RUTH
(Part Two)

As last week's lesson ended, we found our heroines, Ruth and Naomi, back in Bethlehem, where Ruth had found work gleaning in a field. She had befriended the owner, a man named Boaz, who had begun showing signs of more than casual interest in this dark Moabite beauty. Sensing this, Naomi proposed a somewhat risky and more than a bit risque plan.

“Tonight, Ruth, after the men have gone to sleep, sneak into the field and find where Boaz is lying. Pull back the covers and slide in beside him. Let's see what happens. He's related you know. And there may be a responsibility for levirate marriage here.”  Levirate marriage happened when a man died without leaving an heir. It was his brother's responsibility to marry the widow, have a child by her, and count that child as the son and heir of the one who died. If there were no brother, the nearest living relative could do it.

So Ruth went into the field and surreptitiously got under the covers with Boaz. (The Bible reads she lay at his feet. Some scholars believe feet is a euphemism for his private parts. At any rate, wherever she was lying, wasn't the implication that she was offering herself to him? What would any man think when he woke up with a woman next to him?)

Boaz was both thrilled and self-disciplined. He told Ruth he was excited that she would choose an older man like him rather than running after the younger hot-shots. “But,” saith he, “there is another guy who is a closer relation to your former husband than I. Let me see what I can do.”

So the next day, he went up to the courthouse, sorry, the town gate. Sorta like a coffee shop where all the guys hung out. Sure enough, the other relative did show up before long, and Boaz made his pitch. “I got a piece of property to sell. You interested?” “Sure...” “Not so fast. Full disclosure – to buy the property, you also gotta marry Ruth whose husband was heir to that piece of land.” “Whoa, Dude! No can do. I already got a son, and I don't want anything messing up his inheritance.” So they sealed the agreement by exchanging a shoe or two witnessed by the coffee clatch.

Note the men at the gate blessed Boaz and his upcoming marriage, as did the women of the village when their first child was born. Both blessings included a prayer for the future greatness of their son, Obed. The prayer was granted, as Obed became the grandfather of the great King David!

I'm sure you noticed the coincidences as we reviewed the story. Ruth just happened to choose Boaz's field of all those around. Boaz just happened to notice the new woman gleaning. And he just happened to respond in a positive way to Ruth's bold moves.  Both from the Bible and personal experience I have come to recognize “coincidence” as the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit. Are you alert to how God directs your life, perhaps recently, through a coincidence here and another there?

And don't miss the original theme of friendship. Ruth felt from the beginning that the relationship she had with her husband's mother was worth sustaining, even at personal sacrifice. How many people in life have you found worthy of your deep personal commitment.

Finally, note that God was working ahead of time to prepare the coming of Israel's United Kingdom. Even further, according to the genealogy in the NT, He was working on the human line of Jesus.

RUTH

Part One

If you first came upon this story with no idea it was part of the Bible, you would likely find it a beautiful and a bit off-beat romance. A literary critic pronounced it the greatest short story ever written.

Biblical scholars are quick to pair Ruth with Jonah, a wildly different book. Can you guess why? More than any other books in the OT, these two reach out to Gentile nations to show God's concern for all people. Jonah was sent to save Nineveh, whom Israel (esp Jonah) hated. Ruth was from a feared people, the Moabites. And the ending genealogy shows she – an immigrant, btw – was the grandmother of King David!

The story should be familiar to most of us. In a time of famine a couple named Elemilek and Naomi moved to Moab, which was being spared the worst of the famine. After ten or twenty years, Elemilek died, leaving Naomi a widow. Their sons had married two Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Ten years later, those two sons died, leaving their wives and Naomi with no male to support her household. So she decided to return to Israel and find relatives who could help. Remember in that society, women without a man were often powerless.

When she told her daughters-in-law of her plans, both said they would go with her. She tried to dissuade them because she thought they would be more likely to find husbands among their own people in their own ountry. She finally persuaded Orpah to return, but Ruth refused. She makes this gorgeous speech of her loyalt and fidelity to … her mother-in-law! One of the world's wonders is that we now read that Scripture and even set it to music for Weddings! Are you that kind of mother-in-law?

When Ruth and Naomi returned to Israel, they went to her hometown of Bethlehem – yes, that Bethlehem. As in every small town, everyone knows everyone else's business, and word got around about those two. Soon after arriving they were talking about what their next move was, and Ruth volunteered to work in the fields, since it was barley harvest.

The custom in that day was for reapers to leave grain they dropped for the poor, so they could gather the scraps and have food themselves. She chanced – or was led – on a field owned by Boaz, a near kinsman of Naomi's former husband. He was thus obligated to help relatives in trouble. The story reads more like Boaz was attracted by an attractive young woman. He asked his field hands who she was and connected her with the gossip going around the village. The villagers – and Boaz - were impressed that she had been so loyal to her mother-in-law. So he instructed his men to leave her alone, let her harvest, and even leave some extra for her to glean.

