Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #50 of Genesis, chapter 19. We are going to read Genesis 19:32-36:

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.

In our last study, we were noting how wrong this whole thing was and how it was based upon an erroneous assumption that there were no other men in the earth. Because of where we are in time in God’s program of times and seasons as we are living on the earth in the Day of Judgment, we can read this passage that takes place after the fire and brimstone had destroyed four of the five cities of the plain and we can see the spiritual meaning for the first time. It could never have been previously understood because it would not have made sense. It did not fit with the church age or even the Great Tribulation period. It is happening after the fire and brimstone. But it does fit with what we have learned in the Bible about this time: God has ended His salvation program and He has stopped saving sinners. If He has stopped saving sinners, it means there is no one becoming born again and, therefore, there are no “children,” spiritually speaking, that are coming to life. Like a child is born of his mother and enters into the world, when God would save someone that person would be born again into the kingdom of God. The individual would have new spiritual life and would be very much like a young child. Just read the Epistle of 1John, where God addresses the true elect of God as “little children.”

Lot’s daughters desired “little children.” You know, we must put “two and two together.” It is not as though they wanted children at just any time, but they desired children right after Sodom and Gomorrah had been destroyed. The smoke was probably still billowing in the sky and the fire was probably burning in some places, but they are planning for children. Here is what they said about these children, in Genesis 19:32:

Come, let us make our father drink wine…

And, remember, the wine did not magically appear out of thin air. It had to have come with them, either from Zoar or from Sodom. Even if it came from Zoar, where did Zoar get it? Very likely, they would have gotten it from a bigger city. Zoar was just a little city and they would have looked to the cities around them for merchandise and produce, like fruits and vegetables. It is probable that they did not pick up the wine in Zoar, but it was an item they packed from their own house in Sodom. They grabbed a bottle of wine that was of the “vine of Sodom” or of the “fields of Gomorrah,” as we saw in Deuteronomy 32:32-33 where God likened the vine of Sodom and the fields of Gomorrah to that which is poisonous, a false gospel or a false doctrine.

This is exactly what is in view, as Lot’s two daughters are a picture of (professed) true believers that came out of the churches. They did not go back to Sodom and they did not look back, like their mother did. They were giving every appearance of being true believers. They almost “went the distance” before they made their deadly and horrible mistake. But they had come so far. And we could say that about many people that had come so far with us. They had listened to faithful teaching coming from Family Radio as taught by Mr. Camping for many years. You know, we must be careful – remember King Joash who became a king at age eight. He did right all the days of Jehoiada the priest. But then Jehoiada died at aged 130, pointing to the 13,000th year of earth’s history and the judgment that came upon the churches. Jehoiada was a picture of the Holy Spirit that operated in the midst of the congregations, but when Jehoiada was no longer present, King Joash did evil. He even arranged for the assassination of Zechariah, a prophet, that was a descendant of Jehoiada and he was slain between the temple and the altar. That tells us that someone can do right according to God’s commandments as long as there is someone keeping them in check. Of course, that does point to the Holy Spirit, but it also had an earthly application. While the man Jehoiada was alive, they did right. For whatever reason, while he was alive, they followed him, but not God. They followed him a good way and he was a faithful teacher and it gave every appearance that they were following God.

And, yet, when God took the faithful man out of the way, like he took Mr. Camping out of the way, and then He lit the spiritual fire upon the whole earth to put everyone to the test, these people no longer have that individual they liked and followed. Now they are on their own and the true condition of their hearts began to surface as they are being tested. Did they really understand right doctrine, like the faith of Christ, the Sunday Sabbath, or Christ atoning for sin at the foundation of the world? Did they truly understand the doctrine God graciously opened regarding annihilation and God’s correction of the doctrine of Hell? Did they truly understand that there was no eternal place called Hell where people would be tormented forever? Did they truly understand the spiritual judgment that commenced at house of God and where God would judge the churches and congregations? Did they truly understand the Biblical calendar of history that locked in that date of May 21, 2011, even after our physical eyes saw nothing happen on that date? Did they truly understand any of these things with “ears to hear” and “eyes to see” and did they hear the voice of Christ? Or, were these people just following a teacher?

You know, there is nothing wrong with following a teacher. I teach the Bible and I am glad that people listen and follow along, but, of course, people must check out what the teacher is teaching. Then we are no longer following a teacher, but we are following the Word of God. As long as he is a faithful teacher, people can be directed in the right way.

But there was always that charge and accusation from some people: “You are just following Mr. Camping and whatever he says.” So, God put it to the test in this Day of Judgment. He set the stage perfectly for this kind of test. Mr. Camping was ill for a time, following his stroke, and then he died. What about these people that seemed to be following an individual or were they truly following him only insofar as he followed Christ? And now many continue to follow the Lord, looking to the Bible and waiting upon God, but we are finding that some people were not truly following the Lord. We can see their “sloppiness” and carelessness with the Word of God and their lack of “hearing” God and His doctrines. Some have gone back to Reformed teachings, rather than the things that God kindly and graciously revealed about salvation through the faith of Christ, not faith in Christ. Some have turned back, and they think they have discovered something because they found a couple of Reformed people that use “heady language” to work around the idea of faith. The way some of these Reformed people lay it all out, God’s people will go away without having received spiritual nourishment because it is all “fluff.” It is all intellectual language that is designed to sound dramatic, as though it was being laid out by a brilliant mind, but God’s brilliant mind is the only mind we want to hear. And the Bible was written from that brilliant, infinite mind of God. When we compare Scripture with Scripture, it reveals the brilliant mind and teaching of God. We do not need theologians that devise all their theological words and terms. It is amazing. They develop their own language and anyone listening must go to them and ask, “What does this theological term mean?” They are the “keepers of the key,” as it were. No – we do not need that. We do not need to go to man as a translator or interpreter of the Word of God. God the Holy Spirit is the interpreter and translator of the spiritual language of the Bible, and as we compare spiritual with spiritual, the Holy Ghost teaches.

