Tag: ER

Judah And Boaz

Neal Pollard

There is a very interesting blessing directed to Boaz in Ruth 4:11-12. “Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.’” There are three parts to this blessing and all are framed as comparisons between events in Genesis in the Patriarchal Age and the events of this book.

  1. How Rachel and Leah came into Jacob’s family and how Ruth came into Boaz’s.
  2. How this built up the nation and how they pray for this marriage to continue the same.
  3. How one widow was blessed through deception and sin and how they wanted honorable Boaz and Ruth to be blessed in this admirable arrangement.

The whole, three-part blessing, seems to be a contrast between the lesser (Genesis characters) and the greater (Boaz and Ruth). God had done incredible things through the faulty characters of the former. Leah was at times jealous and bitter. Rachel was conniving and petulant. Jacob was a deceiver. Judah reneged giving his third son to Tamar, who disguises herself as a prostitute to raise up seed to give her a name and place among them. Judah’s character problems in that situation are many and apparent.

The beautiful story of Ruth shows a woman who willingly returns, a widow, with her mother-in-law to be among her people and serve her God. An abiding trust in God’s providence brings about this relationship between Ruth and the highly-honorable Boaz. Unlike Judah’s sons, Boaz accepts his role in this levirate marriage and takes the near kinsman role. This blesses not only Ruth and Boaz, but the once forlorn mother-in-law, Naomi.

God had tremendously blessed the descendants of Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Judah and Tamar, despite their moral failings. In the same lineage, what would He do for Boaz and Ruth? It seems the people are calling on the God who had blessed their weaker ancestors to amplify His goodness and gifts on those who so faithfully acted through this union. What a thoughtful and powerful blessing!

Even when we are faithless, God is faithful, “for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). God was fulfilling His promises to Abraham (Gen. 12:2-3). At times, this was accomplished despite the contrary and sinful actions of people. At other times, this was accomplished through the godly, selfless deeds of good people. Knowing that God is always at work (Rom. 8:28), would you like your part to be remembered like Judah or Boaz? Like Rachel and Leah or Ruth?

Who Will You Listen to? (1 Kings 12) 

Wednesday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

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Carl Pollard

I remember it like it was yesterday, I was standing in my brothers’ room while they were trying to convince me that I had swallowed a marble. After enough talking, they finally convinced my 3-year-old self that I had swallowed a marble. A couple of hours later we left the ER after being told by the doctor that there, in fact, was no marble in me. What on earth happened? Well, I’ll tell you what happened. I listened to my brothers and their prank went a little farther than they thought it would. 

This reminds me of an account that is recorded in 1 Kings chapter 12, where Rehoboam listens to some unwise advice from his brothers. The people come to him asking their new king to lower the taxes his father Solomon had placed on them. So Rehoboam reaches out to those who served with Solomon, and they tell him to lower the taxes; but Rehoboam didn’t like this answer. In fact, he wasn’t looking for that answer. So he goes to his friends, the guys he grew up with, and this is what they say, “‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions’”(1 Kings 12:10-11). Rehoboam takes the advice of his younger council, and because of this the kingdom of Israel split. 

When it comes to who we take advice from, it is always best to come at it with all biases aside. Rehoboam was talked into doing something that split the kingdom. The next time we have a decision to make, we must not make the mistake Rehoboam made or what I did in listening to my brothers. Let’s be wise and make our decision after praying with a heart which honestly seeks God’s will. 

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