In Ruth 1:6, we see that Naomi “arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab” to Bethlehem-Judah as soon as she heard that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. But when she gave her two daughters in law a parting kiss and told them to return to their mothers, they lifted up their voices and wept.
There was no doubt an attachment to Naomi after ten years, but there was more than an attachment to Naomi in Ruth’s heart.
In verse 9 Naomi said to each of them, “the LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.” Saints of God are not restful while they are still in the world, and Ruth knew that she would find no rest as long as she stayed in Moab.
However, Naomi’s persistence continued as she tried to convince them both that it was hopeless to follow her back to the land of Judah. But the driving force in Ruth’s heart was from the Spirit of God. During that ten years, Ruth beheld the witness of God in Naomi through all of her trials, (the loss of her husband and her two sons), she saw the Spirit of the True God in Naomi’s life, heard it in her words, and saw it in her actions.
In verse 8 Naomi said: “Go, return each to her mother’s house.” In verse 11: “And Naomi said, turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? In verse 12: “Turn again, my daughters, go your way.”
Orpah and Ruth were tested and tried in order to reveal their hearts. Were they serious? Were they really ready to forsake all? Family, friends, their gods, their people to follow after Naomi, and more importantly Naomi’s God? What a beautiful picture of what happens in lives of all who follow Christ out of the world. “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
Their hearts were revealed, Orpah went back to her people and to her gods. “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62
“Remember Lot’s wife” Luke 17:32
“But he that received seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.” Matthew 13:20-21
Orpah departs; Ruth digs in. Ruth now stood alone in her purpose to follow Naomi. Now she would be tested without another at her side, but she would be tested alone. Verse 15: “Behold, thy sister in law in gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.”
Oftentimes, professors of Christ are willing to go for time with the people of God, because they do not have to stand alone in their purpose. But will you follow Christ when all others forsake Him? Or will you forsake Him when others no longer follow after Him?
In John 6:53, the Lord Jesus said to his hearers, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” To those who possess not the Spirit of God, these words are too hard. John 6:66 says: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”
The cost of following Christ was too much for Orpah, but Ruth knew in her heart that she had found treasure hid in a field, and sold all that she possessed that she might have it!
In verses 16-18, Ruth’s faith had been tested and tried, and she came “forth as a vessel for the finer.”
“And Ruth said, Intreat me not the leave thee, or return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.”
This, my friends, is in the heart of every believer that forsakes all to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
