The Small Branch

  Ruth 3 and 4 I have pages and pages of notes on these chapters, but most of them are from THIS SERMON SERIES from Alistair Begg.  I will let you listen to that rather than include all my notes from this, but I highly recommend that you DO listen to this series, especially for these chapters.  You can also read many good insights from John MacArthur in his study Joshua, Judges, & Ruth: Finally in the Land which you can get HERE . Read Ruth 3 and 4 Who? Boaz and the other redeemer, elders of the city, Ruth, and Naomi  What? Ruth approaches Boaz to propose marriage and he does everything needed to be able to marry her Where? At Boaz’s threshing floor, the gate to the city, and in Bethlehem When? This is just a few days time after Ruth has worked in the fields for a few months Why? Boaz redeems Ruth because he loves her, but mostly because he is doing the right thing, the God honoring thing, no matter the cost to him How? Ruth goes to Boaz in secret ...

  We are going to push “pause” on the book of Joshua so that those who are traveling for Christmas do not miss anything.   For this week and the next, we will look at the book of Ruth.   Honestly, two weeks does not give us nearly enough time with this book so we will see this as an introduction and hope that you will study further on your own.   Alistair Begg has a sermon series on Ruth that is very helpful and can be found HERE .   Also, John MacArthur has a sermon on Ruth that contains a lot of helpful background on the Moabites HERE . Let’s start with some background.  The book is written anonymously, so we can’t be sure, but Ruth was probably written by Samuel during the reign of King David.  There are a few scholars who believe that Solomon could have written it.  The story itself takes place during the time of the judges, possibly during Jair’s judgeship (Judges 10:3-5).  Ruth is a historical narrative written to give hope amids...

  Read Joshua 20 and 21. Who? Joshua, all Israel, the tribe of Levi What? The cities of refuge and all the other Levite cities are designated Where? Throughout all of Israel, including both east and west of the Jordan (SEE MAP) When? After all the land is allotted to the twelve tribes Why? The cities of refuge are to maintain grace with justice, the cities of the Levites are to give them a place to live and also to scatter those who teach the Law of God throughout Israel How? Joshua and Eleazar designate the cities of refuge west of the Jordan, Moses designated the cities of refuge east of the Jordan The cities of refuge are designated in order that, while justice is served, it is also tempered with grace.  The Old Testament differentiates between intentional and unintentional sin (see Leviticus 4; 5:15-18; Numbers 15:22-29; 35:22; Deuteronomy 4:41-42; 19:4; Ezekiel 45:20; and Hebrews 9:7).  Intentional sin is usually punished by banishment or death.  Unint...

 Here's a question:  if you have a toddler and he is trying to climb into the fireplace while there is a fire burning in it, is it more loving to let him climb into the fire because he wants to and you want him to be happy OR is it more loving to snatch him away from it and paddle his behind so that he knows not to do that again?   Why do we think God should respond to us "climbing into the flames" of our sin any differently?   And why do we respond to others' sin by excusing it, claiming that we are being loving?  Be loving.  Speak truth.

  Read Joshua 18 and 19 Who? The tribes of Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, (with three men pulled from each tribe to survey the land) and Joshua What? Final allotments of the land — notice how specific and detailed God is with the boundaries Where? Throughout the land, most of which has not been conquered yet When? After Judah and the sons of Joseph are given their allotments Why? God promised them the whole land and so wanted them to allot the whole land, clinging to His promise How? By lots with Eleazar the priest and Joshua after men from each tribe have surveyed the remaining land and split it into seven pieces We begin these chapters with the Israelites first setting up the tabernacle at Shiloh.  The Israelites are unified in their worship of God at this time, even if not whole hearted.  Shiloh is in Ephraim’s allotment.  Remember that, beginning in Egypt, Joseph takes the role of patriarch.  This means that his heir, Ep...

