Adam and Eve and the Incest Heresy

We all know about the first man Adam. A big question many people have is: Didn’t Adam’s children have to sleep together to make more families?

No, the name Adam was not just for one man, it was for many.

Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. ~Genesis 5:2 KJV

Yes, the first, original Adam dwelled in the garden, but God called all of the humans Adam at the time, which the Hebrew 1 Corrected from Greek to Hebrew 12/25/2017 interpretation tells us means human being. However, I think we ought to consider these “Adams” God-breathed— since they did not come from a womb. (The original Adam named his wife, Eve— God did not name her.)

And so it is written, “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. ~1 Corinthians 15:45 KJV

Is your head spinning yet because I’ve just shaken the foundation that you may have been taught— that Adam and Eve were the only two people on the planet? Please read on for even more biblical clarity.

Adam called his wife’s name Eve.

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. ~Genesis 3:20 KJV

We immediately, and affectionately, assume that “mother” means that Eve gave birth to all living. However, in this scripture, the Hebrew2 Sorry folks, I often put Greek when I mean Hebrew from the Old Testament scriptures. I changed them. Please forgive me and if you catch this mistake elsewhere, feel free to send me a notice through the Error Reporting link in the footer. word ame for mother also means: point of departure; division. So, the name mother means that she was the divider of all living. That’s certainly not as affectionate as we thought, but it also reveals a different context helping us to understand that Eve did not birth all humans and her children did not marry, engage in molestation, nor practice statutory rape with each other. So Adam named his wife after the sin and it seems he named her Eve because she was the divider of all living.

It is important to understand this because certain unbelievers try to point to the incest heresy as a valid cause to reject Christianity. Furthermore, certain theologians misinterpret that God only created one Adam from the dust, which certain unbelievers use against Christianity as well. This is why it is important to understand that although we directly trace back to Adam and Eve through Seth, Noah had other DNA through the wife of Seth who was not a child of Adam and Eve.

Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. ~Luke 3:38 KJV

Remember, we descend from the seed of man even though a woman has her own DNA from her ancestry, which obviously came from other Adams.

Keep reading to discover more scriptural evidence about why more Adams were created.

Cain’s Wife

God cursed the firstborn son of Adam and Eve because of his sin. Cain clearly states that he might be attacked by everyone who finds him, which tells us he knew more men existed. He also journeyed to another land and found a wife.

[14] Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. [15] And the Lord said unto him, “Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. [16] And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord , and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. [17] And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. ~Genesis 4:14-17 KJV

Notice that Cain went out from God’s presence by himself. It was after Cain was cursed, the KJV Bible tells us that Adam, at 130 years old, knew his wife Eve again and she bore Seth.

And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: “For God,” said she , “hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” ~Genesis 4:25 KJV

The phrase “knew his wife again” sounds as if they had not been having relations regularly. Moreover, Seth was born after Cain’s generations were explained at the beginning of Genesis chapter 4. Understand that Cain was their only child left who went to another land and created a family with a woman he found in Nod. Then, the third son Seth was born.

Well, Seth grew up and got married.

And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord . ~Genesis 4:26 KJV

This sounds as if there were many men on the earth. Remember, the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve had only birthed three sons at this point, one of whom was dead. They did not have more until after Seth.

The Bible tells us what happened within the eight-hundred years after Seth:

And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: ~Genesis 5:4 KJV

Therefore, no daughters were born to Adam and Eve before Seth so Cain could not have married his own sister.

But, there’s more…

Fallen Angels and Giants

The Bible tells us how other people multiplied outside of Adam and Eve. First, the sons of God— angels who left their own domain3Jude 1:6 KJV— began to sleep with the women “as men began to multiply,” which created strong men in those days.

[1] And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, [2] That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. ~Genesis 6:1-2 KJV

Second, it has been said that the giants were created because of the fallen angels, but if we examine the text below more carefully, we see that giants were previously created. However, you will see that the words “and also after that” tells us that more giants were created through the angels sleeping with the daughters of men, which some could have been giant daughters of men whom the sons of God found desirable. This makes more sense because a regular-sized woman would have died carrying a giant in her womb, but it is also possible that some angels were of regular size producing mighty humans.

[4] There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. [5] And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [6] And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. [7] And the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.” [8] But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. ~Genesis 6:4-8 KJV

See the archaeological evidence of giants here and here.

