Ruth Chapter 1:1-22
Introduction
J. Vernon McGee calls Ruth "An addendum to the Book of Judges. A brochure of beauty. A bright picture on the black background of the judges."[i]
Ruth 1:1
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 sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
In the Days The Judges Ruled
There are two thoughts that arise out of this statement in the days the judges ruled.
-First it sets the timeframe of the story, the era of the judges that is the book of Judges in the OT. (Approximate times are 1417-1155 BC).
-Second, it gives an indication of the general attitude of the people in Israel at that time. Seven times they "did evil in the sight of the Lord" (Judges 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1). What was this evil? They left the Lord God to serve other gods. Twice we are told they "did what was right in their own eyes" (Judges 17:6; 21:25). Not turning towards the God of heaven but looking to the god of self to do right according to the flesh. Can we guess how that would turn out?
-When they did evil God did judge them and put them in bondage to other nations.
-Doing what is right in our own eyes can lead to pride and pride comes before a fall. Judgment comes in many forms when God has to judge us (and if will not judge ourselves then He must judge us).
-As we are going to see, one of God's judgments is famine.
There was A Famine in the land
Famine was one of the judgments God used for Israel:
A famine in the land, in the land of Canaan, that land flowing with milk and honey. This was one of the judgments which God had threatened to bring upon them for their sins, Lev 26:18-20. He has many arrows in his quiver. In the days of the judges they were oppressed by their enemies; and, when by that judgment they were not reformed, God tried this, for when he judges he will overcome. When the land had rest, yet it had not plenty; even in Bethlehem, which signifies the house of bread, there was scarcity. A fruitful land is turned into barrenness, to correct and restrain the luxury and wantonness of those that dwell therein.[ii]
It is against this background we enter this story.
The Significance of the Famine
The Location of the Famine
We are told that there was a certain man of Bethlehem Judah. This had to be notated because there is more than one Bethlehem in Israel. The interesting thought here occurs when we consider the meaning of the word:
OT:1035 Beyth Lechem (bayth leh'-khem; from OT:1004 and OT:3899; house of bread; Bethechem, a place in Palestine: KJV - Beth-lehem.[iii]
There was no bread in the house of bread! What does that mean? I can think of a few answers:
-In the Old Testament, one of the symbols of God's presence was the showbread. That is what it technically means in the first reference of the word in Exodus 25:30. The bread of His Presence, and the symbolic meaning that God is not there.
-In the New Testament Jesus is the Bread of Life. (And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. -John 6:35).
-When I see this famine, this lack of presence of God in His Church, I understand why churches are empty, lacking. People are coming to church looking for bread and finding none. Yes they see the big empty ovens where bread use to come out. The large cathedrals that stands empty and unused from a bygone era. They come for the promise of bread and get stories of bygone times when God use to visit. They may find some crumbs around the sanctuary but nothing satisfies them.
-When this happens the go looking other places to be filled. If the church will not meet my needs, maybe Buddha will, maybe the psychic will, and maybe the bar will. This is where we pick up the story of Ruth. There was a famine in the house of bread so they left.
Ruth 1:2-5
And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
Curtis Hudson, that great preacher and evangelist now home with the Lord user to say: sin will take you further than you want to go, stay longer than you want to stay, cost you more than you want to pay.
We understand that God had cursed the land with famine due to the sin of Israel (And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. -Leviticus 26:18-20)
So Elimelech made the decision to move his family (wife Naomi, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion to Moab to keep them alive. But at what cost? He died there, his sons married Moabite women, and if you don't think that is a problem:
Deuteronomy 23:3-6
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever: Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.
You see, they were related (the Moabites come from the line of Lot) yet they did not help Israel in the wilderness and even tried to hire a prophet to curse them. So what happened? Patience, we will get to that later in the story. They also died and they were away from Israel for ten years. Farther, longer, and greater cost than they ever expected to pay, yes the cost of sin is great, but as we will see as we continue, the grace is greater than our sin.
