Genesis 5:4, Sons and daughters. How did Adam and Eve’s children have children without committing incest, which is a sin according to the Torah (Deut 27:22). Does this fact prove the inconsistency of the Torah, thus invalidating it as a standard to be followed today?

As an example of this belief, one Christian teacher claims that YHVH’s law, “changes all the time.” As ‘proof’ he points to incest between Adam and Eve’s sons who had to marry their sisters for life to continue. Another example of this, the teacher claims, is Abraham marrying his half sister. Theses examples of incest appear to be direct contradiction of Deut 27:22, where we see the command that those who lie with their close family members will be cursed.

My response is as follows:

This teacher’s logic is very weak. This is arguing from a weak position and trying to leverage it into a strong argument. This a fallacious or specious argument, and shows little understanding of the rules of Biblical interpretation or basic logic. To take a weak or obscure verse out of the Bible and to use it as a pretext to disprove the validity of the rest of Scripture is a dishonest method of interpretation and fails to pass the scrutiny of solid scholarship.

First, it’s fallacious to take one obscure example out of the Scriptures and then use it to attempt to invalidate thousands of others strong, direct passages about the validity and inviolate nature of the Torah. There are so many scriptures to the last book of the Bible that shows that Torah is the standard of righteousness by which all humans are to live and by which YHVH will judge humans.

Second, underlying the whole of Torah is the heart, mind and will of Elohim. Torah reflects the character and nature of the Creator. Torah is a vast ocean or universe because it’s the mind of Elohim, which is limitless. Humans only have the part of Torah (or the mind of Elohim) that Elohim deems that we need to come into relationship with him and to keep us from annihilating ourselves. Is there more of YHVH’s instructions, teachings and precepts that haven’t been revealed to men yet? Of course, for the mind of Elohim is limitless. He gives us what we need when we need it, and the subsequent revelation never contradicts the previous revelation. Never ever(!), for YHVH doesn’t change.

Third, YHVH gave to Adam and Eve only the aspects of Torah they needed at that time. He gave them the Sabbath and said not to eat of the tree of knowledge, to keep the garden and be fruitful and multiply. They weren’t given laws about stealing, adultery, coveting, idols, sacrifices, tzitzits, tithing and so on, since those laws were irrelevant at that time. Once man sinned and began to populate the earth, more laws were given to protect man from self destruction. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, they sinned and separated themselves from Elohim. This set humans on a trajectory of self destruction leading to death, which is the wages of sin. At that time, more laws were needed and thus were given on an as-need basis.

Fourth, incest is self destruction. Why? Because it can result in diseases and weakening of the gene pool. When men were genetically pure, this wasn’t an issue. This was the case with Adam and Eve’s children. However, eventually, for man’s protection, he made laws against incest, because it’s a destructive practice. Just ask the royal families of Europe who interbred resulting in many unique diseases. Some of Queen Victoria’s children had this disease as did Czar Nicholas II’s son who was the crown prince of Russia before the Russian revolution of 1917.

Fifth, laws were added to the Torah to address situations that arose as needed. This was the case with the inheritance laws of the daughters of Zelophehad in Num 27. Moses didn’t know how to address their problem, so he went to YHVH for the answer. YHVH pulled the answer out of the vast reservoir of his wisdom and understanding and gave Moses the answer. The Torah was amended then and there from the mind of Elohim. The same is true with the Levitical and sacrificial systems. They were added after the golden calf incident because of Israel’s sin. Paul infers this in Gal 3:19.

Torah is basically the Word and will of Elohim. It’s much more than a scroll with writing on it, or two tablets of stone, or even the Bible. Yes, the two tablets of stone are the cornerstone of the written Torah, while the books of the law are the foundation. Ultimately, the whole Bible is the Torah or instructions in righteousness of Elohim. But there’s doubtless more that hasn’t been revealed yet to men, for, again, Torah is the heart, instructions, teachings, and precepts of Elohim.

Sixth, Yeshua talks about a higher Torah, or the weightier matters of the Torah-law (Matt 23:23). Behind every Torah law there is a spiritual principle that overarches everything. Behind all the Torah laws on sexuality is the preservation of the family, which points us to Elohim. The family is a reflection of the Godhead or Elohim: Father, Mother and Son. Does this rock your boat? Elohim is both male and female, so says Genesis into two places and YHVH created humans in his image—both male and female (Gen 1:27; 5:2). YHVH, in a sense, is recreating himself among humans to become part of his eternal, spiritual and immortal forever family. When Adam’s children had sex with each other to start the human race, preservation of the family wasn’t an issue. It eventually became a health a disease issue, hence the laws against incest.

By the way, Abraham and Sarah weren’t brother and sister. They were cousins. In Hebraic thought, sister and brother were often a colloquial terms for any member of one’s family or tribe including cousins, even as in the church world today we’ll say sister so and so when referring to someone in our church group.

Those who attempt to invalidate the Scriptures by claiming that Adam and Eve’s children sinned when they married each other, or that Abraham sinned when he supposedly married his sister reveal their ignorance of the Scriptures in their whole context and they show a basic lack of understanding of the Hebraic culture and background of the Bible.