Trust - from the Book of Ruth
Trust – Ruth
I’m sure most of us remember the story of Ruth but I hope you’ll let me remind you of it briefly.
Elimelech leaves Bethlehem and goes to the neighbouring country of Moab to escape the famine in his homeland. Everything goes well for a while until age catches up and Elimelech dies leaving Naomi to raise her two sons on her own. They grow up and marry two Moabite women – Orpah and Ruth. But tragically Naomi’s sons Mahlon and Killion die. With no man to rpovide for them the three women are now destitute with no income and no protection.
Hearing that there is now food in Bethlehem Naomi decides to go back home so she and her two daughters start back. Naomi realises that it’s a big thing she’s asking of the girls and so tells them they shuld go back to Moab where as young women they wuld still have a chance to remarry.
Ast first both say they will stay with Naomi and go with her to Bethlehem but after Naomi presses them further Orpah says goodbye and goes back to Moab. But Ruth says she will go with Naomi
Verse 16 “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”"
What TRUST Ruth showed – she was prepared to leave everything she knew to go with her mother-in-law to a place she knew littleabout, where she would be a stranger and where she would have to rely on Naomi to learn the customs.
Part of this is that when she gets there Ruth goes out into the fields to glean for leftovers. Now while this was the custom of the Jews and she would have taken a certain amount of comfort from that knowing that she should be safe she must still be a little apprehensive.
Yet she TRUSTED Naomi and the workers in the field that she would be alright ad she would be able to get enough food for them both to eat.
As we know Ruth gleans in the field of Boaz – she doesn’t know how fortunate that is but Naomi does. When Boaz sees her he makes sure that his workers leave her more than is usual even inviting her to have food with them.
Her TRUST was being rewarded.
Now Naomi realises that the best thing she can do for Ruth is to secure her future by getting her married. Realising that as a relative Boaz had certain responsibilities in this regard she told Ruth to go and lay down with Boaz. According to custom by doing so and uncovering his feet Ruth was saying that she was interested in Boaz.
Did Ruth question this - after all it’s a bit like throwing yourself at a man – something I’m sure Ladies your mothers said you shouldn’t do!
We don’t know whether she questioned or not but we do know Ruth went and did what Naomi told her.
She TRUSTED Naomi.
Well of course everthing turned out for the best when Boaz sought and gained the right to marry Ruth.
In time they ahd a son – Obed who’se grandson – Daivd would become the greatest Isaelite king, a man after God’s own heart and the ancestor of the incarnate Jesus.
There are many lessons we can take from Ruth but today I want to concentrate on TRUST.
There were many times in Ruth’s life when she didn’t know what was going to happen in the future. Her husbad died, she moved to a new country, she need to get land and she sought after a husband.
Many years later Ruth’s descenedant Jesus said this – Matthew 28:20
"Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”"
In effect Jesus was saying that his disciples could TRUST him because he would be there with them as they did as he commanded
Yesterday I was talking with a group opf 6 – 11 year olds about trust. When I asked them when it was important to trust God – I got answers like – when we move house and when I’m being punished for doing something that I didn’t do!
What about you – as you go about your daily lives – what is it that God is calling you to trust him for? Is it to trust him for your future? To trust him about your home? To trust him about our health
Yes he call us to trust throughout our lives – his words to the disciples were to us also and they have only one time limit – the end of the age when he will come again to establish God’s kingdom on earth. There is no age limit to when we should stop trusting God.
Just as Ruth trusted others so we must continue to TRUST God throughout our entire lives.