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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XIX.
The contents of this chapter we have,
where we find
that “God, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into
ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, and delivered just
Lot.” It is the history of Sodom’s ruin, and Lot’s rescue from
that ruin. We read
of God’s coming to take a view
of the present state of Sodom, what its wickedness was, and
what righteous persons there were in it: now here we have the
result of that enquiry.
I. It was found, upon trial, that Lot was
very good
(ver. 1-3),
and it did not appear that there was any
more of the same character.
II. It was found that the Sodomites
were very wicked and vile,
III. Special care was therefore
taken for the securing of Lot and his family, in a place of
safety,
IV. Mercy having rejoiced therein, justice
shows itself in the ruin of Sodom and the death of Lot’s wife
(ver. 24-26),
with a general repetition of the story,
V. A foul sin that Lot was guilty of, in committing incest
with his two daughters,
&c.
| Assault on the House of Lot. | B. C. 1898. |
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1 And there came two angels to
Sodom at even; and Lot sat
in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing
them rose up to meet them; and he
bowed himself with his face toward
the ground;
2 And he said, Behold
now, my lords, turn in, I pray you,
into your servant’s house, and tarry
all night, and wash your feet, and ye
shall rise up early, and go on your
ways. And they said, Nay; but we
will abide in the street all night.
3 And he pressed upon them greatly;
and they turned in unto him, and entered
into his house; and he made
them a feast, and did bake unleavened
bread, and they did eat.
These angels, it is likely, were two of the
three that had just before been with Abraham,
the two created angels that were sent to
execute God’s purpose concerning Sodom.
Observe here,
1. There was but one good
man in Sodom, and these heavenly messengers
soon found him out. Wherever we are,
we should enquire out those of the place that
live in the fear of God, and should choose to
associate ourselves with them.
Enquire who is worthy, and there abide. Those
of the same country, when they are in a
foreign country, love to be together.
2. Lot sufficiently distinguished himself from the
rest of his neighbours, at this time, which
plainly set a mark upon him. He that did
not act like the rest must not fare like the
rest.
(1.) Lot sat in the gate of Sodom at
even. When the rest, it is likely, were tippling
and drinking, he sat alone, waiting for
an opportunity to do good.
(2.) He was extremely respectful to men whose mien
and aspect were sober and serious, though
they did not come in state. He bowed himself
to the ground, when he met them, as if,
upon the first view, he discerned something
divine in them.
(3.) He was hospitable, and
very free and generous in his invitations and
entertainments. He courted these strangers
to his house, and to the best accommodations
he had, and gave them all the evidences that
he could of his sincerity; for,
[1.] When the
angels, to try whether he was hearty in the
invitation, declined the acceptance of it, at
first (which is the common usage of modesty,
and no reproach at all to truth and honesty),
their refusal did not make him more importunate;
for he pressed upon them greatly
(v. 3),
partly because he would by no means have
them to expose themselves to the inconveniences
and perils of lodging in the street of
Sodom, and partly because he was desirous
of their company and converse. He had not
seen two such honest faces in Sodom this
great while. Note, Those that live in bad
places should know how to value the society
of those that are wise and good, and earnestly
desire it.
[2.] When the angels accepted
his invitation, he treated them nobly; he
made a feast for them, and thought it well-bestowed
on such guests. Note, Good
people should be (with prudence) generous
people.
4 But before they lay down, the
men of the city, even the men of Sodom,
compassed the house round,
both old and young, all the people
from every quarter:
5 And they
called unto Lot, and said unto him,
Where are the men which came in to
thee this night? bring them out unto
us, that we may know them.
6 And
Lot went out at the door unto them,
and shut the door after him,
7 And
said, I pray you, brethren, do not so
wickedly.
8 Behold now, I have two
daughters which have not known man;
let me, I pray you, bring them out
unto you, and do ye to them as is
good in your eyes: only unto these
men do nothing; for therefore came
they under the shadow of my roof.
9 And they said, Stand back. And
they said again, This one fellow
came in to sojourn, and he will needs
be a judge: now will we deal worse
with thee, than with them. And
they pressed sore upon the man, even
Lot, and came near to break the
door.
10 But the men put forth their
hand, and pulled Lot into the house to
them, and shut to the door.
11 And
they smote the men that were at the
door of the house with blindness, both
small and great: so that they wearied
themselves to find the door.
