LOT’S WIFE
Through the pages of the Bible we are told to remember many things; particularly as they relate to God’s love, His mercy, and the way in which He rescued the Hebrews from the land of Egypt. We are also told to remember His ordinances, rules, and commandments so that our lives may be full and pleasant. Christ also said to remember Him at the table of communion when He said:
“Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you;
do this in remembrance of Me.”
(1 Corinthians 11:24)
But really nowhere else in Scripture does it state that we are to remember anyone else except in one place. In one of the shortest verses in the Bible we are told to:
Remember Lot’s wife.
(Luke 17:32)
Lot’s wife was the one who was turned into a pillar of salt after looking back during the flight from Sodom and Gomorrah.
But [Lot’s] wife looked back behind him,
and she became a pillar of salt.
(Genesis 19:26)
This event, however, was not the reason we are to remember her, for she did what many of us do each day. She had been told, along with Lot and his family, to flee the city; the culture that was enveloping it along with the punishment that would soon befall it.
Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain.
…lest you be destroyed.
(Genesis 19:17)
But Abraham, who had not been told to avoid looking back, did so…
…and he saw…the smoke of the land which went up
like the smoke of a furnace.
(Genesis 19:28)
So why was Lot and his family given the instruction to avoid looking back?
There is some evidence that Lot and his family were reluctant to leave behind the life they had been leading.
…the angels urged Lot to hurry…
And while he lingered, the [angels] took hold of his hand,
his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters,
…and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
(Genesis 19:15-16)
Lot saying:
"Please, no, my lords!"
(Genesis 19:18)
Examining Lot’s wife and her subsequent fate, was it just because she looked back that God punished her or was it because she was reluctant to leave her old life behind? The Hebrews, during their travels in the desert, often bemoaned the fate that had befallen them and stated on many occasions that they wished to be back in their old life in Egypt. Being thus ungrateful to God for what He had done for them, He prevented most of them from going into the Promised Land and they perished in the desert. Like wise with Lot’s wife, it seemed to be her reluctance to leave behind her old life that really was the cause of her demise.
And it seems to be no different with ourselves. When we are saved through grace we are to become…
…a new creation.
…if anyone is in Christ…old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.
(2 Corinthians 5:17)
Therefore, one is not supposed to continue to look back with regret at their old life as the Hebrews did, but to constantly remember what God has done for them and look forward to their new existence, both here on earth and in eternity with Christ.
And that, in turn, is certainly something to think about.
