GOD’S WORD FOR DECEMBER 21 ~ ~ Psalm 23:3 ~ ~ “He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

MOVING TO PART 4 OF THE BOOK, “How to Read the Bible”, Part 4 ~ ~  “THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL” AND CHAPTER 10 ~ ”FALL OF ISRAEL, BROKEN COVENANT, BROKEN KINGDOM”

Section: “the Story of God’s People and God’s Law.”

The Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible (also known as the Books of Moses or the Torah) tell the story of God creating the heavens and earth, the fall of the human race, and the origin of the Hebrew (or Israelite) people.  It tells of the exile and enslavement of the Hebrew people in Egypt, their liberation under Moses, and giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, and the death of Moses.  In addition to the historical narrative, the Pentateuch gives us a code of laws, including the Ten Commandments, the rules for worship and sacrifices, and the rules for celebrating the Passover.

The history of ancient Israel continues in the books of Joshua, Judges, 1^st  and 2^nd Samuel, 1^st  and 2^nd Kings, and 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles.  These books show how respect for God’s Law brings blessing to the nation – and how neglect of it leads to destruction.

At the beginning of Joshua, God commands the Israelites to conquer the land that He promised them.  At the end, Joshua warns the Israelites to faithfully follow God’s law, adding, in Joshua 24:15:

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

The book of Judges covers the period between Joshua’s conquest of Canaan and the establishment of the kingdom of Israel in 1^st and 2^nd Samuel.  The judges served as informal national leaders during various times of crisis before there was a king.  The events in Judges follow a pattern that never varies:

First, the people slide into idolatry and rebellion against God.

Then God disciplines them by handing them over to their pagan enemies.

Third, the people cry out to God in repentance, pleading for His mercy.

Fourth, God sends the people a leader – a judge – to deliver the Israelites.

Fifth, the cycle repeats.

 Immediately after Judges, we find a little four-chapter love story, the book of Ruth, that takes place during the same time.  It tells of a Moabite woman named Ruth, a non-Jewish woman who embraces the God of Israel.  After the death of her Israelite husband, Ruth tells her mother-in-law, Naomi, “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God.”

So Ruth accompanied Naomi to Bethlehem.  There, in the harvest fields outside the town, she met Boaz, Naomi’s kinsman, and told him, “I am your servant Ruth.  Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.” (Ruth 3:9).  Boaz says there is another member of the family whose claim to marrying ruth outweighs his, but he settles the matter.

The prophetic symbolism is unmistakable – and serves as further proof of the unity of God’s Word. 

Ruth symbolizes all the Gentiles (non-Jews) who will join Jewish believers in worshiping Israel’s Messiah.  The unnamed man (possibly Boaz’s elder brother) who has a legal claim on Ruth’s hand in marriage represents the Law that is helpless to save mankind.  Boaz, who pays the price to redeem Ruth, is a symbol of Jesus Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer.

Boaz and Ruth married and had a son named Obed.,  Obed became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David, the future king of Israel—and an ancestor of Jesus the Messiah.

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*Psalm 32:8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shalt go:  I will guide you with my eye.

Isaiah 30:21  And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk  in it,” when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.

*Luke 1:70 and 79

As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began.

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace.

     Ps 73:23-24

Yet, I still belong to You.  You hold my right hand.  You guide me with Your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.        

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            POEM BY HELEN STEINER RICE

“IN HIM WE LIVE, AND MOVE, AND HAVE OUR BEING.”

We walk in a world that is strange and unknown and in the midst of the crowd we still feel alone.

We question our purpose, our part and our place in this vast land of mystery suspended in space.

We probe and explore and try hard to explain the tumult of thoughts that our minds entertain….

But all of our probings and complex explanations of man’s inner feelings and fears and frustrations….

Still leave us engulfed in the “MYSTERY OF LIFE” with all of its struggles and suffering and strife.

Unable to fathom what tomorrow will bring — but there is one truth to which we can cling,

For while LIFE’S A MYSTERY man can’t understand, the “GREAT GIVER OF LIFE” is holding our hand.

And safe in HIS care there is no need for seeing, for “IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING.”

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Acts 17:28

“For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.”

2nd Corinthians 9:8

And God is able to make ALL grace abound toward you:  ALWAYS having ALL sufficiency in ALL things that you may ABOUND in EVERY good work.

(note all the superlatives!!!)

Job 42:2

I know that You can do all things and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

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