The story goes like this:
Naomi moved out of the Israel territory to the land of the Moab. But she experienced a lot of pains in her life by having her husband and two sons died in the foreign land. One of her sons married to a Moabite woman named Ruth. Thankfully this family still worshipped God even though they lived among the people who practiced pagan religion at the time.
After her husband and sons' death, Naomi decided to go back to Israel. Naomi asked her two daughters-in-law to return to their family, and effectively their gods (moabite gods). One of her daughter-in-law agreed to return back, but Ruth insisted not to go back to her home but instead decided to take refuge under the wing of the God of Israel no matter what hardships await her. They went back together to Israel.
Ruth is a noble woman who loved her mother in-law. She worked hard and took care of her and all the people in the town only spoke good things of her. One day she worked in the land owned by a man named Boaz. Boaz was a noble man and people also spoke good things of him. Boaz had compassion on Ruth and very generous to her and protected her. To cut the story short, he was actually one of Naomi's husband's kinsman who was able to redeem Ruth and married her in the culture at the time. After a meeting with the elders and Ruth closest kinsmen, everyone agreed that Boaz should marry Ruth. He then took Ruth as his wife and through them, the King David was born and eventually the King of kings Jesus was born.
Such a wonderful story of God's providence during the dark ages of Israel's history during the era of the judges. The bible said that during that time Israel had no king and everyone did as they pleased. They worshipped idol, gave their sons and daughters to married the pagan and practiced their religion instead of worshipping God. And then this story came out in the bible.
Two lessons:
- Insist to choose God no matter what the cost
It wasn't easy for Ruth to choose to follow God. She just lost her husband and Naomi can't bore her another son to marry her (in the culture of Israel at the time, a brother is obliged to marry his brother's wife in the event of his death to continue his family line). Our God provides for Ruth during some difficult circumstances. She took refuge under the wing of the God of Israel and her God didn't disappoint her.
Joshua 24:14-15 14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." - Be a noble person (full of integrity) so that your people will glorify my Father in heaven.
I really admire Ruth that even though her life is hard, she took care of Naomi really well. All the people in town spoke well of her even though she is a Moabite woman. Boaz was also recorded as a man with good standing in society. I want to be like that. I want to work, minister in such a way that is full of integrity. I want to be a good husband who takes care of my wife. I want to be a good son to my parents and parent-in-laws. I want to be a good brother. I want to be good. I am asking God's help to give me strength. I learnt one good illustration from my church leader this year. When a child wants to reach the top of the roof, he/she can't do it no matter how hard he/she tries. But at the time when he/she asks his/her dad to lift him/her up, he can reach it. It is so true with us and our Father. When we ask for help, He will help us and we can be good/noble Christians for His glory.
Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
