Sodom Part 4, The Season of Fall Feasts, Lot’s Wife

In exploring Sodom thus far we have seen little of their sexual sin as a primary reason for God destroying them.  We have seen how they had community orgies, treated visitors poorly, not letting them eat, stealing from them and taking them to court with ridiculous laws.  We saw how Abraham’s closest servant was mistreated when he went to Sodom to see if Lot was doing alright.  We have also seen how they mistreated the poor and anyone who wanted to help the poor. Josephus however has a very clear and definitive story that magnifies the sexual sin of Sodom.  I think when we take into account all the details from Jasher, Jubilees and Josephus, and we then compare it to the Bible we get a very clear picture of the sins of Sodom. Their pride was detestable to God.  Sodom was not a nice place on many fronts, but in our modern culture we tend to focus only on the sexual sin as a problem when really it was the whole package.  Unjust judges, stealing, twisting and manipulating, and not caring for the poor along with sexual sin as we saw quarterly orgies and demanding the raping of the Angels and other visitors were all part of the things God was displeased with.  Typically we hear preached that their sodomitical practices were the only offensive thing that God was upset about. But it seems that they were simply too rich and prideful to care about oppressing others.

We see from Josephus is that Abraham grieved for the people of Sodom.  That is the true heart of the Melchizedek Priesthood.  We should be grieving for the lost, not condemning the lost.  We should grieve that there are people who treat the poor horribly and who torture the innocent as well. Society is a mess and we should be grieved about it all.  Everywhere Abraham went he taught the people and made them believers of God. Lot didn’t or couldn’t do that in Sodom.  It is no wonder why Abraham negotiated for the people, expecting a few righteous folk to be living there.  But for whatever reason, no one but Lot’s family knew about God or was interested in serving God.  That seems to be something that happens to people who are rich and prideful.

Josephus’ account of Sodom is quite interesting.

CHAPTER 11.

HOW GOD OVERTHREW THE NATION OF THE SODOMITES, OUT OF HIS WRATH AGAINST THEM FOR THEIR SINS.

1. ABOUT this time the Sodomites grew proud, on account of their riches and great wealth; they became unjust towards men, and impious towards God, insomuch that they did not call to mind the advantages they received from him: they hated strangers, and abused themselves with Sodomitical practices. God was therefore much displeased at them, and determined to punish them for their pride, and to overthrow their city, and to lay waste their country, until there should neither plant nor fruit grow out of it.
2. When God had thus resolved concerning the Sodomites, Abraham, as he sat by the oak of Mambre, at the door of his tent, saw three angels; and thinking them to be strangers, he rose up, and saluted them, and desired they would accept of an entertainment, and abide with him; to which, when they agreed, he ordered cakes of meal to be made presently; and when he had slain a calf, he roasted it, and brought it to them, as they sat under the oak. Now they made a show of eating; and besides, they asked him about his wife Sarah, where she was; and when he said she was within, they said they would come again hereafter, and find her become a mother. Upon which the woman laughed, and said that it was impossible she should bear children, since she was ninety years of age, and her husband was a hundred. Then they concealed themselves no longer, but declared that they were angels of God; and that one of them was sent to inform them about the child, and two of the overthrow of Sodom.
3. When Abraham heard this, he was grieved for the Sodomites; and he rose up, and besought God for them, and entreated him that he would not destroy the righteous with the wicked. And when God had replied that there was no good man among the Sodomites; for if there were but ten such man among them, he would not punish any of them for their sins, Abraham held his peace. And the angels came to the city of the Sodomites, and Lot entreated them to accept of a lodging with him; for he was a very generous and hospitable man, and one that had learned to imitate the goodness of Abraham. Now when the Sodomites saw the young men to be of beautiful countenances, and this to an extraordinary degree, and that they took up their lodgings with Lot, they resolved themselves to enjoy these beautiful boys by force and violence; and when Lot exhorted them to sobriety, and not to offer any thing immodest to the strangers, but to have regard to their lodging in his house; and promised that if their inclinations could not be governed, he would expose his daughters to their lust, instead of these strangers; neither thus were they made ashamed.
4. But God was much displeased at their impudent behavior, so that he both smote those men with blindness, and condemned the Sodomites to universal destruction. But Lot, upon God's informing him of the future destruction of the Sodomites, went away, taking with him his wife and daughters, who were two, and still virgins; for those that were betrothed (21) to them were above the thoughts of going, and deemed that Lot's words were trifling. God then cast a thunderbolt upon the city, and set it on fire, with its inhabitants; and laid waste the country with the like burning, as I formerly said when I wrote the Jewish War. (22) But Lot's wife continually turning back to view the city as she went from it, and being too nicely inquisitive what would become of it, although God had forbidden her so to do, was changed into a pillar of salt; (23) for I have seen it, and it remains at this day. Now he and his daughters fled to a certain small place, encompassed with the fire, and settled in it: it is to this day called Zoar, for that is the word which the Hebrews use for a small thing. There it was that he lived a miserable life, on account of his having no company, and his want of provisions.
5. But his daughters, thinking that all mankind were destroyed, approached to their father, (24) though taking care not to be perceived. This they did, that human kind might not utterly fail: and they bare sons; the son of the elder was named Moab, Which denotes one derived from his father; the younger bare Ammon, which name denotes one derived from a kinsman. The former of whom was the father of the Moabites, which is even still a great nation; the latter was the father of the Ammonites; and both of them are inhabitants of Celesyria. And such was the departure of Lot from among the Sodomites.

