RUTH 1:14-22

Reminders: (v. 1-13)

Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges. Mostly likely occuring during the second half of the Moabite oppression of Israel recorded for us at the end of Judges 3.

So far we have seen that there was a famine in Israel and an Israelite man from Bethlehem, Elimelech, took his wife Naomi, and their two sons to Moab to seek food. In the ten years that this family lived in Moab, Naomi’s husband Elimelech dies, their two sons married Moabite women, one of which was Ruth, and then both of the sons died. [According to the Talmud, Ruth was the daughter of King Eglon, the Moabite Kings that oppressed Israel for 18 years.]

Then Naomi heard that God had delivered Israel from the Moabites and brought them food again and so she, a widow, along with her two widowed daughters-in-law, start out for Bethlehem. But, as they begin to follow her, she tried to convince them to stay in Moab. That’s where we are going to pick up.

Ruth 1:14–22 (NASB)

14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 “Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” 18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. 19 So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 “I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

The 3 Most Common Responses to Calamity: (v. 14-18)

14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 “Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” 18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

Orpah: (v. 14-15)

Mark 10:17–22 (NASB)

17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 “You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

Mark 12:28–34 (NASB)

28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; 33 and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

Matthew 7:13–14 (NASB)

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Naomi: (v. 15, 18)

15 Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”

18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

Ruth: (v. 16-17)

16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 “Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”

This is one of the greatest declarations of faith and devotion found anywhere in the Bible.

Devoted to and committed to caring for and loving Naomi, even though Naomi was selfish and unloving toward Ruth and Orpah.

She renounced her Moabite affiliation and citizenship and pledged allegiance to people of God and the nation of Israel.

She also repented of her idol worship and abandoned her false gods. But that was only half of it. Repentance also require turning to the Lord and that’s what she does. She declares her faith in the God of Israel.

This commitment or vow of devotion was so so great and so binding that she offered her life as the proof. (Romans 12:1)

Ruth’s conversion was real:

Ruth 2:12 (NASB)

12 “May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”

Ruth’s old gods:

Numbers 21:29 (ESV)

29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh!

1 Kings 11:7 (NASB)

7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab…

Numbers 25:1–3 (NASB)

1 While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel.

2 Kings 3:26–27 (NASB)

26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him 700 men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. 27 Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall...

The Law couldn’t save her:

Deuteronomy 23:3 (NASB)

3 “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord,

And she couldn’t save herself.

She needed God to save just like we do:

Romans 8:3–4 (NASB)

3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

God’s grace saved her and changed her…

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (NASB)

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

There is no single right way to deal with grief, but there is a very wrong way: (v. 19-22)

19 So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 “I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

“Be Committed” (Chapter One: You Can’t Run Away (Ruth 1)) by Warren W. Wiersbe

It would be interesting to know what Naomi and Ruth talked about as they journeyed from Moab to Bethlehem. Did Naomi give her daughter-in-law some basic instruction in the Law of Moses? Did Ruth ask questions about the Jewish faith, the Jewish people, and her new home in Bethlehem? It is interesting because based on what we read, Naomi’s faith is faltering.

Naomi’s name in Hebrew means “my delight” or “pleasant”.

Mara means “bitter”.

Exodus 15:23–25 (NASB)

23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.

Hebrews 12:15 (NASB)

15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

Ephesians 4:30–31 (NASB)

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you…

20 …the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 “I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

21 “I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty…

Philippians 4:8 (NASB)

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Naomi wasn’t doing this. She isn’t “empty”, she came back with Ruth, who was already a huge blessing to here, whether she realized it or not, AND, Ruth was about to become an even greater blessing.

She was also wrong when she said this…

20 …the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Hebrews 12:10–11 (NASB)

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

God’s timing is always perfect: (v. 22)

22 So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Psalm 31:15 (NASB)

15 My times are in Your hand…

Psalm 139:16 (NASB)

16 …in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

God was in control. Naomi didn’t have to become bitter, God had a plan to make it better. Naomi began to distrust God but Ruth had begun to trust God and and this chapter ends hinting at the blessed truth that God can be trusted.