This passage takes a closer look at three widows who have been linked together through marriage. Naomi, hears that her homeland, Israel, has come out of the famine and been blessed with plenty of food. With no blood family remaining with her, her heart longs to be home. Both of her daughter-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, set out to take this journey with her, back to her homeland. Along the way it hits Naomi that she should not expect them to leave their people to come with her, so she pleads with them to go back to their mothers and remarry. At her age, she will no longer have children for them to marry, which was the custom of her people for a younger brother to marry the widow of his older brother. So she urges them to stay in Moab. Eventually, Orpah decides to go back to her land, but Ruth insists on going back to Israel with Naomi.
We can look at these decisions made by these two women as a picture of two kinds of commitments that are made to Jesus Christ. Often two people face with the same situaiton and confronted with the same truth will both make a commitment to Christ. As they go along we see the difference in those commitments. Oen was a commitment made by stirred emotions, often with an inaccurate view of the Lord and with hope of gaining something through that decision. With this type of commitment, eventually they will turn back to their old ways, when the it gets tough. The other is a real commitment of one's whole person. Ruth tells Naomi, "Where you will I will go...your people shall be my people, your God shall be my God...I will never go back." Ruth was whole-heartedly committed to Naomi, but not just to Naomi, to the God that Naomi taught them about while she was with them in the land of Moab.
Naomi too, had a whole-hearted commitment to her God, as she took Him with her to an enemy country, complete with its own gods and religions. She could have turned to the traditions of the people of Moab, but instead she taught her family about the one true God, and in the end Ruth saw that truth and knew she could never return to the ways of her people.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Ruth 1:1-5
The only information we are given for when this takes place is that judges were ruling over Israel. There was a time when Israel had no ruler in place, but we know that this portion of history takes place during the rule of the judges. However, we have no information to link to which judge was ruler at the time. We do know that there was a famine in the land at the time. This was a famine that was occurring in the land of Canaan (the land of milk and honey). According to some commentaries, this is one of the judgments God threatened to bring upon the Israelites for their sins. To be certain of location, we must recognize that it is distinctly pointed out that this is the city of Bethlehem-Judah, no to be confused with another city called Bethlehem in Lebanon.
Elimelech, whose name means "my God is king," took his family to live in Moab during the time of the famine. It is important here to point out what their names mean because it gives us background for the story told throughout this book. Elimelech's wife was Naomi. Naomi means "pleasant one". They had two sons who they took with them to the land of Moab, their names were Mahlon and Kilion. After Elimelech's death, the sons married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. This was against Mosaic law. Both sons died an early death. Jewish writers attribute their deaths to a divine judgment inflicted on them for violating the law in their marriages. Other commentaries suggest that their early deaths had to do with the meaning of their names (both of which mean "weak or sick"). They were probably born with some type of disease or ailment that brought them to an early death. At the time of their deaths, they had lived in Moab for about 10 years.
Elimelech, whose name means "my God is king," took his family to live in Moab during the time of the famine. It is important here to point out what their names mean because it gives us background for the story told throughout this book. Elimelech's wife was Naomi. Naomi means "pleasant one". They had two sons who they took with them to the land of Moab, their names were Mahlon and Kilion. After Elimelech's death, the sons married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. This was against Mosaic law. Both sons died an early death. Jewish writers attribute their deaths to a divine judgment inflicted on them for violating the law in their marriages. Other commentaries suggest that their early deaths had to do with the meaning of their names (both of which mean "weak or sick"). They were probably born with some type of disease or ailment that brought them to an early death. At the time of their deaths, they had lived in Moab for about 10 years.
I am going to use this blog to post my study of the book of Ruth. I am not proposing by an means to be a Bible scholar, I am for the first time studying through a book of the Bible using commentaries and different translations on my own. The purpose of blogging my studies is to receive any feedback/input any readers may have. This may include questions that you have based on my post, or other information that I have not included, or just any comments you have about that portion of Scripture. Anyway, I hope people actually read this and maybe we can help each other learn more about the Bible.
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