Was it OK for Abraham to practice INCEST???

Question

NIV
Leviticus 20:17
IF A MAN MARRIES HIS SISTER, THE DAUGHTER OF EITHER HIS FATHER OR HIS MOTHER, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off before the eyes of their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible

Deuteronomy 27:22
"CURSED IS THE MAN WHO SLEEPS WITH HIS SISTER, THE DAUGHTER OF HIS FATHER or the daughter of his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Genesis 20:11-12
Abraham replied, "I said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.' Besides, SHE REALLY IS MY SISTER, THE DAUGHTER OF MY FATHER though not of my mother; AND SHE BECAME MY WIFE

Obviously, whoever wrote Leviticus and Deuteronomy didn’t know that Sarah was Abraham’s sister... Abraham made a big fortune pimping his wife to the most prominent kings in the region telling them, “She is my sister!” God didn’t curse Abraham at all, but he blessed him beyond his wildest dreams…

Lot also practiced INCEST with 2 of his young virgin daughters and he is declared a RIGHTEOUS MAN throughout the Bible!

Is there a double standard? Are Biblical characters exempt from obeying the Law?

So before there was the 10 Commandments everybody could steal, and cheat, and commit adultery, and lie... Was it OK to do it without the Law?

Why was the Law of God hidden in the Ark of the Covenant for 900 years, then?

So it is not what God feels about anything, but what he makes the rules as we all play the game... Overnight, there was no more INCEST! Is that the way it works for some of you?

Lot was a "righteous man" before the "Law" was given... How can a person be righteous without a few law articles to check him out? Can anyting be used as a precedent in the Bible or is the Bible a nice conversation piece of things written before or after a milestone so it no longer applies today?

Answer 1

Those are some interesting points. I raised similar ones when I was in religion class many years ago. I got sent to the principle's office.:)

Answer 2

Abraham was telling a fib. Sarah wasn't his sister, but he was worried about her being known to be his wife, so he explained her presence with this lie. And lying, we know, is a sin. And yes, he did encourage others to think of her sexually (with no consultation with her, it would seem), so he's also a sexist idiot. Yes, Lot was an incestuous father. This is how it was. And it's no good other people saying this was before Moses (although it was) and the Ten Commandments, because you could also look at David (he of Goliath fame) and see how he arranged to get a man killed so he could have his wife, among a number of other less than admirable episodes.

I don't know why some people take the Tanakh (Old Testament to Christians) as somehow presenting an ideal world from which we've slipped. You only need to read it to know it's nothing of the sort! The 'historical' story is about highly recognisable, ordinary, people, who do all the things modern people do, albeit within their own cultural context. For the Hebrews, it was worshipping the Golden Calf; for people today, it's worshipping celebrity, or brand names, or money. This also makes a nonsense of people who say that the Bible is against homosexuality (not least because they seem to ignore that the Bible is much more explicitly against the wearing of cloth of mixed fibres......) or who use it to uphold the oppression of women.

Incest wasn't "OK" way back then, any more than it is now.

Answer 3

The most important thing to remember about all these people in the Bible is not the incest. None of them were perfect people, they all had major flaws and sins. But they are looked to as examples because of the righteous things they DID do. We remember Columbus, for example, not because he was a great guy, he wasn't. But he did open up the American continents for european exploration and settlement, and most of the people reading this wouldn't be here with out that.
The same thing goes for Abraham. Yes, his wife was his sister, and he had strange obsessions. But he also became the father of a nation, and that is why he is remembered.
Incest is mentioned in the Bible in several places, not to say it is right because supposedly good people did it, but to say people could be good in spite of it.

Answer 4

The only double standard is your attempt to play bible scholar. Sarah was a step sister to Abraham, but this was before the law was given to Moses. Abraham was not under the law but lived by faith. Abraham had cut a covenant with God. God established a new covenant with Moses and the Israelites. And we now have a spiritual covenant through Jesus. Hebrews calls it 'the order of Melchizedek'. Revelation says we are made kings and priests unto God. But I guess that leaves you out because of your pimping disrespect for biblical history.

Answer 5

Yes some do still practice it especially those in religious cults. Is it okay? No, it is not okay. In fact it is considered illegal by law. If I am not mistaken no country in the world would allow such an act. Besides if you have sex with your sister and she gets pregnant, the child comes out deformed or abnormal. It also affects the genes. That is why some countries only allow marriages between cousins/relatives of the 4th degree and beyond.

Answer 6

Lot's daughters got him drunk and slept with their father. Lot knew nothing of it until it was done. His daughters wanted children and there was no man for them so they slept with their father for one reason - to have children. It was a disgrace for a woman of their age not to have children back then. Lot's problem was getting so drunk that he didn't know what he was doing. Either that or his daughters drugged him, but the Bible says he was drunk and they went into him.

The Bible continually shows us these horrible people which helps us realize that we aren't so horrible. It shows us that no matter how bad we become, God can use us for good.

And like everyone else said, Moses' law from God had not been received during Abraham's time.

Answer 7

This proves that the Bible is God's Word. It tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

The Old Testament recorded the story of how God chose a man through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

Abraham was just an ordinary man, like you & me. He made mistakes, too, like everyone of us.

Of course, his marrying his half-sister, Sarah, was acceptable in those days, before Moses' levitical laws were given. The Ancient Near East customs at the time of Abraham allowed for this.

What saved Abraham was his faith in the Almighty God....his faith in Jehovah was "counted to him for righteousness."

This theme of 'being saved by God's grace, through faith' is continued in the New Testament. None of us can save ourselves through our own righteousness...all our righteousness are filthy rags.

All of us are born with this sinful nature. Because of this we need to believe in the saving grace of our God who gave us His only Son to save us from our sins.

This is why Christians are also known as 'the spiritual children of Abraham.' Abraham was 'the father of faith.'

Answer 8

Things were different then. Besides, the scriptures you have cited showing incest as being wrong, they were written by Moses, WELL AFTER Abraham DIED!!!!


Back in those early days, the earth's population wasn't very large. There was more incest then because there wasn't enough "strangers" to go around.

Answer 9

Boy when you get it wrong!

The Mosaic Law was not written when Abraham was alive therefore how could he abide by it?

Genesis, Leviticus and Deuteronomy were written be the same person, Moses.

Answer 10

Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister, because he didn't want them to kill him and take his wife. He was being cowardly. He lied. He struck the pharoah's house with a disease because he was going to sleep with Abraham's wife, that is when the pharoah knew that she wasn't his sister, but his wife.