Loved Without Reproach

The book of Ruth is a beautiful and heartwarming passage of virtue, kindness and redemption.  The most compelling and romantic fairy tales written by people fall infinitely short of its perfection.  This historical narrative is no work of fiction dreamed up by man but is the word of God that leads us to wonder and marvel over the Redeemer of lost sinners, Jesus Christ.

The plot of the story is simple:  Naomi went to Moab to avoid a famine in Bethlehem-Judah with her husband and two sons, and she later returned widowed, childless and bitter accompanied by her loyal daughter-in-law named Ruth.  This industrious woman went to glean in a field which turned out to be owned by a rich older man named Boaz, who was unmarried, and he also happed to be a near relative of Naomi.  He was aware of Ruth and her relation to Naomi, and he did everything to generously extend kindness to Ruth.

Boaz urged Ruth to only glean in his field to protect her from unsavoury men.  He provided access to water, shade and bread--though she was a foreigner and a Moabite.  Boaz invited Ruth to eat with his own servants and gave directives concerning her in Ruth 2:15-16:  "And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. ¹⁶ Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her."  Boaz extended unrestricted access for Ruth to glean even among the sheaves without reproach or rebuke.  He told his workers to intentionally let grain fall so she might gather it up for herself and her mother-in-law.

Ultimately the book comes to a close with Boaz and Ruth being wed and Naomi holding her dear grandson Obed--who would be the father of Jesse and grandfather of king David.  Boaz fulfilled the responsibility of a kinsman redeemer, and the Bible reveals Jesus far outshines the great kindness Boaz showed Ruth through the Gospel to redeem lost sinners to be citizens of His kingdom and members of the people of God.  Jesus is the Bread of Life who does not reproach us for our unworthiness, nor does He rebuke us for our woeful sinfulness:  He invites all who are hungry to come to Him and freely receive Him, and all who are thirsty are invited to partake of His living water by faith in Him.  Instead of us needing to find Him, Jesus has drawn near to us in person and given us the Bible so we might feed on His faithfulness continually.

I love the scene of Boaz generously telling his servants to do a lousy job of gathering grain so Ruth might benefit.  How awesome it is when we are empty, hungry, thirsty and needy, we can rest assured Jesus provides us access into His presence, and in Him all our needs are met by grace.  At all hours of the day we can hear His voice through His word and venture into His presence through prayer.  It is bad manners to overstay one's welcome as a guest, and though God regards Christians as His beloved children He does not whisk us off to bed so He can have quiet or rest:  our rest and peace is found in the living God with us!  Christians can identify with Naomi, Ruth and Boaz at various times in our lives, but we have a source of joy, prosperity and fruitfulness through the everlasting Gospel that overwhelms the temporal happiness of family and friendship.

Seasons come and go; a spouse passes away and a child is born.  We are perpetually worthy of reproach and rebuke for our sins, yet God graciously made a way of salvation and redemption by His own Son.  He does not remember our faults but commends us for our faith we received from Him.  He gives wisdom and life liberally without reproach.  The LORD sent word to shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem in Luke 2:10-11:  "Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."  The death of Jesus and Calvary, His resurrection and ascension reveals our Redeemer lives and has drawn us to Himself by His grace.  No longer need we be bitter, for the sweetness of His love, grace and acceptance fills and satisfies with His presence.

What Will You Do?

Recently I considered how we often wonder in trying circumstances, "What should I do?"  Often we can be focused on what actions we ought to take to relieve our difficult situation.  People who fear God also think about what God holds us responsible to do or what other Christians or friends counsel us to do.  With so many voices and our potentially self-seeking motives, we can experience analysis paralysis and fail to do what we should.

I have come to find out by reading the Psalms and other portions of God's word (the Bible) that what we will do is more important that what we should do--for this wise counsel applies to every situation of life.  For instance, knowing we should wash the car because we cannot see out of the windows is not as important as washing the car.  The Bible is packed with revelations and affirmations of God's will for our lives that is as relevant for household chores, business decisions and personal relationships--really everything.

When David was on the run from king Saul who sought his life, there were many decisions he needed to make concerning himself, his family and men.  What David said "I will" to is revealed to be God's will for us in every season of life, and when we do this we do well.  Psalm 18:1-3 says, "I will love You, O LORD, my strength. ² The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³ I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies."  While loving God did nothing to stop king Saul murderous rampage or save David's life, that is what David decided he would do by faith in God who is worthy to be trusted and praised.

David did not say, "I should love the LORD" because that suggests he had stopped short of demonstrating love to God.  David said, "I will love You, O LORD" and "in God I will trust" because God was his rock, fortress, deliverer, strength, shield, salvation and stronghold.  He said, "I will call upon the LORD."  David did not say "I will try" to do these things, but by faith in God to do and continue doing these things regardless of the circumstances of his life.  Instead of being stricken with the self-inflicted guilt and regret of "should do," Christians can have the "I will" outlook and God-honouring lifestyle of following God's will every day.

