The Prevailing Provision of God

“The women said to Naomi, ‘Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel.’”

Ruth 4:14   

 

Last week we reviewed the opening chapter of Ruth – a touching account of a widowed daughter-in-law (Ruth) who chose to intertwine her destiny with her widowed mother-in-law (Naomi). This was a cherished commitment, and one that Ruth could have opted out of. But even though Ruth had a spiritually pagan upbringing she possessed a noble quality of faith and believed in the one true God who Naomi worshipped. Therefore, Ruth willingly and bravely left her Moabite homeland and journeyed with Naomi to reside in Bethlehem. In the process, Ruth became a believer in the Lord and would soon come to discover how a kernel of faith can be richly blessed by God.  

 

The closing verses of Ruth paint a stirring picture of the prevailing provision of God. But before we consider God’s hand of blessing we must briefly assess two ancient customs inherent in this text, two ancient customs that appear unorthodox to a modern-day audience:

1) The divine instruction allowing the monetarily destitute to glean from fallen crops

and

2) The observance of kinsmen-redeemers to restore widowed family members

 

The divine instruction allowing the financially destitute to glean from fallen crops is a commandment which originates from Leviticus 23:22. In this passage, God provided a mechanism to help provide food for the poor and needy, and not just the lowly within the Hebrew community, but those outside it as well. This became a custom honored by Jewish households for many generations, including the estate of Boaz, which is where Ruth went to glean crops so that she could help feed herself and Naomi. This action illustrates the incredible humility of Ruth. Gleaning the crops of others was essentially the last-ditch effort performed by starving and wholly penniless individuals. It was a sign of total poverty and often a social stigma for those who were seen gathering leftover harvested crops. But Ruth cared little for pretense or personal perception on the part of strangers. She possessed a modest spirit and was more concerned with attending to her mother-in-law than virtually anything else.

 

Regarding the kinsman-redeemer practice this model was established by God in the latter part of Leviticus 25. God designed a system by which family members could reinstate the property and legacy of widowed and impoverished relatives. And it would come to pass that Ruth would realize that Naomi had a close genealogical connection to Boaz. Eventually, this seemingly happenstance set of events would be revealed as the majestic working of God. Boaz claimed his right as kinsman-redeemer to Naomi, and thereby gladly welcomed the opportunity to enter into marriage with Naomi’s daughter-in-law (Ruth). The tale of tragedy transformed into one of the most amazing stories of love and restoration in Scripture. It is remarkable how God can take ashes and turn them into something beautiful.

 

The final analysis of Ruth reveals that God’s prevailing provision can reign down no matter how bleak our circumstances may be. Ruth and Naomi were deluged by disheartening conditions. But Ruth chose not to dwell on the state of affairs. She chose to press ahead and see what each new day held. This story speaks to the unmistakably good nature of God. All things are possible with Him. No cave is too dark. No valley is too low. No mountain is too high. No wind is too strong. No storm is too great. In everything, God can overcome. All He requires of us is faith and trust. Let us serve Him and find significance and relevance in the biblical tale of Ruth. Clearly, God works. God saves. God heals. God provides. In short, God is God and delights in caring for His people.

The Splendor of Sacrifice

“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you will go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.’ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” 

Ruth 1:16-18

Many of us can recall past defining moments, moments in which we were at an emotional crossroads. Emotional crossroads provide significant alternatives. And each alternative has a subsequent ripple effect that can either mend a heart, or agonize it. There are numerous emotional crossroads that people face every day. Seeking marital counseling or seeking a divorce. Entertaining a job change or sticking it out in a seemingly unfulfilling environment. Accepting a ministry calling or declining it. Confronting a family member/friend about a relational transgression or allowing the relational burden to continue to afflict without hope of resolution. Such decisions carry a great weight for internally we know that the end result of our wise, or unwise, choices will likely affect the remaining years of our earthly pilgrimage.

Obviously, emotional crossroads contain paths that led to very different directions. And in order to forge ahead a path must be chosen. And it is in this atmosphere that we encounter the biblical text captured in Ruth 1. Ruth, a Moabite, and an outsider to the Jewish community, had experienced the death of her husband. Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, a Hebrew, had experienced the death of her husband too, as well as the death of her two sons, one of whom had been married to Ruth. It would seem that Naomi’s family had made a bold, and perhaps hasty, decision many years prior to leave Israel (Bethlehem specifically) for Moab because of a severe famine. As they learned to acclimate to life in Moab Naomi’s sons determined to marry local women, a practice that was discouraged in the Old Testament because of the vast spiritual divide that existed between the Jewish people and the rest of the world. Realize that ancient eastern civilizations engaged in polytheism, the worship of many false gods. But the Hebrew people recognized there was but one God, Who was the Creator of life, and is the Sustainer of life.      

