The journey

Ruth chapter 1, which you'll find up on the screen.

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

We'll read the whole chapter.

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.

So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons,

went to live for a while in the country of Moab.

The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name was Naomi,

and the names of his two sons were Malon and Kilion.

They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah, and they went to Moab and lived there.

Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died and she was left with her two sons.

They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth.

After they lived there about ten years, both Malon and Kilion also died

and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them,

she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.

With her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she'd been living

and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,

Go back, each of you, to your mother's home.

May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me.

May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.

Then she kissed them goodbye, and they wept aloud,

and said to her,

We will go back with you to your people.

But Naomi said, Return home, my daughters.

Why would you come with me?

Am I going to have any more sons who could become your husbands?

Return home, my daughters.

I am too old to have another husband.

Even if I thought there was still hope for me,

even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons,

would you wait until they grew up?

Would you remain unmarried for them?

No, my daughters.

It is more bitter for me than for you,

because the Lord's hand has turned against me.

At this they wept aloud again.

Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye,

but Ruth clung to her.

Look, said Naomi,

Your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods.

Go back with her.

But Ruth replied,

Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.

Where you go, I will go,

and where you stay, I will stay.

Your people will be my people,

and your God, my God.

Where you die, I will die,

and there I will be buried.

May the Lord deal with me,

be it ever so severely,

if even death separates you and me.

When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her,

she stopped urging her.

So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.

When they arrived in Bethlehem,

the whole town was stirred because of them,

and the women exclaimed,

Can this be Naomi?

Don't call me Naomi, she told them.

Call me Mara,

because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.

I went away full,

but the Lord has brought me back empty.

Why call me Naomi?

The Lord has afflicted me.

The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.

So Naomi returned from Moab,

accompanied by Ruth the Moabite,

her daughter-in-law,

arriving in Bethlehem

as the barley harvest was beginning.

Amen.

This is God's word for us.

So we're beginning a short study

in the book of Ruth,

and today we're thinking about

the journey or the journeys

that we see Naomi's family in particular make.

And I hope that it will help us

as we reflect on the journey of life

that we are all on,

the journey of faith

that many of us are on.

What we see in our story today

are probably some realities

that we recognize.

Sometimes in our lives,

in our stories,

we come to what we might call

crossroads moments.

We have important decisions to make,

perhaps about the place where we'll live,

the job that we might take,

an opportunity to pursue or not,

a decision that will shape

our lives moving forward.

It makes me think of the poem

by Robert Frost,

The Road Not Taken,

and that last verse,

which perhaps we find ourselves

at times resonating with.

He says this,

I shall be telling this with a sigh

somewhere ages and ages hence.

Two roads diverse in a wood,

and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

and that has made all the difference.

So sometimes our life comes with decisions,

and those decisions have consequences,

and we see that in this story.

But there are other times

in our stories

where life leaves us no choice,

where circumstances come upon us,

and if we're thinking about a journey,

it's more like perhaps being in a kayak

or a canoe,

and we're hitting river rapids,

and there's only one way we're going.

A journey, perhaps,

that we wouldn't choose,

a situation that we wouldn't desire,

but it comes nevertheless.

And we see that in this story too.

For us, it comes in the form of illness,

and loss,

and redundancy,

and breakup,

and how we respond to those

as they come across our paths.

So the story of Ruth and Naomi,

I think is a really helpful one to reflect on

at any time,

helpful for us at the beginning of a year

to remind us

that wherever we find ourselves

on the journey of life and faith,

we need to recognize who our God is.

We are presented in the book of Ruth

with a God of sovereign grace,

a God who is able to sustain,

a God who is able to bring hope

in the midst of suffering,

a God of sovereign grace

who's ready to seek

and to save those outside of his kingdom,

to bring them in,

to extend his favor to them,

a God who,

despite difficult circumstances,

continues to work out

his plan of redemption,

a God of sovereign mercy

who's working all things

for the good of his people,

even when his providence is hard to bear

and seems a bitter thing,

as we see particularly in chapter 1.

So this evening we're going to follow

the journeys in order to discover

more in particular about our God.

