Although Christians now condemn polygamy, they uphold a Bible that not only approves it, but also shows distinctly that God instituted it.
Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and was not condemned for his polygamy or concubinage, but was condemned for going after other Gods:
And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord. (1 Kings 11 : 9.)
There is nowhere any condemnation of Solomon for his polygamy to be found in the Bible. On the contrary, he is extolled to the highest degree. God is represented as saying: "I have found David, a man after mine own heart." (Acts 13 : 22.) "Yet among many nations was there no king like unto him (Solomon) who was beloved of God." (Neh. 13 : 26.)
David, although he was a man after God's own heart, was not so highly esteemed as Solomon who was blest with a thousand wives. David did not have quite as many wives, and consequently did not achieve the royal grandeur of his son Solomon. The Lord gave David a number of wives: "And Abigail hasted and arose, and rode upon an ass with five damsels of her's that went with her; and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife. David also took Ahinoam, of Jezreel, and they were also, both of them, his wives. (1 Sam. 25 : 42, 43.)
And David took him more wives out of Jerusalem. (2 Sam. 5 : 13.)
And I gave thee (David) thy master's house and thy master's wives into thy bosom. (2 Sam. 12 : 8.)
The Christian apologist says that "the Lord endured them to practice polygamy in consequence of the hardness of their hearts." But it is explicitly shown in the above passage that the Lord gave David a number of wives. "I gave thee thy master's wives into thy bosom," certainly exonerates David, and throws the responsibility on Jehovah. David is not censured for his polygamy, but is uniformly spoken of with approval except in one instance. In counseling Solomon Jehovah said: "And if thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my statutes and commandments as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days." (1 Kings 3 : 14.)
Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. (1 Kings 15 : 5.)