October 22, 2025 • 46 mins
Take my hand and walk with me to ancient Israel, where the dusty road between Moab and Bethlehem becomes the setting for one of Scripture's most profound stories of loyalty, loss, and unexpected redemption.
The Book of Ruth opens during "the days when the judges ruled" – a time when spiritual confusion reigned and "everyone did what was right in their own eyes." Against this backdrop of moral relativism, the steadfast loyalty of a Moabite widow shines all the brighter, showing us what covenant faithfulness truly means.
We meet three women marked by devastating loss: Naomi, who left Bethlehem during famine only to lose her husband and both sons in Moab; Orpah, who makes the sensible choice to return to her people; and Ruth, whose extraordinary declaration of loyalty – "Where you go, I will go" – reverberates through generations. In a society where women derived their identity and security through male relatives, these widows face an uncertain future that will test their faith and resolve.
Ruth's decision to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem isn't just about family loyalty – it represents complete surrender of her identity, security, and future. She willingly embraces outsider status and probable poverty to remain faithful to her mother-in-law and to the God of Israel. This foreign woman's faithfulness becomes the foundation for a redemption story that extends far beyond her own life.
As they arrive in Bethlehem "at the beginning of the barley harvest," what seems like coincidental timing reveals divine providence at work. When Naomi renames herself "Mara" (bitter), declaring that "the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me," she cannot yet see how God is weaving hope through their circumstances. But Ruth's quiet determination reminds us that "empty isn't the same as finished" – that endings can become beginnings when placed in God's hands.
This timeless narrative invites us to examine our own responses to seasons of emptiness and loss. Will we allow bitterness to become our identity? Or will we, like Ruth, choose faithful loyalty even when it defies logical self-preservation? Join me in discovering how God works most powerfully through those who seem most powerless, writing redemption stories that echo through eternity.
What difficult choice are you facing today that might be the beginning of something beautiful beyond imagination?
Music Credit: "I Choose You" by AFTR
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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In the Field Audio Bible (06:46):
Feel her presence beside you now.
Notice how she moves with quietgrace, her dark eyes holding
depths of sorrow and strengththat only those who have loved
(07:06):
deeply and lost much can possess.
Her hands, calloused fromworking in the fields, tell
stories of survival.
Her voice, when mingles speaks,carries bleating the musical
cadence of Moab, her homeland,now mixed with the Hebrew she's
learned through marriage andheartbreak.
(07:28):
The author of this preciousaccount remains hidden in
history's shadows.
Some whisper it might have beenthe prophet Samuel, that
towering figure who anointedkings and spoke God's word with
thunder.
But biblical scholars, thosecareful guardians of historical
(07:48):
truth, remind us that thetimeline doesn't quite align.
Whoever penned these words?
Perhaps a woman who understoodthe delicate strength required
to rebuild a life from ashes?
They wrote with the tendernessof someone who knew that the
(08:08):
most profound truths often comewrapped in the simplest stories.
But let's not linger inscholarly debates.
But let's not linger inscholarly debates.
Ruth is waiting for us and herstory is too beautiful to keep
locked in academic halls.
She's standing at thecrossroads of her life and she
(08:32):
wants you there with her.
She needs you to understand notjust what happened but why it
matters, why her choices echothrough your life today, why her
loyalty speaks to your heart,why her faith challenges your
own.
Take a deep breath.
(08:55):
Do you smell that?
It's the arid air of the hillcountry, tinged with the smoke
of cooking fires and the earthyscent of livestock.
This is Bethlehem, not yetfamous as the birthplace of
(09:15):
kings and saviors, but alreadyknown as the house of bread
saviors, but already known asthe House of Bread, though
ironically it's a place wherebread has become scarce.
Famine has settled over theland like a heavy blanket
pressing down on families,forcing impossible decisions.
(09:39):
Forcing impossible decisions.
Ruth reaches for your hand aswe walk through the narrow
streets, feel the roughlimestone walls of the houses
built close together forprotection and community.
The architecture here speaks ofpermanence, of generations who
(09:59):
expected to stay, to plant olivegroves for their grandchildren
to harvest.
But famine changes everything.
It makes wanderers out ofsettlers and refugees of the
rooted.
Do you see that house there,Ruth whispers, pointing to a
(10:21):
modest dwelling with a flat roofwhere grain would normally be
stored for the winter months.
That's where my story with thisfamily began, though I didn't
know it then.
That's where Elimelech livedwith his wife Naomi and their
(10:47):
two sons, Mahlon and Chilion.
Good Hebrew names meaningsickness and failing Prophetic,
though no parent chooses suchnames, hoping for prophecy to
unfold.
The irony wasn't lost on thecommunity then, and Ruth's voice
carries a note of gentlesadness as she continues.
When the grain stores emptiedand the rains refused to come,
(11:09):
Elimelech made a decision thatwould ripple through generations
.
He packed up his family, hisbeloved Naomi, his two growing
boys, and headed east towardMoab.
Can you imagine A Hebrew family,descendants of Abraham, isaac
and Jacob, leaving the promisedland for the territory of their
(11:33):
ancient enemies?
Walk with us now along the paththey would have taken, feel the
dust rising with each step, thesun beating down on your head.
This isn't a casual journey.
It's an exodus born ofdesperation.
Hebrew families didn't leavelightly this land.
(11:58):
Every hill and valley was woveninto their identity.
To leave was to tear somethingessential from their souls.
Ruth pauses at an overlook whereyou can see the Jordan Valley
spread below Moab.
She says simply, gesturingtoward the eastern mountains, my
(12:24):
homeland, a place of highplateaus and deep valleys, where
the soil is rich and the rainsmore reliable, but also a place
where Chemosh was worshipped,where the God of Israel was
unknown.
Elimelech was choosing survivalover certainty, provision over
(12:46):
promise.
The cultural weight of thisdecision presses against your
chest.
In ancient times your God wastied to your geography.
To leave your land was to riskleaving your deity's protection.
Yet here was a Hebrew familytrusting that Yahweh's love
(13:09):
could cross borders, that hisprovision might come through
pagan soil.
I was just a girl then.
Ruth continues her voice softwith memory.
