living lessons from the bible (1980)

8/13/2019 Living Lessons From the Bible (1980)

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I bout 1408.C.,whenGodsti l l

A ruled lsrael through udges,L I therewasa Levite amedEl -kanahwhohad wowives. ne,Han-nah,was avored f her husband, uthad no children. he otherwasPe-ninnah.

Eachyear he family ourneyedoShiloh oworshipheEternal. his s

whereJoshua,about 300 yearsbe-fore, had placed he tabernacle ndthe ark of the covenant ontainingthe Law of God. And eachyear Pe-ninnahwould hideHannah or hav-ing no children.

Praylng or a son

When the time came once againfor he rip, Hannahwasprovokedotears.

While at Shiloh,sheprayedear-nestly o God or a son, owing hat f

God wouldgrant her petition,shewould make the child a Nazarite,dedicated o serving he Eternalal lthedays f his i fe(see um.6:2-8).And as shesilentlyprayed,Eli thepriest hought hewasdrunk, or shewasmovingher lips but makingnosoundl Sam. :13).

He rebuked er,but sheexplainedher grief. And Eli said,"May theGodof Israel rantyouyourprayer."That day Hannahwentout from hetabernacle ith completeaith thatGodwouldgiveher a son.And Goddid.

She named the child Samuel(meaning skedof God),andwhenhewasweaned,bout3years ld,shetook him to Eli. Therehe grew upministering o the Eternal God(priestly uties).He wore he linengarment f a priest, ndeach earhi smothermadehim a newcoat.

Eli 'swicked sons

Now Eli wasnota youngman.Hehad alreadyudged sraelnearly30

years nd hadgivenmostof the ad-ministrative utiesover o his sons,HophniandPhinehas. ut heywerecorrupt.

Whenever he peoplecame tomakean offering,Hophniand Phi-nehas ook the best portion of themeat for themselves. he leftovers

SAUL'S ELESS,NGbpposite page) bySamuelmarkedGod'schoice of the firstking ol lsrael.From Samuel9, 10.

were presentedo God. They alsocotnmitted fornicat ion with thewomen who servedat the door ofthe tabernacle.

Eli scolded hem about their be-havior,but he was oo old andweakto administer iscipline. hey paidno attention.By the law of Moses,they should have been taken out

and stoned o death for pollutingthe tabernacle nd sinningagainstGod.

God sent a prophet o Eli, con-demning him for allowinghis sonsto behaveso wickedly. The manprophesiedhat Eli's priestly linewould be destroyedexcept for aremnant, nd that Hophniand Phi-nehaswould die on the sameday.In the placeof this Levitical ine,God would raise up a new priest,one who would be faithful.

God speaks to Samuel

Samuel as eta child,but hewaslovedby both God and hepeople eserved. nknown o him, hewasbe -inggroomed y God o takeover hepriesthood fter Eli's death.

What happenedextwas emark-able, ndeed.God had not spoken i-rectlywith men or manyyears, ndeven hewordof a prophetwas are.But now He spokedirectly o youngSamuel I Sam.3: l-4).

God called o Samuelust after heandEli hadgoneo bed or henight.Upon hearing his name, the boythoughtEli was alling nd an o hisroom.But the old priest old him hehadn't called and sent him back tobed. This happenedwice more be-fore Eli realized he voicemay havebeen rom God. He advisedSamuelto await God'smessage.

The addidashewas old,and heEternalGod cameand stoodby hisbed.There He pronouncedgain hepunishment n the house f Eli. He

told Samuel hat Eli had sinned ynot taking action against his ownsons, nd now nothingcould makethe house f Eli clean verse4) .

In themorningSamuel bedientlyrelated o Eli all tha t had happened.Eli simply aid, It is he Eternal:etHim do whatseems ood o him."

Through the years hat followed,God continuedo appearand speakto Samuel n Shil oh,and he youngman grew to adulthoodholdingGod'sword n highesteem. ll Israel

o 1979,1980WorldwideChurchof GodAll RightsReserved

knewhe wasappointedo be a greatprophet.

Philistines apture the ark

Now the Philistineswereoppress-ing Israeland slewabout4,000menin onebattle.Bewildered,he eldersof Israel skedHophniandPhinehasto carry the ark of God into battle,

hoping his wouldgive hem he vic-tory.

But the Philistines on he battle,captured he ark and slew Hophniand Phinehason the sameday, asprophesied).When Eli heard thetragic newsof the ark, he fell overbackwards ff his benchand brokehisneck.He diedat 98years f age,leavingSamuel n charge of thepriesthood.

The Philistines, fter rough reat-ment by God, eagerly ent he ark

back o Israel evenmonths ater(seeI Sam. 5 and 6). After a brief andunfortunate tay at an Israeli owncalled Beth-shemesh,he ark wastaken o Kirjath-jearim, o the houseof Abinadab. heret remained ntilthe ime of King David.

Samuelpreaches epentance

The Philistines ad now oppressedIsrael for about 20 years,and thepeopleamented o God for deliver-ance. Samsonvidently ad ust be-gunhisownprivatewaragainsthemin thesouthwest.)

Samuelknew God had shown s-rael no mercybecause f thewicked-ness of both the peopleand thepriesthood nder Eli. The peoplewerebowingdown o the falsegods,Baalim and Ashtaroth, and thepriestshad made a mockeryof theoffice, ntent only on serving heirownpleasureI Sam.7:3-4).

So Samuel poke o all Israel.Hetold them to change to purge helandof falsegodsand to turn to the

EternalGod, servingHim with al ltheir hearts.Then, he said, Godwoulddeliver srael rom the Philis-tines.

Thepeople beyed amuel ndde-stroyed heir idols.

Thenhecalledall Israel o Mizpehfor prayer. He spoke before thepeopleand pouredwater out uponthegroundbeforeGod asa symbol fHis Holy Spirit (see John 7:37).Then the people astedand prayed,repenting f their national ins.They



God told Samuel o do as the people equested,aying,rejected ou,but they have ejectedme, hat I shouldnot

(I Sam.8:7).So on that duy, he peopleejectedGod

"They havenotreignover hem"as heir king.

began o serveGod oncemore, and

He heard heir prayers.The Phil istinesenta greatarmy

towardMizpeh, ntending o smashany possible prising,but God sentpowerful hunderand l ightningdi-rectly nto he Philistine amp.Theywere hrown nto confusion nd de-feated.

