Week 14 (Days 092-098): Help! It's hard for me to see God in the Old Testament.

Hey Bible readers! Welcome to TBR Deep Dive. I'm Kirsten McCloskey and I'm Emma Daughter. And we are very excited that you are with us today as we explore some fun and interesting questions. So let's go ahead and get started. Our first question is a little bit more of a general question. So coming from Judges, the question says, Judges has a lot of interesting stories but I'm having trouble understanding what I'm supposed to be learning about God in this book. Help. I'd love to help. Thanks Emma. If you read Judges and you think, wow, these people are a mess, that's the point. Like you're right on. That is what's happening. You are tracking, don't fret. The spotlight isn't on Israel's consistency in faithfully following God. In fact, they don't. These are not good examples. But there's actually a spotlight on God's character because the real hero of Judges isn't Gideon or Samson or Deborah. It's the God who refuses to abandon his people when they forget him over and over and over again. What does he do? He raises up a judge, a deliverer. So Judges is showing us that God's faithfulness is stronger than our failures over and over and over again. God raised up a judge to aid Israel. He committed to rescuing his people even when they don't know how to ask for help. They just say, God change it and they don't learn their lesson. And there are moments in Judges where the people don't even cry out in repentance. They just cry out because life got hard. They're facing their consequence and life is hard. And God still moves toward them in mercy. Yeah, absolutely. I think those are great things to mention. And mine are going to be probably pretty similar. So I think it's really important to see that God remains faithful to his covenant regardless of the behavior of his people. And so remember, this is the second book after the Israelites got into the Promised Land. And like you said, they're already a mess, but God keeps working with them. So God keeps delivering them because he was the one that made the promise and he always fulfills his promises. And then I think another thing that we can learn about God in this book is God is merciful. God is so merciful to his people. And remember, mercy is when you don't get what you deserve. So God shows mercy to Israel throughout this book because he keeps delivering them from the oppression that they brought upon themselves. He's delivering them in spite of themselves, basically. Because you could read judges and be like, why doesn't God just wipe them out already? And the answer is because he's merciful, because he's patient. He's slow to anger. His slowness to anger is actually his kindness on display. Judges shows us God's heart is always to restore, not to punish. And he keeps giving his people chance after chance after chance after chance. And we've already seen these truths that we just mentioned about God all throughout the pages of the Old Testament. And honestly, we're going to keep learning in many ways, kind of these same things. These are themes throughout the whole Bible because this is who God is. God continually is working with broken, messed up people. Thank goodness, me too. That's all that he has to work with. He has us, he has the Israelites. We've got issues. Yeah, that is true. Now, here's what's interesting. Our next question comes from day 93. And the question is, I'm finding it hard to have compassion for the Israelites. Why do they keep rebelling against God? Why don't they get it? Why are we imperfect broken people? Right. Yeah. And I totally resonate with this question because I think sometimes, especially when you're reading kind of consistently through the Bible, it can get to this place where you're like, oh my goodness, it's so frustrating. But we got to remember that, but for the grace of God, we would be there as well in our own lives in so many different ways. But I think what's helpful for me in recognizing with the Israelites is that this is really a story about their national sin and rebellion. So talking about kind of again, the general... The collective group of Israel. Yes. And in the book of Judges specifically, Judges doesn't deal with every individual Israelite and their relationship with God. I mean, none of the books of scripture do that. They pick and choose for kind of the theological part of the story that they're trying to get across. But what we're seeing with Judges is it's meant to show us that as a nation, so Israel is a nation, they didn't get it. No. No. As a nation, they didn't follow God's covenant. They were unfaithful as a whole group. Yes. And I think what is really encouraging to me is that, yeah, we have Judges, but we also have the book of Ruth, which is an amazing kind of parallel in the sense that... An excellent parallel. So we know that there was some faithfulness on the part of the people at this time because we have Ruth. And so what I mean by that is