Genesis 19: 1 – 38
Run for your life
19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” 3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And 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.” 6 So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! 8 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.” 9 And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door. 12 Then the men said to 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! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 14 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. 15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 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. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” 18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! 19 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. 20 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.” 21 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. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt. 30 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. 31 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. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” 33 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. 34 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.” 35 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. 36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 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.
Have you noticed lately that they are a lot of commercials and movies that point out a doomsday on our earth? You see people trying to stuff a lot of things in their car for survival before fleeing. The big question is where are they going to flee to? A lot of these designed incidents deal with an asteroid or meteor hitting the earth.
Some asteroids have orbits that cross the orbit of the Earth. That means that the Earth will be hit sometime. Recent studies have shown that the Earth has been hit an alarmingly large number of times in the past. What would be the effects of an asteroid hitting the Earth?
Let’s consider what a 10-kilometer object which is a little over 6 miles in diameter hits us.
Obviously, something this big hitting the Earth is going to hit with a lot of energy! A unit of energy of traditional astronomy called an "erg" in which 10 million ergs equals 1 Joule. Since the energy values in ergs are so tremendously large, let's use the more convenient energy unit of 1 megaton of TNT to describe the energy of the impact. This is the energy one million tons of dynamite would release if it was exploded and is the energy unit used for nuclear explosions. The largest yield of a thermonuclear warhead is around 50--100 megatons. The kinetic energy of the falling object is converted to the explosion when it hits. The 10-kilometer object produces an explosion of 6 × 107 megatons of TNT (equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 12.4 on the Richter scale).
On its way to the impact, the asteroid pushes aside the air in front of it creating a hole in the atmosphere. The atmosphere above the impact site is removed for several tens of seconds. Before the surrounding air can rush back in to fill the gap, material from the impact: vaporized asteroid, crustal material, and ocean water (if it lands in the ocean), escapes through the hole and follows a ballistic flight back down. Within two minutes after impact, about 105 cubic kilometers of ejecta stuff (1013 tons) is lofted to about 100 kilometers. If the asteroid hits the ocean, the surrounding water returning over the hot crater floor is vaporized sending more water vapor into the air as well as causing huge steam explosions that greatly compound the effect of the initial impact explosion.
There will be a crater regardless of where it lands. Plugging in the typical impact values, you get a 150-kilometer or diameter crater around 94 miles for the 10-kilometer asteroid The initial blast would also produce shifting of the crust along fault lines.
The oceans cover about 75% of the Earth's surface, so it is likely the asteroid will hit an ocean. The amount of water in the ocean is nowhere near large enough to "cushion" the asteroid. The asteroid will push the water aside and hit the ocean floor to create a large crater. The water pushed aside will form a huge tidal wave, a tsunami. What this means is that a 10-km asteroid hitting any deep point in the Pacific (the largest ocean) produces a mega tsunami along the entire Pacific Rim.
The steam blasts from the water at the crater site rushing back over the hot crater floor will also produce tsunamis following the initial impact tsunami and crustal shifting as a result of the initial impact would produce other tsunamis---a complex train of tsunamis would be created from the initial impact (something not usually shown in disaster movies).
The material ejected from the impact through the hole in the atmosphere will re-enter all over the globe and heat up from the friction with the atmosphere. The chunks of material will be hot enough to produce a lot of infrared light. The heat from the glowing material will start fires around the globe. Global fires will put about 7 × 1010 tons of soot into the air. This would "aggravate environmental stresses associated with the impact."
The heat from the shock wave of the entering asteroid and reprocessing of the air close to the impact produces nitric and nitrous acids over the next few months to one year. These are really nasty acids. They will wash out of the air when it rains---a worldwide deluge of acid rain with damaging effects:
• destruction or damage of foliage;
• great amounts of weathering of continental rocks;
• the upper ocean organisms are killed. These organisms are responsible for locking up carbon dioxide in their shells (calcium carbonate) that would eventually become limestone. However, the shells will dissolve in the acid water. That along with the "impact winter" (described below) kills off about 90% of all marine nanoplankton species. A majority of the free oxygen from photosynthesis on the Earth is made by nanoplankton.
• The ozone layer is destroyed by O3 reacting with NO. The amount of ultraviolet light hitting the surface increases, killing small organisms and plants (key parts of the food chain). The NO2 causes respiratory damage in larger animals. Harmful elements like Beryllium, Mercury, Thallium, etc. are let loose.
• All of the dust in the air from the impact and soot from the fires will block the Sun. For several months you cannot see your hand in front of your face! The dramatic decrease of sunlight reaching the surface produces a drastic short-term global reduction in temperature, called impact winter. Plant photosynthesis stops and the food chain collapses.
