1217.) Psalm 102

stained glass window from Christ the King Lutheran Church, Redlands, California

Psalm 102   (NRSV)

Prayer to the Eternal King for Help

William MacDonald understands this psalm as a conversation that took place among the three persons of the Trinity when the Lord Jesus was making expiation for the sins of the world.   Verses 1-11 — The Lord Jesus, hanging on the cross, is speaking to God.

¹Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you.

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Music:

From Psalm 102, the Taize song, “O Lord, Hear My Prayer,” sung by the Taize Community Choir.

O Lord, hear my prayer,
hear my prayer
When I call answer me
O Lord, hear my prayer,
hear my prayer
Come and listen to me

_________________________

²Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call.

³For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.

⁴My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread.

⁵Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my skin.

⁶I am like an owl of the wilderness, like a little owl of the waste places.

⁷I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse.

⁹For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle tears with my drink,

¹⁰because of your indignation and anger; for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.

¹¹My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.

Verses 12-15 — The Father replies to His beloved Son.  See Hebrews 1:8 —
But to the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
You rule with a scepter of justice.”.

¹²But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your name endures to all generations.

¹³You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (New International Version)

For God says,

   “In the time of my favor I heard you,
   and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

¹⁴For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on its dust.

¹⁵The nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory.

Verses 16-22 — The speaker is unidentified, but we are safe in assuming that it is the Holy Spirit, describing the future restoration of Israel under the Messiah.

¹⁶For the Lord will build up Zion; he will appear in his glory.

¹⁷He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:

¹⁹that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;

²¹so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,

²²when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

Verses 23- 24 — The Savior is heard once more as He suffers at the hands of God for our sins.

²³He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

²⁴“O my God,” I say, “do not take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years endure throughout all generations.”

Psalm 90:1-2 (New International Version)

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
   throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
   or you brought forth the whole world,
   from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Verses 15-18 — We know that the Father is speaking to His Son as seen in the verses below from Hebrews 1:10-12.

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth
    and made the heavens with your hands.
They will perish, but you remain forever.
    They will wear out like old clothing.
You will fold them up like a cloak
    and discard them like old clothing.
But you are always the same;
    you will live forever.”

²⁵Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away;

²⁷but you are the same, and your years have no end.

²⁸The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.

The 102nd Psalm is a psalm of prayer. In it the fathers of old – weary of laws, of sins, and of death – wholeheartedly yearn and call for the kingdom of grace promised in Christ. They ask that God yet again build up Zion and set in place her stones and dust, that He would yet again enter in and let His glory be seen in all kingdoms, that He would rescue His captives from sin and death so that they may come together and thank Him – that is, that they may worship Him in the true Zion – and the Old Testament come to an end.

For without Christ there is indeed nothing but strength broken in the middle of life and days cut short, that is, a miserable, short, wretched life from which the psalmist is reluctantly removed. But in His kingdom is eternal life, and His time has no end. He is the One who was before He created heaven and earth, and will again change and renew them. Therefore, He is outside of and over all time. His year has no end and there is no dying there: This kingdom we will gladly receive. May such a kingdom, Your kingdom, come! Amen.

–Martin Luther

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Music:

So we have come to the close of another year.  What is ahead is unknown, but for us as believers, it is certain and safe in the hands of our loving Lord and Savior.  Let us find our rest, our comfort, and our encouragement in Christ as we remember the past and meet the future.

Hebrews 13:8 (NLT)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

HERE  is “Abide With Me” sung by the King’s College Choir of Cambridge.  It was written by Scottish Anglican Henry Francis Lyte in 1847 while he lay dying from tuberculosis; he survived only a further three weeks after its completion.

1. Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away; change and decay in all around I see; O thou who changest not, abide with me.

3. I need thy presence every passing hour. What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power? Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

4. I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless; ills have no weight, and tears not bitterness. Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me.

5. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes; shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Christ the King.    http://www.ctkredlands.org/the-church/church-environment-gallery/

desert owl sketch.  http://img1.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.300822501.jpg

Today.   http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HzbHpiVck1w/TdcZjKclY4I/AAAAAAAAAao/kCPBmbUR9ec/s1600/8871-today-is-the-day-ep.jpg

“Let this be written . . .”   http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FGeCP9_02-M/T4WozTcilZI/AAAAAAAAGmg/avWzOPhRFk4/s1600/psalm+102+18.jpg

1216.) Psalm 24

Psalm 24 (New King James Version)

A Psalm of David.

¹ The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
² For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters.

³ Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place?

There are two eminences in the city of Jerusalem, Mount Zion with the royal palace to the south, and Mount Moriah with the temple site to the north: these are the hill and the house/place of the psalm. The candidate to take possession of them must be both a king and a priest.

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.

