Audio Messages:
Pastor Wade Burleson

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Escape from Hell: A Picture (Part VII)
Hell on Earth

Genesis64.mp3 (11.6 MB)

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Genesis 19:30-38 (KJV)

30. 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.
31. 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:
32. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. 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.
36. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
37. And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
38. 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 have seen in our study of Genesis 19 the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by the fire of God's judgment. Lot and his two daughters take leave of Zoar and move to the mountain. Josephus in "Antiquities" says this place was En Gedi. They believe the world has ended. Some say the girls are innocent of any wrongdoing with their father because:

1. "There is not a man on the earth" (v.31) gives evidence of their despair for humanity.
2. "That we may preserve the seed of our father" (v.32) some say speaks of the Messiah.
3. (She) "called him Moab . . . and Ben-ammi" (v.37-38). The two names of the boys are "son of my father" ("Moab"ba) and "son of my people" meaning they were proud.

1. No matter the purity of one's heart, some actions by nature are immoral.
   Have you ever heard anyone ever justify adultery by saying, "But it just feels so right"? Or how about the person who breaks the law and steals in order to help the poor? There comes a time when, without hope, one must rest in God's providence. My boys and I saw John Q, a Denzel Washington film, about an unstable father who takes a hospital's emergency room hostage after he's told they can't give his son the heart transplant he needs because of insurance problems. John Q is not really a hero at all. "Every moment comes to you pregnant with a Divine Purpose" Fulton Sheen.
2. No matter the righteousness of one's character, God's people can still fail.
   We cannot conclude that Lot is a "wicked" or "reprobate" man, because Scripture is quite clear regarding him, "Lot (is) just" (II Peter 2:7), and this is seen in Sodom.
   1. Past success does not guarantee future victory . . . A person may successfully resist the temptations of yesterday, as Lot did in Sodom, only to fall today. As it is written "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Proverbs 3:34).
   2. Only those who realize their own frailty are real helpers . . . "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be overtaken" (Galatians 6:1).
3. No matter the awfulness of one's sin, God can use the pain for ultimate good.
   We will never call sin itself good. You can't do it. It's too evil, too painful, and too hurtful. But God can take our grossest failures and bring beauty from them. Moab -- the father of the Moabites. These people plagued the nation of Israel. "Eglon, the King of Moab, gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek and went out and smote Israel!" (Judges 3:12,13). This was true for a millennium. "We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. This is not so" C.S. Lewis.
   Only God takes our mistakes and uses them for our ultimate good and His glory. Ruth is a "Moabite." Ruth is the grandmother of David -- the Messiah's lineage.

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