A Series on ‘Security’….
Part I
Security on social and economic front
This time around, I would like to focus upon a subject which would interest all of us irrespective of our religious or denominational affiliation (within Christian circles) for who would not like to have …Security at all times. Dear friends, this was the buzzword in my family circles, when I decided to quit my “secure job” in the Indian Oil sector & enter into full-time work three years ago. Many honest doubts were expressed about my future prospects with a very gloomy picture of it being drawn at least initially by many who had never experienced God’s redemptive love, first-hand. Three years down the line I can herald from rooftops nay mountaintops that my God is a faithful God providing me all the security I need, in all the areas’ of my life.
Oxford dictionary may state the meaning of the word Security as ’condition or feeling that guards or guarantees our present & future’. In modern context, the moment we contemplate the word ’Security’ a picture of a smiling & healthy family in a well-furnished house protected by a proverbial ’ring of fire’ would emerge in our minds. There is absolutely nothing wrong in desiring to be well protected. Mind you, the good Lord in His wisdom has placed an instinct for ’self-preservation’ in His entire creation, leave alone mankind. This instinct is conspicuous in a tiny ant as well as in a mighty blue whale. Touch a tiny ant and its instinctive reaction, will be one of self-defense, the same applies to the largest creature in our planet, too. In fact this trait brings along with it stability & order in our society, for in its absence absolute confusion would prevail. Imagine our mind reeling at the sight of people playing with fire everywhere or reaching out to the overhead live electric wires or driving recklessly in our roads or wild animals venturing into our habitat & vice-versa.
Security (along with it the instinct for self-preservation), important as they are, was meant to bring man into closer relationship with his Creator. The one of joyous dependence on his Creator akin to that of a child on its parents (Psalm 50:15). However, what saddens our Creator is our tendency to seek security in everything under the sun, except in Him, not even acknowledging in the process that He is the source behind all the security surrounding us. How misplaced are our priorities when we say that our job or our business is the basis of our security, rather than the one who has given it to us in the first place. Our priorities are just as misplaced when we say that our Government or its laws, which ensure order in our society, are the sole providers of our security. Mind you, the Bible states emphatically that ’there is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power…’ (Romans 13:1). Take out the Truth, which is the cornerstone of any commercial deal in our world order & the economies world over would collapse like a pack of cards. The person who said ’I am the Truth’ (John 14:6) is the One who is holding together this world by putting in man some portion of his character, which oozes with ’truth’ & ’fairness’. When Bible says that God has created man ’in His own image’ (Genesis1:27), it means that not only do we bear physical resemblance to Him but emotionally & spiritually also we are like Him. That is why the moment we lie or act unfairly the bell of conscience starts ringing like an ’alarm bell’ because God’s holy nature in us has been violated. So, in every sphere of our life, if not for God, there would be no truth or fairness in dealings (Proverbs 16:11), which would lead to anarchy, breakdown of law & order & total absence of security.
Besides providing natural safeguards to protect mankind in general & placing in-built safety mechanisms to ensure our society safely as a whole moves in proper order like factory goods in a well-grooved assembly line, our God being a personal God rejoices in providing security to each one of his children, especially from the dangers brought about by circumstances or by people who have no respect for Him or His ordinances. The Bible abounds with cases of God providing extraordinary security to the lives/property/social & emotional well being of his people.
In this series (of 2 parts), I would like to bring to the fore such cases of God’s unique protection. One common feature, anyone would observe in all these cases (4 of them totally, but in this edition, I would touch upon 2 of them) is that in the Bible there is no mention of God’s direct involvement in these cases. In fact, the Bible does not even explicitly state in all these cases that God’s hand was there in deliverance of His people from their respective problems, so much so, there may be a temptation to attribute them all to pure coincidence or a stroke of fortune, however, for the spiritually discerning, His role would be a bit too obvious to miss! So what are those cases? For starters, in this Sermon, I would like to train my spotlight on God’s role in the social/emotional well-being & economic security of 2 women of the Old Testament. In those Patriarchal times, when women were certainly marginalized, as though to remind us all that God is one of equality, He has placed these two insightful stories, which are the very definition of God providing social and economic security to His dear ones’. Did somebody say ”Ladies first”…. so here goes… in a chronological order.
