# 21 - Sodom, Fire and Brimstone P. 2 - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein, we revisit the story of Lot’s family fleeing the destruction of Sodom. The episode explores themes of judgment, obedience, and the dangers of looking back at what God has called us to leave behind. Through powerful retellings of the biblical narrative, listeners are reminded of the weight of God's holiness and the need for faith in moving forward, no matter the cost.
Episode 21 of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein is inspired by the Book of Genesis.
Sign up for The Chosen People devotionals at https://www.thechosenpeople.com/sign-up
For more information about Yael Eckstein and IFCJ visit https://www.ifcj.org/
Today's opening prayer is inspired by 1 Corinthians 10:14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”
Listen to some of the greatest Bible stories ever told and make prayer a priority in your life by downloading the Pray.com app.
Show Notes:
(02:28) Intro with Yael Eckstein
(04:26) Fire and Brimstone Part 2
(23:54) Reflection with Yael Eckstein
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:00
Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense. The victims
00:00:08
Speaker 2: of this terrible wickedness plead for justice. The sin of
00:00:12
Speaker 2: both Sodom and Gomorrah is extremely serious.
00:00:18
Speaker 3: Yes, my Lord, your judgment will be carried out according
00:00:21
Speaker 3: to your will.
00:00:23
Speaker 4: My lords, be welcome to the city of Sodom, the
00:00:27
Speaker 4: pride of the great cities of the plain. Please allow
00:00:31
Speaker 4: me to be your host while you stay here in
00:00:33
Speaker 4: these walls.
00:00:35
Speaker 1: Lot was so unattuned to the presence of God that
00:00:38
Speaker 1: he hadn't noticed what Abraham noticed. He did not recognize
00:00:42
Speaker 1: the divinity veiled behind their handsome faces, or the authority
00:00:47
Speaker 1: vibrating from their voices as they spoke. What who is
00:00:52
Speaker 1: it you're hosting in there?
00:00:54
Speaker 5: Who are those pretty men you're keeping all to yourself?
00:00:58
Speaker 1: The wood of the door was immediately met with the
00:01:01
Speaker 1: dull funk of the blade of a dagger, followed by
00:01:04
Speaker 1: two pairs of fists. Just then Lot felt a pair
00:01:07
Speaker 1: of strong, sure hands grasped his shoulders and hurl him aside.
00:01:12
Speaker 1: A blinding light illuminated the street behind the door. The
00:01:16
Speaker 1: light that refracted through the ball frame and the front
00:01:19
Speaker 1: windows was brighter than even the sun at it zeneth Ah.
00:01:23
Speaker 4: I've been blinded.
00:01:25
Speaker 5: Can you see anything?
00:01:27
Speaker 6: Where? Where is the dotal?
00:01:29
Speaker 4: What?
00:01:30
Speaker 1: What did your doros? What fun a saucery is this?
00:01:36
Speaker 3: The evil and vile atrocities have caused a great outcry
00:01:41
Speaker 3: against its people.
00:01:49
Speaker 1: Despite all lod had seen earlier that night, with the
00:01:52
Speaker 1: mob and the blinding light, and even all the acts
00:01:55
Speaker 1: of Abraham's God in the years since they left Haron
00:01:59
Speaker 1: he hesitated. The visitors watched his silent calculation, and as
00:02:04
Speaker 1: if in response, they swooped upon him, grabbing his hands
00:02:09
Speaker 1: and dragging him from the threshold of their home into
00:02:12
Speaker 1: the streets of the city. You need to leave now.
00:02:18
Speaker 3: Or take your wife and your daughters, or you will
00:02:21
Speaker 3: be swept away from the punishment of the city.
00:02:31
Speaker 5: With every step away from the burning city, they faced
00:02:34
Speaker 5: a choice look back and perish, or move forward into
00:02:39
Speaker 5: an uncertain grace. Shall my friends from here in the
00:02:43
Speaker 5: Holy Land. I'm ya l estein with the International Fellowship
00:02:46
Speaker 5: of Christians and Jews, and this is the Chosen people.
00:02:51
Speaker 5: Every day we are transported into a cinematic story inspired
00:02:56
Speaker 5: by the Hebrew Bible. We traversed tales of faith failure,
00:03:01
Speaker 5: love and loss. Through the story of Israel, we'll discover
00:03:05
Speaker 5: what it means to live a life of purpose, what
00:03:08
Speaker 5: it means to step into the calling that God has
00:03:11
Speaker 5: for each one of us. God chose the nation of
00:03:16
Speaker 5: Israel amount sinai, but through their story will discover one
00:03:20
Speaker 5: abiding truth that we are all chosen for something great.
00:03:26
Speaker 5: Let's begin today. We turn to a story inspired by
00:03:30
Speaker 5: Genesis nineteen seventeen to twenty nine, a tale of judgment
00:03:35
Speaker 5: and action. Imagine a night of whispered warnings and panicked footsteps.
