The Book of Ruth
Christians place the book of Ruth immediately after the book of Judges for this reason.
Jews place Ruth near the end of their canon.
The story of Ruth was written much later than the book of Judges, most likely during the post-exilic period.
The main character of the book, Ruth, is from Moab.
The book of Ruth tells the story of King David’s ancestors.
Chapter One
There was a famine in Israel, so Elimelek, his wife Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chileon, leave Israel and settle in Moab.
Mahlon and Chileon marry two Moabite women - Ruth and Orpah.
The three men die right away.
“Mahlon” means “sickly,” and “Chileon” means “bound-to-go,” so their deaths are no surprise.
Naomi decides to return home and takes Ruth and Orpah with her.
As they are leaving, she tells them to go back to Moab.
Orpah leaves, but Ruth refuses to go.
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
-- Ruth 1:16-17
When they arrive in Bethlehem, Naomi tells everyone that her new name is “Marah” because the LORD has dealt bitterly with her.
"Marah" means "bitter," showing how Naomi has become a bitter person.
"Marah" means "bitter," showing how Naomi has become a bitter person.
Chapter Two
Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz with the other poor women of Bethlehem.
Boaz provided protection for her.
Boaz also told his servants to leave extra grain behind for Ruth to pick up.
Boaz also let Ruth eat lunch with him and his servants.
Later, Ruth showed Naomi all the grain.
Noami told Ruth that Boaz was their “kinsman-redeemer,” meaning that he was next in line to lead the family after the death of Elimelek.
Chapter Three
Noami told Ruth to wash herself and then go to the threshing floor where Boaz slept that night and “uncover his feet” once he fell asleep and lay by him.
"Uncovering his feet" is a euphemism for exposing his private parts. However, this is not necessarily meant as a sexual act, but rather as a blunt reminder of Boaz's circumcision, which was the sign of the covenant he had sworn to uphold, including his role as kinsman-redeemer.
"Uncovering his feet" is a euphemism for exposing his private parts. However, this is not necessarily meant as a sexual act, but rather as a blunt reminder of Boaz's circumcision, which was the sign of the covenant he had sworn to uphold, including his role as kinsman-redeemer.
Ruth did as she was told.
Boaz woke up and was startled to find a woman in his bed.
Ruth told him to “spread his garment over her.”
Boaz praised her for not chasing after younger men and choosing him instead.
Boaz agreed to be her “kinsman-redeemer” and let her stay the night with him.
She left before dawn to avoid a scandal.
Before she left, Boaz told her to spread out her garment, and he poured grain into it for her to carry.
So after this night, Ruth carries the seed of Boaz…
Chapter Four
In the morning, Boaz found the man who was actually in line ahead of him to be the kinsman-redeemer and offered him the property of Alimelek’s sons which belonged to this man by right…but the property also included Ruth.
The man didn’t want a Moabite wife, so he refused to be the kinsman-redeemer, and the job fell to Boaz who was next in line.
Boaz and Ruth were married.
The elders blessed them and said, “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.”
Boaz was a descendant of Perez, Judah’s son through Tamar.
The story of Ruth ends with a brief genealogy:
Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed
Obed was the father of Jesse
Jesse was the father of King David, the greatest king of Israel
The Book of First Samuel
Structure of 1st Samuel
1st Sam. 1:1–8:22 – The story of Samuel
1st Sam. 9:1–15:35 – The story of Samuel and Saul
1st Sam. 16:1–2nd Sam. 1:27 – The Story of Saul and David
1st Samuel according to puppets...
A continuation of the book of Judges
Judges is the second book of the Deuteronomistic History.
1st Samuel is the third book of the Deuteronomistic History.
Begins with “There was a certain man…”
Similar to Manoah and Micah in Judges.
The book of Judges ends in Shiloh.
1st Samuel begins in Shiloh.
The Birth Narrative of Samuel (1:1–2:7)
Elkanah’s lineage (v. 1)
We don’t know anything about the people in his lineage.
However, great prophets are usually introduced by their lineage in the Old Testament.
Elkanah’s family (v. 2)
Two wives
Peninnah bears children, her name means “prolific.”
Hannah is the favorite wife, but is barren. Hannah means “favor.”
Similar to previous stories (e.g., Jacob’s wives, Leah and Rachel)
In the Old Testament, if a woman is barren and gives birth, something important will happen with that child.
Peninnah is cruel to Hannah.
Elkanah is clueless, and the best he can do to comfort Hannah is to state that being married to him is a much greater blessing than ever having kids.
