Obedient Godly Women of Old....Ruth
Greetings sisters!
I pray you are all standing strong today?! I thought it would be good to take a look at the godly women of old to gain encouragement from their obedience or learn from their mistakes. I won't go into great detail on the books themselves and the theology within them, but just examine the lives of the women and learn from them.
The first on I want to start with is Ruth because she was a great encouragement to me as a new believer. As we read through the book of Ruth we see that Naomi lost both her husband and two sons which left her and her two daughters in law. She encourages both Ruth and Orpah to go back to their families:
And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
Ruth 1:8
We see that they were kind to their mother in law yet Orpah decides to go back to her people and this is what Naomi says to Ruth:
And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
Ruth 1:15
That's very important because we see that Orpah returned to her 'gods', but we see Ruth doing otherwise.
Ruth stays with Naomi and follows after Naomi's God, the God of Israel, not the false 'gods' of her people.
Thus far we see a compassionate and kind woman in Ruth, vowing to stay with Naomi and that she has wisdom in forsaking her 'gods' and trusting in the God of Israel. When they get to Bethlehem we see Ruth working very hard to provide for herself and Naomi. It had to be a hard, back breaking job in the fields all day and then threshing it afterwards before going back into the city (which shows she had to walk a ways both to the fields and back.) Boaz sees all this and tells her:
If we notice, we see her leaving her father, mother, land she knew and came into a people she didn't know and the corresponding archetype to us today, leaving our own father, mother, native life we knew and becoming part of the body of Christ (which makes us foreigners here). What great trust she had in God in order to follow Naomi to a land that she was unfamiliar with and not a people of. Her reward of that trust is great because she is called virtuous:
And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.
Ruth 3:11
What a great testimony to these people that she was known as a virtuous woman. The culmination of her reward of her faithfulness is shown here:
She was a part of the lineage of our Savior! Our reward, if we follow after our Savior, is the hope of eternal life with our Father in Heaven, being with all those who walked before us!
How awesome for us to be witness to her life before us, reminding us that we all have life struggles, whatever they may be and that if we remain steadfast in the faith, through our obedience, we will be rewarded. Amen.
Is that encouraging to you? It sure is for me:-)
On another note, Naomi, who had been saying God turned against her, was blessed as well.
Have a joyous day and I leave you with a picture from a saint in a foreign land...
Blessings to you.
Sister Deb
I pray you are all standing strong today?! I thought it would be good to take a look at the godly women of old to gain encouragement from their obedience or learn from their mistakes. I won't go into great detail on the books themselves and the theology within them, but just examine the lives of the women and learn from them.
The first on I want to start with is Ruth because she was a great encouragement to me as a new believer. As we read through the book of Ruth we see that Naomi lost both her husband and two sons which left her and her two daughters in law. She encourages both Ruth and Orpah to go back to their families:
And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
Ruth 1:8
We see that they were kind to their mother in law yet Orpah decides to go back to her people and this is what Naomi says to Ruth:
And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
Ruth 1:15
That's very important because we see that Orpah returned to her 'gods', but we see Ruth doing otherwise.
And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
Ruth 1:16-17Ruth stays with Naomi and follows after Naomi's God, the God of Israel, not the false 'gods' of her people.
Thus far we see a compassionate and kind woman in Ruth, vowing to stay with Naomi and that she has wisdom in forsaking her 'gods' and trusting in the God of Israel. When they get to Bethlehem we see Ruth working very hard to provide for herself and Naomi. It had to be a hard, back breaking job in the fields all day and then threshing it afterwards before going back into the city (which shows she had to walk a ways both to the fields and back.) Boaz sees all this and tells her:
And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Ruth 2:11-12If we notice, we see her leaving her father, mother, land she knew and came into a people she didn't know and the corresponding archetype to us today, leaving our own father, mother, native life we knew and becoming part of the body of Christ (which makes us foreigners here). What great trust she had in God in order to follow Naomi to a land that she was unfamiliar with and not a people of. Her reward of that trust is great because she is called virtuous:
And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.
Ruth 3:11
What a great testimony to these people that she was known as a virtuous woman. The culmination of her reward of her faithfulness is shown here:
And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
Ruth 4:17:22She was a part of the lineage of our Savior! Our reward, if we follow after our Savior, is the hope of eternal life with our Father in Heaven, being with all those who walked before us!
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:5-10How awesome for us to be witness to her life before us, reminding us that we all have life struggles, whatever they may be and that if we remain steadfast in the faith, through our obedience, we will be rewarded. Amen.
Is that encouraging to you? It sure is for me:-)
On another note, Naomi, who had been saying God turned against her, was blessed as well.
Have a joyous day and I leave you with a picture from a saint in a foreign land...
Blessings to you.
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...