OK, you can turn to Ruth chapter 1, the book of Ruth chapter 1. I'll read the first chapter, and then we'll look at the teaching of the chapter. We gave some introductory thoughts last week concerning the book, and some of that will be rehearsed as we move through, especially the first part this evening. So beginning in chapter 1 at verse 1.
Now, it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech. The name of his wife was Naomi.
And the names of his two sons were Malon and Kilian, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left and her two sons. Now they took wives of the women of Moab.
The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth, and they dwelt there about ten years. Then both Malon and Kilian also died, so the woman survived her two sons and her husband. And she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. Therefore, she went out from the place where she was and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
And Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. the Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. So she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, surely we will return with you to your people.
But Naomi said, turn back, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters.
Go. For I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands?
Know my daughters, for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law.
But Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you. or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them. And the women said, is this Naomi?
But she said to them, do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? So Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab.
Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Amen.
Scripture Reading: Ruth 1
So beginning here in Chapter 1, it sets the stage for all that follows in Chapters 2 to 4. Remember last week we considered
Introduction: Purpose of Ruth
the primary theme of the book is the last few verses. The fact that it would be Boaz and Ruth that would give birth to Obed, Obed begot Jesse, And Jesse, of course, begot David. So we see that's the specific target. Just rehearsing what John Gill said, said, the principal design of it, of this book, is to give the genealogy of David, whom Samuel had anointed to be king of Israel, and from whom the Messiah was to come. and who therefore may be said to be the aim and scope of it as he is all of scripture.
And whereby it appears that he sprung from both Jews and Gentiles and is the savior of both. And there is a good foundation for both to hope in him. And the call and conversion of Ruth the Moabitess may be considered as a shadow, emblem, and pledge of the conversion of the Gentiles. So that's the ultimate end or primary goal of the book.
But of course, chapters 1, 2, and 3 gives us the story, the narrative of how these things took place. Remember, there's no signs. There's no wonders. It's a pretty ordinary situation going on in the life of one. particular family.
Well
The Famine in the Land
the first thing we ought to notice is the famine in the land verses 1 to 5 in chapter 1, then we'll notice secondly the return to Judah in verses 6 to 18, and then thirdly the theological interpretation given by Naomi. in verses 19 to 22. So note first, the famine in the land, verses 1 to 5, we have the setting.
The Setting: Days of the Judges
Again, rehearsing what we saw last week, the period of the judges. This probably serves or functions like one of the appendices that we find at the end of Judges 17 to 21. Only 17 to 21 probably precede the initial or the first judge off Niel. So Ruth takes place actually in the midst of those series of judges.
Mentioned last week, Kyle and Dalich locate Ruth specifically during the time of Gideon because there was famine during the time of Gideon. The Midianites would come in and would oppress them and there would be a famine as a result of that. Whether or not that's correct, sometime during one of the earthly deliverers that God had raised up, this story of Ruth occurs. As well, we need to remember the setting is one of judgment, judgment from God.
Verse 1, it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land. Now when we read the Bible, we don't read it in terms of, wow, that must have meant there wasn't a lot of rain. Certainly, that is a means. When there's not a lot of rain, that produces famine or is a cause for famine.
But remember, we're reading theological history. When there's a reference to a famine in the land, we need to think in terms of God. We need to think in terms of what God is doing. And also, when we're reading books connected to the Pentateuch, we need to think in terms of the promises of God in terms of either blessing for his people if they obey in the land or curses for his people if they disobey in the land.
So in the book of Judges we see that God uses foreign oppressors to bring judgment to bear upon the people of Israel. Here we see that he uses a famine in the land to bring judgment to bear upon the people of Israel, consistent with Leviticus 26, 19 and 20. God promises when they break the covenant I will break the pride of your power I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze and your strength shall be spent in vain for your land shall not yield its produce nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit." Again we don't read this and say wow they were certainly unlucky in Bethlehem Judah at that particular time certainly if they would have had better farmers or better implements or better tools they could have yielded a crop. No, if they had obeyed God and been faithful in the land, then He had promised to bless them in the land and to water the land.
Deuteronomy 28, 23 and 24. And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust, from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed." So this is the particular setting. Then the family is introduced to us in verse 2.
We have a Limelech we have his wife Naomi, we have his sons Malon and Killian, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah.