00:03:41
Speaker 5: The air is thick with dread as dawn approaches. A
00:03:45
Speaker 5: city is on the break, teetering between the familiar rhythms
00:03:49
Speaker 5: of life and an impending storm of divine judgment. The
00:03:55
Speaker 5: sky one serene, bears the weight to fiery clouds. I
00:04:00
Speaker 5: need to pour down a rain of destruction, And in
00:04:04
Speaker 5: the shadows, a family flees urged on by messengers from heaven.
00:04:11
Speaker 5: What do you clink to when your whole world seems
00:04:14
Speaker 5: to come to an end? And in the end, what
00:04:18
Speaker 5: does the Bible story teach us about justice, mercy, and
00:04:23
Speaker 5: the human condition.
00:04:27
Speaker 1: This episode of The Chosen People with y Isle Extein
00:04:30
Speaker 1: contains explicit content that may be triggering for some listeners
00:04:34
Speaker 1: and inappropriate for young children. Listener discretion is advised.
00:04:40
Speaker 2: Get up, keep moving, don't stop, and don't look back.
00:04:46
Speaker 1: Lot stumbled, his knee, stinging as it met sharp gravel
00:04:50
Speaker 1: along the streets out of the city. The two messengers
00:04:54
Speaker 1: were still forcibly dragging Lot and his stunned family, pulling
00:04:58
Speaker 1: them up when they fumbled, and spurring them on with
00:05:01
Speaker 1: words and hands toward the distant gates of Sodom. As
00:05:05
Speaker 1: they fled, Lot's eyes caught sight of the crumbling stone structures,
00:05:11
Speaker 1: delicate fishes, spider webbing beneath his feet. He blinked and
00:05:15
Speaker 1: rubbed his eyes, but the vision remained a harbinger of
00:05:19
Speaker 1: the city's imminent doom. His youngest daughter, Milker, tripped on
00:05:24
Speaker 1: a step, her satchel spilling its precious contents, clothing, heirlooms, trinkets,
00:05:30
Speaker 1: tumbling down the roughly carved steps. Her cry for help
00:05:34
Speaker 1: went unanswered, the messenger hauling her along with a single
00:05:37
Speaker 1: minded determination. Lot turned to protest, but a stern look
00:05:42
Speaker 1: silenced him. There would be no slowing down, no stopping.
00:05:47
Speaker 1: A grumbling far beneath his feet convinced Lot to surrender
00:05:52
Speaker 1: any thought of a second appeal. The great upheaval caused
00:05:56
Speaker 1: Lot to stumble again, and his messenger tightened his grip
00:05:59
Speaker 1: on it his elbow and doubled their pace in the distance.
00:06:03
Speaker 1: Frightened voices began to cry out, and the sounds of
00:06:07
Speaker 1: panic began to rise from every valley, corner and courtyard.
00:06:12
Speaker 1: City guards poured through the streets. Doors rattled in their frames,
00:06:16
Speaker 1: and the very stones shook and fractured underfoot, ashful.
00:06:23
Speaker 7: Pits out of the valley.
00:06:27
Speaker 5: The oncluded the lives of so Renderson.
00:06:33
Speaker 1: Lot's eyes widened at the sight of substantial cracks forming
00:06:37
Speaker 1: in the road. The earth groaned, and the rocks sank
00:06:41
Speaker 1: into the thick sulfuric clime beneath. He remembered the sidin
00:06:45
Speaker 1: valley where King Cadelauma's men had been swallowed by the
00:06:49
Speaker 1: treacherous brimstone pits. Almost impossible to detect, the acrid mud
00:06:55
Speaker 1: held you fast as you sank beneath its toxic depths.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: The pits drew in surrounding debris, so unless you knew
00:07:03
Speaker 1: what to look for, you could find yourself caught in
00:07:06
Speaker 1: its orbit before aid could arrive. The oozing slime was
00:07:10
Speaker 1: incredibly flammable, as the frequency of summer wildfires out in
00:07:14
Speaker 1: the plains had taught them. Lot had always assumed that
00:07:18
Speaker 1: the safety of the Stone City would protect them, but
00:07:21
Speaker 1: apparently the danger had lurked beneath the foundation of the
00:07:24
Speaker 1: city all the long. Chaos reigned around them. Looters roamed
00:07:29
Speaker 1: the streets, arms laden with stolen goods, while others turned
00:07:33
Speaker 1: to drink and debauchory, embracing the uncertainty with reckless abandoned
00:07:39
Speaker 1: Bloody daggers flashed in the hands of n'a duels, and
00:07:43
Speaker 1: lynchings took place in shadowed courtyards. The city in moments,
00:07:47
Speaker 1: had descended into anarchy, Its veneer of civilization stripped away
00:07:53
Speaker 1: to reveal the rotting core beneath. How could such repulsions
00:07:57
Speaker 1: have erupted so swiftly had Lot been blind to the
00:08:01
Speaker 1: simm of these abominations. It was as if scales were
00:08:05
Speaker 1: falling from his eyes as he finally viewed the horrors
00:08:09
Speaker 1: of the place he had come to call home off
00:08:12
Speaker 1: its leash. At last, in one alleyway, Lot spied a
00:08:16
Speaker 1: truly gruesome scene. It appeared that the blind Durac and
00:08:20
Speaker 1: his lackeys somehow found chavar Lot's friend, whom he had
00:08:24
Speaker 1: just defended mere hours earlier. They were brutally delivering their
00:08:29
Speaker 1: version of justice. He had been strip naked and his
00:08:33
Speaker 1: face had been beaten to a pulp almost beyond recognition,
00:08:38
Speaker 1: and he limply hung between Durac and Covin as Turban
00:08:42
Speaker 1: further shamed him right in the very street. Lot's stomach
00:08:46
Speaker 1: turned and bile rose from the back of his throat.
