Program 178: What the Bible Says About Marriage

Marriage was intended to be a blessing. Polygamy was not sanctioned by Yahuwah but was a later corruption of His plan.

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* * *Part 1: (Miles & Dave)

Miles Robey: Marriage. It can be heaven on earth . . . or sheer hell. In recent years, societal norms and expectations the world over have changed to the point that marriage itself is changing. Honestly, often for the better, but not always.

Even in Muslim countries, divorce rates have climbed and are still climbing. A lot of believers are concerned about how changing values impact marriage. So, today, I’ve asked Dave Wright to discuss with us what Scripture has to say about marriage.

Dave?

Dave Wright: Before we dive into this topic, I want to just acknowledge the fact that WLC is a world-wide ministry. Our articles are in over 30 languages and we broadcast in nine. I’m saying this because our culture influences our views on marriage, and we broadcast to many different cultures.

That said, even the Bible’s focus on marriage deals with the issues of the times in which it was written.

Miles: What do you mean?

Dave: Well, uh … grab your old 1828 dictionary there. I’ve noticed you’ve been just leaving it here in the studio lately.

Miles: I figured it was just easier. You have me look up words so often in it.

Dave: Well, I like the definitions. Anyway, look up “marriage” and read what it says.

Miles: All right, it says: “Marriage: The act of uniting a man and woman for life; wedlock; the legal union of a man and woman for life.”

You want me to keep going?

Dave: There’s more?

Miles: Quite a bit, actually.

Dave: All right, go ahead and read all of it.

Miles: Uhhh …

Marriage is a contract both civil and religious, by which the parties engage to live together in mutual affection and fidelity, till death shall separate them. Marriage was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and for securing the maintenance and education of children.

Dave: Okay. So that’s your standard definition of marriage within Christianity from 200 years ago. Now, depending upon your culture, that definition may vary. For example, here’s the definition listed in the fifth edition of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Go ahead and read that.

Miles: “Marriage: The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife, and in some jurisdictions, between two persons of the same sex, usually entailing legal obligations of each person to the other.”

Dave: So, do you see how the definition has changed? The United States legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. This change actually started in 2001 when the Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. Now, even some highly religious countries such as Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina have legalized such unions.

Obviously, though, there are many countries where not only is it still illegal, but the very act carries a death sentence. So, rather than get into the particulars of modern marriage and what’s legal and what’s not, we’re going to focus solely on what Scripture has to say about marriage.

Miles: Many Christians define marriage as the union of one man with one woman. Do you agree that’s how Scripture defines it?

Dave: Well, remember, the Bible isn’t a dictionary. That’s never spelled out, no. So, we have to look at what the Bible does say, and the two aspects of marriage the Bible covers is what the first marriage looked like, and what the corruption of that looked like in Bible times, which was polygamy. Now this isn’t as outmoded as some might think because there are still countries where polygamy is legal.

Miles: I remember my grandfather used to say that men need the softening, refining influence of a good woman, as well as help with the affairs of life. He’d say that Yahuwah made women to populate the earth and to make men happy. Do you agree?

Dave: Well, certainly Yahuwah desires the happiness of all His creatures but, with all due respect to your grandfather, I think that’s a rather egocentric perspective. I’m glad you brought it up because that’s still actually a rather commonly held view among traditionalists. But is it correct? If all a woman was made for was to make man happy, it diminishes her. Our natural, fallen selfish desires kick in and she starts being seen as an object. This reduces a woman from her original state in which Yahuwah made her.

Miles: Which was?

Dave: Humanity was created to have dominion over the earth and, in exercising that dominion, reveal aspects of the divine character. Women reveal different aspects than men reveal, but both are important and needed. Turn to Genesis 1 and read for us the stated purpose Yahuwah had in creating human beings. It’s verses 27 and 28. What does that say?

Miles:

Then Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So Elohim created man in His own image; in the image of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them. Then Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Dave: The word here translated into English as “man”—“Let Us make man in Our image”—comes from the Hebrew word, adam. It means—

Miles: Wait. Say again?

Dave: It comes from the Hebrew word [aw dawm] and simply means humanity or mankind. And yes, that’s the exact same word that was used to name the very first person of our species: Adam.

But the point I want to make is that, despite this same word being used as Adam’s name, the word itself refers to both sexes. It’s not referring just to the males of the species. So, it’s very significant to note in verse 27 that humanity, the human race, was created in the image of Yahuwah, and that includes women.

Why don’t you read that verse again and this time instead of “man” insert “human race” because that’s what the word actually means. Just verse 27.

