The Chapter-A-Day thread. (3)

Judges 7:
Gideon and the 300.
So God tells Gideon that he has too many warriors, and He whittles it down again and again, until there are 300 warriors. God was, in essence, saying to Gideon, that it was HE Who would be the Defeat-er of Gideon's enemies, and THAT is why Gideon would have only 300 men. The fact that Gideon agreed to it, indicates and demonstrates his faith and trust in God, and it also gives us a glimpse of WHY God chose Gideon for this mission.

He TRUSTED God.

brinny said:

Judges 7:

So God tells Gideon that he has too many warriors, and He whittles it down again and again, until there are 300 warriors. God was, in essence, saying to Gideon, that it was HE Who would be the Defeat-er of Gideon's enemies, and THAT is why Gideon would have only 300 men. The fact that Gideon agreed to it, indicates and demonstrates his faith and trust in God, and it also gives us a glimpse of WHY God chose Gideon for this mission.

He TRUSTED God.

Click to expand...

I love the character Gideon very much and the present day 'Gideons' who also trust and obey the Word of God

quietbloke said:

I love the character Gideon very much and the present day 'Gideons' who also trust and obey the Word of God

Click to expand...

I do too. I LOVE their Bibles they distribute freely. AND what's written in the beginning of the Bibles about "the mind of God", and the hymns, etc.

Judges 8:
King? Who, me?
(Gideon refuses to be king. And it was counted unto him as righteousness.)
....
Now it gets very interesting....the Israelites ask Gideon to be their king (have they done lost their MINDS, again? What is GOD, chopped liver?), and to "rule" over them (they've just managed to "insult" God, yet one mo' time).

Check out his response:
....
"Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you." ~Judges 8:22-23

Judges 9:
A wicked son.
Note: I neglected to mention that Gideon AKA Jerubbaal, died, as recorded in Judges 8:

"And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites." ~Judges 8:32

Now in chapter 9, we enter into, and catch, a glimpse of Gideon's (AKA Jerubbaal) "weakness" (his tragic sin) that bore its "fruit". He had so many wives, and a concubine, that he had 70 sons, from these wives and this concubine. The concubine gave birth to a son named Abimelech, who was very wicked and ambitious. He plots to become king, and he "hires" followers in Shecham, where his mother was from. He goes to his fathers house and slew almost all of his father's sons except the youngest son, Jotham, who hid.

Now there was judgement coming against Abimelech, although he didn't know it, and it was coming in a most "shameful" and "disgraceful" way (at least from the perspective of this culture).

Now Abimelech was attempting to break into a tower where people fled from him and sought refuge. In the midst of his attempting to break into the tower, the most unlikely thing happened. A woman was on the top of the tower, and she took part of a millstone and threw it down on his head. It hit him, but he was still conscious, and rather than it be known that he was slain by a "woman", he told his armor bearer to run a sword through him. So his armor bearer did.

And thus Abimelech died.

A most disgraceful and tragic death.

Judges 10:
When God says "No".
Uh-oh.
...
Now there were more judges raised up to defend Israel, and they are barely mentioned, but just briefly noted that they died. THEN lo and behold, Israel sins BIG TIME against God.

Consequently they are oppressed for eighteen years by their enemies. They cry out to God, confessing their sins, yet something earth-shaking happens.

God says this, in verses 13 and 14:

"Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation."

Uh-oh.

This is baaaaaaad news.

Reminds me of this:

"And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man,," ~Genesis 6:3

Judges 11:

So now we have Jephthah as judge, a mighty man of valor. Yet he was rejected and thrown out of his father's house by his brothers, because his mother was a harlot. They treated him abominably and were determined that he would not receive any of their father's inheritance. So he goes to abide in Tob.

As time progressed, however, the Ammonites made war against Israel. Now ironically the elders of Gilead came to find Jephthah to ask him to be their Captain, and to fight the Ammonites. And he confronted them about how he had been treated. The bottom line is, why SHOULD he help them? In response they tell him that they will make him their head and captain over them.

So God is with Jephthah, but Jephthah makes a vow to God:

"Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands." ~Judges 11:29-32

This vow was tragic, because when he returned home, his only and beloved daughter ran to greet him. Now there is some difference of opinion as to the interpretation of his vow meant, and my inclination is to agree with a beloved Bible teacher of mine, who says that the vow, regarding his daughter would mean that he dedicates his daughter to God, and she will remain a virgin and never marry, and thus not carry on Jephthah's bloodline.

