“This message came to me concerning Moab: In one night the town of Ar will be levelled, and the city of Kir will be destroyed.
Isaiah 15:1 NLT
King David conquered Moab, Israel’s neighbour, around 1040 BC, and that was how things stayed until soon after 853 BC when they successfully rebelled and remained a thorn in Israel’s side. In 583 BC they were conquered by the Babylonians and by 400 BC had been absorbed into the Nabataean empire and ceased to exist as a separate nation. Isaiah’s prophecy against Moab was probably written between 739 and 681 BC. The rest of chapters 15 and 16 provide an account of what was going to happen to Moab, an idolatrous nation that was, however, notable for its most famous person, Ruth.
The Book of Ruth was possibly written by Samuel, as Jewish scholars claim, but it is not an unaminous conclusion. However, what we do know is that Ruth was King David’s great-grandmother (Matthew 1:5-6). The account of Ruth started in the time of the Judges, when a famine was present in Judah. “In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there. Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband” (Ruth 1:1-5).
What happened in Moab was an absolute disaster, because there was no social safety net to look after widowed women. Naomi, a Jewish woman and now a widow, could not have survived on her own, so she decided to return to Bethlehem, taking her daughter-in-law, Ruth, with her. Through the Book of Ruth, we can see how God used a foreign woman at just the right time in the ancestral lineage that led to the birth of Jesus. Ruth was a woman of remarkable qualities, as we read in Ruth 1:16, “But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. ‘ “ Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God”. Such devotion played out in the account of Ruth and her liaison with Boaz, through which a son arrived. “… And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David” (Ruth 4:17). Ruth was a Moabite (historically an outsider to Israel), yet God chose her to be in the genealogy of King David, and ultimately Jesus. This highlights that God’s grace extends to all nations, races, and backgrounds.
Is there anything that we pilgrims can learn from Isaiah 15 and the Book of Ruth? There would seem to be three themes that run through this period in Israel’s history, the first being God’s sovereign providence at just the right time and in just the right lives. Naomi experienced immense bitterness after losing her husband and sons, but God used Ruth’s humble actions in the fields of Boaz to turn their despair into joy. It reminds believers that God is orchestrating events behind the scenes, even during times of grief. Perhaps we pilgrims are going through a time of grief ourselves, when all seems so dark, and when the loss of a loved one is affecting us deeply. For all we know, God is working behind the scenes to produce an outcome that will change our lives and those of our families. Jesus said, “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
A second theme concerns the loyalty Ruth showed to her mother-in-law. Instead of pursuing her own interests, Ruth showed profound devotion by leaving her homeland to serve Naomi. As we know, Jesus left the comfort of eternity with His Father in Heaven to come to this world, taking on the form and limitations of a man, an act of breathtaking loyalty marked by His care and compassion for the human race. Ruth’s action was an example of the loyalty we have to Jesus, something that marks both the early disciples and us pilgrims today.
The third theme concerns Jesus being the ultimate Redeemer. In the Book of Ruth, Boaz acted as a “kinsman-redeemer” (a relative who saves and provides for a destitute family), and he served as a beautiful Old Testament illustration of Jesus, who rescued humanity by paying the ultimate price for our salvation. Jesus is the ultimate redeemer because He paid the debt for sin that humanity cannot afford, rescuing believers from spiritual bankruptcy and bringing them into God’s family. We pilgrims were in a lost and hopeless state, spiritually destitute and unable to provide for ourselves. There is no spiritual equivalent of a social security net. Churches or religion cannot help. There is only one remedy for sin, and that is through Jesus, and we pilgrims bow at His feet this morning, deeply grateful for all that he did for us on the cross at Calvary.
Dear Lord Jesus. There are no words sufficient to express our deep thanks to You today. We praise and worship You, and will do so forever. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 