“Naomi’s Journey back to Bethlehem” – Ruth, Part 2
Ruth Sermon Series, Part 2
Ruth 1:10-22
Introduction
- Last week we set the foundation of Ruth around some very difficult times
-- Famine causes a family to move from God’s land, disobeys God’s commands
- Exposed a hard lesson – and one that frames this series:
-- FACT: When you choose to rebel against God, bad things can/do happen
-- However, God is still faithful to walk alongside of us and not leave us alone
-- IMP APP: IF we will repent and turn to Him … safety CAN be found!
- Naomi finds herself in this strange land and decides to return home
-- Her willingness to send her DILs back to family is out of compassion
-- But they’re not willing to just abandon her (v10) … why?
-- Is it a sense of loyalty? A feeling of duty? Perhaps it’s selfishness?
- Let’s see where this story takes us today to encourage our hearts
- Read Ruth 1:10-22 / Pray
Point 1 – An impossible (and hopeless) choice
- Admittedly, Naomi is faced with a hard choice with Orpah and Ruth
-- She responds to them out of logic for her circumstances (v11-13)
1. I am too old to find and marry another husband
2. If I had more sons, would you wait for them to grow up?
3. Life is bitter for me, b/c God has raised His fist against (or punished) me
- APP: The real issue is that third one … she feels God is punishing her
-- Hebrew: “yad”; hand (figuratively speaking, “talk to the hand”)
-- Hebrew: “marar”; to be bitter
-- When a fist is raised, it is an act of aggression, showing no grace
- Naomi’s entire argument was what would be best for them
-- She is not thinking of herself, but of these who could have a future
-- Her message is simple: I’m finished, leave me, and go find a life for yourself
- APP: I’m sure many of us can see both sides of this argument
-- Sometimes, it’s easier to just cut bait and run a new line
-- Sometimes, the pressure is just too much that resignation seems best
- But is that what God has called us to do? To quit?
-- If this were true, none of us would be here today … GET: church is hard!
-- EXAM: Even at the end of his life, Paul kept pressing: 2 Tim 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.”
- TR: Naomi, in her despair, obv. cannot see any hope outside of circumstance
-- Luckily, she is not the only one in this conversation …
Point 2 – Orpah departs, but Ruth pledges to stay
- Orpah agrees to return to her family, even after weeping bitterly (v14)
-- We spoke last week of the loss they must feel (FIL, husbands, now Naomi)
- However, look what happens when Ruth hears Naomi’s reasoning
-- She chooses to remain a daughter to this woman who has loved her
-- She goes to great lengths to convince Naomi she’s not leaving
- Don’t miss this … heart of message today
-- Ruth makes three promises to Naomi (v16-18):
1. Where you go, I will go and where you stay, I will stay
- Her promise is to travel with her, to never leave her side
-- Ruth is willing to leave everything she knows to stay with Naomi
- She pledges to live where she lives, to dwell even in the same house
-- Meaning: It shall be my joy, my mission, to walk alongside you
2. Your people will be my people & your God will be my God
- Ruth proclaims that Naomi will remain as her family, becoming her people
-- Ruth can clearly see that wherever Naomi is from, they are a great nation
-- They are a people committed to good things (Naomi is an output of them)
-- So, going with you makes sense to me!
- But notice, “your God shall be my God”
-- Now, the seriousness of this cannot be overstated – she agrees to worship God
-- Religion was a serious thing in this time – to change was a deep commitment
- There is something great to see here – Naomi obviously knows something
-- Perhaps Ruth has heard of this God she knows, and has been drawn to Him
-- Could it be because Naomi witnessed? That she testified of God’s goodness?
3. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried
- Naomi is obviously the elder, and Ruth pledges to be with her to the end
-- Even if it means in the same house, Ruth claims she will never leave her side
-- Ruth even declares that her final resting place with be where Naomi is
- APP: She is willing to leave the land of Moab, drawn to God’s promised land
-- APP: She’s drawn to God and His commands, through the witness of Naomi
- APP: If you haven’t seen the discipleship opportunity yet here it is:
• Who are you witnessing to? Inviting to Jesus? Being a partner to?
• Tell me, who are you sharing your religion with that draws others in?
• Have you influenced others to be where you are? To worship where you do?
• Who have you brought to Him that has changed their life for God’s glory?
- Deeper: Where have you committed to change for God’s glory?
-- Do you have the same resolute and convictions of faithfulness to Jesus?
-- Or do we make excuses to turn from him (and one another) for our own wants?
- FACT: We must take the Lord for our God; be committed to God’s standards
-- When you examine what those standards are, a life change is obvious (4 things)
1. When we take God for our God, we must take his people for our people
- Even those that we disagree with and don’t like – we must see Jesus in them
- We must not make life about our preferences, or are favorites, and live for Jesus
- James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (The only way to defeat our enemy is to cling to Christ)
2. We must submit to the same burden and be faithful to its decrees
- To go where God will have us to go, without complaining about our wants
- To live a life of faith because we’ve seen the goodness of God
- Ephesians 5:21, “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
3. We must resolve to continue and persevere - to always adhere to Christ!
- Ruth was obviously close to Naomi, but we must be even closer to Jesus!
- To resolve that NOTHING shall separate us, and stand on it through all times
- Roman 8:38, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”
4. We must commit to never willingly break from these pledges
- To choose Christ in everything, and over everything we could ever desire
- And yes, even to participate and bloom/serve where you are planted
- To not look for the next step up to satisfy our ego, to resolve He is best
- Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
- We choose Christ because in Him we see everything we will ever need
- For us, this is the pledge we must take to live the Christian life properly
-- This is how Ruth pledges herself to Naomi … have you pledged like this?
-- Or are we still doing life our own way and thinking God doesn’t notice?
- It’s a very public line the Bible draws here to show us what faithfulness is
-- I pray that we would dwell on this during the week … EXPOUND?
- TR: Now let’s take a quick peak at Naomi’s arrival home …
Point 3 – Naomi’s misses God’s provision, but we cannot!
- When Naomi left Bethlehem, she was from a well-off family
-- Her return caused the townspeople to react in disbelief or shock (v19)
- See this: “Is it really Naomi?” is not really a flattering question
-- Restated: “Is this really that nice young lady who used to live here?”
-- The version of “excited” is Hebrew word “hum”; to murmur (whisper)
-- Their comment is really one of unbelief because she is unrecognizable
-- It also has all kinds of implications of gossip laced in the delivery
- Look how Naomi feels about God and what He has done
-- (v20-21) “the Almighty has made life very bitter for me”
-- Hebrew: “Mara”; feminine version of the word bitter
-- Implied: Everything happening to me is because God is against me
- There are a few certainties that we must address here for clarity:
• She is certain there is a God who is sovereign, good, and Holy
• She is also certain that God is 100% mad & displeased with her
-- APP: In essence, she’s having a pity party instead of turning and repenting!
- But look at what she is has totally missed:
-- Re-read v22: “So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.”
- Challenge: If God is so against her, then why has He brought her home safely?
-- Surely, two women traveling 50 miles on foot could be easy targets, right?
-- Why would He give her someone to care for her, to walk with her?
-- Why has He provided for her all that she would need? (Food, shelter, etc.)
-- Why would He prepare the encounter with Boaz (that is about to happen)?
Big Idea
- Let’s land the plane … turn to and read Matthew 6:25-34
- Could unpack this for an hour, but let’s boil it down VERY quickly
-- IMP: Even in the toughest of times, God has NOT forgotten about Naomi!
-- And, He most certainly has not forgotten about you, either!
- Even in our despair, God STILL provides comfort for each of us
-- Ruth is an incredible story about this FACT, and one that we’ll explore more
- From last Sunday we discussed this unknown quote: “Sometimes when you abandon God, your life has disastrous consequences.”
- Add to it today: “But, God is still faithful … even when we aren’t!”
- Pray for Hope, Courage, and Peace to turn to God for all we need
