Verse 1
'In the second year of Darius the King' - The book is set in the 2nd year of Darius the King. That allows the dating to be quite accurate and gives us clear indications about the conditions in the land at that time.
The book deals with the situation post-exile. The people had not heeded the Lord's warnings and had gone into exile for 70 years. But, in fulfilment of his promise, after 70 years the exile ended and the people returned (see Ezra ch.1-3).
At first the work went well: the altar was set-up and the foundation of the temple laid. But then the work ceased and, at the time the book was written, had been ceased for some 16 years. It is into that situation that Haggai brings the word of the the Lord.
'on the first day of the sixth month' - the first day of a month was to be a celebration day (see Num 28:11-15) and if the people observed it, they no doubt had gathered in Jerusalem at the site of the temple.
The Lord is going to speak to his people about the state of the temple with the greatest visual aid in front of them! They would usually have brought offerings with them and the Lord will later on in this chapter use the absence of produce as a silence that spoke volumes about their lives before him.
'the word of the Lord came...' - this phrase & others like it are found between 25 and 29 times in this short book. This was no man-inspired attempt to get the people working again; God was speaking, clearly, powerfully and unmistakably.
This was the first direct word from the Lord since the return from exile - a momentous time for the people. What would he say to them?
'throught the prophet Haggai' - God's word via a man. We know next to nothing about Haggai but in a sense that's helpful because it means we focus on the message, not the channel. It may be that he himself had known the former temple (2:3) and had therefore experienced the exile.
'the word of the Lord came...to Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah and to Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the High Priest' - It came firstly to the leaders of the community and only then to the people at large. Those in leadership have a particular responsibility to listen to God and to lead the people by example.
Verse 2
'This is what the Lord Almighty says...' - that name for God (Lord of Hosts) is used 14 times in this short book which means it is of significance to us. It is a name which highlights the awesome power and sovereignty of God. He is King of heaven above and King of all the earth too. No power is like his, no power can equal his; he alone is the Lord.
The name was frequently used after the exile. For a people who were weakened, despised, subjugated, it held great encouragement: our God reigns! But it also challenges them (& us): if you know the Lord is Almighty then live as if you do & trust him daily!
'These people say, "The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built"' - this is the people's conclusion about the work. The Lord calls them 'this people' not 'my people' which is a real rebuke to them. They weren't acting like his people; they were not seeking first his glory.
Why had they drawn such a conclusion?
- They had been opposed and perpetual opposition can wear us down. They had grown weary in well doing; they were discouraged. It's easy to see why they stopped.
- They had given in to the temptation to read providence from their perspective, not God's. Yet he had given them clear indications that he was with them: the amazing decree of Cyrus for them to return and build the temple; the provisions that were given to them as they returned, expressly for the rebuilding of the temple. But because of all that stood against them, they reached a different conclusion.
We, too, experience opposition and are liable to the same temptations as these people. We need to pray for grace to persevere, to receive God's word as it stands. We need the spirit that says "What he says, we will do; where he sends we will go; never fear, only trust & obey".
Saturday, 8 July 2006
Acts 2:42-47
Pentecost! A new age had dawned - the ascended Saviour poured out his Spirit upon his people, empowered the preaching of Peter and the witness of the disciples and 3000 people were saved. This was a glorious day in the experience of the early church; it must have been a great encouragement to the believers to see God at work in such a powerful way.
But the impact of the Spirit's work in the hearts and lives of those who preached and those who heard was not limited to what happens up to v.41. In the following verses, Luke records for us something of the life of the early church and in doing so gives an account of what the church can and should be in every age under the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
A New Devotion
The first group of believers were now joined by those who had been converted on the day of Pentecost and Luke tells us that their lives were marked by a new devotion. That word means "a steadfast and single-minded fidelity to a certain course of action". It is not speaking of a flash-in-the-pan experience but shows that their lives had been decisively changed.
Clearly, their devotion was to the Lord himself; he is always to be the very heart of our Christian faith and life. But devotion to the Lord will show itself in certain ways. Luke lists 4 key things here in v.42 that we are meant to take note of:
i) The Apostles' teaching - They had a real enthusiasm for, and commitment to, what the apostles taught. And that teaching centred upon God and his plan to save a fallen world through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. These early believers wanted to learn as much as they could; they saw it as a vital part of their experience as Christians; indeed, they would not grow in their relationship with the Lord if they neglected his word.
It's clear in the verses that follow that they made this a priority in their lives. They met at the temple each day, which would have given an opportunity for the apostles to teach them and no doubt they talked over what they heard as they met together in their homes.
One of the marks of the Spirit's work in us is a genuine hunger for teaching about the Lord. Many could perhaps testify that this was their experience when they first trusted the Lord but it shouldn't stop there. We are to go on learning and so we should go on having a hunger for the word of God. We are blessed with so many opportunities, far more than some believers in other parts of the world - do we take them?
Some object to an emphasis on teaching, feeling it shows we are simply intellectual in our faith. Of course, that is possible but it need not so. There is no tension between the Spirit who gave the Word and the Word itself! As we study his word, we do so in dependence on him and with the desire to know the Lord better and to love him more.
We must devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching too.
ii) The Fellowship - Here is an important NT word but it only occurs here in Acts. What does it mean? At its heart, 'fellowship' means a sharing together in something which is held in common. Having believed and been given new life in the Lord, the early church shared in it together, with all that entailed.
A clear example of the way they lived out their common life is given is vv.45,46 where we see the early church caring for each other. As needs arose, property or possessions would be sold or shared in order to meet them.
Here is an impressive demonstration of how they shared their lives together! "Christian fellowship is Christian caring and Christian caring is Christian sharing"; they exemplified that in how they lived.
How this is worked out in detail is not really the point. It's what they did that's so impressive: being united together in Christ, they demonstrated it in their lives by caring for each other. Their example is one that calls to us across the centuries with real power and challenge.
iii) The breaking of bread - Although the Lord's Supper had not yet become a formalised part of church life, the reality of it was something that the early church lived out to the full. They devoted themselves to breaking bread together and did so in their homes in smaller gatherings too.
What this shows us is that they were devoted to the gospel and to took every opportunity to remember the Lord Jesus and his saving death for them. They were from the first a truly gospel church.
In terms of how and when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, scripture gives us freedom ("whenever you do this..."). What is not open for negotiation is that we should ever be a truly evangelical church, with the evangel, the gospel, at the heart of all we do. Our emphasis must be on Christ and him crucified and the outworking of that in lives of service and holiness.
iv) The prayer(s) - The plural may mean set Jewish prayers or may indicate intensity. Whichever it is, prayer was clearly a vital aspect of the life of the early church. Both in public and private, they gave themselves to seeking God. They clearly took seriously the fact that they were utterly dependent on the Lord for everything and so they sought him with real diligence.
I can't comment on our private praying but if we're honest, our church prayer life could be better. We need to ask the Lord to help us to seek him, to repent of our prayerlessness and to be more devoted to prayer.
In all these ways, the early church is a great example and encouragement to us. If we ask, How can these things be true for us, some might say that it was only true for them because they were living in a time of revival. Leaving aside the fact that this wasn't strictly speaking revival (it was a unique occasion), we can't let it rest at that.
Of course these things will be more true of us if revival comes but what the church did here with great devotion, the rest of the NT encourages us to do at all times! Devotion to God, expressing itself in a love for his word, his people, the gospel and prayer is something we are ever to pursue, asking his Spirit to help us manifest his fruit.
Two other features of the life of the early church cry out for comment here:
* New Joy - Their simple yet profound joy in the Lord is clear for all to see here. It wasn't put on nor was it formal and only for public gatherings. It was the fruit of the Spirit at work in them and no doubt deepened as they devoted themselves to the Lord in the ways we have seen.
* New Joiners - They were a growing community. As the Lord worked among them, authenticating the ministry of the apostles by sings and wonders, awe fell upon the people, the church enjoyed their favour and "the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved". We need to believe that this can be so with ourselves too.
The early church in its new life in the Spirit was winsome in its witness. May we be so too. Amen.
But the impact of the Spirit's work in the hearts and lives of those who preached and those who heard was not limited to what happens up to v.41. In the following verses, Luke records for us something of the life of the early church and in doing so gives an account of what the church can and should be in every age under the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
A New Devotion
The first group of believers were now joined by those who had been converted on the day of Pentecost and Luke tells us that their lives were marked by a new devotion. That word means "a steadfast and single-minded fidelity to a certain course of action". It is not speaking of a flash-in-the-pan experience but shows that their lives had been decisively changed.
Clearly, their devotion was to the Lord himself; he is always to be the very heart of our Christian faith and life. But devotion to the Lord will show itself in certain ways. Luke lists 4 key things here in v.42 that we are meant to take note of:
i) The Apostles' teaching - They had a real enthusiasm for, and commitment to, what the apostles taught. And that teaching centred upon God and his plan to save a fallen world through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. These early believers wanted to learn as much as they could; they saw it as a vital part of their experience as Christians; indeed, they would not grow in their relationship with the Lord if they neglected his word.
It's clear in the verses that follow that they made this a priority in their lives. They met at the temple each day, which would have given an opportunity for the apostles to teach them and no doubt they talked over what they heard as they met together in their homes.
One of the marks of the Spirit's work in us is a genuine hunger for teaching about the Lord. Many could perhaps testify that this was their experience when they first trusted the Lord but it shouldn't stop there. We are to go on learning and so we should go on having a hunger for the word of God. We are blessed with so many opportunities, far more than some believers in other parts of the world - do we take them?
Some object to an emphasis on teaching, feeling it shows we are simply intellectual in our faith. Of course, that is possible but it need not so. There is no tension between the Spirit who gave the Word and the Word itself! As we study his word, we do so in dependence on him and with the desire to know the Lord better and to love him more.
We must devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching too.
ii) The Fellowship - Here is an important NT word but it only occurs here in Acts. What does it mean? At its heart, 'fellowship' means a sharing together in something which is held in common. Having believed and been given new life in the Lord, the early church shared in it together, with all that entailed.
A clear example of the way they lived out their common life is given is vv.45,46 where we see the early church caring for each other. As needs arose, property or possessions would be sold or shared in order to meet them.
Here is an impressive demonstration of how they shared their lives together! "Christian fellowship is Christian caring and Christian caring is Christian sharing"; they exemplified that in how they lived.
How this is worked out in detail is not really the point. It's what they did that's so impressive: being united together in Christ, they demonstrated it in their lives by caring for each other. Their example is one that calls to us across the centuries with real power and challenge.
iii) The breaking of bread - Although the Lord's Supper had not yet become a formalised part of church life, the reality of it was something that the early church lived out to the full. They devoted themselves to breaking bread together and did so in their homes in smaller gatherings too.
What this shows us is that they were devoted to the gospel and to took every opportunity to remember the Lord Jesus and his saving death for them. They were from the first a truly gospel church.
In terms of how and when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, scripture gives us freedom ("whenever you do this..."). What is not open for negotiation is that we should ever be a truly evangelical church, with the evangel, the gospel, at the heart of all we do. Our emphasis must be on Christ and him crucified and the outworking of that in lives of service and holiness.
iv) The prayer(s) - The plural may mean set Jewish prayers or may indicate intensity. Whichever it is, prayer was clearly a vital aspect of the life of the early church. Both in public and private, they gave themselves to seeking God. They clearly took seriously the fact that they were utterly dependent on the Lord for everything and so they sought him with real diligence.
I can't comment on our private praying but if we're honest, our church prayer life could be better. We need to ask the Lord to help us to seek him, to repent of our prayerlessness and to be more devoted to prayer.
In all these ways, the early church is a great example and encouragement to us. If we ask, How can these things be true for us, some might say that it was only true for them because they were living in a time of revival. Leaving aside the fact that this wasn't strictly speaking revival (it was a unique occasion), we can't let it rest at that.
Of course these things will be more true of us if revival comes but what the church did here with great devotion, the rest of the NT encourages us to do at all times! Devotion to God, expressing itself in a love for his word, his people, the gospel and prayer is something we are ever to pursue, asking his Spirit to help us manifest his fruit.
Two other features of the life of the early church cry out for comment here:
* New Joy - Their simple yet profound joy in the Lord is clear for all to see here. It wasn't put on nor was it formal and only for public gatherings. It was the fruit of the Spirit at work in them and no doubt deepened as they devoted themselves to the Lord in the ways we have seen.
* New Joiners - They were a growing community. As the Lord worked among them, authenticating the ministry of the apostles by sings and wonders, awe fell upon the people, the church enjoyed their favour and "the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved". We need to believe that this can be so with ourselves too.
The early church in its new life in the Spirit was winsome in its witness. May we be so too. Amen.
Acts 2:14-41
We saw last week something of the amazing events of Pentecost and the impact they had on the crowd as they heard the wonders of God being proclaimed in their own languages. God was showing that this message was for the whole world! But the event needed to be explained; on its own, it only left the crowd divided: some were perplexed, others mocked.
1. Explaining the Event: God's New Age (vv.14-21)
Peter steps up to the mark to explain what's happening in this amazing scene. Given that he and the others had struggled to come to terms with Jesus' death and needed the Lord to open the scriptures to them, his answer is proof of Jesus' promise that when the Spirit came, he would lead them into all truth.
Peter tells the crowd that they aren't drunk, as some had said in mockery. Rather, this is what God had promised long ago through the prophet Joel. This was the dawning of God's new age, the climax of his plans and purposes. These events had been foretold in the OT, not just in Joel but in many places.
What did Joel say? In essence, he said the Spirit would be given and that when he was given, old boundaries would be broken down and all people would be able to know the Lord.
In the past, only a few were prophets, only men could be priests and then only at the right age. Now, each could know the Lord personally, without any human intermediary. That seems to be what the reference to prophecy, dreams and visions is meant to signify (cf. Jer. 31:34).
And all who would call on the name of the Lord would be saved. The day of the Lord is not simply a day of judgement but of salvation. Salvation has come near, the door is open to all who know their need.
This would take place in the context of signs and wonders, a shorthand way of speaking of cataclysmic events in the world (what could be more cataclysmic than the death of Jesus?).
Joel was speaking of a time when God's blessings would not be confined to the few but opened to the many; he prophesied of a salvation open to all who would call on the Lord.
And the Jews knew that all this would take place when the Messiah had come. The coming of the Spirit was seen as the culmination of the work of the Messiah. He would bring in the kingdom of God and at that time, God would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh.
Peter's explanation lifts these events out of mere puzzle and an opportunity to mock and places them in their true context: God's great plan of salvation for a fallen world, his desire to bless people of all nations.
2. Explaining the Event: Messiah Vindicated (vv.22-36)
The dawning of the new age meant that Messiah had come. And as Peter continues his explanation from v.22ff, it is the Messiah that he focusses on.
In v.21 he spoke of people calling on the name of the Lord; in v.22, he tells the people what that name is: it is Jesus of Nazareth. These events are only truly comprehensible in the light of Jesus and what he has done.
He begins by reminding them that Jesus had been accredited by God among them by miracles, wonders and signs. It had been clear that God was at work in Jesus.
And yet they had put him to death with the help of pagans! The Jews had rejected the promised Messiah! They had been responsible for his death at the hand of others.
That raised a very important question in Jewish minds. Could a rejected, crucified man really be the Messiah? The rest of Peter's explanation gives the answer.
And the answer is, Absolutely! They had rejected Jesus but God hadn't! They had crucified him but it was impossible for death to hold him.
To prove his point, Peter quotes David in Ps.16 16, where he asserts that God would not allow his Holy One to see decay. Now, David had died and been buried and his tomb was still there - so he wasn't that Holy One! Who was then? David was speaking about the Messiah; Jesus had been raised by God and had been seen by the apostles.
And not only had he been raised, he had also been exalted to the highest place, at God's right hand (quoting from Ps.110). The despised, rejected Messiah had been vindicated by God and given all authority and power. And from his position of power, it was he who had given the Holy Spirit. The great events of Pentecost flowed directly from the vindication and reign of Jesus as the true Messiah, God's chosen King.
Peter's summary of this in v.36 is very powerful: "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ". It is Jesus who brings in God's new age, who alone makes access to God possible for all people.
Pentecost is not ultimately about the phenomena that the crowds had seen and heard; it's about the Messiah. The Holy Spirit, in coming upon the disciples, was pointing to Jesus as Lord and Christ. We need to make sure we learn from this ministry of the Spirit. It is Jesus who is central; not the signs, but the one they point to.
And there is a further challenge here for us. Whilst Pentecost cannot be repeated, people today should be able to see evidence of the Spirit at work in our lives, producing fruit that points to and honours Jesus as Lord. The kind of thing that entails is amplified in vv.42-47 which we'll look at next week.
3. Applying the Event: Repent & Be Baptised (vv.37-41)
The effect of Peter's speech is both immediate and astonishing - those who had so recently rejected the Messiah were cut to the heart in conviction of their sin and received Jesus as Lord, 3000 of them. Here is further evidence of the Spirit powerfully active in honouring Jesus as Lord and Christ.
Peter's answer to the crowd's question, 'What shall we do?' is one of the fullest in the whole NT. They are to repent of their sin and own Jesus as Saviour (baptism). In that way, they will be forgiven their sin and receive the promised Holy Spirit.
And we're told that with many other words he warned them. Here is an issue that is utterly crucial, nothing else is as important as this. Where do you stand in relation to Jesus? He is the one true Messiah, the only Saviour from sin. To reject him is to invite certain judgement and condemnation. You must turn from sin and embrace the Saviour; you must call upon him and identify yourself with him in baptism. There is no other way to be right with God and to share in God's promised blessing of a new start in a new age.
