2 Views on Incest: God's & Hollywood's -- our study from Leviticus continues.

Leviticus Chapter 18: Laws of Sexual Sin

Laws on Immoral Relations -- Incest

Leviticus 18:1-19

Day 9 of our 14-day self-quarantine due to the Covid-19 virus. No sign of any let-up in the number of deaths based on the latest statistics. At over 25,000 deaths as of this morning (March 27, 2020), Covid-19 has far surpassed the casualties of Ebola, MERS, and SARS.  The next target to be avoided is the death toll of the Yellow Fever pandemic (1800’s) which took, it is estimated, from 100,000 to 150,000 lives. But as the U.S. President said two days ago, one life more is too many. May God continue to keep His people safe, trusting fully in Him. As for me, I continue with my study of the Word. Thank you for joining me today.

As I read Leviticus 18 again today, I realized just how relevant that may be to what is going on again with another pandemic, but we’ll discover that together later.  Also, this is long passage packed with so much, so we may well take several days to cover it.

As we read the passage below, we are to remember that the phrase “uncover their nakedness” is a euphemism for “sexual relations or intercourse”.

The Passage

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. ³ You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴ You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. ⁵ So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.

⁶ ‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the Lord. ⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. ⁸ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹ The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover. ¹⁰ The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for their nakedness is yours.¹¹ The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹² You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. ¹⁴ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.¹⁶ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is lewdness. ¹⁸ You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹ ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity.”

Thoughts on the Passage

To begin with God sets the stage for the laws He is about to give Moses for His people. He says we are not to do what those from whom we were drawn out from do. And we are not to do what those that we come upon, do. We are to do what God commands. (verse 4) That’s pretty simple, one would think. But oh, how often we forget it.

In verse 5 God again gives us the two main reasons for following His commands. First, “that we may live” and second, because He is the Lord. Nothing more is required. We follow His commands because doing so keeps us alive – sometimes physically, sometimes socially, always spiritually. And we don’t mind doing that because we remember what God has done for us.

Then God gets right into the topic of who we are not to sleep with just like that. Nothing shy about this Heavenly Father. This is a much fuller clarification of the seventh commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Clearly, He knew, having created man and woman, that sexual relationships are pretty important to us, so He wants to establish the boundaries in this area right away.  And of course, mankind has been fighting these ever since. All you have to do is look at the movie industry and what it has been pushing at us in recent decades.

But what are no-nos according to God?  Well, let’s make a summary list of who you or I are not to have sexual intercourse with:

n  No blood relative

n  Not one of your parents

n  Not a stepparent

n  Not a sibling or stepsibling

n  Not a grandchild

n  Not an aunt (or uncle)

n  Not a daughter-in-law (or son-in-law)

n  Not a sister-in-law (or brother-in-law)

n  No relations with those who are related to each other (verse 17 describes sleeping with two people or more who are related) – God calls that lewdness.

n  No marriage to two sisters at the same time (this was a practice among ancient Egyptians, Chaldeans, and others; remember this is long after the story of Jacob marrying Rachel and Leah in Genesis)

n  Not a woman who is having her monthly period (one assumes for hygienic reasons and/or love and consideration)

David Guzik reminds us, quoting Harrison, that God does not want us to be like others. He writes:

"The Persians, for example, encouraged marital unions with mothers, daughters and sisters, on the ground that such relationships had special merit in the eyes of the gods." (Harrison)

Anything that smacks of what idolatrous people did is not going to be okay with the true God. Therefore, He hates these things.

Now the above list is a pretty complete list. The message is clear.  No incest at any degree level.

Does that mean anyone outside the above list is fair game? The rest of the chapter speaks to that and we’ll save that for the next study. In the meantime, let’s make sure we know where we stand on this.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.