How about the patriarchs?
The patriarchs.
Suppose you are not able to have children.
So important in that world.
What do you do?
You get a proxy and you take the gal who is
a handmaiden, a concubine.
Well now you say, “Is the Bible in favor
of concubines?”
No, the Bible reports this.
There are many things the Bible reports that
it doesn’t teach.
The Bible says there is no God but it doesn’t
teach that.
It says the dummy says that.
Well, literally the fool.
And they don’t blurt it out; they at least
say it in their heart.
“The fool has said in his heart there is
no God” (Psa. 14:1).
So, here you have a report, too, that Sarah,
when she was unable to get pregnant, she said,
“Take Hagar.”
Chapter 16.
And so Abraham did what his wife said.
He was in submission.
And so he took Hagar and then Sarah got jealous
and she sent Hagar away.
That was also a no-no.
That went against Emily Post as well because
once a concubine or a slave woman had a child
for the master, you couldn’t put them out.
Sarah put them out.
So it was wrong on all social conventions
there.
How about the same thing with Rachel and Leah.
They couldn’t get pregnant either with Jacob
and so Rachel says, “Take Bilhah” and
Leah said “Take Zilpah.”
And so we’ve got a little contest going
here.
You’ve got proxies into the fray.
Does the Bible teach this?
No, but is this true to the culture?
Oh yes.
That’s Emily Post of that day.
We have read numerous tablets again that that’s
exactly what they do.