At lunch time, he called her over to eat with him and his workers. He told her how impressed he was with her and to feel free to continue gleaning through the harvest, which she did. I wonder how many lunches they ate together...

When she got home that night, she told her story of success. (She brought home about 30 pounds(!) of Barley!) Naomi recognized the owner as a relative, raising the possibility of a levirate marriage for Ruth. The law was if you brother died, you were obligated to marry his wife, have a son by her, and have that son count as your brother's heir. If no brother was available, other kinsman could take the part. I would leave you in suspense, but you already know the story.

Ruth's beautiful speech – Entreat me not to leave you – has been set to music and is often sung at weddings today. “Whither thou goest, I will go...” You might want to reflect a bit whether you have that kind of enduring commitment, love, and loyalty to those in your life: spouse, children, close friends. Will you always “have their back?”

SAMSON

What do you make of this guy?
Obviously to Israel he was a hero. He killed a bunch of their enemies. He was a one-man guerilla task force. On the other hand, he was rash and impulsive. He would fight at a drop of a hat, and maybe if you only tipped it.Yet this man was called a Judge in Israel!

But the Book is very clear that God was working from the start. His mother was childless until an angel showed up and told his mother she was to have a son, and they must dedicate him to the Lord as a Nazirite, who kept special vows. He again appears to Manoah with the same announcement. The Israelite asked his name, and he responded, “Why do you ask my name?” Almost exactly what the “man” who wrestled with Jacob all night said. Apparently it was a way to reveal the angel was divine, and not a man. There is holiness and awe in the way the answer was framed.

In 13:24-5 Samson was born, and it says “The Lord blessed him.” in re abortion, note the Lord enabled the woman to carry a child and grew him to a healthy young man. The passage goes on to say “The Spirit of the Lord began to stir in him...”
how do you suppose God's spirit began to stir in him? We see nothing in his life story that we would expect from the Lord as we understand him today. Do you suppose the Lord still raises up fierce warriors? I keep emphasizing that the Bool of Judges demonstrates the Lord can and does use all kinds of people. I have trouble when I ask myself, “even Samson?” Amd I have to anser, Yes, even Samson.” Perhaps the key is Romans 8:28. Perhaps God directs the brashness, temper, impulsiveness of a teen-aged delinquent toward the benefit of His people Israel, so Sammy became a folk hero. Maybe?

The guy sees a gal, who happens to be a Philistine.
“I want her, “ he tells his parents.
“Why can't you find a nice Jewish girl?” his mother asks.
“I want her. Get her for me, “ he repeats.
They do. Spoiled braat! Do you spoil your brats?
'next Samson shows off by killing a lion.
And making a riddle, which his wife pesters him about. When he caves, she tells his friends who he had bet with. Owing them each a change of clothes, he went off and killed enough Phillistines to  deliver. Did you ever wonder whether there was blood on those clothes?
Sam boy was less than complimentary of his wife. “You's never have found out if you hadn't plowed with my heifer.

When he finally cooled down he went to get his “wife” and found her daddy had married her off to someone else. “I thought you hated her. But her younger sister is cute too...”

Samson decline and spent some time harassing Philistines right and left. They tried to catch him with exactly zero results. Finally he found another heifer, I mean woman, nmed Delilah. His enemies bribed her to find out what made him so strong. Sammy had this very slow learning curve, namely none at all. He had learned nother from the first gal, and he learns nothing after giving Delilah fake news three times over and having her betray him. Finally, she tempts it out of him, they cut his hair, his strength leaves, and he becomes a prisoner.

They blind him and used him turning a heavy grindstone instead of an ox. Meanwhile, his hair grows back. Finally they take him to a huge party in their temple to make fun of him. He feels his strength returning, finds the main pillars of the building, and shoves the whole building down. (Insert music: “We goona tear this building down...”

The moral to this stofy is for men: Don't let a woman cut your hair!

No, the main takeaway is the Lord can use anyone, so what's your excuse?

GIDEON

Judges 6

Gotta admit it. Gideon is my favorite judge, and one of my favorite OT stories. For one thing, the tale takes away any excuse you or I have about why we cannot serve the Lord. Whatever else this judge's success teaches, we learn the Lord can use anyone. If Gideon, then why not me?

This time when Israel sinned, Midian was the nation or people that harassed Israel. Think of settlers of the old American west living among “wild Indians,” for the Midianites functioned more like tribal raiders than systematic warfare. They made raids during harvest to confiscate the crops. Year round they might roundup cattle or sheep. Isralites camped out in caves to escape these vicious people.

