More to The Story - Chapter 9 - Ruth
WHY ARE RAHAB AND RUTH IN THE STORY?
"Naomi (told Ruth), "Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today." Ruth 3:18(NIV)
“So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. . . . and she gave birth to a son. The women living there said, 'Naomi has a (grand)son.' And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. This, then, is the family line of Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed,
Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David." Ruth 4:13-22
“Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father,. . . of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." Matthew 1:6-16
REFLECTION
Naomi told Ruth to wait. She did and true to her hope, Boaz did not fail her. Boaz and Ruth married. They became parents and Naomi and a grandmother. God used this mixed family with a faithful foreigner to continue the family line into which Jesus was born.
Did you notice Rahab of Jericho in Matthew’s genealogy? What a mix. Israelites, foreigners, sinners and saints. Maybe God actually does use little people like us in ways that are beyond our comprehension.
Prayer
“Lord, thank you for Ruth’s story, which is actually, once again, Your story, the story of You, the One who redeems the unredeemable . . . . . people like me . . . .and of all things, you use me in the process of redeeming others. You are beyond amazing. Amen.”
You can follow Pastor Jeff on Twitter @jefflampl
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
More to The Story - Chapter 9 - Ruth
BOAZ THE "KINSMAN REDEEMER"
"The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He (Boaz) has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers." Ruth 2:20(NIV)
REFLECTION
In a tribal culture like Israel, family members were expected to take care of relatives. The next of kin, a male, played an especially important role in Israel, that of “kinsman-redeemer”. He could be called upon to fulfill three specific duties:
1. To redeem property and or relatives. In Israel all property was a family possession, an inheritance that dated back to the time of Joshua. If land or a relative was sold to pay off debt, it was the kinsman-redeemer’s job to pay off the debt, thereby redeeming the land or relative (Lev. 25:24-30, 47-55, Jer. 32:6-15)2.
2. To provide an heir through marriage. If a man died without an heir, it was the surviving brother’s duty to marry the widow and provide an heir to carry on his inheritance. (Deut. 25:5-10)3.
3. To avenge the unlawful death of a family member.
Boaz sought to fulfill this role for Ruth, not because he had to (another man was first in line) but out of love, because he wanted to. He felt it a privilege to marry Ruth.
Since the time of Jesus, Christians have seen Jesus foreshadowed in the Kinsman-Redeemer, Boaz. Can you see the parallels?
Prayer
“Lord, thank you for “buying me back” from the world of shattered dreams, false starts and bad endings. As wonderful a man as Boaz was, as much as he gave to Ruth and Naomi, his generosity pales in comparison to Yours. Lord I am grateful to You. Thank You. Amen”
You can follow Pastor Jeff on Twitter @jefflampl
BOAZ THE "KINSMAN REDEEMER"
"The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He (Boaz) has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers." Ruth 2:20(NIV)
REFLECTION
In a tribal culture like Israel, family members were expected to take care of relatives. The next of kin, a male, played an especially important role in Israel, that of “kinsman-redeemer”. He could be called upon to fulfill three specific duties:
1. To redeem property and or relatives. In Israel all property was a family possession, an inheritance that dated back to the time of Joshua. If land or a relative was sold to pay off debt, it was the kinsman-redeemer’s job to pay off the debt, thereby redeeming the land or relative (Lev. 25:24-30, 47-55, Jer. 32:6-15)2.
2. To provide an heir through marriage. If a man died without an heir, it was the surviving brother’s duty to marry the widow and provide an heir to carry on his inheritance. (Deut. 25:5-10)3.
3. To avenge the unlawful death of a family member.
Boaz sought to fulfill this role for Ruth, not because he had to (another man was first in line) but out of love, because he wanted to. He felt it a privilege to marry Ruth.
Since the time of Jesus, Christians have seen Jesus foreshadowed in the Kinsman-Redeemer, Boaz. Can you see the parallels?
