In the Time in Which the Judges Ruled

In the Time in Which the Judges Ruled

The time in which the judges ruled was not a good time for God’s people.  A study through the book of Judges is a discouraging study.  For much of the period, Israel was mired in idolatry and subject to the ravages of the surrounding pagans.  When they turned back to God and He gave them judges who led them to military victories, these leaders were often deeply flawed.  Things get so bad that one tribe is almost obliterated by the others, and then reconstituted in a deeply immoral way (Judges 20, 21).  Among the rulers and leaders, judges, priests, Levites, and tribal elders, it’s hard to find anyone who is an unalloyed good example. The reason, the author tells us: “There was no king in Israel in those days; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25, also 17:6, 18:1, 19:1).”  And that was often not what was good in God’s eyes.

However, you probably recognize that our title, “In the time in which the judges ruled,” is taken not from Judges, but from the first verse of the next book, Ruth. If we want to find good examples in these troubled times, we will find them in the book of Ruth, far from the centers of power, in a village so small that Micah called it, “too little to be among the clans of Judah (Mic. 5:2),” a village called Bethlehem.

Ruth is a short book, similar to a modern short story.  We read about a few pivotal days in the life of a few characters, about whom only a little is told to us, although much is implied.   The book centers on three people:  a middle-aged, destitute widow named Naomi, just returned to Israel after many years away; her young, foreign, also widowed and destitute daughter-in-law Ruth; and a local landowner named Boaz.  All are good examples of how to live in troubled times, but for this article, we will focus on Boaz.

Boaz arose one spring morning for an important day.  It was a harvest day, when the farmer reaps his reward for a season’s labor, and the community learns whether this year will be a year of plenty, or of privation. It is vitally important that all goes well with the harvest.  Boaz must have had many concerns, because by the time he reaches his fields, the sun is well up and the work is well underway.  He greets his harvesters in the name of the God of Israel, “May the LORD bless you,” and they reply likewise (Ruth 2:4).  We know many gods were worshipped in Israel of the Judges, and open devotion to the true God can be dangerous (e.g., Judges 6:25-32), but Boaz announces himself as a godly man.  

He looks over the fields and sees with satisfaction what he expects to see:  men in a line with scythes, cutting the grain, women behind gathering sheaves, and some gleaners.   The Law of Moses requires the Israelites to allow the poor and the foreigner, the fatherless and widow, to come behind the harvesters, gathering dropped and missed grain, to alleviate their poverty (Lev. 19:9-10, Deut. 24:19-21).  Whatever grain the gleaners took was of course grain lost to Boaz and his family, and many must have begrudged it. But Boaz not only confessed God but followed his law.  

He also sees something he did not expect.  One of the gleaners, a woman, veiled but apparently young from her dress and agility, was dressed not like an Israelite, but a foreigner—wearing the attire of Moab.  News travels fast in the small town, so Boaz probably knew who she was, but he called his foreman over to confirm, “who is that young woman?” The young man confirmed, “She is the young woman who came back with Naomi (Ruth 2:5-7)”  

Now Boaz goes beyond obedience, to kindness.  Aware of her condition, he arranges for her to have food and water, to move up to gather among the sheaves, and even orders that some grain be dropped for her to find (Ruth 2:15-16).  And, aware of the vulnerability of a young woman, alone and a foreigner, in those lawless times, he provides for her safety in his fields at least (2:9). She works hard and, at the end of her day, leaves his field with enough grain to feed herself and Naomi not just for a day but for weeks, as well as the remainders from lunch (2:14,17). At the end of his day, Boaz has the satisfaction of having done a good deed for someone who could offer him nothing in return. A worthwhile, but not particularly special, day.

We know what happens next.  On the advice of Naomi, Ruth returns to Boaz on his threshing floor on the final night of harvesting and in total vulnerability entreats his help.  Boaz again does the kind and honorable thing, resulting in the redemption of Naomi’s land, his marriage to Ruth, and the birth of a son named Obed.  The village of Bethlehem celebrated a wedding and a childbirth.  Heartwarming, but hardly of great significance.

But the storyteller tells us more.  “…Boaz fathered Obed, and Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David,” the future King of Israel (4:16).  We know even more than the storyteller.  We know that from David’s son Solomon, through many generations, will come a carpenter in Nazareth named Joseph (Matt 1:1-17).  And through another son, Nathan, will come a young woman named Mary, who will bear Jesus the Christ (Luke 3:23-38).  And nothing is of greater significance than that. 

What application does this long-ago story have for us?  We too live in a discouraging time.  Good examples are hard to find, and so is respect for God’s word and God’s values.  Things around us seem to be getting steadily worse, and we wonder what we can do about it and often find no answer.

Boaz shows us the power in such times of simple obedience and kindness in the things that come to us each day.  We can all do the simple things that Boaz did.  We can let others know that we serve the Lord.  We can look around us and see opportunities to do good.  We can do the things we are commanded to, and go beyond command to show kindness to those who need it. As we have opportunity, we can do good, especially to those who belong to the household of faith.  We can persevere, not growing weary of doing good, even when it seems no one notices (Gal 6:9-10).   And who knows what God can do with these “small” things, even as he did in the time of the Judges?

-  Scot Ruska

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Some people worship their work, 

work at their play, 

and play at their worship.

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