Genesis 19:30-38 (ESV)
Lot and His Daughters
Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” So 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. Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
The story of Lot’s end is in stark contrast to the faith of Abraham. Both Abraham and Lot had left their homeland to obey God and settle where God desired. Abraham has already rescued Lot, once with his army of men (chapter 14) and once with his prayers (chapter 19). God had blessed both Abraham and Lot. When the land proved too small for them to live together Abraham allowed Lot to choose any portion of the land for himself. He chose Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, apparently, loved the city life. This proved to be fatal to some of his girls, already married. And, as we see above, it proved to be destructive to his remaining girls, in regard to their morality.
We have to remember that Lot requested, upon his fleeing from Sodom, that he live in a city named Zoar. Apparently Zoar was not the place for Lot and he took his remaining two daughters to live in a cave. We might wonder if Lot was escaping another city because he saw the dangers for his daughters, or was he falling into a deep depression and wanted to be alone in a cave. In 19:19 he wanted to stay in the city. Why change to the mountain now??? Is this a picture of repentance and now following God in obedience? Or, was it the depression of losing his wealth and prestige in Sodom (remember, he sat at the city gate ... a place where the leaders sat)? Whatever the case his daughters came up with their own immoral plan to perpetuate the family tree.
All this shows us the fall of a man who had the same truth and call as his uncle Abraham. Abraham responded by faith. Lot responded by feelings. Lot felt depressed and escaped to a cave. He felt lost and drank himself so drunk he didn’t realized he was committing incest. His family tree (the Moabites and the Ammonites) would give Israel fits the rest of their generations. Lot’s selfishness would lead to conflict and unrest for Abraham’s descendants, Israel. This is what happens when we reject the truth of God and attempt to live our lives on our own. Lot rejected faith in God and instead enjoyed the pleasures of sin, for a season. It eventually caught up to him. As it does to all men who reject God. It cost him daughters who were killed in Sodom. It cost him his wife who turned to salt. It cost him the morality of his two daughters that remained. It cost him his reputation for generations. It would eventually cost his relatives. Such is the choice of those who reject God’s truth.
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