Transcription
What's up everyone? Welcome to episode 25 of Jesus Wins Podcast. That's right. We've hit the uh 25 mark.
And today we're going to be discussing um the moment Lot's wife looked back when they were fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah. And I think this story holds a lot of weight uh a lot of you know hidden truth and can we can really relate this moment, this instant to our actual lives.
Um, and if you're wondering why it's outside, why I'm filming this outside, it's because I just kind of wanted to switch up the scenery and the background. I typically do it in my room, but I thought, uh, why not it be outside? You might also be wondering, why are you wearing a beanie and a hoodie in May? Well, for some reason, it is 56° today in Whiteall, Arkansas. So, I thought Texas weather was weird. how it fluctuates, but here it is just it was like 85 yesterday and now it's 56 today. So, uh we're rolling with it and let's let's get started.
So, like how we always start off, let's dive into the historical context of Sodom in patriarchal uh period. The account of Lot and Sodom appears in Genesis 18-19 during the time of Abraham. Yes, this was actually at the time of Abraham, which is pretty neat. I didn't even know that. Uh this is the patriarchal era. So long before Israel as a nation was formed under Moses, the cities of the plain including Sodom and Gomorrah are presented as prosperous yet as we all know a very very pro um profoundly wicked city. uh both cities.
Uh in Genesis chapter 13, uh it hints at the danger when Lot chooses the fertile Jordan Valley uh because it it looked attractive, right? Like this this fertile valley, you know, it looks nice, looks attractive on the outside, but on the inside and you know, behind uh the scenes, you know, it holds a lot of wicked uh like spirits and energy. Um it it looked attractive like the garden of the Lord, but the men of Sodom and well really everybody in Sodom uh were extremely wicked and you know honestly you can almost compare it to today's day and age uh with all the wickedness that's going on in the world today.
Um, so here's a key biblical pattern right here that I have is what looks rich externally may be rotten internally. You can even compare that to the Pharisees who looked uh very holy on the outside but in the inside they they had um deceitfulness, wickedness um and things of that nature. So later in scripture uh reflects on Sodom as a symbol of arrogance, sin and judgment. uh in Ezekiel chapter 16 connects Sodom with pride, excess of food, prosperous ease and failure to aid the poor. Genesis chapter 19 also portrays uh grave sexual wickedness and violent corruption. So Sodom represents not just one sin but a a culture of of deeply uh or a culture that is deeply opposed to God which is extremely similar to culture today in society today who is very much opposed to God and uh I guess you could say who a society a culture who doesn't want to be held accountable for our actions who wants to live freely with no consequence uh to our sin But but Jesus sets us free from our sin.
Okay. So why was Lot there in the first place? Let's talk about that. Uh Lot's presence in Sodom is itself a warning of you know why is he even there in Sodom? You know he had to be taking gradual steps uh towards uh being there. You know he he didn't just begin there. He moved there gradually. uh and it's in steps right first seeing the land uh second then choosing the region that Sodom is in then dwelling near Sodom then sitting in the gate of Sodom in Genesis chapter 19 and this likely suggests recognize civic status.
So I read all these steps and it it's almost like us flirting with uh a specific sin that we might struggle with, right? uh say in my instance I I have struggled deeply with lust in my life. So you know for me an example like that would look like um you're hanging out with friends and uh a lustful topic comes up and you decide to indulge in that conversation. Then you're alone in your room, you're scrolling on social media and you see something lustful and now that thought is planted in your head and then you decide to look up something on your own. Um and then that's when the sin happens when you go on you find yourself on you know explicit websites or you you know that's just you know example for lust just because you know that's something I've struggled with deeply in my life but you know really what I want us to get from this is you cannot compromise with sin. If you compromise with s with sin you will never win that battle ever. you have to flee from it uh and and let God handle it. Let God um work in you. When you when we pursue after the Lord, he works in us. He changes these desires of the world and we no longer crave them, but we only crave things of above, heavenly things.
