If It Is In The Bible Is It Okay With God

I have had several people say to me over the years that I don't see why it is not okay for me to have more that one wife. Abraham did. Well let take a look and see if it was alright with God if he had more than one wife. Genesis chapter 16 verses 3 and 4. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid from Egypt, after Abram(Abraham) had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram(Abraham) to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar and she conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. Now we see starting right here Hagar say and allow me to paraphrase, I am better than you are I can have Abram a baby what good are you. Well naturally Sarai goes to Abram about this and he says do with her as you see fit. Now we are just getting started with the problems in this relationship. Well Sarai made life pretty hard on Hagar to the point of being unbearable because Hagar ran away. And she ended up in the wilderness by a stream or a well. And and angel of the Lord found her there and ask her why she was running away. I am sure she told him all about here trouble with Sarai. May I add right here that she more than likely didn't have any choice in the matter of being married to Abram after all she was a slave. The angel of the Lord said you going to have a child and you will call him Ismael he will be a wild man and will be against every man and every man will be against him. She return to Abram and Sarai and bare Abram a Son. Abram raised Ismael until he was 12 or 13 year old until Sarah had Isaac and he was about the age of weening and Sarah caught Ismael teasing Isaac and see told Abraham to send Hagar and the boy away. Now this was not and easy task for Abraham he had raised this boy and he loved him and did not want to see him sent away. Now lets look back at the beginning of this Abram, Sarai and Hagar had been getting along just fine for 10 year. God had promised Abram that he would make a great nation out of him and Sarai knew it and thought that she was getting to old and she thought she could help God out by not believing he could do what he said and give Hagar to Abram for a wife and for that moment on there was trouble and unhappiness. Most men and women do good to get along when it is just themselves and there on children or at least that is the way it is today and I can not see it was any better for them way back then. Just because God allows this to happen in the Bible does not mean he approves of them. If you go and read the story of Jacob and his 4 wives and children you will find out that they had many problems. God designed it for one man one on woman, one husband one wife.

If we go against the Bible lessons on this we are outside of God's well and nothing is every easy for us when we go into that area.