Where do you stand today? Have you repented and turned to Jesus? Are you looking to honour him in your life? Is this the issue above everything else to you? If you feel convicted in your heart and know that God is calling you, then now is the time to turn to him.
May God grant his blessing to each one of us, for his glory's sake. Amen.
1. Explaining the Event: God's New Age (vv.14-21)
Peter steps up to the mark to explain what's happening in this amazing scene. Given that he and the others had struggled to come to terms with Jesus' death and needed the Lord to open the scriptures to them, his answer is proof of Jesus' promise that when the Spirit came, he would lead them into all truth.
Peter tells the crowd that they aren't drunk, as some had said in mockery. Rather, this is what God had promised long ago through the prophet Joel. This was the dawning of God's new age, the climax of his plans and purposes. These events had been foretold in the OT, not just in Joel but in many places.
What did Joel say? In essence, he said the Spirit would be given and that when he was given, old boundaries would be broken down and all people would be able to know the Lord.
In the past, only a few were prophets, only men could be priests and then only at the right age. Now, each could know the Lord personally, without any human intermediary. That seems to be what the reference to prophecy, dreams and visions is meant to signify (cf. Jer. 31:34).
And all who would call on the name of the Lord would be saved. The day of the Lord is not simply a day of judgement but of salvation. Salvation has come near, the door is open to all who know their need.
This would take place in the context of signs and wonders, a shorthand way of speaking of cataclysmic events in the world (what could be more cataclysmic than the death of Jesus?).
Joel was speaking of a time when God's blessings would not be confined to the few but opened to the many; he prophesied of a salvation open to all who would call on the Lord.
And the Jews knew that all this would take place when the Messiah had come. The coming of the Spirit was seen as the culmination of the work of the Messiah. He would bring in the kingdom of God and at that time, God would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh.
Peter's explanation lifts these events out of mere puzzle and an opportunity to mock and places them in their true context: God's great plan of salvation for a fallen world, his desire to bless people of all nations.
2. Explaining the Event: Messiah Vindicated (vv.22-36)
The dawning of the new age meant that Messiah had come. And as Peter continues his explanation from v.22ff, it is the Messiah that he focusses on.
In v.21 he spoke of people calling on the name of the Lord; in v.22, he tells the people what that name is: it is Jesus of Nazareth. These events are only truly comprehensible in the light of Jesus and what he has done.
He begins by reminding them that Jesus had been accredited by God among them by miracles, wonders and signs. It had been clear that God was at work in Jesus.
And yet they had put him to death with the help of pagans! The Jews had rejected the promised Messiah! They had been responsible for his death at the hand of others.
That raised a very important question in Jewish minds. Could a rejected, crucified man really be the Messiah? The rest of Peter's explanation gives the answer.
And the answer is, Absolutely! They had rejected Jesus but God hadn't! They had crucified him but it was impossible for death to hold him.
To prove his point, Peter quotes David in Ps.16 16, where he asserts that God would not allow his Holy One to see decay. Now, David had died and been buried and his tomb was still there - so he wasn't that Holy One! Who was then? David was speaking about the Messiah; Jesus had been raised by God and had been seen by the apostles.
And not only had he been raised, he had also been exalted to the highest place, at God's right hand (quoting from Ps.110). The despised, rejected Messiah had been vindicated by God and given all authority and power. And from his position of power, it was he who had given the Holy Spirit. The great events of Pentecost flowed directly from the vindication and reign of Jesus as the true Messiah, God's chosen King.
Peter's summary of this in v.36 is very powerful: "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ". It is Jesus who brings in God's new age, who alone makes access to God possible for all people.
Pentecost is not ultimately about the phenomena that the crowds had seen and heard; it's about the Messiah. The Holy Spirit, in coming upon the disciples, was pointing to Jesus as Lord and Christ. We need to make sure we learn from this ministry of the Spirit. It is Jesus who is central; not the signs, but the one they point to.
And there is a further challenge here for us. Whilst Pentecost cannot be repeated, people today should be able to see evidence of the Spirit at work in our lives, producing fruit that points to and honours Jesus as Lord. The kind of thing that entails is amplified in vv.42-47 which we'll look at next week.
3. Applying the Event: Repent & Be Baptised (vv.37-41)
The effect of Peter's speech is both immediate and astonishing - those who had so recently rejected the Messiah were cut to the heart in conviction of their sin and received Jesus as Lord, 3000 of them. Here is further evidence of the Spirit powerfully active in honouring Jesus as Lord and Christ.
Peter's answer to the crowd's question, 'What shall we do?' is one of the fullest in the whole NT. They are to repent of their sin and own Jesus as Saviour (baptism). In that way, they will be forgiven their sin and receive the promised Holy Spirit.
And we're told that with many other words he warned them. Here is an issue that is utterly crucial, nothing else is as important as this. Where do you stand in relation to Jesus? He is the one true Messiah, the only Saviour from sin. To reject him is to invite certain judgement and condemnation. You must turn from sin and embrace the Saviour; you must call upon him and identify yourself with him in baptism. There is no other way to be right with God and to share in God's promised blessing of a new start in a new age.
Where do you stand today? Have you repented and turned to Jesus? Are you looking to honour him in your life? Is this the issue above everything else to you? If you feel convicted in your heart and know that God is calling you, then now is the time to turn to him.
May God grant his blessing to each one of us, for his glory's sake. Amen.
Acts 2:1-13
At last, the waiting is over! The apostles and disciples had been through so much - the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and then waiting for the promise of the Father. And now it happens - in ways beyond their expectation!
In this chapter, Luke records the event of Pentecost, the explanation given by Peter and then the effects of that explanation on those who heard. We're going to look at vv.1-13 but before we do so, it's important to notice that, although there is much we can say from these verses, their significance is only truly opened up in Peter's speech. Here are events that need explanation! (see vv.12,13)
1. What happens on the Day of Pentecost
Luke is careful to tell us that it was the day of Pentecost, a Jewish feast day associated with harvest but also with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Just as God had given his law to Moses with wind and fire, so now he gives his Spirit to his people with wind and fire.
A new age is dawning, a new stage in God's plan to save a fallen world. Here he is fulfilling ancient promises, as Peter will make plain in his speech.
On the mountain, there was real wind and flames but notice that here Luke tells us the sound was "like the blowing of a violent wind" and that "they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire" - this event is impossible to fully describe. It is like certain things but not the same as them.
What is clear, however, is that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. He was the reality they experienced. They "were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them".
There is a lot here to unpack and comment on since these events are so important to many Christians today. We'll look at these events and think through what they should mean for us.
i) Filled with the Holy Spirit - Jesus told them they would shortly be "baptised with the Holy Spirit"; here Luke says they were "filled with the Holy Spirit". Are they the same thing?
Certainly, this is what Jesus meant when he said they would be baptised with the Spirit. That speaks of being drawn in and made a part of something. Luke speaks of filling, emphasising they were being empowered for their new task. So here the two words describe the same event, but it is important to understand how the words are used elsewhere in the NT.
Nowhere is 'baptism' used to describe subsequent experiences of the Holy Spirit, although 'filling' is used in that way. Being baptised with the Holy Spirit is what happens to a person when they become a Christian, the initial receiving of the Spirit. 'Filling' speaks of our need to have the Spirit go on working in us, to make us more like Jesus and to equip us to serve him.
NT teaching: every Christian has been baptised with the Holy Spirit, it is not a subsequent event to conversion; all believers need to go on being filled by the Spirit for maturity and service.
ii) Speaking in other tongues - But what about speaking in tongues? This has been, and still is, quite a contentious issue in modern church life, which is strange because relatively little is said about it in the NT.
What is happening here? Clearly, those who had been filled with the Spirit were enabled by him to speak other languages, real languages that were recognised by those who heard them (vv.8,11). And it would seem reasonable to conclude that those who spoke knew what they were speaking.
Is this (speaking in tongues) something that always goes with being baptised with the Spirit or being filled by him? There is nothing in the NT to suggest that to be so.
How does this relate to what Paul says in 1 Cor. 14 about speaking in tongues? The main points seem to be these:
- tongues are real languages;
- those who speak them know what they are saying but unless their words are translated, no-one else benefits from it (vv.4,14);
- in a public situation, unless they can be translated (v.28), they should rarely if ever be heard (v.18f), and not when someone else is praying (vv.16,27);
- they are a sign for unbelievers - of judgement upon Israel for her national pride and the fact that the gospel is now going to the nations (v.21f).
The gift of tongues was given for a specific purpose at Pentecost and seems to have continued in the early church. But the use of tongues was clearly regulated and didn't form a particularly significant part of early Christian experience.
2. Witnesses Empowered!
We've looked at those questions because they're important in our modern context but for Luke there were more important things to speak about here. Here is the first instance of the disciples being empowered for the divinely-given task of witnessing to the Lord Jesus.
As we saw in 1:8, the work of the Holy Spirit is indispensable for the ministry of the church in proclaiming the Lord Jesus and here we see that he has been given to the church and is given to every believer. How encouraging that is! He came upon them and they went out, telling "the wonders of God".
There is much here that is unique to the occasion but it assures us that we too can know the help of God's Spirit for our own task of living for him and sharing him with others.
The Lord promised to help and he keeps his word! We are not witnesses of the resurrection but we can speak from personal experience of the saving grace of God. To do so with power, we need the Spirit's help. This event tells us that God is intent on helping us to do just that. He has given his Spirit!
3. Wonders for the World!
The final thing I want to mention from this event is that it speaks to us of God's purposes in Jesus for this world. Here you have a group of "God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven" and they hear the wonders of God being proclaimed in their native languages!
What does that say to us? It shows, in quite graphic form, that it is God's purpose, in and through Jesus, to overcome the curse of Babel. You remember how when mankind rebelled against him that the Lord came down and confused their languages. Here we see that barrier removed - the diversity is still there but it is no longer a hindrance to joyfully receiving the gospel message and coming to share in its reality.
We live in a world that is fractured and deeply troubled. Peoples war with each other, there is precious little peace and harmony, only uneasy tolerance at best. What can overcome the prejudice and fear, the sinful arrogance and pride of man? The grace of God, enacted in his Son, applied by his Spirit.
This event is not sufficient in itself. It needs to be explained and, in his speech, Peter focusses on the Lord Jesus Christ; he doesn't major on the phenomena. And when Jesus is lifted up, he draws all people to himself, from all nations.
How we can praise God for his purposes and the way they are being worked out through the powerful work of his Holy Spirit! And we can pray that we will know his Spirit at work in us to that end.
In this chapter, Luke records the event of Pentecost, the explanation given by Peter and then the effects of that explanation on those who heard. We're going to look at vv.1-13 but before we do so, it's important to notice that, although there is much we can say from these verses, their significance is only truly opened up in Peter's speech. Here are events that need explanation! (see vv.12,13)
1. What happens on the Day of Pentecost
Luke is careful to tell us that it was the day of Pentecost, a Jewish feast day associated with harvest but also with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Just as God had given his law to Moses with wind and fire, so now he gives his Spirit to his people with wind and fire.
A new age is dawning, a new stage in God's plan to save a fallen world. Here he is fulfilling ancient promises, as Peter will make plain in his speech.
On the mountain, there was real wind and flames but notice that here Luke tells us the sound was "like the blowing of a violent wind" and that "they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire" - this event is impossible to fully describe. It is like certain things but not the same as them.
What is clear, however, is that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. He was the reality they experienced. They "were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them".
There is a lot here to unpack and comment on since these events are so important to many Christians today. We'll look at these events and think through what they should mean for us.
i) Filled with the Holy Spirit - Jesus told them they would shortly be "baptised with the Holy Spirit"; here Luke says they were "filled with the Holy Spirit". Are they the same thing?
Certainly, this is what Jesus meant when he said they would be baptised with the Spirit. That speaks of being drawn in and made a part of something. Luke speaks of filling, emphasising they were being empowered for their new task. So here the two words describe the same event, but it is important to understand how the words are used elsewhere in the NT.
Nowhere is 'baptism' used to describe subsequent experiences of the Holy Spirit, although 'filling' is used in that way. Being baptised with the Holy Spirit is what happens to a person when they become a Christian, the initial receiving of the Spirit. 'Filling' speaks of our need to have the Spirit go on working in us, to make us more like Jesus and to equip us to serve him.
NT teaching: every Christian has been baptised with the Holy Spirit, it is not a subsequent event to conversion; all believers need to go on being filled by the Spirit for maturity and service.
ii) Speaking in other tongues - But what about speaking in tongues? This has been, and still is, quite a contentious issue in modern church life, which is strange because relatively little is said about it in the NT.
What is happening here? Clearly, those who had been filled with the Spirit were enabled by him to speak other languages, real languages that were recognised by those who heard them (vv.8,11). And it would seem reasonable to conclude that those who spoke knew what they were speaking.
Is this (speaking in tongues) something that always goes with being baptised with the Spirit or being filled by him? There is nothing in the NT to suggest that to be so.
How does this relate to what Paul says in 1 Cor. 14 about speaking in tongues? The main points seem to be these:
- tongues are real languages;
- those who speak them know what they are saying but unless their words are translated, no-one else benefits from it (vv.4,14);
- in a public situation, unless they can be translated (v.28), they should rarely if ever be heard (v.18f), and not when someone else is praying (vv.16,27);
- they are a sign for unbelievers - of judgement upon Israel for her national pride and the fact that the gospel is now going to the nations (v.21f).
The gift of tongues was given for a specific purpose at Pentecost and seems to have continued in the early church. But the use of tongues was clearly regulated and didn't form a particularly significant part of early Christian experience.
2. Witnesses Empowered!
We've looked at those questions because they're important in our modern context but for Luke there were more important things to speak about here. Here is the first instance of the disciples being empowered for the divinely-given task of witnessing to the Lord Jesus.
As we saw in 1:8, the work of the Holy Spirit is indispensable for the ministry of the church in proclaiming the Lord Jesus and here we see that he has been given to the church and is given to every believer. How encouraging that is! He came upon them and they went out, telling "the wonders of God".
There is much here that is unique to the occasion but it assures us that we too can know the help of God's Spirit for our own task of living for him and sharing him with others.
The Lord promised to help and he keeps his word! We are not witnesses of the resurrection but we can speak from personal experience of the saving grace of God. To do so with power, we need the Spirit's help. This event tells us that God is intent on helping us to do just that. He has given his Spirit!
3. Wonders for the World!
The final thing I want to mention from this event is that it speaks to us of God's purposes in Jesus for this world. Here you have a group of "God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven" and they hear the wonders of God being proclaimed in their native languages!
What does that say to us? It shows, in quite graphic form, that it is God's purpose, in and through Jesus, to overcome the curse of Babel. You remember how when mankind rebelled against him that the Lord came down and confused their languages. Here we see that barrier removed - the diversity is still there but it is no longer a hindrance to joyfully receiving the gospel message and coming to share in its reality.
We live in a world that is fractured and deeply troubled. Peoples war with each other, there is precious little peace and harmony, only uneasy tolerance at best. What can overcome the prejudice and fear, the sinful arrogance and pride of man? The grace of God, enacted in his Son, applied by his Spirit.
This event is not sufficient in itself. It needs to be explained and, in his speech, Peter focusses on the Lord Jesus Christ; he doesn't major on the phenomena. And when Jesus is lifted up, he draws all people to himself, from all nations.
How we can praise God for his purposes and the way they are being worked out through the powerful work of his Holy Spirit! And we can pray that we will know his Spirit at work in us to that end.
Friday, 7 July 2006
Acts 1:12-26
1. The Waiting Game (vv.12-14)
How good are you at waiting? Sometimes it can be very frustrating. The apostles had been told by Jesus to wait for the gift of the Father to come upon them. After the heady days that followed his resurrection, they were to now just to wait. How long they weren't told.
These verses tell us how they responded to what Jesus said. There are 2 things in particular that stand out in:
i) They were obedient to the word of Jesus. They went and waited. In vv.12-14 we see the 11 apostles and 120 other believers waiting for Jesus word to come true (v.15).
It is always tempting to try to rush things, to draw our own conclusions, second guessing the Lord and forging ahead. But these early believers model for us the correct response to God's word to us. They did what he said.
In all sorts of situations, we may feel tempted to do otherwise but it is always foolish to ignore or go against what the Lord has clearly said. They were in no doubt what Jesus had said; his word to us in the Bible is equally clear and must be similarly obeyed.
We may try to justify disobedience where we feel the issues are not all that important - does it really matter that God has said this or that? No doubt these disciples could have thought the same, yet they didn't. And the issue was not trivial; it had to do with the next phase in God's great plan of salvation.
His ways, not ours, are always best. Obedience is never a trivial matter.
ii) They prayed the word of Jesus. Having been promised the gift of the Father, they went and spent their time together in prayer. We aren't told what they prayed for but it is more than reasonable to assume that what they had just been told formed the basis for their prayers.
God's revealed will and his promises do not preclude prayer; in fact, they should be the means by which prayer is encouraged and strengthened. They both compel us to pray and give us confidence in our praying.
But notice too the character of their prayer. It was both united and persevering. They were together not just in body but in spirit too. There was a unity to their praying; their hearts were fixed on the same things, eager for the glory of God, enjoying his grace to them in the Lord Jesus (cf. Phil. 1:27; 2:2).
And they prayed not just once but "constantly". They had a particular focus in mind but we are often reminded of our need to pray constantly, to express our utter dependence on the Lord and our desire to see him honoured and his kingdom come.
