Complaining About God

Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would move in a very powerful way in the center of each of our hearts.

Father, you know what's going on.

Father, some of us might be just really doing spectacular and we praise you for it.

Some of us, Father, might be really struggling.

Some of us, Father, might no longer struggle, but we become very cynical.

And Father, we always know that we have a hard time reading our hearts truly

and just even being honest with ourselves, honest with each other and honest with you.

So we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit help us to be honest about the state of our lives and the state of our hearts.

And as your Holy Spirit leads us to a sense of honesty about ourselves,

may your Holy Spirit lead us to Jesus, lead us to what he's done for us on the cross,

and help us to hear your word, Father, in light of these two realities.

And may your word be written on our hearts.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please be seated.

So we're going to be going through the book of Ruth.

You can sort of open that if you want.

It's a hard book to find in the Bible because it's very, very short.

But here's the thing about what we're going to sort of look at in Ruth and all,

is there's a big gap for a lot of us between what our hopes are and what our expectations are,

what our desires are, and what reality is like.

Like for a lot of us, I guess I should be looking at it from your point of view,

our expectations, our hopes are like this.

And for a lot of us, our reality is way underneath the hopes and expectations we have.

And for a lot of us, you know, we sort of have this expectation that life's going to be like this,

but the reality is like this.

We thought by now we'd be married.

We thought by now we'd have kids.

We thought by now we'd have more than one kid or we'd have lots of kids.

We thought by now we'd be a lot better off.

We thought by now we'd know more about Jesus.

We thought by now we'd have a lot more peace in our lives.

We thought by now we'd have more friends.

We thought by now we'd be living somewhere nicer than where we're living.

And sometimes it's just a bit of a small type of thing,

but for many of us it can be actually quite crushing.

Because, and it's not even that our desires and our hopes were sinful.

I don't know that, you know, by now we hoped, I don't know,

we'd be the head of a drug cartel or something,

and now we're disappointed that we're not.

I mean, you know, if that was your hope, God will always crush that hope, okay?

If not before the grave, then after,

because it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But anyway, that's going to get us on a rabbit trail.

But, you know, for a lot of us it's just we have really good hopes,

that, you know, that we'd be making a bit more money,

or that we'd have job security, or that we have a job, you know?

And so we hope for this.

We expect this.

And this is especially hard.

If you're a guest here this morning,

and you're still trying to figure out this Jesus thing,

it's a very hard thing for a lot of Christians, you know?

Because for Christians we sort of have this expectation

that we should just be better, like a better Christian,

like better dealing with our sin, you know?

Better just dealing with problems.

And the reality is it's way below that.

And for a lot of us what that does is it creates a type of bitterness.

It creates cynicism.

For many of us we feel trapped, especially for Christians,

but not just for non-Christians.

We feel trapped.

We don't know what to do with it.

And so the scripture text that we're looking at today

is a very powerful story about expectations and hope like this,

reality right like that,

and what it's like to be in between expectations that are high,

reality like this,

and what does it look like in terms of a relationship with God.

So that's what the text is going to talk about.

So it would be a great help to me if you open your Bible.

We're going to actually have the text up there

because we're going to read through the story of Ruth, chapter 1.

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

But even though the Bible text will be up there,

if not this week, other weeks,

it's just really helpful to bring your own Bibles

because as you'll see there's some very powerful verses

that can be very helpful for many people,

just sort of make a bit of a note beside that in their Bible

so they can find it later.

But the text will be up there

because I want you to be able to see

and not only hear as I read,

but see the text as well.

So just so you know,

as we're about to begin this text,

in terms of a bit of a,

of, you know, placing it somewhere,

the Book of Ruth is,

if you have Netflix or if you're a fan of British TV,

there's one story in four episodes.

So you can go home and binge all four episodes later on.

We're just going to look at one episode.

We're looking at one story,

one episode that all together,

there's going to be four of them

and you need to watch and know all four of them

before you fully get all of the things

that there are in the story.

We're just looking at one episode today

and it's chapter 1.

And here's how it goes.

