Our nation’s first President had a different way of looking at life and you could see it in his very first inaugural address. Had you been in the relatively small crowd to hear Washington’s Inaugural address some 230 plus years ago, you would have been surprised at how visibly nervous Washington was giving the speech. Fresh off the heels of his victory over the British in the Revolutionary War, “The Father of his Country” spoke in a quiet voice that was difficult to hear at times. Only a few hundred Senators and Congressmen heard our first President at Federal Hall at half past noon in New York City on April 30, 1789. And perhaps his most memorable line of his address, Washington spoke of the Invisible Hand. Listen carefully to our first President’s words: “No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”
When Washington says “Invisible Hand,” he speaks of God’s intervention in our lives. Washington viewed his personal life as well as the events surrounding our nation as being moved by the Invisible Hand of Providence.
And it wasn’t just Washington that believed in the Invisible Hand. Men such as Benjamin Franklin did as well. Though Franklin was no believer, he maintained, “I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?” The founding fathers viewed life very differently.
How do you see your life? Do you see God’s invisible hand moving about in our day? Do you see His invisible hand behind you landing your job? Is there an Intelligent Being that makes sure your plane lands or who you parents were?
Today, we begin a short series on the Old Testament book of Ruth, one of only two books in your Bible named for women. And it’s the only book in the Old Testament not named after a Jew.
A Challenge
One way that you can make the next three weeks a memorable time of insight for yourself is to read through this beautiful story once each week. It will take you less time to read this book than it will to watch a sitcom. I invite you to look for the Invisible Hand in the little book of Ruth. It’s for people who wonder where God is when one tragedy after another attacks their faith. It’s a story for people who wonder whether a life of integrity is really worth it. I hope to raise your hope level in the weeks to come. This is bright hope for dark days.
The Relationship of Judges and Ruth
The story of Ruth is a really old story, more than 3,000 years ago. Ruth begins with these words, “In the days when the judges ruled…” (Ruth 1:1a). Ruth happens in the timeline of the book of Judges, just one book in front of it. These times were especially wicked and when Israel was not ruled by the kings. This was a 400-year period after Israel entered the Promised Land where trial chieftains ruled Israel (roughly 1500 BC to 1100 BC). You might think of the book of Judges showing you the world’s events like the evening news might. The book Judges is the headlines of the day for ancient Israel showing you all the major events.
Ruth has none of that inside its pages. It’s as if you took the ancient Israelite world under the lens of a microscope and you “zoomed all the way in” on just one family of a husband, a wife, and their two boys. Zoom past these judges, the diplomatic treaties, and the wars of the day to a little of family migrating to a new country because of a famine. There you have the book of Ruth where God’s watchful eye isn’t distracted by the turbulence of one most of wicked times in Israel’s history. We discover that He has His eye even one little “no-name” family.
The Move to Moab
Elimelech and Naomi decide to move from Bethlehem to the nation of Moab with their two boys. They would live in Moab, modern day Jordan, for 10 years (Ruth 1:4). This move deserves your attention for a moment. Can we really appreciate how difficult it is to move to another nation?
Michael Medved tells the astonishing story of his grandmother, Sarah Medved coming to America. Sarah was the mother of 6 children and her husband, Harry, moved to the United States in 1910 by himself. He did so in order to earn enough money for his family’s passage across the ocean to the world of opportunity. Years went by but he scraped together the money and sent it back to his wife. So in 1914, Sarah came with all the 6 kids along with her elderly father, and they were riding in the train from Ukraine to eventually make to Philadelphia to join her husband. But when they got to the border of Austria, Hungary, and Russia, they were stopped and were taken off the train. WWI had broken out in August of 1914, and they were forced to go all the way back to their village in Ukraine. Ten years followed where they could not make it to America. After WWI, there was a bloody revolution and then they endured the Russian Civil War. There was no chance for this grandmother to reunite with her husband who was in Philadelphia waiting, writing, and trying to get news. During the ensuing years, five of their six children sadly died of disease and starvation. She eventually made it to the United States with her only son, Moshe, and then reunited with her husband. She was 49 when she reunited with her husband and it was tearful reunion to say the least. It takes tremendous courage to leave your land and your people.
Back to our story, Naomi was an immigrant and it’s hard for us to really appreciate how difficult life is for an immigrant.
The Boys’ Names
Now, did you notice the names of Naomi’s two sons, Mahlon and Chilion? Those are not Hebrew names; these are Canaanite names. They married two Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth – they were of a different faith.
