Verses: Genesis 19; Luke 17:28–32
Fun Fact: Bryce Canyon is not a canyon
Favorite Hike: Queens Garden Navajo Loop
Bryce Canyon National Park is one of Utah’s big five national parks, named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded the area in 1874. While it’s called Bryce Canyon, it’s not actually a canyon but a natural amphitheater.
Many visitors like to drive the park’s 38-mile scenic trail to stop at any of the 13 viewpoints. However, the most popular area is within the first several miles, including Sunrise and Sunset Points and Inspiration Point.
Bryce Canyon is recognized for its unique geology, specifically its red, orange, and white spires known as hoodoos. These oddly shaped rock columns exist all over the world, but the highest concentration is located within Bryce Canyon.
The hoodoo rock formations are formed by patterns of freezing and melting water through multiple weathering processes. They range in size from 5 feet to upwards of 150 feet, as is the case with Thor’s Hammer, the tallest in Bryce Canyon.
You can catch great views of the hoodoos from the scenic drive, but there are also several options to hike among them. You can walk the 11-mile Rim Trail or hike down into the canyon via Queen’s Garden Trail, a 1.8-mile route that starts from Sunrise Point.
The word “hoodoo” means “to bewitch.” Story has it the Native Americans, the Legend People, believed the hoodoos were actually people who had been turned to stone by the god Coyote.
While I wouldn’t compare the God of the Bible to the god Coyote, our Lord did turn someone into a pillar of salt. Recall the story of Lot’s wife from Genesis 19. In this chapter, two angels come to Sodom where Lot is sitting at the gate. Lot invites them into his home, and after some persuasion, they agree.
However, the men of the city come looking for the visitors with wicked motives (v. 5–7), threatening Lot. The angels protect Lot and tell him the Lord has sent them to destroy the city, and he must flee (v. 13).
In verse 17, the angels said, “escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”
Lot and his family escape, but as they are leaving, verse 26 tells us, “But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
What does the Lord have to teach us with these verses? We see Lot’s wife mentioned again in Luke 17:32 when Jesus is speaking to the disciples about His second coming. He is telling them that the coming of the Lord and the judgment of sinners will come quickly, and we should be prepared.
Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. (Luke 17:28–32)
I think these verses serve as a warning. We can be so caught up in the things of this life that we are unprepared for the time of judgment. When told to leave, Lot’s sons-in-law thought he was kidding (v. 14), we see Lot lingering (v. 16), and we see Lot’s wife look back. Would we respond in the same way?
Do we take our turning from sin seriously? Are we ready for the Lord’s return? Or do we think it’s a joke? Are we lingering and dawdling rather than preparing? Is your heart looking toward Christ or back to this world in all its depravity?
I pray as you walk among the spires of Bryce Canyon that you examine your own heart. Remember Lot’s wife. I pray you would set your eyes on Jesus, turn from your sinful ways, and turn to the one true LORD.
Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you
Proverbs 4:25
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