For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Someone who truthfully recounts what they have seen will save lives, those who lie and mislead about what they have seen betray the trust which has been placed in them.
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let us remember all of the wonderful things which God has done. God is a god of justice. He will see justice done throughout the land. He stands by the promises He has made. He has stood by His people throughout history. When nations have oppressed the descendants of Jacob, God has brought those nations down. He promised the descendants of Jacob that He would give them the land of Canaan and even though they wandered the nations of the earth for over a millennium, once more they own the land that He promised them. Our God is honest and just. He keeps His promises.
We must worship God in spirit and in truth. Salvation comes from the Jews, but we must recognize that God created all people to worship Him. There is no one place for worshiping God. Let us worship God where we find ourselves. It is time, and past time, to stop building barriers of exclusion to exclude certain people from those we consider eligible to worship God. The people of the village came out to hear Jesus because of what the woman at the well told them. However, once they heard His message they came to believe in Him for themselves. Let us live our lives to invite people to “Come and see”. People must hear how the Gospel message applies to their own lives.
In reaction to the crime in Gibeah, and the defense of that town by the tribe of Benjamin, the people of the rest of the tribes made war on Benjamin. When the war was over, they regretted the wholesale slaughter they had committed. They realized they had over-reacted and sought ways to restore the tribe of Benjamin. There is a warning at the end that reminds us how a society ends up with the problems both of Gibeah and of the over-reaction to it. “All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” We must hold each other to standards of right behavior. We must find friends who will hold us accountable to do what is right. It is not enough that we think that something is right, we must make ourselves accountable to others who can tell us when our view of what is right is merely what is in our interest.
In this passage, Ruth makes one of the great statements of faith and commitment, “Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” Pastors often talk about this and Ruth’s wonderful commitment to her mother-in-law. What strikes me when I read it however is the question of what did Naomi do to inspire such faith and commitment in Ruth. More importantly, do I live my life so as to inspire others to make such a commitment? If not, what do I need to do to inspire people to make such a commitment?