The Plan: Flight to Moab
Now notice secondly their plan. The plan is not to repent. Now whether this family does or not, the nation as a whole isn't repenting. When God does send bread to the house of bread, which is what Bethlehem actually means, the house of bread.
So he deprives the house of bread of bread and then according to verse 6, He then sends bread to the house of bread. It's an act of grace and mercy because we don't read anything that the people of Israel repent. We don't read anything that the people of Israel cry out to God and forsake their sin. What Elimelech and Naomi do, they leave from Judah to go to Moab in order to ride out the famine.
Now we need to remember something about the Moabites. Are they good guys or are they bad guys? The fact that they go to Moab is not a good thing. I mean, we ought not to go live among the pagans simply to get water and simply to get food.
Remember that the origin of the Moabites was an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter, Genesis 19, 30-38. The Moabites resisted Israel during their wilderness wanderings in Numbers 22-24. It was the Moabite women that the children of Israel played the harlot with, according to Numbers 25. And as a result, there was public execution for the children of Israel that were involved in that.
The Moabites were excluded from the assembly of the Lord, according to Deuteronomy 23, 3 to 6. And as well, in the very book of Judges itself, This, again, is located in that time frame, in that time period. There was a Moabite king that Ehud had to deal with, that fat man named Eglon. So even in the Book of Judges, the Moabites exercised oppression over the children of Israel.
So the idea in Elimelech's mind, the text seems to indicate that it was his idea. The idea was to go to Moab to ride out the famine and to sustain his family. And again, nothing wrong with wanting to sustain one's family, but as they go to Moab, things certainly don't turn out well for them. Perhaps that is the narrator's way of indicating they perhaps should have stayed in Judah, repented, called the people of God around them to repent, rather than to bail and go to the land of the Moabites.
So we see the setting, we see the plan.
The Problem: Death and Childlessness
Now notice thirdly, under the famine in the land, the problem. Verses 3 to 5. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. And she was left and her two sons.
Now that's a difficulty for a woman in that given situation. I mean, she leaves her home, she leaves her country, she leaves her place, she leaves her people, she goes to Moab and she's around a bunch of people that really are not the best ones to be around. And then her husband dies there. And then notice what the text says in verse 4.
Now they took wives of the women of Moab. Now the Moabites were not one of the nations specified in Deuteronomy 7, 1 to 5 in terms of holy war. They were not one of the nations that were under the ban in that particular regard. However, based on what the rest of the Bible says concerning the Moabites, it probably wasn't the best idea to take these two wives.
Now, certainly I'm speaking as a man, because in God's sovereignty, Ruth is specifically the star of the show. I mean, she's the one that's going to give birth to Obed, and Obed to Jesse, and Jesse to David. But as we look at the situation, these young men do not know this at the time, they take wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth.
It's interesting, they dwelt there about 10 years. What do we gather from this statement that they dwelt there for about 10 years? They were childless for 10 years. Could be, again, more of that concept of Deuteronomy 28 coming through loud and clear.
They went to Moab to try and escape the famine. They go to the land. Her husband dies. Her two sons die.
And her two sons had been married for 10 years and neither of them had had a child. Now, it could happen to be sure that these were two ladies that happened to be barren, but we know that Ruth isn't because she ultimately gives birth to Obed, right? These are indicators. These are signs.
These are clues. These are pieces of evidence to tell us that this was not a good move. The covenant law stipulated that you were to obey God. When there was sin in the land, you were to repent of that sin.
The covenantal curse of Deuteronomy 28.32, your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long, and there shall be no strength in your hand. The sons lived with their wives in Naomi and Moab for 10 years, but never ever had any children. Very interesting, very intriguing. So verse 5 then tells us, Malon and Kilian also died, so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
Now this is a stroke of providence. And she certainly is right in her theological assessment of this reality. It was the hand of the Lord against her. But also she tends to go overboard in the sense that she doesn't acknowledge the goodness of God that is throughout the passage as well.
We'll see that when we get to the end of our study this evening. I was thinking we often refer to, I don't know if you do, but at least in my thoughts, I refer to a negative Nellie. I've had to rethink that and think it's negative Naomi. I mean, she has a proper view of the sovereignty of God, but there's no appreciation whatsoever of any of the goodness of God in her theology.
