As I have pointed out many times, nearly all the seeds of the divine revelation are found in the book of Genesis. A seed is a primitive form of something. Although its size is small and its form is simple, once a seed has been sown into a field, it will grow. As it grows it takes on another form. First it is a sprout and later it is fully developed. Although the final form of its development is different from that of the seed, all the principles and major aspects of it are found within the seed. If we would understand Genesis 19, we must consider it as a seed which has its growth, development, and harvest in the following books of the Bible. Although the record concerning Lot and his daughters in Gen. 19:30-38 is a negative seed, concerning such an ugly thing as incest, it serves the positive purpose of giving us a strong, sobering warning.
In this message we must see the portrait of a most ugly thing — incest. Genesis 19:30-38, probably the first recorded case of incest in human history, is part of the section on living in fellowship with God. As we consider this matter, we must cover six points: the family, the father, the mother, the daughters, the seed, and the far-reaching and unsearchable mercy of God.
Firstly, we have the family, the group, and secondly, we have the father, the leader of this group. Thirdly, we have the mother who was the leader's helper. The leader of any group needs help. The proper helper in a family is the wife, and in the Bible a wife is called a helpmeet. In figure, the wife in a family signifies a helper in life. This concept is according to the principles of the Bible. Consider the example of Sarah. Abraham had a family for God's purpose, for Abraham alone could do nothing for the fulfillment of God's purpose. He needed a helper in life. Although he turned to Hagar for help, she was not a helper in life but a helper in the flesh. Sarah was the unique helper, the one who had the function in life. Without her, Abraham could never have brought forth Isaac for the fulfillment of God's purpose. The church today is a spiritual family in which there also is the need of the proper function in life to bring forth "Isaac" for the fulfillment of God's purpose. As we shall see, at a certain point, Lot's family group lost its function in life because the wife became a pillar of salt. She should have been salty and maintained a good flavor, but due to her worldliness she lost the function in life. In figure, becoming a pillar of salt indicates the loss of the function in life. Although there was a group with a leader, there was no wife with the function in life, only a pillar of shame. This is true of many Christian groups today. Although these groups have leaders, they do not have the proper wife with the genuine function in life.
Because Lot's family had lost its function in life, it had improper members — the daughters. I am not happy to call the members of Lot's group daughters, for the word daughters is a good term. What kind of people were they? Were they daughters or wives or mothers? I simply do not know what to call them. If you call them daughters, you must say that they were incestuous daughters. Although they might have been mothers, they were incestuous mothers. I feel ashamed to even speak of what they did. After lying with their father, the first daughter encouraged the second to do the same thing. How shameful! These were the members of Lot's group. Many Christian groups today also have such improper members. They, like Lot's daughters, desire to have the seed but do not care for the proper means. They may say, "Let us go to win souls," but they win souls through the way of spiritual incest.
In 19:30-38 we have the group, the leader, the helper in life, the members, and the seed by incest. But praise the Lord that eventually the far-reaching and unsearchable mercy of God is seen in one of the descendants who came out of this incest. Ruth, a Moabitess, a descendant of Lot through his daughter, became the great grandmother of David and an ancestress of Christ. Is this not the far-reaching and unsearchable mercy of God? However, when we hear of this, we should not say, "Let us do evil that good may come."
Let us now consider these six points in more detail. Based upon the principle that everything in the book of Genesis is a seed, we may say that Abraham's tent, in which he had intimate fellowship with God on the human level, was a miniature of the tabernacle which God commanded Abraham's descendants to build as His dwelling place on earth. Abraham's tent was the seed, and the tabernacle erected in the wilderness by the children of Israel was the growth. The temple built in the good land of Canaan was a further development of this seed. Today's church, as the real dwelling of God on earth, is the fulfillment of what has been portrayed in the Old Testament by Abraham's tent, the tabernacle, and the temple. Eventually, the New Jerusalem will be the ultimate harvest of this seed. Revelation 21:3 says that "the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall tabernacle with them." Thus, in Genesis 18 we have the seed, and in Revelation 21 we have the harvest.