• The cooling is followed by a much more prolonged period of increased temperature due to a large increase in the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is increased because of the increase of the carbon dioxide and water vapor in the air. The carbon dioxide level rises because the plants are burned and most of the plankton are wiped out. Also, water vapor in the air from the impact stays aloft for awhile. The temperatures are too warm for comfort for awhile.
Now I am sure this information fills you will warmth and joy. To all this then I just have one response – Thank You Lord Jesus for giving us a hope that is beyond this life time.
Today we are going to see some things come flying down on the cities of the plain. The bible tells us that this is fire and brimstone. Brimstone is an archaic term for sulfur. The connection to hellfire is probably the result of volcanic activity given that one of the main volcanic gasses is highly sulfuric and there is a tendency for a sulfuric mineral build up around volcanic vents. Thus a volcanic eruption could be a literal rain of fire and brimstone.
19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.
We start off this chapter with a contrast to Abraham’s actions in chapter 18. Abraham sat in the door of his tent, a place of thought and meditation and repose. We now see Lot sitting in the gate of Sodom, a place of evil thoughts, sensuousness and perverted activity. Abraham runs to meet his guests. Lot merely stands up for them, although both bow themselves to the ground in welcome Lot is shown as lacking the effective character of Abraham. This is surely not accidental. It is intended to bring out their differing attitudes of heart towards God which is brought out in their attitude to distinguished strangers.
Sitting in the gate of the city suggests Lot was involved with the ‘elders’ who helped to rule Sodom. He would have obtained much reflected credit from Abraham’s activity in chapter 14. He is now well settled in Sodom and had put down his roots, regardless of the behavior of its inhabitants.
The gate of the city is probably a tower gate, possibly with two gates so that there is a space between the gates, protecting the way in. During the day it would be used for business and as a courtroom for the trial in public of local offenders. In the evening men would gather there, especially the elders of the city.
2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”
His concern for them constrains him to welcome the new arrivals. He even hopes to save them from the fate worse than death that he knew might await them.
The men are making clear that they had not come specifically to see Lot. They were there to check out the city. Again this is in contrast to the personal approach to Abraham. The test is to be a genuine one. Sodom is being given a chance, even though a slight one.
Of course they were also testing out Lot, for Lot knew what a dangerous place the street in Sodom was for strangers. It is to his credit that he would not be restrained. There is still much good in him. This is in deliberate contrast to the men of the city. He does not realize that he is passing God’s test and proving himself the only one who is ‘righteous’.
3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
It is in Lot’s favor that he persists in his attempts to help them, even though he does not know who they are. He welcomes angels unaware.
4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And 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.”
The enthusiasm for evil that epitomizes Sodom is brought out here by the words - ‘Before they lay down’. The citizens of this city did not even wait for full darkness. It did not matter to them that these men had been welcomed by Lot, and that Lot owed them a duty of protective hospitality. It is then stressed that they had all gathered for their debased sexual fulfillment. They intended to take the men and force their sexual perversions on the two angels. There was no limit to their evil.
6 So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him,
Lot is no coward. He has gained popularity and influence as he has been selected as one of the city’s leaders. So, he goes out to meet the crowd.
7 and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!
It is no easy task to face such a crowd. Lot was unquestionably a brave man. But he has given hospitality to the strangers (and deliberately) and custom meant it was his responsibility to protect them. The laws of hospitality were strongly ingrained, but it is further evidence of the evil of the men of Sodom that they ignored them completely. They had no saving virtue. But Lot was determined to do his best to save the men. He knows he cannot appeal to their consciences and succeed so he falls back on desperate devices. Please note how he tries to appease them like they are his brethren or to say, Hey guys we are all family here.’
8 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.”
To understand Lot’s response about giving these evil people his daughters we have to realize how completely binding and sacred were the laws of hospitality. As a relatively good man Lot could not bear to think of breaking them. To do so would be to besmirch his honor forever.
It could well be that he does not intend to let them have his daughters (he has not brought them out with him). It may be he is giving these men of the city occasion to face up to their atrocious behavior, and is giving them pause for thought. He perhaps hopes they will dismiss such an idea as unacceptable and thus cool down.
But whatever is the situation there, he is stressing the laws of hospitality. He is pointing out vividly that he has taken the men under his protection and has a sacred duty therefore to protect them, as the men of Sodom know well. Under the laws of hospitality he has an even greater duty to them than to his daughters. He is desperately using every method to stem the wave of bestial feeling that has gripped the town. Lot has no illusions about what his fellow-citizens want to do but he is doing what he can. Yet if you live among, and compromise with, totally evil people, but do not become totally evil yourself, you can be sure that one day they will turn against you. And so this point is proved true.
