Question:

In Matthew 19:28 we read that the disciples “shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”  Who was the mother of the twelve sons of Israel (Jacob)?

Answer:

Jacob had four wives, Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah, who mothered his twelve sons.

Was it right for Jacob to have four wives?  “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).  The Lord Jesus makes this even clearer by quoting this verse, “And they two shall be one flesh.  Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:5,6).  A man cannot be “one flesh” with multiple wives.

Christian young people should be reminded that when considering marriage, they are to consider only one who both is a believer in Christ (2 Corinthians 6:14) and desires to please the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:39).