Lot's Wife

Luke 9: 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."Gen 19: 1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground……………..12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here--sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15 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." 16 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. 17 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!" 18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 0 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it--it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared." 21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.) 23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Open: Luke 17:20-32

3 words spoken by Christ in vs. 32: "Remember Lot’s Wife!"

Why would Jesus warn His disciples (and us today) to remember Lot’s wife? After all, we don’t even know her name. There must be a powerful lesson for us hidden somewhere in Genesis 19. Let’s take a look!

Historical Background:

Chapter 11 & 12 (Genesis), we find Abram is told to leave Ur, to a land God will show him - 12:4 tells us that Lot tagged along. We’re not told if Lot had a wife at this point, but if he did, we must assume that she too left Ur with her husband.

Chapter 13, the success of the families of Lot & Abraham cause strife among their herdsmen & the ultimate split between the two of them . Lot chooses the Jordan valley and leaves Abraham with the desert hills of Canaan. Key here is this:- First Lot located his family in the fertile Jordan valley Later (vs. 12) he moved his tents as far as Sodom

- By chapter 17, 24 years have gone by since Abraham left Haran - plenty of time for Lot and family to establish roots in Sodom.

Chapter 18, God and two angels appear to Abraham as three men. They have two primary purposes:1. To convince Sarah that she indeed would bare a son.2. Tell Abraham of the outcry from Sodom & of His plans to investigate.

The City of Sodom: A close investigation of the city of Sodom reveals that it was a busy place: a city filled with energy and excitement. It was a place which came alive when the sun went down. In Sodom, diversity’ was the watchword of the day for they loved their ‘diverse lifestyles’ which encouraged all kinds of lewd and lasciviousness behavior, especially homosexuality. Men were sleeping men, women were sleeping with women. They had even gotten the animals of the city in on their nasty behavior.

Jerry Springer could have taped a lifetime worth of shows in Sodom. But little did the Sodomites know that God was about to punish them for their ways. And Jesus says for us to remember Lot’s wife…….What an unusual story found in scripture! A woman, flees from a doomed city, looks back, and dies…