Now it appeared, beyond contradiction,
that the cry of Sodom was no louder than
there was cause for. This night’s work was
enough to fill the measure. For we find here,
I. That they were all wicked,
v. 4.
Wickedness had become universal, and they were
unanimous in any vile design. Here were
old and young, and all from every quarter,
engaged in this riot; the old were not
past it, and the young had soon come up to
it. Either they had no magistrates to keep
the peace, and protect the peaceable, or their
magistrates were themselves aiding and abetting.
Note, When the disease of sin has
become epidemical, it is fatal to any place,
II. That they had arrived at the highest
pitch of wickedness; they were sinners before
the Lord exceedingly
(ch. xiii. 13);
for,
1. It
was the most unnatural and abominable
wickedness that they were now set upon, a
sin that still bears their name, and is called
Sodomy. They were carried headlong by
those vile affections
which are worse than brutish, and the eternal
reproach of the human nature, and which
cannot be thought of without horror by those
that have the least spark of virtue and any
remains of natural light and conscience.
Note, Those that allow themselves in unnatural
uncleanness are marked for the vengeance
of eternal fire. See
2. They
were not ashamed to own it, and to prosecute
their design by force and arms. The practice
would have been bad enough if it had been
carried on by intrigue and wheedling; but
they proclaimed war with virtue, and bade open
defiance to it. Hence daring sinners are said
to declare their sin as Sodom,
Isa. iii. 9.
Note,
Those that have become impudent in sin
generally prove impenitent in sin; and it will
be their ruin. Those have hard hearts indeed
that sin with a high hand,
3. When Lot interposed, with all the mildness
imaginable, to check the rage and fury of
their lust, they were most insolently rude and
abusive to him. He ventured himself among
them,
v. 6.
He spoke civilly to them, called
them brethren
(v. 7),
and begged of them
not to do so wickedly; and, being greatly
disturbed at their vile attempt, he unadvisedly
and unjustifiably offered to prostitute his two
daughters to them,
v. 8.
It is true, of two
evils we must choose the less; but of two
sins we must choose neither, nor ever do
evil that good may come of it. He reasoned
with them, pleaded the laws of hospitality
and the protection of his house which his
guests were entitled to; but he might as well
have offered reason to a roaring lion and a
raging bear as to these head-strong sinners,
who were governed only by lust and passion.
Lot’s arguing with them does but exasperate
them; and, to complete their wickedness,
and fill up the measure of it, they fall foul
upon him.
(1.) They ridicule him, charge him
with the absurdity of pretending to be a magistrate,
when he was not so much as a free-man
of their city,
v. 9.
Note, It is common for a
reprover to be unjustly upbraided as a usurper;
and, while offering the kindness of a
friend, to be charged with assuming the
authority of a judge: as if a man might not
speak reason without taking too much upon
him.
(2.) They threaten him, and lay violent
hands upon him; and the good man is in
danger of being pulled in pieces by this outrageous
rabble. Note,
[1.] Those that hate
to be reformed hate those that reprove them,
though with ever so much tenderness. Presumptuous
sinners do by their consciences
as the Sodomites did by Lot, baffle their
checks, stifle their accusations, press hard
upon them, till they have seared them and
quite stopped their mouths, and so made
themselves ripe for ruin.
[2.] Abuses offered
to God’s messengers and to faithful reprovers
soon fill the measure of a people’s wickedness,
and bring destruction without remedy.
See
and
If reproofs remedy not, there is no remedy.
See
III. That nothing less than the power of
an angel could save a good man out of their
wicked hands. It was now past dispute
what Sodom’s character was and what course
must be taken with it, and therefore the
angels immediately give a specimen of what
they further intended.
1. They rescue Lot,
Note, He that watereth shall be
watered also himself. Lot was solicitous to
protect them, and now they take effectual
care for his safety, in return for his kindness.
Note further, Angels are employed for the
special preservation of those that expose
themselves to danger by well-doing. The
saints, at death, are pulled like Lot into a
house of perfect safety, and the door shut for
ever against those that pursue them.
2. They
chastise the insolence of the Sodomites: They
smote them with blindness,
v. 11.
This was
designed,
(1.) To put an end to their
attempt, and disable them from pursuing it.
Justly were those struck blind who had been
deaf to reason. Violent persecutors are often
infatuated so that they cannot push on their
malicious designs against God’s messengers,
Yet these Sodomites, after
they were struck blind, continued seeking the
door, to break it down, till they were tired.
