This chapter gives boundaries and laws against marital relations between relatives.
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.’ ” (v1-5,24-25)
The middle of the chapter is a detailed list describing prohibited marital relations. In summary: siblings, parents, parent’s siblings, in-laws, children, and step versions of any of those relatives (ie. blended families) are all off limits as potential partners.
First, a disclaimer: this commentary includes some scientific conjecture (theory, opinion). Please do your own research before assuming any of this conjecture as fact. Anything not from scripture (eg. human conjecture) is subject to fallibility.
At the time, one may have wondered why God prohibited such closely related people to become spouses – up until this point in history it was common practice to marry a close relative. In the beginning, the first few generations after Adam and Eve, it was a requirement. What changed?
We could simply think God arbitrarily instituted this law, though the entire Bible indicates that God doesn’t do things arbitrarily, He always has a good reason.
In more recent times, we have learned a reasonable explanation through genetics. Over time, the human genetic code has been breaking down – there are more genetic abnormalities today than in any other point in human history. According to a quick Google search, in an article published in 2017, more than 300,000 infants died from genetic disorders/defects, and more than 400,000 who survived had genetic mutations. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315483.php
God, being all-knowing, realized this would be an issue and in the interest of protecting people instituted these laws to help prolong the genetic problems. He knew that close relatives would have similar genetic codes (He designed us after all), and if they both had a similar/identical genetic defect, it pretty much guarantees their child will have the same defect. My theory is this: one of the reasons God instituted these laws was to slow the spread of genetic abnormalities, and prolong the destruction of the human genome.
What does this mean for us today in a practical sense? We could spend hours talking about how this world is falling apart one gene and one moral depravity at a time, or, we could acknowledge that God is sovereign and has our best interests in mind. We could remind ourselves that the physical, emotional and spiritual decay we witness, is a result of our sinfulness and that we need to listen to God, rather than perpetuate the destruction.
It’s not God’s fault we brought sin into this world – it’s ours. It’s clear that we can’t fix it on our own – all of the best minds in the world cannot stem the flow of diseases or disasters. Inevitably this earth and these bodies will end whether we like it or not – the Bible (God) says so, therefore it must be true. I’m not suggesting we give up trying/fighting, I’m suggesting we give up trying/fighting on our own strength, in our own wisdom, and let God lead. Only through Him will the human race enter eternity and survive the destruction of this temporary earth and these temporary bodies.
“For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” (Isa 65:17) “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’ ” (Mt 19:28)
Father God, truthfully, there are so many things that we cannot fully comprehend. We don’t always know Your reasons for allowing what You allow, or for the boundaries that You set. What we do know is You long to be in relationship with us and deliver us from our own sin. Father thank you for the gift of salvation, and thank you for partnering with us through Your Holy Spirit. May Your Holy Spirit please continue to form us into Christ followers, so that we may be Your ambassadors in this broken world, seeking the lost and conveying Your message of hope. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training