Gary Gleans

Hope that you and your family have a blessed Christmas and a New Year full of the presence of God. I will be traveling to a part of the Amazon where I will not have internet access between Christmas and New Years.  Therefore I will not be posting any new blogs until the first of January.  We will pick up with 1 Samuel at that time and continue this journey through the Old Testament.  Thank you for reading and may the Lord richly bless you and your family with a greater knowledge of Him and love for Him! Gary

Transitions in leadership are usually very hard, but they are also very necessary, especially when a leader is not doing his job or is violating the teachings of God’s Word.  In the case of Eli he was being negligent with his job and his sons were blaspheming the name of the Lord.  A change in direction and leadership was desperately needed, and God had already set in motion the process for the new leader to be prepared.  This is one more illustration of how God really is the one who sets leaders up and takes them down according to His will and desire.  We must always remember that we can trust the Lord do what is right in the leadership of His people. GOD REVEALS HIMSELF TO SAMUEL: Samuel had been in the temple serving and had demonstrated himself to be a faithful and responsible young man.  He was quick to serve Eli in whatever was required.  He shows a great deal of respect on obedience as he quickly responds to what he thinks is the call of Eli fr...

What a contrast the characters in this passage present.   We have Eli who is the priest with two worthless and immoral sons contrasted by Hannah with Samuel who is serving the Lord.   We would normally expect that the priest would be giving the example and setting the standard to which all of the other people would seek to follow.   However, just the opposite is true.   This is a reminder that true leadership is not established by title or positions, rather by character.   Hannah sets an example that all of us would do well to follow.   Eli sets an example that not even his own sons are willing to follow.   We must not depend upon our position or title to influence people, our true influence over the lives of men is made through our character.   Here are a few of the characteristics exemplified in this chapter. GRATITUDE:   Hannah is extremely grateful for the child the Lord has provided and she dedicates a song of worship to the Lord b...

Prayer is a powerful thing.   It is amazing to look back over the Old Testament and see how many of the great women of the faith were barren.   It demonstrates how God wants to bring His people to their knees in dependence upon Him when He is about to do something great.   Hannah longed to have a child and prayed desperately for the Lord to bless her with a child.   We know that her prayer was answered and that the answer to her prayer was a man greatly used of God to lead the entire nation through one of its most crucial periods of history.   Prayer is a vital part of God’s plan for accomplishing great things.   We must remember to pray not only when we are facing hardship, but in every aspect of life in which we seek to serve the Lord.   THE PRAYER WAS MOTIVATED BY PROBLEMS: Hannah was one of two wives of Elkanah.   This in itself was not according to the plan of God and, as expected, causes a great deal of conflict.   Polygamy was pr...

The hand of God works in strange and amazing ways.  Naomi came back to Israel without hope and thought that her life was over.  God uses Ruth and her relationship to Boaz to give her great joy and purpose to where she is more greatly blessed than she was when she had her husband and sons.  Our lives may be marked by painful and confusing events that we cannot explain, but we must trust that God is in control and is at work to accomplish His will in and through our lives.  He does not call us to understand His ways; He calls us to trust His wisdom. BOAZ BECOMES THE REDEEMER: Since Boaz was not the closest relative, he could not simply redeem Ruth until the one who was first in line gave up that right.  Boaz makes this offer clear in front of the key leaders of the community so there can be no doubt as to his honor and intentions.  It is very important to do things the right way.  God calls us to follow Him and obey His Word, this will require that...

Consequences of our actions are hard for us to see and understand at the time of our actions.  However, later on when we have time to consider all of the ramifications of our decisions, we often come to regret our decisions and need to find creative ways of rectifying them.  As part of the civil war against the tribe of Benjamin, the other tribes of Israel had sworn not to give any of their daughters to the tribe of Benjamin in marriage.  Since it appears that the majority of the women had been killed in the war, this meant that the tribe was only one generation away from extinction.  This was an unforeseen consequence of the vows that they had made, and left them in a very difficult situation.  We would do well to consider closely the consequences of the decisions we want to make or in other words; it is wise to think before we act.  Israel came up with two solutions to this problem, neither of which I believe were pleasing to the Lord, but were simply f...

