Naomi and her husband, Elimelech from the tribe of Judah, leave Bethlehem during a famine and go to live in Moab. There Naomi’s husband and 2 sons die leaving Naomi with her 2 Moabite daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. When Naomi hears there is now food in Judah she sets out to move back home. She tells her daughters-in-law to return to their homes bc she could not provide them with husbands. Ruth, however, refuses to leave Naomi and says, “For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people; and your God, my God”. Ruth commits herself to Naomi and to the Lord instead of going home and worshipping the false gods of Moab. Ruth further expresses her loyalty to Naomi and faith in the Lord when she says “The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” Naomi concedes and when Naomi and Ruth get to Bethlehem, the people are so excited to see Naomi! 😃 But Naomi says, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty”. 😔 The name Mara means bitter. Naomi believes a lie; “…that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!” But did Naomi come back empty as she said? Naomi was so blinded by her deep pain that she could not see all that the Lord was doing and all the ways He was for her. She could not see how God was going to use the life of Ruth, who stuck by Naomi’s side, to fulfill His promise to send a Savior.

See, Ruth ends up working in the field of Boaz, a descendant of Judah’s son, Perez (one of the twins Judah and his daughter in-law, Tamar, had together). Boaz tells Ruth bc of her faithfulness to Naomi; “The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge”. Ruth later says to Boaz, “Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative”. Boaz follows the proper procedures per the Levirate law and becomes the owner of all that belonged to Naomi’s husband and sons, and Boaz becomes husband to Ruth. Tomorrow Naomi is no longer saying call me Mara. Keep reading to find out what makes her so happy!

(Ruth 1:1-4:12)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Today a Levite’s concubine cheats on him and goes to her father’s house in Bethlehem. The Levite goes to get her and ends up staying with the father-in-law for several days. While journeying back home, the Levite and his concubine stop in the town of Gibeah, which belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. An older man from Ephraim who is staying in the town with the Benjamites invites them to stay at his house.

Perverted men from the city come to rape the Levite but he gives them the concubine instead. They abuse her all night and then let her go the next morning. She walks to the door of the house where they are staying and falls down and dies. The next morning when her callous master opens the door he tells her to get up bc they are leaving, but when he discovers she is dead he loads her on his donkey and takes her home.

Then the Levite chops her body into 12 pieces and sends a body part to the each of the tribes of Israel. Well, that gets everyone’s attention and all the children of Israel gather together before the Lord at Mizpah and hear the Levite’s story. This ignites a war against the tribe of Benjamin. The entire tribe of Benjamin is nearly wiped out with only 600 men remaining.

After some time passes the Israelites weep at the thought of completely losing the tribe of Benjamin. There were no Benjamite women since they were all killed in war, and the other Israelites made an oath at Mizpah not to give their daughters to the Benjamites. Once the Israelites realize that the people from Jabesh Gilead failed to come to the congregation at Mizpah, the Israelites attack them and take 400 women for the tribe of Benjamin. The Israelites then give the Benjamites permission to kidnap 200 of their daughters while they come out to dance at the annual festival at Shiloh so that each of the remaining Benjamite men would have a woman.

The book of Judges ends today with “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own sight”. Man, today’s reading is a perfect example of how wicked things can become when everyone is doing what they believe is right in their own sight! It started with a Levite taking a concubine, the concubine cheating, the men of the city raping and killing her, the shock of the body parts sent out, war against their brothers, killing of others and kidnapping of women. What a tragic mess! This is why we so desperately need the Word of God!

Tomorrow we get a glimmer of hope during this dark period in Israel’s history in the book of Ruth so keep reading.

(Judges 19:1-21:25)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

After Samson sees a harlot “…and went into her”, he falls in love with another woman named Delilah. The lords of the Philistines bribe Delilah to find out where Samson’s strength lies. As Delilah attempts to uncover his secret, Samson allows her to do some bondage action on him 3 times but he is just toying with her. Eventually she pesters him so much “that his soul was vexed to death”. So Samson tells her that his strength is in his hair. The Philistines end up cutting his hair, putting out his eyes and making him a prisoner…But his hair starts to grow! 💪

At the end of his life, when Samson is brought to the temple of the false god Dagon, he prays for the Lord to give him strength one last time so he may take vengeance on the Philistines for the loss of his eyes. The Lord hears his prayer and Samson knocks down the beams of the temple killing about 3,000 Philistines which was more than he had killed his entire life.

Although Samson suffered major consequences as a result of being a sinful, fleshly driven man, he was still a man of faith (Hebrews 11:32-33) and the Lord used his life to accomplish His purposes.

