Burunche’s Blog

Deuteronomy 1:19 – 24 “And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea, I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.” The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land. They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

Things appeared to be going great! Only a few months after the Red Sea crossing and the issuing of the Ten Commandments, the Israelites now stood on the eastern border of the Promised Land. Commendably, the leaders asked permission to send spies into the land so that they would know the roads to follow and the cities that they should approach first. Sounds fine, right? And the spies returned with an absolutely enormous bunch of grapes as well as lots of other fruit. Numbers 13:23 tells us, “When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. (“Eshkol” means “cluster.”)

At that point, Moses was probably really relieved! Everything was going to work out and the Israelites were going to enter their inheritance just as God had promised…. or would they? Problem was, while two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, brought great reports, the other ten guys were such cowards that they were day – glow yellow!

v. 26 – 33 “But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated. Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’” (Anakim were giants similar to Goliath.)

So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them! The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”

But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel.”

O.K. Let’s look at this situation. God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, totally annihilating the most powerful army in the world in the process. Then God carried the Israelites through the wilderness “just as a man carries his son.” God even appeared as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, thus ensuring that nobody would sneak up and attack the Israelites while they were asleep. When the Israelites were hungry and thirsty, God provided for them miraculously. And yet after all these miracles, these people were sitting in their tents grumbling. Notice also the nature of their complaint: ”Our brothers have made our hearts melt!”

APPLICATION: One of the most difficult things in the world is to take responsibility for your own feelings, rather than blaming everything on someone else. Many people grow up in dysfunctional families; in these situations, it is routine for family members to say things like, “You made me cry!” “You made me angry.” “You offended me!” The plain fact is that the whole universe tilts on the axis of free will. God has given us the ability to choose, and that includes the ability to choose whether or not we will cry, become angry or become offended. One famous Christian teacher has described a program in which she took part. One speaker got up and severely criticized the host pastor while the pastor was sitting there on the platform with him. This teacher reports that she could hear the host pastor muttering under his breath, “I will NOT become offended! I will NOT become offended!” When we allow others to control our feelings, we give them power over us that should never be theirs.

Joshua and Caleb did the best they could to convince their fellow Israelites not to listen to the ten spies who were nay – sayers; unfortunately, they failed. As a result of unbelief, those grumbling in their tents eventually died off without ever entering the Promised Land. God knew that it was going to take men and women of faith to conquer Canaan. No cowards need apply.

This present age is one full of fears. If you choose, you can receive a steady stream of negativity from cell phones, tablets, etc. But you have a choice: You can listen to the fear – mongers or you can listen to God. Is God’s leading always safe and trouble – free? Absolutely not! Follow God’s guidance and sooner or later, you will encounter giants. But remember that the same God who has protected you all these years is still going before you and will help you conquer those gigantic problems. You have a choice: choose to believe God and to follow Him or remain in your present situation, grumbling because you have listened to someone else’s fears.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Thank You that when You lead us into difficult situations, Your provision is already there. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Deuteronomy 1:9 – 18 “At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone. The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky. May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised. But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself? Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”

And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”

So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes. At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident. Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.” And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do.”

You might remember the story from Exodus 18:13 – 26. Jethro, Moses’s father – in – law, visits the Israelite camp and sees that Moses is wearing himself out. In the absence of other leaders, Moses is trying to settle everybody’s disputes and spending his entire day doing so. The Bible records that 600,000 men left Egypt; since most of these men would have wives and children, there were probably over two million people in the camp. No wonder that Moses was becoming tired! Sorting out the problems of so many people was exhausting, not to mention that it left Moses no time for the actual work to which God had called him. Each time Moses was about to go be with God, there was probably somebody pulling on his sleeve and demanding attention! But Moses had gotten so deeply embroiled in these situations that he saw no way out… until Jethro, a leader in his own right, gave Moses a workable plan.

APPLICATION: There are several lessons that we can glean from this story.

1. Always make sure that the responsibilities you are assuming are the ones God wants you to assume. Some of us are highly responsible people and will shoulder any load that comes along. Recently a friend told me about her experiences as a supervisor in a weight loss program. My friend didn’t feel particularly called to this position, but nobody else seemed to want it. Bad move! As soon as my friend began this work, crazy things began to crop up – she got wrong information about meeting times, her car nearly ran out of gas, etc. Finally, my friend went back and prayed about this, at which point, the Lord showed her that things weren’t working because He didn’t want her to do this job in the first place. My friend gratefully bowed out, leaving the job for someone else of God’s choosing. Now notice that my friend failed to pray in the beginning and that she later got clear permission from God to quit. Sometimes God does call us to tough jobs, but when He calls, He will also confirm that call for us.

