Faithfulness in the Famine

Introduction

Over the next 3 weeks we are going to do a mini-series on “Christian Characteristics during times of Crisis” - We will look at 3 things that should define our lives during such times: Faithfulness, Grace and Peace. During the days that we are living in right now, we must remember what the Bible says about crisis, confusion, catastrophe and calamity. We are reminded in Scripture that God is sovereign and He is in control! Because of this fact, we see story after story in the Bible about the command for God’s people to be faithful - not because we prosper and our circumstances are perfect, but rather because God is good, God rules and He has a purpose and a plan for all things!

Whenever we think of “faithfulness” some of us think of a specific person in Scripture while others might think of a passage in Scripture. For some, you think of the famous passage in James 2 where James notes that faith without works is dead! Certainly we see the importance of faithfulness in James 2:14-26. We also see the “Hall of Faith” passage in Hebrews 11 which we will eventually get to in our study of Hebrews! We see name after name of people who were faithful, not perfect, but faithful and God credited them with righteousness. Others of you might think of some of your favorite Bible characters and how they were faithful. David was faithful and believed in the power of God. The disciples were faithful to share the name of Jesus with others after the ascension. Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego come to mind as other Old Testament figures who were faithful. There is one person, in particular, who was credited with righteousness due to his faith in the Old Testament - Abraham!

Abraham believed in what he could not see - he was commanded by God to go to a foreign land and trust in Yahweh to make him into a great and mighty nation. We know the story of Abraham and the importance he plays in the Jewish nation. There is another figure in the Old Testament who displays great faith and plays a very important role in genealogy lists as David is her great, grandson. That person is Ruth.

Ruth is a loaded book and a timely woman to study on Mother’s Day as we consider how we, as Christians, are called to be faithful to God at all times, especially in times of crisis. What we will be looking at today reminds us of the need to be faithful, but also on this special day, we celebrate the Mother’s in our lives who have lived out a faithful life and encouraged us to do the same.

Maybe you’re wondering how Ruth fits into a “Mother’s Day” service - to that question I respond, what better example of a Godly mother can you find in Scripture? To the Mother’s, Grandmothers, future Mother’s and women as a whole out there, look at the story of Ruth and be encouraged and challenged today.

We are going to specifically be in verses 14-22 of Ruth 1. In the 13 verses leading up to this point in time, we learn much of the context and background that makes Ruth’s faith all the more profound. Elimelech and his wife Naomi were from Bethlehem - the “House of Bread” - yet there was a famine in the land and so they and their 2 songs (Mahlon and Chilion) went to Moab. Shortly after being there Elimelech passed away and Mahlon and Chilion took Moabite wives: Orpah and Ruth. However, both Mahlon and Chilion died 10 years later. This left the 3 women in a tough situation. Naomi decided to head back to her home country of Judah but she told Orpah and Ruth to return back to Moab in order to find a husband to be able to take care of them financially and so that they could return to their homeland and their gods. The situation is not rainbows and butterflies - instead it is basically the exact opposite! Listen to the responses from Orpah and Ruth.

Ruth 1:14–22 NASB95

14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Faithfulness requires action (14-18)

Before we get too into our text this morning, I want to make a quick point that some people misunderstand in these verses. Orpah often gets a really bad reputation from this passage because she left Naomi in order to return to her home country. The fact of the matter is that during this time period, it was customary for a widowed woman to return home and find another husband. The opening verses in Ruth chapter 1 illustrate that there are some severe problems: There is no man and no income and no security. Again, this is a much different world than the one we live in today and we must respect and understand those differences rather than get up in arms about how the Bible is sexist as some have done in recent years! Naomi urged her daughters-in-law to return home rather than remain with her in a widowed state. Orpah simply said yes to Naomi’s request. She opted to return to her home community and old faith. Verse 15 notes that she returned to her old people and god. This story is not about throwing stones at Orpah’s bad decision - she made the decision that 99.9% of people in this situation back then would have made - yet it is contrasted with Ruth’s decision. Ruth was not going to leave Naomi’s side because of what we see in Ruth 2:12

Ruth 2:12 NASB95

12 “May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”

Ruth was not 50% in and 50% out, she completely trusted in Naomi’s God - Yahweh. Her faith in Him resulted in action. She was not going to leave Naomi’s side if you look at verses 16-17 of Ruth 1. While Orpah went the natural way of the world, Ruth was determined to swim upstream! What does this look like in our world today? Orpah did not make a wrong decision by society’s standards - in fact she made the normal one! Yet, we see that Ruth had faith in God and was faithful even in a very difficult situation.