Prayer
“Lord, thank you for “buying me back” from the world of shattered dreams, false starts and bad endings. As wonderful a man as Boaz was, as much as he gave to Ruth and Naomi, his generosity pales in comparison to Yours. Lord I am grateful to You. Thank You. Amen”
You can follow Pastor Jeff on Twitter @jefflampl
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
More to The Story - Chapter 9 - Ruth
"AS IT TURNED OUT"
"So, (at the insistence of Naomi, Ruth) went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech." (Naomi’s clan) Ruth 2:3
REFLECTION
Coincidences are far underrated. “It’s just a coincidence” we say.
Naomi and Ruth returned to Israel and they needed food. Because Jewish law provided for foreigners to be able glean left over crops, Ruth went out to the field to gather some grain. It just so happened that the field belonged to Boaz, a male relative of Naomi.
We have seen that Naomi’s and Ruth’s shattered dream of family had introduced Ruth to the God of Israel and had brought them into a deep and unparalleled friendship. Now hope was beginning to introduce itself as well.
Often the greatest gifts of God can only be seen, perhaps even only received in the midst of pain.
Prayer
“Lord, throughout scripture you reveal to us that help comes from very different directions. Thank you Lord, that you are working on my behalf even when I am most blinded to it. Amen”
You can follow Pastor Jeff on Twitter @jefflampl
"AS IT TURNED OUT"
"So, (at the insistence of Naomi, Ruth) went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech." (Naomi’s clan) Ruth 2:3
REFLECTION
Coincidences are far underrated. “It’s just a coincidence” we say.
Naomi and Ruth returned to Israel and they needed food. Because Jewish law provided for foreigners to be able glean left over crops, Ruth went out to the field to gather some grain. It just so happened that the field belonged to Boaz, a male relative of Naomi.
We have seen that Naomi’s and Ruth’s shattered dream of family had introduced Ruth to the God of Israel and had brought them into a deep and unparalleled friendship. Now hope was beginning to introduce itself as well.
Often the greatest gifts of God can only be seen, perhaps even only received in the midst of pain.
Prayer
“Lord, throughout scripture you reveal to us that help comes from very different directions. Thank you Lord, that you are working on my behalf even when I am most blinded to it. Amen”
You can follow Pastor Jeff on Twitter @jefflampl
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
More to the Story - Chapter 9 - Ruth
WHEN DREAMS ARE SHATTERED
"Ruth insisted to her mother-in-law, Naomi, 'Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you 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.' " Ruth 1:16-17
"Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." Ruth 1:20-12
REFLECTION
During a famine during the reign of Gideon Naomi and her husband left Israel and settled in Moab, enemy territory. There they had two sons who married and life was good. However, Naomi’s husband and two sons died and she returned to Israel with one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth.
Notice in the passages above how each handles their pain.
This, however, is only the beginning of their story. As you will discover, the harvest is beginning when life is at its lowest.
How would you describe your reactions when you were in the midst of a shattered dream?
Prayer
“Lord, Jesus told us clearly that ‘the rain falls on the just and the unjust and the sun shines on the evil and the good.’ Help me to be incredibly grateful for the good moments you give and to be persistently hopeful in the bad. In the name of Jesus, our Redeemer. Amen”
You can follow Pastor Jeff on Twitter @jefflampl
WHEN DREAMS ARE SHATTERED
"Ruth insisted to her mother-in-law, Naomi, 'Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you 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.' " Ruth 1:16-17
"Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." Ruth 1:20-12
REFLECTION
During a famine during the reign of Gideon Naomi and her husband left Israel and settled in Moab, enemy territory. There they had two sons who married and life was good. However, Naomi’s husband and two sons died and she returned to Israel with one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth.
Notice in the passages above how each handles their pain.
This, however, is only the beginning of their story. As you will discover, the harvest is beginning when life is at its lowest.
How would you describe your reactions when you were in the midst of a shattered dream?
