 It took courage for Ruth to leave the land of her birth. Let’s learn from her in the Book of Ruth.
Naomi moved to Moab with her husband and two sons because of famine in Israel. They might have turned away from God for safety and comfort. Even their two sons had Canaanite’s names, and married Moabites, bitter enemies of the Israelites. (“No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation.” Deut. 23:3) Subsequently, Naomi’s husband and the two sons died. In those days, widows had difficulty surviving, unless they had money or sons. Naomi had neither. When Naomi heard that there was food in Israel, she and one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, returned to Israel. Typically, immigrants leave their place of birth hoping for a more comfortable life. But not Ruth. In Israel, Ruth had no family connections and status. Further, Israelites saw Moabites as horrible, wicked people. She could be raped and killed. We could see the danger when Ruth picked leftover grain in an Israel field. The owner knew she had been good to Naomi. He suggested Ruth to stay in his field, and said, “I have told the men not to lay a hand on you.” Ruth 2:9. Ruth left Moab because she loved Naomi (Ruth 4:15) and she believed in God. In Bible, calling God the Lord or Yahweh implied believing God as the almighty. In Ruth 1:16-17, Ruth said to Naomi, “Your people will be my people and your God my God…. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” We could only postulate that Ruth’s faith came from seeing God in Naomi’s life. Because of Naomi, Ruth took refuge in God. Ruth 2:12. In turn, Ruth redeemed Naomi from a life of bitterness. And Christ was a descendent of Ruth. Christ was also an immigrant, the ultimate one. He gave up His life to move to earth, where He suffered terribly. To redeem us from a life of hell, He died. God, the Father, raised Him from the dead, making His name above all names. Learn from Christ and Ruth. Don’t focus on what the world considers as a good life. Surrender ourselves. Follow Christ. God would be with us and give us a great life. Adapted from a Tim Keller sermon http://www.gospelinlife.com/free-sermon-resource http://www.gospelinlife.com/an-immigrant-s-courage-6527 一位移民的勇氣 路得離開她出生的土地需要巨大的勇氣。讓我們从路得记中向她學習。 由於以色列粮食飢荒，拿俄米，丈夫和兩個兒子一起搬到了摩押。為了安全和舒適，他們可能已經遠離了上帝。甚至他們的兩個兒子也改了迦南人的名字, 及與以色列人的仇敵摩押人結婚。 （“亞捫人，摩押人或他們的後裔都不可能参加主的集會，甚至在他们的第十代也不能。”申23：3） 后来，拿俄米的丈夫和兩個兒子都死了。在那些日子裡，除非寡婦有錢或兒子，她们是難以存活。而拿俄米两者都沒有。 當拿俄米聽說以色列食物充足時，她和她的一個媳婦名路得回到了以色列。 通常移民離開他們的出生地，是希望過更舒適的生活。但不是路得。在以色列，路得沒有家庭聯繫和地位。此外，以色列人認為摩押人是可怕及邪惡的人。她可能會遭到強姦和殺害。 我們可以看到她在以色列油田採摘剩餘穀物時的危險。老闆知道路得对拿俄米很好。 他建議路得留在他的田地裡, 並說：“我已经告訴我的男员工不要把手放在你身上。”（路得記2：9） 路得離開摩押是因為她愛拿俄米（路得記4:15），及因為她相信上帝。在聖經中，稱上帝為主為耶和華暗示相信上帝是萬能的。在路得書1：16-17中，路得對拿俄米說：“你的國就是我的國，你的上帝就是我的上帝。你在那裏死，我也在那裏死，也葬在那裏。除非死能使你我相離！不然，願耶和華重重地降罰與我.” 我們只能假設路得的信仰是來自於在拿俄米的生命中看見上帝。由於拿俄米，上帝成为路得的避難所 （路加福音2:12）。 反過來，路得將拿俄米從痛苦的生活中救贖出來。基督是路得的后代。 基督也是一個移民，一個至极的移民。他放棄了自己的生命，来到了世上，在这裡遭受极大的痛苦。為了救贖我們脫離地獄的生活，他死了。上帝，天父，將祂從死裡復活，使祂的名字高於一切的名字。 向基督和路得學習。不要專注於世界認為是好的生活。 屈服自己。跟隨基督。 上帝会和我们在一起，给于我们一个美好的生活。 Comments are closed.
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