Be Committed by Warren Wiersbe

 

BE COMMITTED

Warren Wiersbe

Warren Wiersbe in his opening introduction to his book "Be Committed" a commentary based on the books of Ruth and Esther wrote this

"Questions about authority in the church and particularly about the ministry of women, might be resolved more biblically if attention were given to the fact that 'ministry' means 'serving'. With that definition in mind a most appropriate response ... is not for either men or women to grasp at ministerial status or authority but rather to encourage one another in faithful service to the glory of God."

He goes on

"That's what Ruth and Esther do for me. They encourage me to be faithful in my service to the glory of the Lord. At an hour in history when it's easy to compromise and even to quit these 2 heroines if the faith tell me to be committed to the Lord and to do the will of God come what may."

Last weekend I was reading Sharon James' book and just now realised that this is something which rings true from her words too! Being committed come what may to God's service, that's what is most needed today whether it be in attendance in God's house, praying, reading my bible and yes even playing the piano each Sunday!

In the wee small hours of this morning (21 April 2022) I read this wonderful commentary on Ruth by Warren Wiersbe. So much in this 4 chapter book and it is really a love story but also a harvest story. God is our heavenly bridegroom and is seeking a bride and the reaping of a harvest. In this book we see the Israelites were reaping a harvest of disobedience but in Ruth and Naomi we see a production of the fruit of the Spirit. The theme of the book is God providentially guiding and blessing all who trust in his love.

In chapter 1 we see so much sorrow, chapter 2 talks of service, chapter 3 of submission and chapter 4 satisfaction.

"Faith is not believing in spite of evidence but obeying in spite of consequence."

In chapter 1 Elimelech made a wrong decision to move from Bethlehem (house of bread) to Moab without consulting God and that decision had fatal results. I wonder how Naomi felt as she looked at those 3 graves in a foreign country? She "heard that God had visited his people back in Bethlehem in giving them bread." She wasn't interested in fellowship but the food. She was going to return but not to the Lord. Naomi tried to turn her daughters-in-law back - why - because she realised they were the evidence of a wrong decision. If they returned with her to Bethlehem everyone would know how far she had was from the covenant relationship with God. Instead of brokenness there was bitterness.

Despite it all Ruth put her faith in Naomi's God. Her circumstances were against her. We have her wonderful confession of faith in verse 16 "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for wither thou goest, I will go and where lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."

Who were the Moabites of Ruth's day? They were born out of the incestuous relationship of Lot and his first daughter back in Genesis. God had warned that up to the 10th generation of these people could not enter into God's household of faith (Deuteronomy 23 verse 3) - amazing that chapter 4 closes with a ten generation genealogy that climaxes with the name of David. Only by trusting God's grace and mercy, Ruth was able to enter into the family of God - Matthew 1 bears witness to that as she is included in Jesus' own family tree. "Law excludes us from God's family but grace includes us if we put our faith in Christ."

What a wonderful picture of how God deals with us in salvation - we are outside the family of God but he has paid the ultimate sacrifice of his son who died on Calvary's cross for our sins. By admitting our sins, confessing and accepting God's sacrifice we can become part of God's family today - have you made that decision yet?

In Ruth chapter 1 we read "And Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law with her which returned out of the country of Moab and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest." Twice she had told Ruth and Orpah to turn again now we see the words return repeated twice for emphasis.

In verse 21 we see Naomi's return caused all the city to be moved and they questioned if it was really her. Naomi had life - God had brought her back to Bethlehem, her trials were a new beginning. Naomi had opportunity, she was surrounded by friends. Naomi had her daughter-in-law Ruth, God would work through her and accomplish great things. Naomi had Jehovah, the God of Israel - Romans 8 verse 31.

"Grace is favour bestowed on someone who doesn't deserve it and cannot earn it. Grace makes the first move to come to our aid not because we deserve anything but because God loves us and wants us for himself!" Warren Wiersbe

Naomi had empty hands, an empty home and an empty heart. She blamed God for all that had happened to her. It is one thing to know God's name but quite something else to trust that name and allow God to work in the difficult situations of life.

What a change we see in Naomi in Ruth chapter 2. In chapter 1 we see her as very bitter and angry with God on her return to Bethlehem, she is blaming God for all that has happened to her. Now in chapter we read "Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee ...Blessed be the Lord who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead." She blessed Ruth's benefactor and the Lord. Now there is hope in her heart! God used Ruth to turn Naomi's bitterness into gratitude, unbelief into faith and despair into hope.