When Naomi learned that people in Judah were once again beginning to see a positive yield in their agricultural produce she set out to return to her homeland. But she realized the fate of her daughters-in-law was obligated to her because of the commitment two young women had made to her family by marrying her sons. There was an inherent vow that was established and observed in this society, and it was a pledge that was not easily broken. Since Naomi knew her daughters-in-law were not originally of the Jewish faith-set, nor native to Israel, she relinquished them of their promise and informed them they were free to continue to reside in Moab. One daughter-in-law (Orpah) took the offer, but not Ruth. She surveyed the emotional crossroads and devoted her life to her mother-in-law. Naomi’s destiny would be Ruth’s destiny.

Consider the depth of Ruth’s actions and response in Ruth 1:16-17. She was leaving everything she knew behind in order to journey to a foreign land and dwell with a foreign people. Her entire existence rested in Moab. It was where she grew up. It was the only culture and theology she had ever known in her youth. But Ruth was ready to let it all go so that she could provide comfort and encouragement to her mother-in-law. And she was ready and willing to embrace the monotheistic worship of God, a belief system that was completely alien to the Moabites. Even though the family connection to Naomi had practically been severed with the death of Naomi’s son and Ruth’s husband, Ruth still perceived Naomi to be her primary family, and to Ruth families stay together, no matter what. This passage beautifully illustrates the splendor of sacrifice.

Ruth exhibited a sense of allegiance to Naomi, and could not bear to see Naomi live out her remaining years alone. So she chose to go with Naomi. To support her. To serve her. This disposition is rare and precious indeed. Ruth could have sought self-preservation and prosperity in her native country. But she abandoned the road of familiarity and took the unknown path, revealing an exorbitant amount of faith on her part. Such loyalty and selfless acts are truly special and God-honoring, which partially explains the endearing and powerful qualities of this story. May our heart, like Ruth’s, be willing to expose the splendor of sacrifice, no matter where the sacrificial path leads us.                                             

The Wonder of God's Will

“The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, ‘You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son….and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:3, 5 

 To the husbands and wives who desire to extend their family legacy there can be no harsher emotional blow than to ascertain that they are unable to conceive a child. Sterility is like a slow burn that continues to afflict and torment the hopes and dreams of men who can’t experience fatherhood in traditional fashion and women who can’t experience motherhood without alternate solutions. In the ancient world there was no formal process or agency for adoption, and there was certainly no advanced fertility medication. Therefore, the realization that parenthood was never going to be achieved was a bitter pill that many struggled to swallow in biblical times (just as it is today).

It is with this perspective that we encounter Judges 13. Manoah, a husband and Israelite, was in this very predicament. His wife was barren and unable to have children. But one day an angel appeared to Manoah’s wife and informed her that she would indeed have a child, a son. What joy must have overwhelmed Manoah’s wife. She was a woman who yearned to hold a tender baby in her arms, and care for it with earnest affection. She wanted to personally behold the spectacle of a child’s laugh and savor the dependency offspring require from their parents. But this longing had previously been denied until one fateful day when a divine messenger changed her outlook with the promising news. The tears of agony could be replaced with tears of elation. The cries of brokenness could be replaced with cries of praise.

 It is God’s work in this account that draws my fixed attention for it reveals something fascinating about the Creator and Sustainer. He took a non-functioning womb and healed it so that a hero of Israel could arise: Sampson. Sampson’s charge before he was even born was to fight the Philistines, who had attacked and harrassed many Israelites at this point in history. In essence, God took a tragic situation and made it into a holy masterpiece. He transformed two dashed hearts by overwhelming them with His great blessing.

Clearly, God delights in proving His power in this weak, frail world. Sampson’s parents were tormented by the pain of being barren for so many years. But God determined to reconcile that in a most magnificent fashion. Not only would the discouraged wannabe parents actually have a child, but their child would become God’s hand-picked defender of Israel from Philistine oppression and occupation. God conveys His message, a message that is spiritually rich, strong, and powerful. Let us receive it with obedient hearts and open ears. That is what Manaoh’s wife did. As soon as the angel relayed his dispatch she went and found Manoah, and told him everything. Did he mock her? No. Did he accuse of being deranged or hysterical? No. Judges 13:8 says Manoah prayed that the divine messenger would return so that he and his wife would know how to properly raise the miraculous child, a gift of heaven. And God heard Manoah’s prayer and sent the angel once again to relay additional guidance, instruction, and encouragement.

