Ruth's noble choice

A woman of character: Ruth  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  57:25
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A love story in the making

Setting:
Time of the judges, a time of immorality, idolatry, war, people did what they thought was right (Rut1:1, Jud21:25, 17:6)
It is a time of famine in Judah and we will start in Moab (Rut1:1)
We will see inner-mixed marriages that was not according to the law (Deut23:3; 1Kng11:1-2)
We will see the picture of great love, devotion. We will see a shadow of God’s redemption story.
We will see that by a decision due to a famine will lead to three funerals, yet God uses it for the good.
(Transition): May we open to Ruth chapter one and read it, make observations from it, and glean from it for application.

Ruth Chapter 1

Ruth 1:1–2 NASB95
1 Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there.
Ruth 1:3–4 NASB95
3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4 They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.
Ruth 1:5–6 NASB95
5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. 6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food.
Ruth 1:7–8 NASB95
7 So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “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.
Ruth 1:9–10 NASB95
9 “May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.”
Ruth 1:11–12 NASB95
11 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? 12 “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,
Ruth 1:13–14 NASB95
13 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.” 14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Ruth 1:15–16 NASB95
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.
Ruth 1:17–18 NASB95
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.
Ruth 1:19–20 NASB95
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.
Ruth 1:21–22 NASB95
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.
Anything stick out to you in this passage?
Who are the characters you see (v.2)?
Elimelech, Naomi
Mahlon and Chilion
You find more characters in (v.4), who are they?
Orpah and Ruth
What does Naomi tell Orpah and Ruth to do (v.8)?
Return to your mother’s house.
How did the daughter in law’s respond to Naomi’s direction (v.10)?
They told her no, they will return with her to her people (Judah, Bethlehem implied)
What is Ruth’s noble choice (v.16)?
I will go where you go; lodge where you lodge
How does Naomi reply to Ruth’s noble choice (v.18)?
She said “no” more to her.
What did Naomi want to be called, and why (v.20)?
Mara: “The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.”
Where did Naomi and Ruth go, and do we know when (v.22)?
Bethlehem
Beginning of the barley harvest
(transition) - believe it or not, only two points to cover in the time we have left tonight.

A fateful choice, time in Moab

Famine in the land leads to a choice to leave Judah (v.1)
Elimelech thought was doing good, heard there was food in Moab, so take the family and go there. But sometimes, the grass is not greener on the other side, is it?
Fateful choice, what was fateful? Or was it faithless, Elimelech seemed to have a lack of faith in God who had always provided, made provision for his people
God always makes a way for provision (Lev25:35)
Leviticus 25:35 NASB95
35 ‘Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
Moab, these are descendants of Lot (Gen19:36-37) - who the people there wavered from enemies to friends of Judah (Jud3:12-30; 1Sam22:3-4)
Moab is located due East from the Dead Sea.
Death strikes
Elimelech (Rut1:3)
Mahlon, Chilion marry women of Moab (Rut1:4); something they were not to do (Deut23:3; 1Ki11:1-2)
1 Kings 11:1–2 NASB95
1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.
Side note: Just a week ago, we saw the problem with foreign wives when we finished Nehemiah (Neh13:23-27).
Mahlon and Chilion die (Rut1:5)
Rabbinic tradition would state that they died because they left Judah and married foreign women.
Naomi, Ruth, Orpah are all now widows. Naomi was childless now so Ruth and Orpah had no other sons to marry and fulfill the Jewish tradition.

A Faithful journey to Judah

Naomi chooses to return to Judah, to Bethlehem (Rut1:6)
Naomi encourages Orpah and Ruth to return to their mothers’ house (Rut1:7-9)
Both agree to go (Rut1:10) but then after trying to dissuade them, only Ruth will go (Rut1:11-18)
May we look specifically at Ruth’s noble choice again.
Ruth 1:16–17 GNB
16 But Ruth answered, “Don’t ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord’s worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!”
Ruth cleaves, Orpah cried and left (v.15); so first part of her choice was to cleave
Ruth said where you go, I go.
Sounds like she was committed to family, to Naomi (Mara)
Are we committed to go where the Lord leads us to go? Sometimes it may be to foreign places (like Fort Dodge for a Texas family). Maybe it is talking with someone who is outside your norm, hearing things you are not familiar with or are in agreement with.
Where you stay, I will stay. Not only going to be committed to go, but to stay.
Sometimes we need to evaluate our commitment. Are we commited to the Lord and His will? Is it a priority in our life?
Your people will be my people
Are we commited to our faith family, do we make a point to make them a part of our family too?
Your God will be my God.
Ruth was fully committed to whoever the God of Naomi was, that was going to be her God, leaving the gods of the Moabites, her beliefs before for something she did not even fully understand.
When you chose to follow Jesus, you did not understand everything, but you did understand what he offered and were willing to commit to that. Your faith was activated.
Where you die, I will die.
I will live for life for my faith, my belief, my church, my family. I will die in faith and be buried in faith.
Look again at (v.17), do you see a promise that Ruth makes?
Yes, calls for the Lord to do worse to her if anything but death separates them.
We are to be commited, to be faithful unto death (Rev2:10)
Revelation 2:10 NASB95
10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Naomi gets home, the town is stirred, Naomi feels empty (Rut1:19-22)
Have you ever felt empty that the Lord has dealt harshly with you?
(Conclusion) Have the noble faith of Ruth, who knew what she was to do, to be commited and go. When you feel empty know that God is still with you. It was the Lord that brought Naomi back, it will be the Lord that will bring you back. - - - Elimelech made a fateful choice that led to 10 years, 3 deaths, and a broken feeling journey back home for Naomi, and a faithful journey for Ruth. God was going to use this fateful choice, and faithful journey for His good!
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