March 12 – Day 72 – Ruth 1-4; John 19 Day 347 – 1 Timothy 1-3; Luke 6

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 347 – 1 Timothy 1-3; Luke 6 summary!]

Today’s Old Testament reading includes the entire book of Ruth. The account of Ruth shows us how God can use anyone, even a foreign woman (which in that day would have been seen as a nearly impossible scenario) to accomplish His purposes.  The back story of Ruth is an Israelite family from Bethlehem (Bethlehem means “House of Bread”) left God’s provision during a time of famine to travel to the foreign land of Moab. While there, the two sons of the Israelite couple married Moabite women. Then first, the father died, and then the two sons, leaving Naomi, the mother, and Orpah and Ruth, the two Moabite daughters-in-law on their own. Naomi decided to return to her homeland and told Orpah and Ruth to return to their families. In those days, unmarried women were low on the societal and economic scales. Their futures were bleak, and Naomi assumed at least if the women went back to their families they might not starve.

Both Orpah and Ruth told Naomi they would go with her, but after Naomi pointed out there was no future for them in Israel, Orpah agreed to return home, but Ruth showed her character by how she responded. She told Naomi she was going back to Israel with her. In a beautiful statement of commitment, as well as Ruth’s change of heart (She would have worshiped the pagan gods of Moab but must have come to faith in the LORD during her time as part of Naomi’s family.), Ruth said, 16But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.  17Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” Ruth 1:16-17 (NLT) Ruth’s pleading convinced Naomi and they both returned to Israel.

Once back home, Ruth demonstrated her character again by going out to the fields to glean grain.  She showed her willingness to work to support both Naomi and herself. She “happened” to end up in the field of a man named Boaz. Boaz was impressed by Ruth’s commitment to Naomi. He extended courtesy to her, then protection, then he made certain she would gather enough grain for her and Naomi. Once Naomi saw what Boaz did, she came up with what might seem to us an absurd plan: Ruth was to go to the threshing floor in the middle of the night and lie at Boaz’s feet. She was to do this after Boaz had finished threshing the grain and had lain down to sleep. Naomi told Ruth to uncover Boaz’s feet, and when he woke up, he would tell Ruth what to do. Can you imagine putting a woman you cared about in that position? Sleeping at the feet of a relative stranger, and leaving her well-being in the hand of the man? Obviously, cultural mores dictated what an honorable man would do in that situation. Boaz was an honorable man. When he woke up and realized what was happening, he committed to marry Ruth. Showing his integrity once again, Boaz gave Ruth grain and sent her home while it was still dark. That way no one would be able to make any accusations about Ruth’s behavior.

One problem stood in the way of this storybook scenario. According to custom, a closer relative than Boaz had a right to redeem Naomi’s land. Boaz went to the elders of the town the next morning and brought the situation to everyone’s attention. The nearer kinsman, agreed to redeem the land, until he learned the “deal” included marrying Ruth, the Moabitess. At that point Boaz redeemed the land, married Ruth, and the account ends by telling us about the male descendants of Boaz and Ruth for three generations: Obed who was the father of Jesse, and Jesse’s son was David, who became the greatest king in Israel’s history. He was also an ancestor of Jesus! Ruth’s faithfulness led to God using her to be a progenitor of the line of Jesus.

While we can’t cover every important detail in this brief summary, one more point about Ruth comes out in the townswomen’s comment about her to Naomi:  14Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the LORD, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. 15May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!” Ruth 4:14-15 (NLT) The statement “…has been better to you than seven sons!” is incredible. Daughters, let alone daughters-in-law, were nearly always seen as a burden, and sons a blessing. But Ruth was better than seven sons. That might be the greatest compliment anyone was ever given in the pages of the Bible.  Of this we can be sure: Ruth is a role model for all of us. May we demonstrate the same commitment to God, our families and our community as she.

As we review John 19, we’re reminded of Pilate’s cowardice. He succumbed to the pressure of the people to crucify Jesus, even though he determined Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong. As we read about Jesus’ crucifixion and death, we note John recorded Jesus’ last words as “It is finished.” That did not mean “I’m done, or “It’s over,” but “I have completed what I came to do.” Jesus’ demonstrated willingness to endure not only the pain of the crucifixion, but much more painful for Him, the weight of human sin, which separated Him from His heavenly Father. As we read it again, let’s pause and thank God for His great grace and mercy to us in this incredible event!

Day 347 – 1 Timothy 1-3; Luke 6

Today we turn to the Apostle Paul’s first letter to his “son in the faith,” Timothy. Paul had taken Timothy with him on one of his missionary journeys, after meeting him through his mother and grandmother, who were believers. Paul’s influence on Timothy was incredible, but as we’ll see through reading these two letters of Paul to Timothy, Paul held Timothy in the highest regard. These letters read as something of a last will and testament of Paul, offering his “bequest” to Timothy. Timothy would carry on the work after Paul was gone. Throughout the church’s history, this passing of the baton from one generation of leaders to the next demonstrates Jesus’ plan for the church not only to continue but to grow and extend to the ends of the earth.

In 1 Timothy 1, Paul greets Timothy and warns him against the false teachers who have already become prominent in the church. He also tells Timothy of how the Lord has used him even though he was once a persecutor of the church. Paul exhorts Timothy to continue in the faith and not disregard it as some have done. He closes the chapter with the example of a couple of deserters who gave up the faith.

In 1 Timothy 2, we find Paul offering Timothy some guidelines for worship. He tells Timothy to be sure to pray and make intercession for others. He tells him to speak the word faithfully, even as he was appointed as a “herald” of the gospel. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to how women are to dress and respond in worship. Many have used this chapter to exclude women from any type of leadership in church, and it can be read that way. However, just as 1 Corinthians 14 is often mistranslated and used to exclude women from leading in worship, this passage can be translated as women being admonished not to usurp authority from a man. Even this is offensive to some men and women, who see us as being totally equal. While we are equal in our value to God, and as Americans in our ability to vote, the Bible starts in Genesis by pointing out the woman was created as a “helper” or a “completer” for man.  This is not a position of subservience, but it is a position that is different than the man. The man is the “head” and the woman is the “helper.” Women are not to usurp authority, which is not to say they cannot hold authority. In my many years of experience as a leader in the church, I have seen women and men with gifts and skills for leadership who have led effectively. Not all men ought to lead, nor all women. The leadership ought to be based on their gifts and skills, and on their calling to lead. All of it must be done with appropriate lines of authority. To prohibit women from leadership based on these few verses, is as wrong as it would be to place all men in positions of leadership based on them. We are all followers of Jesus Christ, and the role we play in His body, the Church is based on His calling and gifting of each one.

In 1 Timothy 3, Paul offers the description of an overseer, or pastor, or elder. The words were used interchangeably in the New Testament Church. Again, because one of the qualifications is to be a “husband of one wife,” some have excluded women from leadership. That would also exclude Paul, because he was a single man. The admonition to being a husband of one wife, was to prohibit anyone from leading who had more than one wife, which wasn’t uncommon in that culture. As we read through the list of qualifications, we see leaders in the church are to be of strong character and integrity. This would be expected, because Jesus’ church is vital to the advancement of the gospel in the world, and the advancement of God’s Kingdom as well. 

As we return to Luke 6, Jesus declares Himself Lord of the Sabbath, and heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders took offense to this and started plotting to rid themselves of Jesus. While we might not think Jesus’ declarations are a big deal, they spoke directly against the religious leaders’ rituals and traditions and contradicted their authority.

The remainder of the chapter is devoted to what has been called “Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain.” Much of the content parallels the content of the Sermon on the Mountain, but with some variations in wording. Biblical scholars have differed on whether Luke just didn’t get the material right (or Matthew), or whether this was a different message. It’s virtually certain that the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain contained content Jesus taught over and over again, because it was the core of His teaching.

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