What happens to excess wives if they are sent away from a polygamous husband's home?
When excess wives are sent away from a polygamous husband's roof, they must try to stay alive and get enough food. In many cases they end up turning to prostitution. This is why missionaries among polygamous peoples find such situations difficult and must consider all these factors carefully.
Les teaches that when one family member becomes a saved, believing Christian while another remains in idolatry, division enters the family. Missionaries encounter the same issue among polygamous peoples. If a husband is converted and has four or five wives, how should they handle it? It is not easy. If the excess wives are sent out from the husband's roof, they must stay alive and get enough food; many end up doing prostitution. So all these things must be taken into consideration. Les notes that American society is protected and immune to such realities, but these things were real to those people. He then turns to 1 Peter 3:1, where wives are told to be in subjection.