The Crossroads of Faith… Ruth 1:8-22 (NT Read : Luke 14:25-35)

Will you pray with me….

If you have your Bible’s turn with me to the book of Ruth. Last week, we began our winter study of this short book of the Old Testament. I made mention that out of the books of the Bible, none begin with a more hopeless and troubling scene than the little book of Ruth. In the opening eight verses of chapter 1 we were introduced to the family of Elimelek from the little town of Bethlehem. A family who lived during the darkest days of Israel when the judges governed the land. A time when there was no king to lead God’s nation, and a season in which everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Surprisingly, Elimelek was such a man, for although his name literally means “God is king,” he certainly did not live as such. For instead of living by faith within the land of promise, the land that God specifically gave to Israel at that time, to dwell with them, to protect them, and to care for them, Elimelek chose to leave and sojourn to the pagan and idolatrous land of Moab. He made this decision because God sent a famine on the land. And somehow, he foolishly decided that it’s better to find refuge from God’s discipline in foreign land of Israel’s sworn enemy than to repent and trust in God’s care and provision.

The choice made by Elimelek proved very costly for him and his family, for over time, his wife Naomi and their two sons adjusted to life in a pagan world and made it their home. In verses 3 and 4 we are simply told that Elimelek died, and his two sons took for themselves Moabite wives. Women, whom they should never had married, but again, they were simply men who did what was right in their own eyes. Men who ignored God’s Word and lived according to their own desire. Sadly, we are quickly informed that they too die, leaving Naomi hopelessly alone with Orpah and Ruth, her two daughter’s-in-law. In the ancient world, you could not have imagined a more dark or tragic story than this. These three women were left helplessly alone, without anyone to provide for them or protect them.

But in verse 6, Naomi hears a message of grace, for hears that Yahweh, her Covenant God had visited her people in Judah and brought an end to the famine. Upon hearing this good news, Naomi and her two daughter’s-in-law arise and being to walk in faith to the land of promise. Like the Prodigal Son, Naomi decides to go back home to the Father’s house. That is where we pick up the story today… read with me verses 9-22.

Today, I want you to notice each of the three women of our text, and grasp a lesson that from each of them… Now as I read you probably picked us that Naomi is the main character in this chapter, she is the author’s focus, and so we will spend the majority of or time on her. And lets start there…

1) Naomi: The legitimate concern of an immature faith that is lacking spiritual fruit.

A major transition occurs in verse 8. The previous seven verses give us needed background data. The words of those inaugural verses answer the vital questions: who, what, when, where, and why, but it’s not until verse 8, that we are actually invited to listen to the spoken words of those within this story. From verse 8 on, conversations dominate the storyline of the book of Ruth. In fact, of the remaining 77 verses of this text, 56 of those verses consist of dialog between two or more people. Now why does that matter, why am I making a big deal out of the number of conversations that are taking place in the book of Ruth? Well, I’m so glad you asked that question! For the Bible tells us several times: “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” (Matt. 12:34; Luke 6:45; Prov. 4:23). You see the words of these conversations taking place in within this story, just like every conversion you have, reveal the motives, desires, and will of the speaker’s heart. You see, Everything you say paints a very accurate picture of your heart, the very words you speak reveal the real you and that which you desire the most. Therefore, our text today, grants us a reliable spiritual EKG of three women. Three women who have endured similar heartache and loss. Three widows who are left in desperation and are in great need.

Naomi is the first of the newly found widows to speak. And if you are like me, you kind of scratch your head over the counsel that she gives her two daughters-in-law. It seems that Naomi even though she has turned back toward God and is actively leaving the land of compromise, she is still thinking through things pragmatically instead of biblically. Instead of looking through a lens of faith and turning to God’s Word for guidance, she continues acts on her own wisdom. Notice, again the conversation she has with Orpah and Ruth as they have already departed Moab. She turns to them on the road to the land of promise and says, “’Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. May the LORD grant you that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.’ The she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept” (Ruth 1:8-9). Naomi seems to treat them like a couple of lost puppies that she knows she can’t keep. Regardless of how much she loves them. She instructs them to back to the mother’s house. Now, this is interesting, especially for those who were in Sunday school this morning, as we learned about the cultural importance and mentality regarding the father’s house. But here: the mother is emphasized, because Naomi personally knows the pain they are feeling, and in that moment, more than the protection and care of their fathers home, they needed the loving and tender care of the mommas, and so she tries to shoo them off in that direction, so that they may find the hope of new husbands within their own homeland.

Now, it is very easy to join Naomi in such practical and pragmatic reasoning. Certainly, some could argue that this was the most loving action Naomi could have taken. Think about it, how are two widows from a distant land, who seemingly at this point of the story, worship foreign gods, how are they going to find love in Israel? How are they going to find a man who is willing to go against the tradition of the land and marry an outsider from Moab, of all places? No wonder, then, that Naomi would consider it far better for these two women, whom she undoubtedly loved, to return and live with their own people where they may actually find new husbands. And so, she prays God’s blessing on them and asks God specifically to “deal kindly” with both Orpah and Ruth. This is a weighty phrase for sure. It speaks of “covenant loyalty.” You see, Naomi is literally calling on the covenant God of Israel to be loyal to these two women. She is entrusting their keeping and their care to Yahweh, her God.

But notice also, how they emotionally respond to Naomi’s plea and prayer in verse 10… “And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.” Obviously these two women had grown to love Naomi, they somewhat saw her as their responsibility now. But as we keep reading, look how Naomi continues to reason, and sadly, notice how forcefully she points them away from the land promise, back towards the land of compromise and sin. Verse 11 and following… “But Naomi said, ‘Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me.” Oh how adamant Naomi is towards her daughters-in-law… three times in the text she commands them to “return,” and leave the only road that will lead them to God’s care and blessing. In her mind, she thought she was sending them off to brighter future and to a place of greater hope. Yet, it seems that she has no concern for their souls at all.

It is noteworthy though, that Naomi here mentions an ancient custom in Israel, in which the brother was responsible to marry the deceased brother’s wife in order to conceive a son and continue the family heritage. Yet, Naomi again reasons that she is too old to have children. Perhaps, the stories of Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel were long out of her memory bank, though it certainly would have been weird for such marriage. However, Again and again, Naomi relies on her own wisdom to justify her actions instead of looking to that which was written in the past so that she may have hope (Rom. 15:4).

But not only is Naomi stuck in a pattern of sinful and stinky thinking, jump down in the story line with me to verse 19 to when she and her daughter-in-law Ruth reach their destination. There we read that Naomi’s return causes quite a commotion in the city of Bethlehem. The author says literally that Naomi’s and Ruth’s presence got life “stirred up” within the town square. Where the women say to one another, “Can this be Naomi?” “Is this Naomi?” Our friend who left the Promised Land? Undoubtedly, over the decade or more in which she was gone, Naomi’s appearance had changed. Obviously, she was older, but she had also experienced the great pain and sorrow of losing husband, and the greater brokenness of losing her children.

But please pay attention to her heart that is revealed in her words, because even though Naomi was hurt by her life experience, and even though she had to overcome great pride to come back home, Naomi is not yet broken and fully repentant over her Moabite experience. You see, she may have physically returned the Lord’s land, but she was far from returning to Lord with a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

And so, she asks the women not to call her Naomi, which interestingly means “pleasant or sweet,” instead she requests that they call her Mara, which literally means “bitter,” for as she reasons in verse 20, “the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” This name is a name with history, the history of God’s chosen people rebelling and complaining of their perceived lack of provision. For it was in a place called Marah in the wilderness, on the way out of Egypt that the children of Israel grumbled and complained against God, for they were unable to drink the water there. Like her ancient ancestors, Naomi’s heart was angry with God for the way her life was turning out. Yet, had Naomi been more familiar with Scripture, perhaps she would have remembered that the soon to be next stop in the wilderness for the people of the exodus was an encouraging one. It was the land Elim, a place of great rest, with twelve fresh springs of water and seventy palm trees. It seems that Naomi has completely forgotten the history of God’s faithfulness to His people.

And finally, look once again to Naomi’s last words in this opening chapter, verse 21… “I went out full, but the LORD brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?” Obviously, Naomi’s great pain is causing her to see things rather dimly. She thinks she has nothing, and yet, she has been replanted in the fertile land of God’s blessing. She assumes she has lost everyone and yet, as she stands, in her shadow is a lady named Ruth, and kinsman redeemers whom she has yet to remember.

You know as we look at Naomi’s words and consider her heart, we can certainly see a broken woman. A woman who theologically understands the sovereignty of her God, she’s made mention of His sovereign hand throughout the text, yet she fails to grasp His goodness. The pain in her life has blinded her and has kept her from seeing and tasting that the Lord is good. Listen, there is a lesson to consider here: When we conclude that God is against us, as Naomi has, we naturally tend to exaggerate our hopelessness and fail to see God’s goodness. We can easily become so bitter that we can’t see the bright rays of God’s goodness peeping out around the clouds of our gloom. The goodness of God, in my opinion, may be one of God’s most overlooked and neglected attributes. Oh, how we easily focus our hearts on God’s love and His power, we love to talk our God being a God who is holy, gracious, forgiving, and merciful. Oh, how He’s just and sovereign, and all-knowing! Praise God for those, but listen, I would argue that we also need to treasure the goodness of God. Because God just isn’t a God who better, nicer, or kinder than other gods or beings. No, He himself defines good and is nothing but good. Puritan Richard Sibbes, explained God’s goodness with these words, “God is goodness itself, in whom all goodness is involved. If therefore we love other things for the goodness which we see in them, why do we not love God, in whom is all goodness? All other things are but sparks of that fire, and drops of that sea. If you see any good in the creature, remember there is much more in the Creator. Leave therefore the streams, and go to the fountainhead of comfort.” Oh, the peace, joy, comfort, and rest our hearts can find in our good God!

Listen church family, Naomi presents us with a rightful concern. She’s starting to see more clearly, but not everything is right…. She fixed her eyes on God and is moving towards him. In fact, this journey from Moab to Jerusalem is a hard road to travel, through desert and mountainous terrain, but she’s placed her hope in God. Now, I fear that our tendency is to be hard on Naomi. We can easily look at her life and conclude that she is a train wreck because of all the sinful choices that she and her family made, and somehow we think that Naomi just simply needs to know her Bible more, trust in God’s goodness, and then snap out of her brokenness. Some of us, may even go as far, in thinking that what Naomi needs here is for one of the ladies in Bethlehem to hit her upside the head with a spiritual 2x4 and call her to repent. But in God’s grace, we don’t read that. Why? Because I believe God wants us to understand that Biblical change is almost always a process and not an event. Heart transformation generally occurs slowly over time. God’s being patient with Naomi, He’s slowly working in her heart, as she is learning to trust Him and His Word.

As a counselor, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met with, who have to see me with a problem, and we have a great meeting, discovering the hope of God’s Word and then we schedule our next appointment. And then it never surprises me, when the next appointment come around, that they would often cancel the upcoming meeting. And almost every time, they gave me one of two answers… either one, they say Pastor Kevin, guess what. I’m good, I’ve made those changes and life is great, things are much better now… or two, they say, you know I’m not really sure that was helpful. Now in both answers what we see is that we often tend to think of change as an event much more than a process. Folks, lasting change takes time. Godly fruit, the fruit of the Spirit does not just appear overnight. And as a church family, we must be concerned about those who are in that process of change, and come patiently alongside them, to encourage them and love them and point them to Christ. Listen, if there is movement towards God, if we are seeing them learning to trust God more and more and act in faith, Then praise God and we should be encouraging and patient. But if they stop in that journey and there is no more moving towards God, and the bitterness grows or they begin to flirt with idea of heading back to a land of compromise, then we must act quickly and come to their rescue with the hope of the gospel. Naomi’s actions are concerning, and maybe today you see yourself in her. You are kind of moving towards God, but your heart is not where it should. Oh my friend, keep walking with God. Keep looking to His Word, trust Him, and grow in your knowledge of Him by joining a Bible study, or seeking help through counseling. For your God is good and He longs to care for you and bless you!

2) Orpah: The heartbreaking choice of walking away from salvation and sovereign grace.

Orpah and Ruth have already left everything they knew behind, they left it all to follow Naomi to a distant land. No doubt, they loved their mother-in-law and felt a sense of obligation to care for her, even if it meant that they may never get married again or have a family of their own. But as they are on the way, Naomi calls upon them to seriously count the cost of following her and forces them choose. They had a decision to make as they stood at this crossroads of faith. Would they choose their home, their traditions, their way of life, their personal family, the potential hope of a new family, or would they turn and follow Naomi to the Promised Land? In verse 10, we already have seen their initial emotional response. They both say, Naomi, we are going with you, to your people. But after Naomi relentlessly points them back, they realize that a true decision must be made.

Very little is said about Orpah and her decision making process. Apparently, Naomi’s reasoning weighed heavy in her heart. As she had to consider the alternatives. She had to choose between the one true God and His people, plus nothing else, or would she choose everything minus God and His people. Sadly, Orpah chooses that which was familiar, the temporal, and the visible. She trusts in the world’s wisdom and turns away from the very wisdom of God. So, in verse 14, we simply read that she kisses and her mother-in-law and apparently sets her eyes back on the pagan land of Moab. Verse 15, gives a little more clarity to the situation as Naomi says to Ruth, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” Noticeably This decision was not merely practical but intensely spiritual. This wasn’t just about finding a husband or having her physical needs met. Even though she listened to Naomi’s reasoning over such practical issues. Instead, Orpah also saw this as a spiritual decision, and she chose the way of idolatry. She chose her plurality gods over the one true God. She used reason, just had Elimelech had earlier, opting for the way of the world of idolatry over the way of faith. And like Elimelech it will eventually cost her everything.

We are told nothing else about Orpah in this story. We don’t know if she fell in love again, remarried, had children, and lived happily ever after. We don’t know if God answers Naomi’s prayer of blessing over her. And yet if she did find such a blessed life, it certainly doesn’t matter at all. For she failed to make peace and find friendship with the God of Israel, the only true God. The only God who can grant forgiveness of sin and give eternal life. And the saddest part of Orpah’s story is that she probably never even knew what she was missing. She would never know the joy and peace of being with God and His people, nor have the experience of being overwhelmed by His sovereign grace. Instead, she will die in her sin and stand in God’s judgment without a mediator or Savior and without a drop of hope.

Please understand, marriage, children, family, happiness, and success, mean nothing apart from having eternal peace with God. For without the forgiveness and loving grace of a holy God, we all deserve to spend eternity in hell for our sin. Jesus asked his disciples a question in Matthew 16:26 that we should all contemplate… … “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Orpah chose to exchange her eternal soul for the temporary pleasures of her idolatrous world. Her decision was heavily influenced by her immediate experience and situation.

Church family, too often we fail to look at life from an eternal perspective. Instead, we consume our minds and hearts with desire, for that which we lack in the present. We are quick to conclude, that we need certain things for our hearts to find peace and contentment. And therefore, we look to things to save us from our misery. We naturally look to a relationship, to marriage, to children, to a better job, to financial security. We look to them to bring us joy and peace, and yet apart from God they will only rob you of eternal joy and peace.

Oh how heartbreaking and tragic her decision Orpah made! But, there is one last character to learn from today, and that is none other than Ruth and here we discover a powerful model…

3) Ruth: The powerful model of true repentance and saving faith to embrace.

Notice verse 14 again, “And they (being Orpah and Ruth), lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed he mother-in-law, but (notice) Ruth clung to her.” Ruth clings tightly to Naomi. She reuses to let go! This word and action carried the idea of deep loyalty and covenantal allegiance. In Genesis 2:24, the same word picture within the context of marriage, with those familiar words... “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife...” You see, the idea expressed in the word “clung,” involves leaving the membership of one group of people and joining another. The author’s choice of using this one simple word implies that Ruth has counted the cost and she is abandoning everything to walk in faith with Naomi and her people. She leaves it all, the place she once called home and the foreseeable chance of remarriage, to go and live among God and His chosen people. Even though she knew that God’s people may not welcome her in as she would desire, she still leaves behind her family, her friends, her way of life, and chooses to walk by faith.

Naomi, begs here one more time to reconsider, as if she has made the wrong choice… in fact, this the fourth time, her mother-in-law turns to her and so, go home, return to your people, and your gods. Can’t you just see Naomi pointing to Orpah as she leaving, saying to Ruth, “Look, she’s going back. It’s the right decision. You must follow her.” And since the husband argument failed to convince Ruth, Naomi pleads her in verse 15 to consider “her people” and “her gods.” You see Naomi is reminding Ruth of her religious and national roots. She’s urging her to go back to the Moabite way of life and worship.

But Ruth could not and would not because of her incredible faith in God, which she articulates in a stunning profession of faith. Every word and phrase are worth considering because Ruth responds to Naomi’s reasoning point by point. She emphatically tells Naomi, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you.” In other words, Ruth is telling Naomi, to knock it off, and stop trying to convince her that she is making a mistake. Ruth had counted the cost from all possible angels and could only conclude that she will follow Naomi and walk by faith. And so, she says, Naomi, wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I lodge. Your people, my people, your God, my God. What a powerful scene, for...

With her words and actions, Ruth vividly demonstrates that her heart is committed for us the way of the cross. The way of dying to self and to the selfish desires of the heart. It demands we daily take up our cross and putt the needs of others first, whether or not their response is one of gratitude or thanksgiving. It means pouring out our lives for others who are often difficult to serve. That’s what we see in Ruth’s commitment to Naomi and her God. Listen, when we take up the cross, we are simply following Christ Jesus. He too was rejected by the people he came to serve, and He too carried that burden all the way to Calvary where He laid down His own life for bitter and hard-hearted unbelievers like Naomi, and you and me.

But don’t miss this: The way of the cross is not easy, for it not only identifies us with Christ, but it also identifies us with His chosen people. Notice how Ruth adds, “Your people, My people.” With these words Ruth was denying her Moabite people. She was laying aside her traditions, her home, her language, and her friends and family. It also strongly and rightfully testifies that a Godly life requires community. I realize that in our self-centered and self-obsessed culture, many have wrongfully concluded that walking by faith can be done in isolation and in private. Such people only prove that they ignorant of God’s Word. For the Bible repeatedly calls us to prioritize our life within the confines of God’s family. This is what Jesus meant in Luke 14:26, in saying, “If anyone comes after Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” You see following Jesus means you place His people, the family of God, over those in your family who have chosen not to follow the Savior. And please don’t overlook the fact that we are to do life with people like Naomi, who was stubborn, bitter, reluctant, and even offensive. Ruth eventually ended up in Bethlehem, and I wonder how many of God’s people there proved easy for her to love. Sadly, God’s people can be a disappointing group of people at times, where there is little spiritual fruit to be immediately seen. Yet, flawed as these people are by their sin, if the Lord is to be our God, then His people must be our people. And though there are those in your church family who will habitually rub you the wrong way. Somehow, if you guard your heart from growing bitter towards them, God will use them in your life to bless you greatly. Now, that blessing may not look like a blessing that you would choose for yourself, but God knows we need these individuals in our life, to make us, if anything, humble and patient like Him. Here’s the reality: following Jesus is always a communal endeavor. It’s not a private matter, nor can it be done in isolation. Jesus calls us to live within His rather imperfect family. I can’t help but believe that Ruth counted the cost and knew it was going to be difficult to fit in Bethlehem as a Moabite, but yet she pledges to Naomi, your people, no matter how unloving they may appear to be, no matter how challenging they are to me, nor however difficult: they are my people, and she clings to them and joins them.

So strong was Ruth’s commitment to God and His people, she pledges not just to live the rest of her life with them, but to die with them and be buried with them. With these words she is making a proclamation that she will never go back to the land nor the gods of Moab. She has truly counted the cost. Over the years of living with Naomi and her family, she had undoubtedly heard about Yahweh, she had heard of how God led them out of mighty Egypt and given the promised land, and even though the living testimonies of her mother-in-law’s family were inconsistent, Ruth places her trust in the God of Israel. Notice in verse 17, she also takes a solemn covenantal oath to seal all her promises to Naomi. And most importantly she invokes the name of Yahweh, the Covenantal and sacred name of her God, to drive home the incredible weight of her oath. Look how Ruth calls down Yahweh’s judgement upon herself if she somehow proves unfaithful to her word. This is serious, sobering, and binding vow. So weighty are Ruth’s words that Naomi is left completely speechless.

Ruth literally points us to Christ and the gospel of God’s grace. For just as Ruth left her father’s land, Christ himself left His Father’s house to come to live with us, even to the point of his death. Jesus left the presence glory in order to be our Immanuel, so that He could say to each of us, “Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” Oh, what humility in which He came to earth, to live as our servant, and to be one of us. And like Ruth, Jesus was willing to live, die, and be buried among God’s people. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to live a sinless life on our behalf and die in or place. 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains this principle… It reads… “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Martin Luther fittingly entitled this verse, “the great exchange” and indeed it is. For on the cross, Jesus became our sin, in that He bore and died for our every sinful thought, word, and deed. There he clung to the judgment of God, until His wrath was completely absorbed in his flesh and bone. At the same, through faith and repentance, like Ruth has vividly displayed for us, Jesus graces us with forgiveness of sin. He imputes His holy and spotless righteousness to our souls so that we as imperfect sinners may be able to stand before a Holy God blamelessly in His judgement, so that we may dwell and rest with Him and His people forever under His great care and provision.

Oh, church family, our text has led us to the crossroads of faith. And each of us must make the decision: Will you chose to walk in faith like Ruth. Will go the way of the cross, by clinging to Christ and dying to your selfish ways. Are you willing to leave sin behind, to walk away from unhealthy relationships and cling to God and His people. Or will you walk away from this moment like Orpah and embrace your sin and the idols of this culture that have zero power to bring you lasting pleasure. Will you trust in God, or will you trust in yourself? Though we ultimately live at this crossroads moment by moment and day by day, we continue to count the cost and follow him. But maybe today is the first time you feel prompted to walk with God in faith. Maybe the Spirit is tugging in your heart, now is the time to leave it all behind and follow Jesus, will you respond in faith? Or maybe this morning, the Holy Spirit keeps drawing your attention to Naomi. Perhaps, you’ve committed yourself to walk with God, but along the way you have failed to mature in your faith, and there is little to no evidence of the fruit of the spirit in your life. Oh, how I call upon you as well, to trust in your good God and to dive deep into His Word and find joy in rest in Him alone. The last thing I will say today… in verse 1, for Naomi there was a famine. Life was hard, but in the last words of chapter one we read… and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest… Her life was undoubtedly still hard, but a harvest of goodness is on the way. God is good to those who repent and follow Him!

Pray with me….