I would see these Hebrewrefugees in our markets, hear
(13:29):
their strange language, watchtheir careful observance of
customs.
We didn't understand.
They kept to themselves mostly.
But there was somethingdifferent about them the way the
mother Naomi spoke to her sons,the way they paused before
meals.
(13:50):
Their heads bowed in gratitudeto an invisible God.
It intrigued me Feel the fabricof Ruth's garment as she
adjusts her head covering Roughwoven wool, practical rather
than beautiful, dyed with thedeep blues and browns that were
(14:12):
coming among working women.
Her clothing tells a story ofmodesty and function.
Hebrew women, even in Moab,maintained their distinctive
dress, their way of movingthrough the world.
That spoke of dignity andpurpose.
(14:33):
Years passed, Ruth says, and youcan hear the quickening of time
in her voice.
Elimelech died first, just died.
One day he was planning thenext season's planting and the
next he was gone.
I watched from a distance asNaomi's world crumbled.
(14:56):
In our culture a widow withoutsons was vulnerable, but a
foreign widow, she was nearlyinvisible.
The weight of ancient customssettles around you like a heavy
cloak.
Women in this time derivedtheir identity, their security,
(15:18):
their very right to exist insociety through their
relationships with men, firstfathers, then husbands, then
sons.
To be a widow was to lose yourplace in the social order.
To be a foreign widow was tolose almost everything.
But Naomi had her boys, Ruthcontinues, and now there's
(15:44):
warmth in her voice Malon andKillian.
They were young men, now readyfor marriage, ready to carry on
their father's name, and somehowI still marvel at God's
mysterious ways.
Somehow they choose us.
Malan chose me and Kilian chosemy sister-in-law.
(16:06):
Orpah, stop walking for amoment.
Let Ruth turn to face you fullySee the wonder still flickering
in her eyes even after allthese years.
Can you imagine Hebrew men, sonsof the covenant, choosing
(16:31):
Moabite wives?
It was scandalous on both sides.
My people whispered about girlswho married foreigners their
people.
Well, there weren't many oftheir people left to whisper.
The marriages were more thanromantic choices.
(16:52):
They were acts of faith,bridges built across ancient
bitterness.
Feel the complexity of theserelationships, the daily
negotiations between cultures,languages, customs.
Ruth learned to prepare foodaccording to Hebrew dietary laws
, to observe the Sabbath, tospeak the language of her
(17:16):
husband's God.
But more than that, she learnedto love not just Malon but his
family, his heritage, his faith.
Ten years, Ruth says, and thenumber hangs in the air like
(17:36):
incense Ten years of marriage,of learning, of learning of
becoming part of somethinglarger than myself.
I thought I understood what itmeant to be Hebrew, to worship
the God of Abraham.
I thought I had found my placein the world.
(17:59):
But you can hear the approachingstorm in her voice, voice, feel
the tension building like thepressure before thunder.
This is a story of love, yes,but also of loss, so profound it
would reshape everything.
Then the dying began again.
Ruth whispers and her handfinds yours gripping tightly.
(18:22):
Then the dying began again.
Ruth whispers and her handfinds yours gripping tightly.
First Milan, my husband, myheart just gone, like his father
before him.
And then Killian, leaving Orpahas bereft as I was.
(18:44):
Three women, three widows, in aforeign land, with no men to
speak for us, no sons to carryon the family name, no security
except what we could create forourselves.
The silence that follows isheavy with grief.
(19:07):
In this moment you're not justobserving Ruth's story.
You're living in the aftermathof devastation, feeling the
emptiness where laughter used tolive, the way food loses its
taste when you're eating alone.
The coldness of a bed meant fortwo.
Naomi broke first.
(19:28):
Ruth continues her voice barelyabove a whisper.
I found her one morning sittingin the ashes of her cold fire,
her hair uncovered, her eyesempty.
Call me Mara, she said.
Call me bitter, for theAlmighty has dealt very bitterly
(19:57):
with me.
I went out full and the Lordhas brought me home again empty.
Feel the cultural significanceof this moment.
Names in Hebrew culture weren'tjust labels.
They were propheticdeclarations, statements of
identity and destiny.
For Naomi to rename herselfMara was to declare that
(20:19):
sweetness had died in her, thatGod himself had become her enemy
.
That's when she decided toreturn to Bethlehem.
(20:39):
Word had come that the faminewas over, that the Lord had
visited his people and giventhem bread.
Naomi saw it as her chance togo home, to die among her own
people, rather than in thisforeign land that had taken
everything from her.
The journey back to Bethlehemstretches before you now, not
(21:04):
just as a physical path but as aspiritual crossroads.
Feel the weight of the choicethat's coming, the decision that
will define not just Ruth'slife but the entire trajectory
of God's redemptive plan.
Ruth stops walking and turns toyou one more time.
Her eyes, dark and deep aswells.
(21:31):
They hold yours with anintensity that makes your breath
catch.
This is where my real storybegins, she says.
Not with the marrying or theliving, but with the, she says
familiar.
Behind, the wind picks up,carrying the scent of distant
(22:03):
rain and new possibilities.
Ruth's head covering fluttersand you catch a glimpse of her
hair dark and thick, braided inthe Moabite style, but begin to
show threads of silver fromgrief, aged too quickly.
Walk with me, she says,extending her hand.
(22:26):
Walk with me to the place whereloyalty becomes legendary,
where a foreign woman's faithrewrites the story of God's
people.
Walk with me to the moment whenI had to choose between safety
and love, between the familiarand the faithful.
And as you take her hand,feeling the calluses and the
(22:50):
strength, the warmth and theslight tremor of emotion, you
realize this isn't just Ruth'sstory anymore, it's yours.
It's every person who has everstood at the crossroads of loss
and hope, who has ever decidedto choose between the easy path
and the right one, who has everdiscovered that sometimes the
(23:11):
most profound faith is found notin the grand gestures but in
the quiet decision to keepwalking forward, hand in hand
with those we love and towhatever tomorrow holds.
The story is about to begin.
Are you ready Now?
(23:33):
Let's take a moment to quietour hearts and listen to the
word itself.
To quiet our hearts and listento the word itself.
Let these words sink deep intoyour spirit, bringing comfort,
conviction and encouragement.
