I just read an article about the fact that a number of Old Testament saints had more than one wife. Some as in the case of Abraham had concubines (Hagar) who didn't have the same status as an actual "wife." I was surprised to read that the author thinks that we must accept the Biblical notion that God did not forbid the saints to have more than one wife. The idea that because the Law, starting in Deuteronomy 21:15 addresses the issue of how to treat the heirs of a man with more than one wife condones the practice is just wrong. Kings were forbidden in the same book, for chapters earlier to "multiply wives," and this was not strictly speaking, a prohibition made to curb political alliances through marriage.

The reason God gave direction in the Law for dealing with the multiple wife situation is that even though a man had done something he shouldn't have in the taking of more than one wife, she was still in fact, his wife. He now had responsibilities to her and to her children that had to be fulfilled. That didn't condone or validate the practice in any way. It only served to make sure that these men lived up to their obligations to the woman with whom he had made an agreement or whom he may have taken advantage of. Even all those years ago God hated divorce. (Malachi 2:16) He doesn't change.

The men who took more than one wife or that had concubines lived with the resultant consequences for the way they compromised in this manner. Solomon compromised in a major way and gets only a back-handed reference by Jesus in the New Testament. David compromised in this area and he and his family suffered horrible consequences because of the choices he made. Abraham compromised with Hagar and the whole world has suffered from century after century of violence and bloodshed even to this day.

There can be no compromise with sin. When you tell a "half-truth," you're telling a lie and you've compromised the truth. When you know what's right, but you do something else because you can do it sooner, you've compromised your righteousness. It could be said though that we can't compromise our righteousness, even if we're believers, because we don't have any. Just sounds like another compromise, to me.

I was equally surprised to read that the author believes that the monogamous ideal for marriage was established only after the coming of Christ. That is kind of like saying that Jesus came to change the Law instead of to fulfill it. When an Old Testament saint was married and "took" another wife, he was committing a sin. Plain and simple. In 1 Timothy 3:2 (despite the fact that people interpret this passage in different ways) it is plain that bishops must be "the husband of one wife." The very least that that statement means is that an elder is not to have more than one wife.

Allow me to use some circular reasoning here. 1 Timothy 3:1 states that, "If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work." Verse two then states that he must be "the husband of one wife." If one of the requirements of the bishopry, which is a "good thing," is monogamy, how can having more than one wife be part of a good thing? That may be reaching around just a bit, but you don't have to reach very far.