A Daily Genesis
Genesis 19:31-38
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, 12-11-2015 at 08:12 PM (1108 Views)
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[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 19:31 . . And the older one said to the younger: Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to consort with us in the way of all the world.[/B]
It's doubtful the girls meant the whole planet was void of men; probably just the region where their cave was. It was isolated and lonely; and the nearest cities where they might have met men were either now gone or simply unsuitable for polite society and the girls' fertile years were passing and they still didn't have any children of their own to show for it.
Poor things. With no television, or radio, or newspapers, they had no way of knowing what was going on elsewhere in the world or where to go for help. Ironically; hardly fifty miles from there, right across the valley, was Abraham's camp. He had at least four hundred men mature enough to go to war-- and certainly many more than that who would just love to meet Lot's girls. But for some reason the lasses didn't think of them.
You know who else was in Abraham's camp? Ms. Hagar. She could have taken Lot's girls under her wing and encouraged them with her story of how 'Ataah 'Eel R'iy, named her baby and took an interest in her problems. She could have taught the girls how to pray and put their hopes in Yhvh's providence. Pity. Rescue and safety were so close at hand, but the girls had no way of knowing it.
Some people have assumed that Lots daughters were very young because Lot had said back in Gen 19:8 that they had not known a man. Duh. Look where they lived. Sodom. Those girls were in grave danger of becoming old maids in that city. Other of Lots daughters were married, but apparently, there just wasn't enough normal men to go around.
Its interesting that the girls seemed to think that oedipal relations weren't a bad thing, which is no doubt because of their upbringing in a society that apparently thought nothing of it.
[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 19:32 . . Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, that we may maintain life through our father.[/B]
It's certainly to Lot's credit that he would never approve of their plan while sober. We might wonder what they were doing with wine. Of all the things to take with them, why that? Well; it was part of their first-aid kit. In those days, wine was an essential; and not just for boozing it up. (e.g. Luke 10:34, and 1Tim 5:23)
It's amazing that some people have actually accused recently-widowed Lot of raping his own daughters. Webster's defines rape as: forceful sexual intercourse with a woman by a man without her consent. The element of force is missing in this event; and the girls were certainly consenting since the whole sordid affair was their own idea. You know whose consent is missing? Lot's. This is clearly a case of male rape if ever there was one.
Then there are others who attempt to invalidate the truthfulness of the narrative by claiming a man Lot's age couldn't possibly breed two nights in a row. Maybe in our own day that might be true for some men, but in Lot's day men were a lot more virile than they are now. Jacob had to accommodate four women in his home, often on consecutive nights; and he was well over seventy-five years old at the time.
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[COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 19:33 . .That night they made their father drink wine, and the older one went in and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she rose.[/B]
Well now; there's something about the birds and bees that isn't widely taught in high school Health classes. It's actually possible for women to rape men because the male reproductive system can be stimulated to function even when men don't even think about it. Those parts of a man's body pretty much have a mind of their own, so to speak, and it's not impossible for even men with no feelings below the neck to father children. Apparently, the male reproductive system has a back-up control center separate from the brain down low on the spine somewhere. I recall reading about that in either Discover or Scientific American, but can't remember the specifics.
[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 19:34-38 . .The next day the older one said to the younger: See, I lay with Father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go and lie with him, that we may maintain life through our father. That night also they made their father drink wine, and the younger one went and lay with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she rose.[/B]
[B]. . .Thus the two daughters of Lot came to be with child by their father. The older one bore a son and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. And the younger also bore a son, and she called him Ben-ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.[/B]
The Ammonites' and the Moabites' land overlapped somewhat. Ammon's land was more or less between the Arnon and the Jabbok rivers. The center of it would be just about where the modern cities of Madaba and 'Amman exist today.
At this point, Lot's life disappears from the pages of Bible history. His death and burial aren't recorded; nor any more of his exploits. The lives of Lot's daughters disappear from the pages of Scripture too. Just think. They came from a wealthy, privileged family and ended up foraging and surviving practically like human wildlife all because their dad and mom just had to live in Sodom; a place whose morals totally vexed Lot, yet he chose to raise his family there anyway (2Pet 2:6-8).
Christ's grandmother Ruth was a Moabite woman; ergo: Christ was genetically related to Abraham's nephew just as much as he was related to Abraham. However, in the Bible, the fathers determine a male child's tribal identity rather than the mothers so you won't find Lot in Christ's genealogies because the official line to him is through Isaac.
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