[Anglican Communion 11 May 2020] Topic: Mind Your Actions
TOPIC: Mind Your Actions
Read: Ruth 1:1-13 (NKJV)
- Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
- The name of the man [was] Elimelech, the name of his wife [was] Naomi, and the names of his two sons [were] Mahlon and Chilion — Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.
- Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.
- Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one [was] Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
- Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
- Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread.
- Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
- And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
- “The LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
- And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
- But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? [Are] there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
- “Turn back, my daughters, go — for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, [if] I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons,
- “would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!”
THE MESSAGE:
Ruth was a Moabitess whose ancestors worshipped idols (verse 4, verse 15). The Israelites had been forbidden from marrying foreigners to avoid being drawn into idolatry (Deuteronomy 7:3). However, Mahlon married Ruth while in the country of Moab where his family relocated because of famine in Israel (verses 1-2). Within a period of ten years, all the men in that family of 6 had died, leaving behind the old mother, Naomi, and two widows Oprah and Ruth (verses 4-5). What a hopeless situation! Encouraged by the news of economic recovery back home, the three widows decided to return to Israel (verses 6-7). Naomi must have felt that her situation was hopeless. She was also concerned about the fate of the young widows in Israel if they returned with her. She felt they had better prospects in their home country, and suggested they remained in Moab. We shall see later how the hopeless situation was turned around by God.
Are you facing a seemingly hopeless situation in your family, marriage, work, or academics? Remember God’s promise to turn the desert into pools of water, and make a way where there seems to be no way (Isaiah 41:17-19). Our God gives hope to the hopeless; a hope that does not disappoint.
PRAYER: Oh God, enable me to trust You in every situation in life!
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