Testimony of Faith - Ruth 2:1-7

When you find yourself in difficult circumstances because of the disciplining of God or because of the disobedience of somebody else, you can make one of three decisions. You can decide to cover up—that's what Naomi did. Or you can decide to give up—that's what Orpah did. Or you can decide to stand up and believe God—that’s what Ruth did. Ruth stood up and she took her stand of her testimony of love for Naomi. She loved Naomi. In fact, when they got back to Bethlehem, everybody knew about her love for Naomi. Ruth 2:11, Boaz says, "It hath fully been shown me all that thou hast done for thy mother-in-law." And so she stood up and declared her love for Naomi. But more than that, she gave her testimony of faith in the true God. But Ruth said, "Intreat me not to leave thee or to turn away from following after thee, for where thou goest I will go, where thou lodgest I will lodge, thy people shall be my people," and here's the important part, "thy God my God." If you want to know what happened here, she put her faith in the true and living God.

You know, when the difficulties of life face us, there's only one real decision to make—that’s to stand up and trust God, and that's what Ruth did. When you stop to think of all the obstacles she had to overcome in having this faith in God, it’s really amazing that she did have any testimony. Think of the sorrow that she had experienced. In spite of the bad attitude of Naomi, in spite of the bad counsel of Naomi, in spite of the bad example of Orpah, who turned around and went back, in spite of the natural tendencies to want to go home and be with father and mother, this young widow overcame all of these obstacles and put her faith in the living God. I say that her testimony of faith is one of the greatest confessions of faith found anywhere in the Bible. I think it stands right with that great confession of faith that Peter made there at Caesarea Philippi when he declared that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. You can stand up and trust the Lord. You can declare your faith in the true and living God. This is what Ruth did.

Ruth 1:15: "And she Naomi said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. When she saw that she was stedfastly determined to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest."

This is the turning point in the story. Had Ruth not declared her faith, that would have been the end of the story. Had Ruth turned around and gone back to Moab, had Naomi gone back to Bethlehem alone, there would have been no Book of Ruth. And you remember at the end of the Book of Ruth, we come to a very important name: David. It’s through the family of David that the Savior came into the world. Little did Ruth realize the importance of this decision. Little did Naomi realize the importance of this decision. All of our decisions are important, but some are more important than others. Had Ruth not declared her faith, that would have been the end of the story. You know, it’s never easy to stand up and declare your faith. But if you ever hope to have your life put together, you must do so.

Let’s notice in this passage that we read, three testimonies that encourage us to stand up and to exercise our faith in God. Let’s begin with the testimony of Ruth. I like to call this testimony a believing decision. You see, there are only two good decisions in Ruth 1. The decision Naomi made to return back to Bethlehem—that was a good decision. And the decision of Ruth to go with her and to declare her faith in the true and living God. Ruth the Moabitess makes a right decision; she decides she’s going to trust the true and living God. Now, what does she reveal by this tremendous statement that she makes? Well, first of all, she reveals her faithfulness to Naomi. We often hear jokes about daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law, but here was a daughter-in-law who dearly loved her mother-in-law. In spite of Naomi's bad example, in spite of Naomi’s bad advice, in spite of Naomi’s bitter spirit, Ruth says, "I am going to stay with you. Intreat me not to leave thee, or to turn away from following after thee, for where thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge, where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried." She declared her faithfulness to Naomi, a faithfulness unto death. By the way, those of us who know Jesus Christ as our Savior ought to have this kind of a commitment to one another. I think this is a beautiful statement of commitment for a husband and wife. Too many people today get married for better or for worse, but not for long. They don’t really make a commitment to one another. Ruth is showing to us here commitment, faithfulness unto death. And remember our Lord Jesus Christ is the great example of commitment—He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Well, she declared her faithfulness to Naomi. Secondly, she declared that she had a brand new family. "Where thou lodgest I will lodge, and thy people shall be my people." She was born and raised in Moab, but now she says, "I am going to identify with God’s people, the Jews." Now, she has a problem here. Deuteronomy 23:3 says, "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever." Now, there's an obstacle to overcome. But love is going to overcome it; grace is going to overcome it. Ruth by herself could not get into the family of the people of Israel, but Boaz could do it for her. It’s going to be a beautiful picture of how love and grace and sacrifice and paying a price bring this stranger into the family of God. And so she declared her faithfulness to Naomi, she declared her family—she was now going to be a part of the people of Israel—and she declared her faith in the true God. "Thy God shall be my God." Ruth 2:12, Boaz says what it was she really did: "The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." And so she trusted in the true and living God, the God of Israel, not the idols of Moab, not the false gods that she grew up with, but the true and living God. You know, if a girl brought up in a heathen land, if a girl who worshipped idols, if a girl who had been through all of the heartache and sorrow she had been through, if a girl whose mother-in-law was such a bad example as was Naomi could have this kind of faith, how much more faith ought you and I to have who have been brought up on the Word of God, in the fellowship of God’s people? Naomi was a bad example, and yet Ruth stood her ground and declared her faith.

