Decisions
Series: Ruth (Sermon 3 in series)
June 30, 2013
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Ruth 1.
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – At seven o’clock on the morning of December 7, 1941 two US soldiers were on duty at a small radar station in the Pacific ocean. Suddenly, their radar screen filled up with hundreds of dots, until entirely filled. These soldiers quickly notified their young supervisor, a lieutenant. No other officer was around, it being a Sunday, so the lieutenant thought these must be planes from California, and without another thought, said these critical words: “Don’t worry about it.”
Twenty minutes later, at 7:50, the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor began. 353 Japanese airplanes swarmed over the harbor, and within a couple of hours, America lost 8 battleships, 6 major airfields, almost all its planes, and 2,400 men.
There would have been time to scramble the planes at Pearl Harbor, prepare the battleships, and shelter the men, but this lieutenant, in the most important moment of his career, made a very simple, seemingly insignificant decision that had momentous consequences.
Our study today speaks to us of the importance of decisions. Our life is shaped largely by the decisions we make. I am what I am—for both good and for bad—as a Christian, as a husband, as a father, as a worker, and as a person mostly because of past decisions I have made in my life.
Someone once said that “Decision determines destiny.” Another put it this way, “History is made whenever you make a decision.”
Every day you live, you literally make hundreds of decisions. Every day you are pressed for decisions, decision, decisions. And what you are today is the sum total of the decisions you have made in your lives.
Illus. – Listen to this story, based upon a San Francisco, California, newspaper article a few years ago:
Prominent members of San Francisco Society crowded Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco for the wedding. At the stipulated moment in the ceremony, the dazzling bride was asked, “Do you take this man for your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured to the minister. “I just can’t make up my mind.” The minister waited a moment, and then announced to the audience, “The wedding is off.”
The reception was cancelled. Hundreds of dollars worth of food was given away. All because, in the moment of decision the bride could not make up her mind.
However, a week later the bride asked for the wedding to proceed. “I was just nervous,” she said. “My mind is made up now. I do take the groom as my husband.”
Well, I hope she made the right decision!
In our text we see three decisions made which influenced the lives of three women forever. These women—Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth—had all lost their husbands in Moab. They were all widows, food was scarce, and Naomi was living as a foreigner in Moab with no relations to help her. All three apparently had no means of supporting themselves and there’s no mention of any male relatives to protect or provide for them. They were facing some very distressing, precarious times.
Often some of the most momentous decisions in life are those we must make in the midst of trials and difficulties. We can run from our problems…or meet them straight on. Which we do is determined by our decisions.
Now, as these women faced these trying times in their lives, let’s see what kinds of decisions they made and see if we can draw some spiritual lessons from them:
I. NAOMI DECIDED TO COVER UP – Verses 6-15 – “Then she [i.e., Naomi] 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. 11 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? 12 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; 13 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. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.”
Naomi made a logical decision—to return to the land of her people, Bethlehem-judah.
But note something unusual in her approach: she tried to get rid of her daughters-in-law! I used to be perplexed as to why Naomi would tell her daughters-in-law in verses 11-13 to stay in Moab where they would be worshipping idols, where heathenism reigned, and where ungodly men and institutions were in control.
Then, when Ruth did not follow Orpah back to Moab, note what Ruth said in verse 15 – “And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.”
Advising Ruth to go back to her gods was certainly bad advice, but now I think I understand why Naomi tried to persuade her daughters-in-law to go back to Moab. I believe she was trying to get rid of the evidence! If she brought Ruth and Orpah back to Bethlehem, they would be living proof to her family and friends that she had failed to rear her boys up properly. In violation of the commandments of God, she had permitted her sons to marry women of Moab who were not believers in the true God of Israel. God strictly forbade marrying non-Jews, not on racial grounds, but because it was the Jews alone at that stage in history who worshiped the one true God.
Turn with me to Deuteronomy 7:3-4 –“Neither shalt thou make marriages with them [the pagan nations]; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. [Now, why did God make this requirement? The answer is found in the next verse:] 4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.”
