Remember Lot’s wife

Lk.17:32, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’

Jesus reminded His disciples of Lot’s wife. Lot was the nephew of Abraham, who had set his journey along with his uncle from the land of Ur. It was Abraham who had heard God’s voice for this journey. Lot had only accompanied him. Jesus was talking about the end days, about how those days would be and about who would be saved in that final day. Lk.17:33, ‘Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ‘

Gen.18:20, ‘ And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, ²¹ I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”  After blessing Abraham and Sarah, the Lord’s angels rose to leave them. And in the process, the Lord, seeing Abraham as His friend shared His heart’s burden with him. The Lord had planned to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the exceeding sinfulness of it’s inhabitants. Its amazing to see God’s matchless mercy in His judgements. He stirred up the hearts of His children to intercede before finally destroying the condemned cities. Now Abraham understood the snare awaiting his nephew and his family, who had chosen to settle in these condemned cities. Being filled with God’s love for them, he interceded for them and the Lord, in His mercy heard and answered his prayers (Gen.18:32-33). Just before destroying these cities, God remembered Abraham and sent His angels to drag Lot and his family out of those doomed cities. Gen.19:17, ‘So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that ^[b]he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be ^[c]destroyed.”’ Here  we see the angel of the Lord putting a condition, ‘do not look behind’ for their escape. Gen.19:25-26, ‘So He ^[e]overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.’ 

God remembered Abraham and his intercession for Lot and his family. Hence, He sent His angels for their rescue. But here too we see that Lot’s wife could not escape. Other’s intercession for our salvation and escape can give us  more opportunities to hear and respond to God’s calling. But finally, salvation is our own personal choice and commitment. Lot and his family had received many opportunities to turn to God. All through their journey with Abraham, they were hearing God’s voice and ways through Abraham. But they did not respond. Later, Sodom was attacked by other kings and Lot was taken as one of the captives. There too Abraham, along with his 318 trained servants went and rescued him (Gen.14). Here, Lot was again being reminded of God’s calling, but yet again he refused. Now, he and his family was counted among the unrighteous and wicked souls, set apart for doom and destruction. But Abraham’s faithful intercession gave them the grace to be counted as righteous. Yet, Lot’s wife missed the last chance given to her . She turned into a pillar of salt. Though Lot escaped the wrath of God poured upon Sodom and Gomorrah, he could not go ahead in God’s ways for long, for he too missed his chance to make a serious commitment towards God. He ended up becoming the father of cursed generations. Every missed opportunity causes hardening of our hearts, thus making it tougher and tougher to respond to His small voice.  Every missed opportunity attaches us more and more to the world, thus making it tougher and tougher to be pulled out from the miry clay . Lot’s wife could not respond to the still small voice of God, neither could she  respond to God’s voice which came as a loud warning and judgement upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

Dear friends, today, the pandemic crisis this world is facing is overwhelming. None of us have seen of such kind ever before. It’s like the floods that covered the whole earth in times of Noah. The rains of infections  in every nation are rising day by day, leaving every man hopeless and vulnerable. No authority, not wealth, not position, not beauty nor anything else can be a wall of protection around us. If Noah and his family had a shore even in the midst of that overwhelming flood, let’s realize that the indwelling fear of the Lord is the only assurance of His presence and protection. Where is our hope today ? Surely God is preaching to the whole world about His salvation and the coming judgement days through all that is happening in this world today. Let’s not linger in the worldly attachments anymore. Instead, let’s realize that today’s crisis might be the last opportunity the Lord is giving each of us to repent and to be saved.

 Lk.17:30-31, ‘³⁰ Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his ^[i]goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.’  The only way  to flee from the wrath of God, is by fleeing from the love for world and worldly possessions. Only the ones whose hearts linger in the worldly possessions will go back to the house from housetops  to take the goods. Only such will turn back from their fields.  But the way of cross is the way of leaving : leaving the worldly attachments  and clinging  to the hope of the invisible eternity with Christ. The long stay of Lot’s wife in Sodom made it difficult to get disconnected from the worldly pleasure .  Her heart dwelt in the world around her, so much so that it was impossible for her eyes to depart from same. Mt.6:21, ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ Though her legs moved forward, her heart pulled her backward.  Gen.19:26, ‘But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.’ She looked behind from behind her husband, which means that her turning back was hidden from Lot’s eyes. But it was not hidden from God’s eyes. Our spiritual life cannot be known well enough even by our life partners. The depth of our hearts are hidden from them. But let’s fear the One, from whose eyes nothing is hidden.

 Lk.17:33-34, ‘Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two ^[j]men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left.’  ³⁵ Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. ^36 [k]Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”  Lot’s wife lived with Lot all her life but their being together could not save her life. Two men in one bed, two women grinding together and two men in the field are portrayed here and in all three cases, one is left behind while the other is taken away. Our being together with God’s children does not determine our destiny. Instead, our personal commitment and dedication towards the Lord and His commandments alone makes our way to eternal life.

Jesus taught His disciples from the chapter of Lot’s wife. Lk.17:28-30, ‘ Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.’ These are the days where the nature itself and the strange calamities happening around are preaching loud enough for the whole world to hear about our Lord’s return. These might be the last chances to turn to the Lord.  Let’s use every moment of time made available to us to grow in the Lord and to be prepared to receive our Lord.  May our hearts linger in His word and thus be prepared always to escape the wrath and judgement of the Lord.

God bless us all

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