His hasty vow was tragic. In thinking on this, it was also not necessary.

All that was needed was that He trust God.

Judges 12:

Ephraim accuses Jephthah.

Are you kidding me? The men of Ephraim actually come to Jephthah THREATENING him, to burn his HOUSE DOWN???!!! AFTER Jephthah is the one who championed Israel and fought against the enemy, and prevailing? AFTER they had the gall to ask him to, and AFTER he was thrown out of his father's house?

Seriously?

How utterly DESPICABLE is THAT???!!!!

So Jephthah warred against Ephraim and prevailed against them:

"Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand." ~Judges 12:4-6

Jephthah then judged Israel 6 years after defeating Ephraim, and then died:

"And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead." ~Judges 12:7

There were 4 judges who came and went after Jephthah and they died.

Judges 13:
Samson is born.
(God's mercy, yet one mo' time, to Israel)

Good grief!!!! So the Israelites did evil in the sight of God again!!!! AND consequently, God hands them over to their enemies, the Philistines, for 40 years!!!!

WILL they EVER learn???!!!

Yet God has mercy on the Israelites once again, in raising up another judge, a deliverer for Israel.

Well now we see where the Angel of the Lord appears to Manoah, Zorah's wife, who is barren. And He tells her that she will bear a son, and He gave her instructions as to how to deddicate him to the LOrd and be a Nazarite to God.

And Manoah bore a son, and named him Samson.

Judges 14:
Samson slays a lion.
(With his bare hands, no less.)

Here we have Samson all grown up. God was with him mightily here in verses 5-6:

"Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done."



Comment/testimony from a reader on verses 8-9:

"Samson was a Nazerene. Eating the honey from the carcass of the lion he killed earlier was a sin. Nazerene men were not allow to consume unclean food or drink. Samson opened the floodgates of hell by eating honey. This is much more than a story about a haircut and slaying philistines and chasing women. I was once a meth addict, now I am healed. It 's not only the meth I must stay away from, but I must be AWARE of the sweet honey satan tempts me with. The devil uses the smallest of sins to lead us back down the road to destruction. Also reference Proverbs ch. 5. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Jesus heals! Jesus saves! Jesus loves! Hallelujah!" ~Anthony Sims

Link to comment---> JUDGES CHAPTER 14 KJV

Judges 15:
Hey, where's my wife?
Ok, so Samson comes to see his wife, but her father wouldn't "let" him, and actually had the audacity to tell Samson that he went ahead and "gave" his wife to someone else (has he done lost his MIND??!!), and then, if that was not bad enough, he offered Samson his younger daughter instead.

Seriously???!!!

What IS this? Some kind of "consolation prize"?

Ugh!!!

So Samson is outraged, and in his outrage, begins to attack the Philistines, and when the Philistines inquire as to why, they became outraged that Samson's father in law had "set Samson off" and went and burned Samson's wife and his father in law. (This woman had a downright fool of a father...good grief, he was the very "death of her", wasn't he?)

Uh-oh, when Samson heard this, his vengeance ran hot against the Philistines, and there was a great slaughter. And consequently the Philistines are looking to trap/capture Samson and do away with him (now just HOW are they gonna do that? Well they're gonna bully/coerce the men of Judah to help them), and, in essence, force the men of Judah to help them to capture Samson, or "else". So Samson, knowing this, and in order to save the men of Judah from the Philistines, and to get them off the "hot seat", allowed them to bind him and take him to the Philistines.

Oh yeah, THIS is gonna work...i mean they REALLY got him NOW, right?

Somebody give them their last rites. Cuz y'all just signed your own death warrants.

I mean, seriously?

What do y'all want written on yer tombstones?

Cuz there's gonna be a whole lot of 'em.



"Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men." ~Judges 15:11-16

Judges 16:

The downfall of Samson.

Now we have the tragic demise of Samson. And it's through a woman he was enamored with, named Delilah, who, as it turned out, was his worst enemy.

She betrayed him in the worse way, after being paid by his enemies, the Philistines, asking him the source of his strength, in order to betray him to the Philistines. And lo and behold, he done lost his mind, He actually TOLD her. Then, the treacherous woman she was, she caused Samson to fall asleep. Then had his hair cut off, and called the Philistines, who took him and put his eyes out and held him in captivity while they celebrated to their god Dagon, that they gave credit to, for Samson's capture. (Isn't this the same Dagon that God made a mockery of at least twice, when the Ark of the Covenant was put in its temple by the Philistines, and God knocked Dagon down a few times, and each time, something broke off of it, until its head fell off?)

