Time Off

Folks, I'm taking the blog down for a few days. If you want a copy of the calendar I can email it to you. Just let me know.

Ruth

But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has turned against me!”

At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. Ruth 1:11-17

It's funny, because we often hear the verse, "Where you go I will go, where you stay I will stay" during weddings, pertaining to the bride and groom.  What would happen in our marriages today if the bride said those words to her mother-in-law?

Because that's what's happening here.  Naomi's husband had died.  Both of her sons had died.  For a woman, that was a death sentence.  That circumstance would put you at the mercy of the community for your food, clothing and protection, unless one of the men had left her some money.  There is no indication of that here. 

So Naomi is going "home," back to where she came from, back where she might have family.  She sends her daughters-in-law back to their homes, for the same reason - they have no money, no future.  At least the daughters-in-law are young, and can marry again.

Naomi may feel like her life is over.

Who would want to be around that?

Who would want to stay in an uncomfortable situation, when a better door is opening right around the corner?

Ruth, that's who.  When she married into her husband's family, she obviously took her vows seriously!  She married all of them!  I can see her grieving for her father-in-law, as if he were her own father.  I can see her grieving for her brother-in-law, as if he were her own brother.  And she treats Naomi as her own mother, refusing to leave her.

Ruth could have a future somewhere else.  But she has chosen to truly care about Naomi, to take her as her own.  She cares enough to not let her go out on her own.  She cares enough to care about her loneliness, her grief, her bitterness.  She cares enough to offer her protection. 

Care, like love, is action.  It's putting feet to words.  Ruth is such a perfect example of this, don't you think?

We can all say we care.  We get together at church, hear the prayer requests, bow our heads and sincerely and fervently pray for each other.

Then we go out for dinner.  And never think about those things again.

We hear that Old Mrs. O'Leary is sick, and has no family.  And so we pray - but do we go see her, send a card, take her a meal?  We hear that Janie just had a baby - do we offer to come with the infant so mama can nap?  We hear needs all around us, all day.  Do we do anything about them?

I'm not pointing fingers - I'm talking to me!  This is something I am HORRIBLE at! 

I hope God speaks to you today, as He is speaking to me.  How can we care - truly care - about others this week?

Justice and Submission - Deborah

She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

“Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.  Judges 4:6-9

Sometimes as women, we can fall for the lie of the enemy that we are oppressed.  Now, don't get me wrong - in some cultures, women are definitely the lowest class of citizen.  But in America, women are strong, powerful, and vibrant.

Even in Christian cultures, woman can be perceived as less than equal.  We can sometimes read the Bible and, again, believe Satan's lie that God doesn't love us like He loves men.  Because He has allowed civilization to "hold women back," so to speak, it must mean that He doesn't value us.  Because He has commanded an attitude and lifestyle of submission, it must mean that He doesn't value us. 

But over and over again in His word we see how wrong that is.  I hope you've seen so far this month, the strengths - and very definitely, the weaknesses - of Biblical women.  But the key is that God still used them to further His kingdom, to advance His plans.  As fallible as they were - and as fallible as we are - God still used them, still has a plan for us.

Deborah is such a wonderful biblical example of female leadership.  Israel has been sold into the hands of the Canaanites, because they again did evil and turned away from God.  Deborah was a prophet, leader, and judge.  She was a wife and a mother - she had her hands full already!  And yet God had gifted her with wisdom and leadership abilities, and she used them to honor Him.

Women may be a discriminated class, but in this case, Deborah - under God's authority - was about to show men how God would use women.  Barak, the big strong warrior, was too afraid to go into battle without her.  Crazy, right?  What did Deborah have that Barak thought he needed?

Something about her projected confidence.  Something about her showed authority.  Something about her revealed confidence.

What was it?  Well, I'm going to tell you something you might not want to hear.  I believe Deborah possessed all the attributes of leadership because she was submissive.