In the days when the judges ruled,

there was a famine in the land

and a man of Bethlehem and Judah

went to sojourn in the country of Moab,

he and his wife and his two sons.

So just sort of pause here

because for a lot of you in the room,

I've already lost you.

Judges, Moab, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada.

Okay, so just to put it in a little bit of a place,

what we now know of as the Bible

was actually written over many, many, many, many centuries.

In fact, over a millennium in different times

and with different authors.

And what this story is,

it's part of a...

The story that we're going to read,

what the author has just told us is that,

first of all, there's a Hebrew technical thing,

but he's telling us it's a true story.

I just have to take my word for it.

In the original language,

there's a technical thing that he begins by saying,

I'm going to tell you a true story.

And he sets it about 1,100 years B.C.

I know, that's a long time.

That's Iron Age I.

Okay, so wheels have been invented.

But, you know, and writing's been invented.

But 1,100 B.C., it's the time of the judges.

And in the flow of how the Bible develops,

sort of there's an overarching story.

And what there is is,

you come up to the time of Abraham,

and then there's promises

that God's going to make a nation out of them,

et cetera, et cetera.

The tribes of Israel,

Israel starts to grow as a nation.

They're in Egypt,

trapped in bondage and slavery.

And there's a man by the name of Moses

who leads the people of Israel out of slavery.

But he doesn't actually lead them into the promised land.

That's another story.

But a man by the name of Joshua

leads them into the promised land.

And after Joshua dies,

is the time of the judges.

And the time of the judges

is from the time of Joshua's death

until Israel gets its first king.

And the time of the judges,

what we would now call it,

it's a failed state.

Okay?

Like when people talk about Libya today,

it's a failed state.

What characterizes Libya?

Lots of warlords.

And that's what characterizes Israel.

Very shortly after Joshua dies,

Israel in effect becomes a failed state.

There's lots of chieftains,

tribal warlords,

armed to the teeth.

And it's a very, very, very dark time

in Israel's history.

And if you read the book of Judges,

what happens is periodically

God tries to pierce the darkness

by raising up a particular warlord

to try to bring a bit of harmony

and type of peace and prosperity.

But generally,

the time of the judges is a failed state.

So that's what the author is telling you.

I'm going to tell you a story

that happens during a time

when Israel is a failed state,

ruled by many, many different chieftains

all fighting each other.

Okay?

Oh, the other thing I'll mention to you this.

It's going to be really important to the story.

So the Israelites have stories

to understand how the different nations come about.

And Moab is an historic enemy of Israel.

And their understanding of how Moab came to be

was that there was a man named Lot.

He got...

I'm not making this up.

This is actually in the Bible.

It's in the book of Genesis.

A man named Lot got drunk

and had sex with his daughter.

And as a result of having sex with his daughter

after he was drunk,

the child that was born

became the founder of the people of Moab.

And the people of Moab

become a traditional enemy

of Israel,

even though Israel is a failed state.

Another thing about Moab

is the gods that they worship

include the god Moloch,

which is a god that demands infant sacrifice.

And it would have been...

Many of the gods in Moab

would have required

that the way you go to worship...

Like, you know, you've heard this before.

If I was an ancient Moabitess

and I said to Louise,

I'm off to the temple to worship,

it would mean I'm having sex

with a temple prostitute.

That's how you worship.

And so that's the situation of this.

So all the way through when you hear Moab,

that's the context.

This is a woman who's grown up

worshiping Moloch,

these fertility religions,

ancient enemy of the Israelite people.

And so now you have a bit of a context.

I'll go back and...

So anyway,

so I'll go back and read it again.

Maybe it won't be quite as yada yada

now that you hear it.

Okay, so in the days...

Verse 1,

in the days when the judges ruled

to fail state,

there was a famine in the land

and the man of Bethlehem...

And here, by the way,

there's a great irony

because all Jewish people reading this

would know what Bethlehem means.

Bethlehem means house of bread.

And in the house of bread,

there's a famine.

So a man of Bethlehem,

the house of bread,

he leaves to sojourn

in the country of Moab,

he and his wife

and his two sons.

