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Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 3: Seeking a Redeemer

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Life is not always black and white. We live in a world where through naivety or bad advice, we sometimes find ourselves in morally dubious situations. Yet despite this, as the Scriptures attest there are ways we can behave which are upright and bring glory to God, as we seek after our redeemer.

In Ruth 3, Naomi places Ruth and Boaz in a questionable and morally dubious situation where things could have gone very wrong. As Ruth sought a Redeemer at Naomi’s prodding, Boaz and Ruth both behaved in a way which upheld their honour, demonstrated their love of God, and demonstrates God’s love towards us.

After Ruth’s interaction with Boaz in chapter 2, a number of weeks continued to pass as Ruth gleaned Boaz’s fields (2:23). While the initial conversation between Ruth and Boaz seemed promising, the weeks drew on. Naomi may have thought that things needed to be brought to a head.

Naomi had taken to heart the need to ensure that her daughter-in-law, who had given up her old life for Naomi and for God, found “rest” through marriage (v.1). However, Ruth was tainted by association from her Moabite background (which implied immorality), so many Israelites would have viewed her with suspicion.

Naomi suggested that Ruth press the issue with Boaz, who held the status of Redeemer for Naomi (v.2). She told Ruth to wash herself, apply perfume, walk (at night!) to Boaz’s threshing floor, and lie down next to him as he slept in the threshing floor (protecting the harvest; vv.3-5).

These instructions are extremely ambiguous, especially as phrases like uncovering feet can be a Hebrew euphemism. Perhaps Naomi was being deliberately ambiguous in her suggestions, or perhaps acting out of desperation. Nevertheless, this placed Ruth in a tricky situation as she followed Naomi’s instructions (vv.6-7).

The night had gone well, with feasting and merriment, and Boaz lay down to sleep. But midnight came and his sleep was disturbed, perhaps by the cool air now blowing on his exposed legs. He was startled as he reached over to pull the blanket back down, and “behold, a woman lay at his feet!” (v.8)

Boaz immediately asked who this woman was (v.9). However, while things could have descended into a night of passion, Ruth made clear her intentions stating “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer” (v.9). Ruth was after a husband, not a dalliance. Covering her with the blanket was an ancient custom equivalent to an engagement ring.

Strictly speaking, Boaz was not legally required to do anything. He could have taken advantage of the situation. Instead, Boaz acted honourably, blessing her for seeking him rather than a younger man, and indicating he was willing to pay the cultural and financial price of marrying Ruth and supporting Naomi, despite the taint of marrying a foreigner (vv.10-11).

One complexity remained; Boaz was not Naomi’s closest relative, another would have the first claim before Boaz could do as he was willing (vv.12-13). One way or another, Naomi and Ruth would be redeemed.

To protect her reputation, Boaz instructed her to sleep until near morning (where she was safe) and then he sent her home, before dawn revealed Ruth and Boaz in a potentially compromising situation (v.14). Boaz sent Ruth away, but again with a substantial gift of 35 kg of barley (v.15).

When she returned home, Naomi wanted to know whether Ruth was truly the one through whom God would bless and redeem her, or a nobody she had falsely pinned her hopes in (v.16). Her return with her account and the large gift made clear of Boaz’s intentions to redeem Ruth and Naomi from their situation (vv.16-17), something which would be settled one way or another very soon (v.18).

While not the primary point of this passage, this passage is written in a way that reminds us that we often find ourselves in potentially morally dubious situations. The text makes clear that this encounter could have ended very differently, but Ruth and Boaz were upright and behaved in a way which glorified God.

We too in life will find ourselves in these situations, not always of our own making. As with Ruth and Boaz, we honour God by behaving appropriately and not taking the opportunity to indulge in sin.

The uprightness of their acts reflected their faith in God, and God’s overwatch of events. God intended to redeem Ruth and Naomi, and ordered events for their good not ill. God does so today, too.

Ultimately, Boaz is a redeemer and a type of Jesus, our redeemer from sin and death. Boaz risked his reputation by his willingness to marry Ruth, and assumed cost to himself which he did not legally have to.

Likewise, Jesus did not have to save us. But he freely took the cost of death on the Cross, and accepted the taint to his reputation by associating with all types of sinners, because his redemption of us brings glory to God.



Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 2: Kindness and Generosity

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Often when we hit rock bottom we are caught up in our sadness and bitterness at our situation that we feel God has abandoned us. That, or we fail to see the signs that God is working for our good until it stares us in the face.

In Ruth 2, God starts to show Naomi his covenant love and goodness through that same covenant love shown to Ruth. A series of “coincidences” show that God is in control and providing Ruth and Naomi what they lack. It reminds us that God does so for us too, especially with what we lack the most.

In Israel there were laws which enabled the poor to gather food on which to survive, provided they were willing to work for it (Deut. 24:19). Ruth and Naomi had arrived in Bethlehem right at the start of the barley harvest (1:22).

Naomi appears to be caught up in her bitterness, since she was likely still young enough to work. But Ruth had learned of these laws and asked Naomi if she could glean, which Naomi agreed to (v.2).

