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March 21, 2010 finish Judges read Ruth 1-2:13

The Israelites fought against the Benjamites, because they would not hold the men accountable for their sins. The Israelites went to Bethel where the tabernacle was at that time to ask God what He wanted them to do. God told them to fight against the Benjamites and they were subdued. The Israelites were concerned that because so many Benjamites were killed, the tribe would die out. They wanted to provide wives for the remaining Benjamites. They had made an oath that none of their daughters would be given to a Benjamite, so they couldn't give them their daughters. After a while they realized that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the battle, and they decided what to do. They sent 12,000 fighting men to Jabesh Gilead to kill every man and woman who was not a virgin. That left 400 female virgins which were not enough for all the remaining Benjamites. So the assembly instructed the remaining wifeless Benjamite men to steal wives from among the dancing girls during the annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh. That is what they did. Everyone returned to their homes and the remaining Benjamites and their new wives returned to the land of their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled there.

In those days there was no king and everyone did as they saw fit. Since Joshua it seems that the Israelites lost their way. In Judges 20:28-29, it tells us that Phinehas the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron ministered before the ark of the covenant. Even so, I was happy when they remembered to ask God what HE wanted them to do, and even happier to know that He answered them.

I'm glad The Book of Ruth is in the Bible. A man and his family left Bethlehem becuase of a famine, and went to Moab. His name was Elimelech and his wife's name was Naomi. They had two sons named Mahlon and Kilion. After Elimelech died Naomi's two sons married Moabite women. The Moabites did not worship God. The two wives were named Orpah and Ruth. After 10 years the two sons died. Naomi urged her two daughters-in-law to return to their parents homes since she couldn't imagine a happy future for herself let alone theirs. They cried together and mourned. Orpah decided to go back to her parents, but Ruth wanted to stay with Naomi. It seems that Ruth had converted from god to God and wanted to live with God's people. They returned to Bethlehem and the whole town came out to greet them.

During the barley harvest, a relative of Elimelech, named Boaz had grain in his fields being harvested. Ruth asked Naomi if she could go and glean the lefotver grain and Naomi let her. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, greeted the harvesters and asked his foreman who Ruth was. The foreman told him who she was and how she'd asked for permission to glean the grain, and what a good worker she was. Boaz spoke to Ruth and asked her to stay in his field, that she would be safe and cared for. Ruth bowed down with her face to the ground and expressed her gratitude to Boaz for his kindness to a foreigner. He told her how impressed he was at her generosity with Naomi, after their husbands died, to leave her family and take up this new life with Naomi in Bethlehem. She thanked him for his kindness to her even though she didn't have the standing of one of his servant girls.

Tomorrow finish Ruth & read 1Samuel ch1

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