And that's a sad thing. It's good to affirm God's sovereign hand, good to affirm it even in our afflictions, but we need to be able to spot, identify, and see the goodness in the midst of those struggles as well. I pointed this out on Sunday morning. David, in Psalm 103, says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.
Bless His holy name. He repeats himself in case himself didn't hear what he said. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. We need to start looking for and appreciating and spotting and viewing and seeing the little things.
The fact is she's in Moab. She gets word that the Lord God has given bread to the city of Bethlehem. That's a blessing. She doesn't praise God for that.
She acknowledges that these two daughters-in-law have dealt kindly with her. Well, who moved them to deal kindly with her? Do pagans just naturally deal kindly with people? No, there's a sovereign God behind the scenes.
The fact that Ruth says what she says in verses 16 and 17 is absolutely amazing and incredible. Instead of saying, praise Yahweh from whom all blessings flow, Thank you for this precious Ruth that you have given to be a helper to me." She goes back to the city of Bethlehem and all she does is whine. All she does is complain. Don't call me pleasant.
Call me bitter. My whole life is just one big bitter pill. Well, wait a minute, Naomi. Who's this Ruth with you?
She seems to be quite a blessing. She seems to be quite an encouragement. Brethren, let us not be negative Naomis. Let us be able to see, even in the midst of the affliction, even in the midst of the hardship, even in the midst of the trial and the difficulty, that God is working.
I was thinking about Jeremiah and Lamentations. Jeremiah in Lamentations is lamenting over the fall of Jerusalem. It was bad. People, women, are eating their babies because there's no food in the city.
It is a terrific judgment of God Most High, and yet in the midst of this, this is where we get our hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, the prophet says, through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. In other words, if it wasn't for the mercy of God, every last one of us would be dead in this city. But the fact that there are still some, the fact that Jeremiah is alive and lamenting, is an evidence of the mercy of God most high. He says, through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Have you ever given weight or thought or consideration to when this was penned? Can you actually imagine Jeremiah understanding the siege in the city of Jerusalem, having witnessed the fall of their temple, seeing women turn to cannibalism in order to eat the issue of their own body, and he says, because his compassions fail not, They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul.
Therefore, I hope in Him." I think this is an element of faith that believers possess when in the midst of the worst forms of tragedy they are able to nevertheless see that God has His purposes, God has His hand in this, and God is working out His will for His glory and for the good of His people. You see, we need an increase in faith so that we can theologically assess situations and not just come out heavy on the bitterness element, and not just come out heavy on the affliction element. I've met Christians before who seem to wear this as a badge. Oh yes, I've had such a rough life.
Oh yes, the Lord deals with me so severely. The Lord's chastening hand is upon me. Can you ever appreciate that because of His compassion, you fail not? You've been the recipient not only of affliction and hardship, but you've been the recipient of the grace to be able to bear up under the affliction and the hardship.
That's the mercy and the kindness of God. We've got to be theologically inclined. We've got to be balanced. We've got to be full-orbed when it comes to God's dealings with His people.
Negative Naomi does understand sovereign grace. She does understand sovereign providence, but she definitely weighs heavy on the affliction that it's been to her. And I'm giving away the whole end, but this is as good a time as any. Notice what else is absent from negative Naomi, and I'm not picking on her.
She's a believer. I believe that she's sitting with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God willing, I'll meet her someday. She'll probably say, Why did you let me have it in that Bible study on that Wednesday night?
Notice what? There's no acknowledgement of the sin of Israel. Is God just arbitrarily up in heaven saying, I'm going to get Naomi. I'm going to let Bethlehem, Ephrathah have it.
I'm just going to send, no. God ordained or God called the nation of Israel to covenant faithfulness. When Israel betrays the covenant, God sends the judgment that was stipulated part and parcel of the covenant. There is not a shred of acknowledgment in Naomi's speeches, in any of them, to say it's because we have sinned.
Again, the prophet Jeremiah at the end of the book of Lamentations. He says very clearly, the joy of our heart has ceased, our dance has turned into mourning, the crown has fallen from our head, woe to us for we have sinned. He acknowledges that. He doesn't try to write that portion off.
He doesn't say our cosmic father is just letting us have it in a mighty display of his power and sovereignty. No, the crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned. Because of this, our heart is faint.
