I hope we can borrow from the courage and strength of two widows in the Bible today. Their journey, like yours, required extraordinary courage and faith and spotlights reason #5 in Why The Book of Ruth is for Widows.
♥ ferree
(Postcards from the Widows' Path, page 34-35)
Dr. Charles Dyer, Professor-at-Large at Moody Bible Institute and host of The Land and the Book radio program told me this about Naomi and Ruth's journey from Moab.
“The
leg of the journey by the Dead Sea would have been very difficult. Between the
eastern shore of the Dead Sea (as one left Moab) and the base of the Judean
Wilderness at Engedi there was no drinkable water. Travelers would have needed
to fill up their jars or waterskins with water and then carry all the water
they would need for the next four or five hours in the heat of the desert. For
two poor women traveling alone, it meant that they probably were able to carry
little else with them...
My admiration for
Ruth and Naomi only grows stronger as I realize how difficult this journey
really was. It likely took them a day to walk from Moab down to the Dead Sea, a
day to cross the Dead Sea and walk to Engedi, a day to climb from Engedi up
into the wilderness of Judea, and another day to walk through the wilderness to
Bethlehem. Four long, hard days having to carry food and water, four days of
steep climbs over treacherous terrain, four days surviving in the area where
David was forced to kill lions and bears as he watched over his sheep (I Samuel
17:34-36). These were two tough women!”
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| Aerial view of Engedi and the terrain that Ruth and Naomi would have walked http://www.bibleplaces.com/engedi.htm |
Wow! Interesting information. They truly did show a courage and strength that only could have come from the Lord.
ReplyDeleteYes, it would have been, having been to Israel myself and having these kinds of discussions, I can only imagine how hard it must have been.
ReplyDelete