Author: SFJ Bible

Ruth 4:1-22

Boaz Redeems Ruth

4:1 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you¹ will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth² the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” 11 Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12 and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

Ruth and Boaz Marry

13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Genealogy of David

18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

Footnotes

[1] 4:4 Hebrew he

[2] 4:5 Masoretic Text you also buy it from Ruth

(ESV)

Ruth 3:1-18

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

3:1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” 5 And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”

6 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 wings¹ over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” 10 And he said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. 12 And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 13 Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

14 So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. 16 And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, 17 saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” 18 She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”

Footnotes

[1] 3:9 Compare 2:12; the word for wings can also mean corners of a garment

(ESV)

Ruth 2:1-23

Ruth Meets Boaz

2:1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”¹

8 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?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah² of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Footnotes

[1] 2:7 Compare Septuagint, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain

[2] 2:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters

(ESV)

Ruth 1:1-22

Naomi Widowed

1:1 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. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Ruth’s Loyalty to Naomi

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

Naomi and Ruth Return

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi;¹ call me Mara,² 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?”

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Footnotes

[1] 1:20 Naomi means pleasant

[2] 1:20 Mara means bitter

(ESV)

Going Deeper

Samson (2-20-16)

Samson was a very polarizing figure in the Old Testament.  Before we can fully understand his story, we have to understand what a Nazirite vow was.

The purpose for the vow of a Nazirite is found in Numbers 6:1-8:

            Numbers 6:1-8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

5 “All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.

6 “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body. 7 Not even for his father or for his   mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord

The vow of the Nazirite was to express one’s special desire to draw close to God and to separate oneself from the comforts and pleasures of this world.  So the purpose for taking the Nazirite vow was to separate oneself unto the Lord.  It was to give up earthly and personal desires– to give your life to the service of God until the vow was finished.  The Hebrew word for Nazirite is nazir, which means “set apart.”

What were the vows?

1. No wine or strong drink, nor grape juice or even eating from any produce of the grapevine, even the seeds or skins.
2. No cutting of the hair.
3. No going near dead bodies, even if they were your parents.

So now that we have a better understanding of the Nazirite vows and the purpose of making them, let’s go back and look at Samson. Samson was part of God’s answer for His people Israel. If we look at chapter 13 in the book of Judges, we can see where Samson’s story really begins.

In Judges 13, we read about the birth of Samson and how the Spirit of the Lord begins to stir in him.  From here the story of Samson really get pretty wild.  This man was given incredible physical strength, and the Spirit of God was with him, but the first record in the Scriptures of Samson doing something proves that he was still just a sinful Israelite. In fact, there’s a very familiar word phrase used in Judges 14:3. Samson tells his parents to go get him a wife from the Philistines, which would have been sinful according to God. But Samson says, “Get her, for me for she is right in my eyes.”  Let’s look at the connection of these words to the verse we found in the beginning of chapter 13:1: “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.”

They are doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD.  The author of Judges is making a connection with this phrasing. Multiple times Judges says, “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Samson is doing what is right in his eyes. Later we see in Judges 21:25, that the people did what was right in their own sight. The undercurrent is that what the people consider as right is contrary to what God has stated is right. They are breaking the Covenant calling good what is evil and evil what is good. The image of mans sight in Judges is always and illustration of what is bad, and is at odds with what God sees as good.

Something we need to be aware of: Culture does not line up with God’s standard. We see this in our day. Our culture continually does what is evil in the sight of God. This should be a warning about any cultural thing we see. We should not just accept cultural attitudes, actions, or thoughts but bring them and submit them to the word of God. We do not need to keep up with the Jones!

Look at verse 4 of chapter 14.  Samson’s father and mother did not know that it was “from the Lord,” for He (the LORD) was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.  So Samson, who was a very willing sinner, was drawn by his own desires to this Philistine woman and would be in sin if he took her as his wife.  God was using this woman (a secondary source) and Samson’s own willing sinfulness because He was going to start the work He created Samson to do.  If you pay close attention to this story, you can see Gods sovereign hand all the way through.  Consider the fact that Samson’s mom was barren but God came and said, “You’ll have a son; he will begin to deliver my people from the Philistines.”

Samson is born and as soon as he’s of age, he wants to marry a Philistine. As we’ve covered, this would have been sinful, but God was sovereignly using Samson’s willing sinful heart to begin His delivering of Israel from the Philistines.  As we go further, notice God’s hand in the details.

So Samson heads down to get his wife, and a young lion came toward him roaring.  The Spirit rushes over Samson and with his bare hands, he grabs this young lion and tears it to shreds.  One thing to keep in mind is the verse says this was a young lion.  The danger and strength of even a young lion would destroy any normal human though, so the feat here is no less incredible. I just wanted to draw your attention to details because they are important. So very quickly into the story we see Samson breaking one of the Nazirite vows.  If he tore this lion to shreds, then he would have been touching a dead body. Next, he goes down with his father (which was the custom) to get his wife, and he prepares a feast.  Now at these feasts there was always wine and strong drink. The Scriptures never say for sure if Samson drinks, but there’s a good possibility that he broke a second vow at this feast by joining in the drinking.  Things get a little soap opera-like: Samson gives his enemy a riddle about the dead lion and the honey, then his wife talks him into telling her the answer.  She tells the men,  they answer Samson, and he gets mad!  The Spirit rushes upon him again, and he goes and kills 30 Philistines and gives the prize to the men who answered his riddle.

He then goes home angry, and the father of the woman Samson married gives Samson’s new wife to one of the groomsmen, because he thought Samson hated her.  Things get even more weird when Samson goes back to get his wife and finds out she was given to someone else.  He catches 300 foxes,  ties torches to their tails,  sets the torches on fire, and lets them loose in the fields of the Philistines. What a sight that must have been!  So the Philistines ask who did this, and the people answer Samson.  This result in the Philistines burning Samson’s wife and her father.