So first five verses,

we can think about this

as Naomi and her family

being on the road to nowhere.

Verse 1 gives us a setting

for our story.

In the days when the judges ruled,

there was a famine in the land.

So this is happening

at the time of the judges,

and this isn't simply giving us

a date stamp.

This is also reminding us

of the theological description

that's behind that,

the spiritual circumstances

that Israel is experiencing

at this time.

In the very last sentence

in the book of Judges,

we read,

in those days Israel had no king,

everyone did as they saw fit.

And to read the book of Judges

is to come across

this repeating pattern,

sometimes called the judges cycle,

where the people turn their back on God,

perhaps they begin to worship

other gods,

and God brings judgment

on the people,

sometimes sending enemies

to the land.

And after a number of years,

the people repent,

they cry out to God,

God in his mercy

sends them a deliverer,

the deliverer comes

and gives them peace

for as long as his life lasts.

But then that cycle repeats again.

Rebellion, disobedience, judgment,

and so on.

And by the end of the book of Judges,

when we come out of the cycle,

what we're left with

is a picture of moral

and social

and political

and religious

chaos and disaster.

It is not a high point

in the spiritual life

of God's people.

And we know that

the story of Ruth

begins at a low point

in the people's spiritual journey

because we're told

there's a famine in the land.

And again,

this famine

is judgment

from God

because of the people's

disobedience.

So even as the story begins,

it begins on this very dark

backdrop.

But it's going to allow

the light of God's love

and grace to shine

really brightly

in time

in Naomi's family.

And in fact,

if we get to the end

of the story,

so if Judges ends,

there was no king

and everyone's doing

as they see fit,

by the end of the book of Ruth,

we know that it's through

Naomi

and especially through

Ruth's family

that ultimately King David

will come.

God's choice of a king,

kingship,

is the answer

to the sin

and rebellion

among the people of God.

And that, of course,

prepares us

for the coming

of our great King Jesus.

So having introduced

the time for us

when this story happens,

we're then introduced

to a family.

And especially,

we can think about Elimelech,

the head of this family,

married to Naomi,

two sons,

Malon and Kilion.

And immediately,

as we're introduced to them,

we see that he is faced

with a choice.

As there is a famine

in the land,

he has two roads

available to him.

One,

he can stay

in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem,

which means

house of bread,

in the promised land.

What Elimelech could do

is he could,

with his fellow countrymen,

he could lament

over their sin,

over their turning

their backs on God.

He could return to God

with faith

and trust in God

to provide.

That's one road

that's available to him.

Or the other one

is he can go

to Moab.

Moab,

where evidently

there is no famine.

Perhaps the grass

seems greener

on the other side

there.

And what we need

to understand

in Elimelech's case,

this is not

a neutral choice.

This isn't,

well,

the choices,

I guess,

that most of us have.

Will we live in city A

or city B?

Will we take job A

or job B?

Unless there is

sin involved,

there's just a wisdom choice.

It's neutral

from that point of view.

But for Elimelech

to leave Bethlehem

and to head to Moab

is going to

show his rejection

of God,

living in God's place,

living among

God's people,

choosing

not to live

by faith,

but to

make his own way

in life

outside of

God's promised land.

And that's

what he does.

end of verse 2,

they went to Moab

and lived there.

And we see

the sadness

that comes

to the family

of Elimelech.

Well,

first we're told

in verse 3

that he dies.

Then,

having gone there

apparently temporarily,

we see that

Naomi

settles down

with her sons.

Her sons

marry

Moabite women

and after

10 years

they also

die too.

Now,

we need to remember

as well

that Moab

was enemy

territory.

In Deuteronomy 7,

Deuteronomy 7:3

verse 3,

the people of God

were forbidden

to marry,

but yet here

we find them

settling down,

establishing

a family.

Elimelech's name

means

my God

is,

God is my king,

but his name

does not reveal

his heart,

does it?

As he chooses

his own way

apart from God.

So,

after that

crossroads decision,

after moving

towards Moab,

10 years later,

verse 5,

we find

Naomi's world

falls apart.

She has no husband,

she has no sons,

she finds herself

relatively elderly,

a stranger

in a strange land,

a widow

without support

or security.

