WWUTT 2456 Remember Lot's Wife (Luke 17:31-37)

Remembering Lot’s Wife in Light of the Coming of the Son of Man

Jesus talks with his disciples about the coming of the Son of Man and he tells them, remember Lot's wife, she looked back at Sodom longing for that city that was being destroyed and she was destroyed right along with it.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

The Kingdom of God and the Pharisees’ Question

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we have a section of chapter 17 to finish up. We didn't quite finish Jesus' teaching on the coming of the kingdom. So let me read once again verses 20 to 37, and then we'll pick up where we left off last week.

Hear the word of the Lord. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them. The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, look here it is or there, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.

He said to the disciples, the days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, look there or look here. Do not go out or follow them.

For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will be the Son of Man in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation, just as it was in the days of Noah.

So will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them.

All.

Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rain from heaven and destroyed them all.

So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away. And likewise, let the one who is in the field, not turn back.

Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you in that night, there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.

There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left. And they said to him, where Lord? And he said to them, where the corpse is. There the vultures will gather. So where we have to pick up is verse 31.

The Kingdom Is Spiritual, Not a Geographical Kingdom

On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, not come down and get his goods. Let the one who is out in the field, not turn back. And we'll come back to that portion here in just a moment. Look at the distinctions once again between what Jesus says to the Pharisees and what he says to his disciples.

The Pharisees are asking when the kingdom of God would come. And Jesus says to the Pharisees, it's not coming in ways that can be observed. It's not coming in the way that you think it's going to come.

Where somebody can say, here it is. Now is the coming of the kingdom. There's the king sitting on his throne. It's all right here. We've become a great superpower again in the earth. That's not the way that the kingdom of God comes in.

Instead, Jesus says, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. And as we considered last week, that is meaning that the kingdom of God is in the hearts of those who are followers of Jesus. In the midst of them, not saying that it's in the hearts of the Pharisees, but those who are following Jesus are in their midst.

And the kingdom of God is right there. It is something spiritual. It is not going to be a physical location on the earth that people can say, here is the kingdom of God. That was what the Jews had in mind.

And even to this day, there are still many in their eschatology who think of the kingdom as being a physical place, a location on a geographical map that you'll be able to point to and say, here is where the kingdom of God is.

But it's in the hearts of those who are followers of Christ. And everybody who is a Christian is a citizen of the kingdom of God. As Paul talks about with the Philippians in Philippians chapter 3, our citizenship is in heaven.

And from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, we already have a Savior from heaven, but awaiting for him in the sense that he's still coming back to judge the living and the dead. But then when Jesus talks to his disciples, he has a different matter that he addresses.

It's not quite the same. Still the same in scope. Like when you're talking about the coming of the end or how the kingdom of God is going to come in. But it's not exactly the same thing because he doesn't address them about the kingdom of God.

With the Pharisees, he answers their question the way that they ask it. The kingdom of God. But with the disciples, they're not asking a question. It's just as if he turns to them and says to them, here is what you're going to want to see in your day.

You're going to want to see one of the days of the son of man. Now, we didn't address that with the Pharisees because there were things the Pharisees doubted. They did not believe. There are certain things that Jesus taught about the kingdom only to his disciples that everybody else did not get to hear.

And same with us today. There are things about the kingdom that we get to know and learn that most people who are not believers just don't understand. So as Jesus is saying this to his disciples, he's talking about the days of the son of man.

You will desire to see it, but you won't see it. And that is to say that what's going to end up happening really happens after the time of the disciples. Most of them died or were martyred by the time the destruction of the temple happened.

And Titus marched on Jerusalem with the armies of Rome. Now, that's the immediate fulfillment of what Jesus is talking about here. Almost every major historical commentary that you'll read. And I say historical commentary because like those that have been written in the last few decades, almost all point to this being a future event with Jesus returning in the rapture.

Why is it that many of the more recent commentaries are focusing on that? That being the day of the son of man. They'll focus on that first. Why is it that most of the modern commentaries do that? Because it's been since Israel has become a nation.

And so there's a lot of dispensational views that end up coming into reading or interpreting this particular text and thinking that it has something to do with Israel regathering in one place. And now what we're waiting for next is the rapture of the church.

That is going to happen. But if you look at commentaries that were written prior to the middle of the 20th century, then almost all of those commentaries, the vast majority of them, you're talking like Charles Ellicott's, Matthew Henry's, John Gill's, Jameson Fawcett and Brown's, Matthew Poole's.

They are all pointing to this being about the destruction of the temple that happens in 8070. Now, I mentioned last week that it's almost like we're getting a preview of this here, which Jesus is going to pick up on later, or rather, I should say, Luke picks up on it later in Luke 21.

This is kind of in an odd spot. And it's almost as if we're getting a glimpse into something that's going to be spoken about in greater detail later. Luke puts this here to go with the parables that are coming up.

So in between Jesus cleansing the ten lepers and then the parable that he's going to tell, the parables that will come up at the start of chapter 18. Remember that Jesus cleansing the ten lepers started with Luke saying on the way to Jerusalem.