Thismarkedhe irstmil i taryvicto-ry for Israel n 20 years.They evenrecaptured omeof their andsalongthe Mediterranean ea.The Philis-tines idn'tdare o ightagainst od's

people s ongasSamuel overned.Samuel,n the meantime, orked

tirelessly erving l l Israel.He trav-eled a regular circuit - from Ra-mah,hishome, o Bethel,Gilgalan dMizpeh- eachyear to make udg-

ments or the people.For God wasking in Israel,and Samuelwas hisadministratorl Sam.7:15-17). slongas hepeople beyedGod, herewasno oppressiony the Phil istinesor Amorites.

God's governmgnt ejectedSamuel served srael long and

well.Besides aking iscircuiteveryyear, he also apparently aught agroupof prophets t Geba I Sam.l0:5, 0). He wasdedicatedo keep-ing the people irected owardGod.

As hegrewolder,however,he rig-orousdutiesof his officeweremorethanhecouldhandle lone.He madehis wo sons, oeland Abiah, udges

in thesouth f Israel, ut heybeganto misuse he officeby taking bribes

andpollutingustice.Worriedaboutthe future, the el-

dersbegan o wonderwhowould uleafter Samuel's eath. He couldn'tlive forever,and his sonswere cor-rupt.Therewasalsosome ear abouta possiblenvasion y Nahash, ingof Ammon.

Up to this time - from Moses oSamuel nearly 00years) Israelhadbeena theocracy. od had beentheir king. When they servedHim,times were good. When they dis-

obeyedand servedother gods,He

4

abandonedhem to foreign oppres-

sion.Now many of them began oreason hat it was time to have amonarchy,a human king of theirownwhowouldprovide onstant ro-tectionagainstanyone t any timewho hreatenedheir security.

The elders,acking aith in God,decided hiswas n the best nterestsof all Israel. o heymetwithSamu-el to make heir request fficial.Heknewwhat they wantedwaswrong,but prayedo God about t.

God old Samuel odoas hepeople

requested,aying, They havenot re-jectedyou,but they have ejectedme,that I should ot reignover hem" (l

Sam.8:7).So on that day, he peoplerejected odas heirking.

Through Samuel,God told thepeoplewhat o expect ndera humanking. Their young men would bemade nto soldiers nd laborers orthe government. hei r daughterswouldbedrafted ntoservice smili-tary cooks nd suppliers.

There would be heavy axes o

maintainhegovernmentndarmies.Theirservantsndanimalswouldbetaken or anywork he king desired,and eventuallyhe peoplewouldallend up servantso the government.Then they wouldcry out because foppression,xpecting od o hear.

Nevertheless,he peopleefusedolisten o Samuel, ndwerepromiseda king.

Samuelestablishesthe monarchy

God, n reviewing l l Israel, oldSamuel hat a young man namedSaul, f the ribeof Benjamin, ouldbe king. Througha series f events,Saulwas ntroducedo Samuelan danointed. ater, at a great publicgathering,Saul's office was con-firmed.

Somedidn't l ike the choicean dopenly poke ut againstt. But ater,after GodgaveSaul his irst militaryvictory,Samuel alled no thermeet-ing of all Israel,and all the tribes

wereunitedunderSaul's eadership.

At thismeeting, amuel lsomade

his very moving farewell speech othe peoplel Sam. 2). He pointedout that God. when He had beentheir king, had always erved hemfaithfully.And so had Samuelad -ministeredairly.

He also old them they had be-haved oolishlyn wantinga humanking,but if the people nd he kingobeyedGod,all wouldbe well.Dis-obedience, owever,would surelybringGod'swrath.

Then, calling on God to confirm

his speech, e asked or thunderandrain.Blackclouds uddenly atheredin theheavens. hunder lapped, ndit poureddown rain.

The people were amazed andfrightened f both God and Samuel,for it was the dry season, arvesttime, andwhattheywereseeingwasa miracle.They admitted heir sin.Yet they wantedSaul as king andaskedSamuel o pray o Godon heirbehal[.

Now Saul was humble n God's

sightat first,but laterhe repeatedlysinned nddisqualifiedimself rombeing ing.While heyet heldoffice,God chose he youngshepherd, a-vid, as his replacement. amuelanointed im as God'schosen ingwhen he was but a youth. It wasyears ater,after the deathof Saul,that David ookcontrolof the kins-domofficially.

His ast years

Samuel ontinuedo judge Israel

duringthis transition rom a theo-craticgovernmento a monarchy. eworkedhard to makethe new gov-ernment success,onsultingGodatevery urn. After the anointingofKing Saul, he evenwrote a bookabout how the kingdomought o berun, for the benefitof both the kingand hepeoplel Sam. 0:25).

Samueldied during he reign ofSaul. ndall Israelmourned im.Hewasburiedat his home n Ramah,the astjudge f Israel nd aithful o

Godall theyears f his ife.



Jonahwasoneof themost

successful spokesmenGod ever used, but he

failed to appreciate hiscommissionbecauseheresentedwhat God was

doing hroughhim.

I mong he peopleGod hascalled

A to thunder His messageso a

I \ rebel l ious mankind. the

prophet Jonah may be unique

throughouthistory.

Not necessarily ecause e. a lone

Israelite, was sent to warn a large

gentilecity of God's coming punish-

ment. Not becauseof his 72-hour

adventure inside the bellrv of the

greatfish.

And not becausehis book

is the only' one among the minor

prophets hat records a prophet's ac-

tivities rather than his prophecies.

All these acts make Jonahsingu-

lar enough. o be sure.But the most

outstanding thing about Jonah is

that. among all biblical prophets, he

uas success-fuln his mission.At Jo-

nah's preaching he ancientmetrop-

olis of \inereh repented of its sins

and caused God to spare it, the

Ass.v-rian apital. from destruction.

Just as incredible. though, was Jo-

nah's great anger and bitternessoverthis verl succ6s. Jonahneverwanted

to fulfill God's commission in the

first place.and all the while God wa s

working through him. he resented t.

In Jonah'sexperienceare several es-

sons or God's people oday.

Jonah's mission

Jonah prophesied n northern Is-

rael during the reign of Jeroboam I(792-753 B.C.). He foretold Israel's

territorial expansion o roughly the

area held during the time of Davidand Solomon ll Kings 14:25).

Israel was enjoying relative pros-

perity at the time. but it didn't mean

God waspleased ith the nation.The

Israelites, God's elect group, and of-

ten blessedat other nations' expense,

had sinned worse than the people

God drove out of the promised land

before them and had failed to be the

good example God wanted them to

be to the world. But I sraelwas not to

escape retribution for its covenant

0

ci

o

5

s

theReluctantrophet



breaking.God intended o usea Mes-

opotamianpower to humble His na -

t ion (Amos 2:6-16,5:27).It was at this t ime that God com-

manded Jonah to pronounce Hisjudgment on Nineveh. The son of

Amittai may have suspected ha t

God was going to use Assyria to

chasten Israel. l f Jonah's warning

from God caused the Assyrians torepent and be spared, he would beinstrumental in his own nation's

downfall. So Jonah rebelledagainst

God's every instruction, not seeingthat the Creator had an overall plan

in mind. Jonah didn't believe God

knew what He wasdoing.

