Ruth’s Decision
By Ulf Ekman

Israel is the land of the future and the Jews are the people of the future, not because they are any better than other nations – all are equal before God – but because of the calling God has placed on them. This calling means blessing for every nation but it also provokes resistance, prejudice and evil.

The Land – A Protection for the People
Mankind’s worst atrocities have been continually vented upon the Jewish people. They have been scattered, despised refugees without a land. Now the situation has changed. They have Eretz Israel – a land to which they can return.
Just think of the many Jews who have said, If only we’d had a land somewhere, the holocaust could never have happened. The holocaust was a horrifying nightmare, but as a result the State of Israel became a welcome reality (now 60 years ago). The Jews could then be on their way home again. Therefore, it is obvious that Israel is the best possible protection against anti-Semitism.
However, hostility remains. Anti-Semitism has taken on a new form and become anti-Zionism. Sometimes one can hear anti-Semites say, I have nothing against Jews, but I don’t like Israel or Zionism; as if one can treat the people and their land separately. This is impossible because they are inextricably joined together through the promises of God. Anti-Zionism is merely Anti-Semitism in another guise.

The Promised Land
How should a non-Jew react to Israel and the Jewish people? What should he think and feel about them? Is Israel merely the scene of religious history? Is it only a museum full of holy places for people to visit for a few days of edification? If so, then it makes no difference whether the land belongs to Jordan, whether it is called Palestine or is administered by the UN. It is no more than the sentimental focal point for different religions.
But this is not so. The land is forever linked to the people, to the promises and to God himself. All the promises are valid for the future too. The future is most important for both the people and the land. To consider the formation of the State of Israel as just a coincidence, reveals a grave degree of ignorance and unwillingness to understand the prophetic scriptures.
Israel’s very existence as a modern nation is a sheer miracle, and the fulfilled prophecies prove the reliability of God’s Word. This does not mean that you are to become a palm leaf-waving romantic, almost falling into a trance every time you hear the name Israel or meet a Jew! Many Israel-romantics have been disappointed to discover that Israel is a land like other lands, in that its people have attitudes, problems and difficulties like other peoples.
Today, it is not romanticism and sentimentality that are needed, but a realistic insight into what Israel is – and as a result, a resolute decision of firm friendship.

For or Against
Israel leaves no one untouched. However secularized people may be, the land of Israel and its people point not only to the existence of God, but also to His plans and promises for the whole of mankind.
There is something inevitable, something convincing about Israel, and there is also something that compels everyone to take a stand. The question is, which stand have you taken?
Throughout the Bible we can read of non-Jews who have blessed Israel. History too, provides many examples. Orde Wingate and Raoul Wallenberg are two of them. However, we are not concerned with heroic figures but with ordinary people and their decisions. Each of us must take a stand, and as time passes the more important and solemn that decision will become.
When Jews were herded off by the thousands to the concentration camps, only a few onlookers were prepared to side with them. The majority dropped their heads or looked away. The philosophy of shame reigned and many went around in silence, their consciences burning. But those who kept quiet and refused to protest were actually taking a stand. No one can remain neutral. Life is not neutral.
Some time ago, a friend of mine met a former SS soldier in Austria. Nervously, he took out photographs of his days as a young private on the eastern front. Apologetic and laden with guilt, he talked about Jew hunts, arrests and executions.
I didn’t realize, he explained, I was so very young at the time. Everybody was doing it.
But his life was ruined. Memories dogged him ever since. He was like a hunted man. He seemed constantly on the watch for people who could relieve him of his memories and tell him everything was all right or that it was all just a bad dream
In spite of all the words that it will never be repeated, the risk of another holocaust still remains. Madmen deny it, others just forget it. But Arab anti-Semitism is as implacable and unrelenting as ever, while in the West, replacement theology with its sometimes hidden, sometimes blatantly open anti-Semitism, is rife in some circles. Even those who say to bless Israel, display deep ignorance, and sometimes alarming indifference can be found. We have so many other things to think about, they say. There are other things to be involved in too, you know! But if you want to be blessed, you must bless what God blesses and He is blessing Israel. If you want blessing, you must put first things first – what God puts first. God’s priorities are His land, His people and His plan of redemption.

