giving thanks to the Father, who has
made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light..
Col.1:12
Here is what God wrote of Abraham;
2Ch 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court,
2Ch 20:6 and said, O Jehovah, the God of our Fathers, are You not God in Heaven? And do You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And is there power and might in Your hand, so that none is able to withstand You?
2Ch 20:7 Are You not our God? Did You not drive out the people of this land before Israel, and give it to the seed of Your friend Abraham forever?
And again;
Isa 41:8
But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed
of Abraham, My friend;
Isa 41:9 whom
I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from its sides.
And I said to you, You are My servant; I have chosen you, and not cast
you away.
Isa 41:10 Do
not fear; for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will
make you strong; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the
right hand of My righteousness.
And again;
Jam 2:23 And the
Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was
imputed to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."
If polygyny was such a
terrible thing then God chose a polygynous believer to be His friend and
he also called David a man after His own heart (1Sam.13:14
& Acts 13:22).
In fact in the book of Romans, when
Paul is outlining the great doctrine of righteousness by faith through
grace (reckoning), both Abraham and David are included as examples of
faith or the inspired words written by them or of them included, both
men being polygynists.
Do you think the modern churches would put a polygynist believer up as a
great example of faith in their Sunday services? I doubt it. Yet God
upheld these men in His Word and called them His friends.
Guess some modern Christians are not as gracious nor in any way as
understanding as God regarding polygyny.
It was in genesis 17 that the record is given regarding Abraham and his
faith being reckoned as righteousness, but do we remember the context?
Gen 17:1 And when
Abram was ninety-nine years old, Jehovah appeared to Abram and said to
him, I am the Almighty God! Walk before Me and be perfect.
Gen 17:2 And I
will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you
exceedingly.
Gen 17:3 And
Abram fell on his face. And God talked with him, saying,
Gen 17:4 As
for Me, behold! My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of
many nations.
Gen 17:5 Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name
shall be Abraham. For I have made you a father of many nations.
Gen 17:6 And I
will make you exceedingly fruitful, greatly so, and I will make nations
of you, and kings shall come out of you.
Gen 17:7 And I
will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in
their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to
your seed after you.
Gen 17:8 And I
will give the land to you in which you are a stranger, and to your seed
after you, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And I
will be their God.
Certainly Paul uses this
passage when referring to the gentiles who believed during the Acts
period (see Roms.4) so the "nations" in
Paul were the gentiles who were not the literal seed of Abraham. We also
know that the real Israel are only those who descend from Abraham
through Isaac (Roms.9) but the fact is,
there are many people who came through Abraham and we have already seen
the promise of God regarding Ishmael. Many literal nations will come out
of Abraham as God said, and remember Abraham had many concubines or
servant wives:
Gen
25:6
But to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts.
And he sent them away from Isaac his son while he still lived, eastward
to the east country.
We could only speculate as to how many
servant wives Abraham had, but if we think Abraham only had Sarah, and
then Keturah as wives we are misinformed.
Abraham was a polygynist but a friend of God and a great example of
faith. It is just too much for some modern Christians to consider that
present day polygynists could be the same.
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