In the same principle, during the time of Abraham and Lot, God had a people on earth. His people were composed of two families, the families of Abraham and of Lot. This was a seed, a miniature, of God's people in the following ages. Firstly, the children of Israel were the development of the seed of God's people, and now the church today is the continuation of this development. Eventually, in the New Jerusalem we shall see that all the redeemed ones throughout the generations will be the full harvest of God's people on earth. Once again we have the seed, the development, and the harvest. By this we see that what is present with the seed should also be found with the development.
At the beginning, Abraham's family and Lot's family, being God's people, were one. At a certain time, however, division came in and they were divided. When they were one, they were not a group; they were the people of God, God's one people. When division came in, it produced a free group. That ancient free group was the seed and the miniature of today's free groups. The free groups among God's people today are actually a further development of this seed. The division which was sown by Lot was developed after the time of Solomon when the children of Israel were divided and a free group was produced. That free group, the nation of Israel, was never recognized by God. God only recognized Judah because Judah was on the proper ground. The principle is the same in the church age. The whole church should be God's one people. In the early days, the church was uniquely one. But division after division came in, producing many free groups. We praise the Lord that this division will not continue into the new heaven and new earth. It will be terminated by the Lord's coming back.
We have seen that Lot's separation from Abraham was the seed both of division and of today's free groups. Who was the cause of that division? The fault was not on Abraham's side; it was on Lot's side. The members of Lot's family might have argued, "Aren't we also God's people? Why do you, the members of Abraham's family, always say that you are the people of God?" Yes, Lot's family was a part of the people of God, but they had left God's witness and testimony, which were Abraham and what he was testifying. God's witness and testimony were at the tent of Abraham by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, not with Lot in the city of Sodom. In chapters eighteen and nineteen we see that God and the two angels were happy to stay with Abraham, enjoying dinner and intimate fellowship with him. But when the angels went to the wicked city of Sodom, God did not go with them; He remained with Abraham. While both groups were God's people, where was God's presence? Only with Abraham's family. God's presence was with Abraham's family because his family was the typical people of God and had the proper standing of God's testimony. Although Lot was one of God's people, he was not on the proper ground by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron; he was in Sodom, on the ground of division and free groups. All God's people, being His family, should dwell by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, where God can pay them a friendly and intimate visit. Here we can see the difference between the church and the free groups: all the free groups are God's people, but the church is by the "oaks of Mamre" in "Hebron," continually enjoying God's intimate presence. What then about the free groups? As it was with the case of Lot's family, God does not meet with them. They are His people, and He cares for them and does not forget them, but His presence is not with them. After the angels left for Sodom to rescue Lot and his family, God's presence was with Abraham, His dear friend. Where are you — with Abraham's family in Hebron or with Lot's free group in Sodom?
Does not the Bible say that Lot was a righteous man? Yes, we are clearly told in 2 Peter 2:7 and 8 that Lot was righteous. Are not the people in the free groups saved? Certainly they are. But look at the situation: the people in the free groups are in a place which is under God's condemnation. This is clear in the enlightenment of the divine revelation. Suppose you were alive during the days of Abraham and Lot. With which group would you have been? Perhaps you would have said, "You say that Lot's group is a division. Isn't Abraham's group also a division? Neither Abraham's group nor Lot's group is the whole body. They both are the same. Why do you make so much of the difference between Abraham's family and Lot's family when both of them are God's people? Since both are God's people, today I will be with Lot and tomorrow I will visit Abraham." Although you might stay with Lot, God would not. This makes a great difference.
Besides the family which was on the ground where they could have intimate fellowship with God, there was a free group. Today's situation is a further development of this seed. Be honest and fair about the free groups. Is there the testimony of God among them? No, God is not expressed in the free groups. They do whatever they like, and there is no witness or testimony with them. Lot's family became such a free group because it was apart from Abraham and what he was testifying. If I had been Lot, having the light which we have today, I would have said, "Uncle Abraham, even if you force me to leave you, I would refuse to go. If you don't like me, I would still embrace and kiss you. I would stay with you because you are God's witness and because the testimony of God is with you. I will never forsake this testimony." We should have this attitude today. Although we may not be happy with the brothers in the church, we should say, "Brothers, although I don't feel happy with you and although you may mistreat me, I will never leave God's testimony." The source, the root, of the problem of the ancient free group was its departing from God's witness and testimony.
