Remember Lot’s Wife

Introduction

I feel sorry for kids in school today. They make them write a lot more than we did. That started right as I was getting out of college. Man, I was glad to get out. Because now they have to write paper after paper after paper. It gets nauseating, doesn’t it? I remember being taught about writing. I’ve never liked it much. It’s difficult for me to even write about spiritual things and to publish it in some publication. But I’m told if you write well, and I try to look at those who do write well at the things that they employ as they do it, that you have to mix your sentences. Everything can’t be a compound or a complex sentence. That every now and then you have to insert smaller, shorter sentences to make it more easily readable or to produce effect.

You know the scriptures do that. The way God’s message was written. And sometimes its most memorable statements are the smaller ones. If I turn that on, it’ll work. The smaller sentences can communicate great messages. And I think of some of the smaller sentences like the smallest of all. In the story of Lazarus’ resurrection that is memorable, you know what this says probably without even looking, most of you. Jesus wept. How powerful is such a brief statement. Or in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. There’s a number of shorter statements that are all back to back in the conclusion of that epistle to the church at Thessalonica. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Abstain from every form of evil, verse 22.

Or the statements of Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. Or verse 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Some of the shortest statements of the New Testament, all full of meaning to us as the Lord’s people. Now, the shortest statement in the Old Testament. Probably not so much, because it’s in a genealogy. If you can name it, you get extra credit. You can’t. Okay. But if you can come out this morning and tell me, I can tell you if you’re right. But I want to look at another one in the New Testament. In the words of Jesus. In Luke 17 and verse 32. Remember Lot’s wife. Powerful. No elaboration needed in the context of Luke 17.

His audience was familiar with that Old Testament story, which we will review momentarily. But if you’ll look in Luke 17, you’ll notice that surrounding that statement of our Lord is a warning about the coming of the Son of Man. He was going to be away from them. He said, You will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, like they were experiencing that particular day when God was literally in their midst in the person of Jesus of Nazareth in Luke 17 and verse 22. But he talks about how he’s going to be, how he’s going to suffer. And that ultimately he will come again and bring judgment, just as God did in the days of Noah, as the flood destroyed all living flesh upon the earth.

And then he mentions it was similar in the days of Lot in verse 28. The day that Lot went out from Sodom and it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. And it will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. That day has not yet occurred, but it is promised, it is anticipated, it is spoken of throughout the entire New Testament, and we are inching ever closer to that day. And so he says, just as sure as those judgments came and surprised many.

Lot’s wife is a very effective illustration. It was a tragedy. It’s a tragedy that I want to recall with you and warn you to heed.

Beginning in that tiny epistle toward the end of the New Testament, the epistle of Jude, because it’s so small, it has no chapter divisions. But in Jude verse 7, again, promise of future judgment, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, which many believe is a reference to homosexuality, and that certainly is borne out in the story that we’ll read in a moment, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. A somewhat companion volume to Jude in terms of theme. 2 Peter chapter 2. In 2 Peter 2, when Peter is warning about the influence of false teachers and false prophets and the judgment that would come upon the same, he says, if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter.

But he rescued Lot, a principled man who was oppressed by the sensual conduct of these unprincipled men, that he saw and heard while living among them, it says in verse 8, and his soul was tormented by their lawless deeds. And the point of that, bringing Lot’s example into this equation, Peter says, the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and may we be those people who are delivered from the wrath of God that is to come. But the story itself is found in the book of Genesis. Beginning in chapter 18, when three messengers come to Abraham, it seems two of which depart and go on to Lot and Sodom. God is not going to keep from Abraham what he is planning to do.

The cry that comes from Sodom and Gomorrah is exceedingly great in verse 20. Immorality and sin is running rampant in the city. And so he comes to his friend Abraham, and Abraham intercedes on behalf of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. If there are 50 righteous souls, would you spare the city? And of course, God says yes, and obviously comes back to him and says they’re not 50. And so then he prays for 45. They’re not 45. And then 40, and it’s interesting that it starts going by tens. You know, we’ve started by fives, but we’re not getting the answer we want to hear, so we go 40, 30, 20, 10 righteous souls, not even 10 righteous souls in the city of Sodom. And then immediately the scene shifts to Sodom, where these two angels have come to Lot.

And as an indication as to why God is going to have to judge them, the men of the city are wanting to have relations with.

Here, and there is his two daughters, his wife and his sons in law. Apparently, they were simply betrothed, but already regarded as married, and he tries to persuade them to get out of the city because God is going to rain fire and destruction down on the cities of Sodom and Gorah. And it’s interesting in verse 14 that to his sons in law he appeared to be jesting. And so often it is when you talk about the judgment of God, people don’t take it seriously. And they thought everything would continue in Sodom and Gomorrah as it had done the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that. And they did not accompany Lot and his family when they left. And as you know, even Lot hesitated to leave.

