Thursday, October 16, 2014

GENESIS: Be Careful the Environments We Expose Our Children To; "So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose."

Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. (Genesis 19:30)

In the previous lessons, we've studied that when Abraham and Lot separated, Lot chose to go live in Sodom because he saw that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. (Genesis 13:10) But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. (Genesis 13:13)

When the Lord and His two angels came to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, they instructed Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place!" (Genesis 19:12) So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. (Genesis 19:14) So they stayed behind.

When Lot, his wife and his daughters were leaving Sodom, the Lord instructed him, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. (Genesis 19:17-19)

"See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. (Genesis 19:20-22)

As the fled from Sodom to go to Zoar, Lot's wife made the mistake of looking back while Sodom and Gomorrah were being destroyed, and his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26) So now, only Lot and his daughters were left.  Instead of going to the mountains as the Lord had originally instructed him, the Lord allowed him to go to Zoar, a city near to Sodom, which was probably as corrupt as Sodom was. Gomorrah was influenced by Sodom, so surely all the cities near it may have been influenced also.  That's why Lot was afraid to dwell in Zoar. 

The Lord delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)... (II Peter 2:7-8) But Lot wasn't the only one affected by the depravity of Sodom.  His son-in-laws refused to leave the place, his wife looked back symbolizing she had a desire to return, and his daughters lived there also, and were exposed to the same tormenting, by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds.

At one point when the men of Sodom came to Lot's house to try and get the angels of the Lord to come out, they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.” (Genesis 19:5-8)

Imagine having your father offer you to strangers for sex - INCONCEIVABLE!  No child should ever have to experience that, regardless of the reason why.  So Lot's daughters were just as messed up mentally as his wife and son-in-laws. Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. (Genesis 19:31-33)

It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” Then 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. (Genesis 19:34-35)

As we studied previously, from the time of Noah and his sons, incest was necessary to repopulate the earth. But the family lines were not polluted by mixing with foreign peoples and fallen angels, as in the time before the flood. But once the earth was repopulated and spread throughout the world, God would later command against incest. People were in Zoar and people were in the mountains and through out the land, so the daughters were mistaken in saying there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. 

Because of the depravity they were exposed to, they tried to justify doing what they knew they shouldn't do.  They just witnessed a whole land being destroyed, and they knew why it was being destroyed because they heard the Lord when he instructed Lot to leave; And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. (Genesis 19:16)

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” (I Corinthians 15:33) Because Lot allowed his family to live near such a wicked people, even though he was a righteous man, his wife and daughters were not.  We have to be very careful what we allow our children to be exposed to. His daughters were grown and could make their own choices, but the way they were raised affected their ability to make the right choices.

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. (Genesis 19:36-38) 

As for Lot's descendants, the Lord would exclude them from the future blessings of the children of Israel. “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the Lord. One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever,..." (Deuteronomy 23:1-3)

However, the Lord would bless a Moabite named Ruth to marry a Jew from Bethlehem named Boaz, and they would conceive a son, And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. (Ruth 4:17) Therefore, a Moabite is in the genealogy of Jesus. ...Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. ... So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. (Matthew 1:5, 17)

Thanks be to God that, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin." (Deuteronomy 24:16) Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Psalm 32:1-2) Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins. (Proverbs 10:12) God is love. (I John 4:8) AMEN!

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