Remember
Lot's Wife
Genesis 19:15-17, 24-26
James R. Davis
The Jews were great storytellers. Even obscure
events were remembered through the telling of stories. Jewish history was
preserved in the biblical stories. The Bible is the Revelation of God told
through the living stories of real people who once walked where we now
walk. The Bible is full of many stories of faith and doubt, e.g. Adam and
Eve, Abraham, Joseph, Samson, Elijah, etc. This lesson will draw a few
lessons from one of those relatively obscure events that we read about
in Genesis 19. It happened when God was preparing to destroy Sodom and
Gomorrah.
There are two basic ways to learn from others.
We can learn from their example and from their experiences. We can also
choose to follow their successes or determine to avoid their mistakes.
It can be both a positive and a negative learning experience. The Bible
gives both positive and negative examples. This morning let us study the
negative example of a nameless woman. Jesus referred to her when teaching
about the coming destruction, Lk 17:28-32. We initially read the story
in Genesis 19 as God was preparing to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 19:15-17
With the coming of dawn, the angels urged
Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here,
or you will be swept away when the city is punished." When he hesitated,
the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters
and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.
As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your
lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the
mountains or you will be swept away!
Genesis 19:24-26
Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur
on Sodom and Gomorrah-- from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew
those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--
and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she
became a pillar of salt.
Lot's wife is one about whom we know very
little, but from whom we can learn a great deal. Sometimes people gain
notoriety for only one incident like John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald.
In the New Testament there was Demas a fellow-worker
of the apostle Paul who deserted him. One moment he was greeting the brethren
with Paul (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 1:23,24) and the next moment he had
turned his back on Paul and gone back to his old ways. Paul in his letter
to Timothy wrote, "Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because
he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica."
(2 Timothy 4:9-10) Whatever encouragement Demas had been to Paul, we remember
him as one who forsook Paul. Lot's wife is remembered for one thing, looking
back. With that one act she gained notoriety as the woman that was turned
into a pillar of salt.
Do We Need To Remember Lot's Wife?
Jesus warned the people of his day to "Remember
Lot's wife!" Do we need to remember Lot's wife today?
Luke 17:26-37
"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so
also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking;
marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark.
Then the flood came and destroyed them all. "It was the same in the days
of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and
building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from
heaven and destroyed them all. "It will be just like this on the day the
Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house,
with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in
the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries
to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve
it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be
taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one
will be taken and the other left." "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied,
"Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
Jesus says, "Remember Lot's wife." The things
of this world hold a great attraction for us. Jesus warned the disciples
concerning the coming destruction. Jesus said when it comes do not go down
from the roof to get the goods inside the house and those who work in the
fields should not go back for anything. Then he gives the exclamatory sentence,
"Remember Lot's wife! The death of Lot's wife is tragic indeed. She died;
it seems, within the margin of safety. It seems as though Lot's wife didn't
just casually look backwards. She looked wishfully, longing to go back
to Sodom and she may have tried to go back. Perhaps her heart was touched
with her loss, she may have regretted the loss of her sons-in-laws, it
may have been the loss of the women's club or their new townhouse, or even
the Ethan Allen furnishings they had just paid off. One thing is certain,
her heart, like Lot's, was in Sodom.
There was such a yearning in her heart for
what she was losing in Sodom. She was saddened that she couldn't "have
her cake and eat it too." Jesus said, "Whoever tries to keep his life will
lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." She reluctantly
left the city because she had a very difficult time giving up the life
she had in Sodom.
Are We Plowing Looking Backwards?
Luke 9:57-62
As they were walking along the road, a
man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes
have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place
to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied,
"Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the
dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back
and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand
to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Have you ever plowed with a garden tractor?
When I've plowed with one in a large garden, I always pick out a spot on
the other side of the garden and try to make a straight furrow to it. Now
imagine trying to plow a straight furrow across a garden while walking
backwards or looking backwards. Or imagine trying to drive down the street
in your car while only looking in the rearview mirror. Of course Jesus
was using the plowing example when oxen were used to plow fields. When
we plow looking backwards we end up like Lot's wife. I believe that there
is an old song that says, " I left my heart in San Francisco" well Lot's
wife left her heart in Sodom. This left a longing for Sodom, a longing
for what she believed she was losing. No doubt she began looking backward
in her heart long before she glanced backwards.