Miles:

Then Elohim said, “Let Us make the human race in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So Elohim created the human race in His own image; in the image of Elohim He created the human race; male and female He created them.

Dave: So the human race was created in the image of Yahuwah. Both men and women were made in His image.

Miles: So, what you’re saying is, sure! Yahuwah intended for the creation of Eve to make Adam happy, just as He intended for Adam to make Eve happy. But the primary purpose of the creation of them both was to reveal Yah because the very first thing He says is “Let Us make the human race in Our image.” Then, after that, the race is given dominion over the earth.

Dave: That’s it exactly. Saying that they were made in the image of Elohim is more than a revelation of design; it’s a statement of purpose. They were both to reveal Yahuwah because both were made in the divine image.

Now, we know how the story goes in Genesis 2. Yahuwah brought the animals to Adam to see what he’d call them and Adam noticed all the animals were in pairs. They had mates and he wondered where his was.

So now, let’s read Genesis 2, verses 21 through 24.

Miles:

And Yahuwah Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which Yahuwah Elohim had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. [Genesis 2:21 & 22]

Dave: I’m going to interrupt you here just a moment. The word translated “rib” comes from the Hebrew word, tsela. The original word means curved and refers to a support, like boards, corners, beams or timber planks.

Miles: So, like a bone.

Dave: Could be. I have also heard it suggested that it’s referring to DNA. With our modern knowledge of science, that makes more sense. Yahuwah took some of Adam’s DNA to form Eve.

Go ahead and read the rest.

Miles:

And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. [Genesis 2:23 & 24]

Dave: So here is the original marriage and verse 24 explains Yahuwah’s plan for marriage: the two shall become one flesh.

Now, if the primary purpose of the creation of females was to ensure the survival of the human race and make Adam happy, it would have been a very simple thing for Yahuwah to make him extra wives. We could have read about Adam and Eve and Cindy.

Miles chuckles: Or Adam and Eve and Cindy and Tiffany and Darlene.

Dave laughs: Why not? If He can make one wife, He can make two or three . . . or ten!

But see, Yahuwah wants our happiness, and He knew that polygamous marriages and polyamorous relationships are not in our best interests. Even in cultures where this is the norm, there is hurt, feelings of betrayal, jealousy, scrabbling for supremacy. It’s not conducive to happiness.

Miles: Not only that, but there’s generally an unequal power dynamic involved, generally in favor of the man.

Dave: Yes. In cultures where polygamy is accepted, the power dynamic almost universally favors the man. But even in polyamorous relationships, there is often an unequal power dynamic. I am personally acquainted with a couple where the wife wanted to have an open marriage and the husband wasn’t as into it. He went along with it to keep his wife happy, but … honestly? It’s only brought them grief. And the reason is simple: this does not fit Yahuwah’s original plan for marriage where the two shall become one flesh.

Miles: I hear what you’re saying, and I agree with you …

Dave: I hear a “but” there. What don’t you agree with?

Miles: Well, it’s just Genesis 2 verse 18 sounds like Eve was created for Adam. I get why you say that seems to diminish her, but … well, listen to this. It says: “Yahuwah Elohim said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”

Dave: All right. Let me read it in a slightly different translation. They’re both correct, but you’ll see the emphasis is slightly different. This one says: “And Yahuwah Elohim said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’”

So your version says it’s not good for the man to be alone; this version says it’s not good for man to be alone. Pretty similar and I’ll admit that, at a surface reading, both seem to be saying that women were created to be helpers for men. However, the second version is actually closer to the original because this use of man is not referring exclusively to males. This word translated “man” is the same one that more accurately is translated “humanity” or the “human race.”

Miles: It’s the same adam as before?

Dave: Yes. Number 120 in Strong’s Concordance. So this is actually saying, “it’s not good for the human race to be alone.” And that is when Yahuwah created the second human in the Creator’s own image, and this human was female.

Turn now to Ephesians 5. This is an often misunderstood, misapplied, quoted-out-of-context passage that, to a surface reading, seems to underscore the traditional second-class status of women, but that’s actually not what it’s saying at all.

Miles: Ephesians 5?

Dave: Let’s start with verse 22. As you read through this passage, I want you to pay attention to how many wives it says a man has.

Miles:

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [Ephesians 5:21-28]

Dave: This is a passage that has caused a lot of pain and unhappiness in a lot of marriages due to a misinterpretation of what’s being said here. It is not, as many suppose, putting a husband in the position of telling his wife what to do. This passage needs to be understood in the context of the verse directly preceding it. Go back now and read verse 20. What does that say?

