Please pray for our worship service on Sunday as we consider one of the most compelling passages in Scripture on the nature of repentance and conversion. Naomi was many things: a wife who had lost her husband, a mother who had lost her sons, a mother-in-law to two women; but the most important thing about Naomi was that she was a woman of repentance and faith.
Why do I say that? For one thing, the word shubh is repeatedly emphasized in this passage, occurring eleven times. That is the central Hebrew word for repentance. In fact, shubh occurs more than 1,050 times in the Old Testament— It means to turn back, to go in the opposite direction.
It highlights the fact that repentance means a change of direction, from the wrong way to the right way. It means a turning away from sin (1 Kgs 8:35), from iniquity (Job 36:10), from transgression (Isa 59:20), from wickedness (Ezek 3:19) and from evil ways (Neh 9:35). Positively shubh means turning to the Lord (Ps 51:13; Isa 10:21; Jer 4:1; Hos 14:1; Amos 4:8; Mal 3:7).
Pray that God would teach us some things about the nature of true repentance. Also, pray that the Lord would bear witness to the word of his grace (Acts 14:3).
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