The name of the man

was Elimelech

and the name of his wife,

Naomi,

and the name of his two sons

were Malon and Kilian.

They were Ephrathites

from Bethlehem in Judah

and they went into the country

of Moab

and remained there.

And just sort of paused there

because there's something else

which is significant.

I'm called George

because my dad's name is George.

And my sister and my brother,

they aren't named after any relative.

They're just...

My parents like the sound

of their names.

But in this culture,

names always mean something.

And it's a bit of a...

It's a big statement.

And in the original language,

this guy, Elimelech,

and his wife, Naomi,

they named their two sons,

I am not making this up,

weak and fragile.

Wouldn't that suck?

Hi, I'm weak.

This is my brother, fragile.

And so for the Jewish readers,

it's entering into the fact

that what's going on here?

This guy's named his kids

weak and fragile.

And sojourn means

that they go to be

a resident alien

for a season in Moab.

They leave the promised land

to go into a place

of Israel's enemies.

But as the language moves,

you see that they begin

just by going to be

their resident aliens,

like just to be migrant workers

for a short season,

but they end up staying.

They end up making it their home.

Verse 3.

But Elimelech, by the way,

which means my God is king,

the husband of Naomi died.

Remember I said

this is a difference between

and she was left

with her two sons.

These took Moabite wives.

The name of one was Orpah

and the name of the other

was Ruth.

And they lived there

about 10 years.

And both Malan and Killian died

so that the woman was left

without her two sons

and her husband.

Now here's her expectations,

Naomi's expectations and hopes

were probably to have

a lot more than two children.

to spend a long life

with her husband

and to just sort of

weather the famine

and be able to return

to where she knew everybody

and everybody knew her name

in a good sense.

And now here she is.

She's more than 10 years

living in a country

that worships other gods

and practices child sacrifice

and fertility religion.

Her boys have married

Moabite women,

which maybe isn't that bad

from her point of view.

Maybe it's all right.

The text doesn't tell you

whether she thinks

it's good or bad.

And then 10 years,

at least 10 years later,

both of her sons die

and they have never had children.

And in the ancient world,

this is just disaster

upon disaster

upon disaster.

Her hopes and expectations

are here.

The reality,

well, I'd have to get off the stage

and get down on the ground

because that's how low

the reality is.

She's been crushed by life

and she's now probably

in her mid-50s,

which is really old

in the ancient world.

And her life

has not even remotely

turned out the way

that it should.

Now, I just want to make

a bit of a pause here

about the story

before we keep on reading it.

To modern people

reading this story,

there's some stuff in it

that sounds really crazy

and sexist, right?

Like, if Disney

was doing this story today,

well, he'd pray love.

Your husbands die,

you'll pick up some Buddhism

and drink some wine

and do a bit of traveling

and pick up a lover,

begin a new life.

You know?

But gosh, the idea

that just because your man

is no longer in your life,

your life is over,

like, how crazy is that?

Well, so why is it

that we would even be looking

at a story

where the great tragedy

is for a woman

to no longer be connected

to a man?

Like, what on earth

could a story like this,

which is written

1,100 years before Jesus,

that has such a patriarchal

and sexist context

and culture,

why on earth

would any smart person

even bother reading

such a story?

Well,

there's a couple of reasons.

the first reason,

if you're here as a guest,

is that Jesus tells me

to read it.

As crazy as it sounds,

if you go back

and you read the book of Luke

and you see what Jesus says

after he's died

and after he's risen

from the dead,

Jesus says that everything

in those 39 books

that we now call

the Old Testament,

39 books that were written

before Jesus came,

that all of them

speak about him,

that all of them

in some way prepare us

to hear and understand

the gospel.

And so this is really important

because when Jesus tells us

that when we read

these stories,

it's preparing us

to hear the gospel

and to know more

about what God is like.

It means that it

deconstructs,

to use postmodern language,

it deconstructs

the patriarchal culture

and the sexist culture.

Jesus doesn't say,

listen to these earlier books

because dang it,

men,

it'll teach you

how to treat your woman.

You know,

it'll put women

in their place.

No, that's not what he says.

He says,

you read all these books

that were written before me.

