June 25
Scripture Reading: Genesis 19:23-29; Luke 17:31-32; Hebrews 10:38
While it is true that God is merciful and longsuffering, when once the gavel of Divine judgment has fallen the results are terrifying and irreversible. When Abraham arose early to return to the place where he had conversed with the Lord, the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah filled the horizon. God’s wrath had fallen, and only He knows how many died in the fire that fell from heaven. For those who doubt the Scriptural teaching on the subject of hell, the smoking furnace and charred remains of what had once been the great cities of the plain screams aloud, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” (Romans 3:4)
One of the saddest lessons of this entire passage is that of the death of Lot’s wife; a lesson that was emphasized by our Lord Jesus Christ. After having been warned not to do so, she looked back. Was it a looking back through a longing to return? Or, was it simply a looking back in unbelief? Whatever the motive or reason, Lot’s wife’s attention was on what she was leaving behind, and not on where she was going or who she was to be following. How she became “a pillar of salt” is not made clear. Perhaps she was covered completely by ash, burning pitch and salt reigning down from the skies from explosions caused by the fiery judgment falling upon the wicked cities. She is a sad and sobering lesson of what worldliness and sin can do in the life of a believer. Whether or not she was a person of faith is uncertain, but her husband’s carnality left her no spiritual direction in her home. She looked back and the cost was her life. The warning from the Lord Jesus is, “Remember Lot’s wife.” May God make this a reality in all lives of His own!