Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Ruth: Return

Episode Date: September 29, 2022

In this episode, Jonny Ardavanis teaches through Ruth chapter 1. In this chapter we see that God is weaving pain, famine, sorrow and death according to His providential purposes. As Ruth and Naomi return to the land of Bethlehem a crisis moment is reached in which Ruth must decide if she will return to her homeland or commit herself to Yahweh and His people. Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. In this episode, we continue in our study of the Old Testament book of Ruth. In our previous episode, we set the scene for the book of Ruth against the backdrop of the judges and detailed some of the main themes to be looking for as we studied this wonderful story. So if you haven't listened already, I would go back and listen to the first episode. For everyone else, let's dial in. By way of reminder, we previously looked at the book of Judges and the reoccurring line that occurs throughout the book is there was no king in Israel. There was no king in Israel. There was no king in Israel. This reoccurring line functions to reinforce not just

a political reality, but a spiritual one. The time of the judges was a time of great spiritual darkness. Indeed, the final verse of Judges highlights this very reality in a captivating way by saying everyone did what was right in their own eyes. This ominous chronological indicator is coupled now with an even darker economical indicator in Ruth 1.1 when we read that there was a famine in the land. Not only were the people spiritually impoverished, but they were physically impoverished as well. Now, when we think of famine, we think back to the beginning of COVID and think of when Costco had a limited selection of bread for our sandwiches or when Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays. But biblically speaking, famine spelled devastation and death. If you know

anything about the famines in the Bible, people would go to the level of such desperation where women would eat their afterbirth, people would eat their pets. And in Ezekiel 5 and elsewhere in scripture, we read that others would resort to cannibalism. It was a fight for survival. Lamentations chapter 4 suggests that those who perish by the sword are better off than those who suffer from famine, meaning that it is better for you to have your stomach stabbed through with a sword than to experience for months on end the stabbing pangs of starvation. The interesting thing to remember at this juncture is that God had delivered his people out of Egypt and he made them a special promise. Do you remember that promise? He said he would give them a land that was flowing with what?

Milk and honey. So why is this happening? Why is there a famine when God had promised milk and honey to his people? There are 13 famines in the Bible and all of them spelled judgment. And the severity of the famine was dictated by the people's rejection of God. We read why this is the case in Deuteronomy 28. After God details the wonderful blessings that come to those who walk in his ways, he issues a clear and unmistakable warning in Deuteronomy 28, 15. It says, But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe all his commandments and his statutes with which I

charge you today that all of these curses will come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall be you in the city and cursed shall be you in the country. Cursed shall be you in the basket and your kneading bowl. And then he says this, cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Verse 23, the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze and the earth which is under you iron. Did you hear what Yahweh just told his people? He says, if you don't obey me, the sky is going to be bronze, meaning not a drop of water is going to fall from the sky and the earth is going to be iron. Nothing will grow.

Verse 24, Yahweh continues to say, even the oxen that you possess, yes, they will be slaughtered, but you won't be the one eating the steak. That will be your enemies. Famine could be inflicted by hailstorms as we see in Exodus 9 or insects as we see in Joel chapter 1 or by enemy invasion. But regardless of the mechanism or means that God employs to bring about famine, it was universally understood to be for one reason, disobedience to Yahweh. These famines happen routinely in the Old Testament in what is known as the Deuteronomic cycle.

The people would proclaim their commitment to God, then they would go and play the harlot and go after other gods. Then this prolonged disobedience would lead to curses such as famine, infertility, and enemy invasion. The lack of food would then collapse the economy, and the people would be left to be ransacked by other enemy nations. These enemy nations would come in and subjugate them to harsh treatment. And then the people would come to their senses and they would cry and repent and reinforce their commitment to Yahweh. And then God would forgive them. He would raise up someone to restore them. And then they would be walking with the Lord for a while. But then shortly after they would go after other gods

once more. Thus the Deuteronomic cycle would occur again. Promises to God, pursuit after other gods once more. Thus, the Deuteronomic cycle would occur again. Promises to God, pursuit after other gods, punishment from the one true God, and then repentance and return to Yahweh all over again. You can't understand what's happening in Ruth unless you understand that everything is happening against the backdrop of the time of judges and a time of famine.

So two verses into this short story of Ruth, we understand that this is a profoundly dark time during the judges and an exceedingly dark hour. Although the famines were always going to be severe, one of the things that God promised his people even during famine is that he will steadfastly provide for those who fear him. Listen to the words of God saying, Wake up. You are in disobedience to God.

