In this video: Watch as Pastor Jovita teaches on how the life of Naomi and Ruth can be an incredible lesson for Christians in their walk of faith.
Sermon Summary:
Old Testament Laws included the tradition, customs given by Moses to the Israelites, because they were without God for four hundred years. These Laws were given for appropriate interaction with the people and things around them. God’s goal was for his people to remain clean and undefiled.
God’s instructions on how to reap and harvest crops. Leaving edges or corners of fields for the poor and foreigners to gather or glean.
God warns His people Israelites against marriages with foreigners or unbelievers who practiced pagan worship, causing God’s anger to be provoked.
If a brother dies without a son his widow must not marry outside the family but her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother in-law so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
Naomi (mother in-law of Ruth) loses her husband and sons; after leaving Bethlehem to live in the country of Moab, where her sons married Moabite womens. After the death of her husband and sons Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem (house of food, bread). Ruth had an opportunity to choose between making a new life with God or returning to her old way of life and the idols of her people She decided to remain by her mother in-law side to serve God and stay true to her faith she had come to know through Naomi.God chose a woman outside the Jewish faith to not only follow the God of Israel but also to become a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. This was a shadow of the reality that would be the redemption of the entire world first the Jews and then the Gentiles. Ruth married Boaz (relative or kinsman of Naomi’s husband) and had a son; Obed. God had restored both Ruth and Naomi through Boaz; He was a rightouness man who obeyed the law and customs of God.
Lessons learned:
Don’t give up on God. Follow Him loyally in His Word (laws) like Ruth followed Naomi.
Don’t be distracted or discouraged like Orpah who didn’t trust wholly in Naomi’s God.
Don’t cling to the past. Two sisters began at same place but their actions at the turning point of life decided their destinies… Ruth remained in her new found faith and qualified to be great grandmother of King David from whose lineage our Lord and Savior Jesus was born. Orpah returned to her past lifestyle of paganism and was lost in history!!!
