Remember Lot’s Wife

Jesus, the King of the universe, says “Remember Lot’s wife”. He never suggest commemorating any other figure in history. Only this nameless sinner from a half forgotten age. He skips over Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He fails to mention David, Isaiah, or Daniel. He doesn’t even point out His own disciples. Yet, this obscure, seemingly unimportant woman gets singular prominence, when Jesus commands us to remember her.

What should we remember about her? She has no name. We know nothing of her birth. Her lineage is not listed. There are no extraordinary achievements recorded for us to grant commemoration to her as a result. She is referred to as ‘wife’ three times in a few verses and outside of that the only time she is mentioned is when Jesus Himself commands us to remember her.  What should we remember about her?

Her history consists of these events: Genesis 19:15ff

When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

She appears in history just long enough to disappear again.  A remarkably brief history, yet Jesus says “remember Lot’s wife”.

The first thing that we ought to remember about Lot’s wife is that she was ‘almost’ saved:

She experienced extraordinary deliverance. She had undergone an unexpected escape. She was in certain safety. In expectation and probability, she was in fact saved already. In actual experience she was even almost saved. The burning city was behind. She had been led out by angelic hands. Her husband and children were at her side. The assigned refuge was in clear sight ahead of her. Consider what she had in her favor: her family one side and the Savior on the other…Sodom behind, and Zoar ahead…who would not consider her “saved”? She could have been left in Sodom a suicidal victim of her own unbelief, but the Lord was merciful to her and was slow about his anger with her. Think of the mercy extended to her: the cry of the angel in one ear, the crackling of the flames in the other…both impelling her onward, to that refuge in the mountains. Lot’s wife had all these incentives and still she was only almost saved.

The second thing that we ought to remember is that she ultimately perished:

The fact that Lot’s wife perished is certain, but the major issue for us to take note of is where she perished. If we could ask her she might say that she perished from absolute safety. She had indeed escaped the obvious danger, right? Yet, in the very moment of deliverance, she perishes and is no more!
Remember Lot’s wife.
Remember that she was ‘almost’ saved.
Remember that she perished.

Why remember this no-named sinner from several thousand years ago?

Because we, like Lot’s wife may also only be almost “saved”.  Sure, you may have fled the outright Atheism of our day. You may not dwell in the land of the Sodomites. It may even appear that you are hand in hand with your family and friends escaping the “apparent” destruction to come.  Do you feel safe from the heathens and soundly secure from the pagans among you? If this completes your spiritual resume then you are indeed lingering in the valley just like Lot’s wife, and it is not safe. God said to Lot and his family, “do not stay anywhere in the valley”.  He says to you as well, “you must not stay anywhere in the valley”.  It does not matter one bit how safe you feel. You must not hesitate in this journey through the valley. Yes, you do have to enter the valley called life, but it is safe for traveling only, not for lingering. You must press on through the valley, press in to the mountains of refuge that we have in Jesus.

“Run in such a way as to obtain the prize”
Lot’s wife was almost saved, but perished ultimately in the end. She was following safe guides. She was headed in the correct direction. But she hesitated, and looked back, and she was no more!  It will be the same for you if you attempt to set up a comfortable camp here in this valley. If you stop, yield, or linger, you too will perish. No matter your motive in looking back, you will perish.

“Do not look behind you” and “Do not stay anywhere in the valley”
Both of these commands are required.  Not one or the other and not one to a greater degree.  Both are required.

You may be tempted to say:
“I am convinced of the danger that hangs over me.”  Lot’s wife was convinced, and it was not enough.
“I am escaping the danger, I am fleeing the wrath to come.”  Lot’s wife was escaping too, she was fleeing, yet it was not enough.
“I am near the place of refuge. I can see it in the near distance.”  Lot’s wife was quite near to Zoar and could see the mountains. It was not enough.

You must not be content with mental knowledge of the danger, with some past experience of escape (like the sinner’s prayer or baptism), or even with the sight of hope in the foreground.  You must not stop.  Do not halt.  Do not even slow in your pace.  Definitely do not rest now, and please do not consider ever looking back.

Surely you are not willing to live and die as living proof that sinners may be almost saved, yet not really saved at all.
Surely you are not willing to starve to death at the threshold of the feast that has been offered to us in Jesus Christ.
Surely you are not willing to die of thirst at the base of the fountain of salvation because you would rather turn away and dig broken cisterns that can hold no water.

This is what letting up will get you!  Not finishing well and pulling up short will earn for you eternal perishing.  Nothing less.
If this is the end you want, the death you long for, then look back to Sodom, and stretch out your hands to the world around you. Turn back now to become a lifeless, white, shiny, column of salt.

But, if this is not the end you desire, then…
Escape for your life!  Do not look back!  Do not stay anywhere in the valley!  Escape to the Mountains, or be consumed!

When the temptations arise and the urge to look back comes…Do not yield to it!  Let memory do the work of sight. Instead of looking back to perish without hope… Remember Lot’s wife.