WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.140 Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the daily bible reading experience. 00:00:03.257 --> 00:00:04.487 Day 100 and 81 00:00:07.536 --> 00:00:08.406 immersed in Ruth. 00:00:10.746 --> 00:00:14.976 The book of Judges ends with a disturbing depiction of how bad things had gotten. 00:00:15.876 --> 00:00:17.766 And those days, Israel had no king. 00:00:18.546 --> 00:00:21.246 All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. 00:00:22.416 --> 00:00:25.656 But the Book of Ruth shows that Israel wasn't universally corrupt. 00:00:26.301 --> 00:00:30.501 Some Israelites actually did follow God's merciful and compassionate ways 00:00:31.161 --> 00:00:36.111 in the days when the judges ruled in telling this remarkable story of Ruth. 00:00:36.591 --> 00:00:39.891 The book reveals a crucial link from the period of the judges to 00:00:39.896 --> 00:00:43.281 the stories of Israel's kings that follow in the Book of Samuel Kings. 00:00:44.061 --> 00:00:46.971 It concludes with the surprising connection to the future appearance 00:00:46.971 --> 00:00:49.131 of Israel's famous King David. 00:00:50.271 --> 00:00:54.531 The book of Ruth tells a single story and is written like a short drama or play. 00:00:55.326 --> 00:00:59.256 First, the narrative stage is set, and then a series of brief dramatic scenes 00:00:59.256 --> 00:01:01.956 appear because of a famine in the land. 00:01:02.196 --> 00:01:06.216 An Israelite woman named Naomi moves to the neighboring country of Moab 00:01:06.246 --> 00:01:08.196 with her husband and sons to find food. 00:01:08.976 --> 00:01:11.766 They settle there and her sons marry Moabite women. 00:01:12.136 --> 00:01:17.556 The stories conflict arises through the multiple tragedies that Naomi endures 00:01:17.946 --> 00:01:19.776 and her subsequent struggle to survive. 00:01:20.676 --> 00:01:24.366 As the story unfolds, Naomi decides to return home to Israel. 00:01:25.281 --> 00:01:26.541 I went away full. 00:01:26.931 --> 00:01:31.041 She sadly tells her friends, but the Lord has brought me home empty. 00:01:31.911 --> 00:01:34.851 Naomi now joined by her Moab by daughter-in-law. 00:01:34.856 --> 00:01:39.381 Ruth faces the considerable hardship of being a single woman with no 00:01:39.381 --> 00:01:44.872 male heir in an ancient patriarchal culture, we discover that Naomi and 00:01:45.021 --> 00:01:49.041 Ruth both have deep reservoirs of inner strength and resourcefulness. 00:01:49.851 --> 00:01:54.111 They face the significant challenges in their lives together with courage, daring. 00:01:54.516 --> 00:01:55.326 Hard work. 00:01:56.226 --> 00:01:56.766 Along the way. 00:01:56.766 --> 00:02:01.566 They encounter Boaz, a faithful and compassionate Israelite who 00:02:01.566 --> 00:02:04.416 proves to be a refuge to the women by following the provisions in 00:02:04.416 --> 00:02:06.096 Israel's law to help the poor. 00:02:07.296 --> 00:02:10.146 We see that God is at work throughout the story from the way 00:02:10.146 --> 00:02:13.266 that people keep showing up in the right place at the right time. 00:02:14.436 --> 00:02:18.756 We can learn much from this brief, but richly crafted story of Ruth and Naomi. 00:02:19.566 --> 00:02:22.206 God is directly involved in our own human dramas. 00:02:22.206 --> 00:02:22.236 I. 00:02:22.896 --> 00:02:28.566 Working in ways we cannot always see and understand, so we must faithfully press 00:02:28.566 --> 00:02:33.576 on and play our own parts in the story well creatively using all the resources 00:02:33.576 --> 00:02:37.806 and gifts he provides, including the help of other people living in God's story. 00:02:38.616 --> 00:02:43.146 This book also plays a part in the story of God's covenant faithfulness simply 00:02:43.146 --> 00:02:47.106 stated, like Judges, the Book of Ruth supports the right of David's house to 00:02:47.106 --> 00:02:49.686 rule in Israel, but there's a problem. 00:02:50.346 --> 00:02:53.946 As the genealogy at the end of the book reveals, David is the great 00:02:53.946 --> 00:02:58.116 grandson of Ruth, the Moabite, because the Moabites refused to 00:02:58.116 --> 00:03:01.356 provide the Israelites with food and water when they escaped from Egypt. 00:03:01.896 --> 00:03:05.196 A declaration was made in the law of Moses that none of their descendants 00:03:05.196 --> 00:03:09.216 should be accepted into the Israelite community for 10 generations. 00:03:10.086 --> 00:03:14.376 David was a fourth generation descendant of a Moabite, so how could 00:03:14.376 --> 00:03:16.416 he legitimately be Israel's king? 00:03:17.871 --> 00:03:21.621 The Book of Ruth shows that David's Moabite ancestor was a woman of 00:03:21.621 --> 00:03:23.571 true faith in the God of Israel. 00:03:24.321 --> 00:03:28.791 Beyond this, she did provide a desperate Israelite Naomi with the help she 00:03:28.791 --> 00:03:33.621 needed, and in this way, Ruth effectively redress the wrongs of her ancestors. 00:03:33.991 --> 00:03:38.811 At the end of the book, the Women of Bethlehem accept Ruth and pray that you 00:03:38.811 --> 00:03:43.671 will be another great ancestor for the community like Rachel and Leah, from 00:03:43.676 --> 00:03:45.801 whom all the nation of Israel descended. 00:03:46.851 --> 00:03:49.551 Those prayers are answered when she becomes a mother 00:03:49.551 --> 00:03:51.081 in the royal line of David. 