David’s refusal to drink the water his men brought him can seem ungrateful until we hear his explanation. Three men had risked their lives to satisfy his longing, and he could no longer receive the water as an ordinary refreshment. I want to follow what they did and why he poured it out to the LORD. Their courage deserves to be remembered, and his response should make us examine how we receive another person’s devotion.
David’s Longing and the Courage of His Men
Near the end of 2 Samuel, chapter 23 records the names and deeds of David’s mighty men. Their courage had helped defend Israel through hard battles. The chapter gathers examples of their service; its position near the end of the book does not require us to place every deed in David’s final years. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 11 remembers these men in connection with his rise as king. The study on David traces his kingship, faith, failures, and place in the line of the Messiah.
In this episode, three of the thirty chief men came to David at the cave of Adullam during harvest time. Philistine troops were encamped in the Valley of Rephaim, and a garrison occupied Bethlehem. David was in a stronghold (2 Samuel 23:13–14). The passage names the cave but does not separately name the stronghold in verse 14, so I would not insist on a more precise identification. It also does not name the three men who made this journey.
David spoke with longing: “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” (2 Samuel 23:15). Bethlehem was his hometown, and I understand his words as a wish for a familiar comfort during conflict. The wording expresses a desire rather than a military order. Longing for home or wanting a drink of good water is not automatically sinful, but what followed required him to consider much more than his own thirst.
The three men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well by Bethlehem’s gate, and carried it back to David (2 Samuel 23:16). They had gone into enemy-held territory to obtain something he wanted. Scripture does not give us the details of their route or how they escaped. It does tell us that they accepted a real risk to their lives and returned with the water.
Their action is remembered among the deeds of the mighty men. I do not want to reduce their courage to foolishness or overlook the love behind such costly loyalty. They acted together to bring their king something he could not safely obtain for himself. When they returned, David had to decide whether he could accept the water for his own refreshment after what they had risked.
Why David Poured the Water Out
He refused to drink it and poured it out to the LORD. Then he explained: “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” (2 Samuel 23:17). His question identifies the cost that kept him from treating the water as a private indulgence. Men had exposed their lives to danger for his refreshment, and he would not drink as though only water had been brought.
The parallel account makes the reason equally plain. David asked whether he should drink the blood of men who had put their lives in jeopardy, because they had brought the water at the risk of their lives (1 Chronicles 11:19). He called it “the blood of the men” because of what obtaining it had cost, not because literal blood had mixed with the water. Scripture connects blood with life (Leviticus 17:11), which helps us hear the seriousness of his words.
David poured the gift out to God rather than despising the men who brought it. I understand his act as reverence for the LORD and recognition that these men’s lives belonged to Him. The king’s desire did not make those lives his property. What had been brought through such costly devotion could be offered to God instead of consumed for his own comfort.
The men returned alive, and David offered water. This was not human sacrifice or a religious payment made with their lives. Nor are we told that he scolded them or dismissed their loyalty. The account holds their bravery together with his refusal to treat their risk casually. He recognized something about the gift that he had to answer for before the LORD.
That responsibility reaches beyond a king and his soldiers. A leader can grow accustomed to people making sacrifices for him and stop noticing what he is asking them to give up. A volunteer’s evening is still part of that person’s life. An employee’s strength and a family member’s patience are not limitless simply because they have been generous before. I need to receive help with gratitude and consider the person giving it, rather than assume his loyalty entitles me to keep taking.
A Drink Offering Without a Hidden Allegory
Israel’s worship included drink offerings of wine poured out before the LORD with certain sacrifices (Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:1–10). David’s action resembles that expression of worship, although the passage does not say he was fulfilling a law that required this water offering. He responded to the extraordinary circumstances by pouring the water out to God. The study on worship considers that recognition of God’s worth and our dependence on Him.
We can understand the act without assigning a hidden meaning to every detail. Scripture does not identify the water as Christ’s blood, the three men as the Trinity, or the Philistines as a particular spiritual enemy. An allegory supplies additional symbolic identities; here we have David’s own explanation of the water and the lives risked to bring it. That explanation is enough to establish why he would not drink.
Paul also used the language of a drink offering when he described the possibility of being poured out upon the sacrifice and service of the Philippians’ faith (Philippians 2:17). He was willing to give himself in joyful service to Christ, even if that service ended in death. His suffering could not purchase salvation or add to Christ’s sacrifice. It expressed the devotion of someone who had already received grace.
Psalm 116 asks how to respond to all the LORD’s benefits. The psalmist takes the cup of salvation, calls on the LORD, and offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 116:12–17). His response is grateful worship. I cannot repay God for grace by surrendering something valuable, because my life and everything I possess already depend on Him. We offer ourselves thankfully through Christ, who makes our service acceptable.
