THURSDAY, MAY 21
Scripture: Genesis 19:17,20-26

Genesis 19:17 says, “So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.’” In verses 20-26 we are told, “See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” And he said to him, ‘See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” In verses 22-26, Lot pleads for a small city named Zoar. We are told, “The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.” The only one who was caught in any of this was Lot’s wife. She was warned and told not to look back, but she looked back. And she became a sign of the covenant she broke. She became a pillar of salt. God’s standard of judgment was very clear. He said, “Do not look back.” But there was enough of the perverse city in her heart that she looked back. Judgment came according to God’s Word. God’s standard of judgment was His Word. He was true to His Word for Lot and He was true to His Word for Lot’s wife. The standard of judgment is God’s Word.