From: "Phil Rembleski" <PHIl@rescuechurchofchrist.org>
To: "1111RESCUEMEMBERS"
Sent: Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 5:22 AM
Subject: 7-19-21 THOUGHTS
7-19-21 THOUGHTS
Ruth 1:7-17 So she departed 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. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 "May 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. 10 And they said to her, "No, but we will surely return with you to your people." 11 But Naomi said, "Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 "Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me." 14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Then she said, "Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law." 16 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. 17 "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." 18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
This is a picture of conversion in the literal sense of the word. What events have brought this about? A Jewish man marries a non-Jewish woman. Two women (here Ruth and Naomi) live side-by-side. They are good women. ( This actually happens with two women and Naomi, but we’ll focus on Ruth) Husbands-Sons die. Trauma sets in for all the women. Their entire world is turned upside down. For the older woman, financial issues bear on her. She must return to Judah and her people. Ruth’s permanent attachment to Naomi becomes obvious. Ruth’s speech to Naomi is one of the great poetic pieces of all time.
God’s workings make Ruth the wife of the influential and wealthy Boaz. Ruth becomes a non-Jew in the lineage of Christ! Of course Naomi is well cared for. God makes it all work!
Ps 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
2Cor 4:17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
Believe this with me this day!
My Prayer:
Lord, help each of us to live lives of good influence. May this world see our hope in You, and desire it. May our heart’s longing be anchored on you and may we live as your children ought to. Keep us unspotted from the world. Help us to partake of your word and to discern the things from Satan that attack and dilute what is good in us. In Jesus name Amen