But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to 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, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17
Naomi’s story takes a hopeful turn when word reaches her that the Lord had come to the aid of His people, the Israelites. Remember the cycle the Israelites were in…rebel, remorse, God’s hand/peace, repeat. The tide seems to have turned and there is peace in Israel now. With no family ties to Moab and nowhere to turn, Naomi decides to head home. Naomi urges the wives of her two deceased sons to stay with their people in Moab. Going with Naomi would mean a significant change in their lifestyle and culture. It would mean worshipping the God of Naomi’s religion and living a life of hardship and poverty with no male head of household. One of the daughters-in-law, Orpah, likes the idea of showing kindness to Naomi but is not up to the sacrifices of following through. Not so of Ruth. Ruth is set on traveling with Naomi and comforting her in this time of despair. She knows what the right thing to do is, and she does it! She is determined to leave her home, people, gods, and lifestyle to comfort and serve Naomi. She doesn’t have all the answers, but she believes Naomi’s God – our God – is BETTER than anything she would leave behind. With nothing but each other and hope for a better future, Ruth joins Naomi on the journey back home. Questions: Has anyone ever stuck with you during a hard time in your life, even when it required a sacrifice on their part? Do you think that Ruth, living with her husband’s family, was introduced to their God (the God of Israel…our God)? Do you think God has the power to draw people to Him, even in the “foreign” lands of difficult circumstances, a culture and world that tends to reject Him, a time when following the One True God is not very popular?
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In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. Ruth 1:1
There is a beautiful story of redemption tucked into the Bible’s account of the dark period of Judges…a time when God’s people were stuck in a cycle of rebellion, remorse, peace, repeat. They would have incredible victories when they trusted God, followed by corruption and devastating defeat when they looked to the idols and customs of their neighbors. The story of Ruth opens with a move during a time of devastation and famine. An Israelite named Elimelek and his wife, Naomi, with their two sons, move to Moab. While there appears to be peace between the nations in this brief period, the Moabites and Israelites were notorious enemies. Elimelek and Naomi made the Moabite land home for over ten years. Though foreign, it probably became comfortable in some ways. Their sons even married Moabite women. But suffering followed them to their new home. Naomi’s husband and two sons die, leaving her in a foreign land steeped in deep sorrow and loss. She has nothing. No heirs to carry on the family name, no one to take care of her, no family to comfort her. Loss. Devastation. Isolation. We can sometimes read books like Judges in the Bible and lose sight of the fact that there are real people living ordinary lives in the midst of the roller-coaster chaos. The story of Ruth gives us a peek into the lives of one family struggling through this period. We’ll spend a few days looking at this family and the redemption story that unfolds through their lives. Question: Have you ever felt like you were in a period of famine, devastation, or hopelessness in a foreign land? If so, let the story of Ruth over the next few days be a source of hope. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. Judges 2:18-19 During this period in Israel, God raised up judges. They were military leaders appointed and equipped by God to fight their enemies, unifying the people, and drawing them back to God. And it would work, but only so long as the judge was alive. Once the judge died and the people were left to themselves, they slipped back into their old ways again. Even the character flaws of the judges grew worse over time. The Israelites are in a repetitive cycle of disobedience, raising up a judge, turning back to God, times of peace, slipping back into disobedience, raising up a judge, turning back to God, times of peace…you get the picture. Over and over again. This goes on for a period of nearly 400 years and it is a dark and disturbing time for God’s people. This period of history reminds us that left on our own, we will fall short of right living. We will muster enough faith and self-control for a time, but it will never last; we will turn back to sinful ways without help. But these stories are also a picture of God’s patience with us. He continues to send help. He desires for us to always come back to Him. The Bible, with all of its preserved history and people, are all part of God’s plan to show us the right way to live, why we can’t do it on our own, why we need a Savior, and what that Savior will look like. Challenge: Take time today to thank God for always forgiving you and always desiring you to come back to Him. Thank Him for Jesus and for always sending help when we ask Him for it. Reference: Timeline of JudgesAnd the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. Judges 2:11-12
