Judges 20-21 and Ruth 1-4

For me Judges 19-21 covers one of the most horrific and confusiong stories in the Bible. Sacrifice the wife to save the husband. Cut her dead body into pieces to get the tribes to fight for justice. Then civil war against the tribe of Benjamin. Weeping and praying that fighting is required for justice. When Israel triumphs, they give virgins and promote kidnapping of young girls to satisfy the needs of the surviving men of the tribe of Benjamin. The only sense comes in the last sentence of the book of Judges which has been written several times in the book. "In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes." These stories may reflect what happened, but may in reality not reflect what God desires. As I look at these scriptures through the lens of Christ, I question how love, mercy, and justice is protrayed. Would Jesus approve or disapprove? The answer for me is that these stories tell us how far from God humans will wonder, how horrible people can be when they do 'what right in their own eyes.' Maybe this book serves as an example of the ways we should not act and as a warning to live a life acceptable to God.


Ruth is a wonderful story of family dynamics in a positive way. The mother-in-law who accepts the love of a daughter-in-law and helps her fit into strange new customs. A daughter-in-law who leaves the known to go to the unknown. Ruth states "Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people; and your God my God." Complete love and trust bind these women together. Trusting in the God of Naomi's people turns their sadness into joy. Because the rules of society have changed since Biblical times some of the story is lost to modern understanding without careful contextual reading, but the respect for each other and for Boaz the kinsman serve as examples even today. We are introduced to gleaning, the intentional practice of leaving part of crop in the field for the poor, and the practice of redeeming of family & property by the next of kin. In the New Interpreter's Bible the commentary states that the words "redeem" and "redeemer" are used 20 times in the 85 verses of the book. I find this interesting because Ruth, this Moabite outsider, is the mother of Obed, who fathers Jesse, who fathers King David, which is the lineage of our Redeemer Jesus. This story is set in Bethlehem where Jesus' birth stories are set. The Holy Redeemer comes from a line which breathes redemption and acceptance of all people. Insiders and outsiders, poor and rich, trust and faithfulness, fill this story of redemption that is part of the ancestry of Jesus.