Ruth 1 Bible Study

This morning we're going to be beginning a new study in the book of Ruth. We're going through the

Old Testament here on Wednesday mornings, chapter by chapter, so we ended the book of Judges last week, so let's open up to the book of Ruth, Chapter 1.

Ruth is one of two books in the Bible that are named after women, the other being

Esther. So the setting for the book of Ruth is the time period of the Judges.

We don't know who wrote Ruth. Ruth did not write the book of Ruth. I think just about everybody agrees with that, but some speculate that Samuel could be the author.

And if that's true, while the setting is sometime during that 450 years of the

Judges, it would have been written down. If Samuel is the author, it would have been written down at the very end of that period since Samuel was the last judge before the monarchy.

So the book of Ruth, you could say it's a love story, but also like all of the

Old Testament books, the book of Ruth points ahead to Christ. So here's a brief summary.

The setting for the book begins in the heathen nation of Moab. A famine forces

Elimelech and his wife Naomi from their Israelite homeland to the country of Moab.

Elimelech dies and Naomi is left with her two sons who soon marry two

Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Later, both of the sons die and Naomi is left alone with Orpah and Ruth in a strange land.

Now remember, Naomi is an Israelite. Orpah and Ruth are

Moabites who married into an Israelite family. So after their husbands die,

Orpah returns to her Moabite homeland, to her Moabite parents, but Ruth determines to stay with Naomi as they journey toward Bethlehem.

So Ruth tells her Jewish mother -in -law, your people shall be my people and your

God, my God. So this story of love and devotion tells of Ruth's eventual marriage to a wealthy man named

Boaz, by whom she bears a son, Obed, who becomes the grandfather of David, Israel's great king.

And in this, Ruth is privileged to be included in the lineage of Israel's Messiah, the

Lord Jesus Christ. So let's read the entire first chapter, starting in Ruth chapter one,

Ruth chapter one, starting in verse one. The book of Ruth, now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

The name of the man was Elimelech. The name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were

Marlon and Killian, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah, and they went to the country of Moab and remained there.

Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left and her two sons.

Now they took wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other,

Ruth, and they dwelt there about ten years. Then both

Marlon and Killian also died, so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

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.

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. Surely we will return with you to your people.

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. Then they lifted up their voices and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother -in -law.

But Ruth clung to her. Look, your sister -in -law has gone back to her people and to her gods.

Return after your sister -in -law. 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.

When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. 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? Do not call me Naomi.

Call me Mara. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the

Lord has brought me home again, empty. Why do you call me

Naomi? Since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter -in -law with her, who returned from the country of Moab.

Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Okay, so why is this

Jewish family in the land of Moab to begin with? And by the way,

I think it's worth pointing out that they actually were not called Jews at this point. That's how usually people refer to Naomi.

It's Ruth's Jewish mother -in -law. But actually, the term Jew doesn't show up in the Bible until the 5th or 6th century after the kingdom is divided.

So Israel to the north, Judah to the south. So Jew comes from Judah, those who lived in the southern nation of Judah.

So at this point, they're called Hebrews or Israelites. But that being the case, why are they in Moab?

Well, because there was a famine in the land of Israel. A famine, if you remember, is what caused

Abraham to travel to Egypt. A famine is what caused the family of Jacob to dwell in Egypt.

So now it's causing them to live in the land of Moab. And God had promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they had been promised the land of Canaan.

And also a covenant was made with the children of Israel through Moses that they, if they would be faithful to God, that they would dwell in the land and that they would be blessed in the land.

So the fact that Jews were having to leave, or Israelites having to leave the land of Canaan, it tells you the condition of things.

If they were not being blessed in the land, if there was this famine, and it was so bad they had to go to Moab, that tells you that God was likely judging the nation at this point.

Remember from our study in the book of Judges, this was a very dark time.

Instead of being faithful to God, the people just did whatever they wanted. This time period was characterized by each man did what was right in his own eyes.

And here, in this book, Ruth, Ruth ends up being a very faithful and godly woman, but she was a

Moabite. So you have the Israelites, they travel to Moab, one of the sons marries a

Moabite woman, and Ruth ends up being very, very godly.

In fact, she is adopted into the nation of Israel. And it's really a story.

One thing the book of Ruth does, it's a story how even in the Old Testament, we think it's, well, it's all about the

Jews, it's all about Israel. Well, yeah, there's truth to that. But a non -Israelite could be converted and brought into the nation of Israel.

So we see that. It's not so important, you know, who your parents are.

The real issue is who is your God, and are you faithful to him? So in this way,

Ruth is a foretaste of the Gentiles who will convert under the new covenant.

But the chapter starts out with this famine. And I just think it's interesting.

Starts out with the famine, in the middle of the chapter, Naomi is traveling to Jerusalem, which means house of bread.

And then, actually, Bethlehem means house of bread, sorry.

But they're traveling, and at the end of the chapter, they return, and it says it's at the beginning of barley harvest.

So the hard times, the point is, the hard times don't last. Because God is sovereign, and because he cares for his people, the burdens, they turn into blessings.

