Bad Girls of the Bible Part 7

Lot's famous uncle tried to avert that disaster by pleading with G.o.d to reconsider his plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. "What if there are fifty righteous people in the city?" Abraham wanted to know.3 G.o.d agreed. He'd spare all of Sodom for the sake of fifty souls.

Abraham rethought that one and dropped the number to forty-five, then forty. Abe the Auctioneer begged the Almighty, "Do I hear thirty? Twenty?" Clearly the man knew there was only one family in all of Sodom worth saving, and that was his greedy nephew, Lot, and his wife and children. "What if only ten can be found there?"4 Good thinking. Lot had at least two betrothed daughters and a spouse. The Lord agreed to be merciful to all of Sodom for the sake of only ten.

Grace unspeakable! That the Lord valued even the imperfect Lot was clear. Two realizations leap into my heart at this truth: (1) G.o.d's mercy stretches further than we can imagine, and (2) he is withholding fire and brimstone even now, for our sake, that we might let others know that judgment awaits them...and so does grace.

Two angels, who'd already visited Abraham, were now dispatched to the sleazy metropolis, perhaps to find those ten worthy souls.

The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. Genesis 19:1 We know they're angels, because the Word of G.o.d tells us so, but to Lot they appeared as mere men.

The gateway of the city was where the civic leaders met, a place of honor and leadership. Life among the Sodomites had clearly lined Lot's pockets-as well as his wife's-all the while coating the walls of their hearts, preventing G.o.d's truth from piercing and convicting.

Ouch.

I'm sitting in my writing loft, surrounded by possessions that bless my soul every time I look at them. A tiny silver heart-shaped box from a dear friend's trip to Spain, a basket from an antique barn in North Carolina, a quilt crafted by a master quilter from Paris, Texas.

They give me joy. And a sharp stab of guilt.

Could I walk away from it-all of it-taking nothing but the clothes on my back? That's the question Lot and his wife faced before the c.o.c.k crowed.

There's no doubt Lot's wife enjoyed her husband's prosperity right along with him. In fact, maybe-just maybe-she was the one who unintentionally urged him along the crooked path toward affluence and spiritual apathy to begin with. As Solomon would write of such women centuries later, "her paths are crooked, but she knows it not."5 Behind many a successful man is a materialistic woman with one hand on his back and the other on his wallet. Would Mrs. Lot fit that description? Hard to know for sure, considering not one word from her lips was recorded in Scripture. (Girlfriend, this will not be written on my tombstone: She Never Said a Word...) Since we're given plenty of clues about her husband's character, though, and the two were married long enough to have grown daughters, we can confidently a.s.sume a few things about her from what we know of Lot.

For starters, let's see what Lot did with these angelic gate crashers.

When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. Genesis 19:1 They were strangers to him, but perhaps they were what our British friends call "quality"-persons with commanding stature or fine attire or a regal demeanor. Something made Lot fall to his knees.

"My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." Genesis 19:2 Hospitality was a big deal to these ancient desert dwellers. Lot's Bed-and-Breakfast was open 365 days a year, and smooth-talking Lot had his sales pitch ready: clean feet, a clean bed-y'all come. Of course, you and I know who probably handled foot washing and breakfast-Mrs. Lot and the girls. But still, Lot offered.

"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square." Genesis 19:2 The square? Sleep in public in that wicked town? Were they crazy? Lot must have thought so. He didn't know they were angels on a mission to track down ten people worth saving. For them, safety wasn't even an issue; in fact, the town square was an ideal place to case the joint.

Lot, however, wouldn't hear of it.

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. Genesis 19:3 He was a persuasive man, skilled at using words and getting his own way. And guess who did the cooking?

He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. Genesis 19:3 Photocopy that verse and stick it under hubby's nose the next time he brings home unexpected company! Well, it does say "he," doesn't it? No sign yet of Lot's wife.

