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1 Samuel 4:1-11: The Peril of Trying to Trap God

Read 1 Samuel 4:1-11

Lots of people in life, whether they admit it or not, are practical atheists. But when bad times come, they are quick to pick up religion like a lucky charm in the hopes that God will put them right. Some churches and Christians seem to treat God in the same way, as if God’s will can be bent to ours.

But God is sovereign and we are not. We cannot back God into a corner. In 1 Samuel 4, the scene shifts from the birth of Samuel to the beginning of God restoring his name and honour among the Israelites, starting with a reminder that God is not a cosmic porter who can be summoned to their support on call. This passage reminds us as Christians and as a Church not to behave in the same way today.

The first three chapters of 1 Samuel have focused on God beginning a new phase of his salvation plan through the birth of the boy Samuel to two faithful Israelites, Hannah and Elkanah. The faithfulness of these two and their son, Samuel, is contrasted with the unfaithfulness of Hophni, Phineas, and (by extension for his failure to discipline them) their father Eli.

In chapter 4, the story pans out to show the wider context of Israel, which was in much the same state as at the end of the Book of Judges. Thus the behaviour of Israel in this time reflects a coldness towards God that needs to be thawed if the covenant relationship is to continue.

The start of God’s work to restore his name and honour among the Israelites comes through the renewal of the Philistine threat to Israel. The Philistines were foreign settlers into Canaan, who were both pagans and technologically advanced. Samson defeated the Philistines, but now they were back.

The Philistines marched out of their cities and up into the hills to attack Israel (v.1). The two armies gathered to fight, and the Philistines won the engagement, inflicting significant losses on Israel (v.2).

This defeat led to some reflection from Israel’s leaders (v.3). After all, if they were God’s People then surely God should be with them and help them defeat their foes, as they had during the conquest and (selectively remembering) in Judges.

Sadly the reflection did not last long, and consider if their defeat were the covenant curses coming upon them for their unfaithfulness to God (cf. Deut. 28:25). No, the answer was they needed the Ark of the Covenant there to ensure God would be with them (v.3)!

There are multiple ways to interpret this move. Perhaps, charitably, they thought that they needed to see the Ark as a symbol of God’s presence with them and success. More likely, though, they were trying to back God into a corner; to force God to grant them victory by associating the Ark with his presence. They may have even falsely believed that God’s power and presence was tied to the Ark, just as the pagan nations did with their idols.

Sure enough, the arrival of the Ark with Hophni and Phineas from Shiloh led to excitement in the Israelite army (vv.4-5). On the other hand, the superstitious Philistines reacted in fear just as the Israelites hoped, as they recognised that a symbol of Israel’s God (or gods, they were not too sure on that point) had entered their opponents camp (vv.6-8).

Unfortunately for Israel, the fear did not last long. The Philistines encouraged each other to stand up and be a man, in case they were defeated and became slaves to Israel (v.9).

Another battle. Again, the Philistines won an even larger and crushing victory over Israel, who were so demoralised that they fled the battlefield (v.10). Even worse, in Israel’s eyes, the Ark of God was captured (v.11). And just as God had promised, Hophni and Phineas died (v.11).

Israel may have thought they were onto a sure thing by trying to force God to fight for them through bringing the Ark to the battlefield, but they were wrong. God is not waiting to act on command for our benefit, before returning back to his desk. God is not our servant. We are God’s servants.

We cannot live our days ignoring God except when it is useful to us. When things go wrong, or there is something which we would like; whether a new job, a new house, a spouse, or anything else.

God cannot be manipulated or forced to act, whether for us individually or for his church. Might God respond to a prayer vigil? Yes. Must he? No. Can you buy God’s blessing with enough devotions or donations? Nope.

God desires to help us in our trials, and to deliver us from the problem of sin, but God did it his way, not ours. Through sending Jesus, who died on the Cross for our sin, and calling us to repent of our self-reliance and to trust in Jesus always. In Christ, we will prevail against our foes and enjoy God’s presence always.




1 Samuel 3:1-4:1: The Call of Samuel

Read 1 Samuel 3:1-4:1

God calls us to repentance and faith, and some to particular lives of ministry for his people. While we may not receive a vision or hear a voice, the call changes our lives as we experience God’s goodness and the call to proclaim Christ until his return.

God’s call to Samuel signals the beginning of his service as God’s prophet to Israel. In God’s call to Samuel, we see God’s goodness and patience demonstrated, the reality of the message from God, and the effect of God’s Word on his life. While we may not hear God speaking audibly to us today, God’s Word still has those effects on us too.

Some time after the man of God spoke to Eli announcing judgement on his house for his and his son’s unfaithfulness to God’s Law, Samuel was ministering in the Temple under the watch of Eli (v.1). We do not know what age Samuel was, but he could have been anything from a schoolboy to his teenage years.

What we do know is that in those days “the word of the LORD was rare… there was no frequent vision” (v.1). Possibly because of Israel’s sinfulness (see Judges), God had largely withdrawn from communicating with Israel. They were stumbling around in the spiritual darkness they desired.

