Ruth 1:6-8

 

 

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Ruth 1:6: Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food. (NASB: Lockman)

ASV: 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 Jehovah had visited his people in giving them bread.
BBE
: So she and her daughters-in-law got ready to go back from the country of Moab, for news had come to her in the country of Moab that the Lord, in mercy for his people, had given them food.

CEV:
When Naomi heard that the LORD had given his people a good harvest, she and her two daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab and go to Judah. As they were on their way there,  (CEV)
GWT: Naomi and her daughters-in-law started on the way back from the country of Moab. (While they were still in Moab she heard that the LORD had come to help his people and give them food. (GWT)
KJV
: When 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.
NIV: When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.
 (NIV - IBS)
Young's Literal: And she riseth, she and her daughters-in-law, and turneth back from the fields of Moab, for she hath heard in the fields of Moab that God hath looked after His people, --to give to them bread.  

Septuagint (LXX): kai aneste (3SAAI) aute kai ai duo numphai autes kai apestrepsan  (3PAAI) ec agrou Moab hoti ekousan (3PAAI)  en agro Moab hoti epeskeptai (3SRMI) kurios ton laon autou dounai  (AAN)  autois artous (Click here for explanation of abbreviations in parentheses after each verb)

English of Septuagint: And she rose up and her two daughters-in-law, and they returned out of the country of Moab, for she heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people to give them bread.


REFERENCES ON RUTH 1

Albert Barnes
Iain Campbell
Adam Clarke
Thomas Constable
Warren Dodd
Don Fortner
Max Frazier
David Guzik
Matthew Henry
Selwyn Hughes
Jamieson, F, B
Woodrow Kroll
Woodrow Kroll
Alexander Maclaren
Middletown Bible
Net Bible
Our Daily Bread
Our Daily Bread
Pathlight
John Piper
David Reed
Ray Stedman
Joe Temple
Steve Zeisler
Steve Zeisler

Ruth 1
Ruth 1:1 Story, 1:1 Setting, 1:1 Mistake

Ruth 1
Ruth Notes
Ruth 1:6-10
Ruth 1:6 Good News Heard In Moab
Ruth 1: Devotional Commentary  
Ruth 1
Ruth 1

Ruth 1:6, 1:7, 1:8
Ruth 1
Ruth 1:6: Heading Home
Ruth 1:8: Thy Lovingkindness
Ruth Exposition
Ruth Study
Ruth 1: Net Bible Notes
Ruth 1 Always For Us
Ruth 1:16 Committed to Serve
Ruth: Overview  Ruth 1: Teaching Notes
Ruth 1: Sweet and Bitter Providence 
Ruth 1:6-18 Audio Lectures w/ notes
Ruth: The Romance of Redemption
Ruth 1: Ruth Returning
Ruth 1:1-22: A Tale of Two
Ruth 1:1-2:23 The Greatness of Gratitude

THEN SHE AROSE:

"Arose" (6965) (quwm/qum) from a root word which describes the physical action or rising up or standing as the result of rising up.

This same phrase was used to describe David's arising and moving on after his first son's death...

"But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, "Is the child dead?" And they said, "He is dead. So David arose (6965) (quwm/qum) from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate." (2 Samuel 12:19-20).

Jehovah had "surely seen the affliction of" (cf Ex 3:7 3:8) Naomi and so moves heaven and earth (rain, sun, fruitful grain harvest) to inspire Naomi to move on.

There is a time when we must choose to RISE UP and lay hold of what we have been laid hold of by Christ for. we must forget

"what lies behind and (reach) forward to what lies ahead...(pressing) on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (see note Php 3:12-14).

We must make a decision of our will to...

"strengthen (aorist imperative - an command to be carried out even with a sense of urgency) the hands (the author has just given a lengthy discourse on divine discipline which is not joyful at the moment we are experiencing it) that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for (our) feet" (Heb 12:12 13).