By “coincidence” Ruth found herself gleaning in the field of Boaz, a relative of Naomi and a righteous man (vv.1,3-4).

Upon arriving in the fields, Boaz asked after Ruth, wanting to know where she came from (“whose” not “who”, v.5). The supervisor explained she was a Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi, who had been working hard! (vv.6-7)

Boaz generously offered Ruth more than required under the Law. He offered her his provision and protection through his workers, encouraging her to glean in his field and even drink from the water for his workers (vv.8-9).

This was probably the first kind thing Ruth had experienced, as a suspect outsider from Moab (v.10). It is likely that Ruth would have been looked at with suspicion, if not thinly veiled hostility. Yet Boaz is clear that his kindness is because of her kindness to Naomi, and that she had sacrificed her past to follow God (vv.11-13).

The kindness went further. Boaz fed Ruth from the meal prepared for him and his workers, and invited her to glean in the middle of the field, and instructed his workers to “drop” extra barley for her! (vv.14-16) Ruth went from a distrusted foreigner with an empty stomach to treated as if a fellow-Israelite, fed until satisfied with leftovers, and deliberately blessed with more than required.

No wonder that Naomi was shocked when Ruth returned home (vv.18-19). After a day of gleaning, Ruth returned home with an ephah of barley (v.17). That is, about 20 kilograms. That is at least a month’s worth of food in one day!

Ruth’s haul had an impact on Naomi’s hard heart. Upon hearing that it was Boaz who had been so generous to both Ruth and Naomi in their situation, she proclaimed “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” (v.20)

Two things stand out. First, Naomi asked God to bless Boaz. While this could be written off as pious language, that she means it is clear because secondly she proclaims that God’s covenant kindness has been shown to her and Ruth! God is not out to get her for her past sinfulness in heading to Moab for greener pastures.

Naomi advised Ruth that Boaz held a role of kinsman redeemer (v.20), who was one obliged to ensure that relatives were not sold into slavery and in certain circumstances to marry a widow to provide an heir to the deceased man’s inheritance (cf. Lev. 25, Deut. 25). She advised Ruth to take up Boaz’s advice and stay near to one who, it seemed, God was working through to bless them after all (vv.21-2).

This passage should remind us that behind various “coincidences” in life, God is working. Ruth happened to turn up at Boaz’s fields. Boaz happened to be both God-fearing, and a family relative of Naomi’s. But God was directing Ruth’s paths. Boaz’s generosity was God’s generosity worked out in their lives.

Through Boaz, God was providing generously the food that Ruth and Naomi needed to live. He was showing his goodness and kindness to those who are part of God’s People, even when (in Naomi’s case) there was little thankfulness directed toward God.

This is the same God that we serve, who is able to supply our every need (Phil. 4:19). Of course, what we need and want are not the same thing, but God generously provides what we lack through a variety of means, including through the hands of his servants in the Church.

Of course, while Ruth and Naomi lacked food, there was one thing they needed more. A redeemer. In time, God would bless and fill their lives in greater measure. In the fullness of time, God did so for us all by sending Jesus to redeem us from our debt to sin and provide us with a beautiful inheritance.

God’s kindness and generosity is more than we deserve.



Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 1:6-22 – Responses to Ruin

Read Ruth 1:6-22

When bad things happen, there are three ways as professing Christians we can react. Firstly, we can abandon the faith and go to some form of paganism. Secondly, we can become embittered and angry towards God. Thirdly, we can cling to God and trust in him to provide, even come what may.

All three responses to ruin appear in Ruth 1. Naomi embraces bitterness, Orpah embraces her old gods, and Ruth embraces Naomi and Naomi’s God, despite her position as an outsider in Israel. This passage calls us to embrace Ruth’s approach, and reminds us that even though we might have a Naomi-like approach when things go wrong, God is still working in Christ for our good; one day, by faith, we may realise it.

With Naomi’s husband and sons dead, and nobody to care for her or her two daughters-in-law, Naomi was in a desperate situation. But word reached Moab that God had blessed Israel again with plenty, so Naomi resolved to head home and rely on the charity of her relatives (vv.6-7).

As she left, Naomi encouraged her two daughters-in-law to return to their own families where she prayed they would find husbands to support them (vv.8-9). Clearly their shared grief and loss bound them together, because they wept together, and both daughters initially claimed a desire to return with Naomi to Bethlehem (vv.9-10).

However, Naomi insisted otherwise. She had no sons to give them, and even if she remarried and bore sons, they would have to wait many years for them to come of age (vv.11-13). As far as Naomi was concerned, God had acted in judgement against her (v.13).

Orpah listened to her mother-in-law’s advice, weighed up the pros of staying in the land she knew with its green fields and family connections versus the cons, and returned home to her family and her pagan gods (v.14). From there, she passed out of history. She may have remarried, and had children. But she did not have a saving relationship with God.

Ruth clung to Naomi, like a husband should cling to his wife (Gen 2:24), and refused to leave her. Ruth’s commitment to Naomi was a covenant commitment. A wholehearted commitment. She refused to follow Orpah back to her family and their gods (cf. v.15).

