My pastor says we are daughters of Judah.  Isn’t that Old Testament and not today?

Sincerely,
From A Different Family

Dear From A Different Family,

If he means that you are physically of the lineage of Judah – he is wrong.  Christians aren’t genetically Israelites.  Christians come from all walks of life and backgrounds (Col 3:11).  However, there is a sense in which all christians are children of Israel.  The church is spiritual Israel, and all christians are children of Abraham through faith (Rom 9:6-8).  Abraham was the father of all the faithful, a living example of what faith in God should look like (Rom 4:11-16).  When we live by faith, we are children of Abraham because we imitate his life (Rom 2:28-29).

Why did God tell David that He would have given him more wives if He had intended for men to only have one wife?

Sincerely,
Monogamous

Dear Monogamous,

Polygamy is never expressly condemned in the Bible.  It is also never treated as the standard… only the exception.  There are scores of examples of monogamy being God’s preference for man:

1. Adam & Eve were designed monogamously (Gen. 2:24).
2. No polygamy existed until seven generations after Adam (Gen 4:19).
3. Noah, the last righteous man of his day, had only one wife (Gen 7:13).
4. It is a qualification for an elder (Tit 1:6).
5. It is a qualification for a deacon (1 Tim 3:12).
6. It is a qualification for a worthy widow (1 Tim 5:9).
7. Every New Testament command for a husband or wife assumes monogamy in the commandments (Mk 10:12, 1 Cor 7:3, Eph 5:33, etc.).
8. The comparison of Christ and the church to a husband and wife relies on a monogamous design for marriage (Eph 5:22-23).
9. God clearly states it as His design for marriage in the New Testament (1 Cor 7:2).

On the same hand, there are multiple examples of the pitfalls of polygamy:

1. Sarah and Hagar fought (Gen 16:4).
2. Rachel and Leah fought over Jacob (Gen 29:30-31).
3. Hannah and Penninah’s rivalry (1 Sam 1:2-6)
4. Solomon’s idolatrous wives (1 Kings 11:4)

God allowed polygamy in the Old Testament because the Old Testament was a tutor designed to lead people toward a better and more permanent covenant (Gal 3:24-25).  David lived in a time when God allowed polygamy even though it wasn’t His long-term preference for mankind.  In the New Testament, we are told God desires for marriage to be between one man and one woman (1 Cor 7:2).

If the Bible condemns divination, then why do God's people divine by casting lots and divine by using the Urim and Thummim?  And if the Bible forbids contact with witches and wizards, then why were God's people allowed to consult prophets and seers?

Sincerely,
Consulting The Crystal

Dear Consulting The Crystal,

The Bible condemns the worship and reverence of any god other than the one true God (Ex 20:3).  Prophets and seers were sent by God (Jer 44:4) and were mouthpieces for God (2 Chr 36:12).  Witches and wizards seek power and authority from false gods and demons.

Casting lots and the Urim and the Thummim are the same issue.  When the Israelites cast lots, they did it in the sight of God and in the hopes that God would answer them (Josh 18:6).  The Urim and the Thummim were also God-sanctioned tools.  God specifically told the priest to use these two stones to help in making judgments (Ex 28:30).

The definition for ‘divination’ is ‘the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means’.  When Israel sought knowledge in ways that God condoned – that sort of divination was permissible.  What is condemned is seeking knowledge through supernatural means other than God.

A lot of people say that Abraham was the first Jew, so can he be considered the founder of Judaism?

Sincerely,
Tree Tracing

Dear Tree Tracing,

The entire Jewish nation descended from Abraham.  The Israelites considered Abraham to be their father (Lk 1:73).  Jesus referred to Abraham as the father of the Jewish nation (Jhn 8:56).  Ultimately, God was the founder of Judaism because it was His law and provision that built the nation (Deu 7:6-8).  However, Abraham was the first member of that nation.

In Exodus 7:11, God told Moses and Aaron to throw the staff down and let it become a snake in front of the Pharaoh.  Why did God let the Pharaoh's magicians do the same thing with their staves?

Why would God allow them to do that (or do it for them) when He was trying to prove that Moses and Aaron were from Him?

Sincerely,
Serpent Stupor

Dear Serpent Stupor,

The Pharaoh’s magicians used good old-fashioned parlor tricks to turn their staves into snakes.  They used their “enchantments” to make the serpents appear – no differently than the impressive, but explainable acts of today’s illusionists (Ex 7:11).  The difference was that Moses’ serpent ate their serpents (Ex 7:12)!  The evidence was clear; Moses’ “trick” was different.  Eventually, even the magicians admitted that the one true God was behind Moses’ miracles (Ex 8:19).