⏱ 10 min read

• Day 47 of 50, and we are going strong with this powerful word from Ruth 1. You’ll be super blessed by this! 📖🔥🤗
• You can join in fully and let’s “tattoo” God’s Word in our hearts! 📖🤍
• God bless you, and looking forward to your lessons, insights, and comments.

“But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” ~ Ruth 1:20-21

The Book of Ruth is a very beautiful story about trouble, bitter experiences, love, loyalty, faithfulness, deliverance, and a happy ending. It begins with a married couple (Elimelech and Naomi) deciding to move to Moab with their two sons because of famine in Israel (v1-5).

• I find this strange because the Moabites were a cursed nation; they descended from Moab, the son that Lot had with her first daughter (when the daughters made their father drunk and slept with him – Genesis 19).
• God had told the Israelites not to mingle with the inhabitants of Canaan (including Moab) nor intermarry with them because they would corrupt God’s people.
• Moab was also one of the nations that oppressed the Israelites during the period of the judges (Judges 3:12-30), so the two nations were quite hostile to each other.

This means the famine must have been quite severe in Israel for Elimelech to move his family to Moab. A few quick points to reflect on:

A blessed nation/ person/ family, etc., can undergo ‘famine’ times. General calamities and the storms of life (including misfortunes) are impartial, and they affect both the righteous and the wicked.

For instance: if Ghana (my resident country now) should be caught in a famine or a war, etc., the righteous will naturally suffer along with the wicked majority. This is why we have to pray for the prosperity and good of the places we dwell.

In Matthew 7, Jesus said the rains of life, the floods of life, the fierce winds of life, and the beatings of life happens to both the wise man who builds on the rock, and the man who builds on the sand.

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ~ Matthew 7:25
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. ~ Matthew 7:27

• The difference is that when we are grounded and anchored on the solid rock (Jesus), we will be standing firm and secured after the storms of life hit.
• Will you stay standing after one year of storms? What of five years? And how about ten years, like it happened to Naomi?
• May we stand firm and secured throughout the storms of life! May our afflictions and sufferings lead to the development of faith, perseverance, Godly character, and hope! (Romans 5:3-5).

The second point for reflection: Where and with whom do you pitch your tent when the going gets tough? What company do you choose to join? Elimelech and Naomi, in the time of crisis, left Israel and pitched their tents in a cursed land (that was not experiencing famine). (Similar to Lot’s story; moving from Abraham and pitching his tent near Sodom).

• Now that decision seemed to be a wise decision for their famine problem, but it led to a series of misfortunes for Naomi (this was the same for Lot).
• Because you will be influenced by foreign practices and culture; you will be influenced to compromise on your faith and character; you or your children may have to marry one of them (the people God says not to intermarry), etc.

In the case of Lot, when his two daughters couldn’t find men to marry, they hatched a plan, made their father drunk, and slept with him in turns to have children… mercy!

• You see, in Lot’s case, the Bible makes us understand that Abraham was the one commanding the entire household to follow after God (including Lot’s children and servants).
• But once Lot left for Sodom, that influence was no longer present, and among other things, that led to the moral decay of his daughters.

"For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” ~ Genesis 18:19

All these are some of the downhill effects of where you choose to pitch your tent. Some of them may not affect you directly but may affect your choices, your children/family, your character, faith, etc.

Yet in the midst of all this, it seemed Naomi herself, was still standing firm in her walk with God. Because how come both her daughters-in-law, wanted to follow her back to Israel? (I mean, there must be something about a broke widow who has lost her sons for you to want to leave your family and country to follow).

And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”

• Naomi actually had to try hard and discourage them from following her. This was what caused Orpah to eventually turn back (v11-14).
• Naomi also blessed them and said: May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have been kind to me and my sons. May the Lord grant you rest in the house of your new husbands.

The relationship between Naomi and her daughters-in-law is such a rare, loving, affectionate relationship. I pray we will all have such loving relationships (with friends, spouses, church, family, etc).

This is where the even rarer love, kindness and loyalty of Ruth came forth. She made her eternal consecration to follow Naomi and the God of Israel by some very strong determined words of love and loyalty (v14-17).

Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. (v14)

For that decision to cling on, she was greatly rewarded by being in the lineage of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:6). Note again, this was a decision of the company Ruth decided to pitch her tent with or associate with – this time from a cursed land to a covenant nation (God’s family)!

I believe the 7-fold statement of Ruth is something we all desire in relationships (especially marital relationships):

• 1. Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you: Please don’t deny me this plea or request.
• 2. Wherever you go, I will go: I am following hard after you.
• 3. Wherever you lodge, I will lodge: I am following your decisions on this journey.
• 4. Your people shall be my people: I accept your family as my very own family.
• 5. Your God shall be my God: From today, I serve the God you serve, the way you do.
• 6. Where you die, I will die and there I will be buried: I am willing to follow you to the point of death!
• 7. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me: I mean these words wholeheartedly, and I put my life on the line for them!

Woow… such strong words for a vow! May we be like Ruth in our relationships, and I pray may God give us such people also!

"But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” ~ Ruth 1:20-21

By the end of the ten years, Naomi had experienced severe hardships: She had left Israel married, the mother of two sons, and secure. She returned widowed, childless, and poor (but with a Ruth!).

• She changed her name to Mara, to express the bitterness and pain she felt. Naomi was not rejecting God by openly expressing her pain; no.
• However, at this point, she seemed to have lost sight of the tremendous resources she had in her relationships with Ruth and with God.
• With the blessing of Ruth, her life totally changed, and God gave her laughter and pleasantness again.

When we face bitter times, God welcomes our honest prayers, but be careful not to overlook the love, strength, and resources that He provides in our present circumstances or relationships. And let’s not allow bitterness and disappointment to blind us to opportunities and blessings around.

Hey, you're blessed and highly favoured and dearly loved! Do share your lessons from Ruth 1. Remember to tag us and your friends on 📲:
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