to what he as God told Moses to write in the Pentateuch. Once again Jesus points out male and female, not males and females. It was he who made them so he lets them know the original intention. It is through mans corruption that that original intention was distorted.
Mat 19:5 and said, For this cause a man shall leave father and mother and shall cling to his wife, and the two of them shall be one flesh?
The husband and wife should be so put together in every way that it is like they are glued together. If you take one away from the other it will destroy both of them as they are now considered one flesh. You will have to tear me apart and in doing so it will destroy part of both of me and my wife. It is not only possible but necessary that a man leave his parents. Though children are from the one flesh they are separate and must leave and cleave. Take note that this is what God told Adam and Eve before there was any other children or marriages. These words were given at the first marriage ceremony.
Mat 19:6 Therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.
Here again Jesus did not say; they are no longer three, four, eight, one hundred, or one thousand, he says they are no longer TWO. When the marriage vows are taken it is not man who unites but God so that what God joins together no man, magistrate, government, or even Moses is able to invalidate this union.
Mat 19:7 They said to Him, Why did Moses then command to give a bill of divorce and to put her away?
They understood that it went beyond even what Moses wrote and even invalidated what he wrote. Why then did God allow for a bill of Divorce?
Mat 19:8 He said to them, Because of your hard-heartedness Moses allowed you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so.
God did this because of our hard heartedness. He first began to tolerate the violation of his original intent. Then because God tolerates it, mankind then believes it is permissible. Now because it is permitted we believe this evil is permissible God must set up command to deal with the hard hearts of men. This also is to protect women from the cruelties that may be inflicted upon them by their husbands. Just because God did not condemn this practice of polygamy did not mean that this was his original intention. His mercy and grace covers our multitude of sinful behaviors. Now in the New Testament he gives the way he intended for us to live and now the Apostles carry out Gods original design into the church.
Mat 19:9 And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is put away commits adultery.
This verse here tells us that young people should not be looking for a girl friend but a wife. A wife is begun before the marriage vows are pronounced. This protects women from being used and discarded. Premarital sex will even cause the one who marries that person to be committing Adultery. The union begins even before sexual union occurs. This is why Jesus can say he that even looks on woman to lust after her is committing Adultery in his heart. Even as Mary was espoused to Joseph. Once a woman is married she cannot commit fornication this is an act of sexual union between unmarried persons and even includes acts of homosexuality and beastiality. This putting away a wife begins with the covenant that begins before marriage and continues throughout the marital relationship. Adultery is what takes place in breaking the marital covenant.
We are in a covenant relationship with God at repentance but then continue to consummate the vows made at the altar of repentance by agreeing to be married at baptism. This is the public ceremony. The intimacy is actually consummated in union at Holy Ghost infilling. This is the completion and we now are one with the Lord.
Blessings
Pastor DT Salaz
Fountain of Truth Apostolic Church
Re: Polygamy in the Bible
AMEN
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