Satisfaction
Ruth 1:1-13
Satisfaction can be found in the midst of tough times in life. We’re going to walk through the book of Ruth and see from the lives of, mostly godly, people how God does work and completes purpose, and importantly, the types of attitudes we’re to maintain and treasure in life.
Ruth is an ancient book, written with similarity to Samuel, and occurring during the time of the Judges, well before Israel gained a king. It has a lot of customs that we’ll unpack for their meaning because they certainly aren’t customs today. And it has a lot of drama. It has been called the best short story ever written; but even that misses the mark because it is historical, not fictional. One sign that it is historical is caught up in the names of the people: Ruth being a main person and Orpah a minor person. They are Moabite names. The other names in the book are Hebrew and have meanings that add to the life of the book. But Ruth and Orpah are thoroughly Moabite and we do not know the meanings nor have they been passed down through the church or people of God. It’s all speculation. And Ruth is in the genealogy of David, and Jesus. Why would someone create a fictional account that would be celebrated in the genealogy of Israel’s greatest King, David? They rationally wouldn’t. It is just evidence towards the historicity of the book.
The lives of Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, and the others were lived during the time of judges. The last verse of the book of Judges gives us the framework we need for the study: In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
It was a time like ours: ultimate relativism. Absolute truth was only recognized out of dire need, not love for God and His truth. People lived life their way, not God’s way. There was an attitude of complacency with regard to spirituality, and acceptance of all ideas as equal. This attitude goes against the grain of Biblical Christianity, and Lawful worship in the days of the Judges. The living God is one, and His truth is unified, and that turns a lot of people off: both in the days of the judges and today. The book of Judges is a time of Chaos and anarchy, and yet Ruth is a life of beauty in suffering and providence. Even in times of cultural chaos, God watches over His children, and there are beautiful lives faithfully lived that point to Him.
John Piper said the book should be called Naomi – because the book is about her – from the beginning to the end. Leon Morris, a commentator, said it should be called “God” because it is a book of His sovereignty and worship played out practically. There are no worship services or church rituals that we’ll see, but rather faithful lives. In other words, believers who lived Monday through Saturday like they do on Sunday. Ultimately, that is what brought them satisfaction. It was not found in riches or clothes or homes, but in the God of Israel, God Almighty, the Lord. Yahweh is the name of God used by Israel. It comes from the name God gave to Moses when God said to Him “tell them ‘I am’ sent you”. Yahweh is the I am. The living God, creator God, the God who is. Jesus, especially in the Gospel of John, makes it clear that He is. Jesus says ‘I am.” Connecting Himself with God, being the Son of God but equal with the Father.
In Ruth we see Yahweh called Yahweh. This is important, not only in view of satisfaction and sovereignty, but also in the view of God that was held by believers. It should help shape our view as well.
So satisfaction, it turns out, comes from our view of God. Ruth happened during chaotic, pluralist times. Tragedy strikes, as we’ll see, quickly, and yet during it all there was contentment, satisfaction. Why? Ultimately satisfaction came from God, the true God, and was available because the people held a correct view of God that was evident in their lives and words.
Read Ruth 1: 1-5
I. Setting and Tragedy (1-5)
a. Famine: meaning there wasn’t a crop, and without a crop commerce stopped, and that forced life changes.
i. Things happen in life that force changes. These can be good milestones, which bring a manner of satisfaction in themselves: graduating is a good change. Children are a great, though challenging, change; as is marriage. Getting new job is a great change. Children leaving home is a milestone, and hopefully satisfying. But even in each of these cases the satisfaction usually lasts as long as the event. Graduation puts you into the real world with new decisions and challenges. A degree only takes you so far. The euphoria of graduation only lasts for a time. Marriage is exciting but challenges come as the honeymoon ends. Children bring a new level of commitment and challenge to raise them. Satisfaction based on any of these milestones is fleeting, and maybe never attained, leaving you unsatisfied.
ii. There are also events that bring unwelcome challenges, such as famine: losing a job isn’t welcome. Not having the funds to pay for an emergency isn’t a good challenge. Dealing with disobedient children stretches us. Life and circumstances test marriage bonds. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and poverty are unwelcome, and we have to respond. Elimelech took has family and headed to, literally, the fields of Moab, where, presumably, there could be work and food and prosperity.
1. Moab was kind of a neutral place. It is interesting to note that in the law, the Israelites were not strictly prohibited from marrying Moabites, as they were other people (Deut. 7:1-3). Elimelech likely felt this was the best possible scenario for his family, because Moab was neutral. Not America, but not al-Qaeda either. Maybe like Canada: a place where you won’t be hated but has less than 5% believing Christians.
2. Though marrying a Moabite wasn’t forbidden, the children of such a marriage were not permitted into the Israelite assembly until the 10th generation (Deut. 23:3). So, the kids would pay – to the 10th generation – for the decision to marry, but it wasn’t forbidden.
3. The decision to live for a while in Moab means they were planning to return, probably before the sons would marry.
b. Isn’t it satisfying to make a plan that honors God, to commit your way to God and carry it out? That’s what Elimelech was aiming for, when tragedy struck again: he died. That leaves Naomi with her sons, who were likely young, but approaching the age to marry. And still, the famine was happening in Bethlehem.
i. God is sovereign, even over our plans. Naomi will be sustained through her love and understanding of God.
c. The sons marry: which, again, is not forbidden, just highly risky for the 10 generations to follow. But they, Mahlon and Kilion, also die. So Naomi is left living without husbands, without sons, just foreigner daughters in law.
d. She was grief stricken, yes, but we get no sense that she was unsatisfied. Jaded, very much so – she calls life bitter, herself afflicted, and her circumstances unfortunate. But she keeps God at the center.
Read Ruth 6-13
II. A God-centered Worldview (6-13)
a. This family was a believing family. Elimelech’s name, which means God is King, reflects religious conviction. Naomi’s worldview – they way she sees and responds to life – is thoroughly Biblical and God-centered.
i. There is now way that we can see with our eyes hope in the midst of desperate grief. Life seems helpless, yet there is a contentment that comes from Naomi’s worldview. Suffering can strengthen our faith.
1. A lady whose husband attended church but she never did. When he died, she became faithful.
ii. This was not likely the first suffering Naomi encountered in her life. Mahlon and Kilion have curious names. Mahlon means sickly. What grief parents go through when their children are sick. We’ve have friends who have lost children to sickness. Many of you know people who’ve experienced that loss. Yet Naomi held to God (and Mahlon lived to marry). Kilion means pining and annihilation. I don’t know where to go with that – but he must have been a handful as a youngster to get that name. They are not common names in the Bible.
1. Naomi’s suffering with her children strengthened her understanding of the sovereign God. And when all her men died, she held fast to God.
b. V. 6 – The Lord brought aid.
c. V. 8 & 9 – The Lord shows kindness.
d. V. 13 – The Lord’s hand.
i. Naomi did not curse God; she recognized His working, and Lordship. She used, in these three verses the name of God: Yahweh. She did not succumb to the Moabites who worshiped Chemosh. She knew the living God and stood for Him despite all her experiences and the pressure of the world around her. She wasn’t afraid to call Him by name, and to accept the good and the bad from Him.
1. The name Jesus is not celebrated in our world. We are challenged when we pray in His name in public. We are criticized for following Him. When our life goes bad we are tempted to blame Him, rather than accepting good and bad from Him. Standing for Him is not easy: even in our own thoughts. But that is where the battle begins and Naomi had firmly decided: she would be for the Lord, the God of Israel and none other.
2. She already had victory over the circumstances because she had peace in her heart. Grief could not shake her faith, loss of all possessions could not shake her, death couldn’t shake her, the depressing prospects of dying a widow without children couldn’t shake her: she worshipped and loved God. His love is better than life. She lived it.
e. There is no room for pluralism in a biblical worldview. That sounds harsh, especially today. But when Naomi lost husband and sons and was stuck in a foreign land without her possessions (from v.20-21 we can see that she had been a leader in Bethlehem and from a well known family) pluralism wouldn’t suffice.
i. God alone could sustain her. And the Lord alone had the power to comfort her. The thought that many roads would lead to heaven isn’t comforting when your loved ones die; you’re stranded and impoverished. You need a God who lives and acts and cares and loves with certainty. Only the God of the Bible stands ready and able to help. Where was Chemosh, god of Moab during this time? Nowhere. Naomi accepted life and stayed satisfied because she knew the Lord. He is a Lord who shows kindness and mercy and is sovereign over the events of life. She could accept death knowing that God, the Lord, stood beside her and was sovereign over the situation.
1. Saying “it’s God’s will” isn’t always comforting. But Naomi didn’t separate life from God: she believed God’s hand went out against her. She knew how “to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:11-13
f. She could say that with Paul because she believed it and lived it. Satisfaction will not be found in this world. Satisfaction is found in God: Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? [Job. 2:10]
g. Peace despite circumstances. Naomi had it, deep down under her grief she held a Scriptural worldview that would not let her be shaken. Depression would come; possessions would go; yet through it all she was content.
h. Christian, are you content? Do you take the good and the bad with a glad heart? Do you see God’s hand at work in your life and point to Him? Can you trust Him in your current situation? Naomi had no good prospects, and was even encouraging her widowed daughters-in-law to leave her. Yet she trusted.