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom-both young and old-surrounded the house. Genesis 19:4 This was not a Welcome Wagon bearing a basketful of household supplies for the out-of-town visitors. This was all the men of the city-literally every one of them, the Hebrew says-of all ages. They surrounded the house, but it was hardly a prayer circle. Shift the music to a minor key.

They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have s.e.x with them." Genesis 19:5 Sorry. There just isn't any polite way around this. I checked other translations to see if they might render this pa.s.sage in a more genteel way. "Get familiar with them" (TAB), "have relations with them" (NASB), and "know them carnally" (NKJV) are an improvement, but the International Children's Bible tells it like it unfortunately was: "We want to have s.e.xual relations with them."

Brother Lot had a problem on his hands.

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No..." Genesis 19:6-7 Oooh, brave and honorable Lot, right? Keep reading.

"...my friends. Don't do this wicked thing." Genesis 19:7 "Friends?" These sodomists were Lot's friends? Maybe he was using the word as appeas.e.m.e.nt, trying to cool their anger-and their ardor-before he mentioned what he really thought their plans were: wicked.

That's why Lot's next offer boggles the mind.

"Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them." Genesis 19:8 Do...do...what? (I'm sputtering here.) "Do what you like?" It was clear what they liked. Unspeakable things. And every man of the town against two young girls? Did Lot's pure, virginal daughters have no value, not even to their own father? They would surely be raped and abused like the poor concubine of Judges 19, who died stretched out by the front door, her hands on the threshold, begging for mercy.

Oh, Lot. Your shame stinks to high heaven.

"But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." Genesis 19:8 You're still thinking about those innocent daughters beneath his roof, aren't you? Me, too. Weren't they under his protection? Granted, hospitality required that he protect his guests at all costs...but at that cost?

Obviously G.o.d saw something worth saving in this man, but my advice would have been, "Smite the jerk!" For which the Lord would have reminded me, "But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."6 Okay, okay.

Still not a word from Lot's wife, the mother of two vulnerable daughters offered as a living sacrifice to a bunch of lascivious louts.

"Get out of our way," they replied. Genesis 19:9 Not good, not good. Was there a Jordan Valley version of 9-1-1?

And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." Genesis 19:9 No, not that kind of alien with six eyes and green gills. Another translation handles it better: "You're an outsider. What right do you have to order us around?"7 Imagine many voices here. Men were shouting accusations and loathsome suggestions by the dozen, bullying their way forward, shoving Lot against his own st.u.r.dy door.

They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. Genesis 19:9 Lot surely feared for his own life even if he didn't seem to give a flip about his family. Blessed was he among men, however, since someone else was watching out for his well-being.

But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Genesis 19:10 Boy, that was fast! Miraculous, in fact, considering the mob could have easily pushed open the door while they had the chance.

Grace again-still-for the undeserving Lot and his silent wife, who was also spared. If these depraved men had pushed down the door and abused him, Mrs. Lot and her daughters would have been next in line. Thank goodness for our angelic heroes.

Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. Genesis 19:11 This blindness was literally a "blinding flash emanating from angels."8 For a nanosecond the two men abandoned their human disguise and rendered the men of Sodom temporarily blind with their dazzling brightness, just like the glare from sunlight on fresh snow.

A second miracle then-one not explained away by fast reflexes. Mrs. Lot couldn't ignore the supernatural powers these men displayed. Hadn't they saved her husband? Struck the crowd blind? Spared her daughters, which is a lot more than Lot did?

And they were willing to do even more.

The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here-sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you?" Genesis 19:12 Remember our magic number: ten righteous souls. Since every man in Sodom had gathered outside to have his way with these visitors, the angels needed to search no further for G.o.dly men in Sodom. There weren't any. In any case, time had run out for the Sodomites.

Do you smell smoke? Sulfur maybe?

"Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." Genesis 19:12-13 Lot was probably shocked...but not surprised. The last time the Lord had destroyed the land he had covered every inch of it with water. Lot knew G.o.d's patience was awesome but not endless. If these two men said destruction was at hand, why disagree?