00:08:49
Speaker 1: As this horrific spectacle played out, he knew this would
00:08:54
Speaker 1: have been his own fate if the messengers had not intervened.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: The crumpled body of a city guard laid to the side,
00:09:01
Speaker 1: it appeared there would be no rescue for poor chavar
00:09:05
Speaker 1: Lot didn't look over to see whether his wife and
00:09:07
Speaker 1: daughters had seen. The two messengers deftly navigated Lot and
00:09:11
Speaker 1: his family around the deteriorating ground. They had an almost
00:09:15
Speaker 1: sterile efficiency in moving them through the violence exploding around
00:09:20
Speaker 1: them that left Lot feeling unnerved. He couldn't bring himself
00:09:24
Speaker 1: to look up again until they've reached the city gates.
00:09:28
Speaker 3: What we said we would do, we have done. You
00:09:31
Speaker 3: had been delivered safely outside the.
00:09:33
Speaker 1: City Now you must.
00:09:36
Speaker 3: Run, for little layers, run to the mountains, or you
00:09:40
Speaker 3: will be swept away by the destruction that is about
00:09:42
Speaker 3: to before the city.
00:09:45
Speaker 2: Remember, don't stop anywhere on the plane. You must keep
00:09:49
Speaker 2: going and don't look back.
00:09:52
Speaker 1: With that final warning, the messenger, who had been holding
00:09:56
Speaker 1: him fast throughout their journey, gave Lot a firm push
00:10:00
Speaker 1: through the now abandoned city gate. The moment his feet
00:10:04
Speaker 1: passed the threshold, a different sort of panic washed over Lot.
00:10:09
Speaker 1: His chest felt constricted. He couldn't breathe, He couldn't bring
00:10:13
Speaker 1: himself to be that exposed, that out in the open.
00:10:17
Speaker 1: The terror seized his body. His thoughts raced, and his
00:10:20
Speaker 1: breathing came in and out in shallow puffs. Was he dying?
00:10:25
Speaker 1: Why couldn't he breathe? Lot had next to nothing between
00:10:29
Speaker 1: his pack and those carried by his family, But at
00:10:32
Speaker 1: that moment, he would have given it all to make
00:10:35
Speaker 1: this sensation, this waking nightmare, stop. Something snapped inside of
00:10:40
Speaker 1: Lot's mind. Sheer self, preservation, instinct and desperation bore in
00:10:48
Speaker 1: him an idea. Wildly, Lot squinted into the night before them. Yes,
00:10:54
Speaker 1: there in the foothills, just as he remembered it.
00:10:59
Speaker 4: Wait, my lords, Please, I beg you whatever favor I
00:11:05
Speaker 4: have in your eyes, even if it's on a count
00:11:07
Speaker 4: of my uncle Abraham, I beg you.
00:11:10
Speaker 1: I can't run to the mountains.
00:11:12
Speaker 4: I can't live in the mountains.
00:11:14
Speaker 6: I can't.
00:11:15
Speaker 4: I can't. Oh, oh, disaster, disaster will overtake me and
00:11:23
Speaker 4: I'll die. You just saved my life, but now you're
00:11:28
Speaker 4: gonna leave me to go to my death. Please show
00:11:30
Speaker 4: me this kindness. I cannot be without the walls.
00:11:36
Speaker 3: The stone in my back.
00:11:39
Speaker 1: I need it. I need the stones.
00:11:41
Speaker 4: I need the stones between me and my enemies.
00:11:47
Speaker 7: Father, what do you say?
00:11:51
Speaker 3: What?
00:11:51
Speaker 1: Because I ah, oh, yes, yes, Please please look. There's
00:11:57
Speaker 1: this small town up ahead on the.
00:11:59
Speaker 4: Play used to be a part of the City of
00:12:02
Speaker 4: the Plains Alliance Bella. It was called a small place
00:12:06
Speaker 4: that's close enough for me to flee. To allow me
00:12:09
Speaker 4: the chance to get behind its walls before you bring
00:12:12
Speaker 4: on the destruction.
00:12:14
Speaker 7: Please take pity on us, my lords. What my father
00:12:17
Speaker 7: means to say has don't strip him of any chance
00:12:19
Speaker 7: to earn a livelihood. Surely this small place can be saved. Yes,
00:12:27
Speaker 7: this would surely be better than us living in the mountains.
00:12:30
Speaker 7: How would we survive there.
00:12:32
Speaker 1: Please listen to my daughters and my wife. Let us
00:12:36
Speaker 1: run to this small town. Every breath was still a battle,
00:12:40
Speaker 1: and Lot felt as if a great beast was perched
00:12:43
Speaker 1: upon his chest as he watched the two other worldly
00:12:46
Speaker 1: men consider his family's petition. The first seemed unmoved, but
00:12:51
Speaker 1: after what felt like an eternity to Lot's anxiety, the
00:12:55
Speaker 1: second finally turned to them after receiving an almost impersonapt
00:13:00
Speaker 1: nod from the first.
