This morning, I invite your attention to the book of Ruth. This book is a great love story and throughout it, it demonstrates Gods providential care for mankind. We are not for sure who wrote the book of Ruth, although some have given Samuel the credit for such writing. In accordance with Jewish tradition this book was read and sung at the feast of harvest or day of Pentecost because much of the setting dealt with the harvest. Ruth lived the same time Eli was the high priest in the land of Judah, sometime during the 12th century.
Before we study our text out this morning, I would like for us to close our eyes and just for a few minutes, let’s let Gods word come alive here within our congregation this morning. The story begins with a famine in Bethlehem, which, ironically, in Hebrew means "house of bread". So the land of promise is beset by a famine. The House of bread is without any bread. So the story starts badly and it goes downhill from there. Elimelech and his wife Naomi leave the land of Judah for a pagan land called Moab bringing with them their two sons. (Show Map)
Now things may have been bad in Judah, but in Moab they’d be far worse. The people of Moab were pagans who had made it clear over the centuries that they had little love for the people of Israel. And the feeling was mutual. The book of Deuteronomy declared in 23:3 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:
The Moabites were a cursed people, a people with whom the Israelites were forbidden to seek a treaty of friendship. So It’s not a good strategic move for Elimelech to take his wife and two teenage sons to Moab, even if there is a famine in Judah. After having establishing themselves in the land of Moab, Elimelech died. We are not told how, but soon after his death, his two sons marry two Moab tresses. We are not told about the time lapse, but soon we are told that these to children to Elimelech and Naomi die, leaving all three of these women husbandless.
Naomi receives word that God has provided food again in Judah and soon she decides to journey back to Bethlehem. Realizing that bringing her two daughters-in-law back with her would not be a good idea, due to the fact that they would not be accepted back in Israel. While reading these few verses that open up the stage for us. You can almost feel the pain that was on Naomi’s heart. She tells them that she is to old to bear other children and even if she did, it wouldn’t make sense for them to wait on that child to be of the age of marriage. So she tells them to go back to their old way of life that they new before this family came into the picture.
As they get ready to leave their separate ways, only Ruth clings to Naomi. Ruth was told to go back to her people and go back to the gods that she grew up knowing, and even go back to the culture that she was raised in, but she wouldn’t budge. Having come to this point in our narrative, I had to as my self the question… Why? Why did she not want to go back to her old way of life? After all this nation was a nation that served Idols, there was no order, and in the sight of the Israelites this pagan nation was nothing more than just a bunch of heathens that God needed to wipe of the face of the earth. So as we read our text lets, just for a little while let God open our hearts and our minds as we open His word and let Him speak to us. (Read Text)
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever hit rock bottom? Have you ever been come to a point in your life that you wish that you could start your life over? Have you ever come to the point in your life where you wish that you could just move away, to a place where nobody knew you and you could begin a new life and start over?
For Ruth, we can speculate that this woman was at her all time lowest. Her husband just died, her family may not want her back. She has no friends, her people are looked at as the scum of the world, so what is it that she has going for her? In her mind absolutely nothing, But in the sight of God, a magnificent blueprint was about to immerge and without anyone even realizing it she would become the great grandmother to the King of Israel; King David.
Ruth may have been attracted to the lifestyle of an Israelite through the life of her mother-in-law Naomi. She may have noticed the prayer life that Naomi carried. She may have noticed the loyalty that she had with God, the way God was with Naomi through the death of her husband as well as her two sons. I believe it was through Naomi’s witness for God is what was so instrumental in the motivation that kept Ruth from going back to her old way of life. For Ruth, this may have been her one shot; The one shot to start over, her one shot to make a difference, her one shot to look up and pull herself out of rock bottom.
Ruth new that she had the opportunity to start her life over again and she new that she could also be a great support for Naomi, because in the Hebrew Ruth means – Friendship. In this book not only will you find a beautiful love story, but you will also find a commitment that is surrendered to a new life. Have you ever been there? How many here have never been there raise your hand. I think if we are all honest with ourselves we have all in different levels of magnitude have reached this point at one time or another.
Ruth shows her commitment, not only to Naomi, but she also shows a commitment to God. We know this because of the tense that was used in translating the word God in verse 16. Its Yahweh – the strongest form of the word God used in the O.T. its actual meaning is “I Am”. She heard that I am going to take care of you.
Let me ask you this morning, how many of you have ever wanted to make that commitment to start over? Hearing the words of God and then committing yourself to pull yourself out of a hole? Like Ruth, we all have the capability to seek a new life, but in order to accomplish that there has to be commitment.
Now what does it mean to make a commitment? Webster says that it’s an agreement or a pledge to do something in the future. And in our text there are 3 types of commitment that Ruth demonstrates in light of a new life in a land that God has pulled out of a famine.
In order to start a new life one must have a:
I. Heart Commitment. V16a
A. Within the writing of this verse, the narrator goes into detail the commitment that Ruth has for Naomi that comes directly from the heart.
B. Lets notice some of them. Repeatedly, Ruth uses the words, “I will”. You can almost here her making a covenant with Naomi, promising her that everywhere she goes, Ruth is going to be by her side.
C. Ruth had a heart that was willing to give up the only life that she new, the only people that she new, the only culture that she new, so that she might get another chance in life, another chance to get back on her feet and she new that she could accomplish this goal, only if she committed herself to it.
There is a story told of a farmer who owned a donkey. Not only did this farmer own a donkey but he also had a well on his land. One day the donkey fell into the well, trapping this animal at the bottom of this well. Looking deep into this well the farmer sees his donkey trapped inside of this well. Looking for advice he goes to his neighbors asking them what he should do. After a while this farmer realized that this donkey was old, and this well needed to be covered up he decided to cover up the well and the donkey at the same time. He invited some of his neighbors to help in this matter and they all started to throw dirt into the well.
Realizing what was going on, the donkey went into a rage, you could hear the screams from this donkey as it cried out in desperation. A little while longer the cries of this donkey stopped, intrigued the farmer looked into the well and he was amazed at what he had seen. Ever shovel full of dirt that was thrown into the well, the donkey would shake the dirt off and then take a step up. This continued until the donkey was able to get out of the hole then trotted off in the pasture.
D. Our commitment should be like this donkey. This donkey’s heart had a commitment that life was not going to keep him down. This donkey had reached to lowest part of his life literally in the depths of an old well that needed to be covered up.
E. When our hearts are prepared to make that commitment, its then we are able to shake off the dirt that Satan has to offer us when he tries to keep us in our lowest parts of our lives. Do you have that kind of heart this morning? A heart that is willing to give up and be buried in the well?
Secondly, In order to start a new life one must have a:
II. A God Commitment. Vs 16b
A. This meant that Ruth was going to have to leave the gods that she grew up knowing all her life and trust in the God that created the heavens and the earth.
B. Ruth must have had noticed the commitment that Naomi had for God, in order for Ruth to commit her life to God and place all of her faith and trust in him.
There is a good lesson for a COG there. When we are committed to live our lives for God, the people that are surround us on a daily basis will be influenced by the same God that Ruth was influenced by. That’s how God works, through the lives of His children. Hey is He working in your life? Can other people at work or at school see God in your life? Do they want to commit their lives over to Him because of the impact that God is doing in your life? If not, wont you ask God to forgive you were you fail him (this includes me too) and ask Him to give you the strength to share that commitment that you have made with Him?
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Jesus said that if we are ashamed of Him, the He will be ashamed of us when we stand before Him. Luk 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and [in his] Father’s, and of the holy angels.
C. In 2005 there are so many different kinds of gods that people are committed to. Whether it be hunting, fishing, football, baseball, shopping, riding 4 wheelers, when these things are placed before the “I am” then these can be classified as gods, or idols which in reality makes us no better than these Moabites that worship false gods. We know there were more due to Naomi using the word gods in verse 15.
In order for people to pull themselves out of the deepest well of life and begin with a fresh start in life is to make this commitment. This commitment by far is the most important commitment anyone will ever make. I don’t care how many degrees you have or how successful in life you claim to be, the bible makes it clear as day with out Jesus Christ a person is doomed to spend an eternity in a devils hell. Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
(Expound ABC’s)
D. But in order for this commitment to be a God commitment, then our 1st point that we discussed has to be applied. In order for you to have a genuine God commitment, 1st you have to have a heart commitment. Saying that you are committed to God and then having a heart that doesn’t show it doesn’t justify the commitment that you are coveting or promise a with God
(Illustrate 168 hours in a week. What if we tithed our time out of that? That’s 17hours a week that we would give God, but do we? What about if we came to church regularly? 4 hours a week? What we are saying God, I’m going to give you 4 hours, but I’m going to keep 164 for myself. That’s not God commitment.)
E. Ruth demonstrated heart commitment by giving up here home land, her people, including her gods and placing all of her faith and trust in the great “I Am” who promises never to leave one single person once they place their trust in him, and decide to start a new life with Him.
Lastly; In order to start a new life one must have a:
III. Total Commitment. Vs 17
A. Out of the three commitments that we have covered this morning this is the one that God seeks the most. God found favor in the eyes of Ruth that day, even if she was a Moabite.
B. This is the kind of commitment that God wants from His own Children. Hosea tells us that even when God provided for the Israelites during this day of time, Israel was still not committed to Him.
Hos 4:1-2 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because [there is] no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
Its through this type of commitment that there is no question why God chose this pagan woman to be a great great grandma to our Lord and Savior. Its through her character with a heart commitment that Jesus Christ said: John 3:16.
Its through her character with a God commitment that Jesus Christ said: Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Its through her character with a Total commitment that Jesus Christ said: Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
A chicken and a hog were walking past a church building one day when they noticed the Sunday morning sermon posted on the outside bulletin board, "Helping the Poor." They walked a ways when the chicken suddenly came across with a suggestion. "Say, Brother Hog, why don’t we give all the poor people a nice breakfast of ham and eggs?" The hog thought a moment and replied, "That’s all right for you to say because for you it is only a contribution, but for me, it’s total commitment!"
Jesus succeeded in His mission because He was totally committed to the task before Him. He was willing to give up everything, even His life, for the cause He believed in. No one really succeeds in life until he reaches the point that he is willing to lay down his life.
(Invitation)
So the question God wants to ask you this morning. Are you ready to start a new life? Have you reached that point in your life where nothing works and are in need of starting a new life? Are you willing to make a Heart Comm. How about a God Commit? And above all are you totally committed.
Are you looking for a church to serve in, would you consider joining this one? God has made the commitment now wont you?
