Times were hard so Elimelech took his family to Moab, which was a pagan land, hardly the best move. The Moabites according to Genesis 19:37 were the descendants of Lot’s eldest daughter born of her incestuous act of sex with her father, Lot, whom she had got drunk in that he lost his inhibitions yet knew what he was doing because she got him sexually aroused to have intercourse with her. Moving from the land promised to their forefathers in a ‘downward’ direction to a land which they had problems with on their journey from Egypt many years before. I believe the word ‘sojourn’ (v1) indicates that it wasn’t meant to be a permanent move, but it didn’t turn out that way. In v2 it says that they stayed there, and tragedy struck whilst there. Elimelech means ‘God is King’ but it is a pity he didn’t put into practice the meaning of his name. Rather than trusting in God and staying in Bethlehem he took his family to this Godless land.
Elimelech’s wife was Naomi (pleasant) and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion (their names unusually meant, ‘sickness’ and ‘pining away’). Whilst in Moab Elimelech died (v2-5) and Naomi was left widowed with two sons. They both married wives from Moab, Orpah and Ruth. Ruth was a descendant of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, through his incestuous relationship with his daughter whilst drunk (Genesis 19:30-37). She is a Gentile. We are told that they stayed there ten years, whether that was in total or after they married, I don’t know but suffice it to say, both sons died there too. It is clear that the move did not bring a great success. Naomi was left to bring up two boys alone and when they died leaving three women to fend for themselves, it was far from easy.
How important that our children seek God’s choice for partners. I’ve often said that if one goes into the world to look for a partner, the devil will see to it that we find one. We cannot run away from problems we must face them. I know we shall see that Ruth turned out to be a follower of God but that seemed to be after her husband had died.
In those days it was quite a desperate situation for widows to be childless, without support. Naomi was in a foreign country and unlike today, there were no benefits. Naomi made a big decision – to go back home and take her daughters-in-law with her (v6,7). She had heard that God had provided bread back home, so they set out on the journey to Judah. I don’t know if they ran out of ‘bread’ in Moab, but whatever the situation, she obviously persuaded her daughters-in-law to start out with her on the journey. Naomi could have stayed in Moab but the news from Judah was attractive, and she considered that it would be much better to go home where she would have old friends assuming that they would accept her after ‘running away’. She went back wanting to be part of what God was doing in Judah.
One assumes they started out the journey together as Naomi told the two young women to return home (v8,9). There was no animosity. She wished them well and thanked them for their kindness to her sons and to her. She wished God’s blessing on them, kissed them and they wept together. It was sensible for them to stay with their people, they could find new husbands and have children.
However, they wanted to go with Naomi “And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” Naomi spoke sensibly and said that she was too old to have any more children and even if she could, would they wait for them to be their husbands or, as the laws stated, that the husband’s brother could have a son who could be their husband. “No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!” She evidently felt that what had happened to her family came because they were disobedient in leaving Bethlehem and marrying their sons to Moabite women. She took the blame for their predicament (v10-13) that The Lord had gone out from them and turned against them. One thing to her credit, she didn’t stay where she was but went back to God’s people and showed that she trusted God and believed He would bless her if she turned back to Him despite having been disobedient.
They wept with each other again (v14) obviously feeling deeply for each other. However, Orpah decided to return to Moab and left with a kiss, but Ruth clung to Naomi. They both had a choice and they both felt a great deal for their mother-in-law but came to different decisions. There always comes a time when when we have to make a choice and put our feelings into action. We need to put our faith into action. God didn’t just say that He loved us, He did something about it in sending his Son to die for us.
We don’t know what happened to Orpah as we read nothing further about her. One can’t blame Orpah in returning home, she was quite young and thought of her own future. Maybe her love for her mother-in-law wasn’t sufficient to make the big step of going to another country. No doubt her father’s home was still available to her and even though she obviously loved her mother-in-law she felt unable to go all the way and leave her people where her marriage prospects may have been better. We don’t read that Orpah became a follower of the LORD.
Naomi tried to persuade Ruth to go back to her people in Moab too (v15-18). I’ve no doubt that Naomi was wanting Ruth to go with her, but she was being fair to her. Naomi had painted a bleak future with probably a life of widowhood and childlessness, new people, new customs and a new language. What a contrast between Orpah and Ruth. Ruth replied with an amazing statement, one which has become quite famous and memorable; words which have come down through the centuries. It shows a remarkable statement of loyalty to her mother-in-law. Naomi must have been overwhelmed by her reply, in fact she was probably left speechless as the final sentence indicates – “And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 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.” When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.”
What a statement of commitment this was! Does our commitment to The Lord measure up to this? Are we willing to sacrifice all for Him? Faith sees beyond the setbacks and gives courage.
Not only was Ruth pledging allegiance to Naomi but also to Naomi’s God, which was quite remarkable. The actions of Naomi and her husband had not been a very good example of commitment to God, and we don’t know if their two sons followed the LORD, but, whatever the situation, there must have been something that attracted her to Naomi’s God. It is a wonderful testimony that people we meet want to follow our God. Things had not been plain sailing because of their disobedience but, nevertheless, Ruth recognised the true God and wanted to follow Him. Even though things had been tough, Ruth realised that even though things had gone wrong, the only God she could put her trust in was The One True God.
The Old Testament law said that the people of Israel must not make allegiance with Moabites. This not negating God’s law, but the only exception was for those who put their trust in The Living God as in the case of Ruth. One writer has said, ‘If Ruth was brought into the family by sin, it is doubly amazing that she is to become the grandmother of David and an ancestor of Jesus. Don’t ever think that the sin of your past means there is no hope for the future.’
We must bear in mind that we cannot expect to influence others for Christ if we are disobedient to Him. The Bible is clear that Christians should not be unequally yoked to unbelievers. From my experience this rarely works – many of my friends and family courted and married unbelievers and, even though they determined that they would, did not win them for The Lord, in fact, sadly, the opposite happened. It seems to me that Ruth decided to follow only when Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem and to her Lord. We could say that Naomi repented from her sinful disobedience and her repentance was the witness to Ruth and the encouragement for her to trust in The Living God.
We must not think that this will always be the case if we disobey The Lord, it is not worth the risk. Nothing can lead to disaster like going against God’s Word and will. It is not a blueprint for a Christian. C.H. Spurgeon once said, “Ah! You will never win any soul to the right by a compromise with the wrong. It is a decision for Christ and his truth that has the greatest power in the family, and the greatest power in the world, too.”
Naomi and Ruth set out and went to Bethlehem (v19-21) which was no easy journey and a long walk. It was not free from danger, they would have to cross two rivers, the Jordan and the Arnon and it would be at least fifty miles. When they arrived the people of the town were excited to see Naomi. They wouldn’t necessarily know who Ruth was, as perhaps she was a total stranger. Naomi had left more than ten years before and the boys had married after they moved to Moab. Naomi (whose name means ‘pleasant’) asked them not to call her Naomi but Mara (which means ‘bitter”). I believe she is being honest – she went out with plenty but came back empty as The LORD had dealt bitterly with her since the move to Moab. It had been a bad move and she admitted it and, no doubt, regretted it. She had come to realise that God was the true God and she was safer in His hands. It doesn’t appear that Naomi was bitter against God, but against herself for her disobedience. The most important thing is to confess it and return to God. She wanted to put things right between God and herself and because we know how the story unfolds we will see that God blessed her more than she could imagine.
How important that when we have gone away from God, like the prodigal son, realise our guilt and in repentance turn to God and return to Him knowing that He will receive us and restore us. The prodigal son came to his spiritual senses, but it was not enough for him to just say it, he had to do something by returning home. True repentance is an about turn and this we see with Naomi –
“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” (v22). If she had simply thought about it and stayed in Moab with good intentions, it is doubtful that none of what happened afterwards would have been her experience. God was going to bring about amazing things. Naomi recognised that they had made mistakes, but she returned submitting to God’s will. The barley harvest would be the time of the Passover, which was precious to the Jews, commemorating their release from Egypt by God’s mighty hand.
Unknown to Ruth and Naomi we see in this little book the picture of the most important decision we will ever take and relationship we will ever enter into – us and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer. Not only that but we get a glimpse of the important link in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus. We also see the wonderful act of redemption that comes to us through Him.
