AND LAMECH TOOK UNTO HIM TWO WIVES – Genesis 4:19
Genesis 4:19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
Lamech is the first man listed in scripture who had two wives. We later find out that Lamech killed a man and boasted that God would protect him just as God protected Cain. Lamech appears to have several real problems with sin.
Lamech was not content with just one wife, but went out and obtained two. Lamech was already married to Adah, and when he saw Zillah, he could not be content with one wife but had to have Zillah also. We know from scripture that God created us male and female with the purpose that a man and woman would marry and become one. How can one man become one with more than one woman? Lamech did not care about the purposes of God and he proceeded to join himself to more than one woman.
It is the perfect will of God that a man and a woman only have one partner. However, it was also the perfect will of God that Adam and Eve not partake of the forbidden fruit. Just because it is the perfect will of God that Lamech only have one spouse, it does not mean that God did not allow Lamech to disobey the perfect will of God and do what he wanted.
Lamech did not have his focus upon the perfect will of God. Instead, Lamech was focused upon the things of this world and what this world could do for him today. Lamech desired to enjoy the pleasures of marriage from two different women. He was not content to be satisfied with just one wife. Because of his discontentment, this led to the place where he did what he wanted, when he wanted.
Lamech did not stop with just one wife. Later on, Lamech went out and killed a man and started to brag about it. Lamech was not looking towards God for his direction, instead, his focus was on himself and what seemed right in his own eyes. Lamech did not care what other people thought, all he cared about was himself and what he could obtain for himself.
Lamech demonstrated a lack of self-control in that he could not remain faithful to just one woman. Lamech was not focused upon his relationship with God, instead he was simply focused upon what this world could give him today. You need to be careful that you do not follow the example of Lamech. The world constantly is crying out to you to partake in all sorts of fleshly desires. However, you cannot afford to selfishly devour whatever you want when you want.
By adding temperance to your life, your focus on the things of this world change. Temperance enables you to enter marriage with a focus of working together for the purpose of glorifying God. However, if you do not have temperance, the focus of the marriage relationship because what each person can get out of the relationship. Because the focus is selfish in nature, neither party can ever be fully satisfied and the relationship falls drastically short of the perfect will of God.
Lamech was more concerned about himself and what he could obtain from his wives that his relationship with God was extremely shallow. Lamech would have done better to focus upon his relationship with God and learn how he could be content with his relationship with only one wife. Instead, Lamech set an example for men that women are just commodities that they could possess rather than a helpmate who could help them fulfill the perfect will of God.