The Rambling Disciple

In the books of Kings we have witnessed the downfall of God's chosen people. 2 Kings ends with the nation of Judah falling to Babylon and its people being carted off into exile. It shows that even amongst those chosen to be holy, sin is still a problem. From Genesis 3 onward there have been few people, events, or places that have remained unaffected by the corrupting effects of sin. Nations go to war over land and resources. People kill other people. Idol worship can be found almost everywhere. Sexual immorality runs rampant. It is clear that sin has thoroughly corrupted the cosmos and that humanity no longer knows God. Still God does not abandon his creation. Starting with Abraham God launches the most daring rescue mission in history. It starts with one man and his family coming to know God again. From there that family grows into a nation who knows God. Then that nation will act as a catalyst so that the whole world can come to know God again. At the end of 2 Kings the pla

Although a bit rocky at times, the books of Samuel are largely encouraging to read. At long last Israel has a good king, one who follows God and has led the nation to peace. David forever stands throughout the rest of the Old Testament as the model of what king should be. Despite sinning multiple times, David always turned his heart back to God. Sadly the books of Kings do not carry this mood forward. Though it starts positively enough with Solomon's reign and the construction of the temple, things quickly take a turn for the worst. Bad king after bad king takes the throne, the kingdom splits in two, and it God is left no option but to bring judgment on his own people. Background Like a lot of the historical books in the Old Testament, we do not know who wrote the books of Kings. Tradition points to Jeremiah, but the book itself gives no such indicator. Also, like Samuel before it, Kings was originally one book and still is in the Jewish version of the Old Testament. It was

The nation of Israel has settled into their new home, the Promised Land. After years of slavery and wandering, the people finally have a home. Unfortunately the nation did not follow God's instructions. The Canaanite religion, though weakened, remained. Soon the Israelites were seduced by the lax morals and easy requirements of following Ba'al and the other false gods. So the cycle of sin began. The nation would fall to sin, God would withdraw protection, Israel would be conquered, the people would cry out for help, God would send a judge, the people would be saved, repeat. Whenever there was a leader who pointed the nation to God, the Israelites did well. As the book of Judges and Ruth pointed to; Israel needed a king. Background The books of 1 & 2 Samuel are really one book. In the Jewish Bible it is actually just one book. The reason we have it as two separate books is due to the nature of scrolls. One scroll couldn't fit the whole book so they put it on two

Throughout the history of Israel, no matter how bad things seemed, there has always been a remnant that truly follows God. After the book of Judges it may seem like nothing is as it should be. God's people refuse to listen and repeatedly fall into sin. The covenant appears to be in shambles.  The book of Ruth is a reminder that not everyone ignored God's commandments during this time. Just because a large majority of Israel did whatever they wanted doesn't mean nobody was left that followed God. The book of Ruth is also an answer to the lament in Judges that there is no king. Ruth shows that God was working to bring about a good king during this time. Background Once again we do not know who wrote the book of Ruth. Whoever it was was probably alive during the reign of David, since they know his lineage. Tradition points to Samuel, but again the book itself doesn't say.  Interestingly the book of Ruth does not appear in the same place in the Hebrew Bible (th