00:13:02
Speaker 3: We will grant you your request.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: He will not destroy the small town you mentioned, but
00:13:08
Speaker 1: you must go now.
00:13:10
Speaker 2: Remember what we told you.
00:13:12
Speaker 3: Don't look back, and don't stop. Now go. We cannot
00:13:18
Speaker 3: complete our task until you get there.
00:13:21
Speaker 1: Without waiting for the first man to have a chance
00:13:24
Speaker 1: to change his mind, Lot took off without a second
00:13:27
Speaker 1: look back at the two men. As the sun steadily
00:13:33
Speaker 1: climbed into the sky, it assaulted the sky above Sodom
00:13:37
Speaker 1: with its crimson glow. If they had not descended into
00:13:41
Speaker 1: seeing chaos and villainy, the inhabitants would have found it
00:13:44
Speaker 1: ominous and foreboding. But so intent on their evil deeds,
00:13:50
Speaker 1: they also failed to see the gathering clouds creeping over
00:13:53
Speaker 1: the plains like a sly predator stalking its oblivious prey.
00:13:58
Speaker 1: Swirming in the depth of the clouds was a crackling,
00:14:02
Speaker 1: fiery lightly The pent up energy of the storm moved
00:14:06
Speaker 1: high above Sodom, the disciplined breath before a mighty war
00:14:10
Speaker 1: cry that some unseen the signal. The first wave of
00:14:15
Speaker 1: lightning struck the ground below. The strikes ignited the exposed brimstone,
00:14:26
Speaker 1: causing it to melt immediately and catch fire. The dull, yellow,
00:14:31
Speaker 1: acrid mud beneath the surface of Sodom turned blood red
00:14:35
Speaker 1: as flame met sulfur. One depositive inflamed sulfur quickly met
00:14:40
Speaker 1: the others and spread like cracks on ice, spider webbing
00:14:43
Speaker 1: throughout the entire city. A ghostly blue flame sprang up
00:14:48
Speaker 1: and encased the burning ooze of melted sulfur, consuming everything stone, wood,
00:14:55
Speaker 1: and flesh in its path, animal and man alike, whence
00:15:00
Speaker 1: screaming to their fiery deaths. Some evil doors did not
00:15:04
Speaker 1: even look up from their foul deeds before the fire
00:15:07
Speaker 1: and awe consume them. Others hidden cellars or ran to
00:15:11
Speaker 1: roofs in vain. No one and nothing escaped the flames
00:15:15
Speaker 1: of judgment. The lightning strikes intensified a harrowing force of
00:15:21
Speaker 1: nature and judgment. It was as if thick tongues of
00:15:25
Speaker 1: flame were licking the city of Sodom. The bright white
00:15:29
Speaker 1: inferno of lightning from above met the blue flames from below,
00:15:33
Speaker 1: and all that was caught in the middle was melted
00:15:36
Speaker 1: into the molten mess that writhed beneath that blue, purifying fire.
00:15:42
Speaker 1: The flames dancing atop the melted sulphur were like the sea,
00:15:46
Speaker 1: the wind with the fire into waves that rippled over
00:15:50
Speaker 1: the landscape and lapped to charred bones and singed buildings.
00:15:55
Speaker 1: The smell of the acrid fumes burned their eyes and lungs,
00:15:59
Speaker 1: leaving their minds intact just long enough to feel the
00:16:02
Speaker 1: tortuous poison overcome them. Plumes of thick, black smoke sprang
00:16:08
Speaker 1: into the air and could be seen for miles and miles,
00:16:11
Speaker 1: heralding the sickening smell of rotted eggs that could haunt
00:16:15
Speaker 1: the land for weeks and months to come. Obeying the
00:16:24
Speaker 1: commands of the mysterious men, they did not look back
00:16:27
Speaker 1: to the streets of Sodom. Lot's wife kept her head
00:16:30
Speaker 1: from turning, averting her eyes from the destruction. Falling behind them.
00:16:35
Speaker 1: It was when they reached the outskirts of the small
00:16:38
Speaker 1: town of Bella that the agonizing screaming and inhuman shrieking
00:16:43
Speaker 1: of thousands of men and beasts being burned alive began.
00:16:47
Speaker 1: Even at a distance, their anguished chorus made the hair
00:16:51
Speaker 1: on the back of her arms rise, and she covered
00:16:54
Speaker 1: her ears to block it out, but to no avail,
00:16:57
Speaker 1: and nothing could block out the booming thunder and crackling
00:17:01
Speaker 1: lightning that plummeted out of the sky. It was then
00:17:05
Speaker 1: that the smell affronted their senses. Edith's eyes watered instantly,
00:17:10
Speaker 1: and she gathered at the nauseating, rancid smell of selfless
00:17:14
Speaker 1: smoke and burnt flesh. She pulled her hands from her
00:17:18
Speaker 1: ears to cover her mouth and nose, but the smell
00:17:21
Speaker 1: was everywhere. It seeped into her skin, clothes, and hair.
