You Can Read the Bible Guided Podcast

Yesterday we read about Rahab, and today we’ll read about her son Boaz and his wife Ruth. The tales of these three characters reveal a lot about faith, faithfulness, and God’s family. We often want to put those people with prominent positions in the Bible up on pedestals. We want to turn them into faith heroes that we can strive to imitate. I want to caution us against doing that, not only because we should seek to imitate Christ who is the real hero of the biblical narrative, but also because when we focus so much of our attention on the characters, we miss the setting.

The story of Ruth and Boaz takes place in little Bethlehem. The latter chapters of the book of Judges also feature Bethlehem as a point of contrast. The book of Judges ends by saying that everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Israel was an absolute mess. Seemingly nobody followed God’s law, except, as we see in the book of Ruth, the people in Bethlehem.

The law is full of references to the people of God’s joint responsibilities to widows, orphans, and immigrants. One of those laws created what is known as a kinsman redeemer. The kinsman redeemer would, if his married brother died without any sons, marry his brother’s widow. Doing so, the kinsman redeemer would redeem his brother’s land and provide a son to carry on his brother’s name and inheritance. Without a kinsman redeemer, the widow would be left with nothing, and her family would cease to exist.

In the book of Ruth, Boaz, relative of Naomi’s husband, becomes the kinsman redeemer. He redeems the land, marries Ruth, and enables the family to continue. Boaz does this by following God’s holy law. This redemption story stands in stark contrast to the violence and anarchy we find in the last chapters of Judges.  

For us, Jesus is our kinsman redeemer. He is our brother by virtue of his full humanity. He took it upon himself to redeem us from death to life. As a result, we in the church, are the bride of Christ, and he is our bridegroom. Jesus fulfilled the law and redeemed us. He joined himself to us, while we impoverished, destitute, and frankly dead in sin. Thanks be to God!

Have you ever felt like an outsider? Have you ever felt like you don’t belong, like you’re a giraffe in a room built for rhinos? Everybody else appears at ease in the room, but to you everything seems like an obstacle. To a lot of people outside of church looking in, it can seem that way too. Everybody on the inside has got it all together, like they were born that way. I’m sure that beneath the surface, everything is probably not all together. The problem is that we don’t often get an opportunity to scratch beneath the surface.

We don’t get to know a whole lot about Rahab. The backstory of Rahab here in Joshua 2 is very thin. We do know that she was an outsider thrice over, because she was a Canaanite, a prostitute, and a woman. Yet, she was invited in. She was grafted into the people of God. Not only did she become part of God’s chosen people, she is part of the family tree of Jesus. Rahab is one of only five women mentioned in the patrilineal genealogy of Jesus recorded in the Matthew’s gospel account.

Rahab is not part of the people of God or an important part of Jesus’ family tree because she was heroic, honorable, or noble. Like Judah and the rest of us, Rahab was a sinful saint. Like us, Rahab the Canaanite prostitute had a role in God’s grand story of redemption. She lived out the rest of her life with Israel and wound up as one of Jesus’ great-great-great-grandmothers.

Like Rahab, we have been invited into God’s grand story of redemption. We too are grafted into the people of God. As Rahab came to look forward to the coming of the Messiah, so we wait expectantly for his return. Come Lord Jesus!  

Have you ever felt like an outsider? Have you ever felt like you don’t belong, like you’re a giraffe in a room built for rhinos? Everybody else appears at ease in the room, but to you everything seems like an obstacle. To a lot of people outside of church looking in, it can seem that way too. Everybody on the inside has got it all together, like they were born that way. I’m sure that beneath the surface, everything is probably not all together. The problem is that we don’t often get an opportunity to scratch beneath the surface.

We don’t get to know a whole lot about Rahab. The backstory of Rahab here in Joshua 2 is very thin. We do know that she was an outsider thrice over, because she was a Canaanite, a prostitute, and a woman. Yet, she was invited in. She was grafted into the people of God. Not only did she become part of God’s chosen people, she is part of the family tree of Jesus. Rahab is one of only five women mentioned in the patrilineal genealogy of Jesus recorded in the Matthew’s gospel account.

Rahab is not part of the people of God or an important part of Jesus’ family tree because she was heroic, honorable, or noble. Like Judah and the rest of us, Rahab was a sinful saint. Like us, Rahab the Canaanite prostitute had a role in God’s grand story of redemption. She lived out the rest of her life with Israel and wound up as one of Jesus’ great-great-great-grandmothers.

