Genesis 19:30-38 "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. 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: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. 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."
When God first told Lot to take his family and flee from Sodom, He told Lot to flee into the mountain. Lot did not trust the word of the LORD completely. He expressed to God that he was afraid to flee into the mountain. He did not count God able to preserve his life there (Genesis 19:17-20).
Lot was afraid to let go completely of the plain where he had dwelled. He wanted to hold on to “just a little” (Genesis 19:20) of the life he had known. Does this sound familiar? How many times in our life have we tried to bargain to hold on to just a “little” of the life that the Holy Spirit has told us to abandon so that we might serve God more fully? As I read this, I hear Paul’s teaching again that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (Galatians 5:9).”
God allowed Lot to flee into that “little,” but his life there did not last. Although we are not given any details, Lot became afraid to dwell any longer in the little city. Lot ended up in the mountain where God told him to go to begin with. Lot and his two daughters were living in a cave in the mountain. Apparently, this was preferable to dwelling in a house in the city of Zoar, which God had spared for Lot’s sake.
We will never know what the outcome might have been if Lot had obeyed God to begin with and fled first to the mountain. What we do know is that the iniquity that Lot’s family had been exposed to in Sodom was still present in the lives of his daughters. They conspired together to commit incest with their father, Lot. Out of this conspiracy sprang two of the nation of Israel’s greatest enemies, the Moabites, and the Ammonites.
Still, we also see the providential hand of God at work in spite of men’s transgressions and disobedience. Out of the land of Moab came a woman named Ruth, who was faithful and righteous. She eventually married an Israelite named Boaz. Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed who was the grandfather of David. King David was in the direct lineage of Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah.
Beloved, when it looks like everything around you is being destroyed, trust God. When he tells you to flee the life you have known, trust God. Remember that He does not need your help to accomplish His will. Know that He will always bring His purposes to fruition. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:6)!