In the same way, Eli’s eyesight was faint with age, and it was before dawn (when “the lamp of God had not yet gone out”) in the Temple, as both Eli and Samuel slept (vv.2-3). At that point, God demonstrated his goodness and patience.

God called to Samuel, who hearing an audible voice and not recognising it, assumed it was Eli needing help and ran to assist, only to be sent away since it was not Eli who called (vv.4-5). This repeated three times.

As verse seven tells us, Samuel did not yet know that it was God himself calling out to him, to declare God’s Word (v.7). While he was not an unbeliever, he did not have an intimate relationship with God.

There is no hint of impatience here, like mine when I repeat myself to my kids. God is good and patient, and recognised that Samuel was trying to be obedient, but he did not know who was calling him!

Eli realised something was up, and told Samuel to respond to God, not him (vv.8-9). Finally, when God came and appeared again, Samuel answered God’s call (v.10).

While Samuel enjoyed the privilege of an intimate relationship with God, it came with a price. That price was the reality of the message God gave Samuel.

It was an ear tingling message (v.11). God declared that the words announced against Eli’s house would be fulfilled, “because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them” (vv.11-14).

Unfortunately, Samuel was called by God to deliver God’s Word, whether good or bad. He could not skim over the tough parts to focus on the positive.

Samuel lay until morning, no doubt both excited and unsettled by his encounter with God and afraid of how Eli would take the message (v.15). But Eli called Samuel and insisted that he announce the whole counsel of God’s Word, and not hide it for himself (vv.16-17). 

Based on how Eli spoke in warning Samuel, I suspect he knew what was coming. Samuel told Eli, hiding “nothing from him” (v.18). Eli acknowledged God’s judgement, recognising its reality and certainty (v.18).

God’s call of Samuel did not leave him unchanged, but affected his life. As Samuel grew, God continued to speak through him and empowered his words as prophet, so that all of Israel came to recognise that God spoke through him (vv.19-20).

Further, God again visited in his special presence the Temple where Samuel served, recognising that he was about to work mightily, in part through Samuel his servant, to serve and deliver Israel (v.21).

While we may not hear God calling us audibly today, we do see in God’s call of Samuel the patience and kindness of God extended to us. God is not a strict Sergeant Major expecting instant obedience, but is patient in his love for us and his call is to repent and obey. If he were not, we would already feel God’s wrath.

However, God’s patience does not mean he does not care about sin. Like Samuel, those who must announce God’s Word must announce the full counsel of the reality of our nature, not the nice parts. We cannot slide over or minimise the need to repent from sin or face God’s judgement. Tempting as it is to enjoy the world’s favour, it will put us offside with God.

But if we faithfully announce the truth, we can be sure that God’s Word will not return empty from our lips. We will enjoy God’s grace and favour in our lives, as his Word renews and sustains us, encourages us to rest in Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, and makes us more like Jesus until God calls us to his side.




1 Samuel 2:11-36: Faithful and Unfaithful Servants

Read 1 Samuel 2:11-36

Contrasts are effective because they are so clear. While we are tempted to view life in shades of grey, obedience to God does not fit so easily. You are either faithful to God, or unfaithful. We either obey God, or we sin. We are either faithful servants, or unfaithful.

In the early chapters of 1 Samuel, contrasts have been clear. In Chapter 2, the contrast is between faithful little Samuel who grows under God’s blessing, and Eli’s unfaithful sons who fall under God’s curse. This passage reminds us that faithfulness to God is so terribly important, especially for those put in positions of leadership in God’s Church. 

After Elkanah and Hannah returned home, Samuel remained as promised at the Temple in Shiloh to serve God in the presence of Eli, the High Priest (v.11).

Contrasted to Samuel, who ministered to God, were Eli’s sons. They are described as “worthless men” who were unbelievers (v.12). Their first set of sins were “liturgical sins” against the commands God gave about sacrifices and worship.

While the Law provided generously for the feeding of the priests (Leviticus 7:28-36), the sons helped themselves to more by stealing some of the cooked sacrifices meant for the worshipper’s family (vv.13-14). Worse still, the sons would help themselves to portions of the fat (the yummiest part) which was specially reserved for God (Lev. 3; vv.15-16). They held the offering to God in contempt (v.17).

Compared to this contempt, little Samuel was faithfully serving God in a cute little ephod (v.18). Every year, Samuel’s mum would make him another robe to wear as he served God, and Eli would bless Samuel’s parents for their faithfulness to God and their love for their son (vv.19-20). God indeed blessed Hannah and gave her further sons and daughters, as Samuel “grew in the presence of the LORD” (v.21).

Compared to their faithfulness, Eli’s sons were morally unfaithful. They had turned the women who served the Temple (Ex. 38:8) into their concubines (v.22). Everyone in Israel knew it, but all Eli did was tell them off (vv.23-4). While Eli warned, his sons did not listen, because their sins were so disgusting to God that hardened their hearts against repenting, “for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death” (v.25).

In contrast to this moral unfaithfulness which brought scandal on the Temple and the priesthood, “Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man” (v.26).

