Little Life In Zoar

Genesis 19: 17 As soon as they [the angels] had brought them [LOT AND FAMILY] out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" 18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it--it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared."

21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.

22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.

31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth.

32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."

33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab ; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi ; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

ILLUSTRATION: THE TRAGEDIES OF LIFE. The recent tragedy that blazed across the Texas morning sky recently serves as a stark reminder that all who live do so on the fringe of eternity. In the earliest press conferences, the stunned NASA officials who tearfully spoke of Columbia’s horror were not reticent to remind the watching world that the tragedy would not stop adventures into space. In fact, the tragedy actually spurs the survivors of the team on to continue with greater vigilance and excellence.

Regardless of your opinion about the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, you would have to admit that it was a tragedy and a trauma for the three known survivors.

TRAGEDIES HAPPEN. YOUR CHARACTER DETERMINES HOW THE SUBSTANCE OF A TRAUMA DIRECTS YOUR LIFE. A LARGE EVENT HAS ENERGY TO PROPELL YOU, TRUE, YET THE DIRECTION IN WHICH IT PROPELLS IS MOSTLY UP TO YOU.

A NATURAL REACTION TO TRAGEDY/FAILURE/LOSS IS TO WITHDRAW, TO REDUCE. That shows up in the characters of our study today.

(Gen 19:19 NIV) Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die.

THE FIRST FOCUS OF LOT WAS: “I CAN’T”

(Gen 19:20 NIV) Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it--it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared”

THE FIRST FALLOUT OF I CAN’T: COMPROMISE

Gen 19: 21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.

23 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

THE FATAL FLAW OF ‘I CAN’T’ --IT TIES UP GOD

LOT HAD A BEND TOWARD LITTLE. (Zoar means “little”)

SURPRISE! DIVINE BEHAVIOR IS NOT NATURAL!

c.f.) General Joshua at the tabernacle immediately after the defeat at AI (human), contrasted with King David’s worshipping after the death of his son (with Bath-sheba) (not natural)