Ruth 2:1-23, See with your eyes of faith in Bethlehem!

As you look forward to the New Year, I am sure you have many thoughts and dreams how things will unfold for you. Depends on the mood you are in, you might be apprehensive about the unknown future or you might feel excitement. It all depends on your outlook on life.

For Naomi and Ruth, a new season began when they changed their life direction to Bethlehem and arrived there after ten years of life in Moab.

It just happened that when they arrived in Bethlehem, 1:22 says that “barley harvest was beginning.” But, having gone through chapter 1, we know better than to say this just happened. From 1:6, we learned that God was on the move in Bethlehem; God noticed his people and came to their aid to provide food for them in Bethlehem. So, the barley harvest that was going on when Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem was the result of God caring for his people.

So, beginning in chapter 2 Naomi and Ruth entered into a new season in Bethlehem. My prayer is that you will also enter the year 2007 knowing that God is on the move! Instead of anxiety and apprehension, your hearts will be filled with new excitement because you know that God is on the move.

PRAY…

As they entered into the new season in Bethlehem, the story introduces us to a new character named Boaz. Chapter 2:1 describes him as a man of standing. He was a prominent, well-to-do, well regarded and honored man in Bethlehem. Another thing about this man was that he was from the same clan as Naomi’s late husband Elimelech. A clan was bigger than the extended families but smaller than a tribe. Boaz was Naomi’s relative.

This introduction of a new character Boaz is briefly interrupted by the conversation between Ruth and Naomi. We see Ruth’s earlier pledge in chapter 1 to stay where Naomi stayed, to have Naomi’s people as her people continues in this chapter. Ruth volunteered to go to the harvest fields to pick up leftover grain, hoping it would be at kindhearted person’s fields. The story doesn’t say why Naomi couldn’t go and do the same. Perhaps, she was too old or still too distraught of having lost her two sons.

God gave the Israelites a law, which allowed this provision for the poor to glean what’s left on the harvest fields. Leviticus 19:9-10 says, “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leaven them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.” But, since people generally disregarded God’s laws during the time of Judges, this law for the poor and the aliens wasn’t well kept. So, for Ruth to hope to find favor from someone wasn’t just a warm wish. She had a reason to be concerned to go out there to glean what’s left of the harvest fields. She could stumble into the fields belonging to some mean and godless owners who didn’t care for the poor. She could be harassed. Being out there in the harvest fields not just as a woman but as a foreign woman posed a real possible danger to her. But, it was a difficult time; Naomi and Ruth didn’t have whole of option.

Ruth went ahead and ventured out there and found a field to glean what was left after the harvesters. Verse 3 says, “As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.” “As it turned out” sounds like a statement of chance. Do you believe in chance? Do things just happen for no reason? Verse 4 says, “Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem.” “Just then…” Was this coincidence too? Or, was there something else going on beyond the radar of human perception? Keep this question in your mind as we move along.

Verse 1 describes Boaz as a man of standing, wealthy, well known, well regarded and well honored man in the Bethlehem society. Verse 4 clues us that Boaz was a man of faith as well. When he arrived to his fields from Bethlehem, he warmly greeted his harvesters with a blessing, “The LORD be with you.” The harvesters then responded to him also with their warm blessing for him, “The LORD bless you!”

When he arrived, he noticed Ruth working to glean the field. He inquired his workers about Ruth. Verse 6-7, the foreman, the head of the harvesters, described Ruth as “the Moabites who came back from Moab with Naomi.” He also told Boas how Ruth asked for permission to glean and gather behind the harvesters and how hard she had worked.

From verse 8 to 17, we see Boaz showing incredible generosity to Ruth. And, we see Ruth responding to his generosity with deep gratitude. Boaz called Ruth, “My daughter” in verse 8. This tells us that Boaz was quite older than Ruth. In verse 8-9, we see him telling Ruth to stay in his fields instead of venturing out into other fields. The harvesters, the men wielded sickles and his servant girls followed them tying the sheaves in bundles. Boaz told Ruth to join the servant girls to glean and gather the grain. He had told his men not to harass her. She was given also the privilege to drink from the water jars that men have filled.

Touched by Boaz’s acts of generosity, Ruth asked him in verse 10, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me- a foreigner?” She was known by people not just as Ruth, but Ruth the Moabite woman. Why should Boaz a man of standing be so generous to Ruth?

Boaz explained Ruth why he was being generous to her in verse 11-12. Apparently, Boaz was well aware of what Ruth had done, to leave Moab her homeland to follow her old mother-in-law, a widow, Naomi to live with a people she did not know! Ruth’s sacrificial, kind and loyal act impressed Boaz so much that he was compelled to be generous to Ruth. He asked God to repay, to reward Ruth for all that she had done for Naomi. Boaz as a man of faith saw Ruth not as some lowly foreigner, but as a woman who sought to be under the wings of the LORD, the God of Israel. To this, Ruth humbly asked Boaz to continue to show his favor to Ruth.

Boaz didn’t stop here. He invited her for the lunch to share the bread, wine vinegar, roasted grain. He even served her. She had more than enough to eat with some left over.

And in verse 15-16 when Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his men to leave Ruth alone even if she gathered grain from the sheaves, not just from the ground. He told them instead to intentionally pull out stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up.

All these generous measures taken for Ruth didn’t make her lazy. She worked hard in the field until evening and then threshed the barley she gathered. It amounted an ephah, over twenty some pounds of barley. If Boaz didn’t show his kindness to Ruth, she would be hard-pressed to gather even a pound. Well that is not even counting the risk of being harassed and getting hurt.

Verse 18, we see Ruth after a hard and long day of work late into evening making her way back to the town carrying the 20 some pounds of barley along with the left over lunch.

When Ruth showed up, Naomi was amazed at how much Ruth gathered. Naomi knew right away that someone had shown incredible generosity to Ruth and her. “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” Indeed Naomi was right! Boaz took notice of Ruth working in the field. Naomi learned from Ruth it was Boaz who showed such kindness to them. She said in verse 20, “The LORD bless him... He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead… That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”

Leviticus 25:25 talks about kinsman-redeemers having the responsibility to buy back family’s land sold. Leviticus 25:47-49 talks about how kinsman-redeemers are to buy a family member who had been sold as a slave. Leviticus 25:35 talks about the responsibility of kinsman redeemer to look after needy and helpless members of the family. And, last week I mentioned to you the levirate law from Deuteronomy 25:5-10 about marring a childless widow of a deceased brother.

Chapter 2 began with what seemed to be coincidences or chances of Ruth having stumbled into Boaz’s field and Boaz showing up when while Ruth was working in the field. But, Naomi, looking at things with the eyes of her faith in God who takes notice of his people and come to aid of them, didn’t relegate the events that took place as mere coincidences. She saw God was moving!

Having gained favor and protection from Boaz, Naomi encouraged Ruth to go back to the fields that belonged to Boaz and to work along side of his servant girls. And, Ruth did exactly that. For the next month and half during the barley harvest followed by the wheat harvest, Ruth gleaned at the fields of Boaz, while taking care of her aging mother-in-law.

I will make two application points to consider from today’s text.

1. See with your eyes of faith in Bethlehem and you see God at moving!

When you read chapter 2 without the eyes of faith wide open, it would be tempting to explain away what happened to Ruth as good fortunes or simply good coincidences.

But as we saw how Naomi perceived things not as random events, but as guided by the unseen hands of the Almighty God, we need to cultivate the eyes that can see God at work clearly in the midst of our days.

How was Naomi able to see with her spiritual eyes and perceive God at work? It is because she moved from the godless life in Moab to God centered life in Bethlehem.

When Naomi moved to Moab, she believed in the false hope that life would be full! But, in reality life in Moab was empty because God was not at the center in Naomi’s life in Moab. It is only when Naomi moved back to Bethlehem where God was evidently working, where God was at the center, she could hope for truly fulfilling life.

The reason she could hope with her eyes of her faith and trust that God was going to come through for her and Ruth is because she was moving towards God; she was learning to trust God. The right direction is critical for cultivating the eyes of faith that can see God at work!

Do you see God at work? If you are not seeing God at work, do you think it is because you are not moving to Bethlehem where Jesus was born, where Jesus is the bread of life, where Jesus is the King, where Jesus is at the very center of your life?

If you want to see God at work, you got to go and be at Bethlehem, you got to stay connected to Christ. Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”

Only the eyes of faith that see God at work can participate in God’s work. And, the only way that you can cultivate the eyes of faith that see God at work is when you are connected to Jesus.

The New Year 2007’s outcome will be determined by your direction, where you stay, who is at the center of your life, whether you have the eyes of faith to see God at work. One direction leads to abundant fruitful life and the other leads to empty life destined to destruction.

The New Year 2007’s outcome will be determined by the person you follow, listen to, hang out with, enjoy spending time with, pay attention to… If that person is Jesus, you will see with the eyes of faith and see God who is on the move!

2. See with your eyes of faith in Bethlehem and you see people differently and treat them differently.

When you see with the eyes of faith in Bethlehem, in intimate connection to Jesus, then you will see people differently and treat them differently.

Boaz was a man of standing, not just because he was wealthy man, well-respected and honored man in the society, but because he was a man who saw with the eyes of faith.

To the eyes that are not connected to faith, Ruth was a Moabite, foreign woman, undesirable, unlovable outcast in Bethlehem.

But, Boaz saw Ruth differently. When people saw a pagan, foreign and despicable Moabite woman in Ruth, Boaz saw an amazing woman of faith, living selflessly for the good of others, living diligently with integrity and honor, living faithfully after God whom she committed her life to. With the eyes of faith Boaz was able to see that Ruth was an extraordinary woman of godly character.

And, because he saw things differently about Ruth, he acted differently! Some other land owners would have harassed and molested her. But, not Boaz, a man of standing deeply connected to God who saw the spiritual shape of Ruth treated her with utmost generosity and kindness.

We need to cultivate this ability to see people differently and treat them differently; we need stand out in the crowd with this ability.

Again, this requires we make the directional change to go to Bethlehem and stay there; in Bethlehem, we need to be connected to Jesus who was born as our King.

Do you remember the time when a woman was caught in the act of adultery in John 8? The self-righteous people encircled this woman with their white knuckled hands high, clenching rocks, ready to crush her to death! But, what did Jesus see? Jesus saw a woman who needed him to forgive her, to give her new life, new beginning. And, because Jesus saw her differently from the rest of those who encircled her to kill her, he treated her differently. He challenged the self-righteous people to go ahead and throw the stones at her if they were without sin. No one dared for none were without sin. Jesus asked the woman in verse 10, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?... Then neither do I condemn you... Go now and leave your life of sin” said Jesus in verse 11. If anyone could condemn her, it was Jesus since he was sinless Son of God. Yet, we see him relating to her lovingly, kindly, respectfully and forgivingly.

Let the year 2007 be the year when you see people differently and treat them differently because you go to Bethlehem and stay there to live with Jesus and learn from him!

Ruth 1:7-22, Journey back to Bethlehem!

This past Thursday, I went out on a date with my wife. We drove to Woodfield Mall; there we went to a children’s clothing store to get some clothes for our kids and J. C. Penny to get few other things. Good thing we weren’t there fore last minute Christmas shopping. We ended the night by eating at Cheese Cake Factory. It has been a while we had a date night like this! It was very nice.

As we were having a good time being together, I couldn’t help but notice how crazy the place was. There were so many people; I am sure many of them were doing their last minute shopping. It seems almost a religious thing that we do before Christmas; we know it is crazy to venture out into the malls so close to Christmas. But, we do it! For some, it is out of sheer necessity, for others it is for fun.

Today, we will look closely at a different kind of journey taken by three women. They weren’t going to the mall. They were going to Bethlehem during the time of Judges, over 1000 years before Jesus was born in the same town.

Let me briefly recapture what we have learned last week from 1:1-6.

As discussed, Ruth 1:1 tells us the story of Ruth took place during the time of Judges. Judges 21:25 captures the sentiment during that time, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Although God was Israel’s King, Israel didn’t follow him instead they did whatever they wanted to do. God brought upon Israel severe famine in Israel. Bethlehem, a town of Judah, which means ‘house of bread,’ was ironically impoverished without much bread.

During this difficult time instead of seeking and waiting for God’s help in Bethlehem, Elimelech decided to take out his family out of Bethlehem and go to Moab. God brought the Israelites into his Promised Land and the Israelites were to live there trusting in God’s care for them, being faithful to God. So, leaving Bethlehem where God brought Elimelech to live and now going to Moab was like leaving the Promised Land and going back to Egypt.

What happens when the people of God do not trust God to know what’s best for them? What happens when they do what they think is the best for them? God removes his protection from his people and let them choose what they think is best for them. Elimelech and his household hoped and dreamed things would be much better to leave Bethlehem and live in Moab. They thought they would be fulfilled in Moab. But, we saw how their hopes and dreams were shattered by the deaths of Elimelech and his two sons, leaving Naomi and the two Moabites daughters-in-laws, Orpah and Ruth, widows with no children in the family. Instead of being fulfilled, Naomi after ten years of living in Moab found herself empty, helpless, and vulnerable.

But, we saw in verse 6, it was during this heartbreaking time when Naomi heard that God was on the move. The LORD noticed the Israelites living in Bethlehem, came to them, and gave them his tangible help by providing them food. Naomi was in a desperate place. When she heard what the LORD was doing back home in Bethlehem, she knew what she had to do. She was going back home; she was leaving Moab and going back to Bethlehem. She packed her stuff; she got Orpah and Ruth packing too.

1. On the way to Bethlehem, Naomi tried to convince Orpah and Ruth to return back to Moab.

Verse 7 says, “with her daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.” Now, for Naomi this was her journey back home; this was her spiritual recovery from the emptiness to the fullness only God can give to her.

What about her two Moabite daughters-in-law? For Naomi, it was going home journey, but for these two young women, the journey was leaving their home, their comfort, their culture, their values, their families, all that was familiar to them.

Naomi realized that the journey had very different meanings for her and for her daughters-in-law. So, she told her in verse 8-9, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have show ton your dead and to me. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Naomi was a considerate and reasonable woman. Her daughters-in-law were good to her and to her dead sons. She was convinced that their lives would be better if they would remain in Moab, their home country. They were still young enough to remarry the native Moabite men. So, she wished them God’s blessing for their future new marriages that they would find protection and provision from their new husbands. She kissed each of them good bye.

But, Naomi’s farewell kisses were met by cries! Orpah and Ruth wept aloud and told her in verse 10, “We will go back with you to your people.” Naomi’s warm wish for them to find new husbands in their native land didn’t convince them to leave.

I wonder what kind of mother-in-law she was that these two still young women would gladly stay with her and go to Israel, which was a foreign country to them. They didn’t jump at the opportunity to leave Naomi. They were genuinely taken by who Naomi was.

Again, convinced that they would be better in their home country than following her to Israel, Naomi tried harder to convince them to return to their home. She appealed to their common sense, to convince them that they were out of mind to want to follow her.

She told them in verse 11-13a, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husband? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me-even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons-would you wait until they grow up? Would you remain unmarried for them?” Another word, they would have no future prospect to get remarried if they were to follow Naomi. What Naomi was saying to them doesn’t make whole lot of sense unless we understand an Old Testament marriage law called the levirate law. It comes from Deuteronomy 25:5-6. Verse 5-6 says, “If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside of the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name not be blotted out from Israel.” This was an exception law to Leviticus 18:16, which says, “Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.” The Levirate law only applied in the case when brothers lived in the same household and one of them died leaving his wife as a widow without a son. The purpose of this levirate law was to prevent the family line from ceasing.

If Naomi had other sons besides Mahlon and Kilion who died leaving Orpah and Ruth as childless widows, then the levirate laws would ensure that Orpah and Ruth would be taken cared by the other sons, thereby ensuring provision and continuation of the family line. However, Naomi was telling her that this was not the case. There were no other sons; she was too old to have any children, too old to get remarried. And, hypothetically speaking even if she got remarried and had sons right away, it wouldn’t make any sense for Orpah and Ruth to wait for them to grow.

Simply, Naomi was telling Orpah and Ruth that they would be crazy to follow her. At least in Moab, Orpah and Ruth would be able to get remarried. If they were to follow Naomi to Israel, humanly speaking there would be no prospect of marriage for them.

Verse 13 captures her sentiment well. She told them, “It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has gone out against me!” Orpah and Ruth although they lost their husbands could have better future for themselves by remarrying in Moab. But, for Naomi, such future was not a possibility for her. She was empty, alone… and she presumed that was how life was going to be for her, an empty and bitter life with no hope. Naomi saw her predicament as a result of God being against her. Being convinced that God was against her, Naomi saw no reason for Orpah and Ruth to be around her and share the empty widowhood.

2. Naomi’s impassionate plea for Orpah and Ruth to return back to Moab are met by two very different responses from them

Verse 14 tells us the dramatic differences in how Orpah and Ruth responded to Naomi’s impassionate plea to return to Moab. They both wept loud again as before. But, this time, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, while Ruth clung to her.

Orpah although initially pledged her loyalty to Naomi couldn’t resist her plea. Everything her mother-in-law said to them made sense to Orpah. Since Naomi was looking out for her daughters-in-law, Orpah made no more attempt to reject Naomi’s plea.

Ruth cried too but instead giving farewell kiss to Naomi, Ruth clung to Naomi. This verb “to cling” was also used in Genesis 2:14 to describe marriage union. It is said a man leaves his parents “to cleave” or “to be united” to his wife. Ruth was not convinced by Naomi’s impassionate plea to return to Moab.

Naomi tried one more time to convince Ruth to return to Moab. She told Ruth in verse 15, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. God back with her.” In fact, this was what Orpah was choosing. Returning to Moab meant Orpah was choosing the Moabites’ way of life and their spirituality. It meant having no more part in worshiping God of Israel, but only the pagan gods of Moab.

To Naomi’s plea for Ruth to follow Orpah’s example is again rejected by Ruth. She told Naomi in verse 16 and 17:

Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

One word comes to my mind when I consider Ruth’s response to Naomi, loyalty. By choosing to stay with Naomi and continue on the journey to Israel, to Bethlehem, Ruth was abandoning the way of life in Moab that could have afforded her a husband, stability, security, comfort, and the familiar pagan spirituality. By choosing to leave Moab, she was not just leaving a place, but a place where her families, relatives, friends lived in their particular ways. She was saying, “no,” to the way of life in her native country and saying “yes” to the way of life with an old widow, her mother-in-law Naomi, in a foreign country, Israel.

Ruth’s choice to journey with Naomi meant abandoning the worship of pagan gods in her native country while welcoming and fully embracing Naomi’s spirituality, worship of God of Israel.

When we think with common sense, logically, Ruth was making a bad choice. Ruth could have spent the rest of her life as a young widow next to Naomi, never to be fully accepted by Naomi’s people, only to be marginalized. There was no special promise of blessing given to Ruth for making the choice to stay with Naomi. There was no divine calling for Ruth to fully embrace Naomi and her way of life in Israel.

Why was Ruth so determined to go with Naomi to Israel, to embrace Naomi’s people and God as her people and God? Loyalty! She was loyal. Ruth spent the last ten years with Naomi; they went through some excruciatingly difficult times loosing the loved ones; somehow in that ten years, Ruth’s relationship with Naomi became so strong that Ruth couldn’t fathom leaving Naomi even though there was no promise for better future, but only the real possibility for more difficult times. For Ruth, leaving Naomi was not an option. It was unthinkable. Only way Ruth could ever envision being separated from Naomi was death.

By this time, Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her. There was no compromise on this one! So, in verse 18, we see Naomi stopped urging her.

3. Naomi’s response when she arrived in Bethlehem.

Their journey finally led them to Bethlehem. Immediately the town was stirred… the women were beginning to talk to each other. Ten years had passed since Naomi left, “Could this be Naomi?” Perhaps, they couldn’t recognize her right away because of Naomi’s altered appearance having gone through tragic and difficult ten years. Perhaps, they were also overjoyed to see their long lost friend, Naomi!

As soon as the people recognized Naomi, she told them, “Don’t call me Naomi… Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” Her name Naomi means “pleasant.” Her name didn’t reflect how she felt about life. So, she asked the women of Bethlehem to stop calling her Naomi, but Mara, which means “bitter.” She told them why she felt bitter about life in verse 21, “I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” We already saw Naomi feeling this way in verse 13.

Naomi indeed went away from Bethlehem to Moab with her husband and her two sons ten years ago. But, did she really return home completely empty? This would be true if Ruth also went back to her home, to Moab. But, Naomi returned back to Bethlehem to her country, not empty, but with her daughter-in-law. Naomi would have returned empty if it weren’t for Ruth’s commitment to follow Naomi.

The pain does this to people. When my pain was intensely bitter after my mother was killed back in 1993, I wasn’t able to see pass beyond my pain for long time. Pain has a way of distorting our perception; it has a way of limiting us from seeing the big picture. Although faithful, kind and caring Ruth accompanied Naomi back to Bethlehem Naomi, feeling raw with pain, couldn’t see this as a blessing in her life.

Chapter 1 concludes with a summary statement in verse 22. “So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law,” back in Bethlehem.” And, as Naomi heard in verse 6, indeed the LORD was on the move in Israel. God ended the long famine in Israel. Finally he brought about the change in the climate and other environmental condition to bring about a great harvest.

Applications

Now let’s see how this is applies to us. Last week we considered the impact of Naomi’s decision to return back to Bethlehem. To us the decision to return to Bethlehem, ‘house of bread,’ is really all about returning to Jesus, “the Bread of life.”

1. Be patient… you will see God moving in your life.

But, when the pain gets intensely bitter like it was for Naomi, it takes time for us to work out the feeling of being abandoned or punished by God and that God is still working for us. As we progressed through the story of Ruth, we are going to see in detail how God was kind towards Naomi and Ruth. Although, the pain was intensely bitter and blinding for Naomi, we are going to see how our God is God who was able to penetrate the cloud of bitterness and blindness with his kindness.

At this point, because of her bitter pain, Naomi was not able to see how God was moving in her life. God was kind to Naomi by providing her with an incredibly loyal daughter-in-law; yes, Naomi was empty when she lost her husband and her sons. But, she didn’t return empty to Bethlehem as she told her friends and families. She returned with an incredible woman of faith, Ruth.

When our Lord Jesus was born in the manger some two thousand years ago, only few people saw that God was indeed moving to save the man kind through this little baby in the manger. If you have been away from God for a while but you are journeying back to Bethlehem now, I want you to know that it takes some time for you to really see God moving in your life as it did for Naomi. So, be patient!

2. Live a compelling life!

Let’s also consider how Ruth was so convinced that it was right for her to go with Naomi even though humanly speaking there was no promising future for her in doing that. Initially it was both Ruth and Orpah who insisted that they went with Naomi to Bethlehem. And after Naomi’s persistent plea, it was only Ruth who remained firm in her conviction that it was right for her to go with Naomi to Bethlehem.

We don’t have any detail as to how Naomi related to her daughters-in-law in those ten years in Moab. But, judging from how they responded to Naomi, it would not be too difficult to think that Naomi was a good mother-in-law. Something about the way Naomi conducted herself in those ten years made Ruth so committed to Naomi and her way of life.

What I am suggesting to you is that Naomi even though lived in a foreign and strange country not of her own, in a place where God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not worshiped, she lived a winsome life to convince Ruth that it was worth everything to follow God of the Bible.

The New Testament talks about our Christian life in terms of pilgrimage. Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” And, Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 2:11, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

We need to be a winsome Christian. Being Christians doesn’t mean God allows us to live pain and trouble free life. But, the powerful testimony to our non-Christians friends, families, colleagues, coworkers comes from how we do our lives in spite of difficulties, trials, and hardships.

My prayer is that along our journey back to Bethlehem, each us would have someone like Ruth who cling to us because they want to draw near to Bethlehem, where Christ was born, to be the Bread of life… all because they see us living the compelling life in Jesus Christ.

3. Become a loyal person compelled by the love of Jesus Christ!

Lastly, let me comment about Ruth. What can I say? She is just an amazing woman of God! We live in the time when people are really in love with themselves. Everything seems to be disposable, even relationships. It is hard to find loyalty these days. People get into relationship with others who make them feel good about themselves, who are good to them, who care for them. But, for the same reason, people break off relationships because others no longer meet their needs or wants. I find Ruth’s commitment to follow and care for Naomi, an old widow, incredibly refreshing. It is remarkable because there was no bright future promised for Ruth. She would have done well if she did what her sister Orpah did, to return to Moab to remarry a Moabite man.

How are you like Ruth in your commitment to care for people around you even though it costs you? How are you like Ruth who didn’t pull out a calculator to see what was in for her to go with Naomi?

Can you imagine what could happen if Jesus decided to do cost analysis during his earthly ministry as a selfish person? What he was sent to do would cost his life. Yet, we see him since his birth, steadily without wavering moving towards the cross. Jesus was convinced that to die on the cross was the right thing to do because he was compelled to please the Father; he was compelled to die on the cross because he loves us. He was compelled to take on human body like you and me in order to suffer, to die and to be raised from the dead.

Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer life for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Are you compelled by love of Jesus Christ to love people? And, does it make you fiercely loyal person?

In this Christmas season and for the New Year to come, we can easily be sucked into the worldly pattern of going from one place to another without much thinking.

Why don’t we all go to Bethlehem like Naomi and Ruth did? Let’s go see Jesus who was born a child as our King, our Savior, our Lord!

Sunday Sermon, Ruth 1:1-6, In the midst of emptiness, do you hear that God is on the move?

Today, we are going to consider the book of Ruth, 1:1-6. The story of Ruth took place in the period of Judges according 1:1. This makes Judges an induction to Ruth.

As an introduction to Ruth, let me quickly summarize what we’ve seen and learned from Judges.

Having journeyed through the book of Judges, what we have learned is a spiritual downward pattern in all aspects of people’s lives. It began with Judges 2:10-12. After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.”

And, we saw how God raised up different judges to in order to deliver the Israelites out of the oppression and moral decays. And, we learned about Othniel an outstanding Judge; we also learned about Deborah, an outstanding woman of God. But, we learned that things got worse quickly as we considered the remaining judges.

Gideon was skeptical and distrusting of God. He sought to manipulate God’s assurance to compensate his lack of faith asking signs from God numerous times. And, he ended up making an ephod against God’s prescribed law. Gideon told the Israelites that he wasn’t going to be their king since God was their King. But, he betrayed his own confession by living lavishly like a king. He ended up leading the whole generation of the Israelites into the path of apostasy. Judges 9:33-34 described the effect of his sinful choice; “No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.”

And, we saw Abimelech, Gideon’s son, blinded by his own ambition to become a king, how he killed all his brothers with one stone, all seventy of them.

Then, we learned the story of Jephthah who was out to manipulate God. He paid for it when he rashly made the vow to sacrifice whatever came out to greet him, only to find out that it was his own daughter. Instead of seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness for making the rash vow, we saw he went ahead and killed her as though God would be pleased. How wrong he was.

Then, last few weeks we considered the story of Samson. Contrary to what’s commonly believed about Samson, we learned from chapter 13-16 that Samson was a man who squandered away God’s great blessings and calling upon him. He couldn’t control the lustful impulse. He lived by his physical sight, not by faith. At the end of his life, he lost his eyes that led him astray; he was shacked to his angles, preventing him from going where he wanted to go. And, he was given dehumanizing task of grinding grains like a donkey.

And, through all these years, it was the LORD who raised the enemies against Israel in order to discipline them, desiring that they would turn to God.

Now in Ruth, we see that there was a famine in the land. We might be tempted to explain the famine as a nature’s fluke.

But, we see in many places in the Bible how God warned the Israelites that he would send famine along with many other curses if they would forsake him and live by the sight to feed their fleshly desire. Deuteronomy 28:24 says, “The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed; verse 48 says, “therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you.” And, Leviticus 26:20 says, “Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit.”

1. There in the foreign land, tragedies after tragedies…

It is not always wise to assume all natural phenomena as God’s means to curse disobedience. But, in the case of the famine that is described in Ruth 1:1, it is highly likely that it was brought upon the land of Israel because they had forsaken God and did whatever their flash desired… doing evil against God.

The man named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons left their home in Bethlehem in Judah to the foreign land, the country of Moab. Bethlehem means “house of bread.” But, there was hardly any bread left in the “house of bread” for the famine was severe. Leaving their home country, they went to a place in Moab, a strange and foreign land, perhaps thinking that would be better off in foreign country than in their home.

Verse 3 tells us that Elimelech died leaving Naomi alone with her two sons. It doesn’t say when he died, but the way it is phrased, it gives an impression that he died not too long after they moved to Moab. The two sons Mahlon and Kilion married the Moabites, Orpah and Ruth. But, only after ten years living in Moab, both of the sons died; Naomi was left only with her two daughters-in-law. Tragedies upon tragedies…

Adding to Naomi’s insult, in those ten some years, both of Naomi’s sons died without any children. As in the case of the famine, God also listed childlessness among the curses to deal with disobedience. Deuteronomy 28:18, “The fruit of your womb will be curse, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.” Again, it is not wise to automatically assume childlessness as God’s curse. Hannah was a godly woman; Elizabeth was godly woman; yet they were childless for long, long time before God opened their wombs to have children. Yet, in this story of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, considering the level of apostasy in Israel, one must ponder if childlessness of Ruth and Orpah was the effect of the apostasy.

Verse 5 says, “Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.” We can draw from this verse how Naomi must felt. It was hard enough that her husband died prematurely. But, her two sons died leaving no children behind them. Now in old age, she was left with two foreign daughters-in-law. She was a widow in her old age; and her daughters-in-law were also now widows in young age; they lived in the time when a husband provided and protected his family. Now, all three of them were widows without provision or protection from their men. Who would look after Naomi and two daughters-in-law?

2. God takes note of you and he is on the move to be your sole provider.

The great thing about the Bible stories is that when we think that there simply is no hope whatsoever, when we think that God’s hand is heavy upon us, when we think we cannot go on any more, somehow we find that God is on the move!

Until verse 6, all we witnessed was tragic deaths of all men in a household; no children in the family; living in the foreign, strange land; no hope for provision or protection. What were they to do?

But, we see that in verse 6 God was on the move. “She heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them.” God’s hand of discipline was heavy on disobedient Israel. But, his promise was, is and will always be his swift move to deliver his people when they turn to him, when they return to him. But, God knows that left to us alone, we would be hopeless to turn to him. Left to us alone, we would be without protection or provision against the ties of the devil prowling to destroy us, against the tides of harsh reality of living in this world, against our own selfish, prideful flesh. Naomi certainly was in that predicament. Left to her alone, she would have no hope, no future, no motivation, no meaning, no purpose in life.

It is in this moment of hopeless, somehow our eyes are unveiled to see God who is on the move. In Naomi’s case, she heard that the LORD came to the aid of his people. This phrase, came to the aid translates a Hebrew verb, paqad; it is also translated as visited in other translations. God had come to his people; he took note of his people. He attended them kindly. And, not only was he taking note of his people, he was acting, moving on behalf of his people. He was providing them. Once again God was on the move to be their provider, to be the one who meets their psychological, emotional, spiritual, physical needs.

3. Naomi heard the good news that God was on the move.

I want you to take a good note on how Naomi responded when she heard that God was on the move; God took note of his people and was looking out for them.

It says in verse 6, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from Moab. The journey is reversed. In verse 1, she left Bethlehem, “house of bread,” because there was no bread provision. She left Bethlehem and went to Moab. But, now in verse 6, we see her packing after ten years in Moab. She had Orpah and Ruth packing too. She was going home, finally. She was going home to Bethlehem, “house of bread.”

She thought the life in Moab would be much better; her late husband was convinced that they would fair much better in Moab than Bethlehem. But, in hindsight we see it clearly that the journey from Bethlehem to Moab didn’t fair better as they expected. Away from home in the land of Moab where God was not honored nor worshiped, nor adored and loved, their lives were shambled by the tragedies.

4. Consider this… you might be experiencing the spiritual famine because of your sin.

Like Naomi, we are on the journey. Galatians 6:7-10 says, “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life...

Let us not become weary in doing good, for the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunities, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Naomi and her husband got tired, they got weary living in Bethlehem… they gave up living in Bethlehem when the famine was severe. None of us are impervious to the seasonal famines. Often famines in life are caused by our own sins as it was the case for the Israelites. The droughts came to Israel; the enemies were strong and they easily defeated Israel. Why? They had forsaken their God who took note of them, who came down to them when they were no bodies, just slaves in Egypt, living aimlessly, hopelessly, feeling so weary and dead tired. He took note of them; he came to them; he delivered them mightily. Yet, how could they have so easily abandoned their God, their King, who freed them from the false kings Pharaohs, to live no longer as slaves to Pharaoh, but as children of the Living God?

Well, we do the same thing, don’t we? John 1:14 says, “The Word came flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Do you know where God has chosen to have his Son Jesus Christ be born in order to dwell among us? Matthew 2:1 says, “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea.” Jesus was born in Bethlehem, “house of bread.” You’ve heard how Jesus described himself in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

We also experience spiritual famines because we leave Bethlehem, ‘house of bread,’ where Jesus was born. We leave Bethlehem and go to Moab, thinking that the life there would be much better. We confidently journey on thinking that life away from Jesus isn’t so bad. We convince ourselves that we can make our lives successful, meaningful, fulfilling apart from Jesus. With our two hands, with our brains, with our skills, we feel that we could do anything.

But, the life in Moab will never turn out better than the life in Bethlehem. You may convince that money is your bread; good living is your bread; good clothes are your bread; good education is your bread. But, do you remember in Luke 12 what Jesus told the rich man who decided to build bigger and better barns to hold all his wealth? Jesus told him in Luke 12:20-21, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Conclusions

Do you know where you are? Which way are you moving towards? Have you been disappointed at God like Naomi and her husband was? Have you decided that this living in Bethlehem, living in Jesus thing is really not for you? So, you are journeying towards Moab?

Perhaps, you’ve been living in Moab for good number of years. You were once fully convinced that life journey without Jesus was just fine; you were convinced that your life would be better without Jesus. You’ve been in Moab for a while. Now, how is it going? Has it been ten years yet? Are you still hopeful that your life will turn out just fine without Jesus? Is there any fear in you what might happen to you if you continue to live in Moab where God is not? We need to take a good note of what happened to Naomi and her family. Perhaps, we will learn to fear…

But, God’s greatest weapon in dealing with our sick wondering, perverted, ungrateful heart is his kindness. He is on the move. Have you heard? Have you heard that he is drawing near you? What God wants you to know is that he is on the move; he notices you; he moves to provide for you. And, he wants you to pack up and get ready to leave Moab and come to Bethlehem, ‘house of bread.’ God wants you to come and draw near to Jesus and live with him, in him. He is the bread of life. He is the only one who can completely satisfy your hunger, your thirst. You are made for God. You are made to find your sole satisfaction in Jesus. He can change you, to be transformed from sowing to please yourself to sowing to please the Spirit in doing good, in loving others.

Do you hear? God is on the move! Are you ready to journey back to Bethlehem?