Love Must Be Governed by Wisdom
The three men’s wholehearted devotion should not become an excuse to manufacture danger. Scripture records their courage without commanding us to repeat their raid as a test of love. Paul sometimes escaped danger with help or used the protection available to him as a Roman citizen. Jesus refused Satan’s temptation to throw Himself from the temple and demand miraculous protection (Matthew 4:5–7). Trusting God does not require creating a crisis to prove He can rescue us.
There are also real costs we must be willing to bear. Telling the truth can damage our prospects, and faithful ministry may bring opposition or hardship. Helping a neighbor can mean giving up time or money we wanted to keep. Wisdom must not become a respectable excuse for refusing every inconvenience. The question is whether we are responding to God’s Word and another person’s need, or merely trying to look heroic.
Some callings involve genuine danger. Emergency workers, caregivers, missionaries, and pastors may face risks because people need their help. Parents also bear costs their children cannot repay. Those responsibilities call for prayer, honest counsel, and appropriate safeguards, with attention to who else may be affected. Neither fear nor the desire for applause should be allowed to make the decision for us.
Jesus also spoke of a cup of cold water given to one of His disciples and promised that the giver would not lose his reward (Matthew 10:42). Service can be small and still be precious to God. Preparing a meal, keeping a difficult promise, visiting someone lonely, teaching children, or doing an ordinary job honestly may attract little attention. A church needs such daily faithfulness as well as visible courage. The study on Christian service examines how believers serve according to what God has entrusted to them.
When we ask others to serve, we also need to consider what our words may prompt. David expressed a wish, and men who loved him took action. A pastor, employer, or parent should recognize that people may hear a casual remark as something they are expected to fulfill. Before accepting a costly commitment, he should explain what he is actually asking and consider whether the burden is reasonable. Those listening can ask questions too. Respect does not require treating every desire a leader mentions as a command from God.
Jesus addressed the misuse of authority when He described rulers who exercised dominion over others and told His disciples, “Yet it shall not be so among you.” Greatness among them was to take the form of service, following the Son of Man who came to serve and give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:42–45). A Christian leader cannot appeal to devotion while treating other people as expendable resources for his own greatness.
Christ Gave Himself for Sinners
David’s men risked their lives for their king, and he refused to use that costly gift for his own refreshment. I can consider Christ alongside this account without claiming that its details secretly predict His sacrifice. Jesus did something greater than receive another person’s devotion. He came to seek and save the lost and willingly gave His own life for sinners.
He is the eternal Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin and completely without sin. Wicked men tortured and crucified Him, and He physically bore the punishment for our sins in His innocent body. He willingly shed His blood and died, completing His saving sacrifice before His burial. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were united in the work of salvation. On the third day Jesus rose bodily from the grave.
Christ died for the whole world, and His invitation to repent and believe is genuine for every person. People can resist His grace, but those who trust Him receive forgiveness and new life. Our costliest service cannot earn that salvation, and no suffering of ours is needed to complete what He accomplished. The study on the sacrifice of Christ explains His once-for-all offering and the forgiveness we receive through His blood.
Someone truly born again becomes a new creation, indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit and eternally secure in Christ. That assurance should produce grateful obedience, never permission to live selfishly or harm others. We do not serve in order to earn or keep salvation. We serve the Savior who loved us and gave Himself for us, and that love should teach us to seek another person’s good with humility.
Receive Every Gift as a Stewardship
Stewardship means responsibility for what has been entrusted to us. When someone gives money, time, hospitality, prayer, or loyal support, receiving the gift well involves more than accepting it. I need to consider what he has given and whether I am using it for a proper purpose. If a ministry depends on people repeatedly neglecting their households to maintain a leader’s preferences, thanking them from the platform does not correct the problem. The demands themselves may need to change.
We should apply that care to people in every setting. A soldier or employee is not disposable because a goal seems important, and neither is a child, friend, or church member. Each bears God’s image. Loving that person requires considering what a decision will cost him and seeking his good, instead of relying on his willingness to endure whatever we ask.
God also gives ordinary comforts we may receive with thanks: food, rest, friendship, abilities, and opportunities to serve. David’s response does not establish a rule that we must refuse every costly gift or feel guilty whenever someone helps us. It calls us to remember the Giver and value people more than the comfort they can provide. His provision is to be used wisely and shared generously, rather than hoarded as though we were entitled to it.
Malachi rebuked priests who brought blemished animals while treating the LORD’s worship with contempt (Malachi 1:6–14). He addressed Israel’s sacrificial worship; the passage is not a command that Christians must always select the most expensive gift. But I cannot dismiss its warning if I offer God only what I am unwilling to keep and call that reverence. Romans 12:1–2 calls us to respond to His mercy by presenting ourselves as living sacrifices, with minds renewed to discern His will.
