The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 90: Ruth and Boaz (2023)

Episode Date: March 31, 2023

Fr. Mike highlights the life of Ruth, and what seems to be the first day of hope she's had in a long time. Sometimes it takes a long time to catch a glimmer of hope in the darkness of our lives, but Ruth reminds us that no matter what we've been through, God is always with us. Today's readings are Judges 4-5, Ruth 2, and Psalm 134. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hey everyone, before we get started today, I want to say a quick thank you for all your prayers and support for this podcast. It's been such a gift. This whole Ascentrum team has been so humbled to hear about the impact of this show in your lives. We have heard unbelievable stories of renewed faith, of conversion, of grace, and we're praying for each other. So please keep those prayers coming.

And if you're able, please consider giving a small financial gift to support the production of this show. This show is free to everyone, to anyone, but it's not free to make. And so if you want to find out how to make a gift, visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of

salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. Today is day 90. Oh my gosh, you guys, what a phenomenal milestone. That is three months, if every month had 30 days. And day 90, we're reading Judges chapters four and five. Ruth chapter two, following her story for just a short story, but a powerful, important story. And we're praying today from Psalm 134. As always, I'm reading from the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm always using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to get your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You also can subscribe in your podcast app to receive daily episodes. Once again, this is day 90. Judges 4 and 5, I already gave the disclaimer yesterday,

but it is a violent book and it is all the things the judges do are not always great. They do fight for the people and they do make decisions that are their best judgment. But sometimes their best judgment, we would say, could be better. Ruth's story is going to continue as she and Naomi have gone back to Bethlehem. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to her mother-in-law's homeland. And here is Ruth and Naomi destitute and hoping that the Lord will care for them. But today, once again, starting with Judges chapter 4 and chapter 5. The book of Judges, chapter 4, Deborah and Barak. And the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of

the Lord after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Herosheth-hakoim. Then the sons of Israel cried to the Lord for help, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and they oppressed the sons of Israel cruelly for twenty years. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at the time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.

She sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kadesh in Naphtali and said to him, The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zembulun. And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jebin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops. And I will give him into your hand. The rock said to her, if you will go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory,

for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh. And Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kadesh, and ten thousand men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hohab, the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zananim, which is near Kadesh. When Sisera was told that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron,

and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoim to the river Kishon. And Deborah said to Barak, Up, for this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. And the Lord routed Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his army, before Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak at the edge of the sword. And Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth Hagawim. And all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. Not a man was left.

Jael kills Sisera. But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jebian the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. When Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me, have no fear. So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. And he said to her, Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. So she opened a skin of milk, and gave him a drink, and covered him. And he said to her, Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, Is anyone here? say, No. But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to

him, and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking. So he went into her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. And the hand of the sons of Israel bore harder and harder on Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. Chapter 5. The Song of Deborah. Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day, that the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, blessed the Lord. Hear, O kings, give ear, O princes, to the Lord I will sing.

I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel. Lord, when you went forth from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, the one of Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel. In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, caravans ceased and travelers kept to the byways. The peasantry ceased in Israel. They ceased until you arose, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel. When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among 40,000

in Israel? My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord. Tell of it, you who ride on tawny donkeys, who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way to the sound of musicians at the watering places. There they repeat the triumphs of the Lord, the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel. Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord. Awake, awake, Deborah, awake, awake, utter a song. Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam. Then down marched the remnant of the noble.

The people of the Lord marched down for him against the mighty. From Ephraim, they set out there into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen. From Machir, march the commanders, and from Zebulun those who bear the marshal's staff. The princes of Issachar came with Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak. Into the valley they rushed forth at his heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart.

Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he abide with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, settling down by his landings. Zebulun is a people that jeoparded their lives to the death. Naphtali too, on the heights of the field. The kings came. They fought. Then fought the kings of Canaan at Tanakh by the waters of Megiddo. They got no spoils of silver. From heaven fought the stars. From their courses they fought against Sisera. The torrent Kishon swept them away. The onrushing torrent, the torrent of Kishon.

March on, my soul, with might. Then loud beat the horse's hoofs, with the galloping, galloping of his steeds. Curse, Meraz, says the angel of the Lord, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of He Lord against the mighty. She struck Sisera a blow. She crushed his head. She shattered and pierced his temple. He sank. He fell. He lay still at her feet.

