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| Ruth 1:19-22 |
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Lesson # Ruth. 1:19-22 Study Material - Ruth. 1:19-22 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Ruth 1:19-22 19 So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came about when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, 'Is this Naomi?' 20 And she said to them, 'Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?' 22 So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. They two, 'yalak shenayim', are in the masculine. They endured a hard trip from Moab to Bethlehem. Two women alone, trudging along the road. They were not challenged along the way, so there was some semblance of safety in traveling. Then they arrived in Bethlehem, the city of bread. Naomi was recognized and her appearance caused quite a stir. As she states herself, she had left some ten years or so earlier, in a state of fullness. She had her husband, her sons, and whatever possessions they had at the time. Many of these people in Bethlehem did not leave because of the harvest. Naomi and family did not leave in a state of poverty, but were reasonably well off. They just made a decision to move to Moab. Probably the wrong decision if you were to look at it from a purely logical view. They probably should have remained in Bethlehem and road out the famine. They did not. From the view of Ruth, they made a decision that would alter her life forever. If Naomi had never left then she would never have met Ruth and the rest of this story might be quite different. Many things happen in life that we do not have control over. Many things in life happen that affect us and even redirect our entire lives. The famine drove Naomi and family away. Death brought her back. Naomi was seen by those who had known her. Her friends had not forgotten her. Her obvious condition caused a stir in the city. Once a happy and delightful person, now she wishes to be known as Mara, 'bitterness', but that new name never took hold. She was depressed for sure, but under that exterior emotional low, was still her sound nature and personality. She was and remained, Naomi, a pleasant and delightful person. She returned at the time of the barley harvest. Back in those days, barley was the first harvest in March/April. This harvest was followed by the wheat harvest. The mention of the barley gives us a date certainly, but it is here mentioned not because of the date, but because of her condition. She was in a poor state. Barley was used as a feed for livestock. It was also used as poor mans food. The Midianites saw Gideon as barley cakes rolling down into their camp and destroying them. Gideon was from a poor family, and Gideon the least of that family, if you recall the story. Our lives can go full circle from poverty, to prosperity, to poverty and so forth. God is able to bring us to any state He desires. Naomi could have, in her bitterness (and it is easy to be bitter when times are hard), set out to blame anyone and everyone. She could have blamed her husband for making the decision to leave. While in Bethlehem she enjoyed her friends obviously and had a very good rapport with many of the people in Bethlehem. She could have blamed the economy. She could have blamed God for taking her husband and her sons leaving her helpless in a foreign land. She could have prayed to God for special curses on whom ever she feels has caused her problems (fools only fall for this false sense of vindication). But she did none of these. Neither did she become self righteous, or fall into some form of 'poor me' attitude. We are often met with trying times in life. The worst thing we can do is to search out someone to blame, to be vindictive towards, to retaliate against, to take revenge and so forth. If you feel you have been wronged (we all have been there) by someone, you'll never change anything in life by focusing your thoughts and life on that target of your anger. Better to let go and take the loss, and move forward. God has total control over the times and the events in our lives. That is worth repeating. God has total control over the times and the events in our lives. We do not. We cannot control the economy (the famine). We cannot control the time of death of our loved ones (Naomi's family). What we can control is our decision as to where we are going to go in life (back to Bethlehem, back to Bible study, back to the city of bread). God, Jesus Christ is the bread of life. Naomi and Ruth made that right choice. The trip was difficult. They could have turned back anytime. Ruth was going to a foreign land, from her perspective. She could have easily turned back as her sister-in-law did. She did not. Life deals out to us, hard times and we can either become bitter (Naomi tried to be bitter, but it wasn't in her), or we can look forward, pick up our lives and move on. Picking ourselves up is simply getting back into fellowship, or remaining there, and continuing our daily study. God will place everything in order and take care of all of the details in His own good time.
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
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