We can begin with responsibilities already before us. Someone may need practical help, a truthful answer given gently, or encouragement we have delayed offering. Cooperation can make that service possible, as different people contribute time, preparation, resources, and strength. We do not need to wait for a dramatic occasion before doing what is right.
When a costly decision does come, pray for wisdom and seek counsel. Consider who will bear its consequences and whether Scripture supports what you are planning. Urgency alone does not establish a command from God, and public praise does not prove a decision was faithful. We need His Word, prayer, and wise fellowship.
My Final Thoughts
David would not treat the water as an ordinary drink once he recognized the lives risked to obtain it. The men’s lives were worth more than his refreshment, and he offered their gift to the LORD. I want to value people with that seriousness while remaining willing to serve generously myself. Above all, we belong to Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for sinners and rose bodily from the grave. We serve as people saved by grace, secure in Him and grateful for a sacrifice our own efforts could never supply.
Benaiah is usually remembered for killing a lion in a pit on a snowy day. Scripture also follows him through years of service to David and Solomon, when courage had to be accompanied by loyalty, restraint, and dependable work. His later responsibilities help me understand the man more fully than that one remarkable victory can.
Benaiah’s Recorded Courage
Several men in the Old Testament bear the name Benaiah. This study concerns Jehoiada’s son from Kabzeel, a town in southern Judah, who served among David’s mighty men and eventually commanded Solomon’s army. His father’s name and his recorded offices help us follow him without confusing him with other men who shared his name.
Benaiah means “the LORD has built” or “YHWH has built,” as reflected in Brown–Driver–Briggs. Scripture does not use his name to predict his advancement. We are told little about his early life or training, and no childhood experiences or private reflections are recorded. We meet him as a man whose deeds have already distinguished him.
Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. And he killed an Egyptian, a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard.
2 Samuel 23:20-23
The account in 2 Samuel names three achievements: defeating two formidable Moabites, killing the lion, and overcoming an imposing Egyptian with the Egyptian’s own spear. Chronicles recounts the same deeds and adds the Egyptian’s height and the size of his weapon, helping us appreciate the danger Benaiah faced.
Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great height, five cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand there was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. Indeed he was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard.
1 Chronicles 11:22-25
The Egyptian stood five cubits tall and carried a spear like a weaver’s beam. Benaiah approached him with a staff, seized the spear, and killed him with it. He had faced a formidable opponent who was better armed, and his victory demonstrated both courage and skill.
The NKJV describes the Moabites as “two lion-like heroes of Moab.” The Hebrew wording is compressed, referring to two Ariel of Moab, and its precise meaning is disputed. The term has been associated with lion and God, but interpreters differ over whether it describes warriors or serves as a name. Some translations read sons of Ariel, supplying “sons” through a proposed reconstruction of the text. The NET textual note explains that choice. The following clause separately describes a literal lion, so I would not turn the first deed into two more animal fights.
In the encounter with that lion, Scripture expressly mentions the pit and the snowy day. We can recognize the danger without claiming to know the pit’s dimensions, the condition of Benaiah’s footing, or why he went down. The brief account records no speech or private prayer. His victory deserves our admiration, but the weather and the pit do not become an allegory of personal difficulties, and we are not told that he entered to improve his career prospects.
I would be misusing Benaiah’s example if I urged someone to manufacture danger in the hope of gaining influence. Scripture promises no such reward for a spectacular risk. David appointed Benaiah over his guard after his courage had been proved, but we are not told every qualification or step in the appointment. The account also describes his rank carefully: he was more honored than the Thirty but did not attain to the first Three.
Years of Service Under David
The lists of David’s officials show what Benaiah’s appointment involved. He commanded the Cherethites and Pelethites, a force closely associated with the king’s protection. Their service through later crises, including Solomon’s installation, helps us recognize their role as a royal guard.
So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people. Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; Seraiah was the scribe; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief ministers.
2 Samuel 8:15-18
The troops’ ancestry and the origins of their names are debated. I would not insist that the names mean executioners and couriers or that every member came from one foreign people. We have firmer grounds for describing the work they did under Benaiah’s command. A later list still places him over them after the upheaval of rebellion in David’s reign.
And Joab was over all the army of Israel; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; Adoram was in charge of revenue; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; Sheva was scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; and Ira the Jairite was a chief minister under David.
2 Samuel 20:23-26
That repeated entry is easy to pass over when we have just read about a victory over a lion. Yet it shows Benaiah continuing to lead people through changing circumstances. His service did not end with the encounter that made him renowned; he remained responsible for the men under his command.
Chronicles describes another part of his work in the arrangement for monthly military service. Each division contained twenty-four thousand men, and Benaiah commanded the division assigned to the third month. His son Ammizabad also appears in that record.