Here are four moral qualifications required of the person worthy to occupy the hill and the house.

The first applicant was Satan. At our Lord’s temptation in the wilderness, he claimed to have possession of all the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them (Luke 4:5-6). But clearly that was a usurper’s claim and he certainly does not fulfill the credentials or qualifications.

Then we have the four great Gentile world empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, with the names of Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and Augustus Caesar. In more modern times there have been Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. When we compare them with the required moral qualifications, we see how far short they come.

Adolf Hitler boasted that he would found an empire that would last a thousand years. Does he have clean hands? They are stained with the blood of six million Jews cruelly done to death in the gas ovens of Europe. Does Nero, the Roman emperor have a pure heart? He was a human monster who murdered his own mother and who killed his wife with a kick when she was pregnant with his unborn child.

Napoleon lifted up his soul unto vanity. When he was being crowned emperor, it was suggested to him that the pope should be invited to perform the ceremony. This he disdainfully refused, and with inflated pride, set the crown on his own head.

Stalin swore deceitfully when he signed political alliances and later broke them. He, too, is said to have been responsible for the planned extermination of eleven million persons in the Ukraine and other parts of Russia.

Certainly none of these would-be rulers fulfill the moral qualifications to occupy the throne of world dominion. But let us think of another Man—Jesus of Nazareth. Does He meet the standard?

Did He have clean hands? His hands were pure, powerful, pierced, and priestly hands. They were laid in compassion on the leper, on the blind, and on the heads of little children while He blessed them.

Did He have a pure heart? He was sinless and impeccable. There was no traitor within the gates of His mind or heart to open the door to the tempter. He could throw out the challenge to the world: “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” (John 8:46). There was no answer to that challenge.

Was His soul lifted up unto vanity? He could say: “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). Pride was Satan’s original sin. He reached up, but Jesus stooped down to the death of the cross.

Did He ever swear deceitfully? He was truth personified. He could say: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

All the political leaders who have ever appeared in this world have failed the moral test: the only One who has come up to the standard is Jesus of Nazareth. He is the only perfect moral Person the world has ever seen.

⁵ He shall receive blessing from the LORD,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face.  Selah

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates”  from Handel’s Messiah.  Performed by the Engelbrekts Chamber Choir and members of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bengt Eklund, Conductor.

Concert in Engelbrektskyrkan, Stockholm, December 16, 2012

_________________________

The Eastern Gate, also known as the Golden Gate or the Gate of Mercy, in the eastern wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  In Jewish tradition, this is the gate through which the Messiah will enter Jerusalem.

⁷ Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
⁸ Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
The LORD mighty in battle.
⁹ Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
¹⁰ Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
He is the King of glory.  Selah

When our Lord came in humiliation at His first advent, He was designated “King of the Jews.” Such was His title in rejection. In His manifestation in the millennium, He will be King of kings and Lord of lords. But in relation to His people, He is the King of glory. He will be the Priest-King, “a Priest upon His throne, and He shall bear the glory” (Zechariah 6:12-13).

–all text in red from T. Ernest Wilson

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New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Images courtesy of:

Lift up your heads, o gates!   http://markryman.com/BLOG/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/psalm24-7.jpg

Eastern Gate in Jerusalem.     http://www.devinrose.heroicvirtuecreations.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/eastga1.jpg

1215.) Psalm 40

As we approach New Year’s, we will be looking at some of the Old Testament passages which speak of Christ.

There are a number of psalms which speak of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are called Messianic psalms since they speak of the Messiah. The question may be asked: “How can we recognize a Messianic psalm?” The answer would be:  where there is a reference to the Messiah in a psalm, and it is applied to Christ and expounded in the New Testament.

–The Messianic Psalms, by T. Ernest Wilson

Psalm 40 (NIV)

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.

² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

³ He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

from The Message of the Psalms,
by Walter Brueggemann

The beginning of the psalm is a familiar phrase:  “I waited patiently.”  This is a weak rendering.  The text has an infinitive absolute which might better be translated, “I hope intensely for Yahweh.”  Indeed all other hopes were exhausted.  Verses 1-10 tell that this passionate hope was fulfilled and not disappointed.  The hope was against all the evidence in the conviction that Yahweh could work a genuine newness.  The hope was not disappointed.

The rescue that was hoped for was granted:  he inclined, he heard, he drew me up, he set my feet, he put a new song in my mouth.  And the psalmist is eager to assert that this is not a private matter.  The personal rescue is a matter of public interest and benefit, for Yahweh’s trustworthiness in this instance leads others to trust.

The verbs of thanksgiving are of interest.  No doubt they refer to a personal experience, but the words have imaginative power because they also touch and allude to the primal memories of Egypt and the exodus.  That God inclines and hears, brings up, and sets feet in new places is the experience of all of Israel (see Exodus 2:23-25; 3:7-15).  The new song is enacted there in the Songs of Moses (Exodus 15:1-18) and Miriam (Exodus 15:21).  When one uses this psalm, one stands in solidarity with, participates in, and relives the whole saving memory of Israel.