This man's

journey away

from God,

from God's place,

from God's people,

has led

this family

nowhere,

so it seems.

Just to pause

at this point

and to think about

this journey

in relation

to ours,

I think it's

helpful for us,

a caution for us,

when we think about

Elimelech's

decision making.

You know,

the book of Proverbs,

probably a verse

that the junior church

have learned

at some point,

trust in the Lord

with all your heart

and lean not

on your own understanding

and all your ways

acknowledge him

and he will make

your paths

straight.

Well,

that's not the way

of wisdom

that Elimelech

chooses.

The Bible says

that we are to walk

by faith

and not by sight,

but Elimelech

chooses to live

by sight.

I can see there's

bread and more,

so I'm heading there

rather than trusting God.

We thought this morning

about Jesus

using the book

of Deuteronomy

to resist temptation

by saying man

shall not live

by bread alone

but by every word

that comes from

the mouth of God,

but Elimelech

chooses bread alone.

And it's so important

for us to reflect

on how we make

our decisions.

Are we making

our decisions

based on trust

in our God?

Are we humbly

depending on him

or are we

like Elimelech

walking by sight

and not by faith?

So his action

stands as a warning

for us,

but there's also

wonderful hope

in this story

because of the mercy

of God,

because of God's

sovereign grace.

Yes,

there is judgment

that comes on

Elimelech's family

just as judgment

was falling on all Israel

because of their

turning away from God,

but also there is blessing.

Naomi,

though she doesn't

know it yet,

will know much

of God's grace

and much of God's goodness

and much of God's

blessing,

even though she is

part of this foolish

decision to walk

away

to Moab.

And there is hope

for us,

I think,

then when we pray

for the prodigals

in our own lives,

for friends and family

perhaps who at one time

were in church

professing faith

but have now

wandered away.

It's so helpful

for us to remember

the sovereign grace

and mercy

of God

and his loving desire

to save and to redeem.

When we think about

how God is presented

in this book,

we see here is a God

who is in control

over the nations

and God who will send

judgment on a nation

but God who also

controls the family life

of Naomi,

turning it for good,

ultimately to show

redeeming love.

And so we are encouraged

to place our confidence

in this God.

This God who,

in the midst of all the chaos,

has a plan,

a plan to establish

Ruth's family

and to establish

David as king

and to establish

the line of King Jesus.

Just before we move

from these verses,

let's think about

the gospel journey

and think about

the journey of Jesus

and see how it compares

with Elimelech.

So what do we see

from Elimelech?

We see him leaving

his home,

seeking his own blessing

in disobedience

to God.

And I compare that

with Jesus,

leaving his home

in glory

for the blessing

of his people,

obeying God

all the way

to the cross.

That the judgment

that falls on Jesus

becomes blessing

for the people

of God

because of his

faithfulness

to God's word.

So that was the road

to nowhere.

But then in verse 6

to 17,

we can think about

the return journey,

we can think about

Naomi going home.

And look at verse 6

to see what prompts

her decision to return.

When Naomi heard

in Moab

that the Lord

had come to the aid

of his people

by providing food

for them,

she and her

daughters-in-law

prepared to return

home from there.

So the Lord

had come to the aid

of his people.

Bear in mind

that this is

in the time

of the judges.

This presumes

that we're not told

that the people of God

have repented of sin,

that they've looked

to God for mercy,

and God has shown mercy

that is bread

once again

in the house

of bread.

And so,

Naomi

recognizes

the Lord's providence

in this,

and so

she and

Orpah and Ruth

begin

the return journey

home.

Well, of course,

it's home for Naomi,

it's not home

for Orpah

and Ruth.

And at some point

on this journey,

having encouraged

them to come with her,

there is clearly

a point where

she begins

to ask questions

of,

well,

what's really best

for my daughters-in-law?

How will I

provide for them?

What kind of welcome

will they receive?

Where are they most likely

to find

their security?

And so,

the journey

pauses

almost as quickly

as it begins,

and we come to another

crossroads moment,

this time for Orpah

and for

Ruth.

