It’s quite likely if you’ve lived long enough that you have felt so overwhelmed by the circumstances in your life that you have no idea what to do next.
How have those hard times affected the way you think about God? During those hard times, maybe you:
- Blamed God
- Ignored God
- Questioned God
- Prayed to God
- Decided God doesn’t help
How we respond to hard times reveals something about our worship. Have we really been serving our good circumstances, or have we been serving our loving, sovereign, faithful, unchanging Lord?
Today’s post begins a new series in the book of Ruth. Ruth is one of two OT books named after a woman and the only book named after a non-Israelite. Ruth is a story of God’s grace and providence in the midst of difficult circumstances.
This book shows that even when God appears to be absent that He is still present with his people. At first glance, the book appears to be a simple love story between two people, but it is actually a happier ever after story with eternal consequences for you and me.
Before continuing, I would encourage you to read Ruth 1.
Seeking life and hope apart from God always leads to ruin (1:1-5)
“in the days when the judges ruled” (1)
The book of Ruth takes place during the time of the judges. Judges 2 provides a summary of what life was like during the time of the judges, which spanned about 325 years.
After Joshua died, Judges 2:10 says, “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”
Judges 2:11-19
- Israel sins against the Lord and serve other gods (2:11-13)
- God judges Israel and gives them over to other nations (2:14-15)
- The people of Israel would be in distress (2:15) and cry out to God
- God would raise up judges to save Israel (2:16-18)
- After the judge died the cycle would repeat itself. This was the state of affairs in the promised land for over 300 years.
In Joshua, Israel was in possession of the land because of God’s favor.
In Judges, Israel was continually oppressed by the people of the land due to their sin.
Judges 21:25
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
The overall picture of the time of the judges was grim, but there were faithful individuals, as we will see.
“there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.” (1)
A man led his family to sojourn in the country of Moab because of a famine in Judah. He didn’t plan for them to be there long. This man is seeking to provide for his family. This seems like a noble thing to do until you learn more about Moab.
Moab was not a place where God’s people should be.
The Moabites were related to the Israelites as they were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. They were considered unclean. Their family line had begun with Lot having an incestuous relationship with his two daughters (Gen 19:30-38).
The Moabites were the people that hired Balaam to curse Israel (Num 22-24). In Num 25 the Moabite women seduced Israelite men and lured them into idolatrous worship.
The Moabites oppressed Israel during the judges for 18 years (Judges 3:12-30).
The main Moabite god was Chemosh. In 2 King 3:27, when a battle with Israel wasn’t going so well for the Moabites, the Moabite king had his oldest son and heir sacrificed to Chemosh in hopes of changing the outcome (also see Num 21:29).
This family did not go to a land where the people of Israel were blessed; they went to a land where the people of Israel were cursed. Moab was a place where if you told a blasphemous joke about the God of Israel, people would probably laugh. Elimelech and his family had left God’s covenant people and were now outsiders among the Moabites.
So let’s set the scene:
The story begins with a flight away from the land of covenant promise, away from Bethlehem (which means the house of bread).
In Deuteronomy 28, while in the land of Moab, God laid out the promises for obedience and the curses for disobedience. The famine in the land was due to the sin of the people of Israel. But rather than repenting, as was prescribed in Deut 30:2-3, the man, whose name is Elimelech, was seeking to take the provision God promises apart from the repentance God requires.
There are many today who want God’s blessing who do not walk in obedience to His commands. They want eternal salvation, material prosperity, and good health, but they don’t want to submit to the lordship of Christ.
When we turn our back on God and sojourn into sin, we never intend to do it for long. It is only going to be for a little while for a little sin. But it rarely works out that way.
When we turn our back on God and sojourn into sin, we never intend to do it for long. It is only going to be for a little while for a little sin. But it rarely works out that way.
Sometimes when life gets hard we want to go live in Moab instead of repenting of sin, trusting in God, and remaining with God’s people during the hard times of life.
We are meant to live in God’s presence and with God’s people.