Instead, Ruth proclaimed that “where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you” (vv.16-17).

Ruth knew that leaving her homeland for one that was suspicious of outsiders, much less Moabites, was risky. But she was willing to because she believed that Naomi’s God would provide. Naomi’s God was her God, too.

At this Naomi stopped trying to convince Ruth (v.18). But Naomi was not exactly pleased or blessed by this expression of devotion to her and faith in God. Because while Naomi was returning home, it was not with a contrite heart.

When they reached Bethlehem and Naomi was recognised and the town was stirred by her arrival and that of a foreigner with her (likely with suspicious eyes at the latter). But Naomi’s response to recognition was not gladness but bitterness, reflected in her request they call her Mara (which means “bitter”, vv.19-20).

Naomi’s heart was bitter and angry towards God. While she had returned to her home, it was not out of covenant loyalty but practicality. Here, she could survive on charity. But she did not presume God would bless her again.

Despite her feelings, God was not done with Naomi. They had returned to Bethlehem, and the barley harvest approached (v.22).

Here in this passage are three responses to ruin. Apostasy, anger, and appropriation. The first two lead nowhere, but appropriating God’s goodness through faith leads to life. 

God would one day bless bitter Naomi, through faithful Ruth. Outsider to God’s covenant promises, yet who acquired them by faith. Ruth emptied herself of her family and cultural connections and her culture’s pagan deities to identify herself with God’s People, with Naomi, and with Naomi’s God who she believed could provide a future for her. As it happened with Ruth then, it does and will happen today.

Like Ruth, we appropriate salvation through identifying ourselves with Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. By trusting in God, we become part of God’s covenant people, the only place where salvation is found.

All of us at one point in life face this moment of choice – will we choose apostasy, anger, or appropriate Christ when bad times come? Will we love those who are bitter towards God, sacrificing ourselves that they too may find joy in appropriating Christ in their own lives?

God was still working in Naomi’s life. By God’s grace, through the Gospel, he is still working in our lives too. If you are more Mara than Ruth, hang in there.



Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 1:1-5: The Depths of Disaster and Despair

Read Ruth 1:1-5

Sometimes a simple decision sets off a chain of events in our lives which can lead to disaster. This is especially the case with a sinful decision that sets us on a path of sustained disobedience to God.

The book of Ruth begins with just such a decision, and just such a disaster. While the lesson of the first few verses is a reminder to take care with the decisions we make and whether they honour our Creator God and Christ our Saviour, they also remind us that sometimes the depths of disaster are where God’s mercy is most strongly felt.

The book of Ruth, which begins with the story of Naomi, took place in the time of the Judges (v.1). As we read in the Book of Judges, this was a time of spiritual and moral decline for God’s People in the land, as they spiralled towards the depravity and debauchery that was the same as the nations around, came under God’s curse. God raised up Judges to lead God’s People in throwing off their oppressors and turning back to him, but as time went on the judges became just as troublesome as the people they led.

In Judges, the curse came through the form of foreign nations which oppressed and ruled over Israel. But this was not the only means of discipline that God applied to Israel. In Deuteronomy 28, we read that a series of punishments would come upon Israel for disobeying God. One of these is famine, which came upon the land at the beginning of the story (v.1).

Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, lived in Bethlehem when this famine arrived. Ironically, Bethlehem means “house of bread”, except its name was not being lived up to. Faced with famine, Elimelech uprooted with his wife Naomi and their two sons to the land of Moab (vv.1-2).

While we might relocate to another city or country in our day without much care or concern, this was a very dramatic thing for a covenant member to do. In effect, Elimelech was placing himself in the domain of the so-called gods of Moab, and suggesting that they were able to provide something which God could not provide: food for his family.

Moving to Moab, the people descended from Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter (Gen. 19) and who had attempted to defeat Israel through seducing them into sin (Numbers 22), was a questionable decision at best. While Elimelech’s name might have confessed that his God was King, Elimelech lived his life in a manner which suggested otherwise.

Whether Naomi agreed with this action or not is not stated, but given she remained there after her husband died (v.3) we can conclude that she either approved of the action or she at least grew comfortable with the move. Certainly, she and her sons did not move back to live with God’s covenant people, as they ought to have. They did not interpret Elimelech’s death as a sign that God was displeased with their move; after all, death comes to all of us.

Though Elimelech had died, Naomi still had her two sons to support her (v.3). In those days there was no Government support for spouses that lost their husband; they relied entirely on family for support. In Moab, away from her extended family, clan, and tribe, Naomi would rely entirely on her sons and any children they had for financial support.

Naomi’s two sons married Moabite women, named Orpah and Ruth (v.4). Things seemed alright, as they continued to live in Moab for ten years (v.4). Though neither son along with his Moabite wife was blessed with children. They did not interpret this barrenness as a sign that God was displeased with their move and continued sojourn in a foreign land.

But worse was to come. After ten years, both Naomi’s sons died, “so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband” (v.5). Now who would care for Naomi in a foreign land, with nobody to provide for her?

