If you go into any doctor's surgery and examine the records of the patients, you will discover that a very high percentage of illnesses are caused not so much by the inevitable but by human carelessness. I was in hospital myself two days after the Brumalia (Christmas) festivities and was told there had been a sudden upsurge of emergencies, most of them heart attacks caused by over-eating and over-drinking. Were people to live sensible lives and not push their bodies into doing things for which they were not created, half the hospital intake could be cut.
In the Patriarchal Movement we are still on the crest of a euphoric wave as ambitious and eager men try to 'get in' on the latest 'goldrush' called polygamy. Whereas most of my time in the early days of the 90's was spent counselling people how to live this lifestyle in a Yahweh-honouring and pleasing way, most of my time now (2002) seems to be spent helping repair the shattered lives of those who got sucked into lawless chaos of the earlier polymania and are now reaping the rewards of their stupidity and ignorance. We seem to be picking up the pieces of the bullish and thoughtless behaviour of other polygamy ministries.
The 'Polymania Virus' is still raging and felling good men and women left, right and centre. It is being fuelled by irresponsible ministries and poly-supporting patriarchs for whom polygamy often seems more like a sport than a serious spiritual exercise. Women who are both ill-prepared and who in truth require a different kind of ministry are being sucked up into a devilish combination masquerading as light and are paying a heavy price.
The Patriarchal Covering Half-Truth
One of the most wicked lies that is being promoted by some polygamy ministries is what I call the 'Patriarchal Covering Half Truth'. Single women and single mothers are being boldly approached by aspirant polyagmist men and told that if they don't hurry up and marry they will not have adequate spiritual covering and become demon-fodder. They are being told that as the weaker sex they are not able to protect themselves adequately from spiritual attack from unseen forces and that they must, in all urgency, quickly find a patriarch who will become their spiritual warrior, covering and protector. As a result many women are being pressurised into this lifestyle through naked fear and without any kind of emotional attachment or time to truly ascertain Yahweh's will as to the correctness or not of such a proposed marriage liason. They find themselves invited to meetings and retreats promoted by various polygamy groups whose outer purpose is fellowship of like-minded souls but which in fact rapidly degenerates into a cattle market.
I was talking to one woman who the other day was in such a camp. She has major spiritual problems and more than anything just wanted to find some spiritual support, fellowship and counsel from ministers cogniscent of her difficulties. During the stay she was told how hopelessly vulnerable she was as a single mother and that the most important thing she could do was find a husband as quickly as possible or she would likely lose her soul. She had TWO proposals of marriage from complete strangers whose primary interest seemed only to enter the 'polygamy league' and show off a new acquisition
If you as a single woman have been told that the only way you can have a spiritual covering is to get married as quickly as possible to a polygamist (since there is such a shortage of godly men in the monogamy camp) you have been LIED TO. Yes, a single woman does need a spiritual covering - that is absolutely true - but that she must get married to obtain it is a PERNICIOUS HERESY. It is false.
Patriarchal vs. Husband Covering
Before a single woman gets married, she has a natural spiritual covering given to her by Yahweh our Heavenly Father, and that covering is her biological father. Now it is true he isn't going to be much use to her if he isn't a believer for it is spiritual covering (and not just physical and economic protection) that we are talking about. If any woman has a father who is a true Bible-believing Christian/Messianic then she is COVERED. Even if she is divorced and is a single mother, she can go to her father and voluntarily place herself under his patriarchal covering again.
What if a single or divorced woman has no head or covering? Then she has the option of placing herself under the covering of her Pastor or one of the Elders of the local assembly. She may enter into a father-daughter covenant with such a man who, as her spiritual father, will be under the same kind of obligations as a biological father-in-Christ. This means that such an Elder may NOT have romantic ambitions towards her and that if he DOES, this covenant must be broken by mutual agreement and a new Elder appointed, for to violate it would constitute the capital act of INCEST. So long as she is true and faithful to Christ, any demonic entities trying to attack her will have to attack the Patriarchal head instead. This headship and protection would be temporary until such a time as she became married again or for the first time.
No woman need ever feel that she can only ever have an adequate covering without the sexual obligations of marriage, and the fact that such pressure is being brought to bear on such women in the patriarchal movement is a resounding condemnation of it. If protection is only available to women on condition of sex and marriage, then this is quite simply OPPRESSION, and must be condemned and repudiated in no uncertain terms.
Of course, before such protection can be offered to such women, men of high moral integrity are required. They should, in my view, at least be Elders, mature, stable, and with settled and happy marriages, for whom such a protectorship would not be a temptation. It is a sad indictment of this generation that few such men are to be found today. I know of women who have gone to polygamously married patriarchs for protection after failed marriages only to be pressurised to 'join' their families. This is wicked and must stop.
And the only way to stop this is to have an accepted ordinance of protectorship which will be sustained and overseen by a congregation in the same way that marriage unions should be. If Christian men are going to enter polygamy they must also elevate their standards of behaviour and responsibility generally, especially when it comes to the protection of vulnerable women and children. This means nothing short of a complete SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION. And it means, as I have been tirelessly saying whilst being shouted down, that the only men who should be entering this principle should be those who are spiritually mature and TESTED for their integrity and purity.
