Remember Lot’s Wife — An Exemplar of Counterfeit “Believers”

In Luke 17:20-37 the Lord Jesus Christ details the events on the earth preceding His return to establish His millennial kingdom. There will be a transition from the present spiritual kingdom to the physical kingdom of a thousand years, the Millennial Kingdom of God, with Christ ruling as King from Jerusalem. The prophecies of Christ's coming kingdom, and the events immediately preceding, are not vague or obscure or hard to understand, nor are they some minor theme or point of Scripture. They are perspicuously plain and incredibly important. Jesus is coming and very soon, it will be His high hour, and He will be establishing His kingdom and reign in this world. These are eschatological passages and if you use the same principles of interpretation and the normal rules of language as expected, they are not complicated or difficult to understand by any means.

In the midst of these passages we find this stark warning given by the Lord Jesus Christ; a few simple words that pack a major punch:

“Remember Lot's wife.” (Lk 17:32)

What exactly happened to Lot's wife? We go all the way back to Genesis and read,

"But his [Lot's] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." (Gen 19:26)

What was the purpose of Jesus giving this warning? Why should we "remember Lot's wife”? What does it even mean? What are the implications or consequences for either remembering or not remembering?

What occurred with Lot's wife obviously carries profound importance considering the one example named of someone the Lord Jesus to mention it in the NT, and in the context it's found.

The word "remember" is translated from the Greek word "mnemoneuo." It's a derivate of "mneme" which in its simplest form means "memory." Mnemoneuo is the active participle of mneme, meaning to exercise memory that is a recollect of something, or to rehearse, making mention to be mindful and remember. In this case, Lot's wife. People are to be mindful of what transpired concerning Lot’s wife, who is never named in the Bible, and the verses prior to and immediately after provide the reason as to why.

The Passage, Context, and Prophetic Revelation and Warning of Christ's Coming and Kingdom, Exposing the Propensity of False Believers in the Last Days, Lot's Wife as Exemplar

The entire context of this passage Lk 17:32 is found in Luke 17:20-37 and they all refer to the second coming of the Lord (His first coming occurred two millennial ago), the events that will immediately precede, during and proceed His return. It is a fitting report to follow our previous, "Your Relationship with the World Reflects Your Spiritual Nature and Position with God — An Evidence of Salvation or Not." Remember Lot's wife, for that very reason.

The coming of the day of the Lord, "the day when the Son of man is revealed" (Lk 17:30), will be about exposure, is the contextual theme of this text, the meaning of these passages, though with varied nuances. But they all relate and all refer to the coming of God's Kingdom, which will be exposing, revealing, and disclosing the hearts of everyone, which is an important teaching in the NT. This will be the day that everything is revealed, when the heart of every man will be exposed and disclosed, and we will know each other to fine detail. Today people can imitate and fake and play the part (though at certain points or beliefs you know who they actually are), but in that day, it will be very clear to everybody.

The last days immediately preceding Christ's return will be as the days of Noah (Lk 17:26-27; cf. Gen 6:1-8). Noah’s evil contemporaries drowned in the worldwide deluge, rejecting the warnings of God's judgment coming (Gen 6). Their mockery and scorn is also in similitude to our day. The last days immediately preceding Christ's return will also be as the days of Lot (Lk 17:28-29; cf. Gen 13:1-13; 18:20-19:29; Jer 23:14; 2 Pet 2:6; Ju 1:7). The citizens of Lot’s city Sodom (and adjacent city Gomorrah) burned and choked to death in fire and brimstone behind the walls of their cities. This included members of Lot's family. Jesus warned about the unbridled evils, the tidal waves of moral and spiritual corruption that swept the world of Noah’s day; the booming economy and over-plenty in Lot’s time; and that sickest of all sins practiced by the men of Sodom, All of it ended in terrible judgment. These will be the prevailing cultural conditions of the days when Christ returns, "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed" (Lk 17:30), and today we can see this being fulfilled.

In the immediate preceding context of the warning on Lot's wife. we have the Lord warning about not turning back and not returning back for our stuff.

"Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back." (Lk 17:30-31)

The passages are revealing that the value of things of this life are worthless in light of the end times where everything will be judged and destroyed. Don’t turn back for them because they do not carry any actual value, for nothing is going to be left when Christ is done. Nothing you can possibly keep will actually be kept by you. This is what Jesus is teaching here. At this point in the age of time, it is over, this is the end and you won’t need it anymore. It says don’t go get your stuff, it’s all going to face destruction (the KJV by the way says "stuff" so we say "stuff," which is one element of repentance for salvation whereby we turn from our stuff to the Lord Jesus Christ, and such that do so and are genuinely converted will continue to exhibit this characteristic in their life up the time of Christ's return, not returning back for their stuff). If you do go back or turn back to your earthly items it demonstrates and reveals what you actually love, regardless of who you portrayed yourself to be in this life. It reveals you wouldn’t deny herself, evident by the outcome. The passage that follows immediately and revealing of this truth, v. 33, reads, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it." The point of it is, in the moment of judgement, you are more concerned about your stuff, seeking to save your life, your stuff. It is revelatory, exposing and disclosing the hearts of people. This is not the same as a fire or hurricane coming your way and threatening your home, and you have time to get some of your stuff, unless it’s clearly knocking on your door. This is judgment and end times and nothing you could possibly get would endure the judgment of God. You won't need any of it.

The emphasis here is not in the details but in the general attitude of leaving everything behind. It is this very heart matter that will expose and reveal the hearts of man: will they turn back for their worldly and sentimental things or will their heart not be with these perishable items. Its one of two options, and who your heart was serving prior to the return of Christ (Matt 6:24) will reflect what you will do at that moment, as noted with Lot's wife, and other examples in Scripture (e.g., the five foolish virgins in Matt 25 who professed but never possessed the Spirit of God). It is a warning for people to put the value where the value ought to be, and not be as the rich man who built bigger barns to store his earthly riches, not ever taking care of his soul (Lk 12). The truth of this is relevant now. It is an important characteristic of the born again Christian.

It in this context of warning about the last days and His return, Christ zeros in on one specific person, Lots wife. She had been told in Gen 19 not to go back or even look back, and Jesus reminds his audience of this, who essentially all would have known this account.

"And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed." (Gen 19:17)

The entire context of Lot, Sodom and what transpired with Lot's wife begins in Gen 19:1.

The angel is precisely informing Lot and his family the very contextual truths of Lk 17:30-31. Again:

"Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back"

And these passages are sandwiched between the example of Lot and God's judgment of Sodom (Lk 17:28-29) and then Christ's reminder of Lot's wife, Lk 17:31, and that is no accident, they all reference the same general theme.

Lot's wife is the example of these verses 30 and 31, a salvation passage. We know this is the meaning, that of salvation revelation, because of the verses prior, and then the texts that follow. Lots wife is the contextual example, exposing her counterfeit profession, providing illustration of the passage that follows after, a clear salvic verse:

“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.“ (v. 33)

The Lord Jesus used this same language throughout His preaching, for instance: Matt 10:32-39; 16:24-26; Mk 8:34-38; Lk 9:23-26; Jn 12:24-25; etc. So that everyone gets what He means, Christ says "remember Lot's wife." (v. 32). He turned her into a pillar of salt. He made an example of her. She is an exemplar of failing by disobedience and exposing the true nature of her heart, Christ warning in vv. 28-29, "let him not come down to take it away" and "let him likewise not return back" — don't turn back, keep thy eyes and feet full steam, straight ahead, a warning noted in Proverbs:

"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." (Pr 4:25-27)

Lot's wife had not removed her feet from evil. Her feet wanted to turn back. She had not lost her life for Christ and the gospel sake, a salvic truth repeated throughout the NT (e.g., Mk 8:35 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it"), for had she done this, her life would have been "preserve[d]" (v. 33). Rather, she lost her life physically and spiritually at that moment, the first death for her, with a second death on the horizon, one thousand years after the return of Christ (Rev 20:11-15). The truth is she never had spiritual life, she had never been quickened, and was yet dead in her sins, her love for the world exposing her true carnal (fleshly) nature. She didn't want Jesus as her King and Lord, she wouldn't lose or deny her life in repentance, just like the rich young ruler in Matt 19, Mk 10, Lk 18. He wouldn't give up his life of earthly riches for the King whose riches the world couldn't contain. It was to hard for him. Jesus said you must be willing to turn from everything for that pearl of great price, for that field of hidden treasure, this life and its things is not worth for what you are exchanging. Losing your own eternal soul for the very temporal fleeting earthly riches is foolish beyond measure (Matt 16:24-26; Mk 8:34-36).