_________________________

⁴ Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.

⁵ Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.

John 21:25 (New Living Translation)

Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

_________________________

⁶ Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.

⁷ Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.

⁸ I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

John 4:34 (English Standard Version)

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Hebrews 10:1-10   (NLT)

The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.

But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,

“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.
    But you have given me a body to offer.
You were not pleased with burnt offerings
    or other offerings for sin.
Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—
    as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”

First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

_________________________

⁹ I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips,
as you know, O LORD.

¹⁰ I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.

¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.

¹² For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.

¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
O LORD, come quickly to help me.

my all-purpose prayer

¹⁴ May all who seek to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.

¹⁵ May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be appalled at their own shame.

¹⁶ But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation always say,
“The LORD be exalted!”

¹⁷ Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is Cloverton and their “Hallelujah (Christmas Version).”  It tells the whole story of Christ’s obedience to the Father.

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

verse 16 and mountains.    http://wonders.wallpaperdave.com/ps40-16v.jpg

rescued.    http://www.eastidahonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rescue.gif

books on shelves.    http://www.bpc.edu/academics/library/images/MVC-166S.JPG

soup bowl.    http://info.xfactorllc.com/Portals/69322/images/Hand%20holding%20ladle%20dipping%20soup%20-resized-600.jpg

Help!    http://strictlygospel.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/help.jpg

1214.) Psalm 110

“Sedes ad dexteram Patris” (“Who sits on the right hand of the Father”)

As we approach New Year’s, we will be looking at some of the Old Testament passages which speak of Christ.

There are a number of psalms which speak of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are called Messianic psalms since they speak of the Messiah. The question may be asked: “How can we recognize a Messianic psalm?” The answer would be:  where there is a reference to the Messiah in a psalm, and it is applied to Christ and expounded in the New Testament.

–The Messianic Psalms, by T. Ernest Wilson

Psalm 110   (NLT)

A psalm of David.

There can be no doubt that this psalm looks forward to Christ.  Jesus Himself cites it to show that David knew that its ultimate fulfillment would come with One who is greater than he (Mark 12:35-37).  Even before Christ’s coming, a prophetic-messianic interpretation of the psalm was well known among Jewish interpreters.

–R. C. Sproul

¹ The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand (the place of honor)
until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet (a place of disgrace).”

Jesus applied this verse to Himself when speaking of His deity:

Matthew 22:41-44   (NIV)

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

***

Peter did the same while preaching in Jerusalem:

Acts 2:32-35   (NIV)

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’

***

And the writer of Hebrews uses it to proclaim Christ as our great high priest:

Hebrews 10:11-13   (NIV)

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

² The Lord will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem;
you will rule over your enemies.
³ When you go to war,
your people will serve you willingly.
You are arrayed in holy garments,
and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.

⁴ The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

“The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek” by Peter Paul Rubens, 1626 (National Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.)

The story of Melchizedek and Abraham is found in Genesis 14;
click  HERE  to read it.

“In Jesus, uncorrupted kingship and spiritual priesthood
will give the world an administration
such as it has longed for but has never known.”

–William MacDonald

⁵ The Lord stands at your right hand to protect you.
He will strike down many kings when his anger erupts.
⁶ He will punish the nations
and fill their lands with corpses;
he will shatter heads over the whole earth.
⁷ But he himself will be refreshed from brooks along the way.
He will be victorious.

_________________________

Music:

High and lifted up!  HERE — the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah.  From Andre Rieu’s “Live From Radio City Music Hall” in New York City 2004, with the Johann Strauss Orchestra and the Harlem Gospel Choir.

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New Living Translation (NLT)   Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

“Who sits on the right hand of the Father.”   http://jesusisyhwh.blogspot.com/2010/04/re-who-is-this-lord-mentioned-in-psalm.html

Rubens.   http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5041/5316364012_57e416acc4.jpg

1213.) Christmas Day 2013

“The Nativity” fresco by Giotto, 1310 (the Church of St. Francis, Assisi, Italy)

Christmas Day 2013

To all of my readers —

I wish you a most blessed Christmas Day, with the hope that our DWELLING together in the truth of the Word of God is transforming us all, day by day, more and more, into the likeness of this Child, the Christ.

