God Is Working

Ruth 1:1–22 (CSB)

HOPELESS (V 1-3)

During the time of the judges [no king in the land], there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem (Meaning: house of bread) in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab (GEN 19:30-38, NUM 22-24, NUM 25:1-9, DEUT 23:3-6, JUDGES 3:15-30) for a while.

The man’s name was Elimelech (Meaning: Yahweh is king), and his wife’s name was Naomi (Meaning: pleasant one). The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the fields of Moab and settled there (famine is likely due to judgement of sin, [not temporary but hopeless - poor, hungry, looking for God in it all, irony is clear]).

Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died, and she was left with her two sons.

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HOPEFUL (V 4)

Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth (Meaning: refresh, comfort, soak). After they lived in Moab about ten years, (build up to a hopeful anticipation of children)

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HOPELESS (V 5)

both Mahlon and Chilion (Meaning: sickness & annihilation) also died, and the woman was left without her two children (from sons to children, the word foreshadows potential children in the future) and without her husband.

[Bitterness-Naomi is a widow, aged, and poor.]

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HOPEFUL (V 6-22)

She and her daughters-in-law set out to return from the territory of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that the Lord had paid attention to his people’s need by providing them food. (Gift from God that God took notice of his people and came to their aid restocking the house of bread with bread he had taken away in the famine [from judgement to redemption]

She left the place where she had been living, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, and traveled along the road leading back to the land of Judah.

Naomi said to them, “Each of you go back to your mother’s home. May the Lord show kindness (Hessed- all the positive attributes of God [love, faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty] act of devotion and sacrifice beyond the duty one may hold) to you as you have shown to the dead and to me. (As they have shown kindness to the leastr of the Israelites so may God show them that same kindness.)

May the Lord grant each of you rest in the house of a new husband.” (to find a home of peace, permanence, & satisfaction- the opposite of what Naaomi had experienced) She kissed them, and they wept loudly.

They said to her, “We insist on returning with you to your people.”

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But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Am I able to have any more sons who could become your husbands?

Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons,

would you be willing to wait (to hope) for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me.” (All the troubles she has experienced she had equated it to God’s judgement upon her life)

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Again they wept loudly,

Sensibly Expected: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,

Sacrificially Unexpected: but Ruth clung (implies loyalty and deep affection, hessed depictied) to her. (Like trout swimming upstream Ruth chooses the difficult path)

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SENSIBLE & FAMILIAR VS. SACRIFICIAL & UNFAMILIAR (WHO WILL YOU FOLLOW?)

Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.”

But Ruth replied: Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. (Formally cast out of the assembly of God, Ruth now dedicates herself to this people and God.)

Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me, and do so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.

When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her.

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The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

“Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty (Shaddai - Above all and powerful beyond all other gods) has made me very bitter.

I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has opposed me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Where do we see Hopelessness?

Family of Israelites experience famine in their homeland

Family goes to Moab to find relief instead of seeking God’s forgiveness and favor

Family settled in Moab (foreigners in poverty, distance from God and People)

Family Patriarch Dies

Family Grew with foreign wives from Moab

Family Sons Die without heirs (Three Widows without hope)

Family Matriarch is left Widowed, Aged, & Poor.

Where do we see Hope? (Where we see Ḥeseḏ we Find Hope)

Ruth’s Name means “refreshment”

Use of “ten years” gives a glimpse of hope that children may have been apart fo the family

Use of “children” instead of “sons” gives a glimpse of hope for future children in the story.

God provides bread for the house of bread (Bethlehem) His favor is restored

God Shows Ḥeseḏ

Ruth Clings To Naomi and returns with her (exhibits Ḥeseḏ)

Ḥeseḏ is a Sacrificially Unexpected Choice To Follow & Forsake the Familiar

Ḥeseḏ Requires Devotion & Loyalty

Ḥeseḏ Requires Sacrifice

Ḥeseḏ Requires Selfless Love

Ḥeseḏ Requires Compassion & Kindness

Practical Applications:

In Our Foolishness God is Working (V1-2)

Despite our Sin, foolish actions/decisions, God is writing a grand narrative that overcomes evil and wickedness. even in judgment God is still working for the good of His people and His glory.

In Our Bitterness God is Working (V3-5 & 19-21)

Despite what may be seen as hopeless circumstances, God is writing a grand narrative that works all things together for the good of his people. We must find Hope in His Actions & Presence, trusting that even in the darkness he is shining a great light.

In Our Ḥeseḏ God is Working (V6-18 & 22)

God uses the Unexpected & Sacrificial choices we make to bring about Hope in this world. (He uses flawed people In his perfect plan)

God calls us to a life of Ḥeseḏ (Following Him & Forsaking the Familiar)

Follow Christ in Faith - Forsake The Familiar & Comfortable

Follow Christ In Obedience - Forsake The Natural

Follow Christ Today - Forsake the Fear & Delay