As many of us can testify, when we departed from the denominations, we were happy and felt as though we were in the heavens. But it is quite a different matter to leave the church. If you forsake the church, your joy will disappear and will not return until you return to God's testimony. I do not say this lightly. Without exception, those who have left the church have lost their joy. Once a person leaves the church, it is very difficult for him to come back. Look at Lot: although he was rescued after the slaughter of the kings, he refused to return to Abraham. Even after he had been delivered from the destruction of Sodom, he still did not go back to him. Later on, we shall see that Lot still had his self-choice. That we are joyful after leaving the denominations but joyless after leaving the church proves what is the church, which has God's presence, and what is a denomination, which does not have God's presence. Although we may not be able to discern the difference between them by our thought, we can discern it by the sense of life deep in our spirit.
After Lot's group had left God's witness and testimony, they drifted into the wicked city of Sodom (Gen. 13:12-13; 19:1). If you leave the church life, you will be defeated. Like a piece of driftwood that cannot control its direction but is carried along by the current, you will drift with the tide of this age and float downward until you find yourself in a wicked city.
After Lot was rescued from the destruction of Sodom, he still had his self-preference (Gen. 19:20-23). He begged the rescuing angels to allow him to go to a little city named Zoar. God was merciful, and the angels granted Lot his request. If you trace the history of many dissenting groups, you will see that it is the same. At first, they were in a big city, and God gave them no blessing. Then, after God intervened, they moved to a Zoar, a little city far away from God's testimony. They firstly left God's testimony and drifted into a God-condemned situation, and then, still having their own choice, went to a little place.
Eventually Lot went to dwell in a cave (Gen. 19:30). Like Lot, some free groups, after leaving a large city and going to a small one, have gone to live in a cave. They have isolated themselves from the rest of God's people, refusing to have fellowship with them. They may say, "Why do you say that you are the church and that we are not?" If they are the church, they should not dwell in a cave but come out to fellowship with God's people. But they only care for their little group in that cave. What they have is the cave life, not the church life.
Now we come to the father, the leader. In the cave, Lot became drunk with wine (Gen. 19:32-35). As I have pointed out previously, it was very strange that these escapees had wine with them in the cave. They were so addicted to wine that they must have brought it with them when they fled Sodom. Wine was the drug that befuddled them. When they were in the cave, Lot's daughters did not have proper fellowship with him, saying, "Father, our mother has become a pillar of salt, and we don't have husbands. How can we have seed? We must do something about it. May we all pray together?" If they had done this, there would have been no incest. But they did not fellowship in the spirit, nor pray to the Lord. The older daughter, the one who was more experienced with the drugs of Sodom and who had been more befuddled by them, proposed to the other that they make their father drunk with wine and lie with him that they might have seed by him. If you examine today's situation, you will find that the leader of nearly every free group has been drugged and befuddled with some wine. A proper leader must be sober. Lot should have said to the daughter who came to him with wine, "What are you doing? Throw that away." But Lot was not a sober person; he drank, and he even drank without self-control. He became drunk to such an extent that his daughters laid with him and he had no awareness of it. Most of the leaders of the free groups, being drunk with some wine, say, do, and decide things in a befuddled way. Because of the befuddled condition of so many leaders, most of the members of their groups have been drugged.
After Lot became drunk, he slumbered and slept. The same condition prevails among the free groups today. Concerning the testimony of God, the leaders are slumbering and sleeping. They may be very active in the things which they are pursuing, but they are asleep as far as God's testimony is concerned.
