Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 19:27 - 20:7
Modern advertising presents alcohol as a pleasant social experience. I suppose there is some truth to that. Social drinking can be relaxing, and facilitate friendship and congeniality. However, alcohol also has a dark side, and today’s passage illustrates the danger of alcohol.
The 19th chapter of Genesis records the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin of those cities was exceedingly grave, so Yahweh sent two angels to destroy it. The angels sent Lot and his family out of the city before the destruction, but Lot’s wife looked back, despite having been told not to look back, and turned into a pillar of salt. Then fire and brimstone fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
Gen. 19:27 ¶ Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Yahweh;
Gen. 19:28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.
Gen. 19:29 ¶ Thus it happened, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
Look at the words “remembered Abraham”. Before Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Abraham had asked Yahweh to spare Sodom if 10 righteous people were found within it. Abraham requested the reprieve because he knew Lot resided there. The two angels did not find 10 righteous people, so the city was destroyed, but Yahweh “remembered Abraham” and spared Lot from the destruction.
This teaches us the potential we have for helping those we love. Abraham loved Lot, he asked Yahweh to spare Lot, and Yahweh did so. Likewise, we should not underestimate the potential we have for helping our loved ones by praying for them and asking God to help them.
Gen. 19:30 ¶ And Lot went up from Zoar and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.
Gen. 19:31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth.
Gen. 19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our seed through our father.”
This is reprehensible to us in the 21st century, and rightly so. It is incest. On the other hand, it is understandable why Lot’s daughters resorted to this.
First, they did not have the Bible, so they didn’t have a written description of right and wrong; thus, they didn’t have a strong reason not to do this. Second, daily life in their society required a lot of physical exertion just to have food to eat every day. They needed a man to provide food and protect them. Since they were living in a cave and had no interaction with society, they had no hope of ever getting married, having a husband to provide and protect, and having sons who would take care of them in their old age. This is an illustration of the expression “desperate times call for desperate measures”.
Gen. 19:33 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
Notice the phrase “he did not know”. Lot’s daughters got him drunk, and then he had no idea what was happening.
Modern advertising presents alcohol as a pleasant social experience. I suppose there is some truth to that. Social drinking can be relaxing, and facilitate friendship and congeniality.
Alcohol also has a dark side, and this story about Lot illustrates the danger of alcohol. When you start to drink, you start to lose control. The more you drink, the more control you lose. Eventually, you get to the point you don’t remember anything.
Alcohol can be wielded as a weapon. Just as Lot’s daughters used alcohol to get their father to do what they wanted, so too if someone offers you a drink, and then another, and then another, they are probably using alcohol as a weapon to manipulate, abuse, or compromise you.
The Bible does not prohibit the consumption of alcohol. It prohibits drunkenness, but does not require total abstinence. However, if you choose not to completely abstain from alcohol, be aware that alcohol can be wielded as a weapon by people who don’t necessarily have your best interests in mind.
Gen. 19:34 Now it happened on the following day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our seed through our father.”
Gen. 19:35 So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
Gen. 19:36 Thus both the daughters of Lot conceived by their father.
The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened when Lot found out his daughters were pregnant. Did they tell Lot he was the father? If so, did he believe them? Since he had gotten drunk, he had no way of knowing if he was responsible or not. This again illustrates the dangers of alcohol. If you get so drunk you don’t know what you are doing, then you are at the mercy of other people to tell you what you did.
Gen. 19:37 And the firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
Gen. 19:38 As for the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.
Gen. 20:1 ¶ And Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in Gerar.
Gen. 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
Gen. 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.”
Gen. 20:4 (Now Abimelech had not come near her.) Then he said, “Lord, will You kill a nation, even though righteous?
Gen. 20:5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself also said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”
Gen. 20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Indeed, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also held you back from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
Gen. 20:7 So now, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”
Modern advertising presents alcohol as a pleasant social experience. I suppose there is some truth to that, but alcohol also has a dark side, and this story about Lot illustrates that.
When you start to drink, you start to lose control. Alcohol can be wielded as a weapon to manipulate, abuse, or compromise. If you get so drunk you don’t remember what you are doing, then afterwards you are at the mercy of other people to tell you what you did.
The Bible prohibits drunkenness, but it does not require total abstinence from alcohol. However, if you choose not to completely abstain from alcohol, be aware that alcohol can be wielded as a weapon by people who don’t necessarily have your best interests in mind.
What are modern day examples of the dangers of getting drunk?
What are the pros and cons of choosing to totally abstain from the consumption of alcohol?
How does today’s passage change how you look at drinking?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”