Dave spoke this morning from the book of Ruth. Non-Christians may well view the Bible as irrelevant, boring, violent or full of ‘thou shalt nots‘, but tucked away in its pages, we find this unusual love story which points also to the generous and undeserved love of God. Ruth, the eponymous heroine of the book, is seen as a remarkable woman, loyal and steadfast and ultimately extremely important since she was the great-grandmother of David and therefore features in the genealogy of Jesus.
The book is set in the time of the judges, when Israel did as they saw fit in their own eyes and lacked spiritual leadership (Judges 21:25). Elimelech (whose name means ‘my God is king’) chose to leave Bethlehem (‘house of bread’) during a time of famine for Moab. He took his wife (Naomi, ‘pleasant one’) and two sons with him, but what started as an understandable desire for food during famine turned into a ten-year stay during which not only Elimelech, but his two sons, died.
Elimelech, presumably, was trying to provide for his own family, but in doing so, he forgot to depend on God his king, allowing his sons to marry women from Moab, which God had expressly forbidden. He sought bread, but found graves instead. When we step out of God’s will, we lose our joy and gain only bitterness and death (Naomi refused to be known by her name after this, wishing to be called ‘bitter’.) Yet 2 Chron 7:13-14 reminds us that when we face God’s restorative discipline, He has made a way through repentance for us to return to Him.
Ruth’s devotion to Naomi (Ruth 1:16-17) reminds us that God’s purposes are worked out through individuals who are prepared to stand for Him. She is a jewel of hope, refusing to abandon Naomi and modelling love and loyalty for us. Naomi returns to Bethlehem, hearing reports of better times there and understanding the need to repent. Five of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 are urged to repent by Jesus and this is always the way to revival. God calls us to repent, to humble ourselves and pray and depend on Him for all we need. When we do this, we will find He is with us to bless and to make beauty out of ashes.