Lot chose the small city of Zoar to escape the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. The instruction was not to look back. He, his wife and his two daughters must continue to move forward without returning, hesitating, and even turning to look at what they once had.
“By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19 v 23-26)
As we celebrate Christmas, we remember that the first Christmas was about God doing everything necessary to save us, sending His Son into our world. But salvation, then and now, requires a response. The story of Lot’s wife reminds us that receiving God’s gift means fully embracing it, not clinging to what we’re being saved from.”
What was her name? We don’t know.
Why did she look back? We don’t know.
But Jesus tells his disciples to remember Lot’s wife, in the context of telling them not to turn back but to be saved at the end times (Luke 17:32).
When we look at this story of the saving of Lot’s family, we can see how God had to do everything to save them. Lot’s sons-in-law pledged to be married to his daughters, disbelieved him when he told them of the destruction; Lot himself hesitated to leave the city he loved and the angels had to grab hold of him, his wife and his daughters to drag them to safety; and now his wife on the brink of safety, hesitated, and in what seemed a harmless move, became disobedient, and what was pouring down from heaven in judgement, fell on her.
Just as the angels helped Lot’s family reach safety, God went to extraordinary lengths to save us. He didn’t send just a message or a prophet; He came to us Himself. The manger is a symbol of God’s endless pursuit of humanity, doing whatever it takes to rescue us. It’s essential to recognise that Mary had to say yes, Joseph had to trust, and the shepherds had to leave their flocks. Salvation has always required a response.
Salvation needed to be embraced fully. Was it a look of longing for Sodom? Was she reluctant to leave the corrupt city? Did she have other family members there? Was this about grief and loss? Was this simply a struggle to move into a new chapter in her life when all that was familiar to her was being destroyed? Do we have sympathy for her?
Lot’s wife teaches us that we cannot step into God’s new thing while clinging to the old. At Christmas, we celebrate that ‘the old has gone, the new is here’—but only if we’re willing to stop looking back.”
I pastored a man for several years. He was a regular church attender but didn’t engage with many people except one lady. He looked so much older than he actually was because he clearly didn’t look after himself. In many ways, he was unkempt, and being a heavy smoker, his health wasn’t good either. Yet he struck up a relationship with this lady, who also struggled with ill health. They became best of friends, and he enjoyed, in some ways, being a carer to her. However, sadness was always part of his demeanour, and I never really knew why until the end of his life. He never let me visit him at his home, but I went there when he passed away. Stepping into his house was an eye-opener. How had I missed what was really going on in his life? It wasn’t that his home was a mess, smelly and dirty. I went upstairs to his bedroom, and his wardrobe was filled with his late wife’s clothes; they were even hanging outside the wardrobe. All around the bedroom were pictures of his wife wearing these same clothes that were hanging, standing still, announcing the loss every morning that he woke and every night that he slept. It was then I understood. I saw how he struggled to move forward when everything familiar in his life had gone. He couldn’t let go. He wouldn’t move forward into the next chapter. His care for the other lady in the church was an attempt at a purpose, but each day he would go home, close the door, and be consumed by the death of his wife. He never moved on.
Lot’s wife stood as a memorial.
Sometimes the past can hold on to you even as you try to move forward. Looking back, and for whatever reason, not letting go can do permanent damage to our lives.
The story might seem harsh, but it does show us dramatically how we can become paralysed when we need to move forward.
What are we looking back on when we should be looking ahead? What clothes are still hanging in the wardrobe of our lives because we are afraid to let go?
Not only did Lot’s wife become a memorial, she became a monument, reminding us all that salvation requires us to keep looking only ahead. Salvation requires our response, a willingness to leave the old life behind and embrace the new.
Missions Paul 