Sunday, September 3, 2000   

     B. "Is this Naomi?" That is the question that greets her as she enters the city. All through the crowd this question was asked over and over. Friends, Moab had left its mark on Naomi, the scars of life were showing. The bitter experiences of life away from God's people were etched upon her face. She had been gone for ten years, but she had aged far more than that.

           1. John J. VanGorder said, "Her very physical features had been changed by her suffering" (11).

           2. The very countenance of a person is changed by bitterness. The facial features of a bitter person tell the story. Truly, bitterness is written in the face and eyes as they reflect the inward feelings of the bitter person.

           3. Bitterness had etched its mark upon Naomi:

                  a. Gone is the winning smile; now she frowns.

                  b. Gone is her spiritual joy; she is empty and it shows.

                  c. Gone is her pleasant attitude; she is bitter.

           4. Bitterness is a robber; it robs men, women, boys, and girls of their sweetness and innocence. Beware lest you too become bitter (Hebrews 12:14-15).

II. VERSES 20-21, THE BACKSLIDERS STATE OF MIND AND SPIRIT

     A. Verse 20, Not only did the years of backsliding show up in Naomi's outward, physical characteristics, it showed up in her inner spiritual condition. Her state of mind and spirit had also been affected by her backsliding.

           1. To the question of the crowd: "Is this Naomi?" She answers: “call me not Naomi [pleasant one ], call me Mara [bitter]..." How terrible this reply: "Don't call me the pleasant one, call me the bitter one."

                  a. When she left Bethlehem, she was a sweet pleasant lady with a smile, spiritual joy, and a spiritual countenance.

                  b. Now, after ten years in the world, Moab, the smile, the joy, and the pleasant countenance are gone. "Her sad condition is a picture of the evil and bitter result of departing from the Lord" (Boone 65).

           2. Naomi returned to Bethlehem a defeated soldier of God.

                  a. Defeated soldiers march with the head down.

                  b. Naomi deliberately went behind enemy lines and was captured and defeated by Moab, a picture of the world.

                  c. When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, she had no victory. She had no joy; she was defeated.

                        1) If you fool around with the world, if you do not see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, you'll end up like Naomi. You will be the loser like Naomi was.

                  2) Although Naomi had come home, she was carrying a lot of unwanted baggage.

                        3) Yes, it is true. When we confess our sins, God forgives us (I John 1:9); but we still suffer the consequences of sin.

                        4) The mess you make in a far country is the mess you'll live with even after you get right.

           3. Naomi says call me bitter because: "The almighty hath dealt bitterly with me."

                  a. Yes, God dealt with Naomi because she was His. He had to bring her to the place of soul bitterness before she would return. Everything around her had to fail and fall apart.

                  b. God chastised Naomi in the far country. And if you are His child, He will chastise you when you wander off into the far country.

      B. Verse 21, The Bible says that Naomi went out full. Did she go out full materially? No, there was a famine in the land. Naomi, the once pleasant child of God, went out full spiritually and came back empty spiritually. From full to empty, that's as far as you can go. This is the experience of those who leave the house of bread, the church, for greener pastures in the world.

           1. Naomi testifies that she went out full - full of joy, full of the Holy Ghost, full of God's glory, full of goodness and wisdom - but she comes home empty.

                  a. Life in Moab had robbed her of spiritual blessings, and now spiritually she is empty.

                  b. Backsliding cost her dearly, and it will cost you.

           2. There is a phrase in verse 21 that we need to pay close attention to. Naomi said: "The Lord hath brought me home......” Home for the Christian is the place of fellowship, Bible preaching, and prayer meeting. When we neglect the church, God's house, we are not at home.

                  a. The Lord will bring His own home. He will take whatever steps necessary to get you home. Think of all that Naomi went through.

                  b. God allowed the prodigal son to go so low as to feed hogs, a Jew's nightmare. That's what it took to get him home. What will it take to get you home, to get you right? Naomi and the prodigal both came home empty.

           3. "The Lord hath testified against me." These are Naomi's words as she speaks to the citizens of Bethlehem.

                  a. "Testified" is the Hebrew anah meaning to "answer or respond." God responded to Naomi's backsliding. He dealt with her, and He will deal with you.

                  b. "The Almighty hath afflicted me." Afflicted means "to break, to break in pieces." God does what it takes to get the wanderer home.

III. VERSE 22, THE BACKSLIDERS TIME OF RETURN

     A. Verse 22 says: "So Naomi returned...... Naomi came back the right way. She came home sorry for her sin and realizing that God had dealt with her.

     B. Naomi came back to the right place, to the house of bread. She came to the place where her spiritual and physical needs could be met. You cannot be spiritually fed unless you are in the right place.

     C. She came back at the right time- "the beginning of barley harvest." According to the Jewish calendar this would be March or April, the time when things begin to bloom and flower.

     1. Springtime is a time of joy and refreshing.

                  a. Naomi came to the place where she could be revived. The church is God's place of spiritual renewal.

                  b. It is a place where the weak can be built up and the strong can stay that way (Ephesians 4:11-12).

           2. In the last verse of Ruth one, we have the Gospel pictured. There would not have been a harvest without the death of the corn of wheat and its coming forth to new life. Jesus used this scenario to speak of His death, burial and resurrection in John 12:24.

CONCLUSION: God will deal with the backslider, and God will heal the repentant backslider.