Genesis 19:30-38
Two weeks ago, as we looked at Genesis 18, we saw the Lord reveal to Abraham His plan to bring judgment against the wicked cities of the plain of the Jordan. The outcry against the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah had come up before the Lord. We saw Abraham intercede faithfully for those who were lost, pleading with the Lord for Him to spare the cities for the sake of even ten righteous men. And last time as we looked at Genesis 19:1-29, we saw God’s judgment on the wickedness of Sodom. There were not ten righteous souls in there, and God rained fire and brimstone in judgment on those places.
We also saw God rescue Abraham’s nephew Lot from that destruction in answer to Abraham’s prayer. Years before Lot had made the disastrous decision to move to Sodom even though he knew “the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD” (Gen. 13:13). But the narrative of Lot’s life did not end with his escape from Sodom. Had that been the end we might well have come to a false conclusion. We might suppose that Lot taught us that the Lord would rescue His children even when they made galactically bad choices. No, to understand the lesson of Lot’s life, we have to know how his life ended.
At the beginning of Genesis 19, Lot is alive and well in the city of Sodom. He has a home there. His daughters are engaged to men of the city. He sits in the city gates as one of the judges of the city. He is rich and prosperous with flocks and herds. At the end of Genesis 19, Lot has barely escaped Sodom’s destruction. He has lost his wife, his sons-in-law, his home, wealth, flocks, and herds. Everything was reduced to ashes except what he could carry on his back. In the end we find Lot drunk and degraded in a dark cave.
Listen to the end of Lot’s story, Genesis 19:30-38:
30Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. 31Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. 32Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” 33So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.34It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” 35Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.36Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
Shocking, isn’t it? We might be tempted just to skip such a sordid tale of drunkenness and incest, but this is the word of God. These narratives in Genesis are not just written to give us the facts of history, like where did the Moabites and the Ammonites come from. This is history to be sure–an account of what actually happened–but it is also theological history, designed to reveal to us God and His relationship to human life in this fallen world.
Here is at least one reason why Holy Scripture records this brief and sordid conclusion to Lot’s story. We learn from it that selfish, sinful decisions made long before can lead to utter disaster in the end. A life of worldliness will not end well. If Lot were not a believer, you would say, “That’s the way this evil world is.” But in the New Testament Peter emphasizes that Lot was a righteous man (2 Pet. 2:7-8). It serves as a warning to us.
We will Lot’s end in three sections (outline help from Rick Apple). First, we will see in Lot’s situation from Genesis 19:30 that a life of worldliness ends in fear and isolation. Next we see from in Lot’s relationship with his daughters from Genesis 19:31-35 that a life of worldliness ends in ends in disfunction and degradation. Thirdly, we see in Lot’s sons from Genesis 19:36-38 that a life of worldliness ends in future ungodliness.
1. Lot’s situation: a life of worldliness ends in fear and isolation
In Genesis 19:30 we read, “Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.”
Lot did not just happen to end up in a cave. Lot’s journey to that cave began with looking at the rich plain of the Jordan and deciding to take the best land for himself (Gen. 13:1-13). He chose based on selfishness and greed, with no regard for Abraham or for the will of God. So, Lot moved his tents near the wicked city of Sodom. Lot was acting worldly goals: he was trying to get ahead financially, with no concern for furthering God’s will.
In Genesis 14 the Lord gave Lot a warning which should have jarred him into re-thinking his priorities. He was captured in a war and carried off along with all his possessions. But Lot did not heed the warning. As soon as Abraham rescued him and, Lot moved back to Sodom.
We next find Lot sitting at the gate of Sodom and living in a house (Gen. 19:1, 2). Things have gone well for Lot; he’s achieving his financial goals. He has provided a comfortable lifestyle for his family. But we also find that his moral standards have become blurred, as he offers his two daughters to the perverted men of the city, in an attempt to protect the two angelic visitors. Lot was hesitant to leave Sodom, even when the angels warned that he would be swept away in the judgment of the city.
You remember when Lot was escaping Sodom, he had asked the angel not to send him all the way to the mountains. He was afraid that he wouldn’t make it so he begged, “Let me stay at this little place in the plains.” And the angel gave him the permission to stay in this little town called Zoar.
Now Lot is afraid to stay in Zoar. Was he afraid of the wickedness of that city? Was he afraid that God might destroy it also? If so, he was acting in unbelief because God had told Lot that He would not destroy Zoar. Even though God has assured him that he will be safe in the city, he still fears.