So one day, the Lord sends an angel to this dude named Gideon. We find Gideon threshing wheat – or trying to – in a wine vat. Now consider. A wine vat is a hole in the ground for crushing grapes. Threshing is done on a hilltop where the wind more easily can blow the chaff away and let the grain fall on the ground. This guy was so scared he tried to do the impossible.

That's why I always picture the scene with the angel leaning against a tree, picking his teeth, while he sarcastically comments, “Hail thou mighty man of valor...” Man of valor indeed, this coward. But listen as he continues, “The Lord is with you...”

Now Gideon gets sarcastic: “Oh yeah? If the Lord is with us, why do I have to be in this hole. If He did all that stuff they say He did for our ancestors, why doesn't He help us?” Don't let anybody tell you it's a sin to argue with God. Many of the heroes in the Bible did. But be careful. God always won!

The angel continued: “Go in this might of yours to deliver Israel. Am I not sending you?” Like Moses in Exodus 3 (and maybe you and me), Gideon answered, “Who? Me?” He continues, “Look, God, I'm a nobody from a family of nobodies. My family is at the bottom of the pecking order in our tribe, and I'm the youngest of the bunch.” Doesn't he sound pitiful? And don't we when the Lord calls us to do something we don't want to?

And then God gives the basic promise that He gives over and over in the Bible and that underlies EVERY promise in the Bible: I WILL BE WITH YOU! And God feels that's always good enough! He tells Gideon he will take down the whole tribe of Midian as if they were only one man. Gideon still needs convincing, so he asks for a sign. The angel said he would hang around a while longer. So Gideon goes and prepared a meal of goat and bread and some broth. The angel instructed him to put the meat and bread on a rock and pour the broth over it, which he did. The angel extended his rod to touch the offering, and fire blazed up to consume it. Then he disappear briefly, but apparently returned now and then with instructions.

The fire and disappearance impressed Gideon to believe in what happened as being a true appearance of the Lord. So the Lord then told him what to do next. Part of Israel's sin that got them in trouble was worshipping foreign gods. In Gabriel's village was an altar to Baal. Following instructions (but at night for fear of being seen) he tore down the altar of Baal, built a new one the the Lord (YAHWEH) and offered a bull on it. The next day the villagers went to his house and asked the father, Joash, to bring out his son to answer for his crime. But Joash showed there was ssterner stuff in his family after all. He answered, “I thought Baal was a god. If he is, he should be able to take care of himself. Let him deal with it.” so they went away.

Next, Gideon sends out a call to war. While they were answering his call, our hero turns to the Lord for another sign. “I'm going to put out a wool fleece on the lawn tonight. In the morning, if it's soaked with due and the ground is dry, i'll know you will help me deliver Israel.” So he did and the Lord did, and Gideon said, “How about two out of three? “Tonight I'll do the same thing, but this time let the fleee be dry and the ground wet.” So he put the fleece out again, and the Lord filled his request and took away his last excuse.

>Note on “putting out the fleece:” I believe in putting out fleeces provided that the fleece is related to the proposed action. Examples: If you want me to visit, let the weather be clear, so I can travel that dirt road easily. Or – if you want me to start this class, let some people show up after we advertise it. I do not believe in fleeces unrelated to the event (as Gideon's was).

To Gideon's surprise a huge number or warriors showed up in answer to his call. He began to feel better already. But then the Lord demonstrated He used a different form of military strategy and mathematics. “Too many,” He said, “Tell those scared to go home.” Out of 32,000, 22,000 went home. Still, 10,000 was a good number. “Still too many,” saith the Lord. “You'll brag if you win with that many.

Take them to the water to get a drink. Then divide them based on how they drink/” Israel went to the water. Most of them knelt and brought the water to their mouths with their hands. Only 300 of the 10,000 lapped the water like a dog. “Those are the ones I want. Send the rest home,” said God.

So with so few men, the Lord must have some powerful secret weapons, right? Indeed! Trumpets, ceramic pitchers, and lamps or torches! In the middle of the night, Gideon divided the men into three companies and scattered them in the hills above the Midianites. Imagine being wakened from a deep sleep by the crash of 300 pitchers breaking againsst the rocks, hearing the sound of 300 trumpets blown by men who had never blown a trumpet before, climbing to your feet and seeing the hills ablaze with lights all around! Then they heard the battle cry, “A sword for Yahweh and Gideon!” apparently they blew the trumpets again, and the Midianites must have begun stumbling in the dark to get out of there. As they did they ran into each other, thinking the one they ran into was attacking and so defended himself. The Midianites started killing each other in the dark as they escaped, or tried to.

At that point Gideon called back the men he had excused and sent them to head off the fleeing enemy, which they did.