A simple decision to move from Bethlehem to Moab, if a more momentous and serious one than for us, but a decision which was disobedient to God and led through events and decisions to further disaster. A decision that was based in denying God’s goodness to provide (food), and trusting in themselves.

While we have more freedom about where we live in the days of the Church being everywhere, this passage does remind us to be careful with the decisions that we make in our lives. Sometimes, a simple sinful decision sets off an avalanche of pain and disaster in our lives, as a pattern of disobedience sets in. Sometimes, we forget or deny God’s goodness to us, and seek to provide our own desires in our own strength.

While some who walk away do not return, this passage is the opening to a book where God’s mercy shines through. Thus it also reminds us that sometimes salvation and mercy come from the deepest depths of disaster and despair.




Judges 21: Nobody Righteous

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Have you ever been involved in a situation where “nobody came out smelling like roses”? Perhaps one side was more right than another when everyone walked in, but nobody walked out looking better for the situation as it was.

The final chapter of Judges shows a situation where nobody in Israel comes out smelling like roses. After nearly destroying one tribe of Israel because of the appalling sinfulness of one town, the Israelites wept at the bind they found themselves in and resorted to shocking workarounds to provide wives for the remaining men of Benjamin. Nobody was righteous, everyone needed a saviour. Just like us, today.

Judges 21 continues the story of Judges 19 and 20. In chapter 19, a Levite’s concubine was cruelly abused and died at the hands of the Gibeahites, recorded in a way which mirrors the account of Lot in Sodom. 

In chapter 20, the callous and cruel Levite gathered the outraged tribes of Israel, who then sought to destroy Gibeah as they would a pagan town. Since Benjamin chose to support their tribesmen, the rest of Israel eventually wiped out all but 600 of their men. Everyone else was killed.

Whether or not they originally intended it, heads eventually cooled and Israel wept, asking God “why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” (vv.2-3).

The situation was made worse by a foolish vow which Israel had made, that “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin” (v.1). The problem? Of the 600 Benjaminite men left, there were no Benjaminite women left for them to marry. Within a generation, Benjamin would cease to exist.

Israel now had compassion for Benjamin, “their brother,” and wondered what they could do to fix the situation (vv.4-7). The solution takes up the remainder of the situation.

The first solution was to look for parts of Israel which had not answered the call to arms and thus had not sworn the vow. One town, Jabesh-gilead, had presumably decided the affairs of Gibeah did not affect them and had not answered (vv.8-9). Therefore, 12,000 men were sent to wipe them out, on the basis of “for us or against us” (v.10).

The exception was that women who were virgins were spared from this destruction, finding 400 (vv.11-12). Everyone else was slain. This must have been an awful situation for all, but especially the virgins who were forcibly married off after watching their family slaughtered.

Unfortunately, 400 wives was not enough (vv.13-14). But still Israel was compassionate towards Benjamin, because “the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel” (v.15). They looked again for a solution which did not involve breaking the solemn vow they had made (vv.16-18).

The solution devised was to condone the kidnapping of young unmarried women from a festival held to worship God at Shiloh (vv.19-20). After all, you can’t give permission for them to marry, but what can you do if you do not have a say in the matter? Wink wink, nudge nudge (v.22).

They encouraged the unmarried men of Benjamin to lie in wait in the vineyards where the innocent unmarried women danced and seize one that appealed (v.21). The lonely men of Benjamin took up the offer, seized 200 poor young women as brides and ran home to their tribal lands (v.23).

Honour thus satisfied for the men of Israel with their foolish vow, everyone returned home (v.24). Job done. 

Never mind the trauma for the 600 women offered up as tribute for the foolish vows of the men of Israel. Because “in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (v.25).

Except what was right in Israel’s eyes was not justice. It was not righteous. While they were right to purge the evil of Gibeah, their actions against all of Benjamin and Jabesh-gilead were questionable at best. And their solutions, while canny, showed how far they had fallen from the covenant standard. They needed God’s grace.

Perhaps we do not act as these men did, but our conduct in many ways looks like that of the world around us. And church discipline can go far beyond the measure required too at times, to our shame.

Like Israel in Judges 21, none of us are truly righteous. Innocent people are caught up in our lies, our anger, or in our over-zealous quest for purity and truth without mercy. We do the wrong thing for the right reason, but it is still wrong.

There is none righteous, as Scripture teaches, certainly among God’s People. We need God’s grace, and Christ’s reign as our king over our lives to do better. To act with mercy and justice. To do what is right in God’s eyes, not our own eyes.

We need a Saviour. Thank God that he has provided one for us; Jesus, whose ways are true and judgement is just. Who is merciful beyond what we deserve.



medieval picture

Judges 20: Judgement Among God’s People

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Sometimes events happen which universally shock and horrify a group into action. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour shocked and galvanised the United States of America into entering the Second World War. The Christchurch terrorist attacks shocked New Zealanders into supporting those affected by the deranged attacker.

Judges 20 shows the response of Israel to the appalling events of the previous chapter in Gibeah. The nation largely united to judge and expunge the evil in their midst, following God’s lead. The events of this chapter remind us of the importance of pursuing holiness in our own lives, and the importance of Church Discipline in ensuring the peace and purity of God’s People today.