Hannah’s vow at the Shiloh shrine (v. 11)
The Septuagint translation of the Old Testament says that Hannah vows to give her son to God as a Nazirite if He would give her a son.
Eli the priest hears Hannah praying and thinks she is drunk – ironic since Nazirites don't drink.
Hannah’s response (v. 15)
She is “not drinking” but “pouring out her soul,” this language sounds like “pouring” a blood sacrifice.
Eli’s blessing (v. 17)
A note of promise that God has heard Hannah's plea.
The family returns home
Elkanah “knows” her
The LORD “remembers” her.
She has a son and names him Samuel.
“Samuel” means “God heard.”
Hannah’s offering (v. 24)
Samuel is her offering
Not traditional sacrifice, but a “living sacrifice.”
Hannah’s Song (2:1-10)
Very old section of the Old Testament
Praises God
Reference to a barren woman having seven kids
Reference to a king, which points to the beginnings of monarchy in Israel
The New Testament figure of Mary, the mother of Jesus, has very much in common with Hannah.
The New Testament figure of Mary, the mother of Jesus, has very much in common with Hannah.
Eli’s Sons (2:12-36)
Hophni and Phinehas
They’re no good scoundrels
Three indictments:
Inappropriate sacrifice – robbing God (vv. 12-17)
Sex at the sanctuary (vv. 22-25)
Becoming fat off the offerings
A “man of God” condemns Eli’s family
Chastises Eli for doing nothing about his sons
Predicts Eli’s house will be “cut off”
Predicts a faithful priest will be brought up
Samuel’s Dream Theophany (3:1–4:1a)
Conditions at Shiloh
“The word of the LORD was rare”
“Not many visions”
Eli is going “blind”
Samuel’s dream
Samuel sleeps near the Ark
God calls to Samuel, not Eli
Samuel goes to Eli
It takes Eli three times before he realizes what’s going on
Samuel becomes prophet
Eli demands to know what the LORD said
Samuel is honest and faithful to God’s word
God’s Message: I will destroy Eli’s family
The word of the LORD keeps on appearing to Samuel at Shiloh
The Ark Narratives (4:1b-22)
Philistines defeat Israel
Israel camped at Ebenezer, which means “stone of help”
They receive no help and are defeated by the Philistines.
They ask “why?”
Conclusion: “we didn’t bring the Ark with us so we lost”
Battling the Philistines with the Ark
Ark has become an idol (vv. 3-4)
Ark is captured by Philistines (vv. 10-11)
Eli’s sons killed in battle
Eli faints and breaks his neck because he’s so fat
Eli’s daughter-in-law gives birth and dies, names her son “Ichabod,” meaning “The glory has departed.”
The Ark among the Philistines (5:1–7:17)
The Ark at Ashdod
The Philistines take the Ark to the temple of their god Dagon.
Dagon lays prostrate in front of Yahweh.
Dagon lays prostrate in front of Yahweh.
Yahweh humiliates Dagon and decapitates him (opposite of Samson’s story)
Humiliation of the Philistines
There is a rat infestation at Ashdod because of the presence of the Ark of God.
Also, the people begin to develop some sort of tumors or hemorrhoids. We're not exactly sure, but either way, it was a pain in the butt.
Hot Potato with the Ark
Ashdod sends the Ark to Gath, plagues break out at Gath
Gath sends the Ark to Ekron, plagues break out at Ekron
The people “cry out” because the “hand of God was heavy” upon them.
Return of the Ark
The Philistines present a guilt offering, admitting they were wrong
They also make five golden replicas of the "tumors" and five golden replicas of the rats.
They put the Ark on a cart pulled by two milk cows, and the milk cows apparently head straight back to Israel.
The Ark arrives in Israel
Comes to the field of Joshua
Some Israelites peeked inside the Ark and dropped dead
All of the people gathered at Mizpah and Samuel told them to get rid of all their idols so they did.
Later the Philistines tried to attack Israel again.
The text says that God “thundered” among the Philistines so that they were too frightened to do anything.
The men of Israel chased the Philistines away and defeated them in battle.
Samuel set up the “Ebenezer stone,” or “stone of help,” saying, “Thus far has the LORD helped us.”
The people ask for a King (8:1-22)
As Samuel got older, his sons did not follow in his ways and were not trusted by the people.
The people went to Samuel and told him they wanted to have a king rule over them, just like their neighbors.
Samuel was displeased that the people had asked for a king.
