Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 60

 

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 60

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Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - PILLAR OF SALT

PILLAR OF SALT

Many are familiar with the story in the Old Testament concerning Lot and his family. Just before the destruction of Sodom, angels escorted Lot and his family outside of the city and gave these instructions:

…take your wife and your two daughters who are here…

Escape for your life! 

Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain.

Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah…

But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 

(Genesis 19:15,17,24,26) 

So Lot’s wife, whose name we do not know, was turned into a pillar of salt. Was this an allegory or a true event? The historian Josephus has written this. 

But Lot’s wife continually turning back to view the city as she went from it, 

and being too nicely inquisitive what would become of it, 

though God had forbidden her so to do, 

was changed into a pillar of salt; 

for I have seen it, and it remains at this day.*

In addition, Clement of Rome and Irenaeus, both church fathers, have mentioned it as well. This does not prove the story but certainly indicates that the Jewish people gave it considerable credence.

But why a pillar of salt? Could it be because the area around Sodom was a salt plain and even the Dead Sea was at that time called the Salt Sea? Zephaniah mentioned:

…like Sodom, 

Overrun with weeds and saltpits,

And a perpetual desolation. 

(Zephaniah 2:9)

All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim 

(that is the Salt Sea). 

(Genesis 14:3)

In addition, salt was used (and still is used) as a long term preservative. Also, it was a means of covenant as well as a type of curse.

The whole land is brimstone, salt and burning…

like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah… 

(Deuteronomy 29:23)

So Abimelech…demolished the city and sowed it with salt. 

(Judges 9:45)

…Cursed is the man who trusts in man 

And makes flesh his strength…

For he shall be like a shrub in the desert…

In a salt land which is not inhabited. 

(Jeremiah 17:5-6)

So, as salt was used as a mark of cursing and ruin, it was also used as a mark of permanence and loyalty. For example, salt was also needed with offerings.

…with all your offerings you shall offer salt 

…the salt of the covenant of your God… 

(Leviticus 2:13)

All the heave offerings the holy things, 

which the children of Israel offer to the Lord…

is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord 

with you and your descendants with you. 

(Numbers 18:19)

… [The Lord] gave dominion over Israel to David forever…

by covenant of salt[.] 

(2 Chronicles 13:5)

And a pillar was always meant to be a sign, a monument from which to learn and to remember; whereas a grave is only to recognize a death. Therefore, a pillar of salt could point to a remembrance of how the disobedience of God can lead to an eternity of permanent desolation. Genesis 19 tells how Lot and his family were reluctant to leave Sodom and how they had to be hurried along. Lot’s wife was apparently the most reluctant and looked back despite God’s instruction not to. As Luke reminds us:

…[I]n the days of Lot: 

They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 

but on the day Lot went out of Sodom 

it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 

Even so it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 

…he who is on the housetop…let him not come down… 

the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 

Remember Lot’s wife.

Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, 

and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 

(Luke 17:28-33)

Lot’s wife lost her life because she was reluctant to leave behind her previous life. How many of us are in the same situation?

It certainly does give one something to think about.

* Josephus:  Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 11:4 

  

Pastor Jasmine Trott - Nov. 1, 2026

 

Pastor Jasmine Trott - Nov. 1, 2026


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Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 59

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 59

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Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - THREE DAYS

THREE DAYS

Many people are familiar with the story of Christ’s betrayal and crucifixion. We have heard abut His agony on the cross and read His words as He gave up His spirit

It is finished! 

(John 19:30)

There were a number of happenings that occurred after the death of Jesus that are also recorded and of which most people are aware; at least those who know the story at all. At the time of His death:

…the veil the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;

and the earth quaked, 

and the rocks split,

and the graves were opened;

and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised… 

(Matthew 27:51-52)

Now, there are many aspects of these events which could be mentioned but it is the next line of the message that most people don’t notice.

and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, 

they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 

(Matthew 27:53)

According to this passage, three days elapsed between the opening of the graves at the time of the crucifixion and the going into the city by those who were raised. Why did those who were raised wait for three days before leaving the tombs? Although some have questioned as to whether or not Matthew 27:53 was a later edition to the text, there is apparently no real evidence to support this.

The answer may be found in another part of the Scripture. The day after Passover was the Feast of First Fruits.

…say to them [the children of Israel]: 

“…you shall bring a sheaf of firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord… 

on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

(Leviticus 23:10-11)

The very first part of the harvest was to be included in this feast and it is stated elsewhere that:

 

…now Christ is risen from the dead, 

and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 

(1 Corinthians 15:20)

If those who had been raised at the time of the crucifixion had immediately come out of the tombs they would have preceded the resurrection of Christ and that was not the way it was to be. Jesus was to be the first truly resurrected [not just resuscitated] and so no other could precede Him. 

The concept of one being awaken from “sleep” was also well known to the Jewish people. For example:

…I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, 

and bring you into the land of Israel.

Then you shall know that I am the Lord, 

when I have opened your graves…

and brought you up from your graves. 

(Ezekiel 37:12-13)

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,

Some to everlasting life,

Some to shame and everlasting contempt. 

(Daniel 12:2)

So, the concept of God awakening those who sleep was not unknown to the Jewish people and it was evidently planned by God that Jesus would be the firstfruits of those awakened.

It’s a small section of the story surrounding that time in history but it shows one how important those three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection were and gives us one more thing to think about.                                                                                                                            

 

Pastor Caroline Barclay Oct 25 2026

 

Pastor Caroline Barclay Oct 25 2026

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Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 58

 

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 58

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