Romans 8:28 (ESV) tells us, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” This is a verse that is often quoted. Do you really believe that God can work ALL things for good? Do you suppose God can work incest for good? I do, and today I want to show you a time when God did just that.
First Things First
First we need to go all the way to Genesis 19. This is the chapter when God judges Sodom and Gomorrah. Many years before God’s judgement came to Sodom and Gomorrah, a man named Lot moved in. Lot was the nephew of Abraham. Lot left with Abraham and Sarah when they moved away from their family to the land God promised to give them. There came a time when Lot’s sheep and workers could no longer live so close to Abraham’s sheep and workers. Abraham took Lot to the top of a cliff and asked Lot what land he would like to take.
Lot chose the land in the direction of Sodom. Over time we see Lot living in the city of Sodom, and he even had a place to sit at the city gate. This means that he was accepted in the society of Sodom and was respected enough to be on their version of the city council. Lot married and had two daughters. By all accounts life was good for Lot and his family in Sodom.
Lot Was Content But God Wasn’t
However, the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah had come up to God, and he said their sin was “very grave.” The sin was so great that he was forced to destroy the city and everyone and everything inside. Because Lot was a righteous man, God spared him and his family from destruction. God sent angels to rescue Lot and his family. They were told to run and not look back. Sadly, Lot’s wife did look back and as a result turned into a pillar of salt. Now it was only Lot and his two daughters left. They ran to a cliff in a mountain and hid there.
The Evil Plan
Time passed on and Lot’s daughters came up with a hideous plan. The older daughter came to the younger and said, …“Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” Genesis 19:31-32 (ESV)
How messed up is this? The daughters believed they could never marry a man, so they decided to get their father drunk and sleep with him. Both daughters succeeded in their plan and both conceived a son. The older one named her son Moab while the younger one named her son Ben-ammi. Eventually Moab became the nation we know as the Moabites and the younger became the nation we know as the Ammonites.
Who Were the Moabites and Ammonites
The Moabites and Ammonites were enemies of Israel. Israel didn’t like them because of how they were conceived, and I can imagine they didn’t like Israel because they felt judged by them. The Israelites couldn’t see how God could ever make anything good come from either the Moabites or the Ammonites, but he did!
Hardships Precede Blessings
Years and years passed and there came a time when there was a famine in Israel. This famine occurred during the time of the judges. So this was before Saul and David were kings. The famine was so bad that a family decided they were desperate enough to leave their home and live in the forbidden town of Moab. Things seemed to be going great at first. Both sons of this family got married and were happy.
Unfortunately, this happiness wasn’t going to last. Both sons and the father all died, leaving three broken-hearted widows. The mother decided life couldn’t be any worse back home. She packed what little she had left and started on her way back to Israel. At first both of her daughter-in-laws wanted to come. However, knowing how difficult life was going to be back home, she told them both to go back to their respective parents and move on with their lives. One daughter-in-law went back while the other decided she was going to stick with her mother-in-law.
Hard Work Was Noticed
The two women made it back home. The daughter-in-law decided she needed to take care of her mother-in-law and went off gathering barley to make bread. One day the owner of the field she was working saw her and liked her. He invited her to work in his field only and told her he would protect her. She agreed and eventually these two fell in love and got married.
If you haven’t figured it out yet. The story I just told you is the story of Ruth and Naomi. Here’s where all this ties together. You see, Ruth was a Moabite. Yes, she was a descendant of Lot and his older daughter. God used Ruth to take care of Naomi, but even more than that, Ruth is in the lineage of Jesus. She is the great, great, great, etc. grandmother of Jesus. We know this because at the very end of Ruth we are told she has a son whom she named Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David. David is a direct ancestor of Jesus. Therefore Ruth, the descendant of Moab, conceived through incest, is a direct ancestor of Jesus as well.
Yes, God Can Make Your Mess Work For Your Good
So you see, God really can make even the worst things turn out for good. It doesn’t matter who has hurt you, what they have done or said about you. It doesn’t matter what happens in your life; God promises to turn it around for your good. It just might take awhile to see the good fruit appear. I know I can say in my life God has taken the most difficult, painful situations and taught me lessons which led me to make decisions that did turn out to be in my best interest. It just takes trust, surrender, and time to see the good fruit. Sometimes we have to wait for the rotten stuff to decompose so we can have room for the sweet, good fruit to bloom. Whatever you may be struggling with today, take heart and know God will turn it around for your good.
Romans 8:28 (ESV) “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
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