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GREG - I was pondering Lots wife being turned into a pillar of salt. Most say for her disobedience she was condemned and the pillar of salt stands as a wittness against her! What came to mind, is why salt? Salt is a preservative and a pillar supports structures! Even though she was disobedient, could it have been for the compassion of her people, instead of longing for what she would miss. A better than good example (like in eves case)!
JOEL - Here are the relavent scriptures:
"And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." (Genesis 19:15, 17, 26).
The act of Lot's wife turning to look back to Sodom wasn't just disobedience; it also represents a supposedly repentent sinner yearning to go back to their sinful ways. The act of her looking back meant she wasn't truly ready to give it all up. If the real reason for her turning back was because of compassion for the people still there, God might not have punished her for it. But of course God knew what was in her heart (Luke 9: 47) and apparently it was not compassion.
Refering back to Genesis and this incident, the Savior commented: “They did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all” .
Jesus exhorted, let us not “return back.” As He said, “Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it”. .(Luke 17:27–29, 32)
President Joseph Fielding Smith told of a woman who had repented of immoral conduct and was struggling to find her way. She asked him what she should do now. In turn, he asked her to read to him from the Old Testament the account of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Lot, and of Lot's wife, who was turned to a pillar of salt (see Genesis 19:26). Then he asked her what lesson those verses held for her.
She answered, "The Lord will destroy those who are wicked."
"Not so," President Smith told this repentant woman. "The lesson for you is 'Don't look back!'" (Things of the Soul, Boyd K. Packer)
Salt can represent different things depending on the context. It retards the process of deterioration, a symbol of incorruption and preservation.
"Ye are the salt of the earth" (Matt 5:13).
"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)
But salt can also render lands barren and fruitless. It is at times sent as a judgment or a curse from man or God.
"And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:" (Deut 29:23)
No doubt this is the reason the Lord chose salt. A pillar in the scriptures is sometimes used as a monument to represent something (Ex 24:4, Gen 31:51); in Lot's wife's case it was a representation of God's judgment for her wanting to turn back.
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