“Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.”
Titus 2:8 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/tit.2.8.hcsb
I take this to mean that we are always representing God, whether formally witnessing or not. Someone may be on the fence, and how we respond or act may determine where they land.
“To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work.”
Titus 1:15-16 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/tit.1.15-16.hcsb
Paul’s admonition to Titus rings true of James telling us that faith without works is dead. If we continue to intentionally live in sin, we are in essence denying Jesus.
“The elders and all the people who were at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the Lord will give you by this young woman.””
Ruth 4:11-12 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/rut.4.11-12.hcsb
Boaz has agreed to take Ruth as his wife. I find the blessing of the people here interesting – and prophetic. His house was even greater because it ultimately led to the Savior of the world.
“Then he said, “May the Lord bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor.”
Ruth 3:10 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/rut.3.10.hcsb
I’m not sure what to make of this verse, or this chapter. It deals with the culture of the time, something I am not that familiar with. The one thing I am sure of is that Ruth remained pure and didn’t commit any kind of sexual immorality with Boaz.
‘Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” ‘
Ruth 2:11-12
https://my.bible.com/bible/72/RUT.2.11-12
The Lord is using Boaz to reward Ruth for her faithfulness to Naomi. Ruth didn’t do anything she did with hope for reward, but she did it out of love for her mother-in-law. The Lord took her, a foreigner, under His wing and provided for her and protected her.
“Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about 10 years,”
Ruth 1:4 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/rut.1.4.hcsb
I read this and for the first time realize that Ruth was not Jewish, she was a Moabite. This is interesting to me because I know that Jesus’ earthly geneology includes her (she is the grandmother or great-grandmother of David). What this tells me is that while Jesus was born a Jew, he was not from what I might call a “perfect lineage.” Neither was David, for that matter. David, who was called “a man after God’s own heart.” Jesus embraces imperfection, though He is perfect! It is almost as though He is the imperfection eater.
‘Every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Hosts. Everyone who sacrifices will come and take some of the pots to cook in. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts.’
Zechariah 14:21
https://my.bible.com/bible/72/ZEC.14.21
I find this interesting, because it seems that this prophecy relates to Jesus’ first coming, and throughout this chapter I see reference to it, but then I see this. At first I thought it meant that at the time there would not be any gentiles in the house of the Lord, but then I saw a reference that said another word for Canaanite was “merchant” and that is when this made sense to me. Jesus cast out the money changers and lenders, but he also ran off the merchants!! Not only was He zealous for His Father’s house, but it seems that the Father Himself didn’t like the merchants being in the temple.
‘“On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the residents of Jerusalem, to wash away sin and impurity. ‘
Zechariah 13:1
https://my.bible.com/bible/72/ZEC.13.1
God is foretelling of the coming of Jesus and the cleansing that will come from His coming. I love reading the prophesies that so blatantly tell of His coming – how the Father told us thousands of years ago, and then He came – yet no one saw Him for what He really was – the Son of the One True God!!
““Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps for a firstborn.”
Zechariah 12:10 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/zec.12.10.hcsb
First off, I notice how the Lord, speaking in the Old Testament refers to Himself as “whom they pierced,” a reference to Jesus who, among other things, was pierced. I read this prophecy and do not think that it has been revealed yet. I think this is more for the end times, when Jesus returns again and the Israelites, or Jewish people, all turn to Him.
“Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, annulling the covenant I had made with all the peoples. It was annulled on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed my wages, 30 pieces of silver. “Throw it to the potter,” the Lord said to me — this magnificent price I was valued by them. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the Lord, to the potter.”
Zechariah 11:10-13 HCSB
https://www.bible.com/72/zec.11.10-13.hcsb
Interesting prophecy about Judas and His betrayal of Jesus. I always knew it was prophesied – the amount and the fact it was used to buy the potter’s field, but I also wondered why the Pharisees and Chief Priest, who knew the scriptures did it and didn’t see. But Jesus always said that they were blind guides.
