Introduction.
- At the heart of
God's eternal Covenant with his people, there is a wonderful pledge and
promise: ‘I will walk among you and be
your God, and you shall be My people.' (Leviticus
26:12) This pledge and promise is repeated in Jeremiah 30:22 and directly applied to the New
Covenant in Revelation 21:3. By
God's grace and mighty power believers have this security: I belong to the LORD and the LORD belongs to me. Christians find it
easy to say, ‘I belong to the Lord,'
but feel a bit awkward in saying, ‘the
Lord belongs to me.' This is simply
a different way of saying, ‘the Lord is
my God.' Think about the signs of
the covenant, circumcision, Passover, baptism, and the Lord's Supper, they all
talk about belonging to the God of the covenant. When you profess your faith,
you are essentially telling others that you belong to the Lord. At a wedding
the bride and groom exchange vows and rings and then they are proclaimed
husband and wife. The vows, rings, and change in marital status are all aspects
of a public declaration that this man and woman belong to each other. This
belonging to each other is emphasised by the proclamation, ‘Whom God has joined together let not man put asunder.' The wife belongs to the husband, and the
husband belongs to the wife. The wife's surname is changed indicating that she
now belongs to her husband. Adam expressed this sense of belonging when the
Lord presented Eve to him in the garden, listen to Genesis 2:23 ‘This is
now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because
she was taken out of Man.' God, the Holy Spirit moved Moses to add the
commentary found in the next verse, ‘Therefore
a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they
shall become one flesh.' The close
bond and sense of belonging is such that God says, the two shall become one flesh. Husband and wife belong to each
other as your arm or your leg belongs to your body.
- I am convinced that the general sense of Scripture
compels us to believe that God created us with a deep inner need to belong to others. In the nineteen sixties Simon
and Garfunkel sang the song I am a rock, which
talks about a method of overcoming the pain of heartbreak. Listen to some of the lyrics; ‘I've
built walls, a fortress deep and mighty, that none may penetrate I have no need
for friendship, friendship causes pain It's laughter and it's loving I
disdain. I am a rock, I am an island. I
have my books and my poetry to protect me I am shielded in my armour, hiding in
my room, safe within my womb I touch no one and no one touches me I am a rock,
I am an island. And a rock feels no pain and an island never cries.' Notice
the hard work expressed in building a mighty fortress, and in developing a
shield and armour, and hiding in a room for protection. Also note the price of
being a rock includes, no need of friendship, a disdain for laughter and
loving, and emotional deadness expressed in the words, I touch no one and no one touches me. The truth is no man or woman
is a rock or an island, they need to belong, they need to love and be loved.
God's relationship with mankind has always been Covenantal, which strongly
emphasises the sense of belonging.
- A sense of belonging is strongly bound up with our
identity. As a child you would have been asked: ‘What is your name? Who are your Father and mother? Where do you live?
What work does your father do? What school do you go to? The answers to
these few questions enables others to determine your identity and social class.
Your identity and social class are bound up with whom you belong to and which
group belongs to you. Spiritually your identity is strongly bound up with whom
you belong to. Listen to Jesus speaking to the Pharisees in John
8:42-44 (NIV) ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me,
for ??I come from God and now am here, I have not come on my own; but he sent
me. ?Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I
say. ?You belong to your
father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a
murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in
him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.' Jesus tells us
that we either belong to God or to the devil. A massive part of your identity
is bound up with your answer to the question; to whom do you belong? Knowing the answer to this question is
fundamental to your sense of security, purpose, meaning and function in life.
Having made this point I now need to show you why it is vital to our
understanding of Ruth 1:1-6.?
The
place beyond sorrow is a place of deep soul searching.
- I used the phrase beyond
sorrow to describe the pain and the emptiness Naomi experienced when her
husband and two sons died. Naomi found no comfort in the Lord and blamed the
Lord for her situation and circumstances. I believe we can hear Naomi's anger
at the Lord in Ruth 1:13 when she says, ‘No,
my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!?' When
a person blames the Lord for their plight and harbours anger in their heart
against the Lord, they find no comfort in the Lord or his word. The statement
Naomi makes in Ruth 1:20 is extremely important, listen to her statement: ‘Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the
Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.' Naomi is claiming to have had a
change of identity and a change of personality because God's hand has been
against her. We really do need to understand
how Naomi got to this conclusion, as it helps us understand ourselves, life and
God's dealings with his people.
