Genesis 19:16-17: “When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
The Lord destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah due to the outcry of the sins of its people, among which, not even ten were found righteous, which would have spared its devastation.
Lot, the nephew of Abraham and Sarah, resided in Sodom. The angels of the Lord who came to destroy the region spared Lot and his family. Lot met the angels at the city gates, and assuming they were merely foreign visitors, insisted on them being guests in his home for the night. The angels initially refused Lot’s request, stating they would spend the night in the square. But Lot insisted. Lot may have offered out of kindness and hospitality, or, he may have known what would happen to foreign strangers left unprotected in the town square (read the whole of Genesis 19 for a better understanding of the customs of the Sodomite men.)
In either case, the angels recognized Lot’s heart to shelter two vulnerable guests, and as a result, Lot received sufficient warning from the angels to flee the city before it was destroyed. Lot encouraged his sons-in-law, the Sodomite husbands of his daughters, to flee with him, but they assumed Lot was joking. He escaped Sodom with only his wife and two daughters, and when they reached the small town of Zoar at daybreak, sulfur rained down from the sky upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
The angels warned Lot and his family to not look back during their escape. But Lot’s wife turned back when the destruction began, and consequently, she was turned into a pillar of salt.
Did she look back out of curiosity, the way many of us slow down while driving past the scene of an auto accident? Did she look back to ensure her daughters were safely behind her? Some speculate that Lot’s wife may have been a Sodomite, and some Biblical translations record that she looked back “foolishly” or “longingly.” Did she look back with sadness at seeing her homeland destroyed? Or did she in any way support the sinful nature of the people of Sodom, and looked back with resentment towards their fate?
I will boldly venture to assert, her reason for doing so is irrelevant.
Lot’s wife had been offered a chance for salvation, and instead of pressing forward, she disobeyed a clear warning. Hope was ahead of her, yet she looked back longingly at the sin-filled world she left behind.
The Scriptures tell us that we cannot love both God and the world. In 1 John 2:15-17, we read “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” Matthew 6:24 states, “No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.”
God desires to be the master of our lives because He knows what is best for us. He desires to protect us. There is freedom in Christ Jesus, but we become enslaved and ensnared when any desire of the world becomes greater than our love and devotion to the Father. We do not fully reap the goodness of our transformation in Christ if any part of us looks back, longingly or otherwise, to the world we left behind.
“Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:62.)
“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:30-32.)
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we learn that “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Any more than a butterfly could crawl back in its cocoon once transformed is there a place for a new creation in Christ in their former ways. The two no longer fit together. The sacred has no place among the sinful. Nor the consecrated with the wicked. Nor the peaceful with the turbulent.
There is a cost to looking back. And while it may not be turning into a pillar of salt, it could be just as paralyzing. Continuing to associate with former acquaintances that cause you to stumble in your walk with God. Continuing to hold a grudge against someone who God has commanded you to forgive. Continuing to wrestle with past guilt instead of embracing the freedom of the present. Continuing to dwell on past sins after God has set you free.
Reverend Billy Graham once answered a question from a newer believer, who asked him how to avoid slipping back into old lifestyle habits now that they had committed their life to Christ. Reverend Graham answered honestly: “After receiving Christ, there is a real danger of slipping back into old sinful ways. The solution is to commit each day to the Lord and share our problems with Him… It is tremendously important that we daily meditate on the Word of God, obey His instructions, continue regularly in prayer, and fellowship with other believers.”
As believers, we may wrestle with doubt and uncertainty of what lies ahead of us, but Jesus promised us that He will remain with us. “Surely I (Jesus) am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20.)
So, brothers and sisters, let us “…forget what is behind, and strain towards what is ahead. Press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)