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ND Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto 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 seed of our father. 33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. 37 And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. 38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben–ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. (Genesis 19:30-38)
The account given of Lot and his descendants in Scripture may seem a bit baffling. Lot compromised his entire family by choosing the plain over against Sodom when given the choice by Abraham. He endured the sinful community of abject sinners until forced out by angelic powers. He had sex with his two daughters while in a drunken stupor. Yes, we read from the 2nd Epistle of Peter Lot was a righteous man. How came he to be righteous? Lot did, indeed, depart from among the gross sinners of Sodom even if by force of Heaven; but so does every sinner depart from his sinful ways by force of Heaven. And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) (2 Peter 2:7-8)
It is the calling and election of God brought us out from the fiery furnace of our own little ‘sodoms.’ David was a man after God’s own heart, but David committed many egregious sins of which he later repented and was forgiven. Still, those sins of David left scars not amended by his repentance. Abraham lied and also sinned in failing to believe all that God had told him concerning the promised Seed. Yet, Abraham is deemed righteous in the eyes of the Lord though his failure of faith resulted in grave animosities between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael. Sin always leaves scars even when forgiven. We hurt those we love by our sins. Sins are never a personal matter. Our sins are not only between us and God, but also affect those around us often in terrible ways.
The two daughters of Lot bore two sons to him – Moab (father of Moabites), and Ben-Ammi (father of the Ammonites). Their descendants inhabited the lands of Ammon and Moab – both of which were cursed to extinction. But God did not entirely forget Lot and his sons. He prepared as means whereby Lot’s descendants could be incorporated into the family of God. That path would not emerge until decades later when Naomi and her husband went down into Moab as a result of a famine in Bethlehem-Judah. Though Naomi and Elimelech may have been wrong to leave the land of their father’s and go into a godless country, it was yet in God’s will as a means to reunite the descendants of Lot to the House of Israel.
Having many misfortunes befall, including the loss of her husband and two sons, Naomi resolved to return to Bethlehem-Judah. Her two daughters petitioned to go with her, however, only one (Ruth) fulfilled that resolution. In response to Naomi’s insistence that she return to Moab, Ruth made this greatest of all professions of love: And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. So Ruth (a type of the Church and Bride of Christ) returned with Naomi to Bethlehem-Judah. You may read the account in the Book of Ruth which is an early parable of the Church and of Christ (pictured in Boaz). But how does this bring the descendants of Lot back into the fold of God’s people?
Ruth later was wed to Boaz – a descendant of the prostitute Rachab of Jericho; and Ruth, a descendant of Lot’s eldest daughter by way of incest. Yet, Ruth became the great grandmother of King David and into the royal and spiritual line of our Lord Jesus Christ some thirteen centuries hence. We read these wonderful truths in the genealogical records of the legal descent of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel of St. Matthew: And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias . . . (Matthew 1:5-6)
The Providential Hand of God is powerful to accomplish His will in the calling of all His elect to the Throne of Grace and Mercy no matter the depth of despair in which we find ourselves.
