Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet Outreach

Luke 17:32

This short verse provides more than a warning to recall the folly of Lot’s wife. For a review of this incident, read Genesis 19:24-26.

THE VERSE
Remember Lot’s wife.

THE STUDY
Remember [Greek term: mnēmoneuō]. This verb means “to be mindful of.” The word has as its root a combination of two terms: MENO meaning “to remain, abide, endure” and MASSAOMAI, “to chew, consume” or “to handle or squeeze.” This is a startling composition; REMEMBER herein means much more than simply recalling an event. The grammatical form of the verb is “Present Imperative Active”; this conveys a command to perform the action. In the word REMEMBER, the reader of the verse is sternly warned to keep and “mull over”/”chew on”/”to squeeze tightly” the admonition in his/her mind and heart.

Lot [Greek term: lōt]. LOT is the proper name from the Hebrew LOWT (“cover, veil”); the root meaning is LUWT, “to wrap closely, tightly.” This is a curious name. What “wrapped” Lot? What “covered” or “veiled” his perceptions? In considering the account of his [and his family’s] escape from Sodom, did something have a “tight” grip on him, that he hesitated to leave?

Wife [Greek term: gynē]. “a woman of any age.” The generality with which Lot’s wife is cited, stresses the importance of her attitude and action and not on her specific identity (i.e., that she is not herein named).

TAKEAWAY THOUGHT
Resisting temptations not only involve actual “fleeing” from a situation, but “fleeing” from the lust within the heart. Merely escaping from the environment won’t help if the temptation is continuously nourished in the Mind — and nurturing it into sin. This verse is a perpetual warning to those who want to be saved but who are content with halfway measures; who seem to forsake the world but whose hearts are still in it. Salvation cannot come without persistent enduring until the end.