(14) Orpah stays in Moab; Ruth continues on with Naomi.
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
a. They lifted up their voices and wept again: Both Orpah and Ruth felt deeply; both loved Naomi; both were anxious about the future. But a choice had to be made, and Orpah chose to stay in Moab, while Ruth clung to Naomi.
b. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her: There comes a place in our following after God where it comes down to doing. Ruth and Orpah both felt the same feelings, but Ruth acted differently than Orpah.
i. Some are content with feeling Christian feelings – with feeling love for God, with feeling love for His word, with feeling love for His people. But what will you do? We are glad that God didn’t just feel His love for us; instead, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. (John 3:16)
c. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law: What happened to Orpah? Of course, we don’t know. But men have always concocted traditions to make up for what they don’t know. Jewish traditions say this request of Naomi came four miles outside of Moab; and that Orpah shed only four tears over the thought of parting from her mother-in-law Naomi. But the rabbis go on to say that in recompense for the four miles that she went with Naomi, Orpah gave birth to four sons – Goliath and his three brothers.
5. (15-18) Ruth’s eloquent statement of faith.
And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
But Ruth said:
“Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The LORD do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”
When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
a. Look, your sister-in-law has gone: Naomi did what she could to discourage Ruth from coming with her back to Israel. It wasn’t that Naomi didn’t want Ruth to come, but she didn’t want a fair-weather friend either.
b. Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people: This was a noble – even outstanding – friend-to-friend commitment. But Ruth’s commitment to Naomi went even further: And your God, [will be] my God.
i. This was more than a change of address. Ruth was willing to forsake the Moabite gods she grew up with and embrace the God of Israel. She was deciding to follow the LORD. This Gentile woman, once far from God, had drawn near to Him.
ii. And your God, [will be] my God meant that Naomi’s relationship with God made an impact on Ruth. This is striking because Naomi did not have an easy life. She had been widowed, had lost both her sons and believed that she had caused each calamity by her disobedience. Yet she still honored and loved the LORD.
iii. People should be able to look at your life, just as Ruth looked at Naomi’s, and say “I want your God to be my God.” Your trust in God, and turning towards Him in tough times, will often be the thing that draws others to the LORD.
c. Your God, my God: Ten years of Naomi’s compromise in Moab never made Ruth confess her allegiance to the God of Israel. Yet as soon as Naomi stood and said, “I’m going back to the God of Israel, I’ll put my fate in His hands” Ruth stood with her. If you think you will persuade your friends or relatives to follow Jesus by your compromise, you are mistaken. Perhaps you are sincere, but you are mistaken. Only a bold stand for Jesus will really do it.
i. “Ah! You will never win any soul to the right by a compromise with the wrong. It is decision for Christ and his truth that has the greatest power in the family, and the greatest power in the world, too.” (Spurgeon)
d. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me: Ruth had little knowledge of the true God, the God of Israel – but she knew He was a God of fairness and justice, so He could be called upon to hold Ruth accountable to this promise.
6. (19-21) Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem.
Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
a. The two of them went until they came to Bethlehem: It was a long walk from Moab to Bethlehem, and the trip was mostly uphill. We can imagine along the way, Ruth asking her mother-in-law Naomi all about the God of Israel and the land of Israel.
b. All the city was excited because of them: Bethlehem was just a large village; everyone in the village would have known everyone else and remembered those who had left years ago.
c. Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara: The name Naomi means “pleasant”; the name Mara means “bitter.” Naomi used this to tell the people of Bethlehem that her time away from Israel, her time away from the God of Israel, had not been pleasant – it was bitter.
i. Naomi didn’t put on a false face. She wasn’t going to go home, pretend everything was fine, and be “pleasant.” She was honest and said, “Here I am and my life has been bitter.”
d. The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me…the LORD has brought me home again empty…. the LORD has testified against me: Naomi was not afraid to see the hand of God in all her calamity.
i. Naomi knew that the tragedy that came into her life was not because of fate, chance, or blind fortune. She felt the tragedies were an example of God’s affliction because she could not see the end of His plan. But she knew there was a sovereign God of heaven and didn’t think she had just run into a string of “bad luck.”
ii. Yet, in the midst of all these bitter circumstances, Naomi was not bitter against the LORD. We can imagine one of the villagers asking, “Naomi, if God has dealt very bitterly with you, if the LORD has brought you home empty, if the LORD has testified against you, then why have you come back?” And she would have said, “Because I want to get right with Him again. Things have been terrible, and the answer isn’t in going further from God, but in drawing closer to Him.”
iii. Not everyone reacts to trials in the way Naomi did. “Many are humbled, but not humble; low, but not lowly. These have lost the fruit of their afflictions…and are therefore most miserable.” (Trapp)
7. (22) Naomi’s return.
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
a. So Naomi returned: Naomi came back repentant and honest. She has felt that the Almighty has afflicted me. But in the coming chapters, it will be shown the Almighty will bless her. If only she could see it!
b. Now they came to Bethlehem: It would have been easy for Naomi to focus on what she had lost. She had lost a husband, two sons, and one daughter-in-law. She had lost all kinds of material possessions. All she had left was one daughter-in-law, Ruth. But through that one thing she had left, God was going to bring unbelievable blessing into her life.
i. All the good that happens in the future chapters begins here: With Naomi’s godly repentance and honesty. It will make a difference not only in her life, but in the life of her daughter-in-law Ruth, and in the destiny of the nation Israel, and in your eternal salvation.
ii. It is possible for God to accomplish amazing things both for now and eternity, if we will turn towards Him today, not only in our feelings but also in our actions.