Today God lets Abraham in on His plan to destroy wicked Sodom and Gomorrah. So Abraham begins interceding for his nephew, Lot, because Abraham knows God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked. We saw this with the flood when the Lord spared Noah and his family who were deemed righteous because of their faith in the Lord. And we see it again here when God graciously answers Abraham’s request and spares Lot and his daughters. But unfortunately, Lot’s wife does not trust the Lord and clings to things of this world and perishes.
So Lot and his daughters are now living in a cave in a mountain. And this is when Lot’s daughters come up with an interesting plan. They decide to get their father, Lot, drunk and have sex with him to preserve the family line. The daughters likely came up with this plan based on what they witnessed living in the wicked city of Sodom. The offspring born from this sexual sin between Lot and his daughters become the Moabites and Ammonites. Lot’s descendants will show up later in the story as a people group immersed in sexual immorality.
And yes, Abraham passes Sarah off again to a foreign ruler, Abimelech. However, the Lord protects Sarah again by keeping her from harm and returning her to Abraham. Although Abraham just made another foolish decision which puts his wife in harm’s way, the Lord still calls Abraham a prophet when He instructs Abraham to return her. “So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.”
The Lord is maturing Abraham into the man of faith that he will one day become, and He is using his wife Sarah in the process. God just showed Abraham and Sarah that He is the one to open and close the womb. And as promised, the Lord opens Sarah’s womb – “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, ‘God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.’ She also said, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.’”
Abraham and Sarah are on a faith journey which isn’t always a smooth and easy road. However, as the Lord told Abraham yesterday, God is our shield and our exceedingly great reward through the journey. Now that Isaac is on the scene, he too will begin a faith journey. This boy is in for an adventure! Keep reading. (Genesis 18:1-21:7)
Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 