9 And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.
Some simply tell him to get out of the way, but others begin to bring up the racial factor, and then the moral factor. Lot is not really one of us, they say. He just lives among us. (The previous day they may well have thought differently, but such are men hot after sin). Now he is setting up his standards against ours. This foreigner is setting himself up as our judge. It is interesting to note how even evil men try to persuade their consciences that what they are doing is right. This is their way, they say, and who has the right to criticize their rights?
His reputation among them is now in tatters. Lot is no longer a fellow-citizen but an alien, and therefore a fair target for their evil ways. They will abuse him first, “Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they will turn to the other two guests.
10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
The door opens sufficiently for Lot to be dragged in to safety by the men within. Through them the hands of YHWH reach out to protect him.
11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
Then the angels smote all these predators with blindness. It is interesting to me that even with the loss of their eyesight these men still were trying to find the door to get at Lot and the two angels. Our Lord Jesus mentions how deep sin is in the heart of people when He stated in Matthew’s gospel chapter 5, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
12 Then the men said to 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! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
Lot is offered the opportunity to save any who are related to him. His behavior has earned them a reprieve. ‘This place’, which is repeated twice, has a unique new meaning. Sodom has lost its identity. It is no longer even consider an actual city anymore.
The truth is now out - ‘YHWH has sent us to destroy it.’ Although the visit of the angels did give Sodom a last chance, the ‘huge cry’ that had previously arisen from it had really decided its fate. Now its fate is made known to Lot, and he becomes aware that these are no ordinary strangers. They are here to arrange the destruction of Sodom.
There are times in history when God cries ‘enough!’. The Flood was one such. Here is another. Later the exile will be a third. And after the resurrection of Jesus Jerusalem will be the fourth. Sin contaminates, and grows, and spreads and then becomes all pervasive - and then our Holy and Righteous God acts.
14 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.
There is a lot of speculation going on regarding how many daughters were Lot’s. Many claim that the two daughters in his house are the ones being spoken about. They were engaged yet they had not yet cohabited with a man (verse 8), so that if they are the daughters in mind any marriage is clearly not yet finalized. However, based on the way these two girls act when they are with Lord hiding in the mountains and the way the whole city had degraded to no moral values.
I believe that Lot had two other daughters as indicated that Lot went to their places and instructed them of the upcoming destruction of the city - - 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;
They looked on his words as a huge joke. This is a lesson for all of us to take to heart. When you mix with the evil lives of others when it comes time to stand for the Lord, people look at you like you are nuts. By attempting to fit in with others you wind up never displaying to them that you belong to the Lord.
Some of the citizens of Sodom might have had felt that Lot was a little narrow minded with his belief in this strange God. Now he had gone over the top. If you compromise your religion and make family associations with those who do not believe as you do, you lose your credibility.
15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 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.
Lot was still not sure. If you had two daughters even though they were married and refused to listen to you and you knew destruction was going to hit how you would feel just leaving them behind. Would you hesitate to just leave or stay and hope for a different solution?
Our Holy God YHWH had mercy on him and gave him the correct solution. He would not leave him to die. The angels took the family forcibly to the outside of the city. And there YHWH Himself speaks to him. The change from ‘they’ to ‘he’, as in chapter 18, demonstrates a moment of revealing. Now YHWH Himself takes over Lot’s fate.
17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”
The ‘he’ has been prepared for by the phrase ‘YHWH being merciful to him’. He is now directly aware of the voice of YHWH. Lot now knows he is not just dealing with angels. YHWH Himself is involved. The message is clear. The whole plain of Jordan is to be destroyed.
18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! 19 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. 20 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.”
We must remember Lot’s state of mind. He is not thinking straight. Events have overwhelmed him. He cannot bear the thought of going anywhere else to live. He has grown used to civilization. He forgets that if YHWH has protected him up to now He can continue to protect him. All his assurance has gone.
So, even though Lot knows that Sodom will be destroyed he still wants to live in the city environment. So he bargains to live in another city.
The angels are still standing there, but they have been joined by YHWH. This time Lot’s ‘my Lord’ carries its full implication. He is speaking to the Lord of all the earth. It is significant that the judgment on Sodom is in the angels’ sphere, but the deliverance of Lot in accordance with God’s covenant with Abraham is YHWH’s concern.
21 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. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
YHWH’s patience is boundless. Just one small family and yet for Abraham’s sake He delays His judgment until that family is safe, (sadly with one exception). Because of Abraham and his intercession He will not act until then. He grants Lot the concession he pleads for. So does He show to Abraham that He is prepared to spare a city for the sake of a small group of the ‘righteous’.
