Ruth 1 - Sovereignty & Goodness

I get the great privilege of not only opening the Word of God with you guys, as I love to do, but we get to introduce a new book this week: the book of Ruth. If you haven’t already found your way there, we’re going to be in the eighth book in your Old Testament, if you’re starting in Genesis and moving to your right. It’s a little book, only four chapters, but boy, it is packed full of incredible theology and details about the person, nature, and work of God. It is a beautiful picture of His providence and His redemptive hand throughout human history.

The Moral Train Wreck of the Judges

Let’s jump into Ruth chapter one, verse one, and talk through it as we go. The story begins during the days when the judges governed, and there was a famine in the land.

Ruth 1:1 (NASB)

Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.

We see right off the bat that the author suggests there is a difficult thing going on. It’s during the days of the judges. I don’t know what you know about the book of Judges—the book that occurs just before Ruth—but it is essentially a moral train wreck. After the people of God entered the land with Joshua, they had some initial success and were obedient, but in the book of Judges, it all went south in a hurry.

This period covers about three hundred years, and the book of Ruth fits into that timeline. What you need to know is that the people of God basically stopped looking like the people of God. They started acting like the pagan Canaanites around them. The judges weren’t like the judges in our legal system; they were more like regional political rulers or, on a bad day, mafia thugs. Some were godly, but as you watch the cycles in the book of Judges, each judge gets progressively worse.

This is the backdrop of Ruth: a time when Israel is being disobedient and feeling the consequences. When verse one says there was a famine in the land, it’s likely the result of that disobedience. Often in Scripture, famine is the hand of God moving to bring His people back into alignment with His will.

A House of Bread Without Any Bread

Now, look at the end of verse one and verse two. We are introduced to a man from Bethlehem in Judah who went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and two sons.

Ruth 1:1-2 (NASB)

Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. The name of the man [was] Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons [were] Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there.

The name of the man was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. To a Jewish reader, two things would immediately stand out. First: Moab. Why are the people of God leaving Bethlehem for Moab? If you know the history, the Moabites were the result of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter, recorded in Genesis 19. It’s a dark, depressing chapter of sin.

Genesis 19:30-38 (NASB)

Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. Then the firstborn said to the younger, ’Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth. ‘Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.’ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, ‘Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our family through our father.’ So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.

The Moabites worshipped a god named Chemosh, whose worship involved child sacrifice and lewd sexual acts. They were an abomination to Israel. So, an Israelite traveling to Moab is immediately odd. Secondly, why is there no famine in Moab? Moab is only about 50 miles away—maybe like driving from Clovis to Firebaugh. There is food in a pagan land, but a famine in the land of God.

There is deep irony in the names here. Elimelech means “My God is King,” yet he isn’t acting like it. Naomi means “Pleasant.” Mahlon means “Sick or Dying,” and Chilion means “Puny or Pining.” You might ask, what mother names her kids “Death” and “Puny”? In a Jewish context, names were often based on the signs of the times. It’s like naming your kids “COVID” and “Corona,” or “Economic Disaster” and “Mask Wearer.” It was a sign of the horrific season they were in.

Even the locations are ironic. “Ephrathites” means fruitful, and “Bethlehem” means House of Bread. So here is the tragedy: there is a famine in the House of Bread. A man whose name says “My God is King” is taking his family out of the land of God to find life in a pagan land.

When the Plan Fails

So, how did the plan go? Not very well. Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.

Ruth 1:3 (NASB)

Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.

We aren’t told why he died, but Naomi is now a widow. In that culture, she is in a very difficult position. Her only hope is her two sons. But then the sons marry Moabite women—Orpah, whose name means “Obstinate” or “Stubborn,” and Ruth, whose name means “Companion.”

Ruth 1:4 (NASB)

They took for themselves Moabite women [as] wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

They stayed in Moab for ten years. I wonder if that was longer than they intended. Then, tragedy strikes again. Both Mahlon and Chilion die, and Naomi is left bereft of her children and her husband.

Ruth 1:5 (NASB)

Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.

Why did they move there? To live. And yet, everyone has died. Naomi is left with two daughters-in-law who worship a foreign god. She has no sons and no husband to care for her. And notice what is missing from those ten years: there are no grandkids. It seems the womb was shut.

If you are in Naomi’s shoes, this is as bad as it gets. To outlive your husband and both of your children is a pain some of you know all too well. But there is a lesson here for us as men—for husbands and fathers. Our choices hold consequences for everyone around us. Elimelech was playing Russian roulette with God. He took control, he didn’t pray, and tragedy followed in his wake.

The Teeter-Totter of Providence

Even in the midst of this pain, things are about to change. Naomi hears that the Lord has visited His people and given them food.

Ruth 1:6 (NASB)

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food.

This is the first time the name of the Lord—Yahweh—is mentioned in the book. It’s the covenant-keeping name of God. And here, we see the theme of God’s providence. God moves in two ways: through visible miracles (like the parting of the Red Sea or the Resurrection) and through the invisible hand of providence. Providence is God moving in the everyday, like the wind—you feel the effects, but you can’t see the hand.

