Ruth 1:14 “And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.”

Ruth 1:15 “And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.”

Ruth 1:16 “And Ruth said, Intreat 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:”

Ruth 1:17 “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.”

Ruth 1:18 “When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.”

Hello readers, I read the book Ruth chapter 1 tonight and in Ruth 1, I believe we see one of the most incredible decisions made in all the word of God, and it is made by a woman called Ruth, who the book is all about (obviously!).

So I’ve quoted the verses that are relevant to my thought, but you really have to read the whole chapter, and the whole book to understand what’s going on here. Furthermore, you cannot really understand this book without a background in the Old Testament. Because getting the context really makes Ruth’s decision all the more incredible.

There is a lot more going on in this story than you may think, but isn’t that the whole word of God? It is a literal gold mine that will take a lifetime to mine, and never really ever touch the hem of the garment of.

Let’s get introduced to the woman called Ruth. She’s a Moabitess.. and that means she comes from the tribe of Moab, and she is a descendant of Lot. Lot was a righteous man, amazingly, but because he made a lot of ungodly compromises and concessions in his life, he ended up having a whole lot of descendants who turned out to be the enemies of God, truth and righteousness.

And Moab is a cursed people because of their treatment of Israel, particularly because of their treatment of Israel when God brought Israel out of Egypt. And so here’s a lesson. Watch how you treat God’s people! You don’t know what you’re getting yourself in for.

And so there’s a law in the Old Testament which deals with the Moabites. Here it is, in Deuteronomy 23:3 “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:” Man that is some law. And that law means that Ruth will never be able to approach God. She is disqualified based on who she is.

So when we consider her decision to follow Naomi, and make Naomi’s God, the God who gave this law… her God… this is actually incredible. What a decision this is. Because as I thought about this story, I look at my own motives for serving God, and honestly, if I was in Ruth’s position… would I serve God? Would I choose God? If you want to talk about making a decision to serve God based entirely on who he is, even if you get zero out of it, here is such a decision.

And here’s more necessary context. Ruth has married into a Hebrew family! The Hebrews have that very different God to the gods of the Moabites. And Ruth has chosen that God, but she’s going to be given a choice to “unchoose” that God at a crucial juncture in her life found in this story.

So Ruth has married into the family, but a family that has experienced a lot of hard times though. Firstly, they faced hard times which is why they are in Moab to begin with. Because there was a famine in Israel, and they left the land of Israel for the land of Moab. That is a questionable decision, because really they shouldn’t be going to Moab for help, going to Moab shouldn’t really be an option, despite the fact there is no food.

But you can kind of understand it also. You’ve gotta go to where the food is don’t you? I’m guessing that was the rationale. You gotta do what you gotta do after all? But, this decision didn’t seem to pay off. And if we consider this a mistake, and we certainly think we would have done better, and maybe been more stoic and resolute in following God even through tough times… know that this story actually is one of the greatest books of hope in all the Bible too.

Because although there’s mistakes, bad decisions, and then terrible things happen… this story is going to finish rather gloriously… but you don’t know that yet if you’ve only ever read the first chapter!

A key figure in Ruth’s story is her mother in law. Because Ruth has a mother in law who’s name we have already mentioned… Naomi. She is her mother in law because Ruth married one of Naomi’s two sons. … But Naomi has had a terrible time, her husband has died, and then her two sons, one of which is Ruth’s husband, also die as well.

That is a raw deal.

There’s no other way to put it. And Naomi has taken it very hard in this story. She is very bitter about how God has done her in life. And we could say, oh you shouldn’t be bitter… but I doubt we would want to have the hand that she was dealt.

It felt like no matter what the family did and for whatever reason, things just went from bad to even worse. There’s a verse in the Bible which says this … Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.”

We don’t get to choose our “lot”. And we don’t know why we copped our lot. A lot (no pun intended!) of the time it is not a linear equation. It’s not like bad things happen to bad people and good things to good, we know life does not work out like that at all. But no matter the reason, maybe you feel like you’ve been dealt a bad hand in life. Maybe you have. I know of and have heard of situations I cannot imagine being in. And if I haven’t had the best hand ever and would like an upgrade… I know there’s plenty more who have been dealt an even worse hand. So I don’t know what lot has been cast into your lap… but the Bible is saying here that God can dispose of it. And God is going to dispose of Naomi and Ruth’s lot in time, and sooner than they think.