Jonah didn' t t rust God

God commanded Jonah to cry

againstNinevehbecause f i ts evils,but Jonah went in the oppositedi-

rection on a ship bound for Tar-shish.God cont inued o work with

the reluctant prophet by sending agreat wind to batter the vesselat

sea. As the ship appeared to be

headed or tragedy, he men aboard

began to cry to their various gods

for protection.They roused Jonah, who of al l

things was asleep, nd urged him todo l ikewise. When they cast lots tolearn whose fault the tempest was,

Jonah was singledout. Desperately,

they asked him what to do to calmthe raging waves.

And it appears onahwould rather

have died than do what God asked.

He replied hat they shouldcast hi m

into the churning waters.How hope-

lessJonah's ebell ionhad left him.The mariners ried to row the ship

to land, but in vain. They finally did

as Jonah said they shouldand threwhim into the deep.Even hey realizedthat this act had been planned bylsrael 's God, and they asked the

Eternal not to lay Jonah's fate totheir charge Jonah :14).

And God wasworkingout a grandpurpose.He had prepared a great

f ish o swallowJonah,and Jonahwa sto remain in the creature'sbelly forthreedaysand three nights.Later, inHis own wicked generation, JesusChrist would give only this sign ofJonah to prove He was the Son ofGod. After His murder,Christ was obe buried hree daysand three nightsbefore being resurrected (Matt .

I 2:39-40).

6

This outstanding eriesof God-ordainedeventsmust have soberedJonah omewhat,or he hankedGodfor rescuinghim from what wouldhave een watery rave Jonah :l-9). God thencausedhe fish o expelJonah ut ontodry land.

God again old Jonah o preach tNineveh.By this time the prophet

shouldhavesensedhat God'swillwas going to be done one way oranother. Perhapsdejected,Jonahwenton hisway o the city.

God's anger urned

Oneof themost pectacularventsrecorded n the Bible followed.AtJonah's nnouncementf Nineveh'simminent all, the entire ommunity- from theking to the eastbeast nthe herds- put on sackclothandbegan asting.The king orderedhat

everyNineviteabandon is violentways, Who can ell f Godwill turnand repent,and turn away from hisfierceanger, hat we perishnot?"(Jonah :9).

And though onah'smessageadbeen inal, Yet fortydaysandNine-veh shall be overthrown,"God sawhow heAssyrianseacted nddidn'toverthrow hem.God is not willingthat any humanshouldeverperish,andChrist ecognizedheAssyrians'repentancesreal(Matt. 12:41).

Success onah's ffort had helpedavert he destruction f one of theworld'sargest ities.Did he ump orjoy andpraiseGod for sucha mira-cle?

Unfortunately,no. Jonah sti l lfailed o see hatGod'swill,whateverit is, must be done. nsteadhe satoutsideNineveh,mopingoverwhathad happened.

Jonah missed he point

It was hot that day. So God, toteach Jonah a lesson, reparedagourd o springup and shadehim,and the prophetwasglad. But thenext morningGod prepared wormto smite he gourdandmake t with-er. Thenwhen he burningsun andthe vehement ast wind tormentedJonah, ewished e coulddie.

WhenGodasked im if his angerwas ustified, e sneered,l do wellto beangry, ven ntodeath" Jonah4:9). The book of JonahendswithGodexplainingo the sullen rophetthat everything ad urnedout well.

"Thou hast had pity on the gourd,

for the which thou hast not laboured.neither madest t grow; which cameup in a night, and perishedn a night:And shouldnot I spareNineveh, hatgreat city, wherein are more thansixscore thousand persons hat can-not discern between heir r ight an dtheir left hand: and also much cat-

t le?" (verses0- l I ) .Jonah had fulf i l led God's plan.

The Creator didn't have to destroy

the populousAssl 'r ian capital. ButJonah ma1' never have gotten thepoint.

A lesson in trust

Jonahdidn' t understandhat Codreal l r loves l l mankind.not ust Is-rael .God's ul t imategoal s to br ing

al l humans nto His fami ly. lsraelfa i led o pioneer n that respect.

True. God did useAssyria o carryIsrael 's northern l0 tr ibes into cap-tivitf in 721 B.c. (to find out where

those so'called "lost l0 tribes" went,write for our fascinating free booklettitled The Ltnited States and Britain

in Prophecy). But Jonah failed to see

God's overall plan. refused o believeGod could and would work every-thing out for the best and balked atdelivering the message God gave

him.We must realize our insignificance

compared to God. We were createdto fulf i l l His wil l , and we wil l only behappy by'doing so cheerful ly,not inan att i tude of doubt and resentment( l Cor. l0:31, Rev. 4: l l ) . God'speople oday have beengiven a mes-sage to deliver to a doomed world.

And that message-mankind's ulti-mate hope-has far greater importthan did Jonah's announcement2.700yearsago.

Whether we're taking care of thelarge or small responsibilities n our

daily lives or going forward in faithworldwide to announce the comingKingdom of God, we should under-stand that our calling is a great priv-

i lege.

We must fol low wherever an dhoweverGod leads.

Then we won't be like Jonah, thereluctant prophet, who performed aunique mission or God but never ap-preciatedhis call ing. He didn't pu t

his heart into the work before him. ItwasJonah, not God, who didn't knowwhat he was doing.



:*i:5::l'"e,ii ffi]rI,"fi. ,doo" /^ I | 1n \

B.C.), about 50years after Gid-eon,GodpunishedIsraelat the handof the Philistines.He allotted he en-

emy40 years o exact ribute (Judg.l3: l ) .But God alsoplanned deliverer.

Birth of Samson- a miracle

Godchoseo bring a champion utof the ribeof Dan.He sentan angelto visit the barren wife of a mannamedManoah, romising era son.Shewaswarned, owever,hat dur-ing herpregnancyhe hould bstainfrom wine,strong rink andany un-clean ood Num.6:2-8, ev. l), fo r

the childwould

be a NazariteuntoGod.Shewas old hat heyouth hould

neverhavehis hair cut or his beardshaven:and he would grow up tochallengehePhilistinesndbegin othrow off their yokeof oppression.

The woman mmediatelyan andtold her husbandhese hings.But hewasskeptical.He prayed o God tosend the angel again, and Godobliged. his time, as before, he an-gel appeared o the woman. Sheasked.himo waitwhileshewentand

foundher husband. o the manthenheard the messagewith his ownears.