The present unfaithfulness could not remain, God had to purge the evil. So God sent a prophet to Eli to announce judgement (v.27).

In the past, God had been good to Eli and his family, rescuing them from Egypt and choosing Aaron and his descendants to be his priests, enjoying a special fellowship with God (vv.27-8). Yet Eli had failed to properly discipline his sons and stop their sinful liturgical and moral offences, apart from some weak words of displeasure and warning (v.29).

Due to Eli’s own unfaithfulness by failing to guard the Temple’s sanctity and purity of its worship, God would bring judgement on Eli’s house. Eli’s family would be all but wiped out (vv.30-32), and his two sons would both die together on a single day (v.34). 

While one of Eli’s line would be spared, his descendants would later die by men’s hands (v.33; 1 Sam. 22) and would be poor (v.36). A faithful priest would instead be raised up to serve God (v.35). We see this in Samuel’s priestly service, but later in Scripture in the service of Zadok (1 Ki. 2:27, 35).

This passage focuses on the unfaithfulness of Eli’s sons to God. Their unbelief borne out in their abuse of worship and morality. It reminds us today that we must be careful in who we appoint to church leadership. Unbelief will display itself in corrupting worship and God’s teaching to serve oneself, through money, gratification, and power. God’s judgement will follow, on those that commit it and those that allow it.

It also warns us about our sins. We do not want to be as Eli’s sons were, so grievously sinning that God hardens our hearts to warnings to repent, when judgement swiftly follows. May none of us face that terror.

Instead, we should seek to serve as faithful servants of God like Samuel did, quietly ministering and growing in God’s favour, choosing God as our portion over what belongs to God. He will bless those who do so, as he blessed Samuel, Hannah, and Elkanah.

Thankfully, for all our unfaithfulness, there was one who was truly a faithful servant of God all his days. Jesus, who lived a perfect life and offered a perfect sacrifice as our Great High Priest, covers our unfaithfulness as God’s servants with his own faithfulness. He is the ultimate faithful priest raised up by God. It is because of Christ’s faithfulness, that we may seek to be ever more faithful servants of God.




1 Samuel 2:1-10: Hannah’s Song of God’s Kingdom

Read 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Music is everywhere in our world. On our radios and televisions, on the internet, at pubs and at concerts. It is of varying quality, and varied value. Much of it is centred entirely on self, and our own desires. Music is important to the Church too, from what we sing on Sunday to what we listen to at home. Much of it is great, some of it sadly too centred on self.

In chapter 2 of 1 Samuel we encounter Hannah’s song of thanks. Hannah’s song is not centred entirely on self, but rather centred on God. Hannah’s song starts with her experience of God’s goodness in her life. It then expands to consider God’s goodness in general, before concluding with God’s ultimate goodness. Hannah’s song reminds us that every expression of God’s goodness to us is a teaser of the greater goodness to come under Christ’s eternal reign.

The first three verses of Hannah’s song is a prayer of thanks for God’s goodness to Hannah. Hannah was elated at God’s goodness to her in her distress, by granting her a son after many years of barrenness and cruel taunting by Peninnah (v.1). She described this elation as being like the lifting of her horn, like an animal lifting its horn as a symbol of its given strength and power over attackers (v.1).

In the second verse, Hannah confesses her faith in God. “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God” (v.2). Amen! May we all sing and praise God as the only holy and true God we can rely on.

In verse three, Hannah offered rebuke to unnamed boasters who rely on themselves rather than God. She warned them not to speak arrogantly, because God “is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed” (v.3).

Secondly, Hannah’s song expands to describe God’s goodness more generally. The way God has worked with Hannah is a small-scale example of the way God works generally.

Firstly, God reverses the fortunes of the proud and the humble. This is described poetically; God breaks the strong and uplifts the weak, and feeds the hungry while those who selfishly grabbed more than their fair share are left to find work to pay for food (vv.4-5). Jesus expressed the same truths in the Beatitudes in his Sermon on the Mount.

This poetic reversing was expressed in Hannah’s circumstances, where she once was barren but has now borne “seven”; not literally but symbolically fully blessed (v.5).

In verses six to eight, these ideas of God’s sovereignty over everything are expressed in ultimate terms. God brings everyone to death, and raises to new life (v.6). God makes people poor and rich (v.7). God makes people weak and strong (v.7). God lifts the poor and needy up to the height of the wealthy and powerful (v.8).

God does this because he can, because it is the way God is. God is the one who established the pillars of the world, and set the earth on it (v.8).

Thirdly, Hannah’s song expands from God’s goodness in general to God’s goodness to God’s goodness in God’s kingdom, when God puts all enemies under his feet (Psalm 2).

God will finally deliver his covenant people, those who are his “faithful ones” while the wicked and those who rebel against God are destroyed (v.9). All the might in the world is not enough to resist the Almighty God!

Hannah expected that final deliverance to come from a coming king. The final judgement of the earth and its people will be demonstrated through “his king,” the anointed one whose horn (might, strength) God will exalt (v.10).

