Praise Lord Saints of God
Today we are going to be talking about a story in the Bible that is familiar to a lot Of us. Today I will be talking about Lot and His Wife and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
In Luke 17:26-32 Jesus Uses the destruction of These two cities to to insure and warn people that he is coming back again Like a thief in the night. He is warning that all should be ready in the last days.
In Lot’s day you must understand that immorality and sin was a big part of their daily life. Actually it was the rule rather than the exception. These people planted and sold, Drank and married and went on with their daily routine right up until fire and brimstone fell done from heaven. These people went on with their sin and wickedness never realizing there need for a savior. What a sad, sad place to be.
What is even more tragic then the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is the destruction and downfall of Lot’s wife. What is so tragic about her story is ,that she almost made it out. but she didn’t make it because she had lost her heart in Sodom. Let’s take a look at the story .
As we look at Luke 17:32 Jesus tells us to "Remember Lot’s Wife"
Today we are going to take a look at Lot’s wife. She was a nameless woman in the scriptures and hardly memorable yet Jesus tell us to remember her. What was so important about this woman? Why should we remember her? A lot of times when people speak of her, they will talk of her foolishness and disobedience in turning back. Some will say that she deserved her outcome, but actually if you think about it her story is one that a number of us can identify with.
Just like Lot’s wife , we are faced with choices to make. Choices of what to eat, what to drink ,where to go, what to wear and other things. Sometimes we make good decisions and sometimes we make foolish decisions which just like Lot’s wife lead to destruction.
Before you can successful remember lot’s Wife we need to first understand what happened to her
Genesis 19:26 says
But his wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt
The reason that Jesus tells us to remember her is because she is an icon of how christians should not live their lives. Let’s take a close Look at her life. Let’s walk in her shoes for a while.
Imagine with me if you would Lot’s wife sitting there listening to the decree that the angels were making about the fact that Lot and his family leaving the city and take their family with them. Imagine how she must have felt hearing how everything that she held dear was going to be destroyed. Think of the fear she felt at hearing about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. What you have to realize is that because she was LOt’s wife she was expected to Just pick up and leave everything that she had known; her friends, her life, her riches, the society that she had come to know and possibly love. She was expected to leave everything behind.
It could have been that she was content with the sin in the city or it could have been that she had gotten use to the sin in the city. You know that you are in a bad place when you get use to sin in your life. When you get to the point where sins no longer bothers you. When issues that should have you on your knees praying cause you to shrug your shoulders and think that it is all apart of everyday life. The bible says in (1 Corinthians 15:33) Do not be decieved,evil company disrupts good habits.
When I was studying for this word I came across a couple of interesting points that I didn’t know before
It was not until the 19th chapter of Genesis that a wife and children were even mentioned in connection with Lot. It could have been that he married her in Sodom. That fact could explain why she was so troubled at the thought of leaving the City. It could have been that the sin of the city had always been a part of her life and she couldn’t see herself separated from that way of life. Lot’s wife whole problem was the fact that she didn’t want to let go of her way of life. You see her heart was stuck in Sodom.
The bible doesn’t really say when or where he married
but we can see that she failed in her spiritual training because later on in the story her daughters got Lot drunk and committed incest with him in order to keep the bloodline going.
What were some events that lead up to Lot’s wife destruction?
1)Some stranger angels) swept into the City
2) Lot took them into their house and prepared a feast for them.
3) The men of the city come to molest the stranger and LOt offers up his daughters instead,
4) The Angels tell Lot of the destruction of the city and tells him to get his family out of the city
5)The son-in-laws mock lot for his doom and gloom message
6) THey are forcibly pulled out of the city
Because Lot was lingering and trying not to move the angels had to forcibly pull them out of the City. Alot of times we as a people are so caught up in sin that the only way that we will see the light is if God forcibly pulls us out of situations, if he forcibly forces us to see the errors of our ways. Sometimes that will happen with the lost of a relationship, sickness in our bodies, the loss of a loved one or our worldly possessions. sometimes God will do what ever he sees as necessary in order to get us to move and to get our attention. In the bible God says you shall have no other Gods before me. What are you serving? What has become your God? What has taken you eyes off of Jesus? What has caused you to get out of the will of God?
In the bible I am reminded of a story about Ezekiel and his wife. Ezekiel’s wife was a woman who was caught up in sin and constantly tried to lead him the wrong way. So you know what happened God killed her and than told Ezekiel that he better not cry about it, he was not to put on mourning garments, not only that he couldn’t look back but he had to get up and preach in the morning. Can you imagine that? God Told him not to cry, actually he dared him to cry. You see it was a law in that day that if any one was found worshipping pagan gods and running to mediums and psychics that they had to be killed instantly but Ezekiel loved his wife, and didn’t want to kill her. So eventually God had to force his hand and she died of a heart attack. Ezekiel wouldn’t cry because he knew what would happen if he forced Gods hand, look at what happened to his wife.
So we find ourselves at the point where lot his to daughter that were in the house with him and his wife has been pulled from the city.
I can imagine that Lot’s wife pulled and screamed all the way. I can imagine her resisting as they pulled her through the gate of the city. I am not going with you my children are in that city, my grandchildren, LOt how can you allow this to happen. Get your hands off of me, How dare you touch me in that way. I can imagine that she looked around and saw that the sky was still blue not a cloud in sight. I can imagine that she was thinking about all the things that she was leaving behind. I can imagine that she was feeling of anger,fear,confusion and frustration.
You see she was feeling anger because of the fact that Lot had offered her daughters as a sacrifice to the perverts of the city to be raped and abused, so that he could protect the angels ,not only that but she had to leave some of her family behind. I can imagine that she was feeling betrayed by her husband because of the way he was acting. I can imagine that her fear came from leaving a place that she knew, to going to a place where she had no idea where she was going to end up. See in Sodom they had everything. Due to the fact that they lived so close to the gates tells you that Lot had some kind of importance within Sodom. He probably was an upstanding member of the community.
You need to also understand Lot was a rich man. He probably had a lot of animals, a lot of possessions, a nice house. Anything you could think of he probably possessed. So you know that the aspect of leaving all of that behind and going to a place where you would not even have a place to lie your head must have been a scary thing.
A lot of us can identify with what she was feeling how many times have God told us to do something and we stay where we are because of fear. How many times has he told us to move and we are in our comfortable zone so we don’t move because we want to hold on to to yesterday. I tell you on today that if God has told you to move than you need to move, you need to get up and walk in the newness of life, no it is not always going to be easy but you need to get up
I can imagine that she felt confusion because she did not really know this God that they were speaking of. I am quite sure that Lot talked about him, but you must understand that lot was a carnal believer of God. The things that he knew of God he knew only because Abraham told him. Until that point in his life in his life he didn’t have a relationship with God. Because he didn’t really know him. A lot of times people perish because they don’t get to know The lord for themselves. They hear about him through conversations or by way of passing, but they don’t take the time to read his word and accept him in the heart. Oh what a sad thing .
I can also imagine that she felt frustration because she probably was trying to get LOt to turn back but I can imagine that because of what he knew of God he had enough sense to keep on moving. Don’t get me wrong now he did for a moment doubt. He said oh god don’t let it be so . See Lot was a man that was stuck on possessions, we know that because when him and Abraham separated ,Lot took the land that he deemed to be rich but guess what he ended up in a world of trouble. He was kidnapped once and had to be rescued. I believe that God even at that time was trying to get him out of that wicked land but because he was caught up in worldly things, He didn’t take the way of escape. So GOd had to remove him from the situation in order for him to be delivered and truly blessed.
How many of you know that when you are in a situation and your back is up against the wall and there seems to be no way out ,that God will step in and make an escape route just for you. Thank God for his goodness
The bible goes on to say that the angels told them "Escape for your life and don’t look back. When LOt hesitated , the angels told him you have got to get out of here because I cannot do anything until you leave.
So we see here that Lot and his family got the moving. They were making a life altering move from having everything to coming to a place where they had nothing. Sometimes in order to get somewhere in Christ you have to let go of the things which are holding you back. As long as those possessions where always before their face, I have no doubt in my mind that they would have never moved.
I can imagine that as they were running, they began to hear the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, at that point LOt’s wife just decided to take one last glance at the past to see what she was leaving behind and she instantly turned into a pillar of salt.
A pillar in hebrew means something placed. It stands upright and can be seen from a distance. Salt is essential for life and is used to purify and preserve.
Knowledge of Lots wife serves as an icon for all christians to go by. It teaches that those who truly believe God do not look back with longing to their former life or old man.
Jesus wants us to remember lot’s wife because even though she was the wife of a righteous man she perished
2 Peter 2:7-8
important point: just because a person is surrounded by righteous people does not make them a righteous person. everyone has to know God for himself. Everyone has to have a personal relationship with God.
2) She just like Lot was warned of the danger but she perished because she refused to believe the word of God. She perished because she stopped to see if the destruction would really take place.
3) she perished because she looked back. THe sad part is that she almost made it out, SHe made an effort to be saved but that was not enough. She was partly convinced but not converted. Her body was outside of Sodom but her mind was still there.
4) Lot’s wife was almost saved from destruction but almost wasn’t good enough.
Our continued salvation lies not in the passed but in the present. Remember Lot’s wife , not her name, nor how she lived her life but we are to remember how she perished. She died in unbelief, disobedient to God’s word. God is not that any should perish, but if we neglect to heed his warning we will suffer the consequences.
don’t turn back if God says it is time for you to move ,move, amen
