November 17, 2017
Genesis 19:24, 25, 30(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
We will continue to focus on the disastrous results of Lot’s choice described in Genesis 13:11: “Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan….” We saw his downward slide from there:
• Genesis 13:12 – “…Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.” He was near Sodom!
• Genesis 14:12 – “…Lot…dwelt in Sodom….”
• Genesis 19:1 – “…Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.” Since the gate was the courthouse of the land, Lot was now part of the decision makers of Sodom!
• Genesis 19:14 – “…Lot…spoke to his sons-in-law…, ‘Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!’ But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.” By this time, he had such a poor testimony, even those close to him didn’t believe him!
• Genesis 19:16 – “…he lingered….” Lot did not want to leave his worldly life in Sodom!
• Genesis 19:27 – “…his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” Just how Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt is open for discussion. The point is that his family became infused with his sinful desires, and it cost his wife her life!
Now we come to our featured Scripture, Genesis 19:24, 25, and 30:
Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah,
from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all
the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground
….Then Lot…dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with
him….
As far as Lot’s two daughters knew, the whole world had been destroyed! They said to each other, “…there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth.” (Genesis 19:31). They were concerned that the three of them – Lot, the elder daughter, and the younger daughter – were the last people on earth, and no one was left to impregnate the two daughters and propagate the human race! So they hatched a plan: “…let’s get our father drunk with wine. Then we can have sex with him. That way we can use our father to keep our family alive! ” (Genesis 19:32 – Easy-to-Read Version). Their plan worked! For it says in Genesis 19:36, “Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.” But oh what a mess their plan did create!
• First, they got their father drunk! Ephesians 5:18 sums up God’s mind on the matter nicely: “…do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Lot was so drunk on both occasions, it says concerning his incestuous affair with his two daughters, “…he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.” (Genesis 19:33 and 35). The LORD wants us to be sober! (See I Thessalonians 5:6, 8; I Peter 1:13). The plain meaning in the Greek is “to abstain from wine.” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary). He wants us to be able to think with a clear mind, controlled and led by the Holy Spirit!
• Then they committed the horrible sin of incest! According to Leviticus 20:10 through 12, incest is punishable by death! By the way, so flagrant was the sin of sex with one’s child, it is assumed in this passage and didn’t even need to be openly mentioned!
• Both daughters got pregnant!
✡ Genesis 19:37 – “The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.”
✡ Genesis 19:38 – “…the younger…also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.”
The Moabites and the Ammonites were throughout history – and are today – inveterate enemies of Israel! (See Numbers 22–25; Judges 3:12–30; 11:17; II Samuel 8:2; II Kings 13:20; 24:2; I Chronicles 18:2; II Chronicles 20:1–25). They are two of the founding tribes of modern Islam, of whom radical extremists oppose Jews and Christians today! But in the last days, a remnant of both Ammon and Moab will be in submission to God and be restored (see Jeremiah 47:48; 49:5, 6).
Nothing good comes as a result of sin! And (as in Lot’s case) the disease of sin is progressive! The only cure for the dilemma of sin is to turn by faith in repentance and confession to the Lord Jesus Christ! (See John 5:24; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Hebrews 10:16, 17; I John 1:7; 5:11-13). Take care of the sin problem now, lest it leave a trail of destruction in its wake!
And, by the way, the whole “…plain of Jordan…” (Genesis 13:10) – Lot‘s choice because it was so lush and green – was from the time of the LORD’s judgment (and still is today!) the site of the Dead Sea! This body of water is so mineralized that nothing is known to be living in that sea! The whole area is desert and desolate! So much for Lot‘s choice!