Jesus warns in Luke 17:33, “Remember Lot’s wife!” He makes it sound like life and death. But what does that mean?
In Genesis 19, God sends angels to rescue Lot’s family. The people are warned to run from the city. The sons-in-law ignore it. The family hesitates. The angels (who look like men) grab their hands and lead them out. They say, “Run! Don’t look back. Run for your lives!” But Lot’s wife looked back.
“And she became a pillar of salt.” Gen. 19:26.
(Say what!? Salt?) What is the point of this weird punishment? And why does Jesus bring it up 20 centuries later? He did not say, “Remember Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” They also died suddenly. He did not say, “Remember Nadab and Abihu,” who were burned by the fire of God. He did not say, “Remember Uzzah,” whom God struck dead in a moment.[1] Jesus could have named others. But the warning is, “REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE.”
Lot’s wife showed regret for the destruction of evil. God sent His holy fire of judgment on Sodom and she looked back on the city with fondness. She had a worldly heart. The Bible says, “Do not love the world nor the things of the world, for if you love the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in you.”
Mrs. Lot read questionable romance novels. She binge-watched stories that put her head in dark, ungodly places. When Lot asked her about her choices, she said, “it’s fine,” and ignored him. When she saw drunks passed out in the French Quarter, she giggled and said, “those are my people.” When her daughters were engaged to men without integrity, she never gave it a second thought. “It’s fine,” she told herself. “Time’s are changing.” And when God sent angels to protect her family, she was sad about the destruction of “sin city.” She lost sight of the holiness of God. She did not think He would really do it. By looking back, Lot’s wife proved that her ‘treasure’ was not in heaven, but in the world.
So God turned her into a statue of salt, a bizarre but vivid reminder of the holiness of God. Why salt? Because salt destroys life. Nothing can live in salt. The grass will die all around it. There is nothing but death there. God is saying if you love the world, you are living in a place of death, and you are living under God’s judgment. He WILL NOT bless us if we are so fond of the world that we regret God’s judgment.
“Do not love the world or the things of the world, for anyone who loves the world does not have the love of God inside him.” 1 John 2:15.
Ask God to show you ways in which your heart is similar to that of Lot’s wife. Ask Him to help you love Him more completely every day.
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[1] See Bible Tools Commentary at https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/CGG/ID/1350/Remember-Lots-Wife.htm
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