While this book in the near term implies that this will occur through the appointing of a king over Israel, this statement ultimately finds its fulfilment in the one who all the earthly kings of Israel pointed: Jesus. The anointed one, the promised king of the line of David. The one who will judge the earth and its inhabitants, and finally consummate the eternal Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

The songs which we sing will often speak of the circumstances we found ourselves in, and how God has lifted us up. But truly Biblical music follows Hannah’s pattern, inspired by the Holy Spirit, of placing that redemption in the greater story of God’s goodness and salvation.

But Hannah’s song and praise help us to think biblically about our own state and God’s goodness to us. Every little good thing, every little victory over sin, is an expression of God’s power and sovereignty, and his goodness to us. It is a down payment of the greater redemption we enjoy in salvation through Christ.

While God does not promise to take away all our hardships and tears in this life, God’s goodness in the little things points to God’s ultimate goodness to us, when he defeats all opposition and sets us in his dwelling place with him, forever.




1 Samuel 1:21-28: Giving Back

Read 1 Samuel 1:21-28

Hannah’s despair led her to prayer, and led her to offer back the child she asked from God were he to grant her wish. God graciously gave her the child she sought, but would Hannah keep her vow or attempt to slide her way out of her obligations?

This passage demonstrates that, true to their form as devout worshipers of God, Hannah and her husband Elkanah were committed to the vow she had made to God at the Temple. It also shows us the importance which both placed on fulfilling their vows before God, and that they did so with thankfulness rather than begrudgingly. And it demonstrates the importance of placing the worship of God at the centre of everything we do, and everything we offer.

After returning comforted from the Temple, God blessed Hannah and Elkanah with a son (vv.19-20). This son was named Samuel, recognising that God had heard Hannah’s prayers and vow to offer this child to God for service (vv.11, 20).

Now that the child was born and the bundle of joy in her arms, we might not be surprised if we were to read that Hannah had second thoughts about her vow, and looked for an opportunity to back out of the deal somehow.

However, vows to God are more important than the promise we made as a child to the schoolkid with fish and chips for lunch that “if you give me a chip I will be your best friend!” The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us to “not delay” paying a vow to God; that it is better to not vow than vow and not fulfil, because this is sin (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6).

Both Hannah and Elkanah were aware of the seriousness of the vow made, and serious in intention to fulfil it. Thus when Elkanah went to go to the Temple again to offer sacrifices as was his yearly pattern (v.3), Hannah refused to go up (vv.21-2). 

Hannah realised that if she were to go while Samuel was still breastfeeding and return (because dumping a breastfed child on the Temple was a significant burden), it would affect the way others viewed the seriousness of her vow. Better to wait until the child was weaned (about 3 years of age) and then take him to the Temple “so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever” (v.22).

Under the Law, a husband had to confirm the validity of a vow (Numbers 30). Elkanah agreed both with Hannah’s vow, and Hannah’s approach to meeting the vow. He asks God to assist them both in fulfilling it (v.23).

After weaning Samuel, Hannah was faithful to fulfil her vow to God, and returned to the Temple with the boy (v.24). She also came with the gifts traditionally required, but in greater measure.

According to Numbers 15, when fulfilling a vow to God you were to come with a young bull and measures of fine flour and wine. Hannah is diligent in fulfilling this requirement, but also shows her great thankfulness to God by providing three times what is required (v.24. Many translations translate the verse as a “3 year old bull” for consistency with verse 25 which speaks of one bull, but three bulls is an alternative rendering and consistent with the greater measures of flour and wine provided.)

After the obligatory sacrifices, Hannah and Elkanah brought Samuel to Eli (v.25). Hannah reminded Eli of their previous interaction, his blessing on her vow, and how she had now come to give back to God what God had given her – their son (vv.26-8). From that day, Samuel served and worshipped God in the Temple (v.28).

In Hannah and Elkanah we see a godly couple focused on worshipping God and giving to him what was owed. They were consistent in their pattern of worship, and they were committed to their vows. They model to us how we ought to live our lives; focused on God.

They were also careful to ensure that Samuel would be old enough and prepared enough to serve God, rather than leaving him before he was physically ready. For us parents, this is a model of behaviour for us. While our kids will probably not be Epoch-defining prophets like Samuel was, we still desire for them to serve God in whatever way he calls them, and they cannot do this if not properly prepared.

But they were also models of thankfulness. They did not begrudgingly give Samuel back to avoid a whack from God, but did so with joy. We see this in how they gave three times what was required, a great sacrifice; and how they presented Samuel to Eli, to serve God.

All of what we have comes from God. It is fitting to devote our lives and possessions back to God, for his service. Not because of what we might get out of it, but because we are giving back with thanks for what we have already received, and what it promises for the future.




1 Samuel 1:1-20: Comfort for the Hurt

Read 1 Samuel 1:1-20

Sometimes life is not fair. You have many things that people think should make you happy, but not the one thing you desire. The harsh words bear down on you, but the support you receive is not comfort. Where do you turn? Only God can provide comfort, and God shows us that he is the one who brings comfort and healing for the hurt.

