Ruth 1v6-22

Has anybody noticed the heat over the last week or so?

Oppressive, I think, is the word for it.

Especially on those days when the air is still,

or when you're sitting on the sunny side of the bus.

All you really want to do is get home to a nice quiet place

and find some place to rest.

The break today has been wonderful, by the way.

Have you ever noticed also that calamity

often has the same type of reaction in us?

Have you ever had to admit failure?

Were you afraid of what others would say?

Were you angry or bitter?

Did you blame God?

Or did you just want to find a nice quiet dark place to rest?

Last week we talked about how God reveals himself through stories.

We talked about irony.

Situations that turn out exactly the opposite way

from what we would expect.

Sometimes it's for the sake of humor,

sometimes it's to make a point.

In our introduction last week,

we saw that the book of Ruth takes place in the time of the judges,

when every man did what was right in his own eyes.

And we briefly met Elimelech,

whose name means,

my God is king,

and his family living in Moab.

The central figure of the story at this point is Naomi,

a woman who left the Promised Land of Israel

with her husband and sons

because there was a famine in Bethlehem,

Bethlehem, the house of bread.

She first loses her husband,

and then both of her sons.

We met Orpah and Ruth,

two fairly flat characters,

merely introduced as the Moabite widows of her dead sons.

In our text today, though,

Naomi hears that God has visited his people

and has given them food.

Now remember that point,

we'll come back to it a little bit later.

God has visited his people and given them food.

So Naomi prepares to leave Moab to Bethlehem.

And here we see three women,

none of them related by blood,

none of them with any money,

three widows,

leaving Moab,

where Naomi is a foreigner,

an outsider,

going to Bethlehem,

where Orpah and Ruth will be the outsiders.

Naomi is their mother-in-law.

Now when you hear the word mother-in-law,

what comes to mind?

Some of you, I see you chuckling,

are probably thinking of the early 60s song,

pop song, called Mother-in-Law.

The words go something like this,

the worst person I know,

mother-in-law.

She worries me so,

mother-in-law.

If she'd just leave us alone,

we'd have a happy home.

Sent from down below,

mother-in-law.

And then the second verse says,

Satan should be her name,

to me they're about the same.

And it just goes on from there,

and I think only gets worse.

But this is not Naomi, is it?

Her daughters-in-law love her.

We've learned quite a bit about Naomi in these verses,

and we've heard, just read.

Not so much by what we're told about her,

but by what she does.

First, she's in mourning.

She's lost her sons.

Now none of us is at our best,

at a time like that.

We're heartbroken, we're angry,

we're confused,

we're rarely thinking clearly.

But she's heading back to Bethlehem.

Back home.

But it's under very difficult circumstances.

Her husband is dead.

Her sons are dead.

Her parents and her husband

are very likely to be dead.

She's going to be a perpetual widow.

She's too old to marry,

too old for children,

no income,

and no prospects.

She's bitter.

And,

most people would say

she has every reason to be.

And Orpah and Ruth

are both planning to leave

their homelands, though.

To go with Naomi to Israel.

As I said,

it's apparent that these two women

truly love Naomi.

How many of us

have that kind of relationship

with our mother-in-law?

And how many mothers-in-law

would love to have

that kind of a relationship

with their daughters-in-law?

Naomi must have been

a very gracious and loving woman.

Treating her daughters

with dignity,

with respect,

with friendship,

in order for them

to treat her that way.

She may also have been

a very devout woman,

worshiping God in her home

in Moab,

possibly keeping the Sabbath,

the Passover,

various other feast days.

But here,

Naomi starts out

with her two daughters-in-law

and then seems to have

second thoughts.

She's destitute.

She's going to be dependent

on the charity of others.

How can she afford

two additional mouths

to feed?

Or two additional bodies

to clothe or house?

It's going to be bad enough

for her,

but can she really subject

these girls

to that kind of a life?

Naomi also might have

started thinking about

what people will say

when she gets back

to Bethlehem.

You let your sons

marry foreigners?

Didn't God curse

those Moabites?

Didn't He bar them

from the assembly?

Or even,

are they going to try

to seduce our husbands?

And of course,

these two women

would be a constant reminder

of her time in Moab,

the loss of her husband

and the loss of her sons.

So they set out.

Now,

the text doesn't tell us

where in Moab

they were,

but looking at Google Maps,

the distance seems to be

about 100 miles

from the center of Moab

to Bethlehem.

It would be sort of like

walking from here,

from Ealing,

to Birmingham.

