Lots Wife’
Notes
Transcript
We are in a series where we consider some of the times God through Scripture tells us to “Remember”.
We saw last week that God wants us first of all to remember Him and we saw the dangers people and societies face when they forget and reject God.
Ever hear this riddle:
A Bible character without a name
Whose body never to corruption came;
Who died a death none died before,
Whose shroud is sold in every grocery store.
I want to consider why Jesus commands us to remember Lot’s wife!
Chair Bible pg. 701
28 It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building;
29 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
31 On that day, the one who will be on the housetop, with his goods in the house, must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one in the field must not turn back.
32 Remember Lot’s wife.
33 Whoever strives to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it.
Are you ready for the message God has for us today?
Cool, let’s dig in!
Why Lot’s Wife?
Why Lot’s Wife?
I find it interesting that there are 137 Women mentioned by name in the Bible.
Now there are famous nameless women:
The woman at the well
The Widow with Two Mites
The woman caught in Adultery
The Widow of Zarephath who took care of Elijah
The Woman who anointed Jesus’ feet
The Woman with the issue of blood
Lot’s Wife
There are many others.
Yet of all of these named and unnamed only one does Jesus command us to remember - Lot’s wife
This command to remember comes in the midst of Jesus teaching about end times.
Why then are we to remember Lot’s wife?
Who was this woman? What do we know about her?
Actually very little!
24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven,
25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But Lot’s wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
What is there to remember?
Well, she was married to Lot
She entertained the men who were sent form God to warn of Sodom’s destruction
She watched as her husband offered their daughters to the mob outside
They were all commanded to leave the city, to flee and not look back.
We learn from the text that as they were running away, she looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt.
That is really all we know about her, and yet Jesus says to remember her!
Clearly there is then something we can learn from remembering her.
Attached to the past
Attached to the past
Attachments can hinder our progress forward.
Concerning this about Lot’s wife Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Lot’s wife could not tear herself away from the world. She had always been in it, and though associated with a gracious man, when the time came for a decision she betrayed her true character. Flight without so much as looking back was demanded of her, but this was to much.”
Lot’s wife was looking back at all that she was leaving behind.
She left everything, lost life, lost friends, lost lifestyle, and a lost home.
Wherever our gaze is fixed will determine the path taken by our feet.
Our struggle at times is because we have fixed our gaze on the wrong things.
Our attachments determine where our heart is - Matthew 6:21
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Remember Paul’s words to Philippians?
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
In following God what are we willing to let go of?
Are our attachments greater than the call forward?
My own life there was the move here to Walla Walla.
It would have been very easy to say no, because of attachments of family, friends, and familiarity with the place.
Keeping my gaze on where I was instead of where God wanted me.
Attachments could have caused me not move into the future God had for me.
For Lot’s wife her attachments led her to not move forward.
Moving Forward
Moving Forward
Looking at the passage in Genesis I get a sense of doubt from her.
Did she doubt that God would do what He said?
If He did could I trust god with my future?
We need to ask ourselves: “Are we committed to our future and the future of Amazing Grace?”
We must gaze our eyes and mind on what is ahead
The draw of attachments she left behind caused Lot’s wife to fall back, slow down - Genesis 19:26
26 But Lot’s wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
They had started out together as fast as they could they fled, but……she slowed down, lagged behind, and looks back.
What is even sadder still is we are not told that Lot ever noticed she was not with them when Lot and his daughters made it to safety.
Do our attachments to sin or to the world slow us down?
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Note that the passage tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus, keep our gaze toward Him, Jesus is always before us.
Don’t worry about what is behind keep you gaze always forward!
The example of running and looking back
Remember we are in the world but not of the world - John 17:14-16
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Our future should be in Christ, thus our gaze is fixed on Him.
Lot’s wife got to a point where she could no longer move forward. She stopped and looked back!
Conclusion
Some may ask wasn’t God’s judgment harsh?
It begs the question though, where was her faith?
It was not in God, it seems to be in her attachments, interesting those things she could see.
Is God just? Will He judge rightly when we stand before Him?
The better way is to remember Lot’s wife!
Will we like her be guilty of not listening and obeying God’s call?
Now we are at why Jesus talks about her in the midst of end times.
Are we ready to meet Jesus?
Are we hung up on the attachments of the world or the past?
Or have we fixed our gaze on Jesus and willingly move into the future knowing He has our best in mind?
Altars open come as the Lord leads in this song!