June 29, 2006

• I took my two sons and a friend of theirs to see the new Superman movie tonight. Had some good points, and a lot of so-so points. How come Superman can fly with clunky boots and Lois Lane has to fly barefooted? Can’t figure that one out. Anyway coming home the rains were so bad that I considered pulling the car over, and one stretch of the road was flooded. We are in a massive rain pattern that seems stuck. I keep thinking about my daughter who is in camp right now in the heart of the heavy rains.
  

  Anyway, back to Lot and his two daughters. Genesis Chapter 19: 30-38. This will be the beginning of the birth of several nations who will cause torment to the Israelites, and their descendants to today. Some days I wish that Abram had left Lot home, like God told him to, when he moved from his home country. Had he done that, there might be different political systems today.

  
  

  Sodom and Gomorrah have been destroyed, Lot had pled for permission to dwell in a little town (a town God had planned on destroying) the town of Zoar – which translated means insignificant. Why Lot would want to dwell in insignificance instead of the mountains is beyond me, but then again there are times when I choose the same old same old stuff, dwell on the little things instead of looking at the grand scheme of things, instead of stepping out in faith in the path that God has for me. Whenever I stay in my own way, in the old patterns, in disobedience to God, it will ultimately end up in insignificance. We see this with many of the Old Testament people, disobedience means that what God’s original grand plan is, won’t come to full fruition.

  
  

  But, guess where Lot ended up? The mountains (verse 30). Why? He was afraid to dwell in Zoar. Afraid???? God preserved the city for Lot, so why was he afraid? Lot ends up hiding with his two daughters in a cave. This brings to mind Revelation 6:15 when the sixth seal was broken and there were great earthquakes, the sun becomes black, and the moon like blood, and heaven falls to earth (sounds a bit like Sodom doesn’t it) and in verse 15-16 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.”

  
  

  There is destruction, and I wonder at Lot’s hiding – were there still residents in that small city that were spared because of Lot? Were all people destroyed completely? Did Lot feel that he was the only one left? I don’t know why the following actions occurred, but notice that one of the key elements is alcohol – the daughters will get Lot drunk, and then do what they did. There is danger in letting any substance control our behavior, alcohol or drugs, or any other thing, because then we are not fully aware of what we are doing. It seems like a convenient excuse to say, “I was so drunk/stoned I didn’t know what I was doing.” But, truth be told, it is our decision about what we ingest, and we have a choice to not ingest something that will release our inhibitions.

  
  

  The two daughters talk among themselves (remember their husbands mocked Lot’s warning and stayed in Sodom to their destruction), so the daughters are without child. They see that their father is old, and assume that they will not have another man to produce a child with.

  
  

  I don’t know how desolate the area was that they were in, I can only infer, but it sure seems that they didn’t wait too long before making this decision. Have you ever acted in desperation? Figured that you had to accept anyone in a relationship because no one else would accept you? I made many choices like that in my past, and regretted them. To make a decision in impulse is dangerous, and has far reaching consequences.

  
  

  Perhaps, had they gone to God and trusted God they would have made a different choice. (Hindsight is great isn’t it?) But they acted on their own limited vision and sinned against God, for God does not like incest. They let their passions take hold of them and acted. There is a shade of what Abram and Sarai did, when they allowed Hagar to marry Abram and “help” God. If these two girls had thought about it first, they might have realized that God got them out of Sodom before it was destroyed, God preserved them, and that God cared about Lot because of Abraham – so they could have asked themselves, wouldn’t God provide for their future. That said, I was not in their situation, and it is easy to judge another person’s actions – but I have found myself making rash decisions in the past too.

  
  

  They decide to make their father drink wine and then go in to him to preserve their lineage. The next day the first born daughter had laid with her father, and he did not know what happened. So the next night the youngest daughter will make the same decision and action.  The conclusion being verse  36-38 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.

  
  

  As you continue to read in the Bible those two groups of people, the Moabites and the Ammonites will cause endless trouble for the Israelites.

  
  

  Beth Moore adds some insight to the above passage, in her study The Patriarchs on page 55 “For whatever reason, Sodom was the death of Lot’s wife. Strangely, it was also the death of dignity and propriety in Lot’s daughters’ lives. Rather than cherishing the lives they’d mercifully gained, their insistence on dwelling on what they had lost (“there is no man around here”) weakened them toward heinous sin. As a young person, I saw sins one so young should never have to witness. I came into my adolescent years bitter and determined not to fall into the same kinds of sin. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my chief reason for making these choices was not pleasing God. It was pride, I wanted to be better than “them”. Because my intentions were not pure, my integrity was unguarded, and I ended up heaped in sins. Some were different from those I had observed…but no less serious.”

  
  

  I sure can relate to this. I saw much sin as a child, and felt polluted by what had happened to me. (my testimony).  I chose to be totally different. In my day it meant that since Christians were the ones who hurt me so much, I rejected anything and everything Christian. I chose a lifestyle that was full of sin, figuring that at least I was in control (fat chance of that). And it was not choices pleasing to God. Since I came to God, I still felt (and at times feel) that it is me that has to do things – to be in control, to make the proper choices, to change my perception of the past. Yes, I have to be obedient to God, but I cannot do it in my own strength – I need God to help me. His grace is what is sufficient for me.

  
  

  Beth Moore continues on page 55 “Lot’s mistake on behalf of his family was pitching “his tents near Sodom”. When believers are totally outnumbered and no one stands with us in godliness, few are strong enough to resist lowering the standard to relativity. Proverbs 23:10 warns us not to “move an ancient boundary stone.” Somewhere along the way, an ancient boundary stone got moved on Lot’s lot – even if not by him.  No, the Lot family didn’t participate in homosexual sin, but the line dividing right from wrong and healthy from unhealthy got blurred. When desperation came, alternatives that should have been shocking simply were not.”

  
  

  In my life, whenever I make an excuse to do what I know is wrong I move a boundary stone. And in this day and age, the Church seems to be moving boundary stones, trying to get God’s Word to fit today’s morals. It will not work, and the line between right and wrong is getting blurred. I pray that God gives us clarity in our walk and in the walk of the Church. God will not change His opinion because of public opinion. He knows what is right and best for us. When we try to make Him fit our way of thinking we open up the way for disaster in our lives and in the world.

  
  

  Praying that you have a blessed day.
  Heather

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