Don’t continue doing the same things because we will get the same results. We don’t have to keep making the same mistakes we always made. Failure is never a permanent condition for the Believers. We can learn from our failures and use them as stepping stones for our victory. The story of Ruth begins with failure but ends in a great victory that no one could have imagined.
There was a famine in Israel and Naomi and her family were having difficult days so they moved to Moab. These were the days of Judges when Israel was caught in the cycle of disobedience to God which led to oppression and defeat. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for deliverance and the Lord delivered them from their oppressors. They then praised the Lord but over time they got complacent and began to disobey God again. This disobedience let to oppression again by their enemies and then they cried out to God again for deliverance. This is the cycle of the book of Judges: disobedience, oppression, crying out to God, God delivering them and then they go back to disobedience again. It was a cycle that happened over and over and over again in Judges. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes and the nation was in a moral mess. God sent a famine and let terrorists attack their land to get their attention. This was when Naomi’s family left Israel.
They chose to leave God’s land and God’s people. They were running away from their problems and troubles. But more than that, they were running away from the Lord. They left Bethlehem and went to live in Moab. Moab was a place that God described as his wash bowl. They left the house of bread and praise and went to live in a garbage can. This story is like the story of the prodigal son who left his father’s house and went to a foreign country and ended up living in a garbage can. He wanted to eat the pods and slop that the pigs were eating. This is how far he had fallen. Some people move to a new location thinking this will help their circumstances. But usually they only take their problems with them. Others try to escape by using drugs or booze or pornography. And others try to escape in their work but the problems are still there. These attempts to escape can make the problem worse. This is what happened to the man in our story, Elimelech, the husband of Naomi.
Elimelech took his family to Moab and they made their home there. The prodigal son went to the pig pen but left it and went back to his father’s house. Elimelech’s family didn’t leave Moab but made their house in the pig pen. They stayed in the garbage can way to long. Sin will always take you further than you want to go and will keep you longer than you want to stay and will cost you more than you want to pay. This family’s unfaithful act kept them longer in the far off country than they wanted to stay. In verse 3 the husband dies and his two sons marry women of the Moab country which is forbidden thing to do. The wives were Orpha and Ruth. After living there ten more years, both the sons died. So Naomi survived her two sons and her husband. Sin cost them more than they wanted to pay. In the book of James it says “Desire gives birth to Sin and Sin when it is fully grown gives birth to Death”. When sin comes to rest in your life and you entertain it, feed it and allow it to grow then it will only lead to death and destruction. Elimelech lead his family away from the Lord into disobedience and death. Don’t let this happen to you and your family. Don’t give up on God and don’t run way from His people. Don’t leave the Lord and make things worse. If you have already done this then maybe it is time to come home.
As a believer in Christ, you don’t need to continue to live in defeat. Get up from your place of failure, get up from your sin and come back to God. This is what Naomi did in verse 6. She arose with her two daughters-in-laws and was going to leave Moab to go back to Israel. She had heard the famine was over and that God had given His people bread. Naomi was returning to the Lord, His land and His people. This is what we all need to do when we fail. Just get up and return to the Lord. Before you do that, consider the cost and understand what coming back to the Lord will cost. In verse 8, Naomi is explaining to her two daughters-in-laws what it will cost them to go back with her. She tells them to stay in Moab with their families because it will not be good for them in Israel. Naomi wants them to understand what it will cost them if they go back with her. She says they will be poor widows for the rest of their lives in Israel. She wanted them to know the cost. This is just like when Jesus told us to deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Him. Jesus was telling us the cost of being a Believer and follower of Jesus.
Ruth decided to turn her back on the past and stay with Naomi. Ruth said to Naomi that she would go where Naomi went, Naomi’s people would be her people and Naomi’s God would be Ruth’s God. Ruth is making a clean break with her past, leaving her homeland and burning the bridges behind her. She is committing herself to Naomi, to Naomi’s people and to Naomi’s God. Ruth had made up her mind and Naomi accepted it. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest time. They eventually received good things and this is what happens to those who return to God. He will receive you back again.
