Ruth and the Kinsman-Redeemer

 

So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.” (Ruth 3:14–18 ESV)

 

While the central verse (v. 16) is only a small part of the entire story of Ruth and Boaz, it is very important to understand if we desire to know the fullness of Jesus and the rest He provides to all His followers. The story begins with a woman named Naomi, who lives with her husband and two sons in Bethlehem. One day there’s a famine in the land, which is ironic, because Bethlehem means “city of bread.” Because of the famine, Naomi and her family move to Moab, historically an enemy of Israel. Eventually her sons both marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Sadly, after about 10 years, Naomi’s husband and sons die.

 

The story continues. Having lost everything in Moab, Ruth and Naomi return to Bethlehem when they hear the famine has ended. But in the ancient world, there weren’t many ways for women to provide for themselves. They arrive at the beginning of the barley harvest, and Ruth is able to glean in the fields of their relative Boaz, who turns out to be generous toward them. But when the harvest ends, Naomi and Ruth are back where they started, in the same poverty they’ve been trying to overcome for ten years. It must have seemed hopeless.

 

It is at this point that Ruth seeks rest from her plight. Naomi asks Ruth, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?” (Ruth 3:1; cf. 1:8–9). Naomi has a plan for how to attain this rest. Having seen Boaz’s generosity, she hopes he will provide the rest they need. It turns out he is “a kinsman-redeemer” (a close relative who can provide), so Naomi tells Ruth to propose marriage to him.

 

Boaz accepts, but he first needs to ask permission from the “redeemer nearer” than he (Ruth 3:12). As a demonstration of his devotion to Ruth and perhaps even as a sort of pledge, Boaz sends off Ruth with a gift. He gives her six measures of barley, which might have been as much as 95 pounds. When Ruth returns home, Naomi affirms her faith in Boaz. She tells Ruth to wait. And the word used conveys the sense not only of waiting, but a worry-free attitude as she waits. Amid uncertainty, Ruth and Naomi wait for their redeemer to “settle the matter” and bring them rest (cf. Ruth 3:18). The book of Ruth shows us that deep soul rest is possible even now if we, like Ruth, wait for the day of our redemption, trusting our redeemer to finish what he started.

 

This part of the book of Ruth aptly describes the period in which we live our entire lives. Just as Boaz pledges to redeem Ruth, so God has promised to redeem us. In fact, Jesus secured our redemption on the cross. And just as Boaz sent Ruth away with a gift and pledge, so Jesus has sent us his Holy Spirit as a pledge (cf. Ephesians 1:14). But just as Ruth awaited final resolution, we still await the day when God will give complete rest.

 

Boaz meets with the other relative who says he cannot redeem Ruth, “lest I impair my own inheritance” (4:5). So, Boaz redeems Ruth through a costly marriage, and Ruth gives birth to a child in Bethlehem. The baby’s name is Obed, which comes from the Hebrew word “to serve.” The women of Bethlehem say to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age” (Ruth 4:14–15).

 

Well, generations later, the women’s prayers were answered. This son was the grandfather of King David (4:22), who secured rest for Israel against her enemies. And the ultimate answer to their prayer came a thousand years later, when another son was born to another poor woman traveling to Bethlehem. This child was from the line of Ruth and David. And as he was about to be born, a priest in Israel named Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:67–68).

 

Jesus is the promised redeemer, the true Servant of the Lord, whose costly marriage to his people—a marriage that cost him his life—restores our life and brings us rest. He gives us rest from our sin and striving, and he welcomes us into the security of his family. One day he will also remove every trial from our lives. He will transform our weak and weary bodies into new, glorious bodies. He will satisfy all our deepest needs and desires.

 

When you trust in him, you can experience rest even now. If you place your confidence not in your own ability to control your life, but in this Redeemer—if you seek peace not in your circumstances, but in this Redeemer—then you can sleep at night no matter what the day ahead has in store, because your Redeemer has given you rest.

Ehud - the Left-Handed Deliverer

 

Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. (Judges 3:15–16 ESV).