Prayer
“Lord, Jesus told us clearly that ‘the rain falls on the just and the unjust and the sun shines on the evil and the good.’ Help me to be incredibly grateful for the good moments you give and to be persistently hopeful in the bad. In the name of Jesus, our Redeemer. Amen”
You can follow Pastor Jeff on Twitter @jefflampl
Monday, November 14, 2011
More to The Story - Chapter 9 - Ruth
YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT TO BE ACCEPTED
Anyone with college-aged kids knows the inundating routine that is college applications. Visit campuses. Choose a few schools to focus on. Make applications. Fill out forms. Write essays.
For anyone who hasn’t “been there, done that,” the filing of the application and financial aid forms is nothing compared to the waiting. It’s like the first time you look at your girlfriend or boyfriend and say, ‘I love you.” You’ve made the first move. And then you wait. You wait to see if they respond in turn.
For the college applicant, the end of the waiting is signaled with a letter in the mailbox – hopefully saying “You have been accepted.”
We all have a desire to be accepted, don’t we? In fact, that desire made it into Maslow’s well-known hierarchy of needs. He theorized that acceptance is basic to our nature and to our psychological health.
Ruth had the same need as we do. She was a Moabite living in Bethlehem who we meet in The Story. She ended up there with her mother-in-law Naomi when her husband died. And she found herself picking up the leftovers after the harvest in a field owned by Boaz.
Boaz discovered she was an outsider—a Moabite—the same people who would oppress his nation for eighteen years. You’d expect fireworks when they met. Instead, Boaz tells Ruth, “May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
His acceptance of Ruth goes a step further. Ruth finds him asleep on the threshing floor and lies down at his feet. When he awakens, Ruth asks him to “spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a family guardian.” The word for “garment” is the same Hebrew word for “wings” in the blessing Boaz had pronounced over Ruth. God’s acceptance came to Ruth through Boaz.
Your acceptance did too. You see, Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. In Matthew’s genealogy the lineage of Jesus is traced through David. Boaz is there too along with his mother Rahab (Matt. 1:5). Yes, that Rahab. The prostitute that lived in Canaan and sheltered the two spies Joshua sent into the land.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT TO BE ACCEPTED
Anyone with college-aged kids knows the inundating routine that is college applications. Visit campuses. Choose a few schools to focus on. Make applications. Fill out forms. Write essays.
For anyone who hasn’t “been there, done that,” the filing of the application and financial aid forms is nothing compared to the waiting. It’s like the first time you look at your girlfriend or boyfriend and say, ‘I love you.” You’ve made the first move. And then you wait. You wait to see if they respond in turn.
For the college applicant, the end of the waiting is signaled with a letter in the mailbox – hopefully saying “You have been accepted.”
We all have a desire to be accepted, don’t we? In fact, that desire made it into Maslow’s well-known hierarchy of needs. He theorized that acceptance is basic to our nature and to our psychological health.
Ruth had the same need as we do. She was a Moabite living in Bethlehem who we meet in The Story. She ended up there with her mother-in-law Naomi when her husband died. And she found herself picking up the leftovers after the harvest in a field owned by Boaz.
Boaz discovered she was an outsider—a Moabite—the same people who would oppress his nation for eighteen years. You’d expect fireworks when they met. Instead, Boaz tells Ruth, “May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
His acceptance of Ruth goes a step further. Ruth finds him asleep on the threshing floor and lies down at his feet. When he awakens, Ruth asks him to “spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a family guardian.” The word for “garment” is the same Hebrew word for “wings” in the blessing Boaz had pronounced over Ruth. God’s acceptance came to Ruth through Boaz.
Your acceptance did too. You see, Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. In Matthew’s genealogy the lineage of Jesus is traced through David. Boaz is there too along with his mother Rahab (Matt. 1:5). Yes, that Rahab. The prostitute that lived in Canaan and sheltered the two spies Joshua sent into the land.