Miles: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Dave: “Submit to one another.” This is the context in which we’re to interpret the rest of the chapter. But that verse isn’t quoted very often.

Miles: Yeah, there’s a surprising number of very sincere, very devout Christians who believe that only wives are to submit. I remember my wife, a number of years ago, was a member of this online forum for wives and mothers and one of the things frequently discussed was the struggle many of these women had to “submit”—as they understood the term—to their husbands.

Dave: How did they define “submission”?

Miles: Well, a surprising number of them believed that what this passage is teaching is absolute obedience. The wife must do what her husband’s decrees up to and including obeying him even if what he’s asking her to do is morally wrong or even illegal!

Dave: Really?!

Miles: Absolutely. So some women would be sharing how they felt really conflicted. How did they “obey” (i.e. “submit”) to their husbands when what their husbands were asking them to do was wrong? And the other women would tell these poor wives to submit and obey anyway because, they reasoned, “Yah would hold their husbands accountable for the sins of the wives if the wives sinned while obeying their husbands, but they had to obey anyway.”

Dave: Wow! That’s not even Biblical! Would you read Ezekiel 14 verse 20 for us? This is a very important principle to clarify. I’m glad you asked to talk about Biblical marriage today because if there’s even one person out there that thinks wives must “obey” their husbands even if what the husband is asking is wrong, you need to hear this verse. Ezekiel 14, verse 20.

Miles: “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Yahuwah, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in [the land], they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”

Dave: Yahuwah does not expect anyone, including wives, to just turn their minds, their reasoning capabilities over to someone else, be that a husband or even a pastor. We are all answerable to Yahuwah for ourselves.

Miles: That’s a good point. And, of course, every wife wants to believe her husband loves her, so he gets the easy part: he just has to “love” his wife but she, so they believe, has to “submit” her will to him.

Dave: Ahhh! But … husbands are to love their wives “just as Christ loved the church.” How did Christ love the church?

Miles: He “gave himself up for her.”

Dave: Yes. In other words, he died to guarantee freedom of choice. Without Christ’s sacrifice, none of us could choose to be saved. Our freedom to decide was stolen from us at the fall and our minds and wills were subjected to Satan’s. But with the great love Yahushua had for us, he died so that our freedom of choice was guaranteed.

That’s how husbands are to love their wives. Not forcefully imposing your will on your wife. Rather, being willing to die to protect her freedom of choice. That’s what it means to love your wife “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” because that’s how Christ loved the church. It’s Satan that forces subjugation, never Yah or His principles.

Okay, let’s go on. Pick up at verse 29. Paul’s going to expound a bit on just what it means to love one’s wife as Christ loved the church. There are two things I want you to notice. First is that Paul quotes Yahuwah’s original plan for marriage as explained in Genesis two. Secondly, pay attention to how many wives fit this plan.

Miles:

After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife—

Dave: Singular.

Miles: “—as he loves himself, and the wife—"

Dave: Singular.

Miles: “—must respect her husband.”

Dave: Again, singular. Two becoming one flesh is the Biblical model for marriage. But, of course, Satan always has his counterfeit.

Miles: Okay, let’s talk that when we return.

* * *

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* * *Part 2: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: You said that Satan has a counterfeit. I’m going to assume the counterfeit presented in Scripture is polygamy?

Dave: Yes. And where this practice originated reveals a lot about the inner heart of those who desire this aberration, because that’s exactly what polygamy is: a corruption of the divine plan.

Turn to Genesis 4. This is the first recorded instance of polygamy in Scripture.

Miles: So … quite early on.

Dave: Well, yes and no. From our perspective, yes. However, this wasn’t immediate. The first man to take more than one wife was Adam’s great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson. That’s seven generations in total! Seven generations where everyone was monogamous.

Miles: Interesting. So even Cain and his immediate descendants understood that marriage was between two, not three or . . . five or more.

Dave: Right. So now read verse 19 of Genesis 4. What does that say?

Miles: “Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.”

Dave: Lamech is the first recorded polygamist. Now let’s read what else he was notable for. Verses 23 and 24.

Miles:

Then Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
For I have killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man for hurting me.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

Dave: So Lamech, the bigamist, was not only an adulterer, but also a murderer. Now, this isn’t the Lamech descended from Seth that was Noah’s father. This Lamech was descended from Cain. Verse 18 lists his lineage.

And what’s Cain known for?

Miles: Being the first murderer.