Whether you're sitting in aquiet place or out in the world,
allow scripture to meet youright where you are.
(23:53):
I hope you have your favoritecup of tea or coffee.
Sit back, relax and let's stepinto the sacred text of the Book
(24:26):
of Ruth 1 In the days when thejudges ruled, there was a famine
in the land and a certain manof Bethlehem in Judah went to
live in the country of Moab.
He and his wife and two sons.
The name of the man was Emelechand the name of his wife, Naomi
(24:50):
, and the names of his two sonswere Mahlon and Chilion.
They were Ephrathites fromBethlehem in Judah.
They went into the country ofMoab and remained there.
But Elimelech, the husband ofNaomi, died and she was left
with her two sons.
These took Moabite wives thename of the one was Orpah and
(25:14):
the name of the other Ruth.
When they had lived there aboutten years, both Malan and
Kilian also died, so that thewoman was left without her two
sons and her husband.
Then she started to return withher daughters-in-law from the
country of Moab, for she hadheard in the country of Moab
(25:38):
that the Lord had considered Hispeople and given them food.
So she set out from the placewhere 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.
But Naomi said to her twodaughters-in-law Go back each of
you to your mother's house.
(25:58):
Daughters-in-law, go back eachof you to your mother's house.
May the Lord deal kindly withyou as you have dealt with the
dead and with me.
The Lord.
Grant that you may findsecurity, each of you in your
house, of your husband.
Then she kissed them and theywept aloud.
They said to her no, we willreturn with you to your people.
(26:19):
But Naomi said, "Turn back mydaughters.
Why will you go with me?
Do I still have sons in my wombthat they may become your
husbands?
Turn back my daughters, go yourway, for I am too old to have a
husband.
Even if I thought there washope for me, even if I should
(26:40):
have a husband tonight and bearsons, would you then wait until
they were grown?
Would you then refrain frommarrying?
No, my daughters, it has beenfar more bitter for me than you,
because the hand of the Lordhas turned against me.
Then they wept aloud again.
(27:00):
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,but Ruth clung to her.
So she said See, yoursister-in-law has gone back to
her people and to her gods.
(27:39):
Return after your sister-in-law.
But Ruth said when Naomi sawthat she was determined to go
with her, she said no more toher.
So the two of them went onuntil they came to Bethlehem.
When they came to Bethlehem,the whole town was stirred
because of them and the womensaid Is this Naomi?
(28:01):
She said to them Call me nolonger Naomi, call me Mara, for
the Almighty has dealt bitterlywith me.
I went away full, but the Lordhas brought me back empty.
Why call me Naomi when the Lordhas dealt harshly with me and
(28:21):
the Almighty has broughtcalamity upon me?
So Naomi returned together withRuth the Moabite, her
daughter-in-law, who came backwith her from the country of
Moab.
They came to Bethlehem at thebeginning of the barley harvest.
(28:54):
The sun is beginning its descenttoward the western hills, dear
listener.
The sun is beginning itsdescent toward the western hills
, dear listener, painting thesky in shades of amber and rose
that remind you of the potteryglazes in Bethlehem's workshops.
You've walked this day withRuth, felt the dust of two
nations beneath your feet,tasted the salt of tears that
(29:17):
bridge the gap betweenheartbreak and hope.
Now, as the evening shadowsgrow long, Ruth pauses one final
time on the road between Moaband Bethlehem, her hands still
firmly clasped in yours.
Do you feel it she whispers?
(29:39):
Do you feel it she whispers?
Her voice barely audible abovethe gentle evening breeze that
carries the scent of wild mintand the distant bleeding of
sheep being led home for thenight, this moment, this exact
spot where everything changed,not just for me but for all of
(30:00):
God's people yet to come.
Look around you.
The landscape here is neitherfully Moabite nor completely
Hebrew.
It's the borderland, thein-between place where decisions
that echo through eternity aremade.
Between place, where decisionsthat echo through eternity are
made.
The limestone rocks beneathyour feet are worn smooth by
(30:23):
countless travelers, pilgrims,refugees and merchants who have
passed this way, some headingeast toward the security of
Moab's fertile plateaus, otherswest toward the promises and
perils of the promised land.
Ruth's outer robe flutters inthe evening wind and you notice
(30:46):
how she's adjusted it no longerthe full covering of a Hebrew
wife, but not quite the looserdraping of a Moabite woman,
either of a Moabite woman either.
She exists in this momentbetween identities, between
worlds, between the life she'sknown and the life she's
choosing.
(31:07):
Naomi tried so hard to send usaway.
Ruth continues, her dark eyesreflecting the dying light.
Three times she urged us toreturn to our mother's houses,
to find new husbands among ourown people, to choose the
sensible path.
And Orpah, sweet Orpah, shechose wisdom over love, security
(31:32):
over sacrifice.
You can still hear the echo ofthat heart-wrenching farewell.
Orpah sobs as she kissed hermother-in-law goodbye, the sound
of her sandals on the stones asshe turned back toward Moab,
toward the familiar gods andcustoms of her childhood.
(31:53):
It was the reasonable choice,the choice any sensible young
widow would make.
But I couldn't, Ruth sayssimply, and the power in those
three words seems to shift thevery air around you.
I couldn't leave her.
(32:14):
Not Naomi, not this God who hascaptured my heart, not this
people who have become my peoplethrough love rather than birth.
Feel the weight of what Ruth istelling you.
In ancient Near Eastern culture,loyalty was expected to flow
(32:35):
upward, from younger to older,from male to female, from
foreigner to native.
But Ruth's loyalty was flowingagainst the natural current,
defying every social expectation, every practical consideration.
When I spoke those words, ruthcontinues.
(32:58):
Her voice grows stronger.
When I said where you go, Iwill go, and where you stay, I
will stay, your people will bemy people and your God my God, I
felt something shift in theheavens themselves, as if the
Almighty leaned down from histhrone to listen, as if angels
(33:21):
paused in their singing to heara Moabite woman pledge her life
to the God of Israel.
The evening air grows coolernow.
The evening air grows coolernow and you pull your own cloak
closer, but Ruth seems warmed byan inner fire as she continues.
(33:43):
I didn't just choose Naomi thatday.