Anyway, after Naomi’s husband and sons have died, and she’s left with two daughters in law, she decides to return home to her place in Judah. And her daughters in law go with her. It’s great the way they are all sticking together, despite the fact that none of them seem to have any hope.

But in this story, as they are going with her back to Naomi’s homeland and God, Naomi tells them to go home back to Moab. Boom. Big moment has arrived! If you look back in your life, it really does boil down to some key moments… do we recognize them, and do we have a real walk with God to choose right? Naomi, in her bitterness towards God, gives the two women very good reasons why they should turn around and go back home. She cites God as one reason, God who she feels has dealt very bitterly with her… so why serve him? What can God do for you… look what he did for me girls! And she also tells them that their chances are much better in Moab of finding another husband than sticking with her.

Very compelling reasons one would think. Naomi is basically telling them that serving and following God does not pay… so go back to your Moabite gods. And so one of the daughters in law does return… but the Bible says “but Ruth clave unto her”. And Ruth tells Naomi that she’s going with her to Judah no matter what, and that her people is my people and her God is my God… and don’t waste your time trying to tell me otherwise!

And what a decision this is. Because this singular decision is going to be the decision that either makes or breaks Ruth… and it makes her. She makes the right decision. This is the decision that results in her meeting Boaz, her future husband, and brings the biggest of big blessings to a family that felt utterly destitute and rejected by God. What a difference a decision to follow God by faith makes! What a blessing not just to Ruth, but Naomi this decision will bring!

And guess what… this family is going to take a key role in the genealogy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And it’s all because of this decision here, to follow God in much the same way that Job said “though he slay me, yet will I trust him”.

Faith is a fight. It’s easy to trust God when things are going okay, and the wind is going with us. But when everything seems to be against us, when even God himself seems to be against us or has forgotten us… THAT is the time to particularly choose God. We are told that our faith will be tested… and it’s easy to know that… another thing entirely to come through that. May God give us all the grace and may God turn it around in our lives soon.

Really, there is a principle in here as well… which is that there is no going back. As the hymn says “I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back.” You gotta wonder if the hymn writer didn’t have Ruth in mind when this hymn was penned. Because Ruth was invited to turn back, given compelling reasons to turn back… but “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” There is nothing to turn back to. If you have been truly saved… you can’t go back in your walk with God… as God takes you forward… and even when you feel like your life has kept going backwards while you’ve been going forwards… yet there is no turning back.

Let’s be honest… Ruth’s situation was really was hopeless. Well, it wasn’t at all as it turns out, but to her, it sure seemed it through the lens of reality and human understanding. After all, look at the “facts of the matter”. She was a Moabitess. She was a widow. She had no future and no prospects in Judah. She was going to serve a God who made no provision for her, and in fact whom she was not even allowed to approach. And we are not dissimilar to Ruth either. None of us have amazing pedigree, we are just all lost sinners who have been brought to God through his grace and love and mercy bestowed freely on us in his Son Christ Jesus. Let’s just get real about who we are for a second.

We live in such an entitled generation, thinking God owes us. He doesn’t. And yet Ruth is going to meet a man called Boaz who she is going to marry and love for the rest of her life, who is going to redeem her. And Boaz is one of the greatest pictures of Jesus Christ in the Bible, Jesus our redeemer. And this whole story shows that God truly does love each one of us, he does see, he does care, and if you choose him, you are choosing right in your life, even against great odds. You don’t know what God has got planned for your life, just trust him with it, you will see!

If you feel you’ve lost, and lost so much in life, and maybe you have, know that nothing at all is lost with Christ and in Christ. He’s our Redeemer, which means that he gets back everything we have lost… and some! He is a mighty redeemer. He is a willing redeemer. He is an able redeemer. Boaz was, and Jesus Christ is. Ruth didn’t see Boaz quite yet when she made this incredible decision to choose the Lord God of the Bible. What do we not see just yet but that is coming to us? So hopefully we are all encouraged by Ruth’s decision to follow God by faith in her life. This was a step of faith against all odds, an incredible decision. Let us also choose well by choosing God, choosing faith, choosing to follow the Lord Jesus Christ all the way in our lives.

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