So like I said after going over those steps how Lot's presence even landed in Sodom. Uh this is how compromise often works in scripture and in life. Few people wake up in open rebellion overnight. We don't just wake up we don't just you know walk in we're doing a regular life walk in obedience. We go to sleep next day we just want to be extremely sinful and turn from the ways of God. Right? know like this is when that happens you know we are taking gradual steps towards sin towards a a sinful life a life of disobedience to God. Um we drift by steps ultimately Lot is called righteous in second Peter chapter 2 but his life in Sodom shows how um how a believer can be deeply compromised by environment. So the people around you, who you surround yourself with, um where you hang out, the decisions and proximity to corruption. So how how close you are to corruption. Uh you know, you you hang out with someone who's good friends with someone else, how how close you are to that corruption, to that sin, right?
Uh, okay. Now let's talk about the command uh given to Lot to flee from uh Sodom and Gomorrah. So when divine judgment is about to fall um on the city of Sodom, angels urgently warn Lot and his family to escape. Genesis chapter 19 is filled with a um with an urgency you can say. Um here I have four quotes right here. It says uh up take your wife and your two daughters, escape for your life, do not look back, and do not stop anywhere in the valley. And that's referring to the Jordan Valley. Uh you know, this is not just casual advice. This is uh God's angels trying to rescue them during judgment or when judgment is about to happen. And this is, you know, a very like this is a a sign of God's mercy uh on us and on humanity really or on those who pursue after the Lord. The family is being delivered by mercy, not by their own strength. It's by God's grace that they are being rescued and delivered from judgment just like in our lives right now. In fact, the text says that the angels grasp them by the hand because the Lord was merciful to them. He's merciful to us. We don't save ourselves. None of us do. God saves us. He He deserves all the glory. He deserves all the praise. It's only by his grace that we know the truth. Uh that means even their escape is grace.
Now what is uh this looking back we hear about you know Lot's wife looked back and returning to Saul, right? What what is looking back actually mean? Well, in Genesis chapter 19 verse 26, it says, "Malot's wife behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt." Now, you might think, "Wow, that is harsh. All she did was look back." But this this is describing and trying to give you a picture of how serious sin is and how serious God takes sin. It is a very serious thing. It can destroy your life. It can literally kill you. Just like in this story when Lot's wife looked back when God commanded them not to. So at one at one level, yes, she she did literally look back like that. Yeah. It's not just, you know, figuratively, but biblically the act carries deeper significance. In scripture, looking back can imply uh longing, hesitation, regret. So, regret from turning from your sinful ways, a divided loyalty or refusal who to fully serve her from the past. This was not just a visual curiosity just to see what was going on. You know, she didn't was like, "Oh man, it's being destroyed. I want to look back and see how bad it is." No, she was looking back because she um she was part of her still holding on to uh those sin uh those sins that that sinful lifestyle that they are used to living that she was used to living. Um she had been commanded not to look back because judgment was falling and because obedience required decisive separation. He or her look expressed inward attachment. Right? Inward attachment just her looking back wasn't curiosity. It was it was demonstrating her inward attachment to that sin to their her sinful lifestyle um to what it was inward attachment to what God was destroying and um having judgment on. This is why uh Jesus uses her as a warning in Luke 17 when teaching about readiness, detachment, and the coming judgment of God.
Now, uh let's talk about the salt detail in the Dead Sea region. All right. So, the region around the Dead Sea is known for sulfur, salt, and mineral um deposits. Ancient readers would have recognized that this was an area associated with barness and judgment imagery. Deuteronomy and later biblical texts use salt land imagery to describe desolation. It's interesting. saw her becoming a pillar of salt to signify something, right? It fits both the geography and the theology of the passage. Uh this was not merely a you know a strange uh scenery. Uh it marked her as a monument of God's judgment, right? He he he comes to judge with fire and in the very landscape associated with the judgment, the Jordan Valley, the region of Sodom.
