I am still reading through the Bible this year, slowly. In the Old Testament, or the Hebrew Scriptures are two books, or documents, next to one another, Judges and Ruth. In the book of Judges there is the famous story of Samson. It is famous because both Jewish and Christian faiths tell the story, and it is well known in the faith communities and the society. Just after Judges, there is the book of Ruth. It is about a Jewish woman who has lived in exile for years. Naomi’s husband and two sons have died, and she is returning to Jewish land, and her daughter-in-law will not let her go alone.
The Samson story is about revenge, violence and ends in a large amount of people dying. Ruth is about love, redemption and the beginning of the king David story. So, how do I read these stories, and make sense out of them, and find the meaning for my own life.
The Samson story goes from Judges 13-16. His first wife and mother are killed by the Philistines. He exacts revenge by killing about thirty men. His father-in-law gives his wife to someone else. Samson ties 30 foxes tails together and sets the foxes on fire. He sends them in to burn Philistine grain. He kills thousands in revenge. He sleeps with a prostitute, and then falls in love with a woman named Delilah. She tricks him into telling her where his strength comes from, his long hair. In the end, he breaks the pillars of the temple, and the text says that he killed more people in the last act of his life, than he had killed in all of his life. Gruesome story.
Then we find the story of Naomi , Ruth and Boaz . I find compassion in Ruth, and an honourable man in Boaz. Ruth cares for her mother-in-law, who is Jewish, as she returns to Israel as a bitter woman. Boaz takes a liking to Ruth, and allows her to glean from his fields. Boaz goes through the cultural norms to take Ruth as his wife. I see the story about love, compassion and redemption.
So, how do I make the jump to 2016, and use and interpret these stories for my life ? Some scholars say the story is the meaning, and we should not try to interpret the story, and then try to find meaning. I want to take the Samson story out of my faith, but I want the Ruth story to interpret all of my life. Does this mean I do not take all of the Bible seriously ?
C.S. Lewis, and Christian apologist and writer said, ” It is Christ Himself, and not the Bible, who is the true Word of God. The Bible read in the right spirit and with the guidance of the right teachers, will bring us to Him. We must not use the Bible as a sort of encyclopedia out of which texts can be taken for use as weapons.”
Have we produced our own idol in how we view the Bible ? Lewis’ idea brings me hope that I can hold Scripture lighter and Christ more deeply. What does it mean for me to have Christ Jesus as my Word of life, and to have the Bible as my guide and teacher.
I do not like the Samson story. I do like the Ruth story. I will read both, and listen the the Word of God made human in the Spirit of Christ … Jesus.
Fred Redekop
Ponder Anew 