It is staggering how much truth about God, the origins of the universe, the creation of all life in this world, and the importance of mankind in God’s plan are communicated in the first three chapters of the Bible. One important topic in those chapters is human sexuality. We read that sex in marriage is God’s plan, His design for mankind. God created two genders, roles for those two genders in marriage, and the sexual relationship. This is all found in Genesis 1 and 2, which we considered in the first article of this series.

In the third chapter of Genesis, we read of how both the woman, Eve, and then the man, Adam, chose to sin in rebellion against their Creator. Their sin brought suffering and death into the world, including broken relationships, both with God and other human beings. Though God promised to one day send a Savior to reverse the curse that their sin brought into the world, things on earth radically changed.

As chapter four begins we see the tragedy of mankind’s brokenness unfolding. One major proof of our brokenness is sexual immorality. Sexual sins illustrating mankind’s fallen state are mentioned frequently in Genesis. The second article covered this sobering reality.

Does anything change in mankind’s behavior throughout the rest of human history as recorded in the Old Testament? How about in the Gospels?

God’s Hatred for Sexual Sin

Beyond Genesis we see that sexual sin, the perversion of God’s plan for human sexuality, continues throughout history. Many of the laws in the old covenant for Israel were given by God to show us how evil sexual sin is. God expected His chosen nation, Israel, to restrain these behaviors as evidence of their true faith and repentance towards Him.

The pervasiveness of sexual sin in the world was shown by how many laws were needed to protect against it. There were laws against adultery,[1] abuse of female captives and slaves,[2] human trafficking,[3] abuse of widows and orphans,[4] sexual immorality (sex outside of marriage),[5] prostitution,[6] rape,[7] divorce,[8] homosexuality,[9] incest,[10] and bestiality.[11] God condemned all of these sexual sins as “uncleanness” and “abominations,” things hated by our holy Creator.[12]

“Abomination” can be translated “detestable things/acts” (CSB, NIV) or “repulsive acts” (AMP). Sexual sin is very serious to God. He explained to Israel that the normalizing of these sins in Canaanites culture was the reason why He was going to use Israel to destroy them. Israel was strongly commanded to have nothing to do with sexual sins and perversions common in that land.[13]

Sexual Rebellion Under the Law

Israel was given the law twice. God’s truth about His created order, including human sexuality, was very clear. The law of God condemned all forms of sexual sin and perversion. His will was unmistakable. His moral law was also in their conscience.[14] Did Israel then pursue sexual purity in the love and fear of God?

Judges and Kings

We see prostitution in Jericho (Rahab).[15] The book of Judges makes it clear that “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes,”[16] not God’s. The result? Horrible sexual sin: polygamy, even among the judges (Gideon);[17] sexual promiscuity, even among the judges (Samson);[18] normalized sexual abuse that allowed for open gang rape and murder in one area;[19] and literally stealing women against their will.[20] 

In 1 Samuel we see polygamy (Elkanah, David) and priests sleeping with women coming to worship God and sacrifice (Eli’s sons). [21] 2 Samuel tells of David’s adultery, David’s son Ammon’s rape of his sister, Tamar,[22] and his son Absalom’s incest.[23] As we read, we come across more prostitution, polygamy, harems, adulterous men and women, etc.

The Prophets

We see God also in the books of the prophets, condemning sexual infidelity to illustrate religious infidelity. God hates sexual unfaithfulness, and He uses that to vividly express His hatred for religious hypocrisy and insincerity in worship of Him.[24] Divorce is hated by God.[25]

The Time of Christ

The Gospels reveal that by the time the Son of God was among us, Israel was staunchly monotheistic. Israel had created an extremely self-righteous religiosity that twisted God’s law. With all their laws and traditions, hearts were exposed as adulterous.[26]  Divorce,[27] sexual immorality,[28] adultery,[29] and prostitution[30] were yet alive and well, though not normalized as among the Gentiles.

A Marker for the Love and Fear of God

Sexual immorality, in all of its deviations from God’s design for sex, provides a marker for the fear of God in Scripture. Those who love and fear God take sexual purity seriously. People that don’t love and fear God have no reason for self-restraint. Moral codes in various societies are but thin layers of visible morality to cover what happens in the dark.

Abuse of sex is obviously the central element in Satan’s program of degrading mankind and distorting God image. Equally obvious is how powerful this tool is in his service.

The Struggle for Sexual Purity Among the Righteous

Righteous men and women of faith throughout history have known God’s holiness and the importance of sexual purity, though at times they had much less spiritual light. They sought to have moral integrity with God’s help (Job, Joseph).[31]

Sexual sin and brokenness permeated the world around the righteous. They too sometimes failed, even tragically, then sought repentance as David did.[32] Solomon in his wisdom spoke much about sexual purity in Proverbs, but he was a moral failure, apparently repenting later in life (Ecclesiastes).

Now that Christ Has Come

Jesus, the Son of God, has come. He has paid for our sins in His own body on the cross, risen again from the dead, and ascended into heaven. His Holy Spirit was given to His people, His Body, His Church. Jesus now builds his Church, calling men and women from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation through the proclamation of His Gospel through His disciples. This is the day of the new covenant, the age of grace.[33]

Now that God’s people are no longer under the law, but under grace, has anything changed about God’s hatred for the abuse of sex? Does God still require that His people, even though they are not Israel or under the law, live sexually pure lives? Or has God changed His moral law about what sexual sin is? Are their different rules and definitions now for sexual deviation from God’s created order?

That is the topic of the next article in the series.

[1] Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18:20; 20:10; Numbers 5:11-31; Deuteronomy 5:18; 22:22

[2] Exodus 21:1-11; Deuteronomy 21:10-14

[3] Exodus 21:16

[4] Exodus 22:22-24

[5] Exodus 22:16; Deuteronomy 22:13

[6] Leviticus 19:29

[7] Deuteronomy 22:23-30

[8] Deuteronomy 24:1-4

[9] Leviticus 18:22; 20:13

[10] Leviticus 18:1-18; 20:11-12, 17-21

[11] Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 18:23; 20:15-16

[12] Leviticus 18:24-30

[13] Leviticus 18:1-5; 24-30

[14] Romans 2:15

[15] Joshua 2

[16] Judges 17:6; 21:25

[17] Judges 8:29-32

[18] Judges 13-16

[19] Judges19:22-30

[20] Judges 21:1-25

[21] 1 Samuel 1:1-2ff; 30:5-6

[22] 2 Samuel 13:1-14

[23] 2 Samuel 16:20-23

[24] Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16; Hosea

[25] Malachi 2:13-16

[26] Matthew 5:27-30

[27] Matthew 5:31-32; 19:1-9; Mark 10:1-12

[28] Matthew 19:9; John 4:16-18

[29] John 8:1-11

[30] Luke 7:36-40; 15:11-32

[31] Genesis 39; Job 31:1

[32] 2 Samuel 12; Psalm 51

[33] Luke 22:20; 2 Corinthians 3; Hebrews 8-10

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).