Ruth 1 – two kinds of faith
Ruth is one of my favorite books in the Bible.
Ruth is a story about ordinary people, going through the vicissitudes of life. In the story of Ruth, we encountered a family (husband and wife: Elimelech, Naomi, their two sons: Mahlon and Kilion; and their wives: Ruth and Orpah) dealing with daily issues:`
• Considering migration
• Struggling through tough economic times
• Death and birth
• Looking for a husband, getting married.
Ruth is a heart warming story. There are no bad guys in Ruth. All the characters behaved reasonably, they all thought about the wellbeing of others.
Ruth is also a story about two kinds of faith, two kinds of faith with three contrasts:
A faith based on human wisdom and planning.
The story begins with Elimelech taking a decision to migrate to Moab with his family.
Many of us are also migrant. We can strike a chord of resonance with Elimelech.
1997 is a special year of significance to people from Hong Kong. Those who lived in HK in 1970s, 80s and early 90s faced the decision to migrate because of 97 – the year that HK returns to China.
Some migrated because of economic reasons (like Elimelech), some migrated because of their children’s education, some migrated because of security, some migrated because of fear of the unknown future (wanting some stability and certainty).
No doubt Elimelech would have considered similar factors as well and took them into account before he decided to migrate to Moab with his family. It is ironic that a man whose name means “God is king” (Elimelech) when he made a life changing decision, left God out of it.
Most immigrants probably work out fine in the new countries (including Australia), but some don’t, like Elimelech. V2 simply says “Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died”. The Bible does not say why. Not only that, Elimelech’s sons, after they married the Moabite women Orpah and Ruth, and lived in Moab for 10 years, also died. This means that the family of Elimelech suddenly has only three widows, without the bread winners to support them. They faced a very bleak future.
Then Naomi heard “in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them” (v6). The tide has turned. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.
Again let us think of the modern day equivalent: those who migrated here because of 1997, after the return of HK to China, things turned out to be quite OK in HK after all. HK continued to prosper, in contrast, countries like Australia went through a period of tough economic times in the 80s with high unemployment. Many of those migrants have second thought, some returned.
I mentioned these not to pass any judgment to those who chose to migrate or those who chose to return. Often, they would have considered the pros and cons and made the decision with the best interests of their families in mind.
This was how presumably why Elimelech decided to migrate to Moab in the first place We can tell at least two factors in v1: the judges ruled – there was lawlessness and political instability in Israel; and there was a famine in the land – economic hardship).
This was also presumably why Naomi decided to migrate back to Bethlehem. V6 “when she heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aids of His people by providing food for them”.
The rationale behind those decisions is not necessarily wrong except they are made based on human wisdom. If we plan for our future only based on our wisdom, some times it will work out, some times it won’t.
A faith based on trust in Yahweh (God).
When Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, she urged her daughters-in-law not to go with her. This again shows Naomi really is a kind hearted person. Her daughters-in-law Orpah and Ruth, unlike her, will have nothing to gain by going to Bethlehem with her:
1. Unlike Naomi (she is at least returning to her home country), Orpah and Ruth will be going to an alien land with no assurance of their future.
2. Orpah and Ruth both have their own homes (v8 “go back, each of you to your mother’s home”). Unlike Naomi, Orpah and Ruth have their mother’s homes to return to.
3. Orpah and Ruth are also young (compared with Naomi), they can always remarry and start all over again (v9).
After weighing up the pluses and minuses, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good bye and returned home.
But then Ruth shows us another kind of faith. When Naomi asked her to return to her own people like Orpah, this is Ruth’s response: “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” (1:16-17)
This arguably is one of the most memorable and moving statements in the Bible. In saying this, Ruth demonstrates her decision is based on another kind of faith. It is NOT based on human wisdom and calculation but based on her faith in God.
This faith is based on her personal understanding of the God of Israel. Because she trusts God, because she knows God will look after her despite the circumstances, she can take the leap of faith and return with Naomi to Israel. In other words, Ruth can face the unknown future because of the known God in her life.
There is another contrast between the faith of Naomi and Ruth
A conditional faith vs an unconditional faith.