- When Naomi left Bethlehem
she departed full, but when she
returned to Bethlehem from Moab she was empty. What caused her to feel full when she left, and what caused her
to feel empty when she returned? If
we had put the question ‘To whom do you
belong' to Naomi before she left to go to Moab, she would have said that she
belonged to Elimelech. Her identity was bound up with him and their life
together with their sons. Her purpose and meaning of life was anchored on
belonging to Elimelech, he provided her with security and comfort. Because the husband
and wife belong to each other they know they have a safety net to catch the one
who falls off the tightrope of life. The husband is a safety net for his wife
and the wife the safety-net for her husband. A serious aspect of the joy of
marriage is that deep sense of knowing you belong to someone, and together with
that person your life has purpose and meaning and significance. This sense of husband and wife belonging to
each other is vitally important in the marriage, however your spouse must
never become the primary source of your sense of belonging; the Lord is the
source of your primary sense of belonging. As a husband I should and would be
delighted if my wife told me she could never love me as much as she loves the
Lord, she could never be committed to me as much as she is committed to the
Saviour, and she could never desire to please me more than she desires to
please Jesus. I need to fully grasp the fact that my wife belongs to the Lord
and always will and therefore I will never be her first and foremost love. My
wife should rejoice in the knowledge that I belong to the Lord and therefore the
same realities apply. When a believer marries an unbeliever, the unbeliever
will require the believer to make them their primary source of belonging and
supply the purpose, meaning and the significance to life. It is easy to
understand why this would lead to tension and friction, and how a believer who
is married to an unbeliever would constantly be tempted to leave the Lord as their
first and foremost love.
- I am convinced that Naomi yielded to temptation and
looked to Elimelech for her primary sense of belonging, rather than finding
that sense of belonging in the Lord. The only adequate answer to the questions ‘To whom do you belong' is: ‘I belong to the Lord.' Your sense of
purpose, meaning and significance in life must be firmly rooted and grounded in
belonging to the Lord. Believers ought to have as the rock solid foundation of
their lives the indisputable fact: I
belong to the Lord, he is my God, Father, Creator, Master, and King, my life is
lived for him.Your
primary sense of belonging must be found in the Lord. The starting point
for defining your identity must be the Lord, and the fact that you belong to
him. You rob God of his glory if you make your husband, wife or children the
primary source of your sense of belonging. Many believers yield to this
temptation and make their spouse or children the primary source of their sense
of belonging and identity. Listen to the words of a love song by Barry White, ‘My first, my last, my everything, and the
answer to all my dreams, you are my sun, my moon, my guiding star, my kind of
wonderful that's who you are.' This is not only sentimental balderdash, but
it also says, you are my god. Sadly
many people do think about life in these terms. In our self-centred world where
the attitude is: If you love me, then your
life revolves around me, I am the centre of your universe, self-worship is
the most common form of idolatry. God,
and God alone must be the centre of your universe and he is the reason for
living. Naomi's life was full because Elimelech gave her a sense
of belonging, meaning and purpose, when he died her life was empty. The Apostle
Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, ‘Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; ??old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new.' You are made new by Christ who
gives you a new sense of belonging, and a new purpose, meaning and significance
in life. If you belong to God you are a new person, your inner identity has
changed, being full in this way can never be lost. It is critical to determine whether or not our primary sense
of belonging is in the Lord. If it is not, then the scaffolds and supports of
your life are not biblical and will either collapse under the weight of life or
the Lord will push them over.
- When Elimelech died Naomi found that the death of her
spouse ended her sense of belonging purpose, meaning and significance to life.
Because Elimelech was her primary sense of belonging, Naomi did not trust the
Lord to be her safety net. When Job lost his possessions and children he fell
on the safety-net of the Lord's grace and not onto his wife. When Elimelech
died Naomi had no safety net, so her world collapsed. I suggest that after Elimelech's
death Naomi made her children the primary source of her sense of belonging, and
made Mahlon and Chilion her safety-net. When they died, she sought to find her
sense of belonging in her daughter-in-laws, but they could not meet the
requirement needed for a safety-net. In the days of the Judges three destitute
widows living together in Moab
would have been vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. It is important to note
that they were destitute. A rich widow would have men lining up to marry her no
matter what religion she practiced or how old, fat, ugly and rude she was.
These three widows found very little comfort in being able to say we belong to each other. The searching
question, to whom do I belong would have left these widows restless,
fearful, uneasy and looking for security.
- When Naomi heard that
the Lord had visited His people by
giving them bread, it prompted an answer to the question to whom do I belong? In her heart and
mind she would have answered, I am one of
the LORD'S people, I belong to him. If she belonged to the Lord, then in
his land she would find the security she so desperately needed. It was only
because Naomi was at the place beyond
sorrow that this answer came to her mind and animated her will to return to
Bethlehem. It
was only in the place beyond sorrow
that she began to redefine her identity in terms of belonging to the Lord.
When Naomi heard that
the Lord had visited His people by
giving them bread, it prompted an answer to the question to whom do I belong? In her heart and
mind she would have answered, I am one of
the LORD'S people, I belong to him. If she belonged to the Lord, then in
his land she would find the security she so desperately needed. It was only
because Naomi was at the place beyond
sorrow that this answer came to her mind and animated her will to return to
Bethlehem. It
was only in the place beyond sorrow
that she began to redefine her identity in terms of belonging to the Lord.