This was what the Law demanded. But both of Naomi’s sons ended up marrying heathen Moabitess women. These two daughters-in-law were daily reminders of Elimelech’s and Naomi’s failure to rear their children up in the teachings of God.
She felt that she had to return to Bethlehem-judah for survival. That was not the wrong decision she made. Her wrong decision was to try to cover up her sin.
Go with me to Proverbs 28:13 – ‘He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
APPLICATIONS – There are a couple of things we can learn from this:
• First, and most obvious, we should not try to cover our sins.
It’s best to just be honest and forthright about our failures and let them be object lessons in the lives of others of the pitfalls of sin and personal warnings in our own lives in the future. In fact, covering up sin almost inevitably PERPETUATES sin. The most dangerous thing in a person’s life is to have a secret life.
Unfortunately, a secret life usually starts in youth. Parents forbid certain actions, so the child in rebellion participates in the forbidden fruit behind their parents’ backs. However, parents have rules for a reason. They know the dangers of certain sins that the children don’t grasp yet. Once they do things behind their parents’ backs, these actions often become habits that are difficult to break.
IF YOUNG PEOPLE PRESENT: Young people—listen carefully to me—do not make the mistake of doing things behind your parents’ back. In the first place, obey your parents, as the Bible teaches. But if you do something wrong they don’t want you to do in a moment of weakness or rebellion, don’t try to hide it. Go to them and tell them everything! You might think its better to try to hide it rather than face their anger, disappointment, and punishment. But if you do that—you’re falling right into one of Satan’s favorite traps that can trip you up in the long run.
Even more dangerous than particular habits themselves, is this simple truth: Once a secret life develops, wicked habits are maintained and nurtured, and Satan uses them as a strategy to keep us defeated. You see, one of the greatest deterrents to sin is the shame of exposure. When we expose our sin to the light, it acts as a deterrent to that sin and provides us with accountability for our actions.
Once sin becomes a habit, it requires radical measures to root out.
That’s why Satan tries to get you to cultivate a secret life and to cover up your sins. He knows that if he can make you think you got away with sin once with no measurable consequence, even if you have forsaken that sin, when you face the same temptation later, the temptation will be harder to resist because you’ll recall how you covered your sin before and no one found out, so you reason that you’ll probably get away with it again. What happens is that the secret life leads to habits which lead to a lifestyle that men and women carry on throughout their lives.
• A second lesson I see in these verses is that it’s dangerous to listen to the advice of a backslidden believer!
In fact, a backslider can do more harm than good! What kind of a believer says to a lost person—“Go back to your old gods”? Think how far Naomi had slipped to have given such advice.
Look with me at Psalm 1:1 – “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
Naomi gave ungodly counsel that would lead her daughters-in-law back into their old heathen religion—and straight to hell.
Now note the RESULT of Naomi’s decision to cover up instead of confess up: It caused her to think only about herself and her temporary discomfort instead of Orpah’s and Ruth’s eternal destiny, prompting her to give ungodly counsel. Orpah listened to her wrong counsel and returned to Moab. There, she would most likely never know God, which meant for all intents and purposes, Naomi’s wrong decision led to Orpah’s spiritual doom. You see, our decisions have consequences; sometimes very consequential consequences!
II. SECOND, NOTICE THAT ORPAH DECIDED TO GIVE UP – Verses 14-15 – “And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.”
Orpah started to go with Naomi to Bethlehem – verse 6 – “Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab…”
Naomi started her return trip home with both daughters-in-law – verse 10 – “And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.”
Apparently Orpah had every intention of going to Bethlehem-judah with Naomi. But once she began to contemplate the consequences of her decision—she gave up!
Orpah was a woman of indecision: She started to go with Naomi; she wept many tears; she kissed Naomi affectionately…yet she turned back and returned to Moab.
