Ruth Was Victorious

“But Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.’” Vs. 16-17.

Now Ruth had had enough; she was completely victorious in the temptation. She had victory in the Spirit. It was useless for Naomi to speak any more about Moab. The course was set for a new fatherland. “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” With this choice she rejected her own people and her own gods (idols). Blessed be Ruth for having made such an honest choice. Naomi’s firmness had gone into Ruth’s blood to the extent that she wanted to live and die together with her.

It is not always easy to understand a true spiritual leader. Sometimes he will seemingly chase you away. You cannot understand him when he turns you away like that; you only sense his genuine love, his firmness, and his unyielding will to go forward, forward, forward himself. He has the victory where you are being tempted, just like Naomi.

A tested Ruth was worth more to Naomi than ten thousand Orpahs.

Many people leave for the land of Judah after great revivals, together with many fellow travelers. It all appears to be so nice and sacrificial in people’s eyes. They shake hands and say farewell once and for all; they play, sing, and weep.

Then these leaders start off together with their many traveling companions. But what happens next? Difficulties meet them on the way; their stores of food begin to run low, and they begin to hunger and thirst. There is a proverb that says that when the crib is empty the horses begin to bite, and this is not any different. People lose confidence in their leaders; they split up into groups and choose new leaders, etc. God’s Spirit requires that a person on the way to Judah’s land has to purify himself just as He is pure. All unrighteousness formerly committed in the land of Moab has to be put in order. The flesh cringes at such treatment; the leaders usually don’t know what to do, for quite often they are hirelings who live off their business. People begin to remember how good it was in Egypt—in Moab. Greed, gossip, unrighteousness, and evil desires are forbidden fruit on the way to the land of Judah. People can’t bear it any longer, and a large number of them slink away, one by one, just like Orpah. Quietly and shamefully they return to Moab to blend in with the masses as soon as possible.

Do not listen to just anyone who offers to lead you to the land of Judah. But if your flesh wastes away out of sight, and if your bones stick out which once were not seen; your soul draws near to the grave, and your life to the angels of death; if God, in your need, sends an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand to show you the right ways (Job 33:21-29), then you can have hope of such a soul finding a helping hand on the way.