Nothing hinders prayer so much as disunity among the people of God and a lack of concern for his honour. Where we are out of fellowship with each other or lukewarm about the glory of God, prayer will be marginalised and will fail to be at the heart of life together.
This time was clearly a one-off in the experience of the early church but united, believing prayer most certainly was not a one-off. We have much to learn from them.
They obeyed the word, they prayed the word.
2. Keeping Numbers Up (vv.15-26)
The second main section in this passage deals with the action they took to replace Judas and so to bring the number of apostles back up to 12. We're going to look at why they did that and how they set about it.
i) Why the need for 12 apostles? Was this just a desire to have things back as they were during Jesus' time with them - the kind of thinking that always says, 'It was better before"? No. This was an action prompted by reflection on scripture and for the sake of their God-given task.
The number 12 had been significant in Jesus' mind as he called the disciples to follow him. It was a deliberate echo of the 12 tribes of Israel and was intended to signify that through the ministry of Jesus, a new Israel, the true Israel, was being formed. Those who constituted the true Israel were those who followed Jesus. The number was symbolic and significant.
Following Judas' defection and death by suicide, the number of the apostles had been reduced and lacked that symbolism. The Lord Jesus had told them back in Lk. 22:28-30 that they were to have a significant role with respect to the Jews. They would judge the 12 tribes of Israel, sharing the authority of Jesus. That probably refers to their ministry of preaching the gospel among the Jews and, with that in mind, the symbolism needed to be restored.
So this was an action governed by their understanding of their role in the light of scripture. It was, of course, a unique time in the history of salvation and unrepeatable (they didn't repeat it when James was martyred and their number reduced again).
But there is a lesson for us here. Our understanding of the role and task of the church is to be understood from scripture, not from the fads and fashions of our time.
ii) How to know God's Will - This passage is also helpful in how they filled the gap. As we've said, scripture played a vital part in the whole process. God has spoken and what he has said must be taken seriously and allowed to inform the whole of our approach to life as believers and as a church.
Then they committed the whole matter to God in prayer (v.24). They wanted to do his will. They wanted him to lead them and to make plain what they should do. They knew the principles but they needed specific guidance on who to choose.
They knew another was needed who had the qualifications of an apostle (had been with Jesus and witnessed the reality of the resurrection) and they put 2 men forward who met those requirements. But they put the matter of choosing into God's hands.
We must always recognise that the work of the church, of the gospel, is Jesus' work. It is his will we seek and are to submit to. We act on principle and have a part to play but ultimately the whole project is his, he is the head and he directs the work.
But how does he direct it? Here they cast lots, an action with sound OT pedigree (Prov. 16:33), but not one that is repeated in the NT. This action was pre-Pentecost; after the coming of the Spirit, the choosing was done by believers as they were guided by God's Spirit (cf. Acts 13:2,3; 14:23; 15:2,28; Tit. 1:5).
How is that guidance mediated? By enabling us to grasp the principles of scripture and then to see their application in the particular situation.
They wanted to honour the Lord Jesus in the task he had given them; they searched the scriptures for help; they relied upon the Lord to direct and help them. May the same ever be true of us. Amen.
How good are you at waiting? Sometimes it can be very frustrating. The apostles had been told by Jesus to wait for the gift of the Father to come upon them. After the heady days that followed his resurrection, they were to now just to wait. How long they weren't told.
These verses tell us how they responded to what Jesus said. There are 2 things in particular that stand out in:
i) They were obedient to the word of Jesus. They went and waited. In vv.12-14 we see the 11 apostles and 120 other believers waiting for Jesus word to come true (v.15).
It is always tempting to try to rush things, to draw our own conclusions, second guessing the Lord and forging ahead. But these early believers model for us the correct response to God's word to us. They did what he said.
In all sorts of situations, we may feel tempted to do otherwise but it is always foolish to ignore or go against what the Lord has clearly said. They were in no doubt what Jesus had said; his word to us in the Bible is equally clear and must be similarly obeyed.
We may try to justify disobedience where we feel the issues are not all that important - does it really matter that God has said this or that? No doubt these disciples could have thought the same, yet they didn't. And the issue was not trivial; it had to do with the next phase in God's great plan of salvation.
His ways, not ours, are always best. Obedience is never a trivial matter.
ii) They prayed the word of Jesus. Having been promised the gift of the Father, they went and spent their time together in prayer. We aren't told what they prayed for but it is more than reasonable to assume that what they had just been told formed the basis for their prayers.
God's revealed will and his promises do not preclude prayer; in fact, they should be the means by which prayer is encouraged and strengthened. They both compel us to pray and give us confidence in our praying.
But notice too the character of their prayer. It was both united and persevering. They were together not just in body but in spirit too. There was a unity to their praying; their hearts were fixed on the same things, eager for the glory of God, enjoying his grace to them in the Lord Jesus (cf. Phil. 1:27; 2:2).
And they prayed not just once but "constantly". They had a particular focus in mind but we are often reminded of our need to pray constantly, to express our utter dependence on the Lord and our desire to see him honoured and his kingdom come.
Nothing hinders prayer so much as disunity among the people of God and a lack of concern for his honour. Where we are out of fellowship with each other or lukewarm about the glory of God, prayer will be marginalised and will fail to be at the heart of life together.
This time was clearly a one-off in the experience of the early church but united, believing prayer most certainly was not a one-off. We have much to learn from them.
They obeyed the word, they prayed the word.
2. Keeping Numbers Up (vv.15-26)
The second main section in this passage deals with the action they took to replace Judas and so to bring the number of apostles back up to 12. We're going to look at why they did that and how they set about it.
i) Why the need for 12 apostles? Was this just a desire to have things back as they were during Jesus' time with them - the kind of thinking that always says, 'It was better before"? No. This was an action prompted by reflection on scripture and for the sake of their God-given task.
The number 12 had been significant in Jesus' mind as he called the disciples to follow him. It was a deliberate echo of the 12 tribes of Israel and was intended to signify that through the ministry of Jesus, a new Israel, the true Israel, was being formed. Those who constituted the true Israel were those who followed Jesus. The number was symbolic and significant.
Following Judas' defection and death by suicide, the number of the apostles had been reduced and lacked that symbolism. The Lord Jesus had told them back in Lk. 22:28-30 that they were to have a significant role with respect to the Jews. They would judge the 12 tribes of Israel, sharing the authority of Jesus. That probably refers to their ministry of preaching the gospel among the Jews and, with that in mind, the symbolism needed to be restored.
So this was an action governed by their understanding of their role in the light of scripture. It was, of course, a unique time in the history of salvation and unrepeatable (they didn't repeat it when James was martyred and their number reduced again).
But there is a lesson for us here. Our understanding of the role and task of the church is to be understood from scripture, not from the fads and fashions of our time.
ii) How to know God's Will - This passage is also helpful in how they filled the gap. As we've said, scripture played a vital part in the whole process. God has spoken and what he has said must be taken seriously and allowed to inform the whole of our approach to life as believers and as a church.
Then they committed the whole matter to God in prayer (v.24). They wanted to do his will. They wanted him to lead them and to make plain what they should do. They knew the principles but they needed specific guidance on who to choose.
They knew another was needed who had the qualifications of an apostle (had been with Jesus and witnessed the reality of the resurrection) and they put 2 men forward who met those requirements. But they put the matter of choosing into God's hands.
We must always recognise that the work of the church, of the gospel, is Jesus' work. It is his will we seek and are to submit to. We act on principle and have a part to play but ultimately the whole project is his, he is the head and he directs the work.
But how does he direct it? Here they cast lots, an action with sound OT pedigree (Prov. 16:33), but not one that is repeated in the NT. This action was pre-Pentecost; after the coming of the Spirit, the choosing was done by believers as they were guided by God's Spirit (cf. Acts 13:2,3; 14:23; 15:2,28; Tit. 1:5).
How is that guidance mediated? By enabling us to grasp the principles of scripture and then to see their application in the particular situation.
They wanted to honour the Lord Jesus in the task he had given them; they searched the scriptures for help; they relied upon the Lord to direct and help them. May the same ever be true of us. Amen.
Acts 1:1-11
What on earth is the church? It's an urgent question because the church is marginalised and, in the face of that, we can try to be all sorts of things. Who and what we are and what we are meant to be and do is laid down for us. And nowhere is that communicated with such clarity and power as in the book of Acts. As John Stott has said, "Thank God for the Acts of the Apostles!"
1. The Unfinished Story...
The book of Acts is the second part of Luke's work (v.1). Both go together and each is incomplete without the other. In terms of the NT, they are very significant and account for 26% of the total.
But why is he writing? Back in Lk. 1:1-4 he told Theophilus it was so that "you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught". This second volume continues that work by focussing on what Jesus continues to do after his death and resurrection: the gospel of Luke was about what Jesus "began to do and to teach", the implication being that this second part will carry the story on.
But what is the story about? Luke's great theme is God's plan of salvation for his world, a plan foretold in the OT and, in the events Luke is writing about, now coming to fulfilment. He tells us here that the subject on which Jesus spoke to his disciples after his death and resurrection was "the kingdom of God" (v.3).
That reign has come to pass in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Here Luke stresses the resurrection, saying that Jesus gave his disciples during these 40 days "many convincing proofs that he was alive". The resurrection was certain and forms the ground of all that is to follow.
But those events do not stand alone. There is more to be done in terms of the saving reign of God. Jesus is returning to heaven but there is more to follow. That is hinted at in these opening verses where we read that Jesus gave "instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen".
Those who had been with him would have a part to play and the Holy Spirit is going to be significant in the outworking of that role. The rest of this opening passage takes us into the roles of the apostles and the Spirit and the situation they will be facing.
2. The roles of the Apostles and the Spirit
So what is it that Jesus wants his apostles to do? Initially, nothing; they were to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift the Father had promised them.
Before we look at that gift, notice here the note of fulfilment: God the Father has promised something, in the OT, and this is now the time for his promise to come to pass. These are momentous times!
Jesus says that the Father's gift to them is going to be the Holy Spirit himself. They will be baptised with the Spirit in just a few days time. John baptised with water, a baptism of repentance but this is going to be something far greater. They will be incorporated into God's family in the deepest possible sense, with God himself coming upon them and dwelling within them.
This raises a question in the minds of the disciples. They associated the coming of the Spirit with God's promise to restore his people (as the OT suggested) and ask Jesus if that is to be now (v.6). His answer forms, in a sense, the whole theme of this book of Acts.
First he tells them they're not going to be privy to God's schedule. That isn't to be their concern. And it isn't to be our concern either. The church has not been commissioned to spent it's time speculating about how and when God will act or when Jesus will return. Nothing could be clearer than that!
What will impact them is the coming of the Spirit. This great event will change everything and will be the defining moment in the life not just of these apostles but the whole church for the whole of time.
Jesus says 3 things about their role, the Spirit's role and the scope of their work.
i) They will be his witnesses - they were to be living examples of the reality of the kingdom, of the saving reign of God. But they had a particular function to fulfil. They were eyewitnesses of great events and were to bear witness to them. They had been with Jesus, they had seen the miracles and heard the teaching; they had witnessed his death and had known for sure that he had risen from the dead.
Everything that was to follow in terms of their ministry was to flow from this foundation point.
We cannot be witnesses in the same way today but the whole life and ministry of the church is to be built on this foundation. As we too live under the saving reign of God, we can proclaim hope to the world and call for repentance and faith precisely because these things really took place all those years ago.
ii) In the power of the Spirit - But no group of men, however much they have seen and heard, are going to be equipped for such a task in their own strength. We are talking about God's action to rescue men and women from sin, to push back the kingdom of darkness and to blaze his glory in this world.
Such a task would be unthinkable for unaided humanity. But Jesus here promises that such help as we need will be given: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you". Notice that he is given not primarily for the sake of the church but for the sake of the church's task. Of course, it is the most marvellous blessing to have God's Spirit dwell in us but here the emphasis is clearly on what he empowers us to do.
iii) Not only do the apostles need to know that the Spirit will empower them for the task, they need to know the scope of that task. They were thinking still in terms of national Israel but Jesus corrects them and tells them here that their task of being witnesses to this saving plan of God is to extend throughout the whole world: "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the world".
The task of the church today remains the same. The gospel is for all people, of all nations. Mission is about the gospel at home and abroad. We need to have a large vision that takes up this great commission.
3. Closure
Having laid out the task and the means for it, this opening passage closes with an account of the ascension of Jesus. This isn't something incidental but follows on precisely from what Jesus has just been saying.
There are parallels here with the story of Elijah going up to heaven in the OT and Elisha being commissioned to carry on his work. This is no mere prophet, this is the Messiah himself yet his work is being entrusted to the men who have been with him and they will know his Spirit coming upon them.
The ascension of Jesus also brings about a sense of closure in the story. They are to be witnesses of what they have seen and heard. They are not going to be witnesses to new things but to what has happened. Jesus has ascended to the highest place, he is now seated in power; their task, our task, is to proclaim him as the exalted King and only Saviour of mankind.
But we need to listen to the words of the angels in this scene. The apostles stood gazing up into the sky but God's word to them through his angels was not to do that. Jesus has gone and will return one day; they now need to live and minister in the time in-between. Yes, one day the kingdom will be fully realised, when Jesus returns. But until then, there is work to be done.
John Stott's comments on this are very challenging and form an appropriate conclusion:
1. The Unfinished Story...
The book of Acts is the second part of Luke's work (v.1). Both go together and each is incomplete without the other. In terms of the NT, they are very significant and account for 26% of the total.
But why is he writing? Back in Lk. 1:1-4 he told Theophilus it was so that "you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught". This second volume continues that work by focussing on what Jesus continues to do after his death and resurrection: the gospel of Luke was about what Jesus "began to do and to teach", the implication being that this second part will carry the story on.
But what is the story about? Luke's great theme is God's plan of salvation for his world, a plan foretold in the OT and, in the events Luke is writing about, now coming to fulfilment. He tells us here that the subject on which Jesus spoke to his disciples after his death and resurrection was "the kingdom of God" (v.3).
That reign has come to pass in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Here Luke stresses the resurrection, saying that Jesus gave his disciples during these 40 days "many convincing proofs that he was alive". The resurrection was certain and forms the ground of all that is to follow.
But those events do not stand alone. There is more to be done in terms of the saving reign of God. Jesus is returning to heaven but there is more to follow. That is hinted at in these opening verses where we read that Jesus gave "instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen".
Those who had been with him would have a part to play and the Holy Spirit is going to be significant in the outworking of that role. The rest of this opening passage takes us into the roles of the apostles and the Spirit and the situation they will be facing.
2. The roles of the Apostles and the Spirit
So what is it that Jesus wants his apostles to do? Initially, nothing; they were to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift the Father had promised them.
Before we look at that gift, notice here the note of fulfilment: God the Father has promised something, in the OT, and this is now the time for his promise to come to pass. These are momentous times!
Jesus says that the Father's gift to them is going to be the Holy Spirit himself. They will be baptised with the Spirit in just a few days time. John baptised with water, a baptism of repentance but this is going to be something far greater. They will be incorporated into God's family in the deepest possible sense, with God himself coming upon them and dwelling within them.
This raises a question in the minds of the disciples. They associated the coming of the Spirit with God's promise to restore his people (as the OT suggested) and ask Jesus if that is to be now (v.6). His answer forms, in a sense, the whole theme of this book of Acts.
First he tells them they're not going to be privy to God's schedule. That isn't to be their concern. And it isn't to be our concern either. The church has not been commissioned to spent it's time speculating about how and when God will act or when Jesus will return. Nothing could be clearer than that!
What will impact them is the coming of the Spirit. This great event will change everything and will be the defining moment in the life not just of these apostles but the whole church for the whole of time.
Jesus says 3 things about their role, the Spirit's role and the scope of their work.
i) They will be his witnesses - they were to be living examples of the reality of the kingdom, of the saving reign of God. But they had a particular function to fulfil. They were eyewitnesses of great events and were to bear witness to them. They had been with Jesus, they had seen the miracles and heard the teaching; they had witnessed his death and had known for sure that he had risen from the dead.
Everything that was to follow in terms of their ministry was to flow from this foundation point.
We cannot be witnesses in the same way today but the whole life and ministry of the church is to be built on this foundation. As we too live under the saving reign of God, we can proclaim hope to the world and call for repentance and faith precisely because these things really took place all those years ago.
ii) In the power of the Spirit - But no group of men, however much they have seen and heard, are going to be equipped for such a task in their own strength. We are talking about God's action to rescue men and women from sin, to push back the kingdom of darkness and to blaze his glory in this world.
Such a task would be unthinkable for unaided humanity. But Jesus here promises that such help as we need will be given: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you". Notice that he is given not primarily for the sake of the church but for the sake of the church's task. Of course, it is the most marvellous blessing to have God's Spirit dwell in us but here the emphasis is clearly on what he empowers us to do.
iii) Not only do the apostles need to know that the Spirit will empower them for the task, they need to know the scope of that task. They were thinking still in terms of national Israel but Jesus corrects them and tells them here that their task of being witnesses to this saving plan of God is to extend throughout the whole world: "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the world".
The task of the church today remains the same. The gospel is for all people, of all nations. Mission is about the gospel at home and abroad. We need to have a large vision that takes up this great commission.
3. Closure
Having laid out the task and the means for it, this opening passage closes with an account of the ascension of Jesus. This isn't something incidental but follows on precisely from what Jesus has just been saying.
There are parallels here with the story of Elijah going up to heaven in the OT and Elisha being commissioned to carry on his work. This is no mere prophet, this is the Messiah himself yet his work is being entrusted to the men who have been with him and they will know his Spirit coming upon them.
