Mother's Day was so sweet! Kate and Beth were in charge of food, and they cooked up an awesome meal...very healthy, very delicious.
Our pastor did a sermon from Ruth. I love that book. It is a beautiful picture of God's graciousness. Ruth was from the pagan country of Moab, and her people worshiped the false god, Chemosh. When Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion moved to Moab to escape a drought in Israel, the boys each took wives, Orpah and Ruth.
Things to consider: Elimelech leaving Israel showed that he didn't trust God to provide for his family during the drought. The boys marrying women outside of the Jewish faith was forbidden. In spite of these sins, God blessed the circumstances.
[Current Sign Language memory verse: Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."]
In time, Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion all die, leaving all three women as widows. Naomi is devastated and decides to return to Israel, where she will request that her name be changed to Mara, which means bitter. She tells her daughters-in-law to return to their families, and though they both protest, Orpah finally agrees to do so.
Ruth, however, will not. The time spent with this small representation of God's chosen people has had a big impact on her. She has come to love her mother-in-law dearly, and even more important, to love her God. Her pleadings to be allowed to return to Israel with Naomi have become well known even today, and they are so beautiful:
"But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.'"
And so, Naomi returns home with Ruth. Prospects for a widow were not great in those days, but for God's law that required those who harvested fields to leave a portion unharvested for gleaners, they would have no way of obtaining food.
Ruth went to the fields to gather grain and, by God's providence, ended up gleaning in the fields of a man who was Elimelech's brother. When he heard who she was, and her faithfulness to Naomi, he told his workers to leave her more grain than was required, and to even give her some that they picked. He allowed her to eat with his workers and afforded her protection from those who might otherwise harm her.
When Naomi saw how much Ruth gleaned, she knew that someone had helped her. When she found that it was Boaz, she was very pleased, as he was a near relative and according to Jewish law, could marry Ruth and raise up an heir for the sake of his dead brother.
In the end, after much ado, Boaz and Ruth are married. And in spite of the circumstances, their son, Obed was the next link in the line of Christ. His son was Jesse, Jesse's son was David, who became the second king of Israel after Saul.
In fact, all of the women mentioned in Christ's lineage in Matthew 1:3-6 were women with troubled pasts in odd situations. Tamar (Genesis 38), Rahab (Joshua 2), Ruth, and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 and 12). All of these women were sinners, all were forgiven and blessed mightily by God. I love there stories as they show how ready God is to forgive, how much He loves us. And the best part, one day I will get to meet these ladies, one day and then for all eternity with them, and all others who have bent the knee to Christ, in His presence!
Our pastor did a sermon from Ruth. I love that book. It is a beautiful picture of God's graciousness. Ruth was from the pagan country of Moab, and her people worshiped the false god, Chemosh. When Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion moved to Moab to escape a drought in Israel, the boys each took wives, Orpah and Ruth.
Things to consider: Elimelech leaving Israel showed that he didn't trust God to provide for his family during the drought. The boys marrying women outside of the Jewish faith was forbidden. In spite of these sins, God blessed the circumstances.
[Current Sign Language memory verse: Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."]
In time, Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion all die, leaving all three women as widows. Naomi is devastated and decides to return to Israel, where she will request that her name be changed to Mara, which means bitter. She tells her daughters-in-law to return to their families, and though they both protest, Orpah finally agrees to do so.
Ruth, however, will not. The time spent with this small representation of God's chosen people has had a big impact on her. She has come to love her mother-in-law dearly, and even more important, to love her God. Her pleadings to be allowed to return to Israel with Naomi have become well known even today, and they are so beautiful:
"But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.'"
And so, Naomi returns home with Ruth. Prospects for a widow were not great in those days, but for God's law that required those who harvested fields to leave a portion unharvested for gleaners, they would have no way of obtaining food.
Ruth went to the fields to gather grain and, by God's providence, ended up gleaning in the fields of a man who was Elimelech's brother. When he heard who she was, and her faithfulness to Naomi, he told his workers to leave her more grain than was required, and to even give her some that they picked. He allowed her to eat with his workers and afforded her protection from those who might otherwise harm her.
When Naomi saw how much Ruth gleaned, she knew that someone had helped her. When she found that it was Boaz, she was very pleased, as he was a near relative and according to Jewish law, could marry Ruth and raise up an heir for the sake of his dead brother.
In the end, after much ado, Boaz and Ruth are married. And in spite of the circumstances, their son, Obed was the next link in the line of Christ. His son was Jesse, Jesse's son was David, who became the second king of Israel after Saul.
In fact, all of the women mentioned in Christ's lineage in Matthew 1:3-6 were women with troubled pasts in odd situations. Tamar (Genesis 38), Rahab (Joshua 2), Ruth, and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 and 12). All of these women were sinners, all were forgiven and blessed mightily by God. I love there stories as they show how ready God is to forgive, how much He loves us. And the best part, one day I will get to meet these ladies, one day and then for all eternity with them, and all others who have bent the knee to Christ, in His presence!