2. Never assume that you are the only one who can do a particular job or that you are the best person for that job. Moses probably began sorting out problems because he was the leader. But the talents that go to make up an effective pioneering leader are not necessarily the same talents that will make an able negotiator. Men and women with a pioneering spirit are forging ahead and continually searching for new challenges; however, they also may not be patient, flexible, or accommodating. Having a constant vision can lead to single – mindedness that does not admit alternative solutions. For years I was the only doctor at our mission hospital and I bore the brunt of leadership with a few other leaders. Later I was relieved to pass that burden on to those who might have a broader vision.

3. Realize that leadership is dynamic and that you should always be developing more leaders. As long as Moses was the only one solving problems, there was no scope for anyone else to develop leadership qualities. But do the math: 600,000 men – 600 commanders of thousands, 6,000 commanders of hundreds, 12,000 commanders of fifties, and 60,000 commanders of tens = 78,600 men who were now elevated to various levels of leadership as judges. You might argue about the math, but the idea is still the same. Suddenly, instead of behaving like so many small children, these men had to assume new responsibilities and wrestle with the problems that had plagued Moses. Hopefully, these men would gain new respect and compassion for Moses and would also begin to develop as leaders. All these men also would serve as officers for their tribes, thus helping the tribes come together as cohesive units. God was preparing this leadership organization so that when He gave His commands on Mount Sinai, Moses would have an effective means of transmitting those commands to the people.

At some point, we all face the same choices that Moses did: delegate or become exhausted and burn out. It is NOT God’s will for us to burn out by assuming work that was never ours in the first place. May God help us to discern His perfect will for our lives!

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving us and for caring for us. Help us to always seek Your guidance so that we will only take up the jobs You have for us and not something else. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Deuteronomy 1:1 – 8 “These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir. In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites everything that the LORD had commanded him concerning them. This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying: The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates. See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

We are beginning a study of the Book of Deuteronomy. In this book, Moses summarizes the wanderings of the Israelites for forty years as well as recapitulating the major teachings God has given them. Remember that in the beginning, the Israelites were supposed to enter the Promised Land a few months after leaving Egypt. But when ten of the twelve spies sent to report on the land brought back the frightening information about giants in the land, the Israelites refused to enter, despite assurances from Joshua and Caleb that God would help them defeat any giants. The ten men who had misinformed the Israelites immediately died, and God told the rest of the Israelites that they would never enter the Promised Land because they had refused to believe Him; only their children would enter. But the Israelites changed their minds and tried to enter on their own, resulting in a resounding defeat. The story is told in Numbers 13 and 14. It was this refusal to believe the Lord that forced the Israelites to continue traveling in the wilderness outside the Promised Land for forty years, enough time for all the unbelievers to die off.

After the Israelites went in circles in the wilderness for a long time, God finally gave them the release to move northward so that they could eventually enter the Promised Land. Nobody knows the actual location of those wanderings, so this map represents an educated guess.

APPLICATION: Many times, we feel as if our lives are going in circles and we aren’t making any progress. We might wonder what God’s will and purposes are for our lives.

The first question we need to ask ourselves is this: have we learned everything we are supposed to from our current situation? God kept the Israelites in the desert so that He could train them to become warriors and so that He could train them in His statutes. God knew that if the Israelites were unprepared physically and spiritually when they entered Canaan, they would never conquer the people who were already there and they would also immediately revert to idolatry. As is obvious in the Book of Judges, many of the Israelites quickly turned away from God once they encountered the fertility cults of the Canaanites.

A second question is this: are we refusing to change because we are afraid? Have we become so comfortable that we are unwilling to take a risk, even though doing so might bring us into a far better way of life spiritually? It’s easy to allow the familiar to act as an anchor, weighing us down.

A final question we must ask is this: if we leave our current way of life, where are we going? Change merely for the sake of change might lead to disaster. Are we changing because God is leading us or are we changing because we are bored?

May God help us so that as we make changes, we allow Him to lead us! Only when we follow God’s leading will we find His Promised Land.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving us and for caring for us. Help us to learn everything you want us to from our present situations. Help us to be willing to change when you say so and not to hold back. Thank you that Your plans for us are to give us a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.a The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!”

