Sovereign Grace and Mercy

Ruth 1:1-22 

    1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
    6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread. 7 Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother's house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.”  So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
    11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, 13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!”
    14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.  15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”

16 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.
      17 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.”
18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

    19 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?”
    20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 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?”  22 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.

The recollection of Ruth’s life is important because it is part of the physical lineage of Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Matthew 1:5-6).  It begins with the beginning of her mother-in-law, Naomi, how her husband of the tribe of Judah took her from Bethlehem to Moab because of a great famine.  They brought their two sons who married local women after the death of their father, who might have objected to their marriage to those not of God’s people Israel.  God had greater plans.  The sons also died and Naomi had nothing left to keep her in a foreign land, so she made preparations to return to what would become later known as the city of David, Ruth’s eventual descendant.  Naomi heard that the LORD had given His people food again, and hoped to go back to the land of Judah to spend the rest of her life among friends and with her people of God.  Her daughter-in-law Orpah finally stayed, but Ruth was set on accompanying Naomi with Ruth’s adopted people and assumed God.  She was adamant about this as her speech convinced Naomi to stop trying to talk her out of it, but Ruth did not consider the tie broken just because she had no blood connection to her without her son as husband anymore.  She was committed to the point of death to follow Naomi and the path God had put in place for her to follow after Him at her side.  When they arrived in Bethlehem, Naomi was recognized greeted warmly after ten years, but her loss of husband and sons led her to believe that the LORD dealt her a bitter hand with emptiness; she took on the name of Mara (bitter) in place of her own name which meant pleasant.  Naomi believed that God had done bad things to her because He was displeased with her (“testified against me”).   But they had come to Bethlehem right at the beginning of the time for harvest, and not just of the crops.  God’s sovereign plan was set in motion not against Naomi in judgement, but for her and Ruth for a far greater predetermined outcome which was to bring the Savior of His people to the world!  We learn that God’s plans are not always apparent in adverse situations which seem to show He is judging and afflicting us, and we miss the fact that adversity is a way we learn of His absolute rule and control of these events for a more perfect plan than the easy road we prefer with the health and wealth of personal prosperity.  His ways and reasoning are not ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), so we know we will trust Him (Job 13:15) in spite of the circumstances.  This is walking by faith.  We trust Him because we have seen His faithfulness over and over in scripture as well as in our own lives.  We may despair as Naomi, but we can also have hope with trust like Ruth who also was once not the people of God (1 Peter 2:10) by His sovereign grace and mercy!