Twisted Sisters


30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today. Genesis 19:30-38

After seeing the utter destruction of two cities, Lot’s daughters believe there would be no men left for them to further their father’s line, so they get him blindingly drunk on two separate nights. Not only had Lot and his wife strayed far from the truth by going to and living in Sodom and Gomorrah, but those beliefs were passed down to the daughters.

Who was to blame here, the father or the daughters? I suggest that both were responsible in different ways.

The daughters, like their Aunt Sarah, thought it was appropriate to take God’s will into their own hands. They must have learned from their parents that the parental lineage was king, so to speak. They were probably taught to believe that maintaining the family lineage (end) was justfied by their sordid actions (the means).

On the other hand, no one forced Lot to drink until he couldn’t remember anything…twice. No one forced him to go to Sodom and Gomorrah in the first place, and he hesitated leaving even when destruction of the two cities was imminent.

The resulting two sons were a thron in Israel’s throughout its history. We can glean any number of takeaways from these verses:

  • Getting blinding drunk is wrong
  • Enticing your parent to get drunk is wrong
  • Incest it horrible and leads to no good
  • Be very careful what you model to your children because they are always watching. If they see it’s okay for you to compromise and cut corners; they’ll compromise and cut corners.
  • Lastly, we see very clearly that actions have consequences.

The New Testament tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:11: “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction.”

If we learn nothing else from this passage, learn this: don’t follow them as role models and do what they do. It just leads to bad things.


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