None of Them Shall Be Desolate

“Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”

-Ruth 1:20-21

“Ruth Declares Her Loyalty to Naomi” – Pieter Lastman, Public Domain Image

Like Naomi, we are often so quick to blame God for our hardships and credit ourselves for our blessings. A famine drove Naomi’s family out of the promised land, and only a famine brought her back. Wherever the rumor of prosperity was, there she went, not trusting in the providence of the Lord. If there was famine in the land of Israel in Naomi’s day, it was a result of sin and disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:16-18). So, rather than repent and plead for mercy, Naomi’s family fled the promised land altogether and joined themselves to a heathen nation, as if there is anywhere we can hide from God.

In this passage Naomi forgets that she has not been brought back empty. Ruth has cleaved to her and to her God, embracing the reproach of widowhood in a foreign land in order to worship the true God. Ruth is described as better to Naomi than seven sons (Ruth 4:15), and yet when we are in the gall of bitterness it is impossible to remember God’s great mercy and kindness toward us. We tend to focus on what we lack and forget all the good things the Lord has given us. “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6).

Fortunately for us there is nothing that can ever separate us from the love of Christ, not “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine… (Romans 8:35). Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth (Deuteronomy 8:5, Proverbs 13:24, Hebrews 12:6-7). We should not be too hard on Naomi because we are all too much like her and as the Lord remembers that we are but flesh, so too must we be patient with ourselves and others. He is faithful, even when we are not.

"The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: None of them that trust in him shall be desolate."

- Psalm 34:22

Selah.

Be Still and Know That I am God

“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.”

-2nd Chronicles 20:17

King David in Prayer - Pieter de Grebber, public domain

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds (2nd Corinthians 10:4). The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Our God said to his apostle, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness (2nd Corinthians 12:9).

We think we need to be the strongest, the best, the wisest in everything, but that is when we tend to be lifted up with pride. When we are weak, when we are stumbling, destitute and afflicted, then the Lord hears our cry and delivers us.

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

-Psalm 46:10

Dispensational Sunday

2 Timothy 3:16:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness...

It seems like God knew that men would come along to wrongly divide his word. It's as if he knew that unlearned men would take Paul's epistles and set them at odds with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you hear your preacher say the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do not pertain to Christians and to only follow Paul for your doctrine, leave that church immediately. You're under false teaching.

The teachers of this heresy act as if they've unlocked some secret mystery in the bible by interpreting plain words in a mysterious way. In reality, the words mean exactly what they say and 2 Tim 3:16 is not followed by an explanation of how different doctrines pertain to different groups of people. That idea is made up by men who prefer wild stories over proper interpretation of the English language.

All scripture is profitable for doctrine. Meaning every word in the bible is profitable to the people who believe the bible.

The "Paulists" need to answer Paul's own questions.

Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

-1 Corinthians 1:12-13