365 Reflections

Ruth 2:8–10 (ESV)  Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” The incredible trouble brought upon Naomi and Ruth is about to be reversed and turned into an incredible fortune, but step by step. The second chapter of this book is intended to teach us about the grace of the Lord Jesus. Just like Boaz saw and then secured Ruth's provision and protection, Jesus does for His lost sheep, you and I. It is not we who found Him, it is He who found us. We can only respond with the same question as Ruth, "Why have I ...

It's humble pie time for Naomi as she returns to Bethlehem with Ruth in tow. The people are shocked to see her and call out her name. Her response is emblematic of the times of Israel during these harsh Judge-led years. Ruth 1:20–21 (ESV) She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” Let us dissect this for a moment. She went away full? There was a famine in the land and they went to Moab to get away from it. A famine by definition is a place of emptiness. Perhaps Naomi was considering her family to be her fulness but if that is the case, why not stick it out in the Lord's promised land WITH THEM and not chase greener pastures? This would be a good time to bring up the covenant of promise concerning the land. In the Torah, God set stipula...

The book of Judges was hard to cover. It's not a happy end for the once promising Nation of Israel as they slowly descend to the very level of the pagan nations God called them to drive out. The last two stories of Judges shows both the religious pluralism and vicious nature of a nation no longer united around the Lord. So we come to the book of Ruth and it's more bad news: Ruth 1:1 (ESV)  In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. More than the famine in the land, there's the move of Elimelech to the land of Moab. Moab was the nation descended from Lot's incestuous relationship with his daughter. Further, the people were to live in the land on God's blessing for obedience. The famine points to the results of Israel's faithlessness and Elimelech's move is predicated on the national demise happening around him. Interestingly ...

Judges 21:1–5 (ESV) Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” 2 And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 And they said, “O Lord , the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” 4 And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord ?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” The book of Judges ends in infamy. The tribe of Benjamin is utterly decimated by the civil war fought against them by the other tribes for the horrific events of Judges 19. On top of that, the people have sworn an oath to no longer intermarr...

It is no secret that  Israel is a mess by the end of Judges. They have a civil war brewing in the wake of the events of Judges 19. The man whose concubine was killed shares edited details of the story to garner support for a retributive attack on the Benjaminites. Judges 20:4–5 (ESV) And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead. Note the lack of informing them HE offered her to them so he could save his own skin. His statements betray the root problem of Israel - "pride." God is going to her bring low. The tribe of Benjamin, we find out is strong and skilled with slings. They are also fortified in the highland. As the battle commences, we see Israel slowly be humbled by God through a series o...

Ancient Israel is a case study in the reality that laws, promises and blessings from God do not secure a righteous nation. They do not change the heart. Judges 19 is perhaps the Bible's darkest chapter filled with unthinkable human evil and wanton disregard for the dignity of woman. The narrator of Judges has brought us through the judges cycles one after the other and now paints the picture for the terrible realities met by a nation who left God behind and forged their own future. This chapter is a solemn reminder of how bad it can get for a country when the Lord God of Creation is disregarded. The story is about a Levite and his concubine who cheated on him and left him. That first detail is all you need to know about the spiritual life of Israel. First, a Levite was set apart for God's service. Second, marriage was between a man and woman in Israel. Third, adultery was counter to the law and punishable by death. The Levite goes to fetch her after four months away in her...

Judges 18:1–2 (ESV) In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them. 2 So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. The tribe of Dan is on the hunt for land. They were the one tribe unable to secure an inheritance after the conquest. Now, they are looking for a piece of the pie. And where do they arrive but at Micah's house? Micah, who from the last chapter was organizing his own little spiritual conclave in his home with a priest and idol cast from part of the silver he stole and returned to his mother. The scouts from Dan arrive and meet the acting priest. They find out ab...

Judges 17 turns the page on righteous although flawed judges raised up by God to deliver His people from bondage. Now the narrative will describe through tragic stories the corruption of Israel's heart as a result of them turning from God over the previous century. Note the first of four phrases to be repeated until the end of Judges six verses in: Judges 17:6 (ESV) In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. The story begins with a man who stole money from his mother and then confesses upon hearing her curse over it. Judges 17:2 (ESV) And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” The mother then proceeds to hire a silversmith with part of the money to fashion an idol and put it in a makeshift shrine in the house. This she does, claiming...