Don’t Look Back

Genesis 19:12-26

“But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (Gen.19:26, NASB).

Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt like others were trying to keep you in a place where they felt comfortable? You have a desire to go forward, but others don’t want to go forward with you. I have felt this way often in my ministry. I have been accused of many things including the charge that I think that I am better than others. The truth is this. I do not think that I am better than others. It is just the fact that I sense that God is calling me to move forward. Even though I want others to come along, it seems they are unwilling to let go of the past and move forward to the place that God is calling us to go to. Although I really want others to join me on the journey, I cannot wait forever for them to join me. In my mind and in my spirit I hear the Lord saying, “Don’t Look Back.

The text that the Spirit leads me to consider is one of many texts in which God calls for His people to go forward in faith to a new place. The people refuse to go forward because of one of two reasons. One reason is their attachment to the place that they are familiar with. The second reason is that they do not believe that the place that God is calling them to offers them a better life than the one that they are attached to. Here are two examples.

God sends Moses to deliver the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. Moses leads them on their way to the Promised Land that He swore to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The people leave Egypt, but they do not have faith to go forward. (Num. 13-14). When see a difficulty they chose not to go to the land of promise. Instead, they complain against Moses, and they express the desire to return to Egypt. A second example is that Jesus goes to His hometown. He has a relative ineffective ministry because the people do not believe Him (Mark 6:1-6). Let us look at our story and see if we can learn something about what takes place when we refuse to leave the old place and do not move forward to the place that God is calling us to.

In this story Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is living in Sodom. The Lord tells Abraham that He is going to destroy Sodom and her neighboring cities because of the sins that come before God. Abraham request that the cities be saved if enough righteous people can be found in the cities. Due to the lack of being able to find ten righteous people, the Lord determines to destroy the cities. Lot is considered righteous so the Lord plans to save him and his family from the destruction that the cities will endure. The wickedness of the city is seen in how the men of the city want to have sexual relations with Lot’s guests. They see the guests as men, not knowing that these are angels of God. They are willing to harm Lot to carry out their plans, but the angels cause the men of the city to be blind, both physically and mentally. They are unable to find the door that separates the righteous from the wicked (v. 11).

The angels urge Lot to take his family and flee the city because of the destruction that is about to take place. The angles lead Lot and his family out of 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”’ (v. 17, NASB). However, when the destruction begins Lot’s wife is following him. She looks back and she becomes a pillar of salt (v. 26). Lot’s wife is destroyed by salt which is one of the elements used in the destruction of the cities (v. 24). So, what can we learn from Lot’s wife and her destruction along with the cities? Why does she linger behind? Why does she not move forward with her husband and the family?

Scholars speculate that Lot’s wife may be from the city of Sodom because she is not named or previously mentioned when Lot traveled with Abraham. Regardless, we are told that she lingers behind Lot. She is reluctant to move forward with her husband. That she lingers suggest that she has a deep attraction for the city. She is attached to the city and the life that she lives in the city. She is not attracted to Lot’s God. She has no attraction to the new life that God plans for her. She is content to stay where she is at. She is comfortable with the way things are. Although the text does not explicitly say so, we can imagine that she is grieving over the city as she sees it destroyed.

Secondly, Lot’s wife has no regard for the salvation that God offers. Why is this you might ask? If a person does not believe in God and His promises they are not going to follow His instructions. We are saved from our past and look to our future in Christ when we are converted. Conversion means that we are putting our way of life behind us. We turn from the old life and look toward the new life. It is a matter of faith. Faith means that we believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Heb. 12:6). Thus, without faith it is impossible to value what God offers.

Thirdly, we learn that the life that we love offers only our destruction. This story illustrates to us the urgency for us to accept God’s offer of salvation. We cannot refuse, and we cannot delay. In this story we learn that Lot urgently fears for his safety. He pleads to the angel to let him find safety in a little town because he does not think that he has time to reach the mountains (v. 19). We see Lot trying to escape, and at the same time his wife is lingering behind and looking back.

This story serves as a warning to all that do not know the Lord. Until we know the Lord, and accept His offer to escape, we are in danger of losing our life. If we heed His call, the Lord takes us by the hands and leads us to a place of safety. It is a place that is prepared for the believer (Jn. 14:6).

This story is for those of us that are called to serve the Lord. We know Him, and we must be willing to move from the place that we are in to the new place that He has prepared for us, and He is calling us to. We must not become complacent. We must not be trapped into contentment. We must be willing and ready to go to the place that God is calling us to. We must not look back.