With love in Jesus’ Name,

Rebecca Mitchell

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Luke 2:7 (King James Version)

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

*     *     *     *     *

from Wishful Thinking:  A Seeker’s ABC,
by Frederick Buechner

HISTORY

Unlike Buddhism or Hinduism, biblical faith takes history very seriously because God takes it very seriously.  He took it seriously enough to begin it and to enter it and to promise that one day he will bring it to a serious close.  The biblical view is that history is not an absurdity to be endured or an illusion to be dispelled or an endlessly repeating cycle to be escaped.  Instead it is for each of us a series of crucial, precious, and unrepeatable moments that are seeking to lead us somewhere.

The true history of humankind and the true history of each individual has less to do than we tend to think with the kind of information that gets into most histories, biographies, and autobiographies.  True history has to do with the saving and losing of souls, and both of these are apt to take place when most people—including the one whose soul is at stake—are looking the other way.  The real turning point in our lives is less likely to be the day we win the election or get married, than the morning we decide not to mail the letter or the afternoon we watch the woods fill up with snow.  The real turning point in human history is less apt to be the day the wheel is invented or Rome falls, than the night a boy is born to a couple of Jews.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  are the Celtic Woman with Chloe Agnew performing ”O Holy Night,” from the Celtic Woman concert at Slane Castle, in Ireland.

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We do not believe that the virgin mother gave birth to a son and that he is the Lord and Savior unless, added to this, I believe the second thing, namely, that he is my Savior and Lord.

Martin Luther, “Sermon on the Afternoon of Christmas Day 1530”

*     *     *     *     *

17th century English poet Richard Crashaw:

“In the Holy Nativity of our Lord”

Welcome, all wonders in one sight!

Eternity shut in a span;

Summer in winter; day in night;

Heaven in earth, and God in man.

Great little one!  Whose all-embracing birth

Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heav’n to earth.

_________________________

Music:

“Welcome to Our World.”

_________________________

Images courtesy of:

Giotto.   http://www.artbible.net/3JC/-Luk-02,01_Birth_Manger_Naissance_Creche/14%20GIOTTO%20NATIVITY.jpg

Irish nativity set.    http://www.fitzulas.com/Merchant4c/graphics/00000001/2011/pipka-30029-l.jpg

1212.) Ruth 4

Wedding Day!  I couldn’t find a photo of Ruth and Boaz as bride and groom!  So here is one of David and me, December 27, 2003. In just a few days, it will be ten years!  He is my “family redeemer,” and I thank God for him.

Ruth 4 (New Living Translation)

Boaz Marries Ruth

¹ Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there.

Jaffa Gate, part of the wall around the Old City of Jerusalem, was built around 1540 by Suleiman the Magnificent.

City gates served two functions in ancient times.  First, they were protection.  Gates controlled access to a walled city.  They could shut out marauders and enemies and wild animals.  Gates were often fortified with towers and secured with bars of iron.  Second, city gates were the site of many societal, administrative, and business transactions.  Much like the Greek agora or the Roman forum, the city gate was where important issues were discussed and negotiated.  Deals were made and announcements proclaimed.

Remember, too, that this is a pre-literate society.  Even during the Roman Empire, scholars believe, no more than 10 percent of the people could read and/or write.  So instead of written records, they had certain visual rituals, performed in front of a group of witnesses, to ratify agreements and put them into the communal memory.

Just then the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, so Boaz called out to him, “Come over here and sit down, friend. I want to talk to you.” So they sat down together. ² Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. ³ And Boaz said to the family redeemer, “You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. ⁴ I thought I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don’t want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you.”

The man replied, “All right, I’ll redeem it.”

⁵ Then Boaz told him, “Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way she can have children who will carry on her husband’s name and keep the land in the family.”

⁶ “Then I can’t redeem it,” the family redeemer replied, “because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it.”

⁷ Now in those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. ⁸ So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, “You buy the land.”

A done deal.

⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. ¹⁰ And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”

¹¹ Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. ¹² And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”

_________________________

Music:

Years ago, after a drawn-out and draining divorce from a habitually unfaithful husband, I was, to use C. S. Lewis’ term, “surprised by joy” when a wonderful man named David found me.   I had his 10th grade son in my English class; his wife died of cancer the third week of school.   As the months passed by and love grew, we realized that we wanted to serve God together and grow old together.   Once when I was telling this story to a friend of a friend, she played me this song and I have loved it ever since!  Thank you, Rachel!  I love you, David!

Selah sings “God Bless the Broken Road (That Led Me Straight to You).”  I post this song for Ruth and Boaz and all the ones who have found love in circuitous and sometimes difficult ways!  Hear it as a musical version of Romans 8:28 — that God works ALL THINGS together for good for those who love him, and Lord, you know we love you!

_________________________

The Descendants of Boaz

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife.

“Calypsos 1” — a poem by William Carlos Williams, 1962

Well God is
love
so love me

God
is love so
love me God

is
love so love
me well

When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ Then 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. ¹⁵ May 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!”

¹⁶ Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own.