The ascension of Jesus also brings about a sense of closure in the story. They are to be witnesses of what they have seen and heard. They are not going to be witnesses to new things but to what has happened. Jesus has ascended to the highest place, he is now seated in power; their task, our task, is to proclaim him as the exalted King and only Saviour of mankind.
But we need to listen to the words of the angels in this scene. The apostles stood gazing up into the sky but God's word to them through his angels was not to do that. Jesus has gone and will return one day; they now need to live and minister in the time in-between. Yes, one day the kingdom will be fully realised, when Jesus returns. But until then, there is work to be done.
John Stott's comments on this are very challenging and form an appropriate conclusion:
There was something fundamentally anomalous about their gazing up into the sky when they had been commissioned to go to the ends of the earth. It was not the sky which was to be their preoccupation. Their calling was to be witnesses not stargazers. The vision they were to cultivate was not upwards in nostalgia to the heaven which had received Jesus, but outwards in compassion to a lost world which needed him. It is the same for us. Curiosity about heaven and its occupants, speculation about prophecy and its fulfilment, an obsession with 'times and seasons' - these are aberrations which distract us from our God-given mission. Christ will come personally, visibly, gloriously. Of that we have been assured. Other details can wait. Meanwhile, we have work to do in the power of the Spirit.
Thursday, 6 July 2006
Ruth 4:13-22
We come in this passage to the end of the book of Ruth. The book begins in tragedy and it ends in joy and hope. Someone has described it as "a bright colour print developed from its gloomy negative". Here in this final passage, we see that print mounted and framed for the glory of God.
1. God at Work! (v.13)
Having seen Boaz act to be able to marry Ruth in vv.1-12, v.13 tells us that they came together as man and wife, conceived and had a son. A happy family!
What is especially important to note is how the author of Ruth records that for us: "the LORD enabled her to conceive". This is only the second time in the whole book that we read of the LORD's direct action in the lives of his people, the other time being in 1:6 where he had provided food for the people of Judah.
If these words were not there, the original readers and we too would have had no difficulty in acknowledging that the Lord had given this child. All through the book it's clear that the Lord is always at work, often behind the scenes. His presence in the lives of his people is never-failing. So when we read of the LORD's direct working, we're clearly meant to take notice. It is telling us something significant about him.
In 1:6, the LORD acts in grace to preserve life. In 4:13, he again acts in grace, both to give life and to preserve a family line. He is the only giver and sustainer of all life. Everything we have comes from him, every blessing is a gift of his grace. He holds all things in his hands. And in Jesus he is the one who alone can give true life, life in all its fullness. Without him, we ultimately have nothing; with him, we have everything.
2. A Happy Ending (vv.14-17)
Boaz and Ruth have a son. But notice how in vv.14-17, the focus switches back to Naomi and Ruth and Boaz quietly leave the stage. This has been Naomi's story and now we're seeing how that story ends.
Of course Ruth and Boaz have been significant people in the story but their actions, which have brought them security and happiness, have been for the sake of Naomi. Their own blessing has been experienced as a consequence of their desire to bless others:
- Ruth in accompanying Naomi back has come to faith in the Lord and has found rest and happiness in the home of another husband;
- Boaz, in helping Ruth and Naomi, has been blessed with a loving wife.
Aren't they both great examples to us of what we should be? It's interesting that they name their son Obed, meaning 'servant'. No doubt it was how they saw themselves and what they wanted for their son too. For there is no higher calling than to be a servant and to live for the sake of God and of others.
The focus, then, is on Naomi. Her story has been told and here we have its conclusion. In 1:3-5, she lost family and future; now she has a family again and a future. And all because her life has been bracketed by the grace of the covenant Lord.
She had come back home empty and poured out her bitter complaint to the ladies of Bethlehem; here, those same ladies reappear to give God the glory for changing Naomi's night into day.
The way that has happened may again seem strange to us. Boaz and Ruth have had the baby yet all the focus is on Naomi and it is she who is said to now have a son. What's going on?
Commentators are divided as to the exact details but, whether Naomi is the legal Mum, a foster Mum, or simply one proud Gran, the fact is that this boy is carrying on the family line; what seemed to have been lost in the deaths of Elimelech, Mahlon and Kilion has been redeemed in the birth of Ruth's son. Naomi thought she could have no more sons (1:11,12) but God has been at work!
And so the women pray that this young boy will renew Naomi's life and sustain her in her old age. The phrase 'renew your life' is very interesting; the same word is used by Naomi to describe how the Lord brought her back empty (1:21). It shows us just what a reversal of fortunes there has been for Naomi! And having begun with famine, the story will end with sustenance.
3. A Bigger Picture (vv.18-22)
There is so much to rejoice in here! But the book ends with a bigger picture. The portrait of God's grace to one family is placed on the wider canvas of his dealings with the nation of Israel. We see that in the closing genealogy.
Genealogies were, and are, very important. They serve to connect us to the past. They show us where we fit in. They remind us that we're not the first people. But genealogies in the Bible have another dimension too. They remind us of God's large-scale purposes.
This list begins with Perez and ends with David. It may not include every generation in between. But what it does is to connect the days of David with the days of the founding fathers of the nation - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez...and it puts Boaz and David in significant positions.
By doing that, it reminds the people that God's promises to Abraham are still valid in the time of David and are being worked out through him. Genealogies say to us 'God is at work and God can be trusted'.
What were those promises to Abraham? God promised him land and descendants, kings among them. What is it that Boaz has secured through his faithfulness? Land and descendants, one of whom is King David. God is at work in and through his people as they live for his glory.
But the canvas of God's grace is larger still. Turn to Matthew 1 and you'll see this genealogy continued and completed with the birth of Jesus, in Bethlehem, just like Obed. And what did he come to do? He came as the true & perfect servant of God to bring many sons to glory and to secure for them a future in the new heavens and new earth.
Conclusion
This whole book has been about human frailty and emptiness, about the very human need for rest and security, about fullness and a future. All to be found under the LORD's wings of refuge, in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today, this world is still a place of deep tragedy, of appalling emptiness. What hope is there for such a world? "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich".
It's what Christmas is all about; it's what life is meant to be all about. Make it yours today, if it's never been yours, by coming to shelter under his wings through true faith in Jesus.
1. God at Work! (v.13)
Having seen Boaz act to be able to marry Ruth in vv.1-12, v.13 tells us that they came together as man and wife, conceived and had a son. A happy family!
What is especially important to note is how the author of Ruth records that for us: "the LORD enabled her to conceive". This is only the second time in the whole book that we read of the LORD's direct action in the lives of his people, the other time being in 1:6 where he had provided food for the people of Judah.
If these words were not there, the original readers and we too would have had no difficulty in acknowledging that the Lord had given this child. All through the book it's clear that the Lord is always at work, often behind the scenes. His presence in the lives of his people is never-failing. So when we read of the LORD's direct working, we're clearly meant to take notice. It is telling us something significant about him.
In 1:6, the LORD acts in grace to preserve life. In 4:13, he again acts in grace, both to give life and to preserve a family line. He is the only giver and sustainer of all life. Everything we have comes from him, every blessing is a gift of his grace. He holds all things in his hands. And in Jesus he is the one who alone can give true life, life in all its fullness. Without him, we ultimately have nothing; with him, we have everything.
2. A Happy Ending (vv.14-17)
Boaz and Ruth have a son. But notice how in vv.14-17, the focus switches back to Naomi and Ruth and Boaz quietly leave the stage. This has been Naomi's story and now we're seeing how that story ends.
Of course Ruth and Boaz have been significant people in the story but their actions, which have brought them security and happiness, have been for the sake of Naomi. Their own blessing has been experienced as a consequence of their desire to bless others:
- Ruth in accompanying Naomi back has come to faith in the Lord and has found rest and happiness in the home of another husband;
- Boaz, in helping Ruth and Naomi, has been blessed with a loving wife.
Aren't they both great examples to us of what we should be? It's interesting that they name their son Obed, meaning 'servant'. No doubt it was how they saw themselves and what they wanted for their son too. For there is no higher calling than to be a servant and to live for the sake of God and of others.
The focus, then, is on Naomi. Her story has been told and here we have its conclusion. In 1:3-5, she lost family and future; now she has a family again and a future. And all because her life has been bracketed by the grace of the covenant Lord.
She had come back home empty and poured out her bitter complaint to the ladies of Bethlehem; here, those same ladies reappear to give God the glory for changing Naomi's night into day.
The way that has happened may again seem strange to us. Boaz and Ruth have had the baby yet all the focus is on Naomi and it is she who is said to now have a son. What's going on?
Commentators are divided as to the exact details but, whether Naomi is the legal Mum, a foster Mum, or simply one proud Gran, the fact is that this boy is carrying on the family line; what seemed to have been lost in the deaths of Elimelech, Mahlon and Kilion has been redeemed in the birth of Ruth's son. Naomi thought she could have no more sons (1:11,12) but God has been at work!
And so the women pray that this young boy will renew Naomi's life and sustain her in her old age. The phrase 'renew your life' is very interesting; the same word is used by Naomi to describe how the Lord brought her back empty (1:21). It shows us just what a reversal of fortunes there has been for Naomi! And having begun with famine, the story will end with sustenance.
3. A Bigger Picture (vv.18-22)
There is so much to rejoice in here! But the book ends with a bigger picture. The portrait of God's grace to one family is placed on the wider canvas of his dealings with the nation of Israel. We see that in the closing genealogy.
Genealogies were, and are, very important. They serve to connect us to the past. They show us where we fit in. They remind us that we're not the first people. But genealogies in the Bible have another dimension too. They remind us of God's large-scale purposes.
This list begins with Perez and ends with David. It may not include every generation in between. But what it does is to connect the days of David with the days of the founding fathers of the nation - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez...and it puts Boaz and David in significant positions.
By doing that, it reminds the people that God's promises to Abraham are still valid in the time of David and are being worked out through him. Genealogies say to us 'God is at work and God can be trusted'.
What were those promises to Abraham? God promised him land and descendants, kings among them. What is it that Boaz has secured through his faithfulness? Land and descendants, one of whom is King David. God is at work in and through his people as they live for his glory.
But the canvas of God's grace is larger still. Turn to Matthew 1 and you'll see this genealogy continued and completed with the birth of Jesus, in Bethlehem, just like Obed. And what did he come to do? He came as the true & perfect servant of God to bring many sons to glory and to secure for them a future in the new heavens and new earth.
Conclusion
This whole book has been about human frailty and emptiness, about the very human need for rest and security, about fullness and a future. All to be found under the LORD's wings of refuge, in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today, this world is still a place of deep tragedy, of appalling emptiness. What hope is there for such a world? "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich".
It's what Christmas is all about; it's what life is meant to be all about. Make it yours today, if it's never been yours, by coming to shelter under his wings through true faith in Jesus.
Ruth 4:1-12
One writer has given chapter 4 the heading 'The Peaceable Community'. Here we see human life within God's covenant of grace being lived out as it should be. It isn't perfect but it is a remarkable demonstration of what God can do in and through his people, even in days of great moral and spiritual decline. Again, there is much for us to learn here for our own lives.
1. At the Gate (v.1)
The first thing we see is Boaz going to the town gate. As a convenient meeting spot, this was the place where the town leaders gathered to discuss and to make any decisions that needed to be made. Boaz is not going to go about getting Ruth as his wife by any underhand means. He is going to go by the book; he's going to do it right. He is a man of integrity, even when he knows it might not work out as he wants it to.
How often do we cut corners because we fear that our wish may not come true unless we do? We need to learn from Boaz that God can be trusted at all times. Jacob was a deceiver and had to be dealt with by God; let's not have to learn the hard way but always look to honour God by acting with integrity.
And in this verse there is another clear indication that God is at work and will honour his servants who want to live by the right way. Just as he sits down to wait for this other kinsman, he comes along. The word in the Hebrew there is the same one that was used in 2:4. It isn't by chance that the man came along just then; it was God at work. Boaz was not mistaken in thinking to trust God and neither will we be.
2. Boaz: Innocent and Wise
Boaz is not deceitful but nor is he naive or gullible. We see that in the way he handles the situation with the other kinsman.
What Boaz does is to first raise an issue which is new to us but is clearly one that is well known in the situation. He mentions the fact that Naomi has some land to sell that belonged to Elimelech. This man has first refusal: does he want to buy it and keep it within the family?
The man's first response is to say that he will redeem it. It is an attractive proposition. And that's when we see Boaz's nouse: just when the man thinks he's got a bargain, Boaz mentions Ruth. If he's willing to redeem the land then he ought to be willing to take on Ruth as well, to preserve the family name of the dead man (Elimelech through Mahlon).
Now, the man isn't willing to do this because, he says, "I might endanger my own estate" (v.6). If he married Ruth and they had a child, that child would be classed as being of Elimelech's family and the land bought would be his and his family's, not this kinsman's. So at this stage he backs out and leaves the way open for Boaz.
Boaz has not tricked him, he's been upfront, but he has been careful in the way he presented the situation to him. He has cleared up the issue of whether the man wants to act for the family or not. He doesn't but Boaz will. Boaz has acted "as innocent as a dove and as wise as a serpent". That is a potent combination for good and we too need the same qualities.
3. Boaz: A Model of Grace
The way is clear for Boaz to act. We may view the other man harshly for not taking on both the land and Ruth but in the story there is no condemnation of him. He has, in a sense, taken the ordinary road; Boaz is taking the road less-travelled, the "more excellent way" of true love and in doing so is a shining example to us of what it means to be Christian.
It's clear that Boaz has a double concern here and that double concern is a reflection of the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
i) The Dead Man's Name (v.10). In Israel, for a family name to die out was a terrible tragedy and amounted to personal annihilation. Boaz acted to preserve the family names of Elimelech and Mahlon.
In doing that, he points us to the love and ministry of Jesus who sacrificed himself in our place so that our names might appear in the Lamb's book of life. If it was not for Jesus and his atoning love, we would have no hope, no future. We would be consigned to the waste-bin of history, consigned to hell itself. But such is his love for us that he came and bled and died for us. And in him we are eternally safe!
ii) Ruth's Integration into Israel The second aspect of what Boaz did was to secure the personal futures of Ruth and Naomi. But notice in particular how that is described by the people in v.11 - "the woman who is coming into your home".
Naomi has prayed that Ruth might find rest in the home of another husband. She needs protection, she needs love, and she needs to be integrated into the people of God (notice she is still being spoken of as the Moabitess). Boaz is doing just that for her.
It is what Jesus has done for us. He has saved us, he has brought us into his rest, he has loved us and he has given us a place in the family of God. How richly we have been blessed!
Boaz, as one who is redeemed and reconciled, acts to redeem and reconcile. In doing so, he is fulfilling what we see Paul write of in the NT - see 2 Cor 5:18-21. Those who are reconciled should act to bring about reconciliation.
Are there ways today that you can do that? Are there people who need to be loved and embraced and welcomed? Then we must do so, for Jesus' sake. The other kinsman-redeemer refused to act because it would be too costly - but we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 8:9).
4. A Community of Peace & Prayer (vv.11,12)
The passage closes with the elders and the people at the gate witnessing the event. What is happening here has significance not only for Ruth and Boaz but for the whole community so it is right that they are present to witness it. Marriage is between two people but is also a public union with a significance for the community. That's why we solemnise marriages in a public context. Our marriages are important not for us only but for the whole church, for the whole society. We need to see them in that light and work on them in that light.
And those who gathered at the gate also prayed for Ruth and Boaz. That's how it should be in a community that wants to honour God. That's how to become a community of peace.
In fact, prayer is key throughout the whole book - look at 1:8,9; 2:4; 2:12; 2:20; 3:10. What this tells us is that "every aspect of life...is lived in the faith that God is there and God cares". Prayer should be at the centre of all we do too, as a response to what God has done and in anticipation of what God will do.
The people pray for Ruth, that the LORD will use her in building up of the nation - if only they knew how God would answer that prayer! They want the best for her & are unafraid to pray for it.
And for Boaz they pray for further renown in Ephrathah and in Bethlehem. People who act and live as Boaz did deserve to be honoured among the people of God - not with awards but with esteem and affection. In the NT, we often see Paul and others in their letters commending certain people to the churches as being worthy of being received by them.
A worthy man, showing the grace of the Lord Jesus. A community of peace, praying for each other. And all in the days when the Judges judged! That is what we should aspire to be. May God grant us grace to do so. Amen.
1. At the Gate (v.1)
The first thing we see is Boaz going to the town gate. As a convenient meeting spot, this was the place where the town leaders gathered to discuss and to make any decisions that needed to be made. Boaz is not going to go about getting Ruth as his wife by any underhand means. He is going to go by the book; he's going to do it right. He is a man of integrity, even when he knows it might not work out as he wants it to.
How often do we cut corners because we fear that our wish may not come true unless we do? We need to learn from Boaz that God can be trusted at all times. Jacob was a deceiver and had to be dealt with by God; let's not have to learn the hard way but always look to honour God by acting with integrity.
And in this verse there is another clear indication that God is at work and will honour his servants who want to live by the right way. Just as he sits down to wait for this other kinsman, he comes along. The word in the Hebrew there is the same one that was used in 2:4. It isn't by chance that the man came along just then; it was God at work. Boaz was not mistaken in thinking to trust God and neither will we be.
2. Boaz: Innocent and Wise
Boaz is not deceitful but nor is he naive or gullible. We see that in the way he handles the situation with the other kinsman.
What Boaz does is to first raise an issue which is new to us but is clearly one that is well known in the situation. He mentions the fact that Naomi has some land to sell that belonged to Elimelech. This man has first refusal: does he want to buy it and keep it within the family?