00:17:26
Speaker 1: She felt she may never be clean again. The clouds
00:17:30
Speaker 1: over the city cast dark shadows before them, and they
00:17:34
Speaker 1: were outlined by a bright white light every time the
00:17:37
Speaker 1: lightning illuminated the sky. They reached the pitiful town walls
00:17:42
Speaker 1: that were the once respectable town of Bella, and the
00:17:45
Speaker 1: horrified faces of the townsfolk told them just how harrowing
00:17:49
Speaker 1: the sight behind them truly was. Milker attempted to turn
00:17:54
Speaker 1: and look behind them now that they were nearing the
00:17:56
Speaker 1: city gate, but Lot roughly turned her head back to
00:17:59
Speaker 1: the ground for.
00:18:00
Speaker 7: Them leave her alone. She just wants to see what happened.
00:18:05
Speaker 7: Aren't we four enough away now?
00:18:08
Speaker 1: Edith started to turn around herself when Lot lunged for
00:18:11
Speaker 1: her and took her face in his hands.
00:18:14
Speaker 4: Edith, no, you heard what they said.
00:18:16
Speaker 1: Don't look. We can only go forward now.
00:18:19
Speaker 4: We have to get beyond the walls of the city
00:18:21
Speaker 4: to safety.
00:18:23
Speaker 1: Edith tore his hands away from her face and shoved
00:18:26
Speaker 1: him hard in the chest.
00:18:29
Speaker 7: The walls of the city. You call this a city?
00:18:34
Speaker 7: How are we to live? Look at these people. You
00:18:38
Speaker 7: would have us live in squalor and poverty among these
00:18:41
Speaker 7: country bumpkins.
00:18:43
Speaker 4: Ah, Edith, Edith, you beg these men to send us here,
00:18:47
Speaker 4: same as me. What are you saying?
00:18:50
Speaker 7: I can't I can't do this, Lot, I cannot follow
00:18:56
Speaker 7: you again. We've already lost so much. We crawled our
00:19:01
Speaker 7: way back. I can't do it again.
00:19:04
Speaker 2: Mother.
00:19:05
Speaker 7: Please, we'll find a way to survive. I promise we'll
00:19:09
Speaker 7: find a way together. What do you know of it.
00:19:12
Speaker 7: I've handed you everything. I got you a husband, secured
00:19:16
Speaker 7: your future, and gave you stability. You would have nothing
00:19:20
Speaker 7: without me. Mother. Follow your sister, heed her. She's the
00:19:30
Speaker 7: best chance you have. See if she can provide for
00:19:34
Speaker 7: you as I have.
00:19:37
Speaker 1: To Lot's horror, his wife kissed their younger daughter on
00:19:41
Speaker 1: the forehead and squeezed the eldest's hand before turning around
00:19:46
Speaker 1: to face the destruction of Sodom. She drew herself up
00:19:50
Speaker 1: to her full height, squared her shoulders, and began walking
00:19:55
Speaker 1: in the direction of the smoldering ruins.
00:20:01
Speaker 4: Yes, wait, turn around, What are you doing? Where are
00:20:09
Speaker 4: you going?
00:20:14
Speaker 1: Lot threw his arms protectively around his screaming and stunned
00:20:19
Speaker 1: daughters to keep them from following her. He hauled them
00:20:23
Speaker 1: forward through the final steps that led through the city gate,
00:20:27
Speaker 1: and together they all collapsed to the threshold. The guards
00:20:32
Speaker 1: had long since abandoned their posts to gape open mouths
00:20:36
Speaker 1: at the terrible judgment raining down on Sodom and the
00:20:39
Speaker 1: surrounding plain. Lot's young daughters then broke from his grip
00:20:44
Speaker 1: and ran to roughly human embrasures in the stone wall
00:20:47
Speaker 1: to peer out. Lot shakerly found his feet and followed
00:20:51
Speaker 1: them to the dreary lookout to see what fate had
00:20:53
Speaker 1: befallen his wife. She was no more than a hundred
00:20:58
Speaker 1: paces away, but thicks smoke polluted the air, and she
00:21:02
Speaker 1: was soon no more than an outline. The girls whimpered
00:21:05
Speaker 1: and continued to shout her name in vain. Suddenly the
00:21:10
Speaker 1: wind shifted and she was in full view from the wall.
00:21:14
Speaker 1: She gazed upward as if in provocative protest, arms outstretched,
00:21:19
Speaker 1: and her screen was cut short, and she stood still
00:21:23
Speaker 1: as a pillar. But then her body fell up. It
00:21:28
Speaker 1: did not fall, it began to crumble to lots from revulsion.
00:21:34
Speaker 1: The outline of her very body was falling in on
00:21:37
Speaker 1: itself and dissolving into what appeared to be sult The
00:21:42
Speaker 1: wind carried larger and larger chunks until there was a
00:21:45
Speaker 1: small pile where she once stood. Petrified, his daughters stopped screaming,
00:21:51
Speaker 1: their eyes wide in horror. Time stood still as the
00:21:56
Speaker 1: three of them watched a smoky gust carry the rest
00:21:59
Speaker 1: of her away on a fell wind. His daughter's keening
00:22:03
Speaker 1: cries filled lots he as, driving him to his knees.
