Tag: Genesis 19

Slayer of Giants

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Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
Genesis 19:36-38 (NKJV)

Lot’s daughters get him blackout drunk and then sleep with him to get pregnant.

The generations born from this are the Moabites and the Ammonites.

For some reason, they are connected thematically to giants.

In Deuteronomy, Moses tells Israel not to war against the sons of Moab and Ammon, and that the land remains the possession of the sons of Lot.

With both sons, there is a note about the Rephaim. Giants.

The Moabites call them Emim. The Ammonites call them Zamzummin.

Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not attack Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.’ (The Emim lived there previously, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim, they too are regarded as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.)
Deuteronomy 2:9-11 (NASB)

When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not attack them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’ (It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, because the Rephaim previously lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before [a]them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place)
Deuteronomy 2:19-21 (NASB)

The possession of the sons of Lot is the land where giants lived before God drove them out.

Perhaps this is a statement about God removing a powerful curse – a great shame that followed the family due to their origin, because of Lot and his daughters.

God is a slayer of giants.

Later, we’ll read that a certain Moabite woman named Ruth marries Boaz, father of Obed, father of Jesse, father of David.

And a certain Ammonite woman named Naamah marries Solomon, father of Rehoboam, first king of Judah when the monarchy was split.

Both sons of Lot are in the Divine Lineage.

Faces

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The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:2 (NKJV)

The word “surface” is rooted in the latin “superfices,” or “upon the face,” which indicates the outward and visible portion of a thing.

The ancient Hebrew language uses this same concept with the word פָּנִים (panim). It means “face.”

But there’s another application of this word “face” in scripture that carries much more weight. When it applies to humanity and to God, it becomes a powerful theological word.

It is about the experience of acceptance and rejection.

In Genesis 1 & 2, we’re shown the face of the waters, the face of the deep, the face of the expanse of heaven, and the face of the earth.

But in Genesis 3, we encounter the face of God. Most translations say “presence,” but this is inaccurate.

Now they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8 (NASB)

The phrase in Hebrew is מִפְּנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, which is “the panim of YHWH Elohim.”

And it’s from this panim that the man and his wife withdrew. Not from God’s presence, but from his face.

So what does this mean? How can we hide from God’s face?

Perhaps we see it more clearly when we see the face of man, who is made in God’s image.

We first see man’s face when we get to Cain. In the Hebrew, we read that God did not “regard” Cain and his offering. Literally, God did not even look at him.

So Cain’s face fell.

But for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
Genesis 4:5 (ESV)

What does it mean that his face “fell?” It’s the word נָפַל (nephal). (Interestingly this is also the root of “nephilim.”)

In the next verses, we get a clue. Falling is met with Rising: שְׂאֵת (se’et). Most translations say “accepted” but it is “lifting up” or “rising.”

The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to[ you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:6-7 (ESV)

If se’et is tied to being accepted, naphal is tied to being or feeling rejected.

Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Genesis 4:14 (ESV)

When Cain cries “I shall be hidden from your face,” this isn’t the same “hide” that Adam and Eve experience in Genesis 3:8. There, they withdrew. Here, Cain is concerned he’ll be obscured.

It feels linked to Cain’s initial lament: God did not pay attention to him or his offering. He wasn’t accepted.

So this is the understanding: God’s face represents acceptance. Our face reflects our position of acceptance or rejection.

When we’re in God’s face, and our face is lifted up, this is a picture of being accepted by God. When our face is down, we are experiencing rejection, but God can lift our face.

When Cain leaves, what he leaves is the opportunity for acceptance, choosing to wander instead.

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod,[a] east of Eden.
Genesis 4:16 (ESV)

This usage gives us another hint about God’s reaction to Lot as he’s being rescued from the destruction looming over Sodom. Lot begs the angel to let him flee to Zoar, and the angel agrees to let him go there and also spare the city.

He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.
Genesis 19:21 (NIV)

The phrase “I will grant this request” is literally “I have raised your face.” He’s saying: I have accepted you. I am saving Zoar on account of you.

Perhaps Lot’s hesitation back in verse 16 is really about wondering if he was accepted. He learns that he is.

And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
Genesis 19:16 (NKJV)

Lot’s Rescue

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So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Genesis 19:29 (NASB)

So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Genesis 12:4 (NASB)

The rabbis connect Genesis 19:29 to Genesis 12:4, and suggest that Lot was not just spared from the destruction of Sodom, but from the destruction of Haran as well.

Both cases are because of Abraham.

Thoroughly Destroyed

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Regarding the total destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, the rabbis wondered: Why were the cities destroyed so thoroughly? Surely other cities have been as wicked.

Fire and brimstone seems particularly destructive and thorough.

The rabbis suggest may have been due to the geography. The cities that were destroyed happened to be within the borders of the Holy Land that God promised to Abraham. The Holy Land is a place that devours and then vomits out wickedness.

So they brought a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature.
Numbers 13:32 (NASB)

The rabbis point to the spies who scouted out the Promised Land, and suggest that the spies reported correctly, but they did not understand the reason for the land’s behavior.