The man's first response is to say that he will redeem it. It is an attractive proposition. And that's when we see Boaz's nouse: just when the man thinks he's got a bargain, Boaz mentions Ruth. If he's willing to redeem the land then he ought to be willing to take on Ruth as well, to preserve the family name of the dead man (Elimelech through Mahlon).
Now, the man isn't willing to do this because, he says, "I might endanger my own estate" (v.6). If he married Ruth and they had a child, that child would be classed as being of Elimelech's family and the land bought would be his and his family's, not this kinsman's. So at this stage he backs out and leaves the way open for Boaz.
Boaz has not tricked him, he's been upfront, but he has been careful in the way he presented the situation to him. He has cleared up the issue of whether the man wants to act for the family or not. He doesn't but Boaz will. Boaz has acted "as innocent as a dove and as wise as a serpent". That is a potent combination for good and we too need the same qualities.
3. Boaz: A Model of Grace
The way is clear for Boaz to act. We may view the other man harshly for not taking on both the land and Ruth but in the story there is no condemnation of him. He has, in a sense, taken the ordinary road; Boaz is taking the road less-travelled, the "more excellent way" of true love and in doing so is a shining example to us of what it means to be Christian.
It's clear that Boaz has a double concern here and that double concern is a reflection of the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
i) The Dead Man's Name (v.10). In Israel, for a family name to die out was a terrible tragedy and amounted to personal annihilation. Boaz acted to preserve the family names of Elimelech and Mahlon.
In doing that, he points us to the love and ministry of Jesus who sacrificed himself in our place so that our names might appear in the Lamb's book of life. If it was not for Jesus and his atoning love, we would have no hope, no future. We would be consigned to the waste-bin of history, consigned to hell itself. But such is his love for us that he came and bled and died for us. And in him we are eternally safe!
ii) Ruth's Integration into Israel The second aspect of what Boaz did was to secure the personal futures of Ruth and Naomi. But notice in particular how that is described by the people in v.11 - "the woman who is coming into your home".
Naomi has prayed that Ruth might find rest in the home of another husband. She needs protection, she needs love, and she needs to be integrated into the people of God (notice she is still being spoken of as the Moabitess). Boaz is doing just that for her.
It is what Jesus has done for us. He has saved us, he has brought us into his rest, he has loved us and he has given us a place in the family of God. How richly we have been blessed!
Boaz, as one who is redeemed and reconciled, acts to redeem and reconcile. In doing so, he is fulfilling what we see Paul write of in the NT - see 2 Cor 5:18-21. Those who are reconciled should act to bring about reconciliation.
Are there ways today that you can do that? Are there people who need to be loved and embraced and welcomed? Then we must do so, for Jesus' sake. The other kinsman-redeemer refused to act because it would be too costly - but we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 8:9).
4. A Community of Peace & Prayer (vv.11,12)
The passage closes with the elders and the people at the gate witnessing the event. What is happening here has significance not only for Ruth and Boaz but for the whole community so it is right that they are present to witness it. Marriage is between two people but is also a public union with a significance for the community. That's why we solemnise marriages in a public context. Our marriages are important not for us only but for the whole church, for the whole society. We need to see them in that light and work on them in that light.
And those who gathered at the gate also prayed for Ruth and Boaz. That's how it should be in a community that wants to honour God. That's how to become a community of peace.
In fact, prayer is key throughout the whole book - look at 1:8,9; 2:4; 2:12; 2:20; 3:10. What this tells us is that "every aspect of life...is lived in the faith that God is there and God cares". Prayer should be at the centre of all we do too, as a response to what God has done and in anticipation of what God will do.
The people pray for Ruth, that the LORD will use her in building up of the nation - if only they knew how God would answer that prayer! They want the best for her & are unafraid to pray for it.
And for Boaz they pray for further renown in Ephrathah and in Bethlehem. People who act and live as Boaz did deserve to be honoured among the people of God - not with awards but with esteem and affection. In the NT, we often see Paul and others in their letters commending certain people to the churches as being worthy of being received by them.
A worthy man, showing the grace of the Lord Jesus. A community of peace, praying for each other. And all in the days when the Judges judged! That is what we should aspire to be. May God grant us grace to do so. Amen.
Ruth 3:1-18
1. Match-making! (vv.1-5)
At the close of ch.2 we saw the rekindling of Naomi's faith as she saw the LORD's kindness in Boaz's dealings with Ruth. In ch.3, we see that her faith in God is active and purposeful. But whereas before, it was Ruth who took the initiative, suggesting that she go and glean in the fields, here it is Naomi who takes the initiative and suggests to Ruth what she should do. Faith acts, faith works (James 2:14ff; Eph. 2:8-10). And that is what Naomi does here.
The way she acts is to match-make! In those days, marriages were arranged between families, as they are in some cultures today. Naomi is going to do all she can to help bring Ruth and Boaz together, primarily for Ruth's sake but she will also share in the blessing.
Now, we may feel that to take the initiative is being too pushy in terms of God's will and that of course is a possibility. We must always be ready to be governed by his word and to accept his overruling.
But, for many of us, our greater danger is to fail to act at all. We are often paralysed by fear that we are going outside God's will. And in that paralysis we fail to do what we should do. The Lord has provided the structure for our living in this world, he has given us infallible and sufficient direction in his word and he calls us to do good, to put our faith to work. And to leave the overruling to him.
Naomi had gone through a long dark night and now, in the sunshine of faith in the covenant Lord, she was beginning to act in faith. Is our faith adventurous? Are we ready to do good?
In terms of her initiative, notice the role she plays in answering her own prayers. Back in 1:9, she prayed for Ruth and Orpah, that they would find rest in the home of another husband. Here she speaks with Ruth about how she might help that to be so.
To pray for others is very necessary. But sometimes, perhaps even often, we need to be ready to be part of the Lord's answer to our prayers. If we pray for others to be saved, we must be ready to share the gospel with them. If we pray that someone may be comforted or encouraged, we must be ready and willing to be the channels for such blessing.
2. The Match Almost Made (vv.6-15)
How does Ruth react to Naomi's plan? She goes along with it. There are many who would not have but we've come to expect worthy behaviour from Ruth and she doesn't disappoint us. She gets dressed up (nb: in a way that has marriage overtones) and she sets off for the threshing-floor.
After all the celebrations, and when all are asleep, Ruth lays down at Boaz's feet and when he wakes and is shocked to see her, she asks him to spread the corner of his garment over her.
Now, to our 21st century western eyes, this is all pretty strange, even in a leap year! What is happening is that Ruth is asking Boaz to marry her, to do the part of the kinsman-redeemer (the near relative with responsibility for the wider family).
Again, there are some very important points for us to make here:
Ruth's request is couched in terms that we meet elsewhere in the OT. In Ezekiel 16:8, the same terms are used to describe the Lord's dealings with Israel, how he saw her and showed love to her.
What Ruth is asking Boaz to do is entirely in line with what the Lord has already done for his people. And that is a settled biblical principle for how we are to act towards each other. For example, look at Eph. 5:1,2,25 & Col 3:13.
That is what Ruth is looking for from Boaz. What will his response be?
His response is to commend Ruth, to agree to what she says and then to highlight the one problem that stands in his way. Let's look at those.
i) He commends Ruth - In v.10, he asks God to bless Ruth. The reason? "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier". What does he mean? At first glance, it looks like he's thinking of himself: she has chosen him and not any of the young men she could have chosen. But I think what Boaz has in mind here is Ruth's kindness to Naomi, which is why he speaks of her previous kindness (cf. 2:11).
He knows the score - Ruth is a young eligible woman and there are plenty of young men in Bethlehem who would no doubt be interested in her. But she has chosen, for Naomi's sake, to approach Boaz. What genuine faith there is in her heart - and what a blessed man he is to have the prospect of such a wife!
She puts Naomi before herself; he is impressed by such selfless behaviour. What would we do - insist on our right to have the hunkiest guy? And what sort of person would interest us - good looking or good living?
ii) He agrees to do as she asks - but there is a problem to solve first. There is a relative who is nearer than Boaz and he must have first refusal.
That information does 2 things in the story: it creates tension in terms of what will happen next, and it shows quite categorically that anything Boaz does is out of a heart full of generosity and grace.
He is under no compulsion to act, except the compulsion of love for God and love for others. In displaying such warm and open generosity, Boaz points us to the Lord Jesus who came to this world to be our Saviour, not because he was forced into it but because he loved us. There was no compulsion upon God to plan to rescue us except the compulsion of his own nature of love and grace.
What a great God to worship and serve - and a real example to follow. To love - not because we're forced to do so or because we think it's expected of us but simply because we want to. There will be many opportunities to do that in this new week. Are we looking for them?
This tender scene between Boaz and Ruth ends with Boaz concerned to avoid even the appearance of evil (v.14) and also to send Ruth back home with a tangible expression of his gracious intentions towards her and Naomi.
3. An Emptiness Filled (vv.16-18)
So Ruth goes back to Naomi with her bundle of barley, able to report that all has gone well. And as she tells Naomi what Boaz said, there is another beautiful indication that the darkness is lifting for Naomi. Back in 1:21, she told the folk in Bethlehem that she though she had gone away full, she had come back empty. Boaz has sent Ruth back, laden with barley, because he doesn't want her to go back to Naomi 'empty'.
God is at work, in and through his people. It is a beautiful story. And as we trust him and live for him, it can be the story of our lives too.
At the close of ch.2 we saw the rekindling of Naomi's faith as she saw the LORD's kindness in Boaz's dealings with Ruth. In ch.3, we see that her faith in God is active and purposeful. But whereas before, it was Ruth who took the initiative, suggesting that she go and glean in the fields, here it is Naomi who takes the initiative and suggests to Ruth what she should do. Faith acts, faith works (James 2:14ff; Eph. 2:8-10). And that is what Naomi does here.
The way she acts is to match-make! In those days, marriages were arranged between families, as they are in some cultures today. Naomi is going to do all she can to help bring Ruth and Boaz together, primarily for Ruth's sake but she will also share in the blessing.
Now, we may feel that to take the initiative is being too pushy in terms of God's will and that of course is a possibility. We must always be ready to be governed by his word and to accept his overruling.
But, for many of us, our greater danger is to fail to act at all. We are often paralysed by fear that we are going outside God's will. And in that paralysis we fail to do what we should do. The Lord has provided the structure for our living in this world, he has given us infallible and sufficient direction in his word and he calls us to do good, to put our faith to work. And to leave the overruling to him.
Naomi had gone through a long dark night and now, in the sunshine of faith in the covenant Lord, she was beginning to act in faith. Is our faith adventurous? Are we ready to do good?
In terms of her initiative, notice the role she plays in answering her own prayers. Back in 1:9, she prayed for Ruth and Orpah, that they would find rest in the home of another husband. Here she speaks with Ruth about how she might help that to be so.
To pray for others is very necessary. But sometimes, perhaps even often, we need to be ready to be part of the Lord's answer to our prayers. If we pray for others to be saved, we must be ready to share the gospel with them. If we pray that someone may be comforted or encouraged, we must be ready and willing to be the channels for such blessing.
2. The Match Almost Made (vv.6-15)
How does Ruth react to Naomi's plan? She goes along with it. There are many who would not have but we've come to expect worthy behaviour from Ruth and she doesn't disappoint us. She gets dressed up (nb: in a way that has marriage overtones) and she sets off for the threshing-floor.
After all the celebrations, and when all are asleep, Ruth lays down at Boaz's feet and when he wakes and is shocked to see her, she asks him to spread the corner of his garment over her.
Now, to our 21st century western eyes, this is all pretty strange, even in a leap year! What is happening is that Ruth is asking Boaz to marry her, to do the part of the kinsman-redeemer (the near relative with responsibility for the wider family).
Again, there are some very important points for us to make here:
Ruth's request is couched in terms that we meet elsewhere in the OT. In Ezekiel 16:8, the same terms are used to describe the Lord's dealings with Israel, how he saw her and showed love to her.
What Ruth is asking Boaz to do is entirely in line with what the Lord has already done for his people. And that is a settled biblical principle for how we are to act towards each other. For example, look at Eph. 5:1,2,25 & Col 3:13.
That is what Ruth is looking for from Boaz. What will his response be?
His response is to commend Ruth, to agree to what she says and then to highlight the one problem that stands in his way. Let's look at those.
i) He commends Ruth - In v.10, he asks God to bless Ruth. The reason? "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier". What does he mean? At first glance, it looks like he's thinking of himself: she has chosen him and not any of the young men she could have chosen. But I think what Boaz has in mind here is Ruth's kindness to Naomi, which is why he speaks of her previous kindness (cf. 2:11).
He knows the score - Ruth is a young eligible woman and there are plenty of young men in Bethlehem who would no doubt be interested in her. But she has chosen, for Naomi's sake, to approach Boaz. What genuine faith there is in her heart - and what a blessed man he is to have the prospect of such a wife!
She puts Naomi before herself; he is impressed by such selfless behaviour. What would we do - insist on our right to have the hunkiest guy? And what sort of person would interest us - good looking or good living?
ii) He agrees to do as she asks - but there is a problem to solve first. There is a relative who is nearer than Boaz and he must have first refusal.
That information does 2 things in the story: it creates tension in terms of what will happen next, and it shows quite categorically that anything Boaz does is out of a heart full of generosity and grace.
He is under no compulsion to act, except the compulsion of love for God and love for others. In displaying such warm and open generosity, Boaz points us to the Lord Jesus who came to this world to be our Saviour, not because he was forced into it but because he loved us. There was no compulsion upon God to plan to rescue us except the compulsion of his own nature of love and grace.
What a great God to worship and serve - and a real example to follow. To love - not because we're forced to do so or because we think it's expected of us but simply because we want to. There will be many opportunities to do that in this new week. Are we looking for them?
This tender scene between Boaz and Ruth ends with Boaz concerned to avoid even the appearance of evil (v.14) and also to send Ruth back home with a tangible expression of his gracious intentions towards her and Naomi.
3. An Emptiness Filled (vv.16-18)
So Ruth goes back to Naomi with her bundle of barley, able to report that all has gone well. And as she tells Naomi what Boaz said, there is another beautiful indication that the darkness is lifting for Naomi. Back in 1:21, she told the folk in Bethlehem that she though she had gone away full, she had come back empty. Boaz has sent Ruth back, laden with barley, because he doesn't want her to go back to Naomi 'empty'.
God is at work, in and through his people. It is a beautiful story. And as we trust him and live for him, it can be the story of our lives too.
Ruth 2:17-23
In our last study, we saw how Ruth was blessed by the gracious treatment of Boaz. Her night has begun to turn to day. But she is only one half of the duo that the story has been about. What about Naomi? Will her long night's journey also come into the day?
1. The Blessing Begins to Overflow (vv.17,18)
The first indication that it will is given in vv.17,18. Ruth worked in the fields until evening, a very long day but necessary for their survival. When she threshed what she had gleaned there, it came to an ephah - the equivalent of a month's supply for her and Naomi together. They won't be going hungry after all!
And on top of that, she is able to give Naomi a ready-made meal from the leftovers of her lunch, so generously provided by Boaz. Here again we see Ruth's loyal, affectionate care for Naomi; she wants to share her blessings and so to become a channel of blessing. That should be our desire too.
The blessing that has begun to shower upon Ruth's barren ground is overflowing into the parched ground of Naomi's life. But there is more to come!
2. The Journey Into Healing (vv.19,20)
Naomi is obviously impressed by the amount that Ruth has brought home and offers a blessing upon the man who had taken notice of her (v.19). She knows only too well that the poor and the alien had a hard time gleaning in the fields; to come home so laden means that Ruth has been treated with real kindness.
The second half of v.19 is very carefully written. Here we have Ruth explaining to Naomi about how she came to be so blessed: she tells her that she has been working in the fields of a man by the name of...Boaz!
Now, to her his name is significant - he has just helped her so kindly. But for Naomi, the mention of his name is something else again; there is a larger picture beginning to unfold and that picture involves Naomi's long journey into healing and hope.
As soon as Ruth mentions the name of Boaz, Naomi exclaims a blessing from the LORD on him (v.20). In effect she is repeating what she had said in v.19. But she goes on to bless not Boaz but the LORD himself. In particular, she cites his unceasing kindness to the dead and the living.
We'll see shortly how the Lord is showing that kindness to both the dead and the living. But for now let's just notice with great joy that Naomi is beginning to be renewed in her faith in the God of the covenant. Whereas so recently she had said that he had been treating her as an enemy (1:20,21), now she rejoices in his covenant love and mercy.
The word she uses is a very significant one. It is the Hebrew word hesed that we met before in 1:8 where Naomi prayed for Orpah and Ruth, a prayer that is beginning to be answered but not as she imagined it might.
It is a word that combines the warmth of God's fellowship with the security of his faithfulness. Through the kindness of Boaz to Ruth, Naomi has begun to experience again that warmth and that security. The shroud upon her life is being lifted by the God of grace. And she blesses him for it!
Of course, in that one moment, the long years of pain and sorrow are not erased; the past was not going to be rewritten, nor the dead raised to this life again. But what Naomi has begun to know is a resurrection in her faith. Her life that had seemed to be over when she came back to Bethlehem (remember, she came back empty – 1:21) seems now to be starting over again. And the cause of it is, simply and wonderfully, the covenant grace of God.
We may never find ourselves in such a state as Naomi was but we may find our faith gets battered by life in this world. We, too, can feel ourselves empty and in great pain. What is our hope in such situations? Only this: that he who called us is faithful and he will perfect that which concerns us. He can be trusted - period.
