Judges 15-Ruth-1 Samuel 2
*image courtesy of jeffphoto at www.sxc.hu
So that last part of Judges is pretty rough huh? Did you find yourself reading and thinking, “How in the world could they do these things?!” How is it that the people who not long ago were begging Joshua to accept their vow to follow the Lord (Joshua 24:19-22) were now killing, raping, mutilating, and generally running amok? The answer is found repeatedly throughout Judges (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25) – “There was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Mark Driscoll talked about this in a sermon last year. In that sermon, he said that without God, we are capable of anything. He’s right. The old cliché “But for the grace of God, there go I,” holds true. If we totally abandoned ourselves to our sinful desires, held no regard for the things of God, and kept ourselves outside of the means of His grace, we might be shocked at what we would be capable of.
Oddly, it is in the midst of this period that the story of Ruth is told (Ruth 1:1). In the original Hebrew ordering of the books of what we call the Old Testament, Ruth follows right after Proverbs. Proverbs 31 talks about the virtuous woman, and then is followed by an example of such a woman – Ruth. It is noteworthy, and speaks to Ruth’s character that her story should shine in the midst of the dark, perverse time she lived in. Interestingly, Ruth is a not a Jewish woman! The most faithful and noble character in this story is a Gentile! Ruth has the honor of being one of only two women to have a book of the Bible named for them (Esther is the other), as well as being one of a handful of women who are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (The others are Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Mary – Matthew 1).
After this story, we are introduced to a new character, Samuel, and a new era in Israel’s history. The wickedness continues into 1 Samuel, and is found now in the priesthood! But God has a plan in place to bring Israel back to him. We see the first peeks of this plan as God honors Hannah’s prayer and brings forth a very special son. “Samuel” is Hebrew for “God hears/heard” and will be an ironic pun used later when God calls him as a young boy.
There are at least two things we can take from the theme we’ve examined today. The first is that God is always working out His plan. No matter how dark and twisted the times may get, God is still on the Throne (see Day 4)! God kept enough people for Himself to maintain the holy line of the Messiah and bring about a beautiful story such as Ruth’s.
Second, is that we must never allow the culture or our sinful selves to determine our values. Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes in Israel. How similar this is to our culture today! “If it feels good, do it!” “I’m ok, and you’re ok, and that’s ok!” “It’s all relative.” We do not live a day of firm moral conviction and undeniable truth. We live in a day of lax ethics, uncertainty, pride, and selfishness. We are not the only society to raise our own views and thoughts above everything and everyone else. Rome did it, France did it, even Israel did it!
Let us never assume that 50% + 1 equals truth or right. Let us never assume that our own views, formulated in the selfishness of our own hearts are the best. Let us look to God and His Word for what is good and just, what is evil and corrupt. Let us not do merely what is right in our own eyes, but let us walk humbly before our God.
Words of Reason 