God's People Reflect God's Character, Pt. 1

We are going to spend this Sunday and the next two Sundays working through the book of Ruth in a three-part series.

It's one book, and I'm hoping that it will be one sermon with three parts, and they all connect together.

I'm really excited about it because I love the stories of the Old Testament.

They are so interesting and attention-grabbing,

and then they just sneak up on you with these powerful images of who God is

and how he relates to his people and how his people are supposed to relate to him.

The book of Ruth is a really popular book.

It's fairly short. It's only four chapters long.

There are a limited number of characters and a fairly simple plot.

Interestingly, it's one of the few books of the Bible that is focused on women.

Another reason I think people like it, I don't want to spoil anything here,

but the people in this story are all good.

It's one of those books where everyone is a good guy.

It's very easy to relate to them and root for them.

In this book, we don't read about kings.

We don't read about, quote-unquote, important people.

These are just God's people in everyday life.

We're not hearing here about armies at war and great military campaigns

or prophets standing in the marketplace proclaiming the word of the Lord.

This is just a simple family in a simple rural village

in the middle of nowhere that nobody knows about.

And I think that's part of its power.

That's one of the reasons that we can relate to it

and that we appreciate it so much.

So there are four chapters in the book.

Today we're going to look at chapter one.

Next week we're going to look at chapter two.

And then the third week we're going to look at three and four together.

But it's one story, and every chapter builds in the plot toward the conclusion.

And so today we're just going to get part of the story,

and we're going to look at Ruth chapter one.

Would you turn there with me in your Bibles in Ruth chapter one?

One of my favorite works of fiction is J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

It was adapted into a film trilogy 17 years ago.

It's really hard to believe that it's been that long.

In the second film, in the two towers,

things are really starting to get dark.

The characters, Frodo and Sam,

are attempting to travel across country

to get to the fires of Mount Doom,

where they will attempt to destroy the Ring of Power.

And Frodo, who is carrying the ring,

Sam, who is with them,

and then there's this golem fellow

who's tricky and deceptive,

a thief who may or may not be their guide.

And along the way,

Frodo falls into a pool of water filled with corpses.

And when they arrive at the enemy gates,

they're almost captured and killed by these hideous orcs.

And they wander through enemy territory,

hungry and isolated and exhausted,

and their hope is dwindling.

And the ring is constantly pulling at Frodo.

It's constantly tempting him and wearing him down,

and there are these hideous, screaming beasts in the air

who attack them, and they keep hiding,

and barely escaping with their lives.

And finally, exhausted and broken and filthy,

Frodo turns to Sam,

and he says,

I just, I don't think I can do this.

And Sam says,

a speech,

probably one of my favorite speeches in the whole trilogy,

he says,

I know, it's all wrong.

By rights, we shouldn't even be here.

But we are.

It's like in the great stories,

Mr. Frodo,

the ones that really mattered.

Full of darkness and danger they were,

and sometimes you didn't want to know the end.

Because how could the end be happy?

How could the world go back to the way it was

when so much bad had happened?

But in the end,

a new day will come,

and when the sun shines,

it will shine out the clearer.

Folk in those stories kept going

because they were holding on to something.

And Frodo says,

what are we holding on to, Sam?

And Sam says,

that there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo,

and it's worth fighting for.

It's an inspiring speech,

but there's one thing that Sam didn't get to

in that speech.

There's one thing that we're left to sort of

fill in the blanks for ourselves,

and that is,

what is the good?

What kind of values

drive our decisions

and our life experiences?

When life is dark and difficult,

that's when our true value and characters come out.

What is there as a compass for us?

What is the basis of the decisions that we make?

Especially when things become hard and difficult.

We all want there to be good in the world

and in our lives.

We want to be good.

We want to experience the good.

But where does that come from?

Let's look at Ruth 1 together.

We'll read it.

We'll read it together,

then we'll talk through it,

and then we'll draw some conclusions.

It says this,

And the days when the judges ruled,

there was a famine in the land,

and a man from Bethlehem in Judah

went 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 Machlon and Kilion.

They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah.

They went into the country of Moab

and remained there,

but Elimelech, the husband of Naomi,

died, and she was left with her two sons.

These took Moabite wives.

The name of the one was Orpah,

and the name of the other Ruth.

And they lived there about ten years,

and both Machlon and Kilion died,

so that the woman was left

without her two sons and her husband.

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law

to return from the country of Moab,

for she had heard in the field 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,

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,

each of you, in the house of her husband.

Then she kissed them,

and they lifted up their voices,

and wept.

And they said to her,

No, we will return with you to your people.

But Naomi said,

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 should bear sons,

would you therefore wait until 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.

Then they lifted up their voices

and wept again.

And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,

but Ruth clung to her.

And she said,

Look, your sister-in-law

has gone back to her people

and to her gods.