00:22:07
Speaker 1: He couldn't bear to watch his city burn again. About
00:22:12
Speaker 1: thirty miles away, Abraham was walking his territory, walking stick
00:22:18
Speaker 1: in hand, surveying the land as he did each day.
00:22:22
Speaker 1: A dark spot in the sky drew his attention, and
00:22:25
Speaker 1: he turned off his path to climb the gentle slope
00:22:28
Speaker 1: of a nearby oak tree grove to get a better
00:22:31
Speaker 1: vantage point. Squinting in the bright sun of midday, he
00:22:35
Speaker 1: saw plumes of thick black smoke steadily overtaking the horizon.
00:22:41
Speaker 1: Even from this great distance, he could see the blurry
00:22:45
Speaker 1: haze of angry red flames, and their outline wavered as
00:22:49
Speaker 1: their heat rose. Sodom Its judgment had come at last,
00:22:55
Speaker 1: just as his God had promised. Though he knew this
00:22:59
Speaker 1: apocalypce was coming, he still stood in terrible awe at
00:23:03
Speaker 1: the magnitude of the destruction. It was final. Definitive generations
00:23:10
Speaker 1: from now would speak in hush tones of Sodom's fate,
00:23:14
Speaker 1: and even further into the future there would be debate
00:23:17
Speaker 1: as to where it actually stood. He trembled at the
00:23:21
Speaker 1: power and might of his God, capable of wiping an
00:23:25
Speaker 1: entire population off the face of the earth and obliterating
00:23:29
Speaker 1: its very history. Even as sick astonishment washed over him,
00:23:34
Speaker 1: he again felt that comforting presence in the back of
00:23:38
Speaker 1: his mind. He knew this was going to happen, knew
00:23:42
Speaker 1: it needed to happen, and he also knew with absolute
00:23:46
Speaker 1: certainty the Lot was safe.
00:23:58
Speaker 4: Wow.
00:23:59
Speaker 5: The sheer instruction and wrath of God in this story
00:24:02
Speaker 5: is overwhelming. People consumed by fire and brimstone, cities reduced
00:24:08
Speaker 5: to ash. It's a stark reminder of God's holiness and
00:24:12
Speaker 5: justice aside that we often shy away from. We talk
00:24:17
Speaker 5: easily about God's love, mercy, and grace, but here we
00:24:21
Speaker 5: see his judgment and it's terrifying. Yes, but it's also
00:24:27
Speaker 5: a call to remember his holiness and to take his
00:24:32
Speaker 5: word and his commands seriously. For all the love that
00:24:38
Speaker 5: God has to give us, he also has expectations. I
00:24:44
Speaker 5: can't help but feel for Lut's wife. She's a symbol
00:24:48
Speaker 5: of our own struggles. How often do we look back,
00:24:52
Speaker 5: how often do we long for what we've left behind?
00:24:56
Speaker 5: But this story is a call to move forward and
00:24:59
Speaker 5: to try God completely. In the stories destruction, there's a
00:25:05
Speaker 5: sobering truth that God is just, and in the story
00:25:11
Speaker 5: of Lot's wife there's a poignant reminder obedience matters. It's
00:25:18
Speaker 5: a heavy story, but this one that asks us to
00:25:22
Speaker 5: reflect on who God is and who He is calling
00:25:27
Speaker 5: each one of us to be. But now let's take
00:25:30
Speaker 5: a closer look at this strange and tragic story, this
00:25:34
Speaker 5: story of Lut's wife turning to salt. It's a story
00:25:39
Speaker 5: familiar to most of us, but there's a lot that
00:25:41
Speaker 5: we can learn from it. We've all read and now
00:25:44
Speaker 5: we've actually heard about Lot's wife who disobeys the angelic
00:25:50
Speaker 5: command not to look back at the destruction of Sadom
00:25:53
Speaker 5: and Gamara and is turned into a pillar of salt.
00:25:57
Speaker 5: But this isn't just an ancient tale of an arbitrary punishment. No,
00:26:03
Speaker 5: it actually has a lot of meaning and things that
00:26:06
Speaker 5: we can learn from it. First of all, the story
00:26:10
Speaker 5: of Lot's wife teaches us that we are where our
00:26:13
Speaker 5: minds are, not only where our bodies are. Lootz family,
00:26:18
Speaker 5: including his wife, have escaped the destruction being rained down
00:26:22
Speaker 5: by God in this city in which they've found such comfort,
00:26:26
Speaker 5: such luxury, such corruption. Lot's wife has escaped the city boundaries,
00:26:33
Speaker 5: but still she suffers the punishment of the city. Why well,
00:26:39
Speaker 5: it's not just because she turned round. It's because her
00:26:42
Speaker 5: mind and her heart were obviously still in the city,
00:26:47
Speaker 5: fondly remembering this sinful time she's had there and regretting
00:26:53
Speaker 5: those times would be no more. But this story isn't
00:26:57
Speaker 5: just about Lot's wife or family or regrets or repentance.
