Genesis 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
This passage of scripture tells us that polygamy was rampant in the days of Noah and that's on of the reasons why the earth was destroyed by a flood. When God created man, He ordained that one wife should be his companion for his entire life, and in so doing there would be brought stability to the family unit, which is the foundation of society. But beginning with Lamech who took to himself two wives, the sin of having multiple partners has ballooned into an epidemic of epic proportions, to the point where a man is now almost expected to have a "Mistress" in addition to his wife.
The sin of polygamy is productive of great evil, not only to those involved, but also to the children who are born into such situations. We know this for a fact from the constant strife and wrangling that existed in the homes of those who chose to go this route. With Jacob who had four wives, there was no end to the bitter arguments, jealousies and frustrations which enveloped as a direct result of this sin. Let's read:
Genesis 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? 8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. 9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
These jealousies mushroomed into violence against Joseph because of the preferential treatment he received from Jacob. When there are multiple partners in a marriage relationship, the wives and children all vie for attention, and this produces strained relations which often end in deeds of violence against one another. That's why The Lord in His wisdom gave specific instruction to the future kings of Israel pertaining to this very point. Let's read:
Deuteronomy 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Solomon, who for some reason is referred to as the "Wise man" did contrary to what God had specifically stated, by taking to himself, not ten or twenty women, but a thousand wives and concubines, which means that he probably saw each one once every three years. Not only did they lead him into idolatry, but by his example, he set in motion a pattern of evil that was never ever fully erased from the lives and minds of the Hebrews. Let's read:
1st Kings 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
In our day, the sin of polygamy is again rampant, in the form of multiple sexual relations between several men and women, and as a result we have many children without fathers and mothers present in the home, and society is becoming more and more destabilized. We must remember that this was one of the sins which called for the destruction of the Antediluvian world, and because of this we should learn from the errors of those who went before, lest we in our day suffer the same fate.
We therefore end with a warning from Christ as it pertains to the sin of polygamy, and it is our sincere hope and trust that we would keep ourselves pure, from the moral degeneracy that hangs over our world as a pall of death. Let's read:
Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Therefore who hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the churches. God bless!