📖 Wahusika wa Biblia — Sehemu ya 8: Ruthu — Maisha Yanapoonekana Kukosa Tumaini, Daima Kuna Tumaini na Mungu📖 Bible Characters — Unit 8: Ruth — When Life Looks Hopeless, There Is Always Hope and God

Wakati mmoja Benjamin Franklin alikisoma kitabu cha Ruthu kwa sauti mbele ya klabu ya watu wenye mashaka juu ya imani, akibadilisha majina ili wasikitambue. Wao walikisifu kuwa mojawapo ya hadithi nzuri kuliko zote walizowahi kusikia — mpaka alipowaambia kwamba ilitoka katika Biblia ile ile waliyoidharau. Ni hadithi nzuri, lakini ni zaidi ya hivyo. Ni habari ya mwanamke fukara aliyekuja akitafuta neema na akaipata, na inabeba ujumbe mmoja unaong'aa: maisha yanapoonekana kukosa tumaini, daima kuna tumaini, na daima yupo Mungu.Benjamin Franklin once read the book of Ruth aloud to a club of skeptics, changing the names so they would not recognize it. They praised it as one of the most beautiful stories they had ever heard — until he told them it came from the very Bible they scorned. It is a beautiful story, but it is more than that. It is the story of a destitute woman who comes looking for grace and finds it, and it carries one shining message: when life appears hopeless, there is always hope, and there is always God.

Somo: Ruthu — maisha yanapoonekana kukosa tumaini, daima kuna tumaini na Mungu.Subject: Ruth — when life looks hopeless, there is always hope and God.

Kauli Kuu: Katika majira ya huzuni, ya mabadiliko, na ya baraka, Mungu huwakomboa mafukara wanaokuja wakitafuta neema.Proposition: In the seasons of grief, change, and blessing, God redeems the destitute who come looking for grace.

Tutafuatilia nyakati tatu katika habari ya Ruthu, na neno kuu linalopita katika zote ni TUMAINI.We will trace three times in the story of Ruth, and the keyword running through them all is HOPE.

I. Wakati wa HuzuniI. A Time of Grief

Majina yenyewe yanahubiri msiba kabla haujatokea. Kulikuwa na mtu jina lake Elimeleki, maana yake "Mungu Wangu ni Mfalme," na mkewe Naomi, maana yake "mpendezaji," na wana wao wawili, Mahloni, "mgonjwa," na Kilioni, "anayedhoofika." Njaa iliifukuza familia hiyo kutoka Bethlehemu hadi nchi ya kigeni ya Moabu, na huko mapigo yalianguka moja baada ya jingine. Elimeleki alikufa. Kisha Mahloni akafa. Kisha Kilioni akafa. Wajane watatu walibaki wamesimama katikati ya magofu — Naomi na wakwe zake wawili Wamoabu, Orpa na Ruthu. Hatimaye Naomi aliporudi nyumbani, wanawake wa Bethlehemu hawakumtambua kwa urahisi, naye akasema:The very names preach the tragedy before it unfolds. There was a man named Elimelech, which means "My God is King," and his wife Naomi, which means "pleasant," and their two sons, Mahlon, "sick," and Chilion, "pining away." A famine drove the family from Bethlehem to the foreign land of Moab, and there the blows fell one after another. Elimelech died. Then Mahlon died. Then Chilion died. Three widows were left standing in the wreckage — Naomi and her two Moabite daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. When at last Naomi came home, the women of Bethlehem hardly knew her, and she said:

Naomi maana yake "mpendezaji"; Mara maana yake "uchungu." Hapa ni mwanamke aliyepondwa sana na hasara kiasi kwamba aliona jina lake lenyewe halimfai tena.Naomi means "pleasant"; Mara means "bitter." Here is a woman so crushed by loss that she felt her very name no longer fit.

