Can This Be Naomi?

Good morning Church! If you have your Bible and I hope that you do, please turn with me to Ruth 1. We’re looking at how God proves His faithfulness to Naomi even when we feel abandoned. When struggles come, do you ever ask the question “why?” If you’re older that 5 you probably have experienced that.

Last week we saw Naomi lose her husband and two sons. Circumstances forced Naomi into widowhood, poverty, loneliness, and sorrow. There’s a hymn from the late 1800’s entitled “O Love that will not let me go…” and it’s the love of God that is a relentless pursuit in our darkest nights. But right now Naomi feels hunted by God, not helped. But God brings the darkest nights for the purpose of redemption as we will see in our passage today.

So let’s see what God is up to in Ruth 1:6-22

Ruth 1:6–22 ESV

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But 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. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you 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, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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 will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. 19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town 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 away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Our passage begins with Naomi arising and returning. This means that she is choosing to leave Moab and leaving with her daughters-in-law to go back to her hometown in Bethlehem. Now the motivation for her to leave wasn’t because it’s where the Lord was, the motivation was food. Now, the providence of God is what we’re learning about in these opening verses.

It says that God visits his people which is the verb paqad which means to intervene. Moses uses this word in Exodus 4:31

Exodus 4:31 ESV

31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

God visits His people with bread and so the house of bread has been restocked and is God’s gift of grace.

And it’s this that motivates her return. You see God’s providence is His invisible hand that pushes and nudges with exactly what we needed. Sometimes the Lord knows that we need seasons of famine to drive us to seek Him. Other times, He knows that we need seasons of blessing to delight in Him. So famine and fullness are in God’s hand. But we learn that it is all the work of God. The Lord visits and Naomi hears about it and it draws her. Grace begins that way.

And we learn the first point for today:

Mercy Breaks the Famine

Naomi has lost her husband, two sons, and is facing a life of widowhood. But as the Puritan John Flavel said, “God’s providence is His hand at work in the glove of history.” And Naomi sets out from the place where she was, Moab. They headed west to go back to the land of Judah but Naomi stops on the way because she’s not the only widow. She’s being followed by two other widows- her daughter-in-laws. And Naomi turns to them and tells them to “Go” and return each to her mother’s house. That’s a really rare use in the Old Testament but what Naomi is telling them to do is to go and find other husbands.

Naomi blesses them and invokes what is called hesed where she prays for the Lord to show kindness to them. This shows that even Naomi in her wanderings knew in her heart of hearts that God’s sovereignty goes beyond the borders of Israel. She prays for the Lord to “deal kindly” and to grant them “rest”. That rest means security, stability, and provision in a husband’s house. Naomi can’t give this to these women so she asks the Lord to. You see rest ultimately comes from the Lord.

Matthew 11:28 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

And Naomi kisses them and weeps and they all cry out. Now, they being Ruth and Orpah, say to her “No, we will return with you to your people.” You see affection and emotion are the hallmarks here, but one is genuine and the other is words. There’s affection and prayer, blessings, but when it comes to genuine conversion and change there needs to be something more than emotion, but conviction.

Three times here she says “return” or “turn back” to them. And her logic is sound, right? What does she have to offer? She’s not pregnant. She’s too old to get remarried. If she were to get married right then would they wait 20 years? Should they put their lives on hold for this widow? And it’s an airtight argument. They are following Naomi into a wilderness that offers no sons, no future, and no prospects.

Naomi explains in verse 13

Ruth 1:13 ESV

1No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”

Psalm 38:1–2 ESV

1 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! 2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.

Often we perceive calamity as judgment from God while He may be working in wonderful ways that we have yet seen.  Naomi believers that God’s hand is set against her but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Yet God looks past this slander and still uses Naomi, her people, and her decisions to redeem Ruth and herself.

