Ruth 1:6-19
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 12 viewsNotes
Transcript
Hesed
Hesed
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread. Therefore she went out 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.
v 6 the Lord had visited His people. There is bread again. This inspires Naomi to want to return home. Her husband and sons death did not drive her home.
You would think being a widow in a foreign land would make her want to return to her homeland.
We don’t always get the message God is speaking to us.
v 7 they all start heading back to Bethlehem
Naomi will tell her daughter in-laws to go back home 4 times
1.
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.”
So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
May YHWH deal kindly with you, calling on the name of the God of Israel, the true God, not the gods of the Moabites
deal kindly - hesed - loyal love Naomi is praying that the Lord shows His loyal love to them.
House of your husband - may you find another husband
And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
v 10 Orpah and Ruth respond - we will go with you
2 & 3
v 11-14 second encouragement to go home to their own people
But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!”
the LORDS has gone out against me. They left Judah, but it’s God’s fault what happened.
This is the time of the Judges, not Israels proudest moments
v 14 Orpah and Ruth respond
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Orpah kisses her mother in law and leaves, also leaving Ruth her sister in-law
Ruth clings to Naomi clings to, sticks to, joined fast, stay close. Ruth is standing by her mother in-law and not leaving.
the 4th encouragement to leave
v 15-19
And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
Go back to your gods. Naomi knows the true God and is telling Ruth to go back to pagan gods. Not the best advice. Can you see us telling someone to return to the things of this world?
v 16-17 Ruth responds
But Ruth said:
“Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”
Ruth puts an end to the conversation
Naomi asked that the Lord would deal kindly - hesed - loyal love
We see Ruth showing loyal love to Naomi. Ruth the Moabitess
When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
Naomi stops trying to get Ruth to leave. She realizes her daughter in law is there to stay
Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
How do we respond to trials in our life? Do we run away or press on?
Why do we seek God?
Are we seeking God because we realize who He is?
Do we follow because of signs/wonders/food?
I never want to be someone who follows because there ‘is bread’
It is who God is that makes me want to seek Him, not what He can do for me
How would we react if we were in Ruth’s place? Go back, go back
She is leaving the familiar to go to something different.
She will be a foreigner, a Moabite woman, and yet she goes
She doesn’t worry about what people will say (Moabitess) and follows Naomi
Stepping into the unknown
What does this say about her love for Naomi?
What would our lives look like if we followed the Lord with the same passion, the same devotion?
Would our lives look differently then they do today?
Do we know God’s hesed - His loyal love to us
Does hesed describe us? Do we show loyal love to God? To His people?
lastly, Naomi hints that the ‘hand of the LORD has gone out against me’
We will talk more about this next week, but start thinking about it.
Do we blame God for the things that happen in our life or do we blame ourselves?