Next we read about a man named Micah who makes shrines and household idols. He hires a Levite priest named Jonathan, the grandson of Moses, to be his personal priest. The tribe of Dan comes and takes all of Micah’s idols and makes Jonathan the priest over the entire tribe of Dan. “So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.” This just shows how far away from the Lord the Israelites are at this point in the Story. Moses’s own grandson leads an entire tribe into idolatry! 😱 The Story gets even darker tomorrow. Keep reading.

(Judges 16:1-18:31)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Lots of action happens today! Ok, first Jephthah makes a ridiculous vow to the Lord. He says that if the Lord gives him victory over Ammon he will offer up as a burnt offering whatever runs out of his house when he returns home.😳 I don’t know what he was expecting to run out of that house but it was his daughter, his only child, who was playing music and dancing. Well, we read back in Numbers 30:2 “If a man vows a vow to the Lord…he shall not break his word”. Jephthah does not break his word “…he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man.” Some commentators debate whether she was offered as a burnt offering since this would go against the Lord’s teaching in Lev 20:1-5 about not offering human sacrifices. They say she could have been sent to the tabernacle as a servant of the Lord since she went away 2 months with her friends to mourn her virginity and not her death. 🤷‍♀️ Not sure. But I think we get the point about not making foolish vows (see 3/9 post for more info on making vows).

Today we meet Samson. Israel was being oppressed by the Philistines and the Lord appears to a barren woman, the wife of Manoah, and tells her she is going to have a child and “…the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines”. So Samson grows up and sees a Philistine woman that he wants. His parents do not want him to marry a Philistine as this would go against the Lord’s teaching but little did they know that the Lord was working behind the scenes to use the union to make a move against the Philistines. And a move He made! The wedding festivities are crazy! Samson ends up killing 30 men to honor a bet he made with some of the male wedding attendants. His future wife is given to his companion to marry. In anger, Samson burns the Philistines fields with torches tied to fox tails. So the Philistines burn his supposed to be wife and her dad, and Samson retaliates by slaughtering them.

Lastly we read that Samson kills a thousand Philistine men with a jawbone of a donkey. Wow! 🤯 The Lord definitely used this fleshly driven man to take down some Philistines! Keep reading bc tomorrow Samson falls in love again which will lead to his downfall.

(Judges 11:29-15:20)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

If you are wondering why Gideon is being called Jerubbaal, which means “let Baal contend with him”, it is the new name he received after tearing down the family altar of Baal (Judges 6:32). Today “God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem…that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled…”. Gaal and his brother plot to overthrow Abimelech. Gaal does not succeed with the first attempt. During the second battle Abimelech seizes Shechem and kills the people at the city gate and in the fields. The remaining people flee to the temple of the god Berith for refuge but Abimelech barricades them inside and sets it on fire killing about 1,000 men and women.

Next Abimelech goes to Thebez and all the people of the city take refuge in the top of a tower. Abimelech did not have the same success with burning down this tower. A woman throws a millstone down and crushes his head. Abimelech tells his armor-bearer to thrust his sword through him so no one will say that a woman killed him. (Sorry Abimelech but the truth landed in the Bible for us to read about today.😬)

Lastly, we meet Jephthah, a mighty man of valor and a son of a harlot. His half brothers drive him away from home but when Ammon makes war against Israel they ask Jephthah to come back and save them. Jephthah says, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers me, shall I be your head?” The elders of Gilead say yes!

Tomorrow Jephthah makes a really stupid vow to the Lord. 🤦‍♀️ Keep reading to find out what happens!

(Judges 9:22-11:28)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Today the Lord once again has victory over Israel’s enemy in an unusual way. He narrows 32,000 men down to 300 men and arms them with trumpets and empty pitchers with torches inside. 🤷‍♀️ It’s the Lord’s battle and He fights His way. After the initial attack, Gideon calls for the rest of the men of Ephriam to join them in pursuing the Midianites but the prideful men are mad that he didn’t call them in the first place. ”And they reprimanded him sharply.” 😏 See, they had no clue that this was the Lord’s battle and that He chooses who will fight and how they will fight! Once the Lord gives Gideon victory, the people want Gideon to rule over them but he smartly declines and tells the people that the Lord shall rule over them.

However, Gideon goes on to make a bad decision when he gathers earrings from the plunder and makes an ephod out of it which becomes a snare to Israel. After Gideon’s death his son from his concubine in Shechem, Abimelech, kills Gideon’s 70 sons so he can rule over Israel but Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, escapes. Tomorrow the Lord repays Abimelech’s wickedness so keep reading.