Furthermore, Lot was befuddled, having lost the sense of life (Gen. 19:33b, Gen. 19:35b). When the first daughter came in to lie with him, "he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose." The same occurred with the second daughter the next night. What sin can surpass this? He even had no sense about his daughters' lying with him! The leaders of many free groups today have also lost the sense of life. They are not aware of the violation of some of the governing principles ordained by God.
We have seen that the mother, who, as the wife, should have been the helper in life, became a pillar of salt because of her worldliness (Gen. 19:26). When Lot's family came into the cave, there was no function of life, for there was no function of the proper wife. As a result, they turned to incest, using such a sinful thing to replace the lost function of life. This is also the situation among many so-called Christian groups. They have lost the function of the Body of Christ, the proper function of life, and use worldly methods to fill the gap. Like Lot's group, they cannot produce the proper "Isaac" for the fulfilling of God's purpose. Because they use incest to secure seed, they produce "Moabites" and "Ammonites."
We have seen that the leader was drugged and befuddled and that the function of life was lost. But the daughters, the members of this free group, still wanted to bear fruit and have the increase. Although they had neither the proper leadership nor the function of life, they had an evil way of acquiring the seed. The same is true among many free groups today. In order to bear fruit, we should live by Christ, live out Christ, pray, and help people to receive the living word of God so that they might be reborn. This is the way to bring forth the proper fruit to be the "Isaac" for the fulfilling of God's purpose. But look at today's situation: some groups use rock music, dancing, drama, movies, and games to satisfy their desire of securing the increase. In the eyes of God, this is spiritual incest. The free groups adopt these methods because the wife, being worldly, has lost her function. In the churches we need the function of life to produce seed. Once people have lost the proper wife with the function in life, they use ugly and worldly means for securing the increase. This is the way of "incest" which brings forth "Moabites" and "Ammonites."
Lot's daughters had lost their sense of morality, having been drugged with the wicked current of the evil world. If they had had any sense of morality, they never would have considered lying with their father. The first daughter laid with her father without any sense of shame and encouraged her sister to do the same. They talked peacefully with one another about this without any feeling of guilt. When they were all in Sodom, Lot even proposed sacrificing his daughters to satisfy the Sodomites who were indulging in their sodomitical lust. How could a man with a proper sense of spiritual morality have proposed such a thing? He should have said, "Let them kill me and my guests, but I will never do this to my virgin daughters." Where was Lot's sense of morality? Lot had been drugged. The result was that his daughters had no sense of morality and that their humanity was degraded to the lowest level. Some free groups today have also been drugged with the wicked current of the evil world and only care for success, not for the means. They need the de-drugging of God's sobering word.
Lot's drugged daughters were desirous of having seed regardless of the means (Gen. 19:31-35). They cared only for the goal, not for the way. Many Christian groups are like this. They say, "What is wrong with preaching the gospel in this way as long as we bring people to Christ? We have won a great many people. How many souls have you won?" They care for soul-winning, but they do not care for the proper way of doing it.
Lot's daughters committed incest, breaking the governing principle ordained by God (Gen. 19:36). Here we need to refer to Matt. 7:21-23. The Lord said that when He comes back, some so-called Christian workers will say, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many works of power?" (Matt. 7:22). If they had not done these things, they would be unable to talk like this. The Lord will not deny that they did such works. But in Matthew 7:23 the Lord said that He will "declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, workers of lawlessness." For the Lord to say, "I never knew you" means "I never approved of you because you are a worker of lawlessness." The runners in a race must stay in their lane. However fast they run, they are not permitted to run lawlessly outside the boundaries of their lane. Likewise, we need a governing principle for our spiritual activity. It is not a matter of prophesying, casting out demons, or working miracles. It is a matter of the Father's will (Matt. 7:21). Our spiritual activities must be the doing of the Father's will. Our preaching, loving one another, and all we do must be the Father's will. If we lack the assurance deep in our spirit that what we are doing is the Father's will, we should not do it. If we do things without this assurance, we shall break the governing principle and commit spiritual incest. This is lawlessness in the eyes of God. The Lord will never approve of such lawless workers.
