Redeeming Love - Studies in the Book of Ruth
4 - Faith's Witness
Naomi was left in the land of Moab without her husband and her two sons. Within ten years of living there they had all died. Chapter one verse six says, "Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where they had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah." Naomi encouraged Orpah and Ruth to return to their own families in Moab. She said to them, "May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband". Naomi reasoned that she was now too ols to marry again and could not have any more sons. she said, "Even if I thought there was still hope for me and even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons, would you wait until they grew up?" We read in verse fourteen, "then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her".
There are two lessons to be learned from this incident. The first is the nature of Naomi's faith. She says something significant in verse thirteen: "It is more better for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!" Here we have insight into Naomi's understanding of God's ways with her and her attitude about it. She says, "The hand of the Lord has gone out against me". Naomi's faith was a faith that triumphed in darkness. The Hebrew word translated 'Lord' in verse thirteen is the word "Yahweh" (Jehovah). It refers to God's faithfulness to his covenant with his people. He is the eternal, unchanging God. Naomi was admitting that God had permitted whatever she had experienced for purposes best known to Him. In it all He was being faithful. It has to be remembered that God is still being faithful even in the dark times we pass through. It may appear to us that the hand of the Lord is against us, but it is actually FOR us. Naomi believed that both the rough and the smooth came from God's hand. The same God that brings peace and rest also permits turmoil and hardship to come into our lives. Because He is a faithful God He always does what is best for us. The blows of life that we experience are from the hand of a loving heavenly Father. He is working all things out for our ultimate benefit. He has our best interests in mind whatever He does, and whatever He allows to come our way. In trials and buffeting we may feel that the hand of the Lord is against us. We must remember the words of Romans chapter eight verse twenty-eight, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose".
Naomi was honest about her feelings. She did not give the impression that she enjoyed what had happened to her, but she saw that God's hand was in it all for some purpose. Be honest with the Lord about your feelings. When difficulties come, let him know how you feel. At the same time be humble before God. Accept the affliction and look for God's hand in it. The Bible teacher J.I. Packer gives some good advice on how we should respond to troubles. He says, "First, by taking them as from God and asking ourselves what reaction to them, and in them, the gospel requires of us; second, by seeking god's face specifically about them. If we do these things, we shall never find ourselves wholly in the dark as to God's purposes in troubles".
The second lesson from this incident is the impact of Naomi's faith. We read in verse fourteen, "Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and said goodbye, but Ruth clung to her". Naomi advised ruth to return home with Orpah. Ruth then made this wonderful reply: "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. 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". Ruth had become a believer in Naomi's God - the eternal One. The people of God would become her people. That is why she clung to Naomi as she did. What was it that led Ruth to place her faith in the God of Israel? What was it that caused her to turn from Chemosh, the false god of Moab, to the one eternal God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? It was Naomi's behaviour in affliction. In this Ruth saw the reality of Naomi's faith and of Naomi's God. Ruth had never seen anything like this from the Moabites when they faced suffering. Naomi had a calm faith and rested in the hands of a sovereign, faithful God. In this she found her comfort. Ruth watched her mother-in-law's reaction to all that she experienced and was impressed. Naomi's God was so obviously real to her and because of that Ruth wanted to know this God for herself. Christian, people are watching you as you live your life. The world can see through empty sham. They can see hypocrisy a mile away. what the world needs to see is reality in our lives. so often we moan and groan when things do not go the way we like. Sometimes unbelievers are not impressed with our Christianity. We respond to problems like they do by complaining and grumbling. People need to see that God is real to us and that we have a calm trust in the midst of life's trials and problems. Two people were having a conversation, one was a Christian and the other was not. The non-Christian said, "I have to say that while I have worked with you here you have had a profound effect upon me. You walk the walk and you talk the talk. But your walk talks more than your talk talks!" Ruth witnessed faith in action. She saw a buffeted faith come through the storms of life.
A well-known preacher said to his students, "We will go down to the town and preach". He led the way. They walked into the town and passed through the main streets and alleyways. They went into the suburbs and then to a round about route back home. not a word was spoken along the whole journey. One of the students said, "I thought we were going to preach?" "We have preached", said their leader, "we were preaching while we were walking. Many have seen us; our behaviour has been closely watched; that is how we preached our morning sermon. It is of no use to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk".
Live in such a way in your neighbourhood, work-place, home, university and school so that you will be an attractive advertisement for Jesus Christ. As you do there will be those who will say, "Your people will be my people and your God my God".