It is in the book of Ruth that we find Naomi. This first chapter begins with a mystical ,
spiritual tone. Ruth 1:1-2
Long ago,
in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man
named Elimelech, who belonged to the
clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah went with his wife Naomi
and their two sons Marlon and Chillion to live for a while in the country of
Moab.
This reads like a beautiful bedtime story "long ago, in
the days before Israel had a King".
The story of Naomi is a story of love, loyalty, and redemption. It is a story
of a mother-in-law Naomi and a daughter-in-law Ruth. The relationship between
both of them. Naomi teaching by example about God and Ruth learning about the
living God. The book of Ruth underscores
the theme of the Bible: God desires all to believe in Him,
even non-Israelites.
Elimelech was from the tribe of Judah. Naomi was a pleasant and capable Jewish girl. With their two sons they went to the land of
Moab. They left behind their home of Bethlehem. The people in Bethlehem had
turned away from their God. Everything was in chaos. The Mosaic Covenant( the
10 Commandments) were not followed. The people started the practice of
worshipping pagan gods. It was a time of
lawless and a great famine. It was a dark time in Israel's history. Moab is
located east of the Dead Sea. The Moabites were descends from Lot. We all
remember Lot's forbidden relationship with his older daughter. Naomi and her
husband were not planning to stay too long in Moab. They were going into a pagan land far
away from family and friends and leaving everything behind. I can only imagine
how bad things were in Bethlehem. Deuteronomy 28:22-24 gives a description of the famine.
The Lord
will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send
drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you
die. No rain will fall and your ground will become as hard as iron. Instead of
rain, the Lord will send down dust storms and sandstorms until you are
destroyed. (pause)
God is a good God but as we see many times, God's people disobeyed
him. Now, in
Moab, Naomi and her husband began to make a life for themselves. Their two sons married Moabites
women, Orpah and Ruth. We can only wonder how Naomi felt when her sons married
pagan women? Did she try to tell them not to do it? did she question God? Was she charitable toward her two
daughters-in-law? as we get to know Naomi, we
find out that she was a kind and loving mother-in-law. She had an unusual love
and loyalty for her daughters-in-law.
Soon afterwards, Elimelech dies, Naomi's sorrow was great. Some years later
Naomi two sons die. She lost her sons but she also felt the pain of sorrow for
Orpah and Ruth. Her two daughters-in-law were the only family she had in this
land of Moab. Together they cried and comforted each other. We can almost feel
the great pain all three wives were feeling. We as women have had times of sorrow.
When times like this come into my life I
Pray, Psalm 22
Leave
your troubles with the Lord, and he will defend you: He never lets honest
people be defeated;
God wants us to enjoy the life He has blessed us with. God
also steers us in the direction He wants us to move, through His Blessings. By shutting one door he
will open another door of opportunity. Naomi made ready to go back to Bethlehem
since she heard that the famine there had diminished. Orpah and Ruth decided to take a course of action and go with
Naomi back to Bethlehem. The love Naomi
had for her daughters-in-law was a very caring one. Naomi explained to them
that it wasn't right for young women to
forsake their families and friends for an
uncertain future in Bethlehem. She expresses the hope that the Lord's loyal
love would extend to her daughters-in-laws, who were outside the land of Israel
and were not Jewish. Ruth 1:8
They
started out together to go back to Judah, but on the way she said to them,
"Go back home and stay with your mothers.
Orpah followed Naomi's advice cried and kissed her mother-in-law said good-bye and went back
home. Ruth insisted on staying with her
mother-in-law. The loyalty and support she offered Naomi proved to be the
turning point in her own life.
The book of Ruth is a rich source of insights into healthy personal
relationships. It reminds us that even
during the dark days of the era of Judges, godly men and women could and did
live blessed and happy lives.
Ruth's relationship with God began the way most
relationships with Our Lord do. Ruth
began to know and value someone who knew God well. For Ruth, that person was
Naomi. This is a lesson for us all. We must become an example of God's love
with everyone we meet. It is those "little ways" that others see God
in us. Maybe a hello to someone, a smile to another,even a hug to someone that
might need one. We go through life not
knowing who we might touch. Naomi lived her God every day . She spoke easily
about God because He was real to her. We see this in the blessing she gave her
two daughters-in-law after Naomi had decided to return to Judah. Ruth
1:9
May the
Lord be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died. And
may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home. Naomi clearly loved her
daughters-in-law and loved God. In
loving she became the bridge over which Ruth passed into faith. We all have a
bridge that we cross over and it is then we began to love God with all our
heart, and all our soul. With me it has
been a very long bridge . I didn't have any religion growing up. I don't have
any memory of ever going to church with my parents. I didn't have a big
celebration when I made my first communion . It wasn't until I was 14 that I
drove myself to church and then I started attended mass. My bridge was my
grandmother. She was from Mexico and only spoke Spanish and my prayers were in
Spanish. She talked about God , told me stories about the bible. She spoke with
love and humility. That was when I started crossing the bridge. I am sure that
each one of us have our own story to tell. It would be a good subject to
meditate on and find your bridge and then praise Our heavily Father for showing us the way.