Dave: This is the ungodly line that was slain in the flood. Satan’s counterfeit of marriage originated with this corrupt line. Yahushua appears to have been thinking of this when he made a curious comment in John 8 verse 44. Would you read that for us, please? This verse applies to the class of people who wish to embrace Satan’s counterfeit of marriage. Go ahead. John 8:44.

Miles: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.”

Dave: Of course, not all polygamists are murderers. However, polygamy was instituted by Satan in an attempt to … out-breed, shall we say, the true followers of Yahuwah. He influenced the murderous Lamech to take two wives, something not even Cain had done. But do you see how revealing it is that polygamy entered through Cain’s line?

We must always remember that two partners in a marriage is Yahuwah’s plan. Yah gave Adam one wife; the devil gave two.

Miles: You put it that way, it’s clear Yah was never okay with polygamy, even when, later on, some of His own followers practiced it.

Dave: No, He never was. And for those who may have missed our earlier radio episode on the subject, Scripture actually does forbid polygamy. Look for the radio episode called “Polygamy and the Torah.” That really clarifies polygamy has never been acceptable to Yah. It has always been counter to His perfect plan.

Miles: This idea, then, that Yahuwah somehow adopted what you’ve shown was really Satan’s plan, is actually blasphemy, isn’t it?

Dave: It is! It’s attributing to Yah what’s really the work of the devil. And that’s serious. This first act of polygamy had very far-reaching effects. Turn to Genesis 6 and read the first two verses. Genesis 6 verses 1 and 2.

Miles: “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.”

Dave: This isn’t describing the divine plan of two becoming one flesh. This is talking about a selfish indulgence in sexual desires that had nothing to do with love, honor and respect.

Now, granted, it’s possible that the sonsss—plural—of Elohim who took the daughtersss—plural—of men all took only one wife each. However, it’s revealing that none of the other descendants of Seth made it onto the ark. Only monogamous Noah and his immediate—and monogamous—family.

Miles: You don’t think the fact that it was the “sons of Elohim” that did this suggests that Yahuwah adopted Satan’s plan?

Dave: Absolutely not. And once a taboo is broken—such as taking more than one wife—it’s quickly accepted by others. What does the very next verse say?

Miles: “And Yahuwah said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’” [Genesis 6:3]

Dave: Yahuwah’s spirit is said to be “striving” with men here. Then verse 5 says, “Then Yahuwah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

So, the fall-out of this unbridled lust was “only evil continually.” Now go on down to verses 11 and 12. Read those for us.

Miles: “The earth also was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence. So Elohim looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”

Dave: This was the result of rejecting Yahuwah’s plan for marriage of two equal partners, made in His image, becoming “one flesh.” Indulging the sexual appetites, taking multiple wives, led to many other excesses, including murder.

Miles: Yeah, that’s quite a statement, saying the “earth was filled with violence.”

Dave: And this was due to rejecting Yahuwah’s ideal.

The result of rejecting the original plan and adopting Satan’s counterfeit resulted in men who gave free reign to their lusts and, as a result, the “earth was filled with violence.’

Now what’s interesting is that this is the point in the narrative where we are first introduced to Noah. Read the description of him in verse 9.

Miles: Uhhh … “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with Elohim.”

Dave: So, he was the obvious choice for preserving human life on the earth. He walked with Yahuwah. He was righteous and blameless. And how many wives did he have? Read Genesis 7 verse 13.

Miles: “On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark.”

Dave: So Noah had one wife. Each of his sons had only one wife.

Miles: Okay, but we know from subsequent chapters that Ham wasn’t as righteous as his father and brothers. How do we know that Noah or one of his sons didn’t actually have more than one wife, but that she—or they—were destroyed in the flood?

Dave: That’s a great question and the answer is because Scripture actually says so. Go back up to Genesis 7 verse 1.

Miles: Uhhh … “Yahuwah then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.”

Dave: Scripture says a lot about Noah’s character:

• Genesis 6:9: He was a “just man and righteous in his generations.” He walked with Yah.
• Genesis 7:13: He had one wife and each of his three sons had only one wife each.

This was Yahuwah’s plan from the very beginning. Now, we know that after the flood, sin quickly spread again. Again, Satan tried to pervert Yah’s plan for marriage.

Miles: And really quickly, too! I mean, you do the math and Shem outlived Abraham! So let me ask you this: why did Yahuwah choose, as the progenitor of the Messiah, a bigamist? Abraham had more than one wife.

Dave: Not initially. Turn to Genesis 12 verse 5 and read what it says about Abram when he was 75 years old and first answering Yahuwah’s call. Genesis 12:5.