At her feet he sank. He fell. And where he sank, there he fell dead. Out of the window she peered. The mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice. Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots tarry? Her wisest ladies make

answer. No, she gives answer to herself. Are they not finding and dividing the spoil? A maiden or two for every man? Spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera? Spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered? Two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil. So perish all your enemies, O Lord, but your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might. And the land had rest for forty years. The Book of Ruth, Chapter 2. Ruth meets Boaz. Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said to her, Go, my daughter. So she set forth and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And

she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and he said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered, The Lord bless you. Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, Whose maiden is this? And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered,

It is the Moabite maiden, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers. So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now without resting even for a moment. Then Boaz said to Ruth, Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my maidens. Let your eyes be upon the field which they are reaping and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to molest you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him,

why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me when I am a foreigner? But Boaz answered her, All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. And she said, You are most gracious to me, my Lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not one of your maidservants. And at mealtime Boaz said to her, Come here and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the wine. So she

sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her parched grain, and she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her, and also pull out from among the bundles for her, and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her. So she gleaned in the field until evening, and she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was an ephah of barley. And she took it up, and went into the city. She showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned, and she also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. And her mother-in-law said to her, where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you. So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, the name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, blessed be he by the Lord whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead. Naomi also said to her, The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin. And Ruth the Moabitess said, Besides, he said to me, You shall keep close by my servants till they have finished all my harvest. And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is well, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, lest in another field you be molested. So she kept close to the maidens of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests, and she lived with her mother-in-law. Psalm 134. Praise in the night. A song of ascents. Come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand by night in the house of the Lord.

Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth. Father in heaven, we give you praise. We give you thanks. Wow, just even, Lord God, hearing the story of the faithfulness of this woman who did not know you, this woman, Ruth, who did not know you, and yet she was faithful to what she did know. She was faithful to her mother-in-law.

And Lord, you're blessing her in this story. You're blessing not only Ruth, but also Naomi, also Boaz, this man who will be blessed and also the people of Israel who will receive a king through this incredible woman, someone of faithfulness. Lord God, help us to be the faithful like Ruth. Help us to be faithful to not only our relationships, our families, but also faithful to you. Lord God, when things are difficult and things are dark, and it seems like our faithfulness is only met with trouble,

and where it would seem like it'd be so much easier to be unfaithful, help us to hold on and cling to you in the darkness. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And that is something I want to just highlight. Just gosh, oh man, Ruth, we're going to get back to Deborah or Sisera, JL, all those folks. But just a second, let's highlight Ruth for one second, because it's kind of easy to read Ruth chapter two today and think, what a massively blessed person. I mean,

how, you know, kind of look at them and say, oh man, lucky. When it comes to Ruth, we have to remember that this is one day in Ruth's life. It is maybe the first day of blessing in Ruth's life. Recall her life back in Moab. She married this man, this son of Naomi and Elimelech. And I imagine she had plans for a full life with this man, of a family with this man. And what happens? Not only does her father-in-law die, which puts the family in trouble, but then her brother-in-law dies, which puts the family in trouble. And then her husband dies, which puts the family in trouble. And for the entire time of this last past recent history of her life, she's been in trouble with no guarantees, with no promises, with no certainty that things will ever get better. And yet she kept walking in faithfulness with Naomi, just knowing, okay, this is all I know.

All I know is Naomi is a good mother-in-law and I will be faithful to her. Where she goes, I will go. Where she dies, I will die. But in her God will be my God. Her people will be my people. And in the midst of that, you have this one day, it's one day that she goes out and she works really hard. And for whatever reason, Boaz notices her and he protects her and guards her. This is the first time she's been protected and guarded, man, maybe since her husband was alive. And so let's not jump to the idea that here is this easy life for Ruth. This is maybe the first day where there's

been hope in Ruth's life in a really long time. And the first day where there's been hope in Naomi's life in a really long time. And you might be in a place right now where you're wondering, like, where is the hope for me? Because I've been walking, trying to do my best to be faithful, and it's been a really long time since I've had hope. But remember that it takes sometimes a long time. We're going to hear that to God, a thousand years are like a single day, and a single day are like a thousand years. But there are glimmers of hope in every one of our lives if we're willing to look for it. Think about one of the darkest days in the history of humanity. The darkest day that we've read so far has been Genesis chapter 3, right? Genesis chapter 3, where Adam and Eve are first parents,

where they rebel against the Lord, they disobey against God, and what happens is they experience the consequences of their disobedience. But what happens also is God promises a redeemer. In Genesis chapter three, verse 15, God says to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. That's just so good. Why? What am I talking about? Well, hope and God's promises. Because here in this story of Deborah and Barak and Sisera and Jael, what we have is a foreshadowing of the fulfillment of what God had promised. I know that might sound strange, but it's a foreshadowing of a fulfillment of what God has promised. Where in Judges chapter four, there is this woman, Jael. And what does she do?

She crushes the head of the enemy, Sisera. And I know for us, it is very violent. For her, it was very violent. And yet, it is a foreshadowing of the fulfillment of Genesis chapter three, verse 15, that the head of the enemy will be crushed. And we know that the head of the enemy is crushed by the offspring of the woman. Ultimately, that crushing is done by Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate redeemer, the ultimate judge, the ultimate warrior who's fighting for his people.

And he's the one to whom we belong. And he's the one in whom we place all of our trust. So even when we walk in darkness, we can also walk in hope, knowing that in the course of a single instant, in the course of one day, everything can change. I'm praying for that for you, that not only that you walk in faithfulness and I walk in faithfulness, but also if you were walking in darkness, I'm praying that that day of the glimmer of light shines upon you very, very soon because you're not alone. We do not walk alone. We continue to

pray for each other and God is with you. So I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.