After the twelve pieces of the concubine’s body made their way around Israel, all of Israel gathered together before God at Mizpah united in disgust (v.1). They were gathered for battle, ready to remove the evil among them (v.2).

Israel demanded a report of what had happened from the Levite (v.3), which was duly offered with some rosy depictions ignoring his own behaviour and suggesting threat on his life (vv.3-7).

Nevertheless, what he described was sickening enough that “all the people arose as one man” to punish Gibeah for its awful “outrage” of a crime (vv.8-11).

All, that is, except the tribe of Benjamin, of whom Gibeah’s depraved residents were a part. They were not willing to “give up the men” of Gibeah, even if they were evil (vv.12-13). They might be evil people, but they were their evil people.

So Israel mustered to fight against Gibeah and Benjamin, and Benjamin mustered to fight against the rest of Israel (vv.14-17). 400,000 men on one side, 26,700 (including 700 crafty left-handers) on the other.

What follows in the text is the narrative of the battle. Israel, mirroring its reliance on God in chapter 1 of Judges, sought God’s guidance at Bethel on who was to lead them in battle (v.18). God’s reply was the same as in chapter 1; Judah was to lead.

Yet the battle against the Pagans in their Covenant-midst did not go smoothly. Benjamin killed 22,000 of Israel’s number, stopping Israel from bringing judgement on Gibeah (vv.19-22). 

The people of Israel responded by weeping and turning to God, asking if they were still to bring judgement against their brothers, Benjamin. God told them to carry on (v.23).

Again, defeat at Benjamin’s hand (vv.24-26). Once again, they turned to God at Bethel for guidance and leading, with offerings (v.26). They sought God’s guidance, through Aaron’s son Phineas, as to whether to carry on (vv.27-8). God told them to carry on, because he would give Gibeah and their Benjaminite enablers into their hands.

What follows is the account of their victory, from both a general overview and a detailed look. In short, Israel faked a retreat to draw Benjamin away from Gibeah (vv.29-32). While Israel “fled” from Benjamin, 10,000 hidden men arose and put Gibeah to the sword, killing the worthless Gibeahites who had committed their crimes (vv.33-4, 37-8).

At that point, Israel suddenly stopped fleeing and started fighting, with Benjamin caught between two forces and with Gibeah burning behind them, a slaughter ensued. 25,100 men died in three separate engagements (v.35, vv.39-46).

Only 600 men remained of Benjamin’s tribe, holed up in a defensible position at the Rock of Rimmon for four months (v.47). The rest of Benjamin, along with everything belonging to it, was destroyed as if it was a Canaanite nation (v.48). Thus God defeated the evil in Israel’s midst that day (v.35), but at a terrible price.

This passage reminds us of the importance of pursuing holiness in our lives. We cannot live like the nations around us or we too will receive the same judgement which God will one day fall on the nations for their wickedness and rebellion against God. As temples of the Living God, we should not pursue lives that look something like the sons of Belial’s (v.13) because Christ has no company with Belial (2 Cor. 6).

This passage also has a corporate application. Just as there was wickedness in God’s People in that day, so too there is today in our own midst. We should not be surprised, after all even Paul had to exercise discipline eg, 1 Cor. 5).

What is the answer to wickedness in our midst? Not assembling a physical army to fight and slaughter, but to fight for the purity and peace of God’s Church through prayer and her Courts. Those who lead us today, our Elders, are tasked with lovingly, tearfully, but firmly when required exercising discipline to purge wickedness from the Church.

It may take time. There may be setbacks. If the local elders will not act, then the regional (Presbytery) or even national body must act. But led by the Holy Spirit, just as Israel were, our Elders help lead us in glorifying God and casting out the wicked, if needed, from among us.




Judges 19: Depravity Amongst God’s People

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Warning: This devotion addresses an awful example of abuse. If you or someone you love has suffered abuse, this passage and devotion may be distressing to you.

We live in a terrible, sinful world. Sad and terrible things happen to people because of the sinful, callous, and selfish desires of other people. It fills the news, social media, and television. We all know people who have been hurt by others. If there is one place it should never happen, it is amongst God’s People.

Unfortunately, it does happen amongst God’s People, both then and now. In Judges 19, we see the terrible moral decline of God’s People that went along with their religious decline. Callous and cruel people, supposedly covenant people, treating others as objects instead of Image Bearers. This passage warns us to watch that our practice matches our doctrine, lest we too begin to resemble the worst the world has to offer.

After the account of religious decline, the author begins another tale which describes the moral decline of God’s People “when there was no king in Israel” (v.1). This tale centres around a Levite who acquires a concubine (v.1), a lower status spouse, who was unfaithful to the Levite and then ran away home to her father’s house for four months (v.2).

Despite her unfaithfulness, the Levite made the long journey south to reclaim her (v.3). While there, the Levite enjoyed the warm and generous hospitality of his father-in-law (vv.3-9). Only as evening approached on the fifth day did the Levite decline further hospitality, and depart with his servant and concubine (v.10).