In chapter 3 Naomi prepares Ruth for marriage. It is a five fold preparation involving washing, anointing, clothes changing, learning to present herself well to Boaz and the promise of obedience.

God asks us to seek forgiveness to wipe the slate clean (washing), the anointing of the Holy Spirit is given to us at the time of accepting Christ as Saviour and Lord, in the changing of clothes we see the image of the old life being gone (from grave clothes to new grace clothes). The presenting of ourselves is seen in our worship of God in Spirit and in truth. Are we willing to obey - if so we can know what God wants us to do and we will be blessed in doing it!

When Ruth followed Naomi's instructions we can see Ruth being accepted by Boaz. He gives her an assurance and called her his daughter (twice). By the sounds of things Boaz was older than Ruth but there was one other problem ... there was someone else who should redeem Ruth, her husband's property and family.

Our assurance of salvation is not in our feelings nor our circumstances but in God's word!

Boaz calmed Ruth's fears but also made a promise to her concerning her future. What a picture of Christ! God has promised to be with us and give us a future with him one day in heaven.

The result from Ruth - total obedience. This was a whole new way of doing things. Back in her land they worshipped the fertility god Chemosh which led to immorality and human sacrificing.

I love Ruth chapter 4 with all its wonderful references to redemption. Redemption comes with a price. To redeem is to set free by paying a price. Ruth couldn't redeem herself and spiritually we are in bondage to sin and Satan. Jesus gave his life as a ransom for us and he can set us free!

In Ruth 4 Boaz meets with the nearest kinsman to Ruth at the city gate with 10 elders. He makes the situation clear to him. Whether the kinsman could not marry Ruth because he was already married or whether it was because of her position - she was from Moab and not within the covenant of God's people the Israelites we don't know. Jesus took on human flesh so that he could be related to us and thereby redeem us. Only Jesus could pay the actual price of redemption for us - by his blood being shed on Calvary's cross. In Ruth's situation the kinsman had the money but not the motivation - how different it was for Christ!

When the nearest kinsman redeemer turned the situation back to Boaz he gave up his right to Ruth, her husband's property and family.

The words Boaz used - "Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place; ye are witnesses this day."

Ruth went from loneliness to love, from toil to rest, from poverty to wealth, from worry to assurance and from despair to hope.

Never under estimate the grace of God!

Additional notes added on 22 April 2022 after re-reading this book!

Ruth chapter 1

A famine was often evidence of God’s discipline because his people had sinned against him.  During the time of the judges, Israel repeatedly turned from God and worshipped the idols of the heathen nations around them, and God had to discipline them.  The godly had to suffer because of the ungodly even in Bethlehem!

When trouble comes to our lives, we can do 1 of 3 things – endure it, escape it or enlist it.  If we only endure our trials, then trials become our master, and we have a tendency to become hard and bitter.  If we try to escape our trials, then we will probably miss the purposes God wants to achieve in our lives.  But if we learn to enlist our trials, they will become our servants instead of our masters and work for us and God will work all things together for our good and his glory (Romans 8 verse 28).

Abraham encountered a famine in the Land of Promise when he made the same mistake Genesis 12 verse 10.  Instead of waiting on God he fled to Egypt and got into trouble.  Elimelech and his family abandoned God’s land and God’s people for the land and people of the enemy. 

Moabites – incestuous union with Lot and firstborn daughter – Genesis 19 verses 30 -38, they were the Jews enemies because of the way they had treated Israel during their pilgrim journey from Egypt to Canaan Deuteronomy 23 verses 3 to 6 and Numbers 22 to 25.  During the time of the Judges Moab had invaded Israel and ruled over the people for 18 years – Judges 3 verses 12 to 14.  God disdained them “Moab is my washpot” Psalm 60 verse 8, a picture of a humiliated nation washing the feet of the conquering soldiers.

Elimelech’s name means “my God is king” – but he left God completely out of his decisions.  He made a decision out of God’s will when he went to Moab, and this led to another bad decision when his 2 sons married women of Moab.  Jews were forbidden to marry Gentil women, especially those from Ammon and Moab – Deuteronomy 7 verses 1 to 11, 23 verse 6, Nehemiah 13 verses 1 to 3 and Ezra 9 verses 1 to 4.  It was the Moabite women in Moses’ day who seduced the Jewish men into immorality and idolatry and as a result 24000 people died – Numbers 25.

“The majority of us begin with the bigger problems outside and forget the one inside.  A man has to learn ‘the plague of his own heart’ before his own problems can be solved.” Oswald Chambers The Shadow of An Agony

How sad it is when people only hear about God’s blessing, but never experience it, because they are not in the place where God can bless them.

