Ruth And Naomi

 

 

 And Ruth said: "Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. 
 For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; thy people
 shall be my people, and thy God shall be my God."
(Ruth 1:16)

 

Ruth and Naomi
Yael Harris Resnick
American-Israeli artist
Image courtesy/Yael Harris Resnick

 

 

 Not alone did the poor Moabitish woman (Ruth, an ancestor of Jesus Christ) say,
 "Thy people shall be my people, but also, "thy God my God."  

It was grace which had drawn her.

 She thus clung closely to Naomi, (her mother-in-law), became one with her
 in all her misery (both were widows), yet with a faith, a confidence
 in Naomi's God, which Naomi did not possess.

When Israel sets her face homeward once more, there will be in the midst of the
unbelieving nation a remnant, searching for the promised blessing, longing for God,
a remnant which ultimately will come in touch with the mighty Kinsman-Redeemer
(Yeshua Ha'Mashiach) and inherit through Him the promised blessings. 

Of this remnant, called through the grace of God, after the true Church
 has left this earthly scene, the prophetic Word has much to say: 

 "And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth
and oak leaves when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land."
(Isaiah 6:13)

"A remnant will return-the remnant of Jacob-to the Mighty God.  Though your people,
O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has
been decreed, overflowing with righteousness."
(Isaiah 10:21-22) 

"On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant
of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam,
from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea."
(Isaiah 11:11)

 

Image courtesy/One Stone Biblical Resources

 

"And I will make the lame into a remnant, the outcast into a strong nation.
Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever."
(Micah 4:7)

"The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will
find pasture.  They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon,
for the LORD their God will attend to them and restore their captives." 
(Zephaniah 2:7)

In the Psalms, we read the future prayers of this remnant, the sorrow and sufferings
they will have and the glorious deliverance when the King comes. This remnant is
represented in Ruth, cleaving to Naomi.  But the objection may be raised that
Ruth was a Gentile.  How can she represent the remnant of Israel?

Israel through her unbelief has become practically the same which the Gentiles are.
They are "Lo-Ammi", not My people. (Hosea 1:9).  The grace which called and saved
the Gentiles will call and save them.  Therefore this remnant is called,
 "according to the election of grace."  

"In the same way, at the present time this is a remnant chosen by grace. And if it
  is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise grace would be no longer grace."
(Romans 11:5-6) 

Naomi is back in Bethlehem, empty, and with a bitter spirit. She calls herself, "Mara"
which means bitter.  This picture represents Israel's return in unbelief. And it was at
the time of the barley harvest.  The harvest, as our Lord tells us, is the end of the age. 
When that end comes, after the true church has been gathered home, Israel, like Naomi,
 with a believing trusting remnant cleaving to her, represented in Ruth, will return."

-Gaebelein's Annotated Bible