That is Josephus’ story of Sodom, in later times Josephus writes about what the Dead Sea was like at Vespasian’s time.  The Dead Sea, as we know it today was known by the Greeks as Lake Asphaltitis.  Not only was the land uninhabitable but the water was non life giving as well. I find it fascinating that the bitumen (tar) that was on the lake was used for healing men as well as sealing boats. Today many bath products come out of that area because of the high mineral content.

 When I visited the Dead Sea it was quite odd to walk into the water because the high salt content causes you to float in a foot of water, you truly can’t stand or walk out into the water. People who could not swim could easily float in the Dead Sea.  It also seems to be a ritual of tourists to cover one’s body in mud, as a do it yourself spa treatment.  After playing around, synchronized swimming, and mud baths, we found our skin was very soft and smooth.  Yet in the back of my mind I thought of the incinerated people who used to live there.  The Dead Sea is a very unusual place.

CHAPTER 8.

AN ACCOUNT BESIDES OF THE LAKE ASPHALTITIS.

4. The nature of the lake Asphaltitis is also worth describing. It is, as I have said already, bitter and unfruitful. It is so light [or thick] that it bears up the heaviest things that are thrown into it; nor is it easy for any one to make things sink therein to the bottom, if he had a mind so to do. Accordingly, when Vespasian went to see it, he commanded that some who could not swim should have their hands tied behind them, and be thrown into the deep, when it so happened that they all swam as if a wind had forced them upwards. Moreover, the change of the color of this lake is wonderful, for it changes its appearance thrice every day; and as the rays of the sun fall differently upon it, the light is variously reflected. However, it casts up black clods of bitumen in many parts of it; these swim at the top of the water, and resemble both in shape and bigness headless bulls; and when the laborers that belong to the lake come to it, and catch hold of it as it hangs together, they draw it into their ships; but when the ship is full, it is not easy to cut off the rest, for it is so tenacious as to make the ship hang upon its clods till they set it loose with the menstrual blood of women, and with urine, to which alone it yields. This bitumen is not only useful for the caulking of ships, but for the cure of men's bodies; accordingly, it is mixed in a great many medicines. The length of this lake is five hundred and eighty furlongs, where it is extended as far as Zoar in Arabia; and its breadth is a hundred and fifty. The country of Sodom borders upon it. It was of old a most happy land, both for the fruits it bore and the riches of its cities, although it be now all burnt up. It is related how, for the impiety of its inhabitants, it was burnt by lightning; in consequence of which there are still the remainders of that Divine fire, and the traces [or shadows] of the five cities are still to be seen, as well as the ashes growing in their fruits; which fruits have a color as if they were fit to be eaten, but if you pluck them with your hands, they dissolve into smoke and ashes. And thus what is related of this land of Sodom hath these marks of credibility which our very sight affords us.

