Journey Life: Lesson 29

We're in the series called Journey life, and

we've been looking at all of these heroes

of the old testament.

And and today, we move to our next

character that would be looking at for the

next 5 weeks, including today by the name

of ruth.

Now, now Ruth is a fascinating book. Very

short book about 4 chapters, you can read

it in about... I don't know 30 minutes,

depending on how fast you read.

And and if I can describe the book

of ruth, the book of ruth is,

first of all, a short condensed version of

the book of joke.

We looked at Job early in our series

and and, you know, Job is a book

about suffering. Well, risk got a lot of

suffering in it.

In the book of Joe, Job begins well.

Then he goes through all this suffering, and

then god bless him tremendously at the end.

Same thing happens in the book of ruth.

I mean, you've got blessings you've got suffering,

and then you've got even more blessings

at the end. The only difference is is

that Ruth doesn't raise the question why?

And, of course, that's what the book of

Job is all about. Now, that's 1 description.

The other book I would use to describe

the book of Ruth is Song solomon.

Some solomon is a book about romantic love.

Quite explicit in the Bible,

but it's the it's the story of salvage

love for this 1 particular

individual and and he wrote a song about

it. I mean, all of it very much

romantic linked

And and so here's Job on the 1

hand. Here's Song solomon on the other. The

best way I know to describe it is

Ruth is the ancient hallmark channel.

You know, if you've ever seen a hallmark

movie.

They always have something bad that's happening at

the first and then in the end is

this beautiful love story. Well, that's the book

of ruth.

It's the ancient Israel light version of the

hallmark

channel.

Now, what's fascinating

about this book is the way it begins.

And by the way, we're only gonna cover

3 verses today. I mean, the first 3

verses our packed with so much information that

you really kinda need to take your time.

I think when we do are, you know,

yearly read through the bible if do that,

You get to the book of ruth and

it's over just like that.

I mean, you get it done, you move

on, and you really don't pause

to take everything in. Let's just pause for

a moment this morning

to take everything in.

It begins with these words.

In the days when the judges

ruled.

Now, it's easy to read that and then

just fly back past it. Don't don't do

that.

Now you say, well, I mean, all that's

doing is telling us chronology.

It it is telling us chronology,

but it's more than that.

You see that very phrase in the days

when the judge is ruled

is setting a filter

by which the writer the holy spirit wants

us to see everything.

Let me give you some illustrations. If I

threw this date up there, 07/04/1776.

What would you think?

Now, it's not about fireworks.

It's not about barbecue.

You know, today, our our celebration in July

fourth is about you know, getting together here

in Henderson the night before and watching a

big fireworks show or going down to the

river in Nashville, watching the biggest fireworks show

in America right. That's why we think of

the fourth of 07/09/1776.

17 76 is about

an incredible moment in the history of our

country

of where we basically ask a question? Are

we going serve the King of England

Are we gonna be a people

who rule ourselves?

What kind of nation are we gonna be?

I mean, 07/04/7076

is about Philadelphia.

It's about minute men.

It is it's about a group of people

who who year for freedom.

It's it's about a guy named George Washington

are are Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson.

I mean, when you look at that date,

all of these images come in your mind

and they should because they filter how we

look at it.

Or what about this date?

12/07/1941.

I mean, how many else remember, and of

course, I wouldn't lie at the time. But

we remember from even the history books. It

was a day

of what??

I mean, a day that will live in

anthony infancy. And of course, if you know

anything about December seventh, it was a Sunday.

And it was a day when, you know,

we were trying to stay out of the

war, but Japan decided we needed to be

in the war and so they attacked pearl

harbor.

Just out curiosity,

how many of you been to the Missouri

memorial, would you raise your hands?

Look around.

And by the way, do you remember what

it was like?

I mean, when when June and I went,

total silence.

I mean, nobody's saying anything.

Just people standing there in all of those

who gave their lives

that we could live in freedom.

And I mean, just watching the oil

as it would come up to the surface.

That black blood

coming from that ship, saying so many years

ago, but still coming up to the surface.

I mean, you couldn't help, but just go

wow.

I mean, 12/07/1941

it's not just another day.

About how many of you remember this date,

September eleventh, or as we call it today,

09:11.

John Mike and I were preparing to do

a funeral.

A funeral for a sweet sweet lady there

at the North side Church of Christ. You'd

lived way up into her nineties

And and our funeral was that day at

I think at 11:00.

And I was getting ready to leave the

house and June said there's a plane that's

hit the World trade center.

I said really? And she said, yeah. And

of course, I'm thinking a little bitty playing.

I had no idea what kind of plane

it was.

And then as I was going to the

church building to get ready for this funeral,

I'm listening to the news, and they said,

a second plane is hit. The other tower.

And I'm thinking, what in the world?

And we got to the church building and

and John and I both are preparing for

a funeral running back and forth to the

Tv going what is happening?

And I still remember going down to Wood

funeral home that morning,

clot, no no no nothing in the sky.

Blue Skies, but no air lanes.

And total silence

I mean, we remember what that day meant.

And all you have to do is say

09:11, everybody knows what you're talking about.

That's the same way in this text.

I mean, if you'd live back in the

old testament time period, the very phrase in

the days when the judge ruled you knew

exactly what it meant.

You say all you gotta do is go

back 1 verse.

Go back to the last verse in judges,

which is the book, right, in front of

it. Okay? Joshua judge's ruth

and notice what the text says in those

days. What days, the day of a judges?

Israel had no king, and everyone did

as they saw

fit.

You see what the router trying to tell

you is that it was at a moment

of history.

That changed the trajectory of Israel as a

people.

Go back to judges to the beginning of

the book before ruth,

The people served the lord throughout the lifetime

of Joshua of the elders who out living.

In other words, as long as Joshua was

leading the people, the people were faithful to

god.

And then when Joshua died, those who were

older,

they continued to follow the Lord.

But then notice what happens. After that, the

whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors,

another generation grew up who knew neither the

lord Nobody had done for Israel.

Now it's not talking here about every israel

light.

But he is talking about what happened to

that generation basically as a whole. The majority

of them had made a decision. And and

the first lesson we get right off the

bat by looking at this text is that

every generation is, but 1 generation away from

forgetting the lord.

I don't think we realize that.

Don't think we let that sink in enough.

By the way,

ham many did you

30 years ago

thought we would be at where we are

today in America

when it comes to morality.

I mean, how many of us would have

said, oh, yeah. 1 of these days days,

and then we look back and go how

in the world did we get here?

And the answer is is that you just

you just gotta fail to teach 1 generation.

You go back to Gene 6 and Moses

is trying to emphasize that. He knows he's

about to die.

And he's speaking to Israel 1 last time,

and he says these commandments, go back 1

chapter and you have the 10 commandments. Chapter

5.

These commandments that I give you today are

to be in your hearts. And look at

verse 7,

impress them, own

your children.

Impress them.

You you put it in their hearts, you

put it in their minds

You talk about it when you sit at

home when you walk along the road, when

you lie down when you get up, you

tied a symbols on your hands, you buy

it. On, them on your forehead hit, write

them on the door frames.

If you watch the chosen, 1 of the

things you'll see the chosen

do is every time they go through a

door, they'll kiss their hands and they'll touch

something on the side of the door frames.

What is it? It's a little box that

has scripture written on it.

If you go to Israel and and Rodney

can tell you. They're everywhere.

Every door you go through is 1 1

of these little boxes was scripture written on

it. Why? Because that's what Moses told them

to do.

And yet you had a generation.

Who failed to do it.

Now,

can you date it any closer than that?

Yes. You actually can.

See to understand the book of ruth, you

gotta go to book of matthew.

Because matthew gives you a little detail that

you go back and you plug in and

you go,

Oh,

that's when it happened.

This is the gene of Jesus.

And as he started you know, all the

way back to Abraham and he's coming down.

He gets to Selma, the father of Bo

as, who is the,

you know, the... 1 of the main guys

in the book of Ruth.

Sam, the father of Bow whose mother was

Ray rehab. This is the same ray rehab

that we talked about about 3 or 4

weeks ago.

This is ray have the har.

And she mar an Israel light,

and their son is Bo. And so what

generation is Bo as.

He's of that first generation.

Bo is living in that first generation where

they are forgetting God Now, Bo doesn't forget

God. Not everybody did.

But the majority of Israel, they they are.

And so we know that it's within

30, 40 years,

maybe 50 years of Joshua dying.

