Light in the Darkness

 April 10, 2021

The narrative in Joshua, Judges, and Ruth is an interesting study in contrasts. Joshua records the victories Israel amasses as she conquers Canaan and settles in. There are hints of the incompleteness of the conquest, but by and large, it is a story of victory. 

Judges on the other hand, tells of Israel’s failure; how the conquest was incomplete, the failure of the people to follow the LORD, and their repeated apostasy and lawlessness. Its final chapters are a gruesome account of a Levite who, to protect himself from some perverse townsmen who were determined to force him into homosexuality, pushed his common-law wife out the door where they literally raped her to death. Shocked (?), he cut her body into twelve parts and sent them to the twelve tribes, calling them to avenge this atrocity. There is more to this bizarre story, but the overall message is a depiction of the near total collapse of civic and moral life. It was a dangerous time to be alive, much like in some of our cities today.

Following Judges comes Ruth; a story of love and loyalty, of people doing the right thing even in the midst of cultural chaos. The final chapters of Judges take place in and near Bethlehem, where the story of Ruth also unfolds. The message is clear: the culture does not have to determine the direction of our lives. Boaz chose to live honorably, Ruth likewise, and God used these two people to forge the future of the nation and world.

When it seems that everything around us is falling apart, we can still be faithful. It may not seem like much, and we ourselves may not see the end result, but God is faithful and will use our faithfulness to change the course of the world. The difficulties that come our way due to the decay of a degenerate culture are no excuse for us to give up or give in. The darker the night, the more even a feeble light can be seen. John said the Light of Christ came into the world and the darkness was not able to overcome it. It cannot overcome us either, unless we allow it to be extinguished. I want mine to shine, so I keep stoking the fire. Tonight, Scripture and prayer, and tomorrow, worship will feed the flame. I may live in a Judges world, but I plan to be a Boaz man in the middle of it.