Bethlehem
Take careful note of where the move from, will you? The ultimate irony had occurred: Bethlehem, whose very name means “House of Bread,” was a place where there was no food. Bethlehem was known for growing wheat, barley, olives, and grapes. But the “house of bread” could not feed their family.
Moab’s History with Israel
So this family moves to Moab. Now, Moab were the archenemies of Israel. Here’s why… The Moabites came from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his older daughter (Genesis 19:30–38). The boy that came from this ugly incident was named Moab. I will not go into all of it at this time, but the nation’s spiritual history was tragic from its beginning. Does this sound like the place you want to move your family? You could easily say that Elimelech was leading his family from the breadbasket to the trashcan. And from the kitchen table to the garbage dump. The irony of all this is that he moved his family to avoid death and starvation and he ends up dying in a foreign land.
Desperation
Naomi wakes up one day some years later with no husband and no sons. She had dug three graves in the matter of ten years. You can cue the song Desperado right here.
Widows were the most socially and economically vulnerable people of ancient society. In our day, if you want economic and social power, then you get an education and some marketable skills. In those days, it was your family. What you needed was not the education but you needed a spouse and children. Naomi is left all by herself, a poor and old widow with two daughters-in-law. So there’s Naomi who is utterly without hope. She’s up “a creek without a paddle.”
She couldn’t produce children because she’s too old. She really couldn’t work because she’s too old. She cannot go back to live with her parents because they likely are dead. Her children cannot support because her children were all dead. And her daughters-in-law really can’t come, because they’re Moabites. They were outcasts and outsiders. And she has no real land in a agriculturally-driven society.
Note her words when she recaps her life, “Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me” (Ruth 1:21b)? Yes, she’s up “a creek without a paddle.”
Feeling Like a Nobody
It’s very easy to look at another culture and just say, “Yes, back then, if women didn’t have a husband and a child, they thought they were nobody. How stupid. We’re beyond all that today.” But you need to really feel how she’s feels. She feels like a nobody. A lot of you feel like a nobody because you’re overweight. But weight wouldn’t have bothered Naomi. Why are we so bothered by our weight? Why are you so bothered by your appearance in a way that didn’t bother her? Pretty and handsome, skinny people have an advantage in our culture, don’t they? You see, everybody has a culture, and everybody gets their self-esteem, basically, out of what the culture tells them.
Or look at this: she’s desperate because she essentially has no family. We think, “That’s crazy,” because we don’t really value family as this ancient Hebrew society did. You see, we live in this time when our family means less and our accomplishments means more. If we have a nice prominent family, but our individual accomplishments are no good, then we feel like a nobody. But they were just the reverse. Your individual accomplishments didn’t matter but your family mattered a great deal. Especially if you had sons – that mattered the most.
Naomi’s Name
So she makes her way back and the Bible wants you to pay attention to her name here. She comes back home to Bethlehem and her friends see her and she has totally changed. And they look at her and say, “No way! No way you’re Naomi! You were beautiful! What happened to you” (Ruth 1:19). She says, “Don’t call me Naomi,” which is a Hebrew word for pleasant. She says, “Don’t call me Naomi; instead, you can call me Mara, for I have a life of bitterness. I went away full; I’ve come back empty.” They didn’t recognize her, even though she had only been away a few years.
Imagine if you went back to your high school reunion. You’re so haggardly looking that no one recognizes you. You say to everyone, “I’m Naomi. Don’t you recognize me?” They say, “No way! You’re too old and battered to be her! My gracious, what happened to you?” She says, “Don’t call me sweet. Call me bitter. I went away full but I’ve come back empty.” It’s as if she’s walking around with “bitter” as a nametag.
Things Start to Turn
I have gotten ahead of myself for a moment. Naomi’s two daughters-in-law have this really emotional conversations with her in verse 11. Naomi’s bitterness is really coming through because she says to both of them, “Stay here in Moab. Don’t go with me. I have no hope to offer you.” Naomi says, “I have no more sons to offer you.” Everything has to do with her not having sons in her speech. You see, when an Israeli husband died, his brother was to marry the widow and continue the brother’s family in his death (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).It’s called Levirate marriage and it would be a little strange to marry your husband’s brother today.
Ruth and Naomi
Naomi says to her, “You sister-in-law is going back to her gods and her people. You need to follow her” (Ruth 1:15).