We've got a pretty nice time frame that

we can plug that in.

And notice what they did. They grew up.

They didn't know the lord. They fore the

lord. They followed and worship various gods of

the people around them. And other words, they're

starting to go after the bile. They're starting

to go after the Asher,

they're starting to go after the Gods. The

philistines, the Gods, you just fill in the

blanks.

And so what does God do?

In the days when the judge ruled,

There was a famine in the land. Still

the first verse.

And you look at that and you go,

okay, they had a famine. We we have

famine all the time in the United States.

I don't know if you know this, but

every week, the federal government puts up a

a drought pitcher. And it shows a whole

United States colored in. Here's where the droughts

are, you know? And here's where they have

plenty of rain.

In the ancient world,

especially in the history of Israel.

Dr. Yes, they were droughts that just happened

to be what nature sent.

But then there were drought sent by god.

And, of course, that's 1 of the questions

you gotta ask here. Is is where is

this text leading us and and and Stan

was talking a few months ago. Sometime we

disagree on some of that. And and and

in this particular text, you've got to take

1 of 2 prospect perspectives as you're looking

at it.

And and I know there gonna be people

who disagree with me and so, hey, again.

Now does it make a difference in the

end

But the lands I'm gonna look at is

this lands of Israel's failure.

And there was a famine in the land.

You go back to D 31,

And here's most his last words

and god speaking to him.

And he says, you're going to rest with

your ancestors, and these people will soon

prostitute

themselves to the foreign gods of the land.

Very thing the book of judges says they

did.

They will for me and break the covenant

I made with them then when you go

to chapter 32 of jet.

God says, this is what I'm going to

do.

To try and

correct their behavior.

Now I don't know if you remember what

it was like when you're mom and day

dad I tried to correct your behavior.

I still remember it vividly.

I was at church.

I don't know what I was doing.

But whatever I was doing,

mama didn't like it.

I had to been first grade, second grade

somewhere right in there.

And my mom, right in the middle of

the sermon and leans over and says, when

you get home, you're getting a spanking.

Pete you're I.

I think I said it out loud.

Do Y'all know what that did to my

worship that day?

My mother ruined my worship,

Ruined it.

Man, if I'd been ready to get baptized

at 6 years old, that would have done

it in.

And, of course, the rest of the morning,

That's all I thought about. Mom's fixing the

correct, whatever I did wrong.

And I tried my best to change your

tune. I got in the car. I said,

mom, your hair's pretty today.

I'm serious this true story.

I said, boy and that dress you're wearing,

that looks good on your mom.

And mom just thank you sweetie. Thank you

so much. By the time I got home,

I was convinced. I'd turned the tide.

Okay?

And and and and right as I walked

in the door, mom said, last, can you

do me a favor sure mom, anything you

want. Can you go to the back bedroom,

get your daddy's belt? Oh, good night.

God had told Israel what he would do.

What's what he says?

He says, I will send wasting famine against

them, consuming pest and deadly plague.

And and again, it's not that my mom

wanted to punish me for punishment sake.

Mom was trying to direct me. Mom was

trying to get me. You need to pay

attention to what? You know, your your dad.

And I say to you.

And basically, that's the lesson God's trying to

get to us. Because of his great love,

God disciplines people and hope that they will

repent. And return to him. You see that

all the way through scripture.

Of where God is not wanting anyone to

perish and he use whatever means to try

to bring us back to him. The Hebrew

writer says, have you completely forgotten these words

of encouragement that addresses you as a father

addresses his son?

It says my son do not make light

of the Lord's discipline

and do not lose heart when he rebuke

you because the lord disciplines the 1 He

loves and chases everyone he accepts as his

son or daughter.

I mean, the reason that God disciplines us

because he doesn't want us to be lost.

He loves us.

The text goes on then.

And and and this is 1 of the

most important phrases. So a man from Bethlehem

and Judah together with his wife and 2

sons went to live a while in the

country of Moa. Now, I've got that highlight

for a reason.

You're gonna see it twice here

in in verse 1 and then the next

verse.

I mean, twice. Once at the beginning, once

at the end, we call that a sandwich

in scripture. We find them quite often.

And and of course, what you're looking for

is, okay. What's going on in between.