And the children of Israel, according to their number, the heads of fathers’ houses, the captains of thousands and hundreds and their officers, served the king in every matter of the military divisions. These divisions came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, each division having twenty-four thousand. Over the first division for the first month was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel, and in his division were twenty-four thousand; he was of the children of Perez, and the chief of all the captains of the army for the first month. Over the division of the second month was Dodai an Ahohite, and of his division Mikloth also was the leader; in his division were twenty-four thousand. The third captain of the army for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, who was chief; in his division were twenty-four thousand. This was the Benaiah who was mighty among the thirty, and was over the thirty; in his division was Ammizabad his son.
1 Chronicles 27:1-6
The passage calls Jehoiada a priest, giving us a fact about Benaiah’s family without describing his upbringing or explaining every later achievement through his ancestry. It also identifies Benaiah with the Thirty and places him over them. That leadership did not erase the distinction already made between his standing and that of the first Three.
Commanding a division required more than personal bravery in combat. The men had to be ready for their appointed month, and their officers remained responsible for them. Scripture does not describe Benaiah’s daily routine, but it does record this organized command alongside his leadership of the guard. When I consider what he did for David, I need to give those years of work attention as well as his victories.
Loyalty During the Struggle for the Throne
Benaiah’s loyalty was tested when David grew old and physically weak. Adonijah, who had been born after Absalom and was older than Solomon, announced that he would be king. His age did not authorize him to seize the throne. He displayed chariots, horsemen, and runners, enlisted Joab and Abiathar, and held a feast that excluded Solomon and several of David’s trusted servants.
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. (And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” He was also very good-looking. His mother had borne him after Absalom.) Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah. And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel; he also invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon his brother. So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it? Come, please, let me now give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ Then, while you are still talking there with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.” So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, “What is your wish?” Then she said to him, “My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ So now, look! Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know about it. He has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army; but Solomon your servant he has not invited. And as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.” And just then, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. So they told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. And Nathan said, “My lord, O king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and look! They are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ But he has not invited me–me your servant–nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not told your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?” Then King David answered and said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. And the king took an oath and said, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress, just as I swore to you by the LORD God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so I certainly will do this day.” Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and paid homage to the king, and said, “Let my lord King David live forever!” And King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. The king also said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.” Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! May the LORD God of my lord the king say so too. As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.” So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.
1 Kings 1:5-40
Nathan and Bathsheba brought the danger to David’s attention. Bathsheba warned that she and her son would be treated as offenders if Adonijah secured the throne. Solomon’s claim and their lives were at stake. David renewed his oath that Solomon would reign and ordered the installation to take place that day.
Benaiah answered David’s command with “Amen” and asked the LORD to confirm it. He prayed that God would be with Solomon as He had been with David and make Solomon’s throne greater. His answer acknowledged God’s authority over the succession, and he followed it by helping carry out the king’s instructions.
Solomon rode David’s own mule to Gihon, visibly displaying the reigning king’s authorization. Zadok anointed him, Nathan participated as the Lord’s prophet, and Benaiah accompanied them with the Cherethites and Pelethites. The trumpet announced Solomon as king, and the people rejoiced so loudly that Adonijah’s guests heard the city in an uproar. They would soon learn that David had appointed Solomon and their own attempt had failed.
Difficult Judgments Under Solomon
Under the new king, Benaiah was also required to carry out death sentences. These deaths deserve careful attention to the grounds and circumstances Scripture records. After Solomon’s installation, Adonijah had taken refuge at the altar. Solomon spared him on the condition that he prove worthy, warned that further wickedness would bring death, and sent him home.
After David’s death, Adonijah asked Bathsheba to obtain Abishag the Shunammite as his wife. She had cared for the aged David and belonged to his royal household. Although 1 Kings 1:4 says David had not had sexual relations with her, a request involving a woman of the former king’s household could still imply a claim to royal standing. Solomon understood the petition in light of Adonijah’s earlier attempt to take the throne.
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, “Do you come peaceably?” And he said, “Peaceably.” Moreover he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Say it.” Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their expectations on me, that I should reign. However, the kingdom has been turned over, and has become my brother’s; for it was his from the LORD. Now I ask one petition of you; do not deny me.” And she said to him, “Say it.” Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.” So Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak for you to the king.” Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; so she sat at his right hand. Then she said, “I desire one small petition of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.” And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also–for he is my older brother–for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, “May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life! Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a house for me, as He promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!” So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died. And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.” So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, that he might fulfill the word of the LORD which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh. Then news came to Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD, and took hold of the horns of the altar. And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the LORD; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out!'” And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.” Then the king said to him, “Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. So the LORD will return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword–Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah–though my father David did not know it. Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the LORD.” So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.
1 Kings 2:13-35
Solomon responded by asking why Bathsheba did not request the kingdom for Adonijah too. Adonijah had just spoken of the kingdom as once his, even while admitting that Solomon had received it from the LORD. Given his earlier conduct, Solomon regarded the request as a renewed danger to the throne and ordered Benaiah to put him to death. We are given the king’s explanation, but no confession of a second conspiracy. I would not claim to know every private motive behind the petition.
Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood but spared his life because he had served and suffered with David. When Joab heard what had happened, he fled to the tabernacle and took hold of the altar’s horns. Joab had supported Adonijah, but Solomon also named two earlier murders as grounds for his death.
Joab had killed Abner after David received him in peace at Hebron. Without David’s knowledge, Joab had him brought back and took him aside before stabbing him. Later, he greeted Amasa as a brother and grasped his beard as though to kiss him, then struck him down. Both men were killed through treachery rather than in battle against Joab. David had charged Solomon concerning their blood, and Solomon named both commanders when explaining why Joab must die.
Benaiah first told Joab to come out of the tabernacle. When Joab refused and said he would die there, Benaiah returned to Solomon with his answer. He sought further direction instead of deciding for himself how to carry out the sentence at the altar. Solomon confirmed the order and required Joab’s burial, and Benaiah then obeyed.
Holding the altar’s horns did not give a murderer unconditional protection. Exodus 21:14 requires a man who kills his neighbor through premeditated treachery to be taken from God’s altar to die. Solomon said Joab’s blood would return upon his own head and the innocent blood he had shed would be removed from David’s house. The severity of the sentence should not make us overlook the named crimes or the king’s clarified order. Nor should we assign Benaiah personal hatred or a scheme to obtain Joab’s office when the passage gives neither as his motive.
Shimei, who had cursed David during Absalom’s rebellion, had been allowed to live under a different condition. Solomon ordered him to remain in Jerusalem, with death as the penalty for leaving. The warning specifically named crossing the Brook Kidron, but the command forbade travel anywhere outside the city. Shimei accepted it and swore to obey.
Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere. For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head.” And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!” So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD and the commandment that I gave you?” The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, all the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the LORD will return your wickedness on your own head. But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.” So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
1 Kings 2:36-46
Three years later, Shimei left Jerusalem for Gath to retrieve two runaway servants. He brought them back, but returning did not undo his breach of the command and oath. Solomon confronted him with the terms he had accepted and recalled his earlier wickedness against David. Shimei had known the penalty for leaving Jerusalem, and the king now ordered Benaiah to carry it out.
Benaiah carried out these royal judgments as an authorized officer in Israel. His office did not give him permission to kill personal rivals, and these accounts give Christians no such permission either. The church corrects and disciplines under Christ’s word, while civil government has a distinct responsibility under God. No human office makes every order righteous or removes our responsibility to obey the Lord. Benaiah’s return to Solomon also shows that faithful service can include asking for clarification before acting.
Benaiah had been appointed commander of the army after Joab’s death, before Shimei’s later execution. The list of Solomon’s officials in 1 Kings 4 records him holding that office.
So King Solomon was king over all Israel. And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army; Zadok and Abiathar, the priests; Azariah the son of Nathan, over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest and the king’s friend; Ahishar, over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force.
1 Kings 4:1-6
By then, Scripture has traced years of Benaiah’s service among David’s mighty men, over the royal guard, and in command of a monthly division. He remained loyal during the succession crisis and carried out difficult orders under Solomon. Those responsibilities help us understand his advancement without turning his experience into a formula for someone else’s career.
I would give people a false expectation if I promised promotion in return for faithfulness. Scripture also honors prophets who were rejected, apostles who were imprisoned, and believers who were killed. Some servants receive public responsibility; others continue faithfully where few people notice. We need to obey the Lord in the work He entrusts to us without making recognition a condition of our service.
The Throne Beyond Solomon
Benaiah had prayed that Solomon’s throne would be greater than David’s, but that prayer did not make every later decision of Solomon righteous. God gave him wisdom, he built the temple, and the kingdom enjoyed peace. He later followed the gods of the foreign women he loved, and his disobedience brought judgment that would divide the kingdom. Israel’s lasting hope rested on the promise God made in His covenant with David, a promise that reached beyond Solomon’s reign.
Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house. “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”‘” According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
2 Samuel 7:8-17
Solomon fulfilled the promise of a son who would build the temple and could receive discipline for his own sin. His mortal reign, however, did not fulfill the whole promise of an everlasting house and throne. Its final fulfillment belongs to Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of David. Gabriel connected His coming reign specifically with David’s throne and the house of Jacob.
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:26-33
Benaiah helped carry out the authorized succession in the royal house to which God had made that promise. This gives him a real connection to the history leading to Christ without making each battle an allegory of Christ’s saving work. Scripture does not identify Benaiah as a type of Christ, a person specifically presented as foreshadowing Him.
The promised King does not commission His church to reenact Benaiah’s executions. Jesus builds it through His word and His people’s witness as the Holy Spirit works among them. He will return bodily and reign on earth, fulfilling God’s promise, and His judgments will be perfectly righteous. No sin, deceit, or political ambition can corrupt Him.