Friday, November 11, 2011
More to The Story - Chapter 8 - Judges
GIDEON
“Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites” Judges 6:1(NIV)
“One time when the People of Israel had cried out to GOD because of Midian, GOD sent them a prophet with this message: "GOD, the God of Israel, says, I delivered you from Egypt, I freed you from a life of slavery; I rescued you from Egypt's brutality and then from every oppressor; I pushed them out of your way and gave you their land. And I said to you, 'I am GOD, your God. Don't for a minute be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.' But you didn't listen to me."
"Then an Angel of the Lord Appeared to Gideon who was hiding in a wine press. “the Lord is with you mighty warrior!” Judges 6:7-12
REFLECTION
While Gideon is hiding in a wine press from the Midianite raiders, the angel appeared to him and called him a “mighty warrior”.
Yet Gideon is far from being a mighty warrior for the Lord. He and his family worship Baal. He has paralyzing fears, even on the eve of his battle. In the face of God’s clear direction, he sputters, demands repeated signs, uses delaying tactics and worships at night to avoid detection. And finally, after success against his enemy, he leads his people back into idol worship. And THIS is a hero of the Bible?
It seems to me that the bigger lesson is that God works with what he’s got, including you and me. Do you sometimes wonder if your sin is too great for God to forgive and use you?
Prayer
“Lord, thank you for the reminder that you see in me what I can become, not what I am. Lord, I give myself to you as raw material for you to use for your purposes, knowing I am no better, and probably a lot less to work with than Gideon.”
GIDEON
“Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites” Judges 6:1(NIV)
“One time when the People of Israel had cried out to GOD because of Midian, GOD sent them a prophet with this message: "GOD, the God of Israel, says, I delivered you from Egypt, I freed you from a life of slavery; I rescued you from Egypt's brutality and then from every oppressor; I pushed them out of your way and gave you their land. And I said to you, 'I am GOD, your God. Don't for a minute be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.' But you didn't listen to me."
"Then an Angel of the Lord Appeared to Gideon who was hiding in a wine press. “the Lord is with you mighty warrior!” Judges 6:7-12
REFLECTION
While Gideon is hiding in a wine press from the Midianite raiders, the angel appeared to him and called him a “mighty warrior”.
Yet Gideon is far from being a mighty warrior for the Lord. He and his family worship Baal. He has paralyzing fears, even on the eve of his battle. In the face of God’s clear direction, he sputters, demands repeated signs, uses delaying tactics and worships at night to avoid detection. And finally, after success against his enemy, he leads his people back into idol worship. And THIS is a hero of the Bible?
It seems to me that the bigger lesson is that God works with what he’s got, including you and me. Do you sometimes wonder if your sin is too great for God to forgive and use you?
Prayer
“Lord, thank you for the reminder that you see in me what I can become, not what I am. Lord, I give myself to you as raw material for you to use for your purposes, knowing I am no better, and probably a lot less to work with than Gideon.”
Thursday, November 10, 2011
More to The Story - Chapter 8 - Judges
DO YOU FIND THIS PATTERN FAMILIAR?
"After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals." Judges 2:10-11
"In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist." Judges 2:14
"Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders." Judges 2:16
Prayer
“Lord, the cycle of Judges makes me think of the cycles of my own life. I experience spiritual renewal and then fade. However, I thank you so much for your Word, the Church, and godly friends and family who come into my life, just at the right time to put me back on track with you.” Amen”
DO YOU FIND THIS PATTERN FAMILIAR?
"After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals." Judges 2:10-11
"In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist." Judges 2:14
"Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders." Judges 2:16
Prayer
“Lord, the cycle of Judges makes me think of the cycles of my own life. I experience spiritual renewal and then fade. However, I thank you so much for your Word, the Church, and godly friends and family who come into my life, just at the right time to put me back on track with you.” Amen”
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