Understanding difficult to explain bible stories: Lot’s wife
The purpose of this article, which I hope to become a series, is to examine bible stories that are difficult to understand or to accept in natural terms. Oftentimes bible stories, which are thought of as fanciful or myth, can often be explained in natural terms. This is not an attempt, however, to explain away every supernatural event in natural terms. There are legitimate miracles, things that can’t be explained naturally, though they appear to be rare. More often than not, God does work through the natural to achieve His goals. That, however, does not make them any less miraculous. Here we will be examining Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt. Lot’s wife’s name is not given in the bible, but in rabbinical literature she’s identified as “Irit” or “Idit”. As the story unfolds, Lot and his family are fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah before its sudden destruction. But Lot’s wife turns back and is suddenly turned into a pillar of salt: “ Then the LORD rained brimstone ...