Ruth 1:14-22


When we last left Naomi she was left. Her sons and husband died, she was in a foreign country with 2 daughters in law, and heard that the famine ended in Israel and there would be food. So she decided to return.

Last week we discovered how despite her tremendous heartache and grief, her understanding of God sustained her, and her relationship with God nourished her. She kept God at the center of the life, even to the point of accepting difficulty from God as well as blessing.

Someone once said everyone is a theologian: the atheist makes a deliberate choice to not believe in God; the agnostic makes a choice not to care about God; the Christian makes a choice to follow the God of the bible; and countless other religions lay claim to views of God. Everyone has a view of God – whether we are comfortable with our understanding of God or not, we all have some understanding.

Some of our understanding about God is deliberate: we make a choice to believe or not to believe. And we have a basis for the choice. “The fool says in their heart there is no God” (Prov. 14:1). Choosing to believe there is no God the Bible calls foolish. Yet many make that choice despite all the evidence around that there is a creator/designer to the world. It is a great leap of faith.

Some choose to follow only a God they like. A God that never really challenges them or changes them but rather supports their decisions and what they do. We make our own Gods. The Bible calls this idolatry.

In Ruth 1:14-22 Naomi’s view of God is further fleshed out, but even more it challenges those around her and their views of God.

Naomi has just finished urging Orpah and Ruth to return to their mothers.

Read 1:14-22
I. Decisions (14-18)
a. The Rational Choice (14)
b. Orpah made a rational decision. She knew Naomi, her family, and their faith. Naomi just told her point blank: God’s hand has gone out against me.
i. Look at the circumstances Orpah faced.
1. Naomi came to Moab in the 1st place because of famine: her God can’t feed her, yet Chemosh (the god of Moab) provides so much that this Israelite family has come to us for help.
2. Naomi has known nothing good in the 10 years I’ve known her: death has surrounded her, my own husband died: her God cannot save life.
3. Naomi is depressed and attributes it to her God.
4. Maybe my God is better.
c. Orpah quickly said goodbye and returned to the life she knew.
i. There’s a lot in this decision and I don’t want to over spiritualize the passage but there is a point that this brings up.
1. Sometimes the things we did before we came to Christ seem more appealing that life with Christ. We can get easily lured back, Christian, into the life we used to live. Temptation pulls and tugs and strangles us.
2. Following Christ is not easy. Believing in the God of the Bible and holding to Him by faith does not guarantee and easy life: in fact it is quite the opposite. Naomi can be called a hero of the faith because she never let go of Yahweh, the living God (Yahweh – from last week) is the name of God given to Moses and used by Naomi).
3. Are you quick to blame God when life gets tough? Do you abandon Him? Do you run from the life God wants for you to your old ways? Cling to God! Orpah saw the steadfast faith of Naomi and made the choice to go another way.
ii. Another point here is that Naomi was a good evangelist, even though she was urging them to leave and return to their own gods. A good evangelist is not measured by the number of converts but by the fruit they bear (there is a difference).
1. There are plenty of people who will at some point in their life make a decision for Christ but never act on that decision. They may say “I was confirmed” but their life speaks nothing of Christ. In other words there is no fruit.
2. The fruit of a good evangelist results in disciples: people who’ve made the decision for Christ and follow through. They grow in Him and cling to Him and tell others about Him. They become part of His church, His kingdom, and His working in the world. They give their hearts, not just their lips, when they say, “I follow Christ.”
3. A good evangelist presents the truth: Naomi did that: God does not promise a good life, but eternal life in Christ. Heaven will be awesome, but this life can and may be very hard. You may suffer, you may be persecuted, you may have death visit your family in painful and unexpected ways. Yet God is still sovereign.
4. When presented with the call to follow God or return home, Orpah had seen enough and went home.
d. The relational choice (15-18).
i. Ruth makes a relational choice. She decides to follow Naomi. She’s seen Naomi’s faith: Naomi never gave up on God, she held to Him. She’s seen Naomi’s life and witness. Ruth becomes a disciple. That is why I say Naomi was a good evangelist: despite herself she still led Ruth to follow God.
ii. Why would someone who believes in the living God say, “go back to your own people and your own god”?
1. Sometimes our life is more powerful than our words. Naomi said, “return” but she was not willing to leave God herself. Doesn’t that raise your curiosity? Why would someone hold to God despite all this trouble? Isn’t there something more?
a. Our international mission board has a team of missionaries that work in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia and Somalia. Two places dominated by militants. One convert was arrested and thrown in jail where everyday he would sing a hymn when the sun came up, praising God for the day. Whenever he found paper he would write scripture on it and stick it to his concrete cell wall: the guards would remove it and beat him. The ritual would begin again. One day he was beaten severely, in his cell, in front of other prisoners. The prisoners had jeered him for singing. That day, the sun came up as the beatings continued. All around the guards, hundreds of prisoners stood and sang in unison the hymn they’d heard the Christian sing so often. Despite his trouble, the light broke forth.
b. Ruth saw the light and responded with an awesome declaration of dependence: I am with you (16-18). She used, in v. 17, the name Yahweh for God, not Chemosh, but the living God, the God of Naomi.
e. Naomi’s pretty bitter at this point, there’s a hint of reluctance in v. 18 – she just accepts that Ruth is coming, rather than rejoicing (we have opportunity to rejoice this evening at the Baptism Service).
i. Depression, Life, Trials, they can get you down, to the point of missing some of the most exhilarating times of life. What Ruth said was beautiful: but even as Christians we can get absorbed in our own worlds, especially where bitterness sets in. Satisfaction can seem hard to grasp. Our thirst overtakes us: we’re so thirsty we can’t see the cup of water in front of us. That’s a rotten place to be. At least Naomi held to God, and now Ruth joins her.
II. Praise and Blame (19-21)
a. Believing in God’s sovereignty and blaming God shouldn’t fall hand in hand.
i. We can blame God when things go bad: even when they go bad b/c of our choices.
1. I umpired baseball. Some teams were really bad, they couldn’t do the fundamentals and without fail they would want to blame me at the end of the game. It wasn’t my fault they lost.
2. God calls His people to live certain ways – in holiness. In righteousness and justice and love. When we put our ways first and his 2nd, bad things happen: we shouldn’t fault God for our bad decisions.
3. But here Naomi accepts the difficulties, and we also see her bitterness seep through.
ii. Bitterness can control your life if you let it. Your stomach will wrench at night, your patience will thin in the day, and you’ll become myopic. Bitterness is the result of self-centeredness. Somehow, despite being very bitter, Naomi keeps God at the center and keeps living life. She did not give up, or lash out. She stated the truth: I went away full, the Almighty brought me back empty.
b. When life is hard: can you praise God? Naomi’s return set the whole town to talking: a daughter has come home, but she sums up her 10 year famine experience with: The Lord. We leave Naomi at this point with a cynical attitude. Bitterness is a poison that spreads. Aren’t you down just hearing her words? Wouldn’t the women of the town be discouraged? Bitterness, even when we don’t want it to, seeps through our life, quenching love and leaving us truly dissatisfied. Bitterness feeds thirst. It lingers and lasts and can only be removed, not quenched. Bitterness requires a changed life, not a glass of water. It requires a fresh view of life and God. Naomi held to God, understood that God was in control, and accepted the misfortune, but also welcomed bitterness. It’s hard to accept misfortune and still praise. Naomi wasn’t perfect, but stronger than probably most of us.
III. Faithfulness (v.22)
a. Chapter one closes on a down note, with a slight hint of hope: the barley harvest was beginning. Lest we forget from last week: the Lord had come to the aid of His people. The Lord is Faithful: he cures bitterness.
i. There’s also more hope here: all the people in Bethlehem went through famine: this was the first barely harvest in 10 years: yet the people were faithful to sow seed year after year after year so that when the famine would end, the harvest would be there.
b. Your life may seem dark right now, but keep going: God is faithful.