Pulling Out & Scripture

In a recent blog discussion concerning contraceptives I saw someone reference a commonly used scripture for the condemnation of birth control. This particular person used the scripture more conservatively than I typically see people using it for this person argued that the passage displayed a prohibition against the "pulling out method" and not all birth control methods.

Before moving forward, for those not informed, the pull out method is the practice of a man removing his penis from his partner's vagina before ejaculation so as to avoid the semen contacting her reproductive system. There is an instance of this occurring in scripture in Genesis 38. Some people interpret this passage to be a condemnation or rebuke of the pull out method and sometimes all forms of birth control outside of abstinence. I'm not convinced this is an appropriate take-away from this passage.

The person who presented this passage provided verses 9-10 for their case. I find it fitting to examine a fuller context of those verses in order to truly draw a worthwhile conclusion from the passage. Below are verses 1-11 of chapter 38.

It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her [married and had sex], and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father's house.

A question to be asked here is whether or not God was upset with the method of pulling out that Onan employed or whether it is the reason he used that method. Is God specifically upset with the action or with the heart and motivation which the action derived from? In other words, is this an overall prohibition of the "pull out method" or is it a prohibition against something else to which the "pull out method" happened to derive from in this specific instance?

It's important to know what was expected among the Hebrew people at this time. When it came to families, if you are the second brother, which Onan was, and your older brother married a woman and ended up dying before her, which he did, then it was your (Onan's) responsibility to take your older brother's wife as your own wife and continue the family line by continue to have children with her and to raise the children she may have already given birth to through the older brother. This was a way of taking care of widows in a culture that often devalued single mothers and older unmarried women.

The audience who originally read this passage knew that Onan was expected to marry, have sex with, raise the children of, and care for Tamar after his brother died and left her a widow. That audience understood the expectations for mercy that were upon Onan. We need to read this passage with that same understanding. Now that you know this expectation perhaps read verses 6-11 again before continuing.

With this cultural and scriptural context it seems that there is a far bigger issue at play, causing God's frustration with Onan, than Onan using a particular form of birth control. Onan's wickedness was not uniquely in his use of the "pull out method" but in his unwillingness to treat Tamar as was required. He was unwilling to raise a child that was not biologically his and thus sought ways to dodge his responsibilities. The way he sought to dodge his responsibilities was through the seeming loophole of never climaxing while inside of Tamar during intercourse.

Onan's was a sin of being inhospitable (Like those in Sodom) and unjust by neglecting the widow (but not merely neglecting her, he also used and abused her by having his way with her and not granting her what was owed her). His wickedness was not merely against himself and future offspring but also against the woman, the family, the culture, the law, and God himself. He did not want to be the keeper of his family in a Cain type of fashion.

To say that this scripture is a rebuke or condemnation on the use of birth control is short-sighted given the context of the passage. I'm not saying there isn't a case against certain forms of birth control within scripture but a sober reading of Genesis 38 proves that if there are scriptures that do such a thing then Genesis 38 is not one of them. I think we have a better chance of using this passage as a condemnation for neglecting widows and not being our brother's keeper. This passage is far more about faithfulness and obedience to God, a commitment to walking out justice, and being responsible by doing the difficult task rather than finding ways to shrink away from what is required of us.