As night approached, the Levite had the option of entering foreign-controlled Jebus (pre-conquered Jerusalem) or pressing on to Gibeah, a Benjaminite town. Fatally and ironically, the Levite chose God’s People over foreigners (vv.11-14).

The custom was that visitors were shown hospitality by the locals, but none of the townsfolk were interested in playing gracious host (v.15). Eventually another “foreigner” (an Ephraimite) from another generation showed the Levite and his associates hospitality (v.16).

To encourage the Ephraimite to show hospitality, the Levite lied about his destination, implying he was on a pilgrimage to the tabernacle up north, rather than home (vv.17-18), along with indicating he had plenty of supplies (v.19). In other words, they only needed a bed for the night. The Ephraimite was happy to show hospitality, and as he believed, respect for God (vv.20-21).

What came next is both appalling and distressing. It is written to mirror Genesis 19, and invite the direct comparison between an iniquitous Canaanite Sodom towards Lot’s visitors, and Gibeah.

After the Levite and his host settled in and began enjoying themselves, the worthless townsfolk beat on the door, demanding to have their way with the Levite (v.22). The host refused to give up his guest, but as in Genesis 19, the concubine and the host’s poor daughter are offered to the crowd to be violated instead (vv.23-4).

Unlike its mirror, there are no angels to save with blindness this time. It would seem that expressing power was mixed with sexual desire, since Gibeah satisfy themselves with violating and abusing the concubine all night (v.25). The concubine which the Levite cruelly threw to them to save himself. 

With dawn came the end of the ordeal for the poor woman, who collapsed at the front door (v.26). Her callous husband, ready to leave, showed no concern for her, who perhaps by then had died from the harm (vv.27-8). Instead he trussed her body up on his donkey, and went home.

The Levite then callously cut up his concubine and sent her pieces around Israel, calling attention to what happened (v.29). Certainly it shocked Israel, though whether it was the vile abuse or the undignified dismemberment is unclear (v.30). Perhaps both.

What happened at Gibeah and after was the epitome of moral depravity. Someone bearing God’s Image was abused and dehumanised, and even her “husband” was complicit and cruel in how he treated her afterwards.

This should not have happened amongst God’s People. But it did. Despite the Law, it was forgotten in the rush to satisfy sinful desire. Confession and status as Covenant People did not stop the mob.

There is a clear warning here (1 Cor. 10). What we confess with our lips and hear with our ears must affect our lives, lest the Church becomes like and endorses the worst the world has to offer. There is no special shield around the visible church which defends us from moral depravity; we must seek and dwell on that which is pure and holy (Phil. 4:8). And to comfort and care for those who suffer abuse at the hands of evil people.

But this passage is about evil inside God’s People, not outside. We cannot be a beacon to the nations if we act like them, as if we have no king. Christ is our king. Christ’s humility, self-denial, service, and sacrifice freed us from the guilt and power of sin, so we might serve him with thanks by loving him, by following his example, and doing what he commands. In all this, we need the Spirit’s help.




Judges 17-18: Right in Their Own Eyes

Read Judges 17-18

There is a Golden Age Fallacy; the idea that there was a time in our past better than now. Partly it is driven by memory (you tend to forget bad events), and partly by confrontation with the evil of the present. For those of us with a conservative bent, the Golden Age Fallacy is a cliff we easily fall off.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as the Good Old Days, as Judges 17-21 quickly makes clear. Stories of life in the time of the Judges, after the stories of the judges themselves, reveal the past is often not better than today. If we want something better, we should look forward to Jesus’ return, not the days of old. That is true of worship, and of morality too.

The first story after the tales of the judges is in Judges 17-18, which focuses on idolatry involving several Israelite tribes. The story begins with an Ephraimite man, Micah, who for some reason stole 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother, then returned it to avoid a curse (vv.1-3). 

In response to her son’s fess up, she consecrated 200 pieces to make an idol which was then placed into Micah’s personal shrine with his other deities (vv.4-5). Mimicking the Sinai Covenant’s commands, Micah made priestly garments and ordained his own son to serve as priest (v.5).

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (v.6). Including violating several of the Ten Commandments, and other parts of the Law like ordaining your own personal priest.

Then it gets worse. A Levite who lived in Bethlehem of Judah (not one of the allotted Levitical Cities) migrated and settled with Micah in Ephraim’s hill country (vv.7-8). Micah offered him a job as “a father and priest” in his shrine, which the Levite willingly accepted (vv.9-10), eventually becoming like a son rather than a father figure (v.11). 

This Levite was also “ordained” to serve as priest in the shrine (v.12). Micah thought life was great; no curse for stealing mum’s stuff, household gods and priests to serve, even a Levite! God loved Levites, right? Surely providence was smiling on him (v.13).

Then it gets worse. The tribe of Dan, whose inheritance in the south was tricky to conquer, were looking for easier wins and five came to town (vv.1-2). Recognising the Levite’s accent as a fellow southerner, they asked if God would bless their trip and the Levite gave a bland reply (vv.3-6).