So Moses must explain to his people before they enter: This is a Holy Land. It must be treated as Holy.

“Now the future generation, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say, ‘All its land is brimstone and salt, burned debris, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows on it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.’
Deuteronomy 29:22-23 (NASB)

But perhaps there is another teaching here that coincides with this.

The “total” destruction isn’t actually total. It’s a part of the bigger land. The land is your heart.

Lot’s Righteousness

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Why was Lot spared? Why did God preserve him in Genesis 19, other than for Abraham’s benefit? What’s so good about him?

The Midrash has a story that many of the commentaries use as their answer, and it’s interesting. It has to do with Lot’s position in the family.

When Lot joins Abram out of Haran, one of the first adventures is the ordeal in Egypt. Abram tells Sarai to lie about their relationship to avoid being killed by Pharaoh.

Suppose Abram was killed. Who would have benefited in that situation? Who would be the heir to the Promised Land? The rabbis say it was Lot.

The opportunity for Lot to demonstrate his character is there in Genesis 12. If Lot speaks up and says “no, they’re married,” Abram would die and Lot would gain everything.

Therefore, Lot’s righteousness is demonstrated by his silence. He chose to protect his uncle and forgo the financial benefit.

Pillar of Salt

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But Lot’s wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Genesis 19:26 (NASB)

Why was Lot’s wife punished for looking back (literally, “behind him,” referring to Lot)? And why a pillar of salt?

Genesis doesn’t say, but there are rabbinical thoughts on this that run through scripture.

One explanation is that Lot’s wife dies because when she looked back at the cities being destroyed, what she saw was the very presence of God in fire and smoke, dwelling in the land. It’s the same “don’t look” that’s given as a warning in Exodus 19.

Same fire and smoke. Same warning.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to stare, and many of them perish.
Exodus 19:21 (NASB)

But why a pillar of salt? What does it mean?

This part is less clear, but the rabbis suggest the punishment is often like the sin. In the same way they wonder if the forbidden fruit was a fig (Adam/Eve clothed themselves in fig leaves), perhaps the salt points to salt-related sin.

The Midrash tells a story of Lot’s wife, being from Sodom, having the same inhospitable heart as everyone else there. So when someone came to their door and asked for a bit of salt, she said no!

From Rashi:

ותהי נציב מלח AND SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT — By salt had she sinned and by salt was she punished. He (Lot) said to her once: “Give a little salt to these strangers” and she answered him, “Do you mean to introduce this bad custom, also, into our city?” (Genesis Rabbah 50:4).
Rashi on Genesis 19:26:2/cite>

Is it true? Is it what happened?

Who knows? But it does have a certain elegance to it, and I think it’s a good way to remember the story, and to remember to be generous and kind to strangers.

And also, don’t stare at the presence of God.

Furnace of God

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Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the surrounding area; and behold, he saw the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.
Genesis 19:27-28 (NASB)

In Genesis 11, which covers the Tower of Babel, I wrote about the relationship between the bricks and the furnaces that made them, tying bricks and furnaces to human bondage. To Empire.

So when Abraham sees “the smoke of a furnace” (literally kiln), I wondered about the connection.

The word for “furnace” here is כִּבְשָׁן (kivshan), and it is not the same word used in Daniel for the furnaces in Babylon. That word is אַתּוּן (atun).

Both mean “furnace.”

The Babylonian furnace is tied to human bondage and enslavement. But what about the kivshan here in Genesis 19?

Perhaps kivshan isn’t man’s furnace, but God’s. Here in Genesis, it’s used to describe fire and brimstone from heaven, but later, it describes the very presence of God, descending on Sinai.

Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the entire mountain [a]quaked violently.
Exodus 19:18 (NASB)

This presence is tied to a different picture of “bondage” or “enslavement.” Here, we have the 10 Commandments that show up in the next chapter, followed by several chapters of laws and ordinances, which all culminate in the commitment made in Exodus 24. The whole time, and for the next 40 days, God is the Fire on the Mountain.

Then Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!”
Exodus 24:3 (NASB)

Kivshan, or “God’s furnace” as I’m calling it, has an interesting root: כָּבַשׁ (kavash) which means… bondage. Slavery.

But this isn’t slavery under man. In scripture, this word is most frequently used to describe ordered servitude under God, starting in Genesis 1.

I. to subject, subdue, force, keep under, bring into bondage
– 1. (Qal)
– – 1. to bring into bondage, make subservient
– – 2. to subdue, force, violate
– – 3. to subdue, dominate, tread down
– 2. (Niphal) to be subdued
– 3. (Piel) to subdue
– 4. (Hiphil) to bring into bondage
Strongs H3533 כָּבַשׁ: kavash

God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28 (NASB)

This word is often used to describe land being subdued for God’s people, for God’s purposes, which makes the Exodus kavash so poignant: God’s presence is tied to commitment. That commitment is akin to being a “slave” for God.

It sounds quite awful, unless you know that God is Good.