In the book The Wisdom of Sirach we find that Jesus ben Sirach points out that ungodliness and rebelliousness bring the fire of God, without God’s remorse.  
Ecclus 16:5-9 (Sirach) 5 Many such things have I seen with mine eyes, and mine ear hath heard greater things than these.6 In the congregation of the ungodly shall a fire be kindled; and in a rebellious nation wrath is set on fire.7 He was not pacified toward the old giants, who fell away in the strength of their foolishness.8 Neither spared he the place where Lot sojourned, but abhorred them for their pride.9 He pitied not the people of perdition, who were taken away in their sins:KJV

Luke 17:28-33 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.31 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.32 Remember Lot's wife.33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.KJV

Jesus makes a statement about Lot’s wife that is quite disturbing.  Remember Lot’s wife. We can ponder that for quite a while and end up in so many different directions.  We know that Lot’s wife was a mother of several children.  At this time some were married and two were betrothed. We know Lot went out from his house to warn his family but his son’s in law thought he was silly and did not want to leave the city.  Therefore Lot’s wife was probably upset that some of her children were being incinerated in Sodom.  How would you react when the Lord returns if your family members are not caught up and are left on earth to suffer the tribulation.  It takes a lot of soul searching and a lot of reconciling to realize that some of our loved ones may be left to suffer the tribulation and that we cannot look back, otherwise we would be like Lot’s wife.  There is nothing we can do for the ones who are not gathered together, we can’t save them, only Jesus can.  We can’t protect them during the tribulation either.  We have to be settled in our hearts to lose our earthly life to live with Christ no matter who doesn’t come along.  For some people this is a huge issue that needs to be reconciled within before the Lord returns. We know there is sanctification, a setting apart for the unbeliever, but we don’t know how that fits into the rapture, since this is Paul’s opinion not the Lords.

1 Cor 7:12-16 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? KJV

As we move into the season of the Feast of Trumpets, 9/29/2011, Day of Atonement, 10/8/2011, and the  Feast of Tabernacles,10/13/2011, we should be encouraging those around us to have a personal relationship with God, making Jesus Lord and receiving the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.  The Feast of Trumpets is a call to repentance, before the time of judgment. With the sound of 100 trumpets blown throughout the day, it is a reminder to repent and get ready for judgment. The Feast of Trumpets leads you into 10 Days of Awe which is a time of introspection, fearing the Lord and your personal walk with Him.  This takes us to the Day of Atonement, which is the day we are to atone, and repent with fasting and prayer. Tradition would say God inscribes your fate in the Book of Life. This is God’s plan for absolution, rather than confession to a priest and some repetitive prayers. Then we have Tabernacles, the commemoration of the wandering in the wilderness as well as a time for pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem.  Many people eat and sleep outside in their booths, or sukkos, to remember and show they are waiting for the temple to be rebuilt. 

The Season of Fall Feasts are important to us, not from a legalistic perspective but from a spiritual one.  It is the time we get to cleanse ourselves spiritually, asking forgiveness for our sins, and getting right with God.  It is our time to renew our commitment to God and plan to live better for Him.  Instead of being like the people of Sodom who became more and more hardened and perverted in their thinking, it is to our benefit to have a season of reconciliation to God.  It is also to our benefit to live and be united to God regardless of who else is, so that we keep in mind Lot’s wife. 

