Naomi and Ruth

INTRO

How crazy is this? We are finally out of the book of Judges, except we’re not! Why? The book of Ruth took place in the time period of the book of Judges. However, this is a story that has a good ending! Instead of one word, we have two words for Jesus in the book of Ruth, Kinsman Redeemer. A kinsman redeemer is a relative or family member who comes in and redeems an entire situation. This is what we will see in the book of Ruth!

TEACHING

Ruth 1:1: Most scholars believe the author of the book of Ruth was Samuel. It was written during the times of Judges, which lasted for 300 years. Some speculate that Ruth came during the time period described in Judges 10:3-5. This book probably covers 10-12 of those 300 years. In Ruth, the Moabites were Israel’s enemy.

During a famine in Israel, a man with his family left the promised land to go to Moab. I do not tend to look at this and see disobedience; however, Wiersbe points out that Elimelech’s sin was the same as Abraham’s (Genesis 12).¹Isaac and Jacob also left the land because of famine (Genesis 26; 46). Elimelech did not wait for God’s instructions before he took his family to Moab.

Ruth 1:2: Elimelech, whose name means “My God is King” left with his wife Naomi, whose name means “pleasant,” and their two sons, Mahlon, and Chilion. The family was from Bethlehem, the tribe of Judah. We know that Bethlehem was the birthplace of Christ. The Messiah was going to come from this little community of Ephrathites (Genesis 35:16; Micah 5:2). Elimelech and his family left Bethlehem because there was no food.

Ruth 1:3: Elimelech died in Moab. Wiersbie points out that all three of the men of the family died in Moab as a consequence of their disobedience and sin.²Oswald Chambers writes that we cannot run away from our problems: “The majority of us begin with the bigger problems outside and forget the one the inside. A man has to learn ‘the plague of his own heart’ before his own problems can be solved.”³

Ruth 1:4-5: Living in Moab, Naomi’s sons married Moabite women. Every time the Israelites took a wife from outside the tribe, it always caused problems! The Moabite women were named Orpah and Ruth. They lived in Moab for ten years before both of Naomi’s sons died. Only the three women remained in the family, two Moabite women and Naomi who was the only one from the promised land.

Ruth 1:6-7: This is the verses many use to make the argument that Elimelech was disobedient. Back in Bethlehem, while Elimelech’s family lived in Moab, the Lord had paid attention and provided food for His people. Because of this, the widow Naomi started to head home to the land of Judah. I think the point is that the people of Bethlehem stayed and relied on God, while it seems that Elimelech and His family ran away. Obviously, the famine had been broken, so there had to have been rain (Deuteronomy 11:14). The rain can come at any time (Job 5:10)!

Ruth 1:8-9: Naomi told both of her daughters-in-law to go home to their mothers. This was hard on Naomi to tell them to go back and worship their false gods. As a human, I think Naomi had good intentions for her daughters-in-law. The difference was her eyes were not on the Lord, her eyes were on man who could provide for them. In Naomi’s mind, she was thinking out of the flesh.

Ruth 1:10-13: Neither of Naomi’s daughters-in-law wanted to leave her, but Naomi insisted that they return home. Her main concern was that she had no sons to offer them for marriage. She claimed that her life was too bitter to share because the Lord had turned against her. Naomi’s perspective was that there had been multiple mistakes made, and the Lord had removed Himself from her life.

In these dark moments, we are supposed to turn to God! Naomi did the opposite. She was bitter (Psalm 100:5; 119:68; 86:15). God can redeem any situation (Romans 8:28). God can use anything for the good of those who love Him. God redeemed all of these situations (Isaiah 61:3).

Ruth 1:14-15: Orpah returned to her family. Once again, Naomi tried to persuade Ruth to go home.

Ruth 1:16-18: In these verses, Ruth showed her loyalty not only to Naomi, but also the Lord. I think her loyalty is why Ruth is listed in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:5. Ruth refused to go home and said, “Your people will be my people, Your God my God.” Here was Ruth’s conversion. Nothing was getting in the way of Ruth’s relationship with Naomi. Naomi finally accepted that Ruth was determined to stay with her.

Ruth 1:19-20: After days of walking, Naomi and Ruth made it to Bethlehem. The whole town was excited to see Naomi return. Naomi told everyone to call her Mara because she was so bitter (Hebrews 12:15; Ephesians 4).

Ruth 1:21: Naomi said, “I went away full and I come back empty. The almighty has afflicted me.” The reality of Naomi's situation was that there was a full harvest she was walking into. She had a daughter with her and a family in Bethlehem. Instead of focusing on the positives in her life, Naomi was filled with bitterness. When bitterness takes hold of our lives, we don’t see anything positive. Naomi had taken her eyes off the Lord (Psalm 25:15).

Ruth 1:22: After a seven-to-ten-day walk, Naomi and Ruth had arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth was genuinely excited. She was in at all cost, but her mother-in-law didn’t want anything to do with the current situation.

CLOSING

Let me sum up chapter 2 since we won’t cover it in the next lesson.

Ruth 2:1-3: Boaz, a family member of Naomi, was introduced to Ruth.

Ruth 2:4-13: Boaz began to discover who Ruth really was. He wants to bless her for taking care of Naomi. He even says to Ruth, “may you receive a full reward from the Lord God” (v. 12).

Ruth 2:14-23: Boaz genuinely cared for Ruth and wanted to make sure she was being taken care of.

Ruth 2:20: Naomi tells Ruth, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.” Ruth interacting with the family redeemer is our backdrop as we go into chapter 3.