Tag: Dan Siderius

The Lord be with You

*Old Testament: Ruth 1 & 2

Poetry: Psalm 118

New Testament: Luke 18

Today we begin reading the book of Ruth, which is both enjoyable and easy to read; a book without heavy theology to parse. The importance of the book is made plain at its end (for a preview, look to Ruth 4:17), in that it identifies a certain history of the family of the later King David. In that sense, it serves the Old Testament purpose of remembrance. In this case, it establishes a back story for the royal family (which ultimately leads to Jesus himself), but it also shows the providential role of God in that family. Like the passages in the Book of Judges, an important purpose of the text is to remind Israel how God established a relationship with the nation and then provides, cares for, and protects the nation.

Chapter 1 of Ruth provides the context for the remainder of the book: a family’s migration to Moab, and Naomi’s return to Bethlehem with the unexpected companion, Ruth. Chapter 2 is where the action of this story is established, with Ruth going to glean in Boaz’s fields and the repeated acts of kindness that he shows to her. We must also recognize the extent of his kindness as well: Boaz is obligated to leave some of his unharvested crops for the poor (see Leviticus 23:22), but he goes above and beyond this in his instructions to his servants to purposely leave grains for Ruth. She must have been confused, perhaps embarrassed by the kindness of Boaz, but it all leads to Naomi recognizing Boaz:

“The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives.” (Ruth 2:20 NASB)

Unfortunately, the depth of the term “closest relative” is not adequately captured in translation. The Hebrew term means “kinsman redeemer” – a family member that satisfies an obligation or vengeance of another in the extended family. Specific examples are the man that, following the Torah, marries his brother’s widow to preserve land inheritance, but also one who redeems a family member from slavery. This usage takes us to a second purpose of the Old Testament: prefiguring. Boaz, as a “kinsman redeemer” for the family of Naomi, prefigures Jesus as the one that redeems his family: Israel and (as we now know) Gentiles grafted in.

One aspect of Ruth that I greatly enjoy is the ordinariness of the spiritual expression of its characters. Without being ostentatious, the characters of the book recognize the providential role of God repeatedly and reflect it back to others to further recognize God’s role in their daily lives. Consider the statement of Ruth and Orpah in 1:8,9:

“May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.”

It is not enough for Naomi to wish her daughters-in-law success in their presumed departure; she specifically calls on God to give them that success in their new lives.

Then consider the dialogue between Boaz and his servants in 2:4:

Boaz to his servants: “May the LORD be with you.”

Servants’ response: “May the LORD bless you.”

I think the implication is that Boaz and his servants lived lives suffused in the presumption that God would be with them in every action, in every step along every path. Think about it further: Boaz and his servants were not going to war or going on a trip; they were simply going to the fields for the ordinary work of the day. Yet, he begins the day with a blessing on his servants.

In today’s culture, we increasingly compartmentalize our lives, even our spiritual lives. We work for some hours of the day, we take care of our daily obligations, and, hopefully, we set aside time to relax. More than likely prayer is a “carved out” time and time reading scripture may have to be scheduled. The alternative is to suffuse the entire day with the recognition that God is with us at every moment, and that prayer can and should be spontaneous and simple – ordinary. That we can take any moment to request God’s blessing on another.

This reminds me of an experience from childhood that might be odd to some. One summer, sometime in my teenage years, I had taken my youngest sister on a bike ride to the post office ostensibly for an errand, but mostly to be outside. At the post office, we encountered two nuns in the waiting area. (This was not out of the ordinary, there was a very active convent in my hometown.) One of the nuns leaned down, laid her hand on my sister’s head, and spoke a very simple blessing on her. Then she went back to her business, without skipping a beat. For that woman, living a life devoted to serving others in the name of God, speaking a blessing on a young child was utterly ordinary – she simply wanted to express God’s love to a child.

One of the messages of the Book of Ruth is that God is present in all parts of our lives. We can endeavor to purposefully include our appreciation for God for who He is and to share His love for all people in every moment of our day.

-Dan Siderius

Dan Siderius is a member of the Fair Oaks Community Church of God in Virginia. He lives in central Maryland with his wife and daughter and works as a research scientist for a government laboratory. Apart from work and parenting, he enjoys studying history, gardening, and all varieties of cooking.

