READING FOR FEBRUARY 21, 2025: RUTH 1, MATTHEW 15, PSALM 10:12-18 RUTH 1 This action takes place in the period of the ruling judges, which the last verse of the book of Judges describes as a time of lawless behavior. The first verse also informs us that there had been a time of famine in Israel. This phenomenon could have been linked to God’s prior warning: “Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce.” (Deut. 11:16-17). Thus, Israel as a whole likely was not being faithful to God at this time. God, however, was true to His word in disciplining Israel as He promised He would should they disobey Him. We can trust God’s faithfulness regarding the consequences of sin just as surely as with His blessings for our obedience.
On top of this, Elimelek, a man from Ephraim living in the Judean town of Bethlehem, left the promised land to live in Moab. This was one of Israel’s longstanding enemies who believed in false gods. For reasons unexplained, Elimelek died and left his wife Naomi with two sons. The sons each married a Moabite woman, which God at least highly discouraged: “No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation. No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation” (Deut. 23:2-3). Both of Naomi’s sons then die, leaving three widowed women. This isn’t a good place to be in the ancient world. We can’t say if any of these sad cir-- cumstances particular to Naomi were consequences of bad choices she made; it’s possible.
At this point, Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed Israel with food. News of God’s blessing seems to travel well. Have people heard about God blessing our lives or our church? Is the news attracting others our way? It should. Isolated from her family and older, Ruth had no hope of a levirate marriage for herself and even less for her daughters-in-law. She decided to go back to Bethlehem and advised her daughters to go back to their homes to find husbands in Moab. Having been through so much together, there was a strong bond among them. One daughter-in-law reluctantly returned to Moab. The other, Ruth, decided to stay with Naomi in every sense of the word: presence, family, country, and faith. Naomi’s decision to return to God’s land and in a way to God Himself, trigged a decision on the part of Ruth to receive the true God herself. Might a clear self-identification as a Jesus follower be an essential factor in helping loved ones also commit to Jesus? Given the eternal consequences, it’s worth a try.
MATTHEW 15 Some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus with a question, which could be good thing. Either because of their tone of voice or Jesus’s ability to read their thoughts, He could tell they were trying to catch him in an inconsistency. They asked why His disciples failed to
READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 21, 2025 CONTINUED: MATTHEW 15, PSALM 10:12-18 follow the elders’ tradition of washing their hands when eating. Jesus responded by asking the scribes why they maintain their tradition rather than obeying God’s fifth commandment to honor their parents. Their “tradition” was to give away money set aside for their parents under the pretense of giving to God. Before social security, Medicare, and pensions, older parents depended on their children financially: “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8).
Jesus called the Pharisees and scribes hypocrites (talk about being direct). His quotation from Isaiah implied they had problems of the heart, making their worship and extra rules worthless. He then circled back to their question. He said unwashed hands are not a spiritual problem, but a contaminated heart is. Following manmade traditions that sound spiritual but violate God’s Word is a problem in churches today. READ AND OBEY THE BIBLE! The disciples then informed Jesus He had offended the Pharisees (as if He didn’t know). Referring back to His sower parable, He implied the Pharisee were not believers and were leading others astray.
The story of Jesus with the Canaanite woman has become hot topic lately. A well-known figure in the church cites it as an example of Jesus sinning, showing He is more like us than the Bible claims: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). He thinks Jesus’s responses to the woman lacked compassion. A better interpretation is that Jesus was drawing her out toward a deeper confession of faith, which as we have seen is more significant eternally than physical health. Notice how profusely He compliments her faith in verse 28.
PSALM 10:12-18 In the first half of this Psalm (read yesterday), it appeared the wicked had gained the upper hand. In this part, David remembers that the Lord is “King forever and ever.” By keeping that in mind, we can consider the totality of reality, not just the sliver of depressing events we might experience or see on the news. David rightly appeals to God on behalf of those most vulnerable: the orphan, the oppressed, and the humble. David is confident God will “strengthen their heart and vindicate them.” His outlook for the future is rightly positive.
Yes, David strays from expressing love for his enemies, but at least he, himself, took no violent action. Knowing what we know about Jesus’s teaching and possessing what we possess with the Holy Spirit, our battle plan today is well described in Rom. 12:17-21: “Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”
