As I woke up this morning I saw a vision of a so-called 'Mogen David' or 'Star of David', a well known symbol in both politics, the occult, and Judaism. Figure 1 shows a 'Mogen David' with the Hebrew letter yod in the centre, which is the first letter of YHWH or Yahweh, the Name of Elohim (God), our Father in Heaven. This well-known symbolic representation of a human-being centred in Yahweh consists of two interlacing triangles, the downward-pointing triangle representing matter (pointing to earth) and the upward-pointing triangle representing spirit (pointing to heaven). Then the lowest point of the downward-pointing triangle began to retract upwards to the central yod where it began to vibrate (Figure 2) and as I watched this I understood that this was a symbolic representation of the process which occurs during masturbation. In this distorted triangle depiction I understood that what happens in masturbation is that the soul idolatrously elevates matter (in this case, the sexual impulse) to the level of Elohim/God (Yahweh) and begins to worship self. No longer is Yahweh the centre of soul-life but a function of soul - sex - is elevated to the position which belongs only to Elohim (God).
As I reflected on this vision and understanding being given to me, I realised that this 'distortion' applied not only to masturbation but to sex in general (in or out of holy wedlock) or indeed any principle which comes to substitute for our worship. In principle, then, any point of either two triangles could be drawn inwards to the yod and substitute for Elohim (God) Himself.
We all, I hope, have a basic understanding of what idolatry is. Idolatry, in its simplest definition, is anything - lawful or unlawful - which we replace Elohim (God) with. Thus a man may 'worship' his wife by, for example, obeying her desires before the truth of Yahweh. Or he may 'worship' money, career, or almost anything else that the human heart sets its desire on. And in the context of this essay, he may 'worship' polygamy itself and/or the 'extra sex' that he thinks he is going to get in it. The doctrine and practice of polygamy introduces the possibility of temptation leading to serious idolatry.
As we read the scriptural writings of King Solomon, and especially in Ecclesiastes, we discover (not surprisingly in view of the shere size of his harem) that this first wise, then foolish, Israelite King used polygamy not only to forge political alliances but to indulge his carnal appetite. I suspect, reading between the lines, that he eventually 'got his fill' and became sick of his indulgence because he writes:
"As for men, Elohim (God) tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless" (Ecclesiastes 3:18-19, NIV).
And, of course, everything does become meaningless when you centre your life and indulgences on the appetites of the flesh. The whole book of Ecclesiastes is a reflection on a life indulged in wild abandon to the flesh and comes to the inevitable conclusion that this kind of "life" is pointless. He regrets, in Chapter 7, his abandonment of the unsurpassable gift of wisdom and concludes, towards the end of his book, that the only thing that really matters in the end is to "Fear Elohim (God) and keep His commandments (Torah), for this is the whole duty of man. For Elohim (God) will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13b-14, NIV).
It is surprising, in view of the wisdom he had in the beginning, that this mighty man of Yahweh had to drag himself through the mud of sin to discover what he originally believed in and professed before he decided to 'experiment' and try out Yahweh's commandments for himself. I have met many like him. Indeed, I think it is the disposition of all fallen men and women to 'try it on' to one degree of another. The blessed let it go no further than their fantasy but far too many others allow idle thoughts to arouse and conceive unrighteous feelings and then give birth to them in wicked deeds as Solomon did.
For all his brilliance Solomon forgot that what justifies a man in Yahweh's eyes is a simple trusting faith in the Torah - His commandments. Christian/Messianic polygamists - and particularly the men - must remember that polygamy opens the way to temptations not present in monogamy, or at least not present to the same degree. If a man is entering polygamy for false motives he is setting a snare for his soul, quite apart from endangering the women and children in his watchcare. And because the temptations are proportionally greater in polygamy as compared with monogamy, Yahweh only ever calls those into this principle who have a certain degree of spiritual maturity and a keen sense of responsibility. Polygamy is not a 'one life fling', if I may coin that phrase, but implies an eternal committment just as our allegorical Bridegroom, Yah'shua (Jesus), is committed to us for ever. That committment on the part of the polygamous husband further implies a 'laying down' of his life for his plural Bride - his wives - just as Christ gave His life for the Church (Messianic Community).
So if you are exploring the possibility of entering polygamy for carnal reasons, then my sober advice is to turn around and flee for your life. It is bad enough idolatrously worshipping one spouse, but to idolatrously worship multiple spouses is to surely court disaster.
Author: SBSK