¹⁷ The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed (which means “worship”). He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

¹⁸ This is the genealogical record of their ancestor Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron.
¹⁹ Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
²⁰ Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
²¹ Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
²² Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David.

And if we continue the same family tree down further generations, as the Gospel of Matthew does in chapter 1, we will find that Boaz and Ruth and David are all in the family tree of another little boy born in Bethlehem — Jesus Christ.

_________________________

Music:

For Obed and David and especially for Jesus — “O Little Town of Bethlehem,”  HERE  by Sarah McLachlan.

_________________________

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Jaffa Gate.    http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1069/856994589_33fb914816.jpg?v=0

sandal.    http://www.bibleview.org/en/Bible/Moses/Sandal/normal.jpg

hearts.   http://images.free-extras.com/pics/h/hearts-1482.jpg

Naomi and baby Obed.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/4-naomi-and-baby.jpg

Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus.    http://www.prayerthoughts.com/prayerthoughts/Prophecy/images/pt1010_catalog1720-cropped.jpg

1211.) Ruth 3

“Boaz Wakes Up and Sees Ruth at his Feet” — 1960 lithograph by Marc Chagall

Ruth 3 (New Living Translation)

Ruth at the Threshing Floor

¹ One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. ² Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. ³ Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes.

Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.”

⁵ “I will do everything you say,” Ruth replied. ⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law.

Several ancient threshing floors have been excavated in Israel.  They are circular, level floors of laid stone, often on a hilltop.  Men would take the bundles, or sheaves, of grain to this floor.  There they would beat the heads of the grain to loosen the covering husk.  Then they would separate the chaff from the grain by forking the grain up into the breeze and letting the wind blow the chaff away.  The heavier grains would fall in a pile at their feet.  This work was usually done in the evening, when the breeze picked up.  The men would stay the night, sleeping besides their heap of grain to guard it.  They would move it to their storage barn the next day.

⁷ After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. ⁸ Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! ⁹ “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.”

A more literal translation of what Ruth said could be, “spread your skirt over me.”  The word for skirt is the same Hebrew word as for wing — so, “spread your wings over your servant,” as the English Standard Version of the Bible puts it.  This word is used another place in Ruth— in 2:12, where Boaz says to Ruth, “The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under those wings you have come to take refuge.”

When Boaz heard Ruth’s request for covering, I think his heart said,  “Because you take refuge under the wings of God, you are the kind of woman I want to cover with my wings.”

_________________________

Music:

An old Ira Sankey song — “Under His Wings,”  sung by another old gospel artist, Slim Whitman.

Under His wings I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

Refrain:

Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.

Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blessed.

Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,
Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore.

_________________________

¹⁰ “The Lord bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. ¹¹ Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman.

Or to translate the Hebrew literally, “a woman of strength.”  Ruth is a good match for Boaz, who is himself “a mighty man of strength” (as he was introduced to us in Ruth 2:1).

–Patricia K. Hull

For centuries, rubies came from Myanmar (Burma). But due to governmental unrest there, now 70% of the world’s rubies come from Thailand.

Proverbs 31:10 (New King James Version)

Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.

_________________________

¹² But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. ¹³ Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.”

¹⁴ So Ruth lay at Boaz’s feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz had said, “No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your cloak and spread it out.” He measured six scoops of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. Then he returned to the town.

“Boaz pours six measures of barley into Ruth’s veil” by   Rembrandt, 1648 (Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam)

Proverbs 22:9 (New International Version)

A generous man will himself be blessed,
for he shares his food with the poor.

¹⁶ When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “What happened, my daughter?”

Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, ¹⁷ and she added, “He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

¹⁸ Then Naomi said to her, “Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.”

detail of “Ruth,” a seriograph by John August Swanson

SPIRITUAL STRENGTH AND TRUST
by David Wilkerson

The Holy Spirit gives us strength when we release all our needs into God’s hands and trust in his might.

Ruth is an example of this kind of trust. After her husband died, Ruth lived with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi was concerned about Ruth’s welfare and future. So she advised Ruth to lie down at the feet of the wealthy Boaz and ask him to fulfill his obligation to her as her kinsman.

That evening, after the day’s winnowing was finished, Boaz lay down “at the end of the heap of corn” (Ruth 3:7) and pulled a blanket over him. The next morning, he woke up startled, finding a woman lying at his feet. (There was nothing immoral about Ruth’s presence there; this was a common custom of the day.)

Ruth said to him, “Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman” (Ruth 3:9). She was saying, in essence, “Will you take on the obligation of a relative for me? Will you provide for me?” She actually was asking, “Will you marry me?”

This was no manipulative scheme. Ruth and Naomi had done everything in divine order. We can be sure of this, because Christ’s lineage came through Ruth. When Ruth returned home Naomi asked her, “Who art thou, my daughter?” (3:16). She was asking, in other words, “Shall I call you ‘engaged’ Ruth? Or are you still ‘widowed’ Ruth?”

