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10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
Outlines on the Book of Ruth
Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1978
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express
written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson
Chapter 3
THE GENUINE CONVERSION
OF RUTH
Introduction: Our last lesson dealt with the fact that Naomi repented. Some of the consequences, both good and grievous, were also considered. Naomi is an excellent illustration and typical example of a backsliding child of God, who repents; and of what is likely to happen as a result. One very important consideration is Naomi's attitude toward the girls, once she repented.
I. NAOMI INSISTED THAT THE DECISION OF HER DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW TO GO WITH HER TO JUDAH BE GENUINE, AND NOT MERELY EMOTIONAL:
A. Once she got right with God, she wanted those she loved to be right with him too:
1. Every child of God, who gets straight with God, will want the same. King David wrote, "Create in me a clean heart, 0 God, and renew a right spirit within me" in Psalm 51:10. Verses 1-12 of this Psalm are David's desire to be right with God. Under divine inspiration, David wrote in Psalm 51:13, "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." He knew that a natural consequence of his getting right with God would be a desire in him to see others get right,too.
2. You can see this truth also in what Jesus said about casting the beam out of your own eye so that in turn you can cast the beam out of your brother's eye, in Matthew 7:1-5.
3. Revival comes when God's people get right. When they do, they'll start going out to get their friends and loved ones. They'll start bringing folks to God.
B. By the questions Naomi posed to Ruth and Orpah, it is evident that she wanted their decision to go with her to be genuine:
1. In verse 11 Naomi said, "Turn again, my daughters. "
a. This, of course, was not Naomi's desire. She wanted them to accompany her home; but she knew that happiness in the land must be preceded by certain conditions in the inhabitants of the land; and not simply by an emotional desire to be near her.
b. Eastern courtesy demanded that Ruth and Orpah insist on coming with her, but Naomi did not want them to follow her for a reason as useless as custom.
2. Therefore, Naomi, in order to discourage an insincere, emotional, superficial decision, warned them of the hardships they'd face in Judah and told them to go back to their own people:
a. We've previously discussed the plight of a woman in those days without a husband.
b. Those girls in Judah would have almost nothing to gain, but much to lose. They would face a racial problem, and find themselves isolated and unwanted in the community. They would be giving up their own nation and rights as a citizen and moving into a strange country, one that had been the sworn enemy of their own for many years.
c. Naomi had nothing to offer them except poverty and hardship.
d. It's easy to see why Naomi asks in verse 11, "Why will ye go with me?"
3. By these questions and statements, Naomi is forcing these girls to count the cost before making an empty decision:
a. They said in verse 10, "Surely we will return with thee unto thy people," but they had not considered the consequences.
b. Emotional fervor is too often the false stimulus for good intentions.
c. People walk our aisles to profess faith in Christ or to dedicate themselves to walk in holiness and truth before Him; and soon they fall by the wayside. Not one bit of difference is evidenced by their conduct.
d. Only the truth furnishes the foundation upon which to build a right kind of life, the motive for executing it (love), the pattern for constructing it (truth), the objective for living it (God's glory), and the strength necessary to consummate the work.
e. So, Naomi brought these girls off their emotional stimulus, and made them face the truth.
4. Naomi knew that, in order to follow her to "the land of Judah" and be happy therein, her daughters-in-law must know the Lord of the land:
a. It was not nearness to her that Orpah and Ruth needed, but nearness to God.
b. Bread in Bethlehem-judah, as Elimelech had earlier seen, was only available to those who walked in truth before God. Those who knew not the God of the land could never expect his blessings upon them, even if they were in the land.
c. This same principle of truth is still in operation today:
(1) Peace, joy, spiritual blessings unlimited, and bread "enough, and to spare" in the family of God at first appear to be things greatly to be desired by the people of the world; but when they learn of the tears, hardships, and heartaches often to be faced in the service of God, these grand trophies of God's grace lose their glitter for worldly people.
(2) Until a man knows Christ and feels his yoke upon his shoulders (Matthew 11:28-29), he will never know true joy and happiness. As Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10, one must "know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" before he can "glory in tribulation" (Romans 5:3) or rejoice in suffering shame for his name, Acts 5:41.
(3) When we know him (I John 5:20), we love him (I John 4:19); and when we love him, we follow him, Matt. 16:24. Any sufferings involved in following him are made easy to bear by the blessings he gives, so that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," Romans 8:18.
d. This is a lesson that religion has never learned:
(1) Religion offers the blessings without the birthright, Heb. 12:16-17.
(2) But, the truth is that there can be no genuine spiritual blessings until one has been born into the family of God.
(3) The new birth (John 3:3) must precede the blessings, for all spiritual blessings are "in Christ" (Eph. 1:3); and we are only in Christ by the new birth, II Cor. 5:17.
C. So, Naomi encourages the girls to go back to their own people, vs. 8-9. If they will not follow her in truth, having counted the cost, then she does not want them to follow her at all.