Philippians 3:13 – 14 “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 4:31-32 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and tender-hearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”

When I was fifteen, we moved from a big old farm house to a small one. But there was a problem. My dad carefully planned the move and lined up family friends to help us…he just neglected to inform my mom or us kids. We went to school that morning as usual; but when we got off the school bus that night, we found out that during the day, the friends had shown up and had packed up EVERYTHING in the house and had sent it over to our new place. When I say they packed everything, I mean literally EVERYTHING, including our garbage and a number of things that we intended to give away or to get rid of. Because we moved from a large house down to a small one, much of our stuff wound up in boxes in a store room and in the detached garage next to the house. For months we had to wade through those boxes to find the things we really needed. We finally got rid of a lot of things two years later when a tornado came through and shredded the garage and its contents. That disaster certainly simplified things, but I don’t recommend it as a way of sorting things out!

The big problem with that move was that Dad didn’t give the rest of the family time to sort things out or to pack things. This mean that we wound up with all kinds of garbage, the kind of stuff one accumulates in 19 years in a big old farm house. And we neither wanted most of that stuff or needed it. Our friends were trying to be helpful, but they saddled us with our garbage, whether we wanted it or not.

Fast forward several years. Bob and I had served one term in Saboba and had then come to the U.S. so that I could do my Master’s degree in Public Health. Our first term in Saboba was quite difficult. We had very little to work with, and when we had been there a year, a small tribal war broke out. But the worst part was the lack of compassion from those who were our bosses. By the time we left in June 1996, we had been badly hurt by these people. When we returned to Ghana in 1998, we worked at a different clinic and then at a Catholic hospital in northern Ghana. In the meantime, the hospital at Saboba lost its doctor and community leaders begged us to come back. We weren’t very sure we wanted to come back. We loved the people of Saboba, but the same supervisors who had given us a tough time were still in authority.

When we prayed, God told us He wanted us to return to Saboba, BUT there were conditions! The only way we could return to Saboba was if we were able to conquer our bitterness from the way we had been treated the first time. God told us that if we didn’t get rid of our bitterness, He couldn’t use us.

We returned to Saboba in February 2004, and for several months we had to confess Ephesians 4:31-32 several times a day as well as putting on the armor of God several times a day. Ever since that experience, we have continued to practice reciting those verses whenever we have found ourselves in a situation in which we have been tempted to become bitter.

What is the point of these stories? Your church is moving into a new building. That is wonderful! But the question is this: What are you taking into the new building? Are you only taking the furnishings and the musical instruments, or are you carrying bitterness and resentment into the new place?

Our constant prayer for the AG Hospital, Saboba is that it will be a place of God’s praise, a place of God’s glory, a place of health, a place of help, a place of hope, a place of healing, and a place of Shalom. This is our prayer for you as you move into your new building. But if you don’t leave all the bitterness and resentment and personality conflicts behind, you will contaminate your new building.

God’s question for each of us is this: What kind of garbage are you carrying with you? To God, those of us who are hauling around bitterness and resentment are just as stinky as somebody who is dragging around a Hefty bag full of rotting garbage. If you were moving into a new home, you wouldn’t bring garbage from your old house with you. Why bring emotional/mental/spiritual garbage into your new church? You want your new church to be so full of the Holy Spirit that if someone sets a toe on the church property, they will be overcome by the Holy Spirit. You don’t want anything to grieve the Holy Spirit or to obstruct Him from moving.

Prayer: Father God, help us to get rid of all our garbage! Let this new church mark a new beginning for everybody in the congregation. And let Your Holy Spirit have full control in this church. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Ruth 4:13 – 22 “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him. The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Line of David: Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.”

Finally! After all that suffering, all the bereavements, all the struggles, all the worries about starvation, all the shame, and all the anxiety about the actions of the other relatives – finally, Boaz and Ruth are married and have a baby boy, Obed. Naomi is thrilled beyond belief! Now she has a grandson to care for and her husband’s name will not be erased from the roles in Israel. Boaz is thrilled and proud because he has fathered a son so promptly after his marriage; all the elders at the city gate are undoubtedly congratulating him and expressing their admiration.

Ruth is thrilled, proud, and relieved because she has given Boaz a son and because she is now able to bear children. (Remember, there is never any mention of Ruth having had children while she was in Moab. Ruth was probably terrified that she might prove to be barren and thus a failure as a woman. Ruth might well have feared that she would lose the pregnancy or that she would be unable to get pregnant at all. Such a failure could have resulted in Boaz putting Ruth away and taking a younger woman to give him offspring to carry on his name.)

