A Mothers Legacy
Text: Ruth 1:1-18
Introduction
1. Read Ruth 1:1-18
2. Illustration: When the will of Henry J. Heinz, wealthy distributor of the famous ’57 Varieties’ line, was read, it was found to contain the following confession: ’Looking forward to the time when my earthly career will end, I desire to set forth at the very beginning of this will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I also desire to bear witness to the fact that throughout my life, in which there were unusual joys and sorrows, I have been wonderfully sustained by my faith in God through Jesus Christ. This legacy was left me by my consecrated mother, a woman of strong faith, and to it I attribute any success I have attained.’
3. What sort of legacy do you want to pass down to your children?
Proposition: A Godly mother prepares her children for this life and the next.
Transition: A Godly mother does this by teaching things to her children.
I. Strength (1-5)
A. Now It Came to Pass
1. The story of Ruth takes place sometime during the period of the rule of the judges. These were dark days for Israel, when "everyone did as he saw fit".
2. As the story begins, there is a famine in the land.
a. Famine can be caused by a drought, a natural catastrophe that occurred often in Palestine, where crops were dependent on the rainfall in its proper season. - Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM
b. It can also be caused by the devistation of the land by an enemy.
c. It could also be caused by God’s judgement for sin.
d. Deut. 28:24 The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
3. As a result, Elimelech, Naomi, and their two sons had to leave their land and go to the land of Moab.
a. Moab was the land east of the Dead Sea. It was one of the nations that oppressed Israel during the period of the judges (Judges 3:12ff), so there was hostility between the two nations.
b. Even if Israel had already defeated Moab, there still would have been tensions between them. —Life Application Bible Notes
4. While they were in Moab Elimelech dies and leaves Naomi a widow.
a. It is not known how long they had been in Moab before Elimelich died.
b. Despite the loss of her husband she still had her two sons who soon married Moabite women name Orpah and Ruth.
5. However, then her two sons die too.
a. For a woman to be "left without" (lit., "left from") her husband and "her … sons" was serious enough in her own community, but in another land she would be in desperate straits. - Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM
b. She was a woman in a foreign, hostile country with only two daughters-in-law.
B. Difficulties in Life
1. Naomi it seems was dealt a cruel hand.
a. No country
b. No husband
c. No sons
2. Illustration: The worst thing about accidents in the kitchen is you usually have to eat them.
3. Difficulties are a fact of life; get used to them.
a. There will be accidents in the kitchen
b. There will be bills to pay
c. There will be bumps and bruises
d. There will be cloudy days
4. A Godly mother doesn’t teach her children that there won’t be difficulties in life, but she teaches them how to deal with them.
5. Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
6. Ps. 23:4-5 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Transition: A Godly mother teaches her children to trust in the Lord even when things are difficult.
II. Self-Sacrifice (6-13)
A. Go Return to Your Mothers House
1. There was almost nothing worse than being a widow in the ancient world.
a. Widows were taken advantage of or ignored. They were almost always poverty stricken.
b. God’s law, therefore, provided that the nearest relative of the dead husband should care for the widow; but Naomi had no relatives in Moab, and she did not know if any of her relatives were alive in Israel. —Life Application Bible Notes
2. Even in her desperate situation, Naomi had a selfless attitude. Although she had decided to return to Israel, she encouraged Ruth and Orpah to stay in Moab and start their lives over, even though this would mean hardship for her.
3. Naomi heard that the Lord "had come to the aid of" his people.
a. She made preparations for returning to Judah.
b. Orpah and Ruth did not question their duty to accompany their mother-in-law, though it meant leaving their own land.
4. Apparently the party had not traveled far on the road to Judah (v.7) when Naomi realized the difficulties that faced her "daughters-in-law." Therefore she released them from all obligation to her by encouraging them to return to their "mother’s home" (v.8).
5. She also asks that the Lord "deal kindly" with them as they had been to her.
a. The word kindly is the Hebrew word hòesed̠. It is an important word in the Book of Ruth (cf. 2:20; 3:10) and throughout the Old Testament.
b. It speaks of God’s covenant loyalty to His people. It involves grace in that it was extended even when it was not deserved. —Bible Knowledge Commentary
6. Naomi then asked that God would give each of them a place of rest with another husband.
a. This became a key issue in the book.
b. Marriage meant security for a woman.
7. Even though her own situation seemed to be bleak, Naomi’s thoughts were totally focused on her daughter’s-in-law.
B. Putting Others First
1. Illustration: A woman, carrying her baby on her back, was trapped by a prairie fire. As she looked about, she realized there was no way of escape. Hurriedly she took the baby off her back and began digging a hole in the earth with her bare hands. She then placed her child into it and covered the child with her body. Later the woman was found dead, but the child was saved.
2. A Godly mother thinks first not of her self, but of her family.
3. Prov. 31:27-28 She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:
4. In doing so she teaches her children to do likewise.
a. She teaches them to esteem others as better than themselves.
b. She teaches them to look out not for their own interests, but the interests of others.
5. She does these things because that is what Jesus did for her. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."
Transition: She teaches her children to love others as Christ loves us.
III. Devotion (14-18)
A. Your God Will Be My God
1. The daughters-in-law wept again because of the hopeless situation Naomi had described to them.
2. Orpah, evidently convinced by the argument, bade farewell and returned.
a. Orpah has frequently been described as unfeeling and stiff-necked because she deserted Naomi; but a careful reading of the text shows that, though reluctant to leave, she obeyed Naomi’s wishes. - Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM
b. Nothing more is said in the Book of Ruth about Orpah. Presumably she remarried in Moab.
3. Ruth, however, did the unexpected. Though Orpah chose to seek a husband, Ruth clung to Naomi, apparently choosing to follow and serve her widowed mother-in-law rather than seek a husband.
4. Again Naomi encourages Ruth to return after her sister-in-law who was going back to her people and her god, but Ruth, firmly resolved, expresses her determination in phrases of indescribable beauty.
5. Ruth’s answer to Naomi has become a classic expression of devotion and loyalty.
a. Where you go I will go
b. Your people will be my people
c. Your God will be my God
B. They Will Remember
1. Illustration: D.L. Moody had a keen memory for names and faces. If one of his children was missing from Sunday school, he knew it, and he would do everything possible to find out why. One day he saw an absentee coming down the street, so he took off after her. She ran down the sidewalk, across the street, and through an alley into a saloon, up the stairs to a back apartment, into the bedroom, and then dived under the bed. Moody went after her, and just as he was claiming his prize, the mother showed up. Panting from the exertion, Moody simply explained, "I’m Moody," He said that he had missed the girl and would be happy if all the family could come to the services. Within a few weeks he had every child in the family in his school.
2. It has been said that if you’re not serving the Lord and your mother is praying for you - give up!
3. There is no one so determined to see her children in heaven than a Godly mother
4. God honors the prayerful determination of a Godly mother.
a. They may not be here today; they may not be here tomorrow, but their mother’s prayers will bring them in.
b. Eventually they will remember what you have taught them and they will return
Transition: God rewards the diligence of a Godly mother.
Conclusion
1. A Godly mother prepares her children for this life and the next.
2. She teaches them:
a. Strength
b. Self-Sacrifice
c. Devotion
3. What has your mother taught you? Are you living it?