Remember, God said He was going to use Samson to begin freeing Israel from the Philistines.  Before we see Samson’s response, can you see how Samson’s desire for this woman is being used to create a battle of sorts between Israel and the Philistines?  God will use every day things to accomplish His purposes in our lives.

Let’s keep going. Samson attacks the men who burned his wife and father-in-law, and then he goes and hides in a cave.  The Philistines attack Lehi, and when God’s people ask why, the Philistines say  they want Samson.  They send 3,000 men of Judah  to get him because they know a few guys won’t be enough.  Samson says, “As long as you guys don’t attack me, I’ll let you bind me and bring me to the Philistines.”  They do it, and when Samson sees  the Philistines, the Spirit of the LORD rushes upon him, he breaks the rope he was bound with, then grabs the jawbone of a Donkey and kills 1,000 Philistines.  Stop and really take that in.  This is a sight greater than any movie that Hollywood has created. He is truly a one man wrecking crew.

In this we can see God beginning to defeat the Philistines through Samson. The problem is, Samson continues his sinful ways and heads to a town called Gaza to be with a prostitute.  Some people found out and decided to trap him, so they waited outside of the city gates and said, “In the morning, we will kill Samson.” So Samson gets up in the middle of the night and rips the city gates and posts from the ground.  If you’re sitting outside a gate waiting for Samson to come out, and the next thing you know, the gate is coming out of the ground, and Samson is holding it on his shoulders; guess you probably aren’t trying to kill this guy anymore.

What is more awesome is the fact that the gates would have likely been huge (over 10 feet), and they were barred to protect the city, so this gate would have been solid enough to keep armies out of the town.  Samson not only rips them from the ground and throws them on his shoulders, but the mountain he carries them up was 40 miles from Gaza and all uphill.

Like many men before and after him, Samson’s demise comes at the hands of a woman for whom he falls. Samson makes the mistake of breaking his last Nazirite vow and tells Delilah, “If you cut my hair, I will lose my power.”  Many people over the years have said that Samson’s power was in his hair, but we must recognize that Samson’s power was from God.  As a result of Samson’s vow breaking, the Philistines take Samson and make him do slave labor.  One day, they decide to throw a party to their god for delivering Samson into their hands.  A now blind Samson  (the Philistines took his eyes out) was mocked and made to hear their worship of their false god. At the party, Samson asks the guards who are holding him if they would take him to the pillars that hold the entire building together.

Samson puts his arms out and likely pushed these two pillars until they buckled. The entire building came down, probably killing the most amount of Philistines he ever had in all his conquests over them.   Surely God was not done using Samson, despite his selfish decision making and unfaithfulness to his vows.  Even though Samson was sinful, God still used him to begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.

We serve a mighty God who does incredible things in and through His creation.  Do you believe this?  Do you trust that He is at work in and through us despite our failures and sin?   May we repent from our sin and selfishness and not follow the lead of those before us that failed  to be faithful to God.  Praise God that He is faithful to us despite our failures.  In the end, He has given us everything in Christ and owes us nothing.  We are truly blessed and should seek Him in all we do, so that our lives are lived out for His purposes and His glory!

As we put this weeks reading together we can see several themes throughout Samson’s life that should bring us in awe of God. I would like to bring a couple of these to light. 1. God’s steadfast love endures. 2. God’s grace abounds in many ways throughout life. 3.The Spirit of God is a blessing and indwells every believer.

The Spirit of God is a blessing and indwells every believer. Many of us will read this story and think, “man I wish I had the Spirit of God like Samson to do these great feats then I would be a super testimony.” At some point everyone thinks this so take comfort in that we have all felt this desire. Look at the life of Samson it was one filled with disobedience, where God worked in spite of Samson’s sin. Samson was a judge and God worked in different ways due to the sin of Israel. They lack trust and faith in God and doing what was right in God’s eyes. The New Testament tells us that the Spirit seals, and indwells every believer. The Spirit is the Comforter. The function of the Spirit is fuller and better in the New Covenant. We should be thankful for how the Spirit Works and know that God has given us everything for life and godliness. That walking in the Spirit, and displaying the fruit of the Spirit are ways that glorify God and lift up His name. A few mighty acts in a life of sin does not a good testimony make. Thank God for His Spirit indwelling you and give Him glory. What areas are you not walking in the Spirit? (Read Galatians 5:16-26). Praise God for this work and repent of any sin.

God’s steadfast love endures forever. In this story we see God’s covenantal faithfulness to His people, and to Samson. Though the cycle of sin for Israel continues, God sends judges to bring the people out of slavery. Though Samson continued in sin God still manifest Himself in mighty ways. In the end when Samson called on God for the final act, God helped him. We continually screw up, we have sin we choose to do, and sin we accidentally do. God faithfulness endures to us, be careful if we choose to sin, we are endangering our souls to show we are not His. “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God is always with His children, “never will I leave you or forsake you”.   How is God showing his steadfast love to you in your life? Give God glory for this, repent of sin.

God’s grace abounds in many ways throughout life. As you look at the life of Samson we see how God’s grace abounded. One God just didn’t leave Samson. Even though Samson did not honor his Nazarite vow, God showed him mercy and kindness. At any point God would have been just to kill Samson because he was a sinner. Samson willfully chose to disobey God, yet God used him to bring glory to Himself. God gave ear when Samson cried out. God protected Samson through all his disobedience. Samson broke the Covenant by marring a Philistine, and God did not leave Him. Despite what Samson deserved God maintained His presence in Samson’s life. In what ways is God maintaining His blessing, grace and presence in spite of how you are acting? Give thanks to him who is good and full of grace.

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC

National Chaplain