Elimelech was the man of the house and the leader of his family and he led them away from God’s presence and away from God’s people and into ruin.
vv. 2-5 – The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
We’re told that Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died (v. 3). If that wasn’t bad enough, her sons married Moabite women (4). Marriage with other nations was forbidden because of the pull to worship false gods (Deut 7:3). Moabites were deemed especially troublesome because of their treatment of Israel in Numbers 22-25 (Deut 23:3-6). It gets even worse. In verse five, both of Naomi’s sons die.
Elimelech’s decision to move his family to Moab proved to be a decision that led to death rather than life.
Men, when you lead your family away from God’s presence and God’s people, you are leading your family to ruin.
Men, when you lead your family away from God’s presence and God’s people, you are leading your family to ruin.
Maybe for you it’s not a lack of food. Maybe you are leading your family to find fulfillment in the American Dream, materialism, or earthly success when you should be leading them to find their joy and hope in Jesus.
Once again, seeking life and hope apart from God always leads to ruin. Don’t miss the irony: Naomi went away during a famine with a full family and now she is in a land with food and is empty.
Now, Naomi is a woman devoid of the protection and provision of a man and was in deep distress.
Have you ever felt empty inside and completely vulnerable before God and others?
Naomi faced the most extreme and desperate circumstances possible for a woman in ancient Israel:
- Marriage was the only source of stability and security for a woman in the ancient Near East.
- Widows were to be provided for by their sons.
- Now she is far from home, without a husband and children and past her childbearing age (1:11).
The situation seems hopeless. What will Naomi do?
Turning to God is costly but necessary (1:6-18)
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
Naomi begins to face reality. She realizes that the decision to move to Moab has literally killed her family. That’s what sin does. It takes you farther than you want to go and keeps you longer than you want to stay.
Sin takes you farther than you want to go and keeps you longer than you want to stay.
Naomi hears that the LORD has provided for his people and decides to return home (6-7). She begins to make the 50-70 mile journey from Moab to Judah. This would take about a week, depending on where Naomi was settled in Moab.
8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
Naomi thanked Orpah and Ruth for their kindness and implores them to return to their families where they will be taken care of (8-9).
In some sense, Naomi is being kind and sensible. Naomi is telling Orpah and Ruth that nothing is guaranteed. If the women go with her, there will be no promise of financial security or prosperity. There will be no husband. No provision. No hope from a worldly perspective.
Naomi lays out the alternatives. The ladies can worship the one true God and have nothing in Bethlehem or have provision and protection in a worldly sense but not have the one true God in Moab.
There will be times in your life when you feel that you have nothing but God. Is He enough for you?
10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
They tell her they want to be with her and her people (v. 10).
11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
Naomi explains the situation even more clearly (11-13). You can tell that she cares for these women. While the narrator calls them her daughters-in-law, Naomi calls them her daughters (“My daughters”). These ladies have a close relationship. They had spent hours mourning the loss of their husbands.
You can tell that Naomi wants these women to know that there is no hope of her bearing any more sons that could be their husbands.
Interestingly, Naomi speaks of God’s sovereignty (v. 13). She Naomi knows that whatever happens next whether good or bad—like everything that has come before, must pass through the sovereign control of the one true God.
14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Orpah leaves, but Ruth clings to Naomi (14). The word “clung” is the same word used in Genesis 2:24 – that man leaves his father and mother and clings (hold fast) to his wife.
Bitter experiences provoke many different feelings about God. The right response is to cling to him, knowing that he also clings to us. (Jared Wilson)
15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
For the fourth time, Naomi urges Ruth to return to Moab (v. 15).
Christopher Ash: “Moab is not just a place, a society, an ethnicity, and a culture; it is a religion. To return to Moab is to go back to worshipping Moab’s gods. This decision has eternal significance. Naomi’s urging of Ruth to return is kind and sensible; but it is not the urging of faith.”
16-17
In verses 16-17, we see the turning point of the story. This is where the story starts to change. We see here Ruth’s profession of faith. This is what repentance looks like. You go from facing sin and having your back toward God to turning your back on sin and turning towards God.
