http://ldswomenproject.com/sunday-school-supplements/polygamy-law-sarah/ wrote:
Polygamy and the Law of Sarah by Heather Farrell
When we teach D&C 132 in Sunday School we usually just focus on the first part, the part about eternal marriage. I have yet to be in a class where we’ve tackled the second part of D&C 132, the law of plural marriage. Yet, it is clear as you read section 132 that both these laws—eternal marriage and plural marriage—are a part of the law that God was teaching Joseph Smith. In fact, God uses the story of Sarah and Hagar as an example of what the “everlasting covenant” looked like anciently. This is an important part, because it teaches us that polygamy, as practiced by the early patriarchs– like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David and Solomon– was not just a cultural practice but rather a spiritual one, and that it is a principle that still has an important place in God’s plan.
I am no expert on the topic of polygamy, but I do know that coming to understand God’s laws on marriage—including plural marriage—can increase our testimony rather than weaken it. Yet before God explained the law of plural marriage to Joseph Smith he told him to, “prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you,” knowing that what he was about to teach Joseph would be difficult for him to understand and to follow. That instruction is still wise for us today as we study the topic of plural marriage. It is a topic that must be studied with the help of the Holy Ghost.
Even though the idea of polygamy can make us uncomfortable, we really aren’t as opposed to it as we think we are. For example, if I died it would be perfectly normal for my husband to marry another woman, be sealed to her in the temple, and have children with her. We would consider this a good and healthy relationship—good that my husband could move and give his heart to another woman after me and good that this woman would have a happy marriage and an opportunity for a family of her own. We don’t have a problem with a man marrying two women (perhaps even more) in his life time, as long as he does it one at a time. It starts to get complicated when we start thinking about heaven as one big slumber party, and try reconcile our earthly experiences with how things will be eternally. I think to understand it we have to be willing to open our minds to things bigger and grander than our here and now, and truly take an eternal perspective.
Lucy Walker, one of Joseph Smith’s plural wives, wrote that when she first learned about plural marriage, “Every feeling of my soul revolted against it.” Yet, after praying and wrestling with the idea for several days that one night her room was, “filled with a holy influence” akin to “brilliant sunshine.” She testified that, “My soul was filled with a calm sweet peace that I never knew,” and “supreme happiness took possession of my whole being.” She gained a personal testimony of the principle of plural marriage and gained an eternal perspective that allowed her to follow a very hard commandment.
The Law of Plural Marriage
One of the best places to start the discussion of plural marriage is in The Book of Mormon where the prophet Jacob taught the Nephites that God’s commandment for them was, “there shall not be any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none” (Jacob 2:27). Jacob explained to the Nephites that polygamy was only permissible when it was given as a commandment, through God’s chosen prophet. “For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people” (Jacob 2:30) otherwise, God’s law was monogamy. That is a pattern that still is true today. Polygamy is only allowed when God reveals it to his prophet and commands his people to live it, otherwise the law is one man, one woman.
The story of Hagar and Sarah also helps us better understand God’s laws about plural marriage. D&C 132: 34 illuminates their story by telling us that, “God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore was fulfilling, among other things, the promises.” This verse tells us several important things. First it tells us that Hagar became Abraham’s wife, not simply because Sarah wanted children as the Genesis account states, but because God had commanded Abraham to practice plural marriage.
Second, this verse tells us that Abraham …
