Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. - William Cowper
According to the first verse of Ruth, the setting for her story is during the time of
To summerize how things were during this period, the last verse of Judges says this:
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” —Judges 21:25
It was a time of moral collapse. It was a time when everybody was deciding for themselves what they would do, what was right and what was wrong, and there was no king to draw them into line.
That is the backdrop for the book of Ruth.
That context is important because it teaches is that from all outward appearances, God’s purposes for righteousness, peace, and glory in Israel were failing.
And what the book of Ruth does for us is give us a glimpse of the hidden, mysterious work of God during those
It’s a reminder for us that when you think he is farthest from you, or has even
“During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while. The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the fields of Moab and settled there. Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died, and she was left with her two sons. Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two children and without her husband.” —Ruth 1:1-5
Due to the rebellion of Israel and Gods subsequent judgment, there is a famine in Judah, where Naomi and her husband Elimelech and hersons Mahlon and Chilion live.
The family decides to leave the Holy Land in search of a better future – they travel to a region called Moab.
At the surface, this seems like a practical soultion, but there’s two big problems
a. We Can’t Run From Problems – They
b. They are playing with fire
God had called his people to be separate from the surrounding pagan lands and people, yet, that’s where they head.
The Moabites also worshiped a god called Chemosh and it was a common religious practice to periodically offer their own infant children as
Moab is literally a God-cursed land and people (Isaiah 15-16)
YET that’s where this Israelite family…Naomi, her husband Elimelech, and her two sons move to during the famine.
After they arrive in Moab, Elimelech, Naomi’s husband who has led his family to leave Judah and move into a cursed land
As if things weren’t already bad enough, Naomi’s two sons take Moabite wives, one named Orpah, the other named Ruth.
This, once again, is a rejection of Gods
And again the hand of God falls as after only a decade has passed, Nami’s two sons die.
WE HAVE a
“She and her daughters-in-law set out to return from the territory of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that the Lord had paid attention to his people’s need by providing them food. She left the place where she had been living, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, and traveled along the road leading back to the land of Judah” —Ruth 1:6-7
Naomi gets word that the Lord has blessed their homeland with food once again and the famine is over so she decides to return to Judah.
She, and her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, begin the journey to Judah together but shortly into the trip, she tries to
“Naomi said to them, “Each of you go back to your mother’s home. May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown to the dead and to me. May the Lord grant each of you rest in the house of a new husband.” She kissed them, and they wept loudly. They said to her, “We insist on returning with you to your people.” But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Am I able to have any more sons who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons, would you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me.” —Ruth 1:8-13
Naomi does her best to persuade Ruth and Orpah to go back to Moab.
“Again they wept loudly, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her”
—Ruth 1:14
Namoi pleads a
“Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.” —Ruth 1:15
Then comes the familiar and beautiful reply of Ruth
“But Ruth replied: Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me, and do so severely, if anything but death separates you and me” —Rith 1:16-17
APPLICATION POINTS:
When we have decided that God is against us, we
When Facing Difficulty, There’s A Temptation To Change Both Scenery &
In Ruth, we have a picture and example of a true Woman of
We Can Trust In God’s
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence, he hides a