In our world today and in situations of crisis, we are all left with a fundamental choice: Will we trust in ourselves and our traditions or will we trust in the Lord? These 3 women were in a terrible situation, you could say they were stuck between a rock and a hard place because there was a famine, the father passed away and 10 years later his sons pass away. The natural thing to do in such a situation is to complain, right? After all, that is what Naomi does at the conclusion of our passage this morning as she says that she is cursed by God (Ruth 1:21). Yet, that is not the response of Ruth - Ruth refused. Ruth had faith in Yahweh and declared that she would follow Naomi and that Naomi’s God is her God as well. What a remarkable testimony, right? This is someone who lost a father-in-law and a husband, this was someone who was traveling with her mother-in-law and going to a foreign land with no financial or family security along the way, but she believed in God and had faith. As a result, her actions reflected that faith.

Do your actions reflect your faith or do they cause people to wonder if you have faith to begin with? You might chuckle at the thought but it’s a genuine question that we must ask ourselves this morning. We must be people of faith as Christians! Paul notes that we are supposed

2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV

7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

Is this true of you in your life as it was for Ruth in our text this morning? This was a woman who abandoned every source of security she had - her homeland, her community, her traditions and even her gods! Did Ruth have all of the answers regarding what it meant to be a follower of Yahweh? Did she know everything about Naomi’s faith and religion? Probably not. There were some notable differences, the chief Moabite god, Chemosh, demanded child sacrifice and was similar to the Canaanite god, Ba’al. Yahweh certainly never demanded such a thing, in fact Christianity notes that all life is sacred and a gift from God! There were key differences between Ruth’s previous faith and way of life and this new one she was choosing as she declared her allegiance to Naomi. If you look at the end of verse 18, you see that Ruth’s faithfulness left Naomi speechless. Naomi didn’t bother trying to say anything else because Ruth had clearly made up her mind! Men worshiping with us this morning, you know that few things are more frivolous than trying to change a woman’s mind when she’s already made a decision, right? May we all learn from Naomi’s example in Ruth 1:18 and not even try!

Ruth illustrates that true, genuine faith (regardless of how knowledgeable it is) requires action. It was not an option for her to return home - even though it was the smart and sensible thing to do in her culture. She believed and trusted in Naomi’s God and even though it meant leaving all that she knew, it was worth it.

Church, we are living in a situation right now where lots of things look different. Maybe these differences are causing you to be upset and discouraged or possibly even anxious or afraid! These are legitimate emotions in a crisis, but look to the example in our text today. In times of famine and crisis, we don’t sit on the sidelines and wait for things to get back to normal, as Christians we act! We help others in the middle of the situation and we trust in God along the way - this doesn’t mean we are reckless, but we continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those in our families and communities because we walk by faith and not by sight.

So, are you acting out your faith right now or are you sitting on the sidelines and waiting for things to return to normal so that you can be in your comfort zone? Are you longing for security and tradition or are you trusting in the Lord in the middle of the crisis?

Faithfulness looks strange to others (19-22)

As Christians we know that we are called to act and we know that whenever we act on our faith, there is a chance that our actions and choices might look strange in the eyes of the world. We are not supposed to be “of” this world - rather we are sent into it to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ. It looks strange to the world whenever people turn the other cheek - as Jesus commands His followers to do in His Sermon on the Mount. It looks strange to the world whenever Christians wake up early on the weekend to go to church. It looks strange to the world whenever Christians tithe and go above and beyond a tithe in giving to the local church. These things look weird and strange, but we know that we are supposed to do these things as Christians! Faithfulness looks strange to non-Christians.

Ruth and Naomi return to Bethlehem in verses 19-22 and the reception was not exactly welcome that the Prodigal Son received, was it? Ruth and Naomi return and the women begin to ask the question, “Is that Naomi?” This never happens, does it ladies? There absolutely never ever is a time in which someone does something or something strange happens and suddenly the text messages start going out or the phones start ringing because there is breaking news that you’ve gotta share with your friends ASAP! This is what happens here as Ruth and Naomi come back into Bethlehem. The whole town finds out and Naomi replies that she is to be called “Mara” rather than “Naomi” because of her situation and experiences. This was a woman whose name meant “the pleasant one” who is now asking to be called “bitter” by those around her.

Naomi states that the reason for this change is because the Almighty, the Shadday, has dealt bitterly with her. He has afflicted her according to verse 21. This verb, afflict, in the Hebrew “Hera” is often used of calamities that are sent by God in fulfillment of covenantal curses - Naomi is saying that God has brought this situation upon her. She has disobeyed and God is against her.

Have you ever felt like you’re in such a situation where everything is simply going against you? You likely haven’t experienced the same situation as Naomi with the loss of a husband, 2 children, a daughter-in-law who left you for her homeland and the shame of returning to your home as a bitter old person. With that in mind, though, we have all been in situations where something “bad” happens and we are left with a choice, are we not? We can either throw a fit and cry and complain that things aren’t fair, or we can trust in the Lord along the way. The world says that whenever something bad like this happens that we have a right to be angry and upset, after all, why would a good God allow something bad to happen to a good person? That’s just not fair!

