Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Apr 18 2019 - Ruth 4 – A happy ending

Boaz is as good as his word. He does all that he can to make Ruth his wife, and he does it quickly.

As we saw yesterday, in Israel, land was not to be bought and sold. It was God's gift to his people and was to be handed down as a trust within the family from generation to generation. When Elimelek left for Moab, his land would have been taken over by others, but with Naomi's return it should revert to Elimelek's descendants. Since both his sons were dead who was going to inherit it? Who is going to marry Ruth and raise up a son to be the deceased man's heir – Naomi being beyond the age of childbearing?

Boaz intercepts the closer relative of Elimelek as he makes his way through the city gate – the place where men met to talk and where deals were struck. Asking others to witness his conversation he speaks of the land that belongs to Elimelek and which Naomi is ready to pass on to a close relative who will provide her with a price for its harvests. The closer relative jumps at the chance of increasing his landholding until Boaz says that he must also take Ruth and raise up a child to inherit Elimelek's property. At this the man refuses the deal. Suppose he and Ruth have only one son? This would be considered Elimelek's grandson, heir to Elimelek's land. What would happen to his own lands and inheritance?

Boaz has achieved his objective. He calls the men at the city gate to witness that he will acquire the land belonging to Naomi and Elimelek and that he will take Ruth to be his wife.

The crowd at the gate respond with delight and with words of extravagant blessing. "May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah" (Ruth 4:11-12). And their words find an answer in the child that is born to Boaz and Ruth; Obed will become the grandfather of King David.

The child born to Ruth and Boaz brought great joy to Naomi – he is even spoken of as Naomi's son since he is Elimelek's heir. I doubt that she ever again said, "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter" (1:20). But the child descended from Obed, David's greater son, the Lord Jesus, would bring joy to the world and put an end to the bitterness experienced by all who live in a world of loss and of death.

God has been at work through every twist and turn of this story – through times of sadness, moments of kindness, scenes of high drama and times of joy. God has been working out his own purpose through the lives of these ordinary people. These were the days when the judges ruled over Israel, days when there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. But some sought to live lives that recognised and honoured God and through them God would provide a king for Israel, and ultimately the King over all creation.

Lord God, we thank you for the Lord Jesus our kinsman-redeemer. We praise you that when he was faced with the cost of our redemption he did not turn back but gave himself up for us. We recognise your hand at work through all of the pages of Scripture and the twists and turns of its history. Help us to know that you are still at work today through the lives of ordinary people who are devoted to you; working to bring your salvation to the ends of the earth. Use us to bring the blessings of your salvation to those around us.

Apr 18 2020 - 1 Corinthians 14:20-40 – God making his presence felt

Some Christians at Corinth seem to have placed great value in forms of ecstatic speech, claiming that their ability to speak in what they perhaps claimed to be the tongues of angels was evidence of their superior spirituality to those who lacked such ability. Paul, in effect, tells them to stop being like infants who babble in words that they alone can understand; he urges them to grow up (1 Corinthians 14:20).

Paul then quotes from Isaiah 28:11,12, “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” The context in Isaiah is a word from God about the northern kingdom of Israel just before its defeat by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The rulers in Samaria have been complaining that the prophet who has been bringing God’s message to them was treating them like children with his infantile words of judgment. It’s just ‘la la la,’ they mocked. God’s response is that, if they will not listen to simple instruction, he will send them off into exile. There they will have to listen to instruction in a foreign language they cannot understand. That truly will be to them like infantile babble, ‘la la la’.

Paul sums up the point he is making from this quotation by saying “Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers (14:22). Incomprehensible language was God’s judgment upon the Israelites for their failure to believe the words plainly declared to them by the prophets; it’s a sign for unbelievers. God’s word, declared in plain language is his gift to his believing people, designed to promote faith and to build them up in knowledge of him.

Having delivered this stinging rebuke, Paul does not forbid the exercise of tongues within the church; instead he insists that they be interpreted when not being used in private worship. Nevertheless, he argues that when the church meets together, prophecy is more beneficial than tongues since prophecy can be understood. God wants us to understand what he has to say to us and to respond in faith, thanksgiving and obedience.

Paul also encourages congregational participation when they meet together for worship, but he is concerned that it does not become a disorderly competition for the right to speak. Everything should be done in an orderly manner, designed to build up the faith and understanding of fellow Christians and to act as a witness to others that God is in this place and is addressing the hearts and lives of those present.

And surely this is our desire for the churches that we attend. We long that when we meet together there will be both abundant life and peaceful order. We long that God will speak in power into our lives, to continue his work in those who have already come to faith, transforming them the more into the likeness of Christ. And we long that God’s presence may be so very real, both in the proclaiming of his word and in every other aspect of our worship, that those who do not yet know him may be convicted of their sin and drawn to faith in Jesus Christ.

Lord, turn us away from childish things and from the desire to impress others. Give us ears to hear what you are saying to us and hearts that respond readily to all that you have said and done. Glorify your name among your people today and make your presence known and felt. And, as we meet together, may many be drawn to faith in the Lord Jesus that they too may rejoice with us that you are the living God who has rescued us from exile and brought us into the kingdom of your dear Son.

Peter Misselbrook