Verse 1 "The days when the judges governed." In the last book, we heard so many stories of heartache and disloyalty during this historical time. Finally we get a peek into the lives of a faithful remnant.
This family was driven from their home in search for food--or at least more fertile land. The land of Moab. Not the chosen race--in fact, a line that started from the incestuous relationship between Lot and one of his daughters. Could this have something to do with why Israel looked down on them?
V.4 Ten years of marriage and presumed happiness.
v.5 Suddenly, Naomi has nothing. Led away from home, trusting God and husband. But now it seems that was all for nothing. I would have been facing some serious issues at this point, not to mention anger, frustration, and abandonment...
v.6 There is nothing to do but return.
v.8 Naomi sets her daughters-in-law free. They no longer have an obligation to her or to their dead husbands. (Which would have been to bear a son with a relative to continue the family name.)
v.9 How must they have felt? Blindsided. Shocked. Confused.
v.10 The first time they protest, I assume it is from obligation. They can't let an old woman travel alone, right?
v.11-12 But she presses the issue. She appeals to the logical side of the equation. She says, "Following me doesn't make sense. You are basically signing away any hope of marrying, being happy, or having children! You'll be old before your time without any security." Did she really want them to leave her? I don't think so. Their youth would have been more of an asset to the household than a burden. I think she had just given up. She was done trying, done hoping, done living. She just couldn't imagine what interest she could be to these young women. It must have broken her heart to say these things.
v.13 "For the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me." She thought the Lord had no use for her. Maybe he was punishing her...
v.14 I get the feeling that Ruth's attachment goes farther and deeper than just loyalty to her husband's mother. "Ruth clung to her," implies that this old woman held Ruth's life in her hands. That she couldn't bear the thought of turning back. Naomi had something more valuable than sons, or wealth, or home. She was Ruth's only connection to the Living God. I think Ruth had fallen in love with Him, and in that case,turning back would have been worse than poverty, worse than death! Go back to their gods? Not a chance.
v.18 I wonder if God used Ruth's speech to prick Naomi's heart. To make her feel again.
v.19 Bethlehem! The city where Christ would be born!
v.20 Naomi is not one to keep her afflictions to herself. She's not shameful, she just wears her heart on her sleeve.
v.21 The Lord has brought me back empty.
I had some friends who left for the mission field. When they left, they were so pumped up to go to their new life, plant churches, and share the Gospel. But while they were gone, a series of events left them disillusioned about ministry, burned by church politics, and deeply hurting. They returned to their hometown bitter and empty, asking the Lord, "What was the point?"
But the God we serve doesn't send His people on pointless errands. "He works ALL THINGS for the good of those who love Him." Naomi was wrong. He had not brought her back to Bethlehem empty-handed. God had sent her to Moab to retrieve the future grandmother of a king--an ancestress of the Prince of Peace! But, I'm getting ahead of the story. The point is, don't sell God short. He has a plan, and it's bigger than we can understand. Trust in that.
Can you believe all that was crammed into one delicious chapter!? Thank you, Lord! Next time, Ruth 2
Comments