The Book of 1 Samuel begins with an account of Samuel’s birth. The nature of the tale makes it clear that God is going to act in a special way through Samuel, to right the wrongs of Israel as they descended into barbarism in the time of the Judges. That story begins in God’s goodness to a godly but infertile woman, Hannah.

Hannah was the wife of Elkanah, a “certain man” from a township of Ephraim’s lands (v.1). Elkanah was a man of note and substance. We know this because his lineage is spelt out (v.1), and because he was able to afford two wives (v.2).

Two wives was not normal, but sometimes a social necessity. In Elkanah’s station, having heirs to inherit his status and fortune was important. Unfortunately, Hannah had no children (v.2), because God had closed her womb (v.5). 

This was a socially disastrous situation, leaving aside the terrible sadness that comes with infertility. It was associated with God’s curse for covenant unfaithfulness (Deut. 28) and so assumed that those without children were under God’s curse. Further, as we see with Ruth, a lack of children to provide for you later in life was disastrous in those days. So Elkanah married another woman, Peninnah, who bore him children (v.2).

As with Jacob’s example with Rachel and Leah, it seems this caused considerable family turmoil. Elkanah loved Hannah, probably more than Peninnah. Yet Peninnah was the one who bore children, not Hannah. Each wife had what the other wanted.

Elkanah was a godly man, and Hannah a godly woman. Each year the family would go to the tabernacle which was located at Shiloh to worship God (v.3). In the days of the Judges, this set them apart. Even as we shall see the rot was firmly set in the family of Eli the High Priest.

Elkanah’s love for Hannah is shown in his providing a double portion of the thank offering sacrifices to Hannah, while Peninnah and kids received a single portion (v.5). Peninnah’s jealousy for Hannah’s belovedness led to goading about her childlessness, year after year (vv.6-7). Standing in the presence of God was not enough to birth compassion in Peninnah’s heart. It was all too much to bear.

Not even Elkanah’s hamfisted attempt at comfort, suggesting she did not need kids because she had him, healed the hurt (v.8). (Not that I am a Love Doctor or a great husband, but perhaps if he suggested that he loved her more than ten sons, it might have been more comforting?)

The sadness sent Hannah to the only place of comfort – to God. Hannah’s sobbing prayers in the temple led her to vow to dedicate her child to God, if only he would give her one (vv.9-11).

Eli, the High Priest, who let his sons get away with murder, still seemed to dislike misbehaviour in the sanctuary, and misinterpreted Hannah’s anguish for drunkenness (vv.12-14).

But his rebuke was met with the soft words of a heart “pouring out [her] soul before the LORD” (v.15), bringing her “anxiety and vexation” to God (v.16).

Eli’s accusation instead turned to blessing, as he encouraged her to go in peace and prayed that God would answer her request (v.17). Hannah went away comforted, her face no longer sad (v.18).

The next day, the family worshipped then returned home (v.19). Elkanah and Hannah were intimate, and God remembered Hannah (v.19, cf. v.11). A boy named Samuel was born, because God heard Hannah (v.20).

Where do we go when we suffer hurt? Where do we encourage others to go when they suffer pain? The only place of true comfort is the one Hannah sought. Pouring out our anxieties and sadness to God. God is able to hear and to bear our pain in a way none of us, certainly no bumbling husbands(!), are able.

The sadness and misfortune of others is not an opportunity to hurt them more, as Peninnah did, even if it is to cover up for our own hurt. Such behaviour is not consistent with a heart that seeks God. Instead, it is an opportunity for us to encourage them to pour their burdens on Christ, the refuge of the weary soul.

We do not know the reasons for the pain we go through. How it might shape us, or perhaps if it may be made whole in this life or the next. But God is the one who brings comfort for the hurt, as he did with Hannah, so he might do wonders in Israel, and point them to their true and coming king, Jesus Christ.



Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 4: A Servant is Born

Read Ruth 4

Christmas is a time when we reflect on God’s goodness to us in sending Jesus, our Redeemer, to dwell with us. Jesus, though our great king, was born and lived his life as a servant. Through Jesus’ birth, God’s redemption plan for sinners headed towards its climax as a baby rested in a lowly manger in Bethlehem.

In the book of Ruth we have seen the story of God’s goodness shown to Ruth and Naomi. In Ruth 4, this story is completed as Boaz ensures that Naomi and Ruth are cared for by fulfilling the role of redeemer, and providing (with Ruth) a son to carry on the family line. Yet the final verses demonstrate how this story fits into God’s redemption plan, and ultimately leads to the birth of a greater servant and redeemer for us all, Jesus.

True to his promise to Ruth at the threshing floor the night before (3:13), Boaz went to the town gate the next morning to ensure a resolution for Ruth and Naomi (v.1). This was the place for deals and commerce. There, Boaz summoned the city elders and nameless closer redeemer to do business, politely referred to as “friend” in our translations but literally Mr “so-and-so” (vv.1-2).

