(Special Study) An Example of A Steadfast Life

Ruth 1:1-22

There are many stories in the Bible that serve as an encouragement to our hearts. The story of Ruth is clearly one of them. Many looks at this little book, which was written during the time of the judges, and see nothing more than a love story. However, while there is a love story of sorts in this book, the bigger picture is that of a lost sinner who, through divine guidance and providence, is brought into a relationship with God and is made to be an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are taught in this book that God is not just the Savior of Israel, but that He is the Savior of the entire human race. In these verses, and throughout this book as well, we see in Ruth a tremendous example of a steadfast life. She teaches us about remaining faithful even when others around us do not. We shall look through these verses and examine this example
of a steadfast life.

1. The Egregious Condition of Ruth

Ruth 1:1-7

A. Her Ancestry – Ruth 1:4; Rom. 5:12; John 3:23, 36. Ruth was a member of a condemned nation. She and her people were sinful and had been judged and condemned by the Lord. Hers was a desperate and lost condition. In this, Ruth is a picture of everyone who is not in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We were helpless and condemned before God. That condemnation fell upon us because of the sin of Adam, and we were all abiding under the wrath of God. The fact is, we were nothing but lost and undone sinners.

B. Her Adversity – Adversity – Ruth 1:5; Job 14:1; Pro. 13:15. This verse tells us that Ruth’s husband and his brother both have died. Ruth and her sister-in-law are now left as widows with no means of support and with no hope for the future. They faced a terrible trial. It seemed that their only hope was to return to the home of their father and hope another man would eventually marry them. The Bible tells us that life will be filled with troubles and afflictions, especially to the lost.

C. Her Ambition – Ruth 1:6, 7. Naomi has heard that the famine that caused her family to leave Bethlehem to begin with has ended and that there is bread in the land. So, she rises to go home, and her two daughters-in-law rise to go with her; a decision that would eventually change her life completely. This is precisely how the new life begins. A conscious decision made to leave the old life behind and to go with Jesus into a new life in Him.

2. The Empathetic Challenge of Ruth

Ruth 1:8-15

A. An Expectation – Ruth 1:8, 9. As they began their journey, Naomi encouraged her widowed daughters-in-law to return to their land and not follow her to Israel. Considering how emptied she had become herself, and not knowing what awaits her back in Bethlehem, she felt the best counsel to these women was to go tell them to go back. She never thought of rescuing these women from their heathenistic and idolatrous life. Watch it, anything that would cut you off from God’s people and from having a relationship with the Lord is not of God.

B. An Explanation – Ruth 1:10-13; Job 1:20-21. Naomi persuaded these women to go home because she had no more sons to marry them and give them children under the law of the Levirate Marriage. Even if she remarried and had children, these women couldn’t be expected to wait until these new sons were grown. This was a valid explanation from Naomi, but it was not enough to make Ruth change her resolve to follow her. Challenges would always come, but how you react to them is what matters. Many people react to challenges by turning away from the Lord, but like Job, the challenges of life should drive us closer to the Lord.

C. An Evacuation or Examination – Ruth 1:14, 15. When Orpah heard Naomi’s speech, she kissed her and turned around and went home. There are a lot of people around who are just like Orpah. They face the challenges of life by defecting and going back to do their own thing. Ruth on the other hand clings to Naomi. She was determined to stay with Naomi. This was a demonstration of faith and commitment, and the Lord rewarded her for it.

3. The Exemplary Commitment of Ruth

Ruth 1:16-22; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Timothy 1:12-14

Ruth demonstrated an exemplary commitment that is worthy of emulation among believers today. Despite Naomi’s pitiable condition, she saw probably saw a glimpse of light from Naomi’s report that God had visited Israel, and she was convinced to go with her. By her steadfast commitment, she commits to a:

• New Land – Ruth 1:16. She is willing to follow Naomi wherever she goes. She is willing to leave Moab behind forever and to follow Naomi to Israel.
• New Language – Ruth 1:16. She is willing to speak the new language of the Israelites she was going to join and live with for the rest of her life.
• New Leadership – Ruth 1:16. She is willing to submit to Naomi and to allow her to guide her life.
• New Lifestyle – Ruth 1:16. She is willing to give up all the old ways of Moab and to conform her life to the way people live in Israel. She is ready to make a dramatic change in her life.
• New Lineage – Ruth 1:16. Ruth is willing to cut all ties with Moab. She wants to be a part of the nation which she has married into. She is ready to claim a new lineage.
• New Lord – Ruth 1:16. This is perhaps the greatest statement Ruth makes. She is willing to give up the gods of Moab and follow the true and living God of Israel. This statement is her declaration of faith in Jehovah God.
• No Limits – Ruth 1:17. She tells Naomi that she is willing to commit to this new plan for life for as long as she lives. She even invokes the curse of God upon her life if she lets anything but death come between her and the commitment she has made.

As we consider the commitment Ruth made to Naomi, it paints a picture for us of the commitment we should be willing to make to the Lord Jesus Christ. As we come to know the Lord and turn from our old lives, we commit ourselves to a new life, love, language, leaning, longing, living, and a new Lord with no limits like Ruth did. She lived a consistent and steadfast life. She was brought into Israel, married an Israelite man named Boaz and became a part of the covenant people of the Lord. She became the great- grandmother to King David and an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this came to pass in her life because she was unwilling to change her mind, change her devotion or change her direction. She kept on going in the face of adversity and she did not give up.

The Lord is challenging you today to be resolute in your decision to follow Him like Ruth. In your conviction, confession, consistency, commitment and consecration to the Lord, He wants you to be “…steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” (1 Cor. 15:58).