Month: March 2021

While this picture can also reflect what is written in Joshua 21, and feel free to read that, it really represents what we find in chapter 6 of I Chronicles.  You will find what are described as Levitical towns, places where folks who were accused of breaking the law could go in order to find justice and not be pursued and attacked and killed by an angry mob.  The map shows those cities, which are called  cities of refuge, with red boxes.

Interesting how today in the 21st century there is still talk and discussion about refuge or sanctuary cities.  I know that my father was very active in what was called the Sanctuary movement in the late 70’s and early 80’s where churches would sponsor families that were fleeing from terrible civil war and unrest from Latin America.  These sanctuary churches, as they were called, would house families sometimes for years before they were able to be processed and run through our legal system.  

It always fascinates me to see a biblical concept carried out and put into place and lived even thousands of years after it was first carried out.  The Levitical towns were such because the Levites were considered the priests of the Lord.  Those who had the responsibility for the sacrifices and the laws, and the religious life of the people were also responsible to ensure that the most vulnerable would be protected.  In this chapter you read about the refugee cities in vs.66 and following.

This chapter begins with an interesting side bar that describes the reason why Reuben, who was the eldest of the family of Jacob, or Israel, did not receive the birthright.  It states because he “defiled his father’s bed”.  If you remember, and you may not because I had to go back and look it up, a random verse in Genesis 35 describes what happens after Rachel dies in childbirth when Benjamin is born, the last of the children of Rachel.  Remember, Rachel is also the mother of Joseph.  If you look at vs.22 in that chapter you read: “While Israel (that would be Jacob) lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel (that would be Jacob) heard of it.”  

That is all we read in this chapter in Genesis until we get to Genesis 49 where we find Jacob on his death bed and he calls all of his sons together so that he can bless them.  Look at vs.3-4 of chapter 49 and you will hear Jacob say: “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the first fruits of my vigor, excelling in rank and excelling in power.  Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel because you went up onto your father’s bed; then you defiled it – you went up onto my couch!”  This is where we read that Reuben lost his birthright because of this act.  

There was no mention of this act for 40 years then it comes up on the death bed of Jacob and now it comes up again in I Chronicles where we are reminded of the status of Reuben and also, conversely, the prioritized status of Joseph.  We read that Joseph’s sons were given the birthright, and again we can read that event in Genesis 48 and 49.  Your past can come up and haunt you if you are not careful, even when you think the past is finished and gone.  

In the midst of the genealogy which begins with the tribes of Judah, we find a bit of a gem nestled in this chapter.  First of all, Judah, if you remember, was the southern kingdom and Israel, which we saw in chapter 2, was the northern kingdom.  Under king David the north and the south were united, but then later on they became divided.  This chapter begins with the lineage of Judah, which we can assume could apply primarily to those who went into the Southern Kingdom.  

Now, look at vs.10 and you will find what has been called the prayer of Jabez.  There was a long kind of cultish following to this prayer in the early 2000’s and people used it constantly as a reference to what they wanted God to do for them.  Personally, I never liked it.  I see it as a self-centered prayer which is kind of the opposite of what we see in Matthew 25:31-46 where the king honors those who looked after the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and in prison and the poor.  Not those who pray for the Lord to expand their own borders or to protect them as individuals, even while they were out conquering other nations.  This would be a prayer to make me great and to…, well, to the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth to anyone else and everyone else who might get in my way.  Not really a prayer that our Savior would encourage us to pray.  Especially not our Savior who tells us to pray for our enemies and to give them the clothes off our back, even if it means that we are at a loss because of it.  I like my savior more than I like Jabez.

Did I mention that we are going to be seeing a bunch genealogies over this book of the Bible?  Well, I think I was right.  This is one of the reasons why I kept Chronicles for last because I wanted to be sure that we made it through the other books of the Bible before we get caught up and stuck in Chronicles.  Interestingly enough all of these names you should have heard before.  I almost said you should be familiar with them, but having read them just a couple times in Kings and Samuel doesn’t make you familiar with them, it just means that you have seen them once or twice before.  

