Ruth - week 1 - From Giving Up To Getting Up

Ruth  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  32:33
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From Giving Up To Getting Up

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For the next few weeks I want to take a look at the books of Ruth and Esther. If anyone is interested, I have a bible study guide that you can use to dive deeper into these two books with learning and life application. One of the biggest things that stands out to me about these two books is the lack of God in the text. The narrator never talks about God in the book of Ruth. In the book of Esther God isn’t even mentioned at all. This might make you wonder why these books are even in the bible to begin with. As you study these books you will quickly realize that even though God may not be explicitly mentioned, He is still at work in the lives of the people in the story.
Both books tell stories that occur at different times. Ruth’s story occurs around 1100 BC, before Israel had kings during what is called the time of the Judges. Esther’s story happens about 600 years later, after the fall of Jerusalem and exile of the Israelite people. We will eventually get to the book of Esther, but for today we are going to start in the book of Ruth. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the book of Ruth? For many, it’s a love story! A down and out family of widows with little to no hope until Ruth meets the man of her dreams. It’s the kind of story that would make a great lifetime movie. It’s one of the few books in the bible that are relatively kid friendly.
It’s a good story, but just like every other story in the bible it also has a lot more going on under the surface. Many more connections that we could make to other parts of the bible. Many themes are repeated here that move the unified story of the bible forward towards Jesus. There are many details in this book that are worth pondering and studying. There are many things God is doing in the story, whether He is mentioned or not. I love the way Tim Mackey from The Bible Project portrays the essence of the book of Ruth...
The book of Ruth is a beautifully-crafted look at how God’s good purpose interplays with human decision.
Before we get started, let’s take a quick look at where Ruth’s story falls into the larger story of the bible. As I mentioned earlier, Ruth appears on the scene during the time of the Judges. This was a time in Israel’s history when they were at best a loose league of tribes. The book of Judges is a stark contrast to Ruth. God had promised victory to Israel if they remained faithful to Him, but defeat and enslavement if they shared their loyalties with other gods. Israel kept going through a cycle of repetition where they would reject God and His commands, fall into oppression from foreign nations, cry out to God for help, God would rescue them, and then they would reject Him and start the cycle over.
Ruth was from Moab, but the primary setting of the story is in Bethlehem which is in Judah. Judah isn’t mentioned much in Judges. There is all of this turmoil going on amongst the tribes, but Judah is kind of portrayed as being a very small part of it. In the book of Ruth, Bethlehem almost seems like an oasis. Ruth’s story is like a little slice of peace and hope in the middle of a bunch of crudeness, violence, and evil. The bible study I mentioned earlier summarizes Ruth’s story this way...
Ruth & Esther Map of Israel under the Judges

The story of Ruth shines like a diamond in the dark years before Israel took Saul as its king. On one level, it is a tale of selfless love in a family, but at bottom it tells what God was doing when most of His people were doing whatever they pleased.

As you study the book of Ruth, it is very good to keep this context in mind. In fact, if you have already opened your bibles to the book of Ruth, turn back one page and read the last line from the book of Judges. It says, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”
One final note about Ruth that is important to remember as you study is that she was a Moabite. There is a ton of history here:
First, Israel thought of Moab as inferior people due to their incestuous ancestry. They were descendants of Lot’s two daughters who got him drunk, then 9 months later mysteriously had a couple of little bambinos. One of those bouncing bundles of joy was named Moab.
Second, Moab actually had a law written against them in Deuteronomy that said they were not allowed to enter the assembly of the LORD because they were hostile toward Israel and cursed them when they needed help.
Also, toward the beginning of the era of the Judges, Moab oppressed some of the Israelite tribes for 18 years until they fought for peace.
Even after the time of Ruth the Israelites and Moabites were constantly fighting each other. The author of the story knows this and it’s probably why it is pointed out. These facts quickly make this story extraordinary. Especially when you consider the fact that David, Ruth’s great grandson, would eventually become king.
Now that we have a little bit of an idea of what is going on in the world around Ruth, let’s go ahead and jump into her story. As we go through this study there are some great questions for us to ponder: Who am I similar to? If it were me, how would I respond to their situation? How SHOULD someone respond? Ask yourself how this story is similar to other stories in scripture. How are the stories related? How does this story add to the whole story of the bible that leads to Jesus? Notice the similarities between this story and Jesus’ life story. Even if all you notice is the word “Bethlehem” it is a great start and a great connection to follow.
Today, most of our focus will be on Naomi. While I have no evidence to support this thought, I could easily see her being very similar to a modern day American. Maybe not wealthy by local standards, but compared to the rest of the world, possibly. Ancestors immigrated to this “promised land” within the last few centuries. Lived in a town known as the “Bread basket” for it’s crops. Blessed. Hard times hit so the family moves to greener pastures. Their circumstances only get worse and she decides that God just doesn’t like her.