Our Lord used similar terminology two days before His death in Matt 24:17-18, speaking of not turning back for anything in that future day, "not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes" (cf. Lk 17:30-31) and Matt 24:41, "Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left" (cf. Lk 17:35). Matt 24 and Lk 17 parallel; these, like the account in Lk 17, are in the context of the Great Tribulation, the last days of the last days, which we know for various reasons including the last verse in this account, v. 37, which is fulfilled in Rev 19:17-18, 21, towards the very end of the Great Tribulation at Christ's return (Rev 19:11-21).

Lot's wife had never lost her life for Christ and His gospels sake (cf. Mk 8:35). She had always sought to save her own life, right to the last act of her life. Lk 17:33, like Matt 10:32-39; 16:24-26; Mk 8:34-38; Lk 9:23-26; and Jn 12:24-25, is describing what it means to repent unto salvation. The person that has genuinely repented and was converted, will not turn back for their stuff. They understand from the heart the transient nature and really, vanity of personal material and this pilgrim life, so they heed the warning by the Messiah not to attempt the salvaging of personal goods when these things begin to happen.

Jesus was not saying that the person that does turn back to to their house, or to their family, will lose their salvation or they will not be saved, but rather the turning back is revealing of where their heart's at, and the fact that they were never saved at all. Remember Lot's wife. It is a warning to those living pre-Christ's return. That is the actual lesson of these passages and you cannot afford to miss it. The choice made at this junction of the last days is representative of who you are, and its a choice you in fact make essentially every day of your life. Who do you really love? What is your life really all about? Do you gravitate to the things of God or to the things of the world and the flesh? Many times in your life you have this choice to turn to the things of the world or to the things of God, and that will be pivotal and telltale at this critical junction in time. People claim this to be hard, and they are right. It is hard for the unsaved false professor, the one who imitates and conforms and appears like light but has never been transformed from a life of darkness and self-indulgence and self-preservation. The only thing they have of value is found in their earthly life. To these it is hard indeed and will prove it at this event of the last days, because they are of the flesh and carnally minded (Rom 8:1-9) and have no divine power dwelling in them (cf. Eph 1:19), they have never actually truly believed His message but merely applied that which they agree with and rejected the rest, but to the one that is genuinely converted, it is not hard. Salvation itself was hard (Lk 13:23-24), but once converted, the hard part is over. Their eyes are permanently opened to truth and reality (Ac 26:18), they have a new heart circumcised from their flesh (Col 2:11-15; De 30:6), and they know that they are dead to the world and that the world is passing away and nothing will survive the fiery trial of Christ (cf. 2 Th 1:5-12), and thus they turn their affections from the things upon the earth to the things which are above:

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Col 3:1-4)

Lot's Wife Disobedience Exposed Her Love for the World -- Two-fold Reason We Know She was Unconverted

One of the angels who carried Lot and his family out of the city (Gen 19:16-17) and instructed Lot what to do and not do (Gen 19:18), was very likely the Lord Jesus Christ in his pre-incarnation appearance as an angel (which occurred many times during the Old Covenant), expressed in Lot's address of Him: "And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:" (Gen 19:18), the only time Lot addressed any of these angels as "Lord." Angelic beings aren't Lord's and were this not Christ, the angel would have corrected Lot. He didn't; Lot knew who he was talking to.

The specific instructions given here by God, likely directly by God the Son, were as follows:

"And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed." (Gen 19:17)

The angels of the LORD God had specifically instructed Lot and his family four things: (1) Escape for thy life; (2) look not behind thee, (3) neither stay thou in all the plain; (4) escape to the mountain. Lot and his two daughters obeyed the words of God, but Lot's wife did not. The obedience of these three is captivating but should never come as a surprise concerning people that are genuinely converted or whom we would consider very likely converted. We know Lot to be a truly converted man, but we do not know that for sure of his daughters since Scripture says nothing to it. Consider how this may well be a strong evidence of salvation. They never took a glance back even once, when they fled the city of their childhood and life, not even when God turned their mother into a pillar of salt. How many husbands and children would at that point not be tempted to look behind them as to what happened to their wife/mother? Many would be tempted and many would do it, because their first love is not with the Lord Jesus Christ but with the world and the things of the world, and that includes family. The action would expose their true foundational nature, as it did with Lot's wife. At no point ever does family usurp the place of God. In fact, if we don't turn from this idolatrous affection of loved ones, we cannot even be saved. It is a precursor to conversion; it is wrapped up in repentance as Scripture makes abundantly clear.