This chapter starts off with King David and all of his progeny.  It is interesting, and I hope you caught this, that Chapter 1 began with Adam and those who came from him.  Adam tends to be a pretty important person in the Bible.  Chapter 2 starts with Jacob, or Israel, and all of his progeny.  Jacob tends to be a pretty important person in the Bible.  Now, chapter 3 starts with David, also a pretty important person in the Bible.  If you are able to understand the Old Testament as broken down historically with Adam, Jacob/Israel, and David, you will understand much of it and how God’s hand has been at work for thousands of generations.  We are a part of that story.  Don’t ever forget from where you come not only as an individual, but also as believers in Jesus Christ.  This is part of our story, this is His-story and our story.

We find ourselves in a long genealogy again, get used to it, you are going to be seeing a lot of names over these next chapters which is why the book is called Chronicles.  It is a chronicling of the families of the people of God with all of their warts and bruises.  No one is left out, including those who are considered the problem children, those who strayed away from God’s purposes and directives.  They are still part of the family.

We have a long list of people in the Bible who were the problem children but then were able to sort out their lives.  In no particular order, and certainly not in chronographic order, here are some examples: Paul – he was a Christian killer as Saul until he met Jesus and then he became a champion of the church.  The prodigal son who runs away from home and then comes back and is welcomed with open arms.  David – who is mentioned in this genealogy in vs.15 and he is mentioned as the last son born, and he was.

Now that is also another aspect of Scripture that we find throughout.  The last born, who should be the one with the least amount of benefits, is often chosen to carry on the name and the promise of God.  Look at Jacob, Joseph, David, and others who were the last born and yet were still chosen by God to carry on his name and his promises.  And they do exactly that.  Today we don’t have any kind of preference where a person is born, but back then it meant everything both emotionally and economically.  So while you may not get a whole lot out of genealogies, there is always something that strikes us as unique and “of God” even in the most mundane.  It is good to look for God at all times and in all circumstances, even in the most mundane.

The book of Chronicles was given its name by a church father whose name was Jerome who called this book of the Bible: “a chronicle”.  This basically means that it is a summary of divine history that has proven to be most influential in the history of modern interpretation.  Originally it was only one book, like Samuel and Kings, but because of its length it was eventually divided.  Within our Christian Bible it is found in the historical books, well, because it contains the history of the people of God, the Israelites.  The history is focused on the times of the kings, but we also find a series of genealogies which force us to be patient as we wade through them.  Happy wading.  Let’s look at the first chapter today, which is a genealogy.

We can title this from the first person (Adam) to Israel (Jacob).  It is a universal comprehensive genealogy that covers a vast array of people and progeny.  From verses 5-23 we have the descendants of Noah who represented an enormous geographical region in that area.  He saves the genealogy of Shem for last because it is out of Shem that Abraham arises and so the people of Israel find their roots.  

It is important to know your roots in order to understand what drives you and what is the  history around you.  As we begin Chronicles the author wants us to be aware of what started everything off and the way that he does it is by giving us the names of the people who were a vital part of His story.  

It seems like Boaz is a pretty good guy.  He follows through on his promise today to make Ruth an honest woman by marrying her.  There is a bit of an elaborate process to make that happen, and a bit like Naomi he is somewhat underhanded by setting up the marriage.  He is supposed to go to the next of kin of Ruth to see if he would like to marry her and he does and sets up a crowd of witnesses to be sure that they see what they agree to.  He begins by speaking about a tract of land and of course the next of kin wants it, but when Boaz adds a Moabite woman (Ruth) to the deal the person balks and says no thank you.  

In the end Boaz gets both the land and the woman, which was his intention all along.  The land we heard nothing about previously, I’m wondering if he made it up so that he could then add Ruth to the deal which would be a deal breaker for the next of kin.  Boaz marries Ruth and they end up being the great grandparents of King David, you know, the guy who wrote the Psalms.  

I find myself often surprised by events that take place which then have repercussions on the trajectory of my own life.  I can think of decisions that I made in certain stages of my life as a pastor that send me in a certain direction and I wonder what would have happened if I had made a different decision.  I can say with gladness that I do not regret decisions that I have made but I often wonder what if.  God is able to lead us forward in the direction that is God’s choosing whether we make decisions that are of His will or not.  Here, it seems like Boaz makes a decision which leads to a kingdom moment for him and his family.  What decisions do you face which might lead to kingdom moments for you?

