THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

April 29, 2020

LIFE IN THE FOLD:

I heard someone recently say that when telling a story, you have to decide whose perspective to tell it from. Each person involved plays a different role, so they will see it from their perspective. For instance, I've heard Jon, his brother, and mom discuss events that happened in their family years ago. Both boys tend to view it much differently from how their mom does. Why? Because they remember it from their viewpoints as the children in the home, and their mom remembers it from a parent's perspective.

When we read stories in the Bible, how we perceive the story often depends on whose point of view we are reading it from. For example, when we read about the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15, we will see it from different aspects and think about it differently if we read it from the prodigals perspective.... or if we read it from the father's.... or if we read it and think about from the perspective of the brother who stayed home. All three had different experiences, had differing emotions, and viewed what happened in very different ways.

I have recently been thinking about the story of Ruth. Most times we read the book from Ruth's perspective and think about it as her personal story. But I've been contemplating it from Naomi's point of view and how this story plays out for her life.

The happenings in the book of Ruth takes place sometime during the days of the judges, although it's not mentioned exactly when. Naomi and her husband were Israelites living in Bethlehem, which if you remember is the town in which Jesus was born. A famine takes place in the land. Elimelech, who was Naomi's husband, decides to take his family to Moab to live during this time. Perhaps his intent was to go there to find work for a short period of time, then take his wife and two sons back to Bethlehem when things got better. There is no mention whether or not anyone else from Bethlehem traveled with them, but only mentions this particular family choosing to leave their home in order to go elsewhere for the duration of the famine. It seems as if it was only their family who left, and everyone else stayed and managed to survive in Bethlehem.

The saying is that the grass is always greener on the other side. Elimelech may have heard stories about how well things were in Moab and thought that he would be able to make a better living and that their lives would be much easier there than in Bethlehem.

Even though it seems as if Bethlehem and Moab were on good terms during this time and that Elimelech and Naomi were accepted, the Moabites served false gods, not the one true God.

Before the family could make their journey back to Bethlehem, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi and her two sons in Moab. Instead of going back home to where their family lived, Naomi chose to remain there, and the two boys married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth.

They all lived there in Moab for ten years, but during that time, both women remained barren and neither bore a child. Then both sons died. It seems as if they both died about the same time. No details are given on the cause of death.... just that both died; which left Naomi without a husband or children.

Naomi heard that God had provided food for His children in Bethlehem, so she decided that she and her two daughters-in-law should return to her homeland. They had no local news or internet or telephones, so things in Bethlehem may have been doing well for quite some time by the time Naomi got word. She may have heard it from traders in the marketplace that traveled from town to town selling their wares.

So Naomi and both daughters-in-law headed down the road out of Moab to return to the land of Judah. I've read conflicting information on the distance from Moab to Bethlehem, but it was somewhere between 30-50 miles and all agree that it would have been a 7-10 day walk. It is mountainous terrain that is steep and rugged, so not an easy journey. These women would have to sleep and cook outdoors, and carry whatever belongings and supplies that they wanted to take with them. They had no men to protect them or help carry their load.

Somewhere along the road, Naomi decided that her two daughters-in-law should stay there in Moab in their homeland, instead of traveling back to her family in Bethlehem. She encourages them each to go back to the mother's house. She says, "May God show you the same kindness that you have shown for my dead sons and for me. May God grant that you find rest, each of you in the house of your own husband."

"No!" they said to her, "we will return with you to your people."

But again, Naomi told them to leave her and go back home. "Why should you go with me? Do I have more sons in my womb who could become your husbands? Go home, my daughters! I am too old to even have a husband." She told them that even if it were possible for her to get married and bear sons, would they wait for them to grow up and hold off getting married until that happened?

I believe that there was more going on in Naomi's heart at that moment. Apparently, her original plan was to take her two daughters-in-law back to Bethlehem with her, because they all left together after her making the decision to go. But perhaps as they begin to walk, doubt of her family accepting these two Moabite women begin to take root in her mind. After all, Moses had spoken out about intermarriage between the Israelites and foreigners. These women in all likelihood looked and dressed as others in their culture, and Naomi may have thought, "What am I doing?! I can't take these two women back to homeland with me. I'm not even sure who will be willing to take me in; but to ask someone to take in and feed two additional woman, who are foreigners, is too much. What if they won't accept me, due to my sons having married these Moabite women? I'd have a better chance of finding a home and hiding the embarrassment of having Moabite daughters-in-law if I arrive alone."

