I think I read a chapter too much yesterday. Anyway, a reminder that Ammon and Moab were the incestuous sons of Lot by his two daughters. Judges is completed - started out good, but ended up with Israel deeply depraved and at civil war with itself. Seven books down, 59 to go. Next, the book of Ruth.
- Why did Naomi and her husband Elimelech leave the promised land during the famine when they had well-to-do relatives they could have turned to?
- Boaz seems like a pretty good guy. He seems to know God, and follows some of the rules established in Leviticus, like leaving the gleaning in the field for the poor.
- It seems a bit forward for Naomi to send Ruth to the foot of Boaz' bed, but the rules for carrying on the family name would direct Ruth to the nearest relative of her husband. Boaz truthfully knows there is one other closer to her, but that man doesn't want to risk buying the land and getting a wife in the deal when if a son is born, the land would revert to the woman's first husband's family.
- I don't remember any mention of what kind of beauty Ruth may or may not have had. Boaz commends her on her good reputation and how well she cared for her mother-in-law
I'm sure I could get more out of the book of Ruth...but this is about quantity, not quality...although I think I'm getting a lot more quality than I ever anticipated. Eight books down, 58 to go!
- Hey, they start the first chapter of 1 Samuel with reference to the big yearly feast in Shiloh. This may be a good sign.
- Eli was the grandson of Aaron, the first high priest and brother of Moses. I can just picture him sitting in front of the tabernacle, with his chin resting on his hand, wondering what another drunk woman was doing at the tabernacle. Apparently his no-good sons were not only demanding the best for themselves from the sacrifices, and not even following the rules to burn the fat, but they were apparently messing around with the women who came to sacrifice at the tabernacle. Eli was a wimp in his chastising of his sons, basically telling them "you really shouldn't do that boys" and then sitting around worrying about it. Reminds me of some parents I know - too scared, and probably too late, to try some strict boundaries on their own kids and hold them accountable. Hope I don't do that.
- Hannah's prayer for a son were answered in Samuel and she did as she promised and left him to live with Eli at the tabernacle in Shiloh.
- Although Samuel was groomed by God from the start, in chapter 3 it says that when God called for Samuel that it basically didn't enter his mind that it would be the Lord calling him. He "did not know the Lord" even though he was living with the priest at the tabernacle. Pretty sad. But Eli knew that God was calling him and told Samuel to listen and obey.
- God chooses Samuel as a prophet, and he also serves as a judge for 40 years. I don't know where he falls in our timeline.
Speaking of timeline, this whole pretzel of a timeline is really starting to confuse me. I was assuming that the period of judges didn't even start until the Israelites were in the promised land, but I found an online sources of old testament timelines that puts the first sited judge, Othniel, before Moses is even born! That would explain why there was no talk of sacrifices, because they didn't have those instructions yet. It also places the Canaanite oppression broken by Deborah and Barak just after the Israelites enter the promised land, Samson and Samuel alive at the same time (partly during the occupation by the Philistines and Ammonites), and Ruth and Boaz before Samson but at the end of Gideon's life. But that just does not seem right! I should dig deeper! Othniel was the nephew of Caleb (Judges 3:9), so there is no way that the judges started before Moses, because Caleb was younger than Moses. That site's timeline is contradicted by scripture.
But wait! I have a book that I've never cracked open called "The Chronology of the Old Testament" with CD timelines I ordered from Answers in Genesis. Let's see what it says. It places Othniel after Moses' death, places Ruth at the time of Deborah and Barak, and Samson right before Saul, with the Ark of the Covenant being captured in the middle of Samson's life. This one makes more sense. Why did I open that book and just use up a half hour? I will never get my hotel selected for our trip next month at this rate. You know, homework before play!
- The Ark of the Covenant is taken from the Tabernacle in Shiloh to war as a sort of good luck charm (without consulting God, who surely would have said no), and it was captured by the Philistines and placed in a temple of Dagon, a false god. The ark was a bad luck charm, and they passed it from city to city for seven months before setting it on a cart and pointing it toward the East and the Israelites. The Philistines remembered what God had done to the Egyptians, and had themselves experienced tumors wherever the ark went, Before they put it on a cart they try to appease God with an apology gift of sorts - golden tumors and rats. Nice.
- When the ark returned to Israel, you think they would rush it right back to Shiloh and the tabernacle. But no, they keep it in a temporary home for 20 years. Even though the ark wasn't where it was supposed to be, there was a period of peace and reclaimed territory under Samuel.
- But his sons were rotten, so much so that the people demanded a king be given to them like the nations around them. Samuel sought God's council, and the Lord said give them a taste of what they think they want, but warn them it will not taste very good.
- It is interesting that the first time we see the man who would be king, he is described as good looking. That should fit in well with the Israelites hollow reasons for a king - a good-lookin' king is a bonus!
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