Dear friends in Christ, just last week my daughter-in-law mentioned that her aunt asked her to keep the family Bible. Being a life-long Lutheran, I asked her “What does this mean?”  It meant that she would be charged with the task of tracing the family lineage.  Who married whom?  Were there any children?  When were they born or baptized?  When did people transfer to the church triumphant?  The family Bible held the answers. It laid out the family lineage.

Do you have such a Bible in your home?  I have to confess our family does not have that tradition.  Perhaps years ago there was such a Bible, but somewhere along the line that practice was dropped.  Maybe that happened in your house as well.  You and I may or may not be interested in the details our family line.  We may not care all that much if our grandmother or grandfather was part of a royal family.  Or we may be very interested. We may have invested some time or money tracing out the family lineage.

Our reading for today shares a portion of a family lineage.  It’s not yours or mine. Its Jesus’ human lineage. Ruth, a gentile, was one of the great, great…grandmothers of Jesus. Today we begin a four-part study of how God used Ruth in his plan to save us.  To introduce each chapter, we will watch a brief video that will help us visualize the account.  Let’s watch the first video now.

The account of Ruth begins with a reference to the days when the judges ruled.  There was a period of about 200 years before Israel’s first king, when God used the judges.  When you and I hear the word judge we think of a courtroom, with a person presiding over a trial.  However, that is not what the Old Testament judges did.

The Old Testament judges were more like deliverers than legal experts.  You see they tended to rescue the Israelites from trouble.  Think of people like Samson, Deborah or Gideon.  God raised up these people to rescue the Israelites from enemies such as the Philistines, the Arameans, and the Midianites.  From our perspective the term “judge” communicates the wrong idea.  The deliverers, or rescuers would be better. Ruth and her husband Elimelech lived during this period.

The account before us begins by suggesting there were some good days. Naomi lived in Bethlehem. She married a local boy named Elimelech.  We are not told what type of housing they had. However, when you are young and in love those sorts of things are not important. No doubt they were happy together. God blessed them with two boys named Mahlon and Kilion.

We can guess that both Naomi and her husband were believers in the coming Messiah. I say that because the name Elimelech means “God is king.” And throughout the chapter we just read Naomi repeatedly calls attention to the fact that the Lord is charge. I think we can safely say that they were believers.

At first life was good for the family. But trouble was brewing. We are told that a famine fell upon the land. Since there was little food available in Israel the family decided to move to Moab, modern day Jordan. You may recall that the Moabites were cousins of the Israelites.  They were some of the descendants of Lot. The area of Moab was just to the east of Bethlehem. On the other side of the Dead Sea, up on the plateau, lay Moab.  Apparently, Moab escaped the famine. Perhaps its higher elevation provided more rain so that crops could grow.

Moab and Israel were not on the best of terms. One judge named Ehud even had to rescue the people from the Moabites. Yet Moab is where the family went. What did they do for income in Moab?  We do not know.  But apparently, they were able to make ends meet.

While they lived in Moab a tragedy struck. Elimelech died.  Naomi is a widow and her sons have lost their father. What horrible turn of events!  Could things get any worse? Yes, they could, and did.

I suppose we might say there is a little bit of a bright spot in the story. The boys got married.  This perhaps was a mixed blessing.  Parents are usually happy when their children find a spouse.  Given the family circumstances I am sure that Naomi was happy.  However, the fact is her sons married Moabite women.  They came from families that worshipped false gods. That would have been a big concern for Naomi.  So, the weddings were probably bitter-sweet.

After ten years in Moab another tragedy struck.  Both sons passed away.  We know nothing about the cause of death.  The reading leads us to believe that the timing of their deaths was close together.  What a heartbreaking story: Uprooted from your home, moved to a hostile territory, your husband dies, and then your children die. Is it any wonder that Naomi, whose name means pleasant, wanted to be called Mara, or bitter!  Life, or the Lord, seemed to have dealt her a bitter hand.

Application

Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation?  Has one problem led to another, then another, then another?  Does it seem as if the Lord has dealt you a bitter hand?  I think we can all see times in our life when problems were plentiful. To one degree or another we can all relate to Naomi, Ruth and Orpah.  When that happens, when we find ourselves overwhelmed by problems, let’s remember what Paul said to the Romans, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope” (15:4).

The Lord knows that in difficult days we need hope. By looking at what was written about Naomi and Ruth and others, we find hope.  We see that God is faithful. God does keep his promises to bless us and bring us to our heavenly home. As we make our way through this wonderful account, let’s be sure to find hope in God’s faithfulness.

II

Let’s go back to our reading and see what happens next. After the death of her husband and sons, Naomi heard that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them.  The famine was over.  Crops were growing again. Life was returning to normal. Naomi thought that it was time to go back home.

