Wicked Women: Lot's Wife And Daughters

How often do we see in the Bible examples of godly individuals who married outside their faith and got caught up in the pagan lifestyle? In today’s episode of All God’s Women we look at Lot’s wife and daughters. Though the Bible tells us Lot was a righteous man, it doesn’t appear he passed along his faith to his family.

The Story of Lot’s Wife and Daughters

Lot chose to live in the wicked city of Sodom. While there, he met and married a pagan woman, and they had two daughters. We know from Abraham’s conversation with God in Genesis 18 that though Sodom was a bustling city, ten righteous individuals could not be found. Because of the vile corruption, God chose to destroy the city and all within it, but spared Lot and his family.

Two angels entered the city gates, and Lot invited them to lodge at his home. He prepared a feast for them, but before they could go to sleep for the night, the men of Sodom showed up at Lot’s door, insisting he release the angels so that they might have their way with them.

Lot refused their demands, offering up instead his unmarried daughters. He actually says to them, “I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.” (Genesis 19:8 NKJV)

I can’t even read that without tearing up. What kind of father offers up his own daughters to be tortured and abused? This was a righteous man?

But the crowd of men outside weren’t interested in Lot’s daughters. Instead, they tried to attack Lot. The angels pulled Lot to safety and struck the men at the doorway with blindness until they gave up their fight.

The angels told Lot to gather up any family and get them out of the city. So Lot went to the men betrothed to his daughters, explained the situation, and urged them to leave the city. But they just laughed and didn’t take him seriously.

Morning came and Lot and his family were still in the city. The angels urged them to hurry. They told Lot to take his wife and daughters out of the city, but they lingered, so the angels, being merciful, grabbed them each by the hand and set them outside of the city.

The angels gave them explicit directions.

“Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” (Genesis 19:17 NKJV)

Even in the face of life and death, Lot sought a compromise. He asked if they might instead stop at a small town in the plain called Zoar. The angels agreed, but told them to hurry, for they wouldn’t destroy Sodom until Lot and his family was safe in Zoar.

They got to Zoar, and as the sun rose in the sky, the Lord sent down fire and brimstone from the heavens and destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land surrounding them.

Then, in Genesis 19:26, we’re told that Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Oh, if only that were the end of the story, but it gets worse.

Lot and his daughters moved to the mountains to live, but Lot’s daughters were not content living in a cave with their father.

They were given a chance to start over with a new life, but this was not the future they had planned for themselves. Their fiances were dead. They had no new prospects in the near future. And they probably weren’t too happy with their father.

The oldest girl came up with a plan. She pointed out to the younger daughter that their father was old and “there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth.” (Genesis 19:31 NKJV)

She presented a plan to get their father drunk so that they might lie with him and preserve the lineage of their father.

After she did it, they did it again with the younger daughter, and both daughters got pregnant.

The two sons they bore fathered the Moabites and the Ammonites, two nations who went on to corrupt the Israelites by introducing them to the most vile false gods and idol worship.

The Failure of Lot’s Wife and Daughters

Honestly, I feel sorry for Lot’s wife and daughters. The only life they knew was the wicked life of Sodom. Though Lot was said to be a righteous man, we see no evidence that he passed on his faith to his family. Did his wife and daughters know God? Did they understand that he had something far better to offer them than what they’d experienced thus far?

All they knew was the pagan life of Sodom. But God, in his mercy, provided an opportunity for them to start afresh. He could have left them to die along with the other Sodomites. Instead, he gave them advance warning of what was to come and rescued them from a fiery death. Unfortunately, they failed to appreciate the blessing that was bestowed on them.

Lot’s wife followed him out of the city, but then when she realized what was happening to her hometown, she looked back. It was a simple act, one any of us might have been guilty of. But God had warned them. He told them to get away and not look back lest they be destroyed. She looked back.

Mrs. Lot had an opportunity to leave behind the vile wickedness, but it had a hold on her. As bad as it was, she was still clinging to it.

Lot’s daughters, however; theirs is a different story. They left behind the only life they’d ever known, but they brought along the depravity of their upbringing.

In their eyes, there was no promise of hope in their future. All they saw was a life of living in a mountain cave with a man who had been willing to forsake his flesh and blood in order to protect strangers. Imagine how hurt they must have felt by his actions. Understandably, they likely held great resentment towards him for not only his unthinkable behavior in offering them up for abuse, but then also his taking them away from their betrothed.

Thought it wasn’t Lot’s fault that the fiances refused to follow, I’m sure the girls held him responsible regardless.

Lot’s daughters had no idea what God had in store for them. All they could see was the foreseeable future, and it looked bleak. So they took matters into their own hands.

They justified in their minds that they were providing a service to their father by preserving his lineage. What a distorted and perverted mindset, but isn’t that the way it is with sin? The more we’re exposed to sin, the more callous we become. We lose sight of what is truly right and wrong and instead do what seems right in our own eyes with no regard to its effects on others.

What Can We Learn From Lot’s Wife and Daughters?

Whether you were raised in a godly home or an ungodly environment, you hold in your hands the power to decide for yourself if you’re going to follow God or follow the world. Though others may have let us down and disappointed us, we don’t have to abide by their lax morals.

God, in his infinite mercy and grace, offers us new life. We can leave behind the old sinful world and enter into abundant life with our Lord.

God doesn’t care what you’ve done in the past. He is much more concerned with your future than your failures. He has an amazing future planned for you, but you have to be willing to leave behind your old life and trust him to provide for you in a way that only he can do.

The world pulls on us and tries to drag us down. But God is stronger than the world. If we keep your eyes on him, he will life up out of the dark pits and into the light.

Prayer

Lord God, we live in a time of such darkness. We read about the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, and yet, our world today is just as bad. We deserve death, but you give us life. Lord, in the days ahead as the darkness seeks to overtake us, hold onto us. Give us strength and endurance. Guide us. Protect us. Forgive us when we’re tempted to look back or go astray. Grab us and lead us in the way of life rather than death. We love you so very much. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.