Why did God allow more than 1 wife in the Old Testament?

They traveled throughout the lands, staying in warmer climates to farm, but basically, roamed with their sheep and goats. It was a transit way of life. The law of to be fruitful & multiply had to deal with men, not women. Women weren't asked to marry or have children as it was a risk to their lives. If you read the stories of the great matriarchs, they had to ask to have children, & we see Rachel died in childbirth. Even today, Jewish women are still not required to marry.

In Biblical times, it was not easy to bear children even though they were careful in the health issues. A wife that died, there were other women to nurse & nurture the child to adulthood. It was a community affair. Eventually, when they were able to establish towns, there was no longer a need to have an extended family to keep the safety & care needed confined to one family as there were many in the town that could help out as nurse maids & child care.

In the time of King David, his Empire was global. He was "allowed" to marry wives from distant lands so that the other nations were "cemented"--or bonded to each other through family members. Even though women were sincere in wanting to be a "princess" & many were God-Fearers & earnestly converted to Torah as Ruth did, some had alternative plans that weren't so nice, thus, revered back to their idols, thus, caused quite a stir among the family and community.

As for David's love for Bathsheba--all men that were in the army gave their wives a GET, a divorce, as they do today, in case their bodies are never found. People seem to like to read the Bible, but learn Torah for its own sake is not possible unless they are truly God Fearers or Jews, as the Torah is their instructional guide. (See 1stCovenant.org for modern Deists). So, by sending Bathsheba's husband off to war, she was given a GET--and when he died in battle, she was legally a widow and the GET was valid if his body did not appear, releasing her from the being married to a man of unknown death & location of his remains. So when David went to her -- she was officially divorced. Using the Torah for gain rather than study it for it's own sake, was David's mistake as many missionaries have done since. A good lesson in life, despite what we think we need or want, we don't pray for what really we need in life, but desire to fulfill our own ego's happiness--thus, destroying the very nature of God's gift to us in having free will and choosing good over evil through our passions of our animal soul. Unless we study His Word and Covenants (Noahide for non-Jews & Mosaic for those with a Jewish soul), we can easily forget our obligations & let our "evil" inclinations take over. Man's worst enemy is himself. We can even make "idols" out of religion by taking God's Word into a profitable business & not a learning system--thus wanting to make God into his own human image and not what is the truth.

I thought I answered this clearly last time. Read the bible - you have got it all wrong. This is what I said and I repeat it:

Sorry buddy but you've got it all wrong. Why don't you just read the Bible. God was actually furious with David for what he did.

Read 2 Sam 11 &12

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea%E2%80%A6

Here is a short extract

2 Samuel 11:26-27 (New International Version - UK)

26 When Uriah's wife [BATHSHEBA] heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.

27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.

Furthermore, God had warned against this behaviour (verse 17) and said that it was sinful for kings to act in such a way.

Deuteronomy 17:14-17

The King

14 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,

15 be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.

16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, You are not to go back that way again.

17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

Source(s):

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea%E2%80%A6

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea%E2%80%A6

God doesn't permit or support this. God allows for the sinful behavior of men, He allows them to make their own bad decisions and allows them to suffer the consequences..Like what befell David...

What was lesson of having more than 1 wife for David?

I see you're having trouble understanding the point God was trying to make.

God was telling David that even after all God had blessed him with, royal status, wealth, women, etc, David should have been satisfied with that, but NO, he had to go take another mans wife for himself..God was admonishing David for his greed.

The first reference (Genesis 20:12) refers to one of Abram's great jokes....saying Sarah was his sister, when she was in fact his wife..

The Earth wasn't as populated then dear.

Did He not tell the 1st people to be Fruitful and Multiply ? ( work and make babies ).

Bob told you right dear......

He just did it with Tough Love, so try not to be so offended.

Just, lick your wounds and tell him thank you, and you'll be just fine.

that shows the muslims got something correct we should all be allowed to do that then there would be less spousal abuse the women would live in harmony just as the mormons do

It's a typo in the bible, what god mend was "men". Therefore proving that christians are destined to be gay.

It wasn't god that was a randy Alexander, it was the randy Alexanders that wrote the S*ite!