A conditional faith is what I called a faith based on “if”s.
Under this kind of faith, one would say: if God bless me in my career, or heal my sickness, or give me good health, or give me a beautiful wife/husband, or protect me from my enemies, or whatever conditions we want to stipulate,
Then I will be a good Christian, then I will go to church every Sunday, then I will commit myself to serve God in the church, then I will give one tenth of my income so long as I can afford it, then I will praise God and tell other people how He blesses me….
On the contrary, if we lose our job, or break up with my boy friend or girl friend, or become sick, or miss out in promotion, or unfairly treated by my colleagues, or having a rebellious son or daughter at home, then we blame it on God. Why is God so unfair? Why doesn’t He reward for all these years that I come faithfully to church? Why doesn’t He protect me from accident or sickness?
We can see a bit of this kind of faith in Naomi.
When Naomi (and Ruth) arrived at Bethlehem, the Bible says they caused a stir probably because Naomi’s appearance has changed a lot (she aged?) due to the misfortunes in her life.
The women in Bethlehem exclaimed: Can this be Naomi (which means lovely)?
Naomi’s reply is: don’t call me Naomi, instead call me Mara, which means bitter.
And we can see she attributes blame directly to God: because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. ….. The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. 1:20-21
Here Naomi blamed her misfortunes on God. It is God’s fault, not Elimelech’s fault, certainly not her fault.
A faith based on “if”s treats God no more than a vending machine. We chuck in a few coins, press the buttons and we expect the machine to spit out what we want. But if the vending machine does not spit out the things we ordered, we get angry, we feel cheated. The problem of course is God is not a vending machine. Instead He is our sovereign Lord. Just like the prophet Jeremiah says: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. (Jer 18:6)
In contrast to the conditional faith based on “if”s, there is the unconditional faith based on “although”s.
With this kind of faith, you can say: Although I suffer from sudden sickness, although I lose my job due to no fault of mine, although I am unfairly treated by my boss, although my children turn away from me even though I love them so much, although I fail my exam despite studying very hard, yet I will continue to trust God, yet I will continue to serve Him despite my misfortunate, yet I will continue to love Him knowing one day He will explain to me why.
This is the kind of faith that Jesus had in the Garden of Gethsemane that enables Him to pray "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matt 26:39
This is the kind of faith Paul had when he was on the way to Jerusalem, when the brothers and sisters in Caesarea pleaded him not to go to Jerusalem because of the dangers waiting for him. Paul answered: "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Acts 21:13
This is the kind faith that enables Abraham to sacrifice his son to God. Although he did not understand why? He obeyed God’s command because he “reasoned that God could raise the dead”, Heb 11:19. So the author of Hebrews tells us.
This is the kind of faith that enables Corrie Ten Broom, who suffered in the Nazi concentration camp, to say: “Never be afraid to commit your unknown future to the known God”.
Yet this kind of faith is not reserved just for the spiritual giants like Jesus, Paul and Abraham. This kind of faith is also available to simple Christians like you and me.
This kind of faith is manifested in the poor widow, when she put the two coins in the temple offering. Jesus commended her faith and explained why: “They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on." Mk 12:44
This faith can also be found in Ruth. Humanly speaking, she has a more assured future staying in Moab. Yet because of her love to Naomi and her faith in Naomi’s God (and her God), she followed Naomi back to Bethlehem.
To give you an illustration of what this kind of faith is like, I like to share a moving testimony that I come across in one of Don Carson’s sermons. He mentioned this single missionary who went to Bolivia. Let’s call his name Greg. While he was there, he met another single missionary and they got married and had a daughter. Because he was so effective in his ministry, his mission society sent him to Trinity Theological Seminary to do a PHD degree. That was where he met Don Carson. 6 months into his PHD program, his wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, which was almost certainly terminal. Greg took leave from his study and looked after his wife. She went through the chemo treatment and more or less got back on her feet. Then Greg was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Many specialists had a look at his condition and told him it was beyond treatment. As a last resort, he was referred to the Mayo Clinic and they treated him with some experimental drugs. They took out 90% of his stomach so he needs to eat every 2-3 hours. But somehow, miraculously the cancer disappeared. Greg resumed his studies. Then his wife’s cancer came back and she died. Greg was left with his daughter as a single father, even though he was surrounded by loving family and church people. At the end, he finished his PHD study and on his way back to work as a missionary in Bolivia, he preached in Don Carson’s church, and for 40 minutes, he preached on nothing but the sheer overwhelming goodness of God. This Don Carson added is “normal Christianity”.
A faith focused on the present.
Let’s press on. Life is often full of twists and turns. When Elimelech decided to migrate to Moab with his family, little did he know that he will die there. If he does, will he still go?
We plan for our future, it may be starting a family, it may be looking for a school for our children, some of us have a financial plan – to guide our investment and saving, some of us have a career plan, some may plan for a holiday, some may plan to build a house. In all these, our focus is on the present – may be at most a few year ahead. At most, our so called long term planning will only be for 10 years or so? What is the purpose to plan for more than 10 years since our future is so uncertain.
This is also the mindset of Naomi, she is worried about her future, she is worried about her next meal, she is worried whether she can get married again (highly unlikely), she is worried even if she can get married, can she still conceive (1:12), she is worried for the future of her daughters-in-law.
What are our worries today? Some may worry about losing our jobs in the tough economic times, some may worry about our health, some may worry about our children, some may worry about our parents’, some may worry about our spouse….
But if we only focus on the present, we may lose sight of God’s plan for us.
Instead we should have a faith focused on eternity.
The book of Ruth has a happy ending. Ruth, as we shall see, married Boaz and gave birth to a son, who turns out to be the grand father of King David. In other word, Ruth is actually the great grand mother of king David. Little will she know that because of her simple faith to follow Naomi back to Judah, God fulfils His plan in history and through her, comes the lineage of the Davidic dynasty.
But the story of Ruth does not end even here. The real ending of the story of Ruth is in Matthew chapter 1, v5 and v6.
Ruth is not only the great grand mother of King David, she is also the ancestor of someone far greater – our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s promised Messiah.
In a sense, we are more blessed than Naomi and Ruth. They only see the blessings of God in their lifetime. They did not realise God, through the faith of Ruth, brings salvation and blessings to the nation of Israel through King David, and brings salvation and blessings to His people through the Lord Jesus Christ.
As a student, you may be anxious about our exam results. As a worker, right now, you may be anxious whether you can get your next promotion. And they are real worries. But I tell you, 50 billions years from now into eternity, do you think what you worry now really matters?
Norman Anderson was a missionary for many years in the Moslem world. He was a recognised world expert in Islamic law and latter became the Director of the Advanced Legal Institute in London University. He was knighted by the Queen and became Sir Norman Anderson. Some of you may have also read the many books he wrote (e.g. the evidence of Jesus Resurrection). But in his personal life, it was full of tragedies.
His eldest daughter served as missionary in Congo. She was raped by the rebellious soldiers and as she was recovered in America, she fell down the stairs accidentally and died.
His second son also died in equally bizarre circumstances.
His youngest son, a brilliant student, admitted to Cambridge University and at the age of 21, died suddenly because of a brain tumour.
Sir Norman is the modern day equivalent of Job, except, unlike Job, God did not even restore his family back to him in his lifetime. But his faith is anchored in eternity.
Sir Norman, just before his death in his mid-eighties, he was asked a question at one of his last public meeting: ‘When you look back over your life and reflect on the fact that you have lost all your three children, and now your wife of sixty years no longer recognises you, do you ever ask the question, ‘Why me?’
This was Sir Norman’s response. ‘No, I’ve never asked the question, ‘Why me?’ but I have asked the question, ‘Why not me?’ ….. I am not promised, simply because I am a Christian, that I will be delivered from all difficulties in this world. I am, however, promised that in the midst of difficulties, God through Christ will be present with me, and will give his grace to help me cope with the difficulties and bear witness to Him. After all, the stars shine brightest in the desert.’
Let’s pray