Miles: “Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.”

Dave: It was only later, years later, that Abram and Sarai, stumbling into sin like we all do, tried to “help” fulfill Yahuwah’s plan. They may have reasoned that Yahuwah had promised Abram would have a son, but Sarai wasn’t mentioned in that promise. So they decided to “help the plan along.” What does Genesis 16 verse 3 say?

Miles: “So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.”

Dave: Now, here’s what’s really interesting. Never again does Sarai refer to Hagar as Abram’s wife. She calls her “my maid” and, when she gets really angry, “this bondwoman,” but never again as Abram’s “wife.”

Abram himself never refers to Hagar as his wife. When speaking to Sarai, he refers to Hagar as “your maid.” Then, when Sarai punishes Hagar and Hagar runs away, how does the angel that helps her greet her?

Miles: Ah, he refers to her as “Sarai’s maid.”

Dave: And tells her to return to her mistress, not her husband!

Abraham did have another wife, and her name was Keturah. However, he only married her after Sarah’s death. So, considering how Hagar was never truly accepted or viewed as his “wife,” it’s probably more accurate to say Abram broke the seventh commandment at his wife’s instigation.

Did Abraham make mistakes? Yes. He wasn’t perfect, but he had the desire to honor Yah.

Go to the next chapter and read Genesis 17 verse 1 for us.

Miles: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahuwah appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am El Shaddai; walk before Me and be blameless.’”

Dave: Now, Abram had a choice. He could harden his heart, turn obstinate, and stick to his ways, or he could submit to Yahuwah. Which did he choose? Verse 3.

Miles: “Then Abram fell on his face.”

Dave: Unlike Cain, unlike Lamech, Abram’s reaction was like David’s, many centuries later, when he became convicted of his sin. Abram was blessed, not because he was perfect, but because he was humble and longed to please Yah even though at times he still sinned. It was at this point, that Yahuwah changed Abram’s name to Abraham and the Scriptural account afterwards shows that he was a changed man.

Turn now to Genesis 21. We don’t know the full story of Hagar and Ishmael, but we know that when Isaac was weaned, Sarah caught Ishmael mocking her son and it made her angry. What did she tell Abraham? Verse 10.

Miles: “Therefore she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.’”

Dave: This really upset Abraham. He loved Ishmael. Obviously! Ishmael was his son! He didn’t know what to do, so he sought wisdom from Yahuwah to know what to do. And we know he did, because Yahuwah told him what to do, and Yah’s instructions underscore His continued plan for marriage being . . . two not three or more.

Read verse 12.

Miles: “But Elohim said to Abraham, ‘Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.’”

Dave: Yahuwah wanted justice for Ishmael. He promised Abraham that Ishmael would become a great nation, too, but He also knew that having multiple wives would not be the most conducive environment in which to raise the child of promise.

Miles: Well, the fact that Yahuwah supported Sarah’s demand shows just how important His original plan for marriage still was to Him!

Dave: You do the math, and you’ll find out that it had been about 15 years since Sarah told Abraham to have a child by Hagar. Now, if she’d really been Abraham’s wife all those years, if Yahuwah considered her Abraham’s wife, do you really think He would have told Abraham to send her away?

Miles: Well, no. That wouldn’t be right.

Dave: What’s more, it would contradict the instruction Yahushua, under inspiration, gave regarding marriage. Let’s read it. Matthew 19, verses 4 to 6.

Miles:

It says: “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore [Yahuwah] hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Dave: This is the Creator’s original intent for marriage: What He’s joined together, let no one put asunder. So if Hagar were truly Abraham’s wife in a Heaven-approved union, Abraham would not have been commanded to send her away.

This was a bitter lesson for Abraham to experience, but it created in him a character that Yah needed to head up the lineage through which the Messiah would come. Genesis 18:19 contains a clear statement of Yah’s intent in selecting Abraham. Would you read that for us?

Miles: It says, “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahuwah by doing what is right and just, so that Yahuwah will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.”

Dave: And, despite the failings that come with a fallen nature, Abraham did exactly that! When it was time for Isaac to marry, what did Abraham do? Genesis 24:1-4.

Miles:

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and Yahuwah had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by Yahuwah, the Elohim of heaven and the Elohim of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

Dave: Not wiveSS. Just one. One wiFe. That has always been the divine plan.

When Isaac sent Jacob to find a wife, what did he tell him? Genesis 28:1-2.

Miles: “Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: ‘You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.’”

Dave: So even though Jacob ended up having more than one wife, that was not part of Yah’s plan.