Look back to the example of Job and his 3 friends. Job was a righteous person, yet he was experiencing tragedy after tragedy. His possessions, wealth and family were taken away from him in a short period of time - much like Ruth in our text today! Job’s friends came and told him that he needed to get right with God because clearly this was God punishing him for being disobedient… Yet, Job maintained that he hadn’t done something wrong to warrant this response from God. Everyone around Job told him that his faith was futile - listen to what his wife told him and how he responded in Job 2

Job 2:9–10 ESV

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job had faith in God and noted that God is just in giving both good and allowing bad things to happen to His people. Women, don’t be like Job’s wife, be like Ruth! Can you imagine the marital counseling that these 2 would have needed to go through by the time we conclude the book of Job? Job’s friends gave him bad advice, his family perished and his own wife told him to curse God and die - friends may we not be like these people during the famine, rather may we be like Job, Abraham and Ruth who remained faithful during the tough times of life, even if it looks backwards or strange to those around us.

We remain faithful in the famine and fire (1)

We are told in verse 1 of the first chapter of Ruth that there was a famine in the land. Most commentators note that this famine struck the entire nation of Israel and we know how famine’s often come about, right? If you don’t get any rain then eventually you will run into a problem and you will not be able to harvest your crops. This famine might have lasted for several consecutive years, in fact. Naturally this is not a good situation for the people of Israel but Daniel Block notes that from a theological perspective, this famine may be explained as a judgmental act of God. Listen to what God’s Word says in Deuteronomy 28 regarding what could happen if God’s people rebelled against Him.

Deuteronomy 28:23–24 NASB95

23 “The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. 24 “The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

God was just being faithful to what He had promised the Israelites would happen if they turned their back on Him. Yet, even in the disobedience of God’s people, there always remained a promise of restoration.

2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB95

14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

The people merely needed to get out of their own way and repent and turn back to God! They needed to be faithful, but instead they were faithless. We must be faithful during this season of life as well rather than being faithless like the Israelites!

During seasons of famine and chaos it can be easy to criticize others. As we have seen in our study of Hebrews lately, though, is that we are supposed to encourage one another! This is the purpose of Christian community, especially during the famine and the fire. We are called to life one another up and stay by one another’s side. This is exactly what Ruth did throughout this story. She lost so much and she had no security as her father-in-law and husband passed away. Rather than complain or lash out, though, she continued to have faith in Naomi’s God. This faith allowed her to leave her homeland, her old gods and her community in order to follow Naomi back to the “House of Bread” in Bethlehem. These women had no hope in their possessions or situation, but they believed in God and that He would provide for them and that was enough. Faith remains enough for us today, even in times of crisis!

Conclusion

A couple of points of application for us as we close:

Since it’s Mother’s Day, our first point goes out to all women (grandmothers, mothers, daughters, granddaughters, friends, sisters): You are valuable and every bit as valuable as a man and vice versa - we are equally created in the eyes of God. Because of this, the thing that should define your life and give you the ultimate security is not a man or even a community, rather it is a relationship with and faith in the living God - just as Ruth demonstrates in Ruth 1.

Be faithful to God in the good and the bad seasons of life. It can be easy to be faithful in the good times and give thanks to God because of the blessings and prosperity in your life, but how do you react whenever you hit the low point? Whenever we are at rock bottom and whenever life is treating us well we thank God, but what about in the confusion and the times of famine? We must be faithful even then as well!

God has a plan and we must engrain that into our brains because it is so easy for us to play the role of God and say this is right or this is wrong or God should do this, or I would do this if I were God game. Friends, God’s in control. Naomi highlighted the providence of God and she realized that all of these strange things were not accidents, but rather they were used by the Lord to bring about something good. We know how important Ruth is to the grand picture of Scripture as she is in the lineage of David (great grandmother) and Jesus comes from the line of David. This had to happen the way it happened - God was at work all along. God has a plan right now - I’m not going to pretend to know what it is and frankly, none of us completely know what His plan is during this season of crisis. Maybe you’re questioning His plan right now regarding churches closing their in person services, but did you know that hundreds of millions of people have heard the name of Jesus Christ because of that thing back there? I know that some of you all aren’t the most tech savvy people, but through technology people have been reached with the Gospel who would not have been otherwise! But we do know that God is sovereign. He is in control. And that His plan is far greater than our wildest imaginations as God told Habakkuk in Habakkuk 1

Habakkuk 1:5 NASB95

5 “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days— You would not believe if you were told.

Have faith and trust in the Lord - even during the famine, because God is at work and we have a purpose during this time: to tell others about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who rules, reigns and will return again one day.

Let’s pray!