What about being given permission to sleep with another woman as in the case of Abraham, Sarah & Hagar? Adultery was a known sin in those times as seen in Joseph's situation with Potiphar's wife.
As a result of abraham sleeping with Hagar and Sarah Isaac & Ishmael were born, the start of 2 nations Arabs & Hebrews. Where was the rebuke to Abraham for that, and even when Hagar was run off by Sarah God appeared to her and told her to go back, and not one word said or implied about comitting adultery?
Any thoughts?
God Bless & Happy Sabbath,
Will

Will,

“After the birth of Isaac the great joy manifested by Abraham and Sarah caused Hagar to be very jealous. ... Sarah saw the disposition manifested by Ishmael against her son Isaac, and she was greatly moved. She related to Abraham the disrespectful conduct of Ishmael to her and to her son Isaac, and said to him, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.’
“Abraham was greatly distressed. Ishmael was his son, beloved by him. How could he send him away? He prayed to God in his perplexity, for he knew not what course to take. The Lord informed Abraham, through His angels, to listen to the voice of Sarah his wife, ... For this was the only course he could pursue to restore harmony and happiness again to his family. Abraham had the consoling promise from the angel, that Ishmael, although separated from his father's house, should not die nor be forsaken of God, that he should be preserved because he was the son of Abraham. God also promised to make of Ishmael a great nation....
“His [Abraham’s] strong spirit suffered much. He was bowed with grief, and his paternal feelings were deeply moved as he sent away Hagar and his son Ishmael to wander as strangers in a strange land.
“If God had sanctioned polygamy, He would not have thus directed Abraham to send away Hagar and her son. He would teach all a lesson in this, that the rights and happiness of the marriage relation are to be ever respected and guarded, even at a great sacrifice. Sarah was the first and only true wife of Abraham. She was entitled to rights, as a wife and mother, which no other could have in the family. She reverenced her husband, calling him lord, but she was jealous lest his affections should be divided with Hagar. God did not rebuke Sarah for the course she pursued. Abraham was reproved by the angels for distrusting God's power, which had led him to take Hagar as his wife and to think that through her the promise would be fulfilled.” {SR 79, 80}


Also, I don't agree that God wasn't concerned with polygamy. The fact that the Bible records the negative results of polygamy is proof that God condemns it.
The problem is that God doesn't send a message of warning through a prophet every time His children choose to sin. He speaks through the Holy Spirit. He has already given instruction in His Word and expects His children to obey it. God only intervened in mercy with David, otherwise he would be led to utter ruin, and in mercy to Israel, for David's sin cast reproach upon God's name and tended to lower the standard of godliness in the nation.

Just to be clear on my comment, I didn't say God was not concerned with polygamy, but that He was more concerned about other things.

What do you know. I discussed this in a chatroom this morning and here it shows up. We may dislike polygamy for whatever the reasons may be but it cannot be because God disapproves of it. God never shows displeasure of polygamy. After Abraham He never said anything about it. He obviously knows what to do when something is unacceptable as at Sodom and the Tower of Babel. The strange thing is that we have no problem with serial polygamy in the name of divorce and remarriage. Christ says clearly why divorce is never good but prefer to embrace it why denouncing something He never denounces. If your wife won't allow you to get another wife then rejoice in the wife of your youth, but don't try to invent a transgression for the one who cares for more than one wife.

I am tired of seeing the weak argument that attempts to judge the institution by the times when it was misused. By that standard we should all kill ourselves because death is the only human act that has no negative consequences. Anything humans do sometimes has unexpected consequences. Jehovah's Witnesses will not celebrate birthdays because at one infamous birthday party they served up John's head on a platter. Let's not go for that kind of reasoning.

Post #79764 was by me.

He also did not say whether He approves of turning peanuts into peanut butter. I don't get your point. What kind of slavery are you referring to? See? You use words without paying attention to their meaning. I am sure you can find the difference between the slavery described in the OT and that practice in the US. Polygamy, on the other hand, was practiced by "some of God's closest friends."

Is your point that polygamy is OK? Or that it was OK? It seems to me you are getting my point fine.

You are coming across to me as argumentative. Would you please turn down the tone a bit? In forums where we have nothing but written words to see our communication is of necessity harsher sounding than what we would feel in person.

Thank you.

I'm sure the reverse is just as possible, so apologize if I've come across as argumentative.