Like Rahab, we have been invited into God’s grand story of redemption. We too are grafted into the people of God. As Rahab came to look forward to the coming of the Messiah, so we wait expectantly for his return. Come Lord Jesus!  

One of the reasons why Christians benefit from reading, remembering, and following the Ten Commandments is simply because they lead to shalom and flourishing. These commands lead to the good life. It is good to remember that. They are neither arbitrary nor capricious. They help us. When the Lord says in verse 29 that He wishes we had a heart to keep these commandments, He says it is so that things would go well with us.

Of course, we never follow them fully. Jesus was the only person who did. In Matthew 5, Jesus told the crowd to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect. In Matthew 5 through 7, He expounds on what keeping these commands entails, and it’s a lot. He does not say that these commands are outdated and irrelevant. He also does not make these commands any harder to keep than they always have been.

Instead, He reminds us that He is not getting rid of this law but fulfilling it. Jesus, the perfect human, kept the commandments we did not keep. He reverses the Fall and breaks the curse. He does what we do not and cannot do.

He does all this for us. Through our union with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, we become law keepers as well. This is the one Christmas gift that keeps on giving throughout our lives in Christ. Thanks be to God!

One of the reasons why Christians benefit from reading, remembering, and following the Ten Commandments is simply because they lead to shalom and flourishing. These commands lead to the good life. It is good to remember that. They are neither arbitrary nor capricious. They help us. When the Lord says in verse 29 that He wishes we had a heart to keep these commandments, He says it is so that things would go well with us.

Of course, we never follow them fully. Jesus was the only person who did. In Matthew 5, Jesus told the crowd to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect. In Matthew 5 through 7, He expounds on what keeping these commands entails, and it’s a lot. He does not say that these commands are outdated and irrelevant. He also does not make these commands any harder to keep than they always have been.

Instead, He reminds us that He is not getting rid of this law but fulfilling it. Jesus, the perfect human, kept the commandments we did not keep. He reverses the Fall and breaks the curse. He does what we do not and cannot do.

He does all this for us. Through our union with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, we become law keepers as well. This is the one Christmas gift that keeps on giving throughout our lives in Christ. Thanks be to God!

Whenever I read through this famous chapter of young Joseph being betrayed by his older brothers, I usually focus on Joseph. During Advent, let’s instead reflect on the fact that Jesus’ family tree runs not through Joseph but through Judah. While Judah does make a suggestion that would save Joseph’s life, his suggestion is to betray his kid brother and his father for money.

In this story, Judah reminds me of Judas, who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. As the subsequent chapters of Genesis make abundantly clear, Judah is no hero. Nor is Judah an unadulteratedly evil villain. Instead, Judah is probably a lot like us. He is selfish. He wants money and status. He wants to get rid of frustrations. He wants pleasure without responsibility.

The hero in all of these Bible stories is God. When Joseph forgives Judah and his brothers years later in Egypt, Joseph tells his brothers and us that although we sinfully do the wrong things, God works it all out for good. This does not excuse us.

Instead, we await the coming of Christ during Advent, because He worked things out for our forgiveness. Through that forgiveness, all things are reconciled. During Advent we remember the forgiveness we have received through the long promised Messiah and expectantly await His return.

Our hope that all things will be restored is not based on the belief that we can accomplish reconciliation and restoration on our own. That hope would be in vain. Our hope is in the Lion of Judah.

Whenever I read through this famous chapter of young Joseph being betrayed by his older brothers, I usually focus on Joseph. During Advent, let’s instead reflect on the fact that Jesus’ family tree runs not through Joseph but through Judah. While Judah does make a suggestion that would save Joseph’s life, his suggestion is to betray his kid brother and his father for money.

In this story, Judah reminds me of Judas, who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. As the subsequent chapters of Genesis make abundantly clear, Judah is no hero. Nor is Judah an unadulteratedly evil villain. Instead, Judah is probably a lot like us. He is selfish. He wants money and status. He wants to get rid of frustrations. He wants pleasure without responsibility.

The hero in all of these Bible stories is God. When Joseph forgives Judah and his brothers years later in Egypt, Joseph tells his brothers and us that although we sinfully do the wrong things, God works it all out for good. This does not excuse us.

Instead, we await the coming of Christ during Advent, because He worked things out for our forgiveness. Through that forgiveness, all things are reconciled. During Advent we remember the forgiveness we have received through the long promised Messiah and expectantly await His return.

Our hope that all things will be restored is not based on the belief that we can accomplish reconciliation and restoration on our own. That hope would be in vain. Our hope is in the Lion of Judah.