Return to him so that he might shower you with his blessings once more. Well, we read that in the midst of this dark hour in the history of God's people, we're introduced to a family and the family of a man named Elimelech. Ironically, at a time when there was no king in Israel and at a time when the people had rejected their true king, we meet a man named Elimelech, whose name literally means, God is my king. We are also introduced to one of our three main characters, Elimelech's wife, Naomi, and we read that Naomi and her husband have two sons named Mahlon and Chilion. Verse one tells us that this family was from Bethlehem in Judea. Now, even to those who are unchurched, they know there is something special about this town from the Christmas carols

that we sing. This is no ordinary place. Now, how fascinating is this, that all this is taking place in the location where the king of kings would be born. We are in the very first verse given a clue to what this entire book is all about. We mentioned this previously, but in the first verse, God is saying, watch how I providentially weave all of the events in history.

The only reason that you sing O little town of Bethlehem at Christmas is because over a thousand years before Christ was born, God will use the events in this story so that his one and only son, Jesus Christ, will be born in Bethlehem of Judea. Well, sadly, we read in the midst of this great famine,

Elimelech and his family opt to leave Bethlehem. Now, why is this bad? Because as I've already said, famine was an extension of punishment. Therefore, instead of Elimelech being used as a catalyst to spur the people to turn back to God, to return to Yahweh with repentance, Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons go to sojourn in another land. The additional irony here is that bet means house and lechem means bread. Bethlehem literally means house of bread. Yet because of the people's sustained disobedience,

there was no bread in the house of bread. So watch what Elimelech and his family does. It says they go to sojourn in the land of Moab. The story just got a lot darker. As we saw with the chronological indicator when we read that the story takes place in the time of judges, this move to Moab in similar

fashion is no mere geographical indicator. It is a spiritual one. Moab was the symbol for all that Yahweh hated. Here is how God describes the land of Moab in Psalm 108 verse 9. Moab is my wash pot. This is the God of the universe saying Moab is essentially my garbage can. It is vile. It's filthy. It's disgusting. It's wicked. Now, in order to grasp the extent of this, we need to revisit the story of Moab's origin. In Genesis 19, Abraham's nephew Lot is living in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. The city's wickedness was an egregious offense to God. Their sexual perversity provoked the anger of God, and God destroys the whole city. If you remember, Lot flees from Sodom and Gomorrah. His wife is turned into a pillar of salt because she looks back, and he survives, Lot that

is, with his two daughters, and they go and flee and stay in a cave. I want to read the account for you. We pick up after that story in Genesis 19 verse 31, which says, one day the older daughter said to the younger, our father is old and there is no man around here to give us children as is the custom all over the earth. This is Lot's daughter speaking. She says, let's get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father. That night they got their father to drink wine and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she laid down or when she got up the next day, the older daughter said to

the younger, last night I slept with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father. So they got their father to drink wine that night also. And the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again, he was not aware of it when she laid down or when she got up. So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. Verse 37 of Genesis 19. The older daughter had a son and she named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites today. Did you catch that?

The people of Moab are the descendants of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his eldest daughter. Moab is off to a bad start, and sadly, things don't get any better over time. If you've ever read the book of Judges, Eglon, the massively fat king of Moab, had defeated Israel and made Israel his servants. That was until he was killed in Judges chapter 3, but he wasn't just killed. Sometimes the details of scripture are too awesome to leave out. In Judges 3, Ehud, the left-handed Benjamite, went to pay tribute to Eglon after 18 years of Moabite oppression.

And when he greeted him, it says in Judges 3.20, Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, I have a message from God for you. And he arose from his seat and Ehud stretched out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. The handle also went in after the blade and it says the fat closed over the blade for he did not draw the sword out of his belly and the refuse came out. Then Ehud went and shut the doors of the cool roof chamber behind him and locked them. What a cool story.

I remember reading when I was a child, but we could go on and on about the perversity of Moab's temple prostitution, the idolatry, the pagan practices. Everything the Moabites were for is what God was adamantly against. In fact, the rejection of God's command by marrying a Moabite was so severe that children of mixed marriage between an Israelite and a Moabite, they were not allowed to enter into the assembly of the Lord for 10 generations. How long is that exactly? Well, think with me, the wandering Israelites were not allowed to enter the promised land until an entire generation died. And how long was that for? Well, 40 years, they wondered. So 10 generations, that's 400 years before the descendants of Moabite mix could enter the assembly. Maybe this seems harsh, but we must remember that everything about the