No judgments will, of themselves, change
the corrupt natures and purposes of wicked
men. If their minds had not been blinded
as well as their bodies, they would have said,
as the magicians, This is the finger of God,
and would have submitted.
(2.) It was to
be an earnest of their utter ruin, the next day.
When God, in a way of righteous judgment,
blinds men, their condition is already desperate,
| Rescue of Lot out of Sodom. | B. C. 1898. |
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12 And the men said unto Lot,
Hast thou here any besides? son in
law, and thy sons, and thy daughters,
and whatsoever thou hast in the city,
bring them out of this place:
13 For
we will destroy this place, because
the cry of them is waxen great before
the face of the LORD; and the LORD
hath sent us to destroy it.
14 And
Lot went out, and spake unto his
sons in law, which married his daughters,
and said, Up, get you out of this
place; for the LORD will destroy this
city. But he seemed as one that
mocked unto his sons in law.
We have here the preparation for Lot’s
deliverance.
I. Notice is given him of the approach of
Sodom’s ruin: We will destroy this place,
v. 13.
Note, The holy angels are ministers
of God’s wrath for the destruction of sinners,
as well as of his mercy for the preservation
and deliverance of his people. In this
sense, the good angels become evil angels,
Ps. lxxviii. 49.
II. He is directed to give notice to his
friends and relations, that they, it they would,
might be saved with him
(v. 12):
“Hast
thou here any besides, that thou art concerned
for? If thou hast, go tell them what is
coming.” Now this implies,
1. The command
of a great duty, which was to do all he could
for the salvation of those about him, to snatch
them as brands out of the fire. Note, Those
who through grace are themselves delivered
out of a sinful state should do what they can
for the deliverance of others, especially their
relations.
2. The offer of great favour. They
do not ask whether he knew any righteous
ones in the city fit to be spared: no, they
knew there were none; but they ask what
relations he had there, that, whether righteous
or unrighteous, they might be saved with
him. Note, Bad people often fare the better
in this world for the sake of their good relations.
It is good being akin to a godly man.
III. He applies himself accordingly to his
sons-in-law,
Observe,
1. The fair
warning that Lot gave them: Up, get you
out of this place. The manner of expression
is startling and quickening. It was no time
to trifle when the destruction was just at the
door. They had not forty days to repent in,
as the Ninevites had. Now or never they
must make their escape. At midnight this
cry was made. Such as this is our call to the
unconverted, to turn and live.
2. The slight
they put upon this warning: He seemed to
them as one that mocked. They thought,
perhaps, that the assault which the Sodomites
had just now made upon his house had disturbed
his head, and put him into such a
fright that he knew not what he said; or
they thought that he was not in earnest with
them. Those who lived a merry life, and made
a jest of everything, made a jest of this warning,
and so they perished in the overthrow.
Thus many who are warned of the misery
and danger they are in by sin make a light
matter of it, and think their ministers do but
jest with them; such will perish with their
blood upon their own heads.
15 And when the morning arose,
then the angels hastened Lot, saying,
Arise, take thy wife, and thy two
daughters, which are here; lest thou
be consumed in the iniquity of the
city.
16 And while he lingered, the
men laid hold upon his hand, and
upon the hand of his wife, and upon
the hand of his two daughters; the
LORD being merciful unto him: and
they brought him forth, and set him
without the city.
17 And it came to
pass, when they had brought them
forth abroad, that he said, Escape for
thy life; look not behind thee, neither
stay thou in all the plain; escape to
the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not
so, my Lord:
19 Behold now, thy
servant hath found grace in thy sight,
and thou hast magnified thy mercy,
which thou hast showed unto me in
saving my life; and I cannot escape
to the mountain, lest some evil
take me, and I die:
20 Behold now,
this city is near to flee unto, and it is
a little one: Oh, let me escape thither,
(is it not a little one?) and my soul
shall live.
21 And he said unto him,
See, I have accepted thee concerning
this thing also, that I will not overthrow
this city, for the which thou
hast spoken.
22 Haste thee, escape
thither; for I cannot do any thing
till thou be come thither. Therefore
the name of the city was called Zoar.
23 The sun was risen upon the earth
when Lot entered into Zoar.
