Piper's Notes

July 1, 1984

Bethlehem Baptist Church

John Piper, Pastor

RUTH: SWEET AND BITTER PROVIDENCE

(Chapter One)

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a certain

man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his

wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of

his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they

were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab

and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was

left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was

Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years; 5 and

both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was bereft of her two sons and

her husband. 6 Then she started with her daughters-in-law to return from the

country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had

visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where

she was, with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the

land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of

you to her mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have

dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The LORD grant that you may find a home,

each of you in the house of her husband!" Then she kissed them, and they

lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, "No, we will return with

you to your people." 11 But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters, why will you

go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your

husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a

husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this

night, and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown?

Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is

exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone forth

against me." 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept, again; and Orpah

kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

15 And she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to

her gods; return after your sister-in-law." 16 But Ruth said, "Entreat me not 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; 17

where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me

and more also if even death parts me from you." 18 And when Naomi saw that

she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they

came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the

women said, "Is this Naomi?" 20 She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi, call

me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full,

and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the

LORD has afflicted me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who

returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the

beginning of barley harvest.

My aim is to preach through the book of Ruth in the next four Sundays -- one

chapter each Sunday.

One way that you can make July a very memorable month of insight and renewal for

yourself is to read through this beautiful story once each week. (It takes about 25

minutes at a leisurely pace.) It's a story that shows how "God moves in a

mysterious way his wonders to perform." It's a story for people who wonder where

God is when there are no dreams or visions or prophets. It's for people who wonder

where God is when one tragedy after another attacks their faith. It's a story for

people who wonder whether a life of integrity in tough times is worth it. And it's a

story for people who can't imagine that anything great could ever come of their

ordinary lives of faith. It's a refreshing and encouraging book, and I want you to be

refreshed and encouraged this summer.

According to 1:1, the story took place during the time of the judges. This was a 400-

year period after Israel entered the promised land under Joshua and before there

were any kings in Israel (roughly 1500 B.C. to 1100 B.C.). The book of Judges

comes just before Ruth in our English Bibles and you can see from its very last

verse what sort of period it was.

Judges 21:25 says, "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what

was right in his own eyes." It was a very dark time in Israel. The people would sin,

God would send enemies against them, the people would cry for help and God

would mercifully raise up a judge to deliver them. Again and again the people

rebelled, and from all outward appearances God's purposes for righteousness and

glory in Israel were failing. And what the book of Ruth does for us is give us a

glimpse of the hidden work of God during the worst of times.

Look at the last verse of Ruth (4:22). The child born to Ruth and Boaz during the

period of the Judges is Obed. Obed becomes the father of Jesse and Jesse

becomes the father of David who led Israel to her greatest heights of glory. One of

the main messages of this little book is that God is at work in the worst of times.

Even through the sins of his people he can and he does plot for their glory. It was

true at the national level. And we will see that it is true at the personal, family level,

too. God is at work in the worst of times. When you think he is farthest from you, or

has even turned against you, the truth is that he is laying foundation stones of

greater happiness in your life.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense

But trust him for his grace.

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

I think that's the message of Ruth. Let's see how this unknown author, under the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit, teaches it to us.

Verses 1-5 describe the misery of Naomi. First (1:1) there is a famine in Judah

where Naomi and her husband Elimelech and her sons Mahlon and Chilion live.

Naomi knows good and well who causes famines. God does. Leviticus 26:3-4 says,

If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I

will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase.

When the rains are withheld it is the hard hand of God.

Then there is the decision to sojourn in Moab -- a pagan land with foreign gods

(1:15; Judg. 10:6). This was playing with fire. God had called his people to be

separate from the surrounding lands. So when Naomi's husband dies (1:13), what

could she feel but that the judgment of God had followed her and added grief to

famine?

Then (in 1:4) her two sons take Moabite wives, one named Orpah, the other named

Ruth. And again the hand of God falls. Verse 5 sums up Naomi's tragedy after ten

years of childless marriages: "Both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was

bereft of her two sons and her husband." A famine, a move to pagan Moab, the

death of her husband, the marriage of her sons to foreign wives, and the death of her

sons -- blow after blow, tragedy upon tragedy. Now what?