Because Naomi,

in verse 8,

said to her two daughters-in-law,

go back,

each of you,

to your mother's home.

She believes

that those two

young women

will have better

prospects,

greater security

in Moab

with their families

in the place

that they know,

the culture

that they are familiar

with.

Naomi says,

I can't provide

husbands for you,

so I don't have

any prospects

to offer.

Verse 9's

an interesting one

because it gives us

an understanding

of what is

driving Naomi,

what's Naomi's desire

for Orpah

and especially

for Ruth.

May the Lord

grant that each

of you will find

rest in the home

of another husband.

A home

for Ruth

with a husband

who will care

for her.

That's her desire.

Now what Naomi

doesn't understand

is that's also

God's desire

and God has a much

better plan

than Naomi's plan.

Naomi's plan

is go back to Moab

and see what you

can find there.

But God's going

to bring Ruth

back to Israel

to meet Boaz.

That God himself

will provide

a lasting home

for Ruth

among the people

of God.

But if we put

ourselves in

Orpah and Ruth's

shoes for a moment,

I imagine

you like me

think,

well Naomi's words

seem fairly logical.

To leave

for another country

with no one

to provide for you,

with the possibility

of not receiving

a warm welcome,

you can imagine

it might make sense

to go back.

And so that's

exactly what Orpah

chooses.

Verse 14

or verse 13

when Naomi

says,

it's,

no my daughters

it's more bitter

for me than for you

because the Lord's

hand is turned

against me.

At this they

wept aloud again

then Orpah

kissed her

mother-in-law

goodbye.

So Orpah

chooses

to return

to Moab

and at this point

she disappears

from the pages

of the Bible.

We don't know.

Did she get married?

Did she find that husband

and that security?

Did she raise a family?

Was she happy

in her life?

We don't know.

But even if all those

things were true,

even if she went home

and found

a husband

and had a family

and had a

long and satisfying

life,

she has still

turned back

from life

with God

in God's place.

It seems

that she has

missed

the ultimate

and eternal

blessing on offer

to her

in making

that journey

to identify

herself

among

the people

of God.

It seems

that perhaps

Naomi has

lost sight

of the reality

that the greatest

thing anyone

can have.

The greatest

thing that Naomi

could offer

her daughters-in-law

was an invitation

to become part

of the people

of God,

to know God

and to know

his love,

to enjoy

fellowship

with the people

of God.

There is no

question that

Naomi loved

Orpah

as she loved

Ruth,

but it seemed

like she aims

too low

in her aspiration

and desire

for her daughter-in-law.

To have a

happy marriage

and a happy

family without

God

is to miss

the fullness

that God

has

for any

of us.

So Orpah

chooses

at this moment

of decision

to go home,

but what does it

say about Ruth?

In verse 14

we discover

that Ruth

clung to her

and that's a

significant word

because

it's the same

word that

appears in

Genesis chapter

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

2 and

verse 24.

It's a marriage

word speaking

about the

marriage of

Adam and

Eve as a

pattern for

all marriages.

That's why a

man leaves

his father and

mother and

is united

to his wife

and they

become one

flesh.

There's so

much covenant

commitment

language from

Ruth and that

continues in

her speech

in verse 16.

Don't urge me

to leave you

or to turn

back from you.

Where you go,

I will go.

Where you stay,

I will stay,

your people

will be my

people and

your God

my God.

Words

perhaps we

hear fairly

regularly at

weddings.

Even the

pattern makes

us think of

for better,

for worse,

for richer,

for poorer,

in sickness and

health,

till death do

us part.

That's the

idea behind

Ruth's words.

She is

committing to

her mother-in-law

in undying

love and

not just

committing

herself to

Naomi,

but more

significantly

committing

herself to

Naomi's

God.

Verse 17,

May the

Lord deal

with me,

be it ever

so severely,

if even

death

separates you

and me.

Having said,

your God

will be my

God,

she then

swears an

oath before

the Lord,

using the

covenant

name of

God,

as her

witness that

she will

remain with

Naomi,

that the

people of

God are

her people.

Now what

can we learn

from this

leg of the

journey?

