Ruth & Naomi Ruth 1:1-5
The Book of Ruth is a fairly short book and I encourage you to take ten minutes and read it. I just read a short introduction to the book but I’m going to work through the whole first chapter.
Naomi and her husband and sons left their home in Judah because of a famine. They moved to Moab among the Gentiles to try and better their fortunes. While there Naomi’s two sons married Moabite women.
I noticed that nowhere in these descriptive sentences does it say that they kept God present in their lives, this I think is important. The family left their home and moved to a pagan area. Basically when things got difficult in their lives they left their faith behind and started to rely on themselves and the ideas and style of those around them. Ultimately Naomi’s husband and sons died leaving her empty and in a desperate position.
What a commentary on our present day. I know people who have walked away from their faith because their life had changed, things became difficult. When the hardships came they saw God as absent and they walked away from him. Others I know tell me God is harsh because of the pain and hate they see in the world; how could God let such things happen?
Genesis 9:6, “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed…” And Genesis 9:11, “I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed…” God sees what we do to each other, but God allows us to suffer for what we do and I believe it’s because he wants us to learn from the pain and grief we inflict on our own humanity. The greatest sin is after all this time we don’t seem to learn. But God is holy and he vowed he will not interfere in our decisions and actions against each other, he will let the world resound with the actions of our own choosing. These people I know fail to see God as the strength to pass through the famines in life. They rely on their own determination and efforts to force their life into the mold they desire.
Many people today turn from God and lean on “new age” teachings. I’ve come to see new age practices as the newest in deceptions the deceiver has devised to lure people from the truth. In Genesis Satan convinces Adam and Eve that by their own actions outside of God they can be like God; Genesis 3:5, “…when you eat from it…you will be like God…” New age teachings tell us that without a thought of God we can by the things we do become enlightened and God – like. It is my belief that like Naomi; ultimately those who follow this belief system will find themselves empty and desperate. Now it can be true that we can see those who mock Christianity seemingly getting everything they want but we must hold fast to the truth that our reward for faith is salvation and eternity in heaven; Jesus tells us this truth in Matthew 7:23, “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evil doers!’”
But now Naomi sees her upbringing and past as a possible solution to her circumstances. She and her two daughters in law head back to Bethlehem. But if you read the story you will see Naomi isn’t “all in” with her faith. She is still not seeing God as the strength and solution to her problems, she still sees God as the creator of her problems. Ruth 1:14, “It is more bitter for me than for you because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”
In this same scene Naomi’s two daughters in law, Orpah and Ruth also show us what happens to us by our decision to be all in or not. Ruth 1:14, “Then Orpah kissed her mother in law goodbye…” and we never hear of her again.
Ruth 1:16-18, “Where you go I will go, where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die and there I will be buried.” Ruth is “all in.” But this “all in” has two angles in which it can be looked at. First, Ruth says that she will make Naomi’s God her God even as she was not raised to know Israel’s God. Ruth may not understand the laws of Moses and yet she pledges her life and fidelity to the God of Israel.
We may not always understand God’s way. We may not be able to see the grand plan God has set in motion with us and around us. We may not know or be able to foresee the outcome; but our devotion and fidelity should be placed on God.
The second perspective of this scene is this; Ruth may not understand God but she understands love, loyalty, devotion and the lesson men will be taught in Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan. Ruth saw Naomi’s need, she felt love for her and she put Naomi’s needs above her own. Ruth was, before the words were ever spoken, living the commandment of “love your neighbor.”
In both of these perspectives; Ruth accepting God and Ruth living God’s commandments, by the end of her story she is richly rewarded. When we follow God and accept Jesus as our savior we are rewarded with grace and salvation. When we follow Christ’s commands and live according to our Christian ideals we are rewarded with the knowledge that we bring honor to the creator of the universe.
So as we look at this story we can see that Naomi’s life isn’t going according to her plan. Her husband and sons have died, she is an untenable situation and now she is making a long and difficult journey with her daughter in law in tow. Difficult circumstances to be sure. We can find ourselves in similar situations. There was a time when my first marriage was dissolving, I didn’t get to see my children as often as I wanted, between child support, lawyers and furnishing an apartment my finances were in shambles. It seemed as if everything in my life was conspiring against me.
I’m not the only one. Each of us can have life come against us and when we do we can fall into the opinion that somehow we deserve it or that we’re not worthy of anything better. And as Christians it can be easy to start thinking God feels this way about us too. As we look to Naomi we see she shares this very human error in thinking.
Then when Naomi arrives in Bethlehem she is greeted by friends excited to see her after all those years; Ruth 1:19, “…the women exclaimed ‘Can this be Naomi?’” And Naomi responds to her friends not with “Hi, great to see you again,” Ruth 1:20, “Don’t call me Naomi…call me Mara…”
In Hebrew Naomi means delight or sweet or pleasant, Mara means bitter. And why does Naomi want this change in her name? Ruth 1:21, “The Lord has afflicted me, the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” Again we have Naomi seeing God as the producer of her misfortune rather than the strength to survive a fallen world’s tragedies. By changing to Mara, Naomi stopped seeing herself as a blessed person of God. She now sees herself as beaten down and unable to gain happiness.
During my research I found something interesting. Mara is also the name of a South American burrowing rodent. This made me see that for all of us, the deceiver sends these feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy: the deceiver sends thoughts of an absent or vengeful God. And if we let them these feelings can burrow in our consciousness until they take up permanent residence.
Naomi wants the world to see her by the way she sees herself; Mara. But if you read the Book of Ruth you will notice that whenever God refers to her he always calls her Naomi. No matter the trouble or the pain in our lives we must know, we must believe, we must trust that God is with us. God is the strength we must rely on to persevere against Satan and the things he brings against us. Praise God for he never sees us as defeated, he always sees us as his children; loved, preserved and cherished.
Some people love this story because of how Ruth comes out on top at the end. Some people dismiss the historical books of the Bible like Ruth because they see them as just stories about people long dead, stories with no theological meaning. We can see the error in this point of view. We have seen this chapter is rich in information for us and about us.
Today the people in our story have shown us truths about our being. Don’t be deceived by Satan and begin to rely on your own efforts or on others for satisfaction and provision in your life; rely on God and his providence for eternal provision.
We live in a fallen world and our faith is the solution to our deficient circumstances but we have to be “all in.” Believe you are a child of God and that the creator of the universe loves you. Don’t believe the lies of the deceiver and don’t sell yourself short.
We should be devoted and trusting of God even when we can’t see the solution or when we are unsure of the outcome because the eventual outcome is eternal life and perfection in heaven.
And last, know who you are. Do not define yourself by others ideas about you, do not define yourself by the circumstances of your life; good or bad. Do define yourself as a child of the Most High God; a person who is loved, cherished, provided for and wanted by the creator of the universe. Romans 8:17, “…we are heirs…of God and co-heirs with Christ.”
May God continue to bless you all,
Amen.