Thursday, October 2, 2008

Interesting thought....

You all know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the book of Genesis. We were looking at it today in my Pentateuch class and the teacher said something that got me thinking. He was a guest speaker at a church one time and he spoke on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the end of the story, the city is being destroyed and Lot and his wife are running to safety. Lot's wife pauses to look back and is instantly turned into a pillar of salt. Now, my teacher taught this story like we've all probably heard it....Lot's wife is horrible for not being grateful for her rescue and longs to be back in the city of wickedness...you know the story. Evil woman. However, after my teacher was done speaking, an elderly woman came up to him and said "Just an observation in regards to Lot's wife....keep in mind that her sons were back in that burning city."

Now I'm not condoning any sin that was in her heart in possibly longing to be back in the sinful city. The city was despicable and offensive before a holy God and deserved to be destroyed. I just thought it was interesting to think...if we were in her shoes....if we were running with them and in the same situation....there just may have been a few more pillars of salt.

Just an interesting thought and perspective.

1 comment:

Richard Bargas said...

The only problem with this is that they weren't her sons. They were the men her daughters were to marry, but had not yet married (Gen. 19:14). Lot's wife probably had less attachment to them than she would if they were sons-in-law. These men were scoffers (19:14) who laughed at Lot when he frantically warned them to flee with his family. These guys had absorbed the unbelief and wickedness of the city as she had done and it is hard for me to believe that Lot's wife was thinking of them as she fled the city. On what proof can we say this?

The older lady you mentioned may have seen a sentimental reason for Lot's wife to look back, but it just doesn't fit the biblical account. We need to be cautious that we don't foist our own ideas upon what the Bible says, even if they sound new and "insightful."