Oh see how they lie!!!

Imagine my righteous anger when I read THIS article! It was written by s.a.tan's minister Herbert W. Armstrong. In the article he claims:

1) Avraham was NOT a polygamist.
2) Yitzchak had only one wife
3) Ya'akov had only one wife after conversion
4) Polygamy was a worldly custom not permitted to Israeli kings.
5) Dawid repented of polygamy
6) Concubines were not allowed
7) YHWH condemned the "sin" of polygamy
8) Polygamy was not the "original intent" of marriage
9) Yahushua is not a polygamist

Let's expose these blasphemies to the light of truth one at a time:

1) Avraham was NOT a polygamist

While Mr. Armstrong may think that all of his readers are simpletons, I have the proof of Scripture bearing testimony against him.

B'reisheet 16:3 "And Sarai, Aḇram’s wife, took Haḡar her female slave, the Mitsrite, and gave her to her husband Aḇram to be his wife, after Aḇram had dwelt ten years in the land of Kenaʽan."

Now, To me it seems plain that since Abram's 1st wife Sarai GAVE him his 2nd wife Hagar - that makes him married to two women at once! i.e. he WAS a polygamist.
Did YHWH condemn this heinous "sin?" NO!!! In fact, he was given the brit milah (covenant of circumcision) while married to BOTH of these women without a single word of "You disgusting pervert, how dare you take two wives!?!" Mr. Armstrong called Avraham "The father of the faithful" an adulterer and claimed that his son Ishmael was "illegitimate." I challenge you reading this today to find one verse of scripture that names Avraham an adulterer! This is the man that our savior promised the faithful would sit with in the reign of Elohim! I wonder if Mr. Armstrong's lies will comfort him in the lake of fire?

Revelation 21:8 “But as for the cowardly, and untrustworthy, and abominable, and murderers, and those who whore, and drug sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake which burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”

Let's also not forget that Avraham had at least one more wife and at least two concubines! (See B'reisheet 25: 1-6) He definitely was a polygamist and not an adulterer!

2) Yitzchak had only one wife

While it is true that Yitzchak married only Rivkah, this doesn't condemn polygamy in the slightest. If anything, it stands as proof that monogamy is a valid form of marriage (contrary to modern FLDS teachings which state that a man must take a minimum of three wives to obtain salvation). Armstrong goes on to make an allegory concerning Yahushua and the assemblies. (more on that latter)

3) Ya'akov had only one wife after conversion

What a stretch of both logic and reason to make claims such as "Leah was Ya'akov's only true wife" when scripture tells us that he took TWO wives and two slaves who bore him children. How can he claim to know that "In YHWH's sight he wasn't married to Rachel?" This is the basis of all anti-Semitic beliefs! YHWH's chosen people came from the offspring of these four women of Ya'akov! Armstrong then purposely takes events out of chronological order. Please note that Ya'akov is blessed by YHWH by having his name changed to Yisra'el WHILE HAVING TWO WIVES AND TWO SLAVE-GIRLS WHO BORE HIM CHILDREN!!! Again, not once is he condemned or punished for polygamy! Mr. Armstrong, you are of your father the devil!

4) Polygamy was a worldly custom not permitted to Israeli kings.

What a foot-in-the-mouth argument! Assuming it is true that KINGS couldn't marry more than one woman - what about the other millions of Yisraeli men who weren't king? If YHWH had to make a special law for the king, did he forget about the common man? Since I am not King of Israel, may I have plural wives, Mr. Armstrong? However, he makes one out-of-context citation:

Devarim 17:17 “And he is not to increase wives for himself, lest his heart turn away"

So then, a king may have only one wife because it says "He is not to increase wives for himself." Strangely, he makes no mention of what comes immediately before and after that quote.

Devarim 17:16-17 “Only, he is not to increase horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Mitsrayim to increase horses, for יהוה has said to you, ‘Do not return that way again.’ “And he is not to increase wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor is he to greatly increase silver and gold for himself. "

So, there you have it! The King of Israel was limited to one wife, one horse, and one piece of silver and gold. What a moron! See how he purposely omitted these things because it throws some light on the true meaning. But the key to what is really being said lies in the previous verses:

Devarim 17:14-15 “When you come to the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, and shall possess it and shall dwell in it, and you shall say, ‘Let me set a sovereign over me like all the gentiles that are around me,’ you shall certainly set a sovereign over you whom יהוה your Elohim shall choose. Set a sovereign over you from among your brothers, you are not allowed to set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother."

The issue here is idolatry. No foreigner was to rule as king who was not of the covenant people. Horses were a common gift (bribe) to kings. Wives were sometimes taken for diplomatic reasons, money was also something that was used to bribe. Notice the reason for not multiplying wives was so that his heart wouldn't be turned away. This was the case with Shlomo who married many PAGAN women who turned his heart away to serve strange Elohim. (see #6 below) This was not a ban on polygamy, this was a warning not to be persuaded into idolatry. Because the king ruled the people, this special admonition was given to him because of his potential to lead all of Israel astray (as we see many times in Scripture) For another perspective on this issue read THIS article.