The women broke into loud weeping, but finally, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye and turned to go back to her family in Moab. Nothing else is written about her, so we have no idea of her outcome.

But Ruth was tenacious and stood firmly beside Naomi's side.

Naomi's next words that she spoke, trying to convince Ruth one last time to return back to her family, is somewhat troubling. Perhaps it shows that while living among the Moabite people, her faith in God had weakened. She may not have had others to worship with during those years and it had grown easy to accept the idol worship and practices of those around her. She may have grown accustomed to the Moabite culture, where their sinful lifestyles and serving false gods were all around her, that she saw it as normal and "just how life is".

Hasn't our culture done the same? Things that used to be seen as blatant sin is now "not right", but we have grown accustomed to it. We watch things on TV that we would never participate in or practice as a lifestyle, but accept it as normal or part of our culture. We don't want to be seen as holier than thou or rude or unaccepting, so in our attempt to love the sinner, we accept the sinful behavior as "their choice". We often allow ourselves to adapt to our culture, so we don't appear as odd or set apart from others. But the truth is, believers are called to be set apart! We are not to just blend in with the world around us, but we are to be lights in the darkness. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus, ministering to those around us. We are to speak truth and righteousness. We are to be bold in our faith. We are to be empowered to be the body of Christ, the Church!

Naomi tells Ruth, "Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Return, along with your sister-in-law!"

Naomi knew that she was sending these young girls back to families who worshipped gods! She plainly said this to Ruth. "Hey, Orpah is returning back to her people and her gods, so run along with her and do the same!"

Those are not words of a woman who has a strong, deep faith in God! She didn't say, "Remember all that my sons and I have taught you about the one true God! Go tell your people about Him so that they will know and believe in Him!" Naomi knew what she was sending them back to, yet she encouraged them to go back to their gods.

In this situation, a young lady who had been raised with idols and false gods, showed more tenacity and faith than the older woman, who had been raised amongst the Israelites who believed in and taught there was truly only one God!

Ruth replied, "Don't plead with me to abandon you and turn from following you. For where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God."

Ruth made a declaration and commitment that God would be her God! She chose to turn her back on her people and all of the gods that she had been brought up knowing about and worshipping. She turned her face towards Bethlehem, determined to make the people there her people, and determined that their God would be her God.

After that, Naomi dropped the subject and didn't bring it up again.

The two women arrived in Bethlehem and all the people were excited to see them. But apparently, Naomi looked different arriving back in town than she had when she had left. The woman asked, "Is this Naomi?" I'm sure she had aged, but I believe that there was more to it than that. I believe that Naomi's countenance was different after having lived in a land for all of those years that didn't revere the one true God. Her heart had grown bitter after losing her husband and both sons. She was probably disheartened and disappointed that neither daughter-in-law had borne children that would have made her a grandmother.

Naomi didn't say, "I'm exhausted from the journey;" or "My heart is still grieved from losing my husband and sons;" or "I am troubled about my daughter-in-law, Orpah, who has gone back to live with her people and serve their gods."

"Do not call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, since God has made my life bitter. I went away full, but God has brought me back empty. Why should you call me Naomi, since God has testified against me and brought calamity on me?"

Many times when life brings about hardships and calamity happens, we want to blame someone or something. We want to know why it happened or the purpose and reasoning behind it. So if all else fails and we can't come up with an answer that makes sense to us, blame is put on God.

"God, You could have prevented this from happening to me! You could have healed my spouse and children so they wouldn't have died! You could have kept them safe and protected! You could have prevented the famine from happening in the first place! I was trying my best to do everything right, and because of everything that happened, I had to leave my people behind in Bethlehem and go live in a place that was foreign to me so we could be fed and my husband have a job. Then You let him die.... then, if that wasn't enough, You took both of my sons. You didn't even leave me one son who would take care of me. You didn't even allow the bloodline of my family to be carried on; but both daughters-in-law were barren and neither conceived a child so that I could have a reminder of my sons. I have a right to be bitter!"

I think sometimes we have this image of Naomi of being this sweet, gentle woman filled with godliness. Yes, she endured hardships, but her daughters-in-law loved her so much that they couldn't bear to be parted with her! But I don't really think that's how it was. I think she had some heart issues that needed to be dealt with.

