Remember Lot’s Wife

Luke 17 ²⁰ One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. ²¹ You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” ²² Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. ²³ People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. ²⁴ For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes. ²⁵ But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶ “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. ²⁷ In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—²⁹ until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. ³² Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! ³³ If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.

 The story of Lot is found in Genesis 19. That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. ⁴ But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. ⁵ They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!” ¹⁵ At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”¹⁶ When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. ¹⁷ When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” ²³ Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁵ He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

 Luke tells us the Lord gave a warning: Remember Lot’s Wife.

What did Lot’s wife do that was so wrong?

Lots wife was a professor of religion. Her husband was a righteous man. She left Sodom with Lot and her daughters on the day Sodom was destroyed. She looked back at the city against the command of God, she was struck dead at once and turned into a pillar of salt. This is warning to the church today.

It’s a great warning if we consider the subject he is talking about in the beginning. He is referring to the second coming. He is describing the state of un-readiness in which many will be found in. Are you ready?

The last days were on his mind when he cried out, Remember Lot’s Wife. It is a warning for us as if we are in danger of forgetting the subject. What is the subject? Jesus Christ is coming. Are you ready?

Luke 12:40 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

Many are not ready. The religious privileges that Lot’s wife enjoyed do not save. The religious privileges that we have do not save. Back in the day, the knowledge of God was confined to a few favored families. The great part of the world was living in sin and darkness. Compared to the many people around her, she was a favored woman. She heard Abraham and Lot talk about God and their experiences. She was a favored woman. It was impossible for her to live in the tents with Lot and not hear him worship.  She saw when God gave the promises to Abraham, she saw the angels that came to warn Lot.

What good effect did all these privileges do to her heart?

With all the warnings and signs and wonders, opportunities, special warnings and messages, she died graceless, Godless and unbelieving. The eyes of her understanding were not opened. Her will never was in obedience to the will of God. The affections were not set on the things above. The world was in her heart and her heart was in the world.

You see many godly people in church. We sit and fellowship and eat with them and they are still are like Lot’s wife. Not saved. They have all these religious privileges, gone through FBI, teach Sunday school, seen signs and wonders, heard from God, and not be saved.

How is this possible?

Joab was David’s captain and he died in his sin. Judas was Christ’s disciple and fell. If you have religious privileges, make sure that they produce fruit in your heart. These privileges, if they do not do you good, they will most probably do you harm. You will hate God, and Christianity because your father is not there for you. It will seem like he is there for everyone else but you.

Privileges do not make people Christian. It’s only the grace of the living God. If you parents are Christians, or sister and brother, you will not make it heaven on their account. You stand alone in judgement. Lots wife had many privileges that many people did not have, much like today. There are many people in the world that do not have the privileges that we have. We are accountable with what God has given to us.

What was Lot’s wife’s sin? She looked from behind her husband and became a pillar of salt. Is looking back a big deal?

Let’s talk about looks. Woman know a lot about looks. If they look little or not it reveals the true character of Lots wife. Simply looking at something you are not supposed to look at reveals a lot about your character.

Why is looking such a big deal?

The look of Lots wife seems little, but it speaks of her great disobedience. The command of God through the angel, “Do not look back” was very clear. She refused to obey. You understand what the bible says about obedience? Many do not know what it means. To obey is better than sacrifice.  Rebellions is as the sin of witchcraft.

Looking seems very little, but it speaks of a proud unbelief in Lot’s wife. She seems to doubt what God will do. Many of us have this in our lives. Praise God we are great Christians and a great church, but when trouble comes in, fear grabs your heart. She looked back where her treasures were. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

What is the point that Jesus wants to emphasize when he said Remember Lot’s Wife?

She was worldly. Our churches today look like the world. There is no difference from the Christian and the heathen. If you come to Jesus, you need to forget about the world and its lusts and pleasures. The church has a disease called worldliness. Churches seem like a social club, people go to socialize, speak Christianese and say Praise the Lord, Grace of God, act like angels and go home and get back cheating, lying and stealing.  Lots wife was not a murderer, adulterer, thief; she claimed to be a believer. Many today are baptized and not saved. Many will go to church for a season, and catch the disease called worldliness, they love the world and leave.

When God gave his commandments, he wasn’t giving recommendations. They were commands. God made laws throughout the universe. Many will respect the law of gravity for example. When God put spiritual laws, He expects us to obey and respect those laws. Many do not respect because they do not see the consequences immediately. So there is unbelief that we will not pay for our disobedience.

God turned Lot’s wife into a pillar salt. This is a miracle, but she died in the action of sin, not having a chance to repent. If you think, you still have time to play, there will be a time where there will be no chance of repentance. You can choke on the piece of gum you are chewing tomorrow. Don’t get caught in that situation.

If Jesus were to come back now, would you be ready?

If you truly believe, what manner of person are you to be in holiness and godliness? How can you believe this and be corrupt? How can you believe this and not be a good Christian? You don’t believe it. Many pastors don’t. If you do, you will work on yourself to be holy and godly. Everything will soon perish. We are waiting for a new heaven and earth in which righteousness dwells.

The bible says the average life of man is 70 years. Many young people are in school. Why? For a better future? So they labor, study, take pills to wake up, sit on the internet for hours and their eyes are tired for a better future, and then want to get married and have children and raise them. All these things we want our children to have.

Here is the challenge: If you do all these things for 70 years, what are you doing for eternity that does not end? It is appointed for man to die, and then judgement. We will enter eternity, which does not end.

We do life for 70 years, how are we investing for eternity?