At His first coming, Jesus voluntarily gave Himself to be slain as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He is the eternal Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin and without sin. Wicked men inflicted real bodily torture and crucified Him, while He willingly shed His innocent blood and died for us. His saving sacrifice was complete before His burial and bodily resurrection. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit remained united, with no broken fellowship in the Godhead.
Christ died for the whole world, and God’s offer of salvation is genuine even though people can resist and reject His grace. Everyone who repents and believes is forgiven and justified by faith rather than works. To be justified is to be declared righteous before God. Through the new birth, the believer becomes a new creation, indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit. That new life is eternally secure in Christ, but it gives no permission to live lawlessly. A Christian label alone does not establish that someone has been born again. Obedience should show the Spirit’s work in us; it neither earns nor keeps salvation, and new birth does not mean sinless perfection.
Our first loyalty belongs to the King who has saved us. We may respect a leader, appreciate an employer, or serve someone for many years, but those relationships cannot oblige us to disobey Christ. When an order is unclear, we should ask what is required and understand the limits of our responsibility. When it plainly requires sin, the pressure to obey does not make it right.
Much of our own service will attract little attention, but we still need to prepare for work, care for people entrusted to us, and keep our word. Benaiah’s recorded offices keep me from overlooking those duties while admiring his courage. We need the resolve to obey along with the care to act truthfully and within the authority God has given us.
My Final Thoughts
Benaiah’s life gives me more to consider than a dangerous encounter with a lion. His service continued through changing responsibilities, and his return to Solomon concerning Joab shows that courage could leave room for clarification. We can honor his deeds without inventing motives, promising ourselves advancement, or treating Israel’s royal sentences as permission for private violence. Above David and Solomon stands the perfectly righteous Son of David. Our final loyalty belongs to Jesus Christ and His word.
By the time Naomi returns to Bethlehem, she has lost her husband and both sons. Ruth comes with her as a widowed foreigner, without any promise that life there will be comfortable. I do not want to hurry past that grief and uncertainty to get to Ruth’s marriage to Boaz. The kindness he shows her begins with a woman who needs food, and his eventual decision to redeem the family involves far more than a private romance. Through their faithfulness, the Lord provides for this bereaved household and prepares the family line that leads to David and Jesus Christ.
Ruth Begins in the Days of the Judges
The opening words place this family “in the days when the judges ruled.” Israel would turn from God, suffer oppression, and cry out for help. After He raised up a judge to deliver them, the people eventually returned to the same disobedience. Judges ends with people doing what was right in their own eyes. Ruth takes us into that period without centering on a national leader or a military victory.
Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
Ruth 1:1
We are not told which judge was serving or given an exact year. The book follows people whose daily faithfulness could easily be overlooked amid Israel’s public troubles. A widow, her daughter-in-law, and a landowner would make decisions in keeping with God’s Word while much of the nation disregarded it. Since their family line leads to David, reading the book only for advice about finding a spouse would miss much of what the Lord was doing.
Bethlehem means “house of bread,” yet famine had left this family looking elsewhere for food. The Law warned that covenant rebellion could bring famine upon Israel, but Ruth does not identify the cause of this particular famine. Nor does it say the deaths in Moab were punishment for Elimelech’s decision to leave. We know what the family suffered without being told that God was judging them for that move.
Elimelech’s name means “my God is King,” a fitting reminder of whom Israel should have obeyed during those years. He took Naomi and their two sons into Moab to live. That country had a difficult relationship with Israel. Its people descended from Lot, its king had hired Balaam to curse Israel, and Moabite women had helped draw Israelites into idolatry. The family was leaving Bethlehem for a land associated with serious hostility to their people and their God.
Elimelech died there, and his sons married the Moabite women Orpah and Ruth. They lived in Moab about ten years, and both sons died as well. Naomi had buried the men who might have provided for her household, while her daughters-in-law had become widows themselves.
Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
Ruth 1:5
Along with their grief came the precarious position of women without husbands or sons to support them. Then Naomi heard that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread. She set out for Judah, and both daughters-in-law began the journey with her.
Ruth Chooses Naomi’s People and God
On the road, Naomi urged the women to return to their own families and seek husbands. She asked whether she could provide more sons for them to marry, and whether they could possibly wait for those sons to grow up. Her question draws on a brother’s duty to preserve the line of his deceased brother. But she had no more sons, and she saw no realistic way to provide husbands from within the family.
Naomi was speaking out of sorrow rather than treating them as a nuisance. Orpah kissed her and turned back as she had urged. The account gives no separate rebuke of Orpah for following that advice, but it draws our attention to Ruth, who clung to Naomi and refused to go.
But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.”