Who or what do you need to walk away from? What sin in your life needs to end so that you can know God for the first time or have the joy of your salvation restored?
In God’s providence, He uses Naomi’s suffering to bring Ruth to himself!
Ruth is committing to Naomi’s faith and to her people, regardless of what it means for her—so much so that when Naomi dies, Ruth isn’t bailing. She isn’t ever going back to Moab.
Ruth’s commitment to Naomi is like Jesus’ commitment to us. However, while Ruth is an imperfect sinner and prone to wander, the sinless Christ has made his vow to us no matter what.
Jesus, like Ruth, makes his commitment to the ones He loves for better or worse. But unlike Ruth, he knows just how bad the worse is going to be and still he stays.
When you leave Moab, it can be costly. When Ruth trusted God, it meant leaving everything she had ever known–her family, friends, way of life, gods.
When we follow Jesus, it means that we love him supremely. We love him more than our families and friends (Matt 10:34-39). We leave our old way of life and our idol worship behind and we follow Him unto death.
“Faith means giving up everything for Jesus because of his unwavering faithfulness to us.”
Jared Wilson
Seeking life and hope apart from God always leads to ruin. Turning to God is costly but necessary. And finally, returning to God may hurt, but He is our only hope.
Returning to God may hurt, but He is our only hope (1:19-22)
19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them.
Naomi is without child and Ruth is without husband. Together, they face the realities of poverty. Ruth returns with Naomi to start a new life. The whole town (of 200-300 people) was abuzz about the return of Naomi and a Moabite woman that has converted to the God of Israel.
And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
In v. 20, Naomi asks to not be called Naomi (which means pleasant). After 10 years and a dead family, her name doesn’t fit anymore. Instead, she wants to be called Mara because she is a bitter woman. It’s like she went to the Bethlehem DMV to get here driver’s license renewed and she said my name is not Naomi – it’s Bitter Old Woman. Naomi is weary and in need of rest (v. 9).
In v. 21, Naomi says that she went away full but the Lord brought her back empty. She goes on to say that the Almighty brought calamity upon her.
Maybe she forgot, but she and her husband chose to leave God and His people but she is bitter against God. Oftentimes we make bad decisions and sin against God but then also blame God. Instead, we should own our sin, repent of it, and thank God for his grace!
The good news is that God can use sadness and emptiness to bring you to him (Ruth) or back to him (Naomi). God is always working everything for good for those who love him. God doesn’t waste our suffering and neither should we!
Naomi is beginning to move from brokenness to healing. She is a broken woman who is a widow and has lost her two sons. She doesn’t have any grandchildren. I want my church to be a place where broken people can be honest so that they can be healed. The church needs to be place that receive people like Naomi and help them to heal.
Naomi complains in v. 21, but there is hope in v. 22 (the harvest).
Today, like Naomi, you can move toward life with God and his people instead or you can hide away in our own self-pity and bitterness. If you choose to move toward life with God, in time there will be a harvest of growth in dependence on him and contentment in Christ.
Conclusion
Naomi and Ruth are suffering because of the sins of others. Jesus, the King of Kings, who was eventually descended from Ruth and was born in Bethlehem grows up and suffers for the sins of others.
Just as Ruth gave up all she had known to enter the land of the foreigner to bless Naomi, Jesus Christ gave up all he had known to take on human flesh and live with people like us. But Jesus didn’t just live among us, he died for our sins in our place. Jesus didn’t just rescue us from Moab. He rescues us from hell. Through faith in Christ, we can have eternal life.
Considering what we have read in Ruth today[1]Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament, 230.:
- Whatever trials you are presently facing, do you really think God has no plans or purposes for you?
- Do you really think he has completed everything he means to do in your life?
- Be encouraged. He’s not finished yet, and the harvest may be about to begin.
When everything falls apart, where will you turn? Friends, return to Christ and trust his promises.
References
| ↑1 | Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament, 230. |
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