II. NOW CONSIDER RUTH'S GENUINE DECISION TO FOLLOW NAOMI:
A. Verse 14 says both of the girls "wept"; but after that, their courses were diametrically opposed:
1. Orpah kissed Naomi, and then went back:
a. Verse 15 says she went "back unto her [1] people, and unto her [2] gods."
b. Orpah had never had a change of heart. She cared nothing for the God of Naomi. She was ready to go back to the pagan blackness of Moab, to a people whose hearts were set on sin and wickedness.
c. Because she was unconverted, the truth of separation had no place in her; and she never would have been satisfied away from her people, and with God's people. Only the redeemed have a heart for the change, which the truth requires.
d. It is noteworthy that while talking with these girls, Naomi had spoken of "the Lord" from the Hebrew word "yehovah" or Jehovah: (Yahweh):
(1) Naomi gives no indication that the pagan gods of the Moabites even exist, let alone can do anything for anybody. She testifies of the one and only true God: Jehovah.
(2) Furthermore, Naomi had established a tremendous testimony by her reaction to the afflictions imposed upon her by the Lord because of her backsliding, and by her eagerness to get back to her land and the bread her God was providing there.
e. But, as the name Orpah means, she was stubborn and stiffnecked; so she, after all this, went back to her pagan people and pagan gods, because in her heart, she had never known anything else.
f. Notice too that she did it with considerable fanfare: she "kissed" Naomi:
(1) She loved Naomi some, but she loved her ungodly people and false gods more; like many today, who have some feeling for God and right, but who love the world and pleasures of sin more.
(2) Orpah's show of affection with a kiss didn't really mean a thing, any more than Judas' kiss for Jesus in Matthew 26:49. Orpah kissed and quit, for it is easier to avow love than it is to prove it by following the course it requires.
(3) If all your convictions will do is produce a few kisses and outward show of emotions, then you probably have no greater depth than Orpah. Kisses mean little unless supported by action.
2. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went back- "but Ruth clave unto her":
a. Orpah kissed and quit, but Ruth clave and continued; and how much better the latter is than the former! Both Ruth and Orpah went, but in opposite directions: Orpah back to darkness, and Ruth on to light and glory and grace of the land of promise.
b. Ruth's path led 180o in opposition to Orpah's path, because Ruth, in her heart, had chosen Naomi's God.
(1) When she heard Naomi speak of him, and saw his impact on Naomi's life and saw the eagerness with which Naomi sought to go to his land; this girl placed her trust in him. She received him as her very own.
(2) Ruth expressed a great loyalty and love for her mother-in-law. How beautiful are her words, "Entreat me not to leave thee, or 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, I will die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me," verses 16-17. Such loyalty is commendable; but the chief point in her decision is that she took the God of the Hebrews as her God. By her decision, Ruth became one of God's people.
(3) Ruth left her gods behind, and took Naomi's God, for she would never have been satisfied with Naomi's God until she gave up hers.
B. As a result of taking Naomi's God, Ruth could look forward to being with God's people:
1. Ruth could have never been happy with God's people apart from fellowship with their God, as is still the case.
2. John wrote in I John 1:3, "these things have I written unto you that ye might have fellowship with us ... and our fellowship is with the Father." And, no one will enjoy the right living and straight thinking of God's people as long as he knows not God nor the truths that He teaches. In fact, God's people will cramp His style, and they will seem bigoted and self-righteous to Him.
3. Ruth, like current believers, could expect fellowship with God's people only because she knew their God.
C. Ruth makes a full and clean break:
1. In verse 17 she said she'd die and be buried in the land where Naomi went.
2. Ruth was "putting off the old man" [Eph. 4:22] and "forgetting those things that are behind" [Phil. 3:13]; and in turn was "'cleaving unto that which is good," Romans 12:9.
3. With Ruth there was no sentimental attachments for the old family burial ground, symbolic of the grave clothes of the past; but instead a whole-hearted acceptance of all the involvements of a new people and a new God.
4. Ruth made a vow in the name of Jehovah that was to end only in death. Notice that Ruth testifies of her conversion by speaking of "The Lord" (Jehovah). She had deserted the pagan gods, and made Jehovah hers.
D. Furthermore, Ruth was ready to go to the house of bread and the land of praise:
1. Verse 18 says that Ruth "was steadfastly minded to go with her."
2. How wonderful a genuine conversion is! It produces a changed heart and plenty of results. Ruth was not now satisfied to simply be one of God's people; she wanted to go to the place in which God's people should be. She wanted to reach the restland and enjoy all of the privileges and blessings to which this position entitled her. Ruth's mind had been enlightened; and once she saw what she could have in the land, she was "steadfastly minded to go. "
3. Therefore, Naomi was able to see that Ruth's conversion was genuine, and that is what Naomi had wanted all along. There must have been great rejoicing in Naomi's heart. Seeing this genuineness in Ruth, Naomi "left speaking unto her", which simply means she no longer tried to dissuade her from coming.