When the angels urge him to get up and get out of that place, as morning dawned, he says, Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he hesitated, so they seized him by the hand. And the hand of his wife and the hands of his daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him. And they brought him out and put him outside the city. And they said, Escape for your life. Do not look behind you. Do not stay anywhere in the valley. Escape to the mountains lest you be swept away.

Escape. Get out. Do not look back. They leave. Verse 24 the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground.

But his wife from behind him. Apparently, Lot was in greater haste, or he was just leading the procession of his wife and two daughters out of the city, but for some reason she is a little behind him. But his wife from behind him looked back. Now remember what the angels had said. Escape for your life, do not look back. She looked back and became a pillar of salt. She had been sufficiently warned.

Now, you would think in a Bible dictionary that you would have truthful comments about the Bible. But George R. Barry, writing for Hastings Bible dictionary, maintains the historical character of the story of Lot’s wife and her transformation into a pillar of salt is doubtful. Doubtful.

Why is it doubtful? Why is the miraculous so unbelievable? If God was capable and is capable of creating heaven and earth and everything in it, could he not turn one of his people into a pillar of salt? Or a wild beast for that matter. As he did Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4. The fact that somebody would write an entry like this for a Bible dictionary. God is so lightly regarded in our times. God has been reduced to a good luck charm, an icon of goodness. There is precious little fear of him and his power. Listen, Jesus was not perpetuating a myth. He treated it as real, not imagined. And if we’re going to treat the pillar of salt part of the story as myth, why not the entire story itself?

And some have done that. Oh, there’s no evidence of the city Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, it appears actually that there could be at the southern edge of the Dead Sea burnt bricks representing what was once a city have been found at the bottom of the southern edge of the Dead Sea. Was that Sodom and Gomorrah? A lot of scholars think it was. But even if we did not have those bricks, let’s say that no such burnt bricks were ever found. How can we question the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? That’s going to call into question what Peter said, what Jude said, what the book of Genesis says, the integrity of the Old Testament, the New Testament, the entire Bible, and the integrity of Jesus.

Who said without qualification, remember Lot’s wife? Supposedly there’s even some remnants of the salt statue that she became. I don’t know if I believe that or not. I don’t know if over time it would have eroded completely or not. But can you imagine this? For generations to follow people that would happen along this area to see the pillar of salt that Lot’s wife became. Impressive. And so when I think about this comment, well, the story is doubtful. I have a hard time seeing that God could turn somebody to a pillar of salt. What else are we going to doubt? Are we going to doubt such texts as Joshua chapter 10, where it says, And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.

And there was no day like it before or after it. Or when the scripture says, the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land so that the waters were divided. Listen, folks, we can rest assured that happened. Or when the scripture says, and the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. We can rest assured that it happened. And again, if it didn’t happen, then Jesus’ integrity is called into question because he mentioned Jonah’s case over and over again as an example.

From the days as a youth.

That Jesus is real. That I have a soul.

That the Bible is God’s word.

1. What You Value Affects Your Attitude and Activity Toward God

That there is only two potential destinies for my soul. Heaven or hell. And as an adult, I have only become more greatly convinced. These stories, such as the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the context of Luke 17, from which Jesus says, remember Lot’s life, these stories cause me to be sober in my thinking about my life and my choices. What I will think, what I will say, what I will pursue. And standing as a monument of God’s displeasure, Lot’s wife ignored the clear and direct warnings given to her. And I want to make two observations, and then I’ll be done this morning about this example in Jesus’ words. Remember Lot’s wife. Number one. What you value affects your attitude and your activity toward God.

I think that’s such an important point. You know, we try to understand why people do what they do or don’t do what they should do spiritually. And we talk about the circumstances of their life and the things that are pulling them away. But I want to tell you, bottom line. What affects spiritual service and decisions to serve the Lord faithfully, committed, serving brothers and sisters in the Lord. I want to tell you what fuels all of that. It’s what you value. And the bottom line, if you value things of this world, whatever they may be, whatever it is that makes you tick or that you like. If you value those things more than God’s things, it inevitably affects the way you think and what you do.

And that’s just the bottom line in all of it. People don’t give spiritual things their due because they value something else more. And God knows that. You know, I can sit here and say, well, this is the problem. But you know, you don’t answer to me. Ultimately, you answer to God, and he knows your heart. And the bottom line on Lot’s wife is that she loved the world more than she loved God. And Jesus makes it very clear in the Sermon on the Mount. You cannot serve God and mammon. So why did you come here today? Is it just a check on the checklist of these are the things I have to do to be a good respectable person or to please my family? Or did you come here?

Because this is what you value. Because this is what you believe, that you understand that you are here on this planet to remember your creator, to serve the risen Savior. That’s why I’ve come here today. This is what my life is about. This is what I invest in more than anything else. I value this. It affects everything.