God is the ultimate author of it

and all of these books

will help you

to understand

who I am

and what I've just accomplished

for you

when I've died for you

on the cross.

And so when we read

this story,

we're not reading it

to say,

oh, isn't that terrible

about how,

it doesn't,

and here's the other thing

which is really,

really,

really important,

just as important

as that last one.

You see,

the Christian faith

is all about

this spectacular story

that God tells us

and how particular individuals

like you and me

enter into God's story.

It's not about

abstract principles.

It's not about

some abstract truth.

But the fact of the matter is

that, you know,

if Jesus tarries

and my great-great-grandchildren

if I'm blessed

to have great-great-grandchildren

and they look back

on my life,

they're going to say,

you know,

if I was to try to tell them,

assuming I'm still alive

and I get to tell them

my great-great-grandchildren,

I mean,

I'm going to have to tell them

all the time,

well, it's not like that.

Like back then,

in my story,

it's not like now.

I'd have to keep telling them that

because I have a particular life.

I speak English.

I live in Ottawa.

I have a particular job.

There's particular ways.

I have to tell them

in Costco,

you know,

when you go to Costco,

you leave your cart

on one side

and you walk the other side

but you can go to Loblaws.

That's what makes

a life a life,

isn't it?

Human beings don't live

abstract lives.

We live embodied,

embedded lives

in a particular story.

And so one of the wonderful things

is the Bible is going to tell us

all these things

and they're particular stories.

It's not just some abstract Ruth.

It's not a fairy tale Ruth.

It's not a Disney Ruth

and they're not a Disney Naomi.

It's, well,

it's a Naomi and a Ruth

who lived in a failed nation state

who go to live

to a particular country

that worship gods

in a particular way

that have particular social customs.

And you know what?

If God's story

is going to intersect with them

in their particular real life,

there is hope

that he will connect with me

in my real and particular life.

And so reading the Old Testament

helps us to start

to understand that,

that it's important,

my particular life.

And I'm going to learn

to follow Jesus

in postmodern,

post-capitalist,

prosperous,

none,

N-O-N-E,

Ottawa.

Now, okay,

well, that's,

now, you know,

we've spent a bit of a time

just trying to get into this

and now we see

what's going to happen.

So what's going to happen

to Naomi?

Her life is collapsed.

In the ancient world,

if you're not connected

to a man

and to a family system,

you have nothing.

You are poorer

than poorer than poor.

You are poorer than dirt.

You have no protector.

You have no social structure.

There's no,

the social security network

in the ancient world

was connected to family

and kinship

and it was connected

through men

and so what on earth

is Naomi going to do?

Well, that's what the rest

of this episode is about

and the rest of the whole,

all four episodes.

are about.

But what immediately happens?

Well, let's look.

Verse 6.

Then,

then,

she arose with her daughters-in-law

to return from the country of Moab

for she had heard

in the fields of Moab

that the Lord had visited his people

and given them food.

So she set out from the place

where she was

with her two daughters-in-law

and they went on the way

to return to the land of Judah.

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

May the Lord deal,

sorry, I skipped a bit,

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

Go, return each of you

to her mother's house.

May the Lord deal kindly with you

as you have dealt with the dead

and with me.

The Lord grant that you may find rest

in each of you

in the house of her husband.

Then she kissed them

and they

lifted up their voices

and wept.

Now, this is quite a remarkable

little thing

and it introduces a word

that's not translated into English.

It's actually one of the most important words

in the entire Old Testament.

Those 39 books

that were written

before the time of Jesus

and I can't get the,

you know,

in the original language

often with Hebrews

it sounds like they're going to spit,

like they're trying to,

you know,

get their phlegm going,

you know,

but it's chesed.

And it's this concept

that God has this love

that's unfailing,

that's unstoppable,

that's kind,

that's loyal,

that's connected

to an unending covenant,

an unending relationship

that he makes

with human beings

and it's chesed love.

And this is quite

a remarkable statement.

Naomi basically says,

listen,

my life is ruined.

My life is over.

I am really low

and you shouldn't be connected

to me anymore.

You're still young.

