No, Polygamy is Not Biblical!

This episode responds to a public claim by a pastor who says he is married to two women and argues the Bible allows polygamy. It examines the debate and explains why Scripture presents marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Drawing on Genesis, Jesus' teaching in Matthew, Old Testament examples, and New Testament instructions from Paul and Peter, the episode shows that God's design from the beginning is lifelong, monogamous marriage. Historical instances of polygamy in the Bible are treated as descriptive, not prescriptive, and are shown to produce family conflict and spiritual harm.

The conclusion: the Bible does not endorse polygamy, and those who promote or practice it contradict the clear witness of Scripture. Listeners are urged to hold to the biblical design for marriage and to be cautious of leaders who teach otherwise.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The discussion of marriage and polygamy has come up online due to a professing Christian pastor who has publicly stated he is married to two women and claims he has biblical support for doing so.

(00:10):
While perhaps the best thing to do would be to ignore such a man into obscurity,
the matter is now one of public debate and should be addressed.
To that end,I would like to offer these considerations as to why Scripture does not endorse polygamy and engaging in the practice is sinful.
Scripture clearly commands marriage to be between one man and one woman.

(00:31):
In Genesis 2, verse 18, God declares, “It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him a helper fit for him.
” In the following verses, God puts Adam to sleep and makes Eve from his rib.
God gives Adam only one woman to be his wife as his perfect helper, not a multiplicity of wives.

(00:51):
And Moses concludes the passage with this commentary,
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2,verse 24).
God’s perfect design for marriage is one man and one woman in a lifelong monogamous relationship.
It is modeled in Adam and Eve and declared by Moses that the two,

(01:15):
not the multitude,become one flesh.
Jesus reaffirms this commandment in Matthew 19, verses 3 to 9.
After being confronted with the question of divorce by the Pharisees,
Jesus responds,“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
and said,‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife,

(01:39):
and the two shall become one flesh’?
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (verses 4 to 6).
Jesus reiterates that God’s design for marriage is that “the two,
” one man and one woman,become “one flesh.

(01:59):
” Furthermore,he explains that divorce was only given by Moses,
“Because of your hardness of heart” (verse 8).
The two were to remain in marriage except for specific cases of adultery.
And he punctuated this by stating that to divorce and remarry for any other reason was adultery in itself (verse 9).
Both the Old and New Testaments clearly state God’s perfect design for marriage.

(02:24):
With regard to the institution of marriage,God clearly prohibited any sexual union with another person outside one’s marriage,
“You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20,verse 14).
And Christ would expound this commandment to lusting for another who is not one’s spouse,
“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5,

(02:49):
verse 28).
God’s institution of marriage,which he designed from the beginning to be between one man and one woman,
was not to be defiled by engaging in lustful desire or fornication with another.
This is why Hebrews 13,verse 4 commands,“Let marriage be held in honor among all,
and let the marriage bed be undefiled,for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

(03:14):
” The presence of polygamy in Scripture is not an endorsement of the act when one views how specifically God designed marriage.
One might try to look to the law itself,such as Exodus 21,
verse 10,which states,“If he takes another wife to himself,
he shall not diminish her food,her clothing,or her marital rights.

(03:35):
” However,this passage specifically addresses a daughter given into slavery,
whose master later decides not to take her as his own.
If he were to marry another woman,the law prohibits him from mistreating the young slave woman by depriving her of her provisions in favor of the new wife.
Much like the law regarding divorce,this law constrains the wicked and hard-hearted from mistreating a slave,

(03:58):
it does not endorse or promote polygamy.
Other such claims of biblical support are cleared up when examined in context.
While Scripture does show that polygamy was an ongoing practice,
even with God’s people,it is not presented as anything other than historical truth,
and never as an endorsement.
In fact,the history of Israel’s patriarchs and kings reveals nothing but problems with regard to multiplied marriages.

(04:25):
Abraham was promised an heir through Sarah,but when they became impatient,
Sarah gave her handmaiden,Hagar to her husband.
This resulted in the birth of Ishmael and great contention within the family.
Hagar gloated over Sarah, Ishmael later mistreated Isaac.
Sarah was bitter toward Hagar and had Abraham cast her out.

(04:46):
This was not a joy-filled family.
Later, the progeny of Abraham, his grandson Jacob, revealed even greater marital strife.
Jacob sought to marry Rachel, but was tricked into marrying Leah first.
These two women strove against one another for the love of their husband.
So much so that they began a tug of war with Jacob in order to have his sons.

(05:09):
They even brought their own handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah into the mix.
The result was the twelve sons of Jacob who would eventually become the tribes of Israel.
While this may seem a noble end, it is only because of God’s sovereignty over the matter.
In real time, the contentions of the wives spilled over into the family itself.

(05:30):
Jacob highly favored Joseph over his other sons because he came from Rachel.
This caused bitterness and envy between the brothers,
further resulting in Joseph being sold into slavery.
While God’s providence used these events to eventually preserve the family,
which later became a nation,we dare not ignore how damaged Jacob’s family of multiplied wives really was.

(05:54):
We see that God reiterates how polygamy was not his design when he required that any king who ruled over his people not engage in practice when,
in his law,he stated,“And he shall not acquire many wives for himself,
lest his heart turn away” (Deuteronomy 17,verse 17).
Kings were to keep their marriage bed pure because in the act of multiplying marriages,

(06:17):
their hearts could be lead away from serving him.
This was demonstrated to be true with both David and Solomon.
David married a multitude of women and maintained a harem of concubines.
David even took Bathsheba, murdering her husband, Uriah, in the process.
David fathered numerous children from these unions,

(06:38):
but took little interest in rightly raising them.
Rarely did he hold them accountable for their actions,
which,in one case,resulted in his son Absalom,deposing him as king.
When David later passed the role of king to his son,
Solomon,the wisest king of Israel followed in his father’s footsteps by acquiring a large number of wives.

(07:00):
Solomon stumbled repeatedly because of his own efforts to satisfy the false worship of his wives,
being pulled from following the Lord himself at times.
When we look at the New Testament,we see further evidence that God’s design for marriage is between one man and one woman.
First Corinthians 7,verse 2 states,“But because of the temptation to sexual immorality,

(07:22):
each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
” This again describes a marriage between two persons, not three, four, or more.
Ephesians 5,verses 22 to 33 describes how wives and husbands should treat one another,
culminating in this final verse,“However,let each one of you love his wife as himself,

(07:45):
and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (verse 33).
Paul makes it clear he is describing a single union of one wife to one husband.
Peter likewise teaches this when he writes,“Likewise,
husbands,live with your wives in an understanding way,
showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel,since they are heirs with you of the grace of life,

(08:08):
so that your prayers may not be hindered” (First Peter 3,
verse 7).
Husbands are exhorted to show honor to “the woman,” singular, not “women,” plural.
The repeated instructions of the epistles regarding the institution of marriage are directed at a union of one man and one woman,
never a multiplicity of spouses.

(08:30):
Marriage is God’s institution,perfectly designed to be his picture of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5,
verse 32).
Those who seek to corrupt that institution by cherry-picking instances of polygamous marriages in Scripture to justify their own lustful desires do so despite God’s clear commands,
not because of them.

(08:50):
Therefore, such persons should be marked and avoided at all costs.
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