Return after your sister-in-law.

But Ruth said,

Do not urge me to leave you

or to return from following you.

For where you go

and where you lodge,

I will lodge.

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 do so to me

and more also

if anything but death

separates me from you.

And when Naomi saw

that she was determined to go with her,

she said no more.

So the two of them went on

until they came to Bethlehem.

And when they came to Bethlehem,

the whole town was stirred up

because of them.

And the women said,

Is this Naomi?

And she said to them,

Do not call me Naomi,

call me Mara,

for the Almighty

has dealt very bitterly with me.

I went away full

and the Lord has brought me back empty.

Why call me Naomi

when the Lord has testified against me

and the Almighty

has brought calamity on me?

So Naomi returned

and Ruth the Moabite,

her daughter-in-law with her,

who returned from the country of Moab

and they came to Bethlehem

at the beginning of the barley harvest.

This is the beginning of a great story.

And it's also history.

But it's not just history.

It is theological history

because it's a story

that has been presented in such a way

and given to us

to teach us about God.

It begins in verse 1 by saying,

In the days when the judges ruled.

The author begins by telling us

the names and the time

and the place of the story.

And there are some details here

that would really catch the attention

of an ancient Israelite reader.

First of all,

he says,

It was when the judges ruled.

God had brought Israel out of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

He had brought them into the land,

through the wilderness,

into the land that he had promised

way back in the Pentateuch to Abraham.

And over time,

Israel forgot what God had done

and they turned away from him.

In the period of the judges,

they turned away from him so severely

that this became one of the lowest points

in Israel's history.

It was a time of declining faith

and declining morality.

And the decline of the nation

is personified

in the various judges

that we read about in the book of Judges.

When the Canaanites invaded,

Barak was supposed to go and fight them,

but he was a coward

and he insisted that Deborah go with him.

When the Midianites invaded,

Gideon did not believe God.

Remember the story with the golden fleece?

He tested God

and then when the people

tried to make him king after his victory,

he says,

Oh no, no, no.

I won't be your king.

Only God is king.

And then he named his son Abimelech,

which means my father is king.

When the Ammonites invaded,

Jephthah made a very foolish vow

that whatever came out of his house,

he would kill as a sacrifice to the Lord.

And then when he got home from battle,

his daughter came out.

And so he killed her.

And when the Philistines had control,

God raised up Samson,

kind of the Old Testament version

of the superhero.

This guy should have been

the most powerful and potent

of all God's soldiers,

but instead,

he wastes his time

partying,

visiting prostitutes,

and in the end,

his death is a tragic waste

of all that potential

squandered on his own selfishness.

And as we go through the book of Judges,

the stories get longer

and they get more complex

and each judge is more compromised

than the one before

and the story just gets darker

and more dreary

and it's like everything's just sort of

going down the drain.

And one really interesting thing

in the book of Judges

is that as you go through the book,

there is increasing danger for women.

And that's because

when society is out of whack,

when society is going crazy

and has lost their foundations,

it's sometimes the vulnerable

who end up bearing the brunt

of the immorality.

And in chapter 11,

Jephthah kills his virgin daughter

and in chapter 15,

the Philistines burn Samson's wife alive

and in chapter 19,

the Levite's concubine is gang raped

and then cut into 12 pieces

and it starts a civil war

and then in chapter 21,

the Benjamites,

who are supposed to know better,

essentially go and kidnap

all these women

and steal the women

from their families.

It is ugly.

And the book of Judges tells us

in a repeating refrain

that in those days,

there was,

Israel had no king.

The reason I think it says that

is because the Lord

was not their king.

They just did whatever they wanted.

Whatever felt good to them

at the time,

they abused each other,

they exploited each other,

anyone who was weak

and vulnerable,

they just took advantage of them.

Just traveling from one town

to another,

you were just as likely

as not to be cut up

into pieces.

And in fact,

in the book of Judges,

the evil Canaanites,

the evil Canaanites

that are supposed to be

the ones that Israel

is purging from the land,

they stand around

and they say to each other,

what is with Israel?

They are bad.

What is with them?

And this is the setting

of the book of Ruth.

Not only that,

but there was a famine

in the land,

a severe famine

and a man from Bethlehem

thought he could do better

somewhere else

than staying in Israel

so he packed up his family

and he left Israel

and he traveled to Moab.

It raises a couple of questions.

First of all,

why did he leave Israel?

The irony is

that the name Bethlehem

in Hebrew means

house of bread.

Second,

lots of people

stayed in Israel.

We're going to see

at the end of the chapter

that when they get back,

everybody's still there.

So was it really necessary

for them to leave

in the first place?

Third,

why did they go

to Moab

of all places?

Moab was not just

a foreign country,

it was an enemy country

with assorted history.

All the way back in Genesis

after God