They called for Samson to be brought out to be made a mockery of (now here's the thing...they were also in essence saying that THEY triumphed over the God of Israel and mocking God) and when he was brought he stood between two pillars. In the meantime his hair had begun growing out, and God returned his strength to him. Samson asked for the strength to push the pillars apart and bring down the building where all the Philistines were, and to die with them. God granted it. All were destroyed, including Samson.

Samson died a tragic death after judging Israel 20 years.

Judges 17:
What a twisted mess.
...
"God is not the author of confusion" ~I Corinthians 14:33

So there's a man named Micah in mount Ephraim, and his mother goes into a tangent about eleven hundred shekels of silver going missing.

"And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." ~Judges 17:2

So Micah admits to his mother that he is the one who stole it, and from his own mother. (Nice, eh?)

Now here is where it gets even weirder. After Micah admits that he stole it, his mother says:

"And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son." ~Judges 17:2

And just a tidbit about this mother's reaction....she says NOTHING about her own son STEALING, and from HER, his own mother. No WONDER he was like he was. She didn't have any scruples, and neither did he. And she didn't even care if he did. In addition, she had an absolute disregard for the God she said she wanted to "honor". Reminds me of the Prophet and Priest Eli and his blatant oblivion to his own sons abominations and sinning. THIS, in ITSELF, is abhorrent to God, as evidenced by God's judgment on Eli's sons and on Eli and his own tragic end. (This ties in to the "fear of the Lord" BIG TIME. God takes it VERY SERIOUSLY and so should we. Getting back to Eli...he, of all people, as a Priest, should've known this and heeded it.)

And there's even more....do you know WHY she said that? She was going to give it to Micah anyway so that he could do this:

"And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee." ~Judges 17:3

She had already planned to give it to Micah so he could make idols out of it to "honor God".

If that's not bad enough, guess what else happened?

Well see, there's a traveler who happens upon Micah's house. He was seeking shelter, and when Micah finds out that he's a Levite, he "hires" him to be his own personal priest. And here's the "clincher". He thinks that he just bought "favor" with God. In other words, he thinks that God's "favor" is "for sale".

"Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." ~Judges 17:13

This reminds me of the verse about vain imaginings and superstitions that man gets tangled up in:

"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." ~Romans 1:21

By the way, as i read this, i was thinkin' in horror, this is NOT the same Micah as the prophet Micah, is it?

He's not, thank God. Everyone (including me) can breeeeathe a sigh of relief now.

Judges 18:

Huh? Why is a "troll doll" there?

Ok, so there's the tribe of Dan, the Danites. They are on the lookout for land to take as their own, and are conniving for a way to get it.

So they happen upon Micah's house (the guy with the idols and the mother with no scruples - and neither did he). They noticed the Levite and asked what he was doing there, and the Levite said that Micah had "hired" him to be his "priest".

Now the Danites didn't even pick up on the fact that this Levite was "hired" to be a "priest", and now catch this....this "priest" is perfectly content to be in Micah's house, which was a "house of idols", so to speak, and to be a "hired" 'priest'. They might as well have had troll dolls to idolize and worship. It's essentially the same.

Well here's the clincher. The Danites didn't even pick up on any of this, and what was even worse, is that they asked this "hired priest" for God's "guidance".

He basically lied. In addition, both this Levite and the Danites are putting the living God in the category of a "genie in a bottle" or a "magician" to do their bidding, along with superstitions and other "mysticism" and "luck". After all, how much "luck" might one have, if he's got all them idols, and mentions the name of "God" too, eh? That should REALLY bring them "luck", right? Why not stick a rabbits foot in there too, while yer at it? (Same for Micah and his mother).

See? Even Thumper knows how utterly ridiculous that is.



And the Levite goes right along with this absolutely abominable affront to the living God, and tells them that God gave the "go ahead" because He is with them.

After the Danites gather men to wage war against the city they chose, they stopped at Micah's house again, went in and stole the idols, and they stole the Levite priest, to be THEIR hired priest. Now when Micah saw this he confronted the Danites, and they in turn threatened Micah's life. And Micah, seeing that they were mightier than he, skulked back to his house and went inside in utter defeat and humiliation.

