When Pleasantness Meets Bitterness

Intro

A background in bitterness.

Ruth 1:1–5 NRSV

1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and 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; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

This family from the people of God left Judah after having a famine in the land.

The family makeup was father, wife, and two sons.

They would soon have wives to support. In this culture the husband provided outside the home and the women provided within the home.

Naomi husband dies, sons die, and her and her D.I.L are left without support.

Life for Naomi has just took a turn for the worse! She is in a godless foreign land with people who are not like her without any BLOOD relatives. She has no way to make a living and neither do her daughters who now are in her care or either caring for her.

From Witness To Weary

Ruth 1:6 NRSV

6 Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food.

ruth 1 6

Ruth 1:7 NRSV

7 So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah.

Ruth 1:6–14 NRSV

6 Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your 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 security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. 10 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? Do I still have 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. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.” 14 Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

Ruth 1:8 NRSV

8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

Ruth 1:9 NRSV

9 The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud.

Ruth 1:10 NRSV

10 They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”

Ruth 1:11 NRSV

11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?

Ruth 1:12 NRSV

12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons,

ruth 1 13

Ruth 1:13 NRSV

13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.”

Ruth 1:14 NRSV

14 Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

God At Work When We’re Not Ruth 1:15-18

Ruth 1:15 NRSV

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

Ruth 1:16 NRSV

16 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

Ruth 1:17 NRSV

17 Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”

Ruth 1:18 NRSV

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

ruth 1 17

Poured Out! And Bitter!

Ruth 1:19 NRSV

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

Ruth 1:20 NRSV

20 She said to them, “Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.

Ruth 1:21 NRSV

21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

Ruth 1:22 NRSV

22 So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Conclusion

If there was only one chapter of Ruth this would be a story with an understood bitterness. Because without preceding chapters God did nothing but bad to her. But thank for new chapters in our lives! Because of Naomi’s circumstance she could not see her savior! It would happen that because of the barley harvest she would stumble upon the family member of her father in law’s field, Boaz. This same man would then be able to redeem her by marriage and provide care for both Ruth and Naomi. It’s no accident that God caused the famine in Moab at the time of the barley harvest in Bethlehem! It’s no accident that the son of Obed (translated as servant) would be the father of Jesse, who would be the father of King David, who would have a lineage that carried Jesus the Christ! Christians experience a pleasant favor from God in salvation. We go through many ups and downs in life, don’t let your circumstance cause you to miss the savior!