Ruth 1:6-22 – Depravity, or The Contrast Between Hopelessness and Faith

  Ruth 1:6-22

After the tragedy in verses 1 – 5, Naomi hears that God has blessed His people back in Judah with food, and decides to return back to her homeland.  Naomi is heading back to her hometown.  What she cannot know and does not know is that she is on an unlikely journey to joy.  Sometimes God uses the pain of our shattered dreams in our lives to awaken within us the longings deep within ourselves for God.  In many of our cases, I believe that it takes an experience like what Naomi and Ruth experienced to provide the ground for the Holy Spirit to plough and work, which ultimately brings forth those longings for God. And when we realize these longings, then we are on our way to a kind of joy that we could not experience otherwise. 

There are several important things to note just in this particular verse, verse 6.  First, note that God is the one that provides food for His people, just as in the first section God was the one that took away he provision from His people.  Through His abundant grace, God is the one who provides for us.  We may work and strive and plan, but it is ultimately God who provides.  David Atkinson, in his commentary, The Message of Ruth, states, “Here is a central theme in the Bible: all of life is traced directly to the hand of God. To concentrate primarily on second causes may encourage us to seek to be manipulators of the system. It is concentration on the Great Cause what teaches us to live by faith.”[1] And just as God provides food for his people in Judah, God allows Naomi to hear about His goodness and provision in Moab.  Provision may constitute a knowledge of blessing, as well as the blessing itself.  Also note that this is only one of two times in the entire book of Ruth that God is referenced outside of dialogue between characters.  The other instance is Ruth 4:13, where the narrator states that God gave Ruth and Boaz a son.  These two verses act as bookends to the whole story of Ruth.  The first bookend is the provision of food for the people in Judah, for their immediate blessing.  The second is a blessing of provision, a son, not only for Ruth and Boaz, but for God’s people throughout history.  This is an eternal blessing.

Verses 8 and 9 are one of many prayers that are prayed for others in the book of Ruth, and they also introduce a key word that summarizes a theme that runs through the entire book.  Naomi prays for her daughters-in-law that the Lord deal kindly with them, as they have done to her and their dead husbands.  The Hebrew word underlying this word kindly is hesed.  Hesed sums up all of God’s positive attributes, such as goodness, grace, love, kindness, mercy, and faithfulness, among others.  In the book of Ruth, it is used of both God and Ruth, showing a great and merciful God and a godly woman that imitates Him. 

Naomi prayed that the Lord would bless her two daughters-in-law, and urged them to leave.  When they would not go, Naomi revealed the bedrock of her inner trust and faith – herself.  In verses 11 – 13, Naomi tries to convince Orpah and Ruth that there is no way possible, in her mind and according to her imagination, that they can ever be blessed and find rest and satisfaction if they continue on with her.  Naomi analyzes the situation and, looking at the natural world and all of the possibilities within that world, surmises that it would be best for them to stay in Moab.  She can’t imagine how or even if God could ever bless them or her ever again unless they remained in Moab.  Naomi focuses on trying to remedy the situation herself.  Instead of putting her faith in God, she puts her faith in herself and then becomes depressed because she cannot fathom how the situation can get any better. 

Naomi, in verse 13, expresses through dialogue that the hand of the Lord has gone out against her.  Naomi believes she is the object of God’s wrath, God’s judgment, and she is tormented because she believes she is the cause of her daughters-in-law’s situation.  Most commentators believe that the cause of her circumstances is based on her and Elimelech’s decision to move from Judah to Moab, and the decisions of her sons to marry Moabite women.  She does not realize, and because she places most of her faith in herself, cannot imagine, that God will provide for her later in life.  There is still a glimmer of faith, however, because even as Naomi blames God for her predicament, she acknowledges that God is sovereign, and while God does not cause everything in the world to happen, He does allow it.  Nothing can happen unless it first passes through the filter of God’s sovereignty.  Naomi still realizes this even in her depression. 

In verse 14, we see the contrast between Ruth and Orpah.  J. Vernon McGee describes the contrast this way, “Ruth and Orpah demonstrate the two kinds of members in the church-the professors and the possessors. Orpah made only a profession of faith and failed at the climactic moment; Ruth possessed genuine faith, which produced fruit and works.”[2] Perhaps McGee is correct, or maybe Orpah is just being pragmatic.  From her point of view, it does appear that Naomi is cursed, and that her future will be full of hardship and depravity.  If she went to Judah with Naomi, Orpah would be an outcast in a foreign land, with little to no prospects of finding a good husband there.  Realistically speaking, it would be much more reasonable to stay in Moab, where her family lived, where she felt comfortable, and where the prospects of a brighter future looked more likely. 

However, Ruth “clung” to Naomi.  This Hebrew word, dabaq, illustrates the closeness that a husband and wife experience when they are joined in marriage.  Essentially, Ruth promised to stick with her mother-in-law no matter what happened to them.  Despite Ruth’s actions, Naomi was still trying to dissuade her from coming.  In fact, she was almost an “unevangelist” when speaking to Ruth.  Naomi pleaded with Ruth to go back to Moab and to her own gods.  She is not trying to convince these girls to come with her to worship the God of Israel, the one true God.  It’s almost as if Naomi is saying, “Don’t come with me. Go back to your own gods.  Because my god will ruin your life!”  False gods are more comfortable than a real live God. 

