The Spiritual Environment in the Time of the Judges

God’s people Israel, whom He delivered from bondage in Egypt and brought into the promised land, began a struggle with idolatry not long after the death of Joshua. Joshua was faithful to the Lord and without his leadership, Israel began to falter.

Israel was surrounded by pagan nations who worshiped false gods. But behind false gods represented by idols were malevolent spiritual entities – supernatural forces of darkness using powerful deception to suppress truth and undermine the divine order established in creation. Sound familiar?

Their plan has always been to disrupt and destroy the redemptive purposes of God. This was true in the time of Naomi and Ruth and it is true today. Yes, malevolent, deceptive spirits are quite real and as a nation turns its back on the God of Heaven, they come rushing in to do that which they have done many times since the time of Naomi and Ruth. They are right here in America, with exactly the same strategy: overturn the divine order through deception, oppression, and possession. Purge the culture of God and redefine all of the fundamentals: marriage, right and wrong, even something so basic as biological gender. Its all been done before in ancient times and its all connected to paganism which is itself driven by these same ancient evil entities. There is nothing new here.

Israel was immersed in the spiritual struggles of idolatry and unfaithfulness to the God who had delivered them. But it was different in Bethlehem. Who would ever have thought God would do the most amazing thing – so unexpected – something that would happen in Bethlehem through a poor widow named Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, the Moabite.

Lets see what happened in this small town referred to by the prophet Micah as “ignoble to be among the clans of Judah”. A small community of people in salvation history, surviving during hard times by relying on each other and their faithfulness to God. Integrity, faith, commitment, love, loyalty – demonstrated by a simple people in Bethlehem, Judah. They would be used of God almost clandestinely, a top secret intervention by God that would set the course of human history on the path to deliver on a promise He made from the beginning – right under the noses of prideful, over confident evil spiritual entities.

Naomi’s Life in Moab

If you read the first part, you know Naomi’s situation. Her circumstances in Moab were desperate since the loss of her husband and both of her sons. With no future in Moab, hungry, not knowing what else to do, she turns to the practical demands of survival and decides to head home to Judah because she heard that the Lord had provided food. So she says her goodbyes to her daughters-in-law. Despite her circumstances or how she must have felt, she blesses them with incredibly kind, gracious words:

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.”

Ruth 1:8-9

Naomi knew her daughters-in-law were still of child bearing age – they could still find husbands and live in the security and future that goes with that. But as for herself, sadly, she considered herself already dead.

You know, some people turn their backs on God so easily – one little misstep by the Almighty (in our assessment of his performance), and its over! Big names in Christian culture feel its necessary to publicly renounce their faith for all to see on social media. There was no faith here.

In the midst of affliction, we must be able to see beyond our circumstances. Do we really think God will abandon us if we remain faithful to Him regardless of our circumstances? Maybe Naomi had every “right” to turn her back on the Lord. Maybe she should have just publicly rejected her faith on Facebook. But that’s not real faith. Its fake. Let’s see what real faith looks like:

Despite all that happened to her, in the darkness of her circumstances and the silence of God, she continues to trust God. She continues to bless people around her. She remains incredibly faithful, gracious and kind. That’s one of the take-aways from this story. It doesn’t matter what the situation is, Naomi is always blessing people around her. Most of us would simply get depressed, isolate ourselves, turn against the church, reject God, etc. Naomi remains concerned about others and continues to speak blessing into their lives. She is loyal to the God of Israel.

Loyalty is only theoretical until it withstands the test of adversity. Its easy to say “I’m loyal to God” when we are comfortable and well fed. But its not so easy to remain loyal when all of that is removed – particularly when we know God has the power to keep us from any adversity. What if we wake up one day and find ourselves with nothing? Position gone, money gone, health gone – maybe everything we have is ripped away by something. That’s what happened to Naomi, Ruth, Orpah. What is our response? Some would say: “Who is the Lord? He did not keep me from this hardship.” Not Naomi.

Ruth Stands Her Ground

So, on with the story. Both daughters-in-law want to return to Judah with Naomi – they are in shock and grief at their mutual loss but there seems a deep sense of connection between them. But Naomi tells them to remain in Moab and find new husbands while they are still young. Orpah reluctantly returns to her people (and to the gods of her people) but the bible says Ruth clung to Naomi.

Ruth has made up her mind to stay with Naomi. She will not stay in Moab. There is a bond between them like iron and and Ruth chooses to link her own destiny to that of her Mother-in-law. This is God’s intervention in the situation. Ruth will return with Naomi to a land, a people, and a God she does not fully know. Here is what Ruth says:

“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 1:16-17

Now that is a commitment!

There are times when you have to make a life decision and stand your ground, even when all the logic is pointing to something else. These kinds of decisions should be very rare – once or twice in your entire life. Some life decisions effectively blow up all the bridges behind you and set your life on a course that eliminates other options – permanently. That moment, that decision, had come for Ruth. Ruth had seen courage, compassion, and faith in Naomi over the last 10 years and it would drive her decision. She was bonding her destiny to Naomi based on time tested experience with her mother-in-law.

That’s the lesson here: don’t make life-altering decisions so quickly based on input from people you do not know. It seems these days we invite people on social media into our lives that we have never met and allow them so much access to our heart and mind. The kind of decisions being made by young people because of uninformed error of mob-think and wanting to authenticated by the crowd, accepted by people who are often just words on a post. Facebook “friends” you have never met are not your friends. They don’t care about you. They will not be there when things go bad in your life. It is possible that some of these people don’t even exist – Artificial Intelligence bots designed to drive an agenda, and are very powerful. Be careful who – or what – you open your life to! Trust no one on the internet.

