Don’t let today’s title fool you, I’m not writing a horror blog, although the topic we’re dealing with does have an underlying scary element to it.
In last week’s blog, It’s Common to Everyone, we talked about the three temptations Eve faced in Genesis 3 and how that seemed to relate to the three temptations we see Jesus experience in Matthew 4. We’re leaving the Garden this week (don’t worry, we’ll return if we can get past the Angels with the flaming swords) and heading to Sodom. I know a tour of Sodom sounds pretty unappealing, but I think if we can travel back in time in our imaginations, we can learn a valuable lesson from Lot’s wife.
Over the years, as I’ve studied the Bible, I’ve often faced difficult scripture passages. It may help you understand how I approach these “problems” when encountering them.
First, I start with the premise that God created the Heavens and the Earth. Then I remind myself that anyone who can accomplish a feat can ensure they transmit a message to us (the Bible) precisely as they intended. Next, I recognize that although GOD is perfect, humanity isn’t; therefore, translations can have errors.
Thankfully for us, the Bible is the most highly scrutinized book on the planet. Many brilliant men and women have devoted their lives to understanding the Bible passages more clearly. Finally, I find that the Bible self-interprets. If we’re willing to seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel and diligently study, most of our problems will be cleared up by the text itself.
Having said that, I’ve often been skeptical about something we find in Genesis Chapter 19 concerning Lot’s wife, but before we discuss that, it’s probably best to get some context for the troubling passage.
In Genesis 18:1, the Patriarch Abraham finds himself talking to the Lord by the “oaks of Mamre.” During the conversation, the Lord reveals he has come down to see if “the outcry” against Sodom is correct.
After a lengthy conversation with Abraham, the Lord “returned to his place” while two angels entered the city to observe. The angels had intended to spend the night in the city square, but Lot, Abraham’s Nephew “pressed them strongly,” and they finally agreed to stay in his home instead.
Consider what the Apostle Peter tells us in 2 Peter 2:7-8. “righteous Lot was greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked.” Some manuscripts even go as far as to say, “for as that righteous man lived among them [Sodom] day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.”
During the night, a sexual assault was planned against the two angels by the men of the city; thus providing all the evidence the angels needed to dispense justice. In Genesis 19:14, they warn Lot to get his family and flee the city because, at dawn, they will destroy Sodom.
In Genesis 19:16, the angels warned Lot to leave the city, but “he lingered.” Apparently, he was dragging his feet, so “they seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand…and brought them out of the city.”
We must pay close attention to verse 17, “…escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley…”
Two things we discover in this verse:
- don’t look back
- don’t stop anywhere in the valley
Okay, that brings us to the troubling passage, verse 26
“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
Did Lot’s wife simply glance over her shoulder and poof, she’s salt? Possibly but I think there’s a much deeper principle the Lord is teaching us, which the challenges of the verse itself often overshadow.
PERSONAL OPINION: I don’t view this as a simple matter of Lot’s wife glancing over her shoulder. Let’s explore the passage more closely.
Gen. 19:26 But Lot’s wife, behind him…”
Let’s stop right there. Where was Lot’s wife? Exactly, “behind him…”
Was she unable to keep up and therefore overtaken by the punishment? That doesn’t seem consistent with what we read in Gen. 19:22 “Escape there [Zoar] quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.”
Did that statement only apply to Lot personally? In one sense, yes, but in another, it applied to his entire family.
OPINION: I don’t believe she was lagging behind in the sense of being unable to keep up. Instead, it seems like something more is happening here, so let’s look back at our passage and dig deeper.
Gen. 19:26 “But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back…”
Let’s stop there and explore the idea of, “looked back…”
As we’re all aware, the 39 books of the Old Testament were primarily written in Hebrew. Sometimes, looking at those words and their definitions can give us a clearer understanding of what’s happening.
Remember when I said, “GOD is perfect, humanity isn’t.”? Well, sometimes our language creates barriers to understanding.
The Hebrew word for “looked back” is nabat. According to Strong’s Definitions, nabat means: “to scan, i.e., look intently at; by implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care:—(cause to) behold, consider, look (down), regard, have respect, see.” Blue Letter Bible: nabat
Now we seem to be gaining a clearer picture. Let’s look at an interesting prophecy found in Luke 17:28-33.
Verse 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
Verse 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—
Verse 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Verse 31 Oh that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.
Verse 32 Remember Lot’s wife.
Verse 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
What’s the point that Jesus tries to get us to understand by mentioning Sodom and Lot’s wife?
Lot’s wife had physically left the city but her heart was still in Sodom.
The passage tells us that she was “behind them [Lot and his daughters]” I’ve already told you that I don’t believe this had anything to do with a physical limitation. After all, Lot had already asked them to spare the little town of Zoar. He didn’t believe they could make it out of the valley entirely but did believe they could make it to Zoar. The angels granted the request. Surely, he would have known his wife’s limitations should she have had any.
As previously mentioned, the Hebrew word “looked back” is nabat, which implies she was gazing intently at Sodom. Coupling that with Jesus’ warning in Luke 17 seems to paint a picture of a woman longing for Sodom. Like Lot and their daughters, she was warned by one of the angels “not to look back…” The Hebrew word recorded there is, once again, nabat which seems to imply she stopped in the valley and gazed longingly at Sodom. As I said, her body was in the valley, but her heart was still in Sodom.
The message is simple. There is nothing in that city valuable enough to lose your life for. One day, like Sodom, God will judge the earth inhabitants of the earth. The unrighteous will be swept away in the judgment, but the righteous will escape through faith in God’s Son and our Savior Jesus the Christ. The warning Lot’s wife received applies to each of us, flee the city and don’t look back. In other words, don’t love the world or the things of the world. 2 Peter 2:9 “…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,”