Genesis 19 – February 13

Today’s read is one of the most disturbing and raw passages in Scripture. It stands as a warning of God’s great wrath toward sin, but also as a reminder of His kindness to save sinners. I don’t believe that we need to spend much time on the wicked residents of the city of Sodom. We can completely understand why it is that God had already informed Abraham about their impending destruction. Even after being struck blind, they still groped and scratched and clawed at Lot’s door because of their ceaseless and perverse lust. Their story is straightforward. What may not be so easily understood from a cursory reading is what is going on with Lot’s family. Let’s consider Lot, his wife, and his daughters each in turn.

LOT

We have seen over the past few weeks the ways in which Lot compromised and began moving his tent ever closer to Sodom. Chapter 19 likely leaves modern readers like you and me with a very negative feeling toward Lot, especially as he offered to throw his two pure daughters to a pack of ravenous human wolves. It may be surprising to read the New Testament’s description of Lot and learn of what was going on in his heart as he dwelt amongst the people of Sodom. “…righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)…” (2 Peter 2:7-8) There are tiny glimpses of the fact that Lot was a God-fearing man in this text. He sought to protect strangers. He had, up to this point, preserved the innocence of his daughters in the most sexually perverse society on earth. And, most importantly, he heeded the warnings about God’s swift judgment. Though he is not a shining star that we seek to emulate, Lot is a trophy of God’s grace and evidence that the Lord is far better at saving than we are at sinning.

LOT’S WIFE

Consider the explosive words of Jesus in Luke 17:32-33. “Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.” Lot’s wife turned back because her heart was still in Sodom. Although her husband and the angels were dragging her by the hand outside of the city, she could not imagine leaving her entire life behind. Christian, “you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3) Don’t look back fondly on your old life. The sins that you once enjoyed, leave them behind, and don’t turn back. As we often sing, “The old is gone, the new has come, what YOU complete is completely done. We are heirs with Christ, the victory won! What you complete is completely done.”

LOT’S DAUGHTERS

I think most readers cringe more at this portion of the chapter than any other. It truly is a disturbing and sad part of Biblical history. What shame ‘righteous Lot’ must eternally bear in the everlasting record of God’s Word. You might ask, “What were his daughters thinking?” The simple answer is, they thought that they might be the last people on earth. After watching the incredible destruction of Sodom and the surrounding cities, they said to each other, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.” They falsely believed that this wicked sin was their only option for survival. From this unholy union, the Lord did provide offspring. At least one of their names should sound familiar to you: Moab and Ben-Ammi. They were the progenitors of the Moabites and the Ammonites, two of the great enemies of Israel. The Moabite’s primary deity was Chemosh, and the Ammonite’s was Molech. Both of these gods are chiefly remembered for their historical connections to child sacrifice. It seems that from the very outset of their cultures, there was a leaning toward disdaining their own offspring, possibly due to the manner in which Moab and Ben-Ammi were conceived. Sin has severe consequences, always.