She was submissive to God's plan for her and her family's life.  We know nothing about the relationship between her and her husband, but a woman of that time - any judge of Israel - would have had to have their family matters straight in order to be a good and pleasing example to the nation.  So I believe she was submissive to her husband.  She was even submissive to Barak - when he wanted her to go with him, she did.

She never forgets who she is.  In her song of victory in the next chapter, she says, "Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel."  (verse 7)

She was a wife.  She was a mother.  But most of all, she was a servant.  And her willingness to submit to God's holy plan for her life led to a great victory for her people, which led to forty years of peace for them.  All because this wife, this mother, led justice for her people.  A woman's justice.

We are each given many gifts, talents and abilities.  But these gifts will run amok if they are not submitted to the authority of God.  Great Christians have experienced great falls because of great egos.  If you are an extremely talented individual, you have an extraordinary need to submit yourself to God, so that He can keep your talents in line with His will.

I believe that is what Deborah did.  And I can't wait to meet her one day, and listen to her sing her song.

The Song of Miriam

The Song of Moses and Miriam

 ¹ Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:    “I will sing to the LORD,
   for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
   he has hurled into the sea.
 ² “The LORD is my strength and my defense;
   he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
   my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
³ The LORD is a warrior;
   the LORD is his name.
⁴ Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
   he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
   are drowned in the Red Sea.
⁵ The deep waters have covered them;
   they sank to the depths like a stone.
⁶ Your right hand, LORD,
   was majestic in power.
Your right hand, LORD,
   shattered the enemy.  Exodus 15:1 - 6

I wish I knew and understood more about the Bible.  I wish I knew how to read it in the original languages.  This passage has a heading that says, the song of Moses and Miriam.  But within the passage, it says that Moses and the Israelites sang.  I just wonder why....

Well, my Sunday School class is studying just this part of Exodus right now, so I know how interesting this song is.  It's interesting because, during the plagues, time and time again, God showed His power and majesty, revealing Himself to both the Hebrews and the Egyptians as the one true God.

But as Moses and his people were leaving Egypt, and as the people saw Pharaoh and his army pursuing him, they easily fell to a spiritual cower; they reacted in anger and disgust.  They said to Moses, "Why didn't you just leave us in Egypt?  It would be better to be slaves than to die in the desert!"

Then God shows His majesty again, parting the Red Sea, protecting the Israelites while killing the Egyptians. 

And His people worship Him, singing songs, and (in my imagination) dancing, laughing, crying, using any action they can to show their gratitude and amazement with God.

However, if there is one consistent thing in this Hebrew story, it's the reaction of the people every time there is a hint of trouble.  Throughout the exodus, the people whine, complain, nag, even turn away from God because they don't think He's doing a good enough job.  Often they turn against not just God, but each other, as well.

In Numbers 12, we see a strong example of this.  Miriam, Moses' sister, and Aaron, his brother, gossip about Moses and his wife, whom they don't see as a "real" Hebrew.  They are griping and grumbling, "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us? (verse 2)"

Here's the scary part of this story, at the end of that verse:  "And the LORD heard this."

When we gripe and grumble, do we really think that God doesn't know?  (You know . . . we are really dumb.)  Of course He knows.  He hears and sees everything we say and do.  And God will only let us get away with it for so long.

As a result of this gossip, Miriam was made leprous and forced to live outside the camp for 7 days. 

Pretty big consequence for idle gossip.

But you know, we each have a song in our hearts, one that plays out in our lives.  Is that song one of grumble, gripe and gossip?  Or is it one of joy, gladness and worship?

You can't hide your real song, not for long anyway.  The truth always comes out.  It strikes me that there are two composers to our heart songs - God and Satan. 

Who wrote your song?

What Rachel Can Teach Us About Love

Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”. Genesis 29:17-18

To understand the love in this story, we have to go back a bit. Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, and her father, Laban, was an ornery sort. He told Jacob that to marry Rachel he would have to work on his farm for seven years. Jacob was so in love, he gladly agreed.

The problem was, Rachel was the younger daughter. Leah was the oldest, and as such, she should marry first. So when Jacob had finally worked his seven years, and stood at the altar to marry his love (whose face was hidden under a veil), he really thought he had made it to the promised land! However, after the wedding Jacob finds out that he really married Leah, not Rachel.