I chose her, god, her people,her destiny.
I chose to become part of astory much larger than my own
small life.
I chose to trust that the God,who had seemed to abandon us,
(34:04):
might yet have plans we wouldn'tsee.
Listen to the sounds around youas Ruth speaks the distant call
of a shepherd bringing hisflock home, the soft lowing of
cattle, the whisper of windthrough the wild barley that
grows alongside the road.
These are the sounds ofordinary life, continuing of
(34:24):
daily rhythms that have remainedunchanged for generations.
Yet in this ordinary moment,something extraordinary has
occurred.
Naomi stopped arguing.
After that, Ruth says with agentle smile she saw something
in my eyes, heard something inmy voice that told her my
(34:47):
decision was final.
We walked the rest of the way toBethlehem in companionable
silence Two widows with nothingbut each other and a God who
seemed to specialize in makingsomething from nothing.
The lights of Bethlehem beganto twinkle in the distance now.
(35:10):
Oil lamps being lit in windows,cooking fires being kindled for
the evening meal the sightshould be welcoming, but Ruth's
voice carries a note ofapprehension.
I was terrified, she admitsTerrified at being the foreign
(35:32):
woman, the Moabite widow, thereminder of Naomi's years of
exile.
Would they accept me?
Would they see past my accent,my unfamiliarity with their
customs, my outsider status?
You can feel her fear as if itwere your own, the flutter of
(35:54):
anxiety in your stomach, the wayyour hands grow slightly damp
with nervousness, the quickeningof your heartbeat as you
approach the unknown.
But alongside the fear, there'ssomething else Determination,
hope, the quiet confidence thatcomes from knowing you've made
(36:18):
the right choice, even when it'sthe difficult one.
When we reached the city gatesRuth continues the whole town
was stirred because of us.
The women came running, theirvoices rising in excitement and
disbelief Is this Naomi?
Is this really Naomi?
But their joy turned to shockwhen they saw how the years had
(36:38):
marked her, how grief had agedher, how loss bent her shoulders
.
Picture that scene the narrowgateway where elders normally
sat to conduct business andsettle disputes Elders normally
sat to conduct business andsettle disputes Now crowded with
(36:58):
women whose faces showed thecomplex mix of joy and sorrow
that comes with unexpectedreunions.
Their head coverings flutter asthey press closer their voices,
creating a symphony ofrecognition and concern.
And Naomi, my dear broken Naomi.
She stood there in the midst oftheir welcome and declared
(37:21):
herself bitter.
Don't call me Naomi, she said,her voice carrying across the
crowd.
Call me Mara, because theAlmighty has made my life very
bitter.
I went away full, but the Lordhas brought me back empty.
(37:42):
Feel the weight of that publicdeclaration, the way it must
have silenced the celebratingcrowd, the awkwardness that
settled over the reunion like aheavy blanket.
In Hebrew culture, words hadpower.
To rename yourself was toprophesy your own destiny, to
declare before God and thecommunity what you believed
(38:03):
about your life.
But I knew something Naomididn't know yet.
Ruth says and now there's amysterious smile playing at the
corners of her mouth I knew thatempty isn't the same as
finished.
I knew that bitter can betransformed into sweet, that
(38:25):
endings can become beginningsand that the God of Israel
specializes in resurrectionstories.
The evening star appears in thedarkening sky, that first bright
point of light that shepherdsand travelers use to navigate
their way home.
Ruth points to it with wonder,still fresh in her voice after
(38:48):
all these years it was barleyharvest when we arrived.
She says.
The timing wasn't coincidence.
It was barley harvest.
When we arrived, she says, thetiming wasn't coincidence, it
was providence.
Smell the evening air.
Now it carries the sweet scentof ripening grain, the earthy
aroma of fields ready forharvest, the promise of bread to
(39:12):
come After years of famine,after the emptiness of loss.
The very air speaks ofabundance returning, of God's
provision breaking through likedawn after the longest night.
This is where chapter one of mystory ends, Ruth says, turning
(39:34):
to face you fully as the lastlight fades from the western sky
.
But it's not really an endingat all.
It's a beginning, the beginningof a love story that would span
generations, of a redemptionthat would echo through eternity
, of a foreign woman's faithbecoming part of the very
(39:55):
foundation of God's kingdom.
Her eyes shine with tears, butthey're not tears of sorrow
anymore.
They're tears of wonder, ofgratitude, of amazement of how
God can take the broken piecesof a life and weave them into
something beautiful beyondimagination.
(40:16):
I want you to remember thismoment, she says, squeezing your
hand one final time.
Remember that loyalty is achoice, not a feeling.
Remember that love sometimesmeans leaving everything
familiar behind.
Remember that God's greateststories often begin with the
(40:38):
words.
But, ruth said, with ordinarypeople making extraordinary
choices to trust, to follow, tobelieve that there's more to the
story than what we can see.
The night sounds begin now.
There's more to the story thanwhat we can see.
The night sounds begin now.
The soft hooting of owls, thedistant howl of jackals, the
(41:02):
gentle lowing of cattle settlingfor the night these are the
sounds that have filledcountless evenings in this
ancient land, the soundtrack tothousands of stories of faith
and doubt, hope and despair,loss and redemption.
Walk with me tomorrow, Ruthwhispers as she begins to fade
(41:24):
into the gathering darkness.
Walk with me into the barleyfields, where a Moabite widow
will meet her kinsman redeemer,where emptiness will be filled,
where bitter will become sweet,where the God of Israel will
show that his love knows noboundaries.
His grace recognizes no borders.
(41:45):
His redemption reaches even thedaughters of Moab.
And as her voice fades into thenight breeze, you're left
standing at the gates ofBethlehem with the taste of dust
on your lips, the scent ofharvest in your nostrils and the
absolute certainty that you'vewitnessed something sacred the
(42:08):
moment when a foreign woman'sfaithfulness becomes part of the
eternal story of God's love forhis people.
The stars wheel overhead intheir ancient patterns, the same
stars that shone on Abrahamwhen he left Ur, on Moses when
he led Israel out of Egypt, onDavid when he was just a
(42:30):
shepherd boy in these very hills.
And now they shine on you, dearlistener, carrying Ruth's story
in your heart, ready to writeyour own chapter of faithfulness
.
In whatever foreign land,whatever difficult season,
whatever impossible choiceawaits you, for this is the
(42:52):
truth.
Ruth's story teaches thatsometimes the most profound act
of faith is simply saying whereyou go, I will go, and meaning
it with every fiber of yourbeing.
Thank you for joining me todayas we journeyed through the Book
(43:13):
of Ruth 1.
I pray that you carry thesereflections with you into your
day, into your week, and thatyou find strength in knowing God
is with you in every trial,every temptation, and every step
of obedience.
If this time in God's word hasencouraged you, take a moment to
(43:36):
share it with someone who mightneed it.
And be sure to join me nexttime as we continue walking
through the scriptures, learning, growing, and staying faithful
in the field of life.
Until next time, may you findpeace in the quiet, trust in
God's call, and rest in Hisunchanging love.
(43:58):
This is In the Field Audio Bible, where we Listen to the Bible,
One chapter at a Time.
Feel her presence beside you now.
Notice how she moves with quietgrace, her dark eyes holding
depths of sorrow and strengththat only those who have loved
(07:06):
deeply and lost much can possess.
Her hands, calloused fromworking in the fields, tell
stories of survival.
Her voice, when mingles speaks,carries bleating the musical
cadence of Moab, her homeland,now mixed with the Hebrew she's
learned through marriage andheartbreak.
(07:28):
The author of this preciousaccount remains hidden in
history's shadows.
Some whisper it might have beenthe prophet Samuel, that
towering figure who anointedkings and spoke God's word with
thunder.
But biblical scholars, thosecareful guardians of historical
(07:48):
truth, remind us that thetimeline doesn't quite align.
Whoever penned these words?
Perhaps a woman who understoodthe delicate strength required
to rebuild a life from ashes?
They wrote with the tendernessof someone who knew that the
(08:08):
most profound truths often comewrapped in the simplest stories.
But let's not linger inscholarly debates.
But let's not linger inscholarly debates.
Ruth is waiting for us and herstory is too beautiful to keep
locked in academic halls.
She's standing at thecrossroads of her life and she
(08:32):
wants you there with her.
She needs you to understand notjust what happened but why it
matters, why her choices echothrough your life today, why her
loyalty speaks to your heart,why her faith challenges your
own.
Take a deep breath.
(08:55):
Do you smell that?
It's the arid air of the hillcountry, tinged with the smoke
of cooking fires and the earthyscent of livestock.
This is Bethlehem, not yetfamous as the birthplace of
(09:15):
kings and saviors, but alreadyknown as the house of bread
saviors, but already known asthe House of Bread, though
ironically it's a place wherebread has become scarce.
Famine has settled over theland like a heavy blanket
pressing down on families,forcing impossible decisions.
(09:39):
Forcing impossible decisions.
Ruth reaches for your hand aswe walk through the narrow
streets, feel the roughlimestone walls of the houses
built close together forprotection and community.
The architecture here speaks ofpermanence, of generations who
(09:59):
expected to stay, to plant olivegroves for their grandchildren
to harvest.
But famine changes everything.
It makes wanderers out ofsettlers and refugees of the
rooted.
Do you see that house there,Ruth whispers, pointing to a
(10:21):
modest dwelling with a flat roofwhere grain would normally be
stored for the winter months.
That's where my story with thisfamily began, though I didn't
know it then.
That's where Elimelech livedwith his wife Naomi and their
(10:47):
two sons, Mahlon and Chilion.
Good Hebrew names meaningsickness and failing Prophetic,
though no parent chooses suchnames, hoping for prophecy to
unfold.
The irony wasn't lost on thecommunity then, and Ruth's voice
carries a note of gentlesadness as she continues.
When the grain stores emptiedand the rains refused to come,
(11:09):
Elimelech made a decision thatwould ripple through generations
.
He packed up his family, hisbeloved Naomi, his two growing
boys, and headed east towardMoab.
Can you imagine A Hebrew family,descendants of Abraham, isaac
and Jacob, leaving the promisedland for the territory of their
(11:33):
ancient enemies?
Walk with us now along the paththey would have taken, feel the
dust rising with each step, thesun beating down on your head.
This isn't a casual journey.
It's an exodus born ofdesperation.
Hebrew families didn't leavelightly this land.
(11:58):
Every hill and valley was woveninto their identity.
To leave was to tear somethingessential from their souls.
Ruth pauses at an overlook whereyou can see the Jordan Valley
spread below Moab.
She says simply, gesturingtoward the eastern mountains, my
(12:24):
homeland, a place of highplateaus and deep valleys, where
the soil is rich and the rainsmore reliable, but also a place
where Chemosh was worshipped,where the God of Israel was
unknown.
Elimelech was choosing survivalover certainty, provision over
(12:46):
promise.
The cultural weight of thisdecision presses against your
chest.
In ancient times your God wastied to your geography.
To leave your land was to riskleaving your deity's protection.
Yet here was a Hebrew familytrusting that Yahweh's love
(13:09):
could cross borders, that hisprovision might come through
pagan soil.
I was just a girl then.
Ruth continues her voice softwith memory.
I would see these Hebrewrefugees in our markets, hear
(13:29):
their strange language, watchtheir careful observance of
customs.
We didn't understand.
They kept to themselves mostly.
But there was somethingdifferent about them the way the
mother Naomi spoke to her sons,the way they paused before
meals.
(13:50):
Their heads bowed in gratitudeto an invisible God.
It intrigued me Feel the fabricof Ruth's garment as she
adjusts her head covering Roughwoven wool, practical rather
than beautiful, dyed with thedeep blues and browns that were
(14:12):
coming among working women.
Her clothing tells a story ofmodesty and function.
Hebrew women, even in Moab,maintained their distinctive
dress, their way of movingthrough the world.
That spoke of dignity andpurpose.
(14:33):
Years passed, Ruth says, and youcan hear the quickening of time
in her voice.
Elimelech died first, just died.
One day he was planning thenext season's planting and the
next he was gone.
I watched from a distance asNaomi's world crumbled.
(14:56):
In our culture a widow withoutsons was vulnerable, but a
foreign widow, she was nearlyinvisible.