Now, like how Jesus said, oops. And Jesus said in Luke 17, uh, remember Lot's wife as a warning, uh, to us not to return back to our sinful ways or still hold detachment when we put our trust in the Lord and and profess him as our Lord and Savior. Let's look at why Jesus said, "Remember Lot's wife." Luke chapter Luke chapter 17 is the key to understanding the the entire weight of this story. Yeah, you can say the entire like the weight it holds. Jesus is speaking about the coming of the kingdom in the day of the son of man. When when Jesus returns again, his second coming, he compares it to the days of Noah in the days of Lot. Uh people were eating, drinking, buying, uh selling, planting, building, like just living ordinary life exactly like how we are right now. We're, you know, we're waking up, we're going to practice, we're we're getting ready for our games, we're playing video games. Um we're indulging in our sinful ways. You know, this is ordinary life uh happening before God's judgment uh strikes, right? uh ordinary life continued in the time of Lot while judgment was approaching as it is right now. Then Jesus inserts this line uh in quotes remember Lot's wife short and simple exactly like that Lot's wife who looked back at Sodom while he was being judged because of her attachment to what God was judging. Uh that means her story is not only about ancient Sodom isn't about the final judgment, divided hearts and false attachment in every single generation. Not just ours. Her her story is a is ultimately it's a warning and it's a warning against um a few things. I I would say one clinging to a condemned world. Uh delaying obedience. So delaying your obedience to God because you still have attachment to these sinful ways and you still want to indulge in and our sin and we're all guilty of that. I am I'm so guilty of that, right? We are all guilty uh of our delayed obedience to God, right? And then lastly, trying to preserve a life, God is telling you to leave just like God commanded them. Uh he had mercy on them because of his grace, he rescued them and said, "Leave. All I want you to do is not look back." So when God saves you, he just he's just tell he's telling you like you're with me now. You are those chains are gone from your life. They're chains that were were holding you down. You know your sin that was holding you down. I broke those chains. I've set you free. Don't go back to it. Right. Life life is it's not easier, but it's better. There's a peace that surpasses all understanding when you put your trust in the Lord and you commit your entire life to serving God.
What is the deeper spiritual meaning of all of this? Lot's wife had proximity to rescue. So she was rescue was in range, was in her reach. She could all she had to do is just keep going, not look back, right? But not full surrender to the rescue. She did not fully surrender to it. And that is super that can be super sobering for us, right? Because and I know a lot of us are struggling like this because I did too. Like it it's sobering because you know freedom just like um a a life of freedom and walking uh in obedience with God is completely in your range no matter how far gone you think you are. But the moment we look back and try to compromise with sin is a moment we fall right back into those cycles. Uh you can be close to the you can be close to the people of God uh close to the truth, close to deliverance and still have a heart tethered to the very thing God is judging. So that's why when we pray, when we spend time with God, we need to ask him to to um reach the parts of us just like I don't know if y'all saw that um podcast eon did, but he was talking about you know uh a story I think I can't remember the story he's talking about, but talking about I think the lame man that wanted God to heal them and he was like I think Jesus says something along the lines of you know uh like do you want me to heal you or I could be getting it completely wrong but something along those lines. And and he and the von was like, "Man, uh that's a great question. You know, I I really don't even know if I want to be healed, if I want to be changed. God can change you, but uh I know there's a part of me that doesn't want to be changed." So, when we pray, we should pray to God and ask him to, you know, when we're praying and asking him to forgive us and to change the desires of our hearts, we should also we should forgive me. Excuse me. We should also ask him to uh reach the parts of us that are holding on to sin and that even when we are praying to him, the parts of us that know that we're lying to God uh because we still want to hold on to our sinful ways, reach uh that part of us and change that part. So God not only has you know 75% of us but has all of us, 100% of us, 100% of our of our life, right? Our life should be all about the Lord and serving him and in his purposes for our life. So she left with her feet but not with her affections. And this is exactly why the story hits so hard. It exposes our inward allegiance where you we can be you know holy and mighty on the outside but where does our where's our inward allegiance? Is it still holding on to the sinful ways that we once used to live in or is it with God and committed to walking in obedience with the Lord?