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. Genesis 19:14 Wait. The same two daughters he'd offered to the angry mob? Oh, wouldn't these men have been pleased, especially if they'd already paid a bride price for them! A few translations suggest these men were married to two other daughters of Lot and his wife. Either way, they were already considered family.

One note here: Lot had allowed his daughters to be betrothed to men of Sodom-to be unequally yoked, the righteous to the unrighteous. Lot may not have been born in Sodom, but he was as close to being a Sodomite as one could get without the birth certificate.

I'm often asked, "Are you from Kentucky?"

To which I respond, "I married a Kentuckian and gave birth to two, so I'm three-quarters Kentuckian (and one-quarter proud Pennsylvanian)!" That's how it was with Lot-except Kentucky is a slice of heaven, and Sodom was a wide wedge of the other place.

Nary a sound from Lot's wife yet.

Her husband, however, was still talking.

He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" Genesis 19:14 Not unlike Noah telling his sons, "All aboard!" Lot urged his sons-in-law to head for the gates. Noah's family members were smart enough to act on his advice. Lot's relatives were just amused.

But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. Genesis 19:14 Think of Lot as Chicken Little-"The sky is falling!"-or as the boy who cried "Wolf!" He was the sort of person whom others didn't take seriously. Lot, with his glib tongue and clever speech, was undoubtedly a storyteller, p.r.o.ne to exaggeration, which may explain why his sons-in-law thought Lot was pulling their legs.

In this case the joke was on his unbelieving listeners. How callous the men of Sodom had become, thinking they were above the law, above punishment, above reproach!

With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here..." Genesis 19:15 Finally his wife was mentioned along with the two daughters, who lifted their sleepy heads to find their houseguests dragging them from their beds at first light.

"...or you will be swept away when the city is punished." Genesis 19:15 So far they've said "hurry" two times and "destroy" three times. An intelligent person would hurry and get out before he was destroyed, yes? Not this guy.

When he hesitated...Genesis 19:16 Don't tell me. Let me guess. He who hesitates is Lot.

Groan.

Surely he wasn't dragging his feet because of his family-they were going with him. His sons-in-law had laughed in his face, so it's unlikely he felt much sympathy toward them. Even Lot found the ways of Sodom to be wicked, so he wouldn't care about leaving that wretched place. Which means the only thing he might have been hesitant about abandoning was his...stuff?

Nah. Really?

What's a sofa compared to survival?

To Lot, Mrs. Lot, and the little Lots...a lot.

His wife tarried too, finding it equally hard to say good-bye to a lifestyle of luxury. She was "marinated in her pleasant present,"9 rooted to her riches and her wealthy way of life.

All four of them were having a hard time deciding what to haul across the desert, it seemed, until the two angelic men grew weary of waiting.

...the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. Genesis 19:16 Grace at work once more-and they fought it tooth and nail. Lot went first-it was Eastern custom for the man to walk ahead of the woman-followed by his wife, then his daughters. One can picture them mumbling and grumbling, dawdling through the murky city streets, avoiding a few pointed stares from their neighbors, all the while slowing down the angels' well-planned destruction.

And still not a squeak in the Scriptures from Mrs. L.

As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives!" Genesis 19:17 Once they cleared the city gates, the patient angels were ready to light some holy fires. "Flee," they said-a combination of "get out" and "hurry" in one nice, short word. The message, however, was not getting through. As one writer phrased it, "What is it about the word 'Flee!' that you don't understand?"10 "Don't look back..." Genesis 19:17 A new command was given, and a clear one. Do not look.

"...and don't stop anywhere in the plain!" Genesis 19:17 A second, definite directive. Do not stop.

Even a young child grasps the meaning of these words: "Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pa.s.s Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars." The angels addressed the foursome like obstinate kids.

"Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" Genesis 19:17 A destination was offered, and a warning. And another flee.

But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please!" Genesis 19:18 "But..."? Listen, Lot, the angels didn't say talk; they said walk, preferably very fast. Was Mrs. Lot married to a man who wouldn't let her-or anyone else-get a word in edgewise?

