Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #46 of Genesis, chapter 19. We are going to read Genesis 19:30-38:

And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. nd the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

We are beginning to look at this very strange and, yet, true, historical account in the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and how all this impacted Lot and his two daughters.

Last time we discussed how God is using this very interesting and significant passage to teach us about our present time. For instance, the chapter could have ended with the falling fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain, with Lot being spared. Then the Lord could have told us about Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt. Then He could have told us that Abraham got up early in the morning, as we read in Genesis 19:28-29:

And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. 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 the which Lot dwelt.

God could have ended the chapter right there. It would have been a beautiful ending, would it not? God remembered Abraham and He spared Lot alive. It was a wonderful story at that point and, yet, we go on to read in verses 30 through 38 about the historical situation after the destruction, with some very strange goings-on. Why does God tell us about Lot and his two daughters going to the mountain? Perhaps, as I mentioned, the important spiritual truth is that God is teaching us about the time after the Day of Judgment has begun on the earth wherein the elect are still to go to the Bible; the “mountain” ties in with God’s Word. We will look at those verse in a couple of minutes.

Lot feared to go the mountain and the account could have ended with Lot going to the mountain and dwelling there, but it does not end that way. Instead, we read some very disturbing things. God tells us of the firstborn daughter’s plan to get her father drunk and lie with him to conceive a child by him. Then she told her sister, the younger daughter, to do the same. They both became with child and gave birth.

Then the chapter ends, and we go on to Genesis 20 and we never read about Lot, historically, again. We do not read about his two daughters. We do not read about the two boys until much later when we are told about the nations of Moab and Ammon. So, what is the purpose of going in to this detail and why does it take place right after the fire and brimstone has fallen? The reason is that it has everything to do with this time we are living in, the Day of Judgment. I admit it is very unusual and I admit it is difficult to see what it has to with our time. What does incest between father and daughters have to do with our time? What can we learn from it? This is one of the passages in the Bible that has been the most difficult for me, personally, to understand. Yes – it may be understandable to some degree that the two daughters did what they did, but that is just on the historical level.

However, I have never seen anyone lay down the spiritual meaning of this passage, as we are going to do, Lord willing, but that is because no one could have understood it even during the time of the Great Tribulation. It relates to the Day of Judgment and it is only because of our vantage point as we continue to live as children of God in this world that we can come to understand it spiritually.

Again, let us look at Genesis 19:30:

And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain…

Let us turn to some familiar verses. (There are probably some that are hearing these verses for the first time.) It says in Matthew 24:15-16:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

We have learned that the “abomination of desolation” is Satan. God loosed Satan and turned the corporate churches into his hand and Satan ruled there as the “man of sin.” Satan took his seat there and began to reign in the churches and congregations during the 23 years of the Great Tribulation. When God says, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation…stand in the holy place,” this happens when we are given spiritual understanding of it in the Bible. This did not happen until the time of the end when the Lord took the seals off the Bible, and then, as we compared Scripture with Scripture at that time, we learned that the “abomination of desolation” could only be Satan; we learned that the “holy place” and “Judea” were references to the corporate church. Therefore, when He said, “Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains,” it was a commandment that let us know it was time to leave the churches and to go to the kingdom of God.

The only way an elect child of God that is alive physically in this world can go to the kingdom of God is to go to the Bible, because the Bible completely identifies with God and His kingdom. Therefore, this statement was a commandment on a spiritual level. We should not deceive ourselves by thinking it is a “lesser commandment.” It is not. In fact, a spiritual commandment is often a greater commandment than the physical aspects of a command, like, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” or “Thou shalt not kill.” The spiritual aspects of these commands carry heavy weight, like spiritual adultery or like spiritual murder. (Spiritual murder would be driving God’s people out of the congregations.) Everything in the Bible has deeper, spiritual meaning and it carries equal or greater significance than the surface commandment, if there was a surface commandment. So, when God gives a command in the spiritual realm, we must obey. In the case of Matthew 24, it is not a “surface command” because God was not talking to Jews that lived in Judaea. When this command was written, God was almost finished with Israel. Once Christ went to the cross, the veil of the temple would be rent in twain and the Lord’s focus was no longer on the nation of Israel; they would no longer be the outward representation of the kingdom of God. But His focus in Matthew 24 was answering His disciples question about the sign of His coming and the end of the world. All these things relate to the time of the end, so the literal land of Judaea (Israel) has nothing to do with God’s end time program, other than the fact that they would become a nation again (1948) at a very interesting point in history.

We also read of “mountains” in Psalm 125:1-2:

They that trust in JEHOVAH shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so JEHOVAH is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

We are to flee to the mountain and there we will find God. But, again, in this world where can you find God? Where does God speak to you? He certainly will not speak audibly and break the barrier of the supernatural, so you cannot go to any literal “holy mountain” in this world to have a religious experience of meeting God and hearing His voice. That is foolishness. It is not possible. The only way to flee to God and “hear His voice” is to go to the Word of God, the Bible.