Because of these things, our eyes grow dim. Because of Mount Zion, which is desolate, with foxes walking about on it. You, O Lord, remain forever. Your throne from generation to generation.
Why do you forget us forever and forsake us for so long a time? Turn us back to you, O Lord, and we will be restored." Isn't that beautiful? We don't have the power of repentance. We can't restore ourselves.
The prophet says, turn us back to you, O Lord, and we will be restored. That's what Bethlehem Ephrathah should have done. The city, the community should have gathered round and said to Yahweh, turn us back to you, O Lord, and we shall be restored. Renew our days as of old, unless you have utterly rejected us and are very angry with us.
So Naomi has some shortcomings, at least theologically, in this chapter. You can go back to Ruth chapter 1.
The Return to Judah
Notice secondly, the return to Judah, verses 6 to 18. They returned to Judah for a specific reason. Verse 6, Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab. For she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread.
Now this confirms our interpretation of the famine in verse 1. If it is the Lord who gives his people bread, in grace, in mercy, in kindness and in compassion, we must infer that it is the Lord that restrains or keeps back Brad in his judgment, in his justice, in his righteousness, and in his chastisement. As well, notice that tragedy has hit the household of Naomi. Elimelech is dead.
Melon is dead. Killian is dead. In the midst of gloom and doom and death and dying, this ray of light shines upon her. Does she acknowledge it?
Again, it's an argument from silence, but based on the tenor of her theology throughout the chapter, I'm guessing she didn't acknowledge it. She doesn't praise God. We read no ascription or ascribing of glory and majesty to God. She had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread.
The Lord God, in His mercy, restored bread to Israel. The Lord God does this not in response to national repentance. This is probably one of those occasions like we saw in the judges' narratives. Remember, sin, oppression, deliverance.
They would cry out, not in repentance, They would cry out, not in agony over their sins, but they would cry out in the distress that the oppression caused them. And nevertheless, God brought deliverance. The same thing is being fleshed out in the book of Ruth. Naomi should see this and praise God for it.
Naomi should acknowledge the reality that we don't deserve this. We deserve the famine for breaking your covenant, for violating your law. But the fact is that God, nevertheless, visits his people by giving them bread. And this is something that is uniquely applicable to our God.
In the midst of trial, in the midst of tragedy, in the midst of hardship, sorrow, and woe, there is that ray of sunshine, isn't there? I mean, it's not all doom and gloom. It's not all bad and terrible. She gets to return to Bethlehem.
There's going to be food when she gets to Bethlehem. She no longer has a husband. She no longer has any sons. When she gets back to Bethlehem, after 10 years, people recognize her. probably her and Alimilac were rich or well-known or some sort of noble characters within that city.
If they were poor and unknown, who would have possibly, what ladies would be standing at the city gates saying, is this Naomi? They understood she had a position in this town. Gil quotes one of the Jewish rabbis who makes this point. I'll read the quote later on.
But there is mercy in the midst of trial. There is Christ in the midst of the storm. There is a silver lining to the dark clouds that do beset us. There is behind a frowning providence God's smiling face.
Naomi doesn't recognize that. It is very important that we recognize that because the author is giving us clue after clue after clue that God is all over this scene showing his grace, showing his mercy, showing his kindness and the people ought to be responding to it. It is the Moabitess that commits herself to Israel's God better than some within Israel itself. So then notice the instructions, some dialogue back and forth between Naomi and the two daughters-in-law.
Naomi's Blessing and Arguments
First of all, she invokes blessing. Verse 7, Therefore she went out from the place where she was and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
She understands there's kindness in Yahweh. She still doesn't acknowledge that He has dealt kindly with me. She acknowledges that these two daughters-in-law have dealt kindly with her, and again, I really believe that if she acknowledges that, she should make the logical step to realize this is the Lord's kindness displayed, so that when she gets to the city gates, instead of saying, it's all been affliction, it's all been bitterness, it's all been hardship, she could report to those women in Bethlehem, But along the way, the Lord has sustained me. Along the way, the Lord has upheld me.
Along the way, the Lord has been good. He has put good people in my life. But she doesn't do that. She invokes God to bless these two women.
And that's good. Naomi desires that Yahweh deal kindly or show hesed. The word hesed is a very rich word. I mentioned this last week.