the book of Ruth opens by saying, in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So we're meant to at the beginning be like, ding, ding, ding. These are happening at the same time. Yes. These are happening at the same time. And what we see is that in the book of Ruth, Boaz is presented as someone who is following God's laws. That's one of the reasons why Ruth even gets to glean in his field and she's protected. It's because Boaz knows God's laws and he's like, okay, leave some for this foreign woman from Moab who has come. So he's following that law. It's from Leviticus 2322. So it said, leave some parts of your land for the foreigners so that they can come glean after harvest. And that's what he does. But the reason why that's even more significant is because Jesus comes from Ruth's line. Yes. And so we, yes, see all of this depravity and judges, but then at the same time, we see God not only working through judges, but working behind the scenes with this nobody, Ruth and Naomi. And it's through this woman and this faithful guy who would have been in the minority during this day and age as the faithful one. God's going to bring the savior of the world through them. Something else that I think is helpful to point out when it comes to judges and this question about why do they keep rebelling is that judges is marked by a cycle, a cycle of sin. So the people sin and then there's a consequence for their sin, slavery. Another nation rises up and defeats them. But then they cry out in supplication, meaning prayer. God, would you help us? Would you help us? And then God does salvation. He raises up a judge to deliver the people, lead them in the right way. But then there's silence because once the judges there, the people quit seeking God. And then when the judge dies, the cycle repeats. They go right back to their sin. They get conquered by another people group. They're enslaved. They cry out in supplication. God saves them by raising up a judge. And then they abandon God again. Silence. And that cycle repeats, I think, seven times throughout the book of judges. And when we understand that context, we kind of be like, man, these people get it together. Like, what's the second part of the question? Like, why don't they get it? But this isn't just a history lesson. This could be a mirror. Yeah. Because someone could look at my life and my shortcomings and think, why doesn't Emma just get it together? Why when she was a teenager, did she talk back to her parents multiple times rather than just once? Or why is a kid, do you throw tantrums multiple times, not just once? All the parents wish their kids only threw one tantrum in their whole life. We are sinners too. And so we can look at the judges and recognize, hey, the same sin that affects them, affects, we're not immune to sin. But this story also helps us long for a better leader because the judges couldn't change the hearts of people. Yeah, well, they couldn't even deal with their own issues. Yes. Right. Yes. Yeah. And the story creates this longing for a leader who won't fail, like the judges failed. Yeah. And so this repeated rebellion helps us say, we need Jesus. Yeah. We greatly need Jesus because we are sinners too. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's such a good point is in seeing the cyclical nature of this story. That's, and if you're thinking about kind of being an Israelite, reading this story or being a part of this, it's meant to point us to the reality that we need something different. Like we can't keep doing this over and over and over again. And so in that, I think we're seeing some of God's gentleness, his patience, you know, some of the things that we even already talked about. And I think too, it's so important when whenever we're tempted to be like, why don't they get it? Either in the Old Testament or even I think today with, you know, maybe someone in your church or someone in your small group where you're just like, why don't you get it? Why don't you get it? Yeah. I think that idea of the mirror though is so important because we all have our areas where we fall away from God. Yeah. We're tempted towards sin. Maybe sometimes we really do mess up. Like sometimes we get it and sometimes we really don't. And that doesn't make that sin okay. Right. It's still wrong, but there should be an understanding or a recognition of my individual need for that better leader, Jesus, because I sin repeatedly like Israel. Yeah. And I think with this book, it can help us step back and look at our own hearts and our own lives and consider, where do I look a little bit more like the Israelites than maybe I want to admit? I think our idolatry and our disobedience maybe isn't as blatant as like setting up our own idol worship in our house. It might look like a lack of generosity believing that my money is my own because I worked really hard to get it. It might look like ignoring God's commands for sexuality because I should be able to do whatever I want with my