Manoah'swife conceived,ust asthe angelhad said,and borea son.Theycalled im Samsonmeaning"ray of sunshine"). nd God waswith him from birth.

A Philistinebrlde

When Samsonwas about 20, hewent o Timnath, city of thePhilis-tines. here, nfatuated y a beauti-

ful youngwoman,he askedhis par-ents o get her for hiswife.But theydiscouraged im, saying he shouldmarrya girl of Israel.

God, however,ntended o use hewomanto provokeSamsonagainstthe Philistines. nd so he prepara-tion for marriagebegan.

On a subsequentrip to see hisfuture bride, Samsonwas attackedby a lion. Reactingsuddenlyo de-fend himself. he slew the animalwith his bare hands,as if it had

been a tiny lamb. No one could

have been more surpr ised than

Samson.He kept the thing a secret,however, even from his parents, for

he knew the supernatural strengthmust have come from God.

Later. when v is i t ing the young

woman again.he stopped o look atthe carcassof the lion. He saw ithad been taken over by a swarm of

honey-bees, nd they had fi lled thechest cavity with honey. He took

out severalpiecesof the honeycomband saved some for his mother andfather. St i l l , he d idn ' t te l l themwhere he got it.

The wedding day arrived, and

Samson's amily made a feast at thebride's home. But when the Phil is-

tines saw the intended groom - astranger with a mass of cu rled hair,

accompaniedby a host of relatives

they were suspiciousof trouble and

sent 30 young men to the banquetpretending to be guests.

Samson,a bit aggravatedby theirpresence, hallenged hem with a rid-dle, "Out of the eater came forthfood, and out of the strong came

forth sweetness" Judg. l4:14). He

gave them seven days to solve t. Ifthey failed, he would receive30 shirts

and changesof clothing. If Samsonlost, he would furnish them each a

shirt and changeof clothing.They agreed.

Three days of the wedding feastwent by, and the young Philistines

had no answer.On the seventhday,

they becamedesperateo save ace aswell as their shirts. They took thebride to one side and threatened toburn her and her father's house. ac-

bilk them out oftheir possessions.

Frightened, hepressured amsonwith tears or theanswer. He re-

fused;but she persisted, ayinghedidn't love her or elsehe wouldtellher.The seventh ay of their honey-moon became an agonizing ha-rangue. Finally, toward sunset,hegave n and told her the answer.

She mmediatelypassedt to theyoungmen, and they triumphantlytold it to Samson.

He knew his wife had betrayedhim andsimply eplied: If youhadnotplowedwith my heifer, ouwouldnot have solved my riddle" (versel8). Meaning,

of course, heyhad

pressuredhe answer rom his newwife.

God's spirit then directedhim tothePhilistineity of Ashkelon, herehe slew30 men to avenge imself,taking heirgarmentsopayhisdebt.Thenheangrilywenthome o Israel,leaving isbridebehind.

The rebellionbegins

A few months ater, havingcooleddown,Samsonooka gift andvisitedhis wife's home, ntending o solvetheirdifferencesJudg. 5:l). To hissurprise,he found his father-in-lawhadgivenher to anotherman.

Nowhewas eallyangry, special-ly at the youngmen of Philistia.Hedecidedo avenge imselfby burningthe Philistines' rain ields, or it washarvestime.

He began by catching ackels(foxes).When he had 300,he tiedtheir tails together n pairs with alighted orch betweenhem and sentthem running hrough he fields.His

plan took considerableime,but thedamagewasdevastating.

ThePhilistines,earinghat Sam-sondid this n angerbecause iswifehad beengiven to another,burnedthe youngwomanand her father toappease is wrath.

But this provokedSamson ll themore.He slewmanyof them n ven-geanceand then left for refuge nJudah.

By now the Philistineswere inarms againsthim. They brought an

s

sqS



army to Judah to take him captive.Fearful, the men of Judah talkedSamson nto giving himself up an dtook him bound to the Philistines.

On the return to Philistia,howev-er, God's spirit fi l led Samson withsupernaturalstrength. He broke hisbonds,picked up the fresh awbone ofan ass and slew a thousand of his

captors. The rest fled in terror. Godthen gavehim water to drink from acleft in a nearby rock.

This slaughter began a 2}-yearperiod when Samson single-handed-ly protected southern Israel againstthe Philistines,The chain of eventsleading to this personalwrath were:

Samson's ttraction to the Philistinegirl, an attacking lion, the honey,the marriage, the riddle, the be-trayal of his answer, his anger, theloss of his wife. It is a remarkable

example of God's hand in humanaffairs.

Samson,grieved by his unfortu-nateexperience ith marriage,nevertook anotherwife. He began, nstead,to seek he companyof harlots,whichled to his ultimate downfall.

Once in Gaza, while he visited aharlot, the Phili stines ocked he citygates, ntending o wait and kill himin the morning.

He knew heir evil scheme, owev-er, and left the houseat midnight. Inhis escape,

e tore he heavygates

postsand all - lrom the walls.car-ried them out of the city and stoodthem on a hill facing toward Israel.

Del i lah

The woman who finally broughtSamsondown was Delilah (meaning"coquette"). She lived in a t own onthe main highwaybetween sraelan dthe coastof Philistia.Shewas beauti-ful, immoral and devilish.But Sam-son ovedher. Whether shewas Isra-elite or Philistine isn't

known, an ddoesn't matter, for her first loyaltywas to money.

She was offered 1,100 piecesofsilver by the Philistine elders f sh ecould find the source of Samson'sstrength Judg. 6:5).

So with the promiseof a generous

reward, she appealed o his mascu-line egoand displayed bondless u-riosity about the sourceof his physi-cal power.She askedhim, "Is thereanything you can be tied with thatyou cannotbreak?" He

told her"sev-

8

en leatherbow strings,still wet"wouldholdhim.

On his next visit,he fell asleep,and she boundhim with new bowstrings. herewerePhilistinesidingbehind the curtains to see whatwouldhappen. heshouted,Wakeup, Samson, here are Philistineshere " And he broke he bonds ike

scorchedhread.Delilah pretendedher feelingswerehurt. She chidedhim, saying,"You don't really love me or youwouldn't ie aboutyourstrength "

This ittle game ontinuedhroughtwo moreepisodes. e told her rope,never sed,wouldbind him. But th esame hing happened. hen he toldher f thesevenocks f hisheadwerewoven ogether his strength wouldleave.While he slept, he ried thisalso,but to no avail. Yet she kept

wearing is esistanceownwith alkof mutual oveand honesty.Finally,ust as his wife had worn

him down n his youth- pressinghim for the answero his riddleDelilah's eigned motions nd per-sistenceaidoff.Samsonoldher hetruth, and she knew he spoke hetruth from the heart. The strengthwas rom God.but because ewasaNazarite rom birth. f his hairwerecut. thevowwouldbe brokenand hisstrengthost.