Orpah is a picture of people who are close to faith in God, but never quite cross over the Rubicon to faith in God: She was very emotional; her desires to follow seemed so real; she promised she would go with Naomi; but she went back to her idols—back to darkness—back to the world.
You know, it’s possible to get very close to the kingdom of God and still not enter in. It’s possible for a person to show a great deal of emotion and determination, and yet never actually cross that line to true born-again salvation.
Listen to the Lord’s counsel in Isaiah 55:6-7 – “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
The implication is that God is not always near the sinner. The sinner cannot always find God in his own time and plan. No one finds God without God first seeking out and drawing him or her. When God is working in your life, you’d better seek him out with all your heart and with all your being. When He stops working to woo you to Him, the blinders of your spiritual eyes become glazed and you can come to a place where you may never want to be saved again. Then you are doomed for eternity. Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while He is near!
Now note the RESULT of Orpah’s decision to give up:
• She returned to heathenism and the world.
• Second, she most likely never found the true God, and thus, in all probability, went into eternity a lost sinner without God. She is never heard of again in history. She literally walks right off the pages of history.
But there’s one more person who makes a decision, and her decision wrote her directly INTO God’s story of redemption….
III. THAT IS RUTH, WHO DECIDED TO STAND UP
Ruth stood up and did what she thought was right. Ruth’s motive was love for NAOMI and love for Naomi’s GOD – Note Ruth 1:16-18 – “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: 17 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. 18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.”
Ruth stood up and declared her love for both Naomi and God.
When faced with difficulties in life, the only right thing to do is to stand up and trust God. Unlike Orpah, Ruth made the right decision. Unlike Naomi, Ruth made the right decision with the right motive.
Now note one thought that is expressed over and over again in chapter 1: That is the thought of GOING BACK. It’s phrased differently in each instance, but each time it means the same thing. The terms used are “go back,” “turn again,” and the word “return.” They’re found four times, in fact:
• Verse 8 – “And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house:…”
• Verse 11 – “And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me?…”
• Verse 12 – “Turn again, my daughters, go your way; …”
• Verse 15 – “And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.”
In her backslidden condition, Naomi pressured Ruth to go back. And you know, we’re under that same kind of pressure today, aren’t we? The world, the flesh, and the devil cry out to believers, “Go back to your old life!”
Sadly, just as backslidden Naomi did, even many worldly Christians and so-called Christians entice us to settle for a watered down version of Christianity that says you can go back to the world, and still have God’s blessings too.
But God says, “No, don’t go back. No matter how difficult the situation you may be facing; no matter how fiercely the storm may blow; no matter what the world offers, no matter what your burdens, DON’T TURN BACK!”
Ruth made the right decision.
Now note the RESULTS of Ruth’s decision to stand up:
• First, it gave her a good testimony – Ruth 2:11 – “And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and [how] thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.”
• The second result of her decision is she became the ancestor of Christ through her coming to Bethlehem, turning to Israel’s God, and meeting and marrying Boaz.
Ruth 4:13 – “So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.”
Ruth 4:16 – “And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. 17 And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.”
Compare that with two passages in the New Testament:
Matthew 1:5-6 – “And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias.”
This genealogy continues until it culminates in Matthew 1:12 – “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”
Now think about the import of this: What if Ruth had listened the advice of a backslidden Christian? If Ruth had listened and gone back to her people and to paganism, we would never have heard of Ruth; she would have never met Boaz; Boaz would never have had a son named Obed, and thus there would never had been Jesse or David. God would have had to find a different line through which to bring about the Messiah.
You see, decisions ARE important and decisions DO have consequences.
CONCLUSION
In closing, when faced with a difficult situations in life it’s important to make right decisions:
• Don’t COVER UP your sins and failures, like NAOMI did.
• Don’t GIVE UP and return to your former, sinful life, like ORPAH did.
• Do STAND UP, do the right thing, seek God’s face, and trust in Him, as RUTH did.
Let’s follow the example of Ruth, and make right decisions.
