Previous post: Genesis 18
Well, to say that Genesis 19 isn’t my favorite chapter of the Bible would be putting it lightly. It begins with an entire town trying to gang rape some angels and ends with two daughters sleeping with their dad. The entire chapter makes me throw up in my mouth a little.
Rather than focusing on all the depravity, today I’m going to focus on 6 little words in this chapter that made no sense to me in the context of the story or in the context of reality. I mean, there are a lot of disturbing things in this chapter, but these six words seem so random and so bizarre that I couldn’t help but focus on them. Here are the six words from verse 26: “She became a pillar of salt.” What in the world is happening here? It seems like such a weird and random detail…especially in light of verses like Matthew 5:13…where it sounds like being the salt of the earth is a good thing. This is one of the many stories in the Bible that is so bizarre that it must be true. How could you even make something like this up? Why wasn’t she just struck down by a hailstone or turned to dust or struck by lightning or swallowed up by the ground or something? Those things seem more like they were in God’s Old Testament wheelhouse. Why salt? I know enough about the Bible to know that nothing is in it by accident. Every chapter has meaning. Every verse has meaning. So, there must be some reason for this. I’ve heard a lot of sermons in my life, and I’ve heard a few sermons on why Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt; but I’ve never heard one on why salt, specifically. Perhaps there’s a clue in the other mentions of salt in the Bible. So, I started there. Are you ready for a bit of a deep dive on the subject of salt? I didn’t think so. Oh well. Here we go…
As it turns out, salt is mentioned throughout the Bible in a variety of contexts.
Salt is mentioned in Leviticus and Ezekiel as a requirement to be part of the sacrifices.
It was part of the incense in Exodus 30:35.
It was a sign of a covenant of friendship Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5.
It’s a metaphorical name for desolate land: Psalms 107:34, Job 39:6, and Jeremiah 17:6.
In Judges 9:45, Abimelek destroys a city, kills everyone, and scatters salt all over it.
In Ezekiel 16:4 newborn babies were rubbed with salt.
Matthew 5:13: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Mark 9:50: “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Colossians 4:6: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
Jews dip the Sabbath bread in salt. Bread is a symbol of food, a gift from God. Dipping it in salt preserves it. So, it’s symbolic of preserving that gift.
So, salt means a lot of things. Being the nerd and slightly compulsive reader that I am, I had a brilliant thought: “I wonder if anyone has written a book about salt?” Believe it or not, the answer is “Yes, yes someone has written a book entirely about salt.”
A guy by the name of Mark Kurlansky wrote the aptly titled, Salt: A World History. I didn’t see any way I could read a book about salt and keep my eyes open, so I downloaded it on audible, listened to all 13 hours and 48 minutes of it, and took copious notes. That’s right. 13 hours and 48 minutes about the history of salt. As it turns out, there’s an awful lot to know about salt. Did you know that it has, according to Kurlansky, over 14,000 known uses? Among other fairly useless but otherwise interesting facts from his book:
Adult humans contain about 250 grams of salt…or about 2-3 salt shakers’ worth at any given time.
Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt…hence the phrase “worth his salt”. The Latin word for salt is “sal”, hence the term salary. The Latin word “sal” became the French word “sold” meaning “pay” and is the origin of the word “soldier.” The Romans salted their greens, hence the word “salad.”
The French came up with over 265 different kinds of cheeses…primarily when trying to find ways to preserve milk in salt.
One of Gandhi’s acts that gained him a bunch of his followers was his defiance of the British salt laws and accompanying salt tax. This was a bit ironic since he, himself, abstained entirely from the substance.
The US is the largest producer of salt. 8% of the salt we produce is used for food. 51% is for de-icing roads.
The first patent issued in America was for a 10-year monopoly on saltworks for a guy to experiment with his salt-peddling ideas.
A number of the greatest public works ever conceived were motivated by the need to produce salt. Almost no place on earth is without salt. However, before modern geology discovered this, it was sought after, traded, and fought over; because it was not known that salt was everywhere.
In 1670 in France, in an effort to lower suicide rates, those who died by suicide were ordered to be salted and put on public display. Many people accused of crimes were ordered to be “salted and put on trial.”
