Serve and Equip
Growing in Christ Email Series

The Lord Showed How Sodom Affected the Daughters of Lot
Written by: Duane L. Anderson,
Copyright © 2013, 2017, 2019 Duane L. Anderson, American Indian Bible Institute 
Distributed with permission by Serve and Equip
The Lord Showed How Sodom Affected the Daughters of Lot
 
In our last topic, we saw that we want to equip our physical and spiritual children to warn those who reject Christ of the coming judgment that they face. Sodom is used more than twenty times as a warning about coming judgment in other verses in the Bible. The fact that Lot had lived in that city affected his personal family. In our topic today, we will see that the two daughters who survived had also had their thinking corrupted.
 
Genesis 19:30-33 says, “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. 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. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.’ So 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.” Here, we see that Lot quickly decided that he did not want to stay in Zoar for fear of his life. In verses 18-20, Lot had said, “Then Lot said to them, ‘Please, no, my lords! Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.’” God had spared Zoar at the request of Lot, but now Lot did not want to stay in that city.
 
Lot had thought that evil would overtake him in the mountains, but suddenly, Lot was eager to leave Zoar and go to the mountains because he feared for his life. He had already lost his wife and the rest of his family along with all of his servants and possessions. He was afraid that he and his two remaining daughters would also die if they remained in Zoar. As a result, Lot took his two daughters and went to the mountains. There, they found a cave where they could live.
 
Although the two daughters had survived the destruction of Sodom, the city of Sodom had destroyed their values and they had accepted part of the sinful values of the people of that city. We read that Lot was righteous in 2 Peter 2:7-8, but we do not read that his daughters were righteous. Those verses say, “and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds).”  The older daughter developed a plan to have children since they were still virgins and they did not think that they would have husbands. She suggested to her sister that they get their father drunk and then have sexual relations with him while he was passed out from the wine. She said that this way they could provide a continuing family line for their father. As a result, they made their father drunk that night. The older daughter went in and lay with her father and committed incest with him. He was so drunk, he did not even know what she had done. Then, she left before he became sober so he would not even know what had happened.
 
We saw that the city of Sodom was filled with various kinds of sexual immorality and perversion. The older daughter had seen so much immorality in the city of Sodom that we do not even read her conscience bothered her when she suggested this plan to her sister so they could have children. Here, in Genesis 13:10-11, we see that Lot continued to reap the consequences of his choice. “And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.” On that day, Abraham chose to trust God and walk by faith while Lot chose to walk by sight and take the well-watered land with plenty of food for his flocks.
 
In Genesis 19, we see some of the consequences of the choice of Lot. We might say that Lot lost a lot. Genesis 19:9 says Lot lost his reputation, “And they said, ‘Stand back!’ Then they said, ‘This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.’ So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.” Then, Genesis 19:14 says, “So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, ‘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.” This verse shows that Lot lost part of his daughters and their families. Then, Genesis 19:16 says, “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.” Here, we see that his servants, flocks, and all of his possessions had to be left behind, which meant that all of the servants were killed in the destruction of Sodom. Genesis 19:26 adds, “But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” In this verse, he lost his wife. Now, these verses show that his remaining daughters had lost their moral values.
 
Genesis 19:34-35 says, “It 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.’ Then 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.” Here, we see that the older daughter told her sister what she had done the previous night and suggested that her younger sister should do the same thing that night. Lot was probably in great sorrow because of all of the things that he had lost. As a result, it was not difficult for his daughters to get him drunk a second night. Proverbs 31:6-7 says, “Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.” These verses show that many people drink to forget and numb their inner pain. The wine that Lot drank caused him to pass out so he did not know what went on while he was under its influence.
 
We read that because of the wine, Lot did not know when his younger daughter came into him or when she left. He had no idea what he had done while he was passed out because of the wine. As a result of what happened those two nights, Lot destroyed his own moral integrity as he committed incest with both of his daughters. He did not know when his daughters came into him, what happened while they were there, or when they arose and left his tent. Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Even though 2 Peter tells us that Lot was a righteous man, we see that the result of choosing to sow to the flesh as a follower of God still cost him everything and he will have nothing of eternal value as he stands before God. His choices cost him everything, including the eternal future of his entire family.
 
We also see that the choices of Lot had a negative impact on the family of Abraham. Genesis 19:36-38 says, “Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. And 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.” We do see that Lot had two grandsons as a result of the choices of his two daughters, as both of them became pregnant by their father. The firstborn had a son and he became the father of the nation of Moab. The younger daughter had a son and he became the father of the nation of Ammon. Both of those nations caused great problems to the descendants of Abraham.

The descendants of Moab later tried to curse and destroy Israel when they came from Egypt to the land of Canaan. Numbers 22:4-6 says, “So Moab said to the elders of Midian, ‘Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.’ And Balak  the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: ‘Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.’” Here, we see that Moab tried to curse Israel.
 
They also tried to destroy Israel with immorality. Numbers 25:1-3 says, “Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.” As a result, God said Moab would be judged. Ammon later joined Moab in fighting against Israel in Judges 3. Israel also later followed the idols of both nations. 1 Kings 11:33 says, “‘“because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.”’”
 
We want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain how the choices of Lot cost him everything including his wife, his family, his servants, his flocks, and even his own moral
integrity. Lot truly lost a lot. In fact, it cost him everything. May the Lord richly bless you as you help your children learn to explain the consequences of sin.

The content for this email can also be found at https://aibi.org/ggfs/ggfs38.pdf along with the entire email series based on the Bible book of Genesis at http://serveandequip.org/growing-godly-families-series/ .
You are receiving this because you have requested to receive updates from Serve and Equip. You can manage your subscription at the bottom of this email or simply reply and let us know how we can serve you.

Serve and Equip provides free Bible training resources online at: http://serveandequip.org. You can also view Bible training videos on our YouTube channel at: http://sveq.org/video.
You can tell others to sign up for this newsletter at http://serveandequip.org/email-news/