Read: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25
Judges was a time people did life their way, then ran to God to fix their mess. Today’s story is the epitome of this. The leaders of Israel didn’t think ahead to realize that in their zeal to avenge the Levite and his concubine, they would be wiping out a whole tribe. Now, they had to fix their mess by finding a way to keep the tribe of Benjamin alive without breaking their foolish vows they had made not to let any of their females marry a Benjamite. They found a loop hole and were able to save face, but leaving a lot of collateral damage behind.
When they still didn’t have enough women, they went to the festival at Shiloh to snatch the virgin dancers. I found out that Shiloh was another name for Jesus meaning “bringer of peace”. Shiloh was a very secluded place in Ephraim where the ark was located before the Philistines stole it. It was like a haven for the remnant. God always has a remnant that doesn’t go the way of the world and stays true to Him. Shiloh was such a place.
Our next book is Ruth which is one of my favorites. Elimelech and Naomi should have never left Bethlehem. Famines were always God’s discipline on a people who rebelled against him. They should have stayed and persevered and waited for God’s deliverance, but instead they tried to escape. Sadly, they found pain and death instead of rest. It is never best to escape God’s discipline. Patience brings such good benefits.
God spared Naomi and rescued Ruth because God is always in to redemption and restoration. Ruth was a Moabite who saw something she wanted in the faith of Naomi. She returned to Naomi’s land to make it hers and find salvation.
In John, Jesus had just entered his ministry and he felt the need to go through Samariah. This was Gentile territory, but Jesus came to save the world so he had two ministries - one to the Jew and the other to the Gentiles. He flip-flopped between these two groups all through his ministry. Today he was with the Gentiles. He stopped in the town of Sychar which was once Shechem. It was the place Abraham built his first altar to the Lord when he came into the promised land and it was in the valley between the two mountains that the tribes stood on reading the curses and the blessings. It was like a valley of decision. Joshua purged the place of idols and burned them in this place. Jacob built a well here in the land he gave to Joseph. It is the picture of what was to come. The woman at the well was the first Gentile recorded that came to know Jesus as the Messiah. He told her point blank that he was the Messiah which was something he didn’t tell too many people. She became his missionary to the Gentiles and many were saved because of her testimony.
Lord, help us to see the bigger picture and join you in your pursuit of the world.
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