Reflection Questions

  1. How can you break your spiritual life out of its compartment this week and mix it with your ordinary every day life? What are the benefits to doing so?
  2. How and to whom can you share remembrances of God providing, caring for and protecting? How can you seek to more regularly and often request God’s blessings on others?
  3. In what ways are Boaz and Jesus similar? In what ways are they different?
  4. What do we learn of God, and His Son Jesus, in our Bible readings today?
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I Love the LORD Because…

Old Testament: Judges 19 & 20

Poetry: Psalm 116

New Testament: Luke 16

As was discussed in two previous days’ devotions, Psalm 116 is another of the Hallel (literally, “Praise”) Psalms that are particularly associated with joyous events for Jews. They are prominent in the liturgies of the primary seasonal festivals such as Passover, and Psalm 116 is additionally part of the “Egyptian Hallel” subset of Hallel psalms. Psalm 116 does not make specific reference to Egypt, Passover, or the Exodus of Israel, but it is very straightforward to adapt its structure into a prayer of praise for the salvation of the nation of Israel. By connecting the psalm to that event, it is easily transformed into a pedagogical device that teaches the listener to acknowledge God for His grace toward Israel.

The Psalm is most naturally structured into three parts, but let us draw out the first two verses as an introductory dialogue (ellipsis of psalm text in bold):

I love the LORD. Why? Because He hears my voice, my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me. How should I respond? …. I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

The psalmist has provided a simple justification for the reader, all of us, to reverence and petition God: Because He hears me; the implication is that God answers those petitions. And because He hears me I should not fail to call on Him again and again.

Beginning in verse three, the psalmist builds upon the introductory dialogue to stretch and flesh out what could be the reason for calling on God and a more specific supplication: Cords of death wrap around me; the terror of the grave has come upon me; I found distress and sorrow. It is easy to see how this text was associated with Passover and the exodus: these words could be those of enslaved Israel, looking for deliverance from Egypt. Now look at verse four: Then I called upon the name of the LORD… “Save my life!” Taken in association with the enslavement in Egypt, these are the collective words of Israel, longing for deliverance, longing for God to “Hear my voice and incline His ear to me” (v 1). Verse four ends the first part of the psalm. 

The second part of the psalm does not begin with a description of the salvation desired by the writer (later usage: the nation of Israel), but instead utilizes another introductory statement: Gracious is the LORD .. our God is compassionate … the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. (vv 5-7). Only in verses 8-11 is the desired salvation described. The psalmist acknowledges God for who He is before getting to specifics about what He has done. Cast as part of the Hallel, we have Israel 1) acknowledging God as LORD and 2) thanking God for salvation from Egypt. To see a record of a similar acknowledgment, take a look at Exodus 15, a poem or song of adoration sung by Moses and the Israelites after passing through the sea.

Finally, beginning in verse 12, the psalmist builds out eight verses to answer the question What shall I render to the Lord? It is the question that must be asked after reflecting and acknowledging what He has done. And the answer, given in the text, is a catalog of options for worship and reverence toward God.

When the psalm is sectioned as outlined here, one can see how it was adapted for the celebration of Passover. It provides context (terrible circumstances, like Egypt) and a call for salvation, it identifies the LORD God as the agent of deliverance, and then provides options for adoration of God. Imagine sitting around a table, each member of a family saying or offering (perhaps competitively?) an option for active reverence: “I shall lift up the cup of salvation” (the mealtime allusion is especially apt in relation to Passover), “I shall pay my vows to the LORD” and “I’ll pay my vows in the presence of all His people.” The point is that the reverence, acknowledgment, and worship derive directly from the active role that God takes (took!) in deliverance from the circumstances of verse three.

Psalm 116 is a wonderful outline of one context for the why and what of thankfulness toward God: I may be in terrible circumstances, but the God that is gracious and compassionate can and will rescue me. In response, I bow to Him in reverence and worship, declaring my thankfulness to Him in the presence of others.

-Dan Siderius

Postscript

The Psalms, as poetry, always carry some underlying structure, though perhaps lost in the translation from Hebrew to English. One of the features of many psalms that I appreciate is doublet structure, in the form of question-and-answer. For example, Psalm 116:1:

Question: I love the LORD

Answer: Because He hears my voice

These doublets can be used to impart rhythm to the reading of certain psalms. One way to take advantage of the inherent rhythm is to speak the psalms antiphonally, where one person reads the first part of the doublet and a second person reads the response. Another option is to incorporate movement, by walking through the first half of the doublet, pausing, and then resuming with the second half. It can greatly liven the Psalms!
If you are interested in reading the Psalms whose translation purposefully retained rhythmic and melodic elements, I encourage you to use the Coverdale Psalter (e.g., Psalm 116: https://psalter.liturgical-calendar.com/en-emodeng/Coverdale/116) or its newer revision, the New Coverdale Psalter (available for viewing online: https://bcp2019.anglicanchurch.net/index.php/downloads-pdf/).