Ruth, however, makes a strong confession of faith in verses 16 – 19.  Whereas Orpah chooses the pragmatic and reasonable path to go back to Moab, Ruth chooses the extraordinary path of faith and dedicates her allegiance not only to Naomi but to the Lord God, Yahweh.  Robert Hubbard notes,

Significantly, though the oath formula normally has Elohim, Ruth invoked the personal, covenantal name Yahweh-the only time in the book in which she does so. Since one appeals to one’s own deity to enforce an oath, she clearly implies that Yahweh, not Chemosh, is now her God, the guardian of her future. Hence, while the OT has no fully developed idea of conversion, vv. 16-17 suggest a commitment tantamount to such a change. As a result, one expects the story subsequently to reveal some reward from Yahweh for this remarkable devotion. . . .[3]

Ruth becomes a follower of Yahweh, the one true God, and commits herself to Naomi as part of that conversion. 

            Ruth’s conversion and commitment are exceptionally strong when considered in the context of the day.  Ruth chose to leave her people and to make her home with the Israelites.  Remember, Ruth, as a Moabitess, was a descendant of Lot and his incestuous relationships with his daughters.  Lot left the Promised Land because he thought he could make life better for himself elsewhere.  However, Ruth is now reversing Lot’s decision and returning to Judah with Naomi where she has faith that God will bless her and care for both her and Naomi.  Even more significant was the commitment by Ruth to die and be buried with Naomi and the Israelites.  The place where one was buried signified home in the ancient near eastern culture.  Ruth was breaking with her current home of Moab and, without looking back, was putting her life, faith, and future in the hands of God and Naomi. 

            Hubbard sums it up best:

. . . Ruth’s leap of faith even outdid Abraham’s. She acted with no promise in hand, with no divine blessing pronounced, without spouse, possessions, or supporting retinue. She gave up marriage to a man to devote herself to an old woman-and in a world dominated by men at that! Thematically, this allusion to Abraham sets this story in continuity with that one. Thus, a sense of similar destiny hangs over Ruth’s story. The audience wonders, May some larger plan emerge from it, too?[4]

Once Ruth made her commitment, Naomi didn’t even thank her, hug her, or show any type of affection towards her.  She merely stopped urging her to go.  Naomi apparently couldn’t grasp the extraordinary faith that Ruth was exhibiting, finally acquiesced, and continued on towards her home of Bethlehem not knowing what she and Ruth might find there. 

            After making the fifty-something mile journey from Moab to Bethlehem, the whole town is stirred and curious that Naomi is back.  They want to know how she has been.  Names in the Old Testament are usually pregnant with meaning.  Bethlehem means “house of bread.”  Elimelech means “God is my king.”  Naomi means “pleasant one,” or “sweetheart.”  When Naomi and Ruth arrive, and the townspeople inquire how they have been, Naomi retorts with a snappy and irritated demand that they call her Mara, which means “bitter.”  Naomi has gone from a pleasant personality, a sweetheart, to a bitter old woman.  She still recognizes the sovereign hand of God that she says has gone out against her, and so still ascribes faith and worship to the sovereign and almighty God.  But her anger and depression have made her become bitter. 

            Naomi even neglects to acknowledge that Ruth is with her.  Naomi responds that she went away full, but the Lord brought her back empty.  How do you think Ruth felt as Naomi was saying that?  Ruth, standing beside her, must be thinking, “What do you mean, empty?  I am here with you!  I made a commitment to you.  I stuck with you.  What do you mean empty?”  While Naomi acknowledges that God is working negatively in her life (she states that the Lord has testified against her and brought calamity against her), she refuses to recognize that God might also be working in her life toward her greater good.  After all, she is not completely empty!  She still recognizes that God might be working for the good in the lives of others, but can’t get past the fact of her own circumstances. 

            Then again, who can blame her?  The Bible never admonishes Naomi or criticizes her for her attitude.  Sure it’s bad, and sure she blames God for all of her trouble.  But she is brutally honest with God.  Haven’t we all been there?  We are devastated, in total depravity, and we cry out to God with anger and bitterness.  Perhaps Naomi had a strong enough faith to be open and honest with God. She opens her feelings and lets them spill out, in all of their bitterness, devastation, and emptiness.  Perhaps she knows God so well that she is able to voice her complaint to Him while understanding His sovereignty in our life and the lives of others. 

            Naomi perhaps has a mixed view of God’s sovereignty coupled with her inability to see past what she can imagine God can do.  She has the faith to voice her complaint to God, yet does not have the faith to trust God to act in a way that is outside her boundaries of understanding.  Thus she is in despair.  Naomi and Ruth’s situation is a type (representation) of the biblical doctrine of total depravity.  They can do nothing to help themselves.  Ruth and Naomi have no means to help make their life better.  They have no husbands or sons in a time that was ruled and run by men.  They have no skills with which to make a living, even if they could find work.  As we will see later, they have no land, as they probably sold it to another family member before they moved to Moab.  It was also a terrible and dark time in the history of Israel, especially for two widows, when people did not generally obey the law and did all kinds of wicked and sinful things. 

            However, God does not let us wallow in our depravity.  He gives us faith to believe, and works all things for the good for those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  He providentially works in the lives and actions of His people, and ultimately knows and does what is good for Himself and consequently for us as well.  While we cannot help ourselves, God out of his infinite grace and mercy, helps us.  The old adage that God helps those who help themselves is completely unbiblical as far as salvation goes.  Ultimately, God’s love and grace is demonstrated through the fact that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us and reconciled us back to Himself (Romans 5:8). 

            However, in verse 22 there is a glimmer of hope.  The two women return just as the barley harvest is beginning.  They arrive in a season of joy, bounty, and provision, when the hesed of God has come and blessed His people. 

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[1] Atkinson, David. The Message of Ruth. pp 40-41.[2] McGee, J.  Vernon.  Ruth: The Romance of Redemption. 1943. Reprint ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson

Publishers, 1981. p.61.

[3] Hubbard, Robert L., Jr. The Book of Ruth. New International Commentary on the Old Testament series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988. p.120.

[4] Hubbard, p121.