Romance is a very unique aspect in every culture, and there are many things about the “romance” between Ruth and Boaz that do not make any sense in our culture.  However, as we follow this beautiful story there are several things from which we can learn and we ought to seek to imitate in our own relationships.  This, in no way is intended as some sort of manual for dating, but I do believe that this story illustrates some basic character qualities that are essential in any dating or marriage relationship that seeks to please the Lord. A CLOSE DECLARATION TO LOVE: Naomi seems well aware of the special attention that Ruth is getting from Boaz and decides to help her understand how to approach this situation in a way that was appropriate.  Going to the threshing floor and lying down at the feet of Boaz is not something that I would ever tell one of my daughters to do, but it that culture it was symbolic of placing herself under his authority since he was a close relati...

This is the passage from which this blog’s name was derived.  Ruth goes out to glean in the fields after the harvesters have passed over them.  The law prohibited a land owner from going over his fields a second time after the harvest as this was God’s means of providing for the poor who did not have land on which to grow crops.  This created a system that made provision for the poor yet still required that they work in order for them to able to eat.  Ruth recognizes this opportunity and demonstrates that she fully intends to provide for herself and her mother-in-law through this very humble work.  This chapter is the beginning of a romance that demonstrates to us a few principles that we should keep in mind when we are looking for a spouse or helping our children to be wise in their choices.  Here are three qualities that we should always seek in our spouses. HUMBLE: It is not easy to be poor, and it is often even harder to be willing to admit and co...

Loyalty is a quality that is far too often very hard to find but is so precious when experienced within any relationship.   The book of Ruth is a beautiful story that exemplifies loyalty in an amazing way.   It is a comfort to know that in the midst of such idolatry and immorality that was running rampant in Israel; that there are a few people who still live in fear of the Lord and are willing to be loyal to Him and to one another.   This first chapter shows us three distinct phases that Ruth and her mother-in-law faced in the path that God had prepared for them.   It should serve as a comfort to us as well to know that the Lord truly is in control of out paths even when we have a very hard time seeing what He is doing or how He could be at work. DISASTER: There was a famine in the land, so Elimelech and his wife Naomi moved with their two sons to the land of Moab in order to have food to eat.   While they were there their sons married women from Moab, ...

Civil was in Israel is the result of the sin in Benjamin and the indignation of the other tribes in Israel.  This was happens as a result of the immorality and pride of the people that brought about a refusal to repent.  The war was costly to both sides, but in ended up devastating the tribe of Benjamin.  We keep expecting something different to happen in this story than that which actually happened.  This is yet another illustration that we can choose whether or not we will sin, but we cannot choose what the consequences of that sin will be. BENJAMIN DEFEATS ISRAEL IN BATTLE: Despite being outnumbered by a huge amount, the tribe of Benjamin and its mighty warriors defeat the rest of the tribes of Israel in the first two days of battle.  Israel is devastated by this and inquired of the Lord if they should continue to go forward and the Lord assures them that He wants them to continue to the fight against Benjamin.  Even when our cause is just, we can ...

The dangers of tolerating sin are made very evident in this passage.  Israel had been given great blessing from God.  They had been freed from slavery, God had revealed Himself and His will to them through the Law, He had provided for them miraculously and brought them into a beautiful land that they could call their own.  However, their hearts became cold towards God and they did not obey His commandments; they began to tolerate sin and various forms of idolatry in their midst.  The proliferation of sin became so great that this chapter looks like it could have been the history of Sodom and Gomorrah and not the story of Israel.  We must take careful note of this reality for when we tolerate sin in our lives, we are walking down this very same pathway and it is a slippery slope. THE REALITY OF INFIDELITY: The text simply states that a Levite had a concubine, not a wife, but a concubine.  This concubine is unfaithful to him so he sends her back to her ...

It is amazing how far and how fast a people can stray from God and His Word.  Once again we see that there is a lack of leadership in Israel and the consequence of this is that all of the people just did whatever they felt was right in their own mind.  It is very clear that the hearts of the people were now very far from God.  They were living as gods unto themselves and worshiping according to their own wishes and not according to the instruction of the Word of God.  Today we continue to see a tendency in our own lives to worship God in the way that we enjoy and see fit.  We are more concerned about out worship being enjoyable to us as opposed to pleasing the Lord.  We must remember that the worship of God must be according to the Word of God. THE TRIBE OF DAN SPIES THE LAND: Apparently to this point in history Dan has not been able to conquer the land that had been allotted to them so they send spies into the land of Ephraim where Micah lives with h...