"Your servant has found favor in your eyes..." Genesis 19:19 There goes Mr. Persuasive again.

"...and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life." Genesis 19:19 Grand. Give 'em some chocolate and flowers then, but get going, man! And besides, didn't the men spare your family's lives, too?

"But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die." Genesis 19:19 "Can't flee"? Was he lazy? Slow? A whiner? A slacker? Afraid of heights? Scared of mountain lions? Why was flee-bitten Lot dragging his feet again?

"Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it-it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared." Genesis 19:20 If Abraham sounded like an auctioneer, then Lot sounded like a used-car salesman: "Don't worry about that scratch. You can barely see it, it's so small. Sure it runs the length of the car, but look how thin it is. Very thin, don't you think?"

He was selling this tiny town for all it was worth, almost as if he knew about the ten-person rule. If Lot and his family fled to the town, its inhabitants would be spared as well. But Lot wasn't thinking about them. He was thinking about that long haul up the mountain.

Why those angels put up with Lot I'll never know.

Probably the same reason G.o.d puts up with my own stubborn foolishness.

He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of." Genesis 19:21 "Overthrow" suggests an earthquake, an upheaval in the land.

Do you hear a faint rumbling?

"But flee there quickly..." Genesis 19:22 This story has more flees than a circus!

"...because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.) Genesis 19:22 The angels of the Lord were holding all the forces of nature back until Lot-heel-dragging, barely righteous Lot-and his family were safely out of danger. "Zoar" meant "little," and the town was "very small," precisely as Lot insisted.

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Genesis 19:23 They'd started at dawn and walked until high noon. But it wasn't lunchtime; it was crunch time.

Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah-from the LORD out of the heavens. Genesis 19:24 Twice we're told it came down out of the heavens from the Lord. It was divine judgment, not a geological surprise-not as far as G.o.d was concerned. It was intentional and specific. The innocent did not perish; G.o.d made sure of that. Traditionally it's described as "fire and brimstone," but "burning sulfur" gives us a better sense of the excruciating pain and stench of it.

Every living thing in the plains of Jordan perished.

Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities-and also the vegetation in the land. Genesis 19:25 At thirteen hundred feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is full of chemicals, salt, and the smell of sulfur. Archaeologists place Sodom and Gomorrah at the north end of the Dead Sea. Legend places those cities at the south end.11 G.o.d placed them gone.

Now, don't blink or you'll miss this: But Lot's wife looked back... Genesis 19:26 She was behind her husband all along, remember. Perhaps she was lingering even farther back than necessary. The sounds of destruction and horror must have been deafening, frightening. "But his wife, from behind him, looked back."12 Why did she look back? That's what has stumped scholars for centuries. It's this one mistake that made her a Bad Girl. It's what earned her a place in Scripture, both Old Testament and New. It's what killed her too.

Even the volcano movie Dante's Peak used the same familiar warning as an advertising hook: "Don't look back!"

Rather than "judge Lot's wife 'guilty' on the slimmest of circ.u.mstantial evidence,"13 let's consider ten practical reasons she might have looked back.

1. She missed the warning over the wailing of her daughters.

"Sorry, Officer, I didn't hear the siren. The kids were screaming in the backseat and...well, you know how it is."

2. In her grief she simply forgot the angel's dire prediction.

If she was anywhere near forty, that old short-term memory probably took a long-term hike.

3. She was curious.

People who rubberneck when they drive past a car accident sometimes manage a three-car collision of their own.

4. She dropped something and turned to pick it up.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've dropped my car keys when my arms were full of grocery bags.

5. She tripped over her tunic in her haste.

Blame the hem, the heels, the sand-something.

6. She heard a cry for help and was moved by compa.s.sion to look.

"Was that a cat? I distinctly heard a cat in those bushes."

7. She mourned her family and friends, lost to her forever.

What if she did indeed have two married daughters, left behind to incinerate in Sodom? Imagine the pain of losing them!

8. She longed for all the material goodies she had left behind.

If we'd seen the couch, we'd understand.