2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
How ironic that I should be writing this message the day that Peter left for a week-long business trip for which he must drive ten hours today with reports of an approaching ice storm. As if that isn’t enough, I need to be there for some friends at a funeral later at church this morning. Without faith in God’s ability to bring safety and peace, I think I would be a wreck. Somehow, the Lord is telling me, “write about Me as Jehovah Shalom, so that you and your readers will be reminded that I have the power to bring peace to their lives. I am Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace!” What a comfort faith in the Lord can bring to our lives.
The story of Ruth, the Moabitess daughter-in-law of Naomi, a Jew, is one of the most compelling examples in the Scriptures of how God can take someone in real trouble and bring her peace and faith. Ruth is one of those wonderful exceptions in the OT where God allowed the blessing of faith to come open to a Gentile. RU 1: 1-5, “Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethehem in Judah, went to his wife Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion to live for awhile in the country of Moab. While they living there, Elimelech died, and Naomi was left alone with her two sons, who married Moabite girls, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later, Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left all alone, without husband or sons.” We all know that Naomi told the girls to go back to their own families, but that Ruth pledged her loyalty, love, and desire to remain with her mother-in-law. RU 1: 16-17, “But Ruth answered, ‘Do not ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord’s worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!’” Now, that is a most amazing statement to come from a daughter-in-law raised in idolatry. God had to have heard this and known that it came directly from Ruth’s heart. God has never refused anyone who desires to come to faith in Him in such a heartfelt way, and He didn’t refuse Ruth.
It didn’t matter that for the most part the word of God was not being offered to the Gentiles at this time in history. It also didn’t matter that missionary work to gain converts to the faith is not a part of the Jewish culture either. God knew the content and faithfulness of Ruth’s heart, and He responded to it by accepting her just as He had with Abraham (another man raised in idolatry) so many years before. In those days, being a widow or an orphan was even more difficult than it is today. However, both LV 19: 9-10 and 23: 22 give explicit directions to be followed regarding seeing to it that poor people, foreigners, widows, and orphans would be provided for. LV 19: 9-10, “When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left. Do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that have fallen; leave them for poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God.” These corners and gleanings then, would be the place from which Naomi and Ruth could collect food.
God’s provision not only brought food, but they brought peace to Ruth’s life in response to her faithfulness. That is how she comes to the attention of her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz, a wealthy relative of her deceased husband. Once Boaz saw her collecting from the corners and gleanings of his field, God led him to take an interest in her and desire to grant her protection. Eventually, Boaz married Ruth. His motivation for doing this is his own obedience to Jewish custom and to God. RU4: 7-10, “Now in those days, to settle a sale or an exchange of property, it was the custom for the seller to take off his sandal and give it to the buyer. In this way the Israelites showed that the matter was settled. So when the man said to Boaz, ‘You buy it,’ he took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz. Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the others there, ‘You are all witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech and to his sons Chilion and Mahlon. In addition, Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, become my wife. This will keep the property in the dead man’s family, and his family line will continue among his people and in his home town. You are witnesses to this today.”
To be sure, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace, brought peace to the minds of Naomi, Boaz, and Ruth. This story goes much further than these three people ever imagined. We learn that in RU 4: 17-22 which tells us that Ruth and Boaz eventually gave birth to a boy named Obed. Obed became the father of Jesse, who fathered David. This has huge implications for us, because the royal line of David is also the line of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Imagine! A Gentile girl with a faithful heart is honored by God by becoming a part of the royal line of David! Ruth’s story gives us hope that when we are faithful, God will reward that faith with peace and more blessings than we can imagine.
PRAYER: O Lord, You are our Tower of Strength, the Source for real peace in our lives. We acknowledge that we can lean on and rely on You. You have the power to grant blessings, provision, protection, safety, and privileges on any person You deem worthy, even ones we would wouldn’t suspect might be. Your wisdom is so much higher and more perfect than ours could ever be. Faithfulness matters to You greatly. Today, we pledge You our lives in the hope that the contents of our hearts will be worthy of the blessings You offer us. Just as You saw to the needs of Ruth and Naomi by providing them with a kinsman-redeemer. You saved us from being prisoners to sin by the death of Your Son on the cross, and thus provided us with our Redeemer. Knowing this and feeling Your loving arms wrapped around us at times when we need protection is Your way of letting us know that You are our Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. We humbly approach You in adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, praise, and thanks for caring so much for us. We offer You honor and glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The Lord leads me to share more citations that reveal Him as Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace, with you tomorrow. Today, I can pray for Peter’s safe travel and for peace for the family of the man whose funeral I will attend, knowing that our Lord is there for all of us. I hope that you will know that you can share the same assurances as you face the challenges of your own lives. Peter and I send you our love, just as God sends you His.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn