Joshua’s success is conditioned on obedience. (1.1-3,6-8)
How do we justify the killing God commanded Israel?
Deuteronomy 20:16-17 But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy the…
How did this differ from such attempts in recent history of “ethnic cleansing?” Could such a thing be claimed in our time as the will of God?
The sin of the Canaanites reached the point of Divine judgment. God said they were more wicked than the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 9.1-6 Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, `Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land'; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you.
Ethnic cleansing is a personal hatred for another people and culture. There is no Divine initiative or justice in such an effort.
Though there was great victory by Israel over many Kings and cities, there was failure to drive out all the inhabitants: Joshua 15.63; 16.10; 17.12
God’s will for Israel was to kill or drive out all the inhabitants of the land. This required faith and persistence in obedience to God's will and promise to give them all the land as their possession. God’s blessing requires faith and persistence and obedience. Their failure to do God's will resulted in many inhabitants remaining, and the lifestyle of those remaining was a temptation and their presence a cause of affliction for Israel. God allowed this because of Israel’s failure and for a constant reminder of the failure to believe and be obedient; see Judges 2.1-3, 20-23)
What are some reasons for failure to obey God, as in the case of Israel?
·
It is a lack of faith in what God promises.
·
It is being satisfied with the way things are.
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It is an indifference or being unmotivated.
·
It is the attraction of sin (Such as the ways of
the people Israel were to dispossess).
24.14-16: Joshua's challenge to the people
of Israel: Now therefore, fear the
Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your
fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And
if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the
other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.Judges - In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (17.6; 21.25)
The
Cycle
·
Sin: They did evil in the sight of the Lord.
·
Servitude: They were sold into the hand of and served their
enemies.
·
Supplication: They cried out to the Lord.
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Salvation: The Lord raised up a deliverer.
3.5-12: The
children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites,
the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their
wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods. So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot
the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. Therefore the anger of
the Lord was hot against Israel,
and He sold them into the hand
of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight
years. When the children of
Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children
of Israel, who delivered them:
Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord came
upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim
king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over
Cushan-Rishathaim. So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son
of Kenaz died. And the children
of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord
strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.What was a Judge? 2.16-18: The Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them... And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge.
The judges delivered the people from the power of the enemy—this was primary, but some judges admonished the people and directed them in the rites and Laws of God. Deborah is an example, 4.4-5: Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
How many Judges? There were twelve recorded in the book of Judges and two in the book of Samuel. In the latter book, Eli and Samuel were the last two official judges (though Samuel appointed his two sons as judges in parts of Israel), Samuel being the transitional judge, overlapping into the Monarchic stage of Israel. The more notable or memorable Judges were Gideon, Samson, Deborah, and Samuel.
This cycle among Israel during this Judges stage in the land is a common phenomenon among the people of God.
Life's difficulties due to sin are intended by God to turn people to Him. How can the things that people replace God with help them? They can’t. The God we are to know and trust has to be as He is, as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. If you don’t like the God you see in Scripture, then you have a big problem. You need to believe the Scriptures concerning God and obey His will for your life.
Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges (Ruth 1.1). The period of the Judges span over 350 years. The story of Ruth and Boaz takes place about 100 years before the death of Samuel, being the end of the period, technically.
A Jewish family travels to Moab due to famine in the land. There, the husband/ father dies. The two sons marry Moabite women. These sons die. The mother, Naomi, decides to go back to her country. She tells her daughter-in-laws to go back to their own people and gods. But one, Ruth, clings to Naomi, and says she will make Naomi’s people her own, and their God hers. And so they together go to Bethlehem of Judea.
And she [Naomi] said, "Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law." But Ruth said: "Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God , my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me." When she [Naomi] saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. 1.15-18
Ruth: Her decision to stay with Naomi and go to a foreign place and stay by her side indicates to me she valued a new relationship over family relationship due to her belief in God. Ruth seeks to provide for herself and her mother-in-law by gleaning after the reapers during harvest. She works hard. She is humble and grateful. She follows her mother-in-law’s advice.
Boaz: He is a relative of Naomi’s. He is wealthy land owner and an older man. Ruth happens upon his land. Boaz discovers her, and he treats her kindly, generously, and protectively. He knows of her care for Naomi and sacrifice, 2.12. He is a godly man, for he invokes God reward for Ruth, and he recognizes Ruth trusting God, 2.13.
Boaz says: It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. 2.11-12
The Kinsman-Redeemer (literally of a “close relative”) would have the privilege and responsibility to buy back sold land in poverty to keep it in the family and to take a brother’s widow as wife to raise up and heir. (Lev 25.24-25; Deut 25.5-6)
Naomi knew Boaz was a relative who could meet these requirements and instructs Ruth in what to do, 3.1-4.
All that takes place in the account was moral and culturally acceptable. Ruth’s behavior toward and request to Boaz concern fulfilling the duties of a close relative, 3.6-11. Boaz understands what is all involved and requested.
Boaz, being a near relative to Naomi, could buy the property being sold due to poverty, belonging to Naomi and Ruth, and take on the responsibility to raise up an heir through Ruth—the land was Ruth’s if her husband was the heir.
There was a closer relative than Boaz, but he refused to fulfill that role, and so the right fell to Boaz. The account reveals that Boaz handled the affair both properly and eagerly.
God blessed the union of Boaz and Ruth with a son, heir. This son would be grandfather of King David. Ruth become part of the royal linage and the Divine linage, Matthew 1.5.
Ruth
teaches us
·
The Kinsman – Redeemer: Ultimately, the role of
such was a foreshadowing of Christ, who became flesh and blood to redeem us
from the slavery of sin.
·
The lineage of David and Christ. The controversy
(see below) about Ruth must be decided on the clear testimony that Ruth was a
Moabitess, not of a particular tribe of Israel. She was an exception.
·
A relationship more valued: Ruth embraced the
God of Israel, and so she was willing to leave her family and culture. Just
like Rahab, Ruth, a gentile, became an example of faith in God and blessing.
Ruth’s husband was Rahab’s son, or more likely, an ancestor. “God shows no
partiality, but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is
accepted by Him.” (Acts 10.34-35)
There is
a controversy over the identity of Ruth.
One view says: Let nobody deceive you into
believing that Ruth was a racial Moabite, a cursed people, arrogant, cruel, and
haughty in the eyes of God Almighty. Our Bible clearly teaches that she was a
great woman of Israel and a wonderful example of faith for all to follow. The
genealogy of Jesus Christ as listed in the book of Matthew chapter One contains
only a heritage of Israel people and no others. Our Savior's ancestor Ruth was
of racial Israel, yet she dwelt in the land of ancient Moab. Another view quotes Ruth 2:12: THE LORD RECOMPENSE THY WORK, AND A FULL REWARD BE GIVEN THEE OF THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL, UNDER WHOSE WINGS THOU ART COME TO TRUST.
Notice Boaz praises Ruth for leaving her family and the land of her birth and coming to live amongst a people she was not familiar with beforehand and also for coming to place her trust in the God of Israel.
These words are pertinent to someone who was born a non-Israelite and who came of their own free will to join themselves to Israel and place their trust in the god of Israel.
Deuteronomy 23:3: AN AMMONITE OR MOABITE SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE CONGREGATION OF THE LORD; EVEN TO THEIR TENTH GENERATION SHALL THEY NOT ENTER INTO THE CONGREGATION OF THE LORD FOR EVER.
We see from above that it was forbidden to intermarry with the Moabites.
How then did Machlon and later Boaz marry Ruth?
Certain "Identity" type articles (some of which are quite well written) say that Ruth was a descendant of Israelites who had settled in Moab.
There is however no basis for this assumption in the Bible.
The Sages (Talmud, Yebamot 73;a) explained that the prohibition against Ammonites and Moabites applied to the males and not the females.
The non-Israelite stranger who identifies with Israel could always be counted as part of Israel after being accepted by the community.
The prohibition against the Moabites applied to the males and not the females.
This is what the sages decided and we were commanded to obey them in matters of law even if we did not agree with their decisions.
My conclusion is that Ruth (Rahab is a similar situation) was an exception because of her faith in and fear of God. The quote in Acts 10.34-35 applies to Ruth (and Rahab): “God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (As for the chronology problem with Rahab and Salmon, which is evident, I would say they were ‘ancestors’ of Boaz, not his parents).
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