Let's think

some more

about God's

sovereign grace,

let's think

about what's

happening in

Israel.

God in

his mercy

is restoring

wayward

Israel,

there's bread

and not

famine because

of God's

mercy.

Naomi is

being restored

to the

people of

God by

the mercy

of God.

For God's

people,

judgment is

not and

will never

be God's

last word.

And we

discover too

that God's

grace comes

to an

outsider,

to a

Moabite

woman.

To many

within Israel,

this would be

shocking.

God's

promise.

But it's

a reminder

to us

that God

loves to

save.

That God's

plan has

always been

a redemption

that takes

in the

nations,

surprising

people,

surprising

places.

And again,

it's an

encouragement to

us not to

give up on

people, not

to give up

on mission.

God's arm

is not short

that he

cannot save.

God's

faith.

It reminds

us

encouragingly,

I think,

that God

works through

weak faith.

Because how

is it that

Ruth knows

about the

God of

Israel?

How does

she know

about this

covenant

keeping

God?

Well,

surely it's

through her

mother-in-law,

Naomi.

Naomi's

faith is

weak.

She is,

at the very

least,

wrestling with

a sense

of bitterness

towards God,

struggling to

see God's

kindness at

any stage.

She has

walked away

from the

promised land,

but still,

Naomi's

witness is

used for

Ruth's

salvation.

I am

sure all

of us,

when it

comes to

our witness,

feel a

sense of

our own

weakness

and inadequacy,

feel that

there are

times when

we fail

and mess

up.

Well,

he is

encouragement

that God

works through

weak people

so that he

gets the

glory,

as he

does in

Ruth's

story.

Ruth also

shows us

something of

what faith

involves,

doesn't she?

As Ruth

begins this

journey,

this

mark by

suffering

and sacrifice,

this is a

journey of

faith that

is costly

to her,

leaving all

that she

knows

behind,

moving

towards a

very

uncertain

future.

But she

does it

because she

has committed

herself to

God.

Jesus

said,

to follow

him is

to carry

a cross.

The

discipleship

is not

cheap and

easy,

it is

costly.

perhaps we

have known

something of

that mockery

or sense

of isolation

from people

because of

our faith.

And we

certainly know

that some of

our brothers

and sisters

in Christ

are imprisoned,

rejected by

their families,

will be

facing death

today because

they have

chosen to

make God

their God.

God

and again

when we

put that

into the

story of

the gospel,

we are

following

Jesus who

walked the

way of the

cross,

who was

for us

the suffering

servant,

making that

journey of

humiliation

for the sake

of his

people.

And as

we seek

to live

by faith

in him,

he tells

us that

he both

goes before

us and

is with

us,

giving us

strength,

sending us

the spirit

for our

journeys

of faith.

Well,

let's look

finally at

a journey's

end and

what we

can describe

as a

bitter

return.

I want

to notice

something

that perhaps

seems awkward

or even

painful

in our

text.

So we

read verses

16 and

17,

those wonderful

lovely words

of Ruth.

She just

poured out

her heart

to Naomi

in this

great expression

of undying

loyalty and

love.

These words

that are used

at weddings,

you could

easily imagine

them being

turned into

a song

or a

poem.

But how

does Naomi

respond?

In our

NIV it

says,

when Naomi

realized that

Ruth was

determined to

go with

her,

she stopped

urging her.

That could

read,

she was

silent.

Nothing to

say in

response.

And we

see more

of that

pain that

Ruth might

well have

experienced

when Naomi

begins to

share with

the women

of the

village.

Don't call

me Naomi,

Naomi means

pleasant.

Call me

Mara,

which means

bitter,

because the

Almighty has

made my

life very

bitter.

I went

away full,

but the

Lord has

brought me

back empty.

Ruth's

standing right

there.

God's

brought me

back empty.

There's

certainly no

sense in

Naomi's

word that

she looks

on her

daughter-in-law

as a

source of

comfort and

blessing,

a mercy

that she

went with

her on

this

journey.

Naomi

says,

well,

my name

is pleasant,

but that's

not my

experience.

My

experience

at God's

hand is

one of

bitterness.

