⚡ Quick AnswerProphet Israel Ford announced a second wife and challenged critics to show him a scripture against it. Three ministers answer: God's design is one man, one wife; converts who married before salvation keep their wives; the Church corrects with Scripture and restores with grace.
When a US prophet told his congregation and an online audience that he had taken a second wife, the question landed in every believer's lap: can a Christian have two wives? Prophet Israel Ford did not hide it. He and both wives, he said, prayed and fasted for 40 days before the second marriage. They had been married for nearly three years before going public. He had been teaching on polygamy for about five years.
His challenge to critics was direct: “Please show me one scripture where it says that.” This article takes up that challenge. It sets out his case fairly, then lets three ministers answer from Scripture — Pastor Abel Damina, Prophet Uebert Angel and Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. Their testimonies come from different angles, but they agree on one verdict.
“If you already married them, then the Bible doesn't say to send them away.”
— Pastor Chris Oyakhilome
🔑 Key Takeaways
- God's original design, taught by Jesus in Matthew 19, is one man and one wife.
- A believer who grows in Christ becomes responsible for people and is therefore held to the standard of a bishop: the husband of one wife.
- A man who married two wives before salvation keeps his wives; the Bible does not say to send them away.
- The Church's job is to sit a brother down with the Scriptures and restore him, not to shout at him or shame him.
- The Old Testament records polygamy without commending it, and the homes it produced were full of strife.
📑 Table of Contents
- The Announcement That Shook the Church
- Hearing Him Out: Prophet Israel Ford's Case
- Witness One — Pastor Abel Damina: “From the Beginning It Was Not So”
- Witness Two — Prophet Uebert Angel: Rightly Dividing, Gently Restoring
- Witness Three — Pastor Chris: The Man Who Was Already Married
- The Verdict of the Three Witnesses
- “Show Me One Scripture”: Answering the Argument
- How God Sees It: Grace and Truth Together
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Announcement That Shook the Church
Three Pastors Teaching Bible
Prophet Israel Ford, a US pastor, made his announcement from the pulpit and in an online interview. He has a second wife. He said he and both wives prayed and fasted for 40 days before the second marriage. The marriage had been in place for nearly three years before he went public. He had been teaching on polygamy for about five years.
His reasoning was simple. “I believe that if you do something and you preach something, you should live it.” He said many men live polygamous lives “behind closed doors” and he wanted to do it “honorable”. Then came the challenge: “Please show me one scripture where it says that.”
The announcement raised a question every believer has to face sooner or later: can a Christian have two wives? And if the man is a pastor, does the answer change?
Scripture gives us a way to weigh a matter. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1, KJV). So this article calls three witnesses. Each comes at the question from a different angle. Pastor Abel Damina goes back to the beginning. Prophet Uebert Angel shows how to handle a brother gently. Pastor Chris answers the man who was already married when he met Christ. Their testimonies agree.
Hearing Him Out: Prophet Israel Ford's Case
Open Bible Pulpit
It is only fair to state his case as he stated it. He did not hide the second marriage. He presented it as obedience to what he teaches. If a man preaches a thing, he said, he should be willing to live it. He pointed to men who keep secret second relationships and said he wanted to do this openly and honorably.
He also appealed to Scripture — or rather, to the absence of a verse. “Please show me one scripture where it says that.” It is a serious challenge, and it deserves a serious answer, not a sneer.
And there is a fact behind the challenge. The Old Testament does record men of God with more than one wife. Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon all appear in its pages, and some of them are commended for their faith. Anyone who reads the Bible honestly has to account for this.
So the question is not whether polygamy appears in the Bible. It does. The question is whether God designed it, whether He commends it, and what He requires of those who lead His people. That is where the three witnesses come in.
Witness One — Pastor Abel Damina: “From the Beginning It Was Not So”
Open Bible Soft Light
Pastor Abel Damina begins with a question: “What does the Bible teach about two wives or one wife?” His answer goes back to Matthew 19, where Jesus was asked about divorce. Jesus pointed to Moses, who allowed divorce “because of the hardness of your hearts… but from the beginning it was not so.”