Miles: You have to admit, in Jacob’s defense, Laban tricked him, giving him the wrong daughter in marriage.

Dave: Yes, but that still doesn’t change the fact that polygamy is not part of the divine plan.

Granted, Laban wronged Jacob just as Jacob had wronged Esau. And the result was a bitterly unhappy home. The sister wives were constantly fighting and this was made worse when Leah had babies and Rachel didn’t for a long time. Then, when Rachel finally had children, the envy and strife for supremacy carried over into the lives of the kids and we all know what resulted from that.

Miles: Yeah. The brothers sold Joseph into slavery. Later, when the brothers came to Egypt to buy corn, you kind of get the sense that Joseph was testing them to see if they were as jealous of Benjamin as they’d been of him. That’s why he gave Benjamin larger portions at the meal.

Dave: And hid his cup in Benjamin’s sack.

After Jacob arrived in Egypt, Joseph introduced his father to Pharaoh and Pharoah asked him how old he was.

Miles laughs: That’s so human! Here’s this really old man and Pharaoh’s curious: “How old are you?”

Dave: What’s even more interesting is Jacob’s answer. Why don’t you read it for us? Genesis 47:8-9.

Miles:

Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

Dave: I think it’s fair to say that the majority of the actions that made Jacob feel that his life had been filled with evil and unhappiness were directly related to his decision to flout Yah’s original plan for marriage.

Miles: Yeah, I think that’s fair to say. So, then, why was David called a “man after Yah’s own heart” when he was a polygamist? He had a lot of wives.

Dave: He was called a man after Yah’s own heart, not because he had a lot of wives, but despite having a lot of wives.

David made a lot of mistakes. He lied to the Philistines when he sought refuge among them when hiding from Saul. He lied to the high priest resulting in the slaughter of all the priests of Nob.

Miles: He numbered Israel.

Dave: And he saw another man’s wife and, giving into his selfish lusts, he arranged her husband’s murder and took her as his own wife. So, yes. A lot of guilt there.

But the thing with David was that when Yahuwah got through to his heart, when Yah sent a prophet to rebuke David, David didn’t make excuses. He didn’t kill the prophet. He didn’t prevaricate. He … repented. And he repented with his whole heart.

Miles: David’s another story where I think you can trace much of the problems in his life to his decision to have more than one wife.

Dave: Absolutely. The death of his and Bathsheba’s first son was directly linked to his murder of Uriah, and Absalom’s murder of one of his stepbrothers as well as his subsequent rebellion, likewise, can be traced to the problems created within the dysfunction of a polygamous marriage.

And the ripple effects went still further, far beyond David’s own immediate family. In 2 Samuel 12, in talking about David’s murder of Uriah and theft of his wife, Nathan told David, quote, “By this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of Yahuwah to blaspheme.” Unquote.

Miles: So how, then, could David be called a man after Yah’s own heart. There’s a text here I want to read … just give me a moment to find it …

Here it is: 1 Kings 14 verse 8. This is a message from Prophet Ahijah to King Jeroboam. It says: “I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept My commands and followed Me with all his heart, doing only what was right in My eyes.”

How can that be said about David, the liar, polygamist, adulterer … murderer?

Dave: The answer is found in Psalm 32 verse 5, and it gives hope to the rest of us who have sinned and broken Yah’s law.

Miles: All right, uh:

Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to Yahuwah.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.

Dave: David repented. He never once rejected the words of the prophets sent to him to confront him of his sin. When his wrongs were pointed out, he repented, and he quit committing the wrong.

No, he wasn’t a perfect man, but Scripture never whitewashes anyone’s reputation. It’s an accurate portrayal of their characters, warts and all.

Miles: That’s true. You can’t use David and Jacob as arguments in favor of polygamy. If you did, then to be consistent you’d have to say that lying, adultery and murder are acceptable, too.

Dave: And we know they’re not.

Solomon, David’s son, wasn’t blessed because he was the worst polygamist recorded in Scripture. In fact, you could argue he was cursed! Not that Yahuwah cursed him, but the consequences of his choices certainly brought a curse on him.

Miles: And on his children! The kingdom was divided under the weak reign of his dissolute son.

Dave: And forever after remained a divided kingdom! Yes, these are direct results of Solomon’s polygamy. Turn to 1 Kings 11. Read verse 4.

Miles: “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to Yahuwah his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”

Dave: Verse 9?

Miles: “Yahuwah became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from Yahuwah, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.”

Dave: And verse 11.

Miles: “So Yahuwah said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept My covenant and My decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.’”

