Monday's Devo - The Best is Yet to Come

Read Ruth 1
Verse 1 begins, "in the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a sever famine came upon the land." which tells me two things: they were doing "whatever seemed good to them" and they were not pleasing God or there would not be a famine. A famine always means God's judgement because the people are dying for a lack of truth (bread). "Bethlehem" means "house of bread" and they have to leave there and go to the land of Moab because there is no bread. The Moabites were the ancestors of Lot's incestruous relationship with one of his daughters. Elimelech and Naomi have 2 sons: Mahlon (which means "sick") and Chilion (which means "pining and destruction") What a picture of the state of Israel. Elimelech dies and the two sons marry Moabite women Ruth and Orpah. "Ruth" means "friend" where "Orpah" means "stiff-necked". Ten years later both Mahlon and Chilion die. The number 10 means a test or a judgement. The time of testing for God's children is over and now there is bread in Judah.
Naomi decides to go back. He daughters-in-law decide to go with her. On the way Naomi tries to discourage them from going with her. They are faced with the decision every person is faced with... try God and the unknown or go back to the world and the familiar. And true to human nature one decides to follow and one decides to go back. Orpah turns and Ruth remains. Ruth goes into her most quoted speech. She vows to go where Naomi goes, to become one of her people, follow her God and die where she dies.
When they get to Naomi's home town everyone welcomes her with great joy. She changes her name from "Ruth" meaning "pleasant, grace, beauty" to "Mara" which means "sorrow" because she has lost everything. She feels much like the disciples did after Jesus had died....lost and alone. In fact, it is the same season of the year. Passover has passed. The hope is in the last verse: "They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest." The barley harvest means Pentecost which is the birth of the church. This whole book is a book to the church fortelling its story. If only Naomi knew the best was yet to come!