Aslan is On
the Move
Joshua, Judges, and Ruth
By Paul Gibson
UofL BCM
Where We Left Off
5 And
Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab,
as the LORD had said. 6 He buried him in Moab, in the
valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows
where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty
years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor
his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in
the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of
weeping and mourning was over. 9 Now Joshua son of
Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because
Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites
listened to him and did what the LORD had
commanded Moses.
Deuteronomy 34:5-9 (NIV)
Winter In the Woods
Winter In the Woods
Prologue:
The Israelites enter into the promised land, but
before too long, winter would settle within
the hearts of men and women as they turn
their back on God.
Taking the Land
1 Then
Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies
from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he
said, "especially Jericho." So they went and
entered the house of a prostitute named
Rahab and stayed there.
Joshua 2:1 (NIV)
Taking the Land
20 When
the trumpets sounded, the people
shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when
the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed;
so every man charged straight in, and they took
the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and
destroyed with the sword every living thing in it-men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep
and donkeys. 22 Joshua said to the two men who
had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's
house and bring her out and all who belong to
her, in accordance with your oath to her."
Taking the Land
23 So
the young men who had done the spying
went in and brought out Rahab, her father
and mother and brothers and all who
belonged to her. They brought out her entire
family and put them in a place outside the
camp of Israel. 24 Then they burned the whole
city and everything in it, but they put the
silver and gold and the articles of bronze and
iron into the treasury of the LORD's house.
Joshua 6:20-24 (NIV)
Winter in the Wood
1 Now
a man named Micah from the hill country of
Ephraim 2 said to his mother, "The eleven
hundred shekels of silver that were taken from
you and about which I heard you utter a curse--I
have that silver with me; I took it." Then his
mother said, "The LORD bless you, my son!" 3
When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of
silver to his mother, she said, "I solemnly
consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to
make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it
back to you."
Winter in the Wood
4 So
he returned the silver to his mother, and
she took two hundred shekels of silver and
gave them to a silversmith, who made them
into the image and the idol. And they were
put in Micah's house. 5 Now this man Micah
had a shrine, and he made an ephod and
some idols and installed one of his sons as his
priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king;
everyone did as he saw fit.
Judges 17:1-6 (NIV)
Winter in the Wood
29 When
he reached home, he took a knife and
cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve
parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.
30 Everyone who saw it said, "Such a thing has
never been seen or done, not since the day
the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think
about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!"
Judges 19:29-30 (NIV)
Winter had clearly set itself within the hearts of men and women
ASLAN IS ON THE MOVE
Aslan is On the Move
1 In
the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the
land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with
his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the
country of Moab. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, his
wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were
Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem,
Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. 3 Now
Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with
her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named
Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about
ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi
was left without her two sons and her husband.
Ruth 1:1-5 (NIV)
6 When
she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to
the aid of his people by providing food for them,
Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return
home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she
left the place where she had been living and set out on
the road that would take them back to the land of
Judah. 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,
"Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May
the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to
your dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each
of you will find rest in the home of another husband."
Then she kissed them and they wept aloud
Ruth 1:6-9 (NIV)
10 and
said to her, "We will go back with you to your
people." 11 But Naomi said, "Return home, my
daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going
to have any more sons, who could become your
husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old
to have another husband. Even if I thought there was
still hope for me--even if I had a husband tonight and
then gave birth to sons-- 13 would you wait until they
grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No,
my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you,
because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"
Ruth 1:10-13 (NIV)
14 At
this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her motherin-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. 15 "Look," said
Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people
and her gods. Go back with her." 16 But Ruth replied,
"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.
Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17
Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May
the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if
anything but death separates you and me." 18 When
Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with
her, she stopped urging her.
Ruth 1:14-18 (NIV)
19 So
the two women went on until they came to
Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the
whole town was stirred because of them, and the
women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?" 20 "Don't call
me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the
Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away
full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why
call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the
Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." 22 So
Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the
Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem
as the barley harvest was beginning.
Ruth 1:19-22 (NIV)
8 So
Boaz said to Ruth, "My daughter, listen to
me. Don't go and glean in another field and
don't go away from here. Stay here with my
servant girls. 9 Watch the field where the men
are harvesting, and follow along after the girls.
I have told the men not to touch you. And
whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink
from the water jars the men have filled."
Ruth 2:8-9 (NIV)
1 One
day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My
daughter, should I not try to find a home for you,
where you will be well provided for? 2 Is not Boaz, with
whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours?
Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing
floor. 3 Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your
best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but
don't let him know you are there until he has finished
eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the
place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet
and lie down. He will tell you what to do."
Ruth 3:1-4 (NIV)
13 So
Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went
to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave
birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to
the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsmanredeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He
will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For
your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to
you than seven sons, has given him birth." 16 Then Naomi
took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. 17 The
women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they
named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of
David.
Ruth 4:13-17 (NIV)
God was working behind the scenes to bring redemption to the hearts
of men and women
ASLAN IS ON THE MOVE
A Deeper Magic
1A
record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of
David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father
of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of
Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and
Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of
Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of
Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of
Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of
Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of
Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David.
Matthew 1:1-6 (NIV)
God used two pagan women, Rahab and Ruth, as He prepared to bring
redemption to the hearts of men and women through Jesus the Lord
ASLAN IS ON THE MOVE
Thoughts to ponder…
1. Where is the winter in your heart?
2. What are possible ways God could be on the
move in your life?
3. Has your heart ever experienced a thawing
as you have experienced God’s presence?
Aslan is still on the move
ASLAN IS ON THE MOVE