Now,

how long would that take?

You think,

three days?

Four days?

Five days?

A hundred miles?

It would take a while.

But in verse 8,

she stops.

Now,

this may have been

at a crossroads.

It may have been

as far as the Jordan River,

the border between Israel

and Moab.

It may have simply

been at the edge

of their village,

but she stops.

She says goodbye,

and she sends Orpah

and Ruth home,

back to their own families,

and she gives them

a blessing.

She says,

Go,

return each of you

to our mother's house.

May the Lord

deal kindly with you

as you have dealt

with the dead

and with me.

The Lord grants

that you might find rest,

each of you

in the house

of her husband.

It's a beautiful,

poignant blessing.

She invokes

the name of the Lord

twice,

but we see

a bittersweet irony

in this blessing

as well.

May the Lord

deal kindly with you.

She must have been

thinking,

but he hasn't

dealt kindly with me.

As you have dealt

with the dead

and with me,

she acknowledges

that these two women

were good wives

to her sons

and were kind to her.

May the Lord

grant you rest

in the house

of your husbands,

in the house

of a husband,

one who would

care for them,

protect them,

love them.

The concept of rest

really is an important

one in the Old Testament,

especially in the early books.

Rest in those days

meant far more

than an afternoon siesta

or a day off

or a cool room

on a hot afternoon.

It would have meant

more than a holiday

at the beach.

To the children

of Israel,

rest was viewed

in opposition

to the slavery

that they had just

come out of.

As slaves in Egypt,

there was no rest,

no time off,

no freedom

from their oppression.

Now, rest can also

sometimes mean peace,

rest from war,

from conflict,

from threat,

we see in Deuteronomy 25.

Rest was also,

though,

equated to the

promised land itself.

Deuteronomy 12

and Judges 1

speak of the promised

land as a resting place.

And Psalm 95

quotes God as saying

that the unbelieving

generation

shall not enter

into my rest,

but will wander

in the desert.

But Elimelech and Naomi

had left the promised land,

that place of rest.

Deuteronomy 28

predicts exile

for failing to trust God.

And Lamentations 1

talks about the people

being scattered

among the nations

and finding no rest there.

But Naomi is asking

that the Lord

give Orpah

and Ruth rest

in Moab.

Rest also was seen

as the presence

of God himself.

For in Exodus 33,

God,

talking to Moses,

says,

My presence

will go with you

and I will give you rest.

But rest also had

another spiritual dimension.

Rest was seen

as the restoration

of the relationship

between God and man,

severed by Adam's

fall from sin,

or into sin.

Each generation

anticipated the promised one,

the one who would end

God's judgment against man

and end the curse

on the earth.

In Genesis 5,

one hopeful father

declares,

Out of the ground

that the Lord has cursed,

this one

shall bring us relief

from our work

and from the painful

toil of our hands.

And then,

he gave the name

Rest

to his son.

Rest is the same word

there that's used here,

Noah.

And Noah

was hoped for,

was the hoped for one

who would restore

communion with God.

But Orpah and Ruth

each listened to Naomi,

but they responded

very differently.

Orpah saw

the pragmatic wisdom

in Naomi's words.

You're young.

You're not getting

a husband from me.

I'm no spring chicken.

My prospects

of finding a husband

are nil.

And even if that

were to happen,

you'd be way too old

to marry any child

that I might have.

Your prospects

are much better

in your own land,

among your own people,

among your own gods.

Go home.

And Orpah did that.

She walked away.

And she's never

heard from again,

at least not in the Bible.

Now, she may very well

have found a husband.

She may have had children.

She may have lived

a happy life.

But in terms of

God's eternal plan

for humanity,

or even for her own soul,

she walked away.

Ruth, on the other hand,

did not do the logical,

the pragmatic,

the sensible thing.

Instead, she chose

to stay with Naomi.

And in doing so,

God integrated her

into his wonderful story.

But I'm getting ahead

of the text.

We don't want to do that.

But Ruth's response

is absolutely amazing.

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.

Where you die,

I will die.

And there I will be buried.

May the Lord do so to me.

And more also,

if anything but death

parts me from you.

This is an amazing

covenantal commitment.

Ruth commits to a journey

to an unknown destination.

She abandons her people,

her home,

her gods.

She commits herself

totally to Naomi.

To Naomi's home,

wherever that might be.

To Naomi's people.

To Naomi's land.

And to Naomi's God.

Whom she mentions by name.

This covenantal promise

echoes God's own

covenantal commitment

to his own people.

Repeated throughout

the Old Testament.

I am the Lord,

your God.

I will be your God

and you will be my people.

A treasured possession.

This sentiment

is so powerful.

So heartfelt.

That we ironically

take it completely

out of context.

We use it at weddings.

Where a husband and wife

make that same commitment

to each other.

But here,

it's a daughter-in-law

making that commitment

to her mother-in-law.

An amazing statement.

And how does Naomi respond?

She says nothing.

She just turns around

and starts walking.

Hours pass.

Days pass

on the road to Bethlehem

and Naomi says nothing.

Finally,

Naomi reaches Bethlehem.

She's recognized

by the village.

But the homecoming

is far from joyful.

All she sees

is what she's lost.

I left full

and have returned empty

with absolutely nothing.

Call me Mara.

For the Almighty

has dealt bitterly with me.

There's a place

on the east side

of the Red Sea

that bears the name

Mara.

Spelled

only slightly differently

but the same

basic name,

same words.

Three days after

miraculously defeating

Pharaoh and his army,

God brings the children

of Israel

to this place.

The people are thirsty

but the water is bitter,

undrinkable.

And the people

immediately start grumbling.

Are we to die

in the desert?

Why didn't you

leave us in Egypt?

Things were so much

better there.

But God provides

a log for Moses

to throw into the water.

And miraculously

the bitter

becomes sweet.

You know,

sometimes God

takes us to a bitter spot.

He brings us there

to get our attention.

Sometimes to teach us

some sort of a lesson.

Sometimes just to

demonstrate his power

and his love

and his faithfulness

to his people.

But you know,

sometimes we choose

our own path

to the bitter place.

But how often

are we quick

to complain

when those things

don't go our way?

We blame God

for our troubles

without ever considering

our own roles

and the natural consequences

of our own desires.

Remember,

Elimelech and Naomi

chose to leave

the promised land

and chose to go to Moab.

Now,

here is Naomi

back in Bethlehem

with Ruth in tow.

Are you familiar

with the term

the elephant in the room?

You know,

that big issue

or problem

that no one

wants to mention?

So big

that it can't be missed

and yet so disturbing

that nobody

wants to discuss it?

Did you notice

that no one

acknowledges Ruth?

Not the village women,

not even Naomi.

Ruth seems to be

the elephant in the room.

Now,

maybe it was

Naomi's bitterness.

Maybe it was

some embarrassment.

Maybe she doesn't

want to explain

who this Moabite woman is.

Maybe she's just

hoping that Ruth

would go away.

And poor Ruth,

she's been traveling

with Naomi

for at least

a couple of days

without a word

passing between them

and now they've arrived

and Naomi

won't even introduce her.

But as we'll see

next week,

Ruth remains faithful.

But let's not be

too quick to

condemn Naomi either.

Remember,

she's still grieving

and she's seeking.

But what is it

that Naomi is seeking?

Well,

think back to

that blessing

that she gave

to Orpah and Ruth

that they might

find rest.

The rest that she

and Elimelech

sought under their

own strength.

The rest that she

could not find

in Moab,

the faraway country.

A rest that only

comes through God.

The rest and peace

and completeness

of shalom

that can only be

found in a good

relationship with

the Almighty.

Today's passage

begins and ends

with God's provision

for His people.

Naomi hears

while still in the

fields of Moab

that God has

provided food

for His people.

And she thinks

of home.

She thinks of rest.

Now Naomi and Ruth

have arrived in

Bethlehem

at the beginning

of barley season.

grain once again

in the house of bread.

We all seek peace.

We all seek rest.

We all seek that

peace with God

through a Redeemer.

The one who will

pay the debt

that we cannot pay.

Rest.

The end of the

famine in our lives.

The end of the

curse on the land.

Rest from that

curse of sin

that separates us

from God.

The rest that was

hoped for in Noah.

The rest ultimately

fulfilled in the

Holy One.

The one promised

in Genesis 3.

The one pictured

throughout the Old

Testament.

The eternal God

who took on human

flesh so that

through His life,

death, and

resurrection He

might redeem a

people for Himself

from every nation,

tribe, and tongue.

Saved by grace

through faith.

The rest through

Jesus Christ.

The ultimate

fulfillment of the

promises of the

Old Testament.

who calls to us

saying,

Come to me,

all who labor

and are heavy

laden,

and I will give

you rest.

Let's pray.

We thank you,

O Lord,

for your promise

of rest

to those who

come to you

by faith.

Give us this

rest through

Jesus Christ

our Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.