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Volume 50 June, 2007 Number 6
Lessons From Lot’s Wife
We don’t know the name of Lot’s wife, and yet we remember her, not to follow her example, but because we are in danger of imitating it. Jesus warned, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
Lot and his family lived in Sodom (Genesis 18-19), a city so notorious for its sin that the Lord destroyed it (Jude 7).
The Old Testament narrative teaches us that Lot’s wife . . .
1. Was righteous. If she were unrighteous, she would not have escaped the destruction of Sodom. In Luke 17, Jesus is speaking to disciples. They are righteous too, but they face the same dangers that destroyed Lot’s wife. So do we.
2. Was in or near the city of Zoar when she perished. She fell in the last mile of the way, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. We may learn two lessons from this tragedy:
a. Looking back is fatal. She looked, she longed, she lingered, and she died.
b. She perished while on the road to salvation. Did her years in Sodom cancel her love for the Lord? Or did her love for Sodom gradually crowd out her love for the Lord?
3. Did almost everything right, but allowed one sin to destroy her. In her day there were no Bibles, preachers, churches, or tracts. Most people lived in sin and ignorance.
But Lot’s wife was a favored woman. She had a righteous husband, the nephew of Abraham. She entertained angels. She stumbled over something trivial (she did not go back; she merely looked back). Morally, she would have surpassed every other woman in Sodom, but one sin destroyed her. In spite of plain instructions and earnest warnings, she did not reach her destination.
The lesson is plain: God’s word is firm. He does not speak into thin air. His warnings imply a real danger. “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God…” (Romans 11:22). He wishes to bestow His goodness. Disobedience calls for His severity. We alone decide the outcome.
Worldliness
“The course of rebellion against God may be very gradual, but it increases in rapidity as you progress in it; and if you begin to run down the hill, the ever-increasing impetus will send you down faster and faster to destruction. Christians ought to watch against the beginning of worldly conformity. The growth of worldliness is like strife, which is as the letting out of water. Once you begin, there is no knowing where you will stop.”
Worldliness and worldly behavior stem from wrong thinking. Thoughts within produce actions without. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:21-23).
What is the world?
The word basically refers to something that beautifies through decoration, adornment, adorning, 1 Peter 3:3.
2. The sum total of everything here and now, the world, the (orderly) universe, Ph.2:15.
3. Planet earth as a place of inhabitation, the world. Ro.1:8.
4. Humanity in general, the world. Ro.3:6, 19.
5. The system of human existence in its many aspects. This part of the definition includes all that is hostile to God, wholly at odds with anything divine. John 8:23. (See Greek-English Lexicon, Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich, 561-562.)
Christians are different
We have no choice about our location. We must be in the world. But we must not let the world get into us. A ship is made to be in the water, but the crew must keep the water out of the ship. The Lord expressed concern for His disciples in these words: “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”
A Gallup poll shocked church leaders: “We find there is very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not active religiously...The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are remarkably similar in both groups.”
Phillips paraphrases Romans 12:2: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within….” The battle rages between our ears. The gospel changes the inside (transforms our thoughts), and these in turn affect the outside (so that we are no longer conformed to this world).
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12). Grace is a teacher. Someone said, “The most difficult part of the training of young men is not to put the right things into them, but to get the wrong thing out of them.”
James warns his readers against becoming friends of the world (4:4). “The world’s smiles are more dangerous than its frowns.” The Lord blesses us with every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). Ungrateful people thank Him by allowing their toys to consume their time, leaving Him with leftovers (if that much).
To be different, we must
recognize worldliness
1. Wrong priorities: putting things of this world first. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” The spiritual disease of “thingitis” distorts reality and produces amnesia (causing the victim to forget what is important). The tyranny of the urgent demands their attention, while spiritual things go by the wayside.
It isn’t difficult to detect the symptoms of “Thingitis.” If you have no time to study the Bible, but always manage to read the paper, watch a movie or ball game, or engage in anything else you want to do, you have thingitis.
2. Wrong emphasis: showing more concern for physical food than for spiritual (John 6:26-29). Most people spend far too much time pursuing the wrong goals.
3. Wrong attitude: minding things of flesh over things of the spirit (Romans 8:5). Those who “live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.” We cannot follow God and the world at the same time any more than we can follow two cars going in opposite directions.
4. Wrong effort: interest in other things crowds out spiritual growth (Hebrews 5:12-14). Milk is not bad, but no grownup wants only milk for every meal. Spiritual infants often remain on milk for fifty years!
5. Wrong goals: stress outward appearance more than inward character (1 Peter 3:3-4). Worldly Christians place a low value on spiritual things and a high value on worthless things. Where is your goal in life taking you? Rd
Refusing God’s Grace
Grace is God’s favor bestowed on the unworthy. A favor is something that cannot be earned, though it may require conditions of the recipient.
The Lord judged Sodom worthy of His wrath (Genesis 19:12-13). When Lot tried to persuade his sons-in-law to leave Sodom, they thought he was joking (verse 14). They refused the grace of God. Sinners find it difficult to believe that their sinful pleasures will come to an end.
Lot himself delayed his departure (verses 15-16). Apparently he did not take God’s threat seriously. He even presumed to recommend the best city for his family to enter after escaping Sodom’s destruction (verses 17-19).
God’s grace teaches us how to escape another destruction (Titus 2:11-12). Are you listening? rd
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PREVIOUS MESSENGERS
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"Click" on the following link(s) to download.
Volume 50 - June 2007 - Number 6 - "Lessons From Lot's Wife"Volume 50 - May 2007 - Number 5 - "Warning"Volume 50 - April 2007 - Number 4 - "The Bad News"
Volume 50 - March 2007 - Number 3 - "Awful Attitudes In Religion"Volume 50 - February 2007 - Number 2-"Thick-hearted People"Volume 50 - January 2007 - Number 1 - "Don't Look Back"Volume 49 - December 2006 - Number 12 -" The Law of Christ"
Volume 49 - November 2006 - Number 11 - "I Have A Question"
Volume 49 - October 2006 - Number 10 - "Have We Forgotten?"Volume 49 - September 2006 - Number 9 - "Is the Right Road Worth It?"
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