Ninamwelewa Naomi mpendezaji akiomba aitwe Mara mwenye uchungu. Mama yangu mwenyewe, kama Naomi, alimpoteza mume na watoto wake watatu kwa ukatili wa muda mrefu wa ugonjwa wa Huntington. Nami nimesimama kando ya makaburi mengi kuliko ninavyoweza kuhesabu kwa urahisi — nimewazika babu na bibi zangu, wazazi wangu, kaka zangu wawili na dada mmoja, na mke wangu wa miaka arobaini na mitano. Ninajua kidogo kuhusu hatua ambazo huzuni hutuburuta ndani yake: shaka, hasira, hatia, mfadhaiko, na mwishowe, kwa rehema ya Mungu, kiasi fulani cha utulivu. Huzuni ni halisi, na Biblia haituombi kamwe tujifanye vinginevyo. Naomi alikuwa mkweli kuhusu uchungu wake — na hata katika uchungu wake, aligeuza hatua zake kurudi Bethlehemu, kurudi mahali pa mkate, kurudi kwa Mungu. Kugeuka huko ndiko tumaini linapoanzia.I understand pleasant Naomi asking to be called bitter Mara. My own mother, like Naomi, lost a husband and three of her children to the long cruelty of Huntington's disease. And I have stood at more gravesides than I can easily count — I have buried my grandparents, my parents, two brothers and a sister, and my wife of forty-five years. I know something of the stages grief drags us through: the doubt, the anger, the guilt, the depression, and at last, by God's mercy, some measure of resolution. Grief is real, and the Bible never asks us to pretend otherwise. Naomi was honest about her bitterness — and even in her bitterness, she turned her steps back toward Bethlehem, back toward the place of bread, back toward God. That turning is where hope begins.

Bethlehemu maana yake "nyumba ya mkate," na Naomi alikuwa amesikia kwamba BWANA amewajia watu wake na kuwapa chakula tena. Wakati mwingine hatua ya kwanza ya kutoka katika huzuni ni kugeuka tu kurudi mahali ambapo Mungu hutoa riziki, hata moyo ukiwa bado mzito. Imani haitutaki tujisikie wapendezaji; inataka tu tuendelee kutembea kuelekea kwa Mungu.Bethlehem means "house of bread," and Naomi had heard that the LORD had visited His people and given them bread again. Sometimes the first step out of grief is simply to turn back toward the place where God provides, even when the heart is still heavy. Faith does not require that we feel pleasant; it requires only that we keep walking toward God.

II. Wakati wa MabadilikoII. A Time of Change

Njiani, Naomi aliwasihi wakwe zake wote wawili warudi kwa watu wao. Orpa alimbusu mkwewe kwa kuagana, akarudi Moabu — na hatusikii habari zake tena. Lakini Ruthu alishikamana na Naomi, akasema maneno ambayo yamevuma kwa miaka elfu tatu:On the road, Naomi urged both her daughters-in-law to go back to their own people. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye and returned to Moab — and we never hear of her again. But Ruth clung to Naomi and spoke words that have echoed for three thousand years:

Haya yalikuwa mabadiliko kamili ya maisha — nchi mpya, watu wapya, Mungu mpya. Na mara nyingi Mungu hutufinyanga na kutuunda kupitia mabadiliko kama hayo hasa. Nabii alipomtazama mfinyanzi kazini, aliona kwamba chombo kilichoharibika hakikuzibwa tu viraka; kilipondwa tena kuwa donge na kufanywa upya. Wakati mwingine Mungu hulazimika kuondoa mambo katika maisha yetu, hata kuvunja kile tulichokuwa, ili atufananishe na Yeye mwenyewe. Yesu alisema kwamba divai mpya haiwezi kutiwa katika viriba vikuukuu, la sivyo viriba vitapasuka; divai mpya ya Roho Mtakatifu haiwezi kuzuiliwa na mifumo ya zamani ya asili ya kimwili wala na dini ya nje tu. Funzo ni kuuweka moyo laini na unaopindika mikononi mwa Mungu. Jangwani, wingu la uwepo wa Mungu lilipoondoka, watu walilazimika kuondoka pamoja nalo; hawakuweza kubaki wamepiga kambi mahali ambapo wingu halikuwepo tena. Waumini wengi mno huishi kwa kile ambacho mtu fulani aliwahi kukiita maneno saba ya mwisho ya kanisa: "Hatujawahi kufanya hivyo kabla." Nimeishi katika nchi tatu na majimbo matano, na Mungu alitumia kila kung'olewa ili kunibadilisha. Wakati wa mabadiliko, ingawa unaumiza, mara nyingi ni chombo cha Mungu cha kutuandaa kwa wakati wa baraka.This was a complete change of life — a new land, a new people, a new God. And God often molds and shapes us through exactly such changes. When the prophet watched a potter at work, he saw that a marred vessel was not merely patched up; it was crushed back into a lump and made over again. Sometimes God has to remove things from our lives, even break what we were, in order to conform us to Himself. Jesus said that new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins, or the skins will burst; the new wine of the Holy Spirit cannot be contained by the old structures of the carnal nature or by mere outward religion. The lesson is to keep the heart soft and pliable in God's hands. In the wilderness, when the cloud of God's presence moved, the people had to move with it; they could not camp where the cloud no longer was. Too many believers live by what someone once called the seven last words of the church: "We never did it that way before." I have lived in three countries and five states, and God used every uprooting to change me. A time of change, painful as it is, is often God's tool to prepare us for a time of blessing.