Ruth told Naomi all that had happened. Listen to Naomi’s godly advice: “Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day” (Ruth 3:18). Naomi had prayed about the matter, seeking God’s direction, and God had given her counsel. He had reminded her of the law of the kinsman-redeemer (which was a type and foreshadowing of Christ). So Naomi was confident that she and Ruth had done their part. Now it was time to sit still and trust God to perform what he had promised. She was saying, “It’s all in the Lord’s hands now, Ruth. Just relax and be calm.”

A calm and peace settled over Naomi’s house. Nobody was in a frenzy, biting fingernails and wondering, “Will God do it? When will it happen?” These two faithful women could relax, sing and praise the Lord for His goodness.

Have you prayed? Have you trusted? Are you ready to sit still and “see the salvation of the Lord”? He has everything under control.

_________________________

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Chagall.     http://www.marcchagallprints.com/view_art.php?art_id=1471&min=0&max=10000000&portrait=&original=&sub=&sort_by=&sold=

bath.    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OaIDiH8w_3M/S-yD57C9tWI/AAAAAAAADBE/wku3bhh08Q4/s1600/thirtysomethingBATH.jpg

threshing floor.     http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UeCPYLLgPkY/Shav9uf29DI/AAAAAAAABeQ/P6x5ZTYH5HU/s400/Threshing+Floor.jpg

swan and her babies under her wing.    http://strengthenedbygrace.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/swancygnets.jpg

rubies.    http://www.rocas.com.mt/data/rubies.jpg

Rembrandt.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/3-rembrandt-rb.jpg?w=450

Swanson.    http://www.deebrestin.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ruth-surprises-boaz-300×296.jpg

1210.) Ruth 2

“Ruth and Boaz” by Dore, 1870.

Ruth 2 (New Living Translation)

Ruth Works in Boaz’s Field

¹ Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.

He is “a prominent rich man,” or more literally, “a mighty man of strength,” a phrase more often used of warriors than of landholders.

–Patricia K. Hull

² One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”

Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” ³ So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters.

Leviticus 19:9-10 (New International Version)

“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.  Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.”

Barley is a versatile cereal grain, used for animal fodder, certain alcoholic beverages, and foods like soups and breads.  Some scholars believe that barley was the first domesticated grain in the Near East.  Cheaper than wheat, it was often mixed with wheat to make a flour that people would use in “barley bread,” which was a staple of the poor.  Now barley is the fourth-largest cereal crop in the world, grown in about 100 countries world-wide.  It is a good source of fiber, phosphorus, copper, and manganese.  Today would be a good day for some beef and barley soup and a nod to Ruth!

And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.

⁴ While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. “The Lord be with you!” he said.

“The Lord bless you!” the harvesters replied.

⁵ Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”

⁶ And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. ⁷ She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes’ rest in the shelter.”

“Ruth in the fields” by Hughes Merle, 1876.

The Moabitess
by Phillips Brooks

Sweet Moab gleaner on old Israel’s plain,
Thy simple story moveth like a power.
Thy pure, calm face looks from the ripened grain,
Wherein thou gleanest, on our toil and pain,
And in the light of thy soft eyes again
Our dead lives bud and blossom into flower.
But lives like thine, sweet Ruth, are holy things,
Rich, simple, earnest in their wealth of duty;—
God’s love forever to their music sings,
His angels shield them with their sheltering wings,
His spirit truth and trust and comfort brings,
And God Himself smiles on their godlike beauty.

Brooks is best known for writing the Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

⁸ Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field. ⁹ See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well.”

detail from “Landscape with Ruth and Boaz,” by Joseph Anton Koch, 1823 (Milwaukee Art Museum)

Proverbs 11:25 (New International Version)

A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

¹⁰ Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”

“Ruth meets Boaz” by Thomas Matthews Rooke (1842-1942), Tate Gallery, London.

Philippians 2:3 (New International Version)

In humility consider others better than yourselves.

¹¹ “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. ¹² May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”

¹³ “I hope I continue to please you, sir,” she replied. “You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.”

This is a mistranslation of course.  The original word in ancient Hebrew is “Hometz.”  Which not only sounds a bit like “Hummus,” but also resembles the word “Himtza,” the Hebrew name of chick-peas.

–http://mostlykosher.blogspot.com/

So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.

¹⁵ When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. ¹⁶ And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”

“Harvesters Resting” (originally titled, “Ruth and Boaz”), by Jean Francois Millet, 1852 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Proverbs 14:21 (English Standard Version)

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

_________________________

Music:

Oh, Boaz, you have come across a prize! And “once you have found her, never let her go.”  From South Pacific, “Some Enchanted Evening.”  This classic song is sung by Sir Thomas Allen, with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

_________________________

¹⁷ So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket.

from Morning and Evening,
by Charles Haddon Spurgeon,
revised and updated by Alistair Begg

So she gleaned in the field until evening.
–Ruth 2:17

Let me learn from Ruth, the gleaner. As she went out to gather the ears of corn, so must I go forth into the fields of prayer, meditation, the ordinances, and hearing the word to gather spiritual food.