2. Looking Forward Is Preferable to Looking Back

God is not going to confuse me with the person sitting next to me. Wouldn’t it be good if we could just sit next to the most righteous person we know and sort of rub off on us? And here we are sitting among some righteous people who are striving to serve God and in genuineness with all of their being. And maybe it could just rub off on me if I sit next to one of them. God is not going to confuse any of us with the righteous person sitting next to us. This is about you and your Maker and your Redeemer. The second observation that I want to make in regard to the story is that looking forward is preferable to looking back. I think Lot’s wife is a lot like many people who find their way into the Lord’s body, even.

I mean, she had enough conviction, at least to start to leave the city with Lot and her daughters. Her sons-in-law didn’t get that far. But as she begins the journey to safety, as she is escaping for her life, she is drawn again to what is behind her. You realize how many passages, especially in the New Testament, speak to the propensity of some believers to want to go back. They have made this clean break from sin and a futile way of life, a life without hope. And yet, as they have gone along this journey, this attraction to what was before. I think every New Testament epistle addresses this. You could go from one epistle right. Christians were being lured back to that former life. And like Lot’s wife, we’re saying, hmm there’s something back there that I don’t want to make a clean break with.

I’d like to have maybe just a little bit of that back in my life. How many who obey the gospel start out with tremendous zeal and enthusiasm for the story of the new convert I met in Indianapolis years ago who came up to me at the potluck on Sunday night. And I wish I had more conversations like this. She came up to me, she was on fire, she was zealous for the Lord, and she said, if you could tell me one thing that would help me in my new spiritual life, what would it be? And I thought for just about half a millisecond. And that’s not very long. And I said to her, I just hope you have as much zeal for the Lord ten years from now that you have today.

And the reason why I say that is I’ve seen it too many times. What starts well can often revert into a longing for those things that one once left behind. The monument, the pillar of salt that Lot’s wife became. It’s testimony, telling us, don’t fall for that trick of the devil. Don’t think that immorality you left behind when you became a Christian and loyal to Christ, this pursuit of moral purity, don’t ever start questioning that. And be tantalized by something fleeting and temporary and destructive. Let me tell you what the choice really is all about. It’s about the abiding versus the fleeting. And so often the devil is making this appeal to some attraction back here. And whatever it is that we’re going to hold on to back in this former life, whatever it gives to us that we think we want so very badly, it is fleeting.

It’s temporary. And the offer of what is ahead of us that God is offering to us is abiding. Eternal in its scope, both in quality and duration. It’s always a choice. When sin comes beckoning at our door, it’s always a choice between the fleeting, yet pleasurable, but fleeting and abiding. And it’s just not a very sensible choice. And I’ve done it. We’ve all done it. It’s a choice for the fleeting and temporary versus the abiding. We’ve got to stay focused on where we’re going. Lot’s wife was headed in the right direction, and now she’s looking back in direct violation of what the angels had instructed her to do. But what that tells us is we’ve got to keep looking forward. That’s where it is for us.

Not back. That’s why Peter described it later in 2 Peter chapter 2. After we have escaped the defilements of the world. That doesn’t sound very good, does it? The defilements of the world. We’ve escaped that. Going back to that is described as what? Those two figures that are not very pleasant. The first of which is the sow wallowing in the mire. You know, you can wash and clean up a pig. Charles can tell you all about that if you need to know more about that. He’s probably had experience in that. You wash, you clean up that pig, and what’s he going to do? They’re going to go back to wallowing in the mud. We have a cat like that for some reason. But the second figure is even worse.

It’s like an animal or a dog that returns to its own vomit. Why do they do that? That’s not the kind of nourishment I want. But those figures are despicable and meant to be despicable for a reason. If you go back to what you were before, it’s filthy back there. Keep looking, Paul.

One popular author wrote about this story in the Bible saying, did Lot’s wife have enough time to witness the horror in the plain below? Before her own horror hit. I wonder how long God let her see it. The fire and destruction being brought on the city of Sodom and Gomorrah behind her. Just a simple glance back. One last look was one look too many. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that God meant what he said. Mrs. Lott’s philosophy could have been etched on her salt block tombstone. There’s no need to take God seriously. I know of no philosophy more popular today. It’s the reason we’re caught these days in the do your own thing syndrome, and he spelled syndrome S I N. What a subtle web the spider of self has woven.

Millions are stuck. Instead of screaming, I’m caught, they shall with a smile. I’m free. If you don’t take God seriously, there’s no reason to take your marriage seriously, or the rearing of your children, or such character traits as submission, faithfulness, sexual purity, humility, repentance, and honesty. Take a long lick of salt this evening. It stings.

Conclusion

In what direction or to whom are you looking? These reminders given to us by the Lord in this simple statement, remember Lot’s wife, is telling us about what is truly important. And about how we can be saved from the wrath of God that is to come. We don’t have an angel telling us that it’s going to be today.

But we have no way of knowing if it will be today. Is your soul prepared to escape the wrath of God?

Remember Lot’s life. Heed instruction while there’s time and opportunity. Put on the Lord in obedience. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. He who does not believe shall be condemned. Mark 16 and verse 16. Look to him. Let’s stand and say.