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matt 10:34-39)

Luke 14 speaks to the same:

"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." (Lk 14:26-27)

These are salvic passages, period. Jesus was preaching to the masses, which almost all without exception were unregenerate ("And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them," Lk 14:25). Any man that corrupts and twists these succinct verses into something post-salvation is very likely a false teacher.

The idea that Jesus was bringing across in Lk 9:57-62 (quoted in full further below) is right along these lines. Men profess a desire to follow Him but when it came to sacrifice of family, they didn't want to follow Him after all, peddling excuses instead. One man expressed a desire to follow Him ("I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest") but when Christ informed Him that He had no place to rest His head while the animals and birds do (whom He created), the man must have evidently left Him for He was yet without a resting place. He didn't want to let Jesus into his home (Lk 9:57-58). To another one called to salvation, Jesus declared, "Follow me," but this man also loved his unregenerate father ("the dead") more than God, "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father" (Lk 9:59), but Jesus encouraged him to "let the dead [unsaved people] bury the dead [unsaved people]." And yet another one that was called to follow Christ (a call to salvation), made similar excuses, exposing the love he had over his family more than God. To him, which applied to all three examples, Christ declared that he couldn't be saved until that love was reversed and that love can only be reversed through the supernatural new birth in those who turn from the idol of family unto the living God in genuine sorrowful repentance: "And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Lk 9:62). Not being fit for the kingdom of God has ONLY one meaning: not being saved. Every true born again believer is fit for the kingdom of God. All these individuals put their “hand to the plough and look[ed] back” (v. 62a), just like “Lot’s wife” (Lk 17:31-33) had done, who “looked back” (Gen 19:26; Lk 17:31-32) at what she was leaving behind, proving she was unsaved; she had never denied herself—her heart was with the world (Sodom) and with her family (those left behind) rather than with God, she denied Gods Word evident by her disobedience, all of which reveals that she was unsaved (1 Jn 2:15-17; Jam 4:4; Matt 10:32-39; Lk 14:25).

The connection of love with salvation can be seen throughout Scripture. The many during the Great Tribulation that are deceived and unrepentant cannot be saved because of their misplaced affections (which is applicable actually to any age, not just the 70th week of Daniel): "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Th 2:10). This is the very idea behind the words of Jesus to an unsaved lawyer who wanted to have eternal life (Lk 10:25-28), "And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" What instructions gave Christ to him? "What is written in the law? how readest thou?" The lawyer responded: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Jesus affirmed his reply: "And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." Of course we can only love God in such a fashion by being born again, regenerated of the Holy Spirit of God, with the new circumcised heart, and that requires true repentance and repentance is a sorrowful turning from all of our sins, our stuff, our self and our people (Repentance — The Foundation of Salvation).

This subject of salvation requiring repentance of family is written about here: The Idolatry of Family - They That Love Their Family More Than Christ, Are Not Worthy of Christ.

Nowhere in scripture does “deny himself” (Matt 16:24; Mk. 8:34; Lk. 9:23) refer to saved people. The call is for conversion. To surrender to Christ requires denial of self. For God to get on our throne, requires a certain amount of self-denial. The people in Lk 9:57-62 would not deny themselves and thus were “[un]fit for the kingdom of God.” (v. 62b). That means they did not meet Gods requirement to enter His kingdom. It is right here in God’s warning about “Lot’s wife” that once again we read Gods warning that “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (v. 33). That is directly related to the warning of Lots wife (vv. 31-32). The people bidden to the great supper in Lk 14:16-21 would not come because they wouldn’t deny themselves, and thus Christ says “That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” (v. 24). This is the call that Christ made to the rich young ruler, to turn from his sins and self, to deny himself and lose his life for Christ and the gospels sake (Mk 10:21) but he wouldn’t, but the apostles had (Mk 10:27-31) reflecting what happened in Mk 1:15-20. The rich young ruler passage is trouble for those who deny self denial, deny surrender to Christ’s Lordship. Jesus had an expectation of the rich young ruler that he needed to deny self and that Jesus would rule His life from the get-go, right from the point of conversion. The rich young ruler knew that right up front. In fact all of Christ’s audience knew that right up front, hence His very small and shrinking group.