You see, Lot’s two daughters picture these poor souls. And I do feel sorry for those that came so far down the right path and, seemingly, understood much truth, but only to falter at the end. They were so close to the finish line and the last day and time of exaltation as we receive our new spiritual bodies and the new heaven and new earth and all the promises of God. It is right there before us as we go to the “mountain.” And, yet, I think God reserved the most difficult “test” for that. We have heard of the best wine that was saved for the last, as God did that in saving the great multitude at the end of the Great Tribulation. But He has also reserved the most difficult test of them all for these days. Every test from God is a doctrinal matter. Typically, it involves the Lord opening up a truth, especially at this time of the end. He opened up the truth about when sin was paid for (at the foundation of the world) and His people could see it in the Bible in places like Revelation 13:8 or Hebrews 4:3. We accept these statements as a matter of fact and our eyes are now open to it. But there are some that just do not see it. They were traveling along with us, but they got to that difficult doctrine and they just cannot go any further. For some, it was the difficult doctrine about *“Hell”8 not being a literal place; for others, it was the judgment on the churches; and, for others, it was the doctrine of the faith of Christ. For many people, the “sticking point” was the spiritual judgment that took place on May 21, 2011. Then they said, “That is enough. I have had enough.”

Certainly, for a great number of people, it was the doctrine of the shut door (of heaven) and there being no more “children,” spiritually. There is no more salvation. As Lot’s daughters said, “This is horrible! Who will come in unto us after the manner of all the earth? We have to do something!” So, they came up with the plan: “We will get our father to drink wine to preserve seed unto our father.” It sounds holy. It sounds justifiable to them, as if it was a good thing they wanted to do, but it was all ugly sin.

It is also ugly sin when we hear some people say, “Oh, you no-salvation people!” It almost sounds like a political statement. They try to say this as often as possible because they understand that it is not a good thing – it is an evil thing. After all, it is part of Judgment Day and Judgment Day is the “evil day.” It is a grievous thing that God has shut the door and ended His salvation program. From their point of view, it is awful. But, if we look on the flip side of that, it is a wonderful that God has completed His salvation program and He has saved everyone that was to become saved whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We can give thanks to God and lift up our voices to praise His name for what He has done.

But, again, they are just trying to make a point to make your opponent look “bad.” We must keep in mind that these are natural-minded people and that is how they think and how they operate. It is a basic instinct for them. But the child of God is operating to please the Lord and to declare the truth. That is not the focus of the unsaved. It must be understood that a (professed) true believer that is not truly elect of God is not operating to please God and his desire is not to serve God; he does not have a born-again heart and soul. Therefore, these things that he says are coming forth from an evil heart of unbelief, no matter what he may say out of one side of his mouth. If he is not in obedience to what God is revealing at the time of the end, he is in rebellion against God and he is revealing the character and condition of his heart. So, this professed true believer’s focus is not to glorify God, but he has a gospel that he is insisting upon and it must remain as what he had “signed up for.” He had received it in the past, but now he will not allow God to make a change. This was the problem with these people as God opened up truths in due seasons. For some, they signed up for a gospel that had a place called “Hell.” They signed up for a gospel where Christ paid for sins in 33 A.D. They signed up for a gospel where you must exercise belief in Christ to become saved, or some other variation of that. But, you see, they signed up for these things and they are angry that we are saying something different, because it is not what they signed up for.

For the elect true believer, the one thing we signed up for was to obey God in everything and to do the will of God, even if God’s will changes with His change in “times and seasons.” If it was God’s will for us to go to church during the church age, we say, “Very well, Lord.” If it is God’s will that we stop going to the churches at the end of the church age, we respond, “You are God. It is your will that must be done, not my will.” If it was God’s will to save the great multitude during that little season of the Latter Rain, we rejoice. If it was God’s will to shut the door on the day that He declared to all the world in an unparalleled manner, then we accept it. This was done in a way that billions of people would hear it – it was not “done in a corner.” He did it very openly and very publicly. He declared it would be the day He would shut the door. When He followed through in shutting the door, His true elect said, “Very well, Lord.” You see, we are not God. We are humble and lowly servants. We are little, tiny finite creatures that happen to be recipients of this wonderful grace in salvation that God has bestowed upon certain ones. Who are we to talk back to Him and say that our wisdom is greater? How can we act “holier than thou” and say we will not have a salvation program that would end on a specific day and then allow much time to pass during which no one can become saved? These people will even say it is nonsensical, ridiculous or unreasonable. This is because they are using natural reasoning. They are using their own minds. I am sure there would be many that would have talked back to God if He had come to them and asked them to walk “barefoot and naked” for three years, as was commanded Isaiah. How reasonable was that? How much sense did it make for God to ask Isaiah to walk naked and barefoot? How reasonable was it for God to make Abraham wait decades to have a son and then when he did have a son, God asked him to take his only son Isaac and offer him for a burnt offering? You can see how our own understanding and reasoning would fall short, time and again, with what God has declared in His Word, the Bible. God warns us to trust in JEHOVAH with all our hearts and to lean not upon our own understanding.

And that is what Lot’s daughters are doing as they lean on their own understanding. They have faltered at the end with a final test. They failed as they turned to their own understanding, rather than trusting in JEHOVAH. We trust in JEHOVAH when we trust in the Bible, and only the Bible. We must trust in this holy book.

Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study, we will continue to look at Lot’s two daughters.