Yesterday we heard the charming conclusion to the story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. The words of the town women have prophetic significance: “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family.” The words have a double meaning for us today, as we see them looking forward to Jesus our Redeemer.
Continuing the history of Israel, we now move to the transition from the period of judges to the period of kings. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally one book in the Hebrew Scripture. They were separated in the Greek Septuagint. The books are named after Samuel, not written by him. In 1 Samuel, we see that Samuel is not just a judge, but also a prophet, and that he anointed both Saul and David. This book contains many of the favorite Bible stories told to children.
I just learned that the titles in the Psalms were written by the Rabbis. People differ as to whether to consider them 'inspired' or not. This title of Psalm 90 may identify Moses as the author or may simply say that it reflects a Mosaic perspective. No other psalm is labeled like this one. This is a good psalm for meditating on the meaning of our life and our short life-span.
Yesterday in the final chapter of 1 Timothy, Paul continued giving instructions on how to teach particular groups in the church, ending with teachings for slaves and for rich people. Note that those who give generously to help others store up heavenly treasures and “a good foundation for the future.” Paul's closing encouragements to Timothy are moving because we can sense Paul's deep love for Timothy.
We move back in time slightly from 1 Timothy to Romans. Romans was written perhaps 6-9 years before 1 Timothy, written at the time that Paul was in Corinth. The topic sentence for Romans is 1:16-17, and the book is an outstanding presentation of this thesis in impeccable logic. As a translator, I often use those two verses as an example of how hard it is to understand a literal translation versus a meaning based translation. I encourage you to compare the NLT (which we are reading) with something like the ESV, to see what I mean. And if you do that, please also take a look at my footnote in the attached PDF file.
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