Morning Musing: Ruth 1:3-5

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“But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.  These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth.  They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Ruth is one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible.  This is for several reasons which unfold over the course of its telling.  It takes place during the same time period as Judges.  And, in the beginning, it figures to be about as dark as its companion narrative. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 7:1

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“But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things.  And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

The story of Achan is an interesting and sad one.  The people were coming off a major victory.  Their first stop on their tour through the land of Canaan had ended with them sacking a significant military outpost in the city of Jericho.  The city was famous for its incredibly high and thick walls.  The walls were so massive that archaeologists today can see in the various layers of rubble around the city where this battle took place.  So, the people are high on a sweet victory, but then things take a turn for the sour.  What happened? Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Judges 21:6-7

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“And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, ‘One tribe is cut off from Israel this day.  What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

You would think that here at the end of the book we would get some kind of a happy ending.  And as this chapter starts, it looks like we might.  The people collectively realize what they have done in nearly completely eliminating the tribe of Benjamin by civil war.  They also consider the gravity of having sworn an oath to the Lord together that they would not give their daughters as wives to the surviving men, thereby guaranteeing their eventually disappearance.  It leaves the reader finally cheering a bit: “Here, now they will finally turn back to the Lord and get back on the right track.”  But, that’s not the kind of book this is. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 19:22

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“As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door.  And they said to the old man, the master of the house, ‘Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

For Israelites who were later being told this story as part of their people’s dark past, these words would have been chilling even before the narrative of what comes next.  This whole situation would have left them shuddering in terror.  This would have been a story you didn’t tell your children, but waited until they were a bit older and could handle it.  Even now, this isn’t somewhere I’d point my boys to read just yet. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Judges 19:12

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“And his master said to him, ‘We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This judgment on the part of the Levite is fraught with irony.  He doesn’t want to stay with these foreigners because of how his party might be received.  Instead, he insists on traveling a bit further at a time of day that was no longer safe for traveling, so that his party could find shelter among their own people.  And yet, when they arrive in Gibeah, all hell breaks loose. Read the rest…