The weight of ancient customssettles around you like a heavy
cloak.
Women in this time derivedtheir identity, their security,
(15:18):
their very right to exist insociety through their
relationships with men, firstfathers, then husbands, then
sons.
To be a widow was to lose yourplace in the social order.
To be a foreign widow was tolose almost everything.
But Naomi had her boys, Ruthcontinues, and now there's
(15:44):
warmth in her voice Malon andKillian.
They were young men, now readyfor marriage, ready to carry on
their father's name, and somehowI still marvel at God's
mysterious ways.
Somehow they choose us.
Malan chose me and Kilian chosemy sister-in-law.
(16:06):
Orpah, stop walking for amoment.
Let Ruth turn to face you fullySee the wonder still flickering
in her eyes even after allthese years.
Can you imagine Hebrew men, sonsof the covenant, choosing
(16:31):
Moabite wives?
It was scandalous on both sides.
My people whispered about girlswho married foreigners their
people.
Well, there weren't many oftheir people left to whisper.
The marriages were more thanromantic choices.
(16:52):
They were acts of faith,bridges built across ancient
bitterness.
Feel the complexity of theserelationships, the daily
negotiations between cultures,languages, customs.
Ruth learned to prepare foodaccording to Hebrew dietary laws
, to observe the Sabbath, tospeak the language of her
(17:16):
husband's God.
But more than that, she learnedto love not just Malon but his
family, his heritage, his faith.
Ten years, Ruth says, and thenumber hangs in the air like
(17:36):
incense Ten years of marriage,of learning, of learning of
becoming part of somethinglarger than myself.
I thought I understood what itmeant to be Hebrew, to worship
the God of Abraham.
I thought I had found my placein the world.
(17:59):
But you can hear the approachingstorm in her voice, voice, feel
the tension building like thepressure before thunder.
This is a story of love, yes,but also of loss, so profound it
would reshape everything.
Then the dying began again.
Ruth whispers and her handfinds yours gripping tightly.
(18:22):
Then the dying began again.
Ruth whispers and her handfinds yours gripping tightly.
First Milan, my husband, myheart just gone, like his father
before him.
And then Killian, leaving Orpahas bereft as I was.
(18:44):
Three women, three widows, in aforeign land, with no men to
speak for us, no sons to carryon the family name, no security
except what we could create forourselves.
The silence that follows isheavy with grief.
(19:07):
In this moment you're not justobserving Ruth's story.
You're living in the aftermathof devastation, feeling the
emptiness where laughter used tolive, the way food loses its
taste when you're eating alone.
The coldness of a bed meant fortwo.
Naomi broke first.
(19:28):
Ruth continues her voice barelyabove a whisper.
I found her one morning sittingin the ashes of her cold fire,
her hair uncovered, her eyesempty.
Call me Mara, she said.
Call me bitter, for theAlmighty has dealt very bitterly
(19:57):
with me.
I went out full and the Lordhas brought me home again empty.
Feel the cultural significanceof this moment.
Names in Hebrew culture weren'tjust labels.
They were propheticdeclarations, statements of
identity and destiny.
For Naomi to rename herselfMara was to declare that
(20:19):
sweetness had died in her, thatGod himself had become her enemy
.
That's when she decided toreturn to Bethlehem.
(20:39):
Word had come that the faminewas over, that the Lord had
visited his people and giventhem bread.
Naomi saw it as her chance togo home, to die among her own
people, rather than in thisforeign land that had taken
everything from her.
The journey back to Bethlehemstretches before you now, not
(21:04):
just as a physical path but as aspiritual crossroads.
Feel the weight of the choicethat's coming, the decision that
will define not just Ruth'slife but the entire trajectory
of God's redemptive plan.
Ruth stops walking and turns toyou one more time.
Her eyes, dark and deep aswells.
(21:31):
They hold yours with anintensity that makes your breath
catch.
This is where my real storybegins, she says.
Not with the marrying or theliving, but with the, she says
familiar.
Behind, the wind picks up,carrying the scent of distant
(22:03):
rain and new possibilities.
Ruth's head covering fluttersand you catch a glimpse of her
hair dark and thick, braided inthe Moabite style, but begin to
show threads of silver fromgrief, aged too quickly.
Walk with me, she says,extending her hand.
(22:26):
Walk with me to the place whereloyalty becomes legendary,
where a foreign woman's faithrewrites the story of God's
people.
Walk with me to the moment whenI had to choose between safety
and love, between the familiarand the faithful.
And as you take her hand,feeling the calluses and the
(22:50):
strength, the warmth and theslight tremor of emotion, you
realize this isn't just Ruth'sstory anymore, it's yours.
It's every person who has everstood at the crossroads of loss
and hope, who has ever decidedto choose between the easy path
and the right one, who has everdiscovered that sometimes the
(23:11):
most profound faith is found notin the grand gestures but in
the quiet decision to keepwalking forward, hand in hand
with those we love and towhatever tomorrow holds.
The story is about to begin.
Are you ready Now?
(23:33):
Let's take a moment to quietour hearts and listen to the
word itself.
To quiet our hearts and listento the word itself.
Let these words sink deep intoyour spirit, bringing comfort,
conviction and encouragement.
Whether you're sitting in aquiet place or out in the world,
allow scripture to meet youright where you are.
(23:53):
I hope you have your favoritecup of tea or coffee.
Sit back, relax and let's stepinto the sacred text of the Book
(24:26):
of Ruth 1 In the days when thejudges ruled, there was a famine
in the land and a certain manof Bethlehem in Judah went to
live in the country of Moab.
He and his wife and two sons.
The name of the man was Emelechand the name of his wife, Naomi
(24:50):
, and the names of his two sonswere Mahlon and Chilion.
They were Ephrathites fromBethlehem in Judah.
They went into the country ofMoab and remained there.
But Elimelech, the husband ofNaomi, died and she was left
with her two sons.
These took Moabite wives thename of the one was Orpah and
(25:14):
the name of the other Ruth.
When they had lived there aboutten years, both Malan and
Kilian also died, so that thewoman was left without her two
sons and her husband.
Then she started to return withher daughters-in-law from the
country of Moab, for she hadheard in the country of Moab
(25:38):
that the Lord had considered Hispeople and given them food.
