These verses take us to the lives of two different families.
(A) The first family: The coward and his depraved daughters (Gen 19:30-38)
Last week, we read of how Lot and his daughters was rescued out of Sodom by the Lord, and he wanted to seek refuge in the city of Zoar. Zoar is a picture of the kindness of God for it was the place of refuge that God granted the tired, fearful man, Lot.
However, when we pick up the narrative in this passage, we read of how Lot left the city and Lot resided in a cave instead. He was afraid to live in Zoar.
The Bible describes how the daughters planned to lie with their father, for they were afraid that they would not have offsprings. The circumstances appeared dire, for they were stuck in a cave, with most cities around them destroyed. To whom would they be married to now to bear children? How was Lot going to have an offspring for his family line too? Lot's daughters displayed the same fear that their father did. They were afraid of the uncertain future.
(B) The second family: The faithless husband and a broken marriage (Gen 20:1-18)
The narrative switches to turn the spotlight back to Abraham and Sarah. Once more, he turns towards the fertile lands of the Negev and sojourns in Gerar. Events in Gerar bear much similarity to the stint in Egypt, because once more, Abraham lies that Sarah is his sister and not his wife. Like in Egypt, God afflicted the people of Gerar, by closing the wombs of the household of Abimelech (Gen 20:18). Here too, God intervened, appearing to the rulers ("but God" in Gen 20:3). Abraham also managed to leave Gerar with plenty.
However, there are some differences this time around. God has an extended conversation and encounter with Abimelech, and Abraham is referred to as a prophet for the first time ever (Gen 20:7). Abraham also had to pray explicitly for Abimelech and his household for healing (Gen 20:17).
When read together, these two accounts show us the reality of family relations in a fallen world. There is a distortion of the two fundamental relationships -- parent-child and husband-wife. The failings of both Abraham and Lot are a stark contrast with their 'triumph' in previous chapters, where both were interceding for others. In today's passage, we realise that Abraham and Lot are very much like us, and they possessed a human faith.
The actions of Lot, Lot's daughters and Abraham were motivated by the need for self-preservation. They were afraid and they took steps to act on their fears. Lot was afraid that God might not keep his promise not to destroy Zoar. Lot's daughters were afraid that they could not get married and produce offsprings. Abraham was afraid that the people of Gerar would take his life because of his wife.
In Genesis 3, we learnt of the reason for brokenness in this world today -- because of sin. In passages like these, the Bible records for us the realities and extent of sin as it really is. For us today, while we may not engage in the same manifestation of sin as Lot, Lot's daughters or Abraham, we all struggle with the same fear and need for self-preservation. We struggle with relating to our family members rightly. We struggle with loving other people.
But in the midst of this bleak passage, there is also hope. The God of the Bible is amazingly illogical and sometimes, to our eyes reckless. Lot's daughters bore children that became the nations of Moabites and Ammonites, and years later, Ruth, the Moabite woman, marries Boaz, an Israelite. Ruth became the grandmother of the great King David. What about Abraham? For all his cowardice and trickery, God still used him as a prophet whose prayers brought about healing and blessing for the household of Abimelech.
This quote by Iain Duguid (Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality) sums it up nicely:
“God’s ability to use even our sins for his own purposes shows that he doesn’t love us simply for the great things we can do for him. There’s an additional verse to the children’s hymn, Jesus loves me, that we don’t sing very often, but that captures this aspect of God’s love perfectly:
Jesus loves me when I’m good
When I do the things I should
Jesus loves me when I’m bad
Though it makes him very sad."
This is the world we live in, and these are struggles of living in this fallen world. But once more, Genesis continues to show us a God that is wholly involved in the messiness of our lives, and continues to work to restore all things.