God’s Ways

Readings for today: Ruth 1-4

I love the book of Ruth. It’s a reminder that even in the midst of the most horrific circumstances, God is always at work. Even when things look dark and bleak, God’s light begins to shine through. The Book of Ruth takes place in the time of the judges. It doesn’t tell us which judge but we know from what we’ve just read this week that the “time of the judges” was a time of great hardship and suffering in Israel, most of it self-inflicted. The time of the judges was a time of great idolatry and sin in Israel. It was a time when terrible crimes were committed. Crimes against humanity and genocide. It was a time of hardship and pain and suffering as nation after nation attacked Israel and enslaved them. It was a time of political upheaval and uncertainty as leaders came and went. But even in the midst of the chaos, God was moving.

How was God moving? The way He always does…through human families. Elimelech marries Naomi. They have two boys named Mahlon and Chilion. Life is good until a famine hits their hometown. They move to another country. They settle in. The boys marry women. Elimelech dies. Mahlon and Chilion die. The women are left destitute. The famine ends. Naomi moves back home. One daughter-in-law stays in Moab, the other refuses to leave her side. The two women come back into town, hoping to find support from their extended family. Boaz enters the picture. A prominent man who was a relative of Elimelech. Ruth gleans in his fields. He notices her. Protects her. Provides for her. Marries her. They have a son named Obed.

It all seems so mundane. So ordinary. And it is. Because that’s how God works. Behind the scenes. Under the surface. Often in ways we cannot see or understand. Naomi and Ruth had no idea when they returned to Bethlehem what God had in store for them. Boaz had no idea as he threshed his grain what God had in store for him. Boaz and Ruth had no idea what God had in store for their son, Obed. I imagine Obed and Jesse and even David himself had no idea what God had in store for them. They were simply living life. Managing their day to day. Never knowing what part they had to play in the great salvation plan of God.

God is still moving, friends. Amidst all the chaos and hardship and suffering and pain and injustice and violence in our world. It’s easy to lose hope when we watch the news or scroll through social media. But the Lord is present, as He always is. He is working through regular, ordinary people like you and me. He is working through our families. Working in our lives. Working right alongside us as we manage our day to day. We may never know the part we have to play in the great salvation plan of God but God does! And God will make sure to bring to completion the work He’s begun in and through us.

Readings for tomorrow: No devotionals on Sundays

Under God’s Wings

Readings for today: Ruth 1-4, Psalms 77

The Bible talks frequently about taking refuge under God’s wings. The image is of a mother bird protecting her vulnerable young by covering them with her wings. We see this image invoked today in our reading from the Book of Ruth where Boaz says, “May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” (Ruth‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Ruth had left her home and family and country to come and dwell among the people of God. She had taken an incredible risk out of loyalty to her mother-in-law, knowing there was no guarantee she would be able to find a husband or have a family of her own in this new country where she went. Naomi certainly would not be able to help her. Women in those days simply didn’t have the opportunities women do today to provide for themselves. It’s why widows remain among the poorest of the poor around the world. Add in the fact that Ruth was a Moabite, a member of one of Israel’s ancient tribal enemies, a foreigner in a time and place where marrying outside one’s tribe was considered shameful and you quickly see how Ruth risked her very life to remain faithful to her mother-in-law. Why would Ruth do such a thing? I think the key is found in her response to Naomi’s initial request for her to go back home. “Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.” (Ruth‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭CSB‬‬) In her ten years of marriage to Naomi’s son, Ruth had clearly learned some things about Yahweh. Things that set him apart from Chemosh, the Moabite god. And those things attracted her so much so that she was willing to “seek refuge under His wings.”