III. Wakati wa BarakaIII. A Time of Blessing

Naomi na Ruthu walifika Bethlehemu mwanzo wa mavuno ya shayiri, bila kitu chochote. Na angalia alichofanya Ruthu, kwa maana ndicho kiini cha kitabu kizima: hakujifanya kuwa kitu ambacho hakuwa, wala hakupanga hila ili ajipandishe kwa ujanja. Alikubali tu nafasi ya ufukara na akatoka akitafuta neema. Chini ya sheria ya Musa, pembe za mashamba na masazo ya mavuno yaliachwa kwa ajili ya maskini na mgeni (Mambo ya Walawi 19:9-10), na Ruthu alikwenda kwa unyenyekevu kuokota masazo kati ya nafaka zilizobaki. Ukitafuta neema, utaipata, kwa maana "mtu amwendeaye Mungu lazima aamini kwamba yeye yupo, na kwamba huwapa thawabu wale wamtafutao" (Waebrania 11:6).Naomi and Ruth arrived back in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, with nothing. And notice what Ruth did, for it is the heart of the whole book: she did not pretend to be something she was not, and she did not scheme to manipulate her way up. She simply took the place of destitution and went out looking for grace. Under the law of Moses, the corners of the fields and the gleanings were to be left for the poor and the stranger (Leviticus 19:9-10), and Ruth went humbly to glean among the leftover grain. If you will seek for grace, you will find it, for "he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

Ikatukia kwamba Ruthu alifika katika shamba la mtu mmoja jina lake Boazi, ambaye jina lake maana yake ni "nguvu" — na Boazi alikuwa jamaa wa karibu wa marehemu mkwe wake Elimeleki. Maandiko yanasema "ikatukia" akafika katika shamba lake, lakini haikuwa bahati hata kidogo. Mungu anayo "matukio" yake matakatifu. Zakayo alitukia tu kupanda ule mkuyu mmoja ambao Yesu alikuwa ameshauchagua kusimama chini yake; ilionekana kama bahati, lakini ilikuwa miadi ya kimungu. Ndivyo ilivyokuwa kwa Ruthu. Boazi alimwonyesha wema, akamlinda, na kumpatia mahitaji. Alimbariki kwa maneno yanayobeba kitabu kizima: "BWANA akujazi kwa kazi yako, nawe upewe thawabu kamili na BWANA, Mungu wa Israeli, ambaye umekuja kukimbilia chini ya mbawa zake" (Ruthu 2:12). Alimwambia akae katika mashamba yake, anywe kutoka vyombo vyake, na ale mezani pake — neema juu ya neema kwa mjane mgeni aliyekuja bila kitu. Na alipojua yeye ni nani, alichukua nafasi ya jamaa mkombozi. Chini ya sheria, jamaa wa karibu angeweza kukomboa mali na ukoo wa mtu aliyekufa. Boazi aliukomboa urithi wa Elimeleki, akamtwaa Ruthu, mjane Mmoabu, kuwa mkewe.As it happened, Ruth came to the field of a man named Boaz, whose name means "strength" — and Boaz was a near kinsman of her dead father-in-law Elimelech. The text says she "happened" to come to his field, but it was no accident at all. God has His holy "happenings." Zacchaeus just happened to climb the one sycamore tree Jesus had already chosen to stop beneath; it looked like chance, but it was a divine appointment. So it was with Ruth. Boaz showed her kindness, protected her, and provided for her. He blessed her with words that capture the whole book: "The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge" (Ruth 2:12). He told her to stay in his fields, to drink from his vessels, and to eat at his table — grace heaped upon grace for a foreign widow who had come with nothing. And when he learned who she was, he took up the role of the kinsman-redeemer. Under the law, a near relative could redeem the property and the family line of one who had died. Boaz redeemed the heritage of Elimelech and took Ruth, the Moabite widow, to be his wife.