Why wasn’t Ruth able to get pregnant before? Was there some kind of genetic problem in Elimelech’s family that caused both Mahlon and Chilion to die early deaths? And why didn’t Boaz already have children? We don’t know. All we do know is that God enabled Ruth to conceive and Obed was born, continuing the line that would ultimately produce both King David and the Messiah, Jesus.

APPLICATION: INFERTILITY! This problem is one of the cruelest things that can happen to a couple. Sometimes there are compelling reasons why the man or woman cannot contribute to the pregnancy. But many times, there are no reasons that can be found. If a marriage is predicated mainly with the goal of child – bearing, that marriage can easily fail. For a woman who loves her husband and who wants to give him a child, there is nothing more painful than watching other women who do not want their pregnancies abort their infants. In polygamous cultures, the first wife may either be divorced or merely shunned in favor of a younger woman who is fertile.

The Biblical account does not mention any previous children for either Ruth or Boaz. In that culture, both these otherwise admirable people would have been scorned for their failure to reproduce. (Overheard at the city gate: “Oh, Boaz! Well, you can’t deny that he is an excellent businessman and a good farmer. But what good is that wealth doing him? Where will that wealth go when he dies?”) Overheard at the village well: (“Oh Ruth? That woman from Moab who came to Bethlehem with Naomi? Well, my dear, I heard from someone who knows Naomi VERY WELL that woman never got pregnant all the time she was married to Mahlon! Humph! So she’s pretty – so what? She’ll be a hag before she’s thirty!”)

The why’s of infertility may be difficult, but this one thing we do know: God wants to put children in families. For many, adoption is the answer. For some, God withholds biological children but gives them young men and women who need parenting of a kind that their biological parents cannot provide.

For years I ran a bush hospital in a remote part of northeastern Ghana. I still work in that hospital. As the only doctor for more than 100,000 people, I had no time to parent small children and never became pregnant, despite trying. But God has given my husband and me non – biological children, young men and women whose parents are generally peasant farmers. These young people need funding for school and encouragement and guidance as they negotiate their way in a world their parents have never known. My husband and I do not replace biological parents; we come along side biological parents when they are present. But many times one or both parents are dead, leaving the young to fend for themselves. When we can educate the older children in a family to the point that they have professions, they can then help their younger siblings, thus saving the entire family.

Perhaps God has not given you biological children of your own. Why not ask Him to show you how you can help widows and orphans and children at risk? James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving each of us so much that You want us to be in families! Help us to look around us and to see those who need whatever assistance we can give. Thank You that when we care for widows and orphans, we can be sure that we are doing Your work. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Ruth 4:1 – 12 “Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.

And he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought I should inform you that you may buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you will not redeem it, tell me so I may know, because there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.”

“I will redeem it,” he replied.

Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”

Now in former times in Israel, concerning the redemption or exchange of property, to make any matter legally binding a man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party, and this was a confirmation in Israel. So the kinsman-redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.”

At this, Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”

“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

Boaz has sat in the city gate of Bethlehem waiting for Elimelech’s closest male relative to come along. Now Boaz has called a minyan, an assembly of ten city elders, so that he can put the problems of Naomi and Ruth before the assembly. The question to be decided is this: will the closest male relative be willing to marry Ruth, knowing that the first – born son from that union will claim Elimelech’s patrimony and not his? Will this man be willing to take the risk that Ruth will later have other sons who can inherit from him? Boaz himself is willing to take that risk; however, as an observant Jew, he must give this man the chance of first refusal.

Interestingly enough, Boaz does not lead off with the question regarding Ruth but with a straight forward question regarding a land transaction. Land in Israel is ultimately considered to belong to God; however, every effort is to be made to retain the inheritance of those who have died for their progeny. Boaz begins with the land matter because he knows his relative will be interested enough to stay and discuss that.

Once Elimelech’s nearest relative realizes that there is more at stake than merely a land issue, he backs off quickly. Why should this man risk his family losing his inheritance in case Ruth only has one son or in case that son dies without heirs? Nope! This fellow is no risk – taker! If Boaz wants to play dice with his family’s future, fine.

Does Boaz already have a shrewd idea of how his relative would react? Quite likely. Boaz is a leader in town; there are very few secrets to which he is not privy. And if Boaz really is a judge, he might already have had dealings with this many and might know the level of his timidity. But when this man tells Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” Boaz might be forgiven if he inwardly gives a sigh of relief.