Ruth 1:16-17
The Hebrew verb dabaq, used for Ruth’s clinging to Naomi, means to hold fast or remain closely attached. Ruth explains what that attachment will mean: she will share Naomi’s home, people, and future, even to the place of burial. She is not offering sympathy until a more attractive opportunity comes along.
Her commitment also goes beyond affection for her mother-in-law. She declares that Naomi’s God will be her God and invokes the LORD in her oath. A Moabite woman is leaving her former allegiance to place her faith in the God of Israel. She does so without an agreement promising marriage, children, or a comfortable reception in Bethlehem. I find that a much fuller expression of faith than a religious feeling that depends on the next few days going well.
When they reached Bethlehem, the women recognized Naomi, but she asked to be called Mara, meaning bitter. She said she had gone away full and returned empty. These are the words of a woman who has endured devastating loss. We should hear her grief without mocking it or assuming that sorrow has canceled her faith.
Ruth had returned with Naomi, yet Naomi spoke of coming back empty. From the end of the book, we can see what Naomi could not yet recognize: the Lord would use this daughter-in-law to restore her household. That does not undo her losses or make them less painful. It does keep us from treating Naomi’s sense of emptiness as the whole of what God was doing.
The women arrived at the beginning of barley harvest. They still needed food, and Ruth now had access to a provision God had already made in His Law.
Providence and Mercy Meet in Boaz’s Field
Israelite farmers were not to gather every last portion of a harvest for themselves. The edges of their fields and the gleanings were to be left for people in need. Other instructions also protected widows, orphans, and strangers, including the command not to retrieve every forgotten bundle. Ruth could go behind the harvesters and gather food because God had required landowners to leave something for her.
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:9-10
She “happens” to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz. He was a relative of Elimelech, though Ruth did not set out knowing where that meeting would lead. The book lets us follow what happened afterward and recognize God’s providence and provision at work. Through the decisions Ruth and Boaz made, He was caring for this family and directing events toward a purpose they could not yet see. Ruth went to work for food and entered the field of a man who could do much more for the family.
Gleaning still required hard work. Ruth asked permission and began gathering what the harvesters left behind. God’s provision did not make her labor unnecessary; it gave her an opportunity to obtain what they needed. Trusting Him did not require her to remain at home waiting for food to appear when there was an honest way to gather it.
Boaz greeted his workers in the LORD’s name and then asked about the young woman gleaning there. He heard what Ruth had done for Naomi and told her to remain with his workers. He commanded the young men not to touch her and allowed her to drink from the water they had drawn. For a foreign widow working among strangers, permission to glean and assurance of protection were practical kindnesses.
When Ruth asked why he had shown favor to a foreigner, Boaz spoke of her loyalty to Naomi and her willingness to leave her own people. He then asked the Lord to reward her.
The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.
Ruth 2:12
Boaz also instructed his workers to pull out extra grain for Ruth and leave it where she could gather it. He went beyond the minimum required, and he told them not to rebuke her. She would be able to work without being harassed or treated as though she were stealing from his harvest.
I appreciate how specific his concern was. Someone with less power can be made to feel that help comes with obligations the giver has no right to demand. Boaz used his authority to protect Ruth and provide generously, without exploiting her need. His reverence for God was visible in the instructions he gave his employees.
When Ruth returned with a generous supply of grain, Naomi asked where she had worked. Hearing Boaz’s name gave her a reason for hope beyond another day’s meal: he was a close relative who could act as a redeemer. The woman who had described herself as empty was beginning to recognize kindness toward her family.
The Hebrew word chesed describes kindness, often with the sense of enduring loyalty. Ruth had remained with Naomi at considerable cost, and Boaz was now providing care beyond what he had to give. Through their conduct, we can also see the Lord’s faithful kindness toward people who could not yet understand the full purpose of His provision.
A Redeemer Acts with Honor
A family redeemer, a goel in Hebrew, could act for relatives in danger of losing their property or freedom. Leviticus 25 provides for a close relative to buy back family land. Deuteronomy 25 addresses a different responsibility: a brother preserving the name of a deceased brother through marriage to his childless widow. Both the inheritance and the family line are at stake in Ruth, but Boaz was not the brother of Ruth’s deceased husband, Mahlon. The arrangement recognized at Bethlehem connected redemption of the land with marriage to Ruth; it did not simply repeat the brother-in-law procedure described in Deuteronomy.
Naomi sent Ruth to appeal to Boaz at the threshing floor, where he was winnowing barley to separate the grain from the chaff. After he lay down beside the grain, Ruth followed Naomi’s instructions by uncovering his feet and lying down there. When he awoke, startled to find a woman at his feet, he asked who she was.
And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”
Ruth 3:9
The word translated “wing” can also refer to the edge of a garment. Earlier, Boaz had spoken of Ruth taking refuge under the Lord’s wings; now she asked him to spread his wing over her as a family redeemer. She was asking him to take responsibility for her through marriage. Boaz could now help provide the protection he had asked the Lord to give her.
