Q3. Lot's Wife

[Ernie's Son]

After being nearly delivered, why did Lot's wife stop and gaze rather than escaping?  It could have been a number of things: it was the place of her birth; she didn't want to move to another place; she didn't want a change in her life; she felt safe there, although didn't realize the danger she was in; she may not have really believed that Sodom would be destroyed; or just unbelief.

 

What was in her heart?  The past.

 

Have you ever struggled with this in your heart?  Yes.

 

What lesson does Jesus draw from Lot's wife in Luke 17:31-33?  She was right on the edge of deliverance, but just could not disconnect herself from the past.  "The importance of readiness to meet him, and the tragedy of those who seek to preserve their old way of life and suffer the utter lost of any life whatsoever" (Lesson Material).

 

 

[lighthouse2014]

Q3. (19:26) After nearly being delivered, why did Lot's wife stop and gaze rather than escaping? What was in her heart? Have you ever struggled with this in your heart? What lesson does Jesus draw from Lot's wife in Luke 17:31-33?

After being nearly delivered, Lot's wife stopped and looked back at Sodom. No knows why, but perhaps this was her natural home or she liked the culture and friends that were there, perhaps she never wanted to leave at all.

The good times, friends and cultural was deep in her heart, she did not want to leave Sodom. Regardless of the sinfulness of Sodom, Lot's wife obviously liked it.

As best as I can remember I have never struggled leaving a place or thing I have liked. I struggle getting things out of my heart.

The lesson Jesus gives about Lot's wife is that she loved her life as it was in Sodom. thus those who try to save their life will loss it because of all the wrong reasons instead of hating the world and loving the Lord.   

[Rosesam]

Q3. (19:26) After nearly being delivered, why did Lot's wife stop and gaze rather than escaping? What was in her heart? Have you ever struggled with this in your heart? What lesson does Jesus draw from Lot's wife in Luke 17:31-33?

Lot’s wife’s probably looked back with fondness, to see her beloved city into which she was attached to. Her example lives on even though her name is not mentioned in the Scriptures. We do not know whether she was a relative of Lot or whether she was a Sodomite herself. Even though she was married to Lot, she didn’t express a faith in God’s promises. When testing came, what was in her heart was revealed. She loved her physical, earthly life more than her love for the Lord. She can be termed as an unbeliever who lived for the worldly pleasures only. By looking back, or lingering, whichever the case may be, she was obviously disobeying the angels’ orders, thus revealing her unbelieving heart.

Yes, living in this world, there is obviously a pull for worldly things which bring pleasure for a season. Then when I get burnt I realize the ways of the Lord had been true all along.

Jesus wants us to learn from her example. Because of her disobedience she was turned into a pillar of salt. Salt is used in the Bible as a metaphor for spiritual witness to the world. Jesus said, we are to be the salt of the earth. Salt adds flavor and is also used as a preservative. In all these ways salt is used to describe the effect of the believer in the world. Thus as believers, we are to draw a distinction between God and the world. But if we do not maintain our saltiness with our witness and holy living, we cannot serve the purposes of God. If we do not give God that choice to be a witness of His salvation, then He will make our lives as an example, just as Lot’s wife became. Because Lot’s wife was not a witness to the truth of the saving power of God, she became an example in her disobedience and death.

[Godswriter]

After nearly being delivered, why did Lot's wife stop and gaze rather than escaping? What was in her heart? Have you ever struggled with this in your heart? What lesson does Jesus draw from Lot's wife in Luke 17:31-33?

I believe she didn't want to believe the angels and what they said to her and Lot and so she decided to take a look for herself to see if it was true and it didn't realize that their warning was serious and was for real. I believe there was a case of unbelief. Yes lots of time. That when you choose to keep your life and not forsake all for God you lose everything in the end. 

[Irmela]

After being nearly delivered, why did Lot's wife stop and gaze rather than escaping? What was in her heart? Have you ever struggled with this in your heart? What lesson does Jesus draw from Lot's wife in Luke 17:31-33?

Many answers seem to reflect that Lot's wife was from Sodom. I personally don't think this was so.  . In chapter 12 we read that they, (Abraham and Lot) gathered their possessions and persons they had gathered and left Haran. In Genesis 13 we read that Lot also had flocks and herds and tents and that he chose to move to the well-watered lands with that which was his. (I am sure the wife and children were inclded in this) 

I feel that his wife looked back and gazed at what they had. I guess she was reluctant to leave it all behind. 

From the passage in Luke we read, leave behind and go. Don't turn back to take with you. FLEE. Lot's wife lost her life because of trying to (hoping to) preserve it by looking back. Better to loose your livelihood and preserve life.. Not necessarily only life for this world but your life for eternity. 

[Krissi]

After nearly being delivered, why did Lot's wife stop and gaze rather than escaping? What was in her heart?

I just finished reading through the responses. Student answers to the question, 'Why did Lot's wife look back?" fall into these categories:

1)  Desire for the past to continue into the present, to not change. The angels suddenly compulsed her and she hadn't had the time to absorb what they were telling her to do. She was having one more look at the past.

2) Curiosity about what was going on behind her. She obediently left and then wondered what had happened to the city and the people she knew there.

3) Disbelief in what the angels had told her would happen. Unbelief.

4) She was grieving the loss of the people and life she had had and longing for what was. She had loved her life in Sodom even though she was not from Sodom -- it was not her hometown. Her family was now dead.

5) She was materialistic and had been living a life with a lot of material perquisites and was already pining for this stuff as she trekked through the desert. 

--

Have you ever struggled with this in your heart?

Honestly, no. I have always lived more for the future than the past. I love change, perhaps too much. My problem is sticking to a circumstance or place, not leaving it. 

Someone upthread made the remark, "Being saved is not like being almost saved." So true. There is no "near deliverance." This is my take-away from this passage, that my obedience has to be entire and complete with no strings to the past and no additions from an imagined future. When God sends me somewhere, which He's in the process of doing, I need to pack lightly, leave everything and not try to fill in the missing pieces in my imagination. 

[Bianca]

Looking back at the past. She was trying to still hold on something that was leaving. Sometimes we can get caught up in old things. Things that need to come to an end. God wanted these things out of her heart. You can know something is wrong but still want to hang on to it because certain things were pleasurable to the person and it is what the person is use to.

 

God is continuously shaping and molding me to become more Christ like. In changing there are somethings I had to let go of to to keep moving forward.

 

The lessons that we need to understand is we have to let some things go. Our old lifestyle and anything else that Jesus tells us that needs to go. If we try to keep our life then that's not drawing us closer to Jesus. We have to be able to let go of things for Jesus. Don't turn back to the past or turn back to what you need to let go of. Just move forward.