Is that your experience of God? Do you experience Him to be a refuge? A place of safety? A sanctuary amidst all the chaos that swirls around us in the world? Is He the one you run to when you experience pain and tragedy? Is He the one to whom you turn when you are anxious or afraid? Is He the one you look to when all hope seems lost? Try to put yourself in the position of Ruth. You are a stranger in a strange land. A foreigner. An immigrant. You’ve made a long journey with no idea of what you might find when you arrive. You have no standing in society. You have no way to make a living. You have no family or friends to rely on. It reminds me of some of the immigrants I’ve met in our own country. People who have traveled hundreds of miles at great risk to themselves. Enduring all kinds of trauma along the way. Leaving all that’s familiar and all that they know behind. Having no idea what they will find when they arrive or how they will make a living or what they will do. Yes, there are all kinds of legal issues and our southern border policy is a disaster and there are many dangerous people who take advantage of the situation. Those things must be addressed as soon as possible. But put all that aside for a moment. Think of what would drive a person to undergo such hardship. Think of how horrific the conditions must be in their home country for them to risk it all to make the journey north. Now consider the example of Boaz. Look at how he treats this poor immigrant woman. Look at how God uses his generosity and grace to bring about His salvific purposes in the world. What might it look like for us to do the same?

The idea of the “kinsman-redeemer” is an important one in the Bible. Boaz is the supreme example, of course. But there is one who is even greater than Boaz. Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer. He plays this role in our lives by redeeming us from our spiritual poverty and broken condition. By redeeming us, He makes us - who are strangers and aliens and foreigners and immigrants in the Kingdom of God - citizens of heaven. He honors us though He has no reason to do so. He blesses us though we have done nothing to earn His favor. He shows us love though we are about as unlovable as it gets. We love, friends, because God first loved us and He sends us out to share that love with the world.

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Samuel 1-3, Psalms 78

All is not Lost

Readings for today: Ruth 1-4

I love the book of Ruth. It upends so many expectations and helps us understand the heart of God. Ruth is a Moabite. A foreigner. A sojourner. She married an Israelite named Chilion and became part of his extended family. This was forbidden by the Law of God but it took place during the time of the judges when everyone was doing right in their own eyes. Tragedy strikes. Her father-in-law, Elimelech, dies. Ten years later both her husband and his brother die as well. This puts the whole family in dire straights. There are no men to work. No men to protect them. So Naomi makes the decision to return home. She encourages her Moabite daughters-in-law to do the same. Start over. See if they have better luck with a new family because hers has brought them only grief. Ruth refuses. She makes this extraordinary declaration, “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.” (Ruth‬ ‭1:16‬) So powerful is her statement that we often hear it read at weddings thousands of years later! 

Ruth not only returns with Naomi to Bethlehem, she cares faithfully for her mother-in-law. She puts her life at risk by going out to the fields to glean what was left after the reapers had made their way through. It was backbreaking, painstaking work. Women who did this were often molested, harassed, and abused. They were the poorest of the poor in the land. Completely without hope. In the providence of God, the field she chose belonged to a man named Boaz. A righteous man. A man who left the gleanings for the poor as the Law of God demands. (Lev. 19:9-10) A man who protected her from the men who worked for him. A man who included her among his own young women so she woudn’t be alone. Even invited her to sit and eat at his table. Boaz is a man who clearly honors the Lord. I love what he says to Ruth when she asks him why she has found favor in his eyes. “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!" (Ruth‬ ‭2:12‬) 

Naomi cannot believe their good fortune! Ruth has been led by God to the very fields of the man who can redeem them! (Lev. 25) A man who is a close enough relative to bring them into his family and continue the family line! Thus unfolds this beautiful courtship in chapter three where Ruth goes and lies at Boaz’s feet to ask him to take them in. Boaz is humbled by the request and makes the necessary arrangements to become their kinsman-redeemer. They get married. Conceive a son. The family line continues which is important since her great-grandson is King David! Furthermore, many generations hence, her descendent Joseph will marry a young pregnant woman named Mary and they will have a son named Jesus. The Great Redeemer who will save His people from their sins! 

After all the bloodshed and violence and suffering and pain, it is good to read that not all was lost in Israel. Even in the time of the judges, there were still faithful men and women who followed the Lord. It is a great reminder to us in our own time that the night is always darkest right before the dawn. No matter how bad things get, God is still at work. Sometimes in the most obscure places through some of the most ordinary women and men you know.

Readings for tomorrow: None