To: en & others
From: Su Min
Subject: More Mistakes

My dear En,

Today we see in Gen 19:30 - Gen 20:18 that history repeats itself.

In Genesis 19:30-38 we see Lot's daughters making up for their burned and buried husbands. Instead of seeking God's will to see if they are to remain single and childless or whether God plans to send a selected husband for them, they get their father drunk on drink (remember Noah getting drunk on drink, Gen 9:21): so man has not learned that too much drink befuddles the mind: performance gets impaired, judgement get distorted. Drunken behaviour surely falls short of God's standard. Hence the Methodist policy to avoid alcohol altogether. Noah got drunk and his nakedness was seen by his son. Here Lot gets drunk, and his nakedness is used by his daughters to begat the Moabites and Ammonites. By this stage of worldly affairs it was not correct for fathers to have children with their daughters. This was incest. This was falling short of God's standards. So Lot sinned and his daughters sinned. Did we not read in Proverbs 16:25 "There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death."

We leave Lot and his naughty daughters and their two sons way upon in the mountains and join Mr & Mrs Abraham moving from the Nagev to Gerar. Here again history repeats itself. Abraham worried that the locals may kill him to present his voluptuous (90 year old, Gen 17:17) wife to the King of Gerar, colludes with Sarah to present her as his sister, not his wife. The plot works, Sarah must have been very attractive, for Abimelech to take Sarah into his palace (Gen 20:2). Abraham has failed to stand up and defend his wife (as Lot failed to stand up and defend his daughters in Sodom, but offered them up to the sex crazy crowd). But Abmelech is saved from being fried because his intentions were honourable and his activities to consummate the relationship had been prevented by God (Gen 20:6). Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham and presents gifts of money, cattle and slaves. God then returns fertility to the house of Abimelech, temporarily barren on account of Sarah.

Lessons:

• Man continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. This should put us on our toes. If good old father Abraham can slip up, how much more are we vulnerable? So much more should we cling to the Rock, build our house of a firm foundation and dress up in the armour of God and pray (Ephesians 6:14-18).
  
• Seek to do God's will: look for God's solutions to problems: do not try to supplant God's wisdom with human wisdom. (The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom (1 Cor 1:25)
  
• Beware of alcohol. Noah and Lot came to grief on account of drunkenness.
  
• Husbands should protect their wives. Using wife's body to protect husband can not be the will of God.
  
• Abimeliech did right. He had no intention of committing adultery with Abraham's wife. He was misled into believing that Sarah, was unattached and available. He makes a big gift to Abraham at the end of the event to "cover the offence" even though he was not a knowing party to it.
  

Let us close in prayer:

Father God, thank you for your living word and for the lesson that it teaches us today.
Thank you father for pointing out our common mistakes: thank you for loving us enough to correct us, and loving us enough to forgive us.
Thank you for teaching us that true repentance requires turning over a new leaf, leaving the old bad ways, not turning back.
Thank you for teaching us again and again your plan for husbands & wives to live together in unity of body and spirit.
In the name of Jesus, the Christ, The Messiah, The Anointed One, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Amen.

Love dad

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For any comments or enquiries please write to Dr. Lim Su Min

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