Lot had fled north of Sodom to Zoar for safety. Lot’s two daughters were the only ones with him. Things didn’t work out so well with this situation.
Genesis 19:22 says that the town’s name was Zoar because the angels waited for Lot to arrive there before destroying Sodom. Previously, the name was Bela. See Genesis 14:2. Bela was one of the five cities attacked by the four kings, led by Chedorlaomer. The people of Bela, now Zoar, knew the people of Sodom. They had fought in battle together. They knew that Lot resided in Sodom. Now, in the morning after the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his daughters were looking for refuge. The plains were ablaze with fire and smoke, and Lot stood before them untouched. What should they make of this? And where was Lot’s wife? Genesis 19:30 says that Lot settled in the mountains because he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. I’m sure the townspeople had more questions than Lot had answers, so he left.
Lot’s daughters had fiancés in Sodom. They were ready to get married and start a family. They would have to start over in Zoar. But their father had taken them from the city where they could find potential suitors. Now they were in the mountains with their father as the only male around. They took matters into their own hands.
The older daughter convinced the younger daughter that they would only have offspring from their father since there was no one else. They agreed, and each took a night getting Lot drunk and conceiving a child without his knowledge. The older daughter had a son named Moab, and the younger daughter had a son named Ammon. These boys became people groups known as the Moabites and the Ammonites, who were enemies of the Israelites.
We mentioned before that Lot was not with Abraham for the covenant of circumcision, and he may not have been in covenant with God. Though Lot was considered a righteous man worthy of saving from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, his relationship with God is unknown. Is he to blame for fathering children with his daughters? Not likely, but the text is silent on this point. Ironically, the story of Lot ends here. It is unknown if Lot found another wife or if his daughters found husbands and had other children. All we know is that their two sons became nations of their own. And these two nations were a problem to Israel. Maybe that is because of the sin of incest that begat Moab and Ammon, but we cannot know for sure. It could be that Moab and Ammon were not in covenant with God, so naturally, their offspring would be hostile to those in covenant with God. Either way, this story tells the origin of the Moabites and the Ammonites.