Faithfulness and moral responsibility is the essence of God’s defining laws with the Israelites. Judges and Ruth express God’s willingness to save his struggling people as the ultimate act of Judge and Jury. God judges Israel for her sins and brings about human judges to deliver Israel from her oppressors. The book of Judges showcased the cycle of apostasy, repentance, and deliverance within the people of Israel (Hindson, Towns, 2013, p.104). Judges chapter 17-19 highlighted how religious compromise resulted in a moral corruption that untimely plagued Israel. After the death of the last king, Israel’s people drove themselves into chaos and decided to live freely without any moral conviction. The death of king Joshua, many other tribes fought …show more content…
The wilderness journey was a trial of obedience and faith given to the Israelites because God wanted to see how dependent and devoted his people would be through hardship. Unfortunately, what was meant to be an eleven-day journey turned into a forty-year expedition to cleanse Israel of any moral impurities and force her to become obedient. Judges was a result of Israel’s ignorance when arriving into the land of Canaan. Instead of delivering Canaan of its people and possessions Israel fell prey to its sinful nature. Numbers 33:56 relates to God’s promise to punish Israel with the same harshness as the Canaanites if they did not deliver the thorns plaguing the land. Israel's moral obligation was to the Father and not man's selfish desires. The final chapters of Judges express the struggles of idolatry and immorality. Micah was an Israelite that indulged in graven images (idolatry), the Danites was a tribe the revoked God’s inheritance, and the tribe of Gibeah was filled with barbarity towards the women. The book of Judges is continuously filled with cycles of sin and …show more content…
Ruth is a hopeful symbol of Israel’s future with God. Ruth is a Gentile woman that expresses a Godly love for her fellow Hebrew and Gentile people. During a time of moral sin and infidelity, God used Ruth as a testament of faithfulness to restore Israel’s promise with God's covenant. She exhibits God's love for his people and his promise to Abraham about Israel's fate. Ruth's love story with Boaz illustrated the biblical concept of redemption (Hindson, Towns, 2013, p.111). Ruth's devotion to Naomi during her troubling time clashed with her pagan ancestry. Her proclamation to Naomi in chapter 1:16, “Your people would be my people, and your God would be my God,” expounded her conversion of faith and loyalty. She denies her own pagan faith and devotes her life to the people of Israel and their God. Her commitment towards Naomi (God) gifted her with Boaz. He redeems her from a life of servitude and loneliness. Unfortunately, Ruth and Boaz’s union brings conflict, but eventually their union is blessed in the eyes of man. The book of Ruth taught about the ethical behavior during a period of moral decline. The contrast between God's judgment and his grace is illustrated in the book of Judges and Ruth (Hindson, Towns, 2013, p.114). The continuous act of disobedience perpetrated a cycle of sin. Each cycle furthering Israel away from God's grace and covenant. During an era filled with moral damnation,
The book of Ruth is a narrative love story. “The book of Ruth is one of the great love stories of all times” (Hindson & Towns, 2013, p. 111). The author of this book is anonymous. This book was believed to be written between 1020 – 1000 B.C. The key personalities, or people, in this book are: Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz. The purpose for the book of Ruth is for the hope. This book teaches us that even when everything is going wrong, we can always find fulfillment in God. It also teaches us that even today God can use us just as He used Ruth. The book of Ruth has four chapters. The book starts off by telling us about Naomi, Ruth’s mother in law and Israelite woman, becoming a widow. Ruth attached herself to her and would not leave her side for anything. Next, it tells us how Ruth met her future husband, Boaz, a wealthy Israelite. God guided her to the field of Boaz and she was sent to glean, or pick up scraps, on the field that belonged to Boaz. In the field is where she met her prince. Then it goes in to telling us that Naomi comes up with a plan in order for Ruth to pro...
In Ruth’s narrative she tells of how her family emigrated from Poland when she was a young girl, her abusive father disguised as righteous a Rabbi, her interracial relationships, teen pregnancy, and her eventual marriage to Andrew Dennis McBride, a black man from North Carolina, until he passed away and she remarried Hunter Jordan. What made Ruth so extraordinary was her resilience, strength of character and her freethinking mind. Despite having been raised in an ultraorthodox Jewish family, with a father who molested her, committed adultery, abused her mother, and later disowned her, Ruth was able to develop her own value system. Her ethics not only condemned this behavior, but also went against the societal norm of the 1960’s: racism. After becoming pregnant with her black boyfriend, as a teenager, Ruth confided in her aunt who helped her get an abortion. Following this incident, Ruth realized that she no longer desired to live at home with her family. Spending time away from home enabled Ruth to see how radically different her values and priorities were from those of her
Ostriker A. (2002). The book of ruth and the love of the land. Biblical Interpretation, 10 (4),
In the Eschatological meaning of the book of Ruth by Abraham D. Cohen, the author translates the word for redemption in Hebrew for the reader as ge’ulah. This Hebrew word is mentioned seventeen times throughout the article; therefore the reader can infer the underlying importance of this major argument of ‘redemption’. The author uses an anagogical approach and
The book of Judges is the sequel to Joshua. It is the seventh book of the Old Testament. It recounts stories and events from the death of the hebrew leader and prophet Joshua to the birth of the hebrew Samuel. That is roughly, from the end of the Israelite conquest of Canan in the 13th Century B.C to the begining of the monarchy in the 11 th century B.C. It tells about the hebrews from Joshua’s Death to the time of Samuel. It was written in about 550 BC, on tablets named the Ras Shamra tablets. The Ras Shamra tablets where later discovered in the early 20th Century, even though the stories and acountings of the judges where already known and written. The book of Judges belongs to a specific historical tradition which is called the Deuteronomic history. The author of the book of Judges, was in exile in Babylonia. While in exile he was deeply concerned with foreign domination. So he wrote many of his stories on the migration of the tribe of Dan to the North and the sins of the Benjamites. The author emphasized that Israel was being influenced by foreign powers and the loss of freedom and prosperity. Recurring throughout the book is the stereotyped formula: "The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the lord." Then after each period or subjection the author introduces another formula: " But when the people of Israel cried the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people. Through-out the book, the book of judges tells about prophets, rulers and influencial people such as: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tilian and Samson. There are also many more minor people.