And this is going to be a this is a discourse that Jesus will continue in Luke 21. Now, it's OK to look at this and interpret this as talking about something that will yet happen in our future. The return of Christ, the rapture of the church, the judgment that will be brought upon the earth, types and shadows.

Right. So even the destruction of Jerusalem that happened was a glimpse into something that was going to happen on a greater scale in the far distant future with Christ's return and his bringing judgment on the earth.

So this that's going to happen in Jerusalem is still understood by many in history as being a day of the Son of Man, because it happened as Jesus said it was going to happen. It wasn't an appearance of him in the sky in that people literally saw Jesus with his angel armies coming back and bringing judgment upon Jerusalem.

But it was a day of the Son of Man in the sense that Jesus predicted it and that he would be the judge that would bring it about. And so it happened. And it was unmistakable when it happened to the disciples and anybody else that had heard the gospel and the prophecies of Jesus.

I mean, the gospels had all been written prior to 80, 70, even the most liberal scholars. Well, I can't say the most liberal scholars because they'll all try to argue that it was written at the end of the first century or beginning of the second century.

But there are even, let's say, liberal estimates. The more liberal estimates about the dating of the writings of the gospels still put them before 80, 70. The vast majority of scholarship would stick them there in the middle of the first century before the destruction of the temple.

So you have to acknowledge, you have to admit if that's your dating of the gospels, that Jesus accurately predicts this event and it happens with striking detail. So that when it occurs, all the people who have heard the teachings of Christ, they've heard the teachings of the apostles, and here it happens.

They know this is the day of the Lord in the sense that the Lord predicted it and it happened. He brought it about. This was by the hand of God. And it was something that would not just be heard and seen in Judea, in Judah, but it would even go out to the ends of the earth.

Hence the statement, as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the son of man be in his day when he has this day on Jerusalem, destroying the temple and taking out the city, bringing judgment upon it.

As he promised, it will be a day that will spread across the sky as far as the sky spread. So people will hear about it and know about it. It was an incredibly massive event that happened in world history, especially in redemptive history.

Even the Hebrews talks about this day coming, that what has been is ready to pass away. The old system, the old covenant, it was all coming to an end. Once the temple was destroyed, sacrifice would be done.

And the Jews would not even have an opportunity to build another temple, to resume sacrifice again. Hasn't happened for over 2 ,000 years. So that further speaks into the significance of this event. So those things that Jesus is talking about here definitely pertain to that.

And that's what the disciples would have understood in that day. Disciples of Jesus in the broad sense, not just the 12. But anybody who was a Christian, anyone who was a follower of Jesus, when that happened, they knew what it meant and they knew what it was in fulfillment of.

And so Jesus says that on that day, well, first of all, in verse 30, he says, so it will be on the day when the son of man is revealed. Now, of course, we read that as son of man is revealed as Jesus coming in the sky.

But son of man is revealed in the sense that once that event happens, there's going to be no mistaking who predicted this and who made it happen. So it's the day of the son of man. He is revealed on that day to so many in the earth.

And on that day, verse 31, let the one who is on the housetop with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away. And likewise, let the one who is in the field not turn back. So there's not going to be an opportunity to go back and get your stuff.

This day is going to happen so quickly and so totally that nobody's going to have an opportunity to change their lifestyle or move and get their goods and let's set up a house over here. Like the guy who's on his housetop that sees these things coming, flee, get to the mountains.

And again, this will get drawn out a little bit more when we get to chapter 21. Verse 32, remember Lot's wife. Now, that's a great verse. And one of the ones that I say, if you highlight stuff in your Bible, highlight Luke 17, 32.

Remember that previously Jesus said, just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the son of man. They were eating and drinking. They were marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Same sorts of things were going to be going on in Jerusalem and in the Roman empire. On the day that Titus and his armies will march against Jerusalem, suddenly it's going to come, the flood will come and destroy them all.

Verse 28, likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.

And so remembering that, that Jesus made that comparison to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Jerusalem was as wicked and the warnings had been given. Jesus had even given warnings here in the Gospel of Luke already that it will be better on the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than it will be for some of these cities who heard the word and they saw the miracles and yet they did not believe.

And so Jesus tells his disciples in light of this, remember Lot's wife. What did she do? He's just said, let the one who is on the housetop not turn back and get his stuff. Let the one who is in the field not go back and get his stuff.

Remember Lot's wife. When the judgment came on Sodom and Gomorrah, what did she do? She was told, they were told, Lot and his family were told by the angels not to look back, to flee till they got to Zoar.

But Lot's wife turned and looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Her heart was not for God. It was not to obey God. She longed for the cities that were being destroyed, even though God's judgment was coming upon them.

Yet her heart was there. That's what she wanted. She still wanted the stuff of this world. And so she perished with the world. And so that's the caution. That's the warning that Jesus is giving here. Don't look back.

Don't go back for anything that is of this world. Be focused on the kingdom that is to come. And let these days of judgment that will happen not take you by surprise. You continue to stay the course. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Do not look back or long for the world that is perishing. Verse 33, whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it. Like you try to maintain your way of life in the midst of these judgments and these destructions that will come, you won't be able to sustain yourself.