Once they were gathered, Boaz raised the subject of Naomi and the land which she had inherited from her deceased husband and sons (v.3). Naomi needed to sell the right to use this land to raise money on which to live, since she could not raise crops on it herself, so was Mr So-and-so interested in purchasing the land as redeemer or was it free for Boaz to buy? (vv.3-4).

This sounded like the Deal of the Decade, so Mr. So-and-so quickly agreed. But then Boaz pointed out that the deal came with “Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance” (v.5).

Suddenly the Deal of the Decade sounded like a dud, since Mr. So-and-so would have to support Ruth, Naomi, any children born to Ruth to carry on Elimelech’s line, and see no benefit to his own children (v.6).

Unlike Mr. So-and-so who only believed in charity at a profit, Boaz believed in self-sacrifice for God and his people, so he took the right of redemption from Mr. So-and-so, bought Naomi’s land, and agreed to marry Ruth despite the personal financial cost to himself (vv.7-10).

For this act, the elders and bystanders at the gate praised Boaz and blessed him and Ruth, that they may be parents of a great multitude of descendants (vv.11-12). After this, Boaz married Ruth and, sure enough, a child was born (v.13). While Ruth had remained childless for ten years, married to Mahlon in Moab, God gave her a child to Boaz in the Land of Promise.

However, this was not just Ruth’s son, but also a descendant for Naomi (v.14). Through Boaz, Naomi’s loss was redeemed and restored with the arrival of a son to inherit the family land and carry on the family line. Further, in her old age this son would be able to care for Naomi, ensuring her health and security (v.15). All this from a gentile Moabitess who turned out to be worth seven sons in value, through her faith in God.

As the grandson sat on Naomi’s lap, emptiness became fullness (v.17). Obed, “a servant”, was given to make whole Naomi, who was bitter (“Mara”) no longer.

Yet one final twist remains in this story. Obed had a son in time, named Jesse. Jesse in turn had sons, one of whom would be a king after God’s own heart, named David (v.17). This is confirmed in the genealogy of vv.18-20, which draws our eyes to Matthew 1, and the birth of another servant and redeemer; Jesus.

In Ruth 3 we saw that Boaz was a redeemer for Ruth and Naomi, and a type of Christ our redeemer. In Ruth 4 we see this play out in a way which nobody in that book could have expected.

Boaz was not like Mr. So-and-so, motivated only by what was in it for him. Boaz was motivated by love of God and love of God’s people, willing to sacrifice and count the cost to himself for the sake of Naomi and Ruth.

In the same way, Christ was not motivated by what was in it for himself but took “the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7). Christ was willing to sacrifice his eternal glory and riches, and count the cost in his life and his death to redeem us, God’s people, from our sins and bring fullness where there was only the bitterness and emptiness that comes from sin and rebellion against God.

Just as in Ruth 4, a servant baby, Obed, was born in Bethlehem to advance God’s salvation plan, so too at Christmas we rejoice that another servant baby, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem to advance God’s salvation plan.

Merry Christmas everyone.



Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 3: Seeking a Redeemer

Read Ruth 3

Life is not always black and white. We live in a world where through naivety or bad advice, we sometimes find ourselves in morally dubious situations. Yet despite this, as the Scriptures attest there are ways we can behave which are upright and bring glory to God, as we seek after our redeemer.

In Ruth 3, Naomi places Ruth and Boaz in a questionable and morally dubious situation where things could have gone very wrong. As Ruth sought a Redeemer at Naomi’s prodding, Boaz and Ruth both behaved in a way which upheld their honour, demonstrated their love of God, and demonstrates God’s love towards us.

After Ruth’s interaction with Boaz in chapter 2, a number of weeks continued to pass as Ruth gleaned Boaz’s fields (2:23). While the initial conversation between Ruth and Boaz seemed promising, the weeks drew on. Naomi may have thought that things needed to be brought to a head.

Naomi had taken to heart the need to ensure that her daughter-in-law, who had given up her old life for Naomi and for God, found “rest” through marriage (v.1). However, Ruth was tainted by association from her Moabite background (which implied immorality), so many Israelites would have viewed her with suspicion.

Naomi suggested that Ruth press the issue with Boaz, who held the status of Redeemer for Naomi (v.2). She told Ruth to wash herself, apply perfume, walk (at night!) to Boaz’s threshing floor, and lie down next to him as he slept in the threshing floor (protecting the harvest; vv.3-5).

These instructions are extremely ambiguous, especially as phrases like uncovering feet can be a Hebrew euphemism. Perhaps Naomi was being deliberately ambiguous in her suggestions, or perhaps acting out of desperation. Nevertheless, this placed Ruth in a tricky situation as she followed Naomi’s instructions (vv.6-7).

The night had gone well, with feasting and merriment, and Boaz lay down to sleep. But midnight came and his sleep was disturbed, perhaps by the cool air now blowing on his exposed legs. He was startled as he reached over to pull the blanket back down, and “behold, a woman lay at his feet!” (v.8)

Boaz immediately asked who this woman was (v.9). However, while things could have descended into a night of passion, Ruth made clear her intentions stating “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer” (v.9). Ruth was after a husband, not a dalliance. Covering her with the blanket was an ancient custom equivalent to an engagement ring.