Chemically speaking, acids try to look for an electron that they are lacking and bases try to shed an extra electron. So, acids and bases have an affinity for each other. Like the rest of nature seemingly does, they long for completion. Together, acids and bases make a well-balanced compound: salt (sodium=base, chloride=acid). Salt is a microcosm for one of the oldest concepts in nature and the order of the universe as a whole—it’s a yin/yang ionic compound.
It was discovered that oil fields were often next to salt. The three most important oil fields in North America were found by drilling against geologists’ advice but following knowledge of salt deposits.
There, do you feel more knowledgeable now? You’re welcome. Do you now understand why Lot’s wife turned into salt and not some other substance? Me either. But I have a few ideas.
First, let’s go back to Kurlansky’s book. I do recommend it by the way. Great work, Mr. Kurlansky.
“The oily water in the Dead Sea is bitter, as though it was cursed. … The exact locations of Sodom and Gomorrah are unknown, but its residents are thought to have been salt workers and the towns are believed to have been located in the southern Dead Sea region. Since Genesis states that God annihilated all vegetation at the once-fertile spot, this barren, rocky area fits the description. But this area also has a mountain—more like a long jagged ridge—called Mount Sodom, of almost pure salt carved by the elements into gothic pinnacles. According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham's nephew, Lot, lived in Sodom and was spared when God destroyed the town, but Lot's wife, who looked back at the destruction, was turned into salt. As columns break away from Mount Sodom, they are identified for tourists as Lot's wife. Unfortunately, they are unstable formations. The last Lot's wife collapsed several years ago, and the current one, featured in postcards and on guided tours, will go very soon, according to geologists.” (page 471-472)
The Dead Sea is 26% dissolved minerals, 99% of those minerals are some form of salt. (page 473)
According to the Quran, the Dead Sea was made the lowest point on earth to punish Lot’s tribe for being homosexuals. (page 475)
Now, let’s go back to the Bible. Salt is the symbol of the eternal nature of God’s covenant with Israel. “It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord.” (Numbers 18:19, NIV.) “Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?” (2 Chronicles 13:5, NIV.)
All that said, what’s the answer? Why did Lot’s wife become a pillar of salt? Here’s what I think. And, I should note that this is speculation…because the Bible doesn’t give an explanation.
As with many things in the Bible, I think there are a few layers of meaning here.
First, I think it’s somewhat covenant-related. There’s a pattern developing in Genesis. As you may recall if you’re one of the 7 people who’ve followed along with my podcast, there’s a covenant in chapter 15. Then, in chapter 16, Abram and Sarai try to take matters into their own hands rather than waiting on God’s timing. Then, in chapter 17, there’s another covenant discussion. In chapter 18, Sarah laughs at the fulfillment of the covenant…trivializing it. Then, here in chapter 19, we see a sign of a covenant…salt. It was a physical symbol that in her heart, Lot’s wife’s covenant was with Sodom. If Kurlansky is right, there’s a decent chance she had become a salt worker like many if not most of the town’s other inhabitants. If that was the case (again, I’d like to emphasize that this is speculation), she may have become the thing she idolized. If that’s the case, the lesson is this: once you have become a Christian, it can become incredibly tempting to go back to life as it was. It’s like an alcoholic saying that he’s strong enough to just have a drink here and there. But, he’s not. We’re not. Whatever we look back to will inevitably consume us. We won’t master it. It will master us. Just as in the lesson Joseph taught us with Potipher’s wife. Sometimes the best answer isn’t rationalization. It isn’t trying to have a calm conversation with a seductress. The best answer is to flee. To run. And to never look back. Otherwise, you risk becoming consumed by the idols of your past. Everyone becomes consumed by something. We all have that thing we look to or run to in times of great stress. These days, it isn’t salt mines. It’s alcohol or caffeine or rage or social media or sugar or fill in the blank. And, I think there are still times where God wants us to flee the comfortable and never look back…or risk becoming the thing we worship.
I’ll leave you with the following Tim Keller quote from his book, King’s Cross:
If you say, “I’ll obey you, Jesus, if my career thrives, if my health is good, if my family is together,” then the thing that’s on the other side of that if is your real master, your real goal. But Jesus will not be a means to an end; he will not be used. If he calls you to follow him, he must be the goal. - Tim Keller, King’s Cross
This week’s AI rap summary:
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Omg! I love the rap! 😂
Salt…who would’ve thought?🤷♀️