Good Thursday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you hear the word “Desperate”, what emotions rise up in you? In the “Grand Narrative” journey, as we try to gain an overview of the story God is writing about our human race, from the very beginning, the book of Judges is aptly named since the word ‘judge’ calls us to consider law and order, crimes and punishment, courtrooms and juries, judges and lawyers, right and wrong, innocent and guilty, desperate times.
Sadly, the 21 chapters of Judges walk us through a 300-year period of Israel’s history which was generally a dark time of moral chaos, summarized by this statement which concludes the book of Judges: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” (Judges 21:25) No matter the person, place or time, it’s a dangerous thing when a person, a family, an organization, or a nation does whatever they desire without restraint or accountability, right?
I wonder if the next statement made in the Bible, which is actually the first verse of the story of Ruth, might be one of God’s responses to the chaos and darkness of Israel in those days? Ruth 1:1 says: “In the days when the Judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.” Would you agree God controls the ecosystem of our world including climate, temperatures, rainfall etc.? In fact King Solomon, at the dedication of the great Temple in Jerusalem, prayed these words to God: “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to Your name and turn from their sin because You have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live and send rain on the land You gave your people as an inheritance.” (2 Chronicles 7:26,27) Now pause a few seconds and let that soak in my friends. Are you and I able to recognize some of the practical ways in which God responds to what He sees happening on our planet as the human race continues its struggle with God?
The absence of rain for a long period of time is frightening. Fields crack and nothing grows. Animals without pasture, feed or water soon starve to death. Without food people start dying. In Ruth 1 we meet a man named Elimelech who day after day was struggling to make the right decisions for his family as food supplies dwindled. They lived in the town of Bethlehem, which by the way means “house of bread”.
But there was no bread in Bethlehem in those days so finally Elimelech led his family away from famine in search of food. They crossed the Jordan river and headed east into the modern-day land of Jordan, then known as Moab. Then as now the people of that land were tolerant of Israelites, but they weren’t exactly friendly. Elimelech and family hoped it would be a short, temporary, refugee stay in Moab.
Time passed, the famine lingered in Israel. Elimelech died, leaving his wife Naomi a widow with two young adult sons. They both dated Moabite women, of course, and married them. Before they could have any children both men died leaving Noami now a destitute widow living in a foreign land with no Israelite family or support network, and two Moabite daughters-in-law.
Would ‘desperate’ be a fair word to describe the situation in which Naomi found herself? (Ruth 1:1-5) This was another of many situations I see in the Bible where the people involved could have concluded that God had forgotten about them, maybe even abandoned them! If you have found yourself in such places, what do you do to find HOPE and convince yourself that God is still on His Sovereign throne and still loves you?
We don’t know how long this desperate situation lasted, but we do know word came that the famine was over and food was again available in Bethlehem, so naturally Naomi wanted to head home. But that was no trip for an older woman alone. Courageously Ruth, one of Naomi’s Moabite daughters-in-law pledged to accompany Naomi all the way back to Bethlehem; and remain there with her as her primary caregiver!
Can we even begin to understand what an outrageous commitment this was? Ruth knew she was likely forgoing any hope of ever marrying again or being a mother, and very likely she would need to work manual labor, even possibly as a servant, to provide them both with food.
In their debate about going or staying, Ruth made this famous statement: “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 anything but death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16,17)
It’s the foundation of all wedding vows…. but so rarely is it lived to the fullest extent. Too often in relationships, when the going gets really tough, people bail out rather than do as Ruth did. So, let’s travel with them and watch this remarkable demonstration of God honoring love, self-sacrificing love. Jesus modeled this Agape love for us, didn’t He?
Naomi and Ruth headed west, and while a long, grueling journey on foot, did finally arrive back in Bethlehem. But Naomi was a very different, hardened, battered by life woman, and Ruth was a Moabite, a foreigner who likely felt very unwelcome. People recognized old Naomi, but she told them: “Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara, because the Almighty God has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” (Ruth 1:20,21)
Oh my, those words tear at our souls, don’t they? We grieve for dear Naomi and all the heartbreak and loss she has suffered. No amount of kind words, handshakes, embraces or even handouts could change the harsh reality of what she had suffered.
Let’s pause right here and place ourselves in her pain. What words of wisdom would you offer Naomi if she approached you and asked for wisdom and hope to keep living?
Additional notes are in the Grand Narrative link below and here’s a new, very powerful song “Desperate”, that seems to fit so well with Naomi’s situation. Let it draw you to Jesus, my friends, and I’ll be here with Naomi and Ruth, waiting for you, tomorrow…
Today’s Scripture: Ruth 1.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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