(Judges 7:1-9:21)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

For 20 years the Israelites have been oppressed by Jabin, king of Canaan, and his army commander, Sisera. Deborah is judging at the time and she asks Barak, a commander of Ephraim, why he hasn’t attacked Sisera’s army as the Lord commanded. Barak says he will go and attack but only if Deborah goes with him. 🙄 Deborah says fine but Barak, you ain’t getting any glory…it’s going to go to a woman. So Barak attacks and Sisera flees on foot to the tent of a lady named Jael. “Then Jael, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple…” Wow! ⛺️ 🔨 😱 Peg in the head kills Sisera and Jael gets the glory as Deborah and Barak sing, “Most blessed among women is Jael…At her feet he sank, he fell; Where he sank, there he fell dead.”

Next the Israelites are being oppressed by the Midianites. The Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon, from the tribe of Manasseh, who was hiding from the Midianites in the wine press. I love how God says to this fearful man in hiding, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” God sees Gideon for the man he will be bc the Lord will be with him! But Gideon reminds me of doubting Moses “…how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Well you can’t Gideon. That’s the whole point. But the One who can will be with you just like He was with Moses! Gideon, like Moses, needs some signs from the Lord to build his faith. So God graciously wets and dries the fleece for Gideon. Tomorrow Gideon goes against the Midianites so keep reading!

(Judges 3:31-6:40)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

After Joshua, and the elders that outlived him, died “another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel”. Welcome to the Judges Era where everyone is doing what is right in their own sight (Judges 17:6, 21:25). 😱 This never goes well!! The children of Israel are intermarrying with the nations around them, worshiping their gods, and doing all kinds of evil in the sight of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord allows their enemies to overtake them. When the people cry out to Him, He raises up a judge to rescue them. This is called the sin cycle: Israel serves the Lord – Israel does evil – Israel is oppressed by their enemies – Israel cries out – God raises up a judge – Israel is delivered – and repeat. This cycle happens 7 times over about a 350 year period with 12 different judges, some serving during overlapping periods, in the book of Judges. We will meet 2 more judges, Eli and Samuel, in the Kingdom Era.)

So the children of Israel are doing evil and the Lord sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, for 8 years. Othniel, Caleb’s son in law, delivered them and they had peace for 40 years. After Othniel died, the children of Israel were back to doing evil. And here we go… The Lord delivered them to Elgon, king of Moab for 18 years. When the Israelites cried out, He raised up Ehud to deliver them. Ehud shoved a dagger in fat Elgon’s belly killing him and Israel had peace for 80 years. Tomorrow we meet the only woman judge. Keep reading!

(Judges 1:1-3:30)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Excerpt from “The 14 Eras” booklet by Iva May

The Judges Era

Judges; Ruth (Approximately 300 years)

Following the death of Joshua a new generation rose up who did not honor God nor follow His ways. Because the Israelites kept turning away from God to worship the idols of the people of the land, they spent the next 275 years in a series of sin cycles. They would worship idols (sin) and God would give them into the hands of their enemies (slavery and oppression). They would

live under oppression until they finally humbled themselves and cried out to God for help (supplication). In response to their humility, God would raise up a judge to deliver them from their enemies (salvation). As long as the judge was alive, the people followed God and lived in safety (peace), but when the judge died, the people turned back to idols, and God gave them into their enemies’ hands again until they called on Him.

Seven times, over this 275-year period, the Israelites turned away from God, and God raised up fourteen judges (notable judges include a woman named Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Eli, and Samuel) to deliver them when they cried out for mercy. Their times of oppression lasted from seven to forty years. The people also asked several of the judges to reign over them as king, fulfilling the word that God had promised Moses (when they would ask for a king-Deuteronomy 17:14ff). Ruth and Naomi’s story occurs during one of the sin cycles. Naomi flees Israel during famine and returns when she hears that bread again is in the land. This coincides with the provisions in the Blessings and Curses listed in Deut. 28. Ruth has a son by Boaz (descendant of Judah). Their great-grandson will become Israel’s second king.

Horrible sexual sin and crimes occur during this period of Israel’s history, as well as a corrupt priesthood (even Moses’ own grandson—Judges 18:30).

What does the Judges Era reveal about God?

God Speaks

• God uses oppression and oppressors to get the attention of His people and to turn them to Him.

God Acts

• God raises up enemies to oppress His people in hopes that they will turn to Him.

• God raises men and women as prophets, judges, and military leaders. God not only gives leadership roles to women but He brings unlikely women (and men) into His story.

God Reveals

• Spiritual declension occurs among God’s people in the absence of a godly priesthood and the proclamation of God’s Word.

• Man in his pride will live under oppression for many years before he humbles himself and cries out to God.

• Man would rather live under oppression than to have God reign over him as King.

• God responds to the humble cries of His people.