The first implication of this is that those Christians that go around and say the practice of polygamy is a sin or evil are very much not supported by the Bible. This means that the moral judgments about people that practice polygamy stand purely on cultural grounds not Biblical ones.
Secondly and on the flip side, there is a problem with polygamy that the Bible presents, that of achieving the ideal of what marriage symbolizes. The polygamist marriages in the Bible present either a man who has no close spiritual covenant relationship with any of his wives or only just one with the rest of his wives being contract wives. In fact, it seems that if a man opts for polygamy he is already accepting this fact. His marriages are about other cultural and personal desires not a desire to be 'one flesh' in truth with a woman. It has been said that no polygamist relationship in the Bible is absent from problems, the truth is that in some situations we simple do not know this for sure.
Another thing to consider is that there is no Biblical example of polygamy other than one man with multiple wives. The idea of one woman with multiple husbands simply is not there. In part this is because of a patriarchal man dominated culture, but in truth it is also a practical consideration. When a man has more than one wife there is still not doubt when a child is born who the father of the child is. This would not be true in the reverse situation. Given that family was important in this culture and being able to trace one's lineage also important: one wife, multiple husband relationships would undercut both and are rejected. It is an argument from silence all the way around on this issue but given the lack of example we have to conclude it is probably not an option.
Finally, the New Testament has two important changes in understanding polygamy. First, the fact that the ideal marriage is presented very strongly as one man, one woman from both Jesus and the apostles point of view. Secondly, that if a man is polygamist he is disqualified from church leadership. In short, Jesus and the apostles are encouraging monogamy but neither condemns polygamy although they do enact things to consider and thus discourage it.
For the Christian in the modern day, application touches two areas:
1) When confronted with polygamy in society there is no biblical grounds for condemning the practice or the polygamist and his wives. As long as the relationship was freely entered into, we have to conclude that all the parties involved are both sin free and accepting the consequences of such a relationship. In truth, this is far less repulsive to God than the man who has multiple partners without marriage contracts and children from each relationship as well. At least the polygamist is accepting responsibility both legally and culturally. The situation of multiple wives one at a time due to divorce would also fall under a far more 'hate' category from God's perspective than polygamy.
2) If a Christian considers entering into a polygamist relationship, they should consider the following issues: a) by so doing they are opting for the less desirable option than monogamy, b) it is going to be difficult for them to achieve a spiritual covenant with this type of relationship and c) they are opting out of being in leadership in the church.
In final analysis, polygamy is an allowable situation for mankind because of the nature of the beast as it were. People are encouraged to get married if they are sexually attracted to the opposite sex and can't control it. Here seems to be an additional allowance for the man who simply can't contain his sexual desire to one woman. It offers an option free of affairs and divorce. It is not the best situation, but it is better than the alternatives. Interestingly enough while many women do not like the idea, many women in such relationships defend it for various reasons.
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