own body. It might look like holding a grudge against a coworker, even though I know that God has asked me to forgive them. There's lots of spaces and places in our lives where we either don't get it or honestly, sometimes we refuse to get it. Yeah. And so we don't want to look at them arrogantly and think, oh, well, we'd certainly act differently. The reality is we don't know. And we probably would find ourselves more often than not kind of on the side of the Israelites. Yeah, falling short. Yeah. And even though we have the Holy Spirit living in us and helping us and guiding us, we still just need the reminder daily that we need Jesus and we needed him to be the perfect judge for us, the perfect leader, the perfect sacrifice for us. Yeah. Agreed. Alrighty. Our next question comes from day 92. This is a very abrupt topic change and a very short question. I just want to warn you, brace yourself. Okay. All right. The question is, what is an ephod? And why did Gideon make one? Yes. Now, the first referenced is Judges 827, which I'll read it for us, but we read about the ephods and other passages of scripture as well. Yep. But verse 27 reads, and Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city in Ofra. In all Israel, horde after there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. Yeah. Okay. So short answer. An ephod is just a piece of clothing that was worn by the high priests. And so in Exodus 284 tells us about these different high priestly garments. So these are the garments that they shall make, a breast piece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. And then in Exodus 392, we find that the ephod was made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarns and fine twisted linen. Actually, I think it's twined. And maybe twined linen. And maybe some embroidered gold accents. Some embroidering. Yep. So it's basically like a vest or an apron. In the pictures, to me, it looked a little bit more like an apron, honestly. Yeah. And it went over a robe, and it was made of fine twined linen. Which those colors would have been very expensive fabrics to acquire. So it was a more luxurious garment. It was meant to be for the priest. Yes. Ornate. That's a great adjective. Picture an ornate apron. Yes. As an ephod. So that's just what the ephod is. And so what's going on here in Judges? Basically, in Judges, we're seeing that the ephod is no longer being worn by the high priest in a context for worship. But Gideon makes this ephod. And so in some ways, you're kind of like, what are you doing? And we've got a lot of questions now. Because it's Gideon of seamstress. Like, what happened? That's what I'm wondering. Who made the ephod? But what we're seeing is that this ephod then actually becomes like an idol itself. And so that's what's being worshiped. So this is not good. This is not what got into it. Something that I read, I found a lot of commentaries where we're pointing in this direction and even got questions, a research tool that we really like. Said that in these contexts, in the historical books, when the ephod is not being used in its appropriate place for its appropriate purpose, it's probably referring to an image or an idol. Okay. Yeah. Think golden calf incident kind of idol. So it could be that they're using the term, but what it actually looked like, maybe different or slightly off. So it's not the apron necessarily. It could be. Okay. But they could be making the apron improperly. Like maybe Gideon's not following all of the rules that the priest had to follow. Either way, it's a distortion of how God intended an ephod to be used. It's not good. This is not good. Yeah. And so I think really what we're seeing with this story, I mean, you know, judges, we're seeing this all over the place, but the Israelites are completely disregarding God's laws. And so Gideon has been called by God. He was charged with leading the people for a time. And then he just does what is right in his own eyes. And we're meant to see the weight of this kind of disobedience and sin. Sin is a really big deal here. This turns into idolatry for the people. So it's just such a... And it draws them away from worshiping God. Yes. It turns into really such a horrible situation. So yeah, that's not good. I also think the sacred form or the idea of an ephod doesn't guarantee that it will be true worship. So just because something might have started out as holy, though this ephod, I don't know that it really did, but the idea or the principle behind an ephod started out as a good thing. But it's not a good thing when it's being misused. It's like, have you ever seen... There's this video about a family who gifts the grandmother an iPad. I haven't seen it. You haven't? I have not. Okay. They give her an iPad as a gift. And then the son is going to visit his mom, whatever, and sees this grandma take the iPad out of the dishwasher. And she'd been using it as a cutting board. And she thought it was a fancy cutting board. Right? Well, the