Ruth – Light from the Word

A Moabite Woman Who Would Not Give Up

In those days when the judges ruled the nation of Israel, there was a famine in the land. (Ruth 1:1a). Elimelech, his wife Naomi and family moved to Moab at that time. However, their future became uncertain with the death of Elimelech and his two sons, who were married to Moabite women named Orpha, and Ruth. Naomi decided to move back to Israel with her two daughters-in-law. However, she insisted on them staying, but as she was leaving, they wept aloud; Orpha, one of the sisters, kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. She said, urge me not to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God (Ruth 1). Ruth’s decision to leave everything behind, including her gods, family to follow the God of Naomi and her people was an attitude of sacrificial love. This action was prophetic in itself of a beautiful future. A future so special, she never dreamed of. Descendent of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, from a nation with an embarrassing beginning, nonetheless, God had a future and a hope for Ruth in a far and distant future, although she would not have a chance experience the excitement of it. Ruth was a chosen one unknown to her. She was both a widow and an alien, touching the heart of God. With courage and determination, she entered an unfamiliar territory, where a Moabite was not looked at with favor. But she performed all that her mother-in-law suggested her to do in that foreign land. Strong physically and emotionally, Ruth remained faithful to the end. Where she was gleaning was in the field of Naomi’s husband kin, Boaz.

Naomi stayed behind the scene teaching Ruth how to behave in that culture, not knowing how she was being used to bring about God’s plan for Ruth’s life, a plan in which Naomi would be part of. She would no longer be alone. Her life would be filled with joy in the fulfillment of God’s plan for Ruth, whose life was an ordinary life with an extraordinary future ahead of her. Ruth was in the right place in the space of the right time for all to happen as God planed. She had to be willing to leave behind all that was important to her, including her religion and her family. YAHSHUA said, Truly, I tell you, there is no one who has given up and left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for My sake and for the Gospel’s who will not receive a hundred times as much now in this time- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecution – and in the age to come, eternal life (Mar. 10:29-30). Although, Ruth did not have in mind this concept YAHSHUA presented, she took a path of obedience for God to fulfill His plan through her. In spite of being a foreigner, she was respected for her act of compassion toward her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi. When the time came for her to marry Boaz, the people rejoiced with her and Naomi, saying, May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachael and Leah, the two who built the household of Israel. May you do worthily and get wealth in Ephratah and be famous in Bethlehem, (prophetically of YAHSHUA) and let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman (Ruth 4:11-12). Ruth’s future as well as Naomi’s took root in these prophetic words uttered by the people which took thousands of years for its fulfillment, while generations multiplied. God, however, in His appointed time brought all to fulfillment.

Pages: 12

The Union

(Ruth)

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem of Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, his wife, and his two sons. But Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and so did her two sons.

In this apparent voided of happiness story there is a prophetic and beautiful end. We see in this story not only the picture of God’s love embedded in His plan for the Gentile nations, but also Ruth as a type of the gentile bride of Christ. Call me not Naomi, she said, call me Mara [bitter]. While Naomi was drained in her unhappiness, God had a beautiful future for her life; one that would make her forget all her past losses. It all started when her family moved from Bethlehem duo to a famine. There, she lost her husband and her two sons. After she had lived in Moab ten years, she decided to go back home. Apparently, she had had enough However, both her daughters-in-law showed the desire to follow her to Bethlehem, but when she persistently refused the idea, one of them left her and went back home. Ruth however, firmly said, “urge me not to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, and where you lodge will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God,” Naomi finally agreed to let Ruth go with her. In her words “Your people shall be my people,” Ruth showed great faith. There was more to her words than she realized. There was a prophetic meaning by being part of the nation of Israel she could never fathom. That would be a beautiful plan God had for her life. So, what compelled a young woman to give up her family, culture, and religion to follow her Mother-in-law, whose culture and religion were different from hers? Perhaps Naomi, as her mother-in-law had a good influenced in her life, and as a result, a good relationship between them to compel Ruth to leave all behind to follow Naomi. But beyond the tangible, God was working His plan through Ruth’s life, to bring His Son into the world many years to come.

Pages: 12

In Tragedy Hope Arises

(Ruth 1-4)

A family of four fled the famine in the land in the time when the judges ruled the country. There were four of them: husband, wife and their two sons. Theirs was a life of tragedy and misfortune in the period of ten years while in the country of Moab, where they made it their home for a while. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah, a place linked to prophecy concerning the birth of the Savior of the world. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans or rulers of Judah, out of you will come for me One Who will be Ruler over Israel, whose coming forth from of old ( Micah 5:2). Nothing in God’s calendar happens by mistake. Although circumstances pointed out tragedy, His plan of old, from eternity was firmly established through the lives of this family, although indirectly, for it was not going to be from them, but from a Moabitess woman and a kin of the husband, that Bethlehem was going to be exalted above the heavens.

Pages: 12

The Gentile Bride

(Ruth 1-4)

The story of Ruth, the Moabite, does not stop with the end of the book of Ruth; instead, it begins. It is an amazing story to read. In fact, it is the kind of story everyone would like to read for its wonderful ending. In the days when the Judges ruled, as the Bible tells us, a family of four from the town of Bethlehem of Judah, left their country to sojourn in the country of Moab, due to a famine in the land. They were Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. It was a trip of about twenty to thirty miles, not far at all. Moab, is located east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, South of the Arnon (Num. 21:10-15). The Moabites descendants have a questionable history due to Lot’s daughters in their incestuous relationship with him (Gen. 19:31-35). After the judgment that came to Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s daughters assuming they to be the only females in that region where they settled, they took upon themselves the responsibility to solve the problem by bearing Lot’s children to enable the line of their family to continue. In a devious and perverse way, they caused their father to lie with them and they both bore his children. Not an attractive story, is it? But God, as it is said, “Writes straight on a crooked line.” As a matter of fact, we are all crooked before Him, but His love has covered the multitude of our sins through His Son, YAHSHUA.

Pages: 12