BOOK OF RUTH: A STATEMENT OF FAITH
RUTH 1:1-22
#bookofruth
INTRODUCTION… Statements of Faith in the OT
At our church, when a person comes to be baptized into Christ, we have them repeat what we call “the good confession” which is patterned after Simon Peter’s confession we find in Matthew 16, Mark 8, and Luke 9. People usually say something like: “I believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and I fully accept Him as my Lord and as my Savior.” That is a good solid statement of faith. A statement of faith is a verbal or written statement about faith, God, Jesus, the Bible, etc. A good statement of faith must be rooted in good theology and be easily stated if it is to be practical.
Statements of faith can vary and even have different purposes. Statements of faith clarify beliefs and explain what one believes, promotes unity so everyone knows what the core beliefs are, establishes a benchmark of standard belief, teaches, preserves identity because it helps keep things from shifting, and it can also be a public witness about what someone believes. It is like a spiritual purpose statement.
There are several “statements of faith” in the Old Testament where people declare trust in God, allegiance to Him, or recognition of His power. A few of them clarify someone’s position. I think of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2 declaring “there is no rock like our God” (2:2) as she declares her praise for God or Jonah in Jonah 2 praying “salvation comes from the Lord” (2:9). I think about David publicly confessing his faith in God to a Philistine giant who could care less in 1 Samuel 17 when he said among other things: “I come to you in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, Whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head” (17:45-46). I think of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 who clarified his new faith when he said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel” (5:15).
All of these are powerful statements of faith from people who are inside of Israel and already know YHWH God and from people who are on the outside looking in at Him. Confessions come from both. There are two other confessions I thought of… one at the beginning of the Book of Joshua and one at the end.
RAHAB IN JOSHUA 2
Rahab in the Book of Joshua was a resident of the city of Jericho. She was not an Israelite, but had heard what the God of Israel had been doing as He brought His people out of Egypt. Joshua 2 says this…
READ JOSHUA 2:8-11 (ESV)
“Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”
This woman Rahab is not of the people of Israel, but she had heard the miracles God was doing for His people at the Red Sea and enemy kings. News about God and Israel was spreading from person to person and news was traveling. She believed in the God of Israel. Rahab declares her faith in Israel’s God before she’s ever delivered from destruction in the city of Jericho. Her confession led to salvation for her whole household. She recognized God’s power, and it saved her.
I know we are just in the introduction here, but I need you to make a mental note and save it for next week when we cover Ruth 2. I need you to remember that 1 Rahab from Jericho was not an Israelite and 2 her confession of faith saved her from destruction, and 3 she joined Israel as part of God’s people. Again, 1 Rahab from Jericho was not an Israelite and 2 her confession of faith saved her from destruction, and 3 she joined Israel as part of God’s people. Please put a mental pin in that thought and save it for next week. It will be important next week.
JOSHUA IN JOSHUA 24
That confession from Rahab from Jericho who was not an Israelite came from the beginning of the Book of Joshua, but there is another confession that I thought of at the end of the Book of Joshua. It happens to be from Joshua… the man, the myth, the legend… himself. Joshua is from Israel as he had been Moses’ right-hand-man. He took over as leader of Israel when Moses died leading the battles in the Promised Land. Joshua gathers all the people of Israel together and has them recommit themselves to God from what He outlined for them through Moses. We get the sense that things may not be going smoothly all the way around as Joshua mentions idols and other gods. Let’s read from Joshua 24…
READ JOSHUA 24:14-15 (ESV)
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua publicly announces that he and those of his family will serve the Lord Who called Abraham to the land they were standing in. He clarifies his belief and made a declaration of exclusive devotion to God Almighty. This is a powerful statement as it seems like the Israelites were faced with many options for their faith and religion.
I happen to think that these two passages in Joshua record for us two powerful statements of faith. Rahab confesses belief in the power and will of God and submits to Him before destruction comes to her city. Joshua confesses exclusive belief in God and commits he and his whole family to serve only God. I mention confessions of faith and the book of Joshua because both orient us to what we are talking about in Ruth 1.
