Lot’s Wife

An Unnamed Woman in The Bible

A Mother is a Special Woman – Part 5

I want to take a moment to share with you a story about an unnamed woman, an unnamed mother in the Bible, Lot’s wife. Lot, who we know as the nephew of Father Abraham, if you will recall, has been blessed because of the company he kept with Abraham. As a result, he moved to a distant land of his choosing because the land that the two of them occupied could not support them both. Abraham went one way and Lot went another, but in doing so, Lot ends up in the famous region that we have all heard stories about today, Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Lot visited by angels is giving a warning, advanced notice that his city would be destroyed. He needed to get out very, very quickly. These angels were not wasting time for this pending apocalypse, so to speak, was imminent. What surprises me a little is that Lot, in the presents of angels, hesitates. The reason I bring that up is because it is important to what I am about to share with you about this unnamed woman in the Bible, Lot’s wife. The Scripture says that the angels had to seize his hand and the hands off his wife and his two daughters. ^[1] In order for them to get out, the angels had to snatch them out. This tells me that Lot didn’t want to leave and neither did his wife. They were comfortable in the place that they were in. 

Don’t miss the lesson in that statement, they were comfortable in Sodom and Gomorrah which is known as the most horribly, sin-filled place in recorded history. Keep this in mind while remembering that The Bible is written to give us information, to tell us something we need to know. There is a reason why the story about Lot’s wife is in The Bible and it is there to help take our lives to the next level. This story is going to give us some information that will transform us from being an average, ordinary, normal being to something different, exceptional, extraordinary, and uncommon. 

These angels seized them by the hands and forcefully removed them from this land which was about to be their destruction. How much force do you think is needed to get you to move from the place that is meant to destroy you? How many times have you been going down a path that led to your destruction? And there was no one there to snatch you out or you needed someone to snatch you out? You could possibly be in a situation right now where someone needs to take you by the hand and yank you out. 

Lot’s wife had to be snatched out along with Lot which means she was keeping with Lot’s perspective, his feelings, and his desire to remain there in this destructive place.    

Don’t be tempted to turn back.
The angels’ instructions were to run and don’t look back. ^[2] In other words, don’t be tempted to turn back. You see, the problem when looking back is that it tempts us to turn back. For what other reason do we have to look back? When a door is closed or the situation changes, many times, which is normal, we want to look back. Looking back, this could be looking at a friendship that has changed or the season for that friendship has passed. Many times, we spend a lot of time thinking back and even looking back at a door that has been closed. That relationship, that circumstance is over. The scriptures tell us that Sodom and Gomorrah were going to be destroyed, that was the facts. The question is, are you going to tie yourself to destruction or are you going to free yourself from the destruction that is coming your way? Here’s what this unnamed woman, Lot’s wife and unnamed mother should have been saying. Run and let’s not look back. Run and don’t be tempted to go back. Mothers, what are you saying when you see danger and destruction imminent in your family? Are you hesitating or are you saying run and let’s not look back?   

While Sodom and Gomorrah were being “utterly destroyed”, Lot’s wife, this unnamed woman and mother looked back. ^[3] As the calamity, the tragedy, the destruction was upon Sodom and Gomorrah, the scripture says it was utterly being destroyed. They could see it. They could hear it. They witnessed the impact of what was happening. They observed the destruction going on, and as they maneuvered to get away quickly, they saw the fire falling from Heaven. Therefore, it wasn’t that they weren’t aware or could not gaze upon what was happening, the problem wasn’t with them seeing. When we hear this story, it almost implies that they didn’t look upon the storm or they didn’t view its destruction. We assume while they were running from it, they never saw anything that was happening behind them. That’s not true. It is evident in scripture that they saw what was happening as the fire fell from the heavens. They could see it all. The problem lay in being tempted to turn back. Our attention in the details of history is that we focused on the fact that Lot’s wife looked back.   

Lot’s wife, lagging behind, looked back and as a result she turns into a pillar of salt. Obviously this pillar of salt statement catches our attention. We often get stuck here when reading this in the Bible because it didn’t make a lot of sense to us. One, we don’t even know what a pillar of salt is. We don’t even know what that really looks like. In fact, I had to do an internet search just to see what that would look like and what that would represent. Focusing on the pillar of salt is irrelevant for what it is trying to tell us. In this case, turning into a pillar of salt doesn’t sound desirable. However, what can we learn from this unnamed woman? The lesson has little to do with the pillar of salt as much as it has to do with being tempted to look back.

Let go of the things that bring destruction to your life.
The point is…she looked back. We don’t want to be that wife.  And in this case, that mother who was destroyed because she couldn’t let go of the thing that was about to destroy her. I am advising you today not to hold on. Don’t be tempted to go back to that thing that is about to “utterly” destroy you.  Each time you look back, you are thinking about going back. Every time you try to justify the old situation, what you’re saying is I am opening the door back up to what could possibly destroy my life. If you think about the people, you know who have done this exact thing that Lot’s wife did, they took another look at. They justified the position. They made excuses for the situation. They looked back and were tempted to go back and as a result ended up becoming a pillar of salt. In other words, they stayed still, couldn’t get past the destruction, or couldn’t get past the moment. They stop progressing. They let looking back keep them back and hold them back to such a degree, they lost everything. 

The history of this unnamed mother and wife is a lesson to teach us not to look back and more importantly not to be tempted to go back. Our goal is to look forward and run towards the place that God has instructed us to go. That’s the lesson in this tragic story. The place where God wants us to be is away from destruction and in a place of promotion, success, and advancement. In order to get to the next level, we only need to stop looking back and being tempted to go back. 

Questions: What area in your life have you been looking back on that you need to let go so that you are never tempted or willing to go back?

---

[1] Genesis 19:16 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 10, 2024, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/GEN.19.16
[2] Genesis 19:17 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 10, 2024, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/GEN.19.17
[3] Genesis 19:25-26 NLT, Bible.com, accessed May 10, 2024, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/GEN.19.25-26.NLT

All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.