Judges and Ruth: lessons in leadership, trust, and loyalty

Today, I’m going to cover two books of the Bible: Judges and Ruth. Maybe people may think that the Bible is filled with stories of men and how women are lesser than them. However, within these two books are three stories of women. Two of these women are examples of courage and loyalty. While another woman is an example of what happens when greed blinds you. These women are: Deborah, Delilah and Ruth.

Deborah was the fourth and only female of the pre-monarchical Israel. Her story is told in Judges 4-5. She was a prophetess of God and the wife of Lapidoth. Many Israelites came to her for counsel. After 20 years of oppression by King Jabin and his commander, Sisera, the Israelites called out to God for help. He speaks to Deborah who sends for Barak, son of Abinoam. She tell him that God commands him to take 10,000 men and lead the way to Mount Tabor. At Mount Tabor, the Lord would deliver Sisera into his hands. But, Barak is reluctant to do so without Deborah. Deborah agrees but says the victory will belong to a woman. The battle goes as the Lord says and Deborah successfully counterattacked the forces of King Jabin and Sisera. She would rule Israel peacefully for 40 years. What lesson can be learn from Deborah’s example? Wise leaders choose good helpers. Deborah was a good strategist and in Barak, she had a commander who could carry it out. Therefore, a wise person would know when to ask for help.

Delilah is a famous person from the Bible whose story is told in Judges 16. Everyone seems to know the story of Samson and Delilah. She was a woman from the Valley of Sorek and Samson fell deeply in love with her. Samson consistently bested the Philistines and they were looking for a way to finally defeat him. They approach Delilah and ask her to discover the secret to Samson’s strength. She asks Samson twice and each time he tells her a lie about the source of his strength. Delilah asks for a third and final time and he tells her the truth. It’s his hair and while he was asleep, she cut his long locks off. When the Philistines came to overpower him, he did not have the strength to fight them off. What lesson can be learn from Delilah’s story?  She was persistent when faced with obstacles but she valued money more than relationships. She betrayed a man who trusted her, leading to his capture and eventual death. Therefore, we must be careful who we place out trust.

Ruth has a book entirely to her story. As a widower of Naomi’s son, she had the chance to return to her family as Naomi was going to return home to Judah. But she decided to stay with Naomi. When they reach Judah, Ruth begins to pick from the fields of Boaz and catches his eye. It turns out Boaz is one of the kinsmen-redeemers. A kinsmen redeemer is a relative who volunteers to take responsibility for the extended. The law states in Deuteronomy 25-5-10, a widow can marry her late husband’s brother but since both Naomi’s son were died, the nearest relative could marry the widow. Boaz takes this responsibility and marries Ruth. Ruth soon gives birth to a son named Obed, who is the grandfather of the future king of Israel, David. What lesson can be learn from Ruth’s story? When God is at the center of a relationship, differences can be overcome leading to peace, love and harmony.

In conclusion, women play important role in the Bible for good and for bad. Deborah, Delilah and Ruth are just a few examples of how God uses women for His purpose. Deborah is an example of how God choices leaders by His standards, not ours and that wise leaders seek help. Delilah is an example of how greed and misplaced trust can be catastrophic and Ruth is an example of how love and loyalty can change your life forever when you trust God to be a part of your relationship. 

Why I believe everything happens for a reason

During that past seven months, I have been involved in a grief support group online which focuses on parents who have lost child either through pregnancy complications or childhood deaths. While the group support have meant a great deal for me, there is one thing that bothers me. Many of the members hate the statement, “everything happens for a reason.” They hate the statement so much that they get angry when they hear someone say it. I fully believe that everything does happens for a reason. I believe it for three reasons: God’s will, consequences or results of a decision and the nature of the world we live in.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 tells us that there is a time for everything. God has a plan for all people and that we all must experience the cycles of life. The good and the bad. A time for life and death (verse 2) and a time to mourn and a time to dance (verse 4). I'm sure when people hear verses 1-8, they hear The Byrds playing in their head. I know I do. Many people would say then your babies were meant to die. Maybe they were because verse 11 says “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” We cannot see into the future or comprehend everything that God sees or understand. I fully believe with all my heart that the losses of my babies has strengthen my faith and trust in Jesus Christ, has brought my husband and me together and made us stronger and helped us appreciate the blessings that God has given us.

Judges 16 tells the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson, whose strength was greater than any man before, falls madly in love with Delilah and trusts her with his biggest secret. By telling her this secret, it led to his capture and his eventual death. The story illustrates that all our decisions have consequences for good or bad. God allowed Samson’s decision to follow its natural course and he suffered greatly for it. God does this in our lives today. Every decision will results in something. If we follow God’s plan and will, He will bless us but if we go against His plan and will, we will suffer the consequences of such a decision. We’re short on cash because we didn’t budget. We are having a fight with our loved ones because we decided to tell a secret or a lie. We worked hard at work and received a promotion. Bad decisions will yield bad results and good decisions will yield good results. Sometimes our situations are simply the results of past decisions.

Sometimes the events in our lives happen because of the fallen world we live in. Homes and businesses will be lost in a horrific storm. Certain weather patterns will form storms. There is no way to stop them or ease the damage they will cause. Earthquakes can occur at any moment and there is no way to predict them. We live in a fallen world and there is good and evil all around us. We can hope for the best but prepare for the worst. In life, there are no guarantees. There are no guarantees that everyone will live to see a ripe old age. God tells us in Job 14:5-7 that before we were even born, our days are numbered but God also tells us in Jeremiah 1:5 that before we were formed in the womb, He knew us and He has plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). I believe that God has a plan when he took my babies back to Him. I may not fully understand why but I fully trust Him that He will reveal it to me in time.

In conclusion, I believe that everything happens for a reason. There is a season for everything. Decisions will yield good or bad results. This is a fallen world. My babies’ lives were cut short by our standards. But by God’s they lived as they were determined to. I realize now that if my first baby was born, my beautiful Abby wouldn’t be here now. I also realize that if Ziva had lived, I probably would not have started my blog and actively writing again. I don’t know the reasons why but I do know that God has a plan and I will trust Him with every breath. It may hurt to think that there’s a reason for everything but to me, something happening without a reason is even worst.