Moabites detailed a rejection of God's way and disobedience to God's word. For Elimelech to go to the land of Moab spelled the same, a rejection of God's way, an alienation from his word and people. And Elimelech would have known this. And I believe that's why in verse one, it says they went to sojourn there. Or maybe if you have an NIV, it might say that they went there for a while. That literally means that when they packed their suitcases and made the trip to Moab, they thought it will only be for a little while. We won't stay long. We can always come back. We won't get stuck there. But we read in verse four that they live there for about 10 years. They had initially envisioned going to Moab just for a while, but for a while always turns into a longer stay. Sin will always

take you further than you intended to go and will always keep you longer than you expected to stay. We read in verses three that then a limelight Naomi's husband died and she was left with her two sons. They took for themselves Moabite women as wives. The name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other was Ruth. And they lived there for about 10 years. But not only does Naomi's husband die, in verse five we read that both of her sons do as well. It doesn't get any more tragic than this. This may be one of the most dark and despairing paragraphs in the entire Bible. During Naomi's time in Moab, there have been two weddings, but now three funerals.

And now instead of three happy families, there are three graves and three widows standing before them. She is likely so afflicted with grief, pain, and sorrow. She is beyond words. I wonder if Naomi has any more tears to cry when we read in verse six that she arose with her daughter-in-law to return from the country of Moab. For she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. Now in this verse, we are introduced to the key word in this first chapter of Ruth. This word functions to reveal one of the central themes in the whole story. Now before I

tell you that word, we need to understand a little bit about the literary structure of the Hebrew language. The people of God in the Old Testament were professional storytellers. And one of the prominent features of Old Testament storytelling is the repetition of a single phrase or word. This isn't due to an impoverished vocabulary, but due to the reality that a reoccurring word in the story revealed the central plot and story the writer was seeking to convey. When a word is repeated, Ferguson notes, it's as if God is saying to us through his word,

don't miss this. Dial in here. Watch what God is about to do. Don't miss the meaning in the text. In the book of Ruth, the central message is revealed to us by the reoccurring Hebrew word shub. It is likely in your Bible translated return or turn back, and it is used in verses 6, 7, 8, 10, 16, and 22. It is used over 12 times in this opening chapter, and it may be translated even different ways in your Bible, and this is meant to deliver us from the dullness of reading the same word over and over again. But when we translate this word with variation into English, the meaning of the text is obscured. For our purposes, it's as if God is waving at you through the pages of his living word. This is a story about a return, not just from one place to another,

but a return in the lives of God's people to their one true king. This word shub is the main Old Testament word for a turning back to God's grace and kindness and repentance. And what we see is that Naomi's decision to return to Bethlehem is far more than just that. It is a return to Yahweh himself. So Naomi returns and like many others who return to God, she does so after a period of great pain. Is this not what we read in Psalm 119 verse 67? It says, Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Naomi travels with her daughters-in-law, but in verse 8, we read of a crossroads conversation. At some point on the journey from Moab to Bethlehem, perhaps for a drink of water or for rest from the heat

of the day, Naomi turns to her daughters with whom she had shared many memories and of recently many tears. And she tells them, 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. The Lord grant that you may find rest each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept. She says, go back to the house of your mother. This is interesting. You would think that in this context and culture, she would say, go back to your father's house. So why is she stressing the return to their mother's house? Well, we will read the answer to that after her daughter's initial rebuttal, starting in verse 10.

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. Naomi beckons them to return to their mothers because mothers were the ones that were given the responsibility of arranging marriages for their daughters. Naomi is telling her daughter-in-laws, listen, you are still young enough to return to your mother. Get married once more. Start a new life.

Initially, both daughters pushed back. So Naomi's response in verses 11 through 14 essentially goes to say, listen, even if I were to get pregnant right now and have two sons, are you going to wait 18 to 20 years so you could marry them? Why is she saying this? Does Naomi no longer love her daughters? No, it's not that. Naomi is detailing to her daughters what is necessary to come to the one true God.

There must be a forsaking of all that is behind, Moab, with her pagan practices, her idolatry, and her sin. Naomi does not promise her daughter's financial security or material prosperity in Bethlehem. In fact, as widows, they're looking at the sure destiny of poverty and destitution. Ferguson says that in a real sense, the two young women are presented with two options, Jehovah plus nothing in Bethlehem or everything minus Jehovah in Moab. Naomi, now that she has resolved to return to Yahweh and his people, she no longer mints his words about what is required by God from his people.

