The Wife of Lot
The wife of Lot had great advantages being married to a righteous man and knowing the LORD. She was shown great mercy for the LORD and could have been saved from the destruction. She was warned by the angels of the LORD and even held by the hands of the angels as well as being guided away from great destruction. The wife of Lot even entertained angels, the heavenly messenger sent by the LORD God, in her home which is an acknowledgment that it was a righteous home. She could have been saved from the destruction that transpired because of wickedness; yet she was turned into a pillar of salt because of her disobedient. We have many lessons that can be gleaned from the wife of Lot and her disobedience.
Genesis 19:15-26, Luke 17:32
The lesson of the wife of Lot, begins with the Angels of the LORD going to hasten Lot. The LORD God was going to destroy Sodom where they lived. The angels hastened Lot the next morning telling him to arise and take his wife and two daughters or else they would be consumed in the iniquity of the city. The iniquity of the city was because of their perversity and depravity. Lot lingered so long that the angels of the LORD had to lay hold of his hand, and the hand of his wife, and two daughters; the LORD was being merciful to Lot and his family and they brought him forth and set him outside on the street of the city.
Our imaginations can run wild thinking about all the preparations the wife of Lot would have to prepare for such an escape. There would be food to take for her family, clothes for her family, and any other precious possessions that would be deemed important. We all understand those important items and the last minute preparation that we must do before any journey begins. Lots wife was no different her preparation was not prepared nor was it understood. Otherwise she would have heeded the angel’s urgency.
The angels told Lot and his family they were escaping for their very life. Further instructions were they were not to look behind them; they were not to stay in the plain or the surrounding district of the Jordan valley. They were instructed to escape to the mountain or else they would be consumed.
Lot had a moment of fear and tried to negotiate with the angels of the LORD by saying: he had found grace in their sight, and they had showed magnificent mercy by trying to say his life and the life of his family. Lot was afraid something evil would overtake him and he would die. Lot used the excuse that there was a city which was closer to escape to. The name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was raised upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Zoar was a city at the southeast end of the Dead Sea grouped with Sodom and Gomorrah as being one of the 5 cities slated for destruction by God; spared at Lot’s plea as his place of refuge. (#06820 Strong, 2001).
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven. The LORD overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. The wife of Lot looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
All her preparations were for not. It made no difference if her preparation of the food, clothes, and all those important items were gathered or not she turned into a pillar of salt. The wife of Lot disobeyed her curiosity, maybe even her fear took hold and she took control. Like many of us she figured she could do it better than the LORD. We may never know what the fascination was in Sodom that caused the wife of Lot to turn around and disobey the LORD. Whatever it was she was turned into a pillar of salt. She lost her life for her disobedience.
The wife of Lot may have performed the duties of preparing her family for a journey. She did neglect the duties of following the instruction from the LORD. Remember the angels of the LORD took her hand, alone with Lot and her daughters, to direct them in the direction they should go. The family lived in perverse Sodom they knew it was a city of worldliness and great sin against the LORD God. It is not that different than it is today the worldliness abounds especially among our Christian churches. There is very little warning about this worldliness, just like it was in Sodom and Gomorrah. There are too many churches more excited about entertainment and worldliness than they are about the Spiritual moving of the LORD.
There is a timely reminder of the disobedience of the wife of Lot. Located at the South West end of the Dead Sea is the singular formation called the Jebel Usdum, also called the “mountain of Sodom.” It is a range of cliffs 5 m. long, and 600 ft. high, consisting of crystallized rock-salt. It was once part of the bed of the ancient Salt Sea it is covered with a capping of chalky limestone and gypsum. (Adam-Joseph, 1913).
The wife of Lot walked behind the rest of the group. Maybe it was because she was burdens by what she was carrying or because she was tired or afraid. This really sends the message to be watchful of being exposed to sinful places in one’s life that can go un-noticed by others. Maybe the wife of Lot thought just one little peek would be harmless; in reality this little peek of the terrible destruct cost her life. She teaches us that even a glance at an unholy act can scar and cause corruption upon our mind, heart and soul.
The wife of Lot was turned into a pillar of salt because of her disobedience. She would not listen to the warnings of the LORD God and paid the ultimate price. The warning was found in Genesis 19:17 “…Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.” The consumed of course is referring to the destruction that came upon Sodom. They did not go to the mountain instead they went to Zoar, that was approved by the LORD but the other warnings did not get lifted. Romans 6:23 tells us “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The next time we hear about the wife of Lot was in Luke 17:20- 32. The Pharisees demanded that Jesus tell them when the kingdom of God should come. Jesus replied that when the kingdom of God comes it will not be with observation. Jesus explains it would be as the lightning that flashed out of the one part under heaven shines unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. (Luke 17:20-24).
First must Jesus must suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They ate , drank and married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as in the days of Lot; they did eat, drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, it that same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. This shall be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. On that day, those that are upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. The warning is found in verse 32 which simply says: “Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:27-32).
The warning continues to tell us that whosoever shall seek to save his life shall loose it. When the wife of Lot looked back she took control of her life and wanted to perhaps judge how much faster she had to go or maybe even wanting to make sure she was going in the right direction we can make many speculations but the warning is not to look back not to try to save our lives when we have put our lives in the hand of the LORD God.
The lesson we learn here is that we are in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood has washed us and has saved us. It is out of our control and in the control of the LORD. The wife of Lot had great advantages being married to a righteous man and knowing the LORD. She was shown great mercy for the LORD and could have been saved from the destruction. She was warned by the angels of the LORD and even held by the hands of the angels as well as being guided away from great destruction. The wife of Lot even entertained angels, the heavenly messenger sent by the LORD God, in her home which is an acknowledgment that it was a righteous home. She could have been saved from the destruction that transpired because of wickedness; yet she was turned into a pillar of salt because of her disobedient. We have many lessons that can be gleaned from the wife of Lot and her disobedience. We must forever remain faithful to the LORD.
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1: 5-10).
References:
Adam–Joseph, ed. James Hastings. (1913). The Greater Men and Women of the Bible: Edinburg: T&T Clark. pp 246-47.
Strong’s, James. (2001). The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
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MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “The Wife of Lot:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1985,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, January) “The Wife of Lot:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1985,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) “The Wife of Lot: .” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1985, (accessed).