The militaristic campaigns outlined in Joshua 10-11 and Judges 1 outline the cruelty and loyalty to the Lord when it comes to following the word of the Lord. While Joshua 10-11 describes how Joshua and the Israelites came into the land of the Canaan, Judges 1 tells about how the tribes of Judah and Simeon conquer the land. Both Joshua and the tribes in Judges are following what the Lord had promised and said by means of force, but there are also different ways in which they dealt with the people who were inhabiting the land and cities and the experience of their respective militaries. The Lord had promised Joshua the land of the Canaan and he intended to take it by any means necessary (Josh. 9:24).
In Judaism, God is seen as having a contractual relationship with the Jewish people where they must obey his holy laws in return for their status of the chosen people. God rewards or punishes Jewish people based on whether they obey or disobey his will. In parts of the Old Testament, however, God does show mercy or forgiveness, and in later interpretations God’s laws such as the Ten Commandments are followed not only out of loyalty to God but also because of their high moral character.
Christ humbles Himself & became the redeemer of the entire human race. Similarly, Boaz became the chosen redeemer of the family of Naomi. God provided Boaz to redeem both Ruth and Naomi. Through this redemption, Naomi’s life became a great testimony in that land of goodness & faithfulness of the God of Israel. The name of the Lord was glorified as it is mentioned in Ruth 4: 14-15, all the women saw the evidence of the glory of God present in Naomi’s life.
Cindy Pereyra The Pentateuch Dr. Luther 5 May 2014 Deuteronomy Study Assignment 1. Read Deuteronomy 16:18-20. a. Describe the requirements of judges in Israel based on this passage. In this passage, the requirements of judges in Israel are shown. The people are told to appoint judges and officers for themselves in all the towns that the Lord is giving to them according to their tribes.
There are eight Covenants in the Bible starts from Adamic Covenant to the Eternal Covenant. All these Covenants gave the idea that if people obey God’s promises, then God deliver blessings to the people as well as to their descendants, but if they violate the Covenant, the result will be punishment. For instance, If Adam was obedient to god’s Covenant then, Adam night have got everlasting life but instead Adam received the punishment of death. In addition to that the Covenant with Noah demonstrate God’s blessing to Noah as well to all the generations to come in the form of
Surveying the Old Testament reveals the theme of God’s faithfulness to his people. In light of this understanding, the restoration of the Israelites prophesized in the Old Testament is essentially the fulfillment of every covenant with God. This perspective relates to the work of Christ and encourages any follower of God to trust in his faithfulness.
“Men can imagine their own deaths, they can see them coming, and the mere thought of impending death acts like an aphrodisiac.” Crake, the antagonist of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, emphasizes something that is vocalized in many literary works: the prospect of death can drastically alter a person's behavior. However, in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, the antagonist Ruth is completely drained when she sees her death as opposed to the desperate, sexually stimulated men Crake describes. Ruth’s days of energy and sexual activity are when she is in Hailsham and the Cottages. During that time, Ruth serves as the main villain against Kathy, the protagonist of the novel. As a villain, Ruth is one of the most hateful characters in Never Let Me Go. Her villainy emphasizes the futility of trying to escape reality.
Charlesworth, Matthew. "The Covenants in the Old Testament." Academia.edu. N.p., 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Levine, Amy –Jill and Douglas Knight. The Meaning of the Bible: What Jewish and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us. New York: HarperOne, 2011
”Even during periods of moral crises, God is looking for faithful servants to bless.”(Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 187) God desires for us to be loyal and self-sacrificing, we can encounter His faithfulness if we work within his will. If we do not allow ourselves to be feed by the Lords will, it will cause wreckage to our lives. Which then brings in the formation of broken promises. We must be willing to reflect in faithfulness for God with our presents, words and actions. ”The book is first and foremost about God and his faithful dealings in the lives of his people.”(Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 192) The relevance of Ruth’s manuscripts gives a validation to what true loyalty through God looks like. We have the ability to break the curse of unfaithfulness and show others within our culture the dynamics of true