“and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to ruin, making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6 HCSB).
Instead of fleeing the pending destruction of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by heading to the mountains as he was told, Lot persuaded God’s angelic messengers to allow him to escape to a little town called Zoar instead…
“By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah–from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities–and also the vegetation in the land” (Genesis 19:23-25 NIV).
“Rained down” implies that fiery objects came from the sky and devastated everything in that area. That brings us to one of the most interesting verses in the Bible…
“But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26 NIV).
Remember that God’s angelic investigators sent Lot and his family out of the city with specific instructions: “Run for your lives! Don’t even look back. And don’t stop in the valley. Run to the hills, where you’ll be safe” (Genesis 19:17 CEV). Yet, despite that clear and simple warning, Lot’s wife chose to disregard it.
Perhaps Mrs. Lot simply looked back at the city to see what had happened. However, one source tells us, “The word (for) ‘looked back’ has the connotation of ‘looking intently.’ It might possibly be rendered ‘lagged back,’ or maybe even ‘returned back.'” (1) So Lot’s wife may have done more than cast a quick glance over her shoulder as she left the city. It’s possible that she actually stopped running or even began to return to Sodom.
While some may look at Mrs. Lot’s experience as nothing more than an interesting detail, Jesus used that historic event to illustrate one of His teachings…
“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:28-32).
It’s possible that the culture, society, and way of life in Sodom had become so intertwined with Mrs. Lot’s identity that she struggled to leave it behind. Perhaps Lot’s wife was so deeply entrenched in the godless culture of Sodom that she simply could not bear to part with it- and she paid for that decision with her life.
(1) Morris, H. M. (1976). The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings. [pp 355-356]