Run Naomi run to Jehovah your Covenant Keeping God and learn by your experience the truth that Jehovah withholds

"no good thing... from those who walk uprightly"..."for the LORD God is a sun and shield. Jehovah gives grace and glory." (Ps 84:11)

and His

"grace is sufficient for you (Naomi and for you dear reader), for (His) dunamis is perfected in (our) weakness"..."when (we are) weak, then (we are) strong." (2Cor 12:9, 10)

How important it is for us to look expectantly for the hand of the LORD in every event in our life. He is in the process of training up His children to full maturity, that we "may share His holiness" (Heb 12:10 11) and be "conformed to the image of His Son" (see note Romans 8:29), the Perfecter (Finisher) of the race of life (see note Hebrews 12:2).

So keep your eyes fixed on Jesus as you "walk through the valley of the shadow of death" (Ps 23:4), as your dreams die and all earthly hope seems lost. Recall to your mind God's promise of His faithfulness (Lam 3:21, 22, 23, 24) even when the clouds seem to hide Him. That's when faith walks out and takes God at His Word (Heb 11:6) and is enabled to see "Him Who is unseen" (Heb 11:27).

"God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases" (Ps 115:3) exercising His sovereignty, orchestrating events behind the scenes and all the while allowing each individual free will to make the decisions that determine destiny.

Naomi's decision would indeed determine the destiny of Ruth and of many who would come after her. Let us thank God that she arose from her grieving and moved toward God, although had she chosen not to do so, God's purpose of raising up a Redeemer would not have been thwarted (Job 42:2) (Study the "Attributes of God")

Matthew Henry calls our attention to

"The good affection Naomi bore to the land of Israel" specifically noting that "Though she could not stay in it while the famine lasted, she would not stay out of it when the famine ceased. Though the country of Moab had afforded her shelter and supply in a time of need, yet she did not intend it should be her rest for ever" for as Henry rightly observes "no land should be that but the holy land, in which the sanctuary of God was, of which He had said, "This is My resting place for ever and ever" (Ps 132:14, NIV) Naomi began to think of returning, after the death of her two sons. When death comes into a family, it ought to reform what is amiss there. Earth is made bitter to us, that heaven may be made dear."

WITH HER DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW THAT SHE MIGHT RETURN (turn back) FROM THE LAND OF MOAB:

"she turneth back from the fields of Moab" (YLT)

"So she and her daughters-in-law got ready to go back from the country of Moab" (BBE)

The word for "her daughters-in-law" is literally "her brides" or the brides of her sons. "Land of Moab" is more accurately the "fields of Moab". It's interesting that in the fields of Moab where the grain was grown that Naomi learned there was food in the fields of Israel.

"Return" is the Hebrew verb shub  which conveys the basic meaning of movement, spatially or spiritually and is variously translated turn back, restore and repent.

Scripture is replete with picturesque idioms emphasizing man's responsibility in repentance -

"incline your heart unto the Lord your God" (Josh 24:23)

"circumcise yourselves to the LORD & remove the foreskins of your heart" (Jer 4:4)

"wash your heart from evil O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you?" (Jer 4:14)

"break up your fallow ground (usually cultivated land that is allowed to lie idle during the growing season), for it is time to seek the LORD until He comes to rain righteousness on you" (Hos 10:12).

Observe the central role of our heart. All these expressions of man's activity are pictured in the Hebrew verb shub which combines the two requisites of repentance -- turn from evil and turn to God and to good. However lest we forget that even repentance is a gift of His grace, we need to be mindful not to

"think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience" for it is "the kindness of God leads (us) to repentance"  (see note Romans 2:4

Repenters always find God has the welcome mat out.

Is it possible for someone who has dwelt in a "distant land" for many years to come home again? The answer is always "yes".  Speaking to rebellious Israel God declared that

"though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18).

Have you wandered away from God? (And which of us can honestly say "Not me, no never"!) Do you think you been away too long? Do you fear His response if you were to return now?

Take heart for Jesus Who is

"the same yesterday and today, yes and forever" (Heb 13:8) says that

"the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out."  (John 6:37)

Even as God was leading Naomi back , He had affirmed to Jacob

"behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back (shub) to this land for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Genesis 28:15)

In both Naomi's and Jacob's "returns" God was working out His sovereign purpose of redemption.

