HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE BIBLE
BIBLE STUDY
15
In reality, eunuchs have no small presence in the Bible. They are everywhere!!! [Sic] They are very instrumental in the story of Esther, of Daniel; they are prominent in Jeremiah; 1 and 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Acts, just to name a few. Many eunuchs held positions of importance under various rulers. Because they held no sexual interest in women, eunuchs were assigned to care for the women of the ruler’s harem. Who were these eunuchs? Were they merely castrated males, or homosexuals? It is especially important to note that the most vital human sexual organ is the brain. Sexual function and arousal begins in the brain. A castrated person does not cease to be heterosexual merely because he is deprived of "equipment" with which to function. If this is true, then it follows that women would not necessarily be "safe" with castrated males, other than there would be no danger of pregnancies. It stands to reason, then, that these eunuchs would be homosexuals–men who have no sexual attraction toward women. A ruler could sleep well knowing that his favorite wives and concubines were safe under the protection of the royal eunuchs.
Eunuchs also were trusted messengers and mediators. They often had political power and responsibility. The Hebrew word saris or caric (eunuch) was translated to refer to chamberlains, court officials and officers. They held important positions and often had a lot of say in governmental decisions.
Isaiah 56:3-5
Let no foreigner who has joined him-or herself to God say, "God will surely exclude me from God’s people.” And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree.” For this is what our God says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant–to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.” (NIV)
Genesis 4:1 reads: Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of God.” Interesting that various forms of the word "to know" are sometimes used in scripture to refer to sexual contact. Indeed, we can draw analogies between the concept of knowledge and of sexual intercourse. Once a person knows something, he or she can never again say that they don’t know it. Surely, they may forget, but they can’t, of their own free will, UN-know what they already know. Conversely, once a person engages in sexual intercourse, he or she can never go back and become a "virgin" again.
We know that eunuchs were people who were castrated, who were celibate for spiritual reasons, who were genetically unsexed, or those who were said to "live unmarried" (Strongs' #2134 & 5). In ancient Jewish scriptural thought, there was no concept of a life in the hereafter. The only way to achieve any idea of immortality was through a person’s children. Begetting children was not only important for the perpetuation of the race, it was the only way to continue the ancestors’ lives. Each person was responsible to continue the "circle of life," and thereby contribute to the growth of the world. Regardless of whatever else a man might do, he must "sow his seed," and beget children. Those who could not have children were excluded from entering places of worship (Deuteronomy 23:1) because they were considered an affront to God and disobedient to the edict to "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:28), never mind that for some, it was physically impossible for them to obey.
By the time of Isaiah‘s writing, however, we discover the words above: And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree.” The imagery behind the dry tree is one that cannot or does not bear fruit (as in children). Note especially the allusion is a feminine description for one who is barren. Was God’s mind changed between the time of Deuteronomy and Isaiah‘s time? Or do the differences between the two passages indicate a maturity in the later writer–and a different understanding of what constitutes fruitfulness in the world?
Since eunuchs did not bear children, it was assumed that they were barren–they were not fruitful. Not so, says God through Isaiah. Eunuchs who honor God’s Day, and who keep God’s covenant are also fruitful. Instead of bearing physical fruit, however, the fruit they bear is intellectual, spiritual and emotional. Acting in service to the community and as government officials they can serve the interests of the people and contribute to the community’s growth. Not only that, even though they have no children (and thus no "immortality") Isaiah says that God will give them a better name than they could have through bearing children–God will give them a name that will be eternal–that will never be "cut off" (even though their body parts may be).
In the gospel of Mark 4:1-20, Jesus tells the gathered crowd a parable of a farmer who sowed seed in several different places–on a path where they were eaten by birds, on rocky ground where there wasn’t enough soil to produce a harvest, in amongst weeds that choked the new plants preventing them from bearing fruit, and on good ground where eventually there grew an abundant harvest.
The disciples did not understand the parable, and when they were alone with Jesus they asked for an explanation. Jesus likened the seed to the word of God. Some people are like the path where Satan comes and snatches the word away; others like seed sown on rocky places where the hearers receive the word with joy, but since they have no root, they last only a short time and in times of trouble they quickly fall away. Some hear the word, but are distracted by problems of the world and so make the word unfruitful. Others, like seed on good ground, hear and accept the word, and produce a crop–thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown. Jesus likens spiritual growth with a bountiful harvest–the antithesis of the dry tree.
Thus in the parable, the connection between knowledge (the word) and fruitful "harvest," is comparable to Adam "knowing" Eve and bearing Cain. In ancient thought, the man sowed his "seed" into the woman, who in due time "harvested" her "fruit" of children. According to Isaiah, faithful eunuchs, in discharging their duties of service to the best of their abilities in obedience to God’s covenant, produce a bountiful "harvest" for the people they serve. They contribute to the growth of the world. One need only remember Michelangelo's statue of David, the Pieta, the Sistine Chapel; the poetry of Walt Whitman, or even the words of Paul, all of which stand as silent prominent examples of “harvest” produced by eunuchs.
As a matter of fact, Jesus, in telling the parable of the sower, was telling his own life’s story. Because there is no biblical evidence to the contrary, we have to assume that Jesus himself was a eunuch–in that he never married nor had children. Jesus, Savior, Messiah–Jesus was a eunuch. Yet the words of God which He shared, continues to sustain a world two thousand years after He spoke them–the parable of the sower come to fruition.
This ends today’s study. Next week: More on eunuchs