So the sovereignty of God, here's another theme throughout the book, the sovereignty of God is seen throughout.

More on that later. So Ruth chapter 1, verse 1, it says, Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land.

So again, time period of the judges, Acts chapter 13, verse 20, the apostle Paul said this time period lasted 450 years.

There's some debate on that, whether it's 400, 430, 450, but that's not really relevant to our study here this morning.

The number obviously would depend on exactly when do you start. When do you mark the beginning of this period, and when does it end?

And it doesn't say that the famine was the judgment of God, although I think it's assumed. It's also assumed by, it isn't that interesting, if you really stop and think about it.

When we read the Bible, we have certain assumptions, don't we? And I think we need to be careful about our assumptions.

Because there's another assumption here made by Naomi. She assumes that the death of her husband, and the death of her two sons, mean that God is against her.

Okay, so my loved ones died. God's hand is heavy upon me. God is against me.

That seems to be how she feels. Matter of fact, she wants to change her name.

Naomi is a name that means something good. Mara is a name that means something bad.

So she tells them, call me Mara. Mara basically means bitter.

She says in verse 20, do not call me Naomi, call me Mara. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Now that's how she feels. But it's an assumption that God is punishing her.

She feels like God is against her for some reason.

She doesn't get into that. But we've talked about this before. So remember, it's dangerous to make too many assumptions.

But we've talked about this before, that in Scripture, just because a man of God or a woman of God does something, it doesn't necessarily make it right.

And just because somebody in the Bible says something, it doesn't necessarily make it true.

You know, there's a lot of statements in the Bible that are actually false, but they're either assumptions of the person making a false assumption, or it's disillusionment, or it's

Satan telling a lie. So there are things in the Bible that are stated that are not true.

But the Bible, here's the thing, but the Bible never presents lies as though they were truth.

So Naomi says, God is against me, basically. Well, is that true?

Not necessarily. Another example for a member,

Jacob, David, Solomon, all those men practice polygamy. It doesn't mean that it was the right thing to do.

So you can't make all of these assumptions. Solomon said things in the book of Ecclesiastes that were not necessarily true.

He was reflecting upon his life while lived in disobedience to God. So that's maybe how he felt in the moment.

And those words are recorded in Scripture. He may have thought they were true in the moment, but they're not true.

So the fact that Naomi thinks that God is against her, point is, that's

Naomi speaking. That's not God speaking. So you have to distinguish when interpreting the

Bible, you have to distinguish who's saying it. And does the narrator of Scripture say that this is true?

So if the narrator of Scripture says something is true, then it's true. If God says something, then it's true.

If it's the apostles teaching in an authoritative manner, written down, inspired by the

Holy Spirit, it's true. But just because somebody in the Bible says something, doesn't necessarily mean it's correct.

Okay, hopefully that's not too confusing. I don't think it is. So whatever the details are, we don't have why she thinks this.

But her husband dies, both of her sons die. She's not feeling very good about things.

God is against me. And this leaves her alone with her two daughters, Orpah and Ruth.

And they're living in a strange land, the land of Moab. So Orpah is one daughter,

Ruth is the other. And by the way, it's Orpah, not Oprah. Although Oprah Winfrey was named after this

Bible character. And there is, I guess, a connection that they're both apostates.

Because Orpah professed faith in the true God, Jehovah. And then she went back to worship the gods of the

Moabites. And of course, Oprah claimed to be a Christian. And then, of course, fell away into New Age and promoting immorality, etc.

But just in case somebody was thinking I'm mispronouncing it. No, it's Orpah, O -R -P -A -H.

But Orpah, here's another thing that Naomi does that's wrong. She tells Orpah and Ruth to go back to Moab, go back to your gods.

That was not the right thing to do. Ruth, however, remains faithful.

Orpah does go back to worship the gods of the Moabites. But Ruth remains faithful.

Ruth remains faithful to the true God, Jehovah of the

Israelites. So I think it has to be said that by Naomi telling them to go back and return to their deities, that was the wrong thing to do.

Because the deity of the main deity of the Moabites was Chemosh, who demanded child sacrifice.

So telling them to go back to worship those deities, yeah. People in the book of Judges in that time period, they said and did a lot of things that weren't right.

But let's give the benefit of the doubt for a moment. I don't think

Naomi wanted them to worship Chemosh. This is bad advice. I don't think that's what she wanted.

It wasn't so much that. It's that Naomi, I think she feels that she just has nothing to offer them.

Orpah and Ruth are still fairly young. They have no children. So the best thing to do in Naomi's mind,

I think this is, in a sense, it is a gracious gesture.

She tells them, return to your people. That way you can get remarried and have a family. Because back then, that's what every woman wanted, to get married and have kids.

That's what life was all about. They weren't as interested in shattering glass ceilings.

I'm not worried about my kids. I'm focused on my career right now. That wasn't a thing back then, obviously.

So Naomi, she feels that these two young women have a long life ahead of them.

So she says, don't worry about me. Just go back. I think in her mind, she's trying to do the right thing.

Listen, God is against me. So if you stay here with me, things aren't going well.

So you're better off without me. So Naomi hears that the famine was over in Israel.

So she figures that they'll part ways and she'll go back to Israel and finish her life out there.

And this is what needs to be done. At which point, verse 9 says that she kisses her daughter -in -law and they lifted up their voices and wept.

So this is an emotional time. Orpah kisses Naomi and then she leaves.

But in verse 14, it says, Ruth clung to her. And Naomi says to Ruth, look, your sister -in -law has gone back.

You go back to return after your sister -in -law. And this is when you get that great statement.

What is probably the most memorable verse in the entire book. Where Ruth says, entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you.

Wherever I go or wherever you go, I will go. And here it is. Your people shall be my people and your

God, my God. Commentator Matthew Henry writes this.

He says, see Ruth's resolution and her good affection to Naomi.

Orpah did not wish to part from her, yet she did not love her well enough to leave

Moab for her sake. Thus, many have a value and affection for Christ, yet come short of salvation by Him because they will not forsake other things for Him.

They love Christ, yet leave Him because they do not love Him enough, but love other things better.

Ruth, however, is an example of the grace of God, inclining the soul to choose the better part.

Naomi could desire no more than the solemn declaration Ruth made.

See the power of resolution. It silences temptation. Those that go in a religious way without a steadfast mind stand like a door half open, which invites a thief.

But resolution shuts and bolts the door and resists the devil and forces him to flee.

I think that's a powerful statement. Orpah did the wrong thing. She basically committed apostasy.

But Ruth, she did the right thing. And presumably, Ruth had converted before she got married.

She got married to a Hebrew husband, but now she's either...

I would see it more as a recommitting herself. A reaffirmation of her faith in Jehovah that, no,

Naomi, your God will be my God. Or it could be. It could be that this is the first time that Ruth is making this decision for herself, on her own, from her heart.

Maybe she became an Israelite. Maybe she started worshiping the God of Israel because she was so in love with her husband.

Maybe that was the original motivation. We don't know. But at the very least, she is now making that decision.

She's either recommitting or making that decision for herself now. And this is a principle that every person who calls themselves a

Christian... We all need to make sure that we made that decision to be a

Christian. That we made that decision for ourselves. You know, many people reach that point.

Whether they were born and raised in the faith, not knowing anything else. But maybe they're in the faith.

They were born in it. But they remain half -hearted until later in life they trust Christ.

Having a faith, not of their parents, but of their own. Now it's personal. Or people will convert to Christianity because they want to marry someone who just so happens to be a

Christian. Maybe they don't have a strong conviction against it. But they don't necessarily have a strong conviction for it.

They don't oppose it, so they marry a Christian. They go along with it, I'm a Christian because I married a Christian.

Or I'm a Christian because I was born and raised in a Christian household. Or whatever the case.

But at some point, it must become your faith. At some point, it must become personal.

So if it hadn't become personal yet for Ruth, it's personal now.

She's making that decision for herself. By saying to her mother -in -law,

Your people shall be my people. And your God, my God. There's a lot of people that were raised in the faith.

But they didn't have a born -again experience or a personal conversion experience until much later on.

I think this is a good time to think about that and to talk about it. For you to meditate upon this for yourself.

And just ask yourself. Maybe no one's ever asked you, but if somebody did ask you today,

Why are you a Christian? What would you say? Well, it's because my parents were.

Wrong answer. Well, that might be your answer. But that's not the right answer.

Because it's not showing that you have made the decision yourself. Or, well, you know, I married into it.

Or, well, see, this wouldn't work anymore. But people, well, I'm a Christian. I mean, I'm an

American, aren't I? Aren't all Americans Christians? 50 years ago, that might have worked.

It wouldn't work right now. But what if somebody asked you, why are you a Christian?

Are you a Christian because you married into it? Because you were born into it? Or have you made that personal decision for yourself?

That the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is now your God. And that the Father of the

Lord Jesus, He is now your Father. Because you have placed all of your trust.

You have personally placed all of your trust in Christ. In His death on the cross for the forgiveness of sin.

In His resurrection on the third day for our justification. You know, sadly, there are many people like Orpah.

Who did profess the faith at one point. They did profess to follow the true

God. But for whatever reason, they walked away. Orpah left her mother -in -law.

And returned to the Moabites. And to the Moabite gods. And you know, even if she did get remarried.

And had children. As far as the word of God is concerned. Orpah, her story is over.

But Ruth, Ruth's story is just beginning. Because of Ruth's profession of faith.

And her obedience to follow. Which validated that her faith was real.

Ruth's story, it's just the beginning. In the next chapter, she will meet

Boaz. Who will act as kinsmen redeemer. Who according to God's law.

The kinsmen redeemer have the privilege and responsibility. To act on behalf of a relative who is in need.

And Boaz by taking Ruth as his bride. Will be that picture of Christ.

Who redeems his church. Christ redeems his bride. Delivering us from our need.