The following is another article by Messianic Rebbe, Dr Les Aron Gosling; this concludes the series for now. Soon the High Holy Days will be here again, starting with Rosh HaShanah, then Yom Kippur, Sukkot and finally Shemini Atzeret. May HaShem fill us with His love and joy as we prepare for this special festival season! I will be writing more on the Festivals shortly.
How often have we heard the old swan song from the ministers
of bigotry and prejudice representing the Moral Majority: "In the
beginning," they bellow, "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and
Steve!"
Among the P'rushim (the Pharisees) it seems to have been the ideal that when arguing Scripture against Scripture the further back one could go to the very beginning of creation the more powerful and effective and thus the more original the case (of whatever was being argued). Such a stand also assured that bystanders could see who was more skilled in debating the point at hand. Yeshua was virtually forced to respond to the P'rushim (and others) in similar manner. We can see this approach expressed in a number of situations when Yeshua responded to arguments which were being presented to the Lord by his opponents. "In the beginning it was not so..." etc. (See Mk 10.3-9 which illustrates this clearly.)
True, in the beginning God did not create Adam and Steve. He
created Adam and Eve. God then proceeded to let human beings run their course
in a measure of freedom. If we accept the notion that the children of Adam and
Eve were the only human beings present on earth at that period of history, then
we are pressured to acknowledge the obvious truth that they had sexual
relations with each other...in other words incest was the norm. And, indeed it
was until that "norm" changed in a social context. By the time of the
immediate post-Flood period it was only the kings and queens of the earth (as
an example, the Pharaonic Dynasties)
that maintained close blood ties in their family-successions. Indeed, even
Abraham the "father of the faithful" -- who was most certainly a
"Prince" (and is called such in Scripture) -- was married to his
half-sister (Gen 20.11,12; Gen 17.16). Had he lived in the days of Moses he
would have been stoned to death for such a transgression against Torah (Deut
27.22; Lev 20.17).
While Adam and Eve were one man and one woman in
relationship (i.e. in "marriage") at the beginning, it did not take
too long before one of their descendants -- Lamech -- decided one woman was not
enough for him so he took two women, named in the Scripture as Adar and Zillah
(Gen 4.19). And, while he is recorded as the first polygamist in the history of
the world, there is not one word of negative comment about such a decision by
God (or anyone else for that matter) on his lifestyle. Not a single word.
Another question here naturally presents itself: Why then is
it paramount for man to legislate where God has maintained His silence?
The patriarchs had more than one wife (and they maintained
concubines as well). The record is there in Genesis for all to read for
themselves. Again, it is there without a shred of negative comment. Let's not
forget too, that had Jacob especially not had children by a variety of women
(wives and concubines) there would be NO ISRAEL IN EXISTENCE TODAY (Gen 29).
(Most of the Christian fundamentalists are against homosexuality or a plurality
of wives but are staunch supporters and defenders of Israel as a State and the
Jewish people in Israel can do no wrong as far as they are concerned! They tend
to "overlook" Israel's origins.)
Moreover, we are assured by a prophet of God under
inspiration of the holy Spirit that it was the Lord God of Israel who gave
David Saul's thirteen wives (2 Sam 12.7,8). David is already on record for
possessing wives and concubines, with God's allowance and permission. There was
no word of retraction or condemnation by God concerning it. When God condemned
David's son Solomon for collecting wives and concubines aplenty it was not
because of his sexual tastes and proclivities but because they turned his head
to worshiping alien gods.
By the time of the prophets God was describing His
activities with the Chosen People in terms that relate to marriage. "I am
married to you," says God to Israel (Jer 3.14). In fact the Sinai Covenant
was a marriage agreement. But, FIRSTLY, what people fail to understand about
this marriage of God to Israel is the fact that Israel constituted two nations:
The Kingdom of Israel in the North (Samaria), and the Kingdom of Judah in the
South. He was married therefore to two women (Ezek 23.4; Jer 3.6-8).
SECONDLY, God was married to two sisters. This was
proscribed in the Torah (although male-oriented Levirate marriage customs were
honoured). There are Messianic legalists today who also proscribe polygamous
unions but they are at a loss to explain why it was good enough for God to
marry two women, two sisters at that, and is not God our prime example to
follow? Now, of course, I am speaking "tongue-in-cheek" as I am sure
my students all realise, and I am attempting to make a point here in this short
discussion. And I'm not finished yet! Consider a particular parable given by
Our Lord Yeshua himself which involves the Lord's marriage to ten virgins!
In Mt 25.1-13 Yeshua uses an example of a polygamous union
to describe his coming wedding banquet. The wedding feast was a symbol used by
rabbis of the time to speak of the inauguration of the coming Messianic Kingdom
of God. And Yeshua is not backward in coming forward with the means at his
disposal for creating a "type" of his glorious advent. Polygamous
unions were not unknown in Judaea and the Galil in the first century --
especially among the Herodians and many of the outer village people followed
this lifestyle. And Yeshua takes advantage of this somewhat common marriage
lifestyle to teach a great truth.
I might add that so common were polygamous unions in the
first century (especially among the Jews) that one of the qualifications for
holding an office in the Messianic Assembly was to be the husband of one wife (Titus
1.6; 1 Tim 3.2). Modern scholarship, however, is challenging even this concept
for, in the original Greek of the text, the emphasis is on the responsibility
of the Elder of a Messianic synagogue (ekklesia) to be concerned and caring
"for wife [number] one." If this is a correct reading, and it appears
to be the case, then there is an allowance for more than one wife for a
minister of the Gospel as long as he renders due benevolence (for want of a
better assessment) to the first wife in his entourage! And, no, I do not want
any more than my one wife, the Rebbetzin (LOL). She's quite enough for me
(ROFL).
The Lord is coming. It’s time we remembered this fact above
all others.
Accept his word and his alone and worship him and him alone.
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