Ruth: Redemption (2)

Introduction

James Dobson in his book When God Doesn’t Make sense begins chapter one with a story of Chuck

Bright and motivated

Received his bachelor degree and was chosen to enter Medical degree

While in degree decided he wouldn’t pursue the money making side of medicine but rather to go overseas and serve God there

Towards the end of the first year he began to not feel good

Had appointment in May, was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia and by Nov had passed away.

Or a few pages later:

A Church in Dallas Texas which was destroyed by a tornado.

In the midst of the storm this tornado dropped down directly on this church and when it lifted again, damaging almost none of the surrounding territory.

And he asks how would you interpret this “act of God” if you were a member of that congregation?

Now this book was written in 1993 and so we could come up with other similar stories since

Some that are quite personal

This is where we were left with Naomi...

Read Ruth 1:6-22

I. God and Israel

vs 6 - “The Lord had visited his people and given them food.”

Again not told if there is a why

Did Israel repent? Was sin the reason for the famine?

But the author proclaims the relief of the famine is by the hand of God

God’s sovereignty and providence

Theme: God is sovereign over all things

There is nothing that happens in this world or our lives that slips past God’s knowledge or His sovereign hand.

Lamentations 3:37–38 ESV

Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?

What do we do with this?

Derek Thomas, “Why does God even put up with this world?”

Lamentations 3:40–41 ESV

Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

For Naomi this is a ray of light in the midst of her darkness that leads her back to Israel and to Bethlehem

And so the Sovereignty of God is to be good news

This should comfort us that our world is not just random chaos

There is a purpose even in the hardest, most difficult times

However, while Naomi sees this as a glimmer of hope but her struggle remains with God

II. God and Naomi

A. Shame

Shamed before people

loss of husband and sons

No line to carry on her name

too old to start again

No way to provide for herself or her daughter-in-laws

Logical reasoning for Ruth and Orpah to stay in Moab

Also the fact that Naomi wouldn’t have know what she was going back to

And “the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”

B. Bitterness

Naomi’s response to God’s sovereign hand that left her in loss and shame is bitterness

As they return to Bethlehem the women begin to recognize Naomi and that she had a Moabite woman with her and it causes a great stir

In fact the “whole town was stirred because of them”

“Is this Naomi?”

Not Naomi but mara

Hardship and suffering changes a person thus the change of name

and then she does a interplay with two names of God

El Shaddai - God Almighty

Yahweh - Faithful covenant God

God almighty - did not use his power to stop this

Yahweh - was not faithful to me

Yahweh - has seen me as unfaithful

God Almighty - used his power against me

As one commentator states, this is a sovereignty with out grace, an omnipotent power without compassion, a judicial will without mercy.”

Lamentations 3:31–33 ESV

For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.

And so we are pointed to Ruth

III. God & Ruth

Leaving us with the final words of this chapter

What’s interesting is that the author emphasizes that Ruth is a Moabite, who along with Naomi, returned not to Bethlehem, but from Moab.

Why?

To emphasize:

She didn’t belong there

Different people, culture, god and because of this a potential enemy of Israel

What would her reception be as the author has only recorded Naomi’s?

2. The significance of Ruth’s commitment to Naomi

The word from clung in verse 14 is the same word cleave used of woman and man in marriage

Along with that, in our culture, the words of covenant that Ruth says to Naomi has been used in wedding vows.

However, we probably don’t really get this as most times we are from the similar backgrounds and faiths and really we probably don’t mean it as we don’t get the gravity of it.

Ruth was turning her back on everyone and everything - this would have brought shame on her from her own people.

This significance that stands out at the center of he poetry, “ Your people will be my people, your God will be my God.”

All other stanzas lead to this, with a strong

Judges, Ruth (3) The Third Interchange (1:15–18)

In any case, Ruth expresses the common ancient Near Eastern conviction that divine witnesses function as guarantors of promises and pledges human beings make under oath. She also shares the common conviction that if she is to move with Naomi to Israel, where Yahweh is the divine patron, it is the deity of the land to whom she must appeal to guarantee her fidelity to this pledge.

3. the Change of focus from Naomi to Ruth

- from bitterness of an Israelite woman to faith of a Moabite woman.

Conclusion