It is a covenant term wrapping up in itself, this is from Bloch's commentary, wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God. Love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty. In short, it refers to acts of devotion and loving kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty. And she acknowledges that these two ladies had dealt that way with her, so she wants God to deal kindly with them, to reciprocate.
Naomi acknowledges the kindness of her daughter's-in-law, but she as well is a realist, and she knows that these two young ladies, without husbands, in this particular situation, are not going to fare well. It's not going to be good for them. Daniel Bloch again said, the death of a husband meant the loss of one's economic support base and the severing of connections to the kinship structures. In other words, if your husband died as a lady, you didn't go back to school and get a degree and then go out and secure a particular career.
Now, I'm sure there were ways for you to find employment and that sort of thing, but it was fundamentally more difficult for a woman in that particular time frame to make it without a man and so she understands that so she tells Orpah and she tells Ruth to go back please depart go to Moab stay there find young men marry them and have security that's precisely what she says in verse nine the Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband so she kissed them They lifted up their voices and wept, and they said to her, surely we will return with you to your people." These are nice girls, right? These are very pleasant people. They're not abandoning her. They have no formal ties to this woman anymore.
Her sons, their husbands, are now dead. Everything in the situation does dictate a return back to Moab, putting themselves back out on the dating market, however that works. You know, Moab.com or whatever. Hot singles in Moab.com might have been the way that they would have gone, but that's what they should have done.
And Ruth acknowledges, or Naomi acknowledges that. Now notice Naomi's arguments. They're threefold in verses 11 to 13. First, Naomi says, turn back, my daughters, verse 11, why will you go with me?
Are there still sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? Essentially, she's saying, I'm no good to you in this. I can't help you. I cannot produce so that you can have a husband.
The second reason is I'm too old. I'm not going to marry. I'm not a spring chicken anymore. There's not dudes with money that want to marry me so that then I can have sons, which is the third argument.
Just assume for the sake of argument that I did take on a fella and that I did get pregnant, would you wait until they were adults in order to marry?" No, of course not. She is giving the best arguments possible to persuade these two ladies to turn back to their home country. Verse 13, Would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands?
No, my daughters, for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. And she is an epic acknowledger of the hand of the Lord against her. This is the recurring theme in the theology of Naomi. But she says, it grieves me very much for your sakes.
I believe this is legit. She doesn't want them to die. She doesn't want them to have to engage in illicit ways of making money. So she says, go back to Moab.
And then notice in verse 14, they lifted up their voices and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Ruth clung to her. Isn't that beautiful? What Ruth says in verses 16 and 17, this is one of those blessed statements in Holy Scripture.
Block points out how people use this at weddings sometimes. It's not a wedding text. It's the daughter-in-law endearing herself to her mother-in-law. I mean, that's not a wedding text.
Now, there are some things that we certainly could call out of it and make application to a wedding. I think that's legit, and that's decent, and all of that sort of thing. But Orpah kisses her mother-in-law. Ruth clung to her.
And then in verse 15, she said, look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. This isn't a good indication of sound theology. probably should have said, to her idols. Does she acknowledge that Kimosh is really a god? Or is it just a manner of speaking?
She's gone back to her gods. The idea may have been that these Moabitess women married into the covenant community, Malon and Kilian. This could be an indicator that Orpah has now turned her back on Yahweh and has gone back to pursue Chemosh. We see just the opposite with Ruth.
Ruth marries into the covenant community. Ruth marries into this particular family. And she clung to Naomi at this particular junction. But whether that happened, whether that's true, we know Orpah's gone back to Moab and she's gone back to her gods.
And then Naomi makes one last attempt or one last ditch attempt in verse 15, return after your sister-in-law. And then
Ruth's Confession of Faith
in verses 16 and 17, we have something similar to what we had in Matthew 16 the other day. Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Well, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, some say Jeremiah, some say one of the prophets. But who do you say that I am?
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. That was Peter's confession of faith. We have confessions of faith throughout scripture. Deuteronomy 6.4 is a confession of faith.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Well, here's a confession on the mouth of a Moabitess that is absolutely fantastic. And in this confession, she exhibits five particulars.
First, there is a love for Naomi. Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge." Don't you think that when Naomi gets to the city of Bethlehem, instead of so much complaining about the bitterness, she'd say, I want you to meet Ruth. This girl is great.