Are you seeing a "theme" here starting in Judges 17?

Like "stealing"?

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." ~Galatians 6:7

Judges 19:

Re-visiting "Sodom".

This is one of the most confounding, and perplexing chapters in the entire Bible, to me. Well y'see, there's this thing about some un-named Levite "taking" a concubine. Now what we have throughout the chapter is a switching back n' forth of referring to this Levite's "concubine" and then "wife", and referring to this Levite as her "husband".

So i looked it up. Apparently a "concubine", interchangeably referred to sometimes as a "wife", is a "slave wife" and/or a "wife of lower status" than a "free wife" who had a higher status. A free wife held a greater place of social honor and her children had inheritance rights that were required to be honored. The concubine’s children had no inheritance rights unless they were granted under special circumstances.

So this Levite "took" a concubine. Apparently this concubine played the harlot against her husband, and then left, going back to her father's house, where she stayed for four months.

Then this Levite goes to "fetch" his concubine (he has apparently "forgiven" her?) And when he arrives there, his father in law rejoices to see him (is that possibly because he knew that the husband, by coming there, had "forgiven" his daughter?)

Sooooo now it gets reeeeeally bizarre. The Levite, after staying five days, leaves with his concubine. and as night falls, they turn in to the city of Gibeah to lodge for the night, but there is no place for them to stay. Eventually an old man, just returning from working in the field saw them and invited them to stay with him. And so they did. In the middle of their meal, they heard a loud knocking on the door as if someone was trying to break in. Men had surrounded the house. They demanded to see the man, the Levite, who had gone inside, in order to "know" him:

"Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him." ~Judges 19:22

The old man's response was just as bizarre:

"And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing." ~Judges 19:23-24

Does this remind you of anything else? An exact parallel that has to do with "salt"? (Does "Lot" and his household and his "visitors" ring a bell?)

Just a li'l tidbit....Lot's wife apparently LOVED Sodom, and it grieved her to leave. And apparently that is why she did such a foolish thing as to turn around when God commanded them NOT to. What is MOST interesting, is that she LOVED this place that was soooooo evil and twisted. Not only does this say a lot about Lot's wife, but it says a lot about LOT. What in the world was he doing LIVING there? The ONLY reason he left, is because he was "forced" to?

Seriously?



And guess what happens next?

"But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go." ~Judges 19:25

So she's barely alive and she crawls to the threshold of the house. Her "husband" sees her there, and tells her to get up so they can leave.

Now hold it right there. He first of all, KNEW she had been put out there (isn't HE the one that threw her out there?) and that she had been being horrendously abused all night (he MUST'VE at the very least, HEARD her screams, right? Or NOTICED she was, HELLO, missing?) So he's ready to just go through the front door and leave? Not even a thought about this woman, whether she was dead or alive, but just leave? Well by golly he just threw her to the wolves to save his own hide, eh?

He and the "master of the house" were just as evil as those men, and downright cowardly. They had, in essence, sacrificed this woman to these "sons of Belial" as it were, as a "sacrifice" to their gods, so to speak.

Note: "sons of Belial" is defined as "idolaters" and it is also used as a name of Satan, the personification of all that is evil.

Despicably wicked and evil. And i don't mean just the "sons of Belial", but also the two who "threw her to the wolves", including her very own husband.

Sooo this woman dies, after they had literally thrown her to the wolves and in essence, "sacrificing" this woman to pure evil (a horrendously "savage", "brutal", and evil death, by the way). Her "husband" simply picks her up, puts her over a donkey, and goes home. (NO regret, or sorrow, or repentance, or compassion or concern or caring for her or what she had endured AT ALL).

Guess what happens next?

He cuts her up into 12 pieces, and sends a piece of her to the twelve tribes.

"And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her,together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel." ~Judges 19:29

What a twisted mess.

Judges 19:

The Levite's Concubine.

"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;" ~Pr 24:11

"Speak for those who cannot speak; seek justice for all those on the verge of destruction. " ~Pr 31:8

Judges 20:

The concubine's husband.

He lied.



