Ruth 1
Ruth 1-2
Bodie Thoene, coauthor of
bestselling Christian fiction Zion Chronicles, once worked for John Wayne
as a scriptwriter. In Today’s Christian Woman Thoene tells how that
opportunity came about. “I was commuting to Los Angeles and doing feature
articles on different stunt men and other film personalities for
magazines. An article I co-wrote with John Wayne’s stuntman won the
attention of the Duke himself. One day he called and invited [my husband]
Brock, and me to come to his house. He talked to us as if we were friends,
showing keen interest in us as individuals. From that day on, I began
writing for his film company, Batjac Productions. We were awestruck. Here
was this man who had been in film for fifty years and he takes a young
couple with small children under his wing! Once I asked him, 'Why are you
doing this? You’re so good to us.’ He replied, 'Because somebody did it
for me.’ ” It appears that John Wayne had something in common with Boaz
from the book of Ruth--both understood that goodness doesn’t originate in
us. We receive and then we give. God is good to us, that’s why we are able
to be good to others. Today’s reading illustrates the implementation of
God’s “welfare program”: (Today
in the Word)
*****************************************
Ruth 1:1-22
Bible teachers have used many favorable adjectives to describe Ruth, the
faithful young woman from Moab who became the great-grandmother of David.
This fact alone is enough to show why Ruth needs to be included as we
discuss God’s preservation of His righteous line. One writer comments that
meeting Ruth is like finding a rose growing in the middle of a garbage
dump. Another says Ruth “gleams like a beautiful pearl against a jet-black
background.” The reason for these and other comparisons becomes clear when
we compare Judges 21:25 to Ruth 1:1. The era of Israel’s judges was a time
of spiritual unfaithfulness and foreign domination interrupted only by a
few brief victories. It was also a lawless time of Israel’s disobedience
to the law of God. The last verse of Judges sums up the situation: “In
those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. (Today
in the Word)
*****************************************
Ruth 1:1-18; 2:1-9;
3:1-11; 4:1-12
A book recently tackled one of life's minor puzzles--how do homing pigeons
find their way home? The answer seems to be: we're not sure. One theory is
that young pigeons develop an ""odor map"" by smelling odors that are
carried to their homes on the winds from various directions. Another
theory is that the birds use the earth's magnetic field to determine
course and position. Whatever technique homing pigeons use, their
instincts are uncanny. They always finish their journeys in the right
place...The Bible is filled with stories of people who did and of those
who did not finish well. They have much to teach us....The story of Ruth
gets us off to a great start. This young woman from Moab definitely
finished well. She became the great-grandmother of David. Ruth's name is
on a short list of women singled out for special mention in the genealogy
of Jesus. She was part of the Savior's royal bloodline and is therefore a
background figure in the Christmas story. (Today
in the Word)
*****************************************
Ruth 1:14
“Orpah kissed her
mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.”
Both of them had an affection for Naomi, and therefore set out with her
upon her return to the land of Judah. But the hour of test came; Naomi
most unselfishly set before each of them the trials which awaited them,
and bade them if they cared for ease and comfort to return to their
Moabitish friends. At first both of them declared that they would cast in
their lot with the Lord’s people; but upon still further consideration
Orpah with much grief and a respectful kiss left her mother in law, and
her people, and her God, and went back to her idolatrous friends, while
Ruth with all her heart gave herself up to the God of her mother in law.
It is one thing to love the ways of the Lord when all is fair, and quite
another to cleave to them under all discouragements and difficulties. The
kiss of outward profession is very cheap and easy, but the practical
cleaving to the Lord, which must show itself in holy decision for truth
and holiness, is not so small a matter. How stands the case with us, is
our heart fixed upon Jesus, is the sacrifice bound with cords to the horns
of the altar? Have we counted the cost, and are we solemnly ready to
suffer all worldly loss for the Master’s sake? The after gain will be an
abundant recompense, for Egypt’s treasures are not to be compared with the
glory to be revealed. Orpah is heard of no more; in glorious ease and
idolatrous pleasure her life melts into the gloom of death; but Ruth lives
in history and in heaven, for grace has placed her in the noble line
whence sprung the King of kings. Blessed among women shall those be who
for Christ’s sake can renounce all; but forgotten and worse than forgotten
shall those be who in the hour of temptation do violence to conscience and
turn back unto the world. O that this morning we may not be content with
the form of devotion, which may be no better than Orpah’s kiss, but may
the Holy Spirit work in us a cleaving of our whole heart to our Lord
Jesus. (Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and evening) (See also Surgeon's
sermon on
Ruth 1:16: Deciding for God)
*****************************************
Ruth 1:14a
THE first girl I ever kissed in public was named Ruth. Several hundred
people watched as the Zeeland High School junior play reached the romantic
moment between the leading man and woman. After the performance this
comment filtered back to me from someone in the audience:
"That was rather a
cool kiss."
The biblical book of Ruth, however,
is anything but cool. The love and loyalty Ruth displayed for her
mother-in-law, Naomi, bathes the story with warmth and tenderness. And the
beauty of this Old Testament narrative is all the more striking set
against the background of the time of the judges when moral debris
cluttered the landscape of Israel's early life in Canaan.
Ruth's love for her mother-in-law is only part of this love story,
however. Boaz, Naomi's relative, exercises his right as kinsman-redeemer
and takes Ruth to be his wife (chapters 3-4). He brings into focus our
Redeemer, Jesus, who purchases us with His blood, takes us into His
family, and surrounds us with His unfailing love.
As objects of Christ's redeeming
love, we sinners should never be reserved about expressing our love to
Him. May it never be said of us in our relationship to Jesus that our love
is cold and mechanical.- D J De Haan (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
*****************************************
Ruth 1:16-17
- Poisoned Well
One of the most beautiful concessions of love in all of literature is the
one Ruth made to Naomi. In vowing to return to Israel with her, Ruth
pledged, "Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will
lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you
die, I will die, and there will I be buried" (Ruth 1:16