Exactly the same
thing happens in the parable of the prodigal son, when he ran out of money and
friends he is compelled to redefine his identity. When a young Jewish man
desires to eat the swill fed to pigs because nobody would give him anything,
you know that he has reached the place beyond
sorrow. Listen to Luke 15:17, ‘But
when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have
bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!' What does Luke mean
when he says, he came to himself?
Some think that it means that he came to his senses, and this is reflected in
many translations. I think it is telling us that he came to the point where he
began to think clearly about himself and his life. Prior to this point he had
no idea whether he was coming or going, he was confused, lonely, sad,
bewildered, isolated and miserable. The prodigal son asked himself the
questions: who am I, what am I doing,
what am I doing in this strange land, where do I belong, to whom do I belong
and what do I need to do? In Luke 15:18 these questions are
answered by the prodigal son, he says, ‘I
will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned
against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Make me like one of your hired servants.?"?' Notice he confesses his
sinfulness, fully recognises that he has offended God and his father, he
accepts that his behaviour has made him unworthy to be called his father's son,
and pleads to be accepted as a hired hand. This is a very different person to
the hot shot who had all the answers about life and went to a strange land to
enjoy real life with wine, woman and song. Clearly he has redefined his
identity; he knows he is not that swaggering dandy who left his father's home.
When he got home his father put a ring on his finger, the meaning of the ring
was simply you belong to me. The fact
that he knew his father's loving and caring character helped him to go back to
where he belonged.
- Naomi, a
destitute widow would have asked the same questions as the prodigal son did
when she heard that the Lord had visited his people and that there was bread in
Bethlehem once more.
Notice we are not simply told that the drought had ended, but that the Lord
had ? ?visited His people by giving them bread.
The emphasis is upon the Lord and what he has done; he visited his
people and gave them bread. This is the first mention of the Lord in the book
of Ruth and speaks of God's grace and mercy. The word translated as visit is very interesting, listen to the
comments made by Vines Expository Dictionary, The verb is used in an expression which is unique to Hebrew and which
shows great intensity of meaning. Such an occurrence appears in Exodus 3:16ff.,
in which it is used twice in two different grammatical forms to portray the
intensity of the action; the text reads (literally): "Looking after, I have
looked after".... The usage refers to God's intervention in His saving the
children of Israel from
their bondage in Egypt.
The same verb in a similar expression can also be used for divine intervention
for punishment: (Jeremiah 9:9), which means literally: "Shall I not punish them
for these things?" The word is full of purpose and intent. When the Lord
visited the Promised Land with the drought (Ruth 1:1) it was a
visitation of judgment. In Ruth 1:6 the Lord visited his people
bringing bread; this was a visitation of blessing. The fact that it was a time
of blessing rather than chastisement would have greatly encouraged Naomi to
return to Bethlehem.
The uniqueness of the word (visited) would
have brought to Naomi's remembrance the amazing benevolence of God towards his
people. God's providence was providing the most suitable answer to the question
what can I do? The answer it was
prompting was, return to Bethlehem. The fact that Naomi packed her
possessions and set off for Bethlehem with her
two daughters-in-law in tow, reveals that the urge to return to Bethlehem
was very strong. The Lord was at work in Naomi to do exactly what he purposed.
What was happening to Naomi is expressed by the Apostle Paul in Philippians
2:13, ‘for ? it is God who works
in you both to will and to do for His
good pleasure.' The place beyond
sorrow not only brought Naomi to the place where she had no one to turn to
other than the Lord; it also brought her to the place where she was willing and
eager to do what God willed. She really wanted to do the Lord's will, in this
case it was his secret will, but her attitude and focus had changed. The death of
Elimelech and her two sons had caused her world to collapse, now the Lord was
putting in place a fundamental principle on which her new life would be built, Naomi wanted to do what the Lord willed. If
you put the question, to whom do you
belong to Naomi at the close of Ruth 1:6, she would in all probability not have answered you, but the
answer was being formulated in Naomi's heart and mind, I belong to the Lord, and I really want to do his will.
Conclusion
Jonah was on his
way to the place beyond sorrow when
the Lord stirred up the sea and threatened the lives of all on board the ship.
Listen to the questions the sailors put to Jonah, "Please tell us! For whose cause is
this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What
is your country? And of what people are you??" Jonah answers the question
saying, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear ??the Lord,
the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." There is one question Jonah ignores; the
question is: what is your occupation? The
question Jonah was avoiding asked him to reveal whom do you belong to? Who was Jonah? He was a prophet of the living God running away from the very thing
that gave him his identity, purpose, meaning and significance to life. He
was denying who he was and was unwilling to do what the Lord willed. Three days
and three nights inside the belly of a big fish made him willing to do exactly
what the one to whom he belong required of him. To whom do you belong? The reality of who you are depends on the
answer you give to this question. Do you belong to the Lord?