Of course, as we know, you can never police such a standard without the consent of everyone involved, and since most ministries probably won't agree, it then devolves upon us as a ministry to set the standard and to declare to the world: such a standard is strictly enforced here. Here you may come and find a safe haven. Here there are checks and balances, and strict accountability. Here we take our calling seriously not just in promoting polygamy but in making sure it is done properly.
The End of the Cattle Market
This ministry has never been a polygamy cattle market and we will never allow it to degrade into such. Our main clubs (for Elders and women, respectively) were, while we still had them, constantly pruned of unwelcome members which is why the numbers were kept small. We were not then (2002) a church (assembly) with an agenda to expand, nor were we, or are we, seeking popularity with, and the recognition of, the world. We shun publicity and the media because we do not believe in campaigning to make polygamy legal (only 'not illegal'). We want no recognition from anyone except Yahweh Himself. We are not dependent on tithes and offerings to keep the ministry going since it is offered free and without any sort of price tag. (If there's a real emergency - and we have had that only twice now in 6 years - we do make our needs known). People do have suppported us financially but they are not pressurised into doing so in order to remain in the 'inner circle'. Though we had a council of ministers, the only criteria for their being a part thereof was to maintain the high standards we demand. (We closed this ministry in 2003 and fully, in 2016, integrated it within the Chavurat Bekorot which now provides accountabiluty structures, etc.).
We used to have a personal advertising section (free) for those looking for spouses (when we had time to maintain it) but refused to allow our clubs and discussion boards to be used as a cattle market. Men were not allowed in the women's club but wives are allowed in the men's. That way single women could know they would not be harrassed or pressurised by cyber-romeos whose agendas were more often than not less than honourable. Three-quarters of applicants were routinely rejected. (The clubs were permanently closed in 2003).
Our Committment to the Public
Because of the high standards we have always sought to maintain, we have distanced ourselves from the 'poly goldrush' and usually stood strongly against it. We at first tried to work with a broad range of ministries in the hope of cooperating to get the truth out but once it became evident to us that most of these were just playing power-games and turning polygamy into a rodeo or a safari, we broke off and chose to remain a small minority committed to the highest Christian/Messianic standards of morality, even if this meant attacking the abuses of polygamy and perhaps setting back the cause generally. For make no mistake, polygamy is being abused and by co-called 'Christians' and 'Messianics' who have brought great disrepute upon this lifestyle by their carelessness, indifference, and political posturing. Many have even openly attacked us and tried to smear our name in order to justify themselves. Believing that the best course of action is to continue exposing darkness wherever it may be found whilst maintaining high ethical and moral standards, we have continued our witness unashamedly and unapologetically. We admit we have made mistakes and are continually learning, and therefore value the counsel we get from our increasingly widening fellowship of sympathisers and supporters, many of whom, like ourselves, have been disillusioned by the other ministries.
We therefore reaffirm our committment to continue upholding the standards of excellence which we have promulgated all these years, and not to get drawn into the 'popularity game'(James 4:4) by courting the world's sympathy. To be friends with the world, said the apostle Paul, is to be enemies of Yahweh, and that we can never be. More than anything we want to protect single and divorced women from the many predators, to give them a spiritual home whilst they take their time to find out just what Yahweh's will is in their lives. We are willing to give them patriarchal covering if they are unable to find that at home or in their local congregation, as Yahweh leads. And finally, we are (at this stage - 2002) delighted to fellowship and train mature and spiritually serious-minded men to enter this lifestyle once we have been satisfied that this is indeed their call and not just a hormonal impulse. Accordingly, until Yahweh gives permission to widen the circle, we are working with Pastors and Elders, and those unmistakenly called into such positions but who have been persecuted and thrown out of the churches (assemblies) because of their pro-polygamy beliefs. And for those who have no spiritual home, and who feel called into our international Order (the Chavurat Bekorot), we also offer a more intimate fellowship on the basis of a shared general ministry of which polygamy is but a small component. (As from 2016, we only operate within the context of the Chavurat Bekorot and polygamy ministry is offered generally in those congregations - principally in Africa - where polygamous families are to be found).
Finally, I should mention that polygamy is just one small facet of my personal ministry. Though the extent of this webpage may give the impression that this is the only Gospel theme that I am occupied with, I am actually far more involved with evangelism, missions, deliverance, and general Gospel teaching. The size of this polygamy homepage reflects not only our calling to convey a certain vision of Christian/Messianic polygamy to the world but to protect the same against all the abuses and heresies which are presently assailing the movement. To get a wider picture of what I am personally (in 2002) working with and for, do please see the main homepage.
May Yahweh bless all the righteous and noble amongst you who desire to do Yahweh's whole will, and nothing but His will, even (and especially) if that will is that you do not live polygamy.
Further Reading
[1] Understanding the Law of Spiritual Covering
Author: SBSK