00:27:02
Speaker 5: It's not just about being present in your sin. It's
00:27:06
Speaker 5: not just about looking back at things you've done that
00:27:08
Speaker 5: might not have been so holy. No, their story echoes
00:27:13
Speaker 5: the entire narrative of Israel's relationship with God. Time and
00:27:18
Speaker 5: time again, we see Israel turning back and away from
00:27:23
Speaker 5: God in the wilderness after exodus from Egypt. They long
00:27:27
Speaker 5: to turn back, to return to slavery, rather than press
00:27:33
Speaker 5: on to the promised Land. And I'm sure you remember
00:27:36
Speaker 5: in the era of the Judges and Kings, they repeatedly
00:27:39
Speaker 5: turned back, abandoning God for the false gods and idols
00:27:44
Speaker 5: of the nations around them. Even after their return from exile,
00:27:50
Speaker 5: they struggled to fully commit to God's ways, turning back
00:27:55
Speaker 5: time and time again. So here's the question, why does
00:28:01
Speaker 5: God not want his chosen people to turn back? Turning
00:28:07
Speaker 5: back is returning to what is dead, to what is decayed,
00:28:12
Speaker 5: to what is destructive, And when you look at it
00:28:16
Speaker 5: through those eyes, it makes sense. God wants us to
00:28:19
Speaker 5: pursue life, to pursue growth, to pursue transformation, to always
00:28:26
Speaker 5: be growing higher and not be held back by what
00:28:30
Speaker 5: was looking back as a path to stagnation, to falling
00:28:35
Speaker 5: into old patterns of sin and rebellion. God wants us
00:28:41
Speaker 5: to keep moving forward toward him. So the story of
00:28:45
Speaker 5: Lut's wife isn't just a tale of judgment. It's a
00:28:48
Speaker 5: cautionary reminder of our need to trust God's direction and
00:28:53
Speaker 5: keep moving towards his promises. In the grand narrative, God
00:28:58
Speaker 5: is guiding Abraham and his descendants to the promised land
00:29:04
Speaker 5: that's not just for their sake, but to fulfill his
00:29:07
Speaker 5: godly divine plan for all of humanity. Looking beyond this story,
00:29:14
Speaker 5: my good friend Bishop Paulineer has some insights into what
00:29:17
Speaker 5: the Christian Bible says about looking forward and not looking back.
00:29:23
Speaker 6: Thank you so much, child, And you've just spoken to
00:29:27
Speaker 6: this so beautifully, so fully that there's really not a
00:29:30
Speaker 6: lot for me to say. And I spoke so much
00:29:32
Speaker 6: last time. I simply want to address this one thing
00:29:37
Speaker 6: and then I'm through. It is this failed family man,
00:29:44
Speaker 6: And can I talk quickly about Noah. You know that
00:29:49
Speaker 6: the Lord spoke to Noah and said, the world is
00:29:52
Speaker 6: filled with darkness and corruption consequently violence, and I'm going
00:29:59
Speaker 6: to to use the earth to destroy the world, but
00:30:04
Speaker 6: I'm going to preserve you. And that God provided Noah
00:30:08
Speaker 6: this blueprint for constructing an arc that would be the
00:30:12
Speaker 6: salvation of Noah, his wife, three sons, their wives. But
00:30:19
Speaker 6: there's no reference in all that God approached the three sons.
00:30:25
Speaker 6: He never said to them the earth is corrupt before me.
00:30:29
Speaker 6: I've had it with them. I'm going to cleanse the
00:30:33
Speaker 6: earth of their debauchery.
00:30:35
Speaker 1: God never did that.
00:30:37
Speaker 6: But there was something about their father. They believed that
00:30:42
Speaker 6: if my dad, my father says to me, I've heard
00:30:47
Speaker 6: from the Lord, I don't have to understand it to
00:30:51
Speaker 6: believe him. And that had such a profound effect that
00:30:58
Speaker 6: the wives, the daughters in law, who were losing their
00:31:04
Speaker 6: own families, believed their husbands who were believing their father.
00:31:14
Speaker 6: And we get to this Lot. I don't really know
00:31:18
Speaker 6: how big this man's family was. Did he have sons,
00:31:22
Speaker 6: They weren't going The sons in law, the Bible says,
00:31:25
Speaker 6: did not believe Lot when he was speaking to them
00:31:30
Speaker 6: about the judgment that was impending the daughters. They went
00:31:35
Speaker 6: with Lot, but they still weren't where they needed to be.
00:31:40
Speaker 1: Because Lot.
00:31:43
Speaker 2: Wasn't No.
00:31:44
Speaker 6: I've often said, live your life in such a way
00:31:47
Speaker 6: when someone doesn't like you anymore, they still trust your
00:31:52
Speaker 6: prayer life and your walk with God. And I look
00:31:57
Speaker 6: at this Lot, and he had made so many mistakes,
00:32:01
Speaker 6: starting with his uncle and dishonoring that when he didn't
00:32:06
Speaker 6: know how to honor his uncle, his own family didn't
00:32:12
Speaker 6: know how to respect him. I'm just praying, sir, to
00:32:19
Speaker 6: the fathers and the grandfathers and the sons and daughters,
00:32:23
Speaker 6: that God will touch you in such a way right
00:32:25
Speaker 6: now that you begin to know how who it is
00:32:30
Speaker 6: to honor, to esteem, to regard, to appreciate in your life,
00:32:35
Speaker 6: and that it becomes loose towards you.
