Anyone who reads the Bible from the beginning will discover something surprising: the first major statement about human sexuality is not a prohibition. It comes while still in the Garden of Eden, before the Fall, before shame, and long before the Law at Sinai. Man and woman are naked, they feel no shame, they cleave to one another and become “one flesh.” Perhaps that is why we have spent far too long asking the wrong question. Not: what does the Bible forbid when it comes to sex? But first: what was God actually thinking when He created humans as sexual beings?
What really happens when two people become “one flesh”? The verse from Genesis may be among the most important texts of all when we want to understand how the Bible views sexuality: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) This verse is usually read as a definition of marriage and family. And it is undoubtedly that. Yet the phrase “and they shall...
Become a Member
-
Read all member content
Get exclusive in-depth reports from Israel.
-
Get exclusive in-depth reports from Israel
Connect with Israel, right from your home.
-
Lift up the voice of truth and hope
Support Jerusalem-based Zionist journalism.
Already a member? Login here.
