Ruth

The Book of Ruth is a short book, almost an interlude, unlike anything before it. God does not appear or speak, nor do any angels. It is a single story about one woman, Ruth. Ruth is not from one of the twelve tribes, but she marries a man whose father was from the land of Judah. When her husband and father-in-law die, she accompanies her mother-in-law, Naomi, on her journey back to Judah. Naomi tries to discourage Ruth, since she sees little future for Ruth in Judah, but Ruth insists on remaining with Naomi, saying:

Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you, for wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there be buried.

Her fidelity to Naomi extends even to her embracing the God of Israel as her God. This passage is so beautiful. It could easily be inserted into a marriage vow, for instance. It is also a wonderfull statement of fidelity and discipleship--a promise to follow without regard to obstacles. 

Ruth is faithful and pious and hardworking. Her story becomes known among the people of Judah. She follows Naomi's guidance and as a result becomes the wife of Boaz, a prominent landowner and kinsman of Naomi. We are told that she bears a son, Obed, whose son is Jesse and whose grandson is David, the future king. Jesus, of course, is of the line of David, through his stepfather, Joseph. So, from a woman not born of the Chosen People, God sends a great king and then, ultimately, the Great King and Savior. This foretells the universality of the salvation that is humanity's through Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection. 

Deuteronomy 14-17

The Book of Deuteronomy continues with Moses' explication of the laws by which the Israelites are to govern themselves in Canaan. We see a continuation of certain currents. The Israelites are a specially chosen people. God is a jealous God, who prescribes harsh punishment for those who worship other gods. The Israelites are to treat each other justly and mercifully, as God has treated them. 

Two elements of this passage took my thoughts immediately to the New Testament.

Instructing the Israelites about how to deal with a person in the community who "does evil in the sight of the Lord" by serving or worshipping other gods, Moses teaches that the punishment is stoning, but only after two or three witnesses have testified against the perpetrator.  He continues:

At the execution, the witnesses are to be the first to raise their hands against him; afterward all the people are to join in.

I am reminded of the woman caught in adultery brought before Jesus by the Jewish leaders, who were trying to trap Him. When He suggested that the person in the community who had no sin cast the first stone, the people who had gathered drifted away and she was spared.  God is just; God is merciful. The way these two truths are juxtaposed, both in the Old and New Testaments is very mysterious to me.

Moses also spoke of the possibility that the Israelites might subject themselves to governance by a king. He directs with regard to that king:

Nor shall he make his people go back again to Egypt to acquire [horses], against the Lord's warning that you must never go back that way again.

St. Joseph is described as a man of faith in the New Testament. I think back to his being told in a dream by God, shortly after Jesus' birth, to take the baby and Mary to Egypt. It deepens my awe and admiration for his faith in God, as that dream and that instruction from God must have gone against his instincts based on everything he had been taught and had heard from Scriptures his whole life.  That is trust in the Lord. If only I had just a tiny fraction of that trust.

Numbers 10-12

A discontented people set out from the base of Sinai into the desert, following the pillar of fire by which the Lord guides them. Moses, whom the Lord calls "the meekest man on the face of the earth," despairs of the grumbling and complaining of the Israelites. He laments to God:

Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers? 

I cannot help but wonder if St. Joseph ever had a moment when he said something like this to God. Perhaps when the infant Jesus cried and cried during the night, and Joseph walked the floor with him, trying to comfort him. I am drawn to Joseph as a father, thinking about all the joys and frustrations and pain of being a father, and wondering how Joseph handled them. I often wish the Bible had more to say about this man.

Meanwhile, back in the desert, Moses is so moved and overwhelmed by distress from the complaining Israelites, that the Lord lightens his burden by taking some of the spirit that is on Moses and bestowing it on 70 elders.  Actually, 70 plus two more who were not at the gathering when this transfer took place. Upon receiving the spirit, the 72 begin to prophesy. Clearly, a foreshadowing of Pentecost, and the number 72 matches the number of disciples cited in the New Testament.  Moses is moved to say later, to a jealous Aaron and Miriam:

Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!

Of course, the Lord has done so. He has bestowed His spirit on all of His people in baptism. We are all called to holiness, to meekness, to be part of a community of believers and journeyers on the path to the promised land.

Numbers 1-3:32

Numbers is the fourth book of the Pentateuch.  It describes the 38 years covering the end of the encampment at Mt. Sinai through the journey in the desert to their arrival at the border of  the Promised Land. It begins with a census of the Chosen People commands by the Lord. Thus, the journey of the law, from Sinai to the Promised Land begins with a census. Similarly, the story of the birth of the New Law, the fulfillment of the law, Jesus Christ, also begins with a census.  The census ordered by the Romans is the reason Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem, of course. 

Genesis 45:16-48:7

Joseph's story continues. He is reunited with his father, Israel, who is retrieved by some ofhis sons and brought to the land of Egypt. On the way, Israel has a dream in which God confirms to Israel that he should journey to Egypt, and reaffirms His covenant, telling him that "there [i.e., in Egypt] I will make you a great nation." Joseph rides out to meet his father, Israel, in a scene that reminds me of the parable of the Prodigal Son. Joseph exclaims, "At last I can die, now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive", calling to mind the story of Simeon in the temple when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to be presented at the temple. The story goes on to describe how Joseph is able to husband and then share all of the resources of Egypt to get its people through the famine, but in exchange they are forced to give up all their money and possessions, and eventually to hand themselves over as slaves to Pharaoh, in exchange for the food they need to live. At first I found this unsettling and distasteful even. But thinking more about it, doesn't Jesus ask us to give up our money and possessions and even our lives to follow Him? Perhaps not literally, but in our attachment to these things.