What what's happening between the sandwich. Now, where

they're living is way up here in the

north in Bethlehem? Am I and the north

is actually in southern

Israel.

You got all the way up the galilee

lay up above this. But Bethlehem ham is

just a few miles South of Jerusalem,

Moa over here on the eastern side of

the dead sea. And so they've got a

cross over the Jordan and come down through

Reuben and go to the land of Moa

or go south through the desert and come

across Inter moa. App have 1 way or

the other.

And so they've made a decision. It's dried

over here they've got rain over here interesting.

Right? And so let's go over there to

live.

And I want you to look at the

text.

The man's name was,

and his wife's name was Naomi,

and the names of his 2 sons were

Mai and Killing,

and they were ep from Bethlehem, Judah. Ep

is a little village

being say this not far from the little

village, Of bethlehem.

I don't know about y'all, but growing up

out in in the country of Northern Mississippi,

you had little community here, in a mile

away you had another little community, in a

mile away you had another little community. I

mean, by the way, Nashville used to be

that way.

I mean, do do y'all know that Henderson

deal used to be a long way from

Nashville?

Mean, now when people say, where where are

you from? I go Nashville

instead of trying to explain where I'm from?

I mean, Madison used to be by itself

and Queen used to be by itself and

Henderson used to be by itself and no

how many y'all know the number 1 community.

Yeah. Just go up the road a little

piece, and there was a little community called

number 1. That was the first stop on

on the trail that went down into Nashville

from Gall.

And if for a long time, Nashville Road

Church Christ was named number 1 Church Christ.

I always wanted to preach there.

I mean, don't you know they started every

worship service with we're number 1. We're number

1.

Yeah.

I mean, of all names to change from.

Why did you change it from number 1.

Well because the number 1 community got swallowed

by Gall?

Same way here with Ef.

And then look at how this verse ends,

and they went to Moa and lived there.

Same thing that is said at the end

of diverse 1. In diverse 1, they went

to Moa lived there. In the verse 2,

they went to Moa lived there. And and

you gotta go, okay. So so what's the

deal? What's the deal is the the name

of the of the head of the household??

You see

Is is a hebrew name, Eli

El

and then Male,

king.

And it basically means

my god is king.

And and and and again,

If you look through this lien, you're going

to direction, Other people say now is it's

not really

significant to the story. And so I realize

it that people disagree scholars look at it

differently here.

But to me, what what

Is doing is he saying, God, I'm not

gonna wait for you to lift the famine.

I'm not gonna stay in in Bethlehem. I'm

not going to inter seed on behalf of

of the people.

I'm gonna go where there's food.

I've got kids to eat, and you see

the rationale. I mean, you understand that.

But at the same time, there's there's another

layer of the story there for someone whose

name means.

My god is king. Well, if he's king,

that surely, he can bring relief to the

famine or is something else going on in

the text.

He made a choice.

And that's 1 of the most important things

that I think comes out of these first

3 verses

life is often about choices

we make.

Not always,

but often.

I want you to think a few few

moments about the choices you've made in your

life or will make in your life,

depending on how old you are.

I think 1 of the biggest ones is

is this 1 right here. Plus after high

school.

I mean, III remember when I got in

high school. I began to, you know, everybody

would ask me, what are you gonna do

after you graduate?

And for me, it was already in mind.

I'm gonna go free hard and I'm what

become a preacher. I already made the choice.

But people oftentimes haven't.

You know, I remember back when I taught

ad junk at Lips come 1 of the

things you would find is the students going,

you know, they want me to declare a

major? I don't even have a clue what

I wanna do with my life.

How do you declare a major? I mean,

June and my oldest son, Rob

Rob went in as an engineer,

switched over and became a business major

Switched over and became a education major

and is the first semester of this freshman

year.

I mean, I'm like son.

Got a degree in history,

did a student teaching got a master's degree

in educational leadership.

I mean, Eric, I mean, I'm thinking he's

gonna go and teach. Never taught a day

in his life other than student teaching.

You're like, what does he do?

He's a security,

computer security expert who works out his basement.

I mean,

he had no clue where he was gonna

go.

I think a stand.

I mean, staying coming out of of college.

I mean, preaching, Oh, no. No. No. Street.