So she set out from the placewhere 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.
But Naomi said to her twodaughters-in-law Go back each of
you to your mother's house.
(25:58):
Daughters-in-law, go back eachof you to your mother's house.
May the Lord deal kindly withyou as you have dealt with the
dead and with me.
The Lord.
Grant that you may findsecurity, each of you in your
house, of your husband.
Then she kissed them and theywept aloud.
They said to her no, we willreturn with you to your people.
(26:19):
But Naomi said, "Turn back mydaughters.
Why will you go with me?
Do I still have sons in my wombthat they may become your
husbands?
Turn back my daughters, go yourway, for I am too old to have a
husband.
Even if I thought there washope for me, even if I should
(26:40):
have a husband tonight and bearsons, would you then wait until
they were grown?
Would you then refrain frommarrying?
No, my daughters, it has beenfar more bitter for me than you,
because the hand of the Lordhas turned against me.
Then they wept aloud again.
(27:00):
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,but Ruth clung to her.
So she said See, yoursister-in-law has gone back to
her people and to her gods.
(27:39):
Return after your sister-in-law.
But Ruth said when Naomi sawthat she was determined to go
with her, she said no more toher.
So the two of them went onuntil they came to Bethlehem.
When they came to Bethlehem,the whole town was stirred
because of them and the womensaid Is this Naomi?
(28:01):
She said to them Call me nolonger Naomi, call me Mara, for
the Almighty has dealt bitterlywith me.
I went away full, but the Lordhas brought me back empty.
Why call me Naomi when the Lordhas dealt harshly with me and
(28:21):
the Almighty has broughtcalamity upon me?
So Naomi returned together withRuth the Moabite, her
daughter-in-law, who came backwith her from the country of
Moab.
They came to Bethlehem at thebeginning of the barley harvest.
(28:54):
The sun is beginning its descenttoward the western hills, dear
listener.
The sun is beginning itsdescent toward the western hills
, dear listener, painting thesky in shades of amber and rose
that remind you of the potteryglazes in Bethlehem's workshops.
You've walked this day withRuth, felt the dust of two
nations beneath your feet,tasted the salt of tears that
(29:17):
bridge the gap betweenheartbreak and hope.
Now, as the evening shadowsgrow long, Ruth pauses one final
time on the road between Moaband Bethlehem, her hands still
firmly clasped in yours.
Do you feel it she whispers?
(29:39):
Do you feel it she whispers?
Her voice barely audible abovethe gentle evening breeze that
carries the scent of wild mintand the distant bleeding of
sheep being led home for thenight, this moment, this exact
spot where everything changed,not just for me but for all of
(30:00):
God's people yet to come.
Look around you.
The landscape here is neitherfully Moabite nor completely
Hebrew.
It's the borderland, thein-between place where decisions
that echo through eternity aremade.
Between place, where decisionsthat echo through eternity are
made.
The limestone rocks beneathyour feet are worn smooth by
(30:23):
countless travelers, pilgrims,refugees and merchants who have
passed this way, some headingeast toward the security of
Moab's fertile plateaus, otherswest toward the promises and
perils of the promised land.
Ruth's outer robe flutters inthe evening wind and you notice
(30:46):
how she's adjusted it no longerthe full covering of a Hebrew
wife, but not quite the looserdraping of a Moabite woman,
either of a Moabite woman either.
She exists in this momentbetween identities, between
worlds, between the life she'sknown and the life she's
choosing.
(31:07):
Naomi tried so hard to send usaway.
Ruth continues, her dark eyesreflecting the dying light.
Three times she urged us toreturn to our mother's houses,
to find new husbands among ourown people, to choose the
sensible path.
And Orpah, sweet Orpah, shechose wisdom over love, security
(31:32):
over sacrifice.
You can still hear the echo ofthat heart-wrenching farewell.
Orpah sobs as she kissed hermother-in-law goodbye, the sound
of her sandals on the stones asshe turned back toward Moab,
toward the familiar gods andcustoms of her childhood.
(31:53):
It was the reasonable choice,the choice any sensible young
widow would make.
But I couldn't, Ruth sayssimply, and the power in those
three words seems to shift thevery air around you.
I couldn't leave her.
(32:14):
Not Naomi, not this God who hascaptured my heart, not this
people who have become my peoplethrough love rather than birth.
Feel the weight of what Ruth istelling you.
In ancient Near Eastern culture,loyalty was expected to flow
(32:35):
upward, from younger to older,from male to female, from
foreigner to native.
But Ruth's loyalty was flowingagainst the natural current,
defying every social expectation, every practical consideration.
When I spoke those words, ruthcontinues.
(32:58):
Her voice grows stronger.
When I said where you go, Iwill go, and where you stay, I
will stay, your people will bemy people and your God my God, I
felt something shift in theheavens themselves, as if the
Almighty leaned down from histhrone to listen, as if angels
(33:21):
paused in their singing to heara Moabite woman pledge her life
to the God of Israel.
The evening air grows coolernow.
The evening air grows coolernow and you pull your own cloak
closer, but Ruth seems warmed byan inner fire as she continues.
(33:43):
I didn't just choose Naomi thatday.
I chose her, god, her people,her destiny.
I chose to become part of astory much larger than my own
small life.
I chose to trust that the God,who had seemed to abandon us,
(34:04):
might yet have plans we wouldn'tsee.
Listen to the sounds around youas Ruth speaks the distant call
of a shepherd bringing hisflock home, the soft lowing of
cattle, the whisper of windthrough the wild barley that
grows alongside the road.
These are the sounds ofordinary life, continuing of
(34:24):
daily rhythms that have remainedunchanged for generations.
Yet in this ordinary moment,something extraordinary has
occurred.
Naomi stopped arguing.
After that, Ruth says with agentle smile she saw something
in my eyes, heard something inmy voice that told her my
(34:47):
decision was final.
We walked the rest of the way toBethlehem in companionable
silence Two widows with nothingbut each other and a God who
seemed to specialize in makingsomething from nothing.
The lights of Bethlehem beganto twinkle in the distance now.
