Genesis 19:30–38 (ESV)
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.
Now why would the Bible include this story for us? Why is this part of the history of Israel?
Well there are a couple of things that I think are going on in this passage. Firstly, I think we should remember that these two daughters, even though their actions here are shameful and sinful, are the same two daughters that Lot himself offered up to the men of Sodom who wanted to abuse the angels that had come to destroy their city. And so we should understand this passage within the context, the broader context of what was happening at the time.
The other thing we should recognize is that there are some echoes in this passage of a later law that is being instituted in Israel called the Levirate Law. Now what the Levirate Law was about was to continue the family line of Israel if people had died by war or by accident. So you can read about this in Deuteronomy 25 verses 5 through to 10. And what would happen is that if a brother died, then the brother-in-law would have to provide a child for the widow with the aim of making sure that the inheritance line continues. The stated goal is that they were to raise up a name for the dead brother. And so there was this social, public and legal and honor-preserving law that would keep the family line going if something terrible had happened. This was commanded in the Torah and it protected the widow and ultimately the family line of Israel.
Now what Lot's daughters are doing here is something kind of similar. Their reasoning is that they don't have any husbands now. They have no means by which to procure children or to have children. And so they take matters into their own hands. The biological father here is not the brother-in-law providing for the widow, but it is their own biological father, which scripture later on condemns outright as sinful and morally corrupt. But their stated goal is similar. They want to preserve offspring. They say here, why are they going to do this? So that we may preserve offspring from our father. So their goal is sort of similar. They want to keep their family line going. They want to stop it from disappearing via extinction.
However, this is a secret and it's an illicit and honor destroying way of going about doing their work. It is presented as this shameful thing, and the results of this is not protection for the widow, you know, as commanded by the Torah, but the result are these two neighboring people, Moab and Ammon, who become Israel's troublesome neighbors. They will continue to oppress the Israelites going forward for many, many hundreds of years.
And so the daughter's reasoning to preserve offspring resembles these kind of motives behind the levirate marriage. They're continuing the threatened family line. But this is from themselves, not from God. It is a lawless distortion of what ought to happen. And so here we get to see this upside down picture that sin causes. Here, there's a lot of things that are going the wrong way around. Here it is the daughters that are leading, not the father. The father is passive. It is the daughters who initiate and execute this plan without their father even knowing. The daughters use Lot, kind of in the same way Lot tried to use them. They reduce him to a drunk and unconscious body. And so all authority structure that God has put in place in this story is inverted and upside down.
The other thing we should notice is that this passage shows us the complete and utter failure of Lot. You know, first he moved towards Sodom in chapter 13 verse 12. Then we read about him being in Sodom in chapter 14 verse 12. And then he was at Sodom's gate in chapter 19 verse 1. But now he's in a cave. He's decayed from being the one who Abram came and tried to save and saved from being captured, to as he's interacted with sin and moved closer to the sinful place, he's now at his lowest point. He has become smaller as a result. His life has diminished. Sin has shrunken his life. And so this passage is very honest and very open about the decay that happens to a person, to a family because of sin.
Now, what should we learn about this? What are our key takeaways here?
Well, firstly, we should recognize that fear in uncertain circumstances can breed desperate schemes. These daughters assume that their history and in fact their family line is up to them. Without reference to God, without trusting in God, they go about plotting their own plan. And as a result, they actually do solve their problem. But the consequences of their problem being solved, these two new nations that rise up, continue to threaten God's redemptive plan throughout the many hundreds of years of Israel's history that would come after this. Sin always or often has ways of leaving a lasting kind of fallout in our lives.
Secondly, this passage also shows us that sin often reverses the good order that God has put into place. All throughout scripture, we see a pattern of a healthy family, a healthy family that is led well, governed well. And these healthy families, the family order protects the vulnerable. It keeps the widow, the child, the orphan safe. But here, the roles are flipped around. And because of that, everyone is harmed. Lot is used by his daughters. His daughters produce offspring that ultimately become great enemies of Israel. And so because this family order is upside down, God's purposes are threatened.
But the one thing we shouldn't remember is that despite all of this, God still redeems sin. You know, Ruth was a Moabite. She is a descendant of this sordid episode. She enters the messianic line. We can read about that in Ruth chapter 4 and also in Matthew chapter 1. This act ultimately is redeemed by God to bring about the birth of Jesus at the right time. So God can weave the most tangled threads, the most corrupt choices that we have to ultimately bring about good because in his hands nothing is beyond redemption.
And so in your life, if you bring your sin and your bad choices to God and you ask for forgiveness, he can redeem even those things. You might not be spared the consequences. In this case, both the daughters did become pregnant and ultimately caused all kinds of chaos for Israel down the track. But nevertheless, God used even these sinful acts to bring about Jesus and the inclusion of the Gentiles, those outside of Israel, into the saved people of God. And that is encouraging for us.
So let's pray.
Lord, we thank you that in this story we see sinful people's acts being redeemed, ultimately even to the point of our ultimate salvation in Jesus Christ. We apologize where we and say sorry for the places where we subvert and change around the order of things that you have put in place. Please help us to follow your good order and follow the way that you've created us and the world to be for our good and for the protection of the vulnerable around us. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.