Taken captive

Delilah mmediatelyalled or theeldersof Philistia,and they camewith hemoney. he nduced amsonto fall asleep n her knees ndsum-moneda man to cut the sevenocksfrom his head evidentlyhe had hishairdividedntosevenurls r braidsbecause f the great length).Thenshe ied his wristsand wokehim asbefore.But Godhad eft him,and hehadno strength.

He was akencaptive. he Phil is-tines pluckedout his eyes and ledhim away o Gaza.Therehewasputinto prison and bound with brasschainso a gristmill a humiliatingservitude or the championof Is-rael.

But as Samson oiled day afterday,grindinggrain and prayingsi-lently to God, the hairsof his headgrew back. The Phil istines itherdidn'tnotice r didn't hink t posedthreat.

Then one day therewasa great

celebrationn honorof Dagon, hePhilistine ish god. All the lords ofPhilistiaweregatheredogetherseveral housand f the leadingmenandwomen.TheypraisedDagon orsubduing amson nd ridding hemof their fiercestenemy.And whenthey were feelingespecially estive,because f the wine, they insisted

that Samsonbe brought from theprison to entertain them. Theywantedo ridicule im publicly.

His final triumph

Samson as ed nto hecourtyardby a young ad,and he crowd oareditsapproval, ocking ishumiliatingcondition.He was positionedon aplatformfacing his audience n theground evel,with 3,000additionalspectatorseated bove hem on theroof. They all ridiculedhim, forcing

him to provide ntertainment.Samson new he stagewherehestoodcontained he support or theupper evel,as this was a commonmethod of construction.But. notknowingwhere he pillarswere,heasked he lad for permissiono mo-mentari lyestagainsthem.Theboyunwittinglyobliged. Upon feelingthemwithhishands, amson rayedto hisCreator or renewed trength,repe tant lor allowing Delilah tocomebetween imself ndGod.

Takingholdof the two pil lars,heasked o be avenged f his eyes,will-ing to die with the Phil istines. ndGodgavehim strength.

In one last honorableeffort. hebowed himself against the pillarswith all his might. They twisted,buckledand fell. The roof collapsedwi th a roar, hur l ing the 3,000screamingpectatorso theirdeaths,crushing hosebelow.

Samson imselfdied beneathhefallingdebris.But he kil ledmoreof

the enemyon that one fateful daythan he had in all his previousyears.

His brethren,hearingwhat ha dhappened,ameand took his body.They buried it in the family sep-ulchernear his father. n his home-land.

He died at about age 43, havingjudged srael or 20 years.

Samsonwascelebrated s a greatchampionn Israel;but more mpor-tantly, an exampleof faith toward

God(Heb. l:32),even o hisdeath.



OldGstamcnt

Personaliticsuring he time of the Judges,a man namedElimelech ndhis wife Naomi left Israel o

dwell in Moab because f a famine.

They had two sons, Mahlon andChi l ion.

Now God had preserved Moab

from the armies of Israel in the day's

of Moses and Joshua.becauseMoabwas he inheritance f Lot. the neph-

ew of Abraham. And though King

Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel.stil l Israel didn't fight against hem.

The Moabites had long ago rejected

the God of Abraham and Lot, how-

ruTHver, and worshiped the false gods

Chemoshand Baal.

But after Joshua'sgeneration had

died, Moab's fat King Eglon exacted

tribute from Israel through militaryforce (Judges3). He and his army

held the upper hand for l8 years,un-

til God raised up Ehud to defeat

them in battle (Judges3:30) about

1350B.C.

Now, once again, there was a de-gree of peace, and Elimelech was

able to leave Bethlehem, Judah, andlive in this neighboring country east

of the Dead Sea without fear of ill

t reatment f rom its inhabi tants.However,before long he died,

leaving Naomi alonewith her twoteenage ons.And in spiteof careful

upbringing by Naomi, they fell inlove and married Moabite gir ls ,whichwascontrary o God's nstruc-tions for Israel. Mahlon marriedRuth (meaninga 'woman friend').ChilionmarriedOrpah.

More family tragedy

But tragedy struck the familytwice more.Both of the sons ied.

Naomi, in her grief, decidedshe



should return to Bethlehem. For the

family had been gone more thanl0 years,and the famine was over.

In spite of hardships,Naomi hadset her daughters-in-lawa wonderful

example of courage, faith and obe-dience to her God. They loved her

dearly. And when she set out to

leave, hey were so concerned or her

welfare they decided o go with her toIsrael.

Naomi advised them to stay

among their own people,saying shecouldn't provide either of them with

another son of marrying age, andthey would surely f ind happinesswith a new husband n Moab.

Ruth leaves her homeland

Finally, after much embracing and

many tears,Orpah heededher moth-

er-in-law'sadviceand returned to her

people and her gods. But Ruthwouldn't be persuaded. She spokethose now famous words that melted

Naomi's heart: ". . . Entreat me notto leaveyou, or to return from follow-

ing after you: for whereveryou go, Iwill go; and where you lodge, I wi l l

lodge: your people shal l be mypeople, and your God my God"(Ruth I ;16,paraphrased).

Naomi saw Ruth's convict ionand

simply stopped rying to change heyoung woman's mind. They contin-

ued on to Bethlehem, ntending tolive together on the family parcel ofland.

Once inside he city, the townsfolkcould hardly bel ieve heir eyes. Was

this real ly Naomi?" Having lef tBethlehemmore than l0 years be-fore, with a husband, two sons andsome financial means, she now re-

turned a weary, mpoverishedwomanwith a Moabi te daughter- in- law.

This was anything but a tr iumphantreturn.

She said, "Call me not Naomi[meaningpleasant], call me Mara

[bitter]: for the Almighty has dealtvery bitterly with me. I wentout ful l ,

and the Lord has brought me homeagain empty" (verses20-21).

Gleaning bar ley

They had returned to Bethlehem

about harvest time, and since theyhad no food, Ruth volunteered o go

into the fields and glean grain. Itwas the law in Israel that some of

the crop should be lef t by the10

threshers in the field for the poor(Levi t icus 9:9-10) .

So she took her place with thepoor, fol lowing after the reapers,

stripping the kernelsof barley off the

scattered stalks left lying in the

fields. By pure chance (or was it di-

vine direction?), she entered a por-

tion of land that belonged o Boaz, a

relat iveof El imelech.Boaz was in Bethlehem at the

time. but whenhe returnedhe mme-

diately spotted her as a stranger andinquired of his foreman who shewas.