No. No. No. John Mike is exact same

way. I love these guys because they're both

sons of preacher, and they came out of

school guy. I'll never go. No. You know,

be a, be a minister and then God

said, really? Never.

And God has a way of saying, yeah,

maybe maybe you need to realize it sometimes.

What's after high school? Trade school, go straight

in the workforce.

Next 1,

what's your career.

What are you gonna do?

You gotta survive. How do you do that?

I still remember something that someone said, not

I don't even know who it was, but

said, if you'll do something that you love,

you'll never work a day in your life.

I think there's a lot of truth to

that.

When you're doing what you love, it it's

not like work.

When I was in high school, I worked

in a grocery store.

And I was 1 of the stock boys.

I was 1 of the guys, you know,

price the cans back then, put prices on

the cans. We didn't put them on the

on the shelves. And so you had to

price all the food and and I was

the guy who had do that. And let

me tell you something. You do that all

day, guess what you do all night.

You do it all night in your dreams.

I remember waking up, Mom said to do

a sweetheart. Sleep good. No. I didn't sleep

good. I stock shelves all not long. You

know, Now I gotta go do it again.

And y'all ever had that experience. I, is

a horrible experience.

You know, what's your career?

Do something that you love?

Will you marry?

Some choose not to.

Nothing wrong with that at all. Others choose

to.

You know? 1 1 thing by the way,

when you're a preacher, guess what?

They don't hire a lot of single preacher.

As they all saying go, the apostle Paul

would have been in trouble trying to get

hired at a church, today.

You know? So were you marry? And by

the way, if you marry who?

I just want all you English people to

know that first, I had who and realized

it was wrong.

And I switched it to to

sister Howard said, yeah. I'm pretty sure it's

who. And so we got whom up there.

Whom will you marry?

Children.

You know, when June and I started talking,

you know, she's like, any many children you

want. I said I won't forward.

I said, hem you want. She said I

want 12.

I'm like, okay?

We had our first child and after our

first child, June said, I tell you what.

Let's have 3.

And I okay?

And then she had the second 1 and

she said, we're done. I mean,

amazing how the choices change.

And then the most important 1.

Will you follow Jesus?

I mean, there's no choice more more important

than that question right there. Will you follow

Jesus?

And by the way, our choices often have

lifelong consequences.

I mean, what you decide, you know, whether

you go to college or or an otter

or what what subjects you get into or

not, What that first job is, oftentimes they

have life long

consequences.

And oftentimes we don't realize that. And and

if there's anything we got to realize is,

yes, you're gonna have to live with the

choice you make and oftentimes with lifelong consequences.

And so how do you make an important

decision that You know, when when Joshua was

trying to figure out what I do with

Jericho, he meets the commander of the Lord's

army, which as standing and I did kind

of some talk there was God himself who

come down to guide him. And and he

said, okay. What what do you want me

to do, Lord? Lord said, here's what you

do. You go and you march around the

city. God told him exactly what to do

because Joshua said, Lord, what do you want

me to do?

But now all you gotta do is turn

just a couple of chapters on the next

chapter and when they go up against eye

instead of going to God in prayer. He

sent spies up, They came back, and they

said, not all the army will have to

go up against I. Sent 2 or 3000

men to take it. And don't wear the

whole army and brothers and sisters, he was

a disaster.

When he finally asked God, and he says,

God, and What am I supposed to do?

He says you take the whole army up

there?

I mean, so oftentimes we forget that the

answer to how we make the decision is

through prayer.

I love this passage in cautions to devote

yourselves to prayer, be watchful and thankful and

pray for us,

that God may open the door for our

message that we may reclaim the mystery of

Christ for which I am in change, pray

that I'm a

that I may pro it clearly as I

should, look at the word prayer there. 3

times a form of prayer or pray is

there

But it's much more there in the sense

that, pray that a door will open. Pray

that I can pro the mystery, Pray that

I can pro it clearly.

Paul, what do we need to do? We

need to pray?

I think if I failed any anywhere.

In my ministry is not praying enough. I

know it to be true.

Not asking god's guidance near enough.

And then, of course, God's word.

I mean, sometimes you just need to go

and open the word. I don't know him

many times I've had to make a decision

and then I look at what God's word

it has to say about it, and I

I go, no, it's not a hard decision

to make it all. Here's what the bible

says we ought to do.