 

Today may be one of those passages that you have rarely, if ever, read. It describes the deliverance of God through Ehud, who is one of the Judges called by God for the task of redeeming Israel after they have fallen into the hands of their oppressors. The story takes place 18 years after the cruel oppression under King Eglon of Moab. It is a story that is often repeated in the history of Israel. They turn away from God, begin to worship other pagan gods, fall into the hands of their enemies, and finally repent and cry out to God for deliverance. Despite Israel's recurring cycle of sin and rebellion, God answers with mercy by providing a rescuer, a Judge.

 

In this case God chooses Ehud, a man from the tribe of Benjamin—ironically meaning "son of the right hand", though he is described as left-handed (literally restricted or bound in his right hand). We should understand the tactical advantage of what appeared to be a weakness of Ehud. In the ancient world, being left-handed or having a handicapped right hand was often viewed as a physical defect or social disadvantage. However, Ehud turns this trait into a strategic weapon. The guards would have inspected the left side of visitors for hidden daggers, allowing Ehud to conceal a double-edged blade on his right thigh undetected.

 

Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. This unlikely left-hander was used by God to kill Eglon, the king of Moab, who was "a very fat man." Moab was subdued that day, as God continually redeemed His people from the hand of their enemies. The verse highlights that God does not rely on conventional expectations or societal standards of strength to accomplish His purposes, choosing a seemingly flawed or unusual candidate to overthrow tyranny.

 

Do you see the picture of Jesus, our ultimate and final deliverer in this story? Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Israel, and yet He is born in a stable, attended only by His mother and His earthly father, surrounded by the common animals of the land. Only the lowly shepherds nearby were told of His birth. It was a particularly inauspicious birth for a king! This theme was consistent throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry. While He was the Creator of all, He served all; while He could command all the angels of heaven, He commanded no army on earth; while He was eternal and immortal, He died in the cruelest of means. In fact, all of His disciples were shaken to their core when He died, thinking all was lost.

 

God doesn’t always follow the conventional wisdom of men. He writes wisdom and carries out His perfect plan according to His will and purpose. Even when your circumstances would scream your defeat, trust in the Lord! He has already delivered us by the work and grace of His Son, Jesus!

 

Standing on Dry Ground

 

So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan. (Joshua 3:14–17 ESV).

 

Today we turn our attention to Joshua 3:16. This verse is tucked in the midst of the story of the people of Israel as they crossed into the Promised Land and began their march to claim what God had promised. Here we find them at the Jordan river, swollen to its fall height, before Jericho. This great walled city seemed impenetrable forty years earlier; and yet here they were with directions from God and His mighty presence to guide them to victory. What a monumental moment in Israel's history. They crossed the Jordan River while the priests, who carried the ark of the covenant, stood on dry ground in the middle of it. The Lord was carrying out His promise of redemption from the hand of the Egyptians.

 

There are three elements we should not before we draw a conclusion concerning a message for us today. First, note how we are told specifically that when the people broke camp, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant walked ahead of them. The Jordan River was at flood stage during the harvest season. As soon as the priests' feet touched the edge of the water, the miracle occurred. As is often the case, we are called upon to take the steps we have been given to take before the miracle of God takes place. This is not the result of their obedience. It is an acknowledgment of their faith to do what God has told them to do and trusting the rest to God to accomplish.

 

Notice also that the water flowing from upstream stopped and piled up in a heap far away at a town called Adam (near Zarethan). Meanwhile, the water flowing down toward the Dead Sea (Salt Sea) was completely cut off. God is a God of abundance. He had no interest in making a narrow strip of the riverbed dry. He piled up the river, so there could be no doubt as to the source of this great miracle. Then, if that were not enough, the priests stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed while the entire nation of Israel crossed over on dry land opposite Jericho.