00:03:51.921 --> 00:03:56.631 Significantly, the genealogy at the end of the book lists 10 generations leading up 00:03:56.631 --> 00:04:01.431 to King David, showing the old prohibition regarding the Moabites to be overcome 00:04:01.941 --> 00:04:06.741 and the wider purposes of God to bring blessing to all the nations of Earth. 00:04:13.311 --> 00:04:14.391 The Book of Ruth. 00:04:16.611 --> 00:04:20.331 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe 00:04:20.331 --> 00:04:22.101 famine came upon the land. 00:04:22.911 --> 00:04:27.501 So a man from Bethlehem and Judah left his home and went to live 00:04:27.501 --> 00:04:31.641 in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 00:04:32.781 --> 00:04:37.071 The man's name was Ek, and his wife was Naomi. 00:04:37.821 --> 00:04:41.091 Their two sons were Maan and Killian. 00:04:41.901 --> 00:04:46.851 They were Aite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah, and when they 00:04:46.851 --> 00:04:49.071 reached Moab, they settled there. 00:04:49.851 --> 00:04:54.501 Then Aek died and Naomi was left with her two sons. 00:04:55.011 --> 00:04:57.471 The two sons married Moabite women. 00:04:58.041 --> 00:05:02.961 One married a woman named Ora and the other, a woman named Ruth. 00:05:03.891 --> 00:05:08.241 But about 10 years later, both Maan and Killian died. 00:05:08.931 --> 00:05:10.671 This left Naomi alone. 00:05:11.136 --> 00:05:13.926 Without her two sons or her husband. 00:05:15.456 --> 00:05:20.196 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah 00:05:20.196 --> 00:05:22.026 by giving them good crops again. 00:05:22.716 --> 00:05:27.096 So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab in return to her 00:05:27.101 --> 00:05:30.366 homeland with her two daughters-in-law. 00:05:30.396 --> 00:05:34.926 She set out from the place where she had been living and they took the road 00:05:34.986 --> 00:05:36.816 that would lead them back to Judah. 00:05:38.091 --> 00:05:44.211 But on the way, Naomi said to her, two daughters-in-law go back to your mother's 00:05:44.211 --> 00:05:49.341 homes, and may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 00:05:50.091 --> 00:05:53.481 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage. 00:05:53.751 --> 00:05:58.941 Then she kissed them goodbye and they all broke down and wept. 00:06:00.141 --> 00:06:04.791 No, they said, we want to go with you to your people. 00:06:05.961 --> 00:06:09.771 But Naomi replied, why should you go on with me? 00:06:10.431 --> 00:06:14.841 Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husband's? 00:06:15.531 --> 00:06:21.771 No, my daughters return to your parents' homes for I am too old to marry again. 00:06:22.311 --> 00:06:27.921 And even if it were possible and I were to get married tonight and their sons, 00:06:28.041 --> 00:06:32.991 then what would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? 00:06:33.771 --> 00:06:35.091 No, of course not. 00:06:35.091 --> 00:06:40.551 My daughters things are far more bitter for me than for you because the Lord 00:06:40.551 --> 00:06:47.481 himself has raised his fist against me, and again, they wept together and 00:06:47.481 --> 00:06:49.971 orba kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. 00:06:50.841 --> 00:06:53.241 But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 00:06:53.811 --> 00:06:58.401 Look, Naomi said to her, your sister-in-law has gone back 00:06:58.401 --> 00:07:00.291 to her people and to her gods. 00:07:00.711 --> 00:07:02.211 You should do the same. 00:07:03.516 --> 00:07:09.516 But Ruth replied, don't ask me to leave you and turn back wherever you go. 00:07:09.636 --> 00:07:12.096 I will go wherever you live. 00:07:12.456 --> 00:07:13.326 I will live. 00:07:13.836 --> 00:07:18.126 Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 00:07:18.756 --> 00:07:19.926 Wherever you die. 00:07:19.986 --> 00:07:23.046 I will die and there I will be buried. 00:07:23.886 --> 00:07:28.956 May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us. 00:07:29.961 --> 00:07:33.351 Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her. 00:07:33.981 --> 00:07:35.331 She said nothing more. 00:07:36.531 --> 00:07:39.291 So the two of them continued on their journey. 00:07:40.161 --> 00:07:45.291 When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. 00:07:46.011 --> 00:07:47.601 Is it really Naomi? 00:07:47.751 --> 00:07:48.711 The women asked. 00:07:49.581 --> 00:07:51.471 Don't call me Naomi. 00:07:51.531 --> 00:07:52.401 She responded. 00:07:52.911 --> 00:07:57.021 Instead, call me Mera for the Almighty. 00:07:57.021 --> 00:07:59.301 Has made life very bitter for me. 00:08:00.351 --> 00:08:04.701 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. 00:08:05.571 --> 00:08:10.521 Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty 00:08:10.521 --> 00:08:12.771 has sent such tragedy upon me. 00:08:13.806 --> 00:08:18.096 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law, 00:08:18.101 --> 00:08:20.556 Ruth, the young Moabite woman. 00:08:21.426 --> 00:08:27.246 They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring at the beginning of the barley harvest. 00:08:29.286 --> 00:08:31.956 This concludes today's immerse reading experience. 00:08:31.956 --> 00:08:33.486 Thank you for joining us.