Returning

In 2009, my husband and I moved to Dubai. His company started an office there, and he went to help get the office going. We went with the intent of returning to the States. Even before we moved back to the States, each time we returned home to visit, US Customs would greet us with, “Welcome back.” We always smiled. Even if we weren’t all the way home yet, it still felt good to return to our own country. It was familiar. It was a place of belonging.

The idea of returning struck me as I read Ruth 1. The story of Ruth may be familiar to you, but please take a few minutes to read chapter 1.

Naomi Widowed

1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a 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 left without her two sons and her husband.

Ruth’s Loyalty to Naomi

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields 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 rest, 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 out 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, “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. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

Naomi and Ruth Return

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

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. [1]

My original idea was to look at just a snapshot of Naomi’s returning both to Bethlehem and to God, but as is typical, I found so many good nuggets as I studied. You are getting more than a snapshot.

Let’s begin with the background to the account in verses 1-5. This story takes places in the days of the judges. We know from the book of Judges that the theme [not a good one] for this time period was “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Israel as a whole was not following God their King. Israel went through cycles of doing what they wanted, things got bad, they called out to God, and God rescued them through the leadership of a judge. This cycle repeated again and again. It is likely from the mention of a famine that this was the part of the cycle where Israel had turned from God (Deuteronomy 11:13-17).

When we look back at the cycle in Judges and God’s Word to Israel in Deuteronomy 11:13-17, we know that the right thing would be for Israel as a nation as well as individual Israelites to repent and turn to God. Yet, we read that instead Elimelech took his family to the pagan country of Moab to seek relief from the famine. He didn’t turn to God. He turned to a pagan country. Not only that, but his two sons married pagan women which God had forbidden (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). Elimelech was only sojourning (leaving with a plan to return) in Moab, but he was still going in the wrong direction – away from God. He was running from the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He thought life would be better in Moab, but it wasn’t better or easier. “When we move away from God, famine isn’t far behind – a danger of doing what seems right in our own eyes.”[2] Elimelech died and then both his sons died.

Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth were now reduced to one of the lowest, most disadvantageous classes of the time. They had no one to support them, and Naomi was left in a foreign land. However, Naomi heard that God had now visited His people and given them food. She set out to return to Bethlehem.

We don’t have the details of Naomi’s relationship with God, but we can learn some things from the text. She believed that God’s hand as against her because her family left Israel for a pagan land (vs 13), and she believed that the answer is to return to Israel and to God. She didn’t wallow in self-pity in Moab. She acted and returned to Bethlehem. I want to add a note here. This is a huge decision. From what I’ve found, it would have taken Naomi and Ruth 7-10 days on foot to travel from Moab (modern day Jordan along the Dead Sea). I’ve also read the journey would have been rugged and steep. Even when Ruth vows to go with her, they are two women travelling alone. This was a serious commitment for both Naomi and Ruth.

It makes sense for Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moab and return to their own families, but initially they both vowed to go with Naomi (vs 10). Genuine love existed between these women as evidenced by their tears (vs 9, 14), but only Ruth ended up acting on her love for Naomi. Orpah returned to her family. We know that genuine love is action. It is sacrifice. John writes, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus loved us by willingly taking on flesh, suffering, dying in our place for our sins, and rising again to life that those who trust in Him may be clothed in His righteousness and have eternal life.

In one article I read, the author brought out Naomi’s words to Ruth in verse 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’” (emphasis added). When Naomi encouraged Orpah and Ruth to each return to their mother’s house (vs 8), she was also sending them back to the pagan gods of their families. Naomi chose what was right in returning to Israel, but she was still on a spiritual journey. She needed to continue growing in her faith and understanding of God. An right understanding of God’s love for her would have driven Naomi to lead Orpah and Ruth to the one true God, but Naomi wasn’t there yet.

Naomi was returning to God in returning to Bethlehem, but we also observe something in Ruth. “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” (vs 16, emphasis added). Ruth wasn’t returning to her homeland like Naomi, but she was turning to God. Naomi, in the time she had known Ruth, had impacted Ruth sufficiently by her faith in God. Ruth wasn’t just choosing new real estate or following her mother-in-law on a desert safari. She was choosing to follow God.

It is interesting that Ruth did not make this profession while Naomi continued dwelling in Moab. She made it after Naomi determined to return to Israel and to God. “Ah! You will never win any soul to the right by a compromise with the wrong. It is decision for Christ and his truth that has the greatest power in the family, and the greatest power in the world, too.”[3]

Naomi and Ruth returned to Bethlehem where the whole town was stirred at their arrival. Women recognized Naomi even though it had been more than ten years, but Naomi rejected the women calling her by her name which means “pleasant”. By telling the women of Bethlehem to call her Mara which means “bitter”, she revealed the bitterness in heart.

On some level, she recognized God’s sovereignty in her circumstances (vs 20-21), but she didn’t view it rightly. Naomi saw it as God’s hand against her. In her suffering, she separated God’s sovereignty from His goodness, love, provision, grace, mercy, and faithfulness. Remember, Ruth was right there with her, but Naomi was so blinded by her bitterness and her warped view of God that she couldn’t see God’s goodness, love, provision, grace, mercy, and faithfulness evidenced in the daughter-in-law who had committed to stay with her. She judged and characterized God based on her suffering.

Often in our suffering we do the same thing. We usually don’t even realize it, but we allow our circumstances to shape our view of God instead of believing what God has revealed about Himself in Scripture. When our view of God shifts from who Scripture says He is, then bitterness, anger, discouragement, worry, or depression follows.

Although Naomi does not yet know the big picture, God’s plans for her and Ruth are beyond what they can imagine. They surpass simply being pleasant, for God will bring forth the Messiah from the lineage of Ruth.

Reflection

1. When have you turned away from God? What were the results?

2. Prayerfully consider where your view of God may have shifted based on your circumstances. What truth about God’s character have you not believed? How does your perspective or your circumstances change when you view them through the truth of who God is?

3. When others look at your life, does it make them want your God to be their God? What might need to change?

4. Are you acting on your love for God and His Word or is your love merely expressed in words? Be specific.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ru 1:1–22. [2] Sander, Shane. Editorial note. [3] David Guzik, Ruth, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2005), Ru 1:15–18.