Then Damina draws the line out: “So what was God's plan from the beginning? One man, one woman.” That is the design. Genesis 2:24 says a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Jesus quoted that same verse in Matthew 19:4-8. Whatever came later, the beginning stands.
What about the patriarchs? Damina takes his readers to Romans 5:13: “sin is not imputed where there is no law.” The patriarchs lived before the law of Moses. God dealt with them in a different season. But Christ has now fulfilled the law in the believer (Romans 8:1-4). The man in Christ is not living before the law; he is living after the cross.
Then comes the verse that settles the question for leaders. 1 Timothy 3:2 says a bishop must be the husband of one wife. Damina teaches that this is not a rule for a distant clergy class. Every believer who grows in Christ ends up doing ministry. “Once you're going to be responsible for people and be an example and grow them in Christ, you're a bishop. Then the bishop must be the husband of one wife.”
That is a striking claim. It means the standard is not for pastors only. It is for every believer who matures enough to carry others. The higher you go in responsibility, the clearer the standard becomes.
Damina is equally clear about the man who was already married when he came to Christ. “If somebody already had two wives or three wives before he came to this knowledge, he keeps his wives.” The design is one wife. But the grace of God does not demand that a man abandon women who are already his family. That is the bridge to the third witness.
Witness Two — Prophet Uebert Angel: Rightly Dividing, Gently Restoring
Helping Hand Sunset Road
Prophet Uebert Angel takes a different method. He sets scripture beside scripture and reconciles them. He does not give a bare yes or no; he shows how the parts fit together. That is a needed skill in this discussion, because the Old Testament and the New Testament have to be read together, not against each other.
His conclusion is plain. “Our doctrine: one husband, one wife.” He bases it on the New Testament: “a bishop should be a husband of one wife.” The standard for leadership is not ambiguous. It is one wife.
But then he turns to the man at the centre of the storm, and his tone changes. “I'm not supporting him. But I'm not shouting at him. I'm a grace man.” He does not endorse the teaching. He refuses to turn the man into an enemy.
His counsel to critics is practical. “If you think he is wrong, find a way to help him.” And he asks a question that searches the heart: “Why do we think shouting at a man makes him change?”
That question deserves to sit for a moment. Shouting is easy. It costs nothing and it feels righteous. But it rarely changes anyone. What changes a man is truth spoken by someone who is willing to stay with him while he works it out.
So Prophet Uebert Angel calls Christians to sit a brother down, open the Scriptures with him, and restore him. Not to shame him publicly. Not to make a spectacle of him. This is exactly the pattern of Galatians 6:1, where those who are spiritual are told to restore a brother caught in a fault in a spirit of meekness, remembering that they too can be tempted.
Notice what this witness does not do. He does not say the doctrine is unclear. He does not say the man is right. He holds the standard and the man in the same hand. That is the balance the whole discussion needs.
Witness Three — Pastor Chris: The Man Who Was Already Married
Pastor Counselling Man
The third witness answers a real case. John Mepa of South Africa married two wives under his culture and his former religion. Then he was born again. What should he do now?
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome's answer is direct: “If you already married them, then the Bible doesn't say to send them away.” He adds, “You can't send them away. They are with you.”
That answer lines up with 1 Corinthians 7:12-13, where Paul addresses a believer whose family situation was formed before he came to the faith. The principle is the same: the grace of God does not break what it can heal. A man is not told to abandon the women who are already his responsibility.
Pastor Chris also warns against a misuse of salvation. A man must not use his new faith as an excuse to send away a wife who is “giving you trouble.” Grace is not a cover for escape. It is a reason to stay and do right.
His practical advice is simple: “Go to your pastor.” Such a man will face difficulties, he says, and will often have to explain his situation. This is not a light thing. It is a path that requires counsel, patience and honesty.
The programme added a thought that reframes the whole situation. It is an opportunity “to win two more souls” by bringing both wives to the house of God. What looks like a complication becomes a mission field. The man does not merely manage a difficult household; he becomes a witness to the women already in his care.
This witness does not lower the standard. He deals with the man who came to Christ after the fact, and he refuses to make that man's past a reason to abandon his family.
The Verdict of the Three Witnesses
Three Witnesses Bible Study
Set the three testimonies side by side and the agreement is clear.