The daughters of Lot produced seed by incest. The names of their two sons are very meaningful. The first, Moab, means "from father" (19:37). When the first sister named her boy "from father," she was saying, "I have a child from my father." She even gave her child a name to remind her of this. The second daughter gave birth to a boy named Ben-ammi, which means "son of my kin" (19:38). As far as these daughters were concerned, as long as they had seed for their race, everything was all right. If they had had no seed, their free group would have been terminated. Today's situation is absolutely the same. Many free groups only care for the continuation of their kin, that is, of their group. They do not care for God's will nor for the proper way, but bring forth seed by incestuous activities.
The seed produced by incest became a great damage to the people of God through fornication (Num. 25:1-5). As God's people were wandering in the wilderness, the Moabites came in. Firstly, they hired the Gentile prophet Balaam to curse God's people (Num. 22:2-7), but God turned that curse into blessing (Num. 23:11; 24:10). Secondly, Balaam counseled the Moabites to seduce the children of Israel to worship idols and commit fornication (Num. 31:16). Idolatry always brings in fornication, for these two evil "sisters" go together. In Christianity today there are the teachings of Balaam mentioned in Rev. 2:14. The Lord told the church in Pergamos, a degraded, worldly church, that some among them held the teachings of Balaam, the teachings which damaged God's people through idolatry and fornication.
God severely judged the Israelites for their idolatry and fornication with the Moabites, telling Moses to "take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel" (Num. 25:4). Furthermore, God rejected the Moabites and the Ammonites with a holy and divine hatred, commanding the Israelites not to "seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days forever" and declaring that no "Ammonite or Moabite shall enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever" (Deut. 23:3-6). Everything relating to the Moabites and Ammonites was under God's condemnation, and the children of Israel were forbidden to seek their peace or prosperity.
In Genesis 16 through 21, there are three kinds of births: the birth of Ishmael, the birth of Moab and Ben-ammi, and the birth of Isaac. The birth of Ishmael was by fleshly effort, and the birth of Moab and Ben-ammi was by incest. But the birth of Isaac was by the grace of God. Ishmael, brought forth by fleshly effort, was rejected by God. Moab and Ben-ammi, brought forth by incest, were a shame in history. Only Isaac, brought forth by God's grace, was used to fulfill the purpose of God. We all must test ourselves to see what kind of seed we are bringing forth — Ishmael, Moab, or Isaac. We may have some increase, some fruit, but are they Ishmaelites, Moabites, or Isaacs?
Although the Moabites were rejected to the tenth generation, in the case of Ruth we see the far-reaching and unsearchable mercy of God (Ruth 1:2, 4-5, 8, 15-19, 22; 4:13, 17). Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, brought his family from Judah to seek the peace and prosperity of the Moabites. After Elimelech died, his two sons "took them wives of the women of Moab" (Ruth 1:4). When the two sons died, Naomi was left in Moab with her two daughters-in-law. As Naomi was returning to Judah, Ruth, refusing to depart from her, said, "Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God" (Ruth 1:16). Through seeking God absolutely, Ruth, a widow Moabitess, entered into the holy congregation of God's people, married Boaz, and became the great grandmother of King David. Eventually, she not only entered into the holy congregation of God's people, but also entered into the genealogy of Christ, becoming an ancestress of Christ and having a part in His incarnation (Matt. 1:1, 5). This is the far-reaching and unsearchable mercy of God. God's mercy is waiting for us to seek Him and His people. Do not stay in Moab — come to Judah. God's congregation and Christ's incarnation are with His people in Judah. The right standing means a great deal. You must change your standing and your ground. If you would be in the holy congregation and have a part in the incarnation of Christ, you must come out of Moab and be with the people of God in Judah.
Lot, who was one of God's people, and his family left God's witness and testimony. The issue of his life was the bringing forth of Moabites and Ammonites. Ruth, a widow Moabitess who was seeking after God, came to God's people and God's testimony. The issue of her life was the bringing forth of Christ. What a wonderful mercy of God is available to His seekers! Even a descendant of Moab, a man born through incest, could participate, through redemption, in the incarnation of Christ.