Lot’s wife didn't obey God's command, which was reflective of her life. God's true people, those that are truly born again, obey the Word of God. They obey the details of God's Word. They do not say 'I'll obey' but then disobey. Many, many people that profess to be Christian would classify this instruction as very minor. Just don't look back. Its not. This action is reflective of the heart which is reflective of the true spiritual nature of that individual.

Lot's wife wouldn't separate from Sodom. Her association revealed her true heart (though it appeared very much like she was a believer) and it turned her into a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:26). With God's warning, Lot left (Gen. 19:29). Peter reveals that his righteous soul was vexed with seeing and hearing their unlawful deeds (2 Pet. 2:8) but Lot's wife wasn't vexed, Sodom was in her heart, hence her turning back in their flight.

Obedience is a massive evidence of true salvation, and Lot's wife didn't have it. One sees obedience all over Scripture, but never is it more apparent than in the upper room in Jn 14, such as vv. 15, 21, 23-24 where Jesus said:

“If ye love me, keep my commandments. . . . He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. . . . "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.”

The type of teaching above isn't incidental or some kind of side teaching. It's all over the gospels and in the epistles. John repeats this type of teaching in his epistles again and again. A test of faith is whether someone will do everything that the Word of God teaches and it will not be burdensome to the one who is born of God (1 Jn 5:1-3). He will love it.

Scripture is consistent about what justification will produce. It will produce good works. He works in us to will and do of His good pleasure. And this is the effect of 1 Jn 2:3-5.

"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”

These are present tense verbs, so that someone who does know God will keep His commandments as a lifestyle, will live for Him. A whole lot of professing Christians don't characteristically live for Him. To "keep" literally means to “guard against loss.” The saved keep God's Word, they do not neglect obedience. Someone may say he knows God, but when he doesn't characteristically keep the commandments, he is a liar. He is a liar about knowing God and loving God. He shouldn't be considered to know God or to love Him.

Peter writes in 1 Pet 3 that Noah and his family were saved by water. How did water save Noah and his family? It saved them from the world, which had persecuted them while they preached for 120 years. In this same way it will be when Christ returns (2 Th 1:5-12), and the same way Peter says baptism saves. Baptism doesn't save from "the filth of the flesh." It so identifies a true born again believer with Christ, that it separates the believer from the world. It is a public manifestation of a relationship, like wearing a wedding ring. Unlike Lot, I know of many people who call themselves Christians, but they aren't vexed with seeing and hearing. They lap it up and seem only to be angry when someone exposes their own unlawful deeds.

We have other Scriptural examples of this turning back akin to Lot's wife, exposing the true nature of the professor.

Such are like the dog and pig who turn back to their vomit and mire, having never left their love for the world:

"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." (2 Pet 2:20-22)

They are like the ones ploughing allegedly for God, desiring to follow Christ, but look back or go back to the world, revealing their true heart and nature:

"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Christ's call to salvation is a call to follow Him. That is salvation. The call to discipleship is ALWAYS a call to the new birth in the Word of God, a message that Lot's wife evidently rejected.

Lot's wife was not saved. Saved people are separated from the world. Lot's wife couldn't or wouldn't separate from Sodom, the worst example of the world. Her association turned her into a pillar of salt (Gen 19:26). With God's warning, Lot himself left (Gen 19:29). Peter reveals that his righteous soul was vexed with seeing and hearing their unlawful deeds (2 Pet 2:8). 

That great chapter of Psalm 1 is the blessed man contrasted with the ungodly in his end, the latter not blessed (i.e., not saved) or standing in the day of judgment. The blessed man, which is the saved man (you can interchange "blessed" and "saved" in essentially any passage of Scripture where its used as a noun or pronoun, and you'll get the same meaning), is qualified more than any one thing by relationship: he doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. He or she is not attracted to the things of the world (i.e., Sodom), and thus will not turn back as Lot's wife or the ploughboy of Lk 9:62. The clear conclusion is that those who go ahead and walk, stand, or sit in this company of the world, "shall perish."

That is the truth whether we like it or not.

Just Lot and Using Lot as a Red Herring for Worldliness

Lot was the nephew of Abraham, the father of faith for all born again believers (Gal 3). Lot was a true born again believer, and undoubtedly Abraham is the reason he was saved.

