FAITHFULNESS IN GOD’S GARBAGE CAN

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

RUTH 1:1-10

Lesson #02
FAITHFULNESS IN GOD’S GARBAGE CAN

• Memory verse: Psalms 62:8
• Ruth chapter 1 begins in the nation of Moab, a close neighbor of Israel. During the days of the Judges, Elimelech, a Jew from Bethlehem, took his wife and sons to live in Moab because of a famine. When they left Bethlehem, Elimelech lost his property either by sale or by debt.
• There are 13 famines mentioned in the Bible…all of them are a judgment by God in response to the spiritual atmosphere of the time, and they are a testing of faith. (Lev 26)
• Read Ruth 1:1-10 From Testing to Tragedy
  • Names in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, are very important. They reveal character and truth to us.
  • The name Bethlehem-Judah:
  • Bethlehem = “house of bread”
    • Bethlehem is where Jesus was born. If there was no book of Ruth, Jesus would not have been born in Bethlehem. In Mic 5:2 the prophet tells us that is where Jesus would be born.
    • Bethlehem was a small town noted for the breeding and raising of Passover lambs to be offered in the tabernacle.
    • The shepherds at the time of Jesus’ birth were watching over these lambs possibly in the fields of Boaz.
  • Judah = “praise”
  • Moab = “from my father”
    • Moab was the son of Lot by his daughter. The Moabites were his descendants.
    • Psa 108:9 “Moab is my washpot” (“garbage can”)
      • God considered Moab the place where dirty clothes were washed. In other words, spiritually speaking, it was a place where God would put a believer through trials in order to wash out the filth from his life.
      • What was left there was all the “garbage” from a person’s life.
  • Look at the names mentioned in these five verses and consider their meanings:
    • Elimelech, a Jew = “my God is king” or “God is my King”
    • Naomi, a Jew = “pleasant” or “my joy”
    • Mahlon, a Jew = “unhealthy” or “sickly”
    • Chilion, a Jew = “puny, wasting” or “pining”
    • Orpah, a Moabite = “a fawn, youthful freshness” (athletic) or “back of the neck” (She eventually turned her back on Naomi and stayed in Moab.)
    • Ruth, a Moabite = “friendship” or “companion”, “beauty”.
  • Because names in the Bible are very important to tell us about character and using what we know about Israel’s history in this time period, what do we know about the character of Elimelech’s family?
    • Elimelech’s personal level of faith:
      • Like most people in Israel during the time of Judges, he had a very weak faith.
      • He lived in a city named for God’s promise of food (“Bethlehem”), but he did not exercise his faith in that promise.
      • He did not give God “praise” (Judah) and therefore, he did not receive God’s blessing. We know he had weak faith because he took his family and left the Promised Land to go the “garbage can” (Moab).
      • Spiritually speaking, he thought it was better to drink dirty wash water for soup. His name indicated his relationship with God, but he did not live like God was his king.
    • In a way, we have the same story in the New Testament, the prodigal son (Luk 15:11-32).
      • The prodigal son left the wealthy home of his father to end up living in a pig pen.
      • His lack of responsibility to use his faith to live in conformity to the will of God always results in a curse instead of a blessing.
    • Naomi’s level of faith:
      • At the beginning of the story, Naomi did not have a close relationship with God. Her name is a “worldly” name (“pleasant”). She is not named with any reference to God.
      • She probably had a very pleasant, amenable personality.
      • She obediently follows her husband to Moab, as she should. However, it seems she trusted more in her husband to supply her needs than she trusted in God.
      • When her husband died, her source of security was cut off.
    • What was the relationship like between Naomi and Elimelech?
      • It seems that they had a congenial marriage relationship: A marriage that was common at that time.
      • The wife was submissive to her husband, and the husband exercised complete authority.
  • The death of Elimelech (1:3)
    • Notice that Naomi did not return to the Promised Land when her husband died. She had become accustomed to living in Moab. She had no conviction from the Holy Spirit to return to her home land. Her new source of supply was her sons.
    • However, when Elimelech died, the two sickly sons took Moabite wives.
      • This was a violation of the Law of Moses.