One of the most wonderful parts of this story is the blessings that the elders and “all the people at the gate” pronounce over Boaz. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

At this point, we might ask “Who is Tamar?” Tamar actually married Judah’s first – born son, who was so evil that God killed him. As custom demanded, Tamar then married Onan, Judah’s second – born son; however, when Onan was having sex with Tamar, he withdrew prematurely, so that he would not impregnate Tamar, thus refusing to raise up a son for his dead older brother. God was so furious at Onan that Onan died as well. At that point, Judah was afraid for Tamar to marry his third son. Tamar eventually disguised herself as a cult prostitute and had sex with Judah, and Perez was the result of that somewhat incestuous union. Judah acknowledged that Tamar was more righteous than he was because he had failed to follow God’s commands in refusing to allow his third son to marry Tamar.

Everybody in Bethlehem knew the story of Tamar, because they were descended from Judah and from Perez. And yet, nobody blamed Tamar and they hailed her as the mother of Perez. No mother would advise her daughter to take the drastic measures that Tamar took; however, God allowed Tamar to be remembered honorably and to even become part of the blessing pronounced over Boaz and Ruth.

APPLICATION: There are two main lessons to learn from this passage. First, if God is leading you to take a risk, do so. You must make sure that God and you are on the same page and that God is really leading you, but if God is leading, then step out in faith. Second, those who take divine risks will be divinely rewarded. In purchasing Naomi’s land and espousing Ruth to himself, Boaz was taking the risk that Ruth might have only one son with nobody left to carry on his inheritance. But Boaz became a human ancestor to the Messiah, and the blessings pronounced by the citizens of Bethlehem came true magnificently.

PRAYER: Father God, help us to trust You so that if You do ask us to take risks, we will be willing to step out in faith. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Ruth 4:1 “Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.”

The time has come to ask “Who was Boaz and why was he so significant?” The background to the Book of Ruth is so full of interesting stuff that it is difficult to know where to start. The name “Boaz” in Hebrew means “strength.” According to traditional rabbinic sources as quoted in Wikipedia, Boaz was a prince and a judge in Bethlehem, a righteous man who may have lived at the time of Eli, the High Priest. Traditionally, Moabite men were not allowed to become Israelites because their forbears had refused to help Moses and the Israelites during the Exodus. (Deuteronomy 23:3) But according to Jewish law, the children followed the father, not the mother, so there was no such proscription against Moabite women like Ruth. Boaz was an observant worshiper of God, hence the description of Boaz greeting his workers in Ruth 2:4, “The Lord be with you,” with the workers responding, “The Lord bless you.”

Throughout the description of Boaz and Ruth’s meeting and subsequent interactions, there is never any doubt that Boaz behaved honorably, graciously, and generously. (Notice that while Naomi’s late husband Elimelech had other relatives in Bethlehem, there is never any mention of those men having helped her.)

Wikipedia Boaz further expands on this as follows: ”The midrash Ruth Rabbah states that being a pious man, Boaz on his first meeting with Ruth perceived her conscientiousness in picking up the grain, as she strictly observed the rules prescribed by the Law. This, as well as her grace and her chaste conduct during work, induced Boaz to inquire about the stranger, although he was not in the habit of inquiring after women (Ruth Rabba to ii. 5;Talmudic tractate Shabbat 113b). In the conversation that followed between Boaz and Ruth, the pious proselyte said that, being a Moabite, she was excluded from association with the community of God (Deuteronomy 23:3). Boaz, however, replied that the prohibition in the Scripture applied only to the men of Moab – and not to the women. He furthermore told her that he had heard from the prophets that she was destined to become the ancestress of kings and prophets; and he blessed her with the words: “May God, who rewards the pious, also reward you” (Targum Ruth ii. 10, 11;Pesiḳ, ed. Buber, xvi. 124a). Boaz was especially friendly toward the poor stranger during the meal, when he indicated to her by various symbolic courtesies that she would become the ancestress of the Davidic royal house, including the Messiah(Ruth R.to ii. 14;Shab.113b). As toward Ruth, Boaz had also been kind toward his kinsmen, Naomi’s sons, on hearing of their death, taking care that they had an honorable burial (Ruth Rabba to 2.20). (All quotes from Rabbinical Literature)

Some sources suggest that Boaz oversaw the threshing of the barley and the end of harvest celebrations to ensure that these events would not turn into orgies. Evidently, such things frequently happened in those days.

