Incest, gross immorality

“Over the years, the issue of sexual activity between two people who are very closely related in a family, such as between father and daughter, mother and son or brother and sister has become so rampant across the world. There are tales of mothers having babies for their sons and daughters getting pregnant for their fathers.”—Vanguard News

Paul begins I Corinthians 5 with, [1] It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

“That is talking about incest, gross immorality, but the way you hear that passage taught most of the time nowadays is really weird,” explains Richard Jordan. “They say, ‘Well, he was hooked up with his stepmother. It doesn’t say mother, so it was his stepmother.’

“But that phrase, ‘your father’s wife,’ is used a number of times in the Bible and it’s never talking about your stepmother.

Leviticus 18:8: [8] The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.

“That’s pretty obvious it’s not your stepmother. Leviticus 20:11: [11] And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

“That’s talking about your father’s wife, which would be your mother. That’s incest, and you’ll find that expression used numbers of times in Moses and in the Old Testament as a reference to just that. You don’t need to kind of soften it by saying, ‘Well, it doesn’t really mean what it says.’

“It’s interesting when Paul says ‘as is not so much as named among the Gentiles.’ It was named among Israel. Maybe you’ll remember Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

Genesis 35:22: [22] 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. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

“There’s one of the patriarchs in Israel!

Genesis 49: [3] Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
[4] 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.

“It’s pretty clear it’s talking about committing incest with your mother. This happens to be one of the judgments God placed on David for the sin he committed with Bathsheba.

II Samuel 16: [20] Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.
[21] And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong.
[22] So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.

“Absalom was rebelling against his dad, David, and Ahithophel was David’s counselor. He betrayed David and went to Absalom and became his counselor.

“They spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house and he went in. You remember where David committed adultery with Bathsheba? The top.

“Absalom says, ‘I’ll go and do what my dad did, but I’ll do with all of his wives and I’ll do it in the sight of all Israel.’

“Do you remember who Bathsheba’s daddy was? II Samuel 11:3: [3] And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

“That’s Ahithophel’s son. If she’s your son’s daughter, what is she? Your grandkid? When Ahithophel gave the counsel to Absalom to do that, he was getting even against David, but he wasn’t just getting even.

“If you look at II Samuel 12: [11] Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
[12] For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

“Nathan promised one of the four-fold judgments of God to David was that one of his kids was going to take his wives, so the counsel Ahithophel is giving is revenge.”

(new article tomorrow)