She has stuck by me every step of the way. Acknowledge the kindness of people in your lives. If God in his mercy gives a John Newton to you as a William Cooper, then praise him for it. If God puts somebody in your life that speaks a word of encouragement, or shows some devotion, or shows some love, or shows some kindness, praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Listen to what this Ruth says. Entreat me not to leave you. Don't keep asking me. Don't try to persuade me.
I don't care that you're not pregnant. I don't care that you can't get a husband. I don't care that you can't produce a son for me to marry. Entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you.
Wherever you go, I will go. And wherever you lodge, I will lodge. It is absolutely incredible that Ruth exhibits this type of faith. Notice, secondly, she identifies with the people of God.
She identifies with the covenant nation. Your people shall be my people. Whatever is true of Israelites, whatever is true in Bethlehem Ephrathah, whatever is true in Judah, that's what I want. I want to be identified among the special people of God.
I want them to be my people. I want to join up with them. She sees the beauty and the value of the church and she no longer wants to be on the outside. She could preach sermons to us today in our very individualistic way.
Well, I have God or I have Jesus, but I don't need the church. Ruth didn't see things that way. Ruth said, your people shall be my people. I need a people.
I need a community, I need covenant, I need those things because God has commanded such. Thirdly, she gives allegiance to God Almighty. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. This is Yahweh of Israel.
Naomi has made this clear. Yahweh deal kindly with you. Ruth is not ascribing allegiance to one of the gods in the tribes or one of the gods in the nations around them. This isn't Kimosh.
This isn't Baal. This isn't Asherah. This is Yahweh of Israel. She has allegiance for him.
Your God will be my God. Notice, fourthly, the commitment to faithful perseverance to the end. From the very beginning, she commits. Notice, where you die, I will die.
Naomi could have dropped dead right then and there at Bethlehem, Ephrathah. Ruth could have lived another 30, 40, 50 years, and she would have stayed in Bethlehem, Ephrathah. Where you die, I will die. And there will I be buried.
This is commitment to persevering to the very end. And then notice, fifthly, she ratifies this by an oath. This is something else I think that we ought to take seriously today. There is something good about oath-taking.
We see it covered in our confession of faith. We see it in the Bible. We see vows made unto the Lord. I mean, I think at times people enter into certain things with sort of a loose grip.
Yeah, I'll be a Christian, but as long as it works out. Because if it doesn't work out, then I'm going to just let go and go back to Kimosh. I'm going to proselytize in. I'm going to marry somebody in Judah, Bethlehem, Ephrathah.
But you know, when things aren't going well and I'm an orpah, I'm going to go back to Chemosh. I'm going to go back to my gods in Moab. No, Ruth isn't going to play that game. Ruth ratifies this by an oath.
She says, the Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me. That is a self-maledictory oath. We all know the word benediction. That is the good word of pronouncement.
A malediction is a bad word, and I don't mean a cuss word. It is to invoke the wrath of God upon oneself if oneself betrays the covenant, the promise, or the oath one has taken. She's not playing. This is the real deal.
She is in it for the long haul. She ratifies this with an oath, the Lord do so to me and more also, if anything but death parts you and me. Again, we alluded to this at the end of Matthew chapter 16, Jesus makes that radical call concerning discipleship. He says, come and die.
Take up your cross daily. Follow me. Be willing to go to the cross. Be willing to go to the death.
That's the kind of Christianity that the Bible sets forth. It's not this limp wrist of, I'm going to hold on. I'm going to ride it out as long as I get blessing. As soon as I don't get blessing, as soon as there's persecution, as soon as there's trial, well, I'm going to go try Buddha.
Or I'm going to go try Allah. Or I'm going to go try Hinduism. or I'm gonna be an atheist, I'm gonna say, you know, I tried God and it didn't work. What do you mean we tried God and it didn't work? We tried prayer and it didn't work.
What do you want? You think you just put in a prayer and out pops the blessing? That is not the way prayer is designed. In scripture, Ruth will have nothing of a half-hearted commitment to Israel's God.
Ruth is all in.
Naomi Accepts Ruth's Resolve
And then of course, thankfully, Naomi gives her permission. After that, you don't say, well, wait a minute. I think you ought to go back to Moab. I mean, even Naomi says, OK, verse 18, when she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
That doesn't mean forever. It just means I'm not going to try to persuade you to go back to Moab. I see your heart. I see your intention.