When Boaz wanted the matter of Ruth and Naomi decided, he called ten other elders to join him, thus bringing together a minyan. Encyclopedia Britannica defines a minyan this way: Minyan, (Hebrew: “number”, ) plural Minyanim, or Minyans, in Judaism, the minimum number of males (10) required to constitute a representative “community of Israel” for liturgical purposes. A Jewish boy of 13 may form part of the quorum after his Bar Mitzvah (religious adulthood). The number ten comes from Numbers 14:27 when God referred to the ten spies who brought back a bad report about the Promised Land as “an evil assembly.” Joshua and Caleb were not included in that assembly because they urged the Israelites to go in and conquer. For the agreements regarding Naomi’s property and Ruth’s future, Boaz required a minyan, of which he could not be part, since he was the one bringing the problem for solution.

APPLICATION: Does character matter? In this day and age when character assassination is routinely accomplished through social media, we sometimes wonder if righteousness is really worth it. But remember this: we are not merely living out our lives in front of people; we are living our lives under God’s scrutiny as well. While people may misjudge you and twist your motives, God knows your heart and your thoughts.

Boaz had a longstanding reputation for righteousness before Ruth and Naomi ever returned to Bethlehem. Had Boaz not been a man of sterling character, God would have found someone else for Ruth as a husband and Boaz would have remained in obscurity. But Boaz eventually lived up to the meaning of his name and became a human ancestor of the Messiah. What an incredible blessing!

Over the years, we have had numerous people attempt to spread stories about us. One group insisted that we “lacked a can – do attitude.” Four years later, we were running a bush hospital in the middle of a tribal war. We never changed. This we have learned: you can survive any lie if you just keep living righteously and consistently. In the long run, God, not man, keeps the books. Character does matter!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You are the One who knows us better than we know ourselves. Help us to model ourselves after righteous men like Boaz. Help us to refuse to listen to slander, to defamation, or to degradation. Help us to follow You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Ruth 3: 8-18 “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.” Then Boaz said, “May the LORD bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now do not be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you request, since all my fellow townspeople know that you are a woman of noble character. Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I. Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not want to redeem you, as surely as the LORD lives, I will. Now lie here until morning.”

So she lay down at his feet until morning, but she got up before anyone else could recognize her. Then Boaz said, “Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” And he told her, “Bring the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he shoveled six measures of barley (about 58 pounds or 26.3 kilograms of barley) into her shawl. Then he went into the city. When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked her, “How did it go, my daughter?” Then Ruth told her all that Boaz had done for her. And she said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” “Wait, my daughter,” said Naomi, “until you find out how things go, for he will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today.”

What were the duties of the kinsman – redeemer? The Bible describes three different types of kinsman – . (https://messianic-revolution.com/l25-21-three-roles-kinsman-redeemer/)

The first type is the one who purchases back land for a family member who is about to lose it due financially crushing circumstances.

The second type is the one who avenges the death of a family member, assuming that family member died as the result of violence or negligence.

The third type is the one who steps in to marry a son-less widow so she can give birth to a son who will carry on the deceased father’s line.

Ruth as a citizen of Moab would not be considered an Israelite; however, if a foreigner renounced his/her land and gods and chose to live in Israel and to worship the One True Living God of Israel, then that person could be considered an Israelite. At this point, it is important to remember Ruth’s assertion to Naomi prior to leaving Moab. (Ruth 1:16 “But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”) Having renounced her country and her gods and having chosen to join Naomi in Israel and to worship Naomi’s God, Ruth could now be considered an Israelite. And the amount of barley Boaz gave Ruth this time was twice as much as she had been able to glean on her first day, roughly enough to feed Ruth and Naomi for nearly two months. When Naomi saw that barley, she must have been elated. Boaz had graphically demonstrated that he was going to take definite action, justifying Naomi’s confidence in him.

APPLICATION: Many of us love TV shows or videos in which the tall strong super hero conquers the villains, solves all the problems, saves the innocent, and gets the heroine. You can transfer that theme to any genre such as the wild West, outer space or shows featuring police or fire service. But at the end of the day, we find the idea of a strong protector who rights all wrongs incredibly appealing. For the Israelites, the kinsman – redeemer fulfilled the role of a family hero.

While we don’t know very much about Boaz, we can assume that he was a bit older than Ruth, since he commended Ruth for not having run after younger men, “whether rich or poor.” What did Ruth think when she heard that there was another kinsman – redeemer who was more closely related to Elimelech than was Boaz? Ruth knew Boaz to be honest, kind, and hard – working, but what about this other fellow? Who knows what he might do? Would he be kind to Ruth, or might he treat her as an inferior concubine or even refuse to do anything at all? Had I been Ruth, I would have been begging the God of Israel for H*E*L*P!!!