Dave: When we study the lives of the fallible humans in Scripture, we are seeing both the weakness that comes with a fallen nature as well as the strength of divine love and grace. This faithful record is to teach us important lessons.

Yes, we see that sincere men of Yah stumbled into sin. But we also see a clear record of the consequences of those actions. You can’t read the story of Jacob’s life, see the pain and suffering that resulted from his taking more than one wife, and argue that Yahuwah approves of polygamy!

Miles: Yeah, that’s ridiculous.

Dave: But the record is preserved to inspire our faith that when we stumble and fall, we will be forgiven, too; that Yahuwah’s love for us doesn’t change just because we dishonor Him and break His law.

Miles: Just how common was polygamy? I think sometimes people get the impression that everyone back then had more than one wife.

Dave: It actually wasn’t all that common. Yes, it leaps out at us from the stories of prominent Bible characters, but how many more stories are recorded where Yahuwah’s plan was followed? Isaac, for example, only ever had one wife and, as I recall, there’s no record he had any concubines.

What we need to understand is that Yahuwah’s plan for marriage was understood from the very beginning. That’s why it was such a shocking aberration when Lamech took two wives. This plan was reaffirmed at the flood and at the calling of Abram. Yahuwah never approved of marriage being anything other than what He established in Eden: two becoming one flesh.

Miles: And you look at the life of Jacob, it’s clear that three can’t become “one flesh.”

Dave: Or five, as the sisters pulled a Sarai and gave their maids to Jacob to try and get more children out of him. All it did was cause strife and unhappiness and turned Jacob’s life into one which he later said was full of evil.

Miles: There are a handful of texts commonly used to claim that Yahuwah approves of polygamy. I’d like to read them and maybe you could clarify what’s being said if it’s not actually Yah giving approval.

Dave: Sure!

Miles: Okay, Exodus 21 verses 9 and 10 says: “And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights.”

I have to admit, this does sound like Yahuwah doesn’t have a problem with polygamy or why wouldn’t He simply say, “Don’t take another wife?”

Dave: Because this passage isn’t talking about wives. It’s talking about betrothals, which were quite different back then. The word “wife” in verse 10 is a supplied word, so when it says “If he takes another,” it has to be understood in context, and the context here is talking about how a man is to treat any young woman he arranges to be betrothed to his son. If, later, he decides to set her aside and betroth his son to someone else, he can’t cheat the first girl who committed to the betrothal contract.

Again, “wife” is a supplied word. It doesn’t appear in the original.

Miles: Huh! Good to know.

Um, Deuteronomy 25:5: “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.”

Dave: This was a specific instance designed to protect the woman. If a man died, leaving his wife a young widow with no children to inherit his portion of the familial estate, his brother was to take the widow under his protection. Part of that included trying to get her pregnant. The child conceived this way was not considered the brother’s child but was considered to be the son of the man who’d died. This was a way to protect and provide for widows. That’s all.

Miles: Kind of like what Naomi was trying to arrange for Ruth when she told her to go to Boaz and “act the part of the kinsman” for her.

Dave: That’s exactly what was happening. Again, this was for the protection of the woman, so she would have someone to support her in her old age. And I just want to add that in the rare instances where this is recorded as happening in Scripture, the next-of-kin was always single. If he was married, this disqualified him from taking the widow as his wife.

Miles: Okay, what about Isaiah 4 verse 1? Give me just a second … Okay it says:

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,
“We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel;
Only let us be called by your name,
To take away our reproach.”

Dave: This is a prophecy. A lot of bad things are predicted in prophecies. It doesn’t mean Yahuwah is giving His approval of what’s happening.

Miles: Yeah, that’s a really good point.

Okay! Up next: Elise O’Brien with today’s daily promise!

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You are listening to World's Last Chance Radio.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

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The apostle Paul told Timothy that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of [Yahuwah], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of [Yah] may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” [2 Timothy 3:16-17]

In the last few years, a growing number of believers have become concerned over the allegation that the Roman Catholic Church is the institution responsible for providing us with the Bible in its current form. The claim is made that the Church selected which books to include, and which to reject. Of course, if this is true, it is concerning because naturally the bishops tasked with choosing which books to include would have selected only those books which could be interpreted in ways consistent with Roman Catholic theology.

So how do we know if the Scriptures with which we’ve been raised are the Scriptures Yahuwah preserved? To get to the bottom of this troubling allegation and learn the truth, look for the article entitled “Did the Roman Catholic Church really give us the Bible?” on WorldsLastChance.com. Yahuwah’s word is how we learn the truth, so it’s important to know just what is His inspired word! Look for “Did the Roman Catholic Church really gives us the Bible?” on WorldsLastChance.com.

