365 Reflections

The end of Ruth is filled with strange twists and turns. It seems Boaz and Ruth are headed to wedded bliss when he stops short. Boaz knows the law. He knows there's a nearer relative who has the Levarite right to redeem Naomi by producing an offspring for her with Ruth. This law was set in place with Moses so ensure that a man's name and inheritance would not be cut off from Israel. Deuteronomy 25:5–6 (ESV) “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. Just when things are looking really good for Ruth and Boaz, he makes the sudden announcement to her that there is a nearer redeemer and according to the law this other man must be ...

Ruth 3:6–9 (ESV) So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” Ruth is making a bold move here in relation to Boaz. She is literally asking him to marry her. It will be the decisive move of her life and change the trajectory of her entire being.  But it is a bit removed from what she was advised to do. Naomi had told her to do everything up to that moment where Ruth asks for Boaz to spread his garment corner ("wings") over her. In Naomi's original advice, this is how she left it: Ruth 3:4 (ESV) But when he lies down, observe t...

Deuteronomy 31 is not a cheery chapter. In it, God makes clear He knows Israel will depart from His ways very quickly and very extremely. It's as if there's nothing that could stop their disobedience and inevitable downfall. Consider that the main ramification of Moses' death would be vast disobedience nation-wide. Deuteronomy 31:16 (ESV) And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Deuteronomy 31:18 (ESV)  And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. There is a way to read this passage on the surface without knowledge of Christ which makes you ask of God, "Then why even give the law?" But God's work of redemption was not finished in giving the law, i...

Deuteronomy 31:9–13 (ESV) Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Look at this command. God had Israel gather together every seventh year to release all slaves and cancel all debts. At that same time, during the feats of tabernac...

Don't believe the lie that doing what God wants is impossible. So often people want to say obedience is impossible to justify their disobedience. But God put it writing for His people so that they could bank on His promise - YOU CAN DO WHAT HE SAYS! Look at Deuteronomy 30: Deuteronomy 30:11–14 (ESV) “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you , neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. Before we go any further, please do not take this to mean you will be sinless. All have sinned. All have fallen short. There is no one who does good except Christ! But the words of this book are not mean to destroy your will,...

Deuteronomy 27:9–10 (ESV) Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10 You shall, therefore, obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.” Deuteronomy 27-28 outline God's prescribed ceremony for Israel once they come into the land of promise. They are to set up a monument with all the law written upon it. This monument is to be made up of large stones and covered with plaster. The law is written upon these stones which remain uncut by man. The natural shape of the stones will remain as they are built upon one another and then inscribed with the law of the Lord for His people.  Interestingly, 6 tribes will stand on Mount Ebal and the other 6 will stand on Mount Gerizim and the blessing and curses will be recited for the nation as the priests read off the lists from these chapters. Commentators me...

So I'm just going to take a stab at this next passage in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 25:11–16 (ESV) “When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, 12 then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity. 13 “You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. 15 A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 16 For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God. There is a connection in this law concerning the wife who harms the genitals of a man attacking her husband and the previous law concerning levirate marriage. The aim of the previous law was to prolong the name of the decease...

So this may be my craziest interpretation of a text ever. But I was reading about Levarite marriage law in Deuteronomy and thought about how this is fulfilled in the New Testament people of God. Let's look at the law first: Deuteronomy 25:5–10 (ESV) “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists,...

Deuteronomy 22 has a lot to say about sex and death. When there was adultery in Israel, people were to die. When a woman "whored in her father's house" she was to die. When a man raped a woman, he was to die. When a man slept with a virgin to whom he was not married, his singlehood was to die - that woman became his wife for life. All in all, this is a fun bit of text! First, we learn, sex is a matter of life and death to God. In our culture, we couldn't be further away from God on this very point. Sex in the minds of many in the West is a "non-issue". Though we still take rape very seriously, sex outside of marriage is basically considered a right of passage for many young people in America. How very different than what we hear from God on these matters from the Law. Sex is serious. God says illicit sex can cost you your life and bring shame upon your whole family. The question the West is grappling with belligerently today is this: On the matter of sex...

Deuteronomy 22:9–12 (ESV) “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. 10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together. 12 “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself. So aren't we supposed to ignore laws like this as New Testament believers? Not if we are to understand our salvation properly. These laws in Isreal were instructing God's people to be a certain kind of people who lived and dressed a certain kind of way and always remember to maintain a singleness of heart regarding their God.  Sowing seed, the unequal yoking of animals and being clothed all find New Covenant counterparts in the teachings of Jesus, Paul, and the Apostles. Consider: First: Sow the right SEED: Mark 4:14 (ESV) The sower sows the word . We are indeed to sow the...