Clearly, this is an over-simplification of Naomi’s life. She faces a huge burden. The extent of which we can’t fully understand in our modern culture. She has been compared to Job by some. Nonetheless, it is very easy for me to step into her shoes while reading the story and realize how I tend to react in very similar ways to her. To me, that is one thing that is so cool about both books, Ruth & Esther. The writer isn’t preaching at us or lecturing us. We aren’t told how we should act or respond. We are just given someone’s testimony and allowed to see how God did great things, even though the human element still exists. It truly is “God’s good purpose interplaying with human decision.
To help us relate to Naomi and Ruth and see God working in our lives like He did in theirs, think about a time in your life when everything only seemed to get worse. You were chasing the light at the end of the tunnel, but it just seemed to get further and further away. Maybe you felt like you were in the movie “Inception” where everything around you just keeps getting turned upside down, then crumbling away all around you. Then you finally arrive at the thought, “I wonder if God is mad at me. If everything works together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose, what did I do wrong?
Naomi arrives at that conclusion. “God has lifted His hand against me.” How did she get there? For Naomi, Giving up on God started with “anticipointment.”
GIVING UP STARTS WITH ANTICIPOINTMENT.
I learned that idiom this week and had to use it. It is the resulting disappointment when something that you have anticipated does not end up happening. All we need to do is look at Naomi and her husband’s names and where they are from to see that they were probably disappointed about where their lives have ended up by the time they are in Moab...
Ruth 1:1–2 NLT
1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.
It’s ironic that a famine has afflicted Bethlehem. The name means “house of bread.” The area was known for its fertility for grain crops. Evidently there was enough disappointment there for them to move to Moab, which would be worse than one of us moving to China. Don’t forget that Moab was essentially Israel’s enemy. Naomi’s family were called “Ephrathites”. That was the old name for Bethlehem, which could have been used to distinguish them as an “old-established family”. Their relationship with God had to mean something to them because we can see it reflected in their names and in Naomi’s adherence to Israel’s laws and customs.
Elimelech: My God is king
Naomi: pleasant (derived from word that means “sweet”), some say it means “God is sweet”
I don’t know how bad their situation must have been for them to move, but as we will find out in chapter 2 they did have family that didn’t move. So how much of their decision making at the time seemed logical to them when it was in fact a reaction to a disappointment? I know I have made decisions in the past based on something that happened that was terrible, only to find later that I shouldn’t have done anything at all. In fact, one time I moved just like they did. Have you ever made a decision based on a disappointment, then looked back and realized it was a mistake?
Hopefully you didn’t allow yourself to get to the point Naomi does as her situation gets worse. Naomi’s husband dies while they are in Moab and then she allows her disappointment to grow as she slowly continues to give up. Things that must have once been a big deal to her begin to be less and less important as she begins to abandon her values.
GIVING UP LEADS TO ABANDONING VALUES.
Think about some things that hold value to you. Not cars, houses, money, but moral, personal, or spiritual value. When you face disappointment after disappointment, failure after failure, heartbreak after heartbreak, the list slowly gets shorter and shorter. Sometimes it can be a good thing to trim the fat and get rid of things that we have put to a high place in our lives, but many times when we start abandoning our values it is a sign that we are on the dangerous road to giving up.
Maybe your health was important to you a few months ago, but after a few too many pecan pies you think you just need to give up all together on the diet because you will never be able to do it.
You started reading your bible every day, but you just didn’t understand what you were reading and it was honestly a little boring, so now you are ready to quit.
Maybe you are more like Naomi. Your relationship with God is important to you, but “Hey, I’m in Vegas. What happens here stays here, right? When in Rome!
Except Naomi would have said, “When in Moab?!?” See, it was important for followers of Mosaic law to NOT marry Moabites. This would have been a pretty big deal. Verse 4 says that her two sons...
Ruth 1:4–5 NLT
4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.
This is also where we meet Ruth. Fortunately we have a loving and gracious God who’s good purpose interplays with our human decisions, because Ruth will end up being a God-send for Naomi. This is the point in which Naomi hits rock bottom. Just reading the story at face value we can see why. This is not a good situation. From drought , foreigner, to widow, to no sons. But taken in context, her situation seems insurmountable. An Israelite woman in enemy territory all alone. Children were a big deal to ancient cultures and not only did she no longer have any, but her daughters-in-law were apparently barren which was regarded as a disgrace. In her day women had no way of making a living without men to make wages or cultivate land.
An author by the name of Dr. Thomas Fuller put it this way, and I am quoting, ladies, so please don’t come up here later and punch me to show me that you are not “weaker”...
“Of the two sexes,” says Fuller, “the woman is the weaker; of women, old women are most feeble; of old women, widows most woeful; of widows, those that are poor, their plight most pitiful; of poor widows, those who want children, their case most doleful; of widows that want children, those that once had them, and after lost them, their estate most desolate; of widows that have had children, those that are strangers in a foreign country, their condition most comfortless. Yet all these met together in Naomi, as in the centre of sorrow, to make the measure of her misery pressed down, shaken together, running over. I conclude, therefore, many men have had affliction—none like Job; many women have had tribulation—none like Noami.” - Dr. Thomas Fuller
There were at least 2 things that contributed to Naomi giving up on God and believing that He brought “calamity” on her. Disappointment which lead to her abandoning her own values. By the time she makes it back home to Bethlehem she tells everyone to stop calling her Naomi (God is sweet) and start calling her Mara (bitterness).