To understand providence, think of a teeter-totter. On one side is the Sovereignty of God; on the other is the Goodness of God. These must stay in balance. God is sovereign; He forms light and creates darkness.

Isaiah 45:5-7 (NASB)

’I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.

But He is also a loving, compassionate Father.

Exodus 34:6-7 (NASB)

Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.’

If you have sovereignty without goodness, you get a villain like Thanos—all-powerful but evil. If you have goodness without sovereignty, you get Santa Claus—nice, but inept. True biblical theology holds both: God is sovereign and He is good.

The Fork in the Road

Naomi decides to head home, and she tells her daughters-in-law to go back to their mothers’ houses. She prays that the Lord would deal kindly with them—using the word hesed, which means God’s loyal, covenant kindness.

Ruth 1:8-9 (NASB)

And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ’Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ‘May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.’ Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

She tells them, “Go home. I have nothing for you. I’m too old to have more sons for you to marry. Even if I got a husband tonight, would you wait for those babies to grow up?” Then she makes a heavy statement: “The hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.”

Ruth 1:10-13 (NASB)

And they said to her, ‘[No], but we will surely return with you to your people.’ But Naomi said, ’Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? ‘Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me.’

Orpah kisses her and leaves, but Ruth clings to her. Naomi tries one more time to push Ruth away, telling her to go back to her people and her gods.

Ruth 1:14-15 (NASB)

And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Then she said, ‘Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’

Ruth is standing at a literal and proverbial fork in the road. Will she go back to the security of Moab, or follow Naomi into the unknown? Ruth’s response is one of the most beautiful conversion moments in all of Scripture.

Ruth 1:16-17 (NASB)

But Ruth said, ’Do not urge me to leave you [or] turn back 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. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if [anything but] death parts you and me.’

Ruth is all in. She is abandoning Moab, Chemosh, and her future security. She is saying, “Naomi, I have watched you worship for ten years, and I want your God.”

Maybe you are in a “Ruth moment.” You’ve been around the things of God, you’ve heard about Jesus, but you haven’t made a decision. You’re standing at the fork in the road. I think of a fellow student I knew in seminary from the Middle East. When he put his faith in Christ, his family turned his picture face-down on the mantle and told him he was no longer a son. There was even a hit out on his life. That is the kind of bold, risky faith Ruth is displaying here.

The Honesty of Bitterness

When they arrive in Bethlehem, the whole city is stirred. The women ask, “Is this Naomi?” But Naomi responds, “Do not call me Naomi (Pleasant); call me Mara (Bitter).”

Ruth 1:19-21 (NASB)

So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, ‘Is this Naomi?’ 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, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?’

Naomi is being raw and honest. She says, “I went out full, and the Lord brought me back empty.” Her teeter-totter is out of balance. She sees God’s sovereignty—she knows He is big enough to have stopped this—but she doesn’t see His goodness.

There are times God allows things that are in contradiction to His perfect will. My wife has a story of evil things that happened to her as a child at the hand of a sinful man. Those things were not good; they were horrible. God, in His sovereignty, allowed them, but He wasn’t decreeing them with pleasure.

Joseph understood this. After being betrayed and imprisoned for thirteen years, he told his brothers that while they meant it for evil, God meant it for good.

Genesis 50:20 (NASB)

’As for you, you meant evil against me, [but] God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

He doesn’t call the evil “good,” but he says God used it for good. Some of you are angry at God because of things out of your control. What I love about Naomi is that she doesn’t stay stuck in her bitterness. She turns back toward God, back to His people, and back to the land He is blessing. It’s okay to be in process. It’s okay to say, “Lord, I believe you’re sovereign, but I don’t feel your goodness right now.”

The Beginning of the Harvest

As chapter one closes, we see a whisper of providence. They arrive in Bethlehem just as the barley harvest is beginning.

Ruth 1:22 (NASB)

So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

The famine is over. The winds are shifting. The hesed of God is about to be put on display.

There is a word repeated twelve times in this chapter: “Return.” Elimelech turned his back on God. Orpah returned to her pagan gods. But Naomi and Ruth returned to the Lord.

Repentance is simply the act of returning—turning our hearts back to Jesus. Whether you’ve walked away for ten years or ten minutes, the invitation is the same. The God of Ruth 1 is the God who invites you to return. He is the God who would eventually bring His Son, Jesus Christ, through this very line of Ruth to pay for our sins.

We see Him in our rearview mirror. He has come, He has reigned, and He has redeemed. Let’s turn back to Him today.

Father, we thank you for this book and the picture of your sovereignty. We are grateful for these men and women and how they responded to you. As we read these pages in the weeks to come, would you continue to be the hero of the story? Would we see your redemptive hand in their lives and in ours? Cause our hearts to turn back to you. In Christ’s name, Amen.