Grace Fellowship Baptist Church

In the last post, we left off contemplating Ruth’s “steadfastness of mind” in following Naomi out of Moab to a land and people to whom she was a stranger. The influence of godly Naomi was too much for Ruth to forsake.  Therefore she turned from her own country and people, and forsook her gods for Naomi, and most importantly, for Naomi’s God. The life and faithful witness of Naomi brought a lasting satisfaction to Ruth’s soul; a satisfaction which she had never experienced in her native land and among her people and gods. She set her face toward Zion and a new life under the protection and care of the Almighty God.

From chapter 1:19, there was not a word more from Naomi in trying to dissuade Ruth from her new course, to forsake all for the land Israel. No doubt, it was only now that Naomi’s thoughts passed from her near follower to the reception that she would receive upon her return to Bethlehem-Judah.  Beloved of God, it is a humbling experience for us to return from “being out of course in our wandering,” yet we must remember that the true people of God are always ready to receive us again into fellowship.

The Bible tells us in Ruth 1:19 that “all the city was moved about them.” They were stirred! And as they were, so should we be moved, rejoicing when a brother or sister has returned from being off course and away from the church and fellowship of God and of the brethren.

Naomi confessed that the LORD had dealt bitterly with her.  ”Call me not Naomi, (or Pleasant), call me Mara, (or bitter). For the Almighty hath dealt bitterly with me.”

No doubt from these words we gather that Naomi did not expect to receive any grace or blessings from the hand of God upon her return to Israel.

We should be reminded of Psalm 103:8-12: “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not death with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

Let us always remember that our heavenly Father pities us, he is not a cruel master waiting with a big stick to crush us when we disobey him or wander from his revealed will.

Psalm 130:3-4 says, “If thou, LORD shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? (No one!) But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”

In Ruth 1:21, Naomi was now completing her journey of humiliation, returning to the place that she and her husband left behind.  Departing from the land of God full; she was now returning home with nothing, empty. “I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty.” Notice, “I” went out; and “the LORD” brought me home.

We must not think to ourselves that we can purposely wander out of God’s revealed will and at the latter end He will bless us; for to think in such a manner would be to tempt God. The true child of God does not want to displease their heavenly Father. And yet, so often when we do stray from His commands, He receives us again, loving us as His own sons and daughters.

This story of death would now begin to be a story of life. Naomi was returning to the place of safety, under the protection and care of the Almighty God; Ruth, a stranger to Israel, would now begin to experience the blessings of being adopted into the family of God.

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.

When Elimelech and Naomi left Bethlehem-judah to go to the country of Moab it was like leaving the place of safety. Proverbs 27:8 says, “As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.” No doubt, Elimelech “wandered” from a place of spiritual safety when he uprooted his family to go to Moab. Not long after his departure from Bethlehem-judah, he died, leaving Naomi with her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion.

Mahlon and Chilion married Moabitish women which was clearly against the revealed will of God. In Nehemiah 13:23-26, we read, “In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, and of Ammon, and of Moab: And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations was their no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless did outlandish women cause him to sin.”

Nothing good could come from these unions, and not long afterward, both Mahlon and Chilion died, leaving Naomi with her two daughters in law, Orpah and Ruth. Things could not get much worse for Naomi.

But then there was a glimmer of light, news from the land of Judah. What news? “The LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.” This was all the glad tidings Naomi needed to hear; this, to Naomi was gospel news. Both Orpah and Ruth showed intentions to follow Naomi to her home country; but when it came time to step out of Moab from their people and from their gods, only one was prepared to show her faith by her works. Ruth desired more than physical bread, she desired heavenly bread.

Ruth no doubt heard and believed in the God of Naomi. God had no doubt visited Ruth in her spirit, for saith she, “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God.” What faith, devotion, and steadfastness in a woman who lived among the cursed of the land!

One might look at this truth and think to themselves that it is okay to wander outside of God’s revealed will. God will make it right. I can only tell you that it is not okay to knowingly wander away from the place of our refuge. We are clearly not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and we are clearly not to do something that God has commanded us not to do.

But then we look at the book of Ruth and see God’s providence in bringing Naomi back from Moab with a young woman, a stranger who found grace in the eyes of God. One who would become the wife of Boaz and mother of Obed, grandmother of Jesse, and great grandmother of King David. And as Matthew 1:5-6 teaches us, Ruth, the Moabitish damsel, was also in the lineage of the Son of David, Jesus Christ the Savior of the world.

“How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!”

John 3:5: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

What did Jesus mean by “born of water, and of the Spirit?” Well considering that he was speaking to a man of the Pharisees; one who was educated in Old Testament scripture writings, the Lord alluded to the cleansing aspect of water, (which in the New Testament the Word of God is likened to clean water, along with it’s cleansing properties; this coupled with the power of the Holy Spirit opening the heart of sinners, and consequently giving them a “new heart.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. In Christ, we are “new” creatures.

Ezekiel 36:25-27: ”Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

In the New Testament:

John 15:3: “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”

John 17:17: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

1 Peter 1:22: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.”

Titus 3:4-7: “But after the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified freely by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Ephesians 5:25-26: Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”

Therefore, when Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;” He was teaching the cleansing aspect of the Word of God, which must be applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit of God. Hence the result is the salvation of the sinner, or the new birth.

“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.” Proverbs 19:15

“By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.” Ecclesiastes 10:18

Slothfulness means slack, idle, and lazy. The two references before us refer to spiritual slothfulness; laziness with respect to things eternal. Countless millions suffer from this condition. And while many work their fingers to the bone in this world and for the treasures and glories of this world, they will not lift one finger in consideration of their never dying souls. It is not until the king of terrors is staring them in the face do they begin to think upon that which they neglected for their entire life.

Proverbs 1:20-31 speaks of those who live their entire lives thus, continually refusing to act upon the words of truth and soberness:

“Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity? And scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when you fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.”

Do not find yourself in such a condition dear soul; GET UP! Awake thou that sleepest! Arise from the dead! and Christ shall give thee light!

Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Proverbs 8:33-36: “Hear instruction, and be wise, refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”

Isaiah 55:6-7: “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him: and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

You must enter; you must find; you must hear and refuse not the instruction of the scriptures; you must seek while God is near; you must turn from your sins and your wicked ways, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul, NOW!

2 Corinthians 6:2 says: “Behold, now is the accepted time; Behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Your soul, not your body is your most valuable possession. Are you neglecting it? Or are you taking care of it? Without forgiveness for your sins through the blood of Jesus Christ your soul will be eternally lost!

The lazy man’s house fell down rotten upon itself because he did not protect it from weather, termites, and the elements; eventually through his own slothfulness, his house was totally lost.

Don’t let this be the story of your soul!