And I wanna tell you, if you begin

with prayer and God's word. Yes, getting advice

from other people. I mean, there's a lot

of other things you can do.

But you can probably go a long way

to making good decisions.

Now, Limo Naomi husband died,

and she was left with her 2 sons.

Third verse.

They get to moa.

Things are looking up.

And then the 1 whose name means my

god my my god is king does.

And of course, she can ask the question

why?

I mean, was it because he made a

decision to leave Bethlehem or was it just

because he got sick.

And again, it depends on which lens you

look through to answer that question?

Boy, here's the point that you need to

realize,

and that's some choices are made for us.

While we make a lot of choices.

Sometimes life makes choices for us.

Naomi didn't make a choice to be a

widow.

Mothers don't make a choice to lose a

child.

I mean, spouses don't... I mean, if they

had a choice oftentimes

it's not their choice you know, to have

their spouse run off with someone else.

I mean, in life oftentimes, we get dealt

things that we're like, we're in the world

this come from.

And so, yes, we make a lot of

choices, but sometimes life makes choices for us.

You turn over to the gospel, and you've

got people coming to Jesus. About that time

some people came up and told Jesus about

the gall,

powell had killed. Why They were at worship,

mixing their blood with the blood of the

sacrifices on the altar. And Jesus responded, do

you think those murdered gall

we're worse sinner than all the other gall.

No.

No.

I mean, just because something bad happens to

someone, doesn't mean they're at worse sinner. In

the minds of so many people back then,

that was the case, but it's not the

case.

I mean, all of us can look at

incidents in our lives

and go, you know, why why was my

brother on that airplane?

Why why why was my brother? Why did

he pull out in front of that truck?

Why there... Was there an off duty police

officer who hadn't slept for several days why

did it go to sleep and unfortunately come

across the road and my nephew died? Those

are all stories this happened to me in

June?

I mean, is it because somehow those people

were worse sinner now.

In fact, Jesus goes on. He says in

those 18 in Jerusalem on the other day?

The once crash killed when the tires swung

collapsed and fell on. Do you think that

there were worse citizens than all the other

Jerusalem mites

No.

In other words, Jesus says sometimes bad things

simply happened to good people.

That's where we live in.

I mean, does anyone choose to get cancer

or heart disease?

I mean, does anyone really choose to get

Parkinson's?

I mean we we choose that?

No.

But the point Jesus makes is such an

important point. And again, out of the message.

But unless you turn to God, you too

will die. You're gonna die.

Before what the difference it makes when you

turn to God. I mean, that's the most

important decision you'll ever make in your life

is turning to god.

And when people ask me, what do I

have to do to turn to god.

Now, there's a lot involved in following Jesus.

Don't get me wrong.

I mean, becoming a disciple of Jesus is

huge.

But the process is as simple

as it can be.

This is Mark 16 16 out of the

complete Jewish bible. I I love Jewish translations

because they translate the word correctly.

Notice in both instances here, saying already talked

about tested in the old testament can mean

trust. Same thing, Pas, our in the new

testament. Whoever we typically

quote it, whoever believes.

But the word is more than just intellectual

consent is whoever trust

just like Ke in the Old testament. God

wants you to trust him, in the new

testament. Jesus wants us to trust him. And

whoever trust and is immersed. There's the translation

of Ba.

Instead of translating

it, the Jewish

translations translated. It's mers.

And that's 1 of the things our our

newest brother here. This last week, I told

him I said, you need to be baptized.

You need to be immersed to have your

scenes us washed away and he said, when

can I do that? I said, you do

it anytime you want to? He said, how

about right now.

And so we came up here.

And if you haven't noticed, drivers could be

taller 9,

You know, that twice as tall.

And so someone said, how'd you get him

under the water and back up and the

answer is I went under with him? That's

way you do it?

I mean, the first thing I did was

went home, changed my clock. I had wait

zone. Didn't make any difference.

Water poured in any way.

And boy what joy we had when he

came up out that water

because he had trusted Jesus

and been immersed.

How simple a decision it is. And I

don't know where you are today, but maybe

it's time for you to be making a

simple

decision to follow Jesus.

But putting your trust in him, being immersed

in him, and then rising to walk with

him.

That's the invitation you have. If you're locked

oil obey, you can do it right now

as we stand and see.