The story of Ruth ep. 1 - Shattered dreams

Mother Naomi, don't ask me to go. I'm not leaving you, said Ruth in a stern voice. Every place you go, I will go. Every place you live, I will live. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. And where you die, I will die, she continued. I ask the Lord to punish me terribly if I do not keep this promise. Only death will separate us. Hi, kids. Have you been waiting for a new Bible story series? Are you ready to set off on a new adventure? Me too. Oh, I can't wait. Do you know the best thing about these Bible stories? They're real. All these stories are not just stories. They actually happened. Joseph, Esther, Daniel, Joshua. They were all real people just like you, your friends, and families. God left us their stories in the Bible so we may learn from their lives. Everything we will learn from this new series is real too. Let's keep that in mind before we hit the road on our way to our next adventure. Do you know who we will get to meet this time? All I can tell you right now is that it's going to be a very beautiful and special series. So let's not waste any time. Let's get started. Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl who had a lot to look forward to. She was excited and curious to find out what her future might hold. This girl's name was Ruth and she lived in the land of Moab. She met an immigrant boy named Malon who had come to Moab with his family from Israel. Ruth fell in love with him and he eventually became her husband. Great love story, right? Now there were two of them, two beautiful and lively young people with many plans for the bright future they dreamed of together. Ruth and her husband Malon lived with Naomi and Elimelech who were Malon's parents. Naomi and Elimelech were a Jewish family from Bethlehem. They had two sons, Malon and Kilian. But there was a time where there was not enough food to eat in Israel. So Elimelech and his whole family had moved to Moab. There the two sons of the family found their wives, Ruth and Orpah. And that's when Malon and Ruth met. Just as things seemed to be settling down for Naomi and Elimelech, they had escaped the famine in Israel and their two sons got married. Things took a totally unexpected turn. You won't believe it. But all three men of the family, Elimelech and his two sons, Malon and Kilian, died. We don't know the reason. The Bible does not mention it. But we do know that Naomi was left without a husband and without her two sons. What terrible news! What's even more sad is that her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, were also left without husbands shortly after they were married. Their whole world collapsed. All their dreams and plans for the future were shattered. But there was nothing they could do. They had to move on. As Job once said, should we take only good things from God and not trouble? Now Ruth and Orpah were still young and had their whole lives ahead of them. So one day their mother-in-law, Naomi, told them, I heard that God has taken care of His people and has given Israel food again, blessing them. Now that I have been left alone, I will return to my land, to my people. Here I am but a foreigner, and now I am all alone. But you, you go back to your father's homes. May the Lord show you the same kindness that you have shown me and my sons. May He take care of your future, my dears. Ruth and Orpah were Moabites. Their homeland was called Moab, and Moab was a pagan country that did not know God. Malone and Killian met Ruth and Orpah in Moab when they moved there because there was no food in Israel. But now Naomi had no reason to stay in that pagan land when she had lost her husband and sons. All she wanted was to return to her people, back to her hometown in Israel. But when Naomi encouraged Ruth and Orpah to stay in Moab and reunite with their families, they replied, No! We'll go with you, Ruth said. Yes, we won't leave you alone, Orpah agreed. But Naomi answered them, saying, My dears, you have no reason to come with me. I am too old, and you are too young. Besides, Malone and Killian were my only sons. Now that they're gone, who will you marry? I cannot help you anymore, unfortunately, Naomi continued. She kept thinking of a law in Israel at that time, stating that if a married man died childless, it was his brother's duty to marry his wife. But because Malone and Killian did not have any brothers, there was no one to take their place as husbands of Ruth and Orpah. So Naomi continued to urge her daughters-in-law to return to their homes. And after a long conversation and a lot of crying, Orpah eventually decided to say goodbye to Naomi and Ruth, then return to her family. But Ruth? Ruth wasn't going to give up so easily. Then Naomi told her, Ruth, my dear, you have seen that Orpah has returned to her family and her people. Do as she did. Go back to your family and continue your life in Moab. Even though Naomi begged Ruth, Ruth stubbornly replied, Mother Naomi, don't ask me to go. I'm not leaving you, said Ruth in a stern voice. Every place you go, I will go. Every place you live, I will live. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. And where you die, I will die, she continued. I ask the Lord to punish me terribly if I do not keep this promise. Only death will separate us. When Naomi saw how determined Ruth was to stay with her, she gave up insisting that she should go home. So Naomi and Ruth set out together for Israel. Were you wondering why Ruth was set on staying with Naomi? Even though Naomi was her mother-in-law, Ruth had not known her for nearly as long as her own family, and it would have made more sense for her to want to return to her family in Moab, right? Well, Ruth saw something special in Naomi. When she married Malone, Ruth noticed something different about his family. They weren't like the other people in Moab. Yes, they were immigrants who had a different nationality and customs than the Moabites. But beyond all that, Malone and his whole family, his brother Killian and their parents Naomi and Elimelech, all served the one true God. And that's what made them special. This means, during the time Ruth was married to Malone, a Jewish man, she got to know not only her husband's way of living, but also his God, the one true God. And now, although she could have chosen the easy way, to go back to her family and rebuild her life in the land of Moab, with the customs and idols of her pagan people, Ruth chose the hard way, to go with Naomi to Israel. Why did Ruth choose the hard way? Because she understood that this was the right way. She came to know the true God, and even though she would become a foreigner in the land of Israel, she knew that this was what she was supposed to do, to follow God, even though it would not be easy. We all have choices to make. We can choose the easy path, or we can choose God. Maybe you're put in the position of defending a friend everyone else laughs at. Of course, it's not easy to stand up to defend your friend. But that's what the Lord would want you to do. Maybe you take a test in school. It would be easy to copy someone else's work. But cheating is stealing. You'd be taking something that doesn't belong to you, something you haven't worked for. You can choose to do the right thing and study for the test. Yes, it'll take more time to study. And yes, you may not necessarily get an A, but you will pass the test before God, because you made the right choice. And that's what really matters. No matter what the situation is, choose to follow God every time, just as Ruth chose to, when she decided to go to Israel with Naomi. Where we frequently post Christian songs and animations for children.