3. God's Grace Shown Through Others (v.20b)
But just how does God manifest his grace to us? What channels does he use to direct healing and blessing into our lives? They are many, to be sure, but perhaps we can say that principal among them are his own people, living and acting in grace.
What is it about the mention of Baoz that so lights up Naomi's heart? Just this: "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers" (v.20b).
What's one of those?! They were close relatives who had the responsibility of redeeming a relative who had sold themselves into slavery to avoid poverty or who had sold their land. And they had the duty, if they were near enough relatives, to raise-up children for a dead brother (see Dt 25:5-10).
The role of the kinsman-redeemer was tied to issues that were central to life in Israel: the family name and the family land. His role was to protect those. Naomi doesn't say what she has in mind here but her joy is that the LORD has brought into their lives, at just the right time, a man with all the potential for rescuing them from their plight. The rest of the book will be taken up with how he does so.
In many ways, Boaz is a shadow of the true redeemer who was to come and we'll come back to that another time. But he is also a clear example to us of how the LORD often works to bring his grace to others: through his people, living lives that show the teaching about our Saviour to be truly beautiful.
Is this something that we are aware of ourselves and thank the Lord for - that his grace is shown to us through others? And are we looking for ways to be such channels of blessing to others?
Conclusion
There is still a long way to go in the story before everything is resolved. Verse 21 reminds us, again, of Ruth's ethnic origin. She remains a vulnerable person on account of her ancestry. And Naomi too is aware of just how vulnerable she is (v.22).
But there is now a glimmer of light for these ladies through the ancestry of Elimelech. In fact, that glimmer is becoming a slow and steady light; the sun is not yet at its zenith but it is clearly and visibly above the horizon. In v.21, Ruth tells Naomi what Boaz has said to her about staying in his fields with his girls. He is making sure, through his kindness, that they aren't troubled by famine a second time, that they won't lose out on the LORD's blessing.
And so the chapter closes with Ruth doing the wise thing, staying close to Boaz's girls for the rest of the harvest and sharing a home with Naomi.
But we're also told that the barley and wheat harvests finish. Another turning point has been reached. What next for these two ladies? The LORD has been so gracious to them; he has reaffirmed his love for them in the clearest of ways. Does he have other plans for them, plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them a future and a hope?
All the indications are that he truly has. And it seems that Boaz is going to play a significant part in those plans…. but we mustn’t run ahead of the story. We need to savour each small but sure indication of the mercy of God. In our own lives and in the life of the church, we must learn to cherish every intimation of grace without wanting to dash off to open the next gift. This life and the life to come will yield sufficient time to explore fully the contours and delights of that grace.
1. The Blessing Begins to Overflow (vv.17,18)
The first indication that it will is given in vv.17,18. Ruth worked in the fields until evening, a very long day but necessary for their survival. When she threshed what she had gleaned there, it came to an ephah - the equivalent of a month's supply for her and Naomi together. They won't be going hungry after all!
And on top of that, she is able to give Naomi a ready-made meal from the leftovers of her lunch, so generously provided by Boaz. Here again we see Ruth's loyal, affectionate care for Naomi; she wants to share her blessings and so to become a channel of blessing. That should be our desire too.
The blessing that has begun to shower upon Ruth's barren ground is overflowing into the parched ground of Naomi's life. But there is more to come!
2. The Journey Into Healing (vv.19,20)
Naomi is obviously impressed by the amount that Ruth has brought home and offers a blessing upon the man who had taken notice of her (v.19). She knows only too well that the poor and the alien had a hard time gleaning in the fields; to come home so laden means that Ruth has been treated with real kindness.
The second half of v.19 is very carefully written. Here we have Ruth explaining to Naomi about how she came to be so blessed: she tells her that she has been working in the fields of a man by the name of...Boaz!
Now, to her his name is significant - he has just helped her so kindly. But for Naomi, the mention of his name is something else again; there is a larger picture beginning to unfold and that picture involves Naomi's long journey into healing and hope.
As soon as Ruth mentions the name of Boaz, Naomi exclaims a blessing from the LORD on him (v.20). In effect she is repeating what she had said in v.19. But she goes on to bless not Boaz but the LORD himself. In particular, she cites his unceasing kindness to the dead and the living.
We'll see shortly how the Lord is showing that kindness to both the dead and the living. But for now let's just notice with great joy that Naomi is beginning to be renewed in her faith in the God of the covenant. Whereas so recently she had said that he had been treating her as an enemy (1:20,21), now she rejoices in his covenant love and mercy.
The word she uses is a very significant one. It is the Hebrew word hesed that we met before in 1:8 where Naomi prayed for Orpah and Ruth, a prayer that is beginning to be answered but not as she imagined it might.
It is a word that combines the warmth of God's fellowship with the security of his faithfulness. Through the kindness of Boaz to Ruth, Naomi has begun to experience again that warmth and that security. The shroud upon her life is being lifted by the God of grace. And she blesses him for it!
Of course, in that one moment, the long years of pain and sorrow are not erased; the past was not going to be rewritten, nor the dead raised to this life again. But what Naomi has begun to know is a resurrection in her faith. Her life that had seemed to be over when she came back to Bethlehem (remember, she came back empty – 1:21) seems now to be starting over again. And the cause of it is, simply and wonderfully, the covenant grace of God.
We may never find ourselves in such a state as Naomi was but we may find our faith gets battered by life in this world. We, too, can feel ourselves empty and in great pain. What is our hope in such situations? Only this: that he who called us is faithful and he will perfect that which concerns us. He can be trusted - period.
3. God's Grace Shown Through Others (v.20b)
But just how does God manifest his grace to us? What channels does he use to direct healing and blessing into our lives? They are many, to be sure, but perhaps we can say that principal among them are his own people, living and acting in grace.
What is it about the mention of Baoz that so lights up Naomi's heart? Just this: "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers" (v.20b).
What's one of those?! They were close relatives who had the responsibility of redeeming a relative who had sold themselves into slavery to avoid poverty or who had sold their land. And they had the duty, if they were near enough relatives, to raise-up children for a dead brother (see Dt 25:5-10).
The role of the kinsman-redeemer was tied to issues that were central to life in Israel: the family name and the family land. His role was to protect those. Naomi doesn't say what she has in mind here but her joy is that the LORD has brought into their lives, at just the right time, a man with all the potential for rescuing them from their plight. The rest of the book will be taken up with how he does so.
In many ways, Boaz is a shadow of the true redeemer who was to come and we'll come back to that another time. But he is also a clear example to us of how the LORD often works to bring his grace to others: through his people, living lives that show the teaching about our Saviour to be truly beautiful.
Is this something that we are aware of ourselves and thank the Lord for - that his grace is shown to us through others? And are we looking for ways to be such channels of blessing to others?
Conclusion
There is still a long way to go in the story before everything is resolved. Verse 21 reminds us, again, of Ruth's ethnic origin. She remains a vulnerable person on account of her ancestry. And Naomi too is aware of just how vulnerable she is (v.22).
But there is now a glimmer of light for these ladies through the ancestry of Elimelech. In fact, that glimmer is becoming a slow and steady light; the sun is not yet at its zenith but it is clearly and visibly above the horizon. In v.21, Ruth tells Naomi what Boaz has said to her about staying in his fields with his girls. He is making sure, through his kindness, that they aren't troubled by famine a second time, that they won't lose out on the LORD's blessing.
And so the chapter closes with Ruth doing the wise thing, staying close to Boaz's girls for the rest of the harvest and sharing a home with Naomi.
But we're also told that the barley and wheat harvests finish. Another turning point has been reached. What next for these two ladies? The LORD has been so gracious to them; he has reaffirmed his love for them in the clearest of ways. Does he have other plans for them, plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them a future and a hope?
All the indications are that he truly has. And it seems that Boaz is going to play a significant part in those plans…. but we mustn’t run ahead of the story. We need to savour each small but sure indication of the mercy of God. In our own lives and in the life of the church, we must learn to cherish every intimation of grace without wanting to dash off to open the next gift. This life and the life to come will yield sufficient time to explore fully the contours and delights of that grace.
Ruth 2:4-16
The writer of the book of Ruth has presented the story in terms of chance and luck. In 2:3, Ruth just happens to find herself in Boaz's field, a relative of Naomi's and a possible help to them. But what seems like 'Lady Luck' at work is actually the one true God who is over all things and who delights to bless his children and to overrule in their lives.
That is extended in v.4 where we read that "Just then, Boaz arrived". Not only has Ruth 'happened' on the right field but she's done so at the right time! God is at work and it's a joy to see.
But what is that going to mean for Ruth and Naomi? We saw in v.1 that Boaz seems eminently suited to help them - a worthy man, a rich man, a relative. But will he? There can be no guarantees. What follows in these verses is clear evidence that here is just the kind of man they need to help them.
1. Boaz - a man of God (v.4)
The first thing we notice about Boaz is that he is a man with God very much in his mind. As he arrives, he greets his workers with a blessing, "The LORD be with you!"
Some would see this simply as a conventional greeting but the evidence points in another direction. This is not just a custom, it is real and living for this man (and for his men too). Boaz is a man who is aware of the presence of God in this world and is clearly seeking to live his life in the light of that.
Years ago, a book was written, 'The Practice of the Presence of God'. In it, the writer tried to show how to live life in the light of God's presence in his world, whatever you might be doing. Boaz did so and we can too; not by a form of words but by an attitude of mind.
Treating life in that way means we don't separate our daily lives from what we might call our 'Christian' lives. All of life is sacred and can be lived for God.
That is shown here by the fact that the words used by Boaz are very similar to those pronounced by the priest upon the worshippers at the temple (“The Lord bless you and keep you...”). As someone has said, "the blessing which is appropriate for worship is appropriate also for the work place". (Atkinson p.64).
Don't we also see here that the hard and perhaps tedious work of harvesting can be transformed by just such a desire to know and honour God?
2. Boaz - a man of concern for others (vv.5-13)
So, Boaz was a God-conscious man who blessed others. But will the blessing extend to Ruth and Naomi?
As he greets his men, he sees this stranger and asks about her and who she works for. His foreman's answer is very full and reminds us of Ruth's ethnic origins - "she is the Moabitess who came back from Moab". Some have suggested that there is a sense of disdain in his words. Whether that is so or not, it does highlight for us again the possible troubles that Ruth faces. She may find it hard to gain acceptance in this society, even though they are God's people. How will Boaz treat her?
In vv.8,9 we can see that Boaz isn't the kind of man to exploit the vulnerability of others, nor is he a bigot. He treats this stranger with genuine kindness and is very protective towards her ("I've told the men not to touch you" v.9).
Isn't this something that should flow from our own sense of thankfulness to God for all he's given to us? Boaz and his men are grateful to God for the harvest, no doubt. And Boaz reflects that kindness to others too, regardless of their ethnic origin. He is a wall-breaker not a wall-maker. What sort of people are we?
But it also seems that Boaz is reacting to what he knows of Ruth, both in terms of her own kindness to Naomi and her new commitment to the one true God.
It seems clear that Boaz wants to reward Ruth for her kindness to Naomi and that desire affects both his doing and his praying (vv.11,12). This isn't saying to us 'Do good in the hope that you'll get treated well in return (by God or others)' but it is illustrating that God is no man's debtor and delights to bless those who choose to walk in his ways. Here, he is doing so for Ruth through Boaz (cf. Lk. 6:38).
Then it is also clear that Boaz responds to the fact that Ruth has become a believer in the one true God, "under whose wings you have come to take refuge" (v.12). What he does is something Paul writes about in Gal 6:10 - do good to all, especially those of the family of faith. He understands that as she has sought refuge in the LORD, so that refuge is to be (partly) met through the LORD's people, of which he is one.
Boaz – a man of God and, so, a man concerned for others.
3. Boaz -a man of grace (vv.14-17)
But there is one other thing to notice about Boaz here. He is a man of grace; he keeps the law and he goes beyond the law.
We see that in his generosity towards Ruth at the mealtime - he tells her to join them and then heaps up her plate! He is saying to this 'foreigner', 'You're welcome in God's family and at our table'.
Here is something pertinent to our own life & witness: How good are we at welcoming others, those who have come to faith and those who are perhaps beginning to seek the Lord? Boaz is a model for us of the kind of warm and open-hearted response that the Lord would have us show to others.
And then we have a lot to learn from the way Boaz handles God's law. Under the law, landowners were meant to leave the edges of the field untouched and not go over them a second time, to leave some crops for the poor and the alien. We've already seen just how ready Boaz is to help Ruth but here he goes well beyond what the law required: he tells his men to deliberately pull out stalks and leave them for her.
Here is a man set on doing what God says and more besides. So often our reaction is to do as little as we can get away with. But Boaz models a different way, a better way. He doesn't ask 'How can I minimise the demands of the law?' but rather 'Is there more that I can do?'
Here is a man who has drunk deeply from the wells of grace and whose life overflows to others. Here is a man who understands that LAW = Love At Work.
The great challenge, then, for us here is this: what are we like? Are we truly God-conscious people, kind-hearted and welcoming to others and looking for ways to do good and to go beyond what is required of us, simply because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good? If Boaz could be just such a person, living on the other side of Calvary, surely we can be too, knowing just how costly God's grace is?
But you might object and say, 'It all seems so idyllic; life isn't like that'. No, it isn't like that now but it wasn't like that then either. Boaz lived during the days of the Judges - days of great moral and spiritual collapse. But he stood firm and loved God and his fellow man.
Are we ready to do the same?
That is extended in v.4 where we read that "Just then, Boaz arrived". Not only has Ruth 'happened' on the right field but she's done so at the right time! God is at work and it's a joy to see.
But what is that going to mean for Ruth and Naomi? We saw in v.1 that Boaz seems eminently suited to help them - a worthy man, a rich man, a relative. But will he? There can be no guarantees. What follows in these verses is clear evidence that here is just the kind of man they need to help them.
1. Boaz - a man of God (v.4)
The first thing we notice about Boaz is that he is a man with God very much in his mind. As he arrives, he greets his workers with a blessing, "The LORD be with you!"
Some would see this simply as a conventional greeting but the evidence points in another direction. This is not just a custom, it is real and living for this man (and for his men too). Boaz is a man who is aware of the presence of God in this world and is clearly seeking to live his life in the light of that.
Years ago, a book was written, 'The Practice of the Presence of God'. In it, the writer tried to show how to live life in the light of God's presence in his world, whatever you might be doing. Boaz did so and we can too; not by a form of words but by an attitude of mind.
Treating life in that way means we don't separate our daily lives from what we might call our 'Christian' lives. All of life is sacred and can be lived for God.
That is shown here by the fact that the words used by Boaz are very similar to those pronounced by the priest upon the worshippers at the temple (“The Lord bless you and keep you...”). As someone has said, "the blessing which is appropriate for worship is appropriate also for the work place". (Atkinson p.64).
Don't we also see here that the hard and perhaps tedious work of harvesting can be transformed by just such a desire to know and honour God?
2. Boaz - a man of concern for others (vv.5-13)
So, Boaz was a God-conscious man who blessed others. But will the blessing extend to Ruth and Naomi?
As he greets his men, he sees this stranger and asks about her and who she works for. His foreman's answer is very full and reminds us of Ruth's ethnic origins - "she is the Moabitess who came back from Moab". Some have suggested that there is a sense of disdain in his words. Whether that is so or not, it does highlight for us again the possible troubles that Ruth faces. She may find it hard to gain acceptance in this society, even though they are God's people. How will Boaz treat her?
In vv.8,9 we can see that Boaz isn't the kind of man to exploit the vulnerability of others, nor is he a bigot. He treats this stranger with genuine kindness and is very protective towards her ("I've told the men not to touch you" v.9).
Isn't this something that should flow from our own sense of thankfulness to God for all he's given to us? Boaz and his men are grateful to God for the harvest, no doubt. And Boaz reflects that kindness to others too, regardless of their ethnic origin. He is a wall-breaker not a wall-maker. What sort of people are we?
But it also seems that Boaz is reacting to what he knows of Ruth, both in terms of her own kindness to Naomi and her new commitment to the one true God.
It seems clear that Boaz wants to reward Ruth for her kindness to Naomi and that desire affects both his doing and his praying (vv.11,12). This isn't saying to us 'Do good in the hope that you'll get treated well in return (by God or others)' but it is illustrating that God is no man's debtor and delights to bless those who choose to walk in his ways. Here, he is doing so for Ruth through Boaz (cf. Lk. 6:38).
Then it is also clear that Boaz responds to the fact that Ruth has become a believer in the one true God, "under whose wings you have come to take refuge" (v.12). What he does is something Paul writes about in Gal 6:10 - do good to all, especially those of the family of faith. He understands that as she has sought refuge in the LORD, so that refuge is to be (partly) met through the LORD's people, of which he is one.
Boaz – a man of God and, so, a man concerned for others.
3. Boaz -a man of grace (vv.14-17)
But there is one other thing to notice about Boaz here. He is a man of grace; he keeps the law and he goes beyond the law.
We see that in his generosity towards Ruth at the mealtime - he tells her to join them and then heaps up her plate! He is saying to this 'foreigner', 'You're welcome in God's family and at our table'.
Here is something pertinent to our own life & witness: How good are we at welcoming others, those who have come to faith and those who are perhaps beginning to seek the Lord? Boaz is a model for us of the kind of warm and open-hearted response that the Lord would have us show to others.
And then we have a lot to learn from the way Boaz handles God's law. Under the law, landowners were meant to leave the edges of the field untouched and not go over them a second time, to leave some crops for the poor and the alien. We've already seen just how ready Boaz is to help Ruth but here he goes well beyond what the law required: he tells his men to deliberately pull out stalks and leave them for her.