Bible Knowledge Commentary observes that

"Return is a key word in Ruth. Hebrew forms of this word are used several times in this first chapter. Here is an apt illustration of repentance. Naomi reversed the direction she and her husband had taken. She turned away from Moab and the errors of the past. She turned her back on the tragic graves of her loved ones and headed back to Judah, her homeland." (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible knowledge commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books).

To where was Naomi returning? To Israel. To her God. To her people.

Have circumstances occurred in your life that have caused you to meander off the path and into "Moab"?

Will you "remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first"? (Rev 2:5)

Encouraged by what transpired in the next 3 chapters in Naomi's life, you can be

"confident...that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (note on Philippians 1:6)

In truth every person ever born was at one time  in the "land of Moab", helplessly mired in  sin, engaged in idolatrous practices and at continual enmity with the Almighty (notes Romans 5:6, 5:8, 5:10).

Today in the Word devotional...

A book recently tackled one of life's minor puzzles--how do homing pigeons find their way home? The answer seems to be: we're not sure. One theory is that young pigeons develop an ""odor map"" by smelling odors that are carried to their homes on the winds from various directions. Another theory is that the birds use the earth's magnetic field to determine course and position. Whatever technique homing pigeons use, their instincts are uncanny. They always finish their journeys in the right place...The Bible is filled with stories of people who did and of those who did not finish well. They have much to teach us....The story of Ruth gets us off to a great start. This young woman from Moab definitely finished well. She became the great-grandmother of David. Ruth's name is on a short list of women singled out for special mention in the genealogy of Jesus. She was part of the Savior's royal bloodline and is therefore a background figure in the Christmas story. (Today in the Word)

FOR SHE HAD HEARD IN THE LAND OF MOAB THAT THE LORD HAD VISITED HIS PEOPLE: (Ge 21:1; 50:25; Ex 3:16; 4:31; 1Sa 2:21; Lu 1:68; 19:44; 1Pe 2:12):

This is the first mention of God's covenant Name, Jehovah (I Am) in a way that clearly acknowledges He is sovereign and in control of the affairs of both individuals and nations. (see notes Ruth 1:13, 1:21, 2:20, Ruth 4:12-15). What is so beautiful about Ruth’s story is that it never loses sight of Jehovah, Whose covenant love assures the culmination of this short story and of all history exactly as He has purposed.  As you take time to linger and meditate on this narrative jewel, you will find the presence of the "Author and Perfecter" radiating forth from every verse and your faith will be encouraged to hold fast to the One Who is "I Am". 

God is not a "genie" but He is truly the great I Am. He is anything and everything we will ever need no matter how dark our circumstances or how hopeless our outlook. The key is to glance at your circumstances but gaze at your God, and your "uplook" will change the perspective of your "outlook"!

Naomi may have felt like God had dealt bitterly but she still sought His face even in the midst of her dark despair! What a challenging lesson for us all. Even when we are feeling hopeless, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, not on our circumstances. Then we need to behave according to what He leads us to do. In this case He was leading Naomi to return to home and ultimately to her Kinsman-Redeemer. She may have been emotionally downtrodden but she retained her hope in God. Paul experiencing suffering chose a similar attitude declaring

"I know Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to keep that which I have entrusted to Him until that day". (see note 2 Timothy 1:12)

God's people need to learn from the

"perseverance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope!" (see note Romans 15:4)

When Naomi was finding life bleak, Ruth chose to stand by her mother-in-law rather than leave her to face the journey into the future all alone.  Ruth's steadfast commitment to Naomi was God's provision to enable her to endure. Naomi was discovering the glorious truth that

"No temptation (test) has overtaken you but such as is common to man and God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted (tested) beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (test) will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it (not that you may be able to "escape it"!)." (1Corinthians 10:13)

God's provision of bread in Israel and Ruth in Moab provided the way of escape for Naomi. And He will do the same for you in your hour of testing. Beloved, trust in Jehovah with all your heart and don't lean on your own ways in your hour of testing.

"Visited" (6485) (paqad) means primarily to pay attention to or to observe with care or interest. For example Moses gives us a record of the faithfulness and power of God in keeping His promise and providing an heir miraculously through Sarah: ...