Deuteronomy means, "second law". The reason being that Deuteronomy serves as a retelling of the Law of God given to the people of Israel right before the death of Moses and entrances into the Promised land. Deuteronomy is regarded as a set of Moses' sermons to the people. Even the first paragraph describes Deuteronomy as specific words given to Moses for the people's instruction in their new life with God. Deuteronomy 1:1–3 (ESV) These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them, One commentator I read made the argument that Moses was to the Old Testament law what Paul is to the New Testament c...

Sometimes we miss the forest for the trees in Biblical texts because we are always looking for that personal application or really secret insight no one else has seen. But if we step back, see the communal message and take an interest in how God is working through collective humanity we can see really valuable lessons from the Word of God we may miss otherwise. Numbers 35 is preparing God's people for living in the land. What will be their values as a culture? A culture is cultivated by certain practices and standards. Americans are often ignorant of just how beneficial the culture of our country is to human life and flourishing. Yet so much of what we take for granted as Americans is rooted in God's culture forming rules here in Numbers 35. Take for instance the two sections dealing with land for the Levites and Cities of Refuge. Numbers 35:2–4 (ESV) “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell...

Numbers 15 ends with something that appears out of place. God instructs the Israelites to tie tassels to the four corners of their garments with a blue cord woven into them. These tassels are to remind the Israelites of the laws of their God. Numbers 15:37–41 (ESV) The LORD said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. 39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD , to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. 40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God.” While this command may seem random for Numbers 15, it is not. The Israelites had just followed through on God's commands for the...

Numbers 15:30–31 (ESV) But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord , and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.” This is now the second time we hear about the stipulations for those who sin in "high handed" ways. There is to be no reconciliation, no forgiveness, and no chance at right standing with God for these people. The word in Hebrew for "high hand" literally means to raise a fist up to heaven. It would seem that natural tendency to pose in such a way when men hate God has been around for thousands of years.  But what do we learn from this strange stipulation? I learn most of all this fact: God knows there will always be those who completely and utterly disregard Him. We should not be surprised when they appear in our lives as well. ...

So far in Numbers, God has set up the camp of Israel. He has aligned them around His presence in the tabernacle and divided up their responsibilities in the management of the sacred things. He has also directed their order for marching as well as how to disassemble the tabernacle for movement. The camp is in place, Israel is a cohesive unit. At least from the outside looking on. For Israel to be powerful in war they must be united and at peace with each other. For this reason, God establishes laws pertaining to making amends when they experience wrongs against one another. Numbers 5:5-10 (ESV) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 "Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, 7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. 8 But if the man h...

Leviticus 27:1–8 (ESV)   The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, 3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shal...

The theme of a kinsman redeemer runs throughout the Bible. Someone has become poor through whatever circumstance and a close relative must come and purchase his freedom. We see that theme played out in discussions concerning the year of Jubilee. The last section in the chapter is a peculiar instance whereby a member of Israel may become poor and sell themselves to a stranger. Leviticus 25:47–49 (ESV)   “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan, 48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself. In this case, it is important to note that God instructs His people to purchase their fellow brothers out of slavery. There is not to be a perpetual slavery for God's chosen p...

When you really think about it, all we have is land. Our homes come from the trees that the land produces. Our precious metals are hidden in the land. Our vitamins and healing agents come from mixtures of the components in the land. The Bible opens by telling us that we come from the dust of the land. The land is our life. We eat its produces, we enjoy it's shade, we marvel at it's natural undisturbed beauty. The land is truly God's gift to us. And yet the land reminds us constantly that it is NOT ours. It is unruly and hard to manage. It requires extraordinary patience and incredible amounts of work to get it to produce for us. It is also subject to the curse of sin and awaits its own redemption at the appearing of the Son of God. We need the land, use the land and we must appreciate the land. Leviticus 25-26 is about the Land that God is going to give to His people. Leviticus 25:2 (ESV)   “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the lan...

At the end of Leviticus 24 is a curious story about a boy who blasphemes the name of God. Leviticus 24:10–12 (ESV)   Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 11 and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they put him in custody, till the will of the Lord should be clear to them. Why is this here? And how does it relate to the passage to come about the legal system God enacts called, "lex talionis" or "eye for an eye"?  The first thing this passage reveals is more information as to Israel's relationship with Egypt. We have a mixed marriage. An Egyptian man took a Hebrew slave as his wife and produced offspring. Then perhaps that man left Egypt with the Israelites out of fear of the Lord? We can...

Everyone cherry-picks the Bible. That is, everyone picks what they want and rejects what they don't like. If there is a chapter in the Bible that stands as exhibit "A" for those who would use the Bible against itself it is Leviticus 19. Consider the following directives: Leviticus 19:19 (ESV) “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material. Leviticus 19:27 (ESV) You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. Leviticus 19:23 (ESV) “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. And of course, 21st Century Evangelical Christianity's most favorite-to-ignore passage: Leviticus 19:28 (ESV) You shall not make any cuts on your body for the...