He could have put Leah aside. He could have stolen Rachel and rode off into the sunset. He could have sued Laban for breach of contract. (ok, I don't actually know if that's possible or not. Tee hee) But instead he agreed to keep Leah, and work another seven years to earn Rachel as his wife.

You'd think that Rachel would have spent the rest of her life resting fabulously in the knowledge that she was LOVED! Adored, really. Wanted, definitely. Jacob devoted 14 years to pursuing her. (when was the last time you spent 14 years working towards, well, anything?)

But unfortunately, though Rachel's life could have been a testimonial on the power of love, it instead became another story of envy and greed.

Because we know that later, when Leah, and Rachel's servant, and even Leah's servant became pregnant by Jacob, Rachel did not. It was years before God would remember her, and give her Joseph. Rachel went through years of bitterness, feeling unloved, unwanted, unwelcomed.

Rachel could not know that Joseph was an important part of God's plan for His people, and for future generations. But she did know that God had promised Abraham that He would make a great nation from him. And God renewed this covenant with her husband, Jacob.

Rachel could have known, if she would have thought about it, that God's love and goodness to Jacob was for her, too. Rachel could have known that she too was an important part of God's plan. If she would have trusted in love - God's love, Jacob's love - she could have saved herself years of misery.

It can be difficult to wait on God's plan. No one knows that better than I do! It is a matter of trusting in the goodness of the eternal God instead of our temporary circumstances.

Why is it so easy to believe what we see instead of God? We forget how He has come through for us, time and time and time again. We just panic, and try to make our own way, instead of waiting for Him. Of course, it never works. Things always fall apart when we do thingson our own. And we are right back where we started from.

But true love is really the main character of this story. God's true love. Because His love remembered Rache. His love did not reward her according to her deeds, but according to His plans. His love was there, all along.

Girls Gone Greedy - Rebekah's Life

[Note:  if you are using the monthly calendar, I accidentally put "love" for Rebekah and "greed" for Rachel, but it should be the other way around.  Sorry!]

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.  Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.  Genesis 25:27-28

I only have one child.  After we had Samuel, we tried immediately for another one, and I worried - how would I ever love another baby as much as I loved Samuel?  On the other hand, what if something happened to us - Samuel would be all alone.  Not a good reason to have a child - so your first one won't be lonely!

But I had visions of a son and daughter loving, playing, taking care of each other.  Fighting, laughing - all the joys and pains of siblinghood.  (Just made that word up!) 

Nevertheless, we weren't blessed in that particular way - lots of other ways, but not with lots of children.  So perhaps that's why I cannot identify with Rebekah and Isaac's peculiar "love" for their sons.

How do you favor one child over another?  I do not get that, not at all.

What I do get, though, is greed.  And Rebekah shows herself to be a greedy woman as her husband, Isaac, approaches old age:

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”

   “Here I am,” he answered.

Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”  Genesis 27:1-10

I assume that part of her motivation for concocting this scheme was because Esau and Jacob knew what was up.  Esau knew his mother didn't care much for him; Jacob knew his father favored his brother.  So perhaps Rebekah was worried that her older son, the one on whom the benefits and responsibilities of inheritance would fall, would not take care of her in her old age after Isaac died.

Perhaps she just wanted to see her favorite son with all the favor!  Perhaps she felt rejected by Esau, and wanted him to feel rejection, also.  Whatever the reason, greed was at the heart.  Greed is defined as

excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions.  So whatever her motivation, greed was definitely at the heart of the matter!

 

What causes a person to give themselves over to greed?  I think it is a lack of trust - not believing that God will provide all your needs, and that whatever He bestows upon you - that's enough.  It may not be the world, or lots of earthly possessions.  But whatever He gives is enough.  

 

When we are also searching for more, wanting more, looking and scheming and striving for more - we are telling God that what we have is not enough.  

