Ruth Chapter 1: verses 16-18 (NIV-UK)
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.’ When Naomi realised that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
Ruth Chapter 2: Verses 11-12 (NIV-UK)
Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 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.’
The people of Israel had a complicated relationship with the people of Moab. The Moabites were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. Moab was Lot’s son, born of an incestuous relationship with his daughter. God had provided land for the Moabites, which the Israelites were not allowed to have.
But over the generations, at the time of the Exodus, the Moabites worshipped other gods and became intimidated by the Israelites. So much so that their king hired Balaam to put a curse on the people. God dealt with both Balaam and King Balak. But the people of Israel at that time sinned against God by intermarrying with the Moabites. So Naomi and her family must have been desperate when they felt they had to go to Moab. But there must have been something in the way that they lived that influenced their daughters-in law, particularly Ruth. When her circumstances meant Naomi had to go back to Israel, Ruth was determined to go to. I am sure that it was not simply due to mutual affection. I believe Ruth had been influenced by her mother-in-law’s life.
When she subsequently is noticed by Boaz, he hears of Ruth’s own conduct and behaviour, which is in complete contrast to her ancestor’s behaviour towards the people of Israel. She had thrown in her lot to follow the ways of Israel’s God. It is that decision and its impact that I believe influence the way that she lived.
What about us, that is those of us who have decided to follow the ways of Jesus. That means His example should influence our behaviours and actions. It should mark us out from those round about us. Not because we ourselves are better than anyone else, but because Jesus is. And it’s His influence and the power of the Holy Spirit that should guide and direct our lives. Ruth was so impacted by her in-law’s lives, she was prepared to leave family and all chance of future prospects behind. Ruth’s actions spoke for her, where, as a foreigner in Israel, her words may not have. And God honoured that willingness by including her in the ancestry of Christ Himself.
Our lives may not have such a widespread impact but we don’t know how our decision to follow Jesus and live by His example and directions will make a difference to others. There are times when people may not be interested in what we have to say, but they may watch with interest at the way we behave in different situations. And it doesn’t matter whether we have any skeletons in the closet of our family history. We just need to do as Ruth did, and choose to bring our lives under the wings of the God of Israel, who is in fact the God of all.
Dear Lord,I am so grateful that the reconciliation brought about by the sacrifice of Jesus means I can bring myself under the wings of God. May my life reflect Jesus’ teaching and example and encourage others to do the same. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.