Jerks Of The Bible Series | Entry #5: Lot

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At first glance Lot might seem like a cool cat. He was the nephew of Abraham and God even spared him from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Surely if God spared him he must be a good person. Think again! While Lot might have some props from God he certainly was not perfect. In fact, Lot was pretty questionable. Actually that is too nice. Lot was a total jerk and here is why.

Background/Setting

Lot lived the same time as Abraham which means he was one of the oldest Bible characters. The period of time was about 2000 BC and Israel as a nation was not even a notion yet.

Reasons why he is a jerk

1. Offered his virgin daughters up to an angry mob of rapists
2. Allowed his wife to be smitten by God
3. Slept with his daughters
4. Possibly a drunk
5. Spawned an entire nation that later became the hated enemies of God’s chosen people

 The Story

Lot’s first real blunder (in my estimation) is when two angels disguised as men visited Sodom and Lot implored them to bunk up at his place for the night. This was the alternative to staying the night in the square at the city gate which would have ensured their doom.

Genesis 19:3 

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.

Lot seems pretty nice thus far. What could be wrong with this guy? What happens next in the story is the unbelievable part!

Genesis 19:4-8

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom —both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

⁶ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

Did you just see that!?!? Lot just offered up his two virgin daughters to nearly every male in the town of Sodom. I get that hospitality was important in the east, especially during biblical times. Hence the line, “for they have come under the protection of my roof.” But that cannot excuse the fact that he just threw his daughters to the wolves. And it’s not the last inappropriate thing he will do with them, as you will soon read in this blog entry.

 The story continues

The angels are so surprised by the behavior of the Sodomites that are now sure that the city must be destroyed. The schedule of destruction was 24 hours. Lot and his family had just 24 hours to get ALL their possessions and get out. Lot did try to bring with him the fiance of one of his daughters, but her fiance thought crazy old man Lot was just telling jokes. Thus, he died in the destruction. Just imagine how that conversation went when Lot arrived home to tell his daughter that her fiance was about to be eaten up by fire and brimstone.

Genesis 19:12-15

The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, ¹³ because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city! ” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

 

Lot lets his wife get turned into salt

The good news is that God allowed Lot and his family to escape. The bad news is that his wife left her computer at home and she could no longer access her Pinterest account. On account of this she ended up looking back.

Genesis 19:22-25

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Bad news bears about your wife Lot. You must be really tore up eh?

Not likely. Lot’s wife is quoted as “looking back” but as you can read in Genesis 19:27, Lot and family all watched the destruction from a distance. “Looking back” is an idiom that means she returned or at least desired to return to the city. Guess who didn’t stop her…..yea that’s right. The same guy who offered his two daughters to the mobs.

In addition, one has to wonder what their relationship was like. After all, it was Lot who prepared the food and the meal for the angels and it was customary for the wives to do this. Also, the wife never objects to Lot’s poor decision to give up his daughters.

 Lot’s greatest feat of jerkery

Lot might have been one of the crazy drunks of the city which is why his daughters fiance would not believe him when he tried to save his life. And perhaps it is why he and his wife didn’t appear to have a loving relationship. And lastly, it explains why Lot was able to be part of one of the craziest West Virginia incest parties of his time. Read on….

Genesis 19:30-33
Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. ³¹ One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. ³² Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

³³ That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

 

 

So let me get this straight…..Lot got drunk and slept with his oldest daughter, and he wasn’t aware of it? I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed but we all know he knew what was happening. If not, he would not have been able to do what is needed to impregnate her. And then later her little sis.

Genesis 19:34-38

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ³⁵ So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
³⁶ So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. ³⁸ The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Uhhhh wait a minute. Did the Bible just say that he did it again?! Making a “mistake” like this once was bad enough, but a second time? I’m not buying it.

And did you see who his offspring are? The two most hated nations in Israelite early history. Good work Lot! You just gave birth through your two virgin daughters to the two nations that will later do war with your very own blood line.

 

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