SFJ Bible Reading Plan

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 (2.15.20)

Samson was a very polarizing figure in the Old Testament. Before we can fully understand his story, we first must 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, “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, 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. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. 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. All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body. 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. All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.”

The purpose of 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. 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 one’s 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 nor 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.

Now that we have a better understanding of the Nazirite vows and the purpose of making them, let’s go back and look at Sampson. Sampson was part of Gods answer for His people, Israel. If we look at chapter 13 in the book of Judges, we can see where Sampson’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 Sampson really gets pretty wild. This man is given incredible physical strength and the Spirit of God is with him; but, the first record in the scriptures of Samson’s doing something proves that he is 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 between these words and the verse we find at the beginning of chapter 13:1 where it says, “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.”

You see this in the Old Testament often when God’s people “do what is right in their own eyes.” They are doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord. This doesn’t mean that every time someone does what is right in their eyes it’s not right according to God. The point is that in the Old Testament this phrase “right in my eyes” is usually used to point to the fact that whatever God’s people are doing is sinful.

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. But God was using this woman (a secondary source) and Samson’s own willing sinfulness, because He was going to start the work that He had created Samson to do. If you pay close attention to this story, you can see God’s sovereign hand all the way through. Consider the fact that Samson’s mom was barren, but God came and told her, “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 which would have been sinful; but God was sovereignly using Samson’s willing, sinful heart to begin His deliverance of Israel from the Philistines. As we go further, notice God’s hand in the details.

Samson heads down to get his wife, and a young lion comes 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 that the verse says this was a young lion. The danger and strength of even a young lion would have destroyed any normal human; so, this feat is no less incredible.

I just want to draw your attention to details, because they are important. 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. Things get a little soap-opera-like when he gives his enemy a riddle about the dead lion and the honey. Then his wife talks him into telling her the answer, and she tells the men. They answer Samson, and he gets angry. The Spirit rushes upon him again; he goes and kills thirty Philistines and gives the prize to the men who answered his riddle.

He then goes home, angry. The father of the woman Samson had married gives Samson’s new wife to one of the groomsmen, because he thinks Samson hated her. Things get even weirder when Samson goes back to get his wife and finds out she was given to someone else. He then 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! The Philistines ask who has done this, and the people answer, “Samson.” This results 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 his 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 everyday things to accomplish His purposes in our lives.

Let’s keep going. Samson attacks the men who had burned his wife and father-in-law, then he goes and hides in a cave. The Philistines attack Lehi: and when God’s people ask why, the Philistines say, “Tell them they want Samson.” They send 3,000 men of Judah go to get Samson 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 Samson, upon seeing the Philistines, when the Spirit of the Lord rushes upon him, breaks the rope with which he was bound 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 find out and decide to trap him. They wait outside of the city gates and say in the morning, “We will kill Samson.” Samson gets up in the middle of the night, ripping 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 the gate on his shoulders I’m guessing you probably aren’t trying to kill this guy anymore.

What is even more incredible is the fact that the gates would have likely been huge—over 10 feet; they were barred in order to protect the city. That means 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 up which he carries them is forty 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 has fallen. Samson makes the mistake of breaking his last Nazirite vow and he 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, because the Philistines had taken his eyes out, is mocked and made to hear their worship of their false god. At the party, Samson asks the guards who are holding him if they will take him to the pillars that hold the entire building together.

Samson puts his arms out and likely pushes these two pillars until they buckle, and the entire building comes down, probably killing the greatest number of Philistines he had ever killed 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 sins? May we repent from our sin and selfishness and not follow the lead of those that failed to be faithful to God before us. 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!

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC

Hebrews 11:30-40

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,¹ they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Footnotes

[1] 11:37 Some manuscripts add they were tempted

(ESV)

Judges 16:1-31

Samson and Delilah

16:1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”

7 Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.” 11 And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web.¹ And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Death of Samson

23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.”² 25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26 And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.

28 Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Footnotes

[1] 16:14 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and fasten it tight . . . into the web

[2] 16:24 Or who has multiplied our slain

(ESV)