Total commitment. One of the daughters, Orpah, sees the logic and returns to the land of Moab. She feels that her future is more safe and secure amongst the familiar than she is in turning towards the one true God. Now, this conversation that is about to take place at this crossroads between Moab and Bethlehem is the most well-known element of this whole story. And it may be familiar to you, but dial in so that we don't miss the profundity of all that is here. Imagine the scene somewhere on this wilderness road, Ruth watches her sister-in-law fade in the distance

as she clings to her mother-in-law, Naomi. And Naomi looks at her and says in verse 15, see your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. Now watch as Ruth details a sevenfold commitment, not just to Naomi, but we will see to Yahweh. Her response is one that details no lack of certainty, but one that conveys total commitment. Ruth says in verse 16, do not urge me 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 when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. Ruth says to her mother-in-law,

Listen to me. Your God is my God. We will see this reality further developed in Ruth's conversation with Boaz. But for now, we must understand that there is far more in this conversation than mere human devotion and commitment. This is Ruth's commitment to the God of Israel. Ruth has counted the cost and she has doubled down on following Yahweh. The gravity of Ruth's commitment becomes clear by her self-invoked curse in verse 17 when she says, May the Lord do so to me and more if anything but death parts me from you. Ruth knows what awaits her in Bethlehem,

but she is unwavering in her commitment to Naomi and to Yahweh. Ian Dugid says this regarding Ruth's commitment. He says, There was nothing kosher about Ruth. She knew she would be about as welcome in Bethlehem as a ham sandwich at a bar mitzvah. Yet in spite of all this, Ruth embraces what is surely expected to be a life of widowhood,

childlessness, poverty, and alienation, and returns with her mother to Bethlehem. She's going to a new people with a new language, and yet her commitment is undeterred. She is all chips in. She tells Naomi, even after you die and I bury you, the people to where we are going, they're going to be my people, and I will be buried right alongside you. We read as the chapter comes to a close, as Naomi returns to the land that had once been her home, people stop and wonder, wait, is that Naomi? The town begins to talk and gossip. Wait, is that her? She looks older. She looks different. Naomi responds and says, don't call me Naomi anymore. Why? Well, because names have

meaning. Naomi's name means pleasant. It means ray of sunshine. And Naomi's experience over the last decade has been anything but sunshine and pleasantness. Her own name was an insult to her experience. She says, call me Mara, which means bitter. We see this word Mara in Exodus 15 after the people had been traveling through the desert after God had delivered them from Egypt and they traveled for three days with no food or water. And then after three days of experiencing life threatening thirst, they come to Mara and drink the water, but do you know what happened? They spit it out. The water was too bitter. Think about that. How bitter does the water have to be for you to spit it out even after you are fighting for your own survival due to

thirst? This is how Naomi describes her life. It has been that bitter. It has been full of difficulty. She is not highlighting her bitterness against God. She is saying that the hallmark of her life has been pain and heartache. Maybe as Naomi laid down to sleep that night, she looked up and said, why me? Why have I suffered in this way? Indeed, for those of us who have read the story thus far, it might be surprising that the name of this book we're even talking about isn't Naomi. Naomi is the widower of Elimelech and the mother of the two dead sons, and potentially across her tear-stained face, there is the complexion of someone who has gone past all of the various

stages of grief and is now marked by a stunned silence. Maybe you've experienced this before, but Naomi is wondering why. Well, the one-word answer that is revealed in this short story is simply because of Ruth. The pain and heartache that Naomi experienced is far more than just the consequences of sin, even though that may be true. We see here that God is weaving even the suffering of Naomi for the eternal good of Ruth. Ruth is now saved. Suffering is often the recipe for our Father to use his providential purposes. However, since Jesus is the interpretive key to understanding any passage in the Bible, we can now look at this chapter and understand that there is far more happening here than just the working of God in the life of one individual. The ripple effect of God's work in Now listen here. Without the famine, there is no travel to Moab, no sojourn to Moab, no marriage of Naomi's son to Ruth,

no death of Naomi's son and husband, no return to Bethlehem, no return to Bethlehem, no marriage to Boaz. And as we will see in the coming weeks, no marriage to Boaz, no David, and no son of David. God is saying to you through this story, don't you see how I work? I know what I am doing. As they return, there is a detail included in the final verse that possesses more meaning than may meet the eye. In verse 22, it says that the barley harvest was just beginning. This is not just a statement to indicate the timing of the year. Chapter one had begun by informing readers that there was a great famine and now the chapter is closing with a harvest. The story so far, which had been conducted in a minor key, all of the sudden gets a major strike of the violin. The scene is shifting. God is about

to do something. A harvest is about to begin, not just of barley, but of the blessing of God. Well, until next week, stay dialed in.