Okay, I have five biblical lessons that um we can get from this story of Lot and Sodom of Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah. Uh one compromise is typically progressive, right? It's it's us drifting by steps. Uh Lot drifted towards Sodom before he lived in it. He he you know he looked he saw the attractive fertile land in the Jordan Valley. the region of Sodom. Uh two, deliverance requires uh decisive obedience. Like I'm going to do I'm going to be obedient to the Lord, right? Not by my by my power but the spirit leading me, right? Uh there are moments when hesitation uh to like live in full obedience to God uh is dangerous. Just like Lot's wife, right? Whoa, man. Check out the skyline, by the way. Isn't it crazy that you can look up I don't know if y'all can really see it or not. I don't want to mess with the camera, but you can look up in the sky and know that there's a creator. I mean, that is beautiful, man. Didn't just happen by, you know, accident, by chance. Makes no sense. Judgment in scripture is not abstract. Sodom stands as a serious warning to us, to all of us to not go back to our sinful ways because judgment is approaching. Uh the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is approaching. And man, that is extremely sobering for me too because the flesh in me wants to go back to my sinful ways. And you know what? I stumble sometimes. I stumble just like all of us, man. But but we have to keep pushing on, pushing on, pressing towards the goal, the prize. as I keep our eyes on the prize which is you know eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus in paradise. Fourth, you can physically leave and still be inwardly attached as Lot's wife was. This is the core issue in Lot's wife. Jesus treats this story as a live warning for his followers for us and just such a great example. You know uh you know that alone should help us to understand how serious sin is and how serious God takes sin and handles sin. Remember though he is quick to forgive. He's quick to mercy. But I saw actually you know what I saw something the other day on Instagram. I was like gosh that is so deep. That was so good. Uh, it it was like it was I think it was um something along the lines of like change your ways while conviction is still your only consequence or repent while you're while conviction is still your only consequence. You know, you don't want to be humbled by God. You don't want to be humbled by his wrath because that is painful, right? We should fear the wrath of God. That is painful. So repent, right? Repent while conviction is your only consequence. Don't credit me to that quote cuz that was someone else.
So like let's look at the, you know, reality check that we can get from this story. A lot of people say a lot of people say they want freedom, right? We all we all like to, you know, say we we want freedom, but I think most of us just like the idea of freedom, right? without having to give up these sinful ways and these sinful desires. Um, but they so a lot of people say they want freedom, but they still romanticize the place God is calling them out of. They miss the old lifestyle. They miss the attention, the sin, the comfort, and the identity they had before obedience maybe cost them something. Maybe cost them to sacrifice that sin. Sacrifice hanging out with this cool friend group. Sacrificing a little bit of status maybe, right? It's extremely dangerous uh because you cannot run toward deliverance while staring longingly at destruction which God is coming to judge with fire.
Now I have as we always do with every video uh three discussion questions that you can use in your Bible study or small group whatever you would like to use it for or just maybe even reflect on it and ask yourself these things. Um, first one I have is why did Jesus choose Lot's wife as a warning to remember? Uh, what does looking back reveal about the heart about your heart, our heart? Uh where in your life are you physically out but emotionally like you're physically out of you're phys like you you've stopped doing it for a couple days couple weeks um but emotionally your mind and your desires might still be attached to I think we can get a lot from that.
So to close us off I have a closing line. It's um Lot's wife was close enough to rescue to leave the city. She was that close to being rescued and being in freedom away from the wickedness and sin, but she was still attached enough to die facing it. Man, heavy uh deep story. It's not a long story, but it's it can be a very sobering story for us because uh this is what a lot of our lives look like. A lot of like you know our internal like allegiance, right? Is it still with our sin or is it completely and fully with God? Right. So, man, I really feel like this is really good um a really good, you know, discussion with y'all. I really hope you're able to get something out of it. I really hope God spoke to you and reveal revealed something to you through this. I know he revealed a lot to me and I got a lot of self-reflecting to do. So, um yeah, let's continue growing with each other. If you watch this to the to the very end, man, I really appreciate you. You're the goat. So, um yeah, I'll pray us out and then um we'll shut it down.
Dear heavenly father, Lord, thank you God for your mercy, Lord. Thank you, God, for blessing us with the opportunity, Lord, to uh change our ways, God, to um to walk fully in obedience with you, Lord. Uh I I pray and ask Lord that if anybody is struggling Lord uh internally God they they've turned from their ways but internally their flesh is just pulling them towards those sinful desires that they once used to dwell in and indulge in. I ask that you would destroy those lustful those worldly desires in them God and ask that you would transform them God. Transform every single part of them uh in them uh and in myself as well God. Even the parts that when we're asking you for forgiveness, asking you to change us, even the parts that are still lying to you, God, reach those parts, God, and change. And Lord, we just want to give you every every single part of us, God, and dedicate our whole lives to you, Lord. I pray for your might hand of health, protection, blessings, and breakthroughs in our life. Um, thank you, Jesus, for your kindness, your generosity, your forgiveness, and your mercy. We don't deserve it. You don't owe us anything. We owe you everything. Thank you, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.