Verse 21,

the Lord

has

afflicted

me or

the Lord

has

testified

against

me.

I've

been

brought

into

the

Lord's

courtroom

and

the

judgment

has

come

and

I'm

under

God's

hand.

I want

us again

to just

see a

word of

caution

here.

The

danger

of

bitterness

in our

lives.

That

bitterness

can

mean we

miss

the

blessings,

the

kindness

that

God

shows.

So what's

clear in

this whole

chapter is

that Naomi

absolutely

believes in

a God

who is

sovereign,

who is

in

control,

but all

she can

see is

his

judgment.

And at

this stage

in her

life,

she's

unable to

see his

acts of

kindness

and

mercy.

And

perhaps we

can relate

to that.

Perhaps

when

suffering

comes,

when trauma

comes,

when difficulties

come,

it can be

really hard

to see any

good purpose

in what we

are experiencing.

Perhaps we

can feel the

weight of

God's hand

being against

us.

Perhaps we

have a

sense of

God being

absent in

this

situation.

But to

just stop

and reflect

on Ruth

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

and on

Naomi's

journey,

we

recognize

that she

has been

gifted with

a daughter-in-law

of a

beautiful

and a

bold

faith.

She has

been shown

mercy in

that she's

returning to

a place

where there

is bread

and not

famine.

That she

will know

grace beyond

judgment.

She is

being welcomed

back to

her community

and ultimately

she's going to

see her family

become part of

that great

story of

God's

redeeming

love for

the world.

And so

even in

chapter 1

there are

reminders

to us.

Even in

the hardship,

even when

life seems

bitter and

against us,

we are,

as people of

faith,

keep our

eyes open

for God's

kindness

because his

mercies are

new every

morning.

Let's

finish with

this.

Naomi,

at this

stage,

feels that

God is

against her,

that God's

hand is

against her.

God's

God's

God's

God's

question of

is God

for me

or against

me?

Whatever day,

whatever part of

our journey of

faith.

Again, we

need the

gospel and

the gospel

journey to

help us to

answer that.

To think

about the

loving

commitment of

our God

towards us,

that God

sent his

son Jesus,

and Jesus

the son

willingly

left his

home in

glory to

become one

of us and

to live here

to be God

with us.

And we need

to see Jesus

and not just

making that

journey to

earth,

but making

that journey

to earth so

he could make

that journey

to the cross,

taking judgment

for sin,

for our sin,

for the sake

of his people,

dying so we

might live,

knowing condemnation

so we might be

forgiven and

reconciled.

Jesus is the

one who came

as our

Emmanuel,

came as

God with

us,

totally committed

to us in

covenant love,

in undying

love.

And it's as we

understand the

gospel and as

our faith is in

Jesus that we

can say with

confidence that

nothing can

separate us from

the love of

God.

It's as we

come to know

the God of

redeeming love

that we are

able to

trust that

all things

will in

God's hands

and in God's

time work

together for

his glory

and for our

good.

Let's pray

to our God

together.

Father God,

we thank you

for the book

of Ruth and

we thank you

for what it

can teach

us of

your sovereign

grace and

mercy,

that you are

able to

work beyond

sin and

beyond bad

decisions.

You are able

to work in a

way that

highlights your

grace and

gains you the

glory that you

deserve.

We thank you

that your

desire is to

redeem a

people for

yourself,

that Jesus

came to

carry out

that great

work of

redemption.

And Lord,

we thank you

for where the

story of Ruth

fits into

that storyline,

that through

this family

would come

King David

and all those

promises of

an eternal

king who

would rule

and reign in

righteousness

forever,

would find

their fulfillment

in King

Jesus.

Please help

us to be

those who

would walk

by faith

and not

by sight.

Please help

us to be

those who

would count

our blessings,

that even in

the hardships

that we face,

that we would

be able to

see glimpses

of your

mercy and

your sustaining

grace.

Lord, we

pray to

have that

strong

sacrificial

faith that

Ruth had,

determining at

all costs

that you

would be

our God

and that

your people

would be

our people.

So please

help us,

please answer

our prayers,

we ask in

Jesus' name.

Amen.