What Does it Mean to Remember Lot’s Wife?

The story of Lot and His wife happened thousands of years ago. However, when the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God will be established, He alluded to Lot’s bygone story. While it is true that Lot’s story is ancient, we need to identify its vital lessons as we wait for the second coming of Jesus.

Jesus recognizes the importance of learning from the past. For this reason, Jesus gave a short, but compelling answer. He said:

“Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).

What does it mean to remember Lot’s wife? What are the significant lessons we can learn from this incredible statement of our Savior? Most importantly, how can we apply these lessons in our lives?

In this blog post, let us take a deeper look at Luke 19:33 and understand how to remember Lot’s wife.

What Does it Mean to Remember Lot_s Wife-

What Does it Mean to Remember Lot’s Wife?

The Story of Mrs. Lot

Before we can remember Lot’s wife, we must know her story first. We primarily read about her in Genesis 19:12-29. While the story focuses on Lot and the two cities, we get a glimpse of the attitude and heart of Lot’s wife.

God is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah with brimstone and fire. The angels instructed Lot and his family to leave at once, lest they are consumed as well. While they lingered, the angels took hold of them and brought them out of the city.

Lot and His family were given a stern warning and instruction that they should NEVER ignore. The angel said:

“Escape for your life! DO NOT LOOK BEHIND YOU nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed” (Genesis 19:17).

As God was destroying the two cities, Lot’s wife made a fatal decision.

She looked back.

We read:

“But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt” (verse 26).

The danger of getting too attached to the world

As Christians, we live in the world, but we must not be part of the world. God has called us to come out of the world and be set apart for His holy purpose (II Corinthians 6:17-18).

Loving the world is a dangerous love affair for Christians. The Apostle John tells us:

DO NOT LOVE THE WORLD or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world (I John 2:15-16).

What’s wrong with Mrs. Lot? She became too attached to the city where she lived. She might have thought about her possessions, the loved ones or relatives she left, her friends, plans, and dreams. All or any of these made her look back.

No matter what the reason might be of Mrs. Lot to look back, it is clear that she thought of the things in the city to be more important than the commandments of God.

Setting the right priorities

In this life, there are a lot of things that may grab our attention and energy. We need to realize not all priorities are of equal importance. There are things that we think are important, but at the end of the day, they only leave us empty, depressed, and miserable.

We read in the earlier verses in Luke 17:

“Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all” (verses 28-29).

We read that the people during Lot’s time are preoccupied with so many things. They drank, bought, sold, planted, and built. Now, there’s nothing wrong of these endeavors. In fact, we must diligently do our work to prosper and be a blessing to others.

However, there’s one problem with these people, including Mrs. Lot. They went on with their lives as if the worldly things are all that matter. They are too preoccupied with the things in this world that they forgot about the things of God.

As the familiar Matthew 6:33 tells us;

“But seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

There is a proper order of priorities in life. We must put first God above all else. Mrs. Lot let other priorities come between her and God. As a result, she was destroyed.

Now, it was not the act of “looking back” alone that made Mrs. Lot a pillar of salt. It was actually a reflection of her attitude for the longest time. The event of looking back during the destruction of the two cities is the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Mrs. Lot “looked back” many times before, and that prevented her from being among the people who will be saved during God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Avoiding to be scoffers

As we wait for God’s kingdom to be established here on earth, we must avoid the attitude of scoffers. They are the people who ridicule, doubt, and mock the message of the coming kingdom of God.

The people of Sodom and Gomorrah are scoffers. They know the consequences of their actions. One day, they will be judged because of their immorality. However, they believe that day will never come. Because of their disbelief, the angels who warned Lot didn’t even bother to tell them of the coming destruction of their city.

Even for those who have been warned, they still didn’t believe. We read in Genesis 19:14:

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

Mrs. Lot had been immersed too long in the sins of the society to the point that she also became a scoffer. She thought that judgment will never come and when it came, she had to see it herself. She can’t believe that the city she has grown to love is being destroyed behind her.

Thus, she looked back.

Peter warned us about scoffers and being among them. We read in II Peter 3:3-5:

Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget.

We see a lot of scoffers today because of wrong predictions made by people who thought they are better than God. People become scoffers because of their impatience and unbelief.

We need to take heed, be on guard, and make sure that we don’t become scoffers. Jesus Christ will return, and His return is SURE. Though people become scoffers and unbelievers, that won’t change the fact that God and Jesus will one day directly intervene into human affairs.

Final words

As we look forward to the coming Kingdom of God, we need to remember Lot’s wife. We need to avoid getting too attached to this world. We must grow closer to God and ensure we maintain a close relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Let us set the right priorities in life as we continue praying, “Thy Kingdom come.”


Book recommendation

Book title: Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You’ve Never Been Told

Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars (220+ customer reviews)

Description:

Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told

“If you think you really know the Bible, better think again. Joe Kovacs takes a close look at the greatest story ever told and separates myth from reality. My favorite parts of the book deal with Christmas and Easter. Check out ‘Shocked by the Bible.’ You may well be shocked.” (Grab your copy here.)
– Bill O’Reilly, anchor, Fox News Channel


3 thoughts on “What Does it Mean to Remember Lot’s Wife?

  1. Pingback: 12 Guaranteed Ways For Christians to Overcome the World | Becoming Christians

Leave a Reply