23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
The possibility from the description is that we are to see here volcanic action. But we are to recognize that it had been restrained by YHWH until that very moment. Another strongly suggested alternative is that of a tectonic earthquake resulting in the release of inflammable gases, asphalt and petroleum, ignited by the heat. It may have resulted in the expansion of the Dead Sea at the Southern end. The Dead Sea area is today rich in deposits of asphalt and sulphur. There are references in later extra-Biblical literature to some kind of disaster in this area.
The suggestion that ‘and Gomorrah’ is a later addition overlooks the fact that Sodom is being centered on because of the presence of Lot, and that they are regularly seen as a pairing such as what we read in chapter 13: 10. In fact the whole Plain of Jordan clearly comes under judgment. YHWH knows the true condition of all the inhabitants. Lot was the exceptional feature that required testing.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
This verse increases the tragedy for Lot and warns against complacency. His wife was possibly a native Sodomite and could not bear to leave her home and family. As they hurry on she lingers behind, refusing to stay with them, and perhaps even turns back to return to her family home (‘looked back’ is a euphemism. It is not to be taken strictly but as signifying a heart that looks back resulting in further action). She does not believe YHWH and she does not want to leave her people. We are to understand that Sodom is still in her heart for YHWH allows it to happen. He knows the thoughts of the heart. Had she been like Lot she would have been spared for Abraham’s sake. Whatever the case her delay means that she is caught in the conflagration and is overwhelmed by a deluge of bitumen.
27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.
Abraham was anxious to see what would happen. How many righteous people were in the plain cities? Possibly seeing a unearthly glow in the sky startled him and he then realized that something dreadful had happened, although probably at the same time he was half expecting it. He rose early in the morning and made his way to the mount where he had spoken with YHWH and there he looked down on the desolation below. What he saw was like a great furnace with smoke billowing up to the heavens.
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
In all His dealings God remembers those who are faithful to Him - ‘God remembered Abraham’. and His actions ever have them in mind. In the end it was because of His love for Abraham that Lot was delivered. Lot owed Abraham more than he ever knew. But the use of the name ‘God’ suggests that especially in mind is Abraham’s intercession before ‘the Judge of all the earth’. We are assured that the Judge bore in mind his pleas and his arguments and acted accordingly.
By choosing the well-watered Circle of Jordan with little regard for the consequences and the fact that it was outside the land chosen by YHWH for His people, resulting first in being taken prisoner by the five kings, and then in his gradual absorption into the life of Sodom, Lot has taken the path that led to his own impoverishment. His future now is bleak.
He finds himself with nothing, and with nowhere to go. That his choices have resulted in the lowering of his daughters’ morals comes out in the following verses. And yet he is not entirely forsaken. From his seed will come fruitfulness, nations will be descended from him.
30 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.
Lot’s sorry state is emphasized. He is traumatized with what has happened, and it is clear that the devastation was so much beyond what he was expecting that he no longer has any confidence in where he settles. Who knows whether Zoar will be next? He dare not risk it. YHWH was right after all. There is only one place of safety, and that is in the mountains.
We must not underestimate the tumult in Lot’s mind. He is not thinking straightly. Had he been he would have fled to his uncle. But he is totally devastated. He may also have been too proud to admit his mistakes. “He dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters’, describing how low he has sunk. He had chosen ‘civilization’, but there was no civilization for him now. And his daughters had sunk with him.
31 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.
The despair and dreadful condition the girls are in comes out here. They have seen the destruction. They have seen all that they have known violently destroyed. Possibly they were not welcomed in Zoar but seen as bringing the curse on Sodom and Gomorrah with them. They are traumatized. We must not judge their behavior as normal. They feel that no one will want to have anything to do with them after this. They feel alone and deserted.
32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”
This is an act of desperation. They feel totally estranged from the world outside. Yet the importance of seed to keep the family in being becomes the one thing that totally absorbs their minds. It takes possession of them above all else. The firstborn has one fixation, to have a child, and she persuades her sister to think in the same way. Her tortured mind sees it as the only means of hope.
33 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. 34 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.” 35 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.
The sorry incident brings out their state of mind and the fact that they had something of Sodom in them. Gladly do we learn that Lot knew nothing of the matter at all? He was probably glad to drink himself into unconsciousness, and never dreamed what his daughters were up to. But depression, and desperation and despair drove them to it.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 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.
Moab mean ‘of his father’. In her depressed condition she has a fierce pride that she has begotten a man from her father. Ben-ammi means ‘son of my kinship’. The younger sister too exults in bearing seed to her father, although not quite so blatantly
