Actions and consequences of Lot’s wife vs. Actions and consequences of David
Genesis 19 talks about how Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Lot and his wife and daughters fled. But because Lot’s wife looked back, she died.
Genesis 19:26
Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
In my view, Lot’s wife was under no law. This event happened more than 400 years prior to Moses, when the Law was introduced.
The following is being said about Abraham, who was the uncle of Lot, so Lot and Abraham lived in around the same era.
Galatians 3:15-18
Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”[ meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
First, this brings confusion when reading the following verse:
Genesis 26:5: Because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.
Some argue that these laws refer to the Noahic covenant
The Noahic covenant [Genesis 8-9] applies to the whole of humankind. In this covenant, God:
1. God blessed Noah and his sons, and told them to
populate the earth [9:1]
2. Placed all plants and animals under human command [9:2-3]
3. Forbade the eating meat with the blood still in it [9:4]
4. Murder was forbidden [9:5]
5. Humankind were commanded to shed the blood of those who shed blood [9:6]
6. The Lord promised that he would never again destroy all life on earth by a
flood [9:11]
7. The Lord created the rainbow as the sign of this covenant for all ages to come
[9:12-17]
Still, nowhere is there a law that forbids looking back when fleeing from a city. Lot’s wife did not do anything forbidden according to these laws.
Others argue that a commandment was given in Genesis 19 itself
Genesis 19:15-17 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
I have problems with this. It is not likely that Lot and his wife were aware that this was being said by an angel.
In the beginning of the chapter this is being said about the angels:
Genesis 19:1-2 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
The fact that Lot called the angels lords does not imply that he thought they were more than just men. Sara also called Abraham her lord (1 Peter 3:6). Furthermore, Hebrews 13:2 says the following:
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
I think this applies to Lot. So, to say that Lot's wife ignored the commandment in this chapter to me is truly a problem. When for instance Jonah received a commandment from God, it was the Word of God that was speaking to him (Jonah 1:1-2), and he was aware of this. For Moses, it was God Himself that spoke directly to Him.
But for Lot and his wife and daughters, it was all but clear that this was a message from God. The angels were just two strangers, that appeared to them as men.
In my opinion, Lot’s wife has been being punished while not having violated any law or commandment from God.
Like Paul says, in Romans 4:15
And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Then David.
2 Samuel 11:2-4: One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roofof the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her.
He was already under the Law of Moses. He violated this by sleeping with Bathsheba, whose husband was Uriah.
Leviticus 20:10
"'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.
Then:
2 Samuel 11:14-15: In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
Uriah was now basically murdered because of the orders from David.
This violated the commandment that one shall not murder (Exodus 20:13)
What was Gods view on David?
Acts 13:22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'
David was a man after God's heart, and was not punished for any of his crimes.
To make a short summary
Lot’s wife
Under any law?: No
(Alleged) crime: Looking back
Consequence: Turned into a pillar of salt, so basically death
David
Under any law: Yes, under the Law of Moses
Crime: Adultery and murder
Consequence: Nothing but blessings from God
How can these two things ever be reconciled with each other?
I still believe in God and in the Bible as the Word of God, but these stories appear disturbing to me.
God seems to act here with double standards. How can this ever be?
Every answer will be appreciated
Thanks