At first glance, when Lot moves from Zoar to the mountains, you might think he was obeying God. Was he finally going to the mountains where God had told him to go? Was he now obeying God? I don’t think so. You have to ask, Why didn’t Lot return to Abraham? The problem that drove them apart no longer existed. All his flocks and heard had been wiped out in the destruction of Sodom. When the angels told him to flee to the mountains, it is likely that they pointed in the direction of the mountains to the west, where they had just come from their visit with Abraham. That was the land God had promised to give to Abraham and his descendants.
But at the end of the story we read that Lot’s daughters named their sons Moab and Ben-Ammi, because they were the fathers of the Moabites and Ammonites (Gen. 19:37-38). If we assume that Lot was living in a cave in the mountains of the region that later would be the territory of Moab and Ammon, then it means that he had gone to the east of Zoar, not to the west. He moved in the opposite direction from where Abraham lived.
Lot is clearly controlled here by fear and not by faith. Ligon Duncan writes:
When we are dominated by doubt and fear rather than faith, we have already opened ourselves up to the tempter. Then when we isolate ourselves from those who either through their good influences would influence us to do that which is right or at least by their gaze would keep us from doing that which is wrong, we have set ourselves in a place which is indeed the devil’s workshop.
A life of worldliness ends in fear and isolation.
2. Lot’s daughters: a life of worldliness ends in disfunction and degradation.
Fear and isolation also motivated Lot’s daughters. Isn’t it interesting that nobody feared the Lord, in spite of what they had just witnessed with regard to Sodom! Genesis 19:31 says, “Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth.”” They speak as if there is no man on earth who they could possibly marry and who could give them children. They fear the extinction of their family, but by the means that they chose we see the imprint of worldliness on their character. Genesis 19:32 tells their plan: “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” One commentator said “Lot was able to take his daughters out of Sodom, but he was not able to take Sodom out of his daughters.” The family disfunction was passed on. Compared to what they were used to seeing in Sodom, drunkenness and incest were no big deal, especially if it served a noble purpose! Once you adopt the values of the world, it colors everything you see.
We ought never to underestimate the impact of worldliness upon our families. Where we live, the people, the crowd with which we run, what we watch and listen to, how we respond to wickedness that our children report to us, our own spiritual integrity–all these things affect how our children see the world. The affect how our children see God.
In Genesis 19:33-35 the daughters of Lot carry out their immoral scheme. We see here a connection between drunkenness and sexual immorality. If Lot had refused the wine, he probably would have refused the immorality. Isn’t it interesting that even though Lot had just lost everything, he had plenty of wine! People enslaved to alcohol may not have rent money, but they always seem to manage to buy their booze! If you choose to drink, you need to know that you’re playing with a dangerous weapon, which has destroyed many families.
This passage also gives us a classic illustration of gateway sins. Lot’s drunkenness, his abuse of the wine left him open to other sins. Lot’s isolation from believers opened him up for other sin. Be on your guard against gateway sins that will leave you vulnerable to the attacks of the evil one. Lot’s fear set the stage for this whole sordid incident. He did not trust in God’s promises, so neither did his daughters. Whatever is not of faith is of fear.
3. Lot’s sons: a life of worldliness ends in future ungodliness.
In Genesis 19:36-38 we see the end result of Lot’s worldliness: future generations of ungodly offspring. The result was Moab and Ammon, two perpetual enemies of Israel. The territory east of the Jordan was a constant battleground and furthermore, Moab and Ammon would both occasion very serious temptations to Israel. Moab’s king would later hire Balaam who counseled them to seduce Israelite men with their women (Numbers 25). The Ammonites worshiped a god named “Molech.” Part of their religious devotion involved sacrificing their children to their god by throwing them into a raging fire. Israel itself was judged by God for following this detestable practice.
Worldliness leads to sins that spread and persist, sometimes for generations. These nations began with rebellion against the moral standards that God had established for the family. That sin had consequences in the culture of those nations as they developed.
But let me also say that in the greater story of redemption, this passage reminds us of God’s grace. For God would appoint a Moabite woman named Ruth to become the grandmother of King David and a crucial link in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus. Bearing that in mind, two great themes come throughout this passage: both the devastating consequences of worldliness, and the overruling grace of God in our lives. God delights to turn our sin into righteousness and the judgment that we deserve into an occasion of His grace, and He does that in the life of Ruth. Geoff Thomas says: “Through the umbilical cord that attached Jesus to Mary, the line of our Lord goes back …to this cave and to a drunken righteous man and his scheming immoral daughters.”
Jesus came to redeem sinners. Nobody will be found in heaven that deserves to be there, but only because of the tender mercy of our God, only because of the love of God that sent His Son to die for sinners, only because of grace that is greater than all our sin.
