adapted from She, Delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible/volume 3, pp17-18
Read: Hosea 2 and 3 (note, while this may seem a lot of reading, it is a beautiful love story you won’t want to miss)
“Therefore, I will soon fence her in with thorns; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
Hosea 2:6
Gomer has long been one of my favorite women of the Bible. I first met her not through Bible study but through a novel written by Francine Rivers. The novel is called “Redeeming Love“. A story written to tell what I believe are the two most beautiful love stories of all time. One between a man (Hosea, the servant of the Lord) and a woman (Gomer, the adulterer), and the other between God (who loves Israel with an everlasting love) and Israel (God’s chosen people who continually chase after the other gods of the world).
Gomer’s story was instrumental in helping me to understand not only the deep relational love of God but His marvelous, life-changing mercy and grace. I have read both the book of Hosea and the novel version, Redeeming Love, more times than I can count – and am convinced that Christianity is more than a religion – it is about having a genuine and meaningful relationship with God; not just a god but the true and living God who pursues His people with a faithful and personal love. He is broken-hearted when we forsake Him for other gods, yet relentlessly loves and pursues us.
We cannot do Gomer justice with this one short look at her, but I hope to journey through her story over the summer. For now, I will borrow from the study journal of Delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible/volume 3, pp17-18, and give you the bullet point version of Gomer’s story:
She left her husband, and suffered the consequences.
She left her Hosea, but he loved her still.
He redeemed her back to himself.
She is a picture of the nation of Israel that was separated from Judah, but she is also a picture of us.
Gomer serves as an example of how Jesus Christ loves us and wants to redeem us.
It struck me as I was working through this section of the journal that for Gomer, adultery meant running away, trading her relationship with Hosea for relationships with other men. But I have learned this isn’t the sole definition of adultery – for believers, for me, and perhaps even you – it happens whenever we have choose to forsake our relationship with God for one or more relationships with the gods of this world.
Friends, as Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 6:20, we have been bought with the high price of Jesus’ blood, and so we are to glorify God with our bodies. We are to pursue Him with a faithful love that turns neither to the right nor to the left but stays close to Him. We can do this in a number of ways:
Prayer and staying in His Word are vital to a healthy relationship. (James 4:8)
Keeping our eyes and minds on Him so that we are not easily swayed by the enemy and other loves of this world. (James 4:8; Isa 26:3; Philip 4:6-8; 1 Peter 5:8)
Seeking to please and honor Him in all that we do and say. (Colossians 3:17)
do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
May this be the way we live, surrendered to loving God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength… living and loving like Jesus… and faithfully walking in the Spirit
You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
Psalm 16:11
Elizabeth is a well-known woman of the Bible. She is a beautiful example of faith and of the fullness of joy in the presence of the Lord. We find her story in Luke, chapter 1, verses 5-80, where we learn that she was the wife of Zachariah, the prophet, and she was very old when she conceived. She was also the cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is this part of her story that we will focus on today.
Not long after Mary learned that she was pregnant with Jesus, the Son of God, she traveled to visit her cousin Elizabeth in Judea. Let’s stop and marvel for a minute at the contrast of the miracles God had worked in both women. Mary, a young, unmarried virgin, has just learned that she has become pregnant through immaculate conception, while Elizabeth, who was described as ‘barren and very old’ in Luke 1:7, is now six months pregnant. I can’t help but notice how their stories accentuate the beautiful truth that: “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.
Luke 1:35-36
While I love the entire story of Elizabeth and Mary, I particularly appreciate the beauty of Elizabeth and her baby when Mary arrived.
39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. 43 Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? 44 When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. 45 You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
Luke 1:39-45
Elizabeth was clearly overwhelmed at Mary’s arrival, but it was more than excitement to see Mary. Scripture says that it was because “at the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s baby leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” This was evident by Elizabeth’s “glad cry and exclamation to Mary,” that “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.” Elizabeth goes on to question why she is so honored to be visited by the “mother of her Lord.” What a moving and beautiful example of how the joy we find in the presence of the Lord our God affects those around us.