Ruth – An Example
The book of Ruth describes a non-Jewish woman, a Moabitess. The account begins at a time of widespread famine in Israel. A woman named Naomi had left Bethlehem with her husband and sons, and moved to the land of Moab, to settle there. They had been uprooted and dispersed through drought and famine, just as many thousands of Jews were to be dispersed throughout the world in later years.
During this time, Naomi’s sons married Moabite women and her husband died. The family was assimilated, just as many other Jews have been assimilated in the lands of their dispersion in succeeding years. Eventually, Naomi’s sons also died, just as many Jews have died, far from Zion, during the centuries of the Diaspora. It was then that Naomi heard that, The Lord had come to the aid of His people by providing food for them (Ruth 1:6). Similarly today, many Jews are hearing that God has come to the aid of His people and has begun to regather them.
Naomi decided to return to her own land, to her hometown. Her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, accompanied her on the first stretch of the journey. She then gave them the opportunity to return to their native land. Orpah did so, but not Ruth.
“Look, said Naomi, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her. 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. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me (Ruth 1:15-17).

Choose Blessing
This was Ruth’s decision, and her choice revealed several facts. Firstly, she realized that Naomi, a Jewess, ought to live in her own land. Secondly, she was aware that the God of Naomi was the Living God, and finally, she realized that Naomi’s people were her people. But Ruth was a Moabitess and not Jewish by birth. As a Moabitess, she was free to make her decision for or against the Jews. She could bless or curse them; support and help them; or remain indifferent, busy with other matters and go her own way. Ruth chose to bless, and was blessed herself. Through her, David was born, a future King of Israel and a type of the Messiah.
Because of her decision, Ruth was given an important place in God’s ongoing revelation of Himself. She was a necessary instrument, a part in His overall plan.
However, Ruth could not be a blessing until she had made her choice. She weighted the matter carefully and made her decision. It was thorough and radical. Her decision changed her life, her future, her place and way of living; in fact, everything. It was not a rushed, emotional choice, but one that was based on lifelong devotion.
The same decision is ours today, and that of the Christian church at large. We stand at the threshold of that decision.
On the one hand, we can choose to go back with Orpah to the influence and spirit of this world with its opinions and attitudes. Unfortunately, some will do it. Their choice will be marked by a growing coolness toward Israel and a ready condoning of anti-Semitism. Finally, they will become religious pawns in the game against Israel and against God.
For our part, we can choose to go the way of Ruth. This implies the realization that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. It means that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is ours, and that His words and promises in the Bible are of absolute and immediate relevance today. It means that the Church must make the cause of the Jews its own.
Having made4 that decision, even if some become cooler, distancing themselves and backing down, Israel will still know that she has friends. They will be true friends who will not let her down, manipulate her or have hidden, false motives.
These people will be motivated by God’s Word, His promises and by His love that is poured out in their hearts. This love asks for nothing in return and is not scheming or calculating. It is a selfless love, not dependent on a response, but motivated by God’s faithfulness to His people and His promises.
When you have made your decision, what is your next step?

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels. For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, Peace be within you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity (Psalm 122:6-9).
Bless the seed of Abraham. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you (Gen. 12:3)
Comfort, support and encourage the people of God. Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins (Isa 40:1-2).
Oppose every form of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Spread correct information concerning Israel and the Jewish people. Do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you (Rom 11:18).
Support Israel and the regathering of the Jewish people financially. Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord our God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has endowed you with splendor. Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion (Isa 60:9-10).

Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards (Isa 61:5).
When the Church recognizes its place in praying for and supporting the Jewish people, God will be given even better conditions for the completion of His work with Israel. However, this will mean a change for the Church, as well as for Israel.
Just as Peter had difficulties understanding that the Gospel should spread to the Gentiles, so too, many Christians will find it hard to understand when the initiative returns to the Jewish people. But whoever listens to the Spirit and searches the Scriptures will see how all things converse and move toward their prophesied end. God’s plan for the Jews will be gloriously fulfilled.

(Source: Jews, People of the Future by Ulf Ekman,Word of Life Publications. Ulf Ekman is pastor of the dynamic Word of Life Church, Uppsala, Sweden, and President of Word of Life Bible Center, Europe’s largest Bible school. His books are published in over twenty languages.)

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Ruth’s Decision By Ulf Ekman

Ruth’s Decision
By Ulf Ekman