We have difficulty leaving the past. Jesus
said, "Let the dead bury the dead." We come to Jesus Christ wanting what
he has to offer but we want to go and bury the dead. There is certainly
nothing wrong with attending the funeral of a loved one. But there is more
to this than attending a funeral. I once knew an older couple that had
a sick parent who was living with them. The couple never attended worship
services or fellowshipped with the saints. They always said that they were
sorry that they couldn't attend church and fellowship with the saints,
but they explained that they had to stay home and take care of the sick
parent. It was always very questionable whether the sick parent needed
that much attention in that they were never prevented from doing anything
else they wanted to do. But the sick parent died and they still never went
to church. They had forsaken the church under a pretense. And although
there was a real need to take care of the sick parent, the sick parent
was just an excuse. We knew all along that it was just a "good excuse"
for them. This is what Jesus was dealing with . . . a mere pretense to
bury the dead . . . to say goodbye to the family.
Are We Glamorizing the Past?
It is difficult to sever the ties with the
past. We find all kinds of excuses to prevent from us from following Jesus
Christ and making a break with the past. The past becomes a dead weight;
it is like a lead sinker tied to our ankles while endeavoring to stay afloat
in a lake. Eventually we tire of treading the water with the weight and
then we sink.
As we face the difficulties of the present
we tend to glamorize the past. We long for the "Good old days." When we
glamorize the past it becomes a dead weight pulling us back into the world.
Stephen reminds the Jews of the first century that the Israel's heart had
turned back to Egypt while wandering in the difficulties of the wilderness.
Notice in the following verses how Israel's difficulties led them to glamorize
the past and how they turned their hearts turned back to Egypt. Stephen
said, "But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him
and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make
us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out
of Egypt-- we don't know what has happened to him!' That was the time they
made an idol in the form of a calf. (Acts 7:39-41)
Notice the Israelites loathed the present
circumstances.
Num 11:4-6
The rabble with them began to crave other
food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we
had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost-- also
the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our
appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"
Later after refusing to cross the Jordan River
to conquer the land of Canaan, the Israelites said:
Num 20:4-5
Why did you bring the LORD's community
into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you
bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs,
grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!"
They are looking back and glamorizing the
past. They have forgotten the slavery. They have forgotten the stripes
on their backs. All they remember is the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks,
onions, garlic and they were free too. "If only we had meat to eat!
We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost . . . they had
forgotten that they worked as slaves and all they got for their pay was
what they ate and there was no luxury. The sad part is at the very moment
of their complaining they could have been drinking milk and eating honey
in the promise land. If Israel had crossed the Jordan River in obedience
to God they would have been in the promise land.
When we glamorize the past it makes it difficult
to move forward. We glamorize it especially when the difficulties of living
in the present overwhelm us. We really need to listen to the children of
Israel as they stood before the Lord enjoying the blessings of deliverance
from slavery, yet their hearts were back in Egypt.
This happens to many that face a mid-life
crisis. A mid-life crisis can be disastrous for those who wishfully look
backward to what could have been, should have been or would have been,
if different decisions were made. They lose sight of present realities.
They stop living in the present with an eye to the future. There is sadness
about people having a mid-life crisis. Many abandon everything in the present,
family, job and friends in an effort to recapture what they feel has been
lost in the past. Looking backwards from this standpoint with intent to
recapture the past is always disastrous. I cannot change the past no matter
how strong my desire to do so. Someone once said, "If 'ifs' and 'buts'
were candies and nuts we would all have a Merry Christmas." It is this
looking back and longing to relive or recapture what seemingly was lost
that presents a problem for each of us.
Are We Double-minded?
James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should
ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will
be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because
he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is
a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
There is no doubt that Lot's entire family
was double-minded. The angels had to practically drag them out of the cities.
Lot had pitched his tent toward Sodom and his family was engulfed by it.
The amazing thing about Lot's wife is that she had already reached the
city of Zoar, the place of safety, when she was turned into a pillar of
salt.
The Israelites couldn't enjoy their deliverance
because their hearts were in Egypt. They were double-minded. Many today
who are in Christ, the place of refuge, are wishfully looking back to Sodom.
Many today who are living in the Promised Land are wishfully looking to
Egypt. Believe it or not there are people I know in our times who have
made tremendous sacrifices for the cause of Christ. Many times they look
back and think about what they "had" to give up. They are like Lot's wife
who had already reached the place of refuge but she regretted the cost.
Are We Shrinking Back?