      • The Mosaic Law forbade intermarriage with pagan people because it led to idolatry, like in the life of King Solomon.
    • Spiritual truth:
      • When the parents get out of a close fellowship with God, God is no longer their King and Lord.
      • The children fall further away from God in the next generation. (apostasy)
      • Parents are supposed to model the spiritual importance of God in a person’s life.
  • The death of Naomi’s two sons (1:5):
    • When the two sick sons died, Naomi was left with two foreign daughters by marriage.
    • Within a ten year period she lost her husband and 2 sons.
    • Now Naomi remembers God and her home land.
    • A woman’s security came through her husband and her sons. Since she was alone she thought life would be better back in Bethlehem.
      • Surely there was a better way to live than living in the “garbage can” of Moab!
      • Just like the prodigal son, she decides to return home.
      • Eventually God, the Holy Spirit, draws the true believer back to God, the Father.
  • Naomi’s offer (1:6):
    • Naomi loved her daughters-in-law and they loved her.
      • This was an unusual situation, humanly speaking.
      • Because of Naomi’s personality, we can see that she got along with everyone very well. She had a pleasant personality.
    • What makes this an unusual situation is that the Moabites and the Israelites did not get along well together. The Moabites were always enemies of the Jews, and the Jews did not trust the Moabites.
    • At first both girls had decided to return to Bethlehem with Naomi. (1:10)
    • However, these girls had not considered the cost of discipleship.
    • Read Luk 14:28-33 The Cost of Discipleship:
      • These two girls would give up a lot to follow Naomi to Bethlehem:
        • -They would give up a future marriage because no Jew would marry them.
        • -They would live in poverty because Naomi had no money and no land.
        • -They would give up a future inheritance because Naomi had lost all her land when her husband left Bethlehem.
        • -They would give up a congenial community because they were outcasts to the Jews and would live in isolation.
        • -They would give up their own families back in Moab.
        • -They would give up their own culture and the heathen gods of the Moabites.
        • -They would begin an uncertain future.
      • For Orpah the cost of discipleship was too great. (1:14)
        • She returned to her home and family in Moab.
        • Naomi saw the “back of her neck” as they departed.
      • For Ruth the cost of discipleship was worth it. (1:14) She became Naomi’s “companion” and “friend”.
  • What examples of faithfulness do you see in these verses?
    • Naomi was faithful to Elimelech, her husband, when she followed him to Moab.
    • Naomi was faithful to her daughters-in-law when she offered them her love.
    • Naomi was faithful to her daughters-in-law when she offered to take them with her to Bethlehem.
    • Both girls were faithful to Naomi when their husband’s died.
    • God was faithful to this family even though they took themselves out of a close relationship with God.
      • -The Holy Spirit draws them back to the Promised Land just like the prodigal son was drawn back to his father.
      • -God’s blessing will be poured out on this family because of their faithfulness to each other and eventually their faithfulness to God.
• Application:
  • Faithfulness to God first and to others is a character quality we all need to develop in our lives.
  • By faith the believer trusts that God will honor faithfulness in a believer.

Homework

Ruth 1:11-22

• Application of Ruth 1:1-10
  • Are you a “foul weather” Christian?
    • How would you rate your level of faithfulness to God when difficult times come in your life?
  • Are you a “fair weather” Christian?
    • How would you rate your level of faithfulness to God when times are good in your life?
  • God wants us to be faithful no matter what the situation in our lives.
• Preparation for Ruth 1:11-22
  • Read Ruth 1:11-22
    • Did Naomi know her family was out of God’s perfect will in going to Moab in the first place? How do you know?
    • Examine Ruth’s statement of commitment to Naomi in 1:16-17. What parallel does this statement have in the Christian life?
    • What parallel do you see today that corresponds to Orpah’s decision?
    • Why does Naomi tell her neighbors in Bethlehem to call her “mara” instead of “Naomi”? (20) and what is the significance?
• Memory verse: Ruth 1:16