The story of Ruth is a story of Love, Grace, Loss and Redemption. It is a story of tragedy and triumph, pointing to Christ, crucified and resurrected. As we all know, life is not easy. We may find ourselves at a place of crossroads in life. There are times when painful things happen to us. This pain changes us for life. We need to make choices. For better or for worse, our choices will lead us on. We can choose a path, but we cannot choose the consequences of that decision. In the story of Naomi and her daughters-in-Law, we see the power of choices. They became widows, not by their own will.  But after the pain of loss came, their choices determined their paths in life and their eternal destinies. Ruth is a true friend to Naomi. She married Boaz and had a son who is the grandfather of King David. Orpah chose to forsake her first Love for God and for Naomi. These are decisions made by their free will. Amid this family drama, we see the invisible but ever-present God, His sovereignty, Love, Power, and Grace, which are the determining factors in every believer’s life. Worship the Lord!

This story happened during the time of the Judges. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg 21:25). This is a revelation of the authority of a king who maintains order in his domain. It is a reminder of the total power and the authority of King Jesus in His Kingdom. The citizens of God’s Kingdom do not do ‘what is right in their own eyes’, but they obey God’s Law.

This is the story: Elimelech and his wife were residents of Bethlehem, also called Ephrath. The name Elimelech means ‘My God is King’. There was famine in the land. The meaning of Bethlehem is ‘house of bread’. But now, there was no bread in the house. God has promised to punish His people with famine when they rebel against Him. This famine was a form of chastisement. Elimelech was supposed to stay in Bethlehem and repent for his sins. But he too decided to do “what is right in his own eyes”. He chose to exile himself and his family to Moab, the neighboring pagan country. The distance between Bethlehem and Moab is about 60 miles. On foot, it can be covered in about 10 days. Elimelech left his country with the intention to return. But it was not for him to decide his future. His life was never the same again. Elimelech, My God is King, lived like he had no King. Elimelech and Naomi took their two grown sons, Mahlon and Chilion, and settled in Moab. Mahlon means weakly and Chilion means wasting. God commanded His people not to live among pagans because they will be tempted to forsake Him and worship other gods. The Moabites were ancient enemies to Isreal. It was the King of Moab who hired the false prophet Balaam to curse God’s people. It was the Moabite women who drew the Israelite men into sexual immorality and the worship of idols (Nu 22-25). Elimelech took great risk taking his family to Moab. He went on a road that led to nowhere. Like the prodigal son, things looked good at the beginning, but then, tragedy strikes! Elimelech dies and is buried there. Naomi was left with her two sons. They marry Moabite women. After ten years, Naomi’s two sons died too. Double tragedy! Lesson: many Christians chose to live in places of prosperity, ignoring the effects that culture will have upon their godly values. Do you choose prosperity and comfort over God’s will?

In Moab, Elimelech and his family kept their religion. They still worshipped Jehovah God. They did not worship Chemosh, one of the gods of the Moabites. That is good. But Elimelech knew that his two sons will eventually marry pagan Moabite women. He disobeyed God’s clear command that God’s people should not marry pagans (Deut 7:2-4). After Elimelech dies, his sons marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. They live with Naomi. The five of them live together in Moab for ten years. I think it was a happy home. Naomi and her sons preached thru words and actions about Jehovah God. For ten years both Orpah and Ruth had many opportunities to experience God’s love in action. The only sad part of the story is that both Orpah and Ruth did not have children. Then, their husbands died. Naomi is now left without a husband, and without sons. These are three childless poor widows. At that time, widows were among the lowest in society. Without husbands or sons to take care of them, just to survive, widows had to become beggars or prostitutes. This is a triple tragedy. Suddenly, Naomi hears that God’s grace and mercy has been revealed in Judah. There is prosperity in Bethlehem! She could have stayed in Moab, but she decided to come back home, to partake from God’s blessings. This is a walk of faith. Her two daughters-in-law decided to follow her to Bethlehem. Lesson: God is a God of both Judgement and Mercy. God disciplines His children, to humble and to bless them!

Along the way, Naomi discourages the two women from following her. Naomi knows that these Moabite women will suffer discrimination in Bethlehem. That was her home, but it was never their home. Naomi’s only hope is to live by the pity of her male relatives. She could glean in the fields, if she had the strength. That option was not available in Moab. But to carry two Moabite women was a burden too heavy for her. These two women were a reminder of her backsliding. Naomi was like a young Christian woman who had a baby outside marriage. Her baby is a reminder of her sin. No wonder Naomi wanted them to go back. Her life in Bethlehem will be hard. These foreign women will make it harder for her. That is what she thought… Until Ruth chose to trust Jehovah God whose grace is greater than any sin! 

Naomi tells them that she is too old to have more sons to marry them. They should go back to their parents, to their people (and to their gods). “Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her” (Ru 1:14). In Hebrew, the word ‘clung’ also means to join, to cling, to have and to hold. It is the same word used for the relationship between husband and wife. “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). Just as the friendship between David and Jonathan, the relationship between Naomi and Ruth is a platonic and covenantal relationship. It is spiritual, deep, pure, without any sexual component. God blessed it. Both women gained from it. And God took all the glory!

The name Ruth means ‘Friend’. She is more than a daughter-in-law to Naomi. She is her only friend and her only hope. Ruth is a symbol of Christ. “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (PV 18:24). This is the covenant of friendship Ruth made with Naomi: “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” (Ru 1:16, 17). By saying these words, Ruth committed her life, body and soul, to Naomi and Naomi’s God. She calls God ‘The Lord’ (Jehovah). She promises to serve Naomi unto death. She will be buried in Naomi’s land, Bethlehem. Ruth invokes a curse upon herself. If she will break this pledge, may Jehovah God punish her. In the ancient world, this was the greatest form of love and sacrifice. What is Naomi’s reaction to this mighty proof or agape Love? Nothing! Naomi said nothing! She did not immediately appreciate Ruth’s sacrificial love. She did not encourage her in her chosen path. “When she (Naomi) saw that she (Ruth) was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her” (Ru 1:18). Lesson: Bitter people do not encourage Love. Agape Love doesn’t need men’s encouragement. It is sustained purely by the Grace of God!

Ruth stays with Naomi. Despite Naomi’s counsel, she chooses to follow her to Bethlehem. Naomi did not promise to give Ruth money or another husband. The only reason why Ruth followed her is because she fell in love with Naomi’s God. Ruth had faith that Jehovah, her new God, will take care of her in a foreign land. God rewards her faith. She will marry a wealthy man in Bethlehem called Boaz, who was from the family of Elimelech. In this way, she keeps her status as Naomi’s daughter-in-law. She became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of King David. Thus Ruth, a Gentile, is among the maternal progenitors of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). Glory to God!

Unlike Ruth, Orpah choses to return to her own people. Her name is derived from the Hebrew word ‘neck’. She is ‘stiff-necked’ because of her turning-back from following her mother-in-law. She weeps and lovingly kisses Naomi goodbye. Why did Orpah go back? Jesus said that the Word of God is a good seed. The ground where the seed is planted makes the difference. Orpah’s heart was a stony heart. She was a temporary fleshly believer. She heard the Word of God, she felt the love of God, but she did not radically change in character. The change she experienced was superficial. It did not pass the test of time. She was a hearer and not a doer of God’s Word. She accepted God’s Word with joy. But the Word did not penetrate her hearts. It did not produce roots and fruits. When the trials came, the Word ‘withered away’ (Matt 13:5,6,20, 21). Orpah went back to Moab because she had no faith like Ruth that God can grant her a miracle marriage. Ruth was faithful to her first love for God! Orpah chose the forsake her first love for God! The choices they made separated them eternally. Selah!

Study Orpah and Ruth, side by side. One will be forgotten, and the other one will fulfill destiny. Why, do these women make different choices? Both had grown up in Moab and turned from paganism to their husbands’ faith. Both lived with an adoring mother-in-law. Both knew of the love of Yahweh, the one True God. Both enjoyed material wealth and prosperous marriages out of the abundance of God’s blessings and love. Both had husbands who taught them well, and who showed them God’s love in marriage. Both had husbands who stayed with them despite the lack of children. Both were aware of the power and authority of Jehovah God who gave them free will. Everyone has a choice to receive God’s free gift of saving grace or to turn back. Orpah’s faith in God depended on things, on prosperity. Ruth’s faith in God depended on God Himself. One faith will fail in times of trial! Ruth’s faith in God stood the test of time! Selah!

Jesus said that He must be our first Love, above all others. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). To be a disciple of Jesus, we must die to self, to our own plans for life and adopt God’s plan. This holy transaction is necessary to be truly saved. Fleshly life must die for eternal life to germinate and become fruitful in your soul.  “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose” (Jim Elliot).

LESSONS FOR US:

*This is a story of Grace! Grace is the unmerited, free, spontaneous, God generated favor and love towards men. The source of Love and Grace is found in Christ alone. All dealings between God and men are the result of His Love and Grace! God alone takes all glory!

*The fulness of God’s Grace is manifested in His Son, our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2Cor 8:9). The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ manifests as reversal of situations: the weak become strong, the sick ones are healed and the poor become rich. Glory to God!

*God’s Grace and His sovereign will shine thru this story. God’s eyes have been on Ruth before the foundation of the world. God’s elective Grace calls and redeems the most unlikely people, calling them from any land. He lifts the humble and sits them with princes!

*Sin makes people weak and sick. God’s grace and strength is revealed in man’s weakness. Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more!

*God cares about all people, men, women, and children, and all nationalities. There is no unimportant person in God’s sight.

*God uses little things to accomplish great things, according to His plan and purpose. God uses unlikely people to accomplish His purpose.

*God has a positioned helpers to help us at the right time, the right place.

*For as long as we breathe, even in the worst circumstances, there is hope!

*The past should not hold you back. God can change things in a second. Trust Him for that miracle!

*Obeying God, doing the right things, is not easy. It is a sacrifice. But God rewards obedience and righteousness.

*Character is who you are even when nobody is watching. When Ruth pledged her life to Naomi, she did not know that millions would read her words and be inspired by them.   

*This is the story of the Cross. Jesus was crucified in weakness and rose thru God’s Grace and Power!

*Covenantal relationships are possible in Christ alone. Like precious stones, they are special, but rare to find. Agape love is a gift from God. It is greater than all natural limitations and differences. A true friend helps you fulfill your destiny. This relationship must be protected from enemies, especially the religious backsliders.

*Trust God to make your dreams come true. Trust God for miracles, to bring water in the desert. Trust God to grant you the revelation and the manifestation of everlasting unfailing agape Love. Trust God to change water into wine in your marriages!

*This is similar story with the friendship between David and Jonathan. God is the Original Covenant Maker and Keeper. God blesses covenantal relationships and marriages. Faithfulness to the covenant brings blessings not only to the parents, but to their descendants.

*Leave a legacy! Leave a good name behind as inheritance to your descendants.

*Orpah left and disappeared from the Bible. Ruth gained a name and a status among the great women of faith. A chapter in the Bible is named after her. Out of her seed the Lord Jesus Christ came as Man on earth. Lesson: Grace has the last Word! Worship the Lord!