Experience and Application
Friends, I know that I share (or perhaps overshare) various stories of how God has worked in my life – so forgive me if you have heard this too many times. However, I cannot read this story without remembering my own experience with being unable to conceive for eight long and often torturous years. While I realize this in no way compares to the number of years that Elizabeth waited, it did offer me a similar experience as God restored a joy that had long been stifled by life’s sorrows and disappointments. For it was during my pregnancy and the birth of my first daughter that God sent several “Elizabeth’s” to me who poured out encouragement and joy by feeding my soul and mind with the Word that I had somewhat tuned out for years because of my disappointment in myself and in God. The pregnancy itself brought a sense of joy because I had hoped so long for it, but through the joy of godly friendships, He began doing the work of changing me from the Insideout and when that baby girl was born and they held her up to me – I knew my life would never be the same … not only because I had been blessed with a child but because I was filled with an awareness of His Presence in me.
“May we all seek to be an Elizabeth to someone else.”
Today’s Reading is Philippians 2:1-8. It’s a longer but perfect passage to answer our question – The Tomb is empty, so now what?
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Many of Paul’s writings hold answers to the question that I posed the day after Easter – “the tomb is empty, now what?” However, perhaps none so clearly answer it as Philippians chapter 2, which we will look at today and tomorrow.
Paul poses His own questions at the opening of the chapter that opens the door way for him to teach them what it means to live the Christian life. After listing many “dos and don’ts” like live in unity, be tender and compassionate, don’t be selfish, or a show-off, but be humble and think of others, not just yourselves. Paul makes sure they truly understand what he’s saying by using Christ as their example. He didn’t just tell them to have the same attitude of Christ, but took all personal interpretation out of the mix by listing exactly what that attitude entailed.
Jesus didn’t hold out His “God card” and wait for everyone to serve Him. Instead, He…
left Heaven for the purpose of saving the world
took on the human flesh and dwelt among men
humbly submitted to God’s authority
died a death meant for the guilt of a criminal
The tomb being empty wasn’t the end of Jesus’ legacy of faith. He wasn’t meant to only reach just those early disciples, but to continually be a way for ‘the world’ to come to God through Him. Now that the tomb was empty, the work was left to His followers. Their job was to take His message to the world – and in large part by the way they lived. Consider some of Jesus’s own commands/teachings, such as John 13:34 and Mark 12:29-31, where He emphasized love.
So now I am giving you a new command, love each other. Just as I have loved you you should love each other.
John 13:34
Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31
Jesus had told them these things because He knew the tomb would be empty. He knew one day He would no longer be with them on the earth, so He prepared them for after the empty tomb – by showing them and telling them how to live.
Love others
Love God
Spread the Gospel
Make the Father known
Paul summed it up nicely in Colossians 3:17 by telling them that whatever they did or said, they should do it as representatives of Jesus – and this, my friends, is perhaps the overall best answer to our question – “the tomb is empty, so now what?”
And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it.
Luke 19:41
Friends, we have journeyed for weeks now, toward the cross, and we have known this day would come. The day God planned from eternity past, the day His only begotten Son would hang and die for us, sinners, condemned unclean! Yet in this world of animatronics, it is easy to forget that He came not as a spirit or a robotic type creature, but as “fully man”! He came as a baby in a manger – a suffering servant – the son of God, yet sent to earth as the son of a carpenter – sent not to sit on a royal throne and be served but to serve and ultimately to die for the world God so loved. Yet not before He would seek and save those who were lost. For He came to dwell among them, teaching them about the God who saves, and to show them the way to live and the way to eternal life. A life that could only come through death – the death of the spotless, scarificial lamb of God.
Just days before His death, we find Him walking into Jerusalem, weeping as He entered the city.
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. 43 Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”
Luke 19:41-44
Even as He was being welcomed by the crowd as He rode in on the donkey, the crowd was waving palm branches and shouting, “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest heaven!” Even then, (like us today), He wept for He knew what the leaders and rulers were planning. He knew then what had to be – ‘fully man but fully God,’ -He knew and had come to accomplish it – to redeem the lost, a lost and dying world – a world God had chosen to love and to save through the blood of a lamb – a people who would believe in this man – who was also fully God! He knew the death He would die and the destruction that would come upon this city and its people, and He wept – lamenting that the Jews – “of all people,” would have understood the way to peace! He was that Way, but they had rejected Him. They could not see Him as the rescuer He was, but rather as a threat to be done away with! — So He wept, and continued on the road … the road that led to the Temple…the road that led to Him lamenting their blindness, their lack of understanding, and what would come because of it – not just His own death – but the destruction of Jerusalem – The City of God!
Jesus Clears the Temple
Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.
Luke 19:45-48
It was a road that led to His authority being challenged…the road that would lead to the upper room…the washing of feet…the last supper with His disciples…the Garden of Gethsemene and His heartfelt prayer of lament that the Father would “let this cup pass from Him” It was the road that led to…Judas’ betrayal and the arrest that followed…Peter’s denial…the trial… and ultimately the road that ended at the cross, or more appropriately stated today – “On the cross”, where He suffered and bled and died, not as one without feeling, but in agony,1 on a cross of scorn, of sin, and shame meant for us.
Friends, Jesus could have called down 10,000 angels to take Him from the cross – , where He suffered and bled and died, not as one without feeling, but in agony.1 It wasn’t His cross to bear, it was ours – a cross of scorn, of sin, and shame but as a sacrifical lamb led to the slaughter He took our place, our scouraging, our nails, our pain and shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. 49 But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching. – Luke 23:48-49
Prayer of Response
Father this day brings great sorrow to me, a great awareness of Your sacrifice, of Jesus’ suffering, and of my sin. But I do not sorrow as one without hope – but one who knows that Sunday is coming! And so I cry with grateful heart, thank You, God, for loving me. Thank you, Jesus – Lamb of God, for Your tears and Your willingness – even through lamenting – to not turn back but to take my stripes and my wounds and all the torment it must have been. I am forever indebted and forever changed because of Your love and Your obedience to the will of the Father. Amen and amen! – May my life and lips forever tell Your story!2 –
The More We Know
Credits for today’s graphic belong to Susan Hill’s excellent Easter Devotional, “A Savior Is Risen”, p121.
Dear Reader: If you do not know the story of Jesus, the truths of His Word and the invitation that is open to you to receive salvation through Faith in Jesus, the sacrificial lamb of God – I invite you (urge you) to click on “Know These Truths” and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ~ the Way, the Truth, and the Life -~ to all who believe.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16 NET
In our previous post, we explored many Scriptures that spoke about the faith of a woman with a bleeding issue. A faith inspired by hearing about Jesus, the man who had healed many people of their infirmities. So certain was she of what she had heard that when she learned where He was, she placed herself in the midst of the crowd that was following Him and worked her way closer and closer to Him, with the hope of being able to simply touch just the edge of His garment. She believed that even that would be enough for her to be healed – and, as we read in Luke 8:44, it was!
After all the doctors and all the money spent and all of the disappointments and growing problems, she touched the hem of His garment, and she knew immediately that she had been healed.
She came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and at once the bleeding stopped.
Luke 8:44 NET
Not only did she realize she had been healed, but much to her surprise, and I would imagine (because of the attention it drew to her) some embarrassment, Jesus also knew that someone had touched Him and at their touch power had gone out from Him.
And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
Luke 8:47 KJV
45 Then Jesus asked, “Who was it who touched me?” When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing against you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I know that power has gone out from me.” 47 When the woman saw that she could not escape notice, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.
Luke 8:45-48 NET
Surely the beauty of this story is that her faith had brought about a miraculous healing, but by following the ‘breadcrumbs’ left by the other writers, we find credible evidence of at least the possibility that through her testimony, others came to Jesus, hoping for the same miraculous touch.
Matthew writes about a time when they had landed in Gennesaret, and “When the people there recognized Jesus, they sent word into all the surrounding area, and they brought all their sick to him. They begged him if they could only touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.” Some commentators speculate that the people may have requested this particular method of healing because they had heard the woman’s story. Friends, regardless of how they knew to ask to touch the hem of His garment, they knew. Regardless of how the woman with the issue of blood had heard enough about Jesus to place her faith in His power, she had heard and believed. The truth and the lesson we must not let pass us by is that it is important to tell others about Jesus. Yes, this means sharing the Gospel, but it also means sharing what He has done in your life, or what you have seen Him do in the lives of others. It’s about sharing the good news that our God changes lives when we call out to Him (or, as in the case of the woman today, reach out to Him) in faith.
Consider this:
Someone told you of your need for Jesus. where would you be if they chose not to share the Good News with you?
She, Volume 2/p98
Reflection and Application
Who told you about Jesus?
Thank them today.
Let’s commit to asking God daily to:
show us someone who needs to hear the good news about Jesus
help us see them
give us courage to stop and share Jesus with them
prepare their hearts to receive the message and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
The More We Know
Dear reader, if you do not know Jesus… if you have never put your faith in Him, I invite you to explore “Know These Truths,” where you will discover the Way to everlasting life and an indescribable joy. It is available to all who believe. There is no greater hope for me concerning this website than for God to use it to lead others to Jesus, His only begotten Son, who came to earth so that you might enjoy everlasting life.
But a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
Matthew 9:20-21 NET
Desperation can cause us to do things we would not usually do; this is the case with today’s woman in the Bible. She is not named, but oh, how we need to know her story, share it with others, and let it affect our faith.
We are not told how she found out about Jesus (Mark 5:27) or how she came to believe that if she could only touch his garment, even the hem of it, she would be healed. Her disease wasn’t one that she could simply walk up to Him in public and talk about. It wasn’t a disease that any doctor or remedy she was given had been able to cure, but it was one on which she had spent all of her money in an attempt to find a cure, only to have the disease grow worse (see Mark 5:25–26).
As bad as those details sound, add to it “the Jewish Law that declared her to be ceremonially unclean due to her bleeding issue (Leviticus 15:25-27).” Which, as gotquestions.org explains, “meant that she would not have been permitted to enter the temple for Jewish religious ceremonies. According to the Law, anything or anyone she touched became unclean as well. The fact that she was in the crowd pressing around Jesus means that each person who bumped into her would have become unclean, too—including Jesus.” However, as has already been said, desperation can push us to do things we would never do otherwise. Such is the case here. “After twelve years of suffering, she was obviously desperate for a miracle.”So, “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed’” (Mark 5:27–28).
If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.”
Matthew 9:20 KJV
And so it was, just as she had believed. Scripture bears witness to us that the woman was made whole (Luke 8:47 and Mark 5:30). We could stop there with that testimony and celebrate both her faith and the victory that she experienced because of it. However, I can’t resist sharing the following commentary from gotquestions.org, which offers a wonderful bonus reason to lift our hands in praise for Jesus’ transforming power through her faith.
“As soon as the woman touches Jesus, her bleeding stops and she knows she’s been healed. In an instant, Jesus does what no doctor in twelve years had been able to. This proves the power of Christ, of course, but it also illustrates an important point about Jesus and the Law. In Leviticus 15:31 God says, “You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.” In the Old Testament, the temple was where God dwelt among the Israelites, but in the New Testament, God dwelt among men in the person of Jesus Christ (see John 1:14). Through Jesus the penalties of the Law are reversed, and the contamination of this world had no effect on Christ. The woman did not make Jesus (God’s dwelling) unclean—He made her clean!”
Friends, I don’t know about you, but to that beautiful picture of ‘faith’s glorious victory’ I am shouting a loud amen and hallelujah!
Reflection and Application
What was so special about the garment Jesus was wearing?
The More We Know
Join me tomorrow as we look at another example of this woman with the issue of blood. It’s amazing what these women can teach us.
If you’ve heard the story, you already know the outcome; if you haven’t, then you may be surprised at the King’s first suggestion and the vastly different reactions of the women. Whether the story is new to you or well-known, we must be careful not to brush it aside as irrelevant to us today. Our circumstances and life choices may never place us in the exact scenario of the two mothers, but throughout our lifetime, we will inevitably face difficult choices – choices that make us choose right from wrong, good or evil, love or hate, gain or loss – and in all of these, we must choose carefully. Our decisions must be made with a heart yielded and committed to God’s glory (the righteous choice), even if it means suffering great loss. After all, Jesus told His disciples (including us): whoever wanted to follow Him would need to deny themselves daily and take up their cross, which, as explained by one commentary1, means to: “accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion (Gal. 2: 20 and 6:14).” This is why Jesus went on to say: “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life because of me will save it” (Luke 9:24).
Solomon could not tell from their words which woman was telling the truth. Instead, he issued a shocking command: “Bring me a sword. . . . Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other”
Leave a comment below with another example of someone willing to suffer great loss for God’s glory.
The More We Know
The chapter’s final verse notes the effect that Solomon’s unorthodox methods had on the kingdom: “When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice” (1 Kings 3:28). Solomon’s wisdom had been given by God when Solomon requested it (verse 5). The account of Solomon’s handling of the case of the two prostitutes showed that he had indeed been granted wisdom from God. ~ (Got questions.org)
Dear reader, if you do not know Jesus… if you have never professed your faith in Him, I invite you to explore “Know These Truths” where you will discover the Way to everlasting life and an indescribable joy. It is available to all who believe.
Biblegateway.comsn Only Luke mentions taking up one’s cross daily. To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14. ↩︎
While there is much we can learn from the story of the widow and her two mites, two things stood out to me the most. First, as gotquestions.org points out, “God sees what man overlooks. The big gifts in the temple were surely noticed by people; that’s probably what the disciples were watching. But Jesus saw what no one else did: He saw the humble gift of a poor widow. This was the gift that Jesus thought worthy of comment; this was the gift that the disciples needed to be aware of. The other gifts in the treasury that day made a lot of noise as they jingled into the receptacles, but the widow’s mites were heard in heaven.”
God sees what man overlooks.
Got questions.org
The widow mentioned by Mark and Luke is used by Christ to teach the disciples the difference of giving from your wealth and giving from your poverty. In other words there is more value in giving two small coins when you have nothing left to give and giving “large sums” with an abundance left over. Borrowing again from gotquestions.org, “The difference is one of proportion. The rich were giving large sums, but they still retained their fortunes; the widow “put in everything—all she had to live on” (Mark 12:44). Hers was a true sacrifice; the rich had not begun to give to the level of her sacrifice.
“Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 12:1 NET
“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43–44; cf. Luke 21:1–4).
The widow with two mites serves as an example of how any sacrifice for Christ does not go unnoticed by Him.
She, Volume 2//90
Friends, let’s ask Jesus to help us see as He sees and to make much of even the smallest things done for or given in His name. May our gifts and works for God be ones of faith and sacrifice, rather than those born of duty or seeking notice.
While Sapphira is one of the lesser-known women of the Bible, she is most definitely one that we should acquaint ourselves with, so that we do not fall into the same trap of sin. But, exactly what was the sin?
Sapphira serves as an example of how dangerous it is for us to portray to be something we are not.
She, Volume 2/p78
Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. 2 He kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge; he brought only part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of the land?4 Before it was sold, did it not belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart?You have not lied to people but to God!”
5 When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped all who heard about it. 6 So the young men came, wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, but she did not know what had happened. 8 Peter said to her, “Tell me, were the two of you paid this amount for the land?” Sapphira said, “Yes, that much.” 9 Peter then told her, “Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!” 10 At once she collapsed at his feet and died. So when the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things.
Acts 5:1-11
She and her husband deceived people by agreeing together to surrender a part as if they had surrendered all.
She, Volume 2/p66
Friends, to understand the outcome of this story, it is important to look at all the details. Here’s what we know from the immediate passage: Saphira and her husband owned property and were free to do with it as they pleased. Together, as a couple, they decided to sell a portion of their property, and then they gave some of the money to the church. It’s a nice gesture, but from Peter’s conversation with them, the problem seems to be that, somewhere along the way, they indicated they had given the church all the money. As Peter points out, the property was theirs to do with as they wanted, and the same was true of the money they made from selling it. So the problem (aka ~ the sin) is not that they kept some of the proceeds for themselves, the grievous sin was that they “lied to God”. The following details from Bibleref.com shed a little more clarity on the situation and outcome.
Ananias and Sapphira sold some land and, apparently, promised God they would donate all the proceeds to the church. Before they gave the money to the apostles, they either changed their minds and kept some, or never really intended to give all of it. Rather than being honest, the pair seems to have chosen to lie about their generosity. Ananias brought the money earlier in the day, but because of his dishonesty, God struck him dead. Sapphira has now appeared and knows nothing of Ananias’ death (Acts 5:1–6).
Peter uses a technique God has used throughout history, starting with Adam and Eve. When God came to the garden after Adam and Eve ate the fruit, He called out, “Where are you?” He didn’t ask this because He didn’t know where they were. He was giving them an opportunity to engage in conversation (Genesis 3:9). He wanted them to admit what they had done so He could restore some of their relationship. God also asks questions when He wants to direct the course of the conversation. He used this tactic with Moses (Exodus 4:2), and Jesus used it with the woman with an issue of blood (Mark 5:30).
God condemned Ananias with death for his lie. Sapphira still has a chance to tell the truth. Peter invites her to do so by directing the conversation. She doesn’t have to follow her husband into sin—Abigail didn’t (1 Samuel 25). Unfortunately, Sapphira is as deceitful as Ananias. She repeats the lie, and God judges her for it.
Bibleref.com
Some stories in the Bible are not easy to hear, and the lessons that come with them are often even more difficult. This is definitely not a feel-good story/lesson, but we would be wise to not brush it aside but rather to learn from what Peter says to them and the serious consequences that followed. Remember, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness…” We would also be wise to remember Paul’s warnings to not only submit ourselves to God but to resist the devil. If we do not, we will find ourselves entertaining the temptations of the great deceiver, leading us to make choices that will not only hurt us but also the Church and the people around us. This is best explained by gotquestions.org.
The case of Ananias and Sapphira illustrates the fact that even believers can be led into bold, flagrant sin. It was Satan that had filled their hearts to lie in this way (Acts 5:3) and “to test the Spirit of the Lord” (verse 9). Covetousness, hypocrisy, and a desire for the praise of men all played a part in their demise.
The sudden, dramatic deaths of Ananias and Sapphira served to purify and warn the church. “Great fear seized the whole church” (Acts 5:11). Right away, in the church’s infancy, God made it plain that hypocrisy and dissimulation were not going to be tolerated, and His judgment of Ananias and Sapphira helped guard the church against future pretense. God laid the bodies of Ananias and Sapphira in the path of every hypocrite who would seek to enter the church.
As someone who used to scheme and manipulate situations to get a desired result, the opening lines of Ruth chapter three catch my attention every time. Whether it was culturally acceptable to arrange marriages in that day and time, the conversation that ensues seems to fall under the plotting and scheming category of any generation or culture.
One day her mother-in-law Naomi said to Ruth, “My dear daughter, isn’t it about time I arranged a good home for you so you can have a happy life? And isn’t Boaz our close relative, the one with whose young women you’ve been working? Maybe it’s time to make our move.
Ruth 3:1-2
Naomi knew that Boaz was working in the threshingfloor,
It is worth noting that marriage arrangements were the custom of the day in which Naomi and Ruth lived. So, the argument could be made that they were simply following the lead or path that was opened when Boaz extended her the kindness, protection, and provision of gleaning in his field. As bibleref.com commentary explains, “Naomi has a problem. She wants Boaz, an older, highly honored Jewish man, to marry Ruth, her young Moabite daughter-in-law. Culturally, there is nothing about this scheme that makes sense. But Naomi knows Ruth deserves the best in life, and she’s resolved to make it happen. Naomi must balance several things all at once. She needs to figure out how Ruth can propose to Boaz while keeping safe and maintaining enough privacy that Boaz doesn’t lose face for talking with a foreign widow.”
Ruth Proposes
Ruth was a willing participant and followed all of the instructions Naomi gave her. After seeing/hearing all that Boaz had done thus far, there was no reason for either woman to doubt that Boaz, as a “near kinsman who could redeem them, would do what he could”2. Whether it is the man or woman who proposes, I think we would all agree that no one wants to hear the answer, ‘Yes, but…’. Unfortunately, however right he was, this is the answer that Boaz gives Ruth.
The Lord bless you, my daughter!’ Boaz exclaimed. ‘You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor.3 Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am.
Ruth 3:10-12
Despite her Moabite heritage, Ruth had come to be known as a kind and virtuous woman, and even though another man was a closer redeemer than Boaz, Boaz was the one whom God had prepared to be her redeemer.
12 But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.”
14 So Ruth lay at Boaz’s feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz had said, “No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.” 15 Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your cloak and spread it out.” He measured six scoops[a] of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. Then he[b] returned to the town.
16 When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “What happened, my daughter?”
Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, 17 and she added, “He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 Then Naomi said to her, “Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.”
Ruth 3:12-18
Ruth Waits … but not for long
While Naomi told Ruth she wouldn’t have to wait long, she also told her to “be patient.” Those two words can be very good advice, however they can also be a very annoying and often challenging statement. Yet, according to the commentary by Bibleref.com, just as Naomi had predicted, it is only a few hours later that Boaz goes to the city gates. Determined to do all he could to help care for Ruth and Naomi, Boaz follows the cultural demands of the day, which are described in the first twelve verses of Ruth, chapter four. They are a wonderful display of Boaz’s character, and I believe, his respect and heart’s desire to marry Ruth.
As today’s study guide points out, the sandal represents so much more than the transfer of property. It was a declaration that Boaz was now legally able to marry Ruth.
The Story of the Sandal
Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. Just then the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, so Boaz called out to him, “Come over here and sit down, friend. I want to talk to you.” So they sat down together. 2 Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. 3 And Boaz said to the family redeemer, “You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 I thought I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don’t want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you.”
The man replied, “All right, I’ll redeem it.”
5 Then Boaz told him, “Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way she can have children who will carry on her husband’s name and keep the land in the family.”
6 “Then I can’t redeem it,” the family redeemer replied, “because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it.”
7 Now in those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. 8 So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, “You buy the land.”
9 Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. 10 And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”
11 Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.” Ruth 4:1-12
Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. 10 And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”
Ruth 4:9-10
Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse. Matthew 1:5
Scripture paints a beautiful picture of the story, allowing us to see the amazingly personal hand of God carrying out His purposes and plans for generations upon generations to come.
So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. (Ruth 4:13) – Cue the water works and celebration, for Naomi (and Ruth) have been redeemed and restored!
Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. 15 May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”
Ruth 4:14-15
She was given a legacy of redemption. And she serves as an example of the beautiful picture of redemption that Christ has provided for us.4
As the study journal points out, Ruth’s son would be the grandfather of King David of Israel. And fourteen generations after him, Jesus Christ would be born of the same lineage. ~ for even more details on the beautiful plan of God in and through the story of Ruth and the glorious arrival of Jesus, “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace5“, click here.
Reflection and Application
Why do we need a Redeemer?
What was the name of Ruth and Boaz’s son, and how does he play a part in the life of Jesus, our Redeemer?
The More We Know
Would you like to know more about Jesus, My Redeemer?
Me From the Inside Out 