"Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."
Genesis 19:24-26
The Lord is responsible for this judgment upon Sodom. Everything that was once lush and full of life is now lifeless. Among the casualties: Lot's wife. The angels had given one message that could be summarized in 5 words: "Get out, don't look back!" Earlier, Lot had to be hurried out and it's obvious that Mrs. Lot, taking the cue from her husband, was also fond of her home. Her love for her home in the city of wickedness is seen in the phrase "she looked back." The connotation seems to indicate more than just a quick glance. It was a long look of desire.
Why did she look back? Jesus Himself gives us a clue in the New Testament. In Luke 17, Jesus is using Sodom and Gomorrah as an illustration of His own return and makes a special reference to Mrs. Lot.
"In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."
Luke 17:31-33
The suddeness of Christ's coming will leave you with no time to turn back. Likewise with Lot's wife, something from what was being destroyed called to her. She wanted to preserve it. She wanted to possess it. In the end, the love of "it" destroyed her! Whatever "it" was to Lot's wife, has come to represent to us that which we would lose our life in Christ for. What could it be for you? What attraction of the world beckons to you? It's on the queue for destruction, but you look longingly at it. Is it a habit? A possession? Whatever it is, Jesus spends three words reminding us that nothing is worth losing our real lives, the lives lived in Him, for!