Lot was no super-Christian, he was not a great example of a true born again believer, but “Just Lot” was however a righteous man who did not love the world, as many brashly proclaim to justify their own or their church's worldliness, though he was closely (way to closely) associated with unbelievers. Not only do we know that he wasn't an enemy of God (as 2 Pet 2 tells us, God calls him righteous and godly), as all unsaved false pretenders are (Jam 4:4), we know for absolute fact that he didn't have a love for the world because he was "vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)" (2 Pet 2:7-8). Peter reveals that his righteous soul was vexed with seeing and hearing the unlawful deeds of the Sodom inhabitants (2 Pet 2:8). A man with an attitude of “vex[ing] his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds” and "the filthy conversation of the wicked” definitely did NOT love the world. His soul was vexed, which means to be displeased, irritated, angered, incensed, and such-like. He hated their conversations and unlawful deeds; definitely not the characteristic of someone who would love the world. Nowhere do we ever actually read that Lot was worldly or loved the world, but on the contrary, as we have read here, he actually hated the world. Worldliness was not Lots problem, but rather putting human relationship above obedience to Gods rule of separation at the cost of personal gain, which is just as applicable today among many professing believers, only they are not vexxed (2 Cor. 6:14-18). He pursued money and gain at the expense of remaining separated and obedient to God.

Lot is used as a straw man by many to justify "carnal Christian" behaviour but it's not true and it's a red herring. It's a reversal of the truth, "let God be true and every man a liar.” Instead of allowing the Word of God to shed light on someone's testimony (as is commanded in Scripture—Is. 8:20) the Word of God is twisted and distorted to make the testimony fit and approved. Back to Lot, we read in the next passage that "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations [referring directly to Lot], and to reserve the unjust [the people of Sodom, including his wife] unto the day of judgment to be punished:" (v. 9). God calls Lot just and godly and righteous twice. But apparently he loved the world. I don't read it. It's not there. Its yet another illustration of eisegesis, so commonly heard from evangelical and IFB preachers today, twisting and stretching and conforming the Scriptures to their own opinions and experiences, bending the many false professions in their midst into a Biblical paradigm. Lot disobeyed God by living in Sodom but that doesn't mean he loved the world. He actually obeyed God when the Lord told him to leave Sodom along with all his belongings and family, in spite of some of his family members not heeding the warning, even not looking back when his wife was turned into a pillar of salt, proving that he loved the Lord more than his family (cf. Matt. 10:35-37), and proving he was a saved man that loved the Lord. He walked in the ways of God and feared Him, and God worked in his life, evident by his chastening (Pr. 3:11-12; De. 8:5-6; Heb. 12:5-11; 1 Cor. 11:31-32). Lot is a red herring used by compromised and heretical preachers to justify the ungodly life style of a professing Christian.

I know of many people who call themselves Christians, but they aren’t vexed with seeing and hearing. They lap it up and seem only to be angry when someone exposes their own unlawful deeds.

Why Remember Lot's Wife?

That this warning is given in the context of the end times, likened to the days of Noah (Lk 17:26-27) and Lot (Lk 17:28-29), is no accident. As in those days, today there are very, very few true born again believers. Of the nearly 1 billion upon the earth in the days of Noah, only 8 were saved. Of the hundreds of thousands of people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, only 3 were saved. A fourth almost, but that was Lot's wife. She wanted to believe her husband, the message of God's judgment upon these cities, but she loved the world a bit too much. The temptation was to strong, because she was an unconverted natural person without being quickened and without God's Spirit upon her. So in the moment of her realization what she really wanted, whether it was the city and its lifestyle itself, or her friends, or her children that did not believe her husband, she turned back to Sodom. God turned her into a pillar of salt, as a token of remembrance for those who dabble with the things of God, who come close to salvation, but do not truthfully and genuinely repentantly believe. Like Lot’s wife, these look yearningly toward their own vision of the kingdom, which identically matches the world system.

We believe this remembrance to be a serious warning by the Lord Jesus, a warning to those who are professing to know God, but don't actually truly know Him. They profess to be Christian, but they are not genuine, having never been truly converted. To miss this absolute critical meaning is to miss what the Lord is teaching here, found throughout Scripture, including Lk 9:57-62,

"And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (v. 62)

This is the message to all false professing believers in our generation, and they are many. It is the message to the vast majority of people who are busy attending church but have never been genuinely regenerated by the Spirit of God.

