What to Do When the Lord’s Hand is against You?
Ruth 1-4
Jim Davis
The book of Ruth is about the conversion of a Moabite woman to the God of Israel in the worst of times. The historical background of the book of Judges is the setting for book of Ruth. It was a period in Israel’s history comparable to what we know as the Dark Ages. The historical background of Ruth was comparable to the Great Depression in the 1930s where a living had to be eked out in menial servile ways. It was a time when every person did what was right in their own eyes. The severe judgment of God came as he brought famine and hardship in an effort to bring Israel to repentance.
The times were the result of the judgment of God upon the faithlessness. Naomi’s family is caught up in these troublesome times. They move to the country of Moab during famine. There Naomi’s husband dies, and within a ten year period her two sons marry Moabite women. Her sons also die leaving three women in desperate circumstances. Naomi recognizes all her troubles as the result of God’s powerful hand. Later Naomi said that God had sent her away to the land of Moab full but she came back empty.
Ruth 1:20-21
20 "Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." NIVShe expresses her feelings to her daughter-in-laws as they seek to return to Israel with her.
Ruth 1:11-13
11 But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me-even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons- 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!" NIVGod hand brought them back to Israel empty handed. God does have the whole world in his hand. He often rules the world’s affairs in such a way to bring the lost into his special area of activity within the kingdom of Christ.
Naomi not only recognizes God’s hand has gone out against her, but she also recognizes her helplessness in the circumstances God has created for her. Naomi has no husband to provide for her or her daughter-in-laws. Even if she did find a husband she is too old to have children for them to marry.
In ancient times when a woman’s husband died the next of kin would marry her and rear up children by her so that she would have children to provide for her. Naomi was too old to provide children for Ruth and Orpah to marry.
It was such a dark period in Israel’s history. There were not many faithful trustworthy men who were willing to live up to their responsibility to the next of kin. These women were left in cruel desolate circumstances wondering what they should do when there was seemingly nothing else they could do.
Seeing the Place of Frustration as the Sphere of God’s Purpose
"The way out of life's frustrations is found not by resenting our limitation but by accepting the place of frustration as the sphere of God's purpose." (James Reid, Facing Life with Christ, Cokesbury Press, 1940)
The greatest personal stories in the Bible are about individuals who lived in the worst of times, often when the entire world was against them, but they saw their frustration as the sphere of God’s purpose for their lives. They didn’t give up, but rather committed themselves to obedience to God laws. They found themselves emancipated while living in the very circumstances the world used to enslave them without their circumstances changing.
The 12th-century Persian poet Omar Khayyam, who said that we as humans are "but helpless pieces of the game [God] plays. Upon this checkerboard of nights and days;
Hither and thither moves and checks and slays, and one by one back in the closet lays."
People who have this attitude fail to understand the exciting truth that God has given us freedom and the resources we need to change and overcome and be emancipated in every circumstance we face. Naomi decides to place herself within the sphere of God’s specific activity. But even there the circumstances seemed astoundingly bleak.
Ruth 1:6-18
6 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband."
Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."
11 But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me-even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons- 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"
14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.
15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."
16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. NIV
She pleads with them to go and find husbands in Moab. Orpah follows her advice, but Ruth chooses to go back to Israel with Naomi.
Seeking Refuge under God’s Wings
The intriguing aspect of the story is not about Naomi, but about her daughter-in-law’s conversion to the God of Israel. We usually don’t see this book as a story of Ruth’s conversion, but it is. She was a Moabite, from a race of people the Israelites despised. Yet, she chose to go back to Israel, she chose to commit herself to her mother-in-law in what to her was a strange land.
This is an account of a Moabite woman turning from her gods to the God of Israel. Ruth says, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
"These words clearly imply, though they do not state outright, that Ruth, a Moabite who once worshiped the gods of the Moabites, now believes in and lives by the standards of Yahweh, the Lord, Israel’s God. There is no doubt that this narrative tells us that Ruth converted to faith in the true God, even though this is nowhere explicitly stated." (Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart, How to Read The Bible For All It’s Worth, pg. 87, 88).
You can never go wrong when you commit yourself to God in service to his people. Ruth not only commits herself to God but takes upon herself the responsibility of the next of kin. It was a man’s responsibility but she took it upon herself to provide for her mother-in-law. Later a faithful Israelite commended Ruth for her actions.
Ruth 2:11-12
11 Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband-how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge." NIVThere is something more intriguing in the verses. Boaz says, "May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge." Obviously she is seeking to place herself within the sphere of God’s activity. God is her refuge in difficult times. However, Ruth not only commits herself to God but also to his people. She was richly rewarded by God because she sought to place under his protective wings.
Naomi heard that God was providing food for his people in Israel, so she heads back to place herself in the midst of God’s activity. God had sent her away into Moab full but brings her back Israel through her emptiness. God was seeking to bring her back under his protective care. Today God’s activity in our world is designed to bring the world into his sphere of activity within the kingdom of Christ. It is there that he not only wants you to commit yourself to him, but also to his people through caring Christian fellowship, when we do so, we place ourselves under his protective wings.
Finding Refuge Amidst God’s Faithful Children
God does great things for those who seek to place themselves in the sphere of his activity as they seek to follow his laws. There is no way you can experience God’s protection until you follow his laws aim at providing for you in your circumstances.
Ruth 1:19-22
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"20 "Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. NIV
What do you do when there is nothing else you can do? Place yourself in the sphere of God’s activity and allow his law to direct you in a life of obedience. Naomi was returning to Israel because she heard that God was providing for his people there. When you place yourself in the sphere of God’s activity you can trust God to provide.
Ruth 2:1-4
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz.2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor."
Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter." 3 So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The LORD be with you!"
"The LORD bless you!" they called back. NIV
God directed Ruth’s steps to the field of Boaz. She went out seeking to provide for herself and her mother-in-law according to the instructions of the law. She looked for someone who was faithfully adhering to God’s provisional law for the poor. In those days there were no government social programs to care for the poor and desolate. God had placed the responsibility on his people individually.
Leviticus 19:9-10
9 "'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God. NIVThere's a cartoon of two turtles. One says, "Sometimes I'd like to ask why he allows poverty, famine, and injustice when he could do something about it." The other turtle says, "I'm afraid God might ask me the same question." (Peter John Kreeft, quoted in Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith, Zondervan, 2001), p. 50)
God was able to direct Naomi and Ruth’s lives into the path of a faithful man. It was all because they followed the provisions the law made for the poor. Gleaning was a menial job. It was somewhat worse than working for less than minimum wages. It was only a means of survival. Laborers were hired to harvest the fields, but Ruth went into the fields to gather what the harvesters left behind. There was no pay involved; she could keep the grain she gathered. I think the concept of the law of gleaning is where we get the idea that God helps those who help themselves.
Ruth 2:5-23
5 Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, "Whose young woman is that?"6 The foreman replied, "She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter."
When set your course in life to place yourself in the midst of God’s sphere of activity God will direct each step you take.
Proverbs 16:9
9 In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps. NIVRuth had determined the course she would take to provide for her mother-in-law, but God directed her steps to the field of Boaz. It was a place where God would provide.
A moment ago I pointed out in the period of history these women lived few had a great deal of respect for God’s laws. It was a time when every one did what was right in his or her own eyes. That simply meant they were looking out for number one. Times were so bad it was dangerous to go to just any field.
Ruth 2:5-23
5 Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, "Whose young woman is that?"6 The foreman replied, "She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter."
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, "My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled."
10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me-a foreigner?"
11 Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband-how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."
13 "May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord," she said. "You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant-though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls."
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar."
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, "Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don't embarrass her. 16 Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her."
17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.
19 Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!"
Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz," she said.
20 "The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers."
21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "He even said to me, 'Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.'"
22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else's field you might be harmed."
23 So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law. NIV
Ruth ended up marrying Boaz. She had a child by Boaz and named him Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse who was the father of king David from whom Jesus Christ descended.
The amazing aspect about the book of Ruth is that there is not the faintest hint that the total control being exercised by the Lord in any way limits the freedom of activity of the people involved.
As the story unfolds we see the detailed and delicate way in which God in fact works all their actions together into his plan. The more the story hides the hand of God the more it reveals his presence in every aspect of their lives. God is not working intermittently in their lives, but his work is an ever present reality.
It is this consciousness on the part of Naomi that keeps her sweet and kind even though she went away full and came back empty. Even though the hand of God was against her she realized that the same hand was seeking to provide for her.
Through the book of judges we observe God stepping in altering Israel’s destiny by raising up rulers like Jeptha, Gideon, Samuel. The book of Ruth reveals how an ordinary life is directed by God. We see nothing miraculous in the story. We simply see the hand of God directing each step of two people who have set their course to obey God in every circumstance.
God desires to direct your steps so that he can provide for your needs. But he can’t do that until you set a course for your life that will bring you into the sphere of his activity. He can’t direct your steps until your course is to obey his laws.
God Desires to Direct Your Steps
The book of Ruth merely endeavors to show us how to live in dire circumstances. It shows us how God directed the steps of ordinary people in extraordinary times. The only place you can truly experience God is to set the course of your life to obey him daily. Then you will experience his guidance and provisions as he directs each step you make.
Matthew 6:28-34
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. NIVThis is what happens when we consciously place all our pain, bitter experiences and hopelessness within the structure of God’s sovereignty. This book is written to vindicate the dependability of God. It provides a basis for our faith.
British playwright wrote, "It's not death, it's life that defeats the Christian church." Christianity seems helpful in times of crisis but sometimes not in the everyday events of our lives. The book of Ruth portrays God’s work in the ordinary events of life.
When Ruth set her course to commit her life to the Lord and to serve her mother-in-law God did great things for her. Great things happen to us when we set our course to a part of God’s kingdom and determine commit ourselves to the service of his people.
1 Corinthians 16:15-16
15 I urge you, brethren--you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints-- 16 that you also submit to such, and to everyone who works and labors with us. NKJVThroughout the Bible we see God’s people setting a course for their lives to get into the sphere of his activity, then we see God directing each step they take. This is the kind of faith we see throughout the New Testament
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
8:1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. NIVConclusion:
God is found in the details of our lives.
Grammy-winning pop diva Lauryn Hill says: We have an enemy inside of us who tries to convince us that there is something out there that is better than what God wants for us, but that's not true. Every day I remind myself that what God is providing is always the best thing for me. ("Looking for Lauryn," Essence (July 2002), pp. 89-94; submitted by Melissa Parks, Des Plaines, Illinois) I don't know if Lauryn knows the full impact of what she is saying from a biblical perspective, but it is the absolute truth.
Author J. R. R. Tolkien once wrote in a letter: "No man can estimate what is really happening at the present. All we do know, and that to a large extent by direct experience, is that evil labours with vast power and perpetual success—in vain: preparing always only the soil for unexpected good to sprout in." (Chris Armstrong, "9/11, History, and the True Story", Christian History Connection, http://ChristianityToday.com/go/newsletters/, (9-14-02)
There is nothing—no circumstance, no trouble, no testing—that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, and the Holy Spirit right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment, but as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, or to the blessing of others, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is. (Alan Redpath)