 

OK, confession time - I do this.  All.  The.  Time.  I love to look through Pottery Barn catalogs, decorating books and blogs, looking for interesting ways to improve my home, inspiration for crafts and decorations, creative outlets.  

 

Is that wrong?

 

Not when it's checked by the Holy Spirit.  If God tells me that I'm spending too much time in Pottery Barn, and not enough in the Bible, I'd better change life, or I'm going to end up on the wrong side of His righteousness.

 

Greed is want run amok.   Greed is indulgence to the max.  Greed is wants before needs, me before you, mine, mine, mind.  

 

I can't understand favoring one child over another. 

 

But unfortunately, I can understand greed.  I've seen it in my own life, and it's ugly.  It scars everything and everyone around it.  Because of Rebekah's greed, she most likely never saw her son again - he ran from Esau after stealing his father's blessing.  That's quite a price to pay - never seeing your favorite son again.

 

So what's the lesson?  Trust God.  Trust He has a plan for your life.  Trust in His goodness, His ways - not your own.    

 

Lessons from Lot's Wife

But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26

Seems a pretty intense punishment for curiosity, doesn't it? I mean, who wouldn't look back at fire and brimstone? That would be a natural thing to do.

But maybe it wasn't curiosity. There are a few things we know about this situation.

First, the communities of Sodom and Gomorrah had always been sinful. They were sinful when Lot chose - keyword, chose - to move there. Second, they were well-to-do cities, which is why Lot chose them in the first place. Third, we know that Lot was himself a wealthy man.

There are many people who think that Lot's wife looked back because she was greedy; she was looking back at her glorious life, wealth, stature, go up in smoke. Perhaps she was grieving for a lifestyle, one she might never have again.

Or maybe she was being a typical mother. Verse 14 talks about Lot going to his sons-in-law to plead with them to come with him, but they refused. When Lot and his wife fled, it says they took two daughters with them. (These were the two daughters that Lot had offered to the rapists is verse 8.) If these two daughters were the ones engaged to his sons-in-law, it's difficult to believe he would have offered them as sexual sacrifices.

So maybe there were other daughters. Maybe, when Lot's wife looked back, she was crying over stuff she loved. Or maybe she was crying over people she loved. Possibly other daughters. Or men she might have loved like sons. Perhaps there were true friends, other family members.

What, then, is wrong with looking back? What woman would not look back over her loved ones? How could this be wrong?

It's wrong when those we love become more important than the One we love. When the One who loves us isn't the voice we are listening to. When He offers to save us, but we hold on to something else.

Jesus talked about this, too. In Matthew chapter ten, He warns, “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." verse 37

Loving our family, our friends, isn't wrong. But they have to come a distant second behind God. He comes first. He'll have nothing less.

Maybe Lot's wife really was greedy, I don't know. But maybe she wasn't. Maybe she was a nice, normal Jewish mother who loved her family and friends.

That makes her a lot like us. And it reminds us that one lesson we can take from her life - from her death - is that God is first, last, and everything in-between.

Hagar, the Mistress of Jealousy

So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Genesis 16:3-5

Jealousy. It's a horrible, evil thing. I think that lost all of human sin can be traced back to jealousy. The dictionary's definition of jealousy is, "envious resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another's success or advantage itself." Basically, wanting what you don't have, but someone else does have, but you don't want them to have!

But Hagar had an advantage over Sarah. She was the one who was pregnant. What did Sarah have that Hagar wanted?

The man. The wealth. The respect. The choice.

Sarah had it all. All but a baby. Hagar had the baby, so to Sarah, Hagar hd it all.

What a tangled web. No matter what happens, when we look round, we will always see ourselves in want, our neighbor in plenty. We will always be at the shallow end of the pool!

But you know what I love about this story? How God's redeeming grace finds us, wherever we are. We can run, but we can't hide from Him. Look at these verses from later in Hagar's story:

The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

   “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

The angel of the LORD also said to her:

   “You are now pregnant
   and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
   for the LORD has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
   his hand will be against everyone
   and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
   toward all his brothers.”