Abraham had to leave Egypt and go back to the altar he had abandoned Genesis 13 verses 1 to 4 and Jacob had to go back to Bethel Genesis 35 verse 1 – whenever we have disobeyed the Lord and departed from his will, we must confess our sin and return to the place of blessing.  When we try to cover our sins, it’s proof that we really haven’t face them honestly and judged them according to God’s word.  True repentance involves honest confession and a brokenness within – Psalm 51 verse 17.  Had Naomi been walking with the Lord she could have won Orpah to the faith and brought 2 trophies of grace home to Bethlehem. 

Naomi set out with 2 daughters-in-law, but she stopped them and urged them not to accompany her.  She even prayed for them that the Lord would be kind to them and find them new husbands and give them rest after all their sorrow.  But of what value are the prayers of a backslid believer – Psalm 66 verse 18.  3 times Naomi told Orpah and Ruth to return – verses 8, 11 and 12.

Naomi was trying to cover up, Orpah had given up, but Ruth was prepared to stand up!

Naomi means “pleasant”, but she was not living up to her name.  She was not the Naomi whom the people had known a decade before.  Here 10 difficult years in Moab and the sorrows they had brought had taken their toll on Naomi’s appearance and personality.  Instead of making her better the trials of life had made her bitter (meaning of mara).  Because Naomi was imprisoned by selfishness, she was bitter against God.

Not only had the Lord dealt bitterly with her, but he had also testified against her in these afflictions – verse 21.  Is this Naomi’s confession of sin, her admission that she and her family had sinned in going to Moab?  Is she hinting that they deserved all that they had suffered?  Psalm 9 verse 10

Barley harvest – a time when the community expressed joy and praise to God for his goodness.  It was spring, a time of new life and new beginning.  Naomi was about to make a new beginning for with God it’s never too late to start over again.

Ruth chapter 2

Ruth asked Naomi’s permission to glean in the fields so they would have food to eat – this was a step of faith on Ruth’s part based on God’s commandment in the law – Leviticus 19 verses 9 and 10, 23 verse 22, Deuteronomy 24 verses 19 to 22.  Whenever they reaped a harvest, God’s people were to consider the poor and leave gleanings for them.  After all God gave the harvest and he had every right to tell the people how to use it.  The existence of this law was proof of God’s concern for the poor among his people.  The nation was instructed to treat the poor with equity – Exodus 23 verses 3 and 6, Leviticus 19 verse 15, Proverbs 22 verses 22 and 23 and with generosity – Leviticus 19 verses 9 and 10.  God was also concerned for the widows, many of whom were poor, and he told the people to care for them – Exodus 22 verses 22 to 24.  Ruth was not only a poor widow, but she was also an alien.

A near kinsman could rescue relatives from poverty and give them a new beginning – Leviticus 25 verses 25 to 34.

Ruth’s half bushel of grain was the “first fruits” of all that Boaz would do in the future, just as the Holy Spirit within us is the “first fruits” of all that God has promised us – Romans 8 verse 23.  Although Ruth’s supply of grain would be gone in a week, the witness of the Spirit within will remain until our hopes are all fulfilled when we see Jesus Christ.  The hopes that the world clings to are dead hopes but ours is a living hope because it is rooted in the living Christ.

It was the principle of redemption that God had written in his word that gave Naomi the assurance that Boaz would rescue them.

The custom of the “levirate marriage” Deuteronomy 25 verses 5 to 10.  The word levir is Latin for “a husband’s brother”.  Ruth had to be included in the property and therefore purchased.

Ruth’s faith in God’s word led her to the field of Boaz.  The love of Boaz for Ruth compelled him to pour out his grace upon her and meet her every need.  Grace is love that pays the price to help the undeserving one.  Ruth’s experience of grace gave her new hope as she anticipated what her kinsman-redeemer would do.

Ruth chapter 3

The book of Ruth is the picture of Christ’s relationship to those who trust him and belong to him.  IN the steps that Ruth takes, recorded in this chapter we see the steps God’s people must take if they want to enter into a deeper relationship with the Lord. 

A willingness to obey the Lord is the secret of knowing what he wants us to do and being blessed when we do it – John 7 verse 17.  The will of God is not a cafeteria where we can pick and choose what we want.  God expects us to accept all that he plans for us and to obey him completely.  Coming to God with a hidden agenda and with reservations in our hearts will only lead to grieving the Spirit and missing God’s best.

