Where You Go, I Go | Ruth 1:6-22 | Redeeming Love
In the second week of our series, "Redeeming Love," we move from the tragic "dead ends" of Moab to the first stirrings of hope in the land of Judah. We often feel the tension of how our own life stories will resolve, especially when things look bad for the "main character". In this message, we witness the radical contrast between Orpah’s departure and Ruth’s extraordinary vow of covenantal loyalty.
Even when we feel "empty" or "bitter" like Naomi, we are reminded that God is a master of navigating us back to the center of His redeeming love. Discover how the Gospel resolves the bitterness of our trials through the sweetness of Jesus Christ—the living water that brings life everlasting.
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Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon from First Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Each week we dig into God's Word trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue the good work of sanctification in us.
As you have been watching a movie or reading a book, do you ever find yourself questioning how you are reacting to the tension that you feel surrounding the resolution of the plot. You're about two-thirds of the way through and things look really bad for the main character, and you find yourself feeling this great tension wondering, "Are they going to survive? Is everything going to turn out alright?"
Then as you think about it a little bit, you realize that you really don't need to feel that tension. First off, the story isn't real. The whole story was concocted in someone's imagination. Whether or not the plot resolves well really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.
Secondly, the main character is likely the most important part of the franchise. You know they're not going to kill off the main character. It would destroy the whole money-making enterprise. And then there's another quite embarrassing factor in play sometimes that I'm sure doesn't only happen to me.
I don't think I'm probably the only one who has felt the tension of the plot in such a deep way in a movie that I've seen before. It's not like the ending changed since the last time I watched it. I know how it's going to happen, yet I feel the tension, and I wonder, is everything going to turn out for the good?
And I think one of the reasons that we experience stories in this way is because we live in a world a world of uncertainty and a world of anxiety. We are always feeling the tension of how the plots of our lives are going to unfold. We're worried about how things are going to resolve. Will it come out for the good?
Well, as we come to our second week in the book of Ruth this morning, we're reminded of the uncertainty in the plot that we left off with last week in Ruth. The book began by telling us that the events that are about to take place happened during the time of the judges. And that was a time where the people of God would be faithful for a while, but then fall back to debased idolatry and sin.
And the book of Ruth gives us an indication of what is going on in Israel during this time because it told us that there was a famine, and this was a sign of the divine judgment of God. And we read about a man named Elimelech and his wife Naomi who leave Bethlehem because of the famine. Instead of remaining in Israel and trusting the provision of God, they moved to Moab.
They moved away from the Promised Land. They moved away from where the one true God is worshiped. And the move to Moab by this family is to be understood as a move towards idolatry and a move away from God. And the story continually got worse through just 5 verses because Elimelech dies, and then some years later, Naomi's sons die as well.
And when we left off last week, Naomi was in the land of Moab. And she was a destitute widow with nothing but the widows of her two sons, Orpah and Ruth. And arriving this morning in the 6th verse of chapter 1, we read that Naomi received word that the Lord had visited His people and given them food.
Now, just as the implication of unfaithfulness is to be drawn from the famine in the first part of the book, we need to understand here that the visitation of the Lord and the blessing of the food is a sign that the people have repented, that the people in Israel have returned to God. And the dreadful circumstances of her life and the word of the blessings of God in Israel cause Naomi to make the decision that she should have made a long time ago.
She is returning to the land of Judah. And so as they are set to head to Judah, Naomi implores her daughters-in-law to return to the homes of their mothers. And you can understand why Naomi does this, right? There is so much at stake here, so much more than just the emotional attachment she has to these women who are the widows of her sons.
These are two more mouths to feed on the journey. Two more mouths to ask your family to take in when you get back to Bethlehem after a famine. There's also this tension that bringing two Gentiles into Bethlehem would bring. It adds to the awkwardness quite a bit.
She and Elimelech not only went away from the covenant people of God, but then their sons intermarried with the Moabites. We can't forget the stigma that would surround their presence with Naomi. It would be a persistent signal to those around them of Naomi's unfaithfulness in leaving Bethlehem and then, that they didn't obey the command to not let their sons marry outside God's covenant people.
And also, we need to remember that in this time, relocating was not like it is now. Gentiles would not have just been seen as people from another part of the world who come to us and they cheer for a different sports team than we do because they're from somewhere else. Gentiles were unclean. They were outsiders.
And back in Bethlehem, it was likely going to be a tough life for Naomi just because she departed and came back, but it would be a really difficult experience for Orpah and Ruth. And notice here that as she suggests that they stay in Moab, she invokes the name of Yahweh. Notice the all caps of the LORD. She is invoking the proper name of God here.
So as she is returning to Israel, she is speaking of Israel's God. And we start to get a sense here that the redirecting that God has been prompting in the life of Naomi is starting to sink in. She's starting to understand. When you go off the path that the GPS has given you and you ignore the recalculating beeps over and over and over until you realize you aren't sure where you are and you need to start paying attention again.
Well, the deaths of Elimelech and her sons, along with God visiting Judah and providing food, that are beeps that are getting her attention. She is being redirected. But notice here, the blessing that she is hoping that the Lord will give these women is temporal blessing. She's hoping that they will remarry. She's hoping that they will be taken care of.
And while it's good that she is invoking the name of the Lord and that she is wishing these blessings on them, those blessings are blessings that will fade like the grass. If they marry Moabite men, they will remain in idolatry and unbelief. And we will find that one of these women chooses idolatry and the other trusts in the one true God.
But first, I think it's important that we look at the deep love that these women clearly have for one another. Naomi kisses them, and we're told that they loudly weep together. And the bond that they have is undoubtedly strong. Think what they've been through together. Think what they've experienced.
It's more than just an emotional bond that we have here from them losing husbands and sons. They are left destitute together. They would have had a deep reliance on each other. There's much for them to consider here in their parting of ways.
Even if the women remain in Moab, there is no guarantee that things are going to go well. If you're the daughters-in-law, would you feel confidence that Naomi will be welcomed upon her return to Judah? It's not like their beloved mother-in-law has kept in touch over the years, and yesterday she video chatted with her family to make sure that they have a place for her there in Bethlehem.
If she leaves by herself, Ruth and Orpah are sending their mother, their mother-in-law out into complete uncertainty. So this is why in the midst of the weeping they tell her that they will remain with her. They can't just send Naomi out alone. But Naomi continues to insist that they remain in Moab.
She reminds them that she has nothing for them. The only thing she ever had for them was her sons. And with them gone, she has literally nothing. And she can't provide sons for them again. Even if she could give them more sons, they would have to wait until they are grown, and these women would be old themselves.
And in this, Naomi expresses that she believes that the Lord has afflicted her and that it's a bitter thing. And we're going to come back to that word "bitter" later on. But she is also lamenting the fact that this has affected these women.
And in this, it seems as though Naomi understands that God has been redirecting her. And while the pain that she has been experiencing is bringing her back to where she needs to be, she deeply laments the pain that it has brought on these women that she loves. She wants the collateral damage of her affliction to stop right now here in Moab.
Go back to your families, ladies, while you still have families to go to. And as the story progresses, there is more weeping. And Orpah concedes. She goes back to Moab just as Naomi had begged her to do. She goes back to her family.
And this is where the story of Orpah ends for us. We know nothing further of her. She returns to her family. She returns to the security offered to her there. But she also returns to the hopelessness of idolatry. It's the path that the world would have her take, a path with the greatest likelihood of prosperity.
That's where the world would send her. But it was a path that remained in Moab. A path that led to idolatry. A path that led away from God. But we quickly see here in the text a contrast, because Ruth clings to Naomi.
And the word that we translate as "cling" here is a covenantal type of language, very similar to the language of husband and wife coming together in Genesis 2. She is making a covenant promise to Naomi. And note here what Naomi says. It confirms what I've been saying about the consequences and ramifications of remaining in Moab.
It says that Orpah not only went back to Moab but she went back to her people and her gods. And while Naomi has acknowledged that it's Yahweh who has been directing her, she is redirecting Ruth back to Moab as well. She's trying to get her to go back to idolatry.
But Ruth instead, she holds fast. She remains devoted to Naomi, and in doing so, she moves towards the one true God. And look at this beautiful declaration of devotion that Ruth makes here in these verses: "Your people shall be my people and your God my God."
And we read this and just the words on the surface tug at our heartstrings here. But when we consider the ancient Near Eastern mindset, the statements made by Ruth become even more significant because for them, there's a deep connection between land and their gods. Departure from the land of Moab was departure of her hope for a peaceful afterlife.
She is forsaking everything with this devotion to Naomi. In fact, she is so devoted that she invokes the name of Naomi's God to pray a curse on herself if she doesn't stick by Naomi: May the Lord bring this upon me; may I die if I'm not loyal to you.
And this example of devotion and loyalty should inspire us to loyalty to the God who is ordaining these events in the book of Ruth. God is faithful to us as His people. He is slow to anger. He is abounding in steadfast love. And we know the covenant love of God because we have been given the gift of faith.
We have been united by faith to Christ. Ruth gave her loyalty to God because of devotion to her mother-in-law. We have a Savior who suffered, died, and rose again for us. And yet we fail in our devotion to Him.