Have you ever notice a squirrel in a knothole
in a tree shrinking back. It pulls itself back into the hole for safety.
But many come to Christ and shrink back into the world. The original readers
of the book of Hebrews were shrinking back from the assembly of the saints
because of persecution. They were reminded that this was not pleasing to
God.
Heb 10:38-39
But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." But we are not
of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and
are saved.
The Hebrews were shrinking back because of
persecution. They were reminded that that they had not resisted to the
point of shedding blood.
Heb 12:1-4
Therefore, since we are surrounded by
such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance
the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross,
scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will
not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not
yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
They were neglecting the mutual encouragement
that the worship service offered in times of trouble.
Heb 10:23-25
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may
spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting
together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--
and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
When we forsake the assembly today it certainly
isn't because we are being persecuted as they were. Today when people forsake
God it is because they are too busy enjoying the pleasures of the world.
We live in such prosperous times that it is our eating, drinking and fun
and games that keep us away from God. Does the world have such a pull on
us that it is difficult to find time to attend the worship services and
encourage the saints?
Paul said, "Everything is permissible for
me"-- but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for
me"-- but I will not be mastered by anything."
(1 Cor 6:12) It is permissible for Christians
to enjoy life but have we let this life master us. The trouble with this
world is enjoying it to the exclusion of the next.
Have We Become Entangled Again?
2 Pet 2:20-22
If they have escaped the corruption of
the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled
in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the
beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on
the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are
true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back
to her wallowing in the mud."
A sow washed returning to the mud. A dog returns
to its vomit. Peter compares the former life to mud and vomit. But some
can glamorize it anyway. Some can glamorize anything.
Do we need to be reminded of our past life
and the blessings of living in a place of refuge in Christ? Paul reminded
the Corinthians. "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the
kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters
nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves
nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit
the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed,
you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
What a blessing!!!
Have We Become Enemies of The Cross?
Some in the church in Philippi became enemies
of the cross. Their minds were on earthly things. They began to glory in
what they had before they came to Christ. They were looking back and glorying
in their shame. Their god was their stomach. Paul reminded them that their
citizenship was in heaven. These people were actually Jews that looked
back with pride to their ancestral genealogies and their circumcision as
God's chosen people. They were turning away from Christ.
Philippians 3:12-21
Not that I have already obtained all this,
or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that
for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself
yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind
and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the
prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us
who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point
you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us
live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following
my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the
pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again
even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny
is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their
shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by
the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will
transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Do We Not Realize that Our Losses Will
Be Our Gain?
Jesus said, "Remember Lot's wife! Whoever
tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve
it." (Luke 17:32-33)
Matt 16:24-27
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If
anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross
and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he
gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in
exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's
glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to
what he has done.
We need to see whatever losses we suffered
to seek refuge in Christ as a sacrifice well pleasing to God. When we long
for the past we must have the attitude of David.
When David was on a foreign battlefield, David
longed for a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem. Many
who have served as a soldier in a foreign country can identify with David.
You know how it is to long for that home cooking or just for an American-made
hamburger? A year and a half on the battlefront will make you crave the
simple things of home. So three of David's mighty men heard of his wish
and they risk their lives getting the water for him. Notice David's reaction
in the following verses.
2 Samuel 23:15-16
David longed for water and said, "Oh,
that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate
of Bethlehem!" So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines,
drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back
to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before
the LORD.
2 Samuel 23:16-17
So the three mighty men broke through
the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem
and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured
it out before the LORD. "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said.
"Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And
David would not drink it.
David offered what he longed for as a sacrifice
to God. We must see what we have given up as a sacrifice to God. We must
see those sacrifices as treasure laid up in heaven. (Matthew 6:19-20)
The apostle Paul said, "But whatever was
to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more,
I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider
them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ-- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow,
to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:7-11)
2 Timothy 1:12
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet
I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced
that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
Conclusion:
Lot's wife perished even though God warned
her. The message was plain and she heard and she understood. God's grace
had called her out of Sodom for the purpose of salvation.
The gospel's message is just as clear. How
can we not understand?
John 8:24, 3:16, Mk 16:16 Act 2:37-38
God is warning you of coming destruction.
(2 Pet 3:7-12)
2 Pet 3:7-12
By the same word the present heavens and
earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction
of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the
Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come
to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens
will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and
the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will
be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought
to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and
speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens
by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
Will you avoid the mistake of Lot's wife?
