ルツ記1:1-22 Ruth 1:1-22,

This week and next week, I will be speaking about the Old Testament book of Ruth. The time period is some time after the Israelites had departed from Egypt and started living in the land of Canaan. The kingdom of Israel had not yet been established. And the Israelites were living a hard life, being attacked by powerful foreign powers and experiencing tragic events.

On top of that, there was a famine when the crops in the fields did not produce well. So Elimelech and Naomi, a couple from the village of Bethlehem, took their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, and moved to the neighbouring country of Moab. However, a short time later, her husband Elimelech died. The sons married women from the country of Moab. One of the women’s names was Orpah and the other Ruth. However, after 10 years, something sad happened again. Both of Naomi’s sons died. They may have become seriously ill.

At that time, the land of Canaan, where the Israelites lived, began to produce good crops in the fields again. So Naomi decided to return to her home village of Bethlehem. She also told her two daughters-in-law, who were the wives of her dead sons, to return to their homelands in Moab and marry there again. The two daughters-in-law said they would follow Naomi. But Naomi told them not to follow her. The reason for this was that in those days it was customary for a woman to remarry her husband’s brother when her husband died. Naomi thought, “I have no more children, so even if my daughters-in-law followed me, they would have no one to remarry. Then it would be better for them to go back to their homelands in Moab and remarry there.”

After hearing Naomi’s words, one of daughters-in-law, Orpah went back to her own homeland. However, Ruth did not leave Naomi. Ruth said, “Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.” Ruth was born in the country of Moab, so originally she would not have believed in the God of the Israelites. However, after marrying an Israelite, she realised that the God of the Israelites is the true God. And she decided to live her life believing in that God. That is why Ruth said to Naomi, “Your God my God.”

Thus, Naomi returned to the village of Bethlehem with Ruth. But Naomi lived with great sadness, saying that God had made her unhappy. Moreover, there was even a rule in Israel at this time that people from Moab were not allowed to join them (Deuteronomy 23:4). What would happen to Ruth, a foreigner from the land of Moab? Wouldn’t Ruth be very unhappy? No, the Lord God had prepared a very wonderful path for Ruth, who believed in him and lived her life. It was the way to marry to Naomi’s relative, Boaz, and live a new life.

You may have wondered why you are so unhappy. However, God gives you mysterious guidance even in the midst of a life that seems unhappy. And when you live with faith in God, a new way of life opens up for you that you never thought possible.