00:32:40
Speaker 3: Amen.
00:32:43
Speaker 5: There's one last thing that I want to talk about
00:32:45
Speaker 5: before we leave behind the story of Lut's wife turning
00:32:48
Speaker 5: into a pillar of salt. Salt, she turned into salt.
00:32:54
Speaker 5: Isn't that a strange thing to happen, Even among all
00:32:57
Speaker 5: of the supernatural and miraculous strange things that we've seen
00:33:01
Speaker 5: and will see throughout the Bible, It's a little bit
00:33:05
Speaker 5: interesting that she turned into salt. So we have to
00:33:10
Speaker 5: ask why does Lut's wife turn into salt? Why that
00:33:16
Speaker 5: punishment of all things? Well, the Jewish sages suggests that
00:33:20
Speaker 5: lutz wife sinned with salt, so she was punished with salt.
00:33:27
Speaker 5: But wait, how does someone sin with salt?
00:33:32
Speaker 3: Well?
00:33:32
Speaker 5: To answer this, the sages tell us story. When guests
00:33:36
Speaker 5: would come to lutz house in Sadome, he would remember
00:33:39
Speaker 5: his uncle Abraham's famous hospitality, and he hoped to treat
00:33:43
Speaker 5: his own guests in the same welcoming manner. Solut asked
00:33:47
Speaker 5: his wife to add salt to the food that they
00:33:49
Speaker 5: offered guests, to spice it up, to give it more flavor.
00:33:53
Speaker 5: Back then, salt was something that was actually precious. But
00:33:58
Speaker 5: Lot's wife didn't want to keep the important and godly
00:34:01
Speaker 5: customs that Abraham held so dear she didn't want to
00:34:05
Speaker 5: adhere to the old ways, and frankly, she thought that
00:34:10
Speaker 5: sault was too expensive to offer to her guests. Lot's
00:34:14
Speaker 5: wife was the antithesis of hospitality all because of salt,
00:34:22
Speaker 5: and so salt is what she became. So that's all.
00:34:27
Speaker 5: Even as we keep from turning back to old and
00:34:30
Speaker 5: sinful ways, hold on to God's command to his chosen
00:34:34
Speaker 5: people since the days of Abraham. We have to know
00:34:37
Speaker 5: what to hold on to and what to let go.
00:34:41
Speaker 5: God's word is forever. Our sins are thin of the past.
00:34:48
Speaker 5: A command that holds true to us his Chosen People
00:34:52
Speaker 5: even today is to remain holy, to look forward in
00:34:56
Speaker 5: God's word, and to bless others. Here's one final blessing
00:35:02
Speaker 5: for you. Ivarech hashem Vi schmurecher ya heir hashempanave ileha
00:35:09
Speaker 5: verroncher ye sa hashempanave lehra vich.
00:35:14
Speaker 1: Llon.
00:35:15
Speaker 5: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the
00:35:18
Speaker 5: Lord make his face shine upon you. May he be
00:35:21
Speaker 5: gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face towards
00:35:24
Speaker 5: you and give you peace.
00:35:27
Speaker 1: Amen. You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle
00:35:31
Speaker 1: Eckstein add free by downloading and subscribing to the Pray
00:35:34
Speaker 1: dot Com app today. This prey dot Com production is
00:35:39
Speaker 1: only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents.
00:35:43
Speaker 1: Steve Katina, Max bard, Zak Shellavaga and Ben Gammon are
00:35:47
Speaker 1: the executive producers of the Chosen People with yaele Estein,
00:35:51
Speaker 1: edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltefianu. Characters are
00:35:56
Speaker 1: voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan,
00:36:01
Speaker 1: Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, and the opening prayer is voiced
00:36:04
Speaker 1: by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by
00:36:09
Speaker 1: Bree Rosalie and Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier,
00:36:13
Speaker 1: Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team
00:36:17
Speaker 1: at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear
00:36:21
Speaker 1: more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot com app,
00:36:24
Speaker 1: available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
00:36:28
Speaker 1: If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please
00:36:31
Speaker 1: rate and leave a review,
Related Episodes
The Tragedy of Dinah
# 43 - The Tragedy of Dinah - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein we confront the devastating consequences of violence, vengeance, and the pursuit of justice without mercy. This episode delves into one of the Bible's darkest chapters, exploring the complexities of human sin and ...
Jacob & Esau Reunited
# 42 - Jacob & Esau Reunited - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein we explore a powerful story of reconciliation, where years of betrayal and fear give way to forgiveness, healing, and restored relationships. This episode reveals timeless lessons on grace, courage, and the t...
Wrestling with God
# 41 - Wrestling with God - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein we dive into Jacob's transformative encounter at the Jabbok, where he wrestles not only with a mysterious figure but with his own identity and destiny. Discover profound lessons on struggle, perseverance, and findin...