Upon learning this was Naomi's

daughter- in- law, nd knowing of thehardships hey had suffered,he went

over and welcomedher to his field. Infact, he told her not to glean in anyother field. He suggestedshe stay

among his own workers for protec-

t ion. She could drink from his welland gleanall she wanted.

Bowing, sheaskedwhy such favor.

And Boaz told her he had learned ofher hardship, f her loyalty o Naomi

and her courage in leaving her ownpeople to become one of Israel. He

also expressed is confidence hat theGod of Israel,whom she had come to

trust, would reward her for her ac-t ions.

Ruth humbly thanked him for

showing such kindness to a foreign-

er.Then Boaa without letting on that

he was a near relative of her deadhusband. nvited her to eat the noonmeal with his reapers.This unprece-

dented hospitality showed the work-

ers that Ruth, though a poor widow,

was someonespecial o Boaz.She ate, but carefully saveda por-

tion for Naomi. And when she re-

turned to the field, Boaz instructedhis reapers to purposely eave stalksof grain for her handfuls -

and to let her glean among thesheavesf she chose.

Naomi gets an idea

Ruth worked until evening, thenthreshed out her grain - nearly abushel She took it home to Naomi,

along with the food from lunch.Surprised at Ruth's good fortune,

Naomi askedwhere shehad gleaned.

And when told the field belonged oBoaz, she exclaimed: "May Godblesshim, for he had not forgotten to

be kind to both the livine and the

dead . . the man is a relat ive o us,

one who has the right to redeem"(Ruth 2:20). For in Israel, f a man

died without legal male heirs, the

next of kin had the first right to pur-

chase (redeem) his dead relative'sproperty to keep it in the family. Ifthe relative left a widow and no maleheirs,his closekinsman wasexpected

to take the woman for his own wifeand raise up a legal heir for his dead

brother (Deuteronomy 25:5-6).

So Naomi, when she saw the spe-cial consideration Boaz had shownRuth, began to sense hat God waspossibly working something out in

their favor. She told Ruth to continuein the fields of Boaz, working along-

side his maidens.She wanted him toget better acquainted with Ruth, tosee hat shewas a hard-working, ir-

tuous and physicallyattractive young

woman.Ruth, always careful to be a good

pupil, followed Naomi's advice faith-

ful ly. She gleaned with the otherwomen in Boaz's f ield continual ly

unti l the reapingwasover.They un-doubtedly saw one another often, in

the f ieldsand at the noon meal.

A proposal for marriage

By the end of the harvest,Naomiwas convinced Boaz had more thanjust a passing nterest n Ruth. Yet,

he had taken no action toward re-deeming the property and wife ofMahlon, her dead son. Naomi proba-

bly reasoned hat his age held himback. For Ruth was much younger.

Boaz, beinga considerateman, prob-

ably felt she deserveda younger hus-

band.

Naomi, however, felt sure thatwith the proper encouragementBoazwouldn't hesitate. She contrived aplan. She knew Boaz was working

late at the threshing floor, and this

might afford ust the right opportuni-ty to nudge him toward marriage.

She took Ruth aside and had a

mother-daughter alk. She explainedher concern for the young woman,

telling her sheshould be married andhave the security of a home, a family

and children. She also told her howthis might be accomplished, ehears-ing for Ruth the laws of redemption

in Israel. She had observedRuth'sgreat respect for Boaz over the past

weeks and asked her what she

thought of becoming his wife.



Ruth evidently had no objection.

Naomi told her to bathe, put on

perfumeand her bestclothing and go

to the threshing floor. There she was

to remain hidden unti l Boaz had

stoppedhis work and had finishedhis

meal and wine. He would then make

a place o sleepon the straw, for dur-

ing the threshing seasonhe worked

long hours and didn't bother goinghome at night.After he fell asleep,Ruth was to

go and lie at his feet, covering herselfwith the edge of his blanket. Naomi

assured er that this was symbolicof

his rights as a near relative and was

proper in every respect. Boaz would

know what to do from there.

Ruth left an d did all that Naomi

said. She quietly sl ipped under th e

blanket at Boaz's feet, careful not to

awaken him. He had drunk a good

portion of wine and had gone to bed

feeling merry after a long day's work.

He was sleeping oundly.About midnight , however, he

awoke, frightened by the sudden re-

al izat ion that someonewas sharing

his bed. He gathered his thoughts

and sat up. Then, peeringat the form

near his feet, he realized it was awoman.

"Who," he asked, are you?"

Ruth repl ied, " I 'm Ruth your

humble servant: spread your protec-

tion over me as your husband, for

that is your right as a next of kin"(Ruth 3:9) .

Boaz was elated and deeply im-pressed.He said,"Blessedare you of

the Eternal, young woman; you haveshown more kindnessnow than at the

beginning, for you haven't sought ahusband among the young men."

Boaz immediately recognized thiswas a request o raise up an heir forNaomi to keep the line of Elimelech

alive in Israel, but he also knew it

was a demonstrationof Ruth's affec-

tion for him.He told her, however, here was a

relat ive of even closer relation toElimelech,who had a greater r ight

than himsel f . I f that relat ivewouldn't exercise is r ight, then cer-tainly Boaz would. He would settlethe issue before the city elders, for

they knew by her example that shewas a virtuous woman

He told her to lie at his feet andrest until early morning, then sheshould slip away before the workers

arrived o avoidpossible ossip bouta womanbeingat the threshingloorall night.

So at daybreak hey arose. Hegaveher all the barleyshecouldcar-ry and senther home o Naomi. Hewaited o instruct he workersaboutthe day'schores,hen eft for Bethle-hem to settle he businessegarding

the familyof Elimelech.Boaz buys a wife

Ruth was anxious, s you mightwell imagine.For shehadn't knownabout he otherkinsman.Who washe?Whatkindof manwashe?Therewasa possibility he might end theday married o a man shehad neverseen.But becausef her finecharac-ter and concern or her mother-in-law,shewaswilling o do what wasrequired o furnish the family anheir.

Naomi old her o sit downand re-lax.Therewasnothingo do butwaitpatiently.Boaz,sheknew,wouldn'trestuntil the businessassettled.

Now it wascustom or the menofIsrael o conduct uchbusinessnsidethemain city gate.Here, n thepres-ence f respected itnesses,ontractswere made, debts paid, proclama-tionsdelivered nd mportanteventsdiscussed.Here is where Boazwaited,watching or the other nearrelative o Elimelech.

When he sawhim. he hailedhimand mentionedherewasbusinessodiscuss. e alsogathered 0 respon-sible men who sat down to witnessthe proceedings.

