Showing posts with label Lot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lot. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 06, 2022

Revisiting Lot’s Wife

“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”

Wow. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?

As a child, I certainly did. That image stuck in my head: righteous family fleeing from a condemned city, scrambling frantically for the shelter of the little town of Zoar, as instructed by angels. Then sulfur and fire begin falling from heaven.

And … poof! The wife takes one fleeting glance over her shoulder and gets incinerated.

Was God looking to make a point or something? As a believing youngster, I found it more than a little scary. And it raised very practical and personal questions, like “Is this sort of instant, inescapable judgment the type of thing I can expect from God if I slip up?”

Maybe, but a few of my assumptions as a child appear to have been a little off.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Candles and Flags

“So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, ‘Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.’ But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.”

On the bright side, at least Lot didn’t have to start with an explanation of who “the Lord” was. He had at least that much of a testimony: that he was a worshiper of Yahweh, as opposed to whatever god or gods were worshiped in Sodom, where he had rather unwisely made his home.

Evidently his prospective sons-in-law knew that much about him.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Second-Hand Christians

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.”

Lot wasn’t Abram. The Lord didn’t speak to Lot directly as he had spoken to Abram. The Lord didn’t “appear to” Lot.

Abram went; Lot went with. Abram went as the Lord had told him; Lot went as Abram told him.

Monday, December 28, 2020

Anonymous Asks (125)

“Did Lot really have sex with his daughters?”

It may surprise you to find that Abraham’s nephew Lot is mentioned a grand total of 111 times in the Bible. That’s not a lot compared to David’s 1,100 or Abraham’s 293, but it’s considerably more than Elijah, Elisha or Daniel, all of whom have major Old Testament roles.

All the same, Lot is more of what we might call a “supporting actor” than a main character. He is best known for following his uncle Abraham on his quest for a city with foundations whose designer and builder is God. But if Lot is known more for being a follower than a leader, at least he was following a spiritual giant on a God-directed mission.

So did this godly man have sex with his daughters? Well, yes, he did.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Revisiting Lot’s Wife

The most recent version of this post is available here.