The Redeemer Of Our Foolishness

No matter how long we live we’ll never fully understand the graciousness of God. Even when we deserve what we get, He still finds a way to work things out for us and redeem us. The book of Ruth is a perfect example of this. God is the redeemer of our foolishness.

In the beginning of Ruth we find out that there was a severe famine in Israel. The promised land had dried up. The land was no longer fruitful. This is ironic because past generations longed for so long for this place, only for it to become a place of desolation. However this famine wasn’t God tricking Israel, leading them there then withholding, this famine was brought on by judgement. The book of Ruth follows chronologically the book of Judges. In the time of Judges you see Israel became afflicted by other nations and in the land when they turned their back on God. This famine in Israel was the result of Israel’s continued unfaithfulness.

Additionally in the first chapter, the backdrop is famine and one man moving his family to escape it. Elimelech moves his wife Naomi, and their two sons away from Bethlehem and traveled to Moab. Bethlehem literally means “house of bread” so, he was fleeing the place of provision and heading into the place of the enemy.

The Moabites were related to the Israelites. They were descendants of Lot but, they also were enemies of Israel. God warns them to stay away from them and never intermarry with.‭‭ Deuteronomy‬ ‭23:3-6‬ ‭says “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to curse you. But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the Lord your God loves you. As long as you live, you must never promote the welfare and prosperity of the Ammonites or Moabites.”

The Moabites had a known history of trying to destroy Israel. They refused them food and water, and hired a person to curse them. Later still bent on destroying them they set a plot to have the men intermarry and have sex with their daughters, and worship Baal. (Numbers 25) They knew drawing them away to other gods would stop the blessings. As a result, God dealt with them harshly and a plague broke out in Israel. The plague was only stopped when they dealt with the sin they let come in their camp.

Nevertheless, this wasn’t concealed or hidden history the Israelites had with Moab. This was well known so, when Elimelech seeks refuge from Bethlehem to Moab, it’s pure foolishness. He ran from refuge into danger. In light of this, it’s not shocking that disaster strikes his family. He dies. His sons die. There are no children (barrenness). Naomi is left in a foreign land with two foreign daughter in laws. She is left “alone” in the enemy camp. This is why her dialogue is so strong in chapter 1.

In Ruth‬ ‭1:13‬ ‭Naomi says, “...Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.” Then later in Ruth‬ ‭1:20-21‬ she says, “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

Naomi recognized God’s judgment was being waged on her and her family. Her and her husband acted foolish and took themselves out of God’s will, His covering, and His protection. When we walk away from God and go our own way, come up with our own solutions, and try and handle it ourselves without Him, the results are bitter. What was one of the common phrases for the promised land? The land of milk and honey. The land of sustenance and sweetness. We are sustained and life is sweet when we follow and obey God.

But God in His graciousness, made a way for Naomi. He redeemed her and her husband’s foolishness. He even used part of her foolishness to do it in the form of Ruth. God used a descendant from Israel’s sworn enemy to bring about redemption. As we know, Ruth married Boaz the kinsmen redeemer. They have a son named Obed. Obed is the father of Jesse, who is the father of David, who Jesus later descends from. (Ruth 4)

Sometimes we make foolish choices. We do things that we absolutely knew better not to do. There may be consequences for those choices but, the heart of God is always redemption. He redeems us from our foolishness by giving us goodness we don’t deserve. He makes a way for us to get back when we’ve run so far away from. He makes a way when we’ve run towards the enemy. He makes a way when we’ve even chosen to live with the enemy. He makes a way when we’ve left the place of bread (provision) and headed towards danger. If there’s something foolish you’ve done or keep doing, repent. Repentance means to turn around. Turn around and give it to God. Let God redeem it. Let God redeem you.

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