August 25th

Friends Though In-Laws

The Book of Ruth

It began and ended with unselfish love. The Lord put the Israelites under the Midianites because of Israel's evil doings. The Midianites left no nourishment for Israel...they wasted the land as they entered it...the Israelites were impoverished. Judges 6:1-6

There was famine in the land and Elimelech, Naomi and his two sons Mahlon and Chilion from Bethlehem of Judah went to the country of Moab.

Ruth 1:1-2

Do you think it was easy to leave home and family? Could it have been unselfish love for their sons which prompted Naomi and Elimelech to move to Moab? Do you have this unselfish love for your family to do that which may be inconvenient, sacrificial, etc.?

Big question: were they being obedient to the Lord and His commands when they escaped what they thought were circumstances leading to their death? Elimelech and his family fled Judah to escape death by the famine, but the 3 men met death just the same. They had planned to stay only temporarily in Moab, but they remained for 10 years 1:4. At the end of that decade of disobedience, all that remained were 3 lonely widows and 3 Jewish graves in a heathen land. Everything else was gone v. 21. Sad consequences of unbelief.

We can’t run away from our problems. We can’t avoid taking with us the basic cause of most of our problems, which is an unbelieving and disobedient heart. Oswald Chambers “The majority of us begin with the bigger problems outside and forget the one inside. A man has to learn ‘the plague of his own heart’ before his own problems can be solved.

The sons married while living in Moab and later all three men DIED leaving the three widows together. That which they had fled to escape happened anyway!

Naomi's pronouncement to her two daughters-in law, Ruth and Orpah tells us several things:

The women had been good to their husbands.

They had been good to Naomi.
Naomi had a spirit of gratefulness to the girls and was verbally expressive about it.
She wished them well in the future...to marry again.
All three seemed to love one another as they kissed and wept aloud together. v.8-9

Was Orpah less a good daughter-in-law because she turned back to her home? Most likely not. It is not a matter of blame on Orpah - she was not unusually selfish. It is the wonder of Ruth's heart which held such a love capacity. Her heart was open, submissive -unusually unselfish!

Naomi did not want her 2 daughters-in law- to go with her. If it was right for her to go to Bethlehem, where the true and living God was worshiped, then it was right for her daughters in law to accompany her. Remember Moses said to his father-in-law,“Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel (Num. 10:29) Naomi instead was encouraging the girls to go back to their families and their false gods.

Could it have been that Naomi knew that the Moabite girls would be living proof to those at home that she and her husband had permitted their sons to marry women from outside the covenant nation. Was she covering up their disobedience? (Pro. 28:13)

Instead of brokenness, Naomi had bitterness. Naomi had painted an inaccurate picture of her God…”It is more bitter for me than for you because the Lord’s hand has gone out against me v. 12 … “I am to blame for all our trials, so why remain with me? Who knows what the Lord may do to me next?

Naomi was trying to cover up; Orpah had given up, but Ruth was prepared to stand up! She refused to listen to Naomi’s arguments…she was trusting the Lord. 2:12.

Ruth's statement in v. 16-17 was one of total surrender and unselfishness. "Please don't tell me to leave you or from following after you. Where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people and your God shall be my God." Ruth was giving up her family, her country, her people, her allegiances...not even a sentimental element remained like being returned to her home country for burial. Ruth sacrificed ALL!

What made their relationship so successful?

Devotion on each woman's part as an individual!

Don't ever miss an opportunity to witness by your devotion! What are you devoted to?

1. The CONDUCT of one Israelite woman in a foreign land was able to call forth in response a love and a confession of God like that of Ruth. There is no greater opportunity for a Christian woman to witness of her own devotion to God than in the presence of her son's wife. Naomi had lived so that God could reach through her believing heart into the darkened heart of her daughter-in-law and Ruth respond "Your God is my God".There is no better test of a woman's spiritual health than that she love her son's wife or daughter's husband as Naomi apparently loved both Ruth and Orpah.There is no better test result of a woman's spiritual vigor than the RETURNED love of her daughter-in-law.

2. Ruth's CHOICE and sacrifice to give her love and trust to another and follow Naomi into a place she had never seen...Ruth loved a woman, and is thereby led to the God Whom that woman confesses.

"The whole town was stirred about"...

Could that mean that the families there murmured about Naomi coming back with nothing when she had left with a husband, two sons, and possessions? She had returned only with a foreigner from Moab, a country which Israel had friction with for years.

Ruth was industrious and willing to take the responsibility for taking care of Naomi when she went to glean in Boaz's field. Boaz recognized Ruth's reputation. "I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have

left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people unknown to you before. The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under Whose wings you have come to take refuge!

Ruth was committed. You can be committed without necessarily feeling the emotion of love. Feelings can sometimes make our choices easier, but feelings are unreliable and we must make our decisions based on what is right and not our feelings.

Ruth was submissive to her mother-in-law's guidance..."All that you say to me I will do." 3:5 Submissiveness refers to an attitude of "Teachableness" toward the members of the Body...a willingness to yield to another's advice or admonition...willing to submit to another's control. ATTITUDE!!

After Boaz and Ruth Wed: And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, Who has not left you this day without a close kinsman, and may his name be famous in Israel. And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher and supporter in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him...Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David [ancestor of Jesus Christ].

Ruth stands out as one of the best examples of unselfishness in the Scriptures. She unselfishly insisted on returning with Naomi, her widowed mother-in-law to Naomi's homeland. Her best known affirmations of selfless love has been quoted and used in many ways "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God."

Love is not limited by the type of relationship between two people. Love is only limited by human self-concern. We all get excited about romantic love...weddings, showers, etc. We are not surprised by new husband-wife love, parents with a new baby, but a love relationship between a woman and her daughter-in-law is pathetically rare. Jokes about their hostility are commonplace.

The entire story of Ruth and Naomi is a total victory for unselfish love. Ruth was even loved by those who at one time had despised her because she remained so consistently lovable. She received love because she gave only love away.

Love must spring from the heart of God. It must be given to us by the Holy Spirit "The love of God is (already shed abroad in our hearts.") Dare you refuse a gift you have been already given by the Lord Who gave Himself for you?

Many of you might be saying inside "But my mother-in-law is not like Naomi!" Or "But my daughter-in-law is not like Ruth!" God only needs ONE willing heart in a relationship. Will you be that one willing heart today?

It is "Loving, sharing, being committed to doing that which is right in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God!"