We Should Know What the Bible Says About Incest
We all know what incest is. We have heard every excuse there is about why incest happens. Now let’s take a different look at what the Bible has to say about the punishment for incest found in the Bible. This is not a subject you will find in the churches but you will find it here.
Leviticus 16:6-18, Leviticus 20:11-12
Incest is a subject that remains in the closet. It is never discussed never addressed by the churches. It is obvious that incest is wicked. It defiles the thinking of our societies and does great harm in the relationship we have with the LORD. The Word of God rejects it.
Our society today seems to accept everything that is unholy and can talk trash about anything sexual. Far too many of our church goers and professing “Christians” mock the idea of separating ourselves form the world. It is because of these unholy acceptances we are now facing the corruption of our Christian ideals. It is our duties as Christian Women of Christ to safe guard these Christians ideals and not be afraid to give the Biblical views on the sexual perversions such as incest.
The LORD God spoke to Moses just as they were preparing to enter the Promised Land. He gave instructions about the right and the wrong regarding sexual relations. The LORD God gave a list of the forbidden sexual encounters and the punishments for violating the judgments, ordinances and statutes.
The beginning of these instructions can be found in Leviticus 18:6; it states that none of you are to approach any that is near of kin (blood relatives). They shall not approach to uncover their nakedness. Nakedness implies shameful exposure of nudity, shame, or pudenda; nakedness as a thing, indecency, improper behavior. The LORD God continued to spell out what exactly He meant by uncovering the nakedness.
| The nakedness of your father |
| The nakedness of your mother |
| The nakedness of your father’s wife |
| The nakedness of your sister; the daughter of your father or daughter of your mother it does not matter if she was born at home, or born abroad. |
| The nakedness of your son’s daughter |
| The nakedness of your daughter’s daughter for their nakedness is the same as yours. |
| The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of your father, she is your sister. |
| The nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s near kinswoman. |
| The nakedness of your mother’s sister: for she is your mother’s near kinswoman. |
| The nakedness of your father’s brother, you shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. |
| The nakedness of your daughter in law: she is your son’s wife; you shalt not uncover her nakedness. |
| The nakedness of your brother’s wife: it is your brother’s nakedness. |
| The nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt you take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. |
| Neither shalt you take a wife to her sister, to vex (to suffer distress) her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time. (Leviticus 18:7-18). |
If we as children of the LORD God chose to defile ourselves in any of these things we will be cast out before the LORD. The land will be defiled and the LORD God will visit the iniquity and the land itself will vomit out her inhabitants. The LORD God tells us we shall keep His statutes and His judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of one of your own nations, nor any stranger that sojourners among us. For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled; that the land does not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before us. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. “Therefore shall you keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 18:24-30).
Leviticus 20:17-21 makes it even clearer regarding the punishment of incest or engage in illicit sex it is a wicked thing. They shall be cut off in the sight of their people; they shall bear their iniquity, their blood is on them, they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
1 Chronicles 5:1 illustrates what happens with the incestuous behavior of Reuben: “He was the firstborn; but because he polluted his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.” Reuben was the firstborn of the tribe of Israel the first born of Jacob because of his incestuous behavior with his father’s wife he did not receive the blessings of Israel, Jacob, his father. Genesis 35:22 gives us more of an account; “And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. “ Bilhah was the handmaid to Rachel. Bilhah was given to Jacob by Rachel when she thought she could not conceive a child of her own. Bilhah had two son’s Dan and Naphtali.
It was at the end of Jacob’s life, his name had been changed to Israel, and he gave a prophecy of what would happen to his sons. “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.” (Genesis 49:3-4). Reuben survives his incestuous past, and so does the tribe which derived from him. Reuben and his tribe lived in everlasting and permanent disgrace. The blessing that was given to the tribe of Reuben from Moses to the children of Israel before his death was; “Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.” (Deuteronomy 33:6.) The disgrace from Reuben followed the Reubenites.
The eldest son of David by Ahinoam whose name was Amnon was guilty of incest with his sister Tamar. Amnon fell in love with Tamar, who was the daughter of David and Maachah. Amnon was deceitful and plotted how he could violate and force himself upon his sister. This wickedness ended with Amnon hating her more than he loved her. He turned her out and had the servants bolt the door after her. She was humiliated and desolate. (2 Samuel 13:1-20). This ended badly for Amnon who was killed by the brother of Tamar, Absalom. (2 Samuel 13:13). The hatred of Absalom for Amnon lasted two years before he could avenge his sister.
The daughters of Lot were quilt of incest with their father. The daughters of Lot witnessed all kinds of sexual improprieties and vulgarities and incest was probably one of the most offended. It was socially acceptable in Sodom and Gomorrah. This fact alone influenced the two impressionable young daughters of Lot. This is not an excuse that can make incest or any sexual improprieties acceptable. It is too bad that their mother and fathers did not instill better moral values and control into their two daughters since they are the ones who chose to live in such a vile place.
The two children that were produced by incest, Moab by the firstborn daughter, and Ammon by the youngest daughter led perverse lives. Zephaniah 2:8-9 tells us their final account of; “I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.” They were fierce in nature, rebellious, idolatrous in their religious practice; they thrust out the right eye of all in Jabesh Gilead. (1 Samuel 11:2). They were considered idolatrous people their chief idol was molech, to whom they were guilty of offering human sacrifices. (1 Kings 11:7).
Women of Christ know that incest is morally wrong and Biblically wrong. It does not matter is it is socially acceptable by the worldly it twists the concept and the integrity of the family relationships, it degrades marriage and it makes our children impure. It is our Christian responsibility to not bury our heads in the sand and pretend it does not exist. All through history it has existed with each passing generation it grows worse. We must be prepared to discuss the immoral aspects of incest if we are asked. We must take be prepared to speak openly about the shame, trauma, confusion, and the immoral behavior that comes with incest. It must be understood that incest or sexual perversion is a grave offense and means death.
Incest hurts a child to seek a relationship with the Heavenly Father. When it comes time to teach a child about the love of the Heavenly Father they become panic because they understand that fathers are not good. We must understand that incest teaches children about the father’s lack of love, unpredictability, untrustworthiness. Incest teaches children that fathers deceive, hurt, betray, and abandon. If you know a victim of incest, or child sexual abuse then we as Women of Christ needs to be ready to defend our Heavenly Father and be prepared to explain to a victim that our Heavenly Father, Abba, is a Father of love. That He is safe to love, and will never hurt them like their father, mother, uncle or even brother did.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1John 2:15).
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”( 1John 3:1).
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “We Should Know What the Bible Says About Incest:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Oct 2014.<We Should Know What the Bible Says About Incest:,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2014, October) “We Should Know What the Bible Says About Incest:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from We Should Know What the Bible Says About Incest:,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2014) “We Should Know What the Bible Says About Incest:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (October), We Should Know What the Bible Says About Incest:, (accessed).