From merely surviving to thriving…
I) Ruth (around 1100 BC ): While , my main topic , is security , I would be failing in my duties if I miss out on one single truth, which runs across the pages of the Bible, which is “God has not left any issue untouched in the vast panorama of human relationships.” Oh yes, He has not left untouched even the most sensitive relationship that exists IN THIS WORLD …the one that exists between a mother-in-law & a daughter-in-law, often dubbed in Indian colloquy as a ’Tu Tu Main Main’ relationship…a juicy theme of many a TV Soap opera (in the Indian context).
In fact in the short, delightful story of Ruth (I would exhort all the readers to read this book before reading my article any further), we see the portrayal of an ideal mother-in-law (Naomi) & a selfless daughter-in-law (Ruth) who instead of asserting their rights gladly seem to sacrifice them for the mutual benefit of each other.
Nowhere in the Scriptures does the essence of the truth so beautifully encapsulated in Luke 2:52-53 that God ’lifts up those merely surviving and makes them thrive’ ring more true than in the lives of these 2 widows, who begin their long, arduous task of re-building their lives after the shattering loss of losing their husbands to untimely deaths (wrought by sicknesses’). The news of good crops in her native land draws Naomi (an immigrant Jew) in the land of Moab back to the land of her fathers along with a determined widowed daughter-in-law (of different nationality) who would not let her mother-in-law experience the travails of widowhood all alone (Ruth 1:6-17). The inspiring words of Ruth steeped in agape, self-sacrificing love recorded in verse17 would make any person taking his or her marital vows proud. Also by stating ’Your people shall be my people & your God shall be my God’ (verse16), she was walking effectively into the loving, strong, supportive arms of her Creator, who true to His nature would not let her down…once under His protective care. So much, for the theory that God in Mosaic Law times loved only the Jews! Would someone also care to check this with the Ninevehites of Jonah’s time?
Even as we all rejoice at the happy ending of this story, of Ruth not only being happily married to Boaz (her kinsman redeemer - a pointer towards the ultimate redeemer “the Messiah”) but also of her giving her aged mother-in-law a precious grandson (Obed), who eventually was going to be an ancestor of that great king David & the Messiah himself, let us not forget, how the first meeting of Ruth & Boaz came about. It all begins when Ruth with the permission of her mother-in-law to glean in some fields during the barley harvest, goes in search of a field & walks by Divine providence straight into the fields of Boaz (Ruth 2:3). The key operative words in the entire book of Ruth, are enshrined, as it were in verse 3 of Chapter 2 ’As it happened, she found herself in the field belonging to Boaz, this relative of Naomi’s husband’. Is it a mere coincidence, an accident? NAY! At a time when she could have landed up in any other field, without meeting Boaz all her life, it was the good Lord, who led her straight into the fields of Boaz & as it were, into his heart. He, who Ruth accepted ’as my God’ true to His nature of being her security of all her social & emotional well being from that very moment onwards, eventually brought ’all good things to pass’ in her life.
From woes of “Real estate” to a “Joyous state”….
II) The Shunamite lady (around 850 BC): This prominent, hospitable lady, a resident of the town of Shunem (this town which was originally allotted to the tribe of Issachar after the Canaan conquest-Joshua 19:18 - lies in the plain of Esdraelon, 4 miles north of Jezreel) is not named in the Bible nor is there an account of she personally ’accepting the Lord’ in the manner of Ruth. However, from her God-honoring actions in line with the spirit of Jesus’ teachings in Matt: 10:40 of welcoming men of God (in her case, it was prophet Elisha), one can gauge her devout nature. The blessings too follow in her life, just as outlined in Matt 10:41-42.
