The sinful absurdity of polygamy...

In some (thankfully only some) Christians, the mindset is that unless God directly and plainly said to an Old Testament personality something pertaining directly to their "sin" (so called today because of principles stated that magnify/clarify OT principles), that such behaviour need not be considered sinful. Their logic goes something like this regarding the practice of polygamy:

"They had a personal relationship with God and God made His will known to them, especially when it came to simple things, such as the number of wives they could have! Had he been displeased with their plural wives, He would have notified them I am positive, and we would know this today because it would be recorded in His Law-Word. It is not."

Sadly, this is faulty logic that will lead to the pits of hell. To illustrate, I want to examine a few incidents in the Bible.

1. Consider Lot and the occasion of the visit to him by 2 men (angels, directly from God, identified as so in Genesis 19:1)

We know the story, the men of Sodom came to Lot and demanded that he release the 2 so that they could have sexual relations with them. Notice Lot's response: (verse 8): "See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men..." In other words, Lot offered to prostitute his 2 unmarried daughters. Nowhere in the following verses is it indicated that the angels objected to this offer, or gave any negative connotation to this act of Lot's.

Therefore, since the logic used by the above mentioned fools would indicate that since Lot received no (direct) condemnation, it is approved by God that fathers prostitute their daughters, especially in the light of the fact that Lot is referred to as "just" (righteous) - 2 Peter 2:7.

2. Consider Lot (again) with his 2 surviving daughters and the incest recorded in Genesis 19:31-38. Again, the logic used by the above mentioned fools would indicate that since neither Lot nor his daughters received no (direct) condemnation, it is approved by God that fathers have incestuous relationships with their daughters, especially when they are drunk (Lot received no condemnation for being drunk) and that it is also permissible to be so drunken as to be totally blotted out from knowing what is going on about you. So drunkenness is a "bonus" added in this incident, since God didn't speak to Lot about it. (Ephesians 5:18 didn't come till later, but hey, we must rely on Lot's example because we can't give any additional 'weight' to the Ephesians reference...)

3. Consider the case of Jephthah (Judges 11:29-40), who in verse 1 it is said, "Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah..." went on to make a stupid (in my humble opinion) vow. As it turned out, the vow obligated him to sacrifice his daughter by burning her to death as an offering. Now, it must be noted that commentators over the years have disputed over whether or not he actually did burn her up, or did he regulate her life in solitude. Nevertheless, using the logic of the above mentioned fools, we have an indication that since Jephthah received no (direct) condemnation, it is approved by God that fathers burn their daughters as sacrifices. (Leviticus 27:1-5) notwithstanding, because, hey, we must rely on Jephthah's example because we can't give any additional 'weight' to the Leviticus example.

Look, absurd is absurd. Twisted logic is nothing but twisted logic. It is sinful, and morally wrong. The above mentioned fools need to repent, lest they fall into the condemnation of Matthew 7:23: "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’"

and/or the condemnation found in Jude 1:3b-7: "I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." (emphasis mine.)