“Wept”
“And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, God, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept” (vs8-9).
They both wept, but only one obtained mercy to continue. If God is not with us, then we will GIVE UP on Christ for the world’s pleasure and ease. It is written, “Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God”, so that unbelief and ease go hand in hand, so that unless God MAKES us come to Christ, we will flee (Ps 55:19).
It is God that shuts every door, except Christ Jesus, and opens to us the way of life, even as God shows us the BEAUTY of Jesus, so we can believe. The reason that you and I love Him is because God has shown Himself to be beautiful in redemption and removing our sins. Like Jonathan Edwards, we HATE God naturally, until the Spirit makes us see BEAUTY in the God we despise (John 6:63). Then, we TRUST ourselves to Him, desiring to be saved, so that His people are WILLING to endure ANY hardship for Christ. We believe.
Orpah, as her name signifies, was a gazelle, fleeing from Christ the Lord, when she could - “And they lifted up their voice and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth cleaved unto her. And she said, Behold, your sister in law is gone back unto her people and unto her gods“ (Ruth 1:14-15). Ruth, as her name declares, is the “friend’ of God and His people. She CLEAVED unto the Lord and could not be turned away. Which one are you? - “And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after 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 (Ruth 1:16).
Do you and I have any hope but Christ? If so, then we shall die in our sins. If not, then we shall find bread in God’s house, as promised - “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing” (Ps 92:13-14). God’s goodness is enough to meet our needs. Don’t be foolish and say, “It is hard, so I will leave God”. Say, “It is HARD, so I will flee to God” (Ruth 1:1). He will meet your every need, proving that you only need Jesus, food, and raiment, as He has promised, and you will be content, or filled to the brim - “And having food and raiment, we will be therewith contented” (1 Tim 6:8).
The world says, “Less of Christ and more of me”, but God’s elect learn, like Naomi, that this is bitter - “I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty… the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me” (Ruth 1:21). We need LESS of Christ AND the world mingled, but we don’t ever need less of Jesus. The more FOCUSED our life is on Christ and doing His will, the more happy (truly) and experientially blessed we are. We get everything by GIVING UP everything for Him, and getting MORE by His hand.
Trust Him to be your sufficiency, not husband, wife, children, or “future plans of having these”, and you shall see God’s beauty and be FREE of slavery to things.
Be thankful in the good times, and in hard times, draw near. Get more of Christ, and you won’t have cause to vomit Him out. Naomi may have thought things were good in Moab for a time, that their compromise was subtle and wise, but she lost EVERYTHING in compromise and disobedience, even as you and I do - “And Elimelech, Naomi‘s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband“ (Ruth 1:3-5). We gain nothing by disobedience, by drawing away from God, our responsibilities, and His people. Too many FLEE God’s house when times are tough, but BLESS the Most High that He destroys our works and efforts, shuts the door to hope anywhere else, and REVEALS to us that there is bread: God’s BLESSING is in the same place that we may have been famished, the place where preachers stumble, saints err, and we may not hear for a season. God’s house is the place that you must be, and He brings us back to be an example of what not to do, and to be saved - “Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread“ (Ruth 1:6). And, bless God, we come back to blessing with blessing, even as Naomi came back with Ruth, one of God’s elect, whom she found in Moab, amidst her sin.
“And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, God, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept” (vs8-9).
They both wept, but only one obtained mercy to continue. If God is not with us, then we will GIVE UP on Christ for the world’s pleasure and ease. It is written, “Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God”, so that unbelief and ease go hand in hand, so that unless God MAKES us come to Christ, we will flee (Ps 55:19).
It is God that shuts every door, except Christ Jesus, and opens to us the way of life, even as God shows us the BEAUTY of Jesus, so we can believe. The reason that you and I love Him is because God has shown Himself to be beautiful in redemption and removing our sins. Like Jonathan Edwards, we HATE God naturally, until the Spirit makes us see BEAUTY in the God we despise (John 6:63). Then, we TRUST ourselves to Him, desiring to be saved, so that His people are WILLING to endure ANY hardship for Christ. We believe.
Orpah, as her name signifies, was a gazelle, fleeing from Christ the Lord, when she could - “And they lifted up their voice and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth cleaved unto her. And she said, Behold, your sister in law is gone back unto her people and unto her gods“ (Ruth 1:14-15). Ruth, as her name declares, is the “friend’ of God and His people. She CLEAVED unto the Lord and could not be turned away. Which one are you? - “And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after 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 (Ruth 1:16).
Do you and I have any hope but Christ? If so, then we shall die in our sins. If not, then we shall find bread in God’s house, as promised - “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing” (Ps 92:13-14). God’s goodness is enough to meet our needs. Don’t be foolish and say, “It is hard, so I will leave God”. Say, “It is HARD, so I will flee to God” (Ruth 1:1). He will meet your every need, proving that you only need Jesus, food, and raiment, as He has promised, and you will be content, or filled to the brim - “And having food and raiment, we will be therewith contented” (1 Tim 6:8).
The world says, “Less of Christ and more of me”, but God’s elect learn, like Naomi, that this is bitter - “I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty… the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me” (Ruth 1:21). We need LESS of Christ AND the world mingled, but we don’t ever need less of Jesus. The more FOCUSED our life is on Christ and doing His will, the more happy (truly) and experientially blessed we are. We get everything by GIVING UP everything for Him, and getting MORE by His hand.
Trust Him to be your sufficiency, not husband, wife, children, or “future plans of having these”, and you shall see God’s beauty and be FREE of slavery to things.
Be thankful in the good times, and in hard times, draw near. Get more of Christ, and you won’t have cause to vomit Him out. Naomi may have thought things were good in Moab for a time, that their compromise was subtle and wise, but she lost EVERYTHING in compromise and disobedience, even as you and I do - “And Elimelech, Naomi‘s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband“ (Ruth 1:3-5). We gain nothing by disobedience, by drawing away from God, our responsibilities, and His people. Too many FLEE God’s house when times are tough, but BLESS the Most High that He destroys our works and efforts, shuts the door to hope anywhere else, and REVEALS to us that there is bread: God’s BLESSING is in the same place that we may have been famished, the place where preachers stumble, saints err, and we may not hear for a season. God’s house is the place that you must be, and He brings us back to be an example of what not to do, and to be saved - “Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread“ (Ruth 1:6). And, bless God, we come back to blessing with blessing, even as Naomi came back with Ruth, one of God’s elect, whom she found in Moab, amidst her sin.
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