Who should you trust? Learn from Ruth.

The relationship between Naomi and Ruth was iron-clad, steel forged in the faith of Naomi and the fire of shared adversity. If you are thinking about a big life decision, its wise to seek advice from a Naomi in your life, someone who has deep abiding faith in the God of Israel and Messiah, Jesus Christ and with you have had a long-term relationship of demonstrated wisdom and loyalty in the face of adversity.

Naomi sees determination in Ruth’s eyes and hears it in her voice, and so she agrees. Whatever happens, they will face it together. Its interesting that Ruth invokes the name of the God of Israel without fully knowing who He is. But she must have known something of the Lord observing Naomi’s faith over the past 10 very difficult years.

When people observe you, what do they see? A life of purity and faithfulness even in the midst of hardship? Or unfaithfulness and rejection of God when things in life go bad? I think the answer for Ruth is clear. She knew something of the Lord through Naomi. How powerful it must have been to Ruth to see a response of faith and loyalty to the Lord in the caldron of affliction. Naomi had no husband or sons, no food, no future, but still faithful to God. Ruth was deeply impacted by Naomi and her steadfast faith in God.

What about you? Do you demonstrate trust in God in the midst of affliction and adversity?

Ruth not only commits her life to Naomi but to Naomi’s people and to the Lord whom she did not know so well. God can absolutely work with that. And so He did in the life of this Moabite woman – a Gentile, a pagan. But I think Naomi’s relationship and faith was the key. Seek out the Naomi’s in your life.

The Return Journey

So the plan is to return to Judah where Naomi had heard there was food.

Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.

Ruth 1:6

Naomi’s plan was to reconnect with kin and at least be cared for and fed. That’s her hope. Its been a long time since Naomi has been to Bethlehem. Her husband and sons are dead. She has a Moabite woman in her company. How will she be received? Will anyone remember her? What will they think of Ruth? Her mind must have been swirling with questions and concerns. There is risk to her decision to go back home after so long. But she went. Despite the risk, it was the next logical step for her to take.

Does risk hold you back from ministry? Life is full of risk. We don’t know what is going to happen, so often, we do nothing. No step of faith. Paralysis of fear of the unknown. Naomi is about to embark on a dangerous journey with no expectation of how she will be received in Bethlehem. But, weighing her options, returning home seems the logical thing to do. In absence of any additional insight from the Lord its OK to simply and prayerfully take the next logical step. If your heart is right, God is with you. It requires courage.

There is risk for Ruth as well. Ruth leaves behind her own kin and her country to follow Naomi – a promise to remain with her until death, even with a very uncertain future in a foreign land with a people and God whom she did not fully know.

Together, Naomi and Ruth have a combination of character attributes that served them well: the faith and experience of Naomi with the loyalty and commitment of Ruth. We will also find that Naomi is a genius and Ruth has great skills at executing plans. Another good combination. Some people plan well, others execute well. Perfect combination.

You need a partner in ministry that has complimentary attributes to your own. If you have courage, find someone who has steadfast commitment. If your gifting is evangelism, find someone who has passion and skill in discipling new believers.

The distance between Moab and Bethlehem is about 50 miles of steep, rugged terrain – probably full of bandits. One old woman in the company of a young, beautiful woman, perhaps provisioned by Ruth’s family or maybe by Orpah, making a difficult, dangerous journey. They do not realize the enormous plan God is working through them and the joy they would soon know.

Back in Bethlehem

They arrive in Bethlehem and some of the people recognize Naomi. But Naomi tells 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?

Ruth 1:20-21

Naomi is only partially correct in her self assessment. She is empty and afflicted – but the Lord is not dealing bitterly with her. In the absence of further information, Naomi is presumptuous and incorrect in her conclusion about the Lord. She has no idea what the Lord is doing – He is completely silent and by all appearances, everything has gone against Naomi.

Sometimes out of our ignorance of God’s purpose in our life, we think He is against us. There is something in people that always assumes the worst, particularly when it comes to God. Now why is that? I guess it flows from our innate sinful nature. Its the only mistake Naomi makes. She has no clue what is going on here or what God is doing. We often don’t either. But what is faith except to trust God in those moments?

Sometimes it seems Christians have to know everything in advance before they will do anything. They have to receive a prophecy of every detail of what they are called to do and where they are to go and when. Maybe sometimes that happens but I suspect that most of the time it doesn’t. God is not obligated to tell you anything outside of His word, but He does require your trust in the absence of further information about your specific situation. To have to know everything in advance is not faith. Just trust Him. Be courageous and act. Go!

I think Naomi was doing her best and she hung on to her loyalty to God even in the humanity and brokenness of her response. God was shaping her through adversity and has been in the process of something profoundly important for us all. Nonetheless, she was feeling empty, crushed, abandoned.

How about you? Crushed? Feeling abandoned? Dismayed? Don’t turn your back on the Lord. Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning (Psalm 30).

Naomi will die never having known the purpose of God accomplished through her, but she will know joy once again before her death. Wait on the Lord and He will renew your strength.

Arriving from Moab with a Moabite woman in her company must have been interesting for the people of Bethlehem. Moab was a gentile nation and some interactions with pagans were forbidden in order to protect the culture and the biblical requirements given by God to Israel. And yet here is this Moabite woman that came home with Naomi.

The rest of the story demonstrates the genius of Naomi, the completion of God’s purpose through her and Ruth, the joy Naomi would finally have at the end of her life, and a prophecy that would be given that would point directly to Messiah.