Reflection Questions

  1. How would you finish the sentence/poem/song which begins, “I love the LORD because…”? Think on it, write it down, share it with the LORD. Who else could benefit from hearing your testimony of why you love the LORD?
  2. What are some options for how you can respond to the LORD? Write them down as well. Some responses, perhaps some we do most often, are not very good responses – if your list includes any poor responses you can cross them out now. Put a star next to a response you will work on today.
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Why the Old Testament?

* Old Testament – Judges 11 & 12

Poetry – Psalm 112

New Testament – Luke 12

The last week of readings for Seek, Grow, Love has quickly taken us through the first half of the book of Judges, introducing new rulers of Israel, highlighting their good and bad actions, and then moving on to the next. The ultimate point and purpose of Judges is not always obvious; God clearly called up leaders of Israel and empowered those leaders through His holy spirit, but their track records may leave us asking, “Why did God want us to remember this person?” or, “How does this part of the O.T. relate to me as a Christian, 2000 years after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension?” We could ask the same questions about many parts of the Old Testament.

God has many purposes for the Old Testament, for both its original audience and for us as Christians today. Judges, in particular, is part of the narrative that establishes a cultural and national identity for Israel. Think back just a few weeks, when today’s Jews celebrated Passover: before its exodus from Egypt, Israel probably did not view itself as a nation on par with the surrounding tribes and kingdoms. The first Passover and subsequent Exodus firmly established Israel as separate from its neighbors, with a special relationship with God. It is both a spiritual and national ethnogenesis. The Book of Judges continues the historical and spiritual narrative that reinforces Israel’s identity. Every character and every judge adds another element to that identity.

Today’s reading in Judges takes us to Jephthah. Overall, Jephthah is completely consistent with the pattern established earlier: in a period of danger and spiritual decline, God calls an Israelite, of ordinary stock for the most part, to lead Israel through the present struggle. Through this, God demonstrates His continual love for Israel and preserves the nation. The narrative purpose of Judges is also captured in Jephthah’s letter to the Ammonites in 11:12-28; this is essentially a short-form summary of God’s actions in preserving Israel and bringing it into the promised land. Jephthah’s message to the Ammonite king is recorded for Israel to remember. Then, there is the record of the victory over the Ammonites – with the specific attribution, ‘the LORD handed them over to him’ (11:32). Yet again, God leaves a record of His care over Israel.

Another purpose of the Old Testament is to establish the context for the coming of Jesus and the patterns that prefigure him as God’s Messiah. One part of today’s reading from Judges 11 that stands out is the specific circumstances of Jephthah’s life. Jephthah was “the son of a harlot” (11:1) and later in life his half-brothers drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”’ (Judges 11:2b NASB). Despite this, Jephthah must have had a charismatic personality, with some natural leadership ability, because ‘worthless men gathered around Jephthah, and they went wherever he did.’ (11:3b NASB). Jephthah, due to the circumstances of his birth, was not naturally destined for leadership or respect. Yet, God uses this man to lead Israel in its struggle with and later victory over the Ammonites. In this manner, Jephthah is another pattern for who Jesus would be: of “questionable” birth (perspective matters, of course), with leadership abilities and purpose that did not fit the typical expectations of a man from an unimpressive town. God’s calling Jephthah to be leader over Israel is another instance of God selecting the unexpected, the cast-off, as the instrument of His purpose. It is entirely in congruence with the description of Jesus as

‘A stone which the builders rejected,

This has become the chief cornerstone;

This came about from the Lord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

(Mark 12:10b-11 NASB; cf. Psalm 118)

Jephthah, rejected by his half brothers, and yet the leader that Israel needed, is an example that points us to Jesus as the one chosen by God to be king over His kingdom.

Whenever you read a portion of the Old Testament, consider the two purposes discussed here: remembrance and prefiguring. Look for the examples, the records, of God’s ongoing care for Israel as He promised; those examples give us confidence that his promises of the Age to Come, the Kingdom of God, will be fulfilled. Then, examine the text to see if you can find characters that prefigure Jesus, shadows of the Messiah (then) to come. You will find him in surprising places!

~Dan Siderius

Reflection Questions

  1. Judges can be a hard book to read. Why?
  2. How are you at remembering how God has cared for His people through all of history and also during your lifetime? What is the danger when we don’t remember? For what do you give God credit, thanks and praise?
  3. What similarities do you see between Jephthah and Jesus? What differences do you see?
  4. What can we learn about God and His plan of salvation through His Messiah Jesus throughout the Old Testament and more specifically in our Bible reading today?
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