Thanks. Ryle is always pretty sound.
Very nice article. Thanks for posting it.
I'm surpised he didn't mention what may have been a greater sin, I believe, with Lot's wife. She looked back. This was symbolic of her physically following her husband's lead, by leaving the town, but her heart remained drawn to the town of sin. She looked back to what she was giving up, regretting/holding on to what she was leaving, not clinging to, relying upon, believing in, or looking forward to the promises God had in store for her. Thanks for the bump.
Another interesting interpretation of Lot's wife--less harsh than most:
The Salt of The Earth
Salt of the Earth?
"YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH"
What does this mean?
What does the scripture say about salt?
Leviticus 2:13
You shall season all your cereal offerings with salt;
you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God
be lacking from your cereal offering;
with all your offerings you shall offer salt.
Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how you ought to answer every one.
Mark 9:50
Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how will you season it?
Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
Salt.
It is required,
it is necessary,
and we are told to be salty.
I believe we could substitute the word "compassion" for the word "salt"
in the scriptures and that these statements will make perfect sense.
Let me also remind us that the word "but" denotes CONTRAST.
As in,
"I had a wonderful time in Colorado, BUT now I am exhausted."
Well.....
In the 19th chapter of Genesis we read of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
We read how Lot scurried off to save his skin, and how God rained down fire and brimstone, destroying the cities, the residents, and the plants.
And then we read a most mysterious statement.
"BUT Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."
A PILLAR is a monument to a work of God.
A reminder of God's dealings with humanity.
We have been taught that Lot's wife was being PUNISHED for her disobedience.
Sermons have preached that she was reluctant to leave her worldly goods behind,
and so was destroyed for her greed.
But God was using FIRE to destroy folks that morning.
Lot's wife became a pillar of SALT.
It was LOT who was greedy for earthly things.
He wasn't looking back for a moment.
Lot's wife looked back at the people being destroyed.
Yes, I know that the angel told them not to look back.
Very good advice, for those whose primary concern was their own safety.
Who sought to save their own lives.
I believe that Lot's wife lost her life and was turned to a pillar of salt
for the same reason that Jesus lost His life and was turned to a pillar of love.
She, like Jesus, would have been much safer
if she had walked away and never looked back.
But she couldn't walk blindly away from those sinners.
From those who deserved death under the Law.
From her neighbours who were blinded and groping in the dark.
She was moved with compassion for them.
She turned toward them,
looked toward them,
and BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT.
Is this not what it means to be the salt of the earth?
To lay down our lives to make the earth palatable to God?
To be moved with compassion at any expense to ourselves?
Lot was running away from the condemned and dying town.
God was destroying the sinners with fire.
BUT Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
A pillar of compassion.
Are we looking with compassion at the blind and groping
(and evil and obnoxious and angry and lecherous)
sinners who are experiencing death and destruction,
or are we so intent on being "raptured" away from the destruction
that we are not interested in looking back?
Do we want to end up like Lot,
living in fear and incest in a cave in the mountains?
Or will we become, like Lot's wife,
a pillar of compassion on the plains of destruction?
It's about LOVE
Pastor Dave