The event of what happened to Lot’s wife is relayed to us in Gen 19.

“Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Gen 19:24-26)

Thereafter, Lot's wife, like all false believers, will have her part in the lake of fire,

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. . . . And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev 21:6-8, 27)

The Lesson: Lot's Wife is an Exemplar of False "Believers," and There are Many Today

In Lk 17:32, the Lord Jesus Christ refers to Gen 19:26, but does not form this into an actual O.T. quotation. He selected a few words from that event and revealed the factual narrative of what occurred there as select members of Lot's family fled Sodom. Every Jew in the audience that heard the Lord Jesus knew about Lot's wife. Israel’s rabbis and teachers often used her as a symbol of God’s judgment. She is also mentioned in the Talmud tractates (Berachoth 54 a & b). The Lord selected her as a prime example of the deceptive nature of someone that professes to believe but is in fact unsaved, and then what happens when such an individual is warned (even by angels in this case, though man today is never warned by angels, since the completion of the canonization of Scripture) not to look back on earthly treasure when heavenly judgment is pending; but chooses to wilfully disobey (Gen 19:17), reflecting the true nature of one that disobeys and despises the words of God. She glanced behind sorrowing over the loss of her earthly possessions left at Sodom, undoubtedly also over her children that had outright rejected the warning of God, both of which further reflect the truth that she placed her belongings and people over the Lord Jesus Christ, which further indicates her unsaved nature (cf. Lk 9:57-62; 14:25-33; Matt 10:32-39). Jesus’ audience understood Him to be saying, 'If you look back and return to your houses and belongings, you too will perish; for only an angel warned Lot and his family, but I the Son of God your Messiah have forewarned you.'

Lot’s wife couldn’t or wouldn’t separate from Sodom. Her association revealed her true spiritual nature and that turned her into a pillar of salt (Gen 19:26). With God’s warning, Lot himself left (Gen 19:29). Peter reveals that his righteous soul was vexed with seeing and hearing the unlawful deeds of the Sodom inhabitants (2 Pet 2:8).

Lot’s wife is a worthy example of the many professing “believers” in evangelical, protestant, and Baptist churches today, especially the former two, where professions are made and there is an appearance of Biblical truth, but unregeneracy is the true reality, fulfilling 2 Tim 3:5, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof..." Pretending to be the people of God, while secretly loving the world. With time, for most their sin does find them out, but sadly most cowardly preachers just tolerate the false professions and ungodliness in their midst. “Remember Lot’s wife” Jesus stated (Lk 17:32) in the context of the last days, —yes our very day, “as it was in the days of Noe” (Lk 17:26)— and very interestingly, follows with “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Lk 17:33) — a salvation passage perverted by the likes of the same evangelical and fundamentalists that pervert Lot for their own selfish purpose—speaking of those who are like Lot’s wife, who won’t lose their life for Jesus and rather seek to save their own lives but then lose it in the end, like Lot’s wife, her being the contextual example of v. 33. These false teachers help keep the unsaved on the broad path to destruction. Worldly (carnally) minded people do not lose their lives to be saved (Rom. 8:1-14). They want Jesus and the world to, but Jesus said no man can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). You are a slave to one or the other, but never both simultaneously. Ceasing slavery to the world requires the new birth, and then you never again are in bondage to the world thereafter. Loving the world is a serious heart issue (Mk. 7:21-23; 1 Jn. 2:15-17; Jam. 4:4) and the world is in direct opposition to Christ. Jesus said that we cannot love God and mammon [the world] at the same time. It's one or the other. Since the devil is the god of this world, when we love the world we are actually loving the things of Satan. Jesus said the world hates His people (Jn. 15:18-19; 17:14-16), but “The Lord knoweth them that are His.” (2 Tim. 2:19). They are His. He dwells in them, in their inner man. He works in them to do His will and good pleasure. They cooperate with His divine will. They love Him and He loves them. They do not love the world (Jn. 5:42), for they are “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Pet. 1:3-4). And as with Lot, "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (v. 9a) while at the same time exposing the unsaved condition of the ungodly, which includes those that are pretending to be Christians (like Lots wife): "to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished" (v. 9b). Not only were the outright wicked used as an "ensample unto those that after should live ungodly" (v. 7) but also false pretending "believers" such as "Lots wife," for they are actually not unlike the wicked, although they may well be orthodox and “pious” as many are (e.g. Matt. 7:15-23; Jn. 6:60-66; Judas; Simon in Ac. 8).

