11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, 13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” 18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
1:11
But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
Naomi attempted to insist three times (vv. 11-12, 15) that her daughters-in-law return to their homes in Moab. She expected negative answers to her questions. A woman not married in the Near East was in a difficult situation. There was no financial security. The daughters-in-law would have a much higher likelihood to remarry in Moab.
1:12
Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons,
Naomi’s point was that it was too late to roll back the clock. Her daughters-in-law would have much greater potential to marry and bear children if they would stay in Moab.
1:13
would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!”
Naomi did not want her daughters-in-law to go through her lamentable circumstances and the sad situation of a poor widow in a foreign land. She saw the sovereign hand of God on her life.
1:14
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Ruth’s clinging in the Hebrew suggests strong commitment. This could have meant that she would never marry or have children in Israel. She did not as yet know about Boaz.
Orpah returned to her people and parted ways with Naomi.
1:15
And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
Again, for the third time, Naomi urged Ruth to return to her home in Moab. She cited the situation of Orpah to encourage her to do so.
There is no further reference to Orpah. She stayed in Moab and remarried there.
1:16
But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people,
Ruth fastened her life to Naomi. She made a total break with the past. She left her idols and ancestry, and made a four-fold commitment to Naomi.
And your God, my God.
This phrase is the climatic statement of Ruth’s pledge. Orpah went back to her gods (1:15), but Ruth chose the God of Israel as her Savior. Ruth made an unqualified commitment to Jehovah and an absolute break from Moab.
1:17
Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.”
Ruth’s commitment went to the extent of death. She invoked God’s judgment if she were to break her commitment to Naomi.
1:18
When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
Naomi stopped trying to convince Ruth to not go with her to the Promised Land.
PRINCIPLE:
The nature of commitment must be total.
APPLICATION:
Ruth was in the family line of the Messiah. Because of Ruth’s total commitment, she found herself in the genealogy that led to Christ. The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 4 cites the names of five women including Ruth. This was the wonderful result of leaving her god Chemosh (the national god of Moab).