Strictly speaking, Boaz was not legally required to do anything. He could have taken advantage of the situation. Instead, Boaz acted honourably, blessing her for seeking him rather than a younger man, and indicating he was willing to pay the cultural and financial price of marrying Ruth and supporting Naomi, despite the taint of marrying a foreigner (vv.10-11).

One complexity remained; Boaz was not Naomi’s closest relative, another would have the first claim before Boaz could do as he was willing (vv.12-13). One way or another, Naomi and Ruth would be redeemed.

To protect her reputation, Boaz instructed her to sleep until near morning (where she was safe) and then he sent her home, before dawn revealed Ruth and Boaz in a potentially compromising situation (v.14). Boaz sent Ruth away, but again with a substantial gift of 35 kg of barley (v.15).

When she returned home, Naomi wanted to know whether Ruth was truly the one through whom God would bless and redeem her, or a nobody she had falsely pinned her hopes in (v.16). Her return with her account and the large gift made clear of Boaz’s intentions to redeem Ruth and Naomi from their situation (vv.16-17), something which would be settled one way or another very soon (v.18).

While not the primary point of this passage, this passage is written in a way that reminds us that we often find ourselves in potentially morally dubious situations. The text makes clear that this encounter could have ended very differently, but Ruth and Boaz were upright and behaved in a way which glorified God.

We too in life will find ourselves in these situations, not always of our own making. As with Ruth and Boaz, we honour God by behaving appropriately and not taking the opportunity to indulge in sin.

The uprightness of their acts reflected their faith in God, and God’s overwatch of events. God intended to redeem Ruth and Naomi, and ordered events for their good not ill. God does so today, too.

Ultimately, Boaz is a redeemer and a type of Jesus, our redeemer from sin and death. Boaz risked his reputation by his willingness to marry Ruth, and assumed cost to himself which he did not legally have to.

Likewise, Jesus did not have to save us. But he freely took the cost of death on the Cross, and accepted the taint to his reputation by associating with all types of sinners, because his redemption of us brings glory to God.



Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 2: Kindness and Generosity

Read Ruth 2

Often when we hit rock bottom we are caught up in our sadness and bitterness at our situation that we feel God has abandoned us. That, or we fail to see the signs that God is working for our good until it stares us in the face.

In Ruth 2, God starts to show Naomi his covenant love and goodness through that same covenant love shown to Ruth. A series of “coincidences” show that God is in control and providing Ruth and Naomi what they lack. It reminds us that God does so for us too, especially with what we lack the most.

In Israel there were laws which enabled the poor to gather food on which to survive, provided they were willing to work for it (Deut. 24:19). Ruth and Naomi had arrived in Bethlehem right at the start of the barley harvest (1:22).

Naomi appears to be caught up in her bitterness, since she was likely still young enough to work. But Ruth had learned of these laws and asked Naomi if she could glean, which Naomi agreed to (v.2).

By “coincidence” Ruth found herself gleaning in the field of Boaz, a relative of Naomi and a righteous man (vv.1,3-4).

Upon arriving in the fields, Boaz asked after Ruth, wanting to know where she came from (“whose” not “who”, v.5). The supervisor explained she was a Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi, who had been working hard! (vv.6-7)

Boaz generously offered Ruth more than required under the Law. He offered her his provision and protection through his workers, encouraging her to glean in his field and even drink from the water for his workers (vv.8-9).

This was probably the first kind thing Ruth had experienced, as a suspect outsider from Moab (v.10). It is likely that Ruth would have been looked at with suspicion, if not thinly veiled hostility. Yet Boaz is clear that his kindness is because of her kindness to Naomi, and that she had sacrificed her past to follow God (vv.11-13).

The kindness went further. Boaz fed Ruth from the meal prepared for him and his workers, and invited her to glean in the middle of the field, and instructed his workers to “drop” extra barley for her! (vv.14-16) Ruth went from a distrusted foreigner with an empty stomach to treated as if a fellow-Israelite, fed until satisfied with leftovers, and deliberately blessed with more than required.

No wonder that Naomi was shocked when Ruth returned home (vv.18-19). After a day of gleaning, Ruth returned home with an ephah of barley (v.17). That is, about 20 kilograms. That is at least a month’s worth of food in one day!

Ruth’s haul had an impact on Naomi’s hard heart. Upon hearing that it was Boaz who had been so generous to both Ruth and Naomi in their situation, she proclaimed “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” (v.20)

Two things stand out. First, Naomi asked God to bless Boaz. While this could be written off as pious language, that she means it is clear because secondly she proclaims that God’s covenant kindness has been shown to her and Ruth! God is not out to get her for her past sinfulness in heading to Moab for greener pastures.

Naomi advised Ruth that Boaz held a role of kinsman redeemer (v.20), who was one obliged to ensure that relatives were not sold into slavery and in certain circumstances to marry a widow to provide an heir to the deceased man’s inheritance (cf. Lev. 25, Deut. 25). She advised Ruth to take up Boaz’s advice and stay near to one who, it seemed, God was working through to bless them after all (vv.21-2).