This is what is in view as Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain. Why did he do so? We were told that he feared to dwell in Zoar. He was seeing devastation all around him and the “smoke” was probably making life in Zoar unbearable, so it caused him to fear. He certainly would have remembered what he was told in Genesis 19:17-21:

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

This would have been fresh in his mind. This word “feared” is very important. How does a child of God express the “fear of the Lord,” for example? How does someone that has become saved show forth the fear of JEHOVAH? Remember what it says in Proverbs 3:7:

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear JEHOVAH, and depart from evil.

We are to fear God and depart from evil; that is, we are to do the will of God and keep His commandments. To do evil is to break God’s commandments, but to “depart from evil” and to “fear JEHOVAH” would mean that we no longer wish to do wrong and transgress, but we want to do the Lord’s commandments. It must be pointed out that Lot did not transgress the Law of God by going to Zoar. He asked God’s permission and God gave it, so we should not think of this as a sinful act. It was a picture of salvation and it would point to the great multitude that became saved, but what are they to do in the “tribulation” that takes places after Judgment Day has begun? It is the same thing that God’s people did during the time of the Great Tribulation when judgment was on the churches; we were to flee to the mountains. If you remember, some people like to use Zoar as representing fellowships and that idea is ridiculous. But the true situation was that God had used Zoar as a city of refuge and all in Zoar were delivered.

We also read in Ecclesiastes 12:13:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

The word translated as “matter” is the word “daw-bawr,” which means “word,” so this would point to the whole Word of God, the Bible. How do we fear God? We keep His commandments. When people trod the commandments underfoot and do their own thing, they are not fearing God. The unsaved have no fear of God because they do as they wish. They fulfill their sinful hearts’ desires, but God’s people fear God and, therefore, we have an ongoing desire to do the will of God.

So, Lot is recalling the command to flee to the mountains. That was what he wanted to do, because he feared the Lord. Again, this points to God’s people at this time and we are not to go back to the churches. I do not think the Lord could have given a more frightening illustration than turning Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt to warn against “looking back.” Therefore, what we want to do is to go to the Bible and continue in the Word of God. Continue fleeing to that “mountain.” Continue searching the Scriptures and waiting upon God, and so forth. That is why Lot went to the mountain.

I want to look at one other verse regarding “fear.” It says in Exodus 14:30-31:

Thus JEHOVAH saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which JEHOVAH did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared JEHOVAH, and believed JEHOVAH, and his servant Moses.

This was the aftermath of the destruction of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army as they drowned in the Red Sea. After this miraculous event in which God fought for His people and destroyed the enemy, the Israelites saw the work that God did as they witnessed all the dead bodies and they feared JEHOVAH. You see, when there has been a powerful display of the wrath of God, there is a very appropriate response to “fear JEHOVAH.” And Lot had witnessed a very vivid demonstration of the power of the wrath of God as God destroyed the cities of the plain and spared Lot and his daughters and the other occupants of the little city Zoar. It would have been a frightful thing, and a very fitting response would be to fear JEHOVAH; that is, there would be a renewed attitude to zealously do the will of God, even more than before.

This should be the mindset and the inner drive of God’s people that remain on this earth after we have “seen” the wrath of God. We must get away from the idea that we have not “seen” something unless we have seen it with our physical eyes. That is the physical realm, but God’s people see with eyes of faith. Moses was able to endure because he “saw” Him who is invisible, as it says in Hebrews 11:27:

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

If you only read the Bible literally and physically, this is impossible because you cannot “see” what is invisible; the definition of “invisible” is that you cannot see it. How do we endure to the end, as all of God’s people will do? It is by “seeing” Him who is invisible and by “seeing” the truth that God has given us in the Bible. We will endure whatever comes by the Spirit, power and grace of God that works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. He will keep us through these evil days until that last day. In a real way, it will all be a result of enduring, “as seeing him who is invisible.”

Faith is the substance of things hoped for. And, this, too, seems like a contradiction because faith has no substance in a physical world. But the Bible says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Yes – Lot saw the physical destruction and he acted appropriately in response to what he had witnessed. And we, the people of God, have “seen” a horrible end time destruction, wherein God first destroyed the corporate church with as many as two billion souls; then He transitioned that judgment to all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth, and which has destroyed about seven billion souls, for all intents and purposes. We have “seen” this destruction and we are witnesses to it in the spiritual realm. Again, the spiritual realm is not a “lesser realm,” but a great realm. It is the only realm that will endure into eternity future. The physical realm that the world puts so much stock in is fleeting and temporal and will soon give way to the greater eternal spiritual realm. Therefore, it is not a lesser thing to see that which is invisible. It is a wonderfully great thing and God is granting us grace by giving us spiritual eyesight to behold truths that have taken place: God has shut the door of heaven and ended His salvation program. God is judging the inhabitants of the world.

Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study, we will pick up this theme and continue to look at this very interesting passage in Genesis 19.