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 her 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), but 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 she 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.”