QuestionPastor Abel DaminaProphet Uebert AngelPastor ChrisGod's original designOne man, one woman, from the beginning (Matthew 19)One husband, one wifeNot addressed hereCan a pastor or leader have two wives?No — a bishop must be the husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3:2)No — a bishop should be a husband of one wifeNot addressed hereA man who married two wives before salvationHe keeps his wivesNot addressed hereHe must not send them away; go to your pastorHow the Church should treat a brother in this situationNot addressed hereHelp him, sit him down, restore him; do not shout at himNot addressed here
Here is the combined verdict. One man, one wife is God's design and the standard for every believer who grows into ministry. A man who married before salvation keeps his wives and is not to send them away. The Church corrects with Scripture and restores with grace.
Notice that the verdict holds two things together that are often torn apart. It does not say the doctrine is flexible. It does not say the man is abandoned. It says the standard stands and the door stays open.
“Show Me One Scripture”: Answering the Argument
Prophet Israel Ford asked for one scripture. Here are several, and they answer the question from different sides.
Genesis 2:24. A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. One man, one woman, one flesh. That is the design, given before sin entered the story.
Matthew 19:4-8. Jesus quotes Genesis and then says that Moses allowed divorce “because of the hardness of your hearts… but from the beginning it was not so.” Jesus treats the beginning as the standard. What came later was a concession, not a design.
1 Corinthians 7:2. Paul writes that every man should have his own wife and every woman her own husband. The language is singular and mutual.
Ephesians 5:31-32. Paul takes Genesis 2:24 and says it is a great mystery, pointing to Christ and the Church. Marriage is a picture of one bridegroom and one bride. Two wives would spoil the picture.
1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6. Both passages say a bishop or elder must be the husband of one wife. The standard for leadership is explicit and repeated.
Deuteronomy 17:17. Even in the law, the king was warned not to multiply wives to himself, because it would turn his heart away. The Old Testament does not commend polygamy; it records it, and it shows the damage it did.
That is the honest way to read the Old Testament stories. Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon all had multiple wives, and their homes were marked by jealousy, rivalry and grief. The Bible reports these things; it does not hold them up as a model. The fact that a thing is recorded is not the same as the claim that God approves it. And when God speaks directly about the design, He goes back to the beginning.
How God Sees It: Grace and Truth Together
John 1:17 says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Both are needed here. Truth keeps the standard clear: one man, one wife. Grace keeps the door open for the man who has already gone another way.
This is also a matter of law in many countries. In Ghana, for example, customary marriages may be polygamous, while marriages under the Marriages Act are monogamous. Believers must respect the law of the land and seek pastoral counsel before making decisions that affect a family.
God sees the whole person, not just the rule. He sees the wives, the children, the man, and the church that must answer for how it treated them. Grace and truth together is the only way to see it as He does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Christian have two wives?
According to the three ministers, God's design from the beginning is one man and one wife, and a bishop must be the husband of one wife. A man who married two wives before salvation, however, is not told to send them away.
What did Prophet Israel Ford say about his second wife?
He said he and both wives prayed and fasted for 40 days before the second marriage, that they had been married nearly three years before going public, and that he had taught on polygamy for about five years. He challenged critics to show him one scripture against it.
What did Pastor Chris Oyakhilome say to a man with two wives?
He said, “If you already married them, then the Bible doesn't say to send them away.” He warned against using salvation as an excuse to send away a wife who is giving trouble, and advised the man to go to his pastor.
How should the Church treat a believer with two wives?
Prophet Uebert Angel said, “If you think he is wrong, find a way to help him,” and asked, “Why do we think shouting at a man makes him change?” The Church should sit the brother down, show him the Scriptures and restore him, as Galatians 6:1 teaches.
Conclusion
So can a Christian have two wives? The three witnesses answer together. One man, one wife is God's design and the standard for every believer who grows into ministry. A man married before salvation keeps his wives and is not to send them away. The Church corrects with Scripture and restores with grace.
To the single believer: honour the design from the beginning. To married couples: guard the picture of Christ and the Church. To the convert already in a polygamous marriage: do not abandon your family; go to your pastor. To the Church: hold the standard and open the door. Truth and grace came by Jesus Christ, and they still walk together.
