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Thoughts of a saint and slave
by Sam Isaacson
I am currently reading through Genesis, and was absolutely blown away by a passage in which Lot commits incest with his two daughters - I have read this before but what shocked me so much this time was the speed at which this was recorded, with no description and seemingly no consequences. I therefore wanted to make sure I did not wash over this account, and I hope this study is as helpful and as challenging to you as it has been for me.
'Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. One day the older daughter said to her sister, “There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can’t get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to have children. Come, let’s get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.”
So that night they got him drunk with wine, and the older daughter went in and had intercourse with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, “I had sex with our father last night. Let’s get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.” So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
As a result, both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their own father. When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites. When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Ben-ammi. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Ammonites.' Genesis 19:30-38 (NLT)
There are many warnings we can take from this text, as each character has a part to play. The two daughters' intentions to get their father drunk and then sleep with him are primarily shocking because of the context. They have ended up in their current situation because they have had to flee from Sodom, which was utterly destroyed by God (Genesis 19:24-25) as judgement for the horrible sins being committed there. Our first warning therefore must be to learn from others' mistakes. Even after seeing others' sins and the consequences the two daughters are still led by Satan to sin. It is too easy for us to think, 'if I were in that situation surely I would not sin' but we must read these words and recognise that we succumb to sin too, even immediately after seeing others fall as a result of it.
The second warning must be a lesson learnt from the older sister; she had the idea to sin in the first place. One could argue that her intentions were good but the method was wrong so we ought be careful not to justify our sin but the real problem here is that she used the influence she had over her younger sister to lead her into sin too. In all of our lives there are those who will listen to what we have to say, and we should always be on our guard to not lead others into sin. We can do this through words, as in this account, or through actions - note she slept with Lot first.
The younger sister, of course, not only refused to learn from the experience she'd just had but she followed the wrong leader. In anything we are led to do we must practise discernment - only by checking God's Word, asking His Spirit for guidance and simply using common sense will we ensure that we are not being led into sin, however eloguently put. The logic behind the older sister's words must have made some sense and combined with the example she set it must have been hard for the younger sister not to follow - let us not be the ones who fall into Satan's traps.
We must also learn from Lot's sin, even though his role in this is seemingly more passive than that of the daughters. In the same way as above he did not fully take on board what happened in Sodom. Perhaps due to the emotions invoked by the loss of his wife, perhaps due to him reaching a state of relaxation in that he had not only escaped God's wrath but been delivered to this cave by God, he let his guard down. Perhaps some pride crept in, making him think, 'God saved me from destruction in Sodom because I'm better than them so now I can do what I want.' Lot's sin in this could be seen as unintentional, but at any time he could have simply said, 'no' to the alcohol that was offered him. As Christians we have been saved from eternal destruction by the blood of Jesus but despite the knowledge that God is watching over us we must never let our guard down! Lot did for only two nights and committed a horrendous sin as a result.
The consequences for Lot
What is shocking about this is that Lot, who only a few chapters earlier was travelling alongside Abraham, is never mentioned again. In fact, he is only ever mentioned in the entire Bible from this point in one message from Jesus (Luke 17) and in order to prove a point in 2Peter. It is odd that drinking wine, which he may have done to forget the horrific things that had just happened, led to the rest of his life being forgotten for eternity. Our sin can affect our own ministries and lose the impact we could have on this world for Jesus. Let us never allow sin to destroy what God has built up in us.
God is in control
Despite all of what has been mentioned above however, we cannot say that sin will beat us, and certainly not God! The consequences for Lot were bad, but have a look at Ruth 1:4 and Matthew 1:5. Ruth was a lady in the tribe of Moab, descended from that incestuous night, but God used her to have descendants who would eventually lead to the birth of Jesus. As always, God can take a situation that we have messed up beyond all recognition and turn it into a world-changing scenario (Romans 8:28)!
The conclusion
I am aware that I have written a lot so allow me to sum up. We must ensure we learn from others' mistakes, and not lead others into sin. In a similar way we must practise discernment, be careful who we follow and above all not let our guard down. The consequences for us can be catastrophic so we must be humble and trust in God at all times knowing that He is in control and can pull us all through even the worst of situations. Glory to God!
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