It should be recognized that God does not “condone” polygamy. I believe that it is important to make this as clear and as accurate as possible. As you will see, God doesn’t “condone” the practice of plural marriage. He approves of plural marriage throughout the Bible!
Dictionary.com – “Condone”
To disregard or overlook (something illegal, objectionable, or the like):
God does not consider polygamy, specifically polygyny, illegal or objectionable. If this were the case, He would not have regulated it in the Law (Exodus 21:10; Deuteronomy 25:15), which is holy, just and good (Romans 7:12), nor would He have used Himself metaphorically as a practicing polygynist (Ezekiel 23:1-5,7,11; Jeremiah 3:1-14)! All He would have had to do was say; “to have more than one wife is not acceptable”!
God does not disregard or overlook the sin of His people. This would be like saying that God automatically forgives the unrepentant when they violate the Moral Law. After all, according to those who teach that polygyny is sin, polygynists are adulterers (Massey, n.d.)! Is this orthodox theology? What does this argument do to the atonement? This would make the cross of Christ meaningless! Hebrews 9:22 states quite clearly that “without shedding of blood is no remission” of sin.
To give tacit approval to: By his silence, he seemed to condone their behavior:
God actually gave more than tacit approval to polygyny. That is, He was not silent on the subject as some suggest. As already stated, He regulated it in His Law. In fact, not only did He regulate it, He made it so that in some cases men were forced to practice polygyny – the Levirate Law: Deut. 25:5-10!
God’s silence against His people doesn’t give “tacit approval”, for there was no need for God to speak against a practice that He regulated in His own Law. His approval was already given. The silence of God merely confirmed it!
To pardon or forgive (an offense); excuse.
There isn’t any passage where God informed His people that they needed pardon or forgiveness for practicing polygyny.
Pardon or forgiveness was never necessary for practicing polygyny.
To cause the condonation of:
The actions of practicing polygynists did not require condonation, for it is never mentioned as a sin – anywhere!
To forgive or act so as to imply forgiveness of (a violation of the marriage vow):
There was never a need for God to forgive an action that He made provision for in His Law. So, in reality, based upon the primary definition of “condone”, God does not condone, that is, overlook sin. The truth is quite simple, really. God does not condone polygamy – period!
(Massey – Retrieved on August 26, 2008 at http://www.scripturessay.com/article.php?cat=&id=605)
Blessings
Pastor Randy
© 2008 Biblical Families Association