The gleaner gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little: so must I be content to search for single truths, if there be no greater plenty of them. Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson assists in making us wise unto salvation.

The gleaner keeps her eyes open: if she stumbled among the stubble in a dream, she would have no load to carry home rejoicingly at eventide. I must be watchful in religious exercises lest they become unprofitable to me; I fear I have lost much already—O that I may rightly estimate my opportunities, and glean with greater diligence.

The gleaner stoops for all she finds, and so must I. High spirits criticize and object, but lowly minds glean and receive benefit. A humble heart is a great help towards profitably hearing the gospel. The engrafted soul‐saving word is not received except with meekness. A stiff back makes a bad gleaner; down, master pride, thou art a vile robber, not to be endured for a moment.

What the gleaner gathers she holds: if she dropped one ear to find another, the result of her day’s work would be but scant; she is as careful to retain as to obtain, and so at last her gains are great. How often do I forget all that I hear; the second truth pushes the first out of my head, and so my reading and hearing end in much ado about nothing! Do I feel duly the importance of storing up the truth?

A hungry belly makes the gleaner wise; if there be no corn in her hand, there will be no bread on her table; she labours under the sense of necessity, and hence her tread is nimble and her grasp is firm; I have even a greater necessity, Lord, help me to feel it, that it may urge me onward to glean in fields which yield so plenteous a reward to diligence.

¹⁸ She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.

¹⁹ “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!”

So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”

²⁰ “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”

²¹ Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”

²² “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”

²³ So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.

Wheat field and sky in North Dakota.

_________________________

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Dore.    http://targuman.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fRth0222Dore_BoazAndRuth.jpg

barley field.    http://www.yourlocalweb.co.uk/images/pictures/23/46/barley-field-above-swannay-farm-231677.jpg

Merle.    http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=6568&size=large

Koch.    http://understandingbooksbible.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/ruthboaz3.jpg

Rooke.    http://www.womeninthebible.net/1876Rooke_Thomas_Matthews_The_Story_Of_Ruth2.jpg

a good name.    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H9anr-kAqrE/TgI7EjVAE2I/AAAAAAAAF6M/lMguM0HQxUw/s1600/Proverbs22_1.jpg

hummus.   http://mostlykosher.blogspot.com/2010/11/hands-off-our-hummus.html

Millet.    http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/christian/images/JeanFrancoisMillet-Harvesters-Resting-Ruth-and-Boaz-1850-53.jpg

wheat field.  http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2540/4095464421_92a21645f8.jpg

1209.) Ruth 1

“Ruth and Naomi” by contemporary Chinese artist He Qi

Ruth 1 (New Living Translation)

Just before Christmas — a look at some of Jesus’ ancestors!

Elimelech Moves His Family to Moab

¹ In the days when the judges ruled in Israel,

The stories in the book of Judges present several distressing pictures of the people of God doing “what was right in their own eyes” and not following the Lord.  However, the book of Ruth presents a community that did what was right in God’s eyes.  We see kindness and honor and faithfulness and and love.  We see loyalty and obedience and joy and love.  We see grace and new beginnings and love.

Ruth is one of my most favorite books in the Bible.  I have learned it by heart.  It is a sweet story of redemption, and those are the best stories of all!

a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. ² The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.

³ Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. ⁴ The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth.

In the Old Testament, names had meanings that were thought to shape a person’s character.  Sometimes in the Bible, God will even change a person’s name to reflect more closely what God has in mind for him or her.

The name Elimelech means “God is king.”
Naomi means “pleasant, joy.”
Mahlon means “weakening.”
Kilion means “puny” — no wonder the sons died young!
Orpah means “cloud.”
Ruth means “water abundantly.”

Later we will meet Boaz; his name means “in him is strength.”

But about ten years later, ⁵ both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.

(Alone?!  What about her two daughters-in-law?  They were with her!)

Naomi and Ruth Return

⁶ Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. ⁷ With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.

⁸ But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. ⁹ May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept.

¹⁰ “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.”

¹¹ But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? ¹² No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? ¹³ Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters!

Do both the funeral and the wedding services on one day and share the reception expenses!