Why is the story of Ruth and Boaz important for us? We too have a Kinsman – Redeemer; His name is Jesus. Each one of us was born with a sin nature; we might want to be good and noble all the time, but invariably, we fail. Sometimes we fail the most when we are trying the hardest. And God Almighty is a just and holy God, who cannot tolerate anything or anybody sinful to enter heaven. Even if we are willing to die for our own sins, our sacrifice will be tainted because we are inherently sinful. Only the blood sacrifice of a perfect sinless man would be sufficient to pay for our sins.

Jesus Christ came as the Son of God, born to a virgin. Jesus was – and is – fully God and fully man. Although Jesus was without any sin whatsoever, He willingly gave up His life by crucifixion, one of the cruelest deaths any government could ever administer. But because Jesus was – and is – also fully God, He rose from the dead. For those of us who believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can copy Ruth. We can renounce our citizenship in a fallen sinful world and claim citizenship in heaven – not because of any good thing we have done but because Jesus has already paid the price for our sins.

For Ruth and Naomi, Boaz became their earthly savior, but Boaz also died. But for anyone who will believe in Jesus Christ, our citizenship is an eternal one. One day, even though our physical bodies will die, we will be in heaven eternally because of the Blood of Jesus.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you so much for sending Jesus as our Kinsman – Redeemer to live as a man and to shed His Blood for our sins. Help us to fully trust in that sacrifice and to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Ruth 3:1 – 7 “One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that it may be well with you? Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he lies. Then go in and uncover his feet, and lie down, and he will explain to you what you should do.”

“I will do everything you say,” Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her. After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman!”

 Even though the Israelites had been ordered by God to care for widows, orphans, and strangers, Ruth was still very vulnerable. At any point some young man desiring her as a wife might corner her outside town, rape her, and then insist that the sex was consensual. Naomi wanted to find Ruth a good husband, someone who would really care for her, and Boaz as a relative was a natural choice.

Still, Ruth and Naomi were taking a huge risk, and it all depended on the character of Boaz. Naomi undoubtedly knew Boaz before she left Bethlehem, but that was years ago and sometimes people change. When Naomi first left Bethlehem, Boaz had a reputation in town for righteousness and excellent character. Once Naomi and Ruth returned, Naomi would naturally begin chatting with her friends and finding out what was going on. You can almost hear the conversation at the village well. “I remember my husband Elimelech had a cousin named Boaz. What’s he up to these days?” “Oh, Boaz. He’s a great guy and doing fine, but that’s a terrible tragedy. Boaz married this nice young lady, but she died delivering her first baby. Both Boaz’s wife and the child died. It was terrible. Since then, he hasn’t looked at any of the eligible maidens here in Bethlehem. Heaven knows, some of these pushy mothers have certainly tried hard enough!” It might have been after one such conversation that Naomi began making her plans.

Why did Naomi counsel Ruth to wait until Boaz was asleep and then uncover his feet and lie under that covering? Naomi knew that Boaz would be celebrating the end of the harvest with everyone else; this meant that several men might be drunk. By having Ruth wait until Boaz (and all the others) were asleep, Naomi was ensuring that Ruth wouldn’t be grabbed by one of the other men. And by Ruth lying at the feet of Boaz and covering herself with the cloth covering his feet, Ruth was symbolically requesting his protection in marriage.

There are those who have attempted to place sexual connotations on this passage and to indicate that Ruth must have seduced Boaz; however, that would be far contrary to the character of either Ruth or Naomi. I believe that Naomi had gotten sufficient information from her friends to know that Boaz faithfully worshiped God according to the laws of Moses. As a traditionalist, Boaz would appreciate the significance of Ruth uncovering his feet and then lying down and covering herself with that same cloth.

APPLICATION: At first glance, we might ask ourselves what this ancient story has to do with us? So Ruth eventually gets a husband, so what? But look at Ruth’s situation.

1. Ruth was an outsider, a stranger who had come to Bethlehem out of love for her mother – in – law. Perhaps Ruth’s own mother was dead and none of her aunts was kind. Perhaps Ruth’s mother had a toxic personality. Perhaps Ruth’s family had collected a big dowry from Elimelech and Naomi and having spent that dowry, they had no more use for Ruth. The Bible never mentions anything about Ruth’s family at all.

Even if we are living in our own country, many of us may feel estranged from our families. Perhaps we have come out of a loveless situation, one in which those caring for us did the bare minimum and then left us to our own devices. Perhaps we now find ourselves in toxic working situations in which those above us take credit for our work and those below us scheme to undermine us.