"Then (always ask - when is "then"?) the LORD took note (paqad) of Sarah as He had said (when God gives a promise beloved, He keeps it!), and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised (note repetition for emphasis = "He had said" ~ "He had promised")."  (Genesis 21:1)

Again in Genesis as Joseph is about to fall asleep, to the very end  firmly trusting in God to carry out His promise (to bring them back to Canaan - a promise God fulfilled 4 centuries later in the exodus) and thus declaring to his brothers...

"I am about to die, but God will surely take care (paqad - NIV = "surely come to your aid")  of you, and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, "God will surely take care take care (paqad - NIV = "surely come to your aid", "doth certainly inspect you" YLT, "will surely visit you", NKJV) of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here." (Genesis 50:24-25)

Paqad can mean to visit for good or for evil. The visit was for good in the present context and is paraphrased with this meaning by the NIV which renders it

"the LORD (Jehovah) had come to the aid of His people"

David cried out

"Remember me, O LORD, in Thy favor toward Thy people. Visit (paqad) me with Thy salvation." (Ps 106:4)

In sum, paqad conveys the idea that Jehovah directs His attention to His people, inquires into their state and is thus informed and able to take steps to meet their need. God was not deaf or blind to Naomi's suffering, even as He had not been deaf to the groaning of Israel oppressed under the cruel hand of Pharaoh, for as Moses writes

"Jehovah was concerned (paqad) about the sons of Israel and...He had seen their affliction" (Exodus 4:31)

About the same time that "Jehovah visited His people" in Bethlehem, another barren downcast Hebrew woman had a "visit" from Jehovah:

"Jehovah visited (paqad) Hannah and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the LORD." (1Samuel 2:21)

The Greek verb used by the Septuagint (LXX) to translate paqad is episkeptomai (1980) (epi = upon + sképtomai = looking at or paying attention to) which has the idea of going to see with the goal of relieving distress, sickness or bondage. The verb often described the visiting of the sick and in the NT almost exclusively refers to a visitation for good. The idea is to look upon one in distress with mercy, favor or regard.

James uses episkeptomai to "define" real religion writing that...

This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit (episkeptomai)  orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:27)

For example, in Luke we find

"Zacharias...filled with the Holy Spirit (prophesying)..."Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited (episkeptomai) us and accomplished redemption (how? by sending a Kinsman-Redeemer!) for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation (Messiah) for us in the house of David (a descendent from the line of Boaz and Ruth) His servant...78 Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high shall visit (episkeptomai) us, (Luke 1:67-69, 78)

What a fascinating parallel between Luke and Ruth, where God's visitation draws Naomi back to Bethlehem where Jehovah would accomplish redemption for Ruth and place her in the line of the Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel and all mankind. Naomi had eyes to recognize and a heart to respond to the "Lord's visitation" and was rewarded.

Centuries later Israel is recompensed for failure to recognize His visitation, Luke recording Jesus' "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem...

"And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying "If you had known in this day, (the specific day = see comment below) even you, the things which make for peace! (See comment below - when a king entered a city on a donkey it was for peace! A white horse signified war = see Messiah's return Rev 19:11ff) But now they have been hidden from your eyes. "For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you (Jerusalem) to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another (this prophecy fulfilled in 70AD with Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple), because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." (Luke 19:41-44) (Comment: Daniel 9:25-26 clearly predicted the visitation of the Messiah to Jerusalem, and there is good support for the fact that Daniel's prophecy specified the exact day the Messiah entered Jerusalem on "Psalm Sunday" mounted on a donkey being welcomed by the cry from the multitudes of "Blessed is the King Who comes in the name of the Lord", quoting Ps 118:6. In 1894 Sir Robert Anderson in his monumental work, The Coming Prince - click book,  [independently confirmed by the study of Dallas Theological Seminary professor Dr Harold Hoehner in 1976] calculated from Da 9:25-26 that following the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 445BC in Neh 2:1-8 until Messiah, the Prince was 177,880 days which coincided with the very day Jesus entered Jerusalem -- Palm Sunday -- riding on a donkey fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." -- Zech 9:9)

Finally Peter reminds us that the certainty of the Lord's "visitation" should motivate godly behavior, exhorting saints to

"Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation (the related noun episkope, used for public office of an overseer and gives us our English "Episcopal" )" (see note 1Peter 2:12)

In the Septuagint (LXX) episkeptomai is found some 127 times and is used almost exclusively to describe a visitation for good or looking toward someone with a view to benefiting him. The psalmist for example prays...