Naomi had allowed circumstances to steal her joy and make her bitter. Orpah and Ruth may have loved her, but they also may have believed that life in Bethlehem would be much better than back with their people in Moab. They were both willing to make the journey with Naomi; even though it was a tough 7-10 day walk and they'd be out on the roads all by themselves. Orpah may have felt like Naomi really didn't want her to go with her after she kept telling her to go back to her own people. She may have thought, "Will my life be any better if I go on with Naomi, who obviously doesn't want me to go with her, than it would be with my own family? At least I know what to expect from them, but have no idea what life will be like in Bethlehem."

Ruth may have learned enough about God from her husband that there was something within her that wanted to go learn more about Him. She knew if she stayed in Moab with her people, that she might fall back into idol worship; but if she went to Judah then she would be able to hear and learn more about God. Perhaps her husband had been more dedicated in his belief in God and had talked to Ruth more about Him, than Orpah's husband had told her. She was determined, not to take the beliefs of her gods to Bethlehem and try to change the people to be like her; but to go and be like them and worship their God.

Ruth also was determined to take care of her mother-in-law and make sure that her needs were met. She very likely had the heart of a servant, much like Martha, where she wanted to make sure that Naomi had someone with her on her journey.... had someone with her to make sure that she had a place to live and food to eat upon her arrival.... and felt responsible for caring for her since her husband and sons had died.

Later we read where Naomi played matchmaker between Boaz and Ruth. Thankfully, that worked out well and ultimately was God's plan for Ruth. Even in her bitterness, God used Naomi to play a part in sending Ruth to Boaz, who was a relative of her husband. I'm not sure if Naomi's aim was completely pure in doing so, or if she wanted to make sure that she and Ruth had a home to live in and were taken care of. But nevertheless, God's plan was fulfilled for Ruth and Boaz. And ultimately, God showed His love for Naomi and once again brought joy to her life.

Boaz and Ruth were married and God enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. This son was the grandfather of King David.

The women came to Naomi and said, "Blessed be God, who has not left you without a close relative. May his name be famous throughout Israel. Moreover, He will be to you a renewer of life, and a sustainer of your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him." Naomi took the child and held it to her bosom, and took care of him.

If you are harboring bitterness in your heart, let it go! If you are blaming God for circumstances that have happened in your life, forgive and allow Him to bring healing. Allow joy to replace bitterness and stop looking for someone to blame. God may be building character and strength in you so that you will be prepared for His plan for your life.

Often it's all about perspective. Our perspective of a situation very likely isn't the same as God's will be. But ask Him to show you His perspective and to direct your thoughts and plans so that each day that He has recorded in His book for your life will be lived out according to His words.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

People can change a lot in ten years. But I'm not sure Naomi changed much. She and her family gave up on life in Israel. They packed up and moved away to another town. I'm sure God had sent prophets to tell the people to turn to Him, and He would bring rain to the crops. A lot of people stayed, and waited on God's promises. But Naomi's family left.

Over the next ten years, they could have picked up and moved back. But they didn't, until Naomi became dissatisfied again. She had to lose her husband and sons, and probably any hope of a prosperous life before she would turn back.

That seems to be a common theme, sometimes for an individual, and sometimes for an entire nation. We tend to look to God till things don't go well, then give up on Him. Then if we have good times, we don't give Him a single thought. It's only when we become desperate for rescue that we turn to Him.

There's no need to wait. We can turn to Him any time. Hard times might still come, but we can get through them with support.

ON THE MENEWE:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Place all ingredients in a crockpot and cook until everything is melted and heated through. Stir well. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

Our dog has been a tad cranky lately to Jon. Sometimes he loves Jon... sometimes he growls at him and snaps. We've tried everything we can think of! We've looked up information online that might help figure out what his problem is. He loves me, follows me around (like a little puppy dog!), and is protective of me. But he has a love/hate relationship with Jon. So we decided that I would no longer give Sammie treats, only Jon would. We decided that Jon was going to shower Sammie with kindness. That is starting to be effective! Every once in a while he will get growly, but that is happening less often. He is starting to warm up to Jon, be more obedient, and friendlier.

Honestly, isn't it the same way with people sometimes? We can do everything we can think of to be nice and befriend them and they may reciprocate at times; then they will turn on us and growl and snap. We don't understand why or what is going on with them! It's easy during those moments to give up and decide that it's not worth the work. But sometimes we may need to make a conscious effort to shower them with kindness. (Another way that we used to word it is to kill them with kindness!) When they growl, be kind. When they snap, be kind. Wait and see if their hearts won't soften and they begin to change and become kind in return.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Love is not only what God does, it's Who He is! - Christine Caine

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org