Posted by Nancy on April 12, 2008 at 13:41:15:
In Reply to: Re: a broken record posted by Rx on April 12, 2008 at 11:55:16:
"My question was, (if this establishes that Christ has but one bride), how does it help confer that a non-king, non-church leader, never-divorced-a-woman "man who can afford it" may not take a second wife? "
To me, sometimes I think we need to just use childlikeness and stay within the simplicity of what the Bible says. When God created a helper for Adam, He created Eve. At the end of the days of Creation, God looked at all He had made and declared it very good.
In the fuller explanation of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2, it's declared that "a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife [singular]; and they shall become one flesh." (2:24). One man and one woman was all still within the perfect, sinless world.
When the Pharisees tested Jesus on divorce (Matt 19), He took them right back to Creation with His answer. He showed them clearly the perfect world of Creation, and then said what became allowed because of sin - "but from the beginning it has not been this way." (Matt 19:8)
God relentlessly pursued Israel throughout the whole of the Old Testament. Only the nation of Israel. The prophets speak so much of His commitment to this one nation, and of His faithfulness to her, and at times use the imagery of marriage.
Within the New Testament, when it talks about the Gentiles becoming part of God's people, I don't believe it ever portrays them as a second or separate bride. They're spoken of literally as a separate people, as in Ephesians 2, and I believe they're spoken of as the figurative sheep of the other fold that Jesus refers to in John 10:16.
This is another point that has come up in this discussion - who are the sheep of the other fold? It helps to consider the clear shift of taking the gospel to the Gentiles in Acts. Jesus had said He came only to the lost sheep of Israel (Matt 15:24), and then after His resurrection the gospel was also preached to the Gentiles. The apostle Paul makes mention of the two people groups within the one body (Eph 4:4) of Christ - the Jews and the Gentiles (Rom 1:16; 2:9-10; 3:29; Ephesians 2:11-22).
So back to your question. May the described man of the Old Testament (Ex 21:10) take another wife? Apparently yes, he "may." Was it God's design from the beginning? No.
Do I want to do what I "may" do, or do I want to do what God says is best? I want to do what God says is best. "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify." (I Cor 10:23). It's that kind of principle of truth I'm talking about.
Another question to possibly consider - does the polygamist of today who claims Exodus 21:10 to support his polygamy need to be willing to order his life by the other teachings of the Old Testament for every area of his life and home, or can it be a pick & choose thing?
Nancy