I finally made it out of the conundrum that is the Book of Judges!
Oh, it is a wonderful part of the scriptures - and it used to be one of my favorite books of the Bible; what with all that slaying going on with donkey bones and tent pegs and such - it was a thriller. But now it tends to depress me - I see too many familiar attitudes there.
But I made it through a few days ago. For those of you that are keeping track, when I first began reading the book of Judges it was way back in January. Some of you are already counting up the number of chapters or pages in the book and are arriving at the conclusion that my Bible reading has been pretty skimpy this year.
Well in my own defense, I must say that I am deliberately moving very slowly. And I did bog down a bit during my read.
I am happy to report that I am back on track and am into the love story that is Ruth.
That brings me to the purpose of this blog today:
Have you ever felt that you didn't fit in?
In chapter two of Ruth, there is a beautiful picture of grace displayed toward someone that felt very left out.
Ruth had lost her husband, but had stayed with her widowed mother-in-law even when she went back home to a land very strange to Ruth.
They were poor, they were destitute... Naomi, her mother-in-law quickly told all the family and friends how desperate they were... "I left this land full; now I am coming home empty - call me 'Mara' (that means bitter)."
The welfare system God had set up involved work and allowed wealthy land-owners to be blessed by giving to the poor; it also allowed the poor to maintain their dignity by working and earning the food they ate. It was true "welfare-to-work" - it was called gleaning.
When workers harvested a field, they were instructed to leave the corners unharvested, there gleaners were allowed to go and gather food for their families, they could also pick up what they harvesters dropped or left on the stalk.
Ruth showed up at the field of a kind gentleman named Boaz. When he heard she was there, he went to her ( he had already heard of her kindness toward Naomi - a relative of his). "Don't go to anyone else's field" he said, " I have instructed my workers to be kind to you and to see that you get water while you are here".
Ruth was amazed at this grace that was poured out on her:
So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” Ruth 2:10 NKJV
Again, a couple of verses later, notice her response:
Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.” Ruth 2:13 NKJV
Do you hear her attitude - "I am just a foreigner" and "I am not like one of your maidservants" ?
She was different - she did not fit in and she knew it. She was an outsider in the land of God's chosen people.
She felt a need to emphasize her shortcomings - to point them out. As if to say - "maybe you didn't notice, Mr. Boaz... I am not a Jew".
It is akin to the attitude that erupted in Isaiah when he encountered God in His Glory in the temple... Isaiah exclaimed, "Woe is me! for I am undone!"
Though I do not believe that Boaz is a "type" of Christ, he certainly illustrates God's grace to us when we feel so foreign to God.
He did not back away, on the contrary, he plunged in with even more kindness - inviting her to eat with the workers and making sure the Korn-Nuts were passed down to her (well it says"parched corn"). He also privately instructed his workers to drop handfuls of grain on purpose so her gleaning would be more successful.
That's Jesus - we approach Him and realize our "undone-ness" - then begin to turn away sorrowfully. Yet He just keeps pouring on His kindness and explaining all the things He wants to do for us.
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