Turn for Food
Preached by Jason Abbott
April 14, 2013
Ruth 1:6-18
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. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May 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 of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake 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.
15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where 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. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
1. Naomi is a wavering witness (vv. 8-15).
Here in the narrative we find that there is now food in Israel; God has provided a ray of hope. So Naomi turns to go home. Her daughters-in-law decide to accompany her to Israel. However, while on the way, Naomi begins to try and convince them to go back to Moab. She begins to argue that it would be better for her Moabite daughters to remain in familiar territory.
a. Don’t follow me (vv. 8-13).
Naomi initially begins to dissuade her daughters-in-law with a logical argument. She basically says, “Go to where you have the best future. Go to where you might find a husband and prosperity and safety. Moab presents a better chance for you than do I and Israel.”
Her reasoning is actually quite good. In a patriarchal society, like Israel and Moab would have been, a woman’s provision and protection was largely provided in relationship to a man. Thus first the father would provide and protect then the husband then the oldest son. If a woman was unable to be married then her provision and protection was to be provided for by her oldest brother when her father passed away. 1
So it is that Naomi reasons with her daughters-in-law: “Your best bet is to find another husband and I am not able to give you one. Therefore, you should go back to your home and find provision and protection there and maybe even another husband in time.” In fact, it may be that the strange expression:
Go, return each of you to her mother's house (v. 8).
…as opposed to father’s house, is “some custom according to which the ‘mother’s house’—probably her bedroom, not a separate building—was the place where marriages were arranged.”2
Yet, no matter if this is the case or not, clearly the context indicates that Naomi reasons that her daughters-in-law would be (according to human reason) in better shape in Moab without her than in Israel with her.
This brings us to her second argument against them going:
b. Yahweh is against me (v. 13).
Here we are able to peer more deeply into Naomi’s heart. She has been hurt and she sees God as against her. So she argues against them coming because God is against her. Look at the text with me:
No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me (v. 13).
The NIV translates the same sentence a bit more naturally:
No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone out against me (v. 13).
What is Naomi saying here? What is her argument to her daughters-in-law? She basically argues, “Look if the Lord is against me then you don’t want to team up with me! It would be ludicrous to do so!” She is basically saying, “It is God who has done this to me!”
Before we judge Naomi too quickly, let’s consider our own experiences of pain and loss in order to see application points. Most of us have questioned whether God was for or against us at some difficult time in our lives. One of the most common questions in the Psalms is “How long oh Lord?” In short, how long will you wait to deal with injustice or to judge the wicked or to vindicate the righteous or to alleviate my pain?
This is a natural question for those who are in a dark place and who do not see in full. When we are in a situation like Naomi’s—when the answer is a long time in coming and when relief seems far away—then it becomes easier and easier to doubt that God is for us and easier and easier to believe that God is against us!
So when you are caring for someone in the darkest of places, be willing to speak truth in the most gracious and loving ways. Do not be harsh! Be gentle and compassionate and empathetic! Journey with them like Ruth journeys with Naomi here!
And when you are the one in a dark place, remember that you are not alone. Remember that you have a Savior who experienced unimaginable suffering and pain for you, who knew what it felt like to be abandoned—My God, my God, why have you forsaken me (Mark 15:33)?
So instead of judging Naomi here, we must be willing to identify with her and love her even as Jesus has identified with and loved us. No because of it!
This brings us to Naomi’s third argument against journeying back to Israel with her. This argument is made after Orpah turned back so only Ruth is present to hear it. Naomi basically says:
c. Go back to your people and gods (v. 15).
This is a nationalistic and religious argument. Naomi urges Ruth:
See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law (v. 15).
I think what Naomi is appealing to here is comfort and ease. Again, this makes a lot of sense in the eyes of the world, but this is (spiritually speaking) the most foolish and insensitive argument Naomi makes! She says, “It will be easier for you to live in Moab with other Moabites! It will be easier for you to continue worshiping your gods than to change your worship practices!”
This is completely true if all gods are equal. But, it is highly unlikely that Naomi believes that!!! Instead, Naomi operates as a practical atheist here. She believes in one true God; she believes in Yahweh; but, she acts as if the truth of his existence has no real consequence for Ruth. She acts as if enjoying personal comfort and peace is of primary importance. She calls herself one thing and behaves like another.
In application, let’s recognize that this is something we do too. In the church today, there are constantly ways that we are behaving as practical atheists—confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and behaving as if his existence doesn’t matter.
Do you consistently hesitate to share the gospel with your non-believing friends because you are scared of hurting your relationship with them?
When something goes wrong (e.g. a problem at work, a problem in your marriage, etc.) do you immediately begin to fix it—as if success is solely up to you— instead of offering it to God in prayer?
Does your behavior change with the company you keep? Are you a social chameleon—one way around Christians, another around non-Christians?
This, in a sense, is what Naomi is doing. She would confess as a Hebrew that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4) and that there is no other god. Yet, she urges Ruth to return to the worship of false gods, of manmade idols, as if it would be better for her to do so.
So we see that Naomi is a wavering witness. This brings us to the second and final point in today’s sermon. Though Naomi is a really bad witness, still:
2. Ruth is a courageous convert (vv. 16-18).
In fact, is there another convert in all the Old Testament like Ruth? She truly is exemplary in her courageous faith. She has even been compared to Abraham in her willingness to leave all for God. One commentator describes Ruth’s faith in radical terms. He writes:
Orpah did the sensible, expected thing, Ruth the extraordinary and unexpected. Thus, Ruth models an adventurous faith, one willing to abandon the apparently sensible and venture into unknown territory. Whatever her motives—deep affection, a sense of loyalty, misguided idealism—she sacrificed her destiny to “cling to” an aged, hopeless mother-in-law. One may understand Orpah; one must emulate Ruth.3
How can followers of Jesus emulate Ruth? What might radical living for Jesus look like for us? Let me illustrate one way this might look today.
When Natalie and I entered ministry, we were encouraged by some in ministry to guard our relationships with the congregations we served. The thinking was that we would need to protect ourselves from those in the church who might use our openness against us.
We have made a conscious effort to reject this philosophy of ministry. I don’t see it modeled by Jesus (or any of the apostles for that matter). Are there people we will naturally be closer to than others? Certainly! Should we guard ourselves to insure our “safety”? Never! If we do guard ourselves we may be safe from being hurt or betrayed, but we will also be far from the blessing of transformative relationships in the body of Christ!
Are you guarding yourself from really being grown through deep, meaningful relationships in the Church?
Are you willing to open yourself up to the messiness of transparent and accountable relational living for Jesus?
How did Ruth do this? How did she live this way?
a. Forget about my safety.
In this move to Israel, Ruth would have:
Been one of two women traveling alone
Had few legal rights to protect her once she got to Israel
Still, she says, “I will go with you Naomi. Forget about safety!”
b. Israel will be my home.
In making Israel her home, Ruth would:
Be permanently separating herself from family and friends
Be in constant danger of ethnic prejudice because of the historically bitter rivalry between Israel and Moab
Be adopting a home in which she knew no one outside of Naomi
Still, she says, “I will go with you Naomi. Your home is my home!”
c. Yahweh will be my God.
In making Yahweh her God, Ruth was:
Replacing familiar religious practices with foreign ones
Submitting herself to a foreign God’s foreign covenant stipulations
By doing this, she turns away from her gods and turns toward Yahweh.
So Ruth courageously leaves the comforts of home to serve this helpless woman, Naomi. It is a beautiful picture; isn’t it? But, why is Ruth’s devotion so beautiful? Perhaps it’s so movingly beautiful because it reflects Jesus’s love for us. Like Ruth with Naomi, Jesus sacrificed to care for all who are helpless (Phil. 2).
His home…
His comfort…
His safety…
His life…
All submitted to the will of the Father for the salvation of the helpless and lost who would trust in him and journey after him.
1 See The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia entry “woman” (p. 3101).
2 Robert L. Hubbard Jr., The Book of Ruth, 102-103.
3 Ibid., 116-117.