  Read Joshua 16 and 17 Who? The tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim What? The boundaries of the inheritance these tribes are given Where? In central and northern Israel, also east of the Jordan for half of Manasseh When? After the land is somewhat conquered Why? Each tribe is given a specific land grant  How? Lots were cast to tell the priest and Joshua the land grant God has for specific tribes  These chapters cover the land inheritance for Joseph’s sons.  Remember that Joseph was given the “oldest” status rather than Reuben among Jacob’s twelve sons and the oldest son gets a double portion of the inheritance (see Genesis 30-50 and 1 Chronicles 5:1-2).  This means that Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, are each named as a tribe rather than a tribe of Joseph.  Throughout these lists of land assignments, God does not stick to birth order at all.  He is sovereign and puts them in the order He chooses, showing Judah to be the line of Messiah by ...

  Read Joshua 13, 14, and 15.   Make sure you have a map handy while you are reading. Who? Joshua and the Israelites, specifically Reuben, Gad, the half tribe of Manasseh, and Judah, including Caleb specifically What?  Allotments given by Moses previously are recorded as well as allotments given to Judah by Joshua, including the specific allotment for Caleb When?  Once they have conquered much of the hill country in the south and in the north Where?  The land east of the Jordan and the southern part of the land west of the Jordan  Why? God gives Joshua the instruction to go ahead and divide the land west of the Jordan because he is getting older and his time is limited How? Most of the land is divided by the priest casting lots to see God’s will, although some of it is divided by specific instructions These allotments are very specific and are an elaborate testimony of God’s faithfulness.  God had already told them that they would occupy the ...

  Read Joshua 11 and 12 (Be sure to have a map handy as you read.)   As you read, remember that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 applies to every word of Scripture, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Who? The northern kings and their people, Joshua and the people of Israel What? The battle in the north, the summary of the conquest so far Where? The northern part of the Promised Land, the same general latitude of the Sea of Galilee When? The battles were long - probably a year or more (11:18).  These happened after the kings of the South were defeated. Why? Joshua is leading the people to finish the work. How? The Lord fights for Israel and defeats these kings using battle strategies. Notes: (11:1-5) “Jabin” is probably a title meaning “wise one” rather than a name.  Even after the defeat of the so...

  Read Joshua 10.   You will want a map handy for this chapter (click here for one). Who? The kings of the hill country and their people, Joshua and the Israelites, the Gibeonites. What? The 5 kings of the hill country form an alliance and attack Gibeon.  God and the Israelites defeat the alliance and then go on to defeat other cities in the area. When? After the covenant with the Gibeonites is made Where? The hill country to the southwest of Jericho Why? The alliance attacks Gibeon because they are afraid of the Israelites and they also “feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city” (v. 2) How? The alliance joins together and camps near Gibeon to attack it.  Joshua and the Israelites march from Gilgal to defend them.  The Lord fights for Israel using hailstones and also causing the sun to stand still in the sky for a day so that the battle can be completed.  Once these five kings are dealt with, Israel moves from one city to the next, defeating th...

  Read Joshua 9 Who? The Israelites, the Gibeonites, Joshua, the elders of Israel, the representatives from Gibeon What? Gibeon deceives Joshua and the elders, they make a covenant Where? Gilgal When? After the battles of Jericho and Ai, after the time of worship at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal  Why? The Israelite leaders did not seek God’s counsel How? The Gibeonites deceive the Israelites into thinking that they are from a far country In Joshua 9, we begin by reading about the Canaanite kings who form an alliance because they had heard about Israel’s success in Jericho and Ai.  They decide to fight Joshua and Israel together.  Gibeon has also heard about Israel’s victories but decides to use a different tactic.  Gibeon is a strong city (Joshua 10:2) and allied with Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim (Joshua 9:17).  Rather than fight, they decide to trick Israel into making a covenant.  The inhabitants of Gibeon and its allied cities are ...

  When my youngest child was about two years old, she had a cute habit to get our attention.   She is the youngest of four kids, all within seven years of each other.   There was a lot of chaos in our home, as they were all with me all day, every day, so she didn’t get a lot of one on one attention at this point of her life.   When she wanted my attention, she would get me to pick her up and, while my head was on the swivel dealing with everyone else, she would take her little hands and put them on my cheeks to turn my face to her.   She would then look at me, eye to eye, and say something to the effect of, “Listen to me, Mommy.”   It was really cute and definitely got my attention.   Now my kids are older, teens and adults, and I am still feeling like a cat running to the latest shiny object.  Now though, it feels more like God is the One taking my face in His hands and saying, “Listen to me, little one.”  There are so many distractions...