Here is,
I. The rescue of Lot out of Sodom.
Though there were not ten righteous
men in Sodom, for whose sakes it might
be spared, yet that one righteous man that
was among them delivered his own soul,
Early in the morning his
own guests, in kindness to him, turned him
out of doors, and his family with him,
His daughters that were married perished
with their unbelieving husbands; but those
that continued with him were preserved with
him. Observe,
1. With what a gracious violence Lot was
brought out of Sodom,
It seems,
though he did not make a jest of the warning
given, as his sons-in-law did, yet he lingered,
he trifled, he did not make so much haste as
the case required. Thus many that are under
some convictions about the misery of their
spiritual state, and the necessity of a change,
yet defer that needful work, and foolishly
linger. Lot did so, and it might have been
fatal to him it the angels had not laid hold of
his hand, and brought him forth, and saved
him with fear,
Herein it is said,
The Lord was merciful to him; otherwise he
might justly have left him to perish, since he
was so loth to depart. Note,
(1.) The salvation
of the most righteous men must be
attributed to God’s mercy, not to their own
merit. We are saved by grace.
(2.) God’s
power also must be acknowledged in the
bringing of souls out of a sinful state. If
God had not brought us forth, we had never
come forth.
(3.) If God had not been merciful
to us, our lingering had been our ruin.
2. With what a gracious vehemence he
was urged to make the best of his way, when
he was brought forth,
v. 17.
(1.) He must
still apprehend himself in danger of being
consumed, and be quickened by the law of
self-preservation to flee for his life. Note,
A holy fear and trembling are found necessary
to the working out of our salvation.
(2.) He must therefore mind his business
with the utmost care and diligence. He must
not hanker after Sodom: Look not behind thee.
He must not loiter by the way: Stay not in
the plain; for it would all be made one
dead sea. He must not take up short of the
place of refuge appointed him: Escape to the
mountain. Such as these are the commands
given to those who through grace are delivered
out of a sinful state.
[1.] Return not
to sin and Satan, for that is looking back to
Sodom.
[2.] Rest not in self and the world,
for that is staying in the plain. And,
[3.] Reach towards Christ and heaven, for that is
escaping to the mountain, short of which we
must not take up.
II. The fixing of a place of refuge for him.
The mountain was first appointed for him to
flee to, but,
1. He begged for a city of refuge,
one of the five that lay together, called Bela,
ch. xiv. 2, xix. 18-20.
It was Lot’s weakness to
think a city of his own choosing safer than
the mountain of God’s appointing. And he
argued against himself when he pleaded,
Thou hast magnified thy mercy in saving my
life, and I cannot escape to the mountain; for
could not he that plucked him out of Sodom,
when he lingered, carry him safely to the
mountain, though he began to tire? Could
not he that saved him from greater evils save
him from the less? He insists much in his
petition upon the smallness of the place: It
is a little one, it is not? therefore, it was to
be hoped, not so bad as the rest. This gave
a new name to the place; it was called Zoar,
a little one. Intercessions for little ones are
worthy to be remembered.
2. God granted
him his request, though there was much
infirmity in it,
See what favour
God showed to a true saint, though weak.
(1.) Zoar was spared, to gratify him. Though
his intercession for it was not, as Abraham’s
for Sodom, from a principle of generous
charity, but merely from self-interest, yet
God granted him his request, to show how
much the fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails.
(2.) Sodom’s ruin was suspended
till he was safe: I cannot do any thing till
thou shalt have come thither. Note, The very
presence of good men in a place helps to keep
off judgments. See what care God takes for
the preservation of his people. The winds
are held till God’s servants are sealed,
III. It is taken notice of that the sun had
risen when Lot entered into Zoar; for when
a good man comes into a place he brings
light along with him, or should do.
| Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. | B. C. 1898. |
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24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah brimstone
and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
25 And he overthrew those cities, and
all the plain, and all the inhabitants
of the cities, and that which grew
upon the ground.
Then, when Lot had got safely into Zoar,
then this ruin came; for good men are taken
away from the evil to come. Then, when the
sun had risen bright and clear, promising a
fair day, then this storm arose, to show that
it was not from natural causes. Concerning
this destruction observe,
1. God was the
immediate author of it. It was destruction
from the Almighty: The Lord rained–from
the Lord
(v. 24),
that is, God from himself,
by his own immediate power, and not in the
common course of nature. Or, God the Son
from God the Father; for the Father has
committed all judgment to the Son. Note,
He that is the Saviour will be the destroyer
of those that reject the salvation.