Here is a man set on doing what God says and more besides. So often our reaction is to do as little as we can get away with. But Boaz models a different way, a better way. He doesn't ask 'How can I minimise the demands of the law?' but rather 'Is there more that I can do?'
Here is a man who has drunk deeply from the wells of grace and whose life overflows to others. Here is a man who understands that LAW = Love At Work.
The great challenge, then, for us here is this: what are we like? Are we truly God-conscious people, kind-hearted and welcoming to others and looking for ways to do good and to go beyond what is required of us, simply because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good? If Boaz could be just such a person, living on the other side of Calvary, surely we can be too, knowing just how costly God's grace is?
But you might object and say, 'It all seems so idyllic; life isn't like that'. No, it isn't like that now but it wasn't like that then either. Boaz lived during the days of the Judges - days of great moral and spiritual collapse. But he stood firm and loved God and his fellow man.
Are we ready to do the same?
Ruth 2:1-3
We believe that God is sovereign and we have it explicitly stated in our confessions of faith. But what does that really mean? Does it mean he can do without us and that he can work miracles?
Of course the answer to those questions is 'Yes'. God is sovereign. He can do all things and he can do them alone. But is that his usual way of working? And what does it mean for us to have faith in a sovereign God?
Those questions are taken up and answered in this passage as we follow Naomi and Ruth back in Bethlehem. They have come back from Moab in great need, mentally, emotionally, physically and perhaps spiritually too. A lot hangs on what happens next.
1. A Man Called Boaz (v.1)
What happens next is that we, the readers, are given extra details. We're introduced to a man by the name of Boaz. And what we're told about him is intriguing in terms of the story: he is a relative of Naomi's, on Elimelech's side; he is rich and he is a man of standing.
Here then is someone eminently suitable for helping Naomi and Ruth. God works through families; his covenant with his people was founded in family life - so will this relative help them? After all, he has the means to do so. But riches don't guarantee a generous spirit. Yet he is a worthy man, a man of integrity. Surely he will be significant in their lives? We are yet to see!
The writer of Ruth clearly wants to alert us to this possibility. No doubt Naomi knew of him - but he wasn't in her mind. But we're being put on notice: God is at work. It may be behind the scenes, but he is at work all the same, even before we are.
Things we have forgotten (Naomi) or may be ignorant of (Ruth) may turn out to be truly significant in the Lord's hands. No detail, small or otherwise, is unimportant to him. Here is the God to trust with all the details of your life!
So the question has been raised here: will this man affect the lives of these women? Are they really 'on their own'? Read on!
2. A Woman Called Ruth (v.2)
The scene then switches back to Naomi and Ruth. Their situation is depressing and desperate: no food & no obvious means of support. How will they survive? Does trust in God mean sitting & waiting for a food parcel to drop out of the sky?
What we see is Ruth taking the initiative and making plans to go out and glean in the fields (picking up the leftovers). But the initiative that she takes is entirely in keeping with the structure of life that the Lord had laid down for his people. In Lev 19:9,10 the people were explicitly instructed NOT to harvest every last scrap nor to go through the fields a second time. Why not? They were to "leave them for the poor and the alien".
Faith in a sovereign God does not mean a passive resignation to whatever will be. Rather, we have a part to play. Paul expresses it this way in Phil 2:12,13 - "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, to will and to act according to his good purpose".
Ruth is doing something that we may at times be slow to do: she is putting herself in the way of God's blessing. She is swimming with the current of God's purposes of grace. The Lord calls us to be his fellow workers, to live responsible lives and to make decisions that are in accord with his word.
Did they pray before Ruth went out? Very likely. It's right to do so. But what seems clear is that Ruth didn't wait for a specific word from God, she acted on the word he had already given.
And that is our responsibility too: to know and then to do God's word. Faith in a sovereign God means we listen to and obey his word. He has given us a part to play, a job to do, a role to fulfil. We must make sure that our faith is active and working.
It's all too possible to speak of trusting God's sovereignty in a fatalistic sense: que sera sera. But that isn't the biblical picture. So we need to make sure it isn't ours either. Faith in God is not static because it is about a dynamic, responsive relationship.
Are there areas of your life where you need to be active, to take the initiative in line with what God has said in his word and how he has ordered things? We don't need extra instructions to do good & live wisely within his structures. In scripture we have all we need as the Spirit helps us to understand and apply it.
3. A God Called Sovereign (v.3)
But doesn't this give too big a part to us and minimise God's sovereignty, robbing him of his glory?
In these verses, Ruth recognises that others have a part to play. She hopes to find favour in someone's eyes. We're reminded that she is a Maobitess. God's word explicitly speaks of receiving the alien and providing for them - but that doesn't guarantee that people will do so! She is aware enough of this to express her hope of being treated kindly.
So is she - and are we - at the mercy of others?
Verse 3 is very interesting. It tells us that "As it turned out" she found herself in Boaz's field. That's the writer's ironic way of saying to us, "God is at work here!". What looks like luck in the eyes of an unbelieving world is, to the eye of faith, the overruling providence of a wise and gracious God.
One of the key lessons for us here is what Prov 3:5,6 tells us. We are to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, in all our doing. And as we do so, he will direct our paths. Ruth didn't get a specific word or 'feeling' to go to Boaz's field; she just went and God ordered things.
Yes, we've got our part to play; and, yes, others may hinder or help. They are responsible before God too. But over it all is the gracious, sovereign hand of God! What looks like an accident, a chance thing, is in reality God's overruling providence. Ruth doesn't know which field is which; she doesn't know about Boaz. But God does and he directs her paths.
What we do matters but, as we do it, remember that God is at work, overruling and furthering his purposes for us. You are secure in his sovereign grace. Doesn't that make you want to trust him and to live for him? Even when we make bad choices - and that might involve things we simply cannot undo - he is still able to redeem the situation, he is still in control. You can trust him.
4. Conclusion
So here, for Ruth and Naomi, as one writer has said, we see "a crack in a seemingly impenetrable wall...the beginning of a possible path from death to life, from bitterness to joy". And it's all because they're in the hands of a sovereign God.
Are we ready to trust this same God as we go about our daily life? Will we live out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that he is at work within us? The sovereignty of God doesn't preclude our actions; rather it call them forth. A secure and biblical doctrine of God's sovereignty has both of those components in place.
Are they in place in your life today?
Of course the answer to those questions is 'Yes'. God is sovereign. He can do all things and he can do them alone. But is that his usual way of working? And what does it mean for us to have faith in a sovereign God?
Those questions are taken up and answered in this passage as we follow Naomi and Ruth back in Bethlehem. They have come back from Moab in great need, mentally, emotionally, physically and perhaps spiritually too. A lot hangs on what happens next.
1. A Man Called Boaz (v.1)
What happens next is that we, the readers, are given extra details. We're introduced to a man by the name of Boaz. And what we're told about him is intriguing in terms of the story: he is a relative of Naomi's, on Elimelech's side; he is rich and he is a man of standing.
Here then is someone eminently suitable for helping Naomi and Ruth. God works through families; his covenant with his people was founded in family life - so will this relative help them? After all, he has the means to do so. But riches don't guarantee a generous spirit. Yet he is a worthy man, a man of integrity. Surely he will be significant in their lives? We are yet to see!
The writer of Ruth clearly wants to alert us to this possibility. No doubt Naomi knew of him - but he wasn't in her mind. But we're being put on notice: God is at work. It may be behind the scenes, but he is at work all the same, even before we are.
Things we have forgotten (Naomi) or may be ignorant of (Ruth) may turn out to be truly significant in the Lord's hands. No detail, small or otherwise, is unimportant to him. Here is the God to trust with all the details of your life!
So the question has been raised here: will this man affect the lives of these women? Are they really 'on their own'? Read on!
2. A Woman Called Ruth (v.2)
The scene then switches back to Naomi and Ruth. Their situation is depressing and desperate: no food & no obvious means of support. How will they survive? Does trust in God mean sitting & waiting for a food parcel to drop out of the sky?
What we see is Ruth taking the initiative and making plans to go out and glean in the fields (picking up the leftovers). But the initiative that she takes is entirely in keeping with the structure of life that the Lord had laid down for his people. In Lev 19:9,10 the people were explicitly instructed NOT to harvest every last scrap nor to go through the fields a second time. Why not? They were to "leave them for the poor and the alien".
Faith in a sovereign God does not mean a passive resignation to whatever will be. Rather, we have a part to play. Paul expresses it this way in Phil 2:12,13 - "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, to will and to act according to his good purpose".
Ruth is doing something that we may at times be slow to do: she is putting herself in the way of God's blessing. She is swimming with the current of God's purposes of grace. The Lord calls us to be his fellow workers, to live responsible lives and to make decisions that are in accord with his word.
Did they pray before Ruth went out? Very likely. It's right to do so. But what seems clear is that Ruth didn't wait for a specific word from God, she acted on the word he had already given.
And that is our responsibility too: to know and then to do God's word. Faith in a sovereign God means we listen to and obey his word. He has given us a part to play, a job to do, a role to fulfil. We must make sure that our faith is active and working.
It's all too possible to speak of trusting God's sovereignty in a fatalistic sense: que sera sera. But that isn't the biblical picture. So we need to make sure it isn't ours either. Faith in God is not static because it is about a dynamic, responsive relationship.
Are there areas of your life where you need to be active, to take the initiative in line with what God has said in his word and how he has ordered things? We don't need extra instructions to do good & live wisely within his structures. In scripture we have all we need as the Spirit helps us to understand and apply it.
3. A God Called Sovereign (v.3)
But doesn't this give too big a part to us and minimise God's sovereignty, robbing him of his glory?
In these verses, Ruth recognises that others have a part to play. She hopes to find favour in someone's eyes. We're reminded that she is a Maobitess. God's word explicitly speaks of receiving the alien and providing for them - but that doesn't guarantee that people will do so! She is aware enough of this to express her hope of being treated kindly.
So is she - and are we - at the mercy of others?
Verse 3 is very interesting. It tells us that "As it turned out" she found herself in Boaz's field. That's the writer's ironic way of saying to us, "God is at work here!". What looks like luck in the eyes of an unbelieving world is, to the eye of faith, the overruling providence of a wise and gracious God.
One of the key lessons for us here is what Prov 3:5,6 tells us. We are to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, in all our doing. And as we do so, he will direct our paths. Ruth didn't get a specific word or 'feeling' to go to Boaz's field; she just went and God ordered things.
Yes, we've got our part to play; and, yes, others may hinder or help. They are responsible before God too. But over it all is the gracious, sovereign hand of God! What looks like an accident, a chance thing, is in reality God's overruling providence. Ruth doesn't know which field is which; she doesn't know about Boaz. But God does and he directs her paths.
What we do matters but, as we do it, remember that God is at work, overruling and furthering his purposes for us. You are secure in his sovereign grace. Doesn't that make you want to trust him and to live for him? Even when we make bad choices - and that might involve things we simply cannot undo - he is still able to redeem the situation, he is still in control. You can trust him.
4. Conclusion
So here, for Ruth and Naomi, as one writer has said, we see "a crack in a seemingly impenetrable wall...the beginning of a possible path from death to life, from bitterness to joy". And it's all because they're in the hands of a sovereign God.
Are we ready to trust this same God as we go about our daily life? Will we live out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that he is at work within us? The sovereignty of God doesn't preclude our actions; rather it call them forth. A secure and biblical doctrine of God's sovereignty has both of those components in place.
Are they in place in your life today?
Ruth 1:19-22
There are some journeys you make with expectation; some with apprehension. Who could doubt that this journey for Naomi & Ruth was one of real apprehension. They could not know what sort of future lay before them, either socially or economically.
They journeyed on together, coupled by a common history, but also now by a common faith. It is this faith in God that is enabling them to return to Bethlehem. Yet as we've seen, and will see again in these verses, for Naomi such a faith is not a case of bright, cloudless skies. There are real issues for her to work through. It's probably good to have a companion at such times.
1. A Town Astir (v.19)
In this scene, we see Naomi & Ruth reaching Bethlehem. They have arrived at last, after a journey fraught with danger; and who knows what lies in store for them?
The first thing they encounter in their new life is a town that is thrown into a real stir because of them. Maybe they hoped to just arrive quietly but that couldn't be. We suggested before that Elimelech and Naomi may have been a prominent family in the town and certainly their arrival causes quite a commotion.
Those who welcome them back are really excited to see them. The word that is used here speaks of "joyous shouting and happy animated conversations". Clearly there's real love for Naomi in the town; people are glad to see her; here is a community that cares, standing in stark contrast to Judges and communities that kill.
No blame, no recriminations; just a real and heartfelt joy at seeing Naomi again. That’s how it ought to be with us when someone comes back – back to church, back to the Lord. Yes, there may well be issues to work through and we ought to be ready to help in that where we can, but the foremost reaction should be joy and gladness.
2. A Woman Empty (vv.21,22)
But the people, though excited, can hardly believe that this is Naomi: "Can this really be Naomi?" Perhaps it's because she's been gone so long. It could be that they never expected to see her again, having perhaps heard that Mahlon and Kilion had married Moabite women. Or maybe it's the physical impact on her of a triple grief; that kind of experience can often make a person look so much older and broken. Whatever the reason, their welcome is genuinely warm.
Naomi must have been thankful for such a welcome yet her reply opens up the agony of faith that she has and is going through.
i) Not Naomi but Mara Notice first of all what she says about her name. They had asked “Can this really be Naomi?” and she replies as if to say 'No, not any more'; “call me Mara”. You see, Naomi means 'pleasant' but her life is now bitter, hence 'Mara'.
This isn't a genuine change of name; this is her way of expressing just how bitter life has become for her. But it also shows that there is little if any expectation in her mind that things are either on the up or are going to change. Life is over for her now; there is nowhere else to go, nothing else to do.
She seems to have forgotten the incident from Israel's history where they came to waters that were bitter, that were mara. The Israelites grumbled and God in his grace had Moses throw a piece of wood in the waters and they became sweet. But that's just a story from long ago, isn’t it. Things like that don't happen to people like Naomi, do they?
This is how she feels and she is commendably honest about it. It’s right and helpful for Naomi to say how she feels; there is no point in her hiding the pain; it wouldn’t help. We might be loathe to say so but perhaps there are also times when we also feel and think like that. We fail to take encouragement from the scriptures as we should because ...well, to be blunt, that was then and this is now.
But God doesn't change! And the rest of this book is going to show that to us in very wonderful ways. The great thing is that we can also prove it in our own experience of life.
ii) The Almighty's Doing Although it wouldn't be right to say that Naomi grumbled like the people of Israel, her next words show that she attributes what has happened to her to God: "the Almighty has made my life very bitter...the LORD has brought me back empty...The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has testified against me". Those are strong and striking words and we need to consider them carefully.
Naomi doesn’t lack a doctrine of the sovereignty of God; she readily acknowledges here that he is in control of all things. But her grasp of the reality of his sovereign control doesn't yield her any comfort because it is a skewed understanding of his sovereignty.
We see her grasp of God's sovereignty in her use of the name 'Shaddai' for God (translated in NIV as 'the Almighty'). It was a name that was regularly used of him in the early books of the Bible and stressed his absolute sovereignty. He is the one who can bring blessing or cursing. He is the one who can save or judge. And what he does, he does in utter fairness and justice.
For Naomi, what has happened to her has been caused by the Almighty. With a justice she may be at a loss to comprehend, this God has dealt bitterly with her. He has brought disaster on her and there is nothing for her to do but to bear it. In v.21 she says that he has “testified against” her. That is a legal term that conjures up images of court proceedings. He, the Almighty, has tried her and she has been found wanting.
Do you ever think of God in those terms too? He's in absolute control and whatever happens comes from him, so you've just got to get on with accepting that this is how things will be? That somehow he has judged you and you must just accept your fate? Is his utter sovereignty something we’ve just got to accept with a resigned shrug of the shoulders? Is it a cold control?
There is of course some truth in what Naomi says here but it isn't the full picture. God is in control; nothing happens by chance, as this book will show us. But we must be careful to draw the right conclusions concerning him and his dealings with us.
Precisely what Naomi is affirming here should also be the source of hope for the future. Because he is in control of all things, he can change the bitter and make it sweet. That was the lesson of Marah!
And that is also something which is latent in the words that Naomi uses here. In other places where the phrase “has brought misfortune upon me” is used, it turns out to be the start of a larger and greater blessing.
Can we trust God for our future? Can he make something good out of our present mess? The gospel shows us without doubt that he can. However guilty we are, however much we have contributed to the mess and the squalor, he is greater than all things and with sovereign, covenant love he can overturn and remake.
3. A Future Unfolding (v.22)
For Naomi, that is all still future. In her mind, there seems to be so little future. The reality she must face is this: she went away full - a complete family, full of hopes for the future; and she has come back empty – bereaved, with no family and no prospects.
But there are already signs that the LORD is at work to bring rich blessing into the poverty of Naomi's life. What are those signs?
- She's come back widowed and bereft of her boys, yet she has Ruth with her. This Moabite girl, with a new faith in the one true God, is dedicated to her. All is not lost
- They've arrived back at harvest time. The same LORD who had punished his people in famine is now blessing them with feasting.
Things are on the change. The signs may be small but they are still signs. We can often be slow to spot them but faith is always on the lookout and ready to see what God in his grace is doing. Her story is not yet done and neither is yours.