2. Ruth was in a very vulnerable position socially. With only Naomi at the house, Ruth had nobody to protect her physically. Again, many of us feel just as if we are walking around with targets on our backs, especially now that women and children are being snatched out of parking lots. We lived in midtown Manhattan for a year; for that year, I felt that anytime I went on the street, someone was sizing me up to mug me. (I always tried to appear as if attacking me would be a worthless exercise.)

3. Naomi was probably now in her forties in an age when many people died by age 35. Even if Naomi could have helped and protected Ruth, Naomi had no resources and no way of telling how much longer she might live. Ruth needed more security than Naomi could provide. For all these reasons, Ruth needed a husband and a protector, someone with enough social position that nobody could complain if he married a Moabite woman. Ruth needed someone with sufficient wealth to care for both Naomi and her.

 We all need love and acceptance and protection. We too need families to which we can belong. If our original nuclear family fails us, we will seek out other families – church, school, or special interest groups. We all have an innate desire for connection. Even those of us who claim to have given up on people frequently cherish dogs or cats or even ferrets or mice – anything that might give us warmth and affection.

Ruth was blessed to have Boaz, who did come to her aid. But what of those of us who see no help in our situations? Deuteronomy 33:27 gives us the answer: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’”

For Ruth and Naomi, Boaz eventually became their protector. But for the rest of us, our Protector is the One True Living God. Isaiah 40:10 – 11 says, “See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”

Isaiah 40:28-31 says,” Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Boaz became the protector for Ruth and Naomi and a husband for Ruth. But we have a Protector who is far greater than Boaz. Our Protector knows each one of us individually, our hurts, our desires, our struggles, and our trials. Boaz died and was buried, but our Protector is eternal, immortal, all – powerful and all – knowing, all loving and all – wise.

PRAYER: Father God, many of us are afraid to call You “Father” or even hate the term because of the mean ways our earthly fathers have treated us. Many more refuse to own You as Lord because they have suffered at the hands of authority figures and shy away from trusting anybody. Please, Lord, let Your righteousness, Your peace, and Your truth soak into our hearts so that we begin to understand how much You love us. You never fail. You are Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. Help us to trust You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Ruth 2:13 – 23“My lord,” she said, “may I continue to find favor in your eyes, for you have comforted and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your servant girls.” At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here; have some bread and dip it into the vinegar sauce.” So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her. Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.”

So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley. (An ephah is approximately 20 dry quarts or 22 liters (probably about 29 pounds or 13.2 kilograms of barley). She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out what she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi. Then her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you.” So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers.” (The Hebrew word for kinsman-redeemer or guardian-redeemer is a legal term for the kinsman who redeems or vindicates a relative.)

Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished gathering all my harvest.’” And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his young women, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.”

Ruth returns to Naomi in success. Not only has Ruth had a profitable day gleaning barley, but she has also made a good impression on Boaz, a close relative of Naomi’s late husband Elimelech and a kinsman redeemer. The role of the kinsman redeemer is described in Leviticus 25:25 “If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold.” 

Why hasn’t Naomi already contacted Boaz? Perhaps Naomi is ashamed. After all, when Naomi left Bethlehem with her family, they might have been one of the wealthier families in town and now she is poverty – stricken.

APPLICATION: As we read the story of Ruth and Naomi, it almost seems like a fairy tale and too good to be true. But this story came from people who preserved stories in a long – standing oral tradition. Children were probably drilled in these stories and the details had to be correct at every point. And in the genealogies of Jesus, Ruth and Boaz figure prominently. This story is probably a true one.

One of the most encouraging parts of this story is the continuing devotion of Ruth and Naomi to each other. Obviously, these two women really did love and respect each other, giving a picture of what an ideal relationship between a daughter – in – law and a mother – in – law might be.

Yet another remarkable feature is the amount of barley Ruth was able to glean in one day. The barley Ruth brought would probably feed Ruth and Naomi for nearly a month and certainly must have relieved Naomi’s anxiety a bit. God is already blessing Naomi for returning to Bethlehem and Ruth for accompanying Naomi.

Sometimes we fail to look at our situations and see the small ways in which God is blessing us. This is a mistake. As many people have learned, a grateful heart improves one’s whole outlook as well as one’s health. May we look for the blessings as we go throughout our days.

PRAYER: Father God, help us to look for Your blessings and to be grateful for them. Help us also to share our joy at these blessings with others and help them to see Your blessings in their lives also. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.