But there’s something else here. In Micah, we read that God, in His great compassion, will kavash our iniquities. Capture it, subdue it, wrestle it down and cast it into the depths of the sea.

He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:19 (NASB)

So what we learn is that the furnaces of man (Babylon) are a corruption of the furnace of God, because slavery under the boot of Empire is not like slavery under God who loves us.

The furnace of God is God’s own presence among us, wiping out our sin and cleansing us.

Hesitated

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But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city.
Genesis 19:16 (NASB)

Lot hesitates after the angels urge him to gather his family and flee the pending destruction of the cities.

Why?

There are many possibilities, but Genesis does not tell us.

Here are some of the suggestions offered by the rabbis in the Jewish commentaries:

– He was paralyzed with fear
– He wanted to grab more stuff from his house
– He didn’t really want to leave
– He didn’t really believe the angels

But the Minchat Shai says something far more interesting.

“If he tarries, wait for him.” (Habakkuk 2:3)
Minchat Shai on Genesis 19:16:1

Rather than focusing on Lot’s motives, it suggests that the teaching is found in the words used, tying “hesitated” to “compassion” and mercy. Mercy is tied to waiting.

But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city.
Genesis 19:16 (NASB)

For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hurries toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it delays, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay long.
Habakkuk 2:3 (NASB)

The focus is about God’s decision to wait for Lot, pushing him as necessary, and not on Lot’s hesitation.

An Angel’s Limitation

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When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”
Genesis 19:17 (NASB)

There’s a fascinating view in the Jewish commentaries regarding angels:

An angel can only do the ONE thing it was tasked with doing: rescue, heal, bless, destroy, etc. Just one thing. That’s why two were sent in Gen 19. One to rescue Lot, and one to destroy the cities.

ויחזיקו AND THE MEN LAID HOLD [UPON HIS HAND]– One of these was commissioned to rescue him whilst his fellow was to overthrow Sodom; that is why it is stated (v. 17) “And he said, escape”, and it is not stated “And they said” (Genesis Rabbah 50:11).
Rashi on Genesis 19:16:1

And here as well:

ויוציאה, “they took him outside;” there is a letter ו missing before letter ה, to hint that only one angel, i.e. ויוציא, singular, the angel Gavriel, had been charged with the task of saving Lot.
Chizkuni on Genesis 19:16

Moment of Wrath

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The destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was a demonstration of God’s wrath and anger.

The rabbis asked about this anger and poured over the scripture to understand it better.

God is a righteous judge,
And a God who shows indignation every day.
Psalm 7:11 (NASB)

On the one hand, Psalm 7 teaches us that God is angry every day. In verse 11, some translations say “anger at the wicked,” but this is not what the text says.

It says anger. Every day.

So in response, the rabbis then ask, “if God is angry every day, surely God is not angry all day long.”

In Psalm 30, they point out that God’s anger only lasts “for a moment.” (phew!)

For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:

But then, how long is “a moment?”

There are several answers they provide as possibilities. Among them, this is my favorite:

“One fifty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eighth of an hour, that is a moment.”

God’s anger lasts a moment. And how long is a moment? One fifty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eighth of an hour, that is a moment.
Berakhot 7a:8

This translates into 1.01 seconds. God is angry for just one second per day! But… when?

Which second of the day is reserved for God’s anger?

One teaching says that nobody knows, except for one person in the world: Balaam, the wicked. If you recall, he’s the one who tried to curse Israel, but God flipped the script on him, causing him to bless Israel instead.

Then he took up his discourse and said,

“The declaration of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the declaration of the man whose eye is opened,
The declaration of him who hears the words of God,
And knows the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered:
Numbers 24:15-16

The teaching says Balaam had secret knowledge of the exact moment God would be angry. Balaam tried to focus that anger at Israel to curse them, but he was unsuccessful. And so they suggest that even though Balaam knew the moment of God’s anger, God simply withheld his anger during that time, leaving only blessings available for Balaam to use on Israel. They point to Micah 6:5 as a remembrance of God witholding His anger.

It’s a fun thought, but it’s weird to think that Balaam would have this secret knowledge. It feels like a stranger-than-normal kind of thing.

Another teaching says that God’s anger occurs specifically at sunrise, linked to the kings of the earth setting their crowns on their heads at sunrise, giving their worship to the sun, and this teaching points to Sodom and Gomorrah.

The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven,
Genesis 19:23-24 (NASB)

There’s a figure of speech that’s related to this: “the moment of God’s anger,” which is tied to when the sun rises, or more specifically, “when the rooster crows.”

And this is also tied to when a curse is possible, tying back to Balaam’s story.

A certain heretic who was in Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi’s neighborhood would upset him by incessantly challenging the legitimacy of verses. One day, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi took a rooster and placed it between the legs of the bed upon which he sat and looked at it. He thought: When the moment of God’s anger arrives, I will curse him and be rid of him. When the moment of God’s anger arrived, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi slept. When he woke up, he said to himself: Conclude from the fact that I nodded off that it is not proper conduct to do so, to curse people, even if they are wicked.
Berakhot 7a:19

Isn’t that interesting?