Lot’s Breeding
With Questions and Proposed Answers
Background and Printed Text: Genesis 19:30-38
30And Lot ascended from Zoar (Little). And he dwelt in the mountain. And two of his daughters are with him. For he feared to dwell in Zoar. And He dwelt in a cave─he and two of his daughters.
31And the firstborn said unto the little, “Our father is old. And a man is not in the land to come unto us according to the way of all the land. 32Go. We will make our father drink wine. And we have lain with him. And we have kept seed alive from our father.”
33And they made their father drink wine in that night. And the firstborn came. And she lay with her father. And he did not know when she lay and when she arose.
34And it was tomorrow. And the firstborn said unto the little, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. We will make him drink wine also tonight. And come. Lie with him. And we have kept seed alive from our father.”
35And they made their father drink wine also in that night. And the little arose. And she lay with him. And he did not know when she lay and when she arose.
36And the two daughters of Lot conceived from their father. 37And the firstborn bare a son. And she called his name Mo-Av (‘Moab’, meaning From-Father). He is the father of Moab unto today. 38And the little [feminine], also he, bare a son. And she called his name Ben-Ami (Son-of-my-People). He is the father of the sons of Amon unto today.
I. Lot’s Realization (verse 30)
Lot saw what happened to Sodom, Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim, and to his wife. He knew that the city of Zoar was no better. Yehovah had spared the city for his sake, but that did not mean that He would spare it forever. This was not a safe place to live. The mountains made more sense—the very mountains that the angel had mentioned in the first place. Lot and his daughters moved to those very desolate mountains. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.
Questions
1. Where is the land (in today’s countries) in which Lot settled? The country is called Jordan; it is on the other side of the Jordan River. (See a map of the Middle East to find this long, small country.)
2. Was Lot wise to move out of Zoar? He was wise. He didn’t need to live in a place that he knew Yehovah might destroy.
3. Was Lot a caveman? Yes, he was, since that is a man who lives in a cave!
II. The Plan (verses 31-32)
Lot’s older daughter saw where they lived. There were no men. Without men, they couldn’t have children. The older daughter desired to preserve the seed of her father. She didn’t desire their lineage to end.
She knew that her father was relaxed by wine—relaxed to a point that he would not remember what had taken place. She also knew that he would drink wine if they asked him to do so. After he was intoxicated, they would have sexual intercourse with him. They would try for pregnancy.
Questions
1. Was the plan of the daughters sinful? No. There was no commandment against incest at that time. There must be a command before there can be a violation. Sin is always a violation.
2. Was the plan of the daughters selfish? No. They cared about their father’s lineage. They knew they would have to do much work to raise food for a family, to clothe the children, and to do the very hard tasks that parents must do for the sake of children, and they would be doing all that without the help of men except for Lot.
3. Did they need to plot to get Lot drunk to do this, or would Lot have been willing without being drunk? They knew that their father would not have been willing to do this (even if there was no commandment), so they had to plot to accomplish this.
III. Genetic Preservation (verses 33-36)
The plan went fine, and their father didn’t know when they lay down or when they arose. The next day, the older sister told her sister that it was her turn. Again, everything went as planned.
Later, they both found that they were pregnant. Their plan had perfectly worked.
Questions
1. Did Yehovah approve of their plan? The two women became pregnant on the first try. Yehovah never spoke against the plan or its results. The Bible doesn’t state that Yehovah approved, and it doesn’t state that He didn’t approve. It only shows Yehovah’s participation indirectly: by giving them both conceptions on the first try. Yehovah also made certain that they all lived.
2. Is sexual intercourse between parents and their children allowed today? No. Yehovah commanded against it. It is called incest, and it has very bad consequences. Yehovah only commands against actions that will have very bad consequences.
Some girl children are raped by their own fathers. The girl children grow up thinking that they were somehow responsible for this, when they weren’t. Fathers who do this should be put to death. First, they are committing adultery; secondly, they are committing rape; and thirdly, they are committing incest. Children involved with incest will often possess wrong thinking about relationships, and will have a very difficult time with regular, good relationships. They also get the wrong impression about Yehovah in whose image they are made, and they see God as very bad.
Lot’s daughters thought that they had to do what they did to keep the race from their father from going extinct.
IV. Two Sons (verses 37-38)
The older sister had a son, and she named him From-The-Father (Moab). She had no intention of hiding the source of his birth. Her sister also had a son, and she named him similarly—Son-of-My-People (Benammi). His offspring became known as the Ammonites.
Questions
1. Were the daughters of Lot ashamed of what they did? No, they were not ashamed. They made it a matter of public record by setting the events in their sons’ names.
2. What book of the Bible is dedicated to a woman who is a descendent of Lot? It is the Book of Ruth. Ruth was a Moabitess; she is in the lineage of Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah of Israel!