Focal Passage: Genesis 19:12-26
Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). I have often found these words of Jesus compelling. It represents a forward-looking Jesus. Get to work and look ahead!
The instrument of work, the plow, is the constant element in His declaration. When studying Jesus, many have found leadership traits focused not on what was, but on what can or will be. Leadership also must trust what has been. The plow, the instrument of work or what has been given, has not changed. Armed with the constant — the Word of God — a leader is challenged to face the future with the conviction of bringing the “kingdom of God” to earth. It challenges deacons, pastors, staff and even the church.
The judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah was horrifying at best. Despite the destruction of God’s creation through the Flood because “every imagination of his thought was only evil” (Genesis 6:5), Sodom and Gomorrah, once again, exemplified the declaration that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Once again, evidence is found that sin dwells in Sodom and Gomorrah.
Lloyd
Once again, God found favor, and brought mercy with one man, Lot, even though his sons-in-law mocked and laughed at God. Once again, God delivered one man and his family from the destruction He brought because of this sin. And once again, destruction came upon the sinfulness of the world.
Sodom and Gomorrah represented both sin and judgment, like the banishment from the Garden, the wandering of Cain, the Flood, and the tower of Babel. Jesus taught that sheep would be separated from the goats and judgment would come. The reality of judgment permeated all of Scripture.
Tucked into this story of judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah was the incident with Lot’s wife, who “looked back.” Lot, his wife, and his daughters were being led away from Sodom by the angels of God with urgent haste. “Get up” (Genesis 19:15), “run for your lives,” “run” (v. 17), and “don’t look back” depict urgency magnified by the angels who grabbed their hands to lead them away (v. 16).
Once again faced with impending judgment, God delivered the “righteous.” Once they had arrived in Zoar, destruction came. However, even in the very act of deliverance, the nameless wife of Lot disobeyed the command of God’s angels and “looked back” (Genesis 19:26) and became a pillar of salt.
The command to not “look back” found both in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and “not being fit for the kingdom of heaven” found in the teachings of Jesus compels one to look forward to what is present today. Being forward-thinking without guides and structure is not a random notion.
The angels of God led Lot’s wife, and the plow was God’s constant presence found both in Scripture and His Holy Spirit. For the Christian and Christian leaders, God’s charge is to be bound by His presence and Scripture and to be courageously forward-looking in service unto Him. B&R
