MY TAKE ON ISRAEL FORD & TWO WIVES.
What is ironic is that I actually know Prophet Israel Ford personally. I have known him for years, and I have known about his marital arrangement. I have spent time in prayer with him, and we have had conversations about ministry and life.
But let me put my teaching gloves on and give you my take.
First, let me make something clear: I AM A MAN UNDER AUTHORITY. If my man of God & mentor corrects my understanding of Scripture on this matter, I will be willing to correct myself.
However, I have been watching people condemn this man, and I have a genuine question: WHERE IS THE SCRIPTURAL BASIS FOR YOUR CONDEMNATION?
I see a lot of people expressing their displeasure, but very few are taking us through Scripture to establish why they believe this is a sin.I want us to separate what we were taught culturally from what the Bible actually says. We cannot simply declare something sinful because it makes us uncomfortable. Equally, we cannot declare something righteous simply because it’s a pastor doing it. We must study the Word in context.
Let us critically look at Scripture.
1. MANY OF THE PATRIARCHS HAD MULTIPLE WIVES.
Abraham had Sarah and Hagar (Genesis 16:1–4). Jacob had Leah and Rachel, alongside Bilhah and Zilpah (Genesis 29–30). David had multiple wives (2 Samuel 5:13), and Solomon had many wives (1 Kings 11:3).
Now, I know someone will immediately say, “But God was not pleased with everything these men did.” I agree! The Bible records people’s lives without necessarily endorsing every decision they made. Solomon’s wives turned his heart away from God, and Scripture explicitly records this in 1 Kings 11:4.
But here is my point: WE MUST ESTABLISH WHAT SCRIPTURE CONDEMNS, NOT SIMPLY ASSUME THAT EVERYTHING WE DISAGREE WITH IS A SIN.
The existence of these households demonstrates that plural marriage was a recognised reality within the biblical world, and we must examine how Scripture addressed it.
2. THE OLD TESTAMENT DID NOT IGNORE POLYGAMY. IT ESTABLISHED REGULATIONS.
Look at Exodus 21:10. The passage addresses a man taking another wife and establishes that he must not diminish the first wife’s food, clothing, or marital rights.
Deuteronomy 21:15–17 addresses a man with two wives and protects the inheritance rights of his firstborn son, even when that son is born to the wife whom the man loves less.
The biblical text plainly recognises households involving multiple wives and addresses responsibilities arising within them.
Now, let us be intellectually honest: REGULATION DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEAN ENDORSEMENT. But neither should we ignore these passages when constructing a biblical argument.
3. IF A MAN HAS MULTIPLE WIVES, WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE REQUIRE OF HIM?
This is a conversation many people overlook.They are quick to discuss whether a man can have multiple wives, but they rarely discuss the responsibilities Scripture places upon a man who has assumed marital and family obligations.
Exodus 21:10 establishes that a woman’s provision and marital rights must not be diminished simply because another wife enters the household.
Deuteronomy 21:15–17 protects the rights of a child against discrimination arising from the father’s personal preferences.
Ephesians 5:25 commands husbands:
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”
That is a serious standard. It is a call to sacrificial love, not selfishness.
First Timothy 5:8 also stresses the seriousness of providing for one’s household.
And Deuteronomy 17:17 warns Israel’s king against multiplying wives, lest his heart turn away from God.
Notice the balance in Scripture: there are provisions addressing plural-marriage households, but there are also warnings, restrictions and serious responsibilities.
A MAN CANNOT USE THE BIBLE TO JUSTIFY HIS PREFERENCES WHILE IGNORING THE BIBLE’S DEMANDS UPON HIS CHARACTER.
If we are discussing polygamy, we must discuss responsibility, justice, provision, faithfulness and the welfare of every person involved.
4. BUT DID JESUS FORBID POLYGAMY?
This is where we must pay attention to the actual text.
In Matthew 19:3–9, the Pharisees approached Jesus with a question about divorce. Jesus responded by taking them back to the creation account.
Matthew 19:5 says:
“And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh.”
Jesus was establishing the significance of the marital union and addressing the question of divorce.
THE IMMEDIATE QUESTION JESUS WAS ANSWERING CONCERNED DIVORCE, NOT A DIRECT QUESTION ABOUT POLYGAMY.
However, I recognise that many Christians understand Jesus’ appeal to the creation account as establishing monogamy as God’s normative design for marriage. That interpretation deserves serious consideration.
My question is this…can we accurately say that Jesus explicitly prohibited polygamy in that particular passage when the immediate controversy concerned divorce? We must distinguish between what the passage directly addresses and the wider theological conclusions we draw from it.
5. WHAT ABOUT “THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE”?
Someone will inevitably quote 1 Timothy 3:2, where Paul states that an overseer must be “the husband of one wife.”
The Greek expression is mias gynaikos andra (μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα), often understood as “a one-woman man.” This expression appears in the qualifications for church leadership. Titus 1:6 contains the same wording.
Some interpret it as requiring a bishop to have only one wife. Others understand it as emphasising marital fidelity and sexual integrity. There is another issue we must address honestly. The SAME APOSTLE PAUL who instructed that a bishop must be the “husband of one wife” in 1 Timothy 3:2 also wrote in 1 Timothy 2:12 that he did not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, yet many churches today have woman pastors.
So we must ask what Paul intended by this qualification, how it applies to church leadership, and whether it establishes a universal prohibition on every Christian marital arrangement.
That requires careful exegesis, not merely an assertion that the answer is obvious.
6. ARE WE CONFUSING CULTURE WITH SCRIPTURE?
I believe this is where the conversation becomes particularly interesting, especially in Africa.
Marriage customs have differed across societies and throughout history. Something being culturally unfamiliar does not automatically make it sinful. Equally, something being culturally accepted does not automatically make it righteous.
Our standard must be the Word of God.
I am not arguing that African culture should override Scripture. I am arguing that neither African tradition nor Western cultural expectations should be substituted for biblical exegesis.
We must examine every practice against the Word of God.
And we must remember that the women involved are not merely part of a man’s preference. They are people whose dignity, welfare, rights and consent matter.
Any serious discussion about plural marriage must account for those realities alongside the relevant biblical texts.
7. SO, ISRAEL FORD WRONG?
My position is that I want to see the SCRIPTURAL CASE before I pronounce a verdict. We also have to consider that AN ESTABLISHED MARRIAGE IS BETTER THAN A HIDDEN DOUBLE LIFE….We live in a society where some men (pastors included) have wives at home and other women on the side. There are secret relationships, hidden children, financial deception and families being hurt because men want to enjoy multiple relationships without taking responsibility for them.
Personally i will not condemn a man simply because his marital arrangement is different from what we are accustomed to. Neither will I declare him absolutely right simply because I know him personally.
We must examine the matter through Scripture, including the passages that support our arguments and those that challenge them.
First Thessalonians 5:21 says:
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
The Greek word dokimazō (δοκιμάζω) means to test, examine or evaluate something.
That is what I believe we should do.
Let us study before we condemn. Let us examine the context before we pronounce judgment. And let us remember that being loud about something does not automatically make us right about it.
SHOW ME THE TEXT. EXPLAIN THE CONTEXT. ESTABLISH THE DOCTRINE.
~Prophet Isaiah Sovi