Read Ruth 1:3–10
THE LONGEST JOURNEY
Where will you be travelling this Christmas? Whether it’s overdue catch-ups
with friends or long trips to see far-flung relatives, we’re used to meaningful
journeys at this time of year.
Yesterday, Elimelek, Naomi and their two sons made a journey from
Bethlehem to Moab. But things don’t turn out the way they hoped.
Within just ten years of arriving in Moab, Naomi had faced three family
funerals, losing her husband and both of her sons (vv. 3, 5). It’s hard to
imagine such grief. And for a woman in that culture, it meant she’d lost
everything: status, security, provision. Moab had promised life, but brought
only death.
It was time to return home.
TURNING BACK
Naomi’s decision to return seems initially prompted by news that
Bethlehem’s famine is over: ‘the Lord had come to the aid of his people by
providing food for them’ (v. 6).
But she may not return alone. Her sons had each married Moabite girls,
Orpah and Ruth. The rest of the chapter unpacks an incredibly moving
conversation between the three of them as Naomi tries to convince her
daughters-in-law to remain in their homeland.
Strikingly, the Hebrew verb ‘to return or turn’ occurs twelve times in this
dialogue (though not all show in our English translations).
WHERE KINDNESS IS FOUND
We’re being shown that Naomi isn’t just going on a physical journey. As we’ll
see, this book is all about her spiritual journey, as she rediscovers who the
Lord really is.
For example, Naomi seems spiritually confused in chapter 1. She is
hopeful that Ruth and Orpah will experience the Lord’s ‘kindness’ in Moab
(v. 8). But this Hebrew word, hesed, spoke of God’s special covenant love.
Any self-respecting Israelite would know that the place of God’s covenant
blessing was Israel, not Moab!
And does Naomi really expect her daughters-in-law to find ‘rest in the
home of another husband’, as she says in verse 9? After all, that certainly
hadn’t been Naomi’s experience.
HOPE IN BETHLEHEM
But Naomi’s journey is one with which many of us will identify. We can all
find it difficult to rest in God’s promises. We all have seasons of struggling to
trust God is for us. And so the repeated language of ‘turning’ gently
encourages us to consider which direction we are turned: towards Moab or
Bethlehem?
As Naomi turns back to Bethlehem, she is actually turning back to the
Lord, the God of steadfast kindness. So what journey have you been on this
year? And which direction are you now facing?
For Christians, every day is full of countless ‘little’ moments of turning
away from God. That’s why daily habits that help us turn back ‘home’ to
Christ in repentance and faith are so important.
But maybe we’re in a season where we’ve been persistently looking for
hope in the wrong places? These verses invite us to return from ‘Moab’ and
find hope and life in Jesus Christ, the perfect expression of God’s loving
kindness. It’s time to come home.
REFLECTION
How do you need to turn back from ‘Moab’ at the moment? Where are you
searching vainly for a false hope? Pray that as you prepare for Christmas, your
heart would be daily turned towards Christ as your source of hope and rest.
Listen to ‘There Blooms a Rose in Bethlehem’ by Sovereign Grace Music.