The nighttime approach involved risk and could have been misunderstood. Yet the passage does not describe a sexual encounter or portray Ruth trapping Boaz. He called her a virtuous woman and agreed to act for her. He also immediately told her about a nearer relative whose right had to be respected. His willingness to marry her did not entitle him to conceal that obstacle.
Boaz handled the situation discreetly and promised to settle the matter in the morning. At the city gate, where public agreements were witnessed, he called the nearer relative aside.
Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down.
Ruth 4:1
He gathered ten elders and offered the nearer relative the first opportunity to redeem Elimelech’s property. The other man initially agreed. When Boaz explained that the arrangement also involved Ruth and preserving the deceased man’s name through the inheritance, the relative declined.
And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
Ruth 4:6
The man objected because he believed the arrangement would damage his own inheritance. The book gives his reason without spelling out every financial consequence. Boaz accepted the obligation knowing that it involved more than acquiring land: he would take Ruth as his wife and preserve the name of her deceased husband through that inheritance.
The relative removed his sandal to confirm the transfer of his right to Boaz. Ruth explains that this was an established custom for redemption and exchange in Israel. Boaz publicly confirmed the purchase of the family property and his commitment to marry Ruth, preserving the deceased man’s name. The people of Bethlehem had heard his commitment and could testify to it; Ruth and Naomi would not have to depend on an unwitnessed promise.
The elders witnessed the agreement and blessed the marriage. Boaz had the family relationship, the means, and the willingness to act. The household that had seemed to have no future now had a lawful way to preserve its inheritance and continue its line.
The Family Line Leads to David and Christ
Boaz married Ruth, and the Lord gave her conception. She bore Obed, and the women of Bethlehem rejoiced with Naomi. When they said that “a son has been born to Naomi,” they were celebrating the restoration of her household. Ruth was his mother and Boaz his father; Naomi had not given birth, but she received the child into her care after losing her own sons.
The genealogy then shows why this family’s future reaches beyond Bethlehem. Obed would become Jesse’s father, and Jesse would become David’s father.
Also Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.
Ruth 4:22
During the disorder of the judges, God was preparing the family of the future king David. Ruth had gone out to find food, and Boaz had acted on a responsibility to relatives in need. Neither needed to understand that future in order to do what was right in front of them. The Lord’s purpose extended beyond what either could have known from one day in a field or one meeting at the gate.
Matthew takes that family line further by naming Ruth in Jesus’ genealogy.
Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.
Matthew 1:5-6
Ruth’s inclusion also requires us to think carefully about Deuteronomy 23, which excludes Ammonites and Moabites from the assembly of the LORD because of those nations’ hostility to Israel and their hiring of Balaam. The question is how that restriction applies to a Moabite woman who has abandoned her former allegiance and taken refuge in Israel’s God. Ruth does not give a detailed legal explanation, but it does record the elders blessing her marriage, the Lord giving her a son, and her place in David’s ancestry. We cannot erase the restriction or Moab’s conduct, but neither can we conclude that a repentant Moabite was beyond God’s mercy.
Israel’s covenant privileges were real, yet ancestry did not save a person apart from faith in the Lord. Ruth came to Him as an outsider and was received. I find it encouraging that God brought this widow from a hostile nation into the family of His promised King, without pretending that her former nation’s idolatry was harmless.
Boaz was a qualified relative willing to bear a real cost to restore this household. In that way he points toward Christ, although he remained a man who needed redemption from his own sin. We can follow that pattern without making every object or gesture a hidden code. Jesus is the eternal Son, fully God, who became truly man to act on our behalf. He lived without sin and willingly gave Himself to redeem sinners.
Wicked people tortured Him and put Him to death, but He willingly gave Himself to be slain as the sinless, perfect sacrifice for our sins. He completed that saving work through His shed blood and death before His burial and bodily resurrection. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Father and Son acted in unity to redeem us.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Ephesians 1:7
Our redemption cost Christ His precious blood, rather than silver or gold. We receive salvation by grace through faith; good works follow as the fruit of His work, without earning salvation or keeping us saved. Ruth’s labor and loyalty likewise expressed her faith without earning her acceptance before God. Boaz could restore the family’s position in Israel, but he could not make Christ’s redemption from sin unnecessary for any of them. The study on the blood of Christ for salvation considers that saving work more fully.
My Final Thoughts
I am grateful that the book of Ruth shows us the Lord’s care and lets us hear Naomi speak honestly about her grief. His kindness was reaching her through Ruth before she could recognize where it would lead. We know the outcome because Scripture gives it to us; I cannot claim the same knowledge about every difficult circumstance in my own life. I can, however, obey what God has made clear and show practical kindness to the people before me. Ruth and Boaz did that without knowing how their family would lead to David and then to Christ, the Redeemer who willingly gave His blood to save us.