She believes that the hand of the Lord is against her. Isn’t that such a human way to think through things? Trials and experiences can distort our view of God. Naomi is viewing God as though He’s out to get her. His “hand has gone out against me.” She acknowledges the sovereignty of God, but not His goodness. She sees God as Judge, but not as Redeemer.

She’s not the only one in the Scriptures that felt like God’s hand was against them. We already saw it in the passage on the screen where David writes about this same experience. When Israel was unfaithful we read this in Judges 2:15

Judges 2:15 ESV

15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

And yet we also know that God was at work in Judges. In David’s life in the Psalms. And we see it here too. If you feel like God’s hand is heavy on you or against you then it may be time for you to consider whether there is sometime in your life where God may be correcting you.

It could be that God simply has His hand heavy on you to push you in the direction that He wants you to go. Remember that He is the Good Shepherd and His rod of correction brings discipline to us. His staff guides us and brings us out of the pit. In this story we see God being strong enough to rescue and tender enough to lead Naomi. We see the justice of God in bringing back a sheep of Israel back to Judah while also revealing His mercy in bringing a Moabite woman named Ruth and the call even going to Orpah. We see the discipline of God while also seeing the guidance He gives to His children.

You see Naomi’s big issue is she knows the name of God but not His character. What do we learn about God?

Exodus 34:6–7 ESV

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

How do you respond to sorrow? There’s two responses: Orpah weeps, kisses, and leaves. There’s affection, but no devotion. This is people that come to church, make an emotional response, and leave. It’s bad soil. Then there’s Ruth that gives a covenantal word. She binds herself to Naomi.

You see many people kiss Christ, but very few cling to Him. Orpah is like the rich young ruler— she is sorrowful but unwilling to pay the cost of being a part of God’s covenant people. Ruth embraces faith and trust in God. Jonathan Edwards said, “The surest way to know whether we have true love to Christ is whether it carries us to cleave to Him in trials and difficulties.”

Many people come to Christ because they believe that Jesus can enhance their life. Give them joy, peace, and purpose. But the call to Christ is the call to die to ourselves. Matthew 16:24-25

Matthew 16:24–25 ESV

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

This tells us the second point that I want to emphasize:

There are Two Roads for You to Travel

The one path is a road of worldly security. The Gospel is not a life-enhancement. Ray Comfort tells the story like this: imagine for a moment that someone’s on an airplane and the stewardess tells you to put on the parachute because it will make your flight much more pleasant. It will be there for comfort and peace and enhance your overall experience. This person puts on the parachute to try it out. Immediately he notices the 30 pound backpack. The weight is great but he thinks, “If the stewardess says it will make my flight better, then I’ll keep it on for a little while.” They sit down and they notice the discomfort in the chair, the awkward position. Later, as the stewardess is serving coffee, some spills on the man and he curses, stands up, takes the parachute off, and swears to never put something like that on ever again.

This is the false convert that kisses Jesus but has no sincere affection or devotion to Him.

Another man on the same flight is approached and told “Sir, at any moment you are going to be jumping out of this airplane at 15,000 feet.” The man is terrified! “I can’t jump out of the plane! I’m not ready!” The stewardess says “It’s okay, here’s a parachute for you!” The man takes it gladly and as he clasps it on, he doesn’t notice the 30 pounds of weight, if anything it feels reassuring and secure. As he sits, he doesn’t notice the discomfort as much, but he reassures himself that any moment he could jump. Event when the stewardess comes and serves coffee and spills it on him, he doesn’t curse the parachute. In fact, it makes him cling to it even more!

Is God an experiment or is He salvation? Is He your hope and security or a life enhancer? Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went back to Moab. Ruth clung to Naomi. Many people admire Christ and even feel affection for Him, yet fall short of salvation because they will not give up other loves for His sake. They love Him—but not enough. Ruth shows us the grace of God drawing a soul to choose what is truly best. Her firm resolve silenced temptation. A wavering heart is like a door half open—it invites the thief. But godly resolve bolts the door, resists the devil, and makes him flee.

