Ruth 1:6-18, 22
SS Lesson for 12/03/2023
Devotional Scriptures: 2 Sam 15:19-22
Reading the stories of tragedy found within the Bible can offer comfort. When we see examples of how others remained faithful to God, we are inspired to persevere. And even more, when we see how God demonstrated his faithfulness to others, we can regain confidence in his provision no matter our current circumstance. We don’t need easy answers in pain; we need God’s love, often expressed through the love of other believers. Ruth’s story is one biblical example of love expressed in the after time of tragedy. The author of the book of Ruth is unknown. The date of composition has been proposed as early as King Solomon’s reign (approximately 970-930 BC) to as late as 250 BC, long after the return from Babylonian exile. This huge range speaks to the many factors one might point to as evidence of an earlier or later date as well as the text’s own ambivalence concerning these questions. The setting of the events within Ruth are comparatively much better defined as occurring during the time of the judges (Ruth 1:1), that is, sometime between 1373 and 1043 BC. The conquest of Canaan was completed with the Israelite tribes settled in the land (Joshua 23). But the Israelites experienced oppression from outside nations, Moab occasionally being one of them (example: Judges 3:12-31). The Moabites were descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot (Genesis 19:33-37). Conflict with Moab was already ancient by the time the time of the judges in Israel (Numbers 22-25). Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the Moabites were banned from entering the assembly of the Lord (Deuteronomy 2:26-30; 23:3-6), though marriage to Moabites was not banned specifically (contrast 7:1-3). Despite these deep antipathies, a persistent famine in Israel motivated a certain Naomi’s Israelite family to leave Bethlehem and settle in Moab (Ruth 1:). Ten years are covered quickly in the text, apparently beginning with the death of Naomi’s husband, Elimelek, and ending with the death of her sons (1:3, 5). In the meantime, these two sons had married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, before leaving them childless with their untimely deaths.Widowhood was an especially precarious state for women. In the ancient Near East, including both Moab and Israel, men had far more economic power than women. A woman left without male relatives to care for her could be reduced to abject poverty, and prostitution might result. Fathers or sons were the best lines of defense to protect widows; in the case of younger widows, this protection lasted until new husbands could be found (compare Genesis 38:11; Leviticus 22:13). God had given Israel specific instructions for caring for widows, both within the family and the larger community (examples: Deuteronomy 14:28-29; 24:17).
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.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
10 And they said to her, "Surely we will return with you to your people."
13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing — grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.
17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
18 Make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance.
13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
3 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
11 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?
12 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,
13 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!"
14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.
22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
8 Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
15 And she said, "Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law."
16 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.
17 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."
18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
22 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.
20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."
19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
19 The king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. 20 You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your countrymen. May kindness and faithfulness be with you." 21 But Ittai replied to the king, "As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be."
19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
37 Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." 38 Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
11 Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband — how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,
14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
A famine plagued Israel in the days of the judges. We are not told how wide-spread it was, but we do know that it affected Bethlehem (which ironically means “house of bread”). In an effort to escape the famine, a man named Elimelech took his family to Moab, where he intended for his family to sojourn until the famine ended.10 How could he have imagined how long his family would stay? Elimelech had a wife named Naomi and two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. While they were in Moab, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi and her two sons. It must have been on Naomi’s watch that these two sons married their Moabite wives – Orpah and Ruth. Naomi and her sons lived in Moab for ten years and then both Mahlon and Kilion died as well, childless. From Ruth 4:13, one might infer that God prevented both Orpah and Ruth from bearing children to their husbands. Naomi was now left without a husband, without sons, and without grandchildren.
Word had reached Naomi in Moab that God had visited His people by ending the famine and providing abundant crops back in Israel. This news prompted her to return to her people and to her land. Orpah and Ruth were committed to returning to Israel with their mother-in-law. Naomi and her two daughters-in-law had already set out for Israel when Naomi began to have second thoughts – not about her return, but about having two Moabite daughters-in-law in tow when she arrived at her home town of Bethlehem. In our text, Naomi’s conversation with her daughters-in-law is couched in language that gives the appearance that she is encouraging them to return to their families and their land because this would be in their best interest. In Naomi’s mind, it probably was in their best interest, but it also appeared to benefit her.
As they continue their journey toward Bethlehem, Naomi makes a three-fold attempt to persuade Orpah and Ruth to return to their homes, rather than to accompany her all the way back to Israel. It took two attempts to convince Orpah to turn back and three attempts to convince Naomi that her efforts to turn Ruth away were futile. Naomi’s first attempt is described in verses 8-10. She urged her daughters-in-law to return to their mother’s home, with the expectation that the LORD would bless them with security in a marriage to a new Moabite husband. She then kissed both of them, a very clear signal of dismissal. Many tears were shed, but in the end both women refused to leave Naomi and return to their mother’s home. They insisted on going on to Israel with Naomi.
Naomi’s second effort will be less subtle and more pointed and forceful. Humanly speaking, staying with Naomi does not offer much promise of a good life for these Moabite widows. Naomi doesn’t mention that these women would likely not find an Israelite husband. Neither does she mention the mistreatment they would likely receive because Moab is Israel’s enemy, but they could probably read between the lines. Who would want a Moabite wife, especially a widow? Who would want Naomi for a mother-in-law?
What Naomi does mention pertains to marriage and child bearing. The “security in the home of a new husband” referred to earlier is now spelled out in plainer terms. The only hope Naomi sees for Orpah and Ruth is the hope of finding a Moabite husband and bearing children. If Naomi had other sons, she could give them to these women in Levirate marriage, but she has no other sons. She has no husband to father sons, and she is too old to bear children anyway. Even if she were able to bear children, it would be unreasonable for these two widows to wait 20 years for “replacement husbands.” No, in Naomi’s mind there was no good reason to remain with her as she returned to her homeland.
Naomi adds one final argument in favor of Orpah and Ruth returning home to Moab. Not only is Naomi unable to provide these women with husbands (and thus with children), God is also dealing harshly with her. The inference is clear: to remain with Naomi has no promise of blessing and every reason to expect that they will share in her divinely-imposed affliction. If God has it in for Naomi, what woman in her right mind would want to be closely associated with her?
More tears are shed. This time it is Orpah who kisses Naomi goodbye. She has been convinced and turns back to her own country. One has to ponder the outcome of her decision. Surely it fell short of what Ruth’s experience will be. Who thinks of Orpah today? Who even remembers her name?
Naomi’s third appeal is to Ruth alone, based on Orpah’s decision to return home. As Orpah kisses Naomi goodbye and turns back toward home, Ruth clings all the more tightly to her mother-in-law. Naomi seems to be encouraging Ruth to accompany Orpah as she returns home. It certainly would be safer for the two women to travel together, but it is Orpah who will travel alone, not Ruth.
We should note several things about Naomi’s third attempt to persuade Ruth to join Orpah as she returned to Moab in verse 15. We should first note that Naomi’s words here are prompted by Orpah’s decision to return home. Now that Orpah has decided to turn back, Naomi appears to have more leverage. Shouldn’t Ruth follow her lead? Wouldn’t it be better for the two of them to travel together? But Ruth refuses to abandon Naomi and clings to her tightly. Second, Naomi’s words are even more forceful here, issuing Ruth a command to leave her. But the most dramatic new development in Naomi’s argument is her reference to Orpah’s “god”: “So Naomi said, ‘Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!’” (Ruth 1:15)
Without a doubt, this is the most amazing and distressing thing Naomi has said so far. How could any faithful Israelite encourage someone to return to their (false) god(s)? A godly Israelite would not only trust in the one true God, Yahweh, they would also know that there are no other gods. How could Naomi encourage Ruth (and, by inference, Orpah) to return to their god(s), when doing so would condemn them eternally? Serving the god(s) of Moab (or any others) was an abomination to God:
“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
“Pay attention to do everything I have told you, and do not even mention the names of other gods– do not let them be heard on your lips” (Exodus 23:13).
“You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces” (Exodus 23:24).
1 When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. 2 These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel. 4 The LORD said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the LORD in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal-peor” (Numbers 25:1-5).
Once again I would suggest that Naomi’s strong urging for Ruth and Orpah to return was as much for her interests as for her daughters-in-law. They would be a reminder that Naomi’s sons – their husbands – had not married Israelite wives. They would be a reminder that Elimelech and Naomi had left Bethlehem when the going got tough. They would be (or so it may have seemed to Naomi) a liability to her when she returned. But when she urged Ruth to return to her pagan god(s), that was the worst unkindness of all. Their ultimate blessing would have been to leave their land, their people, their false religion, and to identify with the Israelites and with their God. How could Naomi point them in the wrong direction?
Ruth would have none of this foolish talk, and she made this abundantly clear to her mother-in-law. First, she insisted that Naomi must cease urging her to turn back. Then she firmly stated her commitment to Naomi, to Israel, and to Israel’s God as a covenant. She would go where Naomi went and live where she lived. Naomi’s people (Israel) would be her people, and Naomi’s God would be her God. Ruth would not only do this until death separated them, she would do so in death. She would be buried where Naomi was buried. Not even death would separate them. And in good covenant form, she pronounced a curse upon herself if she did otherwise. No wonder Naomi finally ceased trying to convince her to turn back (verse 18).
The two women, now forever bound together by Ruth’s covenant, continued on their way until they reached Bethlehem. As they entered Bethlehem, they became the talk of the town. It had been at least ten years since Naomi and her family had left them. Obviously, Naomi had changed. “Can this be Naomi?” they asked (verse 19). My impression is that Naomi had changed not only in her appearance (she may not have aged well in Moab), but also in spirit. Naomi told her friend not to call her “Naomi” (which means “pleasant”) any longer, but rather to call her “Mara” (which means “bitter”). Naomi also made it clear that this was because (in her mind) God had dealt harshly with her. Naomi measured God’s blessing only in terms of food and of family. She was “full” when she had a husband and two sons; now she was “empty,” for all she had was Ruth. How wrong Naomi was.
The chapter ends with the author’s assessment of where things stand, with a hint of what lies ahead. Naomi returned to her homeland accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth. They arrived, in fact, just in time for the barley harvest. They came “empty” (at least according to Naomi’s assessment – see verse 21), but God would not let them go hungry (or childless). The barley harvest will play a significant role in moving this story forward in the next two chapters.
(Adapted from URL:https://bible.org/seriespage/1-return-bethlehem-ruth-1)
We are created to be in community with God and with others. Ruth’s faithfulness to the Lord and to Naomi is an example to all of what living and loving in community might require of us. Ruth’s words and actions demonstrated true commitment to carrying Naomi’s burdens (compare Galatians 6:2). Showing up in the midst of pain and anguish is difficult, especially if we are dealing with our own feelings of loss. How we respond to tragedy will determine whether we are following Ruth’s example as she followed Christ’s example without even knowing her many-times great grandson (see lesson 3; 1 Corinthians 11:1).