This commitment to God shown by this pagan Moabite should push you and I to deeper commitment to the one who has committed himself to our salvation. May we be humbled by the loyalty and devotion of Ruth that we see here and evaluate the path that our lives are on. And may we pursue the God of our salvation.
Now, this has been a substantial point in the turning of the plot of Ruth's life. There's a great tension in the story here. In the course of Ruth's life, life has changed forever. She has chosen the hard path. She has chosen the devotion that few people show.
Now, we know the story of Ruth, but if you were hearing this for the first time, you would have a lot of questions. Will she find hope in Judah? Or will the result of this decision be poverty, exile, or even death? She is devoted. She is faithful. But what is going to be the result of this loyalty she's showing to Naomi?
And as we progress to the end of the chapter, we see something interesting in this story. Before we find out how things turn out, we see a contrast to the devotion of Ruth in the words of Naomi. Naomi stops urging Ruth to stay in Moab. She gives up on that cause.
They make their way to Bethlehem, and we find that their arrival causes a stir. It looks like Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law are the subject of all the gossip at the diners and barbershops in Bethlehem. This is a scandal.
Well, in verses 20 and 21, we read Naomi's response to being the talk of the town. And it's really kind of a confusing response for us because she tells them not to call her by her given name. Now maybe your Bible has a little bit of help for you, maybe there's a footnote that explains the meaning of Naomi's name.
Her name means pleasant or sweet. She doesn't want to be known by that name that means pleasant anymore. Instead, she wants to be known by the name Mara, and that name means bitter. And what will help us out to understand what she's saying here is to look back to a story very quickly in the book of Exodus.
So immediately after the deliverance at the Red Sea, there was a lack of water. And when the mass of people leaving Egypt in the Exodus came to some water, they found that it was bitter and undrinkable. And so the name of that place became known as Marah, or bitter.
And the resolution of the story here is important. The people grumble, and so God has Moses throw a log into the water, and the waters become sweet. So think about the story here. The people grumbled in Egypt and God brought them out. The people grumbled at the Red Sea and God delivers them through the Red Sea on dry land.
Now they are grumbling about the water. They name the place Marah because the waters are bitter. But what does God do? He delivers them again. He makes the waters sweet. Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, He rescues His people over and over again.
And Naomi has lost sight of the resolution of this story, that God is faithful even when his people aren't. And honestly, I can't fault Naomi. I can't fault her for what she said and how she must feel, because the way that her life has been unfolding, it has been a difficult path. Her life has been one of great hardship and tribulation.
You can understand why the waters of her life are bitter. And maybe as you sit here today, you can relate. The story of your life has come to points of great difficulty. You find yourself bitter. You're forgetting that God is faithful and that in Christ, the plot of our lives will resolve in sweetness.
But this is the sure and certain promise that God has given us. He has promised us eternal life. Our lives are unspeakably hard at times, but through those trials, God is persistently calling us to Himself. He is the only way that the bitterness of our trials becomes sweet. He makes even the most bitter waters sweet through salvation in Christ.
And as I started out this morning, I talked about the tensions that we feel in the plots of the stories that we enjoy, and that we can even feel the tension in those stories when we know that they are going to turn out well in the end. As the tensions and trials of your life come, don't forget how the Gospel resolves your story. God has laid hold of you in Christ.
And despite your circumstances, He will never let you go. He endured the bitter shame of the cross to bring you the sweetness of salvation. Because of the gospel we know that God will work all things together for good for those who love him. Naomi wanted to change her name to Bitter, like the bitter waters of the Exodus, but she forgot the part of the story where God brought the sweetness of deliverance.
In your journey, never lose sight of the sweetness of the gospel. Never lose sight that God delivers. Let that truth lead you to devotion to your Lord and Savior, knowing that He is the sweet living water that brings life everlasting. He will never leave you or forsake you.
In a world of uncertainty, that is a promise that you can hold on to. The plot will resolve for all things work together for good for those who love him. Hold on to that promise. Know that no circumstances, even death, can ever take the certainty of God's love from you. Hold on to the sweetness of His salvation. Amen. Let us pray.
Great and merciful God, we praise You for the story of Ruth and Naomi, that we can see the hardships of their lives and know that You work things together for good. In fact, You will work all things together to bring salvation to Your people. May we trust in Your goodness through the bitter trials of our life.
May we hold on to the sweetness of the Gospel that we might trust in You and be faithful witnesses to Your goodness in our lives. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.
Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about First Reformed Church, head to our Facebook page or website, edgertonfrc.org.
To dig deeper into these truths throughout the week, join us for our five-day devotional study on Ruth's radical loyalty and the transforming power of God’s grace: https://www.edgertonfrc.org/blog/devotions-where-you-go
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