A Change of Pace

We're finally out of the war stories - at least temporarily - and we've read the book of Ruth. Isn't it so amazing how God redeems even the ugliest, bloodiest stories? I was so happy for a break from the gore that I didn't think about how it happened. Wendy pointed out that at this point the Israelites did not have a very good track record of obedience - just the opposite. And if I'm understanding this correctly, the story of Naomi begins with a famine in Israel - which God promised WOULDN'T happen as long as they obeyed. Only a few years later, however, Naomi and Ruth head back into a land of abundance.

What changed?

I don't know exactly. Maybe God was extending grace to them. He does, of course, know the whole story and how it will ultimately end.

But as Wendy pointed out, somebody amongst all of those crazy, irreverent, bloodthirsty, pagan-worshipping Israelites, somebody was teaching God's word. Somebody loved Him. Somebody had "committed themselves wholeheartedly to these commands ..." Somebody was "repeating them again and again to their children," and somebody was "walking about them when [he was] at home and on the road, when [he was] going to bed and when [he was] getting up. (Deut. 6)

Somebody, for all of those yucky generations, was obedient to God and was quietly following His will. How do we know?

Ruth's son Obed was the grandfather of King David. THE King David. The one who wrote tons of Psalms and praised God throughout some really dark times. THAT King David.

So even though Boaz, Ruth's new husband, was a descendant of Rahab, the prostitute, and somewhere back in there was Tarah (SP?) the tricky daughter-in-law, God used them. God really can redeem anything!

If you haven't had the chance to watch Wendy's vlog , check it out!