Today we celebrate The Feast of Trumpets as the new year and make it a time to celebrate the coming of Jesus our Messiah, however if the Lord does not return on Trumpets, consider it His mercy and use the time to be reconciled to Him.  This would be more correct then a big party and a happy feast. Although every day, living in a spirit of repentance is best, this season is the time to get us back on track in all things, settling   issues in our hearts.  Remember Lot’s wife.  
 

End Notes:


7 Feasts of the Lord
http://endtimepilgrim.org/atonement.htm

Remember Lot's Wife

by

J. C. Ryle
(1816-1900)

There are few warnings in Scripture more solemn than this. The Lord Jesus Christ says to us, "Remember Lot's wife."

Lot's wife was a professor of religion: her husband was a "righteous man" (II Peter 2:8). She left Sodom with him on the day when Sodom was destroyed; she looked back towards the city from behind her husband, against God's express command; she was struck dead at once, and turned into a pillar of salt. And the Lord Jesus Christ holds her up as a beacon to His church: He says, "Remember Lot's wife."

It is a solemn warning, when we think of the person Jesus names. He does not bid us remember Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, or Sarah, or Hannah, or Ruth. No: He singles out one whose soul was lost for ever. He cries to us, "Remember Lot's wife."

It is a solemn warning, when we consider the subject Jesus is upon. He is speaking of His own second coming to judge the world: He is describing the awful state of unreadiness in which many will be found. The last days are on His mind, when He says, "Remember Lot's wife."

It is a solemn warning, when we think of the Person who gives it. The Lord Jesus is full of love, mercy, and compassion: He is One who will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax He could weep over unbelieving Jerusalem, and pray for the men that crucified Him; yet even He thinks it good to give this solemn warning and remind us of lost souls. Even He says, "Remember Lot's wife."

It is a solemn warning, when we think of the persons to whom it was first given. The Lord Jesus was speaking to His disciples: He was not addressing the Scribes and Pharisees who hated him, but Peter, James, and John, and many others who loved Him: yet even to them He thinks good to address a caution. Even to them He says, "Remember Lot's wife."

It is a solemn warning, when we consider the manner in which it was given. He does not merely say, "Beware of following-take heed of imitating-do not be like Lot's wife." He uses a different word: He says, "Remember"He speaks as if we were all in danger of forgetting the subject; He stirs up our lazy memories; He bids us keep the case before our minds. He cries, "Remember Lot's wife."

I will speak of the religious privileges which Lot's wife enjoyed.

In the days of Abraham and Lot, true saving religion was scarce upon earth; there were no Bibles, no ministers, no churches, no tracts, no missionaries. The knowledge of God was confined to a few favoured families; the greater part of the inhabitants of the world were living in darkness, ignorance, superstition, and sin. Not one in a hundred perhaps had such good example, such spiritual society, such clear knowledge, such plain warnings as Lot's wife. Compared with millions of her fellow-creatures in her time, Lot's wife was a favoured woman.

She had a godly man for her husband: she had Abraham, the father of the faithful for her uncle by marriage. The faith, the knowledge, and the prayers of these two righteous men could have been no secret to her. It is impossible that she could have dwelt in tents with them for any length of time, without knowing whose they were and whom they served. Religion with them was no formal business; it was the ruling principle of their lives and the mainspring of their actions. All this Lot's wife must have seen and known. This was no small privilege.

When Abraham first received the promises, it is probable Lot's wife was there. when he built his tent between Hai and Bethel, it is probable she was there...when the angels came to Sodom and warned her husband to flee, she saw them; when they took them by the hand and led them out of the city, she was one of those whom they helped to escape. Once more, I say, these were no small privileges.

Yet what good effect had all these privileges on the heart of Lot's wife? None at all. Notwithstanding all her opportunities and means of grace-not-withstanding all her special warnings and messages from heaven-she lived and died graceless, godless, impenitent, and unbelieving. The eyes of her understanding were never opened; her conscience was never really aroused and quickened; her will was never really brought into a state of obedience to God; her affections were never really set on things above. The form of religion which she had was kept up for fashion's sake and not from feeling: it was a cloak worn for the sake of pleasing her company, but not from any sense of its value. She did as others around her in Lot's house: she conformed to her husband's ways: she made no opposition to his religion: she allowed herself to be passively towed along in his wake: but all this time her heart was wrong in the sight of God. The world was in her heart, and her heart was in the world. In this state she lived, and in this state she died.