It is not unusual to have the mother (in this case the mother-in-law) play the schemer.  Remember Rebekah who “commanded” her son and told him to obey her as they plotted to deceive old Isaac who could barely see and hear?  So in this case in Ruth, Naomi tells her daughter-in-law how to seduce Boaz which would provide Ruth with some “security”.  They come up with a plan that Ruth would go to Boaz’ threshing floor, where he is working late into the night.  The plan is to once he is asleep because of the hard work and the satisfying food and drink, that she would go and “uncover his feet”.  Now, just so people are not scandalized, this tends to be a euphemism, uncovering of feet, for the removing of the clothing and revealing the male, you know, that.  You see that phrase “uncover his feet” in a number of other Hebrew writings.

If you notice Boaz does the correct thing which is to refer Ruth to another relative who was more closely related and sends Ruth off with enough grain to eat and sell and make some money off it.  Naomi is quite excited about how things are progressing and tells Ruth that she just has to wait for the deal will be finished the next day, one way or another. The Bible is not devoid of people scheming and plotting and coming up with ideas on how to get ahead without other people interfering much.  

We find Ruth going out to glean the fields.  So, we don’t really know what that means in the 21st century.  There used to be a day when after a harvest the farmer would allow those who were poor to take up what was left in the field after the workers had finished the harvest.  Today with the machinery that we have, which is nearly 100% efficient, a person who is gleaning would be hard pressed to have anything left over which they might be able to glean and take home.  But gleaning the fields was something that was a very part of the culture and a way in which those who had material goods could actually ensure that those who hungered could have their needs met.

We find Jesus and his disciples gleaning the fields themselves after a harvest in Matthew 12:1.  This was not uncommon, and it also shows that Jesus and his disciples were very much considered “the poor”.  Most Rabbis and their students would glean fields because they were considered the poor.  But back to Ruth.  Not only was Ruth gleaning the fields but she gets to the field of her father-in-law’s relative who treated her royally.  He told his workers to even put down whole sheaves, which normally would not have been left over after a harvest, and lay them for her so that she was able to take them and use them.  She was fed and handsomely and she was able to gather up more grain than most because of how she was treated by him.  Remember this because he comes into play in the next chapters, as does how he treats her.

There is really a lesson here in how to treat the stranger and the foreigner.  She says to Boaz: “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?”  Her status as a foreigner did not elicit fear in the eyes of Boaz, but rather he treated her as he would treat anyone else who was in his midst.  How do we treat the foreigner?  How does God require us to treat the foreigner?  Look at Matthew 25:35 and you will find the answer.

I love the book of Ruth.  The first chapter contains so much and it is one that has ramifications not only for the period of the Judges, in which this was written (see vs.1), but also impacted the days of Jesus as well.  Ruth was a foreign, pagan daughter-in-law to Naomi who then became Mara.  Do you find it somewhat puzzling that a book of the Bible is named after a pagan from Moab?  She is very similar in history and in the Bible to Rahab.

If you look at Jesus’ genealogy you will find that Ruth, along with Rahab, is in Jesus’ lineage (Matthew 1:5).  Jesus had not one but two people within his ancestry who were not from the people of God but who were embraced and welcomed into the community by the people of God.  They were outsiders religiously, culturally, and even their gender was not that which normally gave them space to be in the line for the Messiah.  But they were.

I often use Ruth 1:16-17 in funeral services for people that I do not know very well and that I do not know what their relationship with Jesus was like.  I love the foreign pagan telling Naomi, who was supposedly part of God’s chosen people: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you.  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die – and there will I be buried.  May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you.”

You can hear the voice of God ringing in Naomi’s ears as it comes from her daughter in law telling her that she can never escape the presence of God no matter how far she tried to run away.  Normally in the Bible when people experience God often their names are changed from something drab to something promising and important.  Here, instead, the name is changed from pleasant to bitter.  Not a great transition and not a great time in the life of Naomi.  But Ruth makes it all worth while, and this will become especially true as we look further on in this book of the Bible.

Welcome back to the challenge.  It is hard to believe that we are almost near the end of the entire Bible.  What a great way to start.  Hearing the voice of God from a place where you would least expect it.  A pagan daughter-in-law who acts more godly than most who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ today.  What a great example!