A Pillar Of Salt

In Gen 19:17,26 the angel said to Lot and his family,

"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."

WHY SALT ?

Jesus tells us in Mat 5:13"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

In Lk 14:34-35 He says, "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

 Jer 17:5-6 says..."Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man.....whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited."

 Zeph 2:9 in speaking of Moab and Ammon {the children of Lot by his daughters ,Gen 19:36-38}...The Lord says "Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation..."

In Eze 47:11 we read "But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.

We are told to remember two women...one of whom is Lot's wife.{Lk 17:32}, her heart departed from the Lord through disobedience and her desire for the things of this world and for her children which remained in Sodom. She turned her back on the Lord, she had lost her savour for Him and was left in a perpetual desolate place as a pillar of tasteless salt to be a memorial to us all......if we should lose our savour.

The other woman was Mary { Mat 26:13}.....Mary had poured out her savour onto the feet of her Lord which was represented by the fragrant oil.

When writing on this subject the pen of inspiration says...

"Salt must be mingled with the substance to which it is added; it must penetrate and infuse in order to preserve....the savor of the salt represents the vital power of the Christian-the love of Jesus in the heart, the righteousness of Christ pervading life...Jesus added the solemn warning: "If the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is , thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." As they listened to the words of Christ, the people could see the white salt glistening in the pathways where it had been cast out because it had lost its savor and was therefore useless....It represents the life of every soul from whom the power of the grace of God has departed and who  has become cold and Christless. Whatever may be his profession, such a one is looked upon by men and angels as insipid and disagreeable.

It is to such that Christ says: "I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth." Revelation 3:15,16 ....If there is no actual service, no genuine love, no reality of experience, there is no power to help, no connection with heaven, no savor of Christ in the life. Unless the Holy Spirit can use us as agents through whom to communicate to the world the truth as it is in Jesus, we are as salt that has lost its savor and is entirely worthless.." {MB 35-38}

"In the ritual service, salt was added to every sacrifice. This, like the offering of incense, signified that only the righteousness of Christ could make the service acceptable to God. Referring to this practice, Jesus said, "Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." "Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." All who would present themselves "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God" {Romans 12:1}, must receive the saving salt, the righteousness of our Saviour. Then they become "the salt of the earth," restraining evil among men, as salt preserves from corruption. Matthew 5:13 But if the salt has lost its savor; if there is only a profession of godliness, without the love of Christ, there is no power for good. The life can exert no saving influence upon the world. Your energy and efficiency in the upbuilding of My kingdom, Jesus says, depend upon your receiving of My Spirit. You must be partakers of My grace, in order to be a savor of life unto life. Then there will be no rivalry, no self-seeking, no desire for the highest place. You will have that love which seeks not her own, but another’s wealth.{DA 439}

MARY...

"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. Matthew 26:6,7.

This incident is full of instruction. Jesus, the world’s Redeemer, is drawing close to the time when He will give His life for a sinful world. Yet how little did even His disciples realize what they were about to lose. Mary could not reason upon this subject. Her heart was filled with pure, holy love. The sentiment of her heart was "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" This ointment, costly as it was estimated by the disciples, was but a poor expression of her love for her Master. But Christ could appreciate the gift as an expression of her love, and Mary’s heart was filled with perfect peace and happiness.

Christ delights in the earnest desire of Mary to do the will of her Lord. He accepts the wealth of pure affection which His disciples did not, could not, understand.... Mary’s ointment was the gift of love, and this gave it its value in the eyes of Christ.... Jesus saw Mary shrink away abashed, expecting to hear reproof from the One she loved and worshiped. But instead of this she hears words of commendation. "Why trouble ye the woman?" He said, "for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." No other anointing would Jesus receive, for the Sabbath was nigh at hand...... The desire that Mary had to do this service for her Lord was of more value to Christ than all the spikenard and precious ointment in the world, because it expressed her appreciation of the world’s Redeemer. It was the love of Christ that constrained her....Mary, by the Holy Spirit’s power, saw in Jesus One who had come to seek and to save the souls that were ready to perish..." {Manuscript 28, 1897.}

LOT'S WIFE

"Again the solemn command was given to hasten, for the fiery storm would be delayed but little longer. But one of the fugitives ventured to cast a look backward to the doomed city, and she became a monument of God’s judgment.... While her body was upon the plain, her heart clung to Sodom, and she perished with it. She rebelled against God because His judgments involved her possessions and her children in the ruin. Although so greatly favored in being called out from the wicked city, she felt that she was severely dealt with, because the wealth that it had taken years to accumulate must be left to destruction. Instead of thankfully accepting deliverance, she presumptuously looked back to desire the life of those who had rejected the divine warning. Her sin showed her to be unworthy of life, for the preservation of which she felt no gratitude. We should beware of treating lightly God’s gracious provisions for our salvation." { PP 161}