2. It was
a strange punishment,
Never
was the like before nor since. Hell was
rained from heaven upon them. Fire, and
brimstone, and a horrible tempest, were the
portion of their cup
(Ps. xi. 6);
not a flash of
lightning, which is destructive enough when
God gives it commission, but a shower of
lightning. Brimstone was scattered upon
their habitation
and then the
fire soon fastened upon them. God could
have drowned them, as he did the old world;
but he would show that he has many arrows
in his quiver, fire as well as water.
3. It was
a judgment that laid all waste: It overthrew
the cities, and destroyed all the inhabitants of
them, the plain, and all that grew upon the
ground,
It was an utter ruin, and
irreparable. That fruitful valley remains to
this day a great lake, or dead sea; it is called
the Salt Sea,
Num. xxxiv. 12.
Travellers say
that it is about thirty miles long and ten
miles broad; it has no living creature in it;
it is not moved by the wind; the smell of it
is offensive; things do not easily sink in it.
The Greeks call it Asphaltites, from a sort of
pitch which it casts up. Jordan falls into it,
and is lost there.
4. It was a punishment
that answered to their sin. Burning lusts
against nature were justly punished with
this preternatural burning. Those that went
after strange flesh were destroyed by strange
fire,
They persecuted the angels
with their rabble, and made Lot afraid; and
now God persecuted them with his tempest,
and made them afraid with his storm,
5. It was designed for a standing
revelation of the wrath of God against sin
and sinners in all ages. It is, accordingly,
often referred to in the scripture, and made a
pattern of the ruin of Israel
of Babylon
of Edom
of Moab and Ammon,
Nay,
it was typical of the vengeance of eternal fire
(Jude 7),
and the ruin of all that live ungodly
(2 Pet. ii. 6),
especially that despise the gospel,
It is in allusion to this
destruction that the place of the damned is
often represented by a lake that burns, as
Sodom did, with fire and brimstone. Let us
learn from it,
(1.) The evil of sin, and the
hurtful nature of it. Iniquity tends to ruin.
(2.) The terrors of the Lord. See what a
fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the
living God!
26 But his wife looked back from
behind him, and she became a pillar of
salt.
This also is written for our admonition.
Our Saviour refers to it
Remember Lot’s wife. As by the example of
Sodom the wicked are warned to turn from
their wickedness, so by the example of Lot’s
wife the righteous are warned not to turn
from their righteousness. See
We have here,
I. The sin of Lot’s wife: She looked back
from behind him. This seemed a small thing,
but we are sure, by the punishment of it,
that it was a great sin, and exceedingly sinful.
1. She disobeyed an express command, and
so sinned after the similitude of Adam’s
transgression, which ruined us all.
2. Unbelief
was at the bottom of it; she questioned
whether Sodom would be destroyed, and
thought she might still have been safe in it.
3. She looked back upon her neighbours
whom she had left behind with more concern
than was fit, now that their day of grace was
over, and divine justice was glorifying itself
in their ruin. See
4. Probably
she hankered after her house and goods
in Sodom, and was loth to leave them.
Christ intimates this to be her sin
she too much regarded her
stuff.
5. Her looking back evinced an inclination
to go back; and therefore our Saviour
uses it as a warning against apostasy from
our Christian profession. We have all renounced
the world and the flesh, and have
set our faces heaven-ward; we are in the
plain, upon our probation; and it is at our
peril if we return into the interests we profess
to have abandoned. Drawing back is to
perdition, and looking back is towards it.
Let us therefore fear,
Heb. iv. 1.
II. The punishment of Lot’s wife for this
sin. She was struck dead in the place; yet
her body did not fall down, but stood fixed
and erect like a pillar, or monument, not liable
to waste nor decay, as human bodies exposed
to the air are, but metamorphosed into a
metallic substance which would last perpetually.
Come, behold the goodness and
severity of God
(Rom. xi. 22),
towards Lot,
who went forward, goodness; towards his
wife, who looked back, severity. Though
she was nearly related to a righteous man,
though better than her neighbours, and
though a monument of distinguishing mercy
in her deliverance out of Sodom, yet God
did not connive at her disobedience; for
great privileges will not secure us from the
wrath of God if we do not carefully and
faithfully improve them. This pillar of salt
should season us. Since it is such a dangerous
thing to look back, let us always press
forward,
27 And Abraham gat up early in
the morning to the place where he
stood before the LORD:
28 And he
looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah,
and toward all the land of the plain,
and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the
country went up as the smoke of a
furnace.
