No turning back

I don’t pretend to be a Bible scholar, but I had a revelation recently.

Here’s the scene. Two angels turned up in Sodom, and Lot invites them to stay with him. 

During the night, a load of men from the town come to the house demanding sex with the visitors, but their rapacious advances are thwarted and Lot and his family are allowed to flee the city. 

In fact, they left hand in hand with the heavenly guests.

The angels then warn the family to flee without looking back, but wifey can’t resist and becomes a salty pillar.

I must admit, I’ve always found this a bit hard to accept. In the grand scheme of things, Lot’s wife glancing over her shoulder doesn’t seem like a massive crime.

If I had been fleeing something awful, I might have been tempted to see what was going on behind me. So why the harsh punishment?

Well, first, she had specifically been told by the angels – God’s messengers – not to look back. Second, looking back can be pretty dangerous if you’re in the process of fleeing. If you don’t keep your eyes on where you’re going, you are liable to fall.

Ultimately, though, I think looking back symbolised a form of ‘backsliding’. She couldn’t completely cut herself off from her old life. Perhaps looking back might have led to turning back. Or maybe she was thinking about the possessions she’d had to leave behind. It seems you can take a girl out of Sodom, but you can’t take Sodom out of the girl.

It’s worth remembering that looking back not only brought Lot’s wife to a sticky (or salty) end, it had long-term repercussions. In her absence, her two daughters got their dad drunk and slept with him. Both conceived and gave birth to sons whose descendents were the Moabites and Ammonites – who were constantly at war with the Israelites.

Thankfully, I’ve never been turned into a pillar made from any kind of condiment. But I’ve certainly been guilty of looking over my shoulder and finding myself getting sucked back into circumstances and thought patterns God has already delivered me from.

Knowing that He’s done everything to save us from danger, sin, our pasts, broken relationships and so on, why do we look back? After all, Lot’s family aren’t the only ones to have been saved from a bath of burning sulphur.

So why do we look for ways to say connected with the very things God has delivered us from?

Rather than thinking about the past, we should be grateful for our salvation and eagerly look forward to the future and to eternity with our heavenly father.

We all stumble at times, but keeping our eyes on the path ahead will help to prevent any major painful and dangerous falls.  

This still leaves the question of why Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt, of all things. I’m sure there are plenty of theological explanations, but I’m going to offer my own (probably flawed) theories.

Pillars

Pillars were used in the Old Testament as a marker, or a “witness”. Jacob set up various stone pillars to mark important venues, and God himself appeared as a pillar of cloud and fire to lead the Israelites.

Pillars carried esteem and were largely depicted positively in biblical terms. Psalm 114:12 says that “our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace”. But in this instance, it seems the pillar in this case was designed to act as a warning to anyone who saw it (including Lot and his family) that they were to take God at his word.

Salt

Salt was a coveted commodity in biblical times for preservation purposes and to improve the taste of food. It was used to purify offerings to God and was celebrated for its healing properties. The Bible tells us to season our conversation with salt, and in Mark 9:50, Jesus says: “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”.

But salt was also used in the Bible as a means of destruction and cleansing. In Judges 9:45, Abimelek destroyed Shechem and scattered salt over it. This symbolised both destruction and a completely fresh start. Becoming a pillar of salt fits with this symbolism, but unfortunately Lot’s wife had to lose her life to become a lasting representation of this.

Read more from Joy in the next issue of Liberti magazine.

What’s in a word?

The beautiful Mary Alessi

I’ve always been a bit of a word geek; in fact a perfect evening for me would be a Scrabblathon with a hefty serving of chocolate on the side…

But what fascinates me most is the way we may think we understand a word for decades and then realise it might actually mean the complete opposite.

One example of this is the word “shadow” or, more specifically, “overshadow”. These words have always spoken of darkness, danger and domination to me.

