Anyone know what the Moabites or Ammonites were?
No, they are not like termites!
The Moabites and the Ammonites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Were the Moabites and the Ammonites friends or enemies of Israel??
Here’s how the Bible describes them:
The Moabites are described as:
a. Proud and arrogant. Isa 16:6; Jer 48:29.
b. Idolatrous. 1Ki 11:7.
c. Superstitious. Jer 27:3,9.
d. Rich and confident. Jer 48:7.
e. Prosperous and at ease. Jer 48:11.
f. Mighty men of war. Jer 48:14.
The Ammonites are characterized as:
a. Cruel and covetous. Am 1:13.
b. Proud and reproachful. Zep 2:10.
c. Vindictive. Eze 25:3,6.
d. Fond of ornaments. 2Ch 20:25.
e. Idolatrous. Jdj 10:6; 1Ki 11:7,33; 2Ki 23:13.
f. Superstitious. Jer 27:3,9.
God tells us in Deutoronomy 23:3-4, No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever, because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Our story today tells us how it all began with the Moabites and Ammonites. Open your Bibles to Genesis 19, page…
Before we read, let us pray together our commitment to the Word of God…………Let us read Genesis 19:16-38.
Troubles came with the Moabites and the Ammonites. These troubles started from the very beginning, didn’t they? What did Lot and his daughters do wrong??
V16, Lot hesitated to what God was telling him to do.
V18-20, Lot didn’t obey God and asked for relief instead.
V30, Lot and daughters decided to live in a cave; why??
• they were afraid, afraid of what?
• afraid of God (fire and brimstone from heaven again?)
V31-32, Daughters schemed to “preserve the family line”.
Shouldn’t they have counseled with God?
Daughters got their father drunk!!!
The daughters knew that they could lead their father to sin if they got him drunk. In other words, the daughters led their father to sin! We’ll talk more about this later. But, was Lot innocent here??
Lot allowed himself to get drunk!!
Do you think Lot knew what happens when you get drunk? Remember, Lot lived in wicked Sodom; I am sure Lot witnessed many drunks. Also, did you notice that Lot not only allowed himself to get drunk once, but he then again allowed himself to get drunk the second day!! What a fool! Lot knew that when you’re drunk, you don’t know what you’re doing and he did it twice!
What can we apply to our lives today?
The actions of Lot and his daughters led to troubles that went on for generations! Troubles for the Moabites and Ammonites went on for ten generations! A generation in the Bible is 40 years; there was trouble for over 400 years! Shouldn’t we avoid the mistakes of Lot and his daughters? Unless you desire to have troubles for you, your family, and for your next generations of relatives, you must avoid the mistakes made by Lot and his daughters.
What should we learn?
Lot not only hesitated to do what God said, Lot directly disobeyed God. How often do we hesitate doing what God has told us? The righteous shall live by faith! Faith is doing what God tells us from His Word. And where does faith come from? Does faith come by how we feel??
I was talking to someone the other day and this comment came out, “Faith comes from our hearts!” Be careful about your feelings! Your feelings, your own heart, can fool you! Only God truly knows our hearts! King David, who God called a man after God’s own heart said this in Psalm 139:23-24: Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. If King David couldn’t trust his own heart, should we? No, faith does not come from our own feelings, faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Rom 10:17). Are we listening to Jesus Christ daily as we are called to do?
And more importantly, are we obeying what Christ tells us to do? If we hesitate or disobey God’s Word, trouble will surely come, and it may not come directly to you but to your relatives!
Lot and his daughters lived in a cave and the daughters schemed a devious plot. The problem here is they tried hiding from God. The truth is, no one can hide from God!
Now, if we truly live with this truth that God sees and knows everything, what 2 major things should we be doing??
1. We should live and act with God beside us!
Since we can not hide from God anyway, we should make it a habit to see Jesus Christ wherever we go, whatever we’re doing! Are you afraid of Jesus Christ and you are hiding from Him? Trouble will come as you hide!
2. We are to pray to God about everything! God sees and knows all! We will miss out and bring troubles when we don’t talk to God and seek counsel! See Jesus wherever you go and talk to Him about everything!
Now, did Lot’s daughters really led Lot to sin? After all, everyone was doing it! The issue of incest in the Old Testament is a complicated one. We know that Cain had to marry his sister and we know that everyone in the world came from Noah’s family of eight! But we also know that Laws given to Moses included the prohibition of incest and the New Testament states that incest is evil.
But Lot’s daughters were before the Mosaic Law.
Was it legitimate for them to have an incestual relation with their father? Let’s look very carefully at the text; look again at v31-32……
According to the text, was incest at the time of Lot approved by God or approved by the world??
Everyone in the world was doing it, so it made it right?
This was the reasoning of Lot’s daughters! How many people use this same reasoning today?
Illustration about fishing……….
Many will say, Everyone is doing it, why can’t I?
Should Christians use this reasoning? Be careful!
Actions without consideration of God, even if the world approves them, will lead to troubles!
You know, this statement not only has personal ramifications but also societal ones!
Christians are to be salt and light in society. But if Christians act just like the world, can society really be impacted by Christians? Always consider Jesus Christ in what you do and be careful what the world approves!
Lot’s daughters sinned themselves and impacted their father and all their descendants!
But Lot himself was not innocent of wrongdoing was he?
Lot knew what happens when you get drunk; but yet he allowed himself to get drunk not only once but again the next day!! God reminds us in Ephesians 5:18, Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Debauchery means a disordered and uncontrolled life, which is a sin to God. God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Christians are not to allow themselves to get drunk but be filled with God the Holy Spirit! Can a Christian get drunk on something else besides alcohol??
There are so many things today that we can get drunk on and allow ours lives to be disorderly and uncontrolled! Christians are to avoid getting drunk on anything but God!
And how are we to be filled with God the Holy Spirit?
Romans 8:9 tells us, Christians are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
One who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior and has opened their hearts for Christ to rule are the true Christians; and true Christians have the Holy Spirit within them! Are you a true Christian? Confess that you are a sinner, one who disobeys God, and believe that Jesus Christ is God who died for your sins! If you have never done it before, do this today and receive forgiveness of your sins and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Pray with me right now to receive Christ…………
If you’re already a Christian, the instruction for us is to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). In other words, yield to the Holy Spirit within you!
Galatians 5:16, 25 tell us, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature; Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Christians are to yield and keep in step with the Holy Spirit within them. Would you quietly pray right now to make this commitment…