Naomi is referring to the ancient practice of Levirate marriage, in which the brother of a dead man marries the widow to care for her and to raise up a child to carry on the dead man’s name (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).  If there was no brother, then the job went to the next closest male relative.  These men were called “family redeemers.”  This practice was an important mechanism for insuring that property was kept within the original husband’s family.  And for the wife:  to be a widow in the ancient world was very difficult, so this system also provided a home and a family for a woman who might otherwise be utterly bereft.  In a patriarchal society, a woman really needed a man for her livelihood, for her well-being, for her reputation.

Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.”

¹⁴ And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi.

“But Ruth Clave unto Her” by Brian Kershisnik

¹⁵ “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.”

¹⁶ But 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. ¹⁷ Wherever 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!”

Galatians 3:14 (New International Version)

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus.

Something about that family — about Naomi — caused Ruth to leave her own family and go to the Israelites and their God.  What a shining witness!

¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

Sonnet 9 — by John Milton

Lady that in the prime of earliest youth,
Wisely hast shun’d the broad way and the green,
And with those few art eminently seen,
That labour up the Hill of heav’nly Truth,

The better part, with Mary, and with Ruth,
Chosen thou hast, and they that overween,
And at thy growing virtues fret their spleen,
No anger find in thee, but pity and ruth.

Thy care is fixt and zealously attends
To fill thy odorous Lamp with deeds of light,
And Hope that reaps not shame. Therefore be sure

Thou, when the Bridegroom with his feastfull friends
Passes to bliss at the mid hour of night,
Hast gained thy entrance, Virgin wise and pure.

¹⁹ So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

²⁰ “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara (Mara means “bitter”),for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. ²¹ I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty.

(Not quite empty.  Ruth, who loves her dearly, is with her!)

Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

Psalm 25, selected verses

Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
free me from my anguish.
Guard my life and rescue me,
for I take refuge in you.

²² So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

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Music:

A girl gospel trio, from West Africa — “Entreat Me Not to Leave You.”  I find it charming!  (Thank you, Carole!)

Entreat me not to leave you
Don’t ask me to go back
They God shall be my God
Thy people shall be my people
Where thou diest, I will die.

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Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

He Qi.    http://www.heqigallery.com/GALLERY%20OT%20A/images/07_ruth___naomi.jpg

map.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/1-map.jpg

call me WHAT.    http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2013/05/31/89/84/baby_name.jpg

a wedding and a funeral.    http://www.funny-potato.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/weird-wedding.jpg

Kershisnik.    http://www.lds.org/images/Magazines/Ensign/Archive/en06sep41b_kershisnik.jpg

star of David with cross.    http://www.gods411.com/media/07/a20791f13770ce77d79f7_m.jpg

wise virgin holds a lamp filled with oil.    http://thesouldoctor.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/lamplight21.jpg

woman weeping.    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/12/article-1206181-060776A6000005DC-36_468x668.jpg

1208.) Psalm 98

Psalm 98   (NRSV)

Praise the Judge of the World

¹O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.

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Music:

A young teenager once complained to his father that most of the hymns they sang in church were boring to him because they were too far behind the times.  His father put an end to his son’s complaints by saying, “If you think you can write better hymns, then let’s see you try.”  So the teenager went to his room after church and wrote his first hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”  It was back in the year 1690, and that 16-year-old teenager was Isaac Watts.  And once he started, he continued writing hymns.

Later in life Watts turned to another task, metrical translations of the Psalms with a distinctly Christian perspective.  At the age of 45, he sat under a favorite tree on the estate where he lived and penned the now famous words of “Joy to the World.”  His 1719 hymnal, Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, included the words under his original title for the poetry: “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.”

As part of his effort to bring New Testament meanings to the Old Testament psalms, Watts based “Joy to the World” on the last half of Psalm 98: “Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth, . . . Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.” (vs. 4, 8).

Psalm 98 celebrates God’s protection and restoration of his chosen people.  Watts’ carol rejoices in the same, as it expresses praise for the salvation that began when God became man.  Both the psalm and the hymn also look ahead, to Christ coming again to reign: “He will judge the world with righteousness” (v. 9).

“Joy to the World” includes references to other Bible verses as well, including Gen. 3:17, Rom. 5:20, and Luke 2:10.  And despite its lack of reference to Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, wise men, or the manger, it has become one of the most loved Christmas carols!

By the time of his death, Watts had written over 750 hymns, some of which are still well known and loved now, some 300 years later.

Here is Third Day singing “Joy to the World.”  I bet Isaac Watts would enjoy hearing this version!

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²The Lord has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.

³He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

from Mary’s Magnificat:

Luke 1:54-55   (NLT)

“He has helped his servant Israel
    and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

⁴Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

⁵Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.

⁶With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

⁷Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it.

⁸Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy

⁹at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Joy to the world.   http://fairfieldwestbaptistchurch.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/joy-to-the-world_t-copy2.jpg

Let heaven and nature sing.   http://www.recoveringself.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/let-heaven-and-nature-sing.jpg