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Today we will bring Genesis 19 to a close. So far we have looked at four topics from the chapter. The first in the series was from v.17; Escape For Your Life. Then we continued with The Urgency of The Gospel from vv.12-14. We also looked at Remember Lot’s Wife (v.26) and last week we considered v.29 The Covenant Blessings.Ā Today I want us to consider for a title The Sin of Lot and His Daughters. We will look at three things briefly and be done. (i) The Root of Their Sin, (ii) The Ramification of TheirĀ Sin and (iii) The Remedy ForĀ TheirĀ Sin.Ā
Now these verses we read is embarrassing.Ā Two daughters got their father drunk and slept with him. Two sins right there: Incest and Drunkenness. I canāt wrap my head around how all these happen. How did they get him drunk and how did they get to lie with him after the manner of the earth as the Scripture uses euphemism to describe the act (v.31). Two nights (vv.33-34) and not one of the daughters even said, no, this is not right. Not one of them had the conscience to opt out of the deal. In these verses, we see the wickedness of Lotās daughters. But not them alone. Remember Lot earlier has offered his daughters to the gang who wanted to know the angels (v.8). I guess then have reasoned that if their father was willing to give them up to the gang, then there will be nothing wrong with their actions. They may have justified it. This sin is truly wickedness. But where did this originate from? Where did this Act come from? What is the Root of Their Sin?
The Root Of Their Sin
The sin of Lot and his daughters is simply a sin of unbelief. If you see how the narrative progresses, the drunkenness and incest is the result of their unbelief and lack of faith in God. We see this clearly in the text. Lot was afraid (v.30). And this is a big contrast to everything that has transpired. Isnāt it interesting that he is afraid? Lot was asked to flee to the hill (v.17). He said, no, I canāt. Then he makes a request. Please let me flee to Zoar (vv.18-20). The angels say, okay, go there (vv.21-22). He has seen and acknowledged the mercies and favour of God earlier, yet he doubted (v.19). He gets to Zoar, where he requested to go and he is afraid to live there. So he moves to the hills. This action clearly shows his unbelief and lack of trust in God to protect him. It is highly possible if he has lived in Zoar, this would not have happened. Sin clearly is an unbelief problem. It is saying we cannot trust God. It is saying we know better than God. And that equally is what the daughters also did. They acted out of unbelief (v.31). Their sin was also a mistrust of God: āOur father is old, and there is not a man.ā At least they have been in Zoar before moving to the hills. So wouldnāt they have seen there were men around who could marry them? Their mistrust and unbelief made them take matters into their hands. And this is true in every instance when we have sin. Whenever we donāt trust God, it is sin. Unbelief is disobedience and sin.
And this is the first sin of Adam and Eve. They questioned Godās word and plunged the whole human race into sin. Adam’s sin corrupted our nature. It darkened our minds. It separated us from God. It made humanity enemies of God. Theologians call this Original Sin. That is, human beings inheriting a sinful nature because of the sin of Adam: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). This is the clearest explanation of what Original sin is. We all inherited a sinful nature at birth. David in Psalm 51:5 said “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
And as we read the Bible, apart from Jesus Christ, we areĀ faced constantly with humanityās sinĀ and rebellion to God. Every single human being is a sinner andĀ has broken Godās law. This explains the evil we see in this text.Ā All the evil in the world can be traced to this sinful nature we have inherited. Now we didn’t only inherit a sinful nature, but we proceedĀ to live according to this nature and commit actual sins. So it is said that, we are not sinners because we sin. But we sin because we are sinners. This means that we are not defined by our acts. But rather by our nature. There is a deep seated corruption in all of us that leans towards sin: āThe heart is deceitful above all things,Ā and desperately sickā (Jeremiah 17:9)
Ramification/Result Of Their Sin
See, what they set out to do in v.32, they accomplished in vv.36-38. Two children came out of that sinful act. Moab (from Father) and Ben-ammi (Son of my people). The narrator gives us further details that point us to the ramification or consequence of their sin. Moab is the father of the Moabites. Ben-ammi was the father of the Ammonites. These two became enemies in the life of the Jews to the extent that they led Israel to sin.
While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel (Numbers 25:1-3). Note that they are also relatives of Abraham since Lot is a relative to Abraham. But they were barred from the assembly of the Isralites. They were cut off from Godās people. This by extension means they became enemies of God. We can say then that sin produces enmity between God and man. Sin separates God and man:Ā āNo Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord foreverā (Deuteronomy 23:3).Ā
Remedy For Their Sin
This is the state of anyone who has not come to faith in Jesus. Like the Moabites and Ammonites, you are separated from God and an enemy of God. You have broken Godās law. You have sinned against God, and if you havenāt believed in Jesus, I point you to him who is the Remedy for sin.Ā Now you may think that these descendants of Lot have no future. But even in the mess, we see Godās mercies in their lives. God preservedĀ theirĀ inheritance. God protected their land from the conquest of the Isralietes.
And the Lord said to me, āDo not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession (Deuteronomy 2:9)
And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession (Deuteronomy 2:19)
Dear friends, this is clearly the mercies of God at work. Though enemies of Godās people, their land was preserved. This is an act of mercy showed to sinners.Ā It is only Godās mercies that reconciles his own enemies to himself. God doesnāt deal with us according to our iniquities and sins for if he is to deal with us in that fashion, who shall stand?Ā
And even as God preserves their lives and shows mercy to them temporarily in these verses, Godās Remedy for sin was to bring a Saviour and Redeemer to die for the sins of his people, so that whoever will believe in him, will not perish.. And this Saviour and Redeemer is Jesus Christ. And Jesus came from the bloodline of the Moabites, the very enemies of God. This is the wonder of the love of God. God reconciles sinners to himself. Jesus came through the line of Ruth a Moabite.Ā You can look up the story of Ruth if you have never it is only Four Chapters. She was Davidās greatgrandmother, and she was a Moabiteāan enemy of God.Ā
Matthew 1:5
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,Ā and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.
Godās Remedy for sin is a saviour who came to die to save sinners from their sin. And what is required of sinner? Faith. To believe in the work of Christ. If Lot and his daughters sinned because of unbelief, then all who havenāt trusted in Christ are walking in disobedience and unbelief. And the Bible properly describes unbelievers as children of disobedience (Eph 2). It also further describes them as children of wrath, that is one day, they will receive the judgement of God if they donāt believe in Godās provision.
Those of us who have come to faith in Jesus, we have been justified, redeemed and saved from the world. Let us guard our hearts that unbelief will not creep in and we disobey God.
Ā Ā
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