Monogamy: The Only Marriage Alternative
...his is pointed out in the scripture. In The NIV Bible, associate editor Ronald Youngblood also agrees with the monogamous interpretation of this verse. “Instead of remaining under the protective custody of his parents a man leaves them and with his wife, establishes a new family unit. United…one flesh. The divine intention for husband and wife was monogamy. Together they were to form an inseparable union, of which ‘one flesh’ is both a sign and an expression” (9). The fist act of polygamy in the Bible is with Lamech in Genesis 4:19. Lamech obtained two wives without any consent of God or God telling him to do so. Lamech assumed that he was doing well by taking more than one wife, and by being more fruitful, he could attain the benefits of God’s blessing. Lamech takes Genesis 1:28, “…Be fruitful, and multiply…”, and applies his own meaning to it (Youngblood 12). There are many more accounts of polygamy in marriages throughout the Bible In the account of Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarah, Genesis 16:5, “And Sarai said unto Abram, my wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom;…the Lord judge between me and thee”, Sarai admits that they were wrong for allowing another wife into there home. In Through the Bible with J. Vernon McGhee Vol. 1 Genesis-Deuteronomy, McGhee tells us Don’t pass this verse by, don’t Assume God approved of this. God Says that it is wrong, and now Sarai sees that she has done wrong. “my wrong is upon thee”- She is wrong my friend. God will not accept this… But you see Abram and Sarai are not trusting in God as they should…I think they have come to the conclusion that they are not going to have a child. Sara could probably rationalize and say ‘I think this is the way God wants us to do it, for this is the custom of the day’. It was the custom of that day, but it was contrary to God’s way of doing things. We get the wrong impression if we think that something is recorded in the Bible God approves of it. The Bible is inspired in that it is an accurate record, but there a...