You won't save yourself. But whoever loses his life will keep it. Whoever gives himself up for the sake of the kingdom and for the sake of Christ will gain so much more. I tell you, in that night, Jesus says, there will be two in one bed.

One will be taken in the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken in the other left. Now, the way that people read this, they will read into this, you know, the rapture.

Two people in a bed. There is the song by Larry Norman. I wish we'd all been ready. A man and wife asleep in bed. She hears a noise and turns her head. He's gone. I wish we'd all been ready. Now, again, these this is all like a micro fulfillment.

The micro fulfillment of this prophecy would be the destruction that comes upon the temple and upon Jerusalem. The macro fulfillment would be that judgment that comes upon the whole world. So there is an application there.

We see the small one fulfilled first small. I mean, it was it was an incredible, colossal worldwide event, but it was still small by comparison of the judgment of God that will eventually come. So even in the instance of the Romans coming against the Jews, you would have a man and wife.

One would be slain and the other one be left. The other one would be left standing. You have two women that are grinding at the mill. One would be slain and the other one would be left standing and who can explain why one would die and the other one would be spared, except that this would be by the providence of God.

And with regards to the day of the Lord, in which Jesus returns and raptures his church. Now, on that day, we'll understand. We will understand anyway, why one will be taken and the other one will be left.

It's because the one who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. Now, I want to I want to present to you that the one who is taken is the one who is destroyed. Because again, as that would have been the case with the Romans taking the one right, then that was judgment.

That was a person who was destroyed or killed. So the taking of the one is not the rapture. The taking of the one is the judgment. It's the judgment that comes upon the one. The other one is left. They have life because they believed in Jesus Christ.

And so we're spared the judgment when it came. This isn't about the rapture. It's about judgment. This is the day of the son of man.

Remember.

The Corpse and the Vultures

So then two women grinding together, one taking the other left. In verse 37, the disciples ask him where Lord and he said to them where the corpse is there, the vultures will gather. So as you can look up in the sky and see where the vultures are and you know where the vultures are, that there's a corpse down below.

So it will be in the day of the Lord. You'll be able to look to the heavens and you will see that that day has finally and ultimately come. Now, in reference to the days of Noah and the days of lot, that is not a reference to the specific evils that were going on in that day.

Jesus clearly explains what he means. He says that in the days of Noah, people were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.

So everything was going on as normal. Nobody had any reason to believe that the end of the world was at hand and suddenly the judgment of God came upon them. And then so it was in the days of lot. But then when they went out of the city, the judgment came.

So it is the Lord will rapture his church and then he will bring judgment down upon the earth. But don't read those things like the days of Noah and the days of lot as talking about the specific evils that were going on in that day.

And I hear some people do this. You may have heard this before, too, saying things like, well, there were nephilim in the days of Noah, giants in the earth. So you know what we're going to see in our day before Jesus returns?

The giants in the earth are going to come back. Yeah. And it might be like aliens or demon seed or something like that. That is not at all what Jesus is talking about. He plainly says what he's referencing.

Not that those same evils that were happening in that day will happen now, but that it was everything was just like any other day. Those who knew the Lord and were obedient to the Lord had no reason to be afraid of that day, surprising them like a thief.

That's what Paul says in first Thessalonians chapter five. We are children of the day. There's no reason for that day to surprise us like a thief coming in the night. We were ready for it. We were looking for the return of the master.

But for those who are not looking for it, it will be stunning. And they won't be able to be saved in that day. It will already be too late. And that is why we have today to share the message of the gospel.

Judgment is coming.

Now,.

A judgment may come upon a person before the day of the Lord even comes. They could unexpectedly die, or maybe they could even expectantly die, just growing old and dying, getting incredibly sick and dying.

And so to prepare a person to stand before God and judgment, we have to share with them the gospel so that they know by faith in Jesus Christ, my sins are forgiven. And I have eternal life. The only way to be saved from death of any kind, whether it's the death that takes us naturally or the supernatural judgment that will come from heaven.

The only way to be saved is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us not despair in these days, but we continue to live as God has called us to live that we keep our eyes on Jesus as we focus on the tasks that are at hand, but remembering lots wife so that we're not looking back at the world.

We're not looking at the stuff of this earth.

We're not,.

We're not envious of the sin that everyone around us enjoys because we know it's because of that sin. They will be judged. We should not go after those things that make for judgment. We go after those things that lead to sanctification and in the end, eternal life.

As Paul talks about in Romans chapter six, verse 22, let's finish their heavenly father. We thank you for what we have read. And I pray Lord that we would be steadfast and sure in this walk of faith that we are in looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

He's coming back again to judge the living and the dead. So let us not be as lots wife, looking back at this world, clamoring for this world, but instead our focus is upon Jesus. Forgive us our sins, lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake.

It is in Jesus name that we pray Lord Jesus come quickly. Amen.

Thank you for listening to when we understand the text with pastor Gabe.

Hughes.

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