May 5- It's All In the Name

May 5, 2011


Scripture Readings:
Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42;
Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25


Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22

Congratulations on finishing the book of Judges!  Before we leave this book we will look at the final incident recorded.  When we last studied, the tribe of Benjamin was on the brink of extinction because of their moral decay and God's punishment.  Now the twelve tribes find wives for the 400 men of Benjamin who are living in a cave. Their methods are again questionable.  Women are chattel to be owned by the men, but this insures the continuation of the twelve tribes of Israel.  The book concludes with a statement that is essentially the theme of the book of Judges, "In those days Israel had no king, so the people did what was right in their own eyes."  God forbid that you and I should live our lives doing what is right in our own eyes.


Now we begin the book of Ruth.  Ruth lives during the times of the judges of Israel. It is still a time of disobedience to God. Ruth is a short book of the Bible, but very important in its themes and genealogy.  One of the best ways for us to understand this story is by looking at the meanings of the names in the story.  Here is a list:

• Bethlehem-judah- "the house of bread and praise"
• Moab- "Moab is my wash pot" Psalm 108:9 or "garbage can"
• Elimelech- "my God is king"
• Naomi- "pleasant or cheerful"
• Mahlon- "unhealthy"
• Chilion- "puny"
• Orpah- "like a deer"  or athletic
• Ruth- "beautiful" and  "personality"
• Mara- "bitter"

So we have a man living during the times when people were rejecting God as their king, but his name means "my God is king."  He lives in "the house of bread and praise," but there is a famine in the land.  The man who should have God as his king leaves Bethlehem "the house of bread and praise" and goes to the land of Moab "God's garbage can".  Remember that the Moabites are descended from Lot and his oldest daughter after they fled to the cave when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.

Elimelech's cheerful wife (Naomi) has given birth to two sons, unhealthy and puny. They are grown and go with their parents to God's garbage can to find food to live.  When they get to the land of Moab, Elimelech dies.  The two sons break the laws of Moses by marrying two Gentile Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth.  After ten years, the two sickly sons die.  Naomi is left destitute.  Her only hope is to go back to Bethlehem "the house of bread and praise."  This is like the Prodigal Son story.  When you go off to a foreign land, you fall in with the pigs and suffer the consequences.  Can any good come from this story? Does God redeem the years that the locust have eaten?

Naomi tells the girls to stay in the land of Moab because as Gentiles they will not be able to get husbands in Bethlehem.  Orpah goes back to her family in sorrow, but Ruth shows her true colors.  Ruth is living up to her name's meaning.  She is a beautiful personality who loves God.  She tells Naomi, "Don't ask me to leave you or turn back.  I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God." (Ruth 1:17) This is not only a statement of loyalty to her mother-in-law, it is also a statement of faith in the One True God.

What a comfort this must have been to Naomi as she contemplated going home to Bethlehem completely devastated. When they get to Bethlehem, the town is stirred.  They ask, "Is it really Naomi?" She tells them to call her Mara, which means "Bitter."  With sorrow as her constant companion, Naomi declares that God has caused her to suffer and the Almighty has sent her tragedy. I won't judge Naomi.  She will get perspective on her suffering later in the story. For now, life stinks.  She wants people to call her Mara, but God has named her Naomi "Pleasant."  In the end, God will be correct in naming her this.

Do you feel at times that your name should be changed to "Mara?"  Are you bitter because of suffering that God has allowed in your life?  That's why we read the Bible, my friends.  We are not alone in our suffering.  Even Christ suffered.  God has His purposes. 

As our reading ends today, Naomi and Ruth have arrived in time for the barley harvest.  The house of bread and praise is producing bread again.

John 4:4-42

I love Jesus. You may have picked up on that as you have read my blog. Today we see Jesus reach out to a woman whose life was all screwed up.  She is no pristine example of virtue. She is a hot mess. But guess what?  Jesus reaches out to hot messes in order to bring them living water.

It's no mistake that Jesus is tired and stops at Jacob's well.  Do you remember when we read in the Old Testament how important wells were in the ancient world?  They were given names and owned by certain people and cherished.  It is noon and Jesus is weary under the hot Middle Eastern sun. Jesus asks a Samaritan woman to get him a drink of water out of Jacob's well.  Please do not lose the irony of a Samaritan dipping into a well owned by Israel (Jacob), the one who would bring us the Messiah. The Samaritans were descendants of Jacob who had intermarried with people from the north after the Assyrian Captivity in 721 B.C. The Samaritans did worship the God of Israel, but in a different place than Jerusalem.  They were also anticipating the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus is asking this woman to do this physical task for him in order to set up a picture of a spiritual reality. Jesus NEVER misses an opportunity to teach God's truth to those around him. He knows that as part of God's will for him on earth he MUST go to Samaria to teach this woman. He comes to you and me also and teaches us by using physical pictures of spiritual realities through God's Word in the Bible.

He asks this woman to get him some water from the well and she is shocked.  Jews and Samaritans did not normally talk.  She asks him why he is asking HER for a drink. He replies to her that if she knew the gift that God had for her and who he (Jesus) really was, she would be asking HIM for a drink and he would give her living water.

She comments that he doesn't have a rope or a bucket. She asks how is it possible that he can provide water that is better than their ancestor Jacob provided.  Jesus entices her by saying that one gets thirsty again after drinking Jacob's water, but the water that Jesus has is a perpetual spring that give eternal life.  Wow.

Guess what? The woman wants the water that will make her live forever! She mentions that if he gives it to her, she won't have to haul water anymore. Now that Jesus has her attention he is ready to have her realize her need to have her sins forgiven. He does this by bringing up a touchy subject...her husband. This is because Jesus knows that she has been a hot mess in her relationships.  She says that she doesn't have a husband. Jesus says that she is telling the truth, because she has had five husbands and the man she is shacking up with now is not her husband.  Bam. Right between the eyes. You can tell that Jesus has said this in love because the woman does not back down. Instead, she starts a religious argument as a diversion.

She asks why the Jews insist that God has to be worshiped in Jerusalem.  Jesus says that there will come a time when it won't matter where you worship.  Jesus establishes that the Jews know who they worship because salvation to the world is going to come from the Jews.  Ding, ding, ding.  Did we all get this lesson from Jesus?  The Jews are the chosen people designed to bring salvation to the whole world through the Messiah.

Jesus tells this woman that God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. This woman then professes that she is looking for the Messiah.  She knows that he will explain everything when he comes. Jesus sees a willing heart. He tells this hot mess, "I am the Messiah!"

The woman leaves her water jar, runs to the town, and witnesses to the town that she has met the Messiah. She invites them all to come and meet Him. Samaria is converted by a woman who was a hot mess.  Don't you love God?  I do.

Jesus stays in the town for two days teaching everyone.  In the end, the townspeople believe because she pointed them to the Messiah.  When they heard the Word of God from his mouth, they believed.

Are you a hot mess?  Have you screwed things up in life?  Jesus has living water for you.  He can use you to spread the Good News of God's redemption to the world.

Psalm 105:1-15

This psalm reiterates God's covenant promise of the Land of Canaan for the people of Israel.  Jesus was walking on land that had been promised to his people centuries before.

Proverbs 14:25

Be truthful in your dealings.

What did you learn today from the book of Ruth and the Samaritan woman at the well?

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal

Kathy Fullerton
© 2011