* * *Daily Promise

Hello! This is Jane Lamb with today’s daily promise from Yah’s word.

On December 13, 1937, one of the most horrific massacres of modern history occurred when the Japanese imperial army marched into the city of Nanjing, China. Over the following six weeks, Chinese soldiers and civilians were tortured, raped and murdered. While it’s impossible to know exact numbers, estimates of those killed range between 40,000 to over 300,000 with up to 80,000 women and girls of all ages raped. This slaughter on the largely civilian population came to be known as the Rape of Nanjing and is widely ranked as one of the worst atrocities of World War II.

Prior to this, there had been a large foreign population in the city but during this time of chaos and danger, the majority of Westerners fled. Before the city fell to the invading army, though, the handful of remaining foreigners determined to save as many Chinese civilians as they could. These were not soldiers or politicians. They were businessmen, physicians, a few missionaries, and five journalists. The foreigners organized the Nanjing Safety Zone and elected a man by the name of John Rabe to head their new committee. Fifty-five years old, the balding man with round spectacles looked very unassuming. Not someone you’d think could affect much change!

However, Rabe, in his capacity as head of the International Committee for the Nanjing Safety Zone, worked tirelessly to establish a place of safety for the local Chinese population. He declared all foreign embassies as well as Nanjing University to be part of the safety zone. But he didn’t stop there. He even opened his own properties to refugees, providing them with food and shelter. In explaining his reasons for risking his own life and welfare to help strangers, he said, "…there is a question of morality here. I cannot bring myself for now to betray the trust these people have put in me."

You see, John Rabe was a German and a member of the Nazi party. As Germany and Japan were negotiating their status as allies, Rabe hoped his membership in the Nazi party would give him influence with the Japanese forces committing such atrocities. Accounts from Rabe’s diaries are confirmed by those of Japanese journalists who were also aghast at what they were witnessing. In the final count, Rabe is credited with saving the lives of approximately 250,000 Chinese civilians.

In Psalm 32 verse 7, David triumphantly declared: “You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

We have been given great and precious promises. Go and start claiming!

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Part 3: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: I read a story once that stuck with me. As I recall, sometime in the 1930s, a man’s car broke down out in the middle of nowhere. He’s there, frustrated, wondering what to do when along comes another car and out climb three elderly men who offer to take a look and see if they can figure out what’s wrong.

The car owner is sure that if he can’t figure out, these old geezers won’t be able to, either, but of course there’s no polite way to say that, so he lets them try.

To his astonishment, the men quickly figure out what’s wrong and get his car going again. He thanks them profusely whereupon they introduce themselves. The old men turned out to be:

• Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor,
• Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company;
• and Harvey Firestone, the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.

Dave laughs: The man was in good hands and didn’t even know it!

Miles: Well, that’s kind of like Yahuwah, isn’t it? He’s our Creator. He knows how we “tick.” And He has shown that, for our greatest happiness, marriage should be monogamous: two becoming one. I figure, as our Creator, He knows us best. We’ll be happiest if we obey the laws He has established for our good.

Dave: That’s a great way to put it. And it’s true. He knows us best and He knows that polygamy only brings unhappiness.

Yahushua affirmed Yahuwah’s original plan for marriage. Read it for us in Mark 10 verses 6 to 9.

Miles:

From the beginning of the creation, [Yahuwah] ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what [Yahuwah] has joined together, let not man separate.

Dave: In 1 Timothy, chapter 3, Paul gives instructions for those who should be church leaders. He says, “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife … Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.” [1 Timothy 3:2, 12]

This has been the standard from the beginning. If a man with more than one wife accepted the gospel, he and his wives were to be embraced and accepted into the church, but he wasn’t to hold church office.

There’s not a single instance in Scripture of Yahuwah choosing someone for special service who was a polygamist. There are a handful of cases that the person became a polygamist after having been chosen by Yah, but these are the exception, not the rule.

Miles: Just underscores the fact that Yahuwah is the same yesterday, today and forever. His laws never change.

I want to thank you for joining us today. We hope you can join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

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This program and past episodes of WLC Radio are available for downloading on our website. They're great for sharing with friends and for use in Bible studies! They're also an excellent resource for those worshipping Yahuwah alone at home. To listen to previously aired programs, visit our website at WorldsLastChance.com. Click on the WLC Radio icon displayed on our homepage.

In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.