Joshua dies, the people settle into their new land, and it doesn’t take Israel long to forget all that God had saved them from and done for them. When we are desperate, we will cry out to God and promise to do anything He says. But as time passes and things get better and we start to feel a little more in control, we forget. We begin to push the boundaries a little. Nothing happens immediately, so we push a little further. Sometimes we don’t even know we are doing it; we are simply following along with what everyone else around us is doing. It is so easy to slowly start worshiping other things over God…friends, family, popularity, material things, success in school or sports or work, other people’s opinions. Before we know it, we become a slave to these things, trying with all our power to keep a grip on them. We fit in too comfortably to the world around us as we climb that ladder toward whatever the next pleasure or goal might be. A continuous theme in Judges is, “In those days Israel had no king and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” God wanted to be their king, but they rebelled against Him. Why is the lure for things that are not in our ultimate best interest often so much stronger than the lure for God? The Israelites move into this new land and they become just like the evil people who live there. Instead of displaying the character of God, they forget God and adopt all of the corrupt cultural and religious practices of the Canaanites. A time will come when God will not stand for it any longer. Questions: In your circle of friends do you see that the lure for what isn’t of God is stronger than God? Why do you think this is the case? How can we stay firmly planted in God’s will and not allow this to happen to us? …and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. Judges 2:2-3
As instructed, and with God by their side, the Israelites begin their conquest of the promised land. The walls come crashing down just as God had told them. They defeat and drive out MANY of the inhabitants who were evil in the eyes of the Lord and worshiped many false idols and gods, but NOT ALL of them. God had instructed them to destroy everything; to leave no remnant of future temptation. God knows that the temptation to follow the way of the people over His ways will be strong. He is seeking to eliminate this burden on them. But they don’t fully obey God and it is going to cost them. God tells the Israelites these things they left behind and didn’t destroy will become thorns in their side and snares to them. They will make their lives much more difficult than they needed to be. Why do we always feel like we know what is best over what God tells us to do? We try to compromise with God…a little obedience with a side of, “I can handle this little thing.” Ebenezer Erskine says, “So often we give God a partial obedience. We do not dare to disobey, but we do not care to obey fully. So we compromise. We do some of what we should, thus removing the stigma of disobedience. But we refrain from the most difficult or objectionable or uncomfortable part, and thus try to get the best of both worlds.” The obedience is for our own good. Partial obedience is disobedience that will only get us in trouble. When we feel God is telling us to let something go or to get rid of something, we should listen to Him. He is always looking out for us. He wants us to succeed and to enjoy a relationship with Him. He wants to help us remove things that will keep us from loving, seeking, and serving Him, and in return enjoying His peace, provision, and joy. Question: How often do you partially obey God, rather than entering into full obedience to what He is calling you to do? And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” Joshua 6:2-5
The tension is mounting. It is time to enter the Promised Land. But there is a problem… Jericho is surrounded by an enormous, strong wall. There are huge towers and impassable iron gates. When things look impossible, this is where God loves to work. He loves for us to know that it can only be Him who accomplished the task. Yes, we get to be a part of it, but it will be all His doing. He knows this is what we need to help build our faith and confidence in Him. God lays out an interesting battle plan. All of the fighting men are to march around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they are to march around the city seven times. Hmmm…. not the battle plan I would have come up with. But wait, there’s more… Once the city has been circled for the seventh time on the seventh day, the priests are to blow their trumpets and all the people are to shout LOUDLY. And the wall will fall down flat. It could only be God. Time to go in, boys. Questions: Have you ever thought that God loves to put us in seemingly impossible situations so we have to rely on Him? Have you ever been in a situation where only God could fix things? If so, how did He display His power? If not, pray that you will have faith to trust and see God when things feel too hard for you to accomplish or deal with on your own. |
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