Transcendence 4

Twenty One: A Rare Bond of Love

God continued to send Judges to lead the Israelites. The tribes lived in the promised land and lived as they saw fit through out many years. 

Eventually though as sin continued to grow among them, hard times fell upon the land. Famine was harsh, and food became non existent. One man whose name was Elimelech, who lived in Bethlehem as part of the tribe of Judah, could not find food at all and he became desperate. Seeing no other way he packed up his wife and two sons and went to the country of Moab to live for a while.

Elimelech's wife's name was Naomi and his sons names were Mahlon and Kilion. Elimelech raised the boys up in Moab, and in time Elimelech died. Naomi was left with her two sons and she continued to raise them up in Moab, where each of them eventually met and married Moabite women whose names were Orpah and Ruth.

After about ten more years, both of Naomi's sons died, leaving her with only her daughters-in-law. Of course without her husband and without her two sons she was devastated, she didn't know what to do!  She no longer felt like staying in the foreign land of Moab even though that is where her sons were raised, and it was where her daughters-in-law were from. 

Eventually word got back to her that the Lord had came to the aid of his people the Israelites by providing food for them. She knew the famine in her homeland was over. Naomi decided she wanted to go back home. She set out with both of her daughters-in-law to go back to the land of Judah in Bethlehem. But on her way she realized there was no reason for the girls to go back with her. She had no sons to give them in marriage. She told them both, "Go back to your home land, in Moab. Go to your mother's home. May the Lord show kindness to you and you may find another husband."

Both of the girls loved her and refused to turn back but Naomi insisted, "Why would you stay with me? I can't have more sons for you to marry and even if I could you couldn't wait for them to grow up and marry you. I am too old to have another husband, but you are not." At her word they all wept. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by. However, Ruth clung to her. Naomi tried to push her away, insisting she should go with her sister-in-law.

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or 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 ever so severely if anything but death separates you and me." Naomi realized then that Ruth was determined to continue on with her even though it would be a risk because Israel was a land that might treat her as a despised foreigner since she was from Moab, Israel's enemy. Naomi was touched by Ruth's loyalty and love but worried since it was a time in history where murder, immorality and general anarchy prevailed.)

Ruth and Naomi traveled on until they reached Bethlehem. When they arrived the whole town was stirred because of them. They were happy to see Naomi return home. They exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"

Naomi saw their joy at her return, but she didn't feel joyful. She said, "Don't call me Naomi, instead call me Mara because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full but the Lord has brought me back empty. The Lord has inflicted me, and brought misfortune upon me."

(Naomi had lost all hope of a happy future since she had lost both sons and her husband. She was in so much pain and blamed her unhappiness on the Lord. She felt she was being punished and thought she would forever be bitter. But God never left her. God was providing all along - an invisible helper, behind the scenes He was working. He helped feed her because he made the law for land owners or farmers to leave behind crop so that the poor could gather what was left. He also helped her because of the law in which a widow had to be taken into the home of her husband's family - which gives her a place to live and also becomes the law by which Boaz claims Ruth in later chapters. God had a plan far beyond Ruth and Naomi's personal problems. Ruth came from the land of the despised Moabites - enemies of Israel. Yet God not only accepted her into his family, but also uses her to produce Israel's greatest king. Ruth's great-grandson turns out to be King David! Proof that God's love is not for the Israelites only! Proof that through pain He can turn all things into goodness which will glorify His kingdom! Proof that He is watching and planning even when we make mistakes, mess up, and make bad choices. Proof He is taking care of his people even in times of hardship like death.)

Upon settling in Bethlehem, Ruth went out and gleaned the fields of anything leftover from the farmers in order to feed herself and her mother-in-law. She also went out into the fields to hopefully find favor in the land owner. She hoped he would notice she was not begging for food but rather was willing to work for it. (Gleaning was not only humiliating, but it could sometimes be dangerous work. Ruth, a single woman and a foreigner at that, showed courage by working in the fields, and her diligence soon attracted the foreman's attention.) As it turned out she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz who was from the clan of Elimelech, Naomi's late husband.

Boaz went to the fields and greeted the harvesters, "The Lord be with you!"

They called back, "The Lord bless you!"

Boaz saw Ruth and asked his foreman, "Who is that young woman?"

He replied, "She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She asked to be allowed to gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters. She has worked steadily from morning until now except for a short break."

Boaz went over to Ruth and said, "My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled. They will not harm you."

At this Ruth bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me, a foreigner?"

Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law. How you left your father and mother and homeland and came to live with a people you did not know. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord , the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

"May I continue to find favor in your eyes my lord," she said. "You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant- though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls."

(Life Question: Have you desired to find favor in someone's eyes? Did they notice your efforts? God notices all you do!  God can reward you! Even if others don't notice - God does! Continue to do good, and treat others right, for this is God's will for you, to love your neighbor as yourself. )