So there's outrage because of what the concubine's husband said about what happened to his wife, the concubine. Yet, he basically lied. This happened to her BECAUSE he put her out there to be horribly abused non-stop. He KNEW this would happen. His OUTRAGE that this happened is weak and it has no credibility. Outage indeed. The OUTRAGE is that he and the "master of the house" put his wife, the concubine out there in the den of wolves, as it were, as a "sacrifice" for their own safety....to "appease" not only these wicked men, but their "gods" as well. They might as well have joined these wicked men in their temple and joined them in "human sacrifices", because that's exactly what they just did. Cowards.

(And just a tidbit....this ties right into the "fear of the Lord". When one "fears the Lord", they do not fear man. Nor are they cowards. "Fearing the Lord" is the antithesis to "cowardliness".)

Then he goes off on a tangent, cutting his badly abused and dead wife into "pieces", eh? No "burial", no "grieving" no "repentance, nothing. NO honor for this woman. It would've been better for her if he had never shown his face at her father's house. At all.

It would've also been better for all of Israel if he had not.

He started a daggone war.

His pretense at "outrage" about what happened to his wife is despicable. Especially since HE is the one that CAUSED it. She essentially died at HIS hands, not theirs.

Anyhoo, here we go to the outrage that Israel has towards the Benjaminites. So after receiving the "pieces" of this woman's body, there is outrage echoing all over Israel, against the Benjaminites.

Now it gets interesting. The men of Israel are looking for the men of Gibeah that did this, and the Benjaminites "protect" them. (Ok, that's inSANE...they might as well have spit in the men of Israel's faces).

So essentially, the Benjaminites, "protecting" these men, have essentially themselves declared war, so to speak, against the men of Israel, and they have, in essence, defended what these men did, and spit on the corpse of the Levite's wife.

And not only THAT, but the Benjaminites decide to actually "go to war" against the Israelites.

It was SOME bloody battle, actually a few, but the Israelites won it.

And all of this, because this Levite threw his wife (the concubine) out to the wolves.

He KNEW she would die.

And she did.

Horribly.

Judges 21:

The feud.
Or: "Gremlins, left to their own devices".
Or: "My my my how the mighty have fallen".



Sooooooooo.....a feud builds between Israel and the Benjaminites. Now from my perspective, the Benjaminites just KNEW they were big n' bad, y'know, sorta' like Goliath was, with David. Pomposity exuding ev'ry where.

Consequently they got pummeled. Well there IS this verse that applies here, doesn't it?:

"How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!" ~II Samuel 1:25

And this one:

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." ~Pr 16:18

So the Israelites determined that the Benjaminites would never have wives from any of them, and anyone who did allow it would be cursed. Then they're sorry they said it. So you know what they did? They went and "stole" (kidnapped) some virgins to "give" to the Benjaminites to patch things up.

Priceless, eh?

This verse concludes not only this chapter of Judges, but the book of Judges. In addition it sums up the entire book Judges:

"In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." ~Judges 21:25

Now let's take this a bit further. By "king", this really applies to the living God. He had been foolishly rejected as "King" of Israel. Therefore they were "on their own".

In essence, they became like "gremlins", so to speak. And you know what happens to gremlins when left to their own devices, right?

Ruth 1:

God's inexplicable grace.

Here we begin the 8th book of the Old Testament, the book of Ruth. This is, as i read it, a book that very clearly demonstrates God's inexplicable, and unexpected, and surprising grace. He demonstrates this through Ruth, who turned FROM her former life, attachments, and gave it ALL up to cling to the living God that she saw in Naomi, and as she followed Naomi and the God of Naomi, she found something extraordinary:

God's inexplicable grace.

"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:" ~Ruth 1:16

Ruth 2:

Ruth meets her destiny.

What is profound here, and many times overlooked, is the honor and respect that Ruth had for her mother in law, Naomi. In addition, Ruth maintained a "humility" everywhere she went. This is most likely why a prominent man in the community noticed her and was "taken" with her. Another word for this "humility" is "graciousness". It is written all throughout God's Word that those who are humble will be blessed. In addition, it is written that whoever honors their "mother and father" will be blessed. Now Ruth had already embraced her mother in law, Naomi, as her own mother, and she honored her in all things.

This gracious demeanor that was evident in her behavior, and also reflected her heart for God, paved the way for God to open doors of blessings and favor to not only Ruth, but to Naomi as well.

And as Ruth is going about her business, something profound happens.

Lo and behold! This man Boaz notices Ruth.

Now Boaz, as it is written, was a mighty man of wealth. He was also an exceedingly kind and gracious and righteous man of God.

"And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz." ~Ruth 2:1