In verse 6 Naomi gets word that "the Lord has visited his people and given them

food." So she decides to return to Judah. Her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah,

go with her part way it seems but then in verses 8-13 she tries to persuade them to

go back home. I think there are three reasons why the writer devotes so much

space to Naomi's effort to turn Ruth and Orpah back. First, the scene emphasizes

Naomi's misery. For example, verse 11: "Naomi said, 'Turn back my daughters, why

will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your

husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a

husband."' In other words, Naomi has nothing to offer them. Her condition is worse

than theirs. If they try to be faithful to her and to the name of their husbands they will

find nothing but pain. So she concludes at the end of verse 13, "No, my daughters,

for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone

forth against me." Don't come with me because God is against me. Your life may be

as bitter as mine.

The second reason for verses 8-13 is to prepare us for a custom in Israel which is

going to turn everything around for Naomi in the following chapters. The custom was

that when an Israelite husband died his brother or near relative was to marry the

widow and continue the brother's name (Deut. 25:5-10). Naomi is referring to this

custom (in verse 11) when she says she has no sons to marry Ruth and Orpah. She

thinks it is hopeless for Ruth and Orpah to remain committed to the family name.

She doesn't remember, evidently, that there is another relative named Boaz who

might perform the duty of a brother.

There's a lesson here.

When we have decided that God is against us we usually exaggerate our

hopelessness. We become so bitter we can't see the rays of light peeping out

around the clouds. It was God who broke the famine and opened the way home

(1:6). It was God who preserved a kinsman to continue Naomi's line (2:20). And it

was God who constrains Ruth to stay with Naomi. But Naomi is so embittered by

God's hard providence that she can't see his mercy at work in her life.

The third reason for verses 8-13 is to make Ruth's faithfulness to Naomi appear

amazing. Verse 14 says that Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye but Ruth clung to her.

Not even another entreaty in verse 15 can get Ruth to leave. This is all the more

amazing after Naomi's grim description of their future with her. Ruth stays with her in

spite of an apparently hopeless future of widowhood and childlessness. Naomi

painted the future black and Ruth took her hand and walked into it with her.

The amazing words of Ruth are found in 1:16-17,

Entreat me not to leave you or 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 will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me

and more also if even death parts me from you.

The more you ponder these words the more amazing they become.

Ruth's commitment to her destitute mother-in-law is simply astonishing. First, it

means leaving her own family and land. Second, it means, as far as she knows, a

life of widowhood and childlessness, because Naomi has no man to give, and if she

married a non-relative her commitment to Naomi's family would be lost. Third, it

means going to an unknown land with a new people and new customs and new

language. Fourth, it was a commitment even more radical than marriage: "Where

you die I will die and there be buried" (v. 17). In other words, she will never return

home, not even if Naomi dies. But the most amazing commitment of all is this:

"Your God will be my God" (v. 16). Naomi has just said in verse 13, "The hand of the

Lord has gone forth against me." Naomi's experience of God was bitterness. But in

spite of this, Ruth forsakes her religious heritage and makes the God of Israel her

God. Perhaps she had made that commitment years before, when her husband told

her of the great love of God for Israel and his power at the Red Sea and his glorious

purpose of peace and righteousness. Somehow or other Ruth had come to trust in

Naomi's God in spite of Naomi's bitter experiences.

Here we have a picture of God's ideal woman.

Faith in God that sees beyond present bitter setbacks. Freedom from the securities

and comforts of the world. Courage to venture into the unknown and the strange.

Radical commitment in the relationships appointed by God. O, that Bethlehem

might breed that kind of woman!

So Ruth and Naomi return together to Bethlehem of Judah (verse 19). But she

responds in verse 20,

Do not call me Naomi (i.e., pleasant or sweet), call me Mara (i.e., bitter), for the

Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought

me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has afflicted me (i.e.,

testified against me) and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?

What do you make of Naomi's theology?

