Incest

Dr. Couch, when did incest stop in the Bible? Is there a verse that would tell us? ANSWER:  Intermarriage between siblings is not stated but it is implied in the early chapters of Genesis. This would be the only way the race could begin to perpetuate itself. Abraham married a half-sister, Sarah, who had the same father as Abraham (Gen. 11:20-25:10).    Lot's daughters got their father drunk and both had sex with him for the reason "that we may preserve our family through our father" (19:34). Not only was their reasoning sinful but the consequences were as well. Their children were named Moab ("from the father") and Ben-ammi ("son of my people"), Ben-ammi's children were the Ammonites (vv. 37-38).    Abraham's family had been pagans in Ur so the marriage between him and Sarah was wrong but there was no prohibition about it known by Abraham.    Incest was especially destructive among the Canaanites and the Egyptians, and was by the Law in Leviticus 18, prohibited among the Israelites. It was banned between mother, stepmother, sister, half-sister, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and aunt by blood.    Why was it allowed at the first of the human race? Apparently it was not as emotionally destructive at first but later it would be a twisted and perverted practice that would destroy relationships. Sexual emotional issues are powerful, and only immoral habits would follow. When incest is practiced to the extreme, it can produce physically harmed offspring. Where it is practiced today it virtually destroys the culture that has no prohibitions against it.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (11/10)