Lot's wife also likely loved family more than God, hence the turning in flight. The one who won’t hate his family and come after Christ, “cannot be [Christ’s] disciple” (Lk. 14:26) – in other words, he or she cannot be saved. The one who won’t bear his cross and come after Christ, “cannot be [Christ’s] disciple” (Lk. 14:27) – in other words, he or she cannot be saved. The one who won’t count the cost of salvation and “forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be [Christ’s] disciple” (Lk. 14:28-33) – in other words, he or she cannot be saved. To come after Christ and take up his cross and forsake all that you have, is salvation. This is the call to salvation, the call to receive Christ as Lord. These are exactly the same words that Jesus preached to the lost rich young ruler, calling him to salvation:

“One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” (Mk 10:21)

Forsake all, come, take up the cross and follow me, these are the instructions of Christ to know Him and follow Him. Identical. Its a travesty of unbelievable proportion to pervert these simple passages into something post-salvation. Woe to those who do such things.

If you are willing to repent and surrender, you will turn from your favourite ecstasy, or dead religion, or from your family that embraces false religion or some unBiblical gospel or humanism, or whatever it may be, Jesus touches on almost all of them in Matt 10. Hate yourself, hate your mother, hate your father, hate your friends and relatives, even your money and possessions, none of it means anything to the one that truly sells all to embrace Christ. Escape to the Saviour alone who can save you from judgment. You're not going to turn back, as the judgment will reveal the condition of the heart. 1 Peter tells us to sanctifiy the Lord God in our hearts. Why did he encourage them to set apart God in their hearts? Because Caesar was coming to start killing Christians, so the question was asked, are you with Caesar or are you with Jesus? Who is on your throne? You might get killed but at least you have Jesus set apart in your heart.

Non-self-denial, non-surrender, non-Lordship is unscriptural and leads to almost blanket false professions. It is a major reason why churches are filled with false professors, professing “Christians” who love the world, love themselves and get to keep their life for themself in so many words. Jesus is only Saviour for salvation and becomes Lord after salvation. Any expectation of perpetual obedience for the believer is considered to be a frontloading of works and having salvation cost something, which then allegedly means it isn't a free gift, so it must not be grace. Sometimes, many times, the believer is plead with to make a decision of dedication or rededication that is about the time when Jesus starts becoming lord to him. The method of Jesus was different. He expected everything right up front, which is the idea of "counting the cost." (Lk 14:25-32). In other words, Jesus didn't bait and switch, a common strategy in fundamentalism and evangelicalism. The methodology of bait and switch is incompatible with how we see Jesus operate, so those passages, which are many, where Jesus challenges the potential convert with what he can expect if he follows Christ, are turned into "discipleship" texts. For Mk 10:17-31 and all those other passages to fit together, Jesus is said to be doing something different with the rich young ruler than the verses say He does. Not much is done in making a connection between the words you read in the passage and the strategy Jesus is said to be employing. Jesus is allegedly doing something that looks nothing like what we read in the text.

Indeed the last days shall be as the days of Lot, for we are surrounded by many who imitate “Lot’s wife.” Hence the strong language used by the Lord in Jam. 4:4, in describing those who are friends of the world. Gal 6:14-16 is another passage that tells us that worldly or carnal professing believers are unregenerate. The thorny ground wants to do what He wants in the world, not what the Lord wants (Matt. 13:22). One who keeps that attachment to the world will not receive the goodness of God (Rom. 2:4), does not sufficiently see God as a rewarder (Heb. 11:6). His friendship with the world is enmity with God (Jam. 4:4). Lordship is a problem to those who even recognize that God has bought them (2 Pet. 2:1). They like Jesus as Saviour but not as their Boss. They want to keep charge of their lives. God resists that proud person (Jam. 4:6). It’s the meek who shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). Love of the world reflects right back to a salvation issue, and this is what we see with Lot's wife.

She was self gratifying and couldn’t forsake the sin she loved. She loved darkness rather than light, she loved iniquity rather like than righteousness. She is exemplar of the person that comes to the edge of salvation and looks back.

Remember Lot's wife!

Hebrews 6 makes the contrast between those who turn back and those genuinely saved, vv. 8-9:

"But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak."