“So they gathered…They fasted that day, and said, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’”

-1 Sam 7:6

The ancient Hebrews were greatly influenced by the traditions and cultures of the civilizations around them. As an example, the early Jews viewed the sea as evil and unpredictable. Reflecting this, the sea has generally negative connotations in the Bible: the earth is created from a watery chaos (Gen 1:2), used as a tool of God’s judgement (Gen. 6, 7), God has control over the sea and its symbolic evil (Ps 65:5-7, 77:19, 89:9), and the beasts and roaring of the sea symbolize the evil nations who oppose Israel (Is. 17:12, 27:1, 51:9-10, Dan. 7:2-7).

It’s useful to understand historical context like this when we consider passages of the Bible like 1 Samuel 7. Here, the Israelites are at the end of a long period of chaotic barbarism, where they freely mixed worship of the one true God with the worship of the pagan gods of their neighbors. One of the local gods they had adopted was Baal, the chief fertility god of their neighbors, the Canaanites. The Canaanites believed Baal had defeated the gods of the sea and storms, and consequently believed he had the authority to prevent storms and control the destructive power of the sea.

Enter Joe Israelite, steeped in the traditions of the ancient Middle East and beginning to forget that about the time his grandparents were young, God directly intervened in politics, geography, and history and gave the Israelites a nation and an identity. Joe begins to consider it reasonable to ‘hedge his bets’ and give a little offering to the god who his powerful neighbors reckon can protect him from the unpredictability of the sea and storms. After all, he’s not abandoning God, right? He’s just sort of buying a little extra insurance. And he’s not really sure just how much God means it when He commands that He alone is to be worshipped and served.

When we read the numerous accounts in the Old Testament of the Jews turning away from God and worshipping pagan gods and idols, we might be forgiven for having a thought like this cross through our minds: ‘Man, those Jews were pretty pathetic. They had prophets that spoke God’s words directly to them, and they still chose to ignore God’s commands to worship and serve Him alone. Who in their right mind would worship a statue of some messed up dude with the head of a bull? I would never do that.’

Perhaps you wouldn’t.

But you didn’t live 3200 years ago. You live now.

Are you hedging your bets? Can you think of anything you have put your trust in instead of God? Statues of Baal aren’t the ‘in’ thing these days, but what do you worship? What might be considered ‘reasonable’ in the 21^st century West that you have placed on par with God? A retirement plan? Investments? The pursuit of something you think you ‘deserve’? Is it your children or your marriage? How about education, your career, or a particular church tradition? Is it your physical appearance?

Are you holding onto anything as your safety net? Is it God, and God alone (Deut 6:4)? Or has some other part of the created universe caught your heart?

God calls us to have undivided hearts; to search ourselves and consciously put aside the idols and the gods that capture our hearts. Make no mistake; our culture is simply saturated with opportunities to serve idols. The slavish devotion of our world to created things instead of the Creator is the very definition of insanity. God is our Father, and he wants to see us live in the abundant life (John 10:10) that is possible when we release the things that compete for our allegiance to him, and can walk free from the tyranny of serving other gods.

For Further Action: Consider fasting for a 24 hour period this week from solid food; perhaps from breakfast to breakfast. Spend the time you would have spent eating in humble examination and prayer. You might want to begin by meditating on Deut. 6:4-5. Ask the Lord to reveal to you an area of your life that you may have unconsciously begun to serve over Him. Repent of it, and ask the Lord to forgive you. Rejoice in his freely given grace, and take steps with a light heart to not return to the bondage of serving that particular idol.

The discipline of fasting in order to prepare for an audience with God is an ancient one, as we can see in 1 Samuel 7:6. When we turn from the needs of the body to the needs of the soul, it becomes easier to see with greater clarity our need for repentance and restoration. Our society is quite simply overfed and spiritually undernourished—recovering the practice of fasting is necessary in order for us to again come to a ready place of repentance and understand our need for restoration.

“Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, ‘The Lord be with you.’ They replied, ‘The Lord bless you.’”

-Ruth 2:4

The setting for the story of Ruth in the Old Testament is during the period of the Hebrew judges. It was a period of turmoil in Israel’s history; a time of idol worship, rampant lawlessness, and unbelievable savagery. The horrific account of the gang rape and dismemberment of the Levite’s concubine in Judges 19 paints a picture of a people who have become lost in the cycle of violence and sin.

By contrast, the book of Ruth is a story about some peaceful and hardworking farmers in an out of the way village in Israel. There is none of the violence, mass killings (Judg 9:5), and supernatural events (Judg 7:22, 13:3) found in Judges. Ruth’s story is one of God working his purposes through ordinary people overcoming suffering and difficulty through selfless humility and personal initiative.

Ruth’s story of faithfulness provides a sharp contrast to the faithlessness of the Jews during the time of the judges. In the canonical order of the Hebrew Bible, the book of Ruth follows Proverbs, in order to provide an illustration of the ‘noble woman’ in Prov. 31. It was included in the Five Megillah, or Festival Scrolls, to be read by later Jews during the annual feast of Pentecost—a feast celebrating the spring wheat and barley harvests.

Hidden in the story of Ruth is an off-the-cuff remark by the other protagonist in the story, Boaz, which speaks directly to our hearts about the power of our words and their relationship to our spiritual formation. “The Lord be with you.” The normal Hebrew greeting of the day (Judg 6:23, 1 Sam 25:6) was shalom, or “peace to you.” Boaz goes a step further.

It’s in this casual greeting to the poor and disadvantaged peasants gleaning extra grain from his fields that Boaz reminds us that ‘death and life are in the power of the tongue’ (Prov 18:21). In a mysterious and intangible way, our words play a powerful role in God’s kingdom, our lives, and the spiritual formation of those around us.

Controlling our tongue and choosing our words intentionally is a vital part of our spiritual formation. People who speak in ‘absolutisms’ often make me a bit nervous, because there are usually multiple layers of meaning in the Biblical texts, but we would be wise to consider the fairly emphatic statement made by the brother of Jesus in a letter to the ancient church at large: “If you think you are religious and do not bridle your tongue…your religion is worthless” (James 1:26).

Our words have power. Meditate on the reality of this in your quiet times this week. Consider how you might ‘train yourself in Godliness’ (1 Tim 4:7) to use words that have the power to ‘cheer and to heal’ (Prov 12:18, 25). Resolve to refrain from speaking for a day unless you absolutely must, and take note of what you would have said if you’d had the chance, and why you’d have said it. With humility, ask the Lord to open your eyes to how much of your speech is dedicated to justifying yourself and your actions. Resolve to allow God to be in charge of your public relations department, and ask him to teach you to let go of the constant urge for self-promotion and self-justification.

For Further Study/Meditation: Prov 18:21, James 1:19, Prov 10:19, Prov 12:18, 25