29 And it came to pass,
when God destroyed the cities of the
plain, that God remembered Abraham,
and sent Lot out of the midst of the
overthrow, when he overthrew the
cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Our communion with God consists in our
gracious regard to him and his gracious
regard to us; we have here therefore the
communion that was between God and Abraham,
in the event concerning Sodom, as
before in the consultation concerning it, for
communion with God is to be kept up in
providences as well as in ordinances.
I. Here is Abraham’s pious regard to God
in this event, in two things:–
1. A careful
expectation of the event,
He got up
early to look towards Sodom; and, to intimate
that his design herein was to see what
became of his prayers, he went to the very
place where he had stood before the Lord,
and set himself there, as upon his watch
tower,
Note, When we have
prayed we must look after our prayers, and
observe the success of them. We must
direct our prayer as a letter, and then look
up for an answer, direct our prayer as an
arrow, and then look up to see whether it
reach the mark,
Our enquiries
after news must be in expectation of an
answer to our prayers.
2. An awful observation
of it: He looked towards Sodom
(v. 28),
not as Lot’s wife did, tacitly reflecting
upon the divine severity, but humbly adoring
it and acquiescing in it. Thus the saints,
when they see the smoke of Babylon’s torment
rising up for ever (like Sodom’s here),
will say again and again, Alleluia,
Rev. xix. 3.
Those that have, in the day of grace,
most earnestly interceded for sinners, will, in
the day of judgment, be content to see them
perish, and will glorify God in their destruction.
II. Here is God’s favourable regard to
Abraham,
As before, when Abraham
prayed for Ishmael, God heard him for
Isaac, so now, when he prayed for Sodom,
he heard him for Lot. He remembered Abraham,
and, for his sake, sent Lot out of the
overthrow. Note,
1. God will certainly give
an answer of peace to the prayer of faith, in
his own way and time; though, for a while,
it seem to be forgotten, yet, sooner or later,
it will appear to be remembered.
2. The
relations and friends of godly people fare the
better for their interest in God and intercessions
with him; it was out of respect to
Abraham that Lot was rescued: perhaps this
word encouraged Moses long afterwards to pray
Lord, remember Abraham;
and see
| Lot’s Disgrace. | B. C. 1898. |
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30 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.
31 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:
32 Come, let us make our father drink
wine, and we will lie with him, that
we may preserve seed of our father.
33 And they made their father drink
wine that night: and the firstborn
went in, and lay with her father; and
he perceived not when she lay down,
nor when she arose.
34 And it came
to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn
said unto the younger, Behold,
I lay yesternight with my father: let
us make him drink wine this night
also; and go thou in, and lie with him,
that we may preserve seed of our father.
35 And they made their father drink
wine that night also: and the younger
arose, and lay with him; and he perceived
not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
36 Thus were both
the daughters of Lot with child by
their father.
37 And the firstborn
bare a son, and called his name Moab:
the same is the father of the Moabites
unto this day.
38 And the younger,
she also bare a son, and called his name
Ben-ammi: the same is the father of
the children of Ammon unto this day.
Here is,
I. The great trouble and distress that
Lot was brought into after his deliverance,
1. He was frightened out of Zoar, durst not
dwell there; probably because he was conscious
to himself that it was a refuge of his
own choosing and that herein he had foolishly
prescribed to God, and therefore he could
not but distrust his safety in it; or because
he found it as wicked as Sodom, and therefore
concluded it could not long survive it;
or perhaps he observed the rise and increase
of those waters which after the conflagration,
perhaps from Jordan, began to overflow the
plain, and which, mixing with the ruins, by
degrees made the Dead Sea; in those waters
he concluded Zoar must needs perish (though
it had escaped the fire) because it stood upon
the same flat. Note, Settlements and shelters
of our own choosing, and in which we do
not follow God, commonly prove uneasy to
us.
2. He was forced to betake himself to
the mountain, and to take up with a cave for
his habitation there. Methinks it was strange
that he did not return to Abraham, and put
himself under his protection, to whom he
had once and again owed his safety: but the
truth is there are some good men that are
not wise enough to know what is best for
themselves. Observe,
(1.) He was now glad
to go to the mountain, the place which God
had appointed for his shelter. Note, It is
well if disappointment in our way drive us
at last to God’s way.