The Book of Ruth is situated between the Book of Judges and the Book of 1 Samuel in the Old Testament. Ruth 1 occurs at a time not too awfully long after the life of Joshua and Ruth 1 contains a wonderful confession of faith. The Book of Ruth is a short 4-chapter story that focuses on an Israelite widow named Naomi, Ruth her daughter-in-law who is from the neighboring country of Moab, and a man named Boaz who is a wealthy relative of Naomi’s late husband. We are going to start today in Ruth 1 and we will look over the rest of Ruth for the next three weeks.
Let’s read from Ruth 1:
READ RUTH 1:1-22 (ESV)
“In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. 6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “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.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. 19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.”
THE BASICS: HUNGER AND DEATH AND A RETURN HOME
The Book of Ruth starts in a time of hunger and death and a return home.
It is a time of hunger. We find out very quickly in the narrative in the Book of Ruth that there is a famine in the land of Israel. We know they are from Bethlehem which is a name that means “House of Bread.” The famine must be extreme if even the folks in Bethlehem… the House of Bread… are hungry! I imagine no rain, little to no crops, and hardship each day. Elimelech, the head of this particular family, makes a choice to leave his home to refuge in a foreign land where the drought and hardship was less.
It is a time of death. We also find quickly in the narrative in the Book of Ruth that the men in this family all die off. Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chilion all three die. Naomi is left to try and survive with her two daughters-in-law. In the time at which the Book of Ruth took place, the women were in dire need and probably would not survive for long. We get a sense that Naomi’s life was not an easy one. Her home country underwent a severe drought and during this hardship her husband and two sons die in the land that they moved to survive. She was in trouble… big trouble in little Moab.
Grieving Naomi realizes that she has two devoted young daughters-in-law who need not experience widowed life like she will have to endure. As I said, daily life for widows at this time was extremely difficult… and yet I would imagine it is always hard to lose a husband and two sons… no matter what point in history you live. Naomi encourages both young women to return to their family homes and marry someone else. She encourages them to seek out another man who would love them and care for them. She tells them that their lives can take another path than the one that she is on. Orpah decides, for whatever reason, to leave Naomi and return home. Ruth decides to stay with Naomi.
It is time to return home. Naomi chooses to return home to Bethlehem. She is not who she was when she left home. She is absolutely angry and bitterly bitter with God so much that she changes her name to reflect the hard heart and resentment that fuel her life. She has made a choice to hate God for the loss of her husband and two sons. She tells Ruth to call her a name that means “bitter” and not the name that means “pleasant.”
TRANSITION
So those are the basics of what is going on with Naomi and Ruth in chapter 1. If we had to describe their life as a food, it would be arugula, kale, dandelion greens, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, grapefruit, cranberries, coffee, dark chocolate, radicchio, olives, or sesame seeds all rolled into a ball… all of which are… bitter.
In the midst of this bitterness, there is some sweetness. There is Ruth. Ruth does not leave but stays with Naomi and makes a wonderful confession and statement of faith.
THE CONFESSION
RE-READ RUTH 1:15-18 (ESV)
And she [Naomi] said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “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.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
VERSE 15
Right before Ruth’s statement of faith, we see a bit of Naomi’s perspective. She is urging
Ruth to make the logical and normal choice. Naomi assumes a Moabite widow has no future among Israelites… and she is not wrong. Ruth is an outsider which makes it hard. Naomi tells her to go back to her old life. Naomi even says for Ruth to go back to her old gods. The folks in Moab and the folks in Israel did not have the same beliefs. Israel worshipped God. Moab worshipped Chemosh and Ashtar and Baal of Peor. Naomi is not just talking about geography or family, but she is telling her to go back to her old life. If Ruth stays with Naomi, it is a hard lonely poor hungry life with a new spiritual identity attached.
VERSES 16-17
In verses 16-17, we have Ruth’s statement of faith. Ruth rejects her command to “go.” Ruth has decided she is not leaving Naomi and affirms her commitment in all areas of life:
She affirms she will live and stay with Naomi.
She believes herself to be part of the covenant people of Israel.
She confesses faith in YHWH and not Chemosh and Ashtar and Baal of Peor.
She commits to die with Naomi if that happens.
She desires to be buried with Naomi.
After Ruth affirms, states what she believes, confesses, commits, and shares her desire, she then invokes a curse on herself as God as her witness that everything she just said was true and the desire of her heart. Ruth 100% turns away from her old family, old land, old gods, and commits to Naomi, going to Israel, and following God.
This statement of faith is at the heart of chapter 1. Ruth is renouncing her old way of life and pledges herself to Naomi, Israel, and God. It is her conversion statement. This is her confession of faith. This is her pledge of allegiance to the God of Israel. Just like Peter, Hannah, Jonah, David, Rahab, Joshua, and many others in the Old Testament and New Testament who make a statement of faith.
VERSE 18
Verse 18 shares with us that during this intense conversation Noami and Ruth are having, Naomi stopped urging her. That should tell you how emphatic and strong her statement was as well as the calling down of a curse on herself. Ruth meant every word.
TRANSITION
So, what do we do with this confession? What does it mean for us?
I’d like to talk about this confession she makes for a moment and then give you homework.
HOMEWORK
THE CONFESSION OF RUTH
Ruth’s confession is all about faith. She is affirming her conversion to the religion of Elimelech, Naomi, Mahlon, Chilion, and all the rest of the covenant people who are children of Abraham. She believes what they do.
Ruth’s confession uses words that are quite meaningful which tell me she knows what she is saying. Her words are not random. Moses uses some of the same words from God in Exodus 6 and Leviticus 26. He talks about faith tying it to being God’s people, the land, and walking with the Lord.
READ EXODUS 6:6-8 (ESV)
“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’”
READ LEVITICUS 26:11-12 (ESV)
“I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people.”
Ruth’s statement is a confession of faith in loyalty to God. She becomes a follower of God and a person of the covenant. We see this idea affirmed in the New Testament in Romans 9.
READ ROMANS 9:6-8 (ESV)
“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.”
Ruth’s statement is a confession in the belief of the promise given to Abraham and passed down to his descendants. She is not a descendant of Abraham, but she joins as a believer in God with her statement. It should also be noted that she has no idea what will happen to her and Naomi. She decides to follow God and will not turn back from that decision. Most of us believe because we get something out of it. Ruth made her statement and there was no promise of anything. No hope. She believed it anyway!
HOMEWORK
So here is your homework: Write down a statement of faith for yourself. This involves prayer, thinking, time, discussion, Bible reading, and maybe even a bunch of wadded up paper until you get it right.
Write out a statement of faith to clarify your beliefs about Jesus Christ.
Write out a statement of faith to explain what you believe about God.
Write out a statement of faith so everyone knows what your core beliefs are.
Write out a statement of faith to establishes a benchmark of standard belief so you don’t stray.
Write out a statement of faith to teach your family members.
Write out a statement of faith to preserve your identity in this crazy world.
Write out a statement of faith as a public witness.
Write a spiritual purpose statement.
The statement can begin with any or all of these…
I affirm | I believe | I confess | I commit | I desire
The statement can be one sentence all the way to one page.
Then, you must share it in two ways.
The first way you will share your statement of faith is with me. You will send your statement of faith to me. I want to see it. I want to read it. Send me an email, text, write it out, hand it to me, mail it to me… whatever. If you tattoo this statement of faith on yourself, just make sure it is somewhere on your body you want me looking. I get to do with the statement whatever I want, by the way.
The second way you will share your statement of faith is to give it to someone else. The temptation will be to perhaps post it on social media for all to see and we think we have done something great. It is personal to do that, but also it is impersonal and safe. Ruth confessed to Naomi. It was just them. Share your statement of faith with one other person.
Summary of the homework: Write down a statement of faith for yourself as one statement or one page and send to me and one other person. Decide right now you will and take time to do it.
PRAYER
INVITATION
At the beginning, I mentioned the words people usually say when being immersed in baptism at out church: “I believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and I fully accept Him as my Lord and as my Savior.” If that is a statement you need to confess, I invite you to come.