When Enough is Enough

The infamous tragedy of the Levite and his concubine recorded in Judges 19 was a wake-up call that united the nation to stamp out the abominable conduct of Benjamites in Gibeah.  The gang-rape and murder of the concubine by men of Gibeah was savage, and when the Levite posted her corpse in pieces throughout the tribes the whole nation took notice and united to take decisive action.  Such a shocking thing had not been done or even heard of before, and when the Levite sent notices with decomposing body parts of his concubine to all the tribes it illustrated the sinful rot in the nation that literally was slaughtering their citizens.

I do not believe the Benjamites or those in Gibeah were worse than any other tribe in Israel, for many times the book of Judges explains how in those days every man did what was right in his own eyes.  Because mankind is naturally sinful, what happened during that fateful night in Gibeah was just a small sample of how wickedness had corrupted the nation.  God used the incident to galvanise and unite Israel to stamp out the guilty and take a look in the mirror.  It was easy for the other tribes to find fault in the Benjamites and condemn them for their conduct, but it would take a miracle to erode the tribalism and self-righteousness that ignored the faults of their own people within the borders of their inheritance.

In the parable Jesus told of the prodigal son, the young man was corrupted by pride, selfishness and ingratitude long before he demanded his inheritance from his father and wasted it all on profligate living.  While the prodigal was boozing and carousing he was incapable of seeing his own wretchedness.  It was not until he found himself feeding pigs and coveting their slop he realised how far he had wandered from the favour of his father's house enjoyed even by servants.  It was in that moment he came to himself and decided to take action to rectify the ruin he welcomed into his life by his foolish choices.  The killing of the concubine brought the nation of Israel to a crossroads where they finally decided to take action against those who did wickedly--even at great personal cost.

The historical account of Judges 19 and the parable of the prodigal Jesus both describe occasions when people said, "Enough is enough."  It was not sufficient to grieve, become angry or speak strongly against evil but practical action needed to be taken:  the nation mustered to fight against Gibeah, and the prodigal son left the pigs and went home to humbly beg for a servant's position because he had been an unworthy son.  In both these cases God used circumstances to prompt his people to be confronted with their own sinfulness and need for repentance.  These passages show how subtlety we can slide into sin and often it requires extreme and shocking circumstances for us to be moved to challenge and overthrow the sinful status quo we have long accepted as part of life.

Praise the LORD He delights to restore the repentant soul, and His ears are open to our cries.  As it is written in Psalm 34:15-19:  "The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. ¹⁶ The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. ¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. ¹⁸ The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all."  With our great God the hopeless have an everlasting expectation of good that cannot be cut off.

All Our Ways

One thing I appreciate about the Bible is how true to life it is in the depiction of human character.  While every person has a unique genetic makeup and personality, there is much we naturally share in common because we are of the same kind.  There are aspects of humanity that are as predictable as the force of gravity on earth, like being focused on ourselves.  We want to do what we think is best for ourselves and benefits us the most.  "Looking out for number 1" is a maxim most people live by without ever being taught or taking a course.

This self-focused perspective was demonstrated by the men of Dan when they travelled to the house of Micah and spoke with the priest he made for himself--in the hope the LORD would do him good.  Judges 18:5 says in the KJV, "And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous."  The men did not ask counsel of God for guidance but wanted assurance their way would be prosperous.  They were not interested in being told what to do by the priest or even by God.  They were going their own way with the aim to benefit and enrich themselves, and they were pleased to have God's guarantee or stamp of approval.  Without hesitation the imposter priest told them to go in peace, for it pleased him to please men.  Working for Micah was how the priest sought to benefit himself in a self-serving household and world.

It is important to realise that after being born again by faith in Jesus we can retain this humanistic, selfish approach to life.  Instead of seeking to please the LORD, to seek to know Him and His ways that are not our ways, we may assume God is obligated to bring blessing and prosperity on our ways.  We imagine we know what success and prosperity looks like for us, and we are pleased to use God's help (if needed!) to achieve our goals.  We can desire and seek after prosperity or assurance of success when we have not sought the LORD God as our Master we are called to serve and obey.  In stark contrast to human nature, Proverbs 3:5-6 explains God's plan for our lives:  "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  Faith in God leads in obedience and submission to God in all our ways.

Because God has given man understanding, knowledge and capacity to make judgments, we naturally tend to rely upon our own ways and thoughts.  Our flesh is pleased in a world where we live as God, a life where God bows to our desires and serves us, where we make choices autonomously and have no need to change for anyone or anything--whilst enjoying success and prosperity at every turn.  God's word reveals this personal utopia to be a foolish fantasy and hellscape in Proverbs 14:12:  "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."  Proverbs 12:15 also says, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise."  Let us not be as the men of Dan, imagining God approved of their ways and would bring success without seeking God to be guided by faith in God and His wise ways.  May we trust in the LORD with our hearts and in all our ways acknowledge Him by heeding His divine guidance to walk in His ways.