ESOCS Devotional 10 September 2024 – A Loyal and Loving Redeemer is Still on the Throne
MEMORY VERSE: “And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth clave unto her.” Ruth 1:14 KJV
TEXT: RUTH 1:1-14
During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land of Judah. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons. 2 (Now the man’s name was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were of the clan of Ephrath from Bethlehem in Judah.) They entered the region of Moab and settled there. 3 Sometime later Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, so she and her two sons were left alone. 4 Both her sonsmarried Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) And they continued to live there about ten years. 5 Then Naomi’s two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. So the woman was left all alone—bereaved of her two children as well as her husband! 6 So she decided to return home from the region of Moab, accompanied by her daughters-in-law, because while she was living in Moab she had heard that the Lord had shown concern for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops.
7 Now as she and her two daughters-in-law began to leave the place where she had been living to return to the land of Judah, 8 Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Listen to me! Each of you should return to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord enable each of you to find[ security in the home of a new husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye, and they wept loudly. 10 But they said to her, “No! We will return with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi replied, “Go back home, my daughters! There is no reason for you to return to Judah with me. I am no longer capable of giving birth to sons who might become your husbands! 12 Go back home, my daughters! For I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons, 13 surely you would not want to wait until they were old enough to marry. Surely you would not remain unmarried all that time! No, my daughters, you must not return with me. For my intense suffering is too much for you to bear. For the Lord is afflicting me!”
14 Again they wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye but Ruth clung tightly to her.
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Ruth makes us hope for a king who can bring fullness out of emptiness. Before Ruth’s story begins, we’re told Israel is in the time of the judges (Ruth 1:1). It’s perhaps the darkest of Israel’s eras, marked by its cruelty toward women and a profound lack of godly leadership (Judges 19:25). Ruth and Naomi, the main characters, stand out as faithful women among a generation of faithless men. But like the rest of Israel, their lives were full of tragedies and death. Israel was in the middle of a famine. Naomi’s husband and her two sons were dead (Ruth 1:3, 5). Naomi didn’t even live in Israel anymore; she was marooned in Moab, an old enemy nation of Israel. Her only companions were her sons’ infertile widows, Ruth and Orpah.
Naomi’s situation seemed hopeless. In this culture, the only hope for these three widowed women was to either have a son or to marry a rich man. Neither option seemed possible for these foreign, infertile, and aged women.
Naomi realized her only hope was to move from Moab and return to her hometown of Bethlehem (Ruth 1:7). Naomi discouraged Ruth and Orpah from joining her (Ruth 1:8). As Moabite women, they were almost guaranteed a life as a disliked minority in Israel (Ruth 1:12). So Orpah returns home, but Ruth shows loyalty to Naomi (Ruth 1:15). Instead of leaving, Ruth declared that Naomi’s God was her God, and Naomi’s people were her people (Ruth 1:16). She would rather die than leave Naomi (Ruth 1:17).
So, they left together. Naomi and Ruth, barren and hungry, arrived in Bethlehem. But as a hint to what God was about to do for them and Israel, the barley harvest had just begun (Ruth 1:22). Soon, their emptiness will be filled, and a king will be born.
Where is the Gospel in all this? Like many women in Israel’s history, Mary should not have been able to have a child. She was a virgin (Luke 1:34). But Mary’s willingness to serve the Lord means that through her, a King will be born who will bless the world through his Kingdom (Luke 1:31, 34, 38). Jesus is the son of Ruth and Mary’s faithfulness. Jesus will even be born in Noami’s hometown of Bethlehem! He is the true King, not just of Israel, but of the world. He was born to fill our emptiness through his reign as King (Luke 4:18).
- Are you barren like Ruth? Are you widowed like Naomi? Are you leaderless like Israel? Are you hungry? Are you poor? The book of Ruth is for you. A child has been born and his name is Jesus. If like Ruth, you loyally pledge yourself to King Jesus, everything you need will be provided (Matthew 6:33).
- Holy Spirit, open my eyes to see the God who is King and Jesus as a loyal friend. Amen.
Further Reading: Zechariah 1:7-17; Luke 11:14-20; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, 2:1-5
ESOCS Devotional 10 September 2024