 

Obviously, nothing is impossible with God. But choosing to be grateful for what we have and praising God for His glorious, and at times mysterious, will is critical to living a sanctified life. There is wonder in God’s ways. There is wonder in God’s Word. All of which should produce worship from His followers. Manoah and his wife perceived that no feat was too tough for God, even infertility, but their commitment to God was not reliant upon His supernatural touch. They revered God, no matter how much personal prosperity was ushered into their home. As a result, they were fit for God’s special assignment: raising a future judge for God’s covenantal people. After all, it is not the miracles that should affix our heart to God; it should be the indisputable, irrevocable majesty of our Maker that should affix our heart to Him. God is God and that alone merits our allegiance and adulation.            

The Temptation of Triumph

“Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.”

Judges: 8:27

 

There are times when our collective faith and resolve are low. When our spiritual guard is briefly relinquished. Although we might naturally assume that such ineffective trust is generated in moments of struggle and hardship, moments of God-ordained triumph and victory are equally, if not more, dangerous to the human condition. After all, it is in the overflowing emotion of conquest that pride and self-glorification can so quickly smother an earnest dependency upon God. We see this in the account of King Nebuchadnezzar, who at the height of worldly power naively assumed that his own effort and giftedness caused the Babylonian nation to prosper (Daniel 4). Nebuchadnezzar's conceited thoughts were quickly met with God’s humbling act, as the Lord afflicted Babylon’s king with a mental illness, which caused the civil leader to behave like lowly cattle for a period of time. Clearly, affluence is just as strong a temptation to spiritual modesty as worry and poverty. Perhaps this is why an astute biblical writer asked the Lord to provide neither too much nor too little, but only to provide enough for each day (Proverbs 30:7-9).     

With all this in mind, let us consider the text in Judges 8:22-27. Gideon, a hero supernaturally aided by God to overcome Israel’s oppressors (Midianites), was asked by the people of Israel to rule over them. Fresh off the heels of successful military campaigns, the young man, who was prone to deflect from his worthiness for leadership (Judges 6:11-18), declined the offer for authority. But after supposedly turning down an opportunity for governance he made a special, and unusual, request. Gideon asked each of Israel’s twelve tribes to give him some of their gold. All the tribes willingly complied with Gideon’s appeal. Not long after, Gideon crafted the precious metal into an ephod. Now to appreciate the significance of this action we have to go back in Scripture, to Exodus 39, which prescribed ephods to be a part of the priestly attire utilized in Hebrew sacrificial worship and offerings. So, in essence, Gideon assumed the role of a priest by taking articles from all Hebrew tribes and fashioning them into a clerical garment. Judges 8:27 states that Gideon placed the ephod in his hometown, where it became an object of idolatrous worship for the entire nation.

How tragic is it to note than an ephod, an object sanctioned as a means of drawing believers closer to God, was abused and employed as a vehicle for spiritual rebellion? Judges 8:27 identifies that Gideon’s family was not immune to this fallen behavior. The Bible articulates that the ephod became a snare to Gideon’s entire household. The man who had seen God’s providential hand rescue him from pending defeat and insurmountable odds reduced the Almighty to a decorative garment, a trophy that could be placed in a fanciful display for all to admire, including himself. Gideon verbally rejected leadership, but his subsequent exploits pushed Israel farther away from God theologically. The judge, the hero, knew his kinsmen were watching his steps and still he proceeded to walk a path of shameful reproach and human veneration.

All this to say, God’s followers must be careful with how we handle success. In an instant, the very endeavors that highlight the greatness of God can become stumbling blocks and pitfalls. For Gideon and Israel, an ephod was a vehicle of self-glorification and false worship. What is it for us? Is it our perceived talents (i.e. musical abilities, biblical knowledge, evangelistic gifts, etc.)? Is it the ministerial pastors that we so often expect to shoulder so much of the servant-oriented burdens? Is it the building in which our various congregations routinely gather in for praise and worship? Whatever it is, we need to remove the ephods, so-to-speak, and shift our focus on the eternal God. May the objects that we hold onto only remind us of God’s power, not our own. May trophies not become treasure or a source of vanity. In short, God is the ultimate treasure and He is the ultimate power. Therefore, let us fix our gaze, and heart, on Him.