I hear your devotion. I hear your allegiance. I hear your seriousness. Let's go to Bethlehem.
And
Naomi's Theological Interpretation
that brings us finally to the theological interpretation of Naomi. This is theology by Naomi. Verse 19, now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened when they had come to Bethlehem.
And again, I hope as New Covenant Christians, when we see the word Bethlehem, Ephrathah, we think David and Jesus, because that's what this book is about, David and Jesus. It's all about David and Jesus. Bethlehem is the place from which salvation came under the rule and reign of King David of Israel and under the rule and reign of King Jesus of Israel. So the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem, and it happened when they had come to Bethlehem that all the city was excited because of them.
And the women said, is this Naomi? Now, if the rabbi that Gil quotes from is right, Naomi, if she was a person of prestige, which I really got to believe she was, because if she was a nobody, who after 10 years is going to remember her? It just typically doesn't happen, right? If she was somebody that was of preeminence, she left having it in order.
She's come back. Having buried a husband, having buried two sons, having known the bitterness of the Lord, she probably looked a bit more haggard than when she left. Is this Naomi? Maybe there's something of that in this particular expression.
Gill says, this shows that Elimelech and Naomi were great personages. And again, he's quoting, I think, Abel Ezra, one of the rabbis, were great personages in Bethlehem formerly, people of rank and figure. Or otherwise, there would not have been such a concourse of people upon our coming and such inquiries made and questions put. Had she been formerly a poor woman?
Is this Naomi? You look different. Moab hasn't been good to you. It wasn't the answer.
It wasn't everything you thought it would be. And essentially, Naomi says, you're right. I'm now just a bitter old woman. Don't even call me Naomi anymore.
That means pleasant. I'm not pleasant. Call me Mara. Bitterness is my portion and my lot.
Now this is how she responds. Verse 20. But she said to them, do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara for the almighty should die, had dealt very or has dealt very bitterly with me.
I went out full in the Lord. Yahweh has brought me home again. Empty. Why do you call me Naomi since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?
I mean, she's had it bad, hasn't she? She's had it rough, hasn't she? And she has. But she's had blessing along the way.
Brethren, if all that we can ever report is the hardship and the difficulty and the trial and the problem, we're not understanding the God of the Bible. The fact that we're taking breath. the fact that we're gathered together, the fact that we get to drink water, the fact that we get to see each other. This is the blessing of God Most High. No matter how bad your day was, no matter how many trials you go through, no matter how many sorrows and difficulties, there's always the sign that God is with His people, in the midst of His people.
The hand of the Lord had dealt hard with her. So the renaming indicates something of the way that she interprets this, but the acknowledgement of divine sovereignty, and again, we'll give her mad props here. She's done well. She indicates the hand of the Lord went out against her, verse 13.
Secondly, the Almighty had dealt very bitterly with her, verse 20. The Lord testified against her, 21a. And then the Almighty had afflicted her, 21b.
Naomi's Deficient Theology
Sometimes Christians don't ever see God in the midst of trial and affliction. I don't know what happened. I just got unlucky. What do you mean you got unlucky?
You sin against God. Sometimes there's consequences. You need to start looking at those things properly. But in everything, we've got to be balanced.
She doesn't seem to have balance. She fails to acknowledge divine goodness. The Lord had returned to Bethlehem, Ephrathah. The Lord had brought bread to them.
And little does she know, she is poised to receive great things from this point out. Once Boaz enters the scene, there's the hero, the champion that's going to deliver Ruth and Naomi. He's going to bring them into great blessing. It is going to be as a result of God's providence and his work and his grace and his mercy that orchestrates all these things.
And I think at this point we ought to remember it's good to look ahead with the hopeful knowledge that Romans 8.28 is actually a reality. There's no Romans 8.28 in the theology of Naomi. You say, well, she didn't have Romans 8. She had the God of Romans 8.28.
She may not have had the verse as Paul wrote it, but she knew from the rest of the Bible that she had available to her, and the theology of Israel, and the theology of Yahweh of Israel, that we know that God causes all things to work together for good. to those who love him, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Whether she had the verse as Paul penned it to the Romans or not, she had the theology and the God of Israel. So there is the realization of the sovereignty of God in bringing affliction to bear upon her, but a failure to acknowledge divine goodness. The Lord had given bread to the house of bread.
