Word of Salvation – Vol. 22 No. 28 – March 1976
Love Story
Sermon by Rev. John Vanderbom on Ruth 1:1-18
Scripture Reading: 1Corinthians 13
Psalter Hymnal: 33:1,2,3,7; 361; 284; 368
Congregation and friends,
If you wish to call the story of Ruth a love-story, you have the right to do this. The story of Ruth is indeed a lovely romance, and it closes with a very happy ending.
Yet you must realize straightaway: it is much more than that!
You know, in ordinary storybooks the love stories are all about a man and a woman. But strangely enough, the book of Ruth begins with the story of the love of two women for one another, Ruth and Naomi, a young woman and her mother-in-law. And this lovely story is the subject for today!
It all happened in a very unpleasant time.
The first verse tells us that ‘it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled’. And we know enough about those days, not to expect anything beautiful to happen!
When the judges ruled in Israel everybody did what was good in his own eyes. There was no king; there was no rule, no authority and no morality, very much like in present day Australia!
It was a very depressing time, just like we have today. We hear a lot about violence and robberies, and there is a total lack of morality. When the iniquities multiply, lots of people seem to lose their common sense! And lots of Christian people even seem to lose their faith and their hope and their love. And they don’t know any more what to say to their children!
Now it was in such a bad time that Elimelech and Naomi had made their decision to leave Bethlehem. They decided to emigrate to Moab. Bethlehem – the name means house of bread. But they didn’t see any bread and any good in staying there!
So we hear of a double journey, taken by Elimelech and Naomi his wife, travelling from Bethlehem to Moab.
Now there were plenty of reasons for a Jewish believer not to go to Moab. The Moabites were old and bitter enemies of Israel. God had commanded: a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation. They were such immoral people. So why did they go to Moab? Simply because they had lost faith in Israel! The name Elimelech means: My God is King! But you know, the famine had defeated his faith in God!
* * * * * *
They stayed in Moab for ten years.
During that time three things happened. First, Elimelech died. Secondly. their two sons Mahlon and Chilion married Moabite girls. Lastly, both sons died. And there were no children.
The result was that their emigration had all been in vain. They went for bread – but the end was: three men dead!
At the end of ten years three women, Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth, all widows, set out on their journey, back to Bethlehem.
You imagine, Naomi with her bitter experience of sadness, doom and death, Naomi’s heart began to cry for Bethlehem. And for the God of Bethlehem: would He still be alive?
Verse 6 says: Then she started with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited His people and given them food.
So she set out from the place where she was, with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
The way from Moab to Bethlehem was a distance of approximately 50 miles. Quite a distance to walk for the three ladies, packed with luggage. There were two difficult crossings to be done, of the rivers Arnon and Jordan.
The bible tells of other difficulties: Naomi felt very concerned about taking the other two women along.
Verse 8 reads: But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go, return each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find a home, each of you in the house of your husband!’
Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices, and wept.
Naomi felt very concerned. And it was a concern of love. All of a sudden she began to realize that it wouldn’t be fair for her to bring these two girls, these Moabite women, back to a country where they did not belong and where they would not be accepted.
On the way home Naomi began to understand more and more how big the difference would be, the difference, or what we call: the barrier, or, if you wish the antithesis between the life of God’s people, and the way of life in Moab!
So in a very delicate and gracious manner, but also very firmly, Naomi points this out to them.
‘It is better for you to go back to Moab! Don’t follow me to Israel!’ Why not? Because you haven’t been brought up like that! In Israel we don’t believe in those things which are so common in Moab.
In Israel we don’t believe in mixed marriages. In Israel we believe in the sanctity of marriage.
In Israel we have our Sabbath, our special day of the Lord. Because it is the Lord’s will that we shouldn’t become slaves on earth, but that we should find rest and have a look at the future!
In Israel we know the Lord’s will. And this is His will that we should know His Name and live in a covenant with Him.
In Israel we have learnt that we must be holy, as He, the Lord, is holy!
Naomi must have spoken like this. And she must have said this in a very gentle and gracious way.
Yet for Orpah her language was plain enough. Orpah began to reason: If this is the case in Israel, then she’d better return.
So Orpah returns back to Moab. Why blame her?
With a kiss of farewell and with many tears Orpah makes her decision. A difficult, and a very unpleasant decision. But what else could she do? Isn’t she sensible?
* * * * * *
But for Ruth it is a different story! ‘She clings to her mother-in-law!’ That shows that she had made up her mind already a long time ago! And nobody, nothing is going to stop her now! ‘She cleaves to her mother-in-law’! Now, mind you, here begins the ‘love-story’. If you wish, here is where the real marriage-decision was made! For this is how we read it in Genesis 2:24, that a man shall leave his father and his mother, and he shall – cleave to his wife.
Now this is exactly what Ruth is doing Hasn’t she left her father and her mother, and all things that were dear to her? And she cleaves (yes, the same word from Genesis 2 is used here!) – Ruth cleaves, not to a husband, but (what is she really after, you wonder!) she cleaves to a mother-in-law who is a widow! How ridiculous! This is what the world would say. This is what my natural self would say! This is what Orpah has said!
Ruth clings to her mother-in-law. This is a love-decision. Just listen to her motivation, how lovely and how well prepared:
Verse 16: But Ruth said, “Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if even death part me from you!”
This is lovers’ language. And many waters cannot quench this love. For love is as strong as death. Ruth clings to her mother-in-law. Her place must be in Israel. This is her great decision, her choice-for-life: Husband, or no husband, a future and a home in Bethlehem, or no home and no future in the church. Her place is with God’s people!
