Ruth 1:6-22

Introduction

Last week we looked at a family who made a permanent decision based on a temporary problem. A family living in a town called the house of bread left for a land called Moab, the enemy of God, due to a famine in their home land.

Elimelech, Naomi, and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion go to moab to temporarily stay there until the famine passes, they enjoy it so much they continue their and during sometime in the first 10 years of staying there Elimelech dies and Naomi is a widow living with her two sons. After their father died her two son’s marry Moabites woman, Orpah and Ruth.

After they get married they dwelled there and around the 10 year mark of Being in Moab, Naomis sons die, leaving her a widow in the land that belongs to the enemy of God.

Reminder *Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.*

Here we see that Naomi payed a great price for leaving the land of Promise for moab, but their is good news, God wasn't finished with her story.

The daughter in laws dilemma vs. 6-15

After her Husband and sons died she got up with her daughter in laws to return back to Bethlehem-Judah because she heard the heard the famine was over.

The bible says the Lord visited his people in giving them bread vs. 6

Ex. 3:16 “Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:”

Ex. 4:31 “And the people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.”

They left their home they had in Moab and headed toward the land of Judah. vs. 7

I’m sure as Naomi headed back toward Judah there were memories that popped in her head about when they were travelling to moab and even things that had happened with her husband and sons in moab.

All of her good memories had the dark cloud of death over them as she lost everything she had gone into moab with.

Naomi tells them to go to there homes and blesses them vs. 8-9

As they are travelling along Naomi turns to her daughter in laws and tells them to head back to their mothers house.

She prayed the Lord treated them as they and treated her in the death of her two sons

She prayed that they would find rest( provision and protection) with another husband.

As she is kissing them goodbye they lift up their voices and weep

They tell Naomi that they want to go with her to the land of her people. vs. 10

Again Naomi tells the to turn back and this time she gives them some reasons vs. 11-13

She first asks them why they want to go.

She reminds them she had no more sons in her womb for them to marry. This goes back to the duty of a family as given in the old testament.

Deut. 25:5 “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.”

She lets them know that she can’t provide a husband for them as both her sons had already died.

Again she tells them to turn away vs. 12

She gives them a practical reason vs. 13

She couldn’t give them a husband even if she got married today and conceived a son.

Even if that happened would they be willing to wait on her son to be old enough to marry them.

She tells them she grieves for them because the hand of the Lord had turned from her

Judges 2:15 “Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.”

Orpah leaves vs. 14

They again lift up their voice and weep, but this time Orpah kisses her mother in law and goes back to her people

Ruth clave to her

Clave means she stuck to her or stayed with her

Prov. 17:17 “A friend loveth at all times, And a brother is born for adversity”

In verse 15 Naomi tells ruth to return to her gods

Hep us to never get so bitter at God that we send someone who is trying to find Jesus back to their gods.

Ruths Declaration vs. 16-18

Intreat me not to leave vs. 16

she asks her to stop begging her to leave her or to return from following her

Where you go, i’ll go

where you lodge, i’ll lodge

your people are my people

Most importantly your God is my God

While Naomi had just told ruth to follow her sister in law back to follow their gods, she obviously had a testimony of being a follower of the true God.

She became a follower of God due to the testimony of her mother in law and showed true conversion by entering the family of Gods people.

Where you die I will die and be buried there. vs. 17

If anything separates us besides death the Lord do his will towards me

When Naomi saw that she was set to go she went back to Bethlehem-Judah with her and they talked together. vs. 18

Their Arrival in Bethlehem-Judah vs. 19-22

When they got to Bethlehem the city was busy, but not to busy to realize who was back vs. 19

They asked is that Naomi?

She tells them her name is no longer Naomi, but now it is Mara

Naomi - the name literally means pleasant

Mara - Bitter

She wanted to change her name because the Lord had dealt bitterly with her

She blamed God for the things that had happened in her life.

We often try and do the same thing, we always look for someone else to blame

Instead of honoring God for bringing her back to Bethlehem, she blames him for the evil that had happened in her life.

Sometimes the things that happen in our life are due to our own rebellion against God.

We must be careful that we don’t blame everything we see as bad in our life a result of sin.

Remember Jobs trials were to prove his devotion towards God wasn’t due to stuff, but rather his love for God and his friends tried to tell him it had something to do with him sinning against God.

Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

She goes on to tell her story

She left full

Husband and two sons

Came home empty

Husband and sons dead and buried in Moab

Gods timing is always perfect

Look when they came back

The beginning of Barley Harvest

This is an important detail for the rest of the story.

Conclusion

sometimes it feels as though God has left you in a far country all by yourself, but let me remind you this morning you are not alone. God is with you in the far country and he is with you on your journey home.

Don’t let your past get you bitter, but allow God to make you better.