Naomi actually tries to get both of them to go back to their people and even their own gods. Grief can cause people to do unthinkable things. “Don’t come after me to the Promised Land, go back to your inbred nation that worships demons” that’s what Naomi is saying.

Ruth 1:16 ESV

16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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 repents of her land, her family, her gods and totally embraces the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is a costly faith that embraces the offer of emptiness. What did Ruth get here? She got God! This is the picture of Christ that John Calvin says “Faith is not a distant view, but a warm embrace of Christ.” We cling to Jesus! He can be all we have and it’ll be enough because Jesus is all we need.

The Pledge that Moves Heaven

It’s like the hymn “ I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; No turning back; no turning back. If none go me, still I will follow; If none go me, still I will follow; If none go me, still I will follow; No turning back; no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me; The world behind me, the cross before me; The world behind me, the cross before me; no turning back.

Salvation comes to Ruth and Voddie Baucham said this, “it’s not about inviting God into your story it’s about being a brought into His.” Ruth is taking a radical step. She is severing the ties of her old life. Her opportunity to go back to her old life is there and she has seen in a very dim way that God is better than what Moab has to offer.

Today this like baptism. Baptism is a testimony and we’re going to celebrate it this afternoon and I hope that you’ll be there, it’s dying to your self and old life and publicly displaying allegiance to Jesus.

Naomi drops it. She sees that there is no changing Ruth’s decision and they come back to Bethlehem after over a decade of being gone. Naomi left with a husband and two sons and comes back with none of them and a Moabite woman in tow. They ask “Is this Naomi?” Is this the sweet woman? Naomi says, “It’s me, but don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara” which means bitter. She still thinks that God is out to get her. Its causing bitterness. The people of God would have understood this.

In Exodus 15, Israel crosses the Red Sea and they travel for three days and they find a water that is bitter and they call it Marah. It wasn’t good to drink. Exodus 15:24-25

Exodus 15:24–25 ESV

24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

Notice there’s bitterness and then grumbling, but God provides wood which makes the bitter sweet. In the same way the cross of Jesus Christ was used to take the bitterness of our trials and turn them into sweetness. Remember that it is Christ that drank the bitter cup of God’s wrath on our behalf so that

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And there’s some irony here too. Naomi feels bitter and empty. She feels alone but she doesn’t know what God is up to. She’s standing right next to Ruth who will be great-grandmother to David and will be a part of Jesus’ lineage as well. The very vessel through which the Messiah would come.

So what do we learn? If you’re dealing with bitterness, then its time to lay it down and go to the cross of Jesus. You don’t know what His plan is and it’s much better than what you think. So trust the Lord because He’s not coming after you to punish you, but has worked and is working in your life for a purpose.

Maybe you’re like Ruth and you are leaving Moab. Then you need to be like her and profess Jesus Christ as your Lord and God. You can do that today by repenting and leaving your old ways and habits and trusting in God alone and receiving Him as Lord and Savior.

If you’re neither one of those, then make room for Ruth’s in your life. They may be Moabites that God is calling you to impact for the Kingdom of God. You just might see God work in mighty ways.

At Marah, God used a tree to make the bitter water sweet; at Calvary, He used the tree of the Cross to make our bitter lives sweet again. Naomi thought the hand of the Lord was against her, but in His providence, His hand was working for her redemption. Whatever bitterness you carry today, lay it at the foot of the Cross—because Christ has already turned your sorrow into sweetness.

Head: God wants you to know His providence is always at work, even when life feels bitter.

He guided Naomi—and guides us—toward redemption through His unseen hand.

Heart: God wants you to believe that Jesus took our bitterness and makes it sweet.

The wood of His Cross turns sorrow into salvation and emptiness into fullness.

Hand: God wants you to lay your bitterness at the Cross.

Cling to Christ in faith. Welcome the “Ruths” God sends into your life as instruments of His grace.