This is one of those stories that leaves me scratching my head. Really? There’s something like this in the Bible? But it is here, and we can’t just sweep it under the rug because it rubs us wrong. Maybe I don’t understand why it’s here. There is always a lesson to be learned and a truth to be revealed in Scripture.
In our last reading, we saw how Lot and his daughters were rescued from the destruction of Sodom, a sexually permissive town. They were able to take refuge, temporarily, in the town of Zoar. We’re not told why Lot was afraid of the people there, but he took his girls and went to live in a cave. Now, one might ask, why didn’t he return to Uncle Abraham? That would certainly have been a better option than a cave. But that’s not how the story goes.
The surprising part happens when his daughters devise a plan. They apparently don’t see a lot of options for marriage and keeping the family line going there in the cave. For some reason, they thought it was a more permanent arrangement.
You might also wonder what Lot was thinking! He’s kept his girls safe, but hiding them away isn’t the answer. Do we often do that to protect ourselves from perceived harm? Do we put up walls around our heart to keep from being hurt? Think about a time when you avoided a situation you thought may cause pain.
So, the girls get themselves pregnant by their father. I know times were different, and cultural differences also exist, but incest isn’t God’s plan for us. This passage does not portray it in a favorable light – or why would they have had to get their father drunk so he wouldn’t know?
The story is also a means to an end. We hear that the offspring, both Lot’s sons and grandsons, become the fathers of nations on the east side of the Jordan. The Moabites and Ammonites became two of Israel’s biggest enemies. We will hear later how these nations were known for their immorality, and the story of their origin helps explain that.
Here again, the girls took it upon themselves to try and fix a situation. Like Sarah enlisting the help of Hagar, these girls had a plan, too. Was it God’s plan? Nonetheless, he used it and history was written based upon the outcome.
What does that say for us? As we look back on our own lives, we can see where we have taken things into our own hands and had a certain outcome. I think of my first marriage and divorce. I never intended to be divorced, but then I should never have married my first husband. I had made a wrong choice, not one that God would have had me make. And yet, God used it and blessed it. From it, I have learned lessons and been able to help other women I would not have been able to help otherwise. As we said in Celebrate Recovery, “God never wastes a hurt.”
Let’s pray. Father God, I come to you today a bit perplexed but understand this story was a means to an end. Nobody is perfect, and you can use our imperfections for beauty. You can take a situation and make it right. Out of the incest of these two girls, nations were born, and from those nations came a woman in the lineage of Jesus. Beauty from ashes. Thank you for being ever present with me. Guide my every step this day and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
