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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
When she heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of His people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband."
Then she kissed them and they wept aloud and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."
But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me — even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons - would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has gone out against me!"
At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."
But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
Ruth 1:1-18
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Throughout our study of the Book of Judges, we didn’t exactly see the nation of Israel at their best…not by a long shot. Instead, we saw a people who chose to turn away from their God over and over again, leading Him to discipline them through defeat from their enemies and the oppression that followed. We also saw Israel’s tribes at odds with one another, particularly at the end of the book when the Israelites went to war with one of their own, the tribe of Benjamin with extremely damaging results.
And so after all that, we maybe find ourselves yearning for some better news from the scriptures. Thank goodness we find just that in the Book of Ruth.
As the first chapter opens, we learn that the events of the book take place as a famine had struck the land “in the days when the judges ruled”. It’s during that time that we’re introduced to “a man from Bethlehem in Judah” named Elimelech who “together with his wife”, Naomi, and “two sons”, Mahlon and Kilion, “went to live for a while in the country of Moab”...and it was there that we see where tragedy struck the family.
For we read that “Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died” and left her widowed “with her two sons” who went onto marry “Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth”. The sons and their wives, along with Naomi, “lived there about ten years” before death once again came knocking at their door, this time claiming the lives of Mahlon and Kilion.
This latest loss left Naomi not only without a husband but no sons as well. She now had no support and this would condemn her to struggle terribly in her later years.
Well, the scriptures tells us that Naomi heard how “the Lord had come to the aid of His people by providing food for them,” and so she decided to return to Israel with her two daughters-in-law. They set out “on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah” and as they began their journey, we see where Naomi showing concern for Orpah and Ruth, saying this:
“Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband."
Here we find Naomi displaying amazing selflessness through her words for she showed a willingness to endure isolation and loneliness rather than keep her daughters-in-law from missing out on the chance to remarry and establish new lives for themselves. As we see, her words definitely had a big impact.
First, we witness the deep love that Orpah and Ruth had for her. For as she “kissed them”, they “wept aloud” and refused to leave her saying:
“We will go back with you to your people."
Despite this, we find Naomi once again encouraging them to leave her saying:
“Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me — even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons - would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has gone out against me!"
Again, we see through her own words how Naomi loved her two daughters-in-law…so much so that she wanted them to move on, despite their insistence to remain. Still, she left the choice up to them.
Well, although still weeping over the matter, Orpah decides to return to Moab and her family, leaving Naomi as she requested. She “kissed her mother-in-law good-by” and departed but Ruth was still not willing to go. We read where she “clung to” Naomi and refused to leave despite Naomi’s urging:
“Look…your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."
In response to this, we see why Ruth is such an amazing figure in the Old Testament and Bible at large. For in an amazing display of love and loyalty she replied:
"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
And with that, the scriptures tell us that “Naomi realized that Ruth was determined” to stay with her and so she “stopped urging her” to go.
In our introduction to Ruth, we see an amazing person…a person I feel we could (and should) strive to be like. For in her, we see the model of many awesome qualities…qualities that will bring us closer to the righteousness and holiness the Lord expects if we put them into practice as she did.
First, Ruth modeled loyalty.
Naomi clearly spelled out what her daughters-in-law would miss out on if they remained with her. For at her advanced age, she wouldn’t be able to bear any more children even if she had a husband to bear them for. And yet, Ruth wasn’t willing to give to abandon her, even if it meant sacrificing her own desires.
Loyalty means staying true to someone, no matter what the circumstances. In Ruth, we see loyalty in the purest sense, a spirit of loyalty we need to exhibit in our relationship with the Lord.
Next, we can see where Ruth also modeled faith.
She didn’t know what would lie ahead for herself as she went back to Judah. She would be in the midst of different people within a different culture that worshipped a different god from the gods she had been accustomed to.
And yet she vowed to go forward anyways…willing to make Naomi’s people her new people and Naomi’s God her new God. In Ruth, we see a confidence and optimism that somehow, someway, things were going to work out and be okay.
The world might call her courageous but the Lord would see her as a woman stepping out on faith.
Finally, we see where Ruth modeled devotion and love in their deepest sense.
For she loved Naomi so much that she was willing to put her life aside to ensure her mother-in-law would have companionship…someone who could fill the void left by the loss of her husband and sons.
In Ruth, we see where true devotion and love for another often means sacrifice. And given her amazing modeling of all the aforementioned qualities, it’s little wonder why she would become only one of four women mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. For if we think about it, her actions were a foreshadowing of what people would see in Jesus when He would come down from Heaven to earth.
In Him, we see how devotion and love require sacrifice, and in His case, the ultimate sacrifice as He willingly surrendered His life on the cross of Calvary.
Indeed, the Book of Ruth is a like a breath of fresh air within the Old Testament. In her, we see someone we can aspire to be like as believers today…someone who was loyal, faithful, loving, and devoted…someone who reminds us of Christ.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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