WHAT IF GOD HAD NOT TURNED LOT’S
WIFE INTO A PILLAR OF SALT?
After visiting Sodom and Gomorrah,
God had no doubt that the cities had reached the point of no return. The two
cities were, therefore, condemned to total annihilation, and only Lot his
wife and two daughters would have escaped. The warning to Lot and his wife
and daughters was undeniably explicit: “ Escape for thy life; look not
behind thee neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain lest
thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17). Unfortunately, Lot’s wife dared to
disregard the angelic warning, looked back, “and she became a pillar of
salt” (V. 26).
But what if God had shown Lot's wife mercy and had allowed her to go on without punishing her?
Certainly, that would have put into focus God’s patience and mercy, and it
would have definitely prevented the scoffers from insinuating that the
Judeo-Christian God is not a God of love.
Was Lot’s wife
simply committing a small act of disobedience? Was she, perhaps, simply
looking back because she was distraught over her children that were left
behind and about to be destroyed?
Unless Jesus Christ
had brought meaning into this event, it might have seemed perplexing. Having
been present, Christ beheld the events as they happened and was fully aware
of Lot’s wife’s true motives. Thus, He warns Christians at the end of times
to “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
Why should Christians “remember Lot’s
wife”?
Just like Sodom and Gomorrah, before Christ’s return, the world
will be saturated with evil. Christians are warned to come out of the world
and not be a part of it. God warns in the last book of the Bible: “Come out
of her my people that you be not partakers of her sin, and that you receive
not of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4). To be “partakers of her sins” means
partaking of the horrendous destruction that will befall sinful humankind at
the end of times.
The warning is
again explicit. Come out of sin and do not desire to return to it. He who
loves the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4); and, thus, a friend of
Satan. Not heeding such a command means bringing upon oneself terrible
consequences—like Lot’s wife.
Christ’s warning to
remember Lot’s wife is a warning for us not to long for the sinful world we
left behind. Lot’s wife was not simply looking back at Sodom out of
curiosity, or only because she was distraught and made a fatal mistake.
Lot’s wife did not want to leave Sodom and its sinful ways. Her carnal mind
had grown accustomed to the pleasures that Sodom had to offer. She had
become a part of it and regretted leaving it behind.
How much had Sodom
affected Lot’s wife? We do not know. We do know that she had lived among
degenerates, that she had been influenced by them and did not seem to mind.
The New Testament tells us that while in Sodom Lot “was vexed with the
filthy conversation of the wicked” (II Peter 4:7), there is no mention
that his wife felt the same way. Could it be that Lot stayed in Sodom as
long as he did because his wife wanted to stay and felt perfectly comfortable in
it?
It may be
meaningful to note that the verse that follows Peter’s description of Lot’s
anguish over the sins of the Sodomites, also addresses God’s attitude
towards two different kinds of people: the righteous and the unrighteous.
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve
the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished” (II Peter 2: 9).
All indications are
that Lot (The godly) was delivered, while his wife (The unjust), was
punished. God is consistent throughout time. He warns the unjust and then
intervenes if they are beyond redemption. Lot’s wife was beyond
redemption.
If God had not
punished Lot’s wife, a piece of Sodom would have remained alive. A being
infected with sin would not have been dealt with. Rebellion would have gone
unpunished. This would have served to further encourage Lot’s wife to
maintain her sinful ways and to disregard God’s commands and warnings. God’s
word would have been of little worth and His impatience with arrogant
sinners would no have been emphasized.
God did intervene because Lot’s
wife deserved her punishment. She was a representative of a society
saturated with sins. She also was an example of moral degeneracy and
rebellion that we must not emulate. Let’s therefore heed Christ’s warning
and let’s “remember Lot’s wife.”
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