Now she had a decision to make.  What advice should she give to her daughters-in-law?  Naomi understood that back in Israel these women from Moab would most likely be shunned. Remember the Moabites were pagans.  They had attacked Israel.  An eligible bachelor from Israel would not look favorably on Ruth or Orpah. No, the logical thing to do was to encourage them to go back to their parents’ homes.

After some heartfelt tears, and a bit of arguing, Orpah decided to do just that.  History records nothing further about Orpah.  Did she find another husband?  Did she retain whatever beliefs in the Lord she had picked up on from her husband and Naomi?  Did she go back to worshipping the gods of her family?  We do not know.

The story of Orpah ends here. The account of Ruth continues. The words of her conversation with Naomi have been used in many wedding ceremonies.  Why? It’s because of her commitment.  Let’s take a look.  First, we notice the commitment to her mother-in-law.  Ruth said, “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people.”

Just think of what Ruth has committed herself to.  I will go where you go. Two women traveling alone through the rugged terrain of Moab and Israel was quite an undertaking.  Oh, it’s not that physically they couldn’t do it.  They could just as well as anyone else.  However, this was a dangerous trip. People usually traveled in groups for the sake of safety.

Ruth was setting off into some dangerous territory.  She was also setting off for a new country.  As far as we know she had never been to Israel.  What would this place be like?  What sort of housing had Naomi left behind ten years earlier?

Ruth also left behind her people.  We think of her parents, her sister-in-law Orpah, her neighbors and any childhood friends.  All of these were staying behind.  She would go to meet some new people. Would they accept her?  Would a foreigner like her find employment? All of this was unknown.  Yet Ruth was committed to Naomi.

Ruth was also committed to the Lord.  She told Naomi, “Your God will be my God.”  Apparently, God the Spirit had worked in Ruth.  Perhaps she had heard her husband speak about the Lord. Maybe it was her mother-in-law who shared the gospel.  Or it could have been another person.  At some point Ruth learned about the one true God: the Lord. The Spirit took that message and created faith.  That faith moved Ruth to do what she did. Faith guided her decisions.

Application

Faith is like that isn’t it!  Faith moves people to action. Your faith in Jesus prompts you to act. Faith moved you to come to worship this morning.  Faith moves you to go to the Lord in prayer.  Faith compels you to support a Christian ministry.  Faith makes you want to rejoice in the announcement of forgiveness.

We sing a hymn titled Faith is a living power from heaven.  Oh, how true those words are. God in his mercy has given us faith, just as he gave faith to Ruth.  That faith is not dead.  It is alive and active. Oh, how we want to thank and praise our God for this gift of faith. Let’s also, by his grace, allow faith to guide the choices we make.

Sometimes as Christians we are confronted with difficult decisions.  We may not have to move to a distant land or leave our loved ones behind.  But just like Ruth our faith will impact our decisions.  Like Ruth we have a desire to honor our Lord by the way we live.

III

The last section of our reading today relates the homecoming of Naomi and Ruth.  The two women arrived at Bethlehem at the time of the barley harvest.  That would be late March or early April.  Even though Naomi had been gone for over a decade the people recognized her. Or at least they thought they did!  “Can this be Naomi” they said. We don’t know if that simply expresses joy and surprise at her return, or if the people are shocked at how she has changed.  In either case they greet her.  Naomi responds by saying, “Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara.”  While Naomi means pleasant, Mara means bitter. The name change reflects how she felt. Naomi explains: I went away full but the Lord has brought me back empty.”

Wow! Naomi was certainly unhappy. I think we can see why she might be sad, confused or even bitter.  Was she angry with God? She may very well have been. She certainly understood that the Lord was in charge. Like Job, she believed The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

While we understand her sadness, we recognize that anger at God or blaming God is wrong. Earlier I mentioned Job. At first, he humbly accepted the good and bad that God allowed.  But later he too charged God with wrong doing.  Why would God include such negative examples in the scripture for us?  It is so that we will find hope.

Application

Just like us, the ancient heroes and heroines, were sinners who found forgiveness in the Messiah. Oh, how important that is for us.  When life overwhelms us, we sometimes become angry with the Lord.  We may think we deserve better or that he has done something wrong. How important it is for us to see that same thing in the lives of departed saints.  Oh, not in the sense of “misery loves company.”  Rather we see God’s faithfulness. Just as God faithfully forgave Job or Naomi, so he faithfully forgives us. We find comfort and hope in that.

Naomi and Ruth have moved back to Bethlehem. The barley is ready to harvest. But what happens next?  How will the two women survive?  And what does all this have to do with our salvation?  You will have to come back in two weeks when we pick up at chapter two.

While you wait, I urge you to order the People’s Bible Commentary on Ruth. You can find it at the NPH website.  I believe there is also a copy in the church library.  Read the introduction and the comments on the first chapter. Then rejoice in how God carries out his plan of salvation.  Amen.