Mwana wao aliitwa Obedi, maana yake "ibada." Na hapa kitabu hiki kidogo kinafunguka kuelekea jambo kubwa mno: Obedi akawa baba wa Yese, na Yese baba wa Daudi mfalme. Wanawake wa Bethlehemu walimwambia Naomi kuhusu Ruthu, "mkweo akupendaye, aliye mwema kwako kuliko wana saba, ndiye aliyemzaa" — kwa maana katika utamaduni ule wana saba walikuwa picha kamili ya maisha yaliyojaa na yenye baraka, na Ruthu mmoja mwaminifu alikuwa na thamani kuliko wote hao. Mgeni Mmoabu aliyekuwa fukara akawa bibi wa babu wa Mfalme Daudi, na kupitia ukoo wa Daudi, akawa mama wa kale wa Mmataifa wa Bwana Yesu Kristo Mwenyewe.Their son was named Obed, which means "worship." And here the little book opens onto something vast: Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. The women of Bethlehem said to Naomi of Ruth, "Your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him" — for in that culture seven sons was the very picture of a full and blessed life, and one faithful Ruth was worth more than all of them. The destitute Moabite outsider became the great-grandmother of King David, and through David's line, a Gentile ancestress of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Tumaini na MkomboziHope and the Redeemer

Hii ndiyo sababu Ruthu ni picha kuu ya ukombozi katika Agano la Kale. Mtu fukara, asiye na haki yoyote yake mwenyewe, anakuja akitafuta neema na anaipata. Jamaa mkombozi analipa gharama, anamtwaa mgeni kuwa wake, na kumleta ndani ya familia — na Boazi ni picha ya Kristo, Jamaa Mkombozi wetu, aliyevaa mwili wetu ili awe jamaa yetu wa karibu na akalipa gharama ili tuwe wake. Mmataifa anapandikizwa katika ukoo wenyewe wa Masihi, na hiyo ndiyo Injili kwa ufupi: wale waliokuwa zamani wageni na watu wa nje wanaletwa karibu na kupewa jina katika familia ya Mungu.This is why Ruth is the Old Testament's great picture of redemption. A destitute one, with no claim of her own, comes looking for grace and finds it. A kinsman-redeemer pays the price, takes the outsider as his own, and brings her into the family — and Boaz is a picture of Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer, who took on our flesh to become our near relative and paid the price to make us His own. The Gentile is grafted into the very line of the Messiah, which is the gospel in miniature: those who were once strangers and outsiders are brought near and given a name in the family of God.

Mtume Paulo anatukumbusha kwamba mambo yaliyoandikwa katika Agano la Kale "yaliwapata wao kwa jinsi ya mifano; yakaandikwa ili kutuonya sisi" (1 Wakorintho 10:11). Habari ya Ruthu si historia ya kale tu; ni kioo ambamo kila mwenye dhambi anaweza kuiona njia ya kurudi nyumbani — kuja mikono mitupu kutafuta neema, na kupokelewa na Mkombozi anayefurahia kuitoa.The apostle Paul reminds us that the things written in the Old Testament "happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition" (1 Corinthians 10:11). Ruth's story is not merely ancient history; it is a mirror in which every sinner can see the way home — coming empty-handed to seek grace, and being received by a Redeemer who delights to give it.

Kwa hiyo maisha yako yanapokuwa katika wakati wa huzuni, au wakati wa mabadiliko yanayochanganya, usikate tamaa. Mungu yule yule aliyetembea na Ruthu kutoka makaburi ya Moabu hadi karamu ya arusi ya Bethlehemu anatembea pamoja nawe. Neno kuu ni tumaini. Kila kitu kinapoonekana kukosa tumaini, daima kuna tumaini, na daima yupo Mungu — na yupo Mkombozi anayekutafuta wewe hata unapokuja ukitafuta neema.So when your life is in a time of grief, or a time of bewildering change, do not despair. The same God who walked with Ruth from the graves of Moab to the wedding feast of Bethlehem is walking with you. The keyword is hope. When everything looks hopeless, there is always hope, and there is always God — and there is a Redeemer who is looking for you even as you come looking for grace.