Exodus 6:20

Exodus 6:20

And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.

1. “And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife…”

a. Moses’ father married his aunt. This kind of union would be later forbidden under the law.

1). Leviticus 18:12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.

b. The marriage of Abraham and Sarah would also be forbidden by the law.

1). Genesis 20:12 And yet she indeed is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but she is not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

2). Leviticus 18:9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

     c. From the time of Adam up to the time of Moses, approximately 2500 years, mankind practiced incest in one form or another. In fact it was necessary after the Creation and the flood in Noah’s day to insure the propagation of humanity. The marriages mentioned above would have been forbidden after the legislation of Leviticus 18:6-18. The new divine legislation was implemented because as the generations continued to be born and die, the effects of sin multiplied the generational defects within men and women. Just as the spiritual effects of sin produced more wickedness in the next generations, the physical defects from sin also multiplied to the point that intermarriage between close relatives made birth defects inevitable, and to prevent that, God in his wisdom gave the commandments forbidding these marriages.