The daughters-in-law are described as showing kindness to her. Does she appreciate that? I mean, here she is, a stranger in a strange land. Her husband dies and her two sons die.
They don't start punching her. They don't, you know, start kicking her. They don't make sport of her. They don't mock her.
They don't yell at her. They are devoted to her and are going to follow her right back to Judah. That's a blessing, isn't it? She's not all alone.
She could have been all alone. The two daughters, as soon as they buried Male and Achillean, could have said, see you, Mom. I hope everything works out for you. That's not what they did.
They were devoted. The love displayed by Ruth, I mean, verses 16 and 17 spoken in the presence of Naomi should have melted her heart and said, wait a minute, here's what I got. I was bitter, but now I'm real pleasant because I got Ruth next to me. How can you be a bitter person when you got Ruth standing there?
I mean, Ruth just exudes kindness, love, and warmth. This is the kind of person that you thank God for. And the fact that she did not starve in the famine. I mean, think about it.
What's going on in Israel? Judgment from the Lord. She is spared from this judgment of the Lord. And yet, again, it's an argument from silence.
But as much as she theologizes, you think she could have fit something in along the way that would have spoken well of Yahweh in terms of his kindness. There is a type of Christian who stresses God's sovereignty in their afflictions, but hardly, if ever, acknowledges His goodness to them. And again, I'm all for interpreting providence, seeing what's going on in your life, realizing that the difficulties and the sorrows do come from the hand of the Lord. But look, by God's grace, using the Bible, using your eyes of faith to see that even in the midst of those, there is something God is doing for his glory and for good, your good.
Block says, she, Naomi, does indeed ascribe sovereignty to God, but this is a sovereignty without grace, an omnipotent power without compassion, a judicial will without mercy. And again, I feel like I'm being hard on Naomi. Perhaps it's because I see a lot of Jim in Naomi and Jim needs to hear this. So that's why I love Naomi.
She's a wonderful human being, but I see so much of my own disposition here and I want to preach it right out of me. And then, as I mentioned earlier, the failure to acknowledge Israel's sin. God gets the credit for afflicting Naomi. But Israel doesn't get the credit for violating the covenant.
She never, ever mentions that. It's absent from all of her reports, from all of her theology. And then, of course,
A Stepping Stone to Redemption
the chapter ends with a stepping stone into chapter 2, verse 22. Naomi returned, Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab. In case you forgot, reader, In case you forgot, dear reader, the hero of this story is Ruth the Moabitess, who returned with Naomi from Moab. Don't forget that.
God is going to bring redemption for Israel through, at least in part, Ruth the Moabitess, who came from Moab. It is the grace of God displayed in this chapter. Now, they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. She meets the man of her dreams.
And Boaz makes everything right. Isn't that a picture of Christ? Isn't that what we have in Jesus? He is the man that makes everything right.
He's the man that redeems us. He is the man that clothes us. He is the man that cares for us. He is the champion that delivers us from our woe and from our difficulty and from our trials.
So the passage sets forth in most clear language and terms the sovereignty of God the providence of God, the justice of God, and the mercy and the grace of God. On the human side, it sets forth good theology from Naomi, but a theology that could ripen in the positive elements as well. And it sets forth, in terms of the human element, something blessed about Ruth the Moabitess. I mean, who wouldn't want a Ruth in their life?
This kind of confession. this kind of devotion, this kind of allegiance, this kind of faith in Israel's God. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for this, Your Word, and we thank You that in the midst of these very ordinary circumstances, on the one hand, You are doing extraordinary things, and we praise You that through Ruth the Moabitess, You would ultimately bring the Lord Jesus Christ God, we see in this your grace, your power, your majesty, your excellence. We see in this as well, as John Gill reminds us, an emblem, a sign, a symbol of the conversion of the Gentiles. We know that Christ is not just a savior for the Israelites, but he is a savior for Gentiles, the entirety of the Church of the Lord Jesus. We thank you for this.
We praise you, God. for your kindness to us. And we ask that you would help us to interpret things not only on the negative side in terms of the affliction of God, but help us to see your mercy and your goodness to us in the midst of these things. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.