Restoration & Salvation - Part One

Ruth & Queen Esther, My two favorite women of the Bible. One brought Restoration & the other brought Salvation.

The book of Ruth is an ancient story that follows the journey of one Jewish family's struggle for survival. Escaping famine, Elimelech traveled to Moab with his wife, Naomi, and two sons. But ten years later, we find Naomi in mourning at the loss of both her husband and sons. She is left alone in a foreign land with two Moabite daughters-in-law and no hope of future happiness, or it seems. Naomi is a woman who forgot her dream, but God had not forgotten her. God restores her joy through her daughter-in-law, Ruth.

When Ruth's husband died, Her mother-in-law, Naomi, had decided to return to Bethlehem. When she urged Ruth and her sister-in-law to stay in Moab, Orpah chose to stay among her people and pagan gods. Ruth, chose to follow her mother-in-law to the land of Judah.

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. 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 chose to be loyal to Naomi, even though it meant going through some tough times and not knowing how life would turn out. Boaz,a distant relative of Naomi, saw Ruth's loyalty and faithfulness to Naomi and her hard work to earn enough to take care of Naomi and herself.

Through Boaz & Ruth, restoration is brought back to Naomi. They got married, had a baby boy and Naomi said, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who gives an old woman like me grandchildren and a loyal daughter-in-law. She is better than seven sons!"

In Judah Ruth found new hope, a new husband, and a place in the genealogy of the Messiah. New life can come from the tragedy of death. (John 12:24) We've all lost someone dear, leaving an emptiness in our hearts. We go on, but we ache for their presence.

What do we do in the face of death? Do we blame God, as Naomi did? Do we stay in the nowhere land, as Orpah did? Or do we let God weave our grief into a new story, as Ruth did?

Our faith promises new life. God knows the deaths we've experienced. His plans for us are good, though they look different than we expected. We need to learn to rest in the knowledge that God uses every circumstance to strengthen our faith in Him. When we think that life as we know it is over, remember the One who said "I make all things new." (Rev. 21:5)