You still got your looks.

You should go back

to your tribal places of origins

and in the original language,

mother's house

is a code word for marriage.

Go back to where

you can find somebody to marry

and where you can find a husband.

And what she does

is she pronounces,

it's quite remarkable

because in the ancient world,

basically they saw

there's this close connection

between the gods,

the people,

and the land.

And they were inseparable.

Each land had its people

that belonged to the land

and each people and land

had their own gods.

And she says,

she pronounces this blessing on them.

She says,

it costs to myself,

I will be by myself,

my life is ruined.

I don't want to have you,

I don't want to drag you down anymore.

So I'd like you to go back,

go to your place,

find a husband,

and may the Lord,

may his hesed love.

That's what it means,

it says,

translated here is kindly.

And even though the Lord

isn't the Lord of Moab,

she has this remarkable insight

that somehow or another

the Lord,

Yahweh,

is in fact also God in Moab.

And may the God

that is the true God,

may his relationship

be loyal,

steadfast,

unfailing love

and kindness

and goodness

and favor to you.

So it's actually

quite a remarkable thing

to pronounce this blessing

and to take this cut

to our own health

and prosperity

and it's quite remarkable.

But they react to it

by weeping.

They react to it

by weeping.

So how do they respond?

They said in verse 10,

and they said to her,

that's Ruth and Orpah,

they said,

no,

we will return with you

to your people.

But Naomi said,

turn back,

turn back,

my daughters.

Why will you go with me?

What we see here

is she's going to give

a bit of a reality check.

Okay?

Okay, right now

we're having a fun time

around the campfire,

me and the two of you

and we're all talking

about old times

and eating a little bit

of hummus

and some tabbouleh

and I don't know,

maybe got some goat

or something like that.

We're having a great old time

around the campfire.

This is reality check time.

Okay?

Girls,

you know,

in a sense she says,

women,

this is reality check time.

Verse 11,

turn back,

my daughters.

Why will you go with me?

Have I yet sons in my womb

that they may become

your husbands?

Turn back,

my daughters.

Go your way,

for I am too old

to have a husband.

If I should say,

I have hope.

Even if I should have

a husband this night

and conceive that night

and bear sons,

would you therefore

wait till they are grown?

Would you therefore

refrain from marrying?

No,

my daughters,

for it is exceedingly

bitter to me

for your sake

that the hand of the Lord

has gone out against me.

Now just pause here

for a second.

This is a really

important pause here.

Remember I said

this is a story

that we have expectations,

we have dreams,

we have hopes,

we have desires

and they always

go like this.

Her reality

is way,

way,

way down here

and how is she

living between

reality and hope?

And at first

it looked like

she is super Christian,

super godly,

profound insight

about the nature

of God,

way ahead of her culture,

way,

way ahead of her culture

and her time

and completely

and utterly

self-sacrificial

but now we see

a different side

to her,

don't we?

I mean she,

on one hand

she's still

being sacrificial,

she gives them

all a reality check

but look at

verse 13 again,

the last few verses,

words,

know my daughter,

it is exceedingly

bitter

to me

that the hand

of the Lord

has gone out

against me.

my life sucks

because the Lord

has done this

to me.

That's why

my life sucks.

The Lord

is the one

who's done this

and I am filled

with bitterness.

I'm filled

with bitterness.

It's a lament.

Now we're going

to return to this

in a second.

We need to see

how is it

that the women

respond

to this

lament,

her blaming God

and her desire

that they leave home.

Well,

verse 14 tells us,

then they lifted up

their voices

and wept again

and Orpah

kissed her mother-in-law

but Ruth

clung to her

and

she said

in verse 15,

Naomi says,

Ruth,

see your sister-in-law

has gone back

to her people

and to her gods.

Return

after your sister-in-law

and we'll pause

in a moment here.

We'll say in a moment

what it is

that

how Ruth's

going to respond

to this

but we see

that

Orpah

takes her advice

and leaves

and Ruth

clings to her

and this is also

a bit of a technical word.

It's a covenant word.