She clings to her mother-in-law. Why? Because here she must have learnt of Him Who is the Way and the Truth and the Life! Now she knows in Whom she believes And whenever her mother-in-law has been telling about the Sabbath, and the rest that remains for the people of God, and about marriage and its sanctity, then these things must have touched her heart!
‘Entreat me not to leave you, for God’s sake, entreat me not!’ Ruth even swears an oath. Your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God! It is a romance, a love-story. It is also the clearest conversion story of the Old Testament.
* * * * * *
But now the big question.
Why, do you think, is this story in the Bible?
Certainly not in the first place because it is such a lovely romance.
The book of Ruth was written, and the whole Bible has been written, to let us know about the love of God! The Bible is HIS Love-story. The Lord keeps His people together! And the wonder of Ruth’s story is that even in the blackest time, in those days when the judges ruled, when everything looked so hopeless and depressing, and when everybody began to do foolish things, when the love of the many had grown cold, because THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE IT ANY LONGER – EVEN THEN there was the LORD Who kept His inheritance intact!
When His people pulled out from Bethlehem. He brought them back with a mighty hand. He laid His strong and gracious hand upon the head of a young heathen woman. ‘You shall be Mine’ He said. You shall be the mother of a King! For My people need a King!
The first lesson we can learn from this chapter is that behind all the things in life there is that great, divine Love story! Rejoice, the Lord is King! So whatever may happen, and whether you believe it or not, the Lord continues His saving work. It can be so bad in the world. It can be so dark and dead in the Church. But the Lord is awake! And His kingdom shall come!
And when the judges ruled and everybody was moaning about the bad morality, the Lord was very busy preparing the way for the Kingdom of David, and the Son of David. And Ruth, a heathen girl from Moab would be David’s grandmother and the great-great-grandmother of our Messiah, Jesus Christ!
Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore!
* * * * * *
For there is a second lesson to be learnt from this chapter.
The Lord and His kingdom ask for our commitment. And isn’t it significant to read that Ruth, by her choice for life, became His committed instrument?
You know, it is something beautiful to believe that The Lord is King, and on Sunday to sing at the top of our voices that Jesus shall reign.
But they who truly and really believe in Jesus’ kingship know also very well what this involves – complete surrender, a choice, a total commitment for life!
How amazing to see how a pagan girl was found willing to sacrifice much for an unknown future! She had left her father and her mother her home and happiness in Moab to follow a woman who was a widow; to become a member of a church where people might well say: I don’t like you, stranger; to join a new religion with a God who could be so cruel…….! Or what had that God of Israel meant to her? Hadn’t He robbed her of her husband and her happiness?
Yet, she clung to her mother-in-law. To whom else would she go? Here she had heard the words of eternal life!
When we speak about our King, then we always speak about commitment too! The one simply won’t go without the other! Young people, and older friends, please don’t fool yourselves with the thought that we might get it more cheaply than Ruth did. You remember the word of Jesus: Whosoever he be of you who forsakes not all that he has, cannot be My disciple?!
* * * * * *
But then, such a Love-story is worth all the sacrifice. For with the Lord, and in His Kingdom there is a great reward. Boaz will tell her this very soon (2:12): 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.
This is our last remark.
We have heard about the King of Israel, and we have spoken about commitment to the King. But one more word must be added.
The service of our great King is not: slavery!
Nobody had ever forced Ruth to make her commitment. Ruth became a woman of great faith; faith such as could hardly be found in Israel any longer.
Now; “whence comes such a faith”? The answer is: only from the Holy Spirit. And you know, when the Holy Spirit is at work, then everything is becoming beautiful. Here you have the secret of Ruth’s attractiveness.
Her confession is expressed in words of poetry! ‘Your people is my people, and your God is my God. Where you will go, I will go…..!’
When you listen to the people who are committed to the great King, then you will always hear the sound of music!
In other words: never believe people who tell you that a life of faith in God and obedience to Him is a life of bondage and slavery. The truth is that only under God’s guidance is there real joy. Ruth’s faith has found a great reward.
Firstly, Ruth got a place in the Bible. That is something!
Then, she was given a place, a position among God’s people, as the grandmother of David the King. That was more.
Last, but not least, her name is in the book of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is Everything!
But do you realize, brothers and sisters, young friends, cadets and calvinettes, that this great reward could well be yours and mine as well? We wish this for all and everyone in the church service today, that your name may be in the same book with the Lord Jesus Christ, because somehow or other your life and your love, and your commitment has also been connected with the story of His kingdom!
Rejoice, the Lord is King. Your Lord and King adore!
This means something very practical. Give yourself. Commit yourself. What the Lord expects from the people who love Him is not a vague belief in God. Rather: a firm commitment to His people, in all their needs and struggles. The Christian life asks for a full surrender, to stand for His Name in the present world. Blessed are they who follow the Lamb wherever He leads!
So give Him your time and your talent.
Give yourself to the study of the Word of God.
Serve Him with a dedicated Sunday.
Serve Him also during the week. Take time to read and to search the Scriptures. Serve Him with your time, and with your friendships. Serve Him in your marriage.
And again: don’t believe those people who tell you that a life with God is dull.
The book of Ruth is a book with a happy ending.
The whole Bible is a book with a happy ending.
Just like we can say that the Christian life is the only life of which people can say: it has a happy end!
Even in the days when the judges ruled and everybody loses their senses, the Christian keeps his faith and his hope and his love. He rejoices, for he knows: My Lord is still King over all!
Amen.