If II Kings 4:8-37 speaks about God’s blessings being poured upon her, which contributed to her social security, then II Kings 8:1-6 dwells on the blessings God brought into her life which added to her economic welfare…all on account of her hospitable disposition with His servant Prophet Elisha. In this essay, I intend to primarily focus on the episode, which led to the restoration of her property… miraculously by God. However to understand the nuances of this story, let us go step by step.
Initially, we see her as a barren lady (being barren carried with it a social stigma - barren Jewish women despaired in not having played any role in the lineage of the Messiah), however, as per God’s will, we see her being blessed with a baby boy (II Kings 4:17), later when that boy succumbs to arguably a sun-stroke, we see Prophet Elisha bringing him back to life (II Kings 4: 32-36). The blessing of having a son contributed to this erstwhile barren woman’s social well being, just as marriage contributed to the social security of Ruth.
Later in II Kings 8:1-2, we see her going away to live amongst the Philistines away from her native land, as she had been forewarned by Prophet Elisha about the impending famine in her native land. As the famine ended, knowing very well that somebody else would be now occupying her land & property & that it would not be an easy task to recover the same, we see her going directly to the court of final appeal, which was King Joram, the ruler of Israel, in her case (II Kings 8: 3 & 4). Incidentally, she took her son along with her. Dear readers, those of us, who have had a tug-of-war with the tenants of our homes, who would not simply vacate, despite we having served them notice well in advance, can well sympathize with this lady. We can also wonder what anxious thoughts were going through her mind, as she went to petition the King. How would she represent her case? Would she find proper words in placing her real-estate problem before the King in proper light? Would the King be in a mood to lend a sympathetic ear to her problems, especially as she carried no recommendation letter with her? Doubtless, all these questions would have been playing in her troubled mind, as she entered the King’s presence. But she was in for a major surprise. A very pleasant one at that! Let us pick-up the action as it were directly from the from the Scriptures, as I cannot put it in a more apt manner than that … verses 4-5 of II Kings 4th chapter ’Just as she came in, the King was talking with Gehazi, Elisha’s servant & saying "Tell me some of the stories of the great things Elisha has done" and Gehazi was telling the King about the very time when Elisha brought a little boy back to life, at that very moment, the mother of the boy walked in. " Oh, Sir!" Gehazi exclaimed. "Here is the woman now, & this her son-the very one Elisha brought back to life!"
Realizing in an instant that she was a VIP (a person whom mighty prophet Elisha himself held in high regard - mind you, Elisha had a crucial role to play in the affairs of King Joram’s Kingdom), we see the King taking personal initiative in restoring her property (with accrued income if any on the same) to her (Verse 6). Imagine her joy and relief on seeing the events panning out, the way they did!
Now just for better appreciation of our theme of meditation, lets replay in our mind’s eye that scene of Gehazi, prophet Elisha’s servant speaking about this very lady, ’just’ as she entered the King’s chambers with presumably worry lines creasing her forehead. Was that a coincidence? An accident? NO! It all happened as per God’s will, because He wanted to ensure that his devout follower got back her property without any hitches.
Well, does God take care of our property and Real estate problems, also? Something materialistic, not concerning soul or spiritual life? Yes, he does, because what worries us, his precious ones, worries Him also? Can He be our economic security also? Yes! As this short, moving story so clearly illustrates in ample measure.
Dear friends, if Jesus is same yesterday, today & forever (Hebrews 13:8), then His words uttered 2000 years ago ’ Seek ye first the kingdom of God & all these things shall be given to you’ (Matt 6:33) was true yesterday, today & would be forever. Talk of asking Ruth and the Shunammite lady for confirmation on this score!!!
In the next part of the same series, I propose to dwell on 2 other cases, where you would see God providing wonderful security to the physical lives of His loved ones’…though for the uninitiated, it may all appear as a coincidence or an accident.
(Suresh Manoharan)
www.jandsmministries.com