This passage should remind us that behind various “coincidences” in life, God is working. Ruth happened to turn up at Boaz’s fields. Boaz happened to be both God-fearing, and a family relative of Naomi’s. But God was directing Ruth’s paths. Boaz’s generosity was God’s generosity worked out in their lives.

Through Boaz, God was providing generously the food that Ruth and Naomi needed to live. He was showing his goodness and kindness to those who are part of God’s People, even when (in Naomi’s case) there was little thankfulness directed toward God.

This is the same God that we serve, who is able to supply our every need (Phil. 4:19). Of course, what we need and want are not the same thing, but God generously provides what we lack through a variety of means, including through the hands of his servants in the Church.

Of course, while Ruth and Naomi lacked food, there was one thing they needed more. A redeemer. In time, God would bless and fill their lives in greater measure. In the fullness of time, God did so for us all by sending Jesus to redeem us from our debt to sin and provide us with a beautiful inheritance.

God’s kindness and generosity is more than we deserve.



Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 1:6-22 – Responses to Ruin

Read Ruth 1:6-22

When bad things happen, there are three ways as professing Christians we can react. Firstly, we can abandon the faith and go to some form of paganism. Secondly, we can become embittered and angry towards God. Thirdly, we can cling to God and trust in him to provide, even come what may.

All three responses to ruin appear in Ruth 1. Naomi embraces bitterness, Orpah embraces her old gods, and Ruth embraces Naomi and Naomi’s God, despite her position as an outsider in Israel. This passage calls us to embrace Ruth’s approach, and reminds us that even though we might have a Naomi-like approach when things go wrong, God is still working in Christ for our good; one day, by faith, we may realise it.

With Naomi’s husband and sons dead, and nobody to care for her or her two daughters-in-law, Naomi was in a desperate situation. But word reached Moab that God had blessed Israel again with plenty, so Naomi resolved to head home and rely on the charity of her relatives (vv.6-7).

As she left, Naomi encouraged her two daughters-in-law to return to their own families where she prayed they would find husbands to support them (vv.8-9). Clearly their shared grief and loss bound them together, because they wept together, and both daughters initially claimed a desire to return with Naomi to Bethlehem (vv.9-10).

However, Naomi insisted otherwise. She had no sons to give them, and even if she remarried and bore sons, they would have to wait many years for them to come of age (vv.11-13). As far as Naomi was concerned, God had acted in judgement against her (v.13).

Orpah listened to her mother-in-law’s advice, weighed up the pros of staying in the land she knew with its green fields and family connections versus the cons, and returned home to her family and her pagan gods (v.14). From there, she passed out of history. She may have remarried, and had children. But she did not have a saving relationship with God.

Ruth clung to Naomi, like a husband should cling to his wife (Gen 2:24), and refused to leave her. Ruth’s commitment to Naomi was a covenant commitment. A wholehearted commitment. She refused to follow Orpah back to her family and their gods (cf. v.15).

Instead, Ruth proclaimed that “where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you” (vv.16-17).

Ruth knew that leaving her homeland for one that was suspicious of outsiders, much less Moabites, was risky. But she was willing to because she believed that Naomi’s God would provide. Naomi’s God was her God, too.

At this Naomi stopped trying to convince Ruth (v.18). But Naomi was not exactly pleased or blessed by this expression of devotion to her and faith in God. Because while Naomi was returning home, it was not with a contrite heart.

When they reached Bethlehem and Naomi was recognised and the town was stirred by her arrival and that of a foreigner with her (likely with suspicious eyes at the latter). But Naomi’s response to recognition was not gladness but bitterness, reflected in her request they call her Mara (which means “bitter”, vv.19-20).

Naomi’s heart was bitter and angry towards God. While she had returned to her home, it was not out of covenant loyalty but practicality. Here, she could survive on charity. But she did not presume God would bless her again.

Despite her feelings, God was not done with Naomi. They had returned to Bethlehem, and the barley harvest approached (v.22).

Here in this passage are three responses to ruin. Apostasy, anger, and appropriation. The first two lead nowhere, but appropriating God’s goodness through faith leads to life. 

God would one day bless bitter Naomi, through faithful Ruth. Outsider to God’s covenant promises, yet who acquired them by faith. Ruth emptied herself of her family and cultural connections and her culture’s pagan deities to identify herself with God’s People, with Naomi, and with Naomi’s God who she believed could provide a future for her. As it happened with Ruth then, it does and will happen today.

Like Ruth, we appropriate salvation through identifying ourselves with Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. By trusting in God, we become part of God’s covenant people, the only place where salvation is found.

All of us at one point in life face this moment of choice – will we choose apostasy, anger, or appropriate Christ when bad times come? Will we love those who are bitter towards God, sacrificing ourselves that they too may find joy in appropriating Christ in their own lives?

God was still working in Naomi’s life. By God’s grace, through the Gospel, he is still working in our lives too. If you are more Mara than Ruth, hang in there.