Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 19:4-26
Most Christians are familiar with the story of Lot’s wife. Lot and his family were told to leave Sodom and not look back. When Lot’s wife looked back, contrary to instructions, she turned into a pillar of salt. Most Christians also think that if they had been in that situation, they would not have looked back. They insist they would not have made the same mistake that Lot’s wife made.
However, it is good to question whether that is true. In fact, what we should really do is question whether we emulate Lot’s wife on a regular basis.
Yahweh knew the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was exceedingly grave. He sent two angels to Sodom to investigate the situation. When they arrived in the city, they met Lot, who invited them into his house for a meal and to spend the night.
Gen. 19:4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from young to old, all the people from every quarter;
Gen. 19:5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them.”
Gen. 19:6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind him,
Gen. 19:7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.
Look at the word “wickedly”. Lot essentially condemned the desires and actions of the men of Sodom.
Gen. 19:8 Now behold, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them what is good in your eyes; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
This offer is very reprehensible to 21st century Christians, and rightly so. Women should be protected, not used as human shields.
Having said that, I think we should be careful about condemning Lot for making this offer. We assume that Lot should have known better than to offer his virgin daughters to the crowd. Keep in mind that Lot did not have the Bible. None of the Bible had been written at this point in history. Lot did not have a written guide instructing him how to live and how to treat women.
Also, in their culture, protecting a guest was a very high priority. Lot would have felt a strong impulse to make sure the men whom he had fed did not suffer any harm. That is what led to the mindset that offering his virgin daughters to the mob was better than turning his guests over to the mob. I’m not saying Lot was right. I am explaining why Lot did what he did.
Gen. 19:9 But they said, “Step aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came to sojourn, and already he is persistently acting like a judge; now we will treat you more wickedly than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and stepped up to break the door.
Look at the words “sojourn” and “judge”. Lot was not originally from Sodom, and the men of Sodom reminded Lot that he was an outsider and shouldn’t have been telling them how to act. In fact, they were offended that he dared to tell them they were in the wrong.
Gen. 19:10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.
Gen. 19:11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from small to great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.
Gen. 19:12 ¶ Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and everyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
Gen. 19:13 for we are about to destroy this place because their outcry has become great before Yahweh, so Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”
The agreement between Abraham and Yahweh was that Yahweh would not destroy the city if there were ten righteous people in the city. There were not 10 righteous people; therefore, Yahweh was about to destroy the city. However, Yahweh was willing to rescue Lot and his family, since Lot was righteous.
Gen. 19:14 And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
Gen. 19:15 ¶ Now at the breaking of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.”
Gen. 19:16 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 Yahweh was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city.
Notice the word “hesitated”. It was time to leave, but Lot hesitated.
Take note of the word “compassion”. Yahweh was angry at the sin of Sodom, but at the same time he had compassion for Lot.
Gen. 19:17 Now it happened, as they 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, lest you be swept away.”
There are several commands in this verse. One of them was “Do not look behind you”.
Gen. 19:18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords!
Gen. 19:19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by preserving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest calamity overtake me and I die;
Gen. 19:20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be preserved.”
Gen. 19:21 And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
Gen. 19:22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
The Hebrew word “Zoar” means “to be insignificant”.
Gen. 19:23 ¶ The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
Gen. 19:24 And Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven,
Gen. 19:25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Gen. 19:26 Then his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
The angels had commanded Lot and his family to not look back. Lot’s wife disobeyed and looked back; thus, she was turned into a pillar of salt.
Notice the phrase “from behind him”. Lot’s wife was lagging behind. She did not want to leave.
It is easy to read this passage and insist we would not do what Lot’s wife did. We think if we had been in that situation, we would obey the command to not look back.
However, the mistake made by Lot’s wife was she disobeyed a simple command. That is what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. We do that frequently. Every time we disobey a simple command, we are repeating the mistake made by Lot’s wife.
Furthermore, Lot’s wife was lagging behind and looked back because she did not want to leave the known. Even though Sodom was full of sin, their life in Sodom had become the norm, and she did not want to uproot and find a new normal.
What is an occasion where you were hesitant to leave the known and take on a new challenge even though you knew it was the right thing to do?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”