Why Did God Turn Lot’s Wife into a Pillar of Salt?
When God destroyed Sodom, he gave Lot the chance to escape with his family before the destruction went down. He told them not to look back, so when Lot’s wife disobeyed she immediately turned into a pillar of salt.
Doesn’t that seem harsh? Why did God make such a big deal about not looking back?
She was Attached to Sin
When Lot’s wife physically turned her head around and looked back, I think she was also looking back emotionally. Even though Sodom was filthy with corruption, she had probably grown to have some level of emotional attachment with it.
In one of CS Lewis’s books, he describes a man who journeys through life with a sin that takes the form of a pet animal. The character grows fond of the sin and finds comfort in having it around. It keeps him company. And when God asks the man to put the sin to death, the man is really grieved and can’t do it.
I think that’s the kind of tragedy Lot’s wife suffered from, and that’s what God was warning them about when he told them not to look back. In essence he was telling them, “Leave your sin behind. Let it go, and don’t ever look back.”
We Get Attached to Sin Too
When I first read CS Lewis’s description of the man with a pet sin, I thought about myself and pornography. Praise God I’ve been free from it lately, but it’s always a temptation. Even though I know it’s wrong, I have grown far too familiar with it and comfortable with it.
Turning into Salt is Similar to Hell
When Lot’s wife looked back at her corruption and God turned her into a pillar of salt, I think that symbolized hell. Lot’s wife cherished Sodom’s corruption, so God eternalized her as a lifeless figure so she could longingly gaze back at it for the rest of eternity. God gave her exactly what she wanted.
In the same way, people who love sin and refuse to turn away from it will eventually become eternalized with their sin in hell.
In the end, God just gives each of us the thing that we love.
We Need to Repent from Sin
God says that if we want to have spiritual life, we need to turn from our corrupt ways. Lot’s wife should have stopped loving corruption and learned to love things that are good and pure.
That’s what we need to do. If God eternalizes us with the things that we love, then we need to stop loving the wrong things and start loving the right things.
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