Recalling, or looking back?

Author: Yan Wing
Translator: Kaylee Ho

Among the Old Testament characters mentioned by Jesus in His preaching, a tragic female lead left on the shore of the Dead Sea was highlighted: “Remember Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:32). What does it mean to “remember Lot’s wife”? Do Christian believers who visit the Holy Land today see the pillar of salt standing beside the Dead Sea? In fact, the predecessor of this pillar of salt is what our Lord Jesus wants us to recall, Lot’s wife.

There goes a verse in the Chinese poet Bai Juyi’s “Song of Everlasting Sorrow”: “Looking back at a smile bears a ton of beauty, and the six palaces have no color.” According to the story of Lot’s wife, this could be changed to “Looking back bears a ton of salt, and the dead sea salt pillar is a lesson from past to present.”

At that time, the angel took Lot, his wife, and two daughters by the hand, and hurriedly escaped from the city of Sodom. When they were outside the city, the angel warned them, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” As Lot’s wife thought about the many possessions, relatives and friends in the city, she couldn’t help but look back, and she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:15-28). This pillar of salt is still standing today by the Dead Sea (the Dead Sea is said to be the city of sin that was burned down by natural disasters, and is the former site of Sodom and Gomorrah). It silently retells the story of a city destroyed by fire raining down from heaven, as a shock to the world. The biggest sin in this city was homosexuality, which has become worldwide and “redressed” today. In many big cities, homosexuals parade every year, fighting for their rights and interests and demanding legal marriages. Worse yet, many large denominational church groups have also accepted homosexuals as members, and even homosexuals can serve as leaders and priesthoods of the church. Could that be a precursor to God’s plans to burn down the world with fire from heaven once again?

Let us listen to Jesus’ warning to His generation two thousand years ago: “Remember Lot’s wife!”

Most talks about World Trends on the internet are focused on economics. In contrast, since Christ proclaimed the first disaster warning in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, not many people have paid attention. People all over the world solely care about daily life issues, not the end of the world. The German Philosopher, Georg Hegel’s judgment is correct: human beings will never learn from history. The Lord has given us some good lessons from history – in addition to the destruction of Sodom by the fire of heaven, the world had been destroyed earlier by flood in Noah’s time. At both times, God forewarned the world to repent and turn away from evil deeds, and turned a deaf ear. They continued “eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building”. When the flood hits in an instant, the flames from heaven suddenly descend, and everyone perishes.

Today’s megatrend forecasters and theorists, whether it is Japan’s Ohmae Kenichi (1943-) or the United States’ John Naisbitt (1929-), have their focus primarily on the world economic development in ten or twenty years, and the market is their sole vision. These so-called masters do not have true knowledge or vision. With no truth or foresight, they are unable to escape from the way of life like in the days of Noah and Sodom Christ once warned Jerusalem at that time, saying, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace” (Luke 19:42)! Do people care about the Lord’s counsel? The answer is no. Their concern was to crucify Jesus. “Crucify him! Crucify him!”, they shouted loudly (John 19:6, Matthew 27:23). Sadly, it had only been 70 AD that Jesus Christ’s warning was fulfilled. Jerusalem was besieged by heavy Roman troops for three years. When the city was destroyed, most of the people in Jerusalem (many of whom had heard the Lord’s warning) were killed and left behind. The women and children were also exiled thousands of miles away, forever expelled from their homes.

Be salt or a column of salt? This is a serious life-and-death decision; looking back or recalling is just a moment of decision for you and me.