Heresy of Polygamy Has Infiltrated the Netzarim!

[Christina]

Then you should be the first person to stand with me and repudiate the perversion of Moshe K, not argue with me about intricacies like this. Do you have any idea how many lives have been shattered beyond recognition because of this teaching and I mean RECENTLY? You haven't talked to the brokenhearted women who WANTED to veto the polygyny and who, because of what Moshe K said, had their husbands cheat before their very eyes, ruin their homes and make them suicidal. I have. You have not read the tear-stained emails and pleas for help but I have. A MAN Dawid stands up for those weaker than himself.

A man stands up for the person who cannot stand up for themselves. I think I do that pretty constantly on this website and I take a lot of crap for it.
I do not approve of what Moshe K does. I simply pursue the most accurate interpretation of Scripture that I know how, admitting that I may be wrong in the end.
But the above is an emotional argument, with a hint of an ad hominem. I still maintain the detatched, rational opinion that polygyny is permisseable.

Let's go back to the beginning shall we:

Matthew 19:4-5 4 Now he answered and said to them, "Have you not read that he who made [them] from the beginning made them male and female?" 5 And he said, "Because of this, A MAN SHOULD LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND SHOULD CLEAVE TO HIS WIFE AND THE TWO OF THEM WILL BECOME ONE FLESH.

Mark 10:6-8 6 but from the beginning GOD MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. 7 Because of this, A MAN WILL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND JOIN TO HIS WIFE 8 AND THE TWO OF THEM WILL BECOME ONE FLESH. So then, they are not two, but one flesh.

This is what Y'shua uses to base HIS halakha on marriage!

Genesis 2:23-24 23 Then the man said, "This one at last Is bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called Woman, For from man was she taken." 24 Hence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh.

The only halakha that matters is Y'shua's because HIS interpretation of the Torah is the ONLY ONE we KNOW we can trust. I trust Y'shua ONLY, not Rambam, Hillel, Shamai or Rashi. Now does Rav Shaul agree with Meshiakh? Yes, look at this:

Ephesians 5:25-31 25 Men, love your wives alas also Messiah loved his assembly and delivered himself up for it, 26 to make it holy and to cleanse it by the washing of water and by the word 27 and to establish the assembly for himself, being glorious and having no spot and no wrinkle and nothing like these, but rather to be holy [and] without blemish. 28 So it is right for men to love their wives as their [own] bodies, for he who loves his wife loves himself, 29 for no one ever hates his body, but nourishes it and cares for his own [body]. [It is] even as Messiah [nourishes and cares] for his assembly, 30 because we are members of his body, and we are of his flesh and of his bones. 31 Because of this, A MAN SHOULD LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND SHOULD BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE AND THE TWO OF THEM SHOULD BECOME ONE FLESH.

This is impossible with polygyny!!! A man CANNOT love more than one woman at the same time, and Y'shua explains why:

Matthew 6:24 24 No man is able to serve two lords. For either he will hate the one and will love the other or he will honor the one and will treat the other with contempt. You are not able to serve God and wealth.

Luke 16:13 13 There is no servant that is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or honor the one and despise the other. You are not able to serve God and wealth.

Granted you might argue "this is about money not marriage", actually this principle CAN apply to marriage. You CANNOT serve two woman the WAY you're COMMANDED to in Ephesians! The commandment for husbands to love their wives, is exactly that - a COMMANDMENT which is to be OBEYED no questions asked!!! Polygynous men CANNOT obey this commandment, because it's IMPOSSIBLE to serve two womens' needs, he'll always end up having a favourite wife whom he serves while he neglects the other/s. Ya'akov is an excellent example of this: although he was married to Leah and Rachel he loved ONLY Rachel, he could not love Leah too, even if he tried. That is the way YHWH has built the human heart which is WHY Y'shua & Shaul keep referring to Genesis 2, they UNDERSTOOD this. If a man practices polygyny he CANNOT obey the commandment in Ephesians to love his wife, and therefore he sins because he is unable to obey.

And another thing:

Matthew 5:27-28 27 You have heard that it was said: YOU SHOULD NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. 28 But I say to you, anyone who looks at a woman as desiring her immediately commits adultery with her in his heart.

In order for a man to consider taking another wife, he has to first "check the other woman out", so to speak. BUT Y'shua says that even this is adultery, and it doesn't matter whether or not he wants to marry her or just have sex with her, it is adultery because:

1 Corinthians 7:2-5 2 But because of fornication, a man should hold fast to his [own] wife and a woman should hold fast to her [own] husband. 3 A husband should pay to his wife the love that is owed. So also, the wife to her husband. 4 The wife [has] no authority over her body, but her husband. So also, the man [has] no authority over his body, but his wife. 5 Therefore, do not deprive one another, except when both of you consent for a time to be devoted to fasting and to prayer and return again to the same arrangement, so that Satan will not tempt you because of the desire of your body.

The message is clear alright, married couples are commanded to have sex, sex is a requirement for marriage, and of course there's the "veto power" that both spouses possess which akhan Andrew has hammered home and you agree with. Since sex is a requirement for marriage, even if a man "looks at" a woman other than his wife, he has already committed adultery even if his desire is to marry the other woman.

And btw how do you "leave your father and mother and unite to your wife" if you are already married??? In order for you to do that a 2nd, 3rd, ect. time you must be divorced! Which brings me to:

Matthew 5:31-32 31 It was said: HE WHO DISMISSES HIS WIFE MUST GIVE HER A WRITING OF DIVORCE. 32 But I say to you, anyone who dismisses his wife outside of the case of fornication makes her commit adultery and he who marries a dismissed woman commits adultery.

Matthew 19:9 9 But I say to you, he who forsakes his wife, except [for] adultery, and takes another, commits adultery. And he who takes a forsaken woman commits adultery."

Mark 10:9-12 9 Therefore, that which God has joined together, man should not separate." 10 And his disciples asked him again in the house about this [matter]. 11 And he said to them, "Whoever dismisses his wife and takes another commits adultery. 12 And if a woman should dismiss her husband and be [a wife] to another, she commits adultery."

Who says women can't divorce their husbands???

Luke 16:18 18 Everyone who dismisses his wife and marries another commits adultery, and everyone who marries a forsaken woman commits adultery.

I really don't understand how you don't see the connection Dawid. Polygamy/polgyny is adultery which results in breaking the 7th commandment, it really couldn't be any clearer:

Exodus 20:13 13 You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Deuteronomy 5:17 17 You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

And finally, the penalty for adultery:

Hebrews 13:4 4 Marriage is to be honored by all and the [marriage] bed is to be kept pure, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 9 Or do you not know that wicked [ones] will not1 inherit the kingdom of God? Do not err. Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor corrupt [ones] nor homosexuals 10 nor wrong-doers nor thieves nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners, these will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Oh, and one more thing: what's the major difference between fornication and adultery? Fornication is sexual sin in general which means it INCLUDES adultery, that means that if fornication is grounds for divorce then SO IS adultery. Interesting how the NT keeps lumping the "fornicators" and "adulterers" together.