ABOUT LOT’S WIFE

A familiar story this is, to many of us, right from childhood. When Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed, two angels came to the rescue of Lot and his immediate family—his wife and two daughters. While they delayed in leaving, the angels took them by the hand, two each, and led them out of the city with an instruction, “Do not look behind you.” Lot’s wife suddenly disobeyed and in a moment, she congealed into a pillar of salt. Quite familiar a story. But why did she look back? Is there any way we can know for sure and not conclude based on mere assumptions?

Absolutely.

In Luke 17 (approximately A.D. 30), when Jesus was prophetically forewarning his Jewish audience about the looming destruction of Jerusalem (which was fulfilled in A.D. 70) and what to do if they must survive, he said

Luke 17:26-30(KJV)

[26]And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

[27]They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

[28]Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

[29]But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

[30]Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Follow closely

Luke 17:31-32(KJV)

[31]In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

[32]Remember Lot's wife.

From Jesus’ warning and reference of her, we observe that there is a similar context—a situation in which one can only save his life, and trying to save his possessions will be betraying himself.

Remember that Lot came to Sodom with great possessions; he was very rich, so rich that he and his uncle, Abraham, had to separate from each other because the land could not support them both at the same time.

Genesis 13:1-12(KJV)

[1]And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

[2]And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

[3]And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

[4]Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

[5]And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

[6]And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

[7]And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

[8]And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

[9]Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

[10]And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

[11]Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

[12]Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

So Lot did not go to Sodom as a refugee; he went with a lot of possessions.

But he left there in such a hurry.

Genesis 19:15-17(KJV)

[15]And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

[16]And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

[17]And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

We can see how this fits into the context of Jesus’ warning in Luke 17:31-32. His wife didn't look back just to have a glance at the horrendous carnage going on behind her, but to go back. She didn't want to lose her possessions.

In Thomas Constable’s words, “Lot’s wife is an instructive example of someone who underestimated the destructive power of God’s judgment and perished because she was slow to seek refuge.”

In the end, this was a variant of a “your money or your life” scenario. She had a choice between saving her life by heeding the angel’s warning and disobeying the warning by going after her possessions.

And she chose unwisely.

Victor Ibosiola © 2022