I would take Naomi's theology any day over the sentimental views of God which

dominate evangelical magazines and books today. Naomi is unshaken and sure

about three things: God exists. God is sovereign. God has afflicted her. The problem

with Naomi is that she has forgotten the story of Joseph who also went into a foreign

country. He was sold as a slave. He was framed by an adulteress and put in prison.

He had every reason to say, with Naomi, "The Almighty has dealt bitterly with me."

But he kept his faith and God turned it all for his personal good and for Israel's

national good. The key lesson in Genesis 50:20 is this: "As for you, you meant it for

evil against me [Joseph says to his brothers]; but God meant it for good." Naomi is

right to believe in a sovereign almighty God who governs the affairs of nations and

families and gives each day its part of pain and pleasure. But she needs to open her

eyes to the signs of his merciful purposes.

It was God who took away the famine and opened a way home.

Notice the delicate touch of hope at the end of verse 22. "And they came to

Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest." If Naomi could only see what this is

going to mean. Not only that, Naomi needs to open her eyes to Ruth. What a gift!

What a blessing! Yet as she and Ruth stand before the people of Bethlehem Naomi

says in verse 21, "The Lord has brought me back empty." Not so, Naomi! You are

so weary with the night of adversity that you can't see the dawn of rejoicing. What

would she say if she could see that in Ruth she would gain a man-child and that this

man-child would be the grandfather of the greatest king of Israel and that this king of

Israel would foreshadow the King of kings, Jesus Christ, the Lord of the universe? I

think she would say,

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust him for his grace;

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

Let me conclude with four summary lessons.

1. God the Almighty reigns in all the affairs of men. He rules the nations (Daniel

2:21) and he rules families. His providence extends from the U.S. Congress to

your kitchen. Let's be like the women of faith in the Old Testament. Whatever else

they doubted, they never doubted that God was involved in every part of their lives

and that none could stay his hand (Dan. 4:35). He gives rain and he takes rain. He

gives life and he takes life. In him we live and move and have our being. Nothing --

from a toothpick to the Taj Mahal - is rightly understood except in relation to God.

He is the all-encompassing, all-pervading reality. Naomi was right and we should

join her in this conviction. God the Almighty reigns in all the affairs of men.

2. God's providence is sometimes very hard. God had dealt bitterly with Naomi --

at least in the short run it could only feel like bitterness. Perhaps someone will

say: it was all owing to the sin of going to Moab and marrying foreign wives.

Maybe so. But not necessarily. Psalm 34:19 says, "Many are the afflictions of the

righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all." Neither the Old Testament

nor the New Testament promises that believers will escape affliction in this life.

But suppose Naomi's calamity was owing to her disobedience. That makes the

story doubly encouraging because it shows that God is willing and able even to

turn his judgments into joys. If Ruth was brought into the family by sin it is doubly

astonishing that she is made the grandmother of David and ancestor of Jesus

Christ. Don't ever think that the sin of your past means there is no hope for your

future.

3. That leads to the third lesson. Not only does God reign in all the affairs of men,

and not only is his providence sometimes hard, but in all his works his purposes

are for the good and happiness of his people. Who would have imagined that in

the worst of all times -- the period of the Judges -- God was quietly moving in the

tragedies of a single family to prepare the way for the greatest king of Israel? But

not only that, he was working to fill Naomi and Ruth and Boaz and their friends

with great joy. If anything this summer has fallen in on you to make your future

look hopeless, learn from Ruth that God is right now at work for you to give you a

future and a hope. Trust him, wait patiently. The ominous clouds are big with

mercy and will break with blessing on your head.

4. Finally, we learn that if you trust the sovereign goodness and mercy of God to

pursue you all the days of your life, then you are free like Ruth. If God calls, you

can leave family, you can leave your job, you can leave Minnesota, and you can

make radical commitments and undertake new ventures. Or you can find the

freedom and courage and strength to keep a commitment you already made.

When you believe in the sovereignty of God and that he loves to work mightily for

those who trust him it gives a freedom and joy that can't be shaken by hard times.

The book of Ruth gives us a glimpse into the hidden work of God during the worst

of times. And so like all the other Scriptures, as Paul says (Rom. 15:4,13), Ruth

was written that we might abound in hope.

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