Nougat 11

What does it mean to assimilate? Do we forego everything, including our values, in order to fit in? Or do we maintain our identity in the face of …? Consider Today’s Holy Nougat

‭Ruth 1:16 NIV‬

[16] But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Assimilation Lessons from Ruth & Naomi 1

When we read this text, it is Ruth who normally becomes the focus of our reflection. And rightly so, as she is the one speaking. She made the life and world transforming decision to give everything up to follow her mother-in-law into the unknown. A land of which she’d only heard of, a land from which her husband and in-laws fled, seeking sustenance.

We might even have wondered why Ruth did what she did, with several of us concluding that Orpah must have been faithless or even wicked to choose to remain in Moab. Without getting tangled in that debate, I dare suggest that they knew not what their destiny would be. How would 3 survive in the space that was only likely to welcome 1?

On the subject of assimilation, however, I invite us to look at the possible lessons Orpah and Ruth must have gleaned from Naomi, while Naomi lived in Moab. For their willingness to stay with her after widowhood, speaks volumes about her. Initially, they both sought to travel with her until, at her directive, Orpah returned to her people.

Naomi was Jewish. Unapologetically so. Although she had relocated to Moab with her family, her husband and two sons, she managed to retain her spiritual and cultural identity. Why do I say that you ask. Let’s go back for a moment to our Nougat and allow it to speak to us.

Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you

Despite the uncertain future they faced, Ruth intended to stay by Naomi’s side. This suggests that there was something about Naomi’s character that impacted Ruth. It might have been the way in which she handled adversity. We don’t know how wealthy, or not the family had been in Moab, but when all the men died, Naomi was finally broken. She was ready to return home – and Ruth determined to accompany her.

I can’t speak to Naomi’s character – she might have been most miserable – yet both women were willing to accompany her. Was it only because they had been married to Naomi’s sons? Or did her character speak for herself?

your God my God

Despite her sons’ marriages to foreign women, Naomi seems to have maintained her religious practices. Perhaps she was merely an observant Jew, going through the motions in that foreign land. However, I suspect that Naomi’s actions included the dietary rituals of kosher and the observance of the Sabbath. Whatever it was, it was enough to impact Ruth.

So much so that Ruth chose to adopt Naomi’s God as her own. It could be the stories of YHWH they heard from their husbands, but would that be enough? Did Naomi tell Ruth and Orpah that they would have to ‘convert’ to Judaism if they went with her? Was that a deterrent for Orpah?

When we enter new spaces, what do our lifestyles tell others? Are they inclined to follow our lead and worship or God even if they weren’t believers? By God’s grace, may our habits speak for us, drawing others to Christ in the process.

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May all we seek be found in Christ