son is like, oh my gosh, what one? You've like ruined this iPad by throwing it through the dishwasher. But also you missed out on all I wanted you to experience that could have been if you could read your books and make the text bigger or do all of these iPad features. Instead, she got a really expensive cutting board made of glass, which doesn't make sense. Right? But the point is you're missing out on all that this originally intended to offer you. And so God gives Israel proper instructions for worship and guidelines that are intended to help the people experience all that God has for them. But when those things are distorted, you don't still get the benefits of God's original design. You get the consequences of sin. And that's what we're seeing here is that God cares more about faith and obedience than he does about the iPad or the EFAT. Those are symbols. He cares about the heart posture. So Gideon was legitimately raised up by God and victorious over Israel's enemies. But that doesn't excuse his religious shortcuts. Right. Yeah. It just shows that really in the end, he didn't continue on the trajectory of trusting God, loving God, clinging to God. And so we see, yeah, just the turn to idolatry, which is really one of the themes of this book. So it is, can we talk about a specific judge now? Let's talk about a specific judge. Yes. Should we move on to our next question? Let's do it. We are talking about Samson. We had to talk about Samson. We had to. We couldn't skip them. Yeah. Okay. So this question comes from day 94 and really covers judges 13 to 16. So we're talking about just Samson in general. The question says, I've heard people say Samson is a type of Christ. What does that mean and is it true? So when people call Samson a type of Christ, they mean that his story has patterns that hint at a hint at or foreshadow something about Jesus. Yeah. But it's important we say this. Samson himself is not a role model for Jesus. Yes. That's not what this means. Right. Right. A type in the Bible is a person or event in the Old Testament that points forward to something greater that God will do in the future. Yeah. It's basically like a symbol. Yes. That's foreshadowing. Yeah. Looking forward. Or a shadow that's the outline of something that's real. Okay. Yeah. But it's not the real thing. Yes. So the phrase, the book of Hebrews uses is Jesus is better. Jesus is the better high priest, the better sacrifice, the better Samson, if you will. So is Samson a true type of Christ? Is that an applicable term here? Right. I would say not in the sense of his character because Samson is impulsive and incredibly morally inconsistent, right, in disobedient. So he doesn't seem to be pictured or shown as a righteous hero. Yes. Right. In the same way Jesus is or even David. But we can say that Samson's story contains patterns that point forward to the way God will ultimately save his people. Right. So here's what, yeah, for example, Samson is a deliverer God raises up. Yep. And Jesus is the ultimate deliverer. Yep. Samson's birth is announced by an angel. Guess who else has their birth announced by an angel? Jesus. Jesus. Samson's strength comes from God's spirit. Yep. Jesus's ministry is spirit empowered. Samson defeats Israel's enemies alone and Jesus defeats sin, death and Satan on the cross alone. Now, when I say that some people's theological raiders might go up, no, the Trinity's all active. Yes. But the Holy Spirit didn't die on the cross. Jesus did. The Father didn't die on the cross. Jesus did. That's what I mean by saying he defeated sin, death and Satan alone. And then Samson's death brings victory for Israel and Jesus's death brings victory for all who believe. Yeah. And I think that last one really points to the idea that Jesus is the better Samson. Yes. In that vein. Yeah. Yeah. And I think another one that I had as well of kind of the connection was that they're both betrayed and they suffer. So I thought that was an interesting one. That's a good one. Yeah. And really, I think what we want to be clear about is when we're saying that Samson is a type and again, I think that people have some different opinions on this. Yes. So some people would not really want to use this language. So that's an option too to be like, no, we're not looking at these two in comparison. But I think it's valid to look at the similarities and then also to look at the differences because it's not a one to one. And so that's what we want to be really clear about. Something or someone in the Old Testament being a type or pointing forward or being a symbol of something in the New Testament. It's never, maybe I should say most likely never. I'm sure maybe there's some exception, but it's most likely never that one to one. Yeah. Ratio. Right. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. I think the key is if we're going to say Samson is a type, he's a type by contrast, more than similarity. Okay. So his failures make us long for a savior who doesn't fall to temptation. Yeah. The better deliverer. Yeah. Who doesn't use power selfishly. Who doesn't need repeated rescue. So Samson is a shadow. Jesus is the substance and it's okay if you're hearing this conversation and you're like, I don't know, Samson's really different than Jesus. Yeah. To say, I don't think he's a type. I don't know that I think he's a type either. I know. I was kind of going back and forth. I think I settled that I don't feel really strongly either one way or the other. But what I did, what I did like about looking into this was I liked noticing the similarities in the stories. Like the miraculous births, they're both empowered by the spirit. Like what you were saying, they betrayed and suffered, but ultimately their death brought deliverance to their people. Which is pretty closely aligned. Right. And that one, I think just taking a minute to recognize. Maybe you're convincing me. I don't know. Maybe I'll take it back. I think the point I'm trying to make is like just how much better Jesus is. And so when we see kind of the human version, like Samson, I don't think anyone would look at him and be like, man, he was the best leader we've seen in the Old Testament. Like that's not what it is. Definitely not. But we see someone who was in some way called by God to lead and how much he failed. And then we see Jesus who fulfilled and accomplished everything that God required of him and asked him to do on our behalf. And it's, it just helps us recognize how incredible Jesus is and how perfect he is and how he is the ultimate redeemer and deliverer of his people. And so that's inspiring to me as I read this story. Should we talk about Ruth now? Yes, I mentioned Ruth earlier. I'm like, I've had enough of the gorgeous. And I guess Samson type is he not, I don't know. Let's talk about Ruth. Yes, let's for sure talk about Ruth. So our question, talking about Ruth, comes from day 97. And the question is, it surprises me that God is barely mentioned in the book of Ruth. He's clearly working, but why isn't he talked about more? So more of a general Ruth question. Well, you know, I love the general questions. The general questions are great. This is it for you, Emma. This is it. Highlight. Great one, Dan. So the book of Ruth shows us God quietly working behind the scenes. So the story doesn't talk about him constantly. It lets you see his hand through ordinary life instead of dramatic miracles. So Ruth, it's not like Exodus or judges with big, loud moments where we see a leader speaking and acting and communicating with God or God speaking and acting. Instead, it seems like the author wants us to notice something different. God works through ordinary people, through everyday decisions, through small acts of faithfulness, and through timing that feels coincidental. Right. But isn't. Yeah. Well, and the thing I want to jump in with is that last thing you just said with just really seeing God's sovereignty behind the scenes, I think that is such a cool thing in the book of Ruth. Yes. Where God is not speaking to these people, but we can be at least in a way that's documented. Exactly. That's a good way to put it. That's a good way to put it. But we can be so sure that all of the things that are happening in this story are being sovereignly directed by God himself. And I, yeah, I just find that to be so exciting and encouraging because in my own life, you know, sometimes you're like, oh man, is something, is anything happening? Is God, where are you? Are you working? Do you see me? Do you see me? Do I see you? You know, but we can, Ruth can give us a little bit of encouragement in that area that God has a plan and he will bring it to fruition and it's in these more quieter, behind the scenes kind of way. Totally. Okay. So let me give you a hot take. Yeah. God is the main character of the story. Okay. He's just not the noisy character. Okay. So Ruth teaches us that God's deeply involved, even when his name isn't on every page, his providence is often quiet and subtle and even slow, but it's never absent. And so the book or the story of Ruth reminds us to recognize God's presence in the normal rhythms of life, which is the same way that he works in ours. And as we think about the story of scripture and what's happening, we, we learned back in Genesis three that a victorious child was coming. And then at the end of Genesis, we learned that the scepter wouldn't depart from Judah, that there would be this ruler that was going to come from this line. Yeah. And then in numbers with the bail and bailok donkey thing, there was this whole, I see the star, I see him, but not now. Like, so we know this victorious person or child or king is coming, but we're also left wondering, well, who is it? Is it this judge? Nope. Is it this judge? Nope. And it could be easy to start losing hope because judges really is a story of failure. But as you pointed out earlier, this story is happening at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. And