for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (on a photo of Erik Weihenmayer on Mt. Everest by James Q Martin)
Genesis 19:30-38
Lot had escaped Sodom to Zoar but as the lone survivors of the destruction of the wicked cities, he was afraid to stay there. Instead he and his two daughters lived in a cave. Lot may have been okay with the situation but his daughters were not. They had both been engaged, preparing to start lives as wives and looking forward to becoming mothers, but now they were alone in a cave with their dad and his fear affected them. Verses 30-32 describe their desperation.
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. 31 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. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.”
These two women had been raised by a righteous man, but their mother was not so righteous. They had been raised in a city so evil that the people thought nothing of gang rape and thought that it was wrong of Lot to try and protect the victims. Lots daughters were faced with a dilemma and a choice of how to handle that problem. They could have prayed to the Lord and asked Him to send them husbands. They could have cried out to Him for an answer. But they didn’t have the faith to see past their own fears and see the hope. They were each one of three survivors of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Rather than see themselves as survivors, or see the hope of what their saved lives could mean, they focused on what that terrible experience meant for their fleshly desires. They came up with a plan to fix their problems. They decided to rape their father and take what they wanted. Verses 33-35 read,
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.
34 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.” 35 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.
Rape is rape, whether the victim is a man or a woman, whether he was drunk or sober, aware or not aware, rape is a terrible violation of a person. It is the epitome of hate. These women were alive only because their father was a good man and God had mercy on him. They were alive because God allowed them to be saved. But they couldn’t acknowledge that or trust that if God had saved them, He most certainly was not going to leave them alone in a cave forever. Rather than be thankful to God and to Lot and use their new lives for good, they hated enough to violate their father in the most despicable manner possible. The plan worked, they got what they wanted. Verses 36-38 read,
Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
They had no shame over their sin, they proudly displayed what they had done by naming their sons with the banner of their sin. Moab sounds like Hebrew for ‘from father” or more closely “the waters of father” and Ben-amni means son of my people. Their mothers showed no repentance for their terrible deeds. And the descendants of Lot’s sons would become prideful evil nations.
The Moabites were pagans known for their obscene worship of the gods Chemosh and Baalpeor. They overwhelmed a race of giants called the Emin but were later dispossessed from that land by Israel. They would give us Ruth who forsook the gods and religion of her people to worship The Lord and become an ancestor of Jesus.
The Ammonites were a strong and vicious people who destroyed an ancient race of giants called Zamzummim, and seized their country east of Judea. They were flagrant idolaters, chiefly worshipping Moloch or Saturn. They fought Israel constantly and had many prophecies against them.
What could Lot’s daughters’ legacy have been had they appreciated their situation through faith instead of selfishness? We might have known their names instead of the wickedness of their sons. He might have given them amazing godly husbands and broods of children, but we will never know. They trusted themselves not God.
It is not easy to see past what we want right here and right now. It is not easy to choose to trust God to have our best for us when we could take the easier route and steal the solution sitting in front of our eyes.
I can’t imagine it was easy living in that cave, not knowing if or when Lot would be courageous enough to leave and find a new place to live. But if they knew their dad, they knew he wouldn’t stay there keeping them away from life forever. They had witnessed God’s power firsthand as He saved Lot from death, offered salvation to their fiancées and rained fire and brimstone down in the cities. But they refused to see the hope because they could only see their desires and despair. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 reads,
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Faith is not about looking at the world with our eyes. It is about seeing the world through our relationship with God. If we know God, we can trust Him to do what is right and best for us. We know that what He has for us is far better than what we can get for ourselves.
What have you taken upon yourself that you should have left to the Lord? Is there a choice before you now between waiting for God or taking the immediate fix? I exhort you to choose faith, wait for the Lord. He won’t leave you exhausted at the end of your rope. Isaiah 40:31 promises us,
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Lot had escaped Sodom to Zoar but as the lone survivors of the destruction of the wicked cities, he was afraid to stay there. Instead he and his two daughters lived in a cave. Lot may have been okay with the situation but his daughters were not. They had both been engaged, preparing to start lives as wives and looking forward to becoming mothers, but now they were alone in a cave with their dad and his fear affected them. Verses 30-32 describe their desperation.
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. 31 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. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.”
These two women had been raised by a righteous man, but their mother was not so righteous. They had been raised in a city so evil that the people thought nothing of gang rape and thought that it was wrong of Lot to try and protect the victims. Lots daughters were faced with a dilemma and a choice of how to handle that problem. They could have prayed to the Lord and asked Him to send them husbands. They could have cried out to Him for an answer. But they didn’t have the faith to see past their own fears and see the hope. They were each one of three survivors of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Rather than see themselves as survivors, or see the hope of what their saved lives could mean, they focused on what that terrible experience meant for their fleshly desires. They came up with a plan to fix their problems. They decided to rape their father and take what they wanted. Verses 33-35 read,
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.
34 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.” 35 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.
Rape is rape, whether the victim is a man or a woman, whether he was drunk or sober, aware or not aware, rape is a terrible violation of a person. It is the epitome of hate. These women were alive only because their father was a good man and God had mercy on him. They were alive because God allowed them to be saved. But they couldn’t acknowledge that or trust that if God had saved them, He most certainly was not going to leave them alone in a cave forever. Rather than be thankful to God and to Lot and use their new lives for good, they hated enough to violate their father in the most despicable manner possible. The plan worked, they got what they wanted. Verses 36-38 read,
Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
They had no shame over their sin, they proudly displayed what they had done by naming their sons with the banner of their sin. Moab sounds like Hebrew for ‘from father” or more closely “the waters of father” and Ben-amni means son of my people. Their mothers showed no repentance for their terrible deeds. And the descendants of Lot’s sons would become prideful evil nations.
The Moabites were pagans known for their obscene worship of the gods Chemosh and Baalpeor. They overwhelmed a race of giants called the Emin but were later dispossessed from that land by Israel. They would give us Ruth who forsook the gods and religion of her people to worship The Lord and become an ancestor of Jesus.
The Ammonites were a strong and vicious people who destroyed an ancient race of giants called Zamzummim, and seized their country east of Judea. They were flagrant idolaters, chiefly worshipping Moloch or Saturn. They fought Israel constantly and had many prophecies against them.
What could Lot’s daughters’ legacy have been had they appreciated their situation through faith instead of selfishness? We might have known their names instead of the wickedness of their sons. He might have given them amazing godly husbands and broods of children, but we will never know. They trusted themselves not God.
It is not easy to see past what we want right here and right now. It is not easy to choose to trust God to have our best for us when we could take the easier route and steal the solution sitting in front of our eyes.
I can’t imagine it was easy living in that cave, not knowing if or when Lot would be courageous enough to leave and find a new place to live. But if they knew their dad, they knew he wouldn’t stay there keeping them away from life forever. They had witnessed God’s power firsthand as He saved Lot from death, offered salvation to their fiancées and rained fire and brimstone down in the cities. But they refused to see the hope because they could only see their desires and despair. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 reads,
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Faith is not about looking at the world with our eyes. It is about seeing the world through our relationship with God. If we know God, we can trust Him to do what is right and best for us. We know that what He has for us is far better than what we can get for ourselves.
What have you taken upon yourself that you should have left to the Lord? Is there a choice before you now between waiting for God or taking the immediate fix? I exhort you to choose faith, wait for the Lord. He won’t leave you exhausted at the end of your rope. Isaiah 40:31 promises us,
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
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