If you go back

and you read

the early part

of the book

of Genesis

in Genesis chapter 2

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

when Adam and Eve

in a sense

get married by God

it says

that a man

shall

cleave

or cling

or be connected

to his wife

and that's the exact

same word here.

It's not a sexual word.

It's not talking

about them entering

into a lesbian relationship.

It's

non-sexual

but it's not

that she physically

actually holds

on to her.

she might be

but it's more

than that.

She says

one moment

Orpah's leaving

I am actually

going to commit

myself to you

in a way

which is really

really deep.

I am going to

reject my mother's house

I'm going to

reject my tribal

backgrounds

I'm going to

reject my dreams

I'm going to

reject my hopes

and I want to

cling to you.

I mean

Ruth would have

had dreams

and hopes

and expectations

like that.

Many of us

who are here

have struggled

with the fact

that they'd love

to have children

and can't have them

or can only have one

and Ruth would have

had all those

desires

and now

she's going to

leave and go

to a foreign

people

to a foreign

land

she's going to

leave her God

she's going to

leave her religion

she's going to

leave her understanding

of the world

and she says

I want to

cling to an

old

bitter

woman

with no hope

and that's why

Naomi says

in verse 15

see your sister-in-law

has gone back

to her people

and to her God's

return after your

sister-in-law

and in these

verses 16 to 17

are some of the

most beautiful

words in the

entire Bible

they really are

and we'll look

at them again

more in a moment

but just listen

to these words

but Ruth said

to her

to Naomi

do not urge

me to leave

you

or to return

from following

you

for where

you go

I will go

and where

you lodge

I will lodge

your people

shall be my

people

and your God

my God

where you die

I will die

and there

will I be

buried

may the Lord

do so to me

and more also

if anything

but death

parts me

from you

and when Naomi

saw that she

was determined

to go with her

she said no more

it's a very

very powerful

thing

look at those

just those

verses again

we're going to

talk about it

a little bit

more in a moment

the full

implication of it

but Ruth says

do not urge

me

verse 16

to leave you

or to return

from following you

for where you

go I will go

and where you

lodge I will

lodge

and if you

look at it

later on

in your own

Bibles

and you write

it out

there's five

sentences

and the five

sentences

it actually

has a particular

form in the

original language

and for grammar

geeks it goes

A B C

then B

with a little

you know

apostrophe

and C

with an apostrophe

and the very

very center

of this

powerful phrase

is your people

shall be my

people

your God

my God

and then

she emphasizes

this

that she's

completely

and utterly

casting herself

upon God

by emphasizing

that when you

die

I'm not going

to go back

to Moab

when you die

I'm going to

stay where you

are

I'm going to

stay with

your people

I'm going to

stay with

your God

even after

you die

I have no

exit plan

I have no

plan B

even after

you die

I will stay

there

and then

in the original

language

it's obvious

that she in a

sense

invokes a

covenant

she in a

sense

says

in a sense

if I

depart from

this

well

God

should do

whatever

he should

the Lord

should do

whatever

he needs

to do

with me

if I

if I

abandon

this

plan

I will

never

abandon

or forsake

or leave

you

I will

never

do

that

I have

no

exit

plan

it's

almost

unheard

of

in the

year

1100 BC

this is

a

conversion

it's

unheard

of

in

1100 BC

unheard

of

well

does this

comfort

Naomi

does it

sort of

bring her

some

relief

between

her

hopes

and

expectations

and

the

reality

is it

some

hope

for her

to

live

in

that

in

between

area

between

these

two

things

does it

comfort

her

from

her

accusations

and

her

bitterness

and her

complaints

against

God

no

actually

Naomi

accepts

what

Ruth

says

but

the

bitterness

and the

hardness

of living

in the

desert

continues

look at

what

happens

in

verse