Then Boazexplained hat Naomi,thewidowof Elimelech, ad no heirsand nowwished o sell her and.Thenearkinsman ad he first right, butif he chose ot to exercisehe privi-lege,Boazwould.Thekinsman, ow-ever,wasquick o want he purchasefor hisown amily.SinceNaomiwas

past the childbearingage, he sup-posed ewouldn'tbe obligated o fa-theranheir n Elimelech'same. henhisown ons ouldnherit he and.

But Boaz continued, xplainingthat Naomi'ssonshad beenheirs othe land but died withoutchildren,leavingRuth, the Moabitess, wid-ow to raiseup a son n the familyname.Therefore, he kinsmanmustalso akeRuth asa wife for that pur-pose.

At this bit of news. he kinsman

immediatelychangedhis mind. Why

should he pay for land that would

revert back to the inheritance of an-

other family, especially through a

son that would be half his own blood

and half Moabite? It simply didn't

appeal o him. He had his reasons, f

course,but they were primarily self-ish ones.

Boaz thenproclaimed

before thewitnesseshat he wouldbuy the land.

As kinsman with the legal right, hewould also take Ruth for a wife toraise up an heir for her dead hus-

band. So the kinsman took off his

shoe, a custom that acknowledged

the agreement. The elders pro-

nounced he matter finished and pro-

nounced a blessing on Ruth, saying

God should give her children who

would be honorable o Boaz and al l

Bethlehem.

A son is born

Boazwasa happy man with a hap-py bride. And God blessedher with a

firstborn son.

Naomi no longer felt the reproach

of having no heir for her husband.

She ooked upon the child as her own,

caring for him as a nurse.

The womenof Bethlehempraised

Naomi an d her daughter-in-l awan d

blessed he infant son, saying, "may

his name become famous in Israel."

They named him Obed, meaningserving.

And God did bless Obed. For he

later had a son named Jesse, he fa-

ther of King David. This was he l ine

of Judah that formed the legal gene-

alogy of Christ. It waspreserveddur-

ing this period of history by the mar-

riage of Boaz to Ruth, a foreigner

from Moab. Boaz himself was half

Canaanite.His father wasSalmonof

Judah and his mother was Rahab, awoman of great faith who in heryouth had been a harlot at Jericho

(Joshua :25,Matthew l :5) .Ruth, though a foreigner to Israel,

wasa beautiful exampleof virtue, hu-mility and service o the true God. For

these inequalities,shehasoften beencited as a type of what God's Church

ought to be like - willing to forsakeidolatrous kindred and lands to em-

brace and serve the only true God.

God, in turn, has repeatedly shownthat His blessings or such faith andactions will surpassone'sgreatestex-pectat ions.

11



OldGstamentPersonalities

I bout he imeof Adam's eath,

fl the earth wasexperiencing4 I great populationexplosion.With life spans f eighthundred ndninehundred ears, eople ouldpro-ducedozens fchildrenduringa nor-mal lifetimeof marriage.

The naturaldeath atewas ow aswell. Adam's was the first recordednatural eath, nd hatwas 30yearsafter creation.Anyonewho can do

simplemultiplicationwill concludethat here ouldeasily ave eenmorethan a bill ionpeoplenhabiting heearthwithin he irst housandears.Therewere robablymore.

But now he sadpart.Wickednesswas multiplying ust as fast as thepopulation.Most everyone ad re-jected he commandmentsf the rueGod and disregarded ny code ofmoral conduct.

An age of evll

By the endof another ,300 earsthepopulationadmushroomed;andmankindhad sunk to new lowsof

depravityand corruption.Evil menwroughthavocwith eachother,beingespecially rutal to theposterityof Seth. Among his off-springwerea line of righteousmen

(about250yearsafter creation)whodedicatedhemselveso servingGod,even hough urrounded n every ideby wickednessGen.4:26).

The mostnotablewasEnoch Gen.

5:24),whoseighteous xamplenfu-riated hewicked.Godmayhave es-cuedEnochout of this turbulenceosavehim from a violentdeathat thehandsof hisenemies,or "God tookhim."

Genesis :2 tellsus, however,hateven his righteousine of Setheven-tually gave in to the corruptionaround hem.They began o marrywomenoutside heir faith and soon

The building of Noah's massive ark re -quired argeamountsof t imber.

All earth's air-breathing ite perished,ex -

cept lhe ark's preciouscargo.

Noah sutfered harassment and ridicule or

making he great ship.

Hrreclcratlsren wse .rocaai€Or ^eaes-

sary lor the 5oai s ::-s?it'}-

The ark ran aground on Mt. Ararat afler

f ive monthson the waters

The work went on tor decades - w

lhe world relused o repeni.

A dove Noah sent out returned wit

olivebranch.

g

:

sNoah had to care

menagerie.

his ship's



were absorbed nto the perverseso-

ciety, otally losingsight of God and

His law of love.

It's important to note that this pre-

flood societywas not comprisedof a

ragtag generationofcave dwellers. t

had, to the contrary, become some-

what sophisticated.

Music, literature, art and architec-

ture were quite advanced. Variousmetal-working skills were also prac-

ticed (Gen. 4:22).The peopleknew a

great deal about physical things, but

had utterly rejected spiritual knowl-

edge.

God, in reviewing he terrible state

of affairs, was momentarily sorry He

had ever created the human race(Gen. 6:6). He determined to give

mankind I 20 years to repent en

masseor be destroyed verse3) .Then, seeing they refused to

change,He decided o doust

that -destroy the entire pervertedsociety,

both man and beast. n a flood.

Yet God did find one righteous

man - Noah. the ninth descendant

from Adam through Seth. Noahwalked with God, following n thefootstepsof righteous Enoch, hisgreat-grandfather.And God ex-tendedhim mercy.

Noah ound grace

Little is mentioned f Noah untilhe reached he age of 500 years.

Then he had three sons Shem,Ham and Japheth. here s no state-ment o identifyany of these ons sNoah's firstborn, which leads tospeculation hat he may have hadother children earlier - possiblysonswho becamewicked hemselvesor fell victim to violence. osephusstates hat Noahat onepoint earedfor his life and fled from his landwith his wife and children.(Tfte

Antiquities of the "/ews, Book I,Chapter II).

So t was his family - Noah, hiswife and his sonsand their wives.eight persons n all - that Goddecided o spare.And this, becauseof Noah's ighteousness.

God spokedirectly to Noah, tell-ing him of His decision o destroywickednessrom the earth. He toldhim to build a great ship throughwhich his family and all birds andmammalswouldbe saved livewhileGodcoveredhe earthwith a flood.

Godsaid hat Noahwouldn'thaveto go ooking or the animals,or they

wouldcome o him (Gen.6:20),buthe wouldhave o providequantitiesof food andgrain.

