You aren’t going to believe where the Moabites and Ammonites came from….
There are two story lines unfolding here. Lot and his family are living in town that has now disappeared. Abraham and his family are living in a town (Beersheeba) that is now the fourth largest city in Israel. Hmmm, I wonder which one was blessed?
God gave Sodom and Gomorrah several chances to repent and be restored. Abraham himself was dispatched years earlier to rescue the people of these communities from their captors. They knew what they were doing was wrong, and chose to ignore all warnings. The account of the two angels telling Lot that he needed to leave is compelling. Lot hesitates, he tries to warn his family, but they think he’s joking. No one is taking Lot seriously, and Lot himself doesn’t seem to comprehend the immediacy of the situation. God himself is holding back what must have been a volcanic eruption…just so Lot can make it to safety. In the end, the angels almost drag Lot from the city, and as he leaves, his wife lingers…and dies because of it. Lot has literally escaped by the skin of his teeth.
I wonder how the sight of Sodom burning affected Abraham? It must have created within Him a deep understanding that God is just, and punishes sin.
Lot’s daughters decided to get their father drunk and sleep with him in order to get pregnant. (How drunk is that?) And what did they think was going to happen when Lot realized they were both pregnant? Maybe in ancient times the cultural stigma wasn’t what it is today, but reading it leaves me with a queasy feeling. Anyway that’s where the Ammonites and Moabites came from. Years later these two nations would not allow the Hebrews to pass through their land as Moses led the people in the desert. Wow.
I would criticize them more sharply, except that Abraham is clearly not much different. He married his sister (fathers daugher) and then deliberately misled others about who she really was. Sarah must have been a real beauty, because everywhere she went the king was attracted to her. I always think of her as an old lady, all hunched over and shriveled up…but that may be far from the truth. Thinking of that, Abraham must have been fairly insecure based on the way he acted.
Isn’t it something how God uses people who clearly have faults and seedy history to accomplish great things? He’s done it many times before. He can do it through YOU.
This king named Abimelech was the ruler of the Philistines, and a very powerful man indeed. The town where Abraham chose to settle (Beersheeba) is only 26 miles from the Gaza strip. There are some great lessons we are reminded of in this account; for instance.. you can’t misuse God’s people and get away with it. God insists on holiness, and let’s not forget how patient God is; putting up with Abraham who at times seems intent on giving his wife away. There are consequences for living outside of obedience to God….the Philistines found that out when they couldn’t have children. Oh, and there is a difference between intentional and unintentional sin. Abimelech was guilty of sinning unintentionally. It still required forgiveness and sacrifice (which had to come through Abraham’s family) but it didn’t break communion between God and Abimelech.
With all the conflict swirling around in the Middle East, it’s good for us to be reminded that the people of Gaza are loved by God just like Abraham was. They were in the land long before Abraham and were forced to surrender it to him when God chose to give it to Abraham as an inheritance. No wonder it was so difficult, and remains so today. The countries on the eastern side of the Dead Sea are all Muslim today, the descendants of Moab and Ammon. And along with them are the descendants of Hagar’s son Ishmael. All of these have become thriving powerful nations, even though they don’t acknowledge God’s son Jesus Christ. I believe that when God looks on them He sees them in the context of his children, born of his servants Lot and Ishamael…both of whom He loved very much.
I don’t doubt that God has a special place in His heart for all the people of the middle east, and earnestly wants all of them to be reunited with Him in heaven.
Faithfully,
PR