In all this there is much to be learned: I see a lesson here which is of the greatest importance in the present day. You live in times when there are many persons just like Lot's wife: Come and hear the lesson which her case is meant to teach.

Learn, then, that the mere possession of religious privileges will save no one's soul. You may have spiritual advantages of every description; you may live in the full sunshine of the richest opportunities and means of grace; you may enjoy the best of preaching and the choicest instruction; you may dwell in the midst of light, knowledge, holiness, and good company. All this may be, and yet you yourself may remain unconverted, and at last be lost for ever.

I dare say this doctrine sounds hard to some readers. I know that many fancy they want nothing but religious privileges in order to become decided Christians. They are not what they ought to be at present, they allow; but their position is so hard, they plead, and their difficulties are so many. Give them a godly husband, or a godly wife-give them godly companions, or a godly master-give them the preaching of the gospel-give them privileges, and then they would walk with God.

It is all a mistake. It is an entire delusion. It requires something more than privileges to save souls. Joab was David's captain; Gehazi was Elisha's servant; Demas was Paul's companion; Judas Iscariot was Christ's disciple; and Lot had a worldly, unbelieving wife. These all died in their sins. They went down to the pit in spite of knowledge, warnings, and opportunities; and they all teach us that it is not privileges alone that men need. They need the grace of the Holy Ghost.

Let us value our religious privileges, but let us not rest entirely upon them. Let us desire to have the benefit of them in all our movements in life, but let us not put them in the place of Christ. Let us use them thankfully, if God gives them to us, but let us take care they produce some fruit in our heart and life. If they do not do good, they often do positive harm; they sear the conscience, they increase responsibility, they aggravate condemnation. The same fire which melts the wax hardens the clay; the same sun which makes the living tree grow, dries up the dead tree, and prepares it for burning. Nothing so hardens the heart of man as a barren familiarity with sacred things. Once more I say, it is not privileges alone which make people Christians, but the grace of the Holy Ghost Without that no man will ever be saved.

I ask those who attend a sound ministry in the present day to mark well what I am saying. You go to Mr. A's, or Mr. B's church: you think him an excellent preacher; you delight in his sermons; you cannot hear anyone else with the same comfort; you have learned many things since you attended his ministry; you consider it a privilege to be one of his hearers! All this is very good. It is a privilege. I should be thankful if ministers like yours were multiplied a thousandfold. But, after all, what have you got in your heart? Have you yet received the Holy Ghost? if not, you are no better than Lot's wife.

I ask the children of religious parents to mark well what I am saying. It is the highest privilege to be the child of a godly father and mother, and to be brought up in the midst of many prayers. It is a blessed thing indeed to be taught the gospel from our earliest in-fancy, and to hear of sin, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and holiness, and heaven, from the first moment we can remember anything. But, O, take heed that you do not remain barren and unfruitful in the sunshine of all these privileges: beware lest your hearts remain hard, impenitent, and worldly, not-withstanding the many advantages you enjoy. You cannot enter the kingdom of God on the credit of your parents' religion. You must eat the bread of life for yourself, and have the witness of the Spirit in your own heart. You must have repentance of your own, faith of your own, and sanctification of your own. If not' you are no better than Lot's wife.

I pray God that all professing Christians in these days may lay these things to heart. May we never forget that privileges alone cannot save us. Light and knowledge, and faithful preaching, and abundant means of grace, and the company of holy people are all great blessings and advantages. Happy are they that have them! But after all, there is one thing without which privileges are useless: that one thing is the grace of the Holy Ghost. Lot's wife had many privileges; but Lot's wife had not grace.
 

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "J. C. Ryle Collection" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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