Why did God tolerate polygamy in the Old Testament?

In the garden of Eden monogamy was clearly the God-instituted ideal. Noah of the Great Flood story had only one wife as did his sons. Abraham the first major patriarch and founder of the Israelites had one wife but also had sexual relations with her maid, an Egyptian slave. Abraham and Sara's son, Isaac, had only one wife. Jacob, his second-born son had two official wives but also had to concubines which were both servants of each of his two wives. Moses had only one wife.  King David had countless wives and concubines as did his son Solomon. Elkanah, the prophet Samuel's father had two wives. Joseph had only one wife. Job had only one wife. Some major Biblical figures such as Elijah, Elisha and Daniel may or may not have had a wife even of any kind. Jeremiah  was told not to marry by God. 

God blessed them and used them in diverse ways to be a blessing to humanity. The polygamists were equally blessed as were those who preferred monogamous marriages. No explanation was given as to why these patriarchs were not punished for engaging in polygamy, a practice that has fallen out of fashion in the western world.

Christ Jesus on the other hand never married. The apostle Paul encouraged his readers and fellow Christians to choose celibacy if at all possible.

Free Will and the Eradication of Sin at the Second Coming

A million years post-Second Coming will it be impossible to break God’s law and sin in an otherwise perfect, sinless universe ? Since we have God-given free will won’t it be theoretically possible to break Gods law thus rebooting the power struggle between Good and evil again?

Let’s hope goodness and loyalty to God’s Laws of Life endure ad infinitum but if Evil and rebellion against God’s control of his beautiful creation reappear would Jesus Christ or another member of the Triune Godhead sacrifice himself on a future—newly created—Garden of Eden inhabited by an artless ‘Adam and Eve’ couple to once again restore order to our universe?

Humanity Awaits Jesus Christ's Parousia in a Twenty-Second Century Starship

 "The  Parousia or Second Coming is a Christian, Islamic as well as Baha'i belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies." Wikipedia

At the end of the twenty-first century violence on Earth has virtually decimated the population and a remnant of its best thinkers leave Earth in hope of meeting the returning divine-human creator since waiting for Him on Earth is no longer a viable option.

The end of all things is upon us

The End is near. Pack your bags. We're going Home. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is closer than you think.

Why is evil more appealing than goodness?

 How peculiar that in the Bible and in day-to-day life evil is more attractive, more appealing and occurring more often than goodness in the Bible. You read about brothers killing each other, and brothers raping their sisters, and I’ve always wondered why if good manners and right living is ethically and philosophically more beneficial to those around you and to one self, why—especially in the Bible—but also in real life, you encounter evil more frequently. This is very perplexing. It’s always amazing that—as they are called—our first parents, Adam and Eve—that their firstborn son named Cain, who was able to communicate with God at the entrance to the garden of Eden yet killed his brother for a paltry reason like being jealous of his brother’s sacrifice of a lamb to God just because  God was pleased with his brother Abel, but not with Cain’s  sacrifice, a burnt offering, of just vegetables that he had harvested himself. It’s always been very perplexing.

Another thing that always disturbs me is that, again, if goodness is so superior and producing better results and contributing to a peaceful and more desirable society, why most of humanity—except Noah and his family—were destroyed by the Flood along with all the innocent animals, because more people had elected evil and wrongdoing and selfishness instead of an altruistic, mutually beneficial method of living? That is very perplexing

Perhaps I am missing some very basic, and not so obvious explanation for the preponderance of evil, as opposed to goodness and virtue and good living in the  Bible stories, and in world history. It would’ve been more understandable if only half of humanity would  have been destroyed by drowning in the account of the Flood destruction of most of humanity—a kind of genocide, really. If you think about it, why is it that most of the world’s population at the time of the biblical Flood didn’t tend towards a good, honest and productive living as opposed to evil? The destruction of 50 percent of an evil population compared to 50 percent of a good and virtuous population would have made more sense, but the story in the book of Genesis says that only eight people were saved from all of the millions that were alive at the time of the flood story.

Growing in Christian Faith is Seldom Easy

It's difficult to write about the quality of one's faith. Nevertheless, it is honest and may prove beneficial to the writer and to his readers. If possible, I will try to outline my journey in the recent past and contrast it with previous states of faith I've experienced through the years.

First of all, I'd like to share a favorite text about faith and the Christian life:

... Everyone who looks to the Son [of God] and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:40

This text has been valuable to me for it presents in a nutshell the crux of the Christian life. It's simplicity delights me and gives me reason to continue pursuing the Christian life notwithstanding its challenges. Salvation is centered on Christ Jesus and not on ourselves. By directing our attention, in a variety of ways, to the Son of God and relating to him as a real and wonderful person, belief must surely follow. If it does not do so as easily as one would want, then going to Christ and asking him for help in this area is one solution to this dilemma.

There are other things one can do to foster greater saving faith in Christ. Reading the Bible or other Christian material, e.g., devotionals, is an honest first step towards having greater faith. Listening to Christian sermons whether recorded or live can also help to gain a desire to believe in Christ. Praying about what one reads or hears helps to solidify one's faith.

Living a life of faith is its own reward. Nevertheless, the quoted text rewards us with eternal life and being raised up [from death] at the last day. Again, there is a concentrated gospel message in this text that goes a long way towards simplifying the sometimes frustrating experience of living the Christian life.

