Middlebelt Baptist Church
November 1, 2026

      • Psalm 95:1–6ESV

  • Great God
  • Tear Down The Walls

      • Genesis 2:21–24ESV

      • Matthew 19:4–6ESV

  • Jesus At The Center

      • 2 Corinthians 6:2bESV

      • 1 Timothy 3:16NASB95

  • Genesis 2:21–24 CSB
    21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man. 24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.
    Matthew 19:4–6 CSB
    4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that he who created them in the beginning made them male and female, 5 and he also said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

    Intro:

    Youtube Video
    Polygyny (One man, multiple wives): The most frequently depicted form, often shown as a central male figure with multiple female partners, or historical scenes of royal harems and traditional households. [1, 2]
    Polyandry (One woman, multiple husbands): Less common in mainstream stock art, usually represented by a central female figure with multiple male partners. [1]
    Group Marriage / Polygynandry: Illustrated using interconnected figures, abstract Venn-style overlapping circles, or symbols like the infinity heart used in modern ethical non-monogamy and polyamory art. [1]
    Changing Attitudes about Polygamy
    As Western culture has attempted to redefine marriage to include partners of the same sex, many are becoming more accepting of a redefinition of marriage that includes multiple partners.
    Polygamy or some version of “open relationships” have increased in media coverage, fictional depictions, and even approval from the American public. In a New Yorker article entitled “How Did Polyamory Become So Popular?” Jennifer Wilson writes, “Everywhere you turn, the door couples close behind them when they enter the sanctum of matrimony is being left ajar. Bored with the old-fashioned affair, prestige TV has traded in adultery for a newer, younger model, mining open relationships for drama.”
    The positive press has paid dividends in the public perception of non-monogamous relationships. Few U.S. adults (11%) believe married men and women having an affair is morally acceptable behavior, but more than twice as many (23%) don’t have any issues with polygamy, according to Gallup. Support has more than tripled since Gallup first asked about the practice in 2003 when just 7% said it was OK and 92% believed it was immoral.
    Cam Newton argued in his soliquoy that many men after God’s heart had multiple wives yet they still had a testimony of pleasing God. From this Cam draws the conclusion that God must approve polygamy because they all had many wives yet please God and there was no direct rebuke of their marital situation.
    An argument from silence (Latin: argumentum ex silentio) is a pattern of reasoning that draws a conclusion based on the absence of a statement, record, or evidence rather than its presence. [1, 2]Definition and General Form
    Core idea: Assuming that because a person, book, or historical document does not mention something, that thing does not exist, never happened, or is false. [1, 2]
    It is fallacious to assume because God didn’t directly rebuke some of the Patriachs for their behavior he was condoning it.
    The OT has both prescriptive and descriptive elements and you must be able to properly delineate between the two.
    God’s relative silence does not mean God’s permission.
    The Law of First Mention is an informal guideline in biblical interpretation stating that the first time a word, concept, or doctrine appears in Scripture, it establishes a foundational or core meaning that influences its usage throughout the rest of the Bible.

    I. OT Survey of Polygamy

    Lamech

    Genesis 4:19 CSB
    19 Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.
    Genesis 4:23 CSB
    23 Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words. For I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.
    (23) After 6 generations of children descending from Cain there was a man named “Lamech” and Moses recorded that he took two wives from himself. Moses broke the genealogy of Cain to insert this point. He is making a sociological point about marriage. Lamech was the first one break rank and violate monogamous marriage in the line of Cain. All the other person in the 6 generation leading to Lamech got two words in scripture. Lamech had three scriptures dedicated to him. (19) he took on two wives. (23) Lamech boasts to his wife the he killed a young man! (24) Note:
    Lamech twists God's original protective mercy for Cain into a personal justification for massive, unchecked escalation of human violence and bloodfeuds.

    Noah

    Genesis 6:1–3 CSB
    1 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves. 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.”
    (1-3) The Sons of God(could be men or fallen angels) took the daughters of mankind(plural) and they chose as wives(plural) for themselves(plural)
    I would argue that for at least two reason God became angry. Angels leaving their abode and copulating with humans and polygamy. This lead to the destruction of mankind leaving only 8 people who were saved and all were in monogamous marriage. Despite what was going in society Noah and his Son only married “one woman” while all of society was practicing polygamy like their ancestors starting with Lamech.
    Society are built upon healthy families the society in Noah epoch were built on marital perversion. Any time you pervert the building block of society which is marriage and family you can expect to see what happened

    Abraham

    Genesis 16:1–6 CSB
    1 Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.” 6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
    (3) Abram wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and “gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him” Abram like his forefather Adam capitulated to this request and made Hagar his wife.
    (3-4) She became pregnant then once she became pregnant the word says “Hagar became to contemptible to her” that word “contemptible” means to be made small or insignificant. Hagar pregnancy made Sarai feel like she was the new woman of the house. This made Sarai feel small. Imagine the personal shame that came from Hagar becoming immediately pregnant from Abram while they had been trying for years to get pregnant.
    (6) Sarai got so angry she started to mistreat Hagar on purpose as a punishment for being pregnant and bearing Abram child. I can’t help but think she is also thinking about the fact Ishmael is now Abram first-born so he gets all of the favorable inheritance rights. Yall she is hot! Moses the narrator wants us to see this in the narrative
    Genesis 16:8–12 CSB
    8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10 The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. 12 This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”
    (8-12) Sarai ran pregnant Hagar without any care of concern for her once treasured handmaiden. Pregnant and traveling 300 kilometers back to Eygpt across the hot desert. The Lord heard her cry and told he to go back and promised that he would make her son a great nation who would be a thorn in the flesh of Abraham offspring with Sarai.
    Genesis 21:8–11 CSB
    8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son mocking—the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham. 10 So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!” 11 This was very distressing to Abraham because of his son.
    (8-11) Abraham and Sarai eventually had Isaac and after she weaned Isaac off the breast Ishmael was running his mouth to him most likely about his rights as the first-born! (10) Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!” You see Sarai did not even refer to her as Hagar twice she called her a “slave” you see how the strife of the relationship carried right over to the kids. (11) Notice what it did to Abraham the text says Abraham was “distressed” he truly love his son his leaving caused deep pain and suffering.

    Jacob

    Genesis 29:16–32 CSB
    16 Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. 17 Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” 20 So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Since my time is complete, give me my wife, so I can sleep with her.” 22 So Laban invited all the men of the place and sponsored a feast. 23 That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24 And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave. 25 When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What have you done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?” 26 Laban answered, “It is not the custom in our country to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. 27 Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.” 28 And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. 29 And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. 30 Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. 31 When the Lord saw that Leah was neglected, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive. 32 Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, “The Lord has seen my affliction; surely my husband will love me now.”
    (16-17) The text says “Leah had tender eyes, but Rahcel was shapely and beautiful” Leah had tender eyes is some sort of Hebrew idiom. It is not a compliment. The translator’s don’t really know how to translate this into english because they are not sure what it means. We must derive the meaning from the phrase about “Rachel” it says she was shapely and beautiful. In school me and my boys would say “she is the total package” when it says “leah had tender eyes” it most likely means she wasn’t easy on the eyes.
    Jacob immediately feel in love with Rachel and devised a plan to marry her. He would work for 7-years for Laban then get her as the prize. He did that then Laban had a feast to celebrate the marriage of Jacob to Rachel but when it was time for consumation he traded Leah for Rachel and Jacob did not find out till morning he was angry, and confronted Laban. Laban then told him after a week he would give Rachel because it was not customery for the younger to get married before the younger.
    Laban did that because he knew Leah was “hard on the eyes” and no man would marry her so he decieved Jacob.
    The Lord took umbrage with Leah and although she was “not cute” he made her very fertile. Leah was the mother of 7 of the boys who formulated the 12 tribes.
    Leah spent her life trying to get Jacob love but never could. Notice (32) “The Lord has seen my affliction; surely my husband will love me now!”
    Open the Doors of the Church
    Communion
    1 Corinthians 11:23–33 CSB
    23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.

    The Law comes

    Exodus 21:10 CSB
    10 If he takes an additional wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.
    Deuteronomy 17:14–17 CSB
    14 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’ 15 you are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people. 16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ 17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.
    You’re correct. Polygamy was not widely practiced in Israel—only the wealthy, particularly kings, could afford it.1 Only those with substantial resources could pay multiple brideprices, and even wealthy monarchs faced restrictions against excessive wives.2
    The reasons behind this practice among the elite reveal much about ancient Near Eastern culture. Wealthy men and kings practiced polygamy, with kings doing so for political purposes by marrying daughters of allied rulers to seal covenants.3 In the ancient world, taking multiple wives symbolized power.1 Beyond politics, some men took additional wives because their first wife was barren, while others desired more children or male heirs.
    Significantly, biblical law itself acknowledged this class distinction. Deuteronomy 17:17 criticized excessive wives in kings, warning that multiplying wives would turn the king’s heart away.4 This wasn’t a blanket prohibition but rather a caution against the specific dangers polygamy posed to royal leadership—particularly the spiritual compromise that could result from diplomatic marriages to foreign women.
    Deuteronomy 21:15–17 CSB
    15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other neglected, and both the loved and the neglected bear him sons, and if the neglected wife has the firstborn son, 16 when that man gives what he has to his sons as an inheritance, he is not to show favoritism to the son of the loved wife as his firstborn over the firstborn of the neglected wife. 17 He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the neglected wife, by giving him two shares of his estate, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn.
    Note:
    Deuteronomy 24:1 CSB
    1 “If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.
    Matthew 19:8 CSB
    8 He told them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts, but it was not like that from the beginning.
    These laws related to Polygamy seem to be a capitulation by God because he knew the hardness and stubborness of their heart so God put regulations around it.

    David

    2 Samuel 12:1–13 CSB
    1 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him: There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very large flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. 4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest. 5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.” 7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 9 Why then have you despised the Lord’s command by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword. 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’ 11 “This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight. 12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’ ” 13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.

    Solomon

    1 Kings 11:1–4 CSB
    1 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women 2 from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.” To these women Solomon was deeply attached in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away. 4 When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.
    The practice remained fundamentally at odds with God’s design. While polygamy is nowhere explicitly condemned in the Bible and was practiced by patriarchs and kings, Genesis contains a strongly implied critique of the practice.5 Every polygamous marriage in Scripture becomes a recipe for grief, tension, and lasting conflict.5 By restricting polygamy to the wealthy, the ancient world inadvertently limited the damage of a practice that God tolerated but never endorsed.

      • Genesis 2:21–24ESV

      • Matthew 19:4–6ESV

      • Genesis 4:19ESV

      • Genesis 4:23ESV

      • Genesis 6:1–3ESV

      • Genesis 16:1–6ESV

      • Genesis 16:8–12ESV

      • Genesis 21:8–11ESV

      • Genesis 29:16–32ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 11:23–33ESV

      • Exodus 21:10ESV

      • Deuteronomy 17:14–17ESV

      • Deuteronomy 21:15–17ESV

      • Deuteronomy 24:1ESV

      • Matthew 19:8ESV

      • 2 Samuel 12:1–13ESV

      • 1 Kings 11:1–4ESV

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