5) Dawid repented of polygamy

Again, with complete lies and twisting of Scripture, the liar Armstrong claims that Dawid repented for his "sin" of polygamy. The "sin" of Dawid was ADULTERY and MURDER!!! Bathsheva was the wife of Uriah. Dawid had sexual relations with a married woman. This is ADULTERY!!!! The king then had Uriah sent to the front lines where he would be abandoned and killed. This is MURDER!!! YHWH would then send Nathan HaNavi to him to tell him the story of a rich man with many flocks and herds and a poor man with one ewe. He did not say that it was wrong for the rich man to have flocks. What was wrong was that the rich man stole the poor man's one ewe and used it to have a feast. Look at the condemnation given to Dawid (who was already a polygamist)

2Shmuel 12:8-9 ‘And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah. And if that were not enough, I also would have given you much more! ‘Why have you despised the Word of יהוה to do evil in His eyes? You have killed Uriyah the Ḥittite with the sword, and his wife you took to be your wife, and you have killed him with the sword of the children of Ammon."

Did YHWH condemn Dawid for polygamy??? NO!!! In fact he says "I gave you wives and would have given you much more!" He wasn't condemned for the wives he had given to him by YHWH! He was condemned for Adultery and Murder and punished by having his child die. This is what Dawid repented from. Adultery and murder. NOT polygamy!!! Dawid was called PERFECT by YHWH himself WHILE HE WAS A POLYGAMIST!!! The score is now YHWH's word 5 - Armstrong's lies 0!

6) Concubines were not allowed

The minister of s.a.tan, Armstrong now uses the "proofs" that Dawid put away his concubines and his son, Shlomo did evil in the sight of YHWH by taking so many wives and concubines.

2Shmuel 20:3 "And Dawiḏ came to his house at Yerushalayim. And the sovereign took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to look after the house, and put them in a protected house and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood."

This was done in response to what his son, Abshalom had done to them.

2Shmuel 16:21-22 "And Aḥithophel said to Aḇshalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to look after the house. And all Yisra’ĕl shall hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father. And the hands of all who are with you shall be strong.” So they pitched a tent for Aḇshalom on the top of the house, and Aḇshalom went in to his father’s concubines before the eyes of all Yisra’ĕl."

His other claim is that Shlomo HaMelech did evil by being polygamous. Let's see what the Scriptures say:

1 Melachim 11:1-11 "And Sovereign Shelomoh loved many foreign women in addition to the daughter of Pharaoh: Mo’aḇite, Ammonite, Eḏomite, Tsiḏonian, and Ḥittite women; from the nations of whom יהוה had said to the children of Yisra’ĕl, “You do not go into them, and they do not go into you, for they shall certainly turn away your hearts after their mighty ones.” Shelomoh clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. And it came to be, when Shelomoh was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other mighty ones. And his heart was not perfect with יהוה his Elohim, as was the heart of his father Dawiḏ. And Shelomoh went after Ashtoreth the mighty one of the Tsiḏonians, and after Milkom the abomination of the Ammonites. Thus Shelomoh did evil in the eyes of יהוה, and did not follow יהוה completely, like his father Dawiḏ. Then Shelomoh built a high place for Kemosh the abomination of Mo’aḇ, on the hill that is east of Yerushalayim, and for Moleḵ the abomination of the children of Ammon. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and slaughtered to their mighty ones. Therefore יהוה was enraged with Shelomoh, because his heart had turned away from יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this word, not to go after other mighty ones. But he did not guard what יהוה had commanded. And יהוה said to Shelomoh, “Because you have done this, and have not guarded My covenant and My laws, which I have commanded you, I shall certainly tear the reign away from you and give it to your servant."

Was Shlomo's sin polygamy or idolatry? Even a third grader could answer that question. His sin was marrying pagan women out of the nations from which Israel was commanded not to marry. These pagan women turned his heart away from YHWH to follow strange elohim. Had he married 700 Israelite women, would there have been a problem? NO!!! Again, the Anti-Polygamy movement uses deliberate lies to attempt to legalize their unscriptural pagan Roman custom.

7) YHWH condemned the "sin" of polygamy

Not one verse of scripture can be given in support of this statement. I challenge you to find it! See THIS article to find out the true sin of polygamy.

8) Polygamy was not the "original intent" of marriage

I have these articles posted to deal with this topic.


9) Yahushua is not a polygamist

Lastly, Armstrong contends that Yahushua is not a polygamist. His proof texts are that Yahushua is to marry the twelve tribes of Yisrael and that ministers are to be the husband of one wife. As I was already planning articles on these very topics, I will refrain from commenting on them here.

The Anti-polygamy pagans cannot prove their side from scripture. They must make up their "facts" and twist scripture around to their own destruction. Herbert Armstrong is a perfect example of these tactics. The witness of YHWH's word proves that polygamy was NEVER condemned or called sin. The only sin here is lying!