The “brave” Danite scouts then came upon a peaceful non-Israelite town with no organised militia, and convinced 600 of their tribe to fall upon the unsuspecting folks and conquer its possessions (vv.7-13).

On their way through, with the 600 troops outside, the five spies stole Micah’s idols from his shrine, along with his valuables and his Levite priest (who was only happy to be promoted from priest to one to priest to a whole tribe; vv.14-20).

Eventually Micah got wind and chased the Danite army with the Neighbourhood Watch, demanding his stuff’s return (vv.21-25). But the Danites were too strong, so Micah went home with nothing (v.26). Idolatry: eventually, you lose everything.

As for the Danites and Levite, they fell on unsuspecting Laish, killing the occupants and renaming it Dan (vv.27-9). It became the northernmost part of Israel. The new occupants set up their own personal shrine which remained until Israel went into Assyrian exile (vv.30-31).

It gets worse. The Levite was named Jonathan, grandson of Moses (v.30). Things were bad in Israel not long after Moses, during the time of Othniel.

Clearly, without a covenant-keeping, covenant-enforcing king, things got bad pretty quick. Idolatry, theft, brutishness, and disobedience were all order of the day.

The past was not a golden time for Israel to look back on. Nor is it for us. This passage reminds us how quickly we can fall into idolatry, if left to our own plans. This theme repeats throughout history; we do not have to look hard even in the “glory days” to see great problems with the Church.

We must carefully watch our worship, and worship in the way God requires. This story is one of syncretism and “personalism”, sinfully adding to what God commanded and worshipping according to personal preference for a local shrine instead of what God commanded.

We must not add to the Gospel. We must not turn it into external religious acts without internal meaning. We must not turn it into our own personal preference and experience over what God requires.

If we do so, we will find our religion empty and meaningless, leaving us with nothing. Because God is not there.

Instead, we must look forward to King Jesus and his return, who is the ruler and substance of our worship. As we follow his lead through his word, we will worship as God requires, not as it was in the good old days when everyone did what was right in their own eyes.




Judges 16:23-31: The Vindication of Samson

Read Judges 16:23-31

The Church is often closest to victory in God when it appears closest to defeat. The Gospel advanced like wildfire in the Roman Empire, even as persecutions swept the land. Rebellious leaders who have sought to crush the Church within their bounds have joined the dustheap of history, while the Church marches on and undergoes revivals in their lands. Moments of weakness lead to moments of vindication.

This link between weakness and vindication does two things. First, it reminds us that it is God’s strength which brings victory, not ours. Second, it reminds those that oppress God’s people that victory belongs to God, not them. These themes are true of Samson’s vindication and final defeat of the Philistines.

Samson was certainly in a position of extreme weakness. Having finally and foolishly given in to the treachery of Delilah, Samson’s hair was cut and with it his strength was gone. He went from confounding the Philistines to a captive of the Philistines, blinded and serving them by grinding grain in the prison grounds. From the Philistine perspective, the downfall of Samson was complete.

Samson’s downfall was cause for their celebration. The Philistine leadership gathered together to offer sacrifices to their false god Dagon (v.23). The Philistine people rejoiced that “the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us” was now blinded and in chains (v.24). 

Sacrifices and praise which should have been given to the only true God, Samson’s God, was instead given to a false deity. Whenever we read these passages in Scripture, we can just about guarantee that eventually This Will Not End Well.

The recipe for things to go drastically wrong for the Philistines occurs in verse 25, where we read that after a couple of refreshing beverages they decided to further humiliate Samson by dragging him along to their temple as entertainment. They parked Samson, who was blind, next to a couple of pillars which were structurally important (v.25).

This further humiliation of Samson provided the opportunity for Samson’s vindication. The Philistines were focused on their victory, but had not been looking closely at Samson’s head. His hair, we have already learned, had begun to grow again (v.22).

There was nothing magic about Samson’s hair, it did not bestow supreme strength by itself. That came from God. But Samson’s hair was the most visible sign associated with his strength (as one of the elements of his lifelong Nazirite vow), and so its renewed growth was a visible indication his strength was returning.

Ultimately though, Samson would have to trust and rely on God to empower him as God had once before, if he was to do anything other than serve as entertainment for the drunk Philistine leadership.

The stage, then, was set. Samson requested of the boy who helped him fumble his way through life to feel the pillars, supposedly to rest against them (v.26). In the temple with him were 3,000 Philistines, men and women, including the leadership of the Philistine people (v.27).

In this situation, Samson prayed to God asking him to “remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes” (v.28).

God heard his prayer, and answered it. When Samson pushed against the two structural pillars of the temple, the whole edifice came tumbling down, killing Samson and everyone inside (vv.29-30). 

Samson’s vindication saw more Philistines die in one event than everything he had done before (v.30). Samson wiped out the entire leadership of the Philistines in one hit.

After that, his family retrieved his body and buried it among the people he had judged, however imperfectly, for twenty years (v.31).

