Going My Way
Notes
Transcript
Ruth 1:
16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”
Week 2
*I want to make it clear. I’m not wedding shaming anyone. When these texts. If you used any of these scriptures or want to use these scriptures in your wedding go ahead. My goal is to show you how they are much more than flowery words that 2 people say to each other. They are words, phrases, and verses that have impact on entire communities. *
The Veil: “For 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. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”
Ruth Third Speech and Response Cycle (1:15–18)
Few who use it in that context are aware of the original setting of these lines as the commitment of one woman to another, one widow to another, a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. Equally missing is the sense that one of the parties is resisting the express desire of the other as these words are spoken. Thus the opening line, “do not press me to leave you,” would be inappropriate in wedding ceremonies and is rarely cited.
—> The set-up
—> Naomi and Elimelech and their 2 sons move from Bethlehem to Moab to escape the famine
—> the 2 sons marry 2 Moabite women Orpah and Ruth
—> Elimelech and the 2 sons die leaving Naomi with her daughters in-law Orpah and Ruth
—> Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem and wants to leave Orpah and Ruth with their own people, their own families in Moab.
—> 16But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you.
—> I’m not going anywhere
—> I’m right by your side now and always
—> Even when we get to where we are going I’ll stay with you. I’m not going back.
—> For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.
—> I’m going to your end destination with you (which in this case happens to be Bethleham)
—> I’m going to be with you all along the way step for step
—> “lodge” “stay” literally means the place where you will spend the night
—> Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
—> I’m leaving my religion, my traditions behind, I’m leaving my gods.
—> I will do what it takes to become one of your people and follow your God.
—> Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
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—> 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.
—> This doesn’t mean as much to us but in ancient times and in other cultures even today this is a big deal.
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The biblical narrative of the transporting of Joseph’s bones back from Egypt to land purchased by his father Jacob (; cf. ) illustrates this tradition.
Sakenfeld, K. D. (1999). Ruth (p. 33). Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
—> Many times even when people move about they are still buried in their homeland with their own “people” to be together in the afterlife.
—> Ruth is leaving her people, her home, not only for this time but for all time. Even the afterlife. She is committed to Naomi from now until forever.
—> May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.
—> She seals it with an oath and a curse.
—> There are obvious parallels and easy tie in’s to the marriage ceremony in this text, but there is a much deeper commitment than we usually see. This isn’t a commitment just to a person but to God.
The Wisdom: Commitment matters, but it is important to know where to place that commitment and what we are really committing ourselves to.
—> I would propose that instead of seeing this as a commitment from one person to another we see it as a person committing themselves to God and apply it in our own context.
—> What if we used this for a model of evangelism?
—> We play the role of a happier Naomi
—> engage someone in relationship
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