Genesis 30:1-16
I touched on this topic back on the 19th, but I think it bears another look. As I mentioned before, polygamy was never expressly forbidden in the Old Testament, and several of its heroes practiced it (Abraham, Jacob, David, etc.). But as we can see here (just like in Abraham’s story), not following God’s original pattern caused heartache and strife in the home. The only thing that amazes me in situations like this is that we are actually surprised when we don’t follow God’s plan and things don’t turn out well.
We might be tempted to think that this doesn’t apply so much to us. After all, we don’t practice polygamy in the United States. In fact, with a few exceptions, polygamy is illegal in the West. However, someone introduced a term to me a few years ago, and I think it fits our current situation exactly: serial polygamy. We marry lots of people during our lifetimes, just not to more than one person at a time. Divorce is on the rise, and the traditional norm of lifetime marriage between one man and one woman is far too rare.
Does the home life in this passage seem like a happy one? If you were raised in a home or had a marriage in which step-children were involved, this scene might actually seem familiar. “You’re spending too much time and money on ‘your’ kids and not enough on ‘my’ kids!” “Why were you calling your “ex” again?” Does any home touched by divorce totally escape this kind of strife?
This is not to say that divorce is the end of usefulness in God’s kingdom, and divorce is not the unforgivable sin (we’ll deal with that question later). It does mean that sticking to God’s plan is always the best idea. Not most of the time or almost all of the time: All of the time with no exceptions, God's way is the only way to go. The Lord can forgive any sin that's brought under the blood of Christ, and he can redeem even the worst of situations brought on by the most foolish of choices. But the lingering consequences we face might last for a lifetime.
Father God, none of us follow your plan perfectly. That’s why I need a Savior. Help me to make right choices, and forgive me when I don’t listen to you.
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