Samson’s vindication reminds us that God still uses flawed believers to achieve his aims, and to bring glory to him. Samson was a picture of the sinfulness and waywardness of Israel, yet God still used him to defeat the Philistines.

In the same way, God can use us despite our sinfulness and our waywardness from following God’s commands, just as God has done so with Christians throughout history.

Samson’s vindication also reminds us that apparent visible weakness does not mean God’s people are defeated or destroyed. In this one event, Samson did more damage to Israel’s oppressors than he had before.

Apparent weakness in the Church today does not signal defeat. God is still building his Church and will vindicate Christ’s Bride, even as he lays low every earthly power that rebels against him.

After all, the greatest moment of apparent victory for the world, when Christ hung lifeless on a Cross, was also the moment of victory over sin and death. That victory was vindicated when Christ rose from the grave, showing the world that their defeat was soon at hand.

While Christians might undergo outward trials and troubles that seem like worldly loss, we are hidden in Christ with God. Our souls are safe with God. One day, we will rise vindicated, as those who celebrated our apparent humiliation are crushed underneath Christ’s feet.




Judges 16:1-22: Samson’s Downfall

Read Judges 16:1-22

Sometimes in life, a person and the events that occur to them ends up being a picture of a group they belong to. In Jesus’ parables, figures like the older brother stood quite clearly for the life and attitude of the Pharisees.

Samson’s life also served as a picture of Israel. His sinful life, expectation of God’s presence, and his downfall mirrored that of Israel in its relationship with God. It reminds us that as individuals, as a congregation, and as a church, we must watch our lives and keep them focused on Christ.

After avenging himself on the Philistines for the death of his wife, Samson is said to have judged Israel for twenty years (15:20). Yet what sort of leadership did Samson provide?

The first portion of chapter 16 suggests that it was not a particularly dignified and holy leadership. Samson had a weakness for women, especially the Philistine variety. His weakness led him in unsavoury directions.

Firstly, they led Samson to sinfully engaging the services of a Philistine prostitute (16:1). While there, the local Philistines saw an opportunity to get their man (v.2). But Samson again embarrassed the Philistines by recognising the prospect of an ambush, sneaking away, and removing the Gaza Gates to a hill near Hebron while he was at it (vv.3-4). They could do nothing against his strength, it literally left them defenceless.

Besides indicating Samson’s tendency to indulge his lust, this second episode introduces a pattern of weakness which brings Samson’s downfall. Eventually, Samson’s eyes fall upon Delilah (v.4), who is paid 1,100 pieces of silver to seduce and betray Samson to them (v.5).

Samson’s weakness for Philistine women led him to Delilah, who would make Samson weak so the Philistines could overcome his strength.

Delilah questioned Samson as to what made him strong (v.6). Samson lied, suggesting seven fresh bowstrings binding him would make him weak (v.7). But when Delilah tied him up and invited in the Philistines, he snapped the strings like a twig and defeated them (vv.8-9).

So Delilah tried again. Samson shows his weakness and stupidity when it comes to pretty women by either not sniffing a secret agenda, or not caring. Thus a repeat with fresh ropes, and the same result (vv.10-12).

So Delilah tried again. Samson got closer to the truth this time, his guard getting lower when it should be getting higher. He mentioned his hair, suggesting weaving and pinning it would weaken him like any other man (vv.13-14). Same result.

So Delilah tried again. This time, she preyed on his weakness suggesting he did not truly love her because he kept secrets from her (v.15). She pressed him day after day, vexing his soul to death (v.16). 

Alarm bells should have been ringing. The only thing ringing was his lust. He gave in for some peace on the home front. He told her the truth about the Nazirite vow, and the one part which had not yet been broken – his unshaven hair (v.17).

The deed was done. The Philistine lords warned and the money brought (v.18). She made him fall asleep on her knees, and his hair was shaved (v.19). He thought everything would be fine this time, as it had before, but his strength had left him with his hair (v.20) and the Philistines seized him like they could never before (v.21).

They blinded him by gouging out his eyes, and set him to work grinding grain with a hand mill in Gaza (v.21). The bester and humiliator of Philistines so many times, bested and humiliated himself. The downfall was complete.

But the story was not over yet. His hair began to grow again (v.22).

Samson presumed upon God’s grace and favour. He assumed that God would continue to remain with him, despite his sinful life and ultimately breaking every vow of a Nazirite. God could have left him at any point until this point in the text, yet because of God’s grace to Samson and Israel he remained with him until his hair fell onto the floor.

Israel, likewise, presumed on God’s grace, chasing after foreign gods and assuming God would dig them out of trouble time and again. It was their downfall, just as it was Samson’s.

We must examine our lives. Do we depend on God or presume on him? Do we seek to keep his commands, or break every one? Are we empowered by God’s Spirit or “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17)? If the latter, we should repent before we too find ourselves humiliated and defeated by the world and sin, brought down by our sinfulness and weakness for lusts of this world.

Yet as we fail to do so perfectly, or at all and fall, the final verse reminds us that this does not have to be our end. If we repent, our spiritual “hair” may grow back, because while we live forgiveness in Jesus is still available. God is long-suffering in his grace.