Spiritual Application
Ruth 1:6-9
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 how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
-They have been a family for a long time, at least 10 years, but good news had come: there was bread back in the house! The Lord had visited Israel! See what happens when God shows up at His house: there is bread there and it will draw the backsliders to Him, and some of the lost too!
-They were both good daughters to Namoi, and stayed with her even after the death of their husbands. They both loved her and did not want to be sent away.
Ruth 1:10
And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.
-A bold delaration, but will it stick? God will separated the wheat from the chafe, the serious from the casual seekers.
Ruth 1:11-13
And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.
-Here Naomi gives all the logical reasons why they should go back. There is no hope for a future husband from here. No future, no hope, go back home.
Ruth 1:14
And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
When we look at Naomi, we see the disenchanted, disheartened church member who left the church due to being hurt, needs not being met or just no spiritual satisfaction. In Ruth and Orpah we see the lost. In Orpah we see the lost who may hang around for a while but when it is time to make a decision, it is "see ya!" but Ruth clave to her.
Clave OT:1692 dabaq (daw-bak'); a primitive root; properly, to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere; figuratively, to catch by pursuit: KJV - abide fast, cleave (fast together), follow close (hard after), be joined (together), keep (fast), overtake, pursue hard, stick, take.[iv]
Ruth's Great Confession
Ruth 1:16-17
And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
To me these are some of the most beautiful words in the Bible. She was going to stay with Naomi and her God. She was forsaking her old way of life and everything she knew to serve God and stay with her. And she follows it up with the solemn oath: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
Many take the decision to follow Christ way too lightly, like it is a pair of socks to be put on today and tossed aside tomorrow. As
Matthew Henry puts it:
"We must resolve to continue and persevere, and herein our adherence to Christ must be closer than that of Ruth to Naomi. She resolved that nothing but death should separate them; but we must resolve that death itself shall not separate us from our duty to Christ, and then we may be sure that death itself shall not separate us from our happiness in Christ. We must bind our souls with a bond never to break these pious resolutions, and swear unto the Lord that we will cleave to him."[v]
The Journey Back
Ruth 1:19-22
So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
-Being away from God's house and His presence changes us. So much was she changed over the decade plus they questioned who this was.
-And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
-Naomi means pleasant, while Mara is bitter. In the eyes of the world she had a right to be upset, she had lost all dear to her: her husband and her sons. But in reality, they caused their own problems by walking away from God.
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
-They had made a right first step. They are back where they belong, in the house of bread and out of the world. And they just happened to come at the time of the harvest, or was it more than just luck? We will see next week there was no luck at all but God's divine providence.
Closing Thoughts
The church is in a shambles and people are lost, dying, being driven from God because we have no bread to give them. I leave you all with two thoughts on this:
Luke 11:5-8
And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
-The friend is those who do not know Christ, while the Friend is Christ who gives out what we need to help the lost, the power of the Holy Spirit.
-We are destitute; we cannot help unless our friend intervenes.
-While our prayers may be sincere, we need to keep knocking, asking, seeking till we get what we need.
-Importunity: NT:335 anaideia (an-ah'-ee-die-ah'); from a compound of NT:1 (as a negative particle [compare NT:427]) and NT:127; impudence, i.e. (by implication) importunity: KJV - importunity.[vi] That is we should not be bashful!
Second, when we decide to follow God we should do it all out, not holding back. He did not hold back on us and gave the best He had.
Lastly, a prayer (paraphrased from Tommy Tenny in the "GodChasers" :
Lord, break out of the box we try to put you in and destroy everything in our lives that is not of You. Mess up our schedules, plans, and preconceived notions of what a relationship with you should be and bring us into a real, vibrant, living relationship with You. God we are tired of knowing about You, we want to know You. We want more than just Your anointing, we want You, Your presence."
The last question is: are you willing to do what it takes to make this prayer happen?
[i] J. Vernon McGee, Bible Notes & Outlines: Joshua, Judges, & Ruth, p.15, Thru The Bible Radio Network
[ii] Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
[iii] Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[iv] Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[v] Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
[vi] Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