Let’s look now at Naomi, her testimony. It’s the testimony of a bitter disposition. Oh, she blamed God. When she got back to Bethlehem, people looked at her and said, "Is this Naomi?" They could look at her and know that she had been suffering, she had been through affliction. The name Naomi means pleasant, but alas, she was not very pleasant. She said, "Call me Mara." Mara means bitter. It comes from the same word as myrrh, that bitter gum that was used for embalming. "Call me not Naomi, don’t call me pleasant, call me bitter. Why? For the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." God’s hand had been against her according to verse 13. He had afflicted her according to verse 21. And apparently in Ruth 1:21, we read that God had robbed her. She said, "I went out full, I’ve come home empty." I wonder if this suggests that she and her husband sold their property and took the goods and went off to Moab, something like a prodigal family? They took all of their goods and off they went, but when she came back home, she came home empty-handed—a bitter disposition. Maybe you’re bitter today. You say, "Well, God has been cruel to me." No, He hasn't. God cannot be cruel. Whatever God does, God does in love. But I don’t understand what He’s doing—you don’t have to understand; He knows what He’s doing. Bitterness is a foolish thing. Your bitterness does not hurt God, and your bitterness does not change God, and your bitterness does not make your situation any better. In this beginning of Ruth 1, we have Naomi making a wrong decision; in the middle of this chapter, she gives wrong directions; and at the end of the chapter, she has a wrong disposition. She’s a backslidden woman who is bitter against God, and she wasn't hurting anybody except herself. I have met people who have carried bitterness and poison around down inside—they’re bitter at God for what happened at home or in their marriage or at church, and that bitterness only poisons you. It only makes you worse.

Well, there's a testimony of a believing decision, that’s Ruth, and there's the testimony of a bitter disposition, that’s Naomi. Thirdly, there's the testimony of God in Ruth 1—the testimony of a blessed discipline. In Ruth 1:21, Naomi says, "The Lord hath testified against me." There was a court case, and God stood up and testified against her. He testified against her unbelief, her disobedience. He testified against her running away. He testified against her plan to try to cover up her sins. How did He do it? By converting Ruth. The conversion of Ruth was a testimony against Naomi. You see, God in His love chastens us. That’s the teaching of Hebrews 12. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." Chastening is not just punishment when we’ve disobeyed Him; chastening means child training. God wants to build us up, God wants to develop us, to train us. Oh, little did Naomi realize that God was working for her, and that through Ruth her life would be put back together again. Whenever God wants to work in our lives, He often uses other believers, and in this case, He used Ruth, even though Ruth was a young believer. Ruth's faith and love made the difference in Naomi's life. As you move from Ruth 1 to Ruth 2, the atmosphere changes completely, dramatically. Let’s notice the changes that take place because of Ruth’s faith and love. I’m reading Ruth 2:1-7.

"And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a portion of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, except that she tarried a little in the house."

The first change that you cannot help but notice is a change from unbelief to faith. You see, Ruth was claiming here her privileges according to the Word of God. In Leviticus 19:9-10, we read, "When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God." Now, Naomi and Ruth knew about this regulation in the Word of God, and so Ruth claimed her privileges as a poor stranger in the land. You see, she is operating by faith. She believes the Word of God. She says to herself, "If God has given this instruction in His Word, and if I obey it by faith, then in grace He is going to lead me and He is going to provide for me." She said to her mother-in-law, "Let me now go to the field and glean ears of grain after somebody who will be kind to me"—that’s the literal translation. She did not know where she was going to go or how she was going to be received; she simply believes the Word of God.

Not only is there a change from unbelief to faith, but there is also a change from rebellion to submission. Now, Naomi had been a rebellious person. She and her husband had rebelled in going to Moab. She had rebelled in allowing her sons to marry women of Moab. She had rebelled in sending Orpah back home again and trying to force Ruth to go back home. No wonder Naomi had such a bitter spirit down inside—rebellion always leads to bitterness. From rebellion to submission, we find Ruth submitting. Now, in Ruth 2:2, she submits to Naomi. She doesn't act as an independent agent. She didn't get up and walk out of the house and say, "Well, I think I’ll go out and find something to do." No, she went to her mother-in-law, who was in charge of the home, and she submitted herself to Naomi and said, "Let me now go to the field." Secondly, she submitted to the reapers. When she came into the field, she very graciously and humbly went to the reapers and said to them, "I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves," and the man who was in charge of this field gave her permission to do so. Now, she had the Word of God to defend her, but she still acted in a sweet and gracious spirit. It’s not necessary for Christians to get haughty and proud and demanding just because they have the Word of God to back them up. We should always be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Ruth submitted to Naomi, she submitted to the man who was in charge of the reapers, and then she submitted to Boaz. When she met Boaz in verse 8, he called her "my daughter," he was very kind to her, and in verse 10, "then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" She did not know who he was or what he could do for her; she found that out later from Naomi. But she knew that he was in charge of all of that property, and so she submitted to him. When you submit to others and submit to the Lord, God can lead you and God can feed you. God made sure that she had enough to eat, and God began to work on her behalf.

There's a third change: from bitterness to gratitude. You don’t find Ruth being bitter. Oh, she had every right to be—she had lost her father-in-law, she had lost her husband, she had lost her brother-in-law, and then she lost her sister-in-law, who went back home. She was poor, she was a widow, she was a foreigner—oh, she could have been bitter. But Ruth wasn't like that. In Ruth 2:2, Ruth talks about grace. "Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace." In verse 10, "Why have I found grace in thine eyes?" Verse 13, "Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord." Here was a woman who lived by grace. She realized that whatever she had was just the gift of God. She’s grateful for what she receives. "Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner?" You know, it’s a beautiful thing when a person goes through life thinking of others and realizing that everything we have comes from the hand of God. It’s purely by grace. From unbelief to faith, from rebellion to submission, from bitterness to gratitude, and from emptiness to satisfaction. I read in verse 18 that she was satisfied. That's a beautiful statement. Here is a woman who is satisfied. She’s satisfied with what God brings to her life. She’s satisfied with the food that He places before her. Her heart is not empty; her heart is filled with gratitude. Her hands are not empty; God is meeting her every need. Are you making a difference where you are? Are you a part of the problem or a part of the answer? Are you tearing things apart or are you helping to put things together? May the Lord help all of us to be like Ruth—a woman of faith, submission, and gratitude, a satisfied person who is putting things together for the glory of God.