 

If we were to go back to the earlier verses in this context, we would see the reference to the waters being stopped up as a means of telling us that el khai  (a Living God) is among them (v. 10). This is exactly the purpose of Christ’s incarnation and work: to prove that He is the living God and that He is among His people. He is not like the dead gods of the nations, but He is the Lord of all the earth. It is He, Jesus, the embodiment of the law who was going before the people as the Descender, God in Christ. The deity of Jesus Christ, when the typology is understood, is inescapable.

 

We must connect the Scripture in all of the singular acts pointing us to the one great act of Jesus. When He died, Jesus declared “It is finished.” God’s miracle for the people of Israel was just a glimpse of the greatest miracle: the redemption of all men chosen by God! What a great God we have as our heavenly Father! We will stand on the dry ground of His grace won for us by Jesus!

 

The Angel of the Lord and the Burning Bush

 

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ (Exodus 3:14–17 ESV).

 

Today we continue to explore “down the rabbit hole” as we look at the Angel of the Lord and the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:16). Actually, our reading today covers four verses with the central verse of God’s love and care tucked in the middle of the paragraph. It is amazing the “Angel of the Lord” would speak to Moses out of a bush that was burning, but not consuming any of the bush itself; however, it is even greater to see the care and concern that God expresses to Moses for the people of Israel. He was deeply concerned about their affliction in the foreign land of Egypt. His promise of redemption is wondrous indeed. Before we go much further it may be of interest to try to identify who the “angel of the Lord” is. Some have pointed to other uses of this name in the Scripture. He finds Hagar in the wilderness and gives her a promise concerning her son, Ishmael (Genesis 16:7–12; cf. 21:17–18). He stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac (Genesis 22:11–18). He delivers a message to wayward Israel (Judges 2:1–4). He commissions Gideon and performs a miracle for him (Judges 6:11–24). He brings a plague on Israel during David’s time (2 Samuel 24:15–17). He appears in a vision of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 1:11–13; cf. 3:1–10). It is also of interest that this angel does not appear to anyone in the New Testament. For these reasons there are many scholars who identify him as the preincarnate Christ.

 

Certainly, that could be the case; however, we can not say with absolute certainty more than this is a very special being who is delivering the message of God to Moses. It is at this point that we find the most comfort and encouragement. There are four things that seem to pop out for me.

 

First, notice this is the first time we are introduced to the precise name of God. God tells Moses, "I am who I am," identifying Himself as "I Am." In Hebrew it is אֶהְיֶה (Ehyeh). It is most often pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah, though the Jews never spoke this name aloud and substituted “THE LORD” in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. There is no doubt as to who is giving Moses the message of deliverance.

 

Second, we also see the Covenant Heritage as God connects His identity to the historical patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—establishing this name as an eternal memorial for all generations. The people of Israel, though suffering are not forgotten nor abandoned by God. And, now He is going to deliver them from their bondage. That is our promise as well. As believers in Jesus, we have this “new covenant” built on the old covenant that God has delivered us from sin and death through Jesus.

 

Third, notice the mission to the Elders (v. 16): Moses is commanded to gather Israel’s leaders and relay that God has seen their suffering in Egypt and has visited them. Isn’t this a precursor to the birth of Jesus. God in human form comes for one purpose. Jesus’ mission was to deliver the people of God. And, so He has!

 

And fourth there is the promise of deliverance (v. 17): God vows to bring the people out of oppression into a rich land occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. When we see Jesus celebrate His last Passover Meal with His disciples we se the extension of that promise to all of God’s chosen. What a promise! This is the heart of the Gospel!

 

Down the Rabbit Hole with Don

 

I promise I will get to the Scripture very quickly, though this series I’m beginning today requires a brief introduction. It is one I’ve never done in any of the sermons or Bible studies I have written before. It has been referenced by some other writers as “the 3:16s of the Bible.” With my penchant for going a bit deeper in my personal study and reflection, I have in the past taken the time to read and examine all the Scripture passages found in the third chapters and sixteenth verse of each. It really is quite fascinating how impactful each of these verses are; especially when you realize that the original writings of the books included in our canon of Scripture did not contain chapter or verse separations.