God said to Samuel, “They are not rejecting you, but they are rejecting me.”
God told Samuel to tell the people that if they chose the path of kingship, the king would be their master and he would make them work as slaves.
The people told Samuel they wanted a king anyway.
So God told Samuel to give them a king.
Saul Becomes King of Israel (9:1–11:15)
Saul and his buddy wandered the countryside looking for his father’s missing donkeys, but unfortunately the donkeys outsmarted them.
They decided to go ask “The Seer” if he knew where the donkeys were.
Samuel was “The Seer.”
Samuel already knew that Saul was on his way.
God told Samuel that Saul was to be ruler of Israel.
Samuel told Saul to not worry about the donkeys, they had been found.
Samuel told Saul that he was the “desire” of all Israel.
Saul was confused and pointed out the low-rank of his Benjamite family.
He was also from Gibeah, the scene of the nasty incident that sparked the civil war at the end of the Book of Judges.
Samuel put together a feast for Saul and his friend.
Samuel anoints Saul’s head with oil before sending him on his way.
Confirmation of Saul’s Calling:
Donkeys found (v. 2)
Saul will meet three men; is given two loaves of bread (vv. 3-4)
Saul will meets band of prophets; is possessed by Spirit of God and prophesies (vv. 5-7)
The text explains that this event is one reason why the Israelites had a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Saul kept quiet to his family about his new role as king.
Later, Samuel had all of the people gather together for the inauguration of Saul as King of Israel.
Saul was nowhere to be found.
He was hiding because he was afraid.
The people pulled him from his hiding place and shouted “Long live the king!”
The festivities were interrupted with word that Nahash king of the Ammonites had attacked the city of Jabesh Gilead.
The people of Jabesh Gilead were Saul’s cousins.
Nahash tried to gauge out the right eye of every man in the land.
Saul came to the rescue and defeated Nahash in battle.
Some Israelites had previously mocked Saul, and after Saul’s victory the people wanted to kill them, but Saul spared their lives.
At this point, Samuel officially sets Saul up as king over Israel.
Saul is Rejected as King (13:1–15:35)
First Failure
Saul’s son Jonathan fought a successful battle against the Philistines.
Saul took credit for the battle.
The Philistines mustered their armies to attack Israel again and the people fled and hid in caves.
Saul and his army waited seven days for Samuel to show up and give them God’s instructions.
Samuel did not show up right away, so Saul took on Samuel’s role and made sacrifices to God in order to figure out what to do next.
Just as Saul had finished making the offerings, Samuel showed up.
Saul made excuses.
Samuel told him he had done a foolish thing and that his dynasty would not last forever because of his unfaithfulness.
After this, Saul took his 600 men back to Gibeah.
Saul and Jonathan were the only people with weapons as the Philistines were preparing to attack.
Saul just sat around “under a pomegranate tree.”
Jonathan and his armor-bearer sneaked away from Saul and crossed over a canyon to where the Philistines were at.
The Philistines attacked them, but Jonathan and his armor-bearer began slaughtering them.
The text says that God caused the Philistines to panic, and that the ground began to shake.
Meanwhile, Saul had made a rash vow, forbidding the people to eat any food under penalty of death.
Saul was caught off guard by the sound of battle, but joined in as well only to find the Philistines killing themselves in confusion.
After the battle, Jonathan ate some honey because he did not know about his father’s vow.
The people told Jonathan about the vow, and Jonathan told them that what his father had told them was stupid.
The people refused to let Saul kill his son Jonathan for breaking the fast.
Similar to Jephthah’s vow, but with different outcome.
Later, Samuel told Saul to go completely destroy the Amalekites.
Saul was victorious in battle, but he failed to destroy everything.
He kept the livestock for himself.
He kept King Agag alive.
God said to Samuel, “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.”
Samuel cried bitter tears before he went to confront Saul.
When Saul saw Samuel approaching, he said, “Look! I did what God said!”
Samuel asked him about the livestock.
Saul blamed the soldiers.
He said they were actually planning on making a sacrifice later.
He said they had completely destroyed everything else.
Samuel stopped him and rebuked him for “pouncing on the plunder.”
Saul again tried to say that they would eventually get around to sacrificing to God.Samuel's response:
“To obey is better than sacrifice.”
“For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.”
“Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”
Saul begged for forgiveness and grabbed ahold of Samuel’s robe and tore it as Samuel was turning to leave.
Samuel said, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.”
Samuel had to go kill Agag himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment