Over the last two months I have been reading through the Bible using the Legacy Standard translation (LSB for short). This new translation builds upon the work of the NASB and aims to be an overly literal Bible translation. The purpose for this literalness is to allow the readers to see intertextual connections that are sometimes lost in translation.

On the joy and need for overly literal translations.

I am thankful for the LSB’s (mostly) consistent literal-ness. An overly literal translation will make some passages sound odd and confusing. Take for example Exodus 4:10-17. In that passage Moses complains that he has a “hard mouth and a hard tongue”, and thus should not be Yahweh’s spokesman. The phrase “hard mouth” sounds very odd to our ears. So, translations usually smooth the phrase out to say something like “I am slow of speech and of tongue” (ESV). But smoothing out the literal translation of “hard mouth and hard tongue” removes a layer of intertextual interpretation. Moses has a hard mouth, just as Pharaoh has a hard heart. God will accommodate Moses’s hard mouth and make him into a mighty prophet, and yet He will further harden Pharaoh’s heart and make him into an example of destruction. That interconnection has to show us something about the kindness and severity of God. So, Yahweh promises to be with Moses’ mouth, and in His condescending grace, Yahweh also grants Moses to have Aaron as a second mouth. “I will be with your mouth and with his mouth”.

I love the literalness. Here’s where I hope in the updates to the LSB they add even more consistency. In Deuteronomy 1:26, Moses recounts how the Israelites were unwilling to enter the promised land because of the report of the spies. Deuteronomy 1:26 reads, “Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God” (LSB). However, a more consistently literal translation would have been, “Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the mouth of Yahweh your God.” It was not merely the command of God that the people rebelled against; they rebelled against God’s mouth. What does it mean to rebel against God’s mouth? Again, we see an intertextual connection. In Exodus, God promised to be with Moses’ hard mouth and to make Moses and Aaron the spokesmen, i.e. Yahweh’s mouth, for the sons of Israel. In Deuteronomy we read that the sons of Israel rebelled against God’s mouth; that is, God’s chosen spokesmen – Moses and Aaron. Rebelling against the Lord’s commands is always linked to rebelling against the mouth of the Lord’s chosen messengers. His messengers are His mouthpieces. Think – the apostles and prophets. Christians who do not apply themselves to following the Scriptures, in which are recorded for us the word of God by God’s appointed messengers, His “mouth”, are likewise rebelling against Yahweh.

Thankfully, we have a God who has also spoken these words from His mouth, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Come, let us hear the word of the Lord!

What does it take to live as a Christian in a culture that increasingly embraces values and ideologies that are against Christianity? For one thing, it takes embracing the shame of the Cross. As Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23 ESV). Those words imply that anyone who does follow Jesus has denied themselves and takes up their cross daily. It does not matter if the culture praises or persecutes Christianity, every Christian has denied self to follow Christ. But I believe that if our Christianity is to have any sort of winsomeness then the way we carry our cross matters, too.

What does it mean to take up one’s cross and follow Jesus? For one thing, it means to feel no shame for being a Christian. And why should we feel ashamed at all? The one we are following is the King of Ages. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the friend of sinners. He is the Savior of the world. He is the Light of the world and in him is no darkness at all. Since there is nothing shameful about him, there is no reason to be ashamed of him.

It is possible, however, to be unashamed and curmudgeonly. So if we are to follow Christ as we carry our cross then we must follow the way Christ carried his cross, too. “Therefore… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV). He endured the cross and despised its shame by focusing on the joy that was set before him. He bore the cross and its shame with joy. A joyful disposition was upon him as he travelled to Golgotha. It was with joy that he carried the cross, not because Jesus was masochistic but because his eye was on the joy of what His suffering would secure: His enthronement with the Father (Hb. 12:2), the joy of Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the joy of innumerable angels in festal gathering, the joy of the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, the joy of the kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hb. 12:22, 23, 28).

It is with a view to that joy that we are called to deny ourselves, carry our cross, and despise its shame. I call this a theology of bearing shame with joy. I leave you with a call to picture in your mind what it would look like for you to carry your cross with a smile on your face. Jesus’ smile is on those who have taken heed of his call to follow him. He is not ashamed of his brothers. Let us bear the shame of the cross on our shoulders with the joy of Christ on our face.

This year I have been reading through the Old Testament in the book order laid out in the Hebrew ordering of Law, Prophets, and Writings. In that ordering, Ruth comes right after Proverbs instead of Judges. This is important, because Ruth is depicted as the woman described in Proverbs 31. This ordering is meant to show you that Ruth is living out what it means to be the excellent wife (in Hebrew, woman of strength/worth) described in Proverbs 31:10. Ruth is described by Boaz as a woman of strength/worth in Ruth 3:11. So it is right to read the book of Ruth and write studies on Ruth focusing on her character, faith, godliness, and womanhood. But this time reading, I could not help but notice all the ways that Boaz is described as hitting the marks of the Proverbs 31 man (see Proverbs 31:1-11, 23, 29). So this post is dedicated to looking at the marks of Biblical manhood that Boaz lived out.

First Mark: A man of strength and worth

Boaz is described as a mighty man of strength/worth in chapter 2 verse 1 (the same term used to describe Ruth). While physical strength is a characteristic of manhood, the focus here is on his strength of character. Godly character is what makes Boaz a man of strength/worth. Boaz was a righteous man, a worthy man, living in an ungodly world. He was alive during the judges, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Yet he was not one who did what was right in his own eyes. Instead, he was a worthy man, a man who lived uprightly in the sight of God. He was a wise man, and the fruits of his life proved so. Godly men seek to live the kind of life where their strength is used in pursuit of wisdom and worth.

Second Mark: A man of faith who uses the blessings of God to benefit others

Given the fact that Boaz had fields plentiful enough to employ reapers shows us that God had providentially provided Boaz with an abundance. And yet, Ruth begins by describing a “famine in the land” (1:1). For Boaz to remain in the land during the famine showed that he was a man of faith. God had promised that land to Israel and would provide for his people. Boaz, as a man of strength and worth, trusted in God and his promises even when God’s presence and blessings appeared absent in the land. Then, when God had “visited his people and given them food” (1:6), Boaz used those providential blessings to bless others. He used his ingenuity and business acumen to not only create wealth for himself, but for others also. He created wealth for the reapers. And he wasn’t cheap or stingy. He was well respected by those he employed. He blessed them, and they blessed him in return (2:4).

Third Mark: A man who cares for the widow and sojourner

The Old Testament frequently describes the oppressed as the orphan, the widow, and the sojourner. Ruth was two of those: a widow and a sojourner. The Proverbs 31 man is described as someone who opens his mouth to judge righteously and defends the rights of the poor and needy. That is exactly what we see Boaz do for Ruth. He gave her work, though she was a foreigner. He protected her dignity by ordering the young men not to touch her. He invited her to eat and drink at the same table as the rest of the reapers. In short, he defended her rights.

Fourth Mark: A man whose strength/worth makes him known in the community

Proverbs 31:23 states, “Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.” Boaz is known in the gates of his community (4:1-12). He has pursued being a man of strength/worth throughout his life, which has led him to having a respected reputation in the community. The elders of the town gave Boaz a hearing. Other men of prominence respected Boaz. That is something earned through a life well-lived before God.

Advice to Men, Young and Old

Whether you just received your high school diploma in the mail or your AARP certificate of age, pursue being this kind of man. Make it an aim in life to be a man of strength/worth. Aim to be a man who is wise. Aim to be a man who uses God’s providential blessings, however great or small they may be, to bless and benefit others. Be a man who cares for the oppressed, and seek to have a good name in your community. Men, may the Lord bless you and keep you!