 

And, of course the title, “Down the Rabbit Hole with Don,” reflects both the meaning of the idiom and the hope that it will be as interesting and encouraging to you as it has been for me. The idiom itself means entering a complex, bizarre, or unexpected situation, or getting deeply absorbed in a chain of tangential research. My hope is that this will cause us to look at each of these verses in a way that will be unique in the fact that we don’t often study “a little deeper” when reading the Scripture. Oh, just to be clear at the outset, this caricature of me popping out of the rabbit hole was created by AI.

 

Our first 3:16 comes from the first book of the Bible. It is a part of five books written by Moses as God gave him the inspiration. I’ve included the entire paragraph, though there is much to be learned from the first of these verses. Here’s the text:

 

To the woman he [God] said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,            for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:16–21 ESV).

 

What is often cited in this verse is the judgment of pain in childbearing. God tells the woman that childbearing and pregnancy will involve severe pain and hardship as a consequence of the Fall. There are no serious dissents to this very clear message. What was intended to be an easy, natural part of God’s creation. After God finished creation He simply said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28 ESV). God designed reproduction to be desirable and easy. Though I have not experienced this part of the judgement, I have been a witness to three births, all different, and none easy for Mary.

 

Now we come to the second part of the judgment: "Your desire will be for your husband…" Scholars debate the exact meaning of the Hebrew word תְּשׁוּקָה (teshuqah), which translates here as “desire”. There are some interpreters of the Scripture who see the meaning of this word as a relational or romantic longing. They interpret this as a deep emotional or physical draw toward her husband. I am not one of those interpreters. After all, that would not be a judgment. That was God’s original design when He created. I see it as a power struggle between men and women in a marriage relationship. When compared to Genesis 4:7, where desire seeks to master, it is an adversarial urge to control or dominate her husband. While this verse deals with the woman, the application of dominance rather than cooperation and communication applies equally to husband and wife.

 

Go down this rabbit hole a bit further with me. As I have counseled hundreds of married couples, both before marriage and during the struggles that often follow marriage, understanding this gives us the basis to apply the grace of God and learn to live relationally rather than positionally, especially in our communication with one another.

 

This verse is another example of God giving us the information we need to live the life He desires for us free from conflict and trial, even though we live in this fallen world. It is an expression of love from our heavenly Father. Notice the last verse of our reading. God knew they were ill equipped for the world they were being thrust into as a result of their sin, so He made them clothing to cover them. This is both a practical action as well as a prophetic action. It is a picture of our spiritual need to be clothed in the covering of Jesus, which could only be possible through the shedding of His blood and death. God is a God of love! What a message in this first of the 3:16s!

 

The God Who Comforts

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3–7 ESV).

 

Paul the Apostle was born and raised a Jew (cf. Philippians 3:4–5), and his Jewish heritage comes out in today’s reading. The Apostle’s opening benediction of this letter is similar in form to the benedictions used in the Jewish synagogues during the first century. These benedictions, like the one Paul pronounces, offered blessings to God for His great mercy. That is no surprise, because the Old Testament frequently highlights the merciful nature of God (ie.: Exodus 34:6). However, Paul does not merely repeat the Jewish benediction; rather, he makes it distinctively Christian, referring to God as the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 3).

 

In this benediction Paul also speaks of the Lord as the “God of all comfort” (v. 3). Indeed, the idea of comfort from God appears frequently in these opening verses and the rest of this epistle. The Apostle does this intentionally. The Prophet Isaiah highlights the comfort that the Lord will provide when He inaugurates the messianic age (cf. Isaiah 40-66), so Paul’s stress on divine comfort is a subtle reminder that believers are living in the messianic age. Although the fullness of this age awaits the return of Christ to bring the new heavens and earth (cf. Revelation 21:1–22:5), we are in the era of His salvation even now and should expect to receive great comfort from the hand of God.