Preparing he ark

Skepticshave claimed the arkcouldn'tpossibly old all thoseani-mals and provisions,ut simple actproves therwise,or the averageizeof the animal kingdom is roughlythat of a medium-sized og. Therewas plentyof room for everything,includingwaste. hephysical imen-

sionsalonestagger he imagination:450 feet long,75 feet wide,45 feethigh. It had three decks otalingmore han 2Vzacresof surface, ndits capacity n volumeexceeded .5

to noid numerous

rs o

and 10 days alter the flood began

again dry

God caused he animals o come lo Noah

and board the shio.

Noah s unusualpassengersdisembarked

to reoooulate he earth

Peoole were lerrorskicken when Noah'sprediction ame lrue.

Noah offered sacrif icesof thanksgivingo

Go d

God caused t to rain or 40 days and 40

ni9hts.

The rainbowsymbolizedGod's promise o

never again deslroy all iving hings



million cubic feet. That's equivalentto 175 modestone-bedroom part-ments

Building he ark, then,was not asimple undertaking. ntil the lasthundred years, t was the largestoceangoing esselever constructed.Consideringhat all the work wasdone without the help of modern

equipment,t must have akenNoahand his sons undoubtedly ith theaid of hired laborersand craftsmen- several ecadeso build and outfitit with supplies. ome uspectt mayhave taken the full 120 years hatGod had allottedmankind.

Certainly Noah sufferedan im-menseamount of harassment ndridicule for building a great ship inthe middleof a dry field. But whenthe crowds atheredo eer,he prob-ably took the opportunity o warn

them of how God viewed theirwickedsociety ndremind hem hattheir 120years f gracewas unningout. For Noah was a preacherofrighteousnessII Pet.2:5).

He alsomust havepossessedon-siderable esources nd wealth. asenormousuantities f timber,build-ing suppliesand foodstuffs pluslabor - had to be purchasedorobtained y barter.Yet, his wealthshouldn't urprise s. God demon-strates ime and again throughout

the Biblehow He physically lessedthosewhohumblyserved im.

The great flood

The preparationwas finally fin-ished, nd God old Noah o take hisfamily and enter he ark. Seven ayslater, n the 600th yearof Noah'slife, t began o rain (c. 2370B.C.).

This may havebeen he first rainever,as God hadpreviouslywateredthe eart h with a mist (Gen.2:5-6).He may havewithheld ain as a partof the curseHe placedon the land(Gen.3:17) o inhibit easygrowingof crops.For Lamech, he father ofNoah, prophesiedhat Noah would"comfortusconcerning urworkandtoil of our hands,because f thegroundwhich he Lord hath cursed"(Gen.5:29).The nameNoah meanscomfort.

SoGodbegan o erasehe curse nthe and,butwith a temporary ctionmuch more devastating.Lamechdied before the rains came, butNoah'sgrandfather,ncientMethu-

14

selah, vidently ied he same earasthe flood at 969yearsof age theoldestage ecordedn the Bible.

It rained or 40 daysand nights,during which time water alsoburstforth from great crevassesn theearth - called "fountains of thegreatdeep."The flooding ontinuedunti l water covered he highest

mountain o a depthof 22 feet(Gen.7:19-20).All air-breathing ife wasdestroyed xceptor thepreciousar-go on theark.

After 150 days, he waterssub-sidedsufficiently or the ark to runagroundon Mt. Ararat in present-day Turkey. Noah and his familyhad been in the ark exactly fivemonths.

About 2/z months later, othermountain tops began to appear.Noah waitedanother 0 days, hen

sentout a ravenanda dove o see fthey would find dry ground n thevalleysbelow.But, findingno rest,they returned.Sevendays later adovewassentagain,and this timereturnedwith an olivebranch.

Noah waitedanother even ays.Then,after sending ut a dove hatdidn't comeback,he removed por-tion of thecoveringromthe ark andlooked ut at thedry ground. t wasnowone ull yearand l0 dayssincethe beginning f the flood.And God

spoke from heaven,saying it wastime to disembark.Once off the ark. Noah immedi-

ately built an altar to God and of-fered sacrifices f everyclean birdand animal(those it for food).AndGod smelledhe savorof theofferingand appreciatedNoah's attitude ofthanksgiving nd his acknowledge-mentof human railtyandsin.

Then God made a promise oNoah that He would never againcurse hegroundor destroy ll livingthings Gen.8:21).He told them obe fruitful and repopulatehe earth.He granted hem rule over he ani-mal kingdomGen. :2),andHe alsoestablishedhe deathpenalty or thesinof murder(verse ).

ThenGod seta rainbow n the skyas a sign of His agreement ot toflood he earthagain verse3). Andso today,whenwe receive ain, weare also remindedof that assuranceby the rainbow.

Noah and his sons ound them-selvesn a freshnewworldwith plen-

ty of opportunity,alongwith plentyof work.Theybegano farmthe andfor food, usingseeds nd plant cut-tingsbroughtwith them hrough heflood.

A curse on Canaan

As the yearspassed, hem,Hamand Japhetheach had severa lsons

anddaughters,ndonceagain herewasa working, hriving, mallcom-munity of peopleon the earth. Butthis new societywasno better thanthe first. Godwell knew"the imagi-nationof man'sheart s evil from hisyouth" Gen.8:21).And Noah, f hehadn't suspected ow fast thingscould degenerate, as soon o findout - throughHam'syoungest on,Canaan.

After the grapeharvest nd wine-makingwasoverone all, Noah was

guilty of celebrating bit too much.He became runk from the wineandpassed ut n his ent ,probablyn thecompanyof Canaan,his grandson.Later, Ham entered the tent andfound Noah alone,but lying nakedon the bed. He immediately oldShem and Japheth,who coveredtheir father with a blanket (Gen,9:23).

WhenNoahawoke ut of his stu-por, he realizedwhat his grandsonhaddone o him (some ortof sexual

dishonor) ndplaceda curseon Ca-naanand his descendants. e gaveShem the birthright and declaredthat Canaanwould be a servant obothShemand Japheth.And true tohis propheticblessing and curse- Shem's uture descendantsIs-rael) conqueredand enslaved heprogenyof Canaanat the hand ofJoshua.

Noah ived or 350yearsafter theflood,making him 950 yearsold atdeath.During this time he probablyset he first ninechapters f the bookof Genesisn order, havingbroughtthe creation record (compiled byAdam) and the family genealogicalrecords hrough the flood, and per-sonallywrote he chapters ertainingto the preflood nd delugeperiods.

Noah wasgreatlybeloved f God- a rareman.whohadwalkedwithGod n two differentworlds pre-andpostflood).He bridged hoseworldsin an ark of gopherwoodanddied apowerfulexampleof faith and obe-dience o his Creator.

living lessons from the bible (1980)

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