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Hagar had a unique and wonderful opportunity to meet the God of her master, Abraham. What a connection she made with God. And what a lesson she learned: in the depths of despair, God was there. He didn't shame her because of her inadequacy, her sin of jealousy. He met her right where she was, both literally and figuratively.

He will do the same for you! He will meet you right where you are. Sin never gets you what you want, not really. It may meet your immediate demand but will never serve your long term needs. YOU serve sin, not the other way around.

Jealousy is a terrible mistress. Are you willing to leave sin behind, and meet the God Who Sees You?

Sarah, Her Lesson of Faith

Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Genesis 21:2-5

Sarah, one of the matriarchs of religion, certainly had her struggles with faith. Earlier in Genesis, when she overheard God tell Abraham that she would bear him a son, her reaction was disbelief - to the point of laughter! When confronted about it, she lied and said she didn't laugh.

But really, who could blame her for her disbelief? As one who struggled with infertility myself, I remember having times of absolute surety that God would answer my prayer - and times of despair, sure that His answer would be no.

So I don't blame Sarah for having her down moments. I mean, she was 90 years old! That's a long time to hold out hope and faith for a promise.

If I was going to blame her for anything, it would be for what comes next in the story. Remember, earlier in Genesis, so desperate for a child, she took matters into her own hands and had Abraham "lie" with her servant, Hagar, who bore a son, Ishmael.

Once Sarah has her child, she shows how little faith she truly had.

But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”. Genesis 21:9-10

She had seen God's miracle working power for herself. She had heard God's promise to build a nation from Abraham-not just any of Abraham's children, but her child with him! She knew that God had promised that their descendants would outnumber the stars of the sky.

Yet, once again, rather than trusting God, having faith in His promises, she took matters into her own hands again, and sent Hagar and Ishmael away.

Would God not take care of Isaac? Would He not take care of her?

Because of her lack of faith, two sons became two nations . . . Always at war.

Because of her lack of faith, an innocent woman and her son were sent into the desert. To die.

Because of her lack of faith, there were consequences for everyone to deal with - right through to present day.

How many times did God need to provide for her before she trusted Him?

Well, I don't know - how many times does He have to provide for you before you'll trust Him? For me?

If there's something we can glean from Sarah's life, it is that trusting God fully, giving Him all our faith, is what life with Him is really about.

Do you trust Him fully? Do you remember His promises? Do you remember all that He has already done for you?

Eve and the Two Beginnings

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,

   “This is now bone of my bones
   and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
   for she was taken out of man

.”

Have you ever thought of the fact that Eve had two lives? The life before, and the life after. Two beginnings. One before, and one after.

We don't know how long Adam and Eve were in Eden before they sinned. It occurs to me that it could have been decades-or even centuries. The only two human beings, walking in oneness with God. True intimacy. The only humans ever created, walking in oneness with God.

The first beginning, for themselves, for mankind,for eternity. True genesis.

Then the fall. To call it "the fall" almost seems to say that something happened to the couple that was out of their control. We know that's not true. They had a choice.

What they chose was another beginning. A new beginning.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Often we think of beginnings being good things. Not so in this case. When Eve made her choice, to believe Satan instead of God, she chose to begin again...but this time with the horror of sin, the power of death. She chose evil over holiness, isolation over oneness, brokenness over sacredness.

She chose to begin again. And I wonder, what could she have possibly needed in life that that God wasn't providing? What yearning was unfulfilled? What was she thinking?

Oops. That's faulty thinking, if my viewpoint is that I would have done anything differently. Even though we live in the fallen world, God provides for our every need. We are loved by Him, chased by Him, cherished by Him.

We have every opportunity to love God, walking with Him in intimate fellowship. Yet we take our eyes off Him, thinking we "need" something else, something more.

Eve's life reminds us that beginnings are not always good. There is the good that comes from beginning again with Him; but the horror of beginning again in sin and death.

So we get to choose. Every day we can begin again. We can begin with Him, or without Him. It's just that simple!

So which will you choose?