Ruth is named 12 times – 5 of theses references she is identified with Moab – chapter 1 verse 22, chapter 2 verses 2 and 21, chapter 4 verses 5 and 10.

To spread one’s mantle over a person meant to claim that person for yourself – Ezekiel 16 verse 8 and 1 Kings 19 verse 19, particularly in marriage.  The word translated “skirt” also means “wing”.  Ruth had come under the wings of Jehovah God and now she would be under the wings of Boaz, her beloved husband – what a beautiful picture of marriage!

In the response of Boaz to Ruth we see how the Lord responds to us when we seek to have a deeper fellowship with him.  Just as Boaz spoke to Ruth so God speaks to us from his word.    Our heavenly Father and our Redeemer is seeking for a closer relationship with us, and we should not be afraid to draw near and share his love.  John 14 verses 21 to 24 and James 4 verses 7 and 8.  If we could only realise in even a small way the great love our Kingsman-Redeemer has for us, we would forsake everything else and enjoy his fellowship.

Not only did Boaz calm Ruth’s fears but he also made a promise to her concerning the future.  “I will do for you all that you request” verse 11.  Whatever God starts, he finished; and what he does, he does well – Philippians 1 verse 6, Mark 7 verse 37.  It was not Ruth’s obligation to do for herself what only Boaz could do.

Boaz didn’t withhold the problem of a nearer kinsman to Ruth, for he didn’t want her to return home with false hopes in her heart.  Joy and peace that are based on ignorance of the true facts are but delusions that lead to disappointments.  The great concern of Boaz was the redemption of Ruth, even if another kinsman-redeemer had to do it.  Picture of our redemption in Jesus Christ – God obeyed his own law when he accomplished our salvation in Christ.  There was no other kinsman who could redeem a lost world – Acts 4 verse 12.

Boaz not only calmed Ruth’s fears and gave her assurance for the future, but he also met her present needs in a gracious and generous way.  She had not asked him for anything, but he gave the grain to her because he loved her.  He was about to marry her, and he didn’t want his prospective bride gleaning in the fields like a poor labourer.

Ruth chapter 4

God still writes the last chapter – we don’t have to be afraid of the future!

Focuses on 3 persons – a bridegroom, a bride and a baby!

The custom of taking off the shoe probably relates to the divine commandment to walk on the land and take possession – Genesis 13 verse 17, Deuteronomy 11 verse 24 and Joshua 1 verse 3.  In years to come the 10 witnesses would be able to testify that the transaction had been completed because they saw the kinsman hand his shoe to Boaz.  It symbolized the kinsman’s forfeiture of his right to possess the land.  Boaz now had the land and Ruth.

Like Boaz, Jesus wasn’t concerned about jeopardizing his own inheritance, instead, he made us a part of his inheritance – Ephesians 1 verses 11 and 18.

Like Boaz, Jesus made his plans privately, but he paid the price publicly, and like Boaz, Jesus did what he did because of his love for his bride.

Contrasts between Boaz and the Lord – Boaz purchased Ruth by giving out of his wealth, while Jesus purchased his bride by giving himself on the cross. 

Boaz didn’t have to suffer and die to get a bride.

Boaz had a rival in the other kinsman but there was no rival to challenge Jesus Christ.

Boaz took Ruth that he might raise up the name of the dead – Ruth 4 verse 10 but we Christians glorify the name of the living Christ.  There were witnesess on earth to testify that Ruth belonged to Boaz – verses 9 and 10 but God’s people have witnesses from heaven, the Spirit and the Word – 1 John 5 verses 9 to 13.

5 times in verses 1 and 2 you find people sitting down. When Jesus Christ finished purchasing his bride he sat down in heaven – Hebrews 1 verse 3 and Mark 16 verse 19 because the transaction was completed.  “It is finished.”

One of the many images of the church in the bible is “the bride of Christ”.  In Ephesians 5 verses 22 to 33 the emphasis is on Christ’s love for the church as seen in his ministries:

He died for the church (past)

He cleanses and nourishes the church through the word (present)

He will one day present the church in glory (future)

Christ is preparing a beautiful home for his bride and one day will celebrate his wedding – Revelation 19 verses 1 to 10, 21 to 22.

Obed was a blessing to Boaz and Ruth – God’s special gift.

Obed was a blessing to Naomi – she informally adopted him as her son.

Obed would bring blessing to Bethlehem – fame to both family name and name of native town.

Obed would bring blessing to Israel – grandfather to King David.

Obed would bring blessing to whole world – David would be ancestor of Messiah.