So, where was God?

LOT’S DAUGHTERS

                  

                        This week we have seen flood devastation in Libya, just one of frequent disasters of our times. Do you realise the Bible contains a several disaster stories? Lot's daughters experienced such a catastrophic event.........

Lot, the prominent citizen, sat at the city gate as merchants traveled through Sodom. Under the city walls, the town officials conducted legal transactions and announced the latest news. Two strangers entered and Lot arose to welcome them, bowing to the ground as he fulfilled his civic duty.

Many years ago, his Uncle Abraham had offered Lot land. He selected the fertile Jordan plains, the site of five cities, and pitched his tent near Sodom, where he married and moved into in the city. The streets buzzed with vibrancy, sumptuous food, and brothels, and it was ripe for trade. But Lot had one regret. No-one shared his love for God. Sodom’s lasciviousness grieved this upright model citizen, but he performed his civic duties and provided for his family. What more could anyone expect of him? In the recent past, Sodom had suffered the ravages of war, but once again, Uncle Abraham had rescued Lot and delivered the king of Sodom from his enemies.  

 

In this colorful city, Lot raised his daughters. The Bible draws a curtain over Lot’s parental style, but his work must have occupied his time. Social status and material success rated high on his list of achievements, and daughters were a lower priority. He had preserved their virginity and when they married, his duty would be fulfilled. After all, he had arranged their nuptials.

 

Lot was hospitable and aware of his social responsibilities. He invited God’s angels, disguised as men, to stay at his home. Despite their initial refusal, he insisted, because crime flourished at night in Sodom. They accompanied him to his house, and he prepared a meal.

Out on the streets, rumors spread fast. The strangers in town were prey with whom a wild gay crowd could satiate their lust. From their perspective, Lot was a foreigner who had curried the favor of the officials, and they resented him since he had resisted their lifestyle. The homosexual mob circled the house and demanded Lot send the men (angels) outside.

  

Lot was no coward. He stepped out to confront the malicious horde. It was better to appease these violent, sex-crazed men regardless of the personal cost, and heterosexual relations were preferable to homosexuality. If he sacrificed his daughters to these characters, he would allay a full scale riot. Lot’s home was a haven in Sodom and who knew if public opinion would condemn him if he allowed violation against foreign visitors?

 

The mob surged forward, squashing Lot, and threatening to rape him, as they tried to break into his house. The angelic visitors seized him, slammed the door shut, struck the mob with blindness, and left them groping in darkness.

 

“Do you have any family living nearby? God has heard the outcry against this wicked city, and he is about to destroy it.”

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“Yes, my future sons-in-law.”

 

  Lot rushed to warn these young men with whom he’d shared jovial moments. They laughed at him. Had Lot ‘cried wolf’ in the past, and it had amounted to nought? But he wasn’t joking. Lot warned them of imminent danger.

 

They scorned Lot’s tales of doom. If Sodom was a prosperous city surrounded by substantial walls, what was the danger?

   As the sun rose over the horizon, the angels insisted Lot, his wife and daughters, must flee to the mountains. Lot hesitated. Sodom was his home, and these visitors were begging him to leave behind his career, extended family, and friends. The men seized his hand, his wife and daughters, and led them to safety outside the walls.

 

   “Flee, and don’t look back! If you stop on the plains, you will be swept away.”

 

Ever the gentleman, Lot thanked them for their rescue, but fear overwhelmed him. If the disaster was immediate, they would never reach the mountains.

 

  “Let me flee to Zoar!”

 

   The men agreed to save the tiny settlement, a nearby town. As the sun rose over the plain, the Lord poured burning sulfur over Sodom and Gomorrah, and the acrid smell of rotten eggs and a massive pall of dense black smoke plumed over the entire plain. Lot’s wife turned to gaze at the destruction, but the sulfur slammed into her body and solidified her into a salty pillar.

Lot was traumatized. If the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, what would he do to Zoar? He took his daughters and fled to the mountains. With nowhere else to live, they sheltered in a cave.

 

Lot had lost his business, his wife, and his home. His life was in tatters, and all that remained were his two daughters, two worldly wise young women who had lost both their mother, their marriage prospects, and the chance of motherhood. There was no future in the mountains. Who could they marry? Since their father was a devout worshipper of God, he would never consent to sleeping with them.

What should a woman do when a man disagrees with her solution to a problem? She hatches a scheme behind his back.

 

     Did Lot enjoy his wine? He had enjoyed the good life and alcoholic beverages would have enlivened the Sodom functions he had attended. His daughters knew his love for a good drop. They would lift his spirits and entice him to bed.

 

   After two separate nights of heavy drinking and carousing, Lot remained ignorant of their schemes. I imagine he suffered from two colossal hangovers and slept long after the sun had risen. But his daughters were pregnant. Some nine months later, they gave birth to boys and named them Moab and Ben-Ammi. The Moabites and the Ammonites were a source of conflict for the Israelites, but when Israel marched into the promised land, God reserved territory for the Ammonites and forbade Israel from engaging them in battle. Four hundred years later, a young Moabite woman would become the great grandmother of King David. Her name was Ruth.

 

So, where was God?

 

Lot was a self-made man. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be.” Lot was righteous, and while he grieved over Sodom, he was unprepared to sacrifice his lifestyle without a fight. Modern society shares similarities with Sodom. In any major city, you will find an active red-light district and society regards promiscuity as a rite of passage for young people. Homosexuality is legal and society considers those who adhere to Christian marriage principles or celibacy are fogies of a repressive past.

 

 Lot’s daughters were products of their generation. Lot preached righteousness, lived by Christian principles, but failed to walk in close communication with God. We cannot avoid unhealthy elements of society impinging on our lives. Theologians think Lot’s wife was came from Sodom. If true, his daughters were raised under her influence. From their world view, their incestuous behavior justified the means. A small price for a child?

 

As Christian women, is God’s guidance paramount, and do we teach our children to pray? Do our children respect our faith and are we examples they wish to emulate? Is our relationship with Jesus more than more important than our possessions or our careers? How may we establish boundaries which protect us? It is too easy to compromise our faith.

 

   God was in Sodom caring for Lot and his family. The Lord had warned Abraham, God’s friend, and Lot’s uncle of its destruction, and the patriarch had pleaded with God to rescue Lot. His wife lost her life, not because God abandoned her, but because her fear blinded her trust in God. Satan uses fear as a weapon to rob our faith and blind our Christian perspective.

    Flashback to Abraham, who waited twenty-five years for fatherhood. He taught his son, Issac, to worship God and trust in God’s provision. The Bible records his prayer life, but not that of Lot. God was merciful to Lot’s daughters. Jesus’ heritage included Ruth the Moabitess.

  While Lot had chosen the pleasures of sin, God preserved his life and maintained his heritage. We may fail the Lord, but we cannot destroy his sovereign plans. He may let us suffer the consequences of our actions, but he stands ready to rescue and forgive us. His mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness.

 

© Janet Crawshaw 2023