Q&A - Questions we didn't get to: Whoops...!
Yikes. We discovered some questions from Q&A day in December that were not answered! Let's knock these ones off, along with an apology to whoever asked them!
Why were the patriarchs of the Bible permitted to have multiple wives? Wasn't marriage created 1 man and 1 woman from the beginning with Adam and Eve? Were they living in disobedience and sin? What gives? Not that I need another wife... 1 is all I need.
Haha, true – God's intention from the beginning was 1 man, 1 woman, 1 lifetime (according to Jesus, Matthew 19:4-7) - and yes some patriarchs had many wives. It was wrong – and caused a lot of problems (consider David and Bathsheba's affair, as well as Solomon's waywardness due to his wives).
If the Samaritans are descendants of the tribes of Jacob, why are they hated by the Jews?
It was sort of a racial thing – they were half-Jewish, and the "full blooded Jews" hated them. It also became a religious thing, with a difference of opinion over worship (John 4:20).
What is your view on the movie “The Shack?”
Sorry, I never saw it.