The Bible’s real, original intended plan is for a man to have only 1 wife. Yet, the encounter of Jacob leads to the tragedy of having 4 wives. Jacob worked 14 years and had two wives. Both Leah and Rachel had servants namely Zilpah and Bilhah who became the other wives of Jacob. In total, it was a number of 4 wives which I couldn’t imagine the confusion it wrought.
Jacob had it coming when he deceived his father Isaac and his older brother Esau. Now, he was working for his uncle Laban (and incest was very common in Genesis because it was still the book of beginnings) to get Rachel. However, Laban deceived him into having Leah. Eventually, he got Rachel but she was barren. Both wives competed. Genesis 29-30 would give us the detail of the struggle when both wives competed. The fact that Leah and Rachel both gave Jacob an extra wife added more troubles. In fact, it would be so troublesome when Rachel’s own impatience was very similar to Sarah. Rachel gave Zilpah to Jacob to bear children for her–a very act that would harm Joseph later on.
I was thinking about how I wondered why polygamy was allowed in the Old Testament but not in the New Testament. Yet, Genesis already opened God’s original plan for marriage was one man and one wife to become one flesh. Yet, Jacob ended up having 4 wives which must’ve been very chaotic. I don’t think the children borne of Zilphah ever recognized Rachel as their birth mother nor did the children of Bilhah. Yet, both wives sinfully competed and they were also sisters. That’s why God forbade sister-wives later in Leviticus.
The big problem of Jacob’s 4 wives became worse when Rachel finally bore Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel died in childbirth after bearing Benjamin. Jacob’s lack of discretion was that it was obvious that he loved Joseph more than the others. Joseph was a very special child–Jacob waited for several years. Jacob had to work 14 years to get Leah. One must think that Jacob was 40 when he worked for Laban. Jacob was 47 only to find out he was married to Leah. Now, Jacob was 54 when he got Rachel. Rachel took a long time to finally give birth to their natural child. Jacob missed Rachel deeply and ended up arousing jealousy. Joseph was no spoiled brat but the coat of many colors caused problems (Genesis 37). You can imagine the animosity it caused especially when they all planned to murder Joseph. Judah would later advise that they sell him instead for silver–the very cursed fate that would hit his descendant in the flesh, the Lord Jesus, centuries later, by another Judas (Judah in Greek).
What was disturbing was that this rule was often ignored. The Old Testament is full of polygamists. Just because it was recorded doesn’t mean it’s right. I remembered wishing I were born under the old covenant so I can marry many. The record of polygamy made me think Islam was Judaism when both aren’t. Elkanah having 2 wives led Hannah and Peninah in constant rivalry with each other. David’s many wives caused him to be unable to discipline all his children leading to rebellion. Solomon’s many wives turned his heart astray. In history, having many wives also caused people to be unable to prioritize their duties too. Try reading about the lives of emperors and Muslim rulers–their lives are messy because of having many wives. Having 1 wife is already a burden than how much more to have many, right?
Reformed Baptist Christian Blogger 