Ruth’s little speech is powerful; she doesn’t talk much so you need to listen to her carefully: “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (Ruth 1:16b-17).
This little speech right here is pivotal for the family’s future and for world’s future. Do you see God’s invisible hand even in small things like a speech?
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
In January 1848, gold was discovered when a man named James Wilson Marshall was constructing a sawmill along a river northeast of what is today Sacramento, California. His discovery was reported in the local newspaper, but no one believed him until they laid their eyes on a jar of gold itself California’s gold rush was on. The rush produced on average seventy-six tons of gold per year for several years. By the end of the 1850s, it was estimated that $550 million worth of gold had been mined – approximately $187 billion in today’s dollars. Most of us know that Texas battled against Mexico more a century ago. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War and made the Rio Grande America’s southern border. But the agreement also included parts of present-day Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and yes, even California. All this territory was ceded to the United States because of this treaty. Get this: that treaty was signed just 6 days AFTER this gold was discovered in California!
The Turning Point
Back to our story and this famous speech. Perhaps the women had walked to the border of Moab and Israel for their conversation. It’s right there they have this life-changing conversation. Pay close attention to Ruth now: “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried” (Ruth 1:16b-17a).
Surely something powerful is stirring inside her at this moment. Listen to Ruth as she first says, “Don’t try to change my mind; my mind is made up. I’m determined.” This young lady’s courage is showing and she is absolutely remarkable. The feeling intensifies as she speaks: “Where you go, I’ll lodge; your people are now my people; your God is my God. And where ever you die, I’ll be buried next to you.”
Then she’s finishes up this flourish with a vow. She says in effect, “I’ll put my hand on the Bible and say, ‘So help me God.’” Inside her famous speech, she does something that you’ll run right past if you’re not careful. Did you catch it? She switches the name of God in her little soliloquy: “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you” (Ruth 1:16b-17).
At first, she calls God by His generic name before she switches to God’s special, revealed name, Yahweh. She says, “May the LORD (Yahweh) deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” She used the name God revealed when He issued His covenant with Israel, Yahweh. God says in effect, “This is the name for the people who know me intimately and personally, not just afar off as a great impersonal deity, but those who are my family. My name is Yahweh.” This is the name Ruth uses – she converts over to God and Israel’s faith at this moment. Ruth chooses to make Naomi’s family her family and Naomi’s God, her God. All of this is truly surprising given the fact that Naomi’s bitter feelings toward how her life turned out! Ruth switch allegiances to the God of the Bible. She has begun to exercise faith in Yahweh. She says in effect, “At this moment, I convert. I don’t want my gods anymore. I want your God.”
So what do we learn from this story?
2 Take-Away’s
1) The Power of Christian Friendship
Naomi is radically cynical in the early part of this story. If cynicism, desperation, and bitterness were a state, Naomi would be its capital. Yes, in time, she will change. But I want you to watch Ruth for a moment. How does Ruth change?
1.1 Territorial Gods
Remember, Ruth follows of the gods of Moab. Back in this day, it was thoughts that gods had “zip codes” they were confined to. The edge of the nation’s border was the territory of the gods. Only the God of Israel said He was God over every zip code and every country.
Conversion wasn’t popular then. Years later, proselytism and evangelism are dirty words in our day. We live in an era when we think no one should try to convert others to their view of God. But somethings are way too important to be left up to the fashionable ideas of the day. Notice that Naomi does NOT say anything this, “I hope you’ll find satisfaction in your religion like I find satisfaction in mine. Yahweh blesses me, and Chemosh will bless you, because everyone’s religion is equally satisfying for them, and they’re all equally valid.” Naomi doesn’t say anything close to this.
Ruth’s conversion will change her and it would change the world – yes, the world as we will see.
1.2 Naomi’s Genuine Love
Now, how did this conversion happen? Even though Naomi didn’t believe, Ruth’s love made her want to believe. Naomi’s faith was NOT outstanding at this point her life. But she does patiently love Ruth here; you have to give her credit. Ruth witnesses the patient, sacrificial love of Naomi. Think of it from Ruth’s perspective for a moment: Naomi’s life can only be helped if her daughter-in-law stays with her. What does Naomi have to gain from sending Ruth away? And yet, Ruth shows tremendous sacrificial love toward Naomi by sending her away.
How does Ruth change? Ruth’s life wasn’t changed by a book, a sermon, or even a government program. Ruth is changed through friendship. Her life was radically changed by the love of a genuine friend.
