Know God - Day 29

Ruth (one of my favorite books of the OT)

Setting: 3 generations before David will rise as king.
Summary:

• A family moves from Bethleham to Moab, a foreign country, due to famine
• Naomi's 2 sons get married, then they die along with her husband
• Naomi decides to return to Bethleham
• Ruth, one of Naomi's daughter-in-laws, goes with her
• They have no way to support themselves.
• To eat they glean leftovers from Boaz's field - a relative of Naomi.
• Boaz redeems Ruth by marrying her.
• Boaz is her 'kinsman redeemer' - a prefiguring of Christ's redeeming his kin, us.
• Boaz has a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David ... and you know who that is!

Read Ruth 1

In 1:20 Naomi wants to be called "Mara' which means bitter. Nevertheless, Ruth told her, 1:16 'Where you go, I will go ... Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.'

Are all of God's people your people? Who do you have trouble loving?
I have trouble loving people who kill people with albinism because they believe their body parts have magical powers.  Loving people who abuse children or elderly who have no power to protect or speak up against themselves.  I know I need to love them, but it is sooo hard to love evil like that.

Esther
setting: dispersed throughout the Middle East, after the Babylonian Exile.
summary:

• Esther is a Jew, but the king marries her unaware of this.
• Haman works for the king and wants to get rid of the Jews.
• Mordecai, Esther's cousin, discovers the plot
• Haman wants Mordecai to die.
• Mordecai talks Esther into standing up for the Jews despite the risk to her life.
• Esther shows her true faith and bravery

Read Esther 7

What's the only book in scripture that does not mention God by name?  Yep. Esther.  He isn't speaking directly to us, but he is encouraging us to stand up for our faith and for God's people.  

What do we need to stand up for more in our lives?  Children, elderly - especially those with albinism or other special needs.  My own faith with my family.

Job

summary:

• Job was prosperous and praised God
• Satan made a wager with God - that if God took his hand off Job then Job would quit worshipping God.
• God gave Job over to Satan (1:1 Very well, all that Job has is in your power)
• Satan wiped out Job - his wealth, health, children - gone!
• by Job 3:1, job was cursing the day he was born.
• three friends came and insisted he must have committed a horrible sin.
• Then there is a long discourse on evil.  
• This goes on until God speaks up and challenges Job.  and Job, who has been prideful is finally humbled.  Pastor summarizes Job 40 and 41 into God asking, "Can you create earth?"  Job replies, 42:1-2 "I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted ... therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me."
• Job's questions weren't answered ... and yet he ends with hope, faith and trust!!!
• Job's fortunes were restored to him two-fold.

Read Job 42

Pastor's summary: God says, "I am God; you're not." 

We don't know why God took his hand off Job. Maybe to show satan that he will always lose in the end.  We will never understand it, evil can't be explained, but we want to end these similar ponderings with Job's faith, hope and trust!!

What keeps us most from faith, hope and trust?

My grief. My difficulty seeing God's hand in the pain  My extended family.

Job tells us that God's ways are 'too wonderful for [us].'  Pray that we may be able to see God's wonder even in the midst of life's trials.

Pastor writes...
Wait ... 'keep your chin up when times are hard' is a crummy answer, isn't it? But what we always need is a little perspective. God and wonder are always woven together in this sinful, broken world.  For example, in one family is asking "Why?" as they lament a tragedy and a death.  In the next hospital room, however, the next family is rejoicing at the joy and wonder of birth.  Therefore we cannot say that God and wonder are not present.  It's just in one room, it's veiled.  Behind the veil, however,  God comforts the grieving and raises the dead.  Our problem is that we look from the perspective of earth. Hope comes from the vantage point of heaven.