Ruth 1:20–21 NLT
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”
Even though this is the rock bottom low point in her life, this also happens to be the turning point for Naomi. She just isn’t yet aware. I love the way the Faithlife Study Bible notes their situation...
By the standards of Israelite society, Ruth and Naomi would be powerless and inconsequential. But God’s plan turns societal expectations upside down, and the women become central figures in the story of God’s people.
So what did she do that would turn her life around? Just like there were at least 2 things that contributed to her giving up, there were at least 2 things that contributed to her life turning around. Authors of the bible use a technique when writing to show that someone is changing or a situation in someone’s life is changing. This is the first thing that happens, and I call it...
GET UP AND GO BACK.
Get up from where you are now and GO BACK to where you are supposed to be. GO BACK to what you are supposed to be doing. GO BACK to reading God’s word. GO BACK to eating healthy and avoiding as much pecan pie as possible. GET UP, stop your pouting and whining, and GO BACK.
That doesn’t always mean that you are guaranteed the outcome you are hoping for either. It may be better, it may be the same, it may be worse. In fact, Naomi didn’t even think it would be better. Remember, after she gets up and goes back to Bethlehem she still wants everyone to call her “bitterness.” She didn’t go back because she would have a better life. She even told Ruth and Orpah, her other son’s widow, that their lives would be better if they stayed in Moab. She simply got up and went home so God could feed her...
Ruth 1:6–7 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.
The Hebrew word used for food here means “bread.” Was God literally standing in a field handing out bread? No. Was God going to give the Israelites more bread than other people? No. Figuratively the author is saying that the famine was over. But wording it this way paints a completely different picture for us. Bethlehem is the city of bread. It’s also where a future redeemer is later promised to come from. Jesus. He is God’s bread, the living Word of God, sent down to rescue us. She is going to get fed the bread of the LORD. She probably never even knew the implications of that!
It’s time to get up and return to God’s word. Return to Yahweh and let Him be your bread. Because He cares for you. The Hebrew word for “visit” is “pāqaḏ” (paw-kad’) and it means several things including visit, pay attention to, and care for. Realize that God cares for you and wants to give you His bread. When Jesus was fasting He told the tempter, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
The second thing that contributed to turning her life around was that she had Ruth. You may need to...
FIND A FAITHFUL FRIEND.
You probably already have a Ruth in your life, but you just don’t realize it. Naomi didn’t! She kept encouraging Ruth to go back to her home and her people. It would have been the smart thing to do. Ruth surely didn’t have hopes of a great life in Bethlehem. Being from Moab, she would be despised by Israelites. Being a widow, she would be unwanted. Having been married for 10 years with no children, she would have been seen as divinely cursed. Being poor, she would have been looked down on. Even so, she chose to stay with Naomi.
Ruth 1:16–17 NLT
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”
In your life, who will be faithful to stand by you when you hit rock bottom? When everything crumbles around you, who will walk with you through the rubble? Here is the kicker though… Of those people, who will be faithful to God as well? Not only faithful to you, but also faithful to God. Ruth tells Naomi that “her God will by my God,” and then she takes her promise a step further to illustrate that she is indeed viewing Naomi’s God as her God and she uses the divine name Yahweh. That’s why the LORD is written in all-caps. It is a stand in for God’s divine name.
May Yahweh punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” What a powerful connection! What an amazing friend!
Next week we will continue with Ruth’s story, but in closing I want to share a quote from the Faithlife Study Bible that can be found in the “Introduction to Ruth” section…
Like many stories in the Old Testament, Ruth presents an unexpected reversal of the common expectations of the time. In the patriarchal culture of ancient Israel, a childless widow like Ruth would have been limited to the lowest levels of society. Her status as a foreigner from Israel’s sometime-enemy Moab (Judg 3:12–21) would have reduced her social status even further. However, through her faithfulness to Naomi and her marriage to Boaz, she moves from the margins to mainline society.
Redemption is at the center of Ruth. At the beginning of the book, Naomi believes that Yahweh has turned against her (1:13, 20–21). Despite this, Ruth demonstrates her love by staying with Naomi instead of returning to her own family. These two marginalized women travel together to Israel in hope of a better life. Through Ruth’s kindness and self-sacrifice, God works to renew Naomi’s faith and redeem Ruth from the bleak existence of widowhood in the ancient world.
Underlying this story of redemption is Yahweh Himself, who is with His people even in foreign lands—unlike Moab’s gods. The story shows that Yahweh desires to incorporate outsiders into His people, even into the lineage of Israel’s great king, David, and its ultimate king, Jesus (Matt 1:5–6; compare Gal 3:28–29). Ruth demonstrates that Yahweh can use any of us to further His work in the world and that He will go anywhere for any of us.
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