1.3 What If You Have Such a Friend?
Some of you are sitting here because you’re supposed to be here. Jesus doesn’t mean all that much to you. You are here because your mother and father may say so. The Bible bounces off you like Teflon week after week. What if you had a true Christian friend who loved you through the “ups and downs” of life? Even if you thought Jesus was NOT credible, don’t you think a friendship like this would make you think twice? What if you had a Naomi/Ruth kind of friendship where she pushes you to do what’s best for you even when it hurts her? That kind of genuine friendship works like train tracks where the mercy of Jesus and the credibility of the gospel move over.
Even though Naomi didn’t believe, Ruth’s love made her want to believe. We live in the time of microwaves but genuine Christian friendship works like a crockpot. Friendship often cooks slowly.
What is a friend? The definition is right there in verse 16: sacrifice, time and constancy: ““For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried” (Ruth 1:16b-17a).
1.4 Encourage Christian Friends
Mr. and Ms. Believer in Christ, don’t ever underestimate the power of genuine friendship can have on your non-believing friends. Don’t ever underestimate this. You have some friends and family members that are far from Jesus. You show them sacrificial love where you place their needs ahead of you own. Even though they don’t think Jesus is credible, your genuine love can make Him look increasingly credible. Be a genuine friend to nonbelievers and place their needs before you own like Naomi in our story. Even though Naomi didn’t believe, Ruth’s love made her want to believe. We need the power of patient friendship in our day, don’t we?
1) The Power of Christian Friendship
2) There’s Light in the Night
God is at work even in the worst of times. With God, there is always light in the darkest night. God is NOT sitting idly in the heavens, just simply riding on a cloud and His chin in His hands watching the events of Naomi’s life or your life. His invisible hand is moving in your life right now.
Do you know what the word providence means? Here’s a helpful way to remember the word: PRO is “before” and VIDEO is to “to see.” He’s seeing life happen in advance. You can even hear the word “provide” in the word Providence. Even in the worst of times, God is working for His children’s good and happiness.
William Cowper, prone to tremendous depression in his life, put it this way.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
God is at work in the worst of times. With God, there is always light in the darkest night. His invisible hand is on the steering wheel of your life. His invisible hand is on the steering wheel of our nation and our world.
2.1 The Rest of Medved’s Story
Earlier, I told you the story of an immigrant that came to the States right around WW I. She lost five of her six children trying to immigrate Now the rest of the story… Once she was here in the States, she became terribly ill and she couldn't keep her food down because of tremendous pain. She was told by her neighbors in South Philadelphia that was probably a tumor. She had little education and she was very reluctant to see a doctor. She finally went to see a distant relative who was a doctor and he examined her. Then the doctor said, “Sit down as I have something very important to tell you.” So she starts crying, “I know I have a tumor. I have a tumor, right?” He says, “No, you have a baby.” She said, “It’s impossible. I’m 49 years old. I am not in the way of women.” Then the doctor says to her, “Your name is Sarah, isn’t it?” That son would grow up to attend the University of Pennsylvania and earn two master's degrees and a PhD in physics.
2.2 I’ve Come Back Empty
We must hold to this fact: an invisible hand is running our world, our nation, and your life. When Naomi comes back, she says, “I’m empty.” She walks back into Bethlehem with who? She walks into Bethlehem with Ruth! Even though Naomi is ruth's spiritual mother, Naomi is the one with all kinds of hope at this moment. Ruth is the incredible treasure God has put into her life! Here’s a woman whose love and courage is over-the-top incredible! Who wouldn’t want a Ruth in their life? Who wouldn’t want Ruth for daughter-in-law!
And Naomi says, “I’m empty.” Ruth will change Naomi’s life and bring her small life into unbelievable significance in the coming years. Naomi will be in the family line of the Messiah and she thinks she has nothing. She thinks God is against her and she cannot see the signs of hope for her life. Naomi cannot imagine how anything good or great will come from her ordinary life. She would be blown away to know that people are studying her life 3,000 years later.
2.3 Jesus at Bethlehem
More than a millennia after Ruth’s day, a manger was placed in Bethlehem. Now a lot of babies are born in ugly, nasty places all over the world and down through history. But only one goes from the manger to the cross to the throne.
God is at work in the worst of times. With God, there is always light in the darkest night. Trust Jesus for this life and the life to come.