(2.) He that, awhile
ago, could not find room enough for himself
and his stock in the whole land, but
must jostle with Abraham, and get as far
from him as he could, is now confined to a
hole in a hill, where he has scarcely room to
turn himself, and there he is solitary and
trembling. Note, It is just with God to
reduce those to poverty and restraint who
have abused their liberty and plenty. See
also in Lot what those bring themselves to,
at last, that forsake the communion of saints
for secular advantages; they will be beaten
with their own rod.
II. The great sin that Lot and his
daughters were guilty of, when they were in
this desolate place. It is a sad story.
1. His daughters laid a very wicked plot
to bring him to sin; and theirs was, doubtless,
the greater guilt. They contrived,
under pretence of cheering up the spirits of
their father in his present condition, to make
him drunk, and then to lie with him,
(1.) Some think that their pretence was
plausible. Their father had no sons, they
had no husbands, nor knew they where to
have any of the holy seed, or, if they had
children by others, their father’s name would
not be preserved in them. Some think that
they had the Messiah in their eye, who, they
hoped, might descend form their father; for
he came from Terah’s elder son, who separated
from the rest of Shem’s posterity as
well as Abraham, and was now signally delivered
out of Sodom. Their mother, and
the rest of the family, were gone; they might
not marry with the cursed Canaanites; and
therefore they supposed that the end they
aimed at and the extremity they were brought
to, would excuse the irregularity. Thus the
learned Monsieur Allix. Note, Good intentions
are often abused to patronise bad
actions. But,
(2.) Whatever their pretence
was, it is certain that their project was very
wicked and vile, and an impudent affront to
the very light and law of nature. Note,
[1.] The sight of God’s most tremendous judgments
upon sinners will not of itself, without
the grace of God, restrain evil hearts from
evil practices: one would wonder how the
fire of lust could possibly kindle upon those,
who had so lately been the eye-witnesses of
Sodom’s flames.
[2.] Solitude has its temptations
as well as company, and particularly
to uncleanness. When Joseph was alone
with his mistress he was in danger,
Relations that dwell together,
especially if solitary, have need carefully to
watch even against the least evil thought of
this kind, lest Satan get an advantage.
2. Lot himself, by his own folly and unwariness,
was wretchedly overcome, and suffered
himself so far to be imposed upon by
his own children as, two nights together, to
be drunk, and to commit incest,
&c.
Lord, what is man! What are the best of
men, when God leaves them to themselves!
See here,
(1.) The peril of security. Lot,
who not only kept himself sober and chaste
in Sodom, but was a constant mourner for
the wickedness of the place and a witness
against it, was yet, in the mountain, where
he was alone, and as he thought quite out of
the way of temptation, shamefully overtaken.
Let him therefore that thinks he stands,
stands high and stands firm, take heed lest he
fall. No mountain, on this side the holy
hill above, can set us out of the reach of
Satan’s fiery darts.
(2.) The peril of drunkenness.
It is not only a great sin itself, but
it is the inlet of many sins; it may prove the
inlet of the worst and most unnatural sins,
which may be a perpetual wound and dishonour.
Excellently does Mr. Herbert describe
it,
| “He that is drunken may his mother kill
Big with his sister.”—————— |
A man may do that without reluctance, when
he is drunk, which, when he is sober, he
could not think of without horror.
(3.) The
peril of temptation from our dearest relations
and friends, whom we love, and esteem, and
expect kindness from. Lot, whose temperance
and chastity were impregnable against
the batteries of foreign force, was surprised
into sin and shame by the base treachery of
his own daughters: we must dread a snare
wherever we are, and be always upon our
guard.
3. In the close we have an account of the
birth of the two sons, or grandsons (call
them which you will), of Lot, Moab and
Ammon, the fathers of two nations, neighbours
to Israel, and which we often read of
in the Old Testament; both together are
called the children of Lot,
Ps. lxxxiii. 8.
Note, Though prosperous births may attend
incestuous conceptions, yet they are so far
from justifying them that they rather perpetuate
the reproach of them and entail infamy
upon posterity; yet the tribe of Judah, of
which our Lord sprang, descended from such
a birth, and Ruth, a Moabitess, has a name
in his genealogy,
Lastly, Observe that, after this, we never
read any more of Lot, nor what became of
him: no doubt he repented of his sin, and
was pardoned; but from the silence of the
scripture concerning him henceforward we
may learn that drunkenness, as it makes
men forgetful, so it makes them forgotten;
and many a name, which otherwise might
have been remembered with respect, is buried
by it in contempt and oblivion.
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