The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Today’s text is a perfect example of Paul’s words of encouragement. And in the Gospel of John we have Jesus own words of encouragement, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In our Epistle lesson we are reminded that Jesus’ suffering brings us salvation. In the Gospel lesson we see the healing of the ten lepers and God’s continual mercy on us His people.
Our text is the account of Ruth the Moabite who is the great grand mother of King David. The account begins, “1In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband” (v. 1-5).
As this historical event begins we are told that there was a famine in the land. This famine was God’s judgement against Israel for their apostasy, for their idolatry. You might recall that when God gave Israel the land they were to wipe out the pagans living in the land as His judgement against them and not to have any relations with them. However, since the Israelites failed to carry out God’s just judgement and in stead let the people live, they soon were influenced by them and began to fall into idolatry as well. God’s judgement on Israel and the rain god baal was a famine.
The solution, at least for Elimelech, to care for his family was to move to Moab. We are told that there was food in Moab and so in order to continue to feed his family Elimelech moved his wife and two sons to Moab.
While they were living in Moab Naomi’s husband dies. Her two sons marry Moabite women, but they too soon die. So we have the summary statement of verse five that Naomi is now a widow and is childless. Certainly we can understand the difficulty of Naomi’s life and she might certainly be wondering where is the good in what has happened to her.
Continuing on in our historic account we have the return of Naomi to Israel. “6Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8But 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. 9The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her” (v. 6-14).
As Noami decides to move back to her home country she encourages her daughters-in-law to remain with their families who might be better able to provide for them both physically and with new spouses. Although it may sound strange to us, the Mosaic law stated that son’s wives, the daughters-in-law of Naomi were to have children by the brother so the husband would have descendants to inherit. In other words, both Orpah and Ruth were to have a child by the brother of Mahlon and Chilion. However, there were no more brothers, no more sons of Naomi, and she knew that she would not be having any more children, at least not soon enough. So, she encourages the two widowed daughters-in-law to stay and seek provisions from their families in Moab.
At first both daughters-in-law resists saying they will stay with Naomi, after all they understood their duty as family. After the shedding of tears Orpah relents, kisses her mother-in-law and returns to her family. However, Ruth is not so easily convinced. Ruth, we are told, clings to Naomi.
About this clinging, the historical account continues, “15And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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. 17Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. 19So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem” (v. 15-19a).
Naomi attempts a second time to convince Ruth to go back to her family, pointing to Orpah’s decision, but Ruth is not convinced. Instead, Ruth makes a pledge, “where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Ruth clung to the faith of Naomi. Ruth recognized that the God of Naomi is the one true God and she would not be persuaded to give up her faith in the Lord and return to the pagan idols of her own country and family.
Okay, spoiler alert, ultimately, at the end of the book of Ruth we are told that the son of Ruth and Boaz whose name was Obed would give birth to a son whose name is Jesse and he would have a son whose name is David. This David would become the second king of Israel. Thus Ruth would become the great grand mother of David who would ultimately be an ancestor of Jesus.
So, what does this mean? As we began so we see the truth in Paul’s words and in Jesus’ words. Indeed, God does work out the best in any and all situations for those of faith and Jesus has overcome the tribulations of this world. How true it is that God works in mysterious ways and in this historic account of the Children of Israel He even works through times of famine. As we have heard said many times, there is no such thing as a coincidence. It was not a coincidence that there was a famine in the land. It was not a coincidence that Elemelech decided to move to Moab. It was not a coincidence that Naomi’s sons married Moabite women. It was not a coincidence that Naomi’s husband and two sons died. And it was not a coincidence that Ruth clung to her mother-in-law.
In Genesis, God’s promise to send a Savior was made to Adam and Eve who were neither Jew nor Gentile, or rather they had all cultures in their DNA. God’s call and promise to Abraham never excluded anyone. Even as the children of Israel entered the promised land and were given God’s just judgement to wipe out those pagans living in the land, God never negated His desire that they should be His people and a beacon to the world. So, it should not surprise us that God calls Ruth to faith as He calls all whom He wills to call. Remember, God’s desire is that all people are saved.
As we review this account of the history of Israel and the family tree of King David and ultimately the earthly family tree of Jesus we find that Jesus was not of pure Jewish descent. Here we have a Moabite in the family tree. Earlier you might remember we had Rahab from Jericho in the family tree. Rahab the prostitute that is. This fact that there are other cultures in the family tree of Jesus should convince us even more that Jesus was and is the Savior of all people.
This good news that Jesus is the Savior of all people is good news to us as well. Indeed, we are a part of God’s kingdom, a part of Jesus’ family, by grace, through faith, given through the means of grace. How important are God’s means of grace? He calls us to faith and gives us faith through the waters of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. He calls us to, gives us and strengthens us in faith through His Holy Word. He forgives our sins through His Holy Absolution. He forgives our sins and strengthens our faith through the gift of His body and blood in His Holy Supper. He has given us these means as the very instrument through which He blesses, preserves and strengthens us. Certainly as Ruth was given faith through hearing the Word of God while being married to one of Naomi’s sons, while the ten lepers in the Gospel reading most certainly had heard the Word of God and had heard of Jesus and believed and as Paul encourages Timothy in our Epistle lesson, our desire might be even more to make use of the means of grace so that God can pour out on us even more the gifts and blessings He has to give. And then, even more we may with all patience and endurance wait and see how God works out the best for us through the trials and tribulations of this world as He Himself has overcome for us.
Once again, God is the prime mover. God moves, acts and gives first. God is love and He created us to love us. He is running the show. He is giving the gifts and we are being given to. Jesus lived for us, fulfilling God’s demand of perfection. Jesus took our sin and paid the price for our sins, giving us the forgiveness He earned. Jesus died and rose defeating sin, death and the devil. Jesus gives us faith, forgiveness and life, even eternal life. Our response of faith might be that of Ruth, “Your people shall be my people and your God my God,” that is Jesus is our Savior, Lord, and King.
“We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28) We have seen this work out in our text for today. And we have seen Jesus’ own words fulfilled, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). May we be encouraged in our own faith life especially as we face times of tribulations to know that God is with us, that Jesus has overcome and the God always works out the best for us His people, those He has given faith so that ultimately we might all together rejoice and say, to God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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