And I believed the Bible backed up this view:

• 1 Chronicles 29:15b and Job 8:9: “Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”
• Psalm 11:2: “The wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.”
• Isaiah 59:9b: “We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
• Psalm 23:4 speaks of “the valley of the shadow of death”, while Job 16:16 talks about “dark shadows” around the afflicted man’s eyes and James 1:17 says that God is not changeable like “shifting shadows”.

So shadows are bad, right?

Well actually, I was overwhelmed by the number of positive references I found:

• Isaiah 32:2: “Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.” Isaiah makes several references to being hidden/covered in the shadow of God’s hand.
• Acts 5:15: “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”
• And of course there are many references to being hidden in the shadow of God’s wings in Psalms.

Okay, so “shadow” is a little hazy (excuse the pun), but “overshadow” can’t possibly be positive – can it? This is how the dictionary defines it: “To cast a shadow over; darken or obscure” and “to make insignificant by comparison; dominate”. Case closed, then.

Well, that’s not the way the Bible uses the word. American songwriter and worship leader Mary Alessi points out that the two key instances of the word – just prior to Jesus’ conception and at His transfiguration – are incredibly positive:

• Luke 1:35: “The angel replied [to Mary]: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.’”
• Mark 9:7: “And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son: hear him.’”

 I also found the following great usages of the word, and I’m sure there are others (please feel free to add these in the comments below):

• 1 Kings 8:7: “The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles.”
• Ezekiel 31:3: “Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.”

As Mary Alessi explains, it is the source of the shadow that makes the difference. If our ‘source’ is in or of the world, we are likely to end up feeling insignificant and defeated when we are overshadowed. But God’s overshadowing represents his presence, his protection and the pleasure he takes in our growth and success.

  

Read more from Joy in the upcoming issue of Liberti magazine.

Why 600 arrests just aren’t enough

I was thrilled to hear that Chinese police busted two major child trafficking rings last week. According to the government, 608 suspects were arrested and 178 children were rescued.

Good news, I hear you say. And you’re right – every child rescued from the traffickers is something to be joyfully celebrated.

The government certainly did a great job of rounding up the traffickers. A great deal of evidence was gathered and on November 30, 5,000 police officers launched a joint offensive and rounded up those responsible across ten provinces.

But despite claiming this as the "the biggest victory yet for anti-trafficking" operations, it seems to me the government should focus on preventing trafficking as well as shutting down existing rings.

So what could the Chinese government be doing better?

• It could get rid of the country’s strict one-child policy, perhaps. Experts claim many families are desperate to have a son to carry on the family name. This means baby girls are often sold to traffickers, while baby boys are often bought from them.
• It could also tighten up adoption regulations as existing laws for childless couples in China have led to a thriving underground market for kidnapping, buying and selling children.
• It should come up with a better solution for children who have been victims of trafficking. The rescued children in these raids were reportedly placed in welfare agencies – it’s not clear what will happen to them now.

Ultimately, the Chinese – and every nationality around the world – need to realise that children are precious, regardless of gender.

Besides, if everyone has sons, it’s going to be difficult to keep family lines going unless the girls sold to traffickers are subsequently hired out to procreate with the male heirs. This could result in sexual exploitation, disease, emotional distress and even incest!

I understand that different cultures have different perceptions about right and wrong, but I struggle to accept that any parent believes selling a child to traffickers is the best outcome for that child.

What the Bible says

Jesus makes it clear that children are extremely important and valuable to God.

Mark 10: 13-16 says: “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant.

“He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’

“And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.”

He took them in his arms!

These trafficked children could turn out to be the next Confucius, Ang Lee or… Jackie Chan. Regardless of their destiny, each was created by God to live a life of freedom and fulfilment.

I’m not picking on the Chinese; trafficking happens all over the world, not least in the UK. It’s time to urge our governments to take this issue seriously and to give children across the globe the start in life they deserve.

We may not be traffickers ourselves, but if we turn a blind eye to it we are partly culpable for the mistreatment of children in our own countries and beyond.

Read more from Joy in the upcoming issue of Liberti magazine. 

A big thanks to Bekah for her awesome Haiti blogs!