No turning back (Gen 19:23-26)
Gen 19:23-29
In my twenties, on a retreat with a youth group, I remember a conversation two of us leaders in the group had with a teenage boy who was drawn to the Christian faith. He wanted to make a commitment to Christ, but basketball was his life and his priority. The thought that God required his ultimate loyalty so that he would have to put sports into second place was a step too far for him. Like the rich, young ruler (Luke 18:22-23), with a sad heart he walked away from the opportunity to follow Jesus. Some today may hear the Christian message that God will one day judge how we lived, but such an eventuality seems remote and unreal and the advantages of choosing our own way more appealing.
Lot’s tragedy
The story of Lot’s wife is a striking picture of someone who could not let go of her old way of life. When Abraham moved out of Haran and settled in Canaan, he took his nephew, Lot, with him but there is no reference to Lot’s wife (nor is she mentioned in later episodes until Sodom; Gen 13:1, 12; 14:16). Is it possible that Lot married a Canaanite or even someone from Sodom after their move from Haran? While Scripture does not say, it would explain why Lot’s wife did not have the same commitment to Abraham’s God as her husband. Lot then arrives in Zoar at daybreak when the judgment on Sodom begins so that God is faithful to His promise to hold back judgment until he reaches safety (Gen 19:23-25, 21-22). However, as fire and brimstone rains down on the evil cities, we discover that Lot’s wife did not make it (Gen 19:26). What a tragedy for Lot and a heartache that Christians married to an unbeliever know all too well.
Longing to return
At first glance, the judgment on Lot’s wife seems disproportionately severe considering her action. Who wouldn’t be curious to see what has happened? However, the angels’ original command not to look behind as they flee and not to stay (lit. stand) in the valley (Gen 19:17) suggest a clean break with the past and the looking back is symbolic of a longing to return. In fact, the verb for looking is not the usual one ‘to look, see’, but something a little more emphatic of a careful consideration, gazing or fixing one’s eyes on something (e.g. Ps 74:20; 34:5; Isa 51:1-2). Walton also notes that elsewhere this word is used together with the preposition ‘back, behind, after’ only in Exod 33:8 and 1 Sam 24:8. In the former the people follow Moses with their gaze, in the latter, Saul directs attention behind him where David is. The angels’ command to Lot’s family therefore is a warning not to focus their attention on what is behind them. In addition, Lot’s wife looks back from behind Lot and so directs her attention away from following her husband.[1]
No turning back
These details are richly evocative for Christian readers about what it means to follow after Jesus. The story of Lot’s wife reminds me of the hymn, ‘No turning back’. ‘I Have decided to follow Jesus, No turning back, no turning back. The Cross before me, the world behind me, No turning back, no turning back.’ Or as Jesus says, those who put their hand on the plough and look back are not fit for God’s kingdom (Luke 9:62). Reading these harsh words, we may wonder about loved ones who seemed to have come to faith but then drifted or walked away from it – can they lose their salvation? I believe that there is a distinction between those who drift away from their commitment and build hay and straw on the foundation that is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:10-15) and those whose commitment was never real in the first place. Of course, only God sees the heart and knows which category the people we are concerned about fall into. Lot’s wife who started off with her husband was likely going along because circumstances compelled her (the angels seized her hands), but she never fully identified with the flight and her heart remained in Sodom. Her story challenges us to ask where our heart is and to pray for those who need to turn over their whole self to the Lord.
[1] John H. Walton, Genesis, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 479-80. Walton also argues that Lot’s wife was on her way back to Sodom and was caught in the judgment of fire and brimstone that turned her into a pillar of salt. He bases this on Luke 17:31-32, where Jesus speaks of His second coming and warns against returning to one’s house for something and adds ‘remember Lot’s wife’ (p.480). However, Jesus’ reference to Lot’s wife does not necessarily mean that she returned. It could be a ‘from the lesser to the greater’ argument, i.e. Lot’s wife only looked back and was caught in the judgment, how much more so if you return to your house. Further, if the biblical writer wanted to say that she was returning to Sodom, he could have said so with a clear word meaning ‘to return’.
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others.