19

so the

two

of them

went on

until they

come to

Bethlehem

and when

they

came to

Bethlehem

the

whole

town

was

stirred

because

of

them

it's

the

talk

of

the

town

and the

woman

said

is this

Naomi

and the

reason

in the

original

language

the reason

they have

to say

it is

this

the

ten

plus

years

she's

been

gone

have

not

been

kind

to

her

she

looks

old

and

worn

down

and

beat

up

so

much

so

that

when

they

say

is

this

Naomi

they're

actually

saying

looks

and

was

healthy

and

young

and

full

of

hopes

and

dreams

and

now

she's

hunched

and

bent

over

and

wrinkly

and

crabby

and

bitter

looking

and

I'm

not

even

sure

if

it's

the

same

person

in

verse

20

Naomi

says

to

them

do

not

call

me

Naomi

which

means

pleasant

call

me

Mara

which

means

bitter

for

why

listen

to what

she

says

four

different

things

why

should

you

call

me

bitter

the

almighty

has

dealt

very

bitterly

with

me

God

has

dealt

he's

almighty

who

knows

what

he

could

have

done

with

my

dreams

and

my

hopes

and

my

long

but

he

has

dealt

very

bitterly

with

me

verse

21

I

went

away

full

and

the

Lord

Yahweh

he

brought

me

back

empty

why

call

me

pleasant

when

the

Lord

has

testified

against

me

in

other

words

he's

the

judge

he's

the

witness

against

me

he's

the

prosecution

I

have

no

defense

attorney

and

he's

found

me

guilty

for

some

particular

reason

and

what

on

earth

can

I

do

against

him

and

the

almighty

has

brought

calamity

upon

me

they're

not

going

to

turn

this

into

a

praise

song

what

can

I

say

it

is

filled

it's

a

lament

and

filled

with

bitterness

now

there's

lots

of

irony

here

so

Naomi

returned

and

Ruth

the

Moabite

they

remind

you

once

again

that

Ruth

is

in

fact

a

Moabite

her

daughter

in

law

with

her

they

returned

from

the

country

of

Moab

once

again

emphasizing

that

Ruth

is

from

Moab

and

for

a

harvest

but

just

as

all

the

harvest

is

about

to

come

in

so

what

do

we

make

and

what

do

we

think

about

this

to

try

to

try

to

try

in

terms

of

a

bit

of

the

content

well

you know

some of

you might

say

okay

wow

wow

wow

Naomi

just

blames

God

for

everything

and

just

imagine

if

you

were

there

you're

the

Christian

counselor

and

you

have

to

sit

with

Naomi

you're

her

small

group

leader

you know

you're

her

mentor

you're

her

friend

and

like

what

would

you

do

here's

the

first

thing

which

is

very

remarkable

could

you

put

up

the

first

point

please

rather

than

erasing

Naomi's

lament

the

Lord

has

recorded

it

in

the

Bible

for

you

to

know

and

for

me

just

think

about

that

for

a

second

nothing

in

this

story

God

doesn't

say

whoa

whoa

whoa

whoa

whoa

whoa

whoa

pipsqueak

Naomi

like

I

didn't

tell

you

to

leave

and

go

to

the

enemies

I

didn't

tell

you

to

leave

the

promised

land

and

whoa

whoa

whoa

whoa

like

why

are

you

blaming

me

for

this

and

there's

no

sort

of

very

wise

smart

Christian

counselor

that

comes

up

and

immediately

starts

to

say

well

you

know

you

should

think

about

this

and

you

should

think

about

this

and

if

you

reframe

this

and

have

some

healing

of

memories

here

and

maybe

there's

some

intergenerational

healing

you need

no

and

it

isn't

as if

God

says

whoa

boy

I

better

make

sure

nobody

ever

finds

out

about

these

complaints

for

those

of

us

with

a

high

view

of

the

Bible

and

I

have

a

high

view

of

the

Bible

because

Jesus

has

a

high

view

of

the

Bible

that's

why

I

have

a

high

view

of

the

Bible

even

though

in

contemporary

Canadian

culture

it makes

me

sound

like

I'm

a

like

a

knuckle

dragging

fundamentalist

with

an IQ

of a

turnip

I

believe

the

Bible

is

God's

word

written

because

that's

what

Jesus

tells

me

to

believe

and

he's

the

one

who

conquered

sin

and

death

and

rose

triumphant

and so

I

believe

him

but

if

you

have

a

high

view

of

the

Bible

we