when you read through judges and you're like, gosh, that was depressing. But then you get to the very end of Ruth and you read that last short little genealogy. It's like, gotta be the shortest genealogy in the Bible. We've been used to those long paragraphs, right? But you see that David is going to be what? The great, great grandson of Ruth? Maybe three greats? Great, great. I don't know. Oh, but father Jesse, Jesse, father David. No. Yeah. Yeah. Jesse, father David. So maybe three greats, whatever it is, you guys can count. But we, we learned that David is going to come from Ruth's and Boaz. And then who comes from David? Well, we know that it's Jesus. And so God is actually at work in incredible ways that he hasn't forgotten that victorious child he said would come. He hasn't forgotten the victorious ruler. He hasn't forgotten that he said all the nations of the world would be blessed through Abraham. How is that possible? Because the victorious child, Jesus, who came from Abraham also came from Ruth and Boaz. It's the family tree. Yeah. God was at work. So cool. So cool. Yeah. I think of God in Ruth as like the director, like in a movie, you never see the director, but they're the ones making sure that the story moves forward. I like that. So I like thinking of it like that. And honestly, kind of thinking back to God's sovereignty, one of my favorite verses in Ruth is in chapter two, when Ruth asked Naomi if she can go and gather grain from the fields. And Naomi says, yes, she can. So Ruth goes and she starts working in the field. And then in two, three, it says, so she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz. So Ruth just so happened to come to Boaz's field. And then in the next verse, Boaz just happens to come to the field at the same moment and see her. And so this is God's providential hand. And this is how he's going to fulfill the plan that he always had. It's good. So I think it's just so encouraging. So whether we're seeing people acknowledging God in this story, I mean, we are seeing people acknowledge God in this story. Boaz, when he says to the people, he says, the Lord be with you. So we're reading about these people that in some way, shape, or form are actively aware of the Lord and what he's doing in their lives. And then we get to see at the end, like they don't know that David is going to come from this line, but we get to see at the end is the readers, the working out of God's plan, which is so cool. So cool. Something else that's cool about this is that Ruth was Moabite, right? Yes, right. So a lot of times, and we've answered some questions like this, we read the Old Testament and we think God is so vengeful. Wrongly think God is so vengeful. Why is there all this killing? Does he hate all these other nations? But Ruth is a story, one of several, where we see God's heart for the nations in the Old Testament, because Ruth, who's a Moabite, she's not an Israelite, is going to be the great, great, great, great, however many greats. I'm not going to try to count them out again. Grandmother of Jesus and she's a foreigner. And so God's character is consistent, yes, in his providence, yes, in his justice, as we see in Judges, but also consistent in his love for the whole world, not just Israel in the Old Testament. Yep. It's a really good point. Anything else you want to add or you're feeling good? I just left the Book of Ruth. I think it's so encouraging. That's all I would end with. Well, I think just, I would say that in this story, recognizing the behind the scenes nature of God, I think that probably is more often than not how we're on the day-to-day experiencing God. Yeah, and we're not aware of it necessarily. And we're maybe not aware of it or we're just kind of going through the motions forgetting maybe sometimes. And yeah, because I think like, we talked about the beginning of this question that in the Old Testament, specifically in the beginning, in the Pentateuch, the first five books, God is speaking so loudly. He is so clear in all the things he's saying. People are having all these crazy interactions with him. And then you get to a book like Ruth and he doesn't show up in that same way. And so I think it can just be a helpful thing to consider and maybe even say to God, pray to God, hey, where are you working right now? And I am so missing it. I know where. Where is your hand of providence all over my life? And I am just not noticing it. And honestly, it's kind of a cool reflection thing. Like, God over the last couple of months, you know, looking back, where have I seen you? And but just really hadn't taken the moment. Where can I recognize? Oh, I think that was, yeah, that's good. I think that's great. Anything for you? No, I just get really fired up about that genealogy. It's my favorite one. I think it's great. Well, on that note, yeah, thanks for taking a deep dive with us. And we'll see you next week as we continue to read, understand and love the Bible and the God who wrote it.