“We Will Return With Thee …” - 1/3/25

 

After her husband and sons die, Naomi learns that Judah’s famine is over and intends to return to her homeland (Ruth 1:5-6). At this, her daughters-in-law also planned to return with her, leaving their homeland behind (1:7, 10). I want us to study this event and make some applications.

 

First, please note that both the daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, planned on returning with Naomi. It was not Ruth alone. Orpah had been influenced and taught just as much as Ruth, and she was ready to go back and live with her mother-in-law’s family now. They both intended to enter into a foreign land (to them) and spend the rest of their days there! As Bible students, we might not think of Judah, and specifically Bethlehem, as “foreign,” but it was to these ladies! It was Elimelech and Naomi who had crossed over into their country years ago. Now, we see the opposite happening as Orpah and Ruth intend to return with their mother-in-law.

 

Secondly, this section shows us the special feeling these women had for Naomi. In too many families, there is friction between the in-laws. This is a tragic thing to witness. I hasten to add that friction comes about due to religious disagreements on many occasions. Imagine when Elimelech and Naomi entered the land with their sons, and these two ladies learned that they worshipped differently from the Moabites; they had different dietary restrictions, dressed differently, etc. Would this not have shocked them, especially their families who had raised these girls? Might there have been arguments as the Moabites came to terms with what these Hebrews were doing in their land? Yes, these questions are conjecture, but my conjecture is based upon experience in the 21st century among families with different religious backgrounds who marry!

 

Over the span of 10 years (Ruth 1:4), Orpah and Ruth saw what following Jehovah meant to their husbands and in-laws. They saw, no doubt, those people living the teaching of Leviticus 19:11-18, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and countless other Biblical truths. It made a difference. Perhaps they spoke in glowing terms of the Tabernacle, of worship to the true God, of the priests, the offerings, and countless other things in their homeland. To state the obvious, it made an impression on these ladies! When Naomi wished to leave, they were going to go with her and experience this land for themselves (Ruth 1:10)!

 

Friends, what are we talking about, and what kind of life are we living before our family members? Do they see us living Matthew 7:12, 22:37-39, Acts 2:42, John 4:24, Acts 22:16, etc.? If not, what are they seeing in us? What do they hear coming out of our mouths? Is it the oracles of God (I Pet. 4:11)? Paul said, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph. 4:31). If we are having a hard time convincing and winning our family to the Lord, might it be that what we are saying and what we are living are in conflict with God’s truth?

 

On our journey to Heaven, let us say as Moses did, “Come thou with us, and we will do thee good” (Num. 10:29)! Folks will follow the Lord (as Orpah and Ruth followed Naomi) when they see us living what we teach (Matt. 5:16).

 

- Jarrod M. Jacobs