 

Paul also that the comfort of God comes to us “in all our afflictions” (v. 4). Here, “afflictions” refers to the inner turmoil and trouble we feel from external difficulties, particularly those difficulties that we face from a world that is hostile to Christ. Later in this epistle, Paul warns against the false apostles who troubled the church at Corinth and called Paul’s Apostleship into question because of his suffering for the sake of Jesus (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:1–12:10). Paul will expand on the idea that suffering actually demonstrates the validity of his Apostolic call, but here the idea that the Lord comforts believers in their afflictions is a reminder that suffering for the gospel is part of true Christian discipleship. Moreover, we should note that the comfort promised is for the inner turmoil we experience when we suffer. God never promises to free us from suffering entirely. Instead, He promises to be with us in our suffering to comfort us and to give us the grace to endure (cf. Deuteronomy 31:8; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9).

 

Suffering should be understood as a gift from God. It is not that pain in itself is a good thing; rather, as we share in Christ’s sufferings—as we suffer for His name’s sake—we are granted the privilege of sharing in God’s comfort. This, in turn, allows us to comfort others (vv. 5–7). John Calvin comments on today’s passage that “The riches of the Spirit … are not to be kept by us to ourselves, but everyone must communicate to others what he has received.” God allows us to suffer for Christ so that we may encourage others who are suffering for Christ. This means that our suffering can actually be used for the benefit of others.

 

This is the kind of God we have. He is a Father who does indeed comfort us in a way that is inexplicably good!

 

Joy in the Journey

 

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121 ESV).

 

Mary and I are home in Texas after visiting our beloved Smoky Mountains. I have finished all the unpacking and needed to write a bit to begin posting today. I am, as usual, at a loss as to where I want to go in November. Thinking about “going” took me along a mental journey of where I had just been. That thought took me to our last day in Gatlinburg and a final visit to The Village. We usually park near the back entrance (pictured here). It’s a bit closer and less crowded than the entrance off the parkway. The entire area is closely laid out and an easy walk, even with Mary needing to use the wheelchair now for longer jaunts. It was a very pleasant walk along the brick-paved walkway browsing through the shops and stopping for a Donut Friar cinnamon twist and a fresh brewed cup of coffee (of course, Mary had the coconut frosted donut with a coke). It was a perfect fall day, just the two of us enjoying life! That memory then took me to Psalm 121, our reading today.

 

Many people look forward to going to favorite places year after year. There is a familiar journey, with anticipation building as landmarks are passed along the way. Finally, there is the joy of seeing what has changed and what has stayed the same. For the ancient Hebrew, going to the temple for feasts must have been something like this, yet for them the journey was likely far more difficult than our annual journeys are for us. Psalm 121 is a “Song of Ascents” that many of them would have sung as they traveled, and it gave them the hope that the Lord preserves His people throughout their pilgrimage.

 

To get to Jerusalem, many Israelites had to walk hundreds of miles. They had to pass through valleys and dry places, alongside cliffs and past caves. They walked through wilderness areas where there were wild animals and danger from bandits. Many would come by way of the paths along the Jordan River valley, which meant they later had to climb thousands of feet in elevation to get to the temple. As the psalmist considered that difficult climb, he wrote, “I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come?” (v. 1). It is a question for anyone facing a journey, a trial, or even death itself.

 

The right answer is found in the next verse: “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” This line is really a tremendous confession of faith. The hills were big, the challenges sobering. Yet the psalmist confessed that his help came from Jehovah, the truly existing God, who keeps all His promises and who is the Maker of the heavens and the earth. He is the Lord of the hills and the valleys. This is a firm profession of faith in almighty God.

 

It is an appropriate confession of God’s people as they start a week, and it ought to be our confession as we draw ever nearer to the heavenly throne of God. Without Him, we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5). In the person and finished work of Christ, who has ascended to the true Holy of Holies, we find our help and our hope. Even more, He has promised to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit, for the advantage of His disciples (cf. John 16:7). The Lord sustains, watches over, protects, and preserves His children. Though many would face dangers, and all eventually would die, the psalm ends with an eternal promise: “The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore” (v. 8). Think of your journey, whether in your special place or along the dark valleys and know the help and strength of the Lord!