Ruth refused to return home. She truly loved her
mother-in-law and would not desert her. She realized that this decision called
for a faith commitment to Naomi's God. When Naomi continued to urge Ruth to
return home, Ruth expressed her
commitment to Naomi. Ruth's answer is
found in Ruth 1:16-17 "Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with
you. Wherever you go, I will go:
wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God
will be my God. Wherever you die, I will
die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord's worst punishment come
upon me if I let anything but death separate me form you!"
Ruth expressed
commitment was significant. The people
of Israel had a covenant relationship with God. Ruth, aware of this
relationship, pledged that "your people shall be my people'
She was also
committing herself to Israel's God. Ruth had chosen "the Lord God of
Israel, " Ruth was given a
blessing. Ruth 2:12
May the Lord reward you for what
you have done. May you have a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, to whom
you have come for Protection!"
When Naomi saw
that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. So Naomi and
Ruth
continued on to Bethlehem. Naomi had been gone for a long time and
everyone was excited to see her. She was still suffering from her lost that she
told the people "Don't call me Naomi," but call me "Mara"
which meant "Bitter". The concepts of fullness and emptiness appear
here. Naomi left with a husband and two sons.
But now she returned to Bethlehem empty. She was so immerse in her
sorrow that she might have felt that her tragedies were punishment for her
sins. Maybe if she had trusted God more
she would not have felt so hopeless. Some of us have been in a situation where
we lose trust in God and feel hopeless.
My great hopeless came to me when I lost my father. I loved
him so much that to this day I call him
"Daddy". I remember wondering to myself " will I ever
laugh again". Like Naomi, I
didn't know the blessings I would
receive afterwards. It was a time of redemption for me. It was a time
of saving my soul through forgiveness toward my mother and having a
relationship with her before she died.
With Daddy's death I saw and understood my Mother's sorrow. The book of Luke gave me great comfort. Luke 6:21
Happy are
you who are hungry now, you will be filled!
Happy are
you who weep now: you will laugh.
Ruth and Naomi arrived at the beginning of barley harvest.
Barley was the first crop to ripen, and this period would be the beginning of
the harvest season. The law of Moses allowed the poor to gather the grain
left by the people doing the main
harvest in the farmers' fields. Even though Ruth did not intentionally go to
the field of Boaz, the Lord directed her steps. Boaz was related to Naomi's
husband and as a relative, He could stand up for the rights of these two
women. He was described as a man of
great wealth, a person of noble character and of high standing in the
community. Ruth was not presumptuous but asked for a favor that she might enter the field. Gleaning was hard work, but
for the poor each kernel of grain was precious.
And Ruth continued from morning until late in the day gathering food for
Naomi and herself. Boaz demonstrated extraordinary concern for Ruth.
In every way Ruth showed herself to be loyal, hard-working,
sensible, and responsive to Naomi's advice.
Clearly Ruth had a deep respect for Naomi, as well as a real love for
her mother-in-law. Well aware of her
good qualities, Boaz related toward her with great pleasure and approval. He invited her to eat with his harvesters,
told her to harvest with his own servants, and instructed the young men not to
molest her. Ruth returned home to Naomi
and told her what good fortune it was to have found a field belonging to a man named Boaz. Naomi
exclaimed. "The Lord bless Boaz!"
Naomi explain to Ruth that Boaz was a close relative
of theirs. Ruth 2:22-23
Naomi
said to Ruth, "Yes, daughter, it will be better for you to work with the
women in Boaz field. You might be
molested if you went to someone else' field. So Ruth worked with them and
gathered grain until all the barley and wheat had been harvested. And she continued to live with her
mother-in-law.
Naomi is a wonderful example of how to evangelize. She
didn't try to talk Ruth into faith.
Instead it was through love and living a life that Ruth recognized as
Godly. Naomi shows us how to be a
gracious in our relationships toward others.
She loved Ruth enough to put Ruth's welfare above her own. Many parents hesitate to offer advice to
adult children. We all know that we cannot
force our will on them, but we can share our thoughts and our wisdom with those
willing to listen. When advice is given
lovingly and with respect, it will often be welcomed.
Naomi is a glorious reminder of how God can make one of the
least likely to be remembered into someone who will never be forgotten. When we feel insignificant we can remember
how God used a starving widow to win a woman to faith who became an ancestress
of Jesus Christ.
Next week we are going to learn more about Ruth, and Naomi becoming a wonderful grandmother. It
continues being a love story of
relationships and God's goodness. When I began reading about Naomi I wondered
: how God was going to make something good and
beautiful with a Moab woman, a pagan woman.
After studying Naomi I knew the answer . From Moab comes Ruth, and from
Ruth comes her son
Obed, from Obed comes Jesse, from Jesse comes David Ruth
4:18-22 and though David
comes Jesus Christ Matt.1,5,6
In Closing I would like to read from Deuteronomy 7:9
Remember
that the Lord your God is the only God and
that he is faithful. He will keep his
covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations for
those who love him and obey his commands.
The message I would
like to leave you with is --------sometimes we have trouble recognizing God's
goodness and His faithfulness but He is still with us no matter the
circumstance.
No comments:
Post a Comment