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March 22 - Evening
"In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return
home from there."
- Ruth 1:1-6 |
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| Naomi's Disasters |
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During the days of the book of Judges in the years 1200-1150 BC, the land of Israel suffered a famine. A man from the tribe of Judah living in Bethlehem took his wife and two sons out of the famine by abandoning the Promised Land and crossing the Dead Sea to live in the land of Moab. In Moab, the man, named Elimelek died and is removed from the story. The book of Ruth begins with a foreboding sense of judgment from YHWH – famine, leaving the Promised Land, living in Moab the land of Chemosh, and a death leaving a widow with two unmarried sons. This is not good and there is a sense of the displeasure of the Lord, especially when we recognize the poor spiritual condition of the Israelite culture at this time that correlates with the time of Gideon’s son Abimelech, etc.
The widow, Naomi, allowed her two sons to marry Moabite women. The word “married” is the Hebrew word masa ‘issa, which means “to lift or carry a woman,” instead of the more favorable lqah ‘issa, which means “to take a woman.” The phrase translated correctly “marry” is used nine times in the Old Testament including Judges 21:23 when the 200 men of Benjamin abducted woman from the dance at Shiloh. Masa ‘issa is also used in 2 Chronicles 11:21; 13:21; 24:3; Ezra 9:2; 9:12; 10:44 and Nehemiah 13:25. The consistent factor in these marriages is that they are illegitimate or involve foreign woman.
The distress builds with the death of Naomi’s two sons who had “married” these Moabite women. The account of disaster is interrupted when Naomi hears that the Lord is moving again in the Promised Land by coming to the aid of his people by breaking the famine and, possibly, by rising up a good judge that delivered the land from foreign invasion and raiding parties.
Naomi, with her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, returns to the Promised Land after ten years of sojourning in Moab. |
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"Never let us be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth on the altar of peace."
- J. C. Ryle |
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Soteriology is the study of the doctrine of salvation (Greek word sozo means save, rescue, deliver, cure; Greek word soter means savior, preserver). God’s salvation covers:
- Eternity past
- Eternity future
- Every person without exception, either positively or negatively
- Effects angelic realm in the heavenlies and underworld
- Includes personal salvation
- Includes national salvation
- Includes cosmic salvation
- Centers on Jesus Christ
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Apokalupsis (Gr) – Revelation (Eng) – apolalupsis is a Greek word that means “an uncovering.” In Luke 2:32 apokalupsis refers to the removal of the veil over the Gentiles. Ephesians 3:3 speaks of the showing the mystery of this age. Ephesians 1:17 uses apokalupsis to speak of receiving the knowledge of God. Revelation 1:1 says the title of John’s book is Apokalupsis. We translate this word that means the “uncovering” as Revelation or the uncovering and the revealing of Jesus Christ. |
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The Psalms of Solomon, a pseudepigraph (“false title” or a document claiming to have been written by a false author at a false time), was actually written between 63-5 BC, and not by Solomon in 950 BC. These psalms encourage hope among the Jews whose land had been occupied by the Romans in 63 BC. The writing speaks of a militant “Lord and Messiah” (Hebrew) or “Lord and Christ” (Greek) who was going to arise among the people and lead the righteous Jews in an overthrow of the Roman Empire. It is interesting that Jewish groups were looking for a Christ when Jesus came, but they had already politically and militarily identified what they expected Jesus to do. Mary was told by the angel that the son she would bear would be called Jesus and,
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
(Luke 1:32-33)
(Details here and here.
Psalms of Solomon here) |
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I will continue to trust God and faithfully live righteously while I wait for his help
when I face hardships and difficulties. |
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"Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it."
- Proverbs 22:6 |
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To be a good friend |
Manifestation of Gifts of the Holy Spirit |
Local Economy |
Burkina Faso |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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