Lot’s Wife
by Michelle Stone
“We believe that [God] will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
We all know that there is a desperate shortage of feminine role models in the scriptures–at least in the scriptures we have thus far received. There are hints and traces, like a spiritual trail of breadcrumbs which point to greater truth. But that greater truth seems to be hidden, omitted, and wrapped in layers of false traditions. Clearly the adversary has long been engaged in a diabolical effort to separate woman from knowledge of herself, and to make her feel orphaned, inferior, lost, and alone. However, in this modern reawakening more and more of us are beginning to realize and seek what has been lost. We are seeing that we desperately need feminine guidance, validation, and inspiration. We need additional insight into the eternal identity of woman and we need to come to recognize our Heavenly Mother. Let’s face it, sometimes a woman just needs a woman to understand and guide her. Sometimes a mother needs a mother to talk to.
One key tactic of the demonic plot to sever us from the feminine has been to distort and vilify the few scripture women we do have, and thus rob us of our prime sources of knowledge about ourselves–our heroines. Eve, one of the greatest women to ever grace the pages of holy writ, is solely responsible for all the suffering in the world. Mary Magdalene, the first one to see the risen Lord, was, of course, a prostitute. And Lot’s wife . . . well, we’ll get to that.
Thank heaven we have begun to reclaim some of our feminine role-models, like Eve, who we now study, celebrate, and seek to emulate. She is my heroine and I need her. I believe it is time to redeem another of our greatest heroines who, like Eve, has been tragically misunderstood and misjudged for centuries. But when seen in a new light, a brighter light, she becomes a beacon of faith, hope, and charity, even under the most desperate circumstances. She radiates love, and stands immovable as a type of Christ–a fearless partner with God in the great work of salvation. I wish that I knew her name, but alas, we refer to her simply as Lot’s wife.
We find her story in Genesis 13, 14, and 19, though it is almost entirely told only in terms of her husband while she is barely mentioned. In a tale similar to that of Lehi’s family, the group leaves their home to follow the Lord to a promised land, and while Lot may not be as outrightly rebellious as Laman and Lemuel, he has a consistent pattern of choosing wealth or ease over following the Lord. This includes his choice to settle in the lush and abundant plain near Sodom and Gomorrah with his tent facing Sodom, rather than continuing on to the promised land where perhaps he could have been included in the Abrahamic covenant–a covenant which Lot apparently had no part of. Although “the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly,” (vs. 13) Lot and his family eventually ended up living inside the wicked city itself. (Gen. 14:12)
One day Lot brought home two men (angels) to spend the night. (Gen 19:3) After dinner, the men of this atrocious city encircled Lot’s house demanding that he bring the two strangers out to them (vs. 4-5) for what was perhaps some sort of orientation into the city. I have to wonder how I, if I were the woman of the house, would feel about this city. Lot obviously did not go in for this kind of thing, and he offered an alternative, “Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes.” (vs. 8)* As a mother, I can only imagine how I would feel about this city at this point–and frankly, how I would feel about my husband.** Thankfully the angels overruled Lot’s appalling offer, and cursed the men with blindness. This is where things started to get really interesting.
The two visitors gave Lot a very specific commandment to gather his children and family who were in the city and, “bring them out of this place: for we will destroy this place.” (Gen 19:12-13) In one of the weakest attempts of obedience in scripture, Lot returned and said that he spoke to his sons-in-law, but they thought he was joking around, (vs. 14) so he turned around and came home. Seriously? His children’s lives are literally at stake. His married daughters and his grandchildren are in imminent danger, and he is sent by angels as the sole messenger entrusted to bring them out and save them. What kind of action does this situation call for? What lengths would any of us go to to save our children from a burning building? But Lot gives it a half-hearted effort, and then gives up and comes home and goes to bed–leaving them to certain destruction. I cannot imagine that Lot’s wife would be satisfied with this. What if Nephi had returned to his father and said, “Sorry Dad, we asked Laban for the brass plates, but he seemed pretty attached to them, so we came home”? Would we be singing songs of his faith and obedience?
When the sun came up, “the angels hastened Lot” warning him to immediately flee with his wife and two young daughters. (vs. 15) But he “lingered.” (vs. 16) Was this just another case of lackadaisical obedience or, continuing to read between the lines, could it have been that his wife was indeed holding them back? I can almost hear her frantic pleading, “Lot, we are not leaving them! Go back and get them! Or let me go talk to my daughters and I will get them. I will not abandon them!” Yes, perhaps her heart was firmly set on things in this condemned city, but I would argue that that is exactly where any righteous mother’s heart would and should be. Her children were in that city, and they were the things that had such a firm hold on her heart!
Unable to wait any longer, the angels transported them out of the city, and gave Lot another direct commandment, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.” (Gen 19:17) And in yet another pathetic example of failed obedience, Lot responded, “Oh, not so my Lord.” He is afraid for his own life and again fails to flee to the mountain for protection, “I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die.” (vs. 18) He instead begs, “Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” (vs. 19) I don’t want to judge Lot too harshly, but it seems strange to me that we would hold him up as an example of righteousness. I am sure that he was righteous compared to the wickedness of Sodom, (2 Pet 2:7) but I am not impressed with his faith, his love, nor his obedience. Rather, I am struck by his seeming cowardice, lack of faith, half-hearted obedience, and self-concern. After “the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven” (vs. 24) Lot and his daughters eventually ended up in a mountain after all, where their strange story took some even darker turns. (Gen 19:30-38) The entirety of Lot’s story definitely does not seem like an example of righteousness to be emulated.
So what is the purpose of this story? What are we supposed to learn from it? It does seem that Lot’s wife is the primary example for us, but what exactly does she exemplify? There is only one more verse about her in this tale, “but his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Gen 19:26) This one simple statement has condemned her to millennia of judgement and scorn. In these verses there is no explanation as to why she looked back, or even as to what looking back means. Innumerable conjectures have followed, trying to make sense of her story. Perhaps, like so many other strange Old Testament stories, the story of Lot’s wife might have been little spoken and she mostly forgotten had it not been for the Savior’s cryptic reference to her recorded in Luke, “Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:32) These three simple words hurl her into the foreground where she must be studied and examined in order for us to derive the lessons Christ wanted us to learn and to “remember.” That is what we will do.
We have already reviewed her life as much as we are able with the limited information we have been given. But, I believe it is enough for us to relate to her and to come to some insightful conclusions. The common story we have inherited is that Lot’s wife had her heart set upon the nice things of the city. I have heard that she did not want to leave her luxury, her possessions, her status, her comfort, etc. This interpretation of Lot’s wife comes from the verse preceding the Savior’s reference to her, “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. Remember Lot’s wife.” Read in this way, the traditional view of the story seems very convincing, and contains a good and valuable message: we must look to the Lord, and desire him over the things of the world, even to the point that we are willing to forsake all to follow Him. This message is true, and is a wonderful lesson we can derive from this story. But if we look more closely this interpretation begins to break down, and we discover numerous hints that there is a “greater portion” to this woman and her story. (Alma 12:10)
First, as we have already pointed out, Lot’s wife had children, and most likely grandchildren in Sodom. Whether or not they were righteous and how strong the influence of the city may have been on them we do not know. But what we do know is that her husband failed in the angelic command given him to “Go and bring them out.” We have also seen at least some of the terrible things she experienced–her home surrounded by the vile men of the city making threatening demands, the safety and life of first her guests, then her daughters, and then her husband threatened. Then the angelic explanation that the city would be burned while the rest of her family was there. I have no ability to relate to a woman who, given these circumstances, would be worried about her diamond necklace, or her crystal vase, or her social club, and I do not believe that she would be righteous enough to qualify to be spared. These circumstances would rightly bring out the mother bear in each of us.
Second, if the lesson is to forsake the things of the world for the things of God, then why is she used as the example instead of her husband? When given the choice, Lot chose the lush plain and its promised riches while Abraham chose to follow the Lord to a promised land where he received His promised covenant. Lot’s choice of the things of the world over the things of God is what began this whole fateful tale. Why would he get off scot free, and she bear the entire weight of blame? If the lesson is about obedience and Lot’s wife was cursed because she disobeyed the angelic command “look not behind thee,” then again, we could learn this lesson much more aptly from the bad example of her husband who repeatedly disobeyed. He failed to save his family by disobeying his commission to “bring them out.” And he was every bit as disobedient as his wife to the angel’s command, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.” (Gen 19:17) Lot responded, “Oh, not so my Lord.” The main difference is that he disobeyed to save himself while she disobeyed to save others.
In pointing out the fact that Lot’s lack of faith and obedience far surpassed his wife’s, the intention is not some juvenile attempt to say, “Well he did it too,” assuming that should get her off the hook. The intention is to look again with a new perspective at the Savior’s statement about her. Jesus was a great champion of women–much more so than was common in his culture. There are many examples of his reverence for women, but one story in particular is important to consider in this discussion. One morning a scheming group of scribes and pharisees mercilessly dragged a woman taken in adultery before Jesus. This woman was indeed guilty, and she was also helpless and defenseless as she was being cruelly accused and condemned by the patriarchal religious institution. Her priesthood leaders, who should have treated her with kindness and compassion or at least with confidentiality, instead felt perfectly justified in publicly parading her shame throughout town, and with no sense of her humanity or worth as a daughter of God, using her “wickedness” to teach a lesson. What’s more, in a glaring illustration of patriarchal unfairness and hypocrisy, there was no mention of her partner in crime–she wasn’t committing adultery by herself after all. What was the Savior’s response? Did he join in the public condemnation? Did he approve of a defenseless woman being hypocritically held up for universal judgement? Absolutely not! He protected, defended, nurtured, validated, loved, and redeemed.
The parallels between the adulterous woman and Lot’s wife cannot be mistaken. Would it be at all in keeping with the Lord’s character, when he saved one defenseless woman from judgement and castigation, to mercilessly throw another to the wolves and doom her to universal scorn and condemnation, while ignoring the worse sins of her husband? If this was what the Savior intended, then how would he be any different from the Pharisees who accused the adulterous woman? Is there any other example of Jesus encouraging us to “remember” to judge the sins of another person? Why would Lot’s wife, an obscure, barely mentioned, and unnamed woman, be the only one singled out for this infamy? If the Savior intended to teach us by using the mistakes of His children as bad examples why do we not have, “Remember King David,” “Remember Jonah,” “Remember King Saul,” “Remember Sampson,” “Remember Solomon,” “Remember Esau,” “Remember Judas,” “Remember Cain.” The list could be endlessly filled with people who we could judge and condemn–people whose transgressions were far more serious than simply “looking back.” Is this the message of the Savior who taught, “Judge not that ye be not judged,” (Matt 7:1) and “first cast out the beam out of thine own eye?” (Matt 7:5) The Savior’s life and teachings were filled with forgiveness, compassion, love, and redemption. Jesus loves all mankind–does he not also love Lot’s wife?
Third, and perhaps most importantly, since God’s language is the language of symbols, we must look at the symbolisms contained in the tale. Lot’s wife “became a pillar of salt.” The human body contains less than one cup of salt; there is no natural way for a human body to turn into an actual pillar of salt. So if this was a literal occurrence, it would require God to miraculously curse her. However, that is not the wording. She was not smitten or cursed, she “became.” And “pillar of salt” rendered symbolically becomes an incredibly profound and powerful image. Most of us are familiar with the symbolism of salt. In the old world salt was valued ounce for ounce as precious as gold. It was the means of preserving food, which is why it is such a useful gospel symbol–it preserves or saves. Under the law of Moses, sacrifices and meat offerings had to include salt, “with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.” (Leviticus 2:13) Christ tells his disciples, “Ye are the salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13) and “When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men.” (D&C 101:39) “Salt is good.” (Luke 14:34) Salt signifies Christ. It is a representation of the Savior of men. As we become His followers, and partners in His work, we are to take upon ourselves His saving properties. If we fail in our commission to act as “Saviors on Mount Zion” we are “thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” (Matt 5:13)
Pillar is also an important symbol. A pillar is a support and a memorial. It upholds and uplifts, and implies essential strength to elevate and bear up others. We still use this complimentary symbol today to describe people as a pillar of strength, or a pillar of virtue, or a pillar of the community. It is also a powerful symbol of Christ. In the great exodus, “The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud. . . and by night in a pillar of fire.” (Ex 13:21) Jacob set up and consecrated a pillar where he spoke with God. (Gen 35:14) Lehi saw God as a pillar of fire. (1 Ne 1:6) Nephi and Lehi (the sons of Helaman) and their converts were each encircled by a pillar of fire. (Hel 5:43) When Christ returns it will be in a pillar of fire. (D&C 29:12) Not only is it impossible to find a negative connotation of pillar in the scriptures, but, “the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s and he hath set the world upon them.”
A pillar of salt–what an amazing symbol! Seen in this symbolic light it becomes one of the greatest and most powerful compliments God could give us. It speaks of incredible power to save. If we become a pillar of salt, we have joined the Savior in his work in a remarkable way. Our greatest exemplar, the one we strive above all to emulate, willingly gave His life to save others. He was not concerned about his own comfort, safety, or even salvation. He could have easily saved himself, but he looked outward, rather than inward. His heart was so drawn out in love toward His fellow man, that he did not count the personal cost, but rather gave everything in an effort to save. What then of His commandment to “love one another as I have loved you?” (John 13:34) Does that not compel us to also have our hearts so drawn out in love that we are willing to give anything and everything, even our lives if necessary, to save others? This seems to be one of the many parallels between motherhood and the role of the Savior, for that is where this kind of love most naturally occurs. His beautiful self-prophetic statement, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13) rings out in invitation to each of us. The truth of this beautiful validation is not diminished if we read it, “greater love hath no woman than this, that a mother lay down her life for her children.”
Compared with this interpretation, the traditional reading (where we assume Lot was the good guy because he saved himself and didn’t look back) begins to resonate with the self-righteous Rameumptom-like refrains, “thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee.” (Alma 31:17) Is this the message of Christ, who “doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation?” (2 Ne 26:24) If our perfect Savior, who could rightfully condemn all of us because of our guilt, instead loves us enough to see past our weakness and sin, enough to sacrifice himself for our sakes, should we not seek to do the same? This is what Lot’s wife teaches us. Her message is not one of pharisaical hypocrisy. There is no smack of, “I thank thee Lord that I am righteous enough to deserve to be saved while the wicked sinners around me will all be destroyed.” If we desire to be disciples of Christ, and to truly be the salt of the earth, we must avoid this view at all cost.
If there is still any doubt as to the validity of this interpretation of Lot’s wife, the Savior’s own words should wash it all away. Instead of regarding His instruction, “Remember Lot’s wife,” in terms of the materialistic verse proceeding it (the lesser portion,) we can instead connect it to the verse following to discover the greater portion: “Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it. And whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (Luke 17:32-33) That is Lot’s wife; she is a pillar of preserving power. Her voice seems to cry out and mingle with the Savior’s, “What use to save myself when the precious ones I love will be destroyed? I will not selfishly abandon them! Even if it requires the sacrifice of my own life, I will never turn my back! I will never stop loving, stop reaching out, or stop striving for their salvation.” What a powerful message for all of us, but especially for mothers! True, Christ said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matt 10:37) But Lot’s wife did not choose her children over Christ, she chose them over her own self preservation. She did not follow them into sin–she reached out in an infinitely loving attempt to save them from the sin of their society. She is a type of Christ, and that is why he wants us to remember her. She does not judge and turn away, she loves and turns back, and by so doing gives us permission to do the same.
This is why I love Lot’s wife and why she is one of my greatest heroines. In saying this, I am not invalidating those who have interpreted her in a different light, or saying that the lessons they have taught about not having our hearts set upon the things of the world are wrong. The Savior’s teachings have many levels–lesser and greater portions (Alma 12:9-11)–and we can find truth in each. But now that new light has shone out upon the story of Lot’s wife, I cannot continue to let her be ill-spoken of, or to let her precious example and priceless lessons be forgotten without speaking out. Just as I would jump to defend a dear friend from wrongful rumor and slander, I am compelled to defend Lot’s wife. We can and must reclaim her as our heroine! She teaches us about ourselves as women, as mothers, and as potential pillars of salt, and we need her. It is time for the greater portion. Can’t we all feel it! It is time for feminine light and knowledge to be poured down from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-Day Saints, (D&C 121:33) and for many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God to be revealed. Reclaiming our heroines may be an important part of this beautiful and delicious process of discovery. In our quest to reclaim our Heavenly Mother, there may be many marvelous heroines along the way. Lot’s wife is one of these. I love her, and I claim her! Oh, how wish I knew her name! She has so much to offer and so much to teach. As we remember her, the heavens open a sliver and we draw one step closer to remembering our Divine Mother as well. The brilliance and beauty of the Savior’s command to “Remember Lot’s wife” is coming into clearer focus. Just as the hearts of the children turn to the fathers, perhaps remembering Lot’s wife is a turning to begin to remember the mothers. So please, let us all, “Remember Lot’s wife.”
Pleasant Fields 