Tonight we start a new story: the story of Ruth and Naomi. It's a story of women struggling against the odds together. The story begins with Naomi and her husband setting off with their sons to a new country because there is a famine in Israel. The Bible has a lot to say about kindness to refugees and strangers. Part of that comes out of the experience of God's people often being the strangers and learning those hard lessons.
God bless,
Sam
Ruth 1:1-9
In the days
when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of
Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two
sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife
Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were
Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and
remained there. 3But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she
was left with her two sons. 4These took Moabite wives; the name of
the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there
about ten years, 5both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the
woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
6Then she
started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she
had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had
considered his people and given them food. 7So she set out from the
place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they
went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8But Naomi said
to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May
the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the
dead and with me. 9The Lord grant that you may
find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them,
and they wept aloud.
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