(35:10):
Oil lamps being lit in windows,cooking fires being kindled for
the evening meal the sightshould be welcoming, but Ruth's
voice carries a note ofapprehension.
I was terrified, she admitsTerrified at being the foreign
(35:32):
woman, the Moabite widow, thereminder of Naomi's years of
exile.
Would they accept me?
Would they see past my accent,my unfamiliarity with their
customs, my outsider status?
You can feel her fear as if itwere your own, the flutter of
(35:54):
anxiety in your stomach, the wayyour hands grow slightly damp
with nervousness, the quickeningof your heartbeat as you
approach the unknown.
But alongside the fear, there'ssomething else Determination,
hope, the quiet confidence thatcomes from knowing you've made
(36:18):
the right choice, even when it'sthe difficult one.
When we reached the city gatesRuth continues the whole town
was stirred because of us.
The women came running, theirvoices rising in excitement and
disbelief Is this Naomi?
Is this really Naomi?
But their joy turned to shockwhen they saw how the years had
(36:38):
marked her, how grief had agedher, how loss bent her shoulders
.
Picture that scene the narrowgateway where elders normally
sat to conduct business andsettle disputes Elders normally
sat to conduct business andsettle disputes Now crowded with
(36:58):
women whose faces showed thecomplex mix of joy and sorrow
that comes with unexpectedreunions.
Their head coverings flutter asthey press closer their voices,
creating a symphony ofrecognition and concern.
And Naomi, my dear broken Naomi.
She stood there in the midst oftheir welcome and declared
(37:21):
herself bitter.
Don't call me Naomi, she said,her voice carrying across the
crowd.
Call me Mara, because theAlmighty has made my life very
bitter.
I went away full, but the Lordhas brought me back empty.
(37:42):
Feel the weight of that publicdeclaration, the way it must
have silenced the celebratingcrowd, the awkwardness that
settled over the reunion like aheavy blanket.
In Hebrew culture, words hadpower.
To rename yourself was toprophesy your own destiny, to
declare before God and thecommunity what you believed
(38:03):
about your life.
But I knew something Naomididn't know yet.
Ruth says and now there's amysterious smile playing at the
corners of her mouth I knew thatempty isn't the same as
finished.
I knew that bitter can betransformed into sweet, that
(38:25):
endings can become beginningsand that the God of Israel
specializes in resurrectionstories.
The evening star appears in thedarkening sky, that first bright
point of light that shepherdsand travelers use to navigate
their way home.
Ruth points to it with wonder,still fresh in her voice after
(38:48):
all these years it was barleyharvest when we arrived.
She says.
The timing wasn't coincidence.
It was barley harvest.
When we arrived, she says, thetiming wasn't coincidence, it
was providence.
Smell the evening air.
Now it carries the sweet scentof ripening grain, the earthy
aroma of fields ready forharvest, the promise of bread to
(39:12):
come After years of famine,after the emptiness of loss.
The very air speaks ofabundance returning, of God's
provision breaking through likedawn after the longest night.
This is where chapter one of mystory ends, Ruth says, turning
(39:34):
to face you fully as the lastlight fades from the western sky
.
But it's not really an endingat all.
It's a beginning, the beginningof a love story that would span
generations, of a redemptionthat would echo through eternity
, of a foreign woman's faithbecoming part of the very
(39:55):
foundation of God's kingdom.
Her eyes shine with tears, butthey're not tears of sorrow
anymore.
They're tears of wonder, ofgratitude, of amazement of how
God can take the broken piecesof a life and weave them into
something beautiful beyondimagination.
(40:16):
I want you to remember thismoment, she says, squeezing your
hand one final time.
Remember that loyalty is achoice, not a feeling.
Remember that love sometimesmeans leaving everything
familiar behind.
Remember that God's greateststories often begin with the
(40:38):
words.
But, ruth said, with ordinarypeople making extraordinary
choices to trust, to follow, tobelieve that there's more to the
story than what we can see.
The night sounds begin now.
There's more to the story thanwhat we can see.
The night sounds begin now.
The soft hooting of owls, thedistant howl of jackals, the
(41:02):
gentle lowing of cattle settlingfor the night these are the
sounds that have filledcountless evenings in this
ancient land, the soundtrack tothousands of stories of faith
and doubt, hope and despair,loss and redemption.
Walk with me tomorrow, Ruthwhispers as she begins to fade
(41:24):
into the gathering darkness.
Walk with me into the barleyfields, where a Moabite widow
will meet her kinsman redeemer,where emptiness will be filled,
where bitter will become sweet,where the God of Israel will
show that his love knows noboundaries.
His grace recognizes no borders.
(41:45):
His redemption reaches even thedaughters of Moab.
And as her voice fades into thenight breeze, you're left
standing at the gates ofBethlehem with the taste of dust
on your lips, the scent ofharvest in your nostrils and the
absolute certainty that you'vewitnessed something sacred the
(42:08):
moment when a foreign woman'sfaithfulness becomes part of the
eternal story of God's love forhis people.
The stars wheel overhead intheir ancient patterns, the same
stars that shone on Abrahamwhen he left Ur, on Moses when
he led Israel out of Egypt, onDavid when he was just a
(42:30):
shepherd boy in these very hills.
And now they shine on you, dearlistener, carrying Ruth's story
in your heart, ready to writeyour own chapter of faithfulness
.
In whatever foreign land,whatever difficult season,
whatever impossible choiceawaits you, for this is the
(42:52):
truth.
Ruth's story teaches thatsometimes the most profound act
of faith is simply saying whereyou go, I will go, and meaning
it with every fiber of yourbeing.
Thank you for joining me todayas we journeyed through the Book
(43:13):
of Ruth 1.
I pray that you carry thesereflections with you into your
day, into your week, and thatyou find strength in knowing God
is with you in every trial,every temptation, and every step
of obedience.
If this time in God's word hasencouraged you, take a moment to
(43:36):
share it with someone who mightneed it.
And be sure to join me nexttime as we continue walking
through the scriptures, learning, growing, and staying faithful
in the field of life.
Until next time, may you findpeace in the quiet, trust in
God's call, and rest in Hisunchanging love.
(43:58):
This is In the Field Audio Bible, where we Listen to the Bible,
One chapter at a Time.
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