Remember me, O LORD, in Thy favor toward Thy people;
Visit
(episkeptomai in the
aorist imperative) me with Thy salvation, (Ps 106:4)

 IN GIVING THEM FOOD: (Ge 28:20; 48:15; Ex 16:4-6; Ps 104:14;15 111:5; 132:15; 145:15; 146:7; 147:14; Pr 30:8; Isa 55:10; Mt 6:11; 1Ti 6:8)

This explains how Jehovah visited or came to the aid of His people.

Solomon writes that

"Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land." (Pr 25:25)

God is restocking the "house of Bread" with "food" (lechem) or  bread. We once again see God's sovereignty for

"He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth...food which sustains man's heart." (Ps 104:14;15

As the psalmist records

"The eyes of all look to Thee, and Thou dost give them their food in due time." (Ps 145:15)

The return of physical prosperity foreshadowed the reality of a coming spiritual prosperity through the line of David in the person of Christ. The Chaldee Targum speculates without any Scriptural support that the news of this visitation was conveyed by the mouth of an angel. In the ancient world news was carried to a largely by caravan traders, mariners, and other travelers but exactly how Naomi knew the text does not say. The point is that when God wants us to know something, He will find a way to convey His message, even if he has to make a dumb donkey speak! (cf note 2 Peter 2:16)

The sovereignty of God permeates the pages of Ruth:

1) actually for good (notes Ruth 2:12; Ruth 4:12-14)

2) perceived by Naomi for bad (notes Ruth 1:13, Ruth 1:21)

3) in the context of prayer/blessing (notes Ruth 1:8, Ruth 1:9, Ruth 1:17; Ruth 2:4, Ruth 2:12, Ruth 2:20; Ruth 3:10, Ruth 3:13; Ruth 4:11)

Matthew Henry observes that

"God, at last, returned in mercy to His people; for, though He contend long, He will not contend always. As the judgment of oppression, under which they often groaned in the time of the judges, still came to an end, after a while, when God had raised them up a deliverer, so here the judgment of famine: At length God graciously visited his people in giving them bread. Plenty is God's gift, and it is His visitation which by bread, the staff of life, holds our souls in life. Though this mercy be the more striking when it comes after famine, yet if we have constantly enjoyed it, and never knew what famine meant, we are not to think it the less valuable."

J Vernon McGee draws an interesting parallel with the story of the prodigal son commenting that now Naomi

"wants to return home. It’s interesting. The prodigal family and the prodigal son will long for the father’s house. And if they don’t long for the father’s house, they just don’t happen to be the children of the father. The prodigal son will never be happy in the pigpen. He just wasn’t made for a pigpen. He hasn’t the nature of a pig...So eventually this family must go home. Finally Naomi says she’s going back to Bethlehem-Judah." (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Some practical thoughts regarding these events:

Naomi would have died in Moab had God not intervened. If God choose not to arrest and arouse us, we all would perish in "Moab". However, Jehovah speaks sending "awakening providences", sometimes as affliction and loss and sometimes in the form of His unmerited goodness. In both situations it is the kindness of God which leads us to repentance (notes on Romans 2:4).

Dear reader, are you still in "Moab" having never lived in "Bethlehem", having never responded to His call to repent and in danger of dying in "Moab" and entering into the "eternal fire" (Mt 25:41, cf 2Thes 1:6 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:10)?

Dearly beloved saint, have you wandered off the "highway of holiness" (Isa 35:8) to "Moab" where you are practicing idolatry that you know God despises and which He must discipline? Is God speaking to you through your circumstances? Good news from the LORD’s land comes to the awakened wanderer. Are you listening? Will you repent and walk in the light dear one? (1Jn 1:7 1:8 1:9)

God so loved those in "Moab" that He gave

"He gave His only begotten Son (as our Kinsman-Redeemer), that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (