Monday, August 18, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Judges 21, Ruth 1
Devotional Thought
The book of Judges does not end with a victory but with a wound. In chapter 21, the tribe of Benjamin has been nearly annihilated after the horrific crime at Gibeah and the civil war that followed. Israel has sworn not to give their daughters to Benjamin, yet they weep that a tribe is disappearing. So they devise a workaround: they slaughter the people of Jabesh-gilead except for four hundred virgins and give them to the surviving Benjamites, and then they instruct the men to seize wives from the dancing daughters of Shiloh. The last verse lands like a hammer: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” It is a portrait of a people who have lost their moral compass, managing chaos with more chaos.
Then the book of Ruth opens like dawn after a long night. We move from Gibeah to Bethlehem-judah, from national collapse to a single family’s grief. Elimelech and Naomi leave during famine for Moab, and there Elimelech dies, then his sons Mahlon and Chilion die, leaving Naomi with two Moabite daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. Naomi tells them to go home; Orpah kisses her goodbye, but Ruth clings to her: “Intreat me not to leave thee… thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” In a book where everyone did what was right in his own eyes, here is one woman who chooses covenant faithfulness.
August is a season of late summer, when gardens are heavy and the harvest is near. It is also a season when families gather and scatter — weddings, farewells, children leaving for school. Ruth’s story begins with a departure and a clinging. Orpah’s choice is not villainous; it is merely sensible. Ruth’s choice is costly and seemingly foolish. She is a Moabitess, a foreigner, a widow, with no guarantee of anything in Bethlehem. Yet she binds herself to Naomi’s God and Naomi’s people.
The contrast between these two chapters is the contrast between self-rule and covenant love. When everyone does what is right in his own eyes, the result is violence, kidnapping, and grief. When one person does what is right in God’s eyes, the result is a lineage that will lead to David and, ultimately, to Christ. Our ordinary choices — whom we cling to, whom we leave, where we go when life is bitter — are not small. They are seeds.
Reflection
- Where in your life are you tempted to do what is right in your own eyes rather than seeking God’s wisdom, especially when the situation feels desperate?
- Like Ruth, have you ever had to leave something behind to cling to God and His people? What did that cost you, and what did it give you?
Prayer
Lord God, we confess that we often live as though there were no king in Israel, doing what is right in our own eyes and calling it wisdom. Forgive us. Thank You for Ruth, a foreigner who clung to You when it would have been easier to turn back. Give us that same covenant loyalty — to You, to Your people, and to the weary ones You place in our path. When life tastes bitter like Naomi’s, remind us that You are still writing a story of redemption. Make our small choices faithful, and let them bear fruit in Your time. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.