Ruth7... When There's A Famine In My Life! [Ruth 1:16] / Paul's Bible Characters

 

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Ruth 7...

When There's A

Famine In My Life! 

[Ruth 1:16]  

 

/ Paul's Bible Characters 

 

/ By Paul

 

1. Personal information

 

 

The Hebrew word for

'Ruth' is indicated as

 

 

'Rut', which means 

'a descendant' or 'a friend'.

 

 

Her husband died early,

and married Boaz, a relative

   of her mother-in-law, Naomi. 

 

 

As the name 'Ruth' implies,

she, a Moabite woman, 

gave birth to descendants

of Israel.

 

 

Her husband Boaz was the

father of Obed, Obed the father

of Jesse, and Jesse, who

gave birth to David,

 

 

became the ancestor

of the line of David.

 

 

2. Her Major Life

 

 

Ruth was a figure of the t

ime when the judges ruled Israel.

     (B.C.1375-1050)

 

 

She was a woman who lived

in a time when Israel and

Moab were in peace.

 

 

During a famine,

Elimelech's family left Bethlehem

in Judah and moved to Moab,

a foreign land.

 

 

There, Elimelech received Ruth

as his second daughter-in-law,

 

 

and Ruth received Jehovah

through her mother-in-law,

Naomi, and gained faith.

 

 

After the death of her husband,

when her mother-in-law told

her to return to her hometown,

 

 

Ruth, based on this faith,

refused it, and rather, she

came to Bethlehem with her

mother-in-law Naomi. 

 

 

Ruth confessed:

 

 

"Where you go I will go,

and where you stay I will stay.

 

 

Your people will be my

people and your God

my God." (Ruth. 1:16) 

 

 

The confession above shows

that she became a true believer.

 

 

At that time, she was

20 years old, and she could

have returned to her

hometown to remarry

 

 

and could

have had a happy life,

but she gave up the choice

and decided to follow

God's guidance.

 

 

God, who regarded Ruth's

filial piety highly, led her

to the field of Naomi's

relative Boaz.

 

 

God guided Boaz to marry her

through the matrimonial 

custom to a young widow

without children. 

 

 

Her extreme filial piety made

her praised as a daughter-in-law,

more precious than seven sons.

     (Ruth 4 : 15)

 

 

She became

one of  the two women

(Esther and Ruth) recorded

in the Bible

 

 

and her name

can be found in the titles

of the Old Testament.

 

 

3. What to receive

from her life of faith.

 

 

The famine of life comes

in many forms, but when

we fully return to God,

we can escape this famine.

 

 

The famine of life given to

Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi,

are still given to us who are

living today in four forms.

 

 

1) Economic famine

called drought.

 

 

2) Relational famine

called bereavement.

 

 

3) Physical famine that became

an incompetent widow in

the economy

 

 

and in all fields when her

husband passed away due 

to illness and weakness.

 

 

4) Spiritual famine like the state

of Moab which was extremely

devastated.

 

 

When these extreme forms

of sufferings approach us,

usually we tend to just give up

 

 

or abandon and escape

the situations we face.

 

 

However, in this kind

of situation, we Christians

need a posture not to lose

faith but to face reality in

the Lord like “Ruth."

 

 

Then, what is the correct

posture to overcome

the famine?

 

 

1) We need the right

religious choice.

 

 

Some people,

like Ruth's mother-in-law-Naomi,

make humanitarian choices

based on justification and reason.

 

 

Others, like Ruth's husband's

brother's wife -"Orpha" make

realistic choices based on

their own interests and

opportunities.

 

 

And still others, like Ruth,

make religious choices based

on word of God and faith.

 

 

See her amazing confession

recorded in the Bible!

 

 

"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 1:17)

 

 

In the end, -"Ruth" decided

to make a religious choice

 

 

and  completely overcame

her famine of life through

her right actions.

 

 

Although she was a Gentile

woman, God was pleased

with her choice, and God

allowed her to meet Boaz

 

 

while she was picking up

the leftover grain,

 

 

and her to enjoy the

amazing spiritual blessings

of David's ancestors.

 

 

2) No matter how trivial it

may be, it is important to

consider it as God's grace

and to work hard.

 

 

The opportunity to receive

God's guidance comes from

being grateful for a trivial thing. 

  (Gleaning)

 

 

And the opportunity

is a coincidence from

a human point of view,

 

 

but from God's point of

view, it is providence.

          (Boaz's field)

 

 

Furthermore,

God's blessing begins

with guarantees.

 

 

So Boaz said to Ruth,

"My daughter, listen to me.

Don't go and glean in another

field and don't go away

from here.

 

 

Stay here with

my servant girls.

    (Ruth 2:8)

 

 

3) If we show good deeds

even during  hardships,

He allows us to receive

his favor plus his grace.

 

 

Grace is given to those

who love God, and favor is

a blessing given to those

who do good deeds.

 

 

We can learn what life is

through the book of Ruth.

 

 

We can seriously learn

that life begins with pain

but ends with hymn.

 

 

Is there anyone who

suffers from the famine

of life at this moment

like Ruth?

 

 

In times of difficulty,

I hope that we will all 

choose faith, believing

in God like Ruth. 

 

 

Also even if we are in

a difficult situation,

 

 

we should do good with

a mind to look after our

neighbors like Ruth.

 

 

Therefore, when there's

a famine in our life,

 

 

please consider that

is an opportunity to

receive God's favor.

 

 

Following Ruth's example,

we should make a decision

by faith only, and should not

 resent our environment

 

 

or fall away from our faith

in any matter and we

should thank God more

and do good.

 

 

Furthermore,

in the favor of God,

we should live as a person

 

 

who can fully overcome the

famine of life in the grace

of God by serving hard

even in a trivial thing.

 

    

Amen

 

 

- To Be Continue - 

 

 

2023/03/14(Tue)

 

/ By Paul