"Why did the Lord institute polygamy?" I thought a lot about this question before going directly the Scriptures. I pondered it at home and in the temple, and perhaps that helped, but when I found the answer, to me, it felt like truth--that THIS is the real answer. First, I thought of other times the Lord had instituted polygamy. One of the most notable times of its practice, I think, is among Jacob and the daughters of Laban--Leah, Rachel and their handmaidens. Jacob's brother Esau married among the Hittites, to the great dismay of his parents. They were not covenant keepers. Isaac forbade Jacob from marrying among the Canaanites. Instead, he told him to go to his uncle's house and marry his out of his cousins. Isn't it looking like there aren't too many worthy, covenant keeping families to choose from? Then Jacob was promised in a dream, "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 28:14) It is after this that he works for Rachel, and weds Leah, then works for Rachel again and weds Rachel, and then both their handmaidens. BUT, from these unions comes the entirety of the 12 tribes of Israel and all of their posterity--think BIG.
THEN, I was pondering your question again in the temple and the thought came to me--Nobody is bothered by the fact that Adam and Eve's children would have HAD to intermarry. Really. There are no other options. Brothers and sisters would have wed and conceived. Today, this is gross to even think about it. BUT, it was necessary. WHAT were their options? It had to be done to raise up a posterity. Likewise, polygamy served a purpose to quickly build a base foundation for the early Church. Like Jacob and Adam and Eve's family before him, there weren't very many people, or RIGHTEOUS, covenant keeping people to choose from, and in order to quickly raise a base from which thousands, maybe millions of future covenant keepers, polygamy was instituted for a specific, limited period of time. Okay. With all of that in mind, I went to www.Mormon.org to ask your question. I went to their FAQ section, followed by the topic of Polygamy and then the question, "Why did your Church previously practice plural marriage (polygamy)?" I invite you to look up the scriptures, Jacob 2:30 and Doctrine and Covenants 132:63. Both talk about raising up seed or replenishing the earth (with kiddos). Just as there was a specific time and reason that Adam and Eve's children would have wed and conceived children, and as Jacob would have been authorized to have multiple wives, polygamy was practiced in the early days of the Church to build up a righteous posterity that was needed to build the Kingdom of God. When this purpose was fulfilled, the practice was stopped. As a practical woman, this make sense to me, and even brings me peace that at 15 million strong, we probably won't be asked to participate in this practice again. Hope it helps you, too.
THEN, I was pondering your question again in the temple and the thought came to me--Nobody is bothered by the fact that Adam and Eve's children would have HAD to intermarry. Really. There are no other options. Brothers and sisters would have wed and conceived. Today, this is gross to even think about it. BUT, it was necessary. WHAT were their options? It had to be done to raise up a posterity. Likewise, polygamy served a purpose to quickly build a base foundation for the early Church. Like Jacob and Adam and Eve's family before him, there weren't very many people, or RIGHTEOUS, covenant keeping people to choose from, and in order to quickly raise a base from which thousands, maybe millions of future covenant keepers, polygamy was instituted for a specific, limited period of time. Okay. With all of that in mind, I went to www.Mormon.org to ask your question. I went to their FAQ section, followed by the topic of Polygamy and then the question, "Why did your Church previously practice plural marriage (polygamy)?" I invite you to look up the scriptures, Jacob 2:30 and Doctrine and Covenants 132:63. Both talk about raising up seed or replenishing the earth (with kiddos). Just as there was a specific time and reason that Adam and Eve's children would have wed and conceived children, and as Jacob would have been authorized to have multiple wives, polygamy was practiced in the early days of the Church to build up a righteous posterity that was needed to build the Kingdom of God. When this purpose was fulfilled, the practice was stopped. As a practical woman, this make sense to me, and even brings me peace that at 15 million strong, we probably won't be asked to participate in this practice again. Hope it helps you, too.
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