If one were to anticipate reading a piece on the challenge of Jesus to all of us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him (Matthew 24:16), the chances are that Ruth 1:1-22 would not be the expected text from which to develop this theme. But I have chosen this portion of scripture because it not only illustrates what I think Jesus expects of us but it also has something to say about the meaning of tribulation and suffering as they relate to the cross. There is a bit of overlap between bearing our crosses and enduring tribulation; but they are also different in that one happens to us without our “permission” while the other is something we choose to take on although both involve pain and suffering.
Ruth was a Gentile who lived in Moab which bordered on the south-eastern side of Israel near the Dead Sea. She and her sister Orpah had been married to Jewish men who along with their parents had immigrated to Moab during a time of famine in Judah. Their mother-in-law’s name was Naomi. The two boys married these Gentile girls after their father had died. For ten years all went well for Naomi and her family but then her sons died thus leaving all three women without a male presence in their lives. In Biblical times that was not a good thing. The culture and economy was male dominated and the prospects for the women were dim. So Naomi decided that she ought to go back to Israel and try to reconnect with whatever family she had and the girls said they would like to follow her. Naomi courageously would hear none of this and she actually convinced Orpah to stay in her own land and seek a new life among her own people; but Ruth insisted on staying with her mother-in-law. She spoke with a great sense of urgency that is a gem of Biblical verse; she said to Naomi: “...Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried... (see Ruth 1:16-18).” In so doing she chose an uncertain future in a potentially hostile environment (Jews and Gentiles did not mix well) and embraced an elderly woman who really had nothing to offer but “blood sweat and tears.” Naomi herself was not a very encouraging fellow traveler because she felt God had abandoned her.
When the two women crossed the border and arrived in Bethlehem of Judea, “the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, ‘Can this be Naomi?’ Don’t call me Naomi she told them, call me Mara (which means bitter) because the Almighty has made my life very bitter-the Lord has afflicted me, the Almighty has brought misfortune on me (Ruth 3:20-22). Naomi was lonely and very discouraged because of circumstances in her life which made her feel miserable. She did not choose this “tribulation”, it was thrust upon her. To say her faith was being tested is an understatement. While Ruth had no clue regarding her glorious future, she, nevertheless, chose a path that didn’t seem to show much promise. The “smart money” was on Orpah who could remarry in her own land and culture and settle down to a reasonable life. I think Ruth was a young woman of faith who was being led by the Lord to a destiny which even she could not have imagined until, of course, she married a rich relative of Naomi’s and actually became part of the bloodline that produced the Messiah, the Son of God (see Matthew 1:5). And in time, Naomi found out that her name really was “pleasant” (the meaning of her name, NIV Study Bible text note for verse 20) instead of “bitter.” So Ruth had denied herself a more promising life in Moab, took up her cross of supporting her morose Mother-in-law, and indeed followed Naomi wherever she went and wherever she stayed.
Every cross seems to be a challenge beyond our capabilities, but when we choose our cross in faith, God promises us a more certain destiny that is far better than being cut to pieces by the enemy of our soul who would prefer to have us choose a life of “contented worldliness,” to borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis’ “The Skrewtape Letters,” chapter 5. So it’s the devil’s “switch blade” or the Lord’s call to make of us the men and women we were created to be. The cross we are offered should we choose to accept it in faith may include much suffering but it is the stuff out of which saints are made.
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