They journeyed on together, coupled by a common history, but also now by a common faith. It is this faith in God that is enabling them to return to Bethlehem. Yet as we've seen, and will see again in these verses, for Naomi such a faith is not a case of bright, cloudless skies. There are real issues for her to work through. It's probably good to have a companion at such times.
1. A Town Astir (v.19)
In this scene, we see Naomi & Ruth reaching Bethlehem. They have arrived at last, after a journey fraught with danger; and who knows what lies in store for them?
The first thing they encounter in their new life is a town that is thrown into a real stir because of them. Maybe they hoped to just arrive quietly but that couldn't be. We suggested before that Elimelech and Naomi may have been a prominent family in the town and certainly their arrival causes quite a commotion.
Those who welcome them back are really excited to see them. The word that is used here speaks of "joyous shouting and happy animated conversations". Clearly there's real love for Naomi in the town; people are glad to see her; here is a community that cares, standing in stark contrast to Judges and communities that kill.
No blame, no recriminations; just a real and heartfelt joy at seeing Naomi again. That’s how it ought to be with us when someone comes back – back to church, back to the Lord. Yes, there may well be issues to work through and we ought to be ready to help in that where we can, but the foremost reaction should be joy and gladness.
2. A Woman Empty (vv.21,22)
But the people, though excited, can hardly believe that this is Naomi: "Can this really be Naomi?" Perhaps it's because she's been gone so long. It could be that they never expected to see her again, having perhaps heard that Mahlon and Kilion had married Moabite women. Or maybe it's the physical impact on her of a triple grief; that kind of experience can often make a person look so much older and broken. Whatever the reason, their welcome is genuinely warm.
Naomi must have been thankful for such a welcome yet her reply opens up the agony of faith that she has and is going through.
i) Not Naomi but Mara Notice first of all what she says about her name. They had asked “Can this really be Naomi?” and she replies as if to say 'No, not any more'; “call me Mara”. You see, Naomi means 'pleasant' but her life is now bitter, hence 'Mara'.
This isn't a genuine change of name; this is her way of expressing just how bitter life has become for her. But it also shows that there is little if any expectation in her mind that things are either on the up or are going to change. Life is over for her now; there is nowhere else to go, nothing else to do.
She seems to have forgotten the incident from Israel's history where they came to waters that were bitter, that were mara. The Israelites grumbled and God in his grace had Moses throw a piece of wood in the waters and they became sweet. But that's just a story from long ago, isn’t it. Things like that don't happen to people like Naomi, do they?
This is how she feels and she is commendably honest about it. It’s right and helpful for Naomi to say how she feels; there is no point in her hiding the pain; it wouldn’t help. We might be loathe to say so but perhaps there are also times when we also feel and think like that. We fail to take encouragement from the scriptures as we should because ...well, to be blunt, that was then and this is now.
But God doesn't change! And the rest of this book is going to show that to us in very wonderful ways. The great thing is that we can also prove it in our own experience of life.
ii) The Almighty's Doing Although it wouldn't be right to say that Naomi grumbled like the people of Israel, her next words show that she attributes what has happened to her to God: "the Almighty has made my life very bitter...the LORD has brought me back empty...The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has testified against me". Those are strong and striking words and we need to consider them carefully.
Naomi doesn’t lack a doctrine of the sovereignty of God; she readily acknowledges here that he is in control of all things. But her grasp of the reality of his sovereign control doesn't yield her any comfort because it is a skewed understanding of his sovereignty.
We see her grasp of God's sovereignty in her use of the name 'Shaddai' for God (translated in NIV as 'the Almighty'). It was a name that was regularly used of him in the early books of the Bible and stressed his absolute sovereignty. He is the one who can bring blessing or cursing. He is the one who can save or judge. And what he does, he does in utter fairness and justice.
For Naomi, what has happened to her has been caused by the Almighty. With a justice she may be at a loss to comprehend, this God has dealt bitterly with her. He has brought disaster on her and there is nothing for her to do but to bear it. In v.21 she says that he has “testified against” her. That is a legal term that conjures up images of court proceedings. He, the Almighty, has tried her and she has been found wanting.
Do you ever think of God in those terms too? He's in absolute control and whatever happens comes from him, so you've just got to get on with accepting that this is how things will be? That somehow he has judged you and you must just accept your fate? Is his utter sovereignty something we’ve just got to accept with a resigned shrug of the shoulders? Is it a cold control?
There is of course some truth in what Naomi says here but it isn't the full picture. God is in control; nothing happens by chance, as this book will show us. But we must be careful to draw the right conclusions concerning him and his dealings with us.
Precisely what Naomi is affirming here should also be the source of hope for the future. Because he is in control of all things, he can change the bitter and make it sweet. That was the lesson of Marah!
And that is also something which is latent in the words that Naomi uses here. In other places where the phrase “has brought misfortune upon me” is used, it turns out to be the start of a larger and greater blessing.
Can we trust God for our future? Can he make something good out of our present mess? The gospel shows us without doubt that he can. However guilty we are, however much we have contributed to the mess and the squalor, he is greater than all things and with sovereign, covenant love he can overturn and remake.
3. A Future Unfolding (v.22)
For Naomi, that is all still future. In her mind, there seems to be so little future. The reality she must face is this: she went away full - a complete family, full of hopes for the future; and she has come back empty – bereaved, with no family and no prospects.
But there are already signs that the LORD is at work to bring rich blessing into the poverty of Naomi's life. What are those signs?
- She's come back widowed and bereft of her boys, yet she has Ruth with her. This Moabite girl, with a new faith in the one true God, is dedicated to her. All is not lost
- They've arrived back at harvest time. The same LORD who had punished his people in famine is now blessing them with feasting.
Things are on the change. The signs may be small but they are still signs. We can often be slow to spot them but faith is always on the lookout and ready to see what God in his grace is doing. Her story is not yet done and neither is yours.
Ruth 1:8-13
Naomi has made the momentous decision to return home to Judah. In Moab she lost everything but, hearing of the LORD's grace to his people, she is going back.
But we saw last time that she isn't going alone. Although she has been the focus of attention, her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, are also in the picture. It seems that they have every intention of going to Judah with her.
Listening to, or reading, the story, that fact raises a number of questions: how will they fare as widows in a foreign land, especially being Moabite women? "They are caught by ethnic divisions...by gender divisions...by religious divisions and by the mystery of the way God deals with us" (Goldingay p.200/1).
It may well be that the tension of such divisions has been weighing heavily on Naomi's mind because in these verses she speaks to persuade the women to go back to their own people. Her arguments for them doing so give us an insight into her own heart and state of mind as she returns to Judah.
1. Concern for Others
One of the most notable aspects of these verses, and indeed of the whole book, is the concern for others that the characters display.
You see it in Orpah and Ruth's intention to go to Judah with Naomi. For them to do so would be to leave their own people, as they show in v.10. It isn't "so much a change of physical location as a change of social orientation" (Sakenfeld p.26). Families joined by marriage often go their own way after bereavement. But these girls wanted to 'go the extra mile'.
And that same concern for others is seen here in Naomi. You see it the arguments she uses to persuade them to go back. She is obviously concerned for their future happiness above any concern for own welfare and the help that they may give her.
Her desire for them is expressed very tenderly: she wants them to go back to their mothers' homes (a phrase that conjures up pictures of marriage) and there for them to “find rest in the home of another husband”.
That word “rest” speaks of a settled security and of relief from weariness. Their lives have been anything but settled in recent times and they must be very weary of sadness. Having them go back with her might have given Naomi greater security (although that is not certain); it certainly would have been company for her, but her concern is for them.
In all three women, this trait is clearly seen and is something for us to learn from. But we don’t simply learn it from them; the greatest example of concern for others is our Lord Jesus Christ dying in our place. Paul’s words in Phil. 2 and 2 Cor. 8:9 show us powerfully what it means to put others above ourselves.
2. Praying for God's blessing
Someone might ask 'Why if she was so concerned for them did she not encourage them to leave Moab and its false gods and go with her to Judah and to the Lord's people?'
Naomi is obviously aware of the problems of going back and, humanly speaking, perhaps sees the problems as being too great for Orpah and Ruth. To go with her will require a step of faith but that must be theirs and not hers on their behalf.
But notice that she does what she can for them (a very important principle). She commits them to the Lord and to his kindness. Her prayer in vv.8,9 is very revealing and very instructive to us.
Naomi's life has been devastated. Her own assessment of it is in vv.11-13. But the hard experiences of life haven't made her hardhearted towards others. She is full of concern for Orpah and Ruth. But more importantly still, it hasn't overturned her view of the Lord. She prays here that he will “deal kindly” with them and in doing so she uses a word that is at the heart of the Lord's covenant with his people.
She prays that the Lord will show them 'hesed', a word that is often translated as 'loving kindness' or 'loyal love'. It is a word that has a real depth of meaning and is a key to this whole book. One study into its use suggests it has the following aspects:
- the "action is essential to the survival or basic well-being of the recipient";
- "the needed action is one that only the person doing the act is in a position to provide"
- it "takes place or is requested within the context of an existing, established and positive relationship between the persons involved" (Sakenfeld p.24)
Naomi has experienced something of such kindness from these girls (“as you have shown to your dead and to me”); now she prays they would know its highest realisation. No prayer could be higher in its aspiration for others, nor in its estimation of God.
Often we feel powerless to help others. Their needs are far too great for us to meet. But what we can do is to pray for them and in particular we can pray that God will show them his grace and mercy, the ‘hesed’ he displayed in Jesus. In urging them to go home, Naomi doesn't abandon them to Chemosh but commits them to God.
When we pray for others, committing them to the mercy and kindness of God, we may have in mind what we hope for by way of an answer. Naomi's hope is that they will “find rest in the home of another husband”. If you know the story, then Eph 3:20 may well come to your mind! But that's running ahead.
3. Bitterness of heart (vv.11-13)
Naomi is concerned for others above herself. She prays that others will know God's rich blessing on their lives. And yet in vv.11-13 we see that her view of her own life and her own experience of the Lord is not so straightforward.
In these verses she closes her argument as to why they should go back to Moab. If they stick with her, they've got no chance of another marriage; they'll have no hope of achieving the rest that she has prayed for. It all sounds so reasonable.
But there is another, darker aspect to her thinking here. She describes her experiences in this way: “the LORD's hand has gone out against me”. The key thing to know is that that phrase is used of God dealing with his enemies. Naomi seems to feel that is what she has become and is expressing her pain and frustration at that.
It may well be that, like Job, she doesn't know why this has all happened to her. Or maybe she silently feels she’s getting what she deserves for having gone to Moab (did she have a choice?) and must simply resign herself to the Lord's ongoing chastisement. Maybe she doesn't want them to go back with her partly because she feels that this is something she must bear alone.
Naomi's perspective is shaped by the bitter experiences of life. She hasn't renounced her faith but she is subdued in it. It has lost its vitality and joy. For her, life in God's family is now hard and bitter and will perhaps always be like that (cf. v.21). She is broken-hearted and crushed in spirit.
Maybe you feel the same way today. You know that God is good, that he is a God of mercy and you hope others will know that. But, for yourself, the experience of such blessing is a thing of the past; it’s no longer a living reality. You feel that somehow the Lord's hand has gone out against you and that his lot for you in this life in only pain and sorrow.
That seems to have been Naomi's perspective but it isn't the book's perspective - the story isn't over yet! I won't elaborate on that now but let me just say in closing that this book and the Bible as a whole give us a different perspective (cf. Job - end better than the beginning; and esp. Jesus – ‘Eli, Eli…’ & raised to life again).
If you can relate to Naomi this morning, let me just close by saying that your story isn’t over yet either. It is possible to find the rest and the relief that Naomi asked for Orpah and Ruth; we find it in the Lord who is “close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Ps 34:18).
May he help us to grasp that hope for ourselves, even as we pray for others. Amen.
But we saw last time that she isn't going alone. Although she has been the focus of attention, her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, are also in the picture. It seems that they have every intention of going to Judah with her.
Listening to, or reading, the story, that fact raises a number of questions: how will they fare as widows in a foreign land, especially being Moabite women? "They are caught by ethnic divisions...by gender divisions...by religious divisions and by the mystery of the way God deals with us" (Goldingay p.200/1).
It may well be that the tension of such divisions has been weighing heavily on Naomi's mind because in these verses she speaks to persuade the women to go back to their own people. Her arguments for them doing so give us an insight into her own heart and state of mind as she returns to Judah.
1. Concern for Others
One of the most notable aspects of these verses, and indeed of the whole book, is the concern for others that the characters display.
You see it in Orpah and Ruth's intention to go to Judah with Naomi. For them to do so would be to leave their own people, as they show in v.10. It isn't "so much a change of physical location as a change of social orientation" (Sakenfeld p.26). Families joined by marriage often go their own way after bereavement. But these girls wanted to 'go the extra mile'.
And that same concern for others is seen here in Naomi. You see it the arguments she uses to persuade them to go back. She is obviously concerned for their future happiness above any concern for own welfare and the help that they may give her.
Her desire for them is expressed very tenderly: she wants them to go back to their mothers' homes (a phrase that conjures up pictures of marriage) and there for them to “find rest in the home of another husband”.
That word “rest” speaks of a settled security and of relief from weariness. Their lives have been anything but settled in recent times and they must be very weary of sadness. Having them go back with her might have given Naomi greater security (although that is not certain); it certainly would have been company for her, but her concern is for them.
In all three women, this trait is clearly seen and is something for us to learn from. But we don’t simply learn it from them; the greatest example of concern for others is our Lord Jesus Christ dying in our place. Paul’s words in Phil. 2 and 2 Cor. 8:9 show us powerfully what it means to put others above ourselves.
2. Praying for God's blessing
Someone might ask 'Why if she was so concerned for them did she not encourage them to leave Moab and its false gods and go with her to Judah and to the Lord's people?'
Naomi is obviously aware of the problems of going back and, humanly speaking, perhaps sees the problems as being too great for Orpah and Ruth. To go with her will require a step of faith but that must be theirs and not hers on their behalf.
But notice that she does what she can for them (a very important principle). She commits them to the Lord and to his kindness. Her prayer in vv.8,9 is very revealing and very instructive to us.
Naomi's life has been devastated. Her own assessment of it is in vv.11-13. But the hard experiences of life haven't made her hardhearted towards others. She is full of concern for Orpah and Ruth. But more importantly still, it hasn't overturned her view of the Lord. She prays here that he will “deal kindly” with them and in doing so she uses a word that is at the heart of the Lord's covenant with his people.
She prays that the Lord will show them 'hesed', a word that is often translated as 'loving kindness' or 'loyal love'. It is a word that has a real depth of meaning and is a key to this whole book. One study into its use suggests it has the following aspects:
- the "action is essential to the survival or basic well-being of the recipient";
- "the needed action is one that only the person doing the act is in a position to provide"
- it "takes place or is requested within the context of an existing, established and positive relationship between the persons involved" (Sakenfeld p.24)
Naomi has experienced something of such kindness from these girls (“as you have shown to your dead and to me”); now she prays they would know its highest realisation. No prayer could be higher in its aspiration for others, nor in its estimation of God.
Often we feel powerless to help others. Their needs are far too great for us to meet. But what we can do is to pray for them and in particular we can pray that God will show them his grace and mercy, the ‘hesed’ he displayed in Jesus. In urging them to go home, Naomi doesn't abandon them to Chemosh but commits them to God.
When we pray for others, committing them to the mercy and kindness of God, we may have in mind what we hope for by way of an answer. Naomi's hope is that they will “find rest in the home of another husband”. If you know the story, then Eph 3:20 may well come to your mind! But that's running ahead.
3. Bitterness of heart (vv.11-13)
Naomi is concerned for others above herself. She prays that others will know God's rich blessing on their lives. And yet in vv.11-13 we see that her view of her own life and her own experience of the Lord is not so straightforward.
In these verses she closes her argument as to why they should go back to Moab. If they stick with her, they've got no chance of another marriage; they'll have no hope of achieving the rest that she has prayed for. It all sounds so reasonable.
But there is another, darker aspect to her thinking here. She describes her experiences in this way: “the LORD's hand has gone out against me”. The key thing to know is that that phrase is used of God dealing with his enemies. Naomi seems to feel that is what she has become and is expressing her pain and frustration at that.
It may well be that, like Job, she doesn't know why this has all happened to her. Or maybe she silently feels she’s getting what she deserves for having gone to Moab (did she have a choice?) and must simply resign herself to the Lord's ongoing chastisement. Maybe she doesn't want them to go back with her partly because she feels that this is something she must bear alone.
Naomi's perspective is shaped by the bitter experiences of life. She hasn't renounced her faith but she is subdued in it. It has lost its vitality and joy. For her, life in God's family is now hard and bitter and will perhaps always be like that (cf. v.21). She is broken-hearted and crushed in spirit.
Maybe you feel the same way today. You know that God is good, that he is a God of mercy and you hope others will know that. But, for yourself, the experience of such blessing is a thing of the past; it’s no longer a living reality. You feel that somehow the Lord's hand has gone out against you and that his lot for you in this life in only pain and sorrow.
That seems to have been Naomi's perspective but it isn't the book's perspective - the story isn't over yet! I won't elaborate on that now but let me just say in closing that this book and the Bible as a whole give us a different perspective (cf. Job - end better than the beginning; and esp. Jesus – ‘Eli, Eli…’ & raised to life again).
If you can relate to Naomi this morning, let me just close by saying that your story isn’t over yet either. It is possible to find the rest and the relief that Naomi asked for Orpah and Ruth; we find it in the Lord who is “close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Ps 34:18).
May he help us to grasp that hope for ourselves, even as we pray for others. Amen.
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