Wed.’s Devo - The Gentile Bride

Read: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25 Now that Benjamin’s women and children had all been killed, they had a dilemma. They had vowed at Mizpah not to let any of their daughters marry Benjamin men and if these 600 men didn’t marry, then the tribe of Benjamin will cease to exist. The men met and cried out to the Lord. They asked around to see if there was any town that hadn’t showed up to fight and didn’t make the vow. They found the town of Jabesh-gilead. So, they took matters into their hands…again and took 12,000 soldiers to Jabesh-gilead to kill every person except the virgin daughters. They found 400 girls but they needed 200 more. They remembered about an annual festival held in Shiloh. During the festival they did a dance where the virgins of the town would come out and dance. They told the Benjamin men who still needed a bride to hide and when they did the dance, they were to go grab a wife. When the people of Shiloh protested about the curse, they were going to tell them that since they didn’t “give” the men their daughters, they wouldn’t be cursed. Once again…they did what was right in their own eyes, because they had no king. In other words, God was not their king. In those days there was a severe famine in the land. Famines came because the people rejected God. There was a man and wife from Bethlehem named Elimelech and Nomi. They had two sons named Mahlon and Kilion. Elimelech took his family to live in Moab to ride out the famine. Both sons married Moabite women and both sons died in Moab. Ruth heard that the famine was over and wanted to go back home. Her two daughter-in-laws wanted to go with her. Naomi tried to persuade them to go back home. Orphah did return to Moab but Ruth was determined to go with her. She told Naomi that she wanted to go and live where Naomi lived and to worship her God. When they came to Bethlehem all of Naomi’s friends were so happy to see her, but Naomi was very sad because she had lost her family in Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. The story of Ruth is the story of the Gentle bride. Naomi, the Jew, left her land much like the Jews left their God. She returned empty-handed. Only Ruth came back willingly. She is the Gentile Bride who is led by the Jew to Jesus. We as Gentiles had chosen the God of the Jews to be our God. We have been grafted into the family of Abraham and into God’s heart. How fitting that the story we read in the New Testament would be the Samaritan woman at the well. Here is another picture of the Gentile bride. Jesus and her talk of living water and she is the only one who Jesus comes out and says, “I am the Messiah!” Jesus speaks into the woman’s rejection of men and then invites her to worship God. When Jesus’ disciples return, they are shocked to find him talking to a woman, much less a Samaritan. They don’t have the nerve to ask him about it but while they were wondering, she went to the village and told everyone about him. When the disciples asked Jesus if he was hungry he told them he had lost his appetite doing the will of God. It was so much more exciting than eating. They didn’t understand so Jesus talked to them about farming. He related it to witnessing. He had just harvested the soul of this woman whom others had planted the seeds. He was offering them the same job. He wanted them to have the joy he was experiencing. The Samaritans from the town came out to hear Jesus and many believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. Lord, thank you for choosing us to be in your family. We pray to be the bride whose heart is only for her lover. May we be spotless and without wrinkle.