Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. Luke 17:28–33
When Titus––Roman general and son of the newly crowned Vespasian––brought an end to the long siege of Jerusalem, the streets ran with blood and were littered with the bodies of thousands of slain Jews. The temple which had just undergone a decades-long renovation initiated by Herod the Great (John 2:20) was consumed with fire at the hands of bloodthirsty soldiers in spite of Caesar’s order to spare the structure. About 250 years later, Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that the Christians of Jerusalem had fled the city and found refuge in Perea (Ecclesiastical History 3.5.3). Because of Jesus’ warnings to His disciples, the Christians were spared from so many of the calamities that befell Jerusalem at the close of the Jewish war.
Lot’s wife was also warned, but she found it hard to leave Sodom behind. The angel had said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed” (Genesis 19:17). What had Lot’s wife left in the city that was so dear to her? Since we never read of her before this, it is possible that she was raised in Sodom and may have had many friends and relatives there. Besides this, all of their great wealth was back there (cf. Genesis 13:5–6). Whatever the reason, Lot’s wife allowed anxiety about things left behind to destroy her. She was not the only one who looked back to her own peril.
When Israel was freed from slavery, they couldn’t help but look over their shoulders when the first hardships associated with freedom appeared (Exodus 14:10–12; 16:3). Once they even spoke of appointing a captain to take them back (Numbers 14:1–4). Stephen said that they actually did return in heart when they worshiped the gods of Egypt in the wilderness (Acts 7:39–40).
Paul was often disappointed by brethren who turned back. There was Mark who abandoned him and Barnabas on their first campaign (Acts 15:38). There was Demas who also forsook Paul, “having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10). There were the Galatians who turned away so quickly from the true gospel (Galatians 1:6). Paul encountered many Jews who found it difficult to leave Judaism even though its institutions had been replaced with something far better.
What we have left behind is not worth looking back on. Sodom certainly wasn’t worth it. As a citizen of that wicked city, Lot was plundered and taken captive (Genesis 14), tormented every day with the filthy conduct of wicked men (2 Peter 2:7–8), and held in contempt by his neighbors (Genesis 19:9). What has the world done for us? It has enslaved us while promising liberty (vv 18–19). Sadly there are some who escape, only to turn back and find their situation even worse (vv 20–22).
What we have now is something far better. Paul gave up all he had toiled for all his life, but he refused to look back (Philippians 3:7–8). In Christ’s body we find greater fellowship, greater joys, and true contentment (4:11–13). And the greatest benefits of all are those which lie still ahead of us. Because the best is still to come, let us never cast backward glances at the world we have left behind. Instead, let us look ahead, where our reward is, where Jesus is (Hebrews 12:2), and let us joyfully finish the race that is set before us.