Therefore, we understand that not only did God create more Adams, some of those Adams were giants. Furthermore, certain angels left their heavenly habitation to sleep with the daughters of men. Keep in mind that Jesus’ genealogy leads back to the original Adam, as does ours because of Noah. Furthermore, there had to be giant DNA in Noah’s line because there were several other giants after the flood; Philistines, Anakims, Rephaims, etc.

More Proof that Incest is Not Okay with God

Abram and Sarai

It is true that Abram married Sarai— whom we find out was his half-sister. However, this does not mean God was pleased that this happened. In fact, Sarai was barren for many years, which was an indication that her womb was closed for a reason. God will close wombs because of sin. However, Sarai’s womb was opened because of Abram’s faith and they had Isaac.

Isaac, a Child of Incest

Isaac grew up and married a woman God gave him. She was barren too, which may have been because Isaac was a child of incest. He was also the child of promise.

What? Isaac, a child of incest and a child of promise?

Ladies, this is a perfect example of why we are saved by faith and not works. By Abraham’s faith, he received the promise of offspring even though he was in sin.
This clearly shows us God’s mercy— by faith. Understand that the apostle Paul tells us in the New Testament that these people (before Christ) could not be made perfect without us because they did not receive the promise— meaning that Abraham was not convicted about his sin in the flesh because he did not have the Spirit of God in him. It was his faith that saved him. We are also saved by faith, but have no excuse not to perfect ourselves if we have the Holy Spirit living in us, not simply on us.

Moreover, it was Isaac’s faith in God and promise of blessing that opened his wife’s womb, which again shows us the defining factor of how faith in God breaks a curse.

If they did not have faith, they would have been stuck in barren curses resulting from their choices or that were passed down from birth.

Lot’s Daughters

After escaping the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah where they lived, Lot 4 Abraham’s nephew had daughters who slept with him while he was drunk to give him a lineage. Remember, his daughters grew up in Sodom where unclean lusts thrived. Though they slept with him while he was drunk, he was unaware of what they did. His incestuous children were the Moabites and the Ammonites who were not blessed, but fought against Israel.

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever: ~Deuteronomy 23:3 KJV

Amnon and Tamar, David’s Children

In another example, Amnon raped his own sister, but God already told David that evil would rise up in his house because David had taken another man’s wife— Bathsheba. So, David’s own son took his sister. Therefore, this is just another example that incest is not okay with God because this was the evil that rose up and caused murders in David’s family.

Defining Incest

Merriam-webster’s dictionary defines incest as “sexual intercourse between two people who are very closely related; intercourse between people so closely related that they are forbidden by law to marry; a statutory crime.”

Yes, the Bible tells the truth about incestuous relationships that occurred, but it does not support incest, but defines it. God warns about uncovering the nakedness of immediate family, aunts, nieces, sisters, and nephews. Read Leviticus 18:6-18 KJV, which— near the end of the passage— also states:

[27] (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) [28] That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. ~Leviticus 18:27-28 KJV

Although it is awkward, weird, and even gross to some, in certain parts of the United States, people still marry their own cousin or second cousin if they are near in age. I certainly don’t recommend it since we have options. However, out of fifty states, it is only illegal to marry a cousin in North and South Dakota according to Wikipedia.5https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_regarding_incest_in_the_United_States Unfortunately, Wikipedia is not the most reliable source so if anyone really wants to find facts, they should seek the laws in their own state.

Cousins are related, but not considered as very closely related like someone who is born of the same parents or half-siblings. In the Bible, certain people married their cousins. This was true for Noah’s family after the flood—whose sons had wives in the arc with them and then they procreated after the flood so cousins married each other. It was acceptable, but they had no other options to marry into a separate bloodline as we do today. However, again, even in the U.S., cousins marrying each other is generally not legally considered incest.

Few Risks Seen to the Children of First Cousins – New York Times

Fun Facts:
We learn that Noah was a descendant of the original Adam through Seth’s line in Genesis chapter 5 and Abram was a descendant through Noah’s son Shem’s line in Genesis chapter 11. This is why we all descend from Adam and Eve.

Job may be an original Adam. In Genesis 6:3, God reduced man’s age to around 120 years, but Job was older because of the words “after this” pertaining to his trial.

After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. ~Job 42:16 KJV

God also reminds Job that he was created with the behemoth.

Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. ~Job 40:15 KJV

God also talks to Job about a dragon of the sea in Job chapter 41 as well as a dinosaur in chapter 40.

Job also mentions Adam’s transgression.

If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: ~Job 31:33 KJV