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	by Jonathan Blakely

"Q: Did Abraham and Jacob commit adultery?"

These statements are VERY famous in our day. However men ask such questions because of two things.

1. People do not look at what the Bibles actually says happened.
2. People judge by today's standards. Assuming that Abraham and Jacob had the same amount of revelation and things made available to them as we do today in Christ.

As an introduction as I argue these things my intention is NOT to imply these men are perfect. The scriptures say all men have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But if we are going to talk about their faults we should at least give accurate information. We should not charge them with things they did not do. The purpose of these records is not so we can speak evil of the prophets of old. It's to show us how mankind was indeed in need of a savior.
Having done that let us look at these two accounts. Starting with Abraham.

ABRAHAM

The accusation against Abraham is about him having "Ishmael with Hagar". It is said that Abraham had an affair with Sarah's handmaid (Hagar) and had Ishmael with her. People say that Abraham had all the details of the promise (regarding Isaac) prior to this happening and "tried to make the promise happen anyway". I will prove these are total lies based on "word of mouth preaching" and people not reading the Bible. The account is found in Genesis chapter 16.

In Genesis chapter 15 we read of God's promise to Abraham regarding his seed. Here is the promise I am speaking about.

GENESIS 15:5-6 "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."

Do you see ANY referance to "Isaac" at all in this promise? Is there ANY word that Sarah would have a child in her old age? It's very vague. All Abraham knew is that God would bless his seed, thats it! So it's plain ridiculous to assume Abraham "knew" of Isaac prior to having Ishmael.

In the sixteenth chapter of Genesis it says that Sarah was barren and that she had concluded that the Lord had restrained her from having children. So she tells Abraham to take her handmaid Hagar as a wife so that she may have children by her. This was common in this type of culture, having other wives solely for the purpose of having heirs. Here is the text.

GENESIS 16:1-3 "Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife."

OK I am now going to refute this idea that Abraham cheated on Sarah with Hagar. First of all it was SARAH'S idea not Abraham's. Her reason was because she could not have children herself. In order for this to be adultery on Abraham's part we would have to read about some type of lust on Abraham's part. Adultery emphasizes lust, if a man were to leave his wife so that he could be with another woman then that would be adultery. This was not lust, if Sarah could have children Abraham would never have had anything to do with Hagar. Any arguement against this is nothing but mere philosophy and therefore I can say with confidence there is no point in trying to refute this. The only reason they did this was because Sarah could not have Children. Aside that people say that Abraham slept with Hagar out of wedlock which also is bogus seeing that it says she was given to be his WIFE in verse 3. All they had was this promise that God would bless Abraham's seed. So they did what they believed was the most honorable thing to do at the time. Sorry people but it is more than evident that this was not adultery. Later I will properly address what was wrong with this. But I will go into Jacob's account first.

JACOB

Jacob's account is found in Genesis chapter 29. In this account Jacob comes across a man named "Labam" who had two daughters, Leah and Rachel. It says Jacob "loved" rachel and was willing to labor seven years for her. His love for he was so great that his labors for her felt like a few days it says. However this is where people raise questions. It's when his seven years are up and Laban gives Jacob Leah instead of Rachel. People say that Jacob had an affair with leah and that he was a lustful man because of what is said here.

GENESIS 29:21-26 "And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn."

From this point on Leah is referred to as Jacob's WIFE. Showing this was not out of wedlock. Jacob even said to Laban "give me my wife" which also shows this. My point is Jacob was married to leah when he slept with her, but he thought she was Rachel! Laban tells Jacob that was against the customs of his country to give the youngest in marriage first. He told Jacob this AFTER he marries leah? This wrong is on Laban's part not Jacob's. Jacob labored ANOTHER seven years for Rachel and he married her as well. He eventually had two other wives (Rachel and Leah's handmaids) but they, like in the case of Abraham, were given to him as wives ONLY for the purpose of producing heirs. He married them AFTER leah and rachel could have no children. Sorry again people, this is NOT adultery!

The term to be used here is POLYGAMY (having more than one wife) NOT adultery. Abraham and Jacob did not commit adultery but they were guilty of polygamy. God had spoken on polygamy in the law but here is what people miss, this was BEFORE the law was given! As far as the law was concerned these men did not have much to work with. What was done was a result of the lack of revelation that was given at the time. They didn't have a Bible to read concerning what they went through did they? They did not have things like Christ's blood, Christ's intercession, baptism, the Holy Spirit or things like this. So it is wrong to judge these men as if they had all the revelation we have now.

In Conclusion again God never directly punishes Abraham or Jacob on these accounts (as far as having multible wives is concerned). But due to the lack of light and people's hearts not yet being changed God tolerated polygamy. But that is oweing to the condition of the people not God's nature.

So No, Abraham and Jacob are not guilty of adultery as people assume. The arguement is based on nothing but assumptions. THE END