David Bahn – Reflections

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Judges 21, Ruth 1-2, Psalm 104.

Judges 21:25

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Ruth 1:1-18 (Narrative Summary)

In the days when the judges ruled, a famine came upon the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live for a time in Moab with his wife Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. While there, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi with her sons. The sons took Moabite wives, Orpah and Ruth, but after about ten years both sons also died, and Naomi was left without her husband and her children.

Hearing that the Lord had provided food for his people, Naomi set out to return to Judah with her daughters-in-law. Along the way she urged them to go back to their mothers’ houses, praying that the Lord would deal kindly with them and grant them rest in new homes. They wept and said they would go with her, but Naomi insisted, reminding them that she had no future to offer them and describing her own bitterness under the Lord’s hand.

Again they wept. Orpah kissed Naomi and returned to her people and her gods, but Ruth clung to her. Naomi urged her to follow her sister-in-law, but Ruth refused, saying that where Naomi went she would go, where she lodged she would lodge, that Naomi’s people would be her people and Naomi’s God her God. She pledged to remain with her even unto death. Seeing her determination, Naomi said no more.

Israel nearly destroys the tribe of Benjamin in retribution of the terrible events recorded in Judges 19. But instead of keeping it local, and because the people of Gilbea refused to hand over the guilty men. Israel goes to war against Benjamin, and nearly annihilates them. Israel is unraveling morally – seeking revenge, piling sin upon sin, and caving in to the ways of the people around them. They have no leader and we read those terrible words at the end of the book: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

We’ve already seen that the deeper issue in Israel is not merely that they lack a king, but that they are not living under the LORD God as their King. Their allegiance is not to the LORD, it is to the convenient gods of the surrounding peoples. I this landscape of disintegration we are introduced to Ruth, the widow daughter-in-law of Naomi. This Moabite woman’s faith, humility, and loyalty offer a striking contrast to the chaos that has come before.

As these first two chapters introduce us to Ruth, it is important to remember that these events occur during the time of the Judges. It is a reminder that the goodness of God and the influence of the Holy Spirit shines brightest in the darkness of sin and evil. This book will offer a counterpoint to the ugly events recorded in the book of Judges.

As these chapters end we are introduced to Boaz – a man of great integrity, generosity, and kindness. Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is “one of our redeemers;” a near relative able to restore what has been lost. In the midst of her emptiness, it is a quiet sign that God has already placed redemption within reach.

Naomi is saying, in effect, “there is still hope for us.” Tragedy has struck. These two widows are vulnerable and empty. But God is providing a way forward for them. He is, in fact, providing a way forward for us as well, for Ruth is an ancestor of Jesus, listed in Matthew’s record of his genealogy. There is hope for us as God acts throughout history to save and redeem his people. Ruth gives us a glimpse of that hope.

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of Ruth.