Now to the problems in spite of the wonderful statements outlined above. What happens when doubt or unbelief rear their ugly heads? How to proceed. If possible, it might be advisable to talk with a trusted parent, friend or minister who you know to be a strong and loving Christian. Even though belief is the core of your problem, persist in talking to God about your problem. Because he is a loving God and has your interest in mind, he will do what you ask of him if what you need is greater faith. If new Christians believe that they have little or imperfect faith keep in mind the words of the apostle::

"... God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith." Romans 12:3 [Paraphrased]

God would hardly be a loving God if he asked us to believe in his Son for salvation and didn't meet us half way by giving us a quotient of start-up faith with which to move onto greater faith in the Christian experience.

There is still a lot more to this issue of faith, unbelief and renewal of faith, but the most important aspects, as I see them, have been outlined above. It is my sincere desire that at whatever stage you happen to be in the Christian walk, you may strengthen and find faith to meet your every need.

The Conceptual Nature of Salvation by the Cross

Salvation through Christ's death on the cross sounds wonderful. It sure beats fulfilling every OT commandment as a means to salvation. However, I am frequently mystified by the concept of being saved by Christ's death on the cross. It seems to be a conceptual reality similar to a thought experiment. One is basing an entire system of salvation and its related lifestyle and experience to an event that not one of us can empirically prove.

Additionally, it's odd, for want of a better word,  that the God who said thou shall not also died to solve the "problem " of his creatures violating the "thou shall nots". No wonder Paul says that to the Greeks the Gospel seemed like foolishness.
With science daily redefining what reality is or might be, thanks to the unfolding of String Theory, dark energy, the Multiverse and the hint of parallel worlds, all inferred by the mathematics itself, it sometimes befuddles the mind to speak of the historical act of redemption as the quintessential conceptual and theological Theory.
Nevertheless, for whatever psychological and philosophical comfort it provides, I cannot abandon my faith, however tenuous or conceptual it has become. I've seen the  practical and transformative value of  the Cross in my life and in that of  others.

World Trade Center 3001

Build a virtual time machine and travel back to September 10, 2001: the day before the twin towers fell. Take along with you a list of all the planes that crashed and the passenger lists. Underscore the names of the terrorists on each list. From the 101st floor of one of the towers, fax the list to major newspapers, radio stations, as well as the FBI, CIA and the White House. Cause all major airports to be shut down until the Towers are emptied and guarded.

When the Towers fail to fall on the following morning, go forward in time to September 11, 3001. Stand at the base of the Twin Towers and look straight up at the aging and abandoned towers that stand as a monument to your time traveling achievement.

Instead of documentaries about the destruction of the Twin Towers, only what-if movies will be filmed about what almost took place.

Origionally published in Northern Lord vs. Southern Lord blog (http://realjesuscristo.blogspot.com/2006/10/world-trade-center-3001.html?m=0)

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God's Mercy Reaches All but at Different Degrees

Today we are no better or no worse than our forebears were. We can only wait for God's mercy to reach us wherever we are, however we are and whomever we happen to be. We can't speed up the arrival of the blessing or help. We can only keep on calling on his name until he comes to our rescue.

Until we receive God's favor, mercy and help we can only cope and hang on with whatever advantages our genes and ennvironment have equipped us with and keep on seeking for whatever source of help available.

Some wait longer than others before they are blessed. Some are still waiting for God's mercy to rescue them. Some have grown weary of the endless waiting. Others sadly fade away and for them God's mercy did not come in time. These cases are regrettable and can't morally be explained by any stretch of the imagination.

As we wait, those of us who are willing and able--not all are capable of rendering useful help--can fill in for God until he decides to take over. In those cases we act in God's stead, for better or for worse. Our imperfect assistance to those in great need may turn out to be the mercy they were waiting for all along. However, since we are limited in our resources the divine help the person in need requires is beyond our reach.

We then become something akin to persons who are called to provide parental care, in loco parentis, to children needing adult care when legal guardians are gone missing. We become "in loco Deus" or acting and functioning in the place of God for that individual.

Waiting for God's mercy. That's all there is.

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Block Negative Thoughts with Positive Ones

Daily Match in Your Mind: Solutions

Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) pop up in one's mind with annoying ease. Automatic Positive Thoughts (APTs) don't intrude as much as you would like them to.

On a moment-by-moment basis ANTs need to be challenged and immediately replaced with APTs. By doing so continuously Automatic Negative Thoughts will lose their power.

Automatic Positive Thoughts, as they are encouraged, will become more frequent and will outnumber their negative counterparts.

Examples:

"I feel lousy today." Replace it with: "I feel great today."

"I hate when it rains." Replace it with: "Enjoy the rain. Flowers and trees will thrive because of it." Or: Blue skies and bright sun will peek through later on."

"I can't deal with this problem anymore." Replace with: "It's important that I find a solution. Bad situations need to be challenged and eliminated soon."
Write down the negative thought. Cross it off and replace it wigh a positive one.

This really works. Successful people do it all day long.

Share this approach with a friend or family member who tries to infect you with their negative thoughts about others, about you or about themselves. Do so with the proper tact. Realize that when a person is really hurting it may not be appropriate to challenge bad thoughts with good thoughts. If they come to you for help you have an open door.

If the negative thought is directed at you it's important that you challenge it audibly, if practical, or inaudibly by barely moving your lips or by saying it very deliberately in your mind. Hear yourself say the positive replacement clearly in your mind.

Do not let anyone infect you, or others you value, with their verbal poison. Take the positive antidote immediately.

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