Boom - Salt Pillar

Genesis 19:23–29 (ESV)

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Interestingly, this passage starts with the sun rising. There's a new dawn which has come. Verse 23 tells us that the sun had risen over the land just as sulfur rains down. Now, ultimately, dawn is often this symbol of hope. You know, when you think of the Lord of the Rings, it is on the day of the dawn when Gandalf shows up at the Battle of Helm's Deep with the men who will come and destroy the mighty army of orcs that had besieged it. Dawn is often this picture of hope, of a new beginning, of new life. And actually it is that here too.

But before that happens, it shows us a long warned about, long waiting reckoning that had come to Sodom and Gomorrah. God's justice took time for the sins of the valley to reach its fullness. And now that it had, there was a definite appointed morning on which God had decided that now enough was enough, the time had come.

But interestingly, even in saving Lot and his family, we see this kind of case study of what it means to live with a divided heart. Many people have debated over why Lot's wife turned back and ultimately became a salt pillar. But I think it's because she was longing for the city that she was meant to flee. And this pillar of salt that she becomes becomes this kind of standing monument that her half repentance was really no repentance at all. She wanted to stay in the city that God had judged. She wanted to stay in the culture of sin and wickedness that these cities represented.

And in fact, when you read Luke chapter 17, we see that that is how Luke sees this. He says in Luke 17 in verse 28 and onwards, he says, "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. So it will be just like this on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, no one who is on the housetop with possessions inside should go down and get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it."

There is a real message here for us about what we are willing to give up in order to be with Jesus on the day that he comes, on the appointed day when the dawn will rise, if you like, and the day of judgment appear. What are we willing to give up? Are we going to look back to the sinfulness of this culture and say, actually, I'd rather have that than what Jesus is about to usher in?

Notice also that our passage talks about how God remembered Abraham. Lot is spared not because of his own record, but because of God's covenant mercy towards Abraham. Again and again in this story we see this gospel rhythm. Salvation flows because God is faithful to his promise. Human actions, human works, human righteousness just doesn't cut it. It is God who again and again acts on behalf of people who don't deserve it.

Why This Matters to Us

Now, why does this matter to us? Well firstly and probably most importantly and most shockingly perhaps even in our world today is that judgment is real and judgment is final. We live in a time where people think that, you know, we have ample time. Jesus will never come. You know, we can live as if however we want. But this passage challenges that straight on and says there are evil kingdoms and they will not last. There will be places where it will be like smoke rising like a furnace. This passage is meant to sober us up. It's meant to shake us out of our spiritual complacency. Wickedness will have its day in court and ultimately God will judge and destroy it. And so judgment is real. Jesus is coming back. There will be a day during which God will ultimately destroy everything that is opposed to him. And that needs to be part of our thinking in this life.

And the second thing that I think again this passage reminds us of, and we've talked about this a few times in the last couple of days, is that where you look shapes where you live. Lot's wife is supposed to be a monument that reminds us of this reality. Where we look shapes where we live. Lot's wife shows us that our hearts are attached to things and the things that they are attached to will determine what we pursue in life and what we want, what the direction of our spirit will be.

In our lives, we need to ask, do our screens and our ambitions and the things that we want in life, our habits and so on, do they tug us back towards the city of man? Or will we look forward to the Lord? Will we look to him to provide us that ultimate satisfaction? In a way, this passage is a call for us to fix our eyes on the better country that we see in Christ Jesus, on the better reality and on the greater future kingdom than this earth could ever provide us. Because in comparison to Jesus and eternal life with him, nothing on this earth is worth it. Jesus himself says that whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it.

So where are you looking for your ultimate salvation? Is it in the one who saves or in the place that you should be saved from?

Prayer:

Lord, we recognize that you are the righteous judge. You are the merciful redeemer at the same time. Thank you that evil will not endure. But thank you even more that Jesus Christ has endured this fire for us. Turn our eyes away from this old city of sin that we always look back to. Help us to look to your kingdom, a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Help us to keep running to you in faith. Help us to remember to cling to Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.