Lot's Wife

Okay - I was really busy yesterday so I didn't get a chance to post anything from my class Wednesday night...so I thought I would do it today.

This past Wednesday night I taught on Lot's Wife. Go all the way back to Genesis chapter 19 in order to find out the little bit about Lot's wife that we know... Now, the main thing that people know about her is that she disobeyed God's command when she escaped Sodom by looking back and therefore she turned into salt. Right? Well, I wanted to know more than that....

Lot was Abram's nephew who Abram had taken with him even though God told him not to. Even though Abram disobeyed God, he and Lot were so blessed that they could no longer live together (Gen 13:5-7a). So Lot looked around and saw Sodom (v.13) and decided to settle there amongst all of the sin and wickedness going on in the whole city.

Turning to Genesis 18, God decided to destroy Sodom because of all the evil and wickedness in the city but Abram intervenes on behalf of his nephew and his family. After bargaining with God, Abram asked if just 10 righteous people could be found in Sodom, if God would not destroy it... God agrees...but 10 people cannot be found.

God offers mercy to us in the same way he did to Lot and his family - even when they did not deserve it...

Read:
Deuteronomy 13:17
Psalm 25:6
Jeremiah 3:12

God decides to destroy Sodom - so He sends 2 angels to the city to get Lot's family out. Lot knew they were angels and therefore insisted they stay at his house - knowing what would happen to them if they stayed out in the public square. Upon this - all the men of the city (both young and old) came to Lot's house looking for the men in order to molest them. That shows just how wicked and evil this city is - no wonder God plans to destroy it!

Genesis 19:1-8 goes through the angels coming, Lot taking them in, the men coming to molest the angels & then Lot offering his daughters in place of the angels to all the men of the city.

Imagine Lot's wife hearing all of this... Listening to all the events as they play out in the other room. Women had no say in the family life during this time in history - so no matter what she thought or what she felt, it would not have mattered or changed anything.

Continuing through this story - Genesis 19:12-14 shows how Lot went to his sons-in-law to tell them to prepare to leave - but they laughed and thought he was a fool. The angels insisted that Lot pack his family to leave, yet he hesitated. In verse 16 the angels actually grab Lot and his family by the hands and pulled them out telling them they had to leave because Sodom was going to be destroyed.

Still - this is not good enough for Lot - he continues asking the angels for favors (Gen 19:18-22) by saying they don't want to go as far as the angels told them to go, and asks if they can just go to Zoar instead... So upon agreement, they are heading towards Zoar...and just as they are almost there, Lot's wife hesitated and looks back, and since she disobeyed God, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Why did Lot's wife turn around...?
We read in chapter 13 that Lot was very wealthy... and if Lot was in the city gate when the angels arrived then he was in works to be a judge, which was a wealthy position. So she was leaving behind a lot of wealth, possessions and earthly good. Also, if you read the Scriptures, she most likely left family behind. Lot offered his daughters who were virgins (v.8) Then the angels told Lot to go talk to his sons and daughters and sons-in-law (Gen 19:12) and so Lot went to talk to his sons-in-law (v.14). Then the angels told Lot to take the daughters that are in the house and flee (v.15). So there is most likely other children around in the city of Sodom who did not flee with the family. She could have been looking back to see if possibly they were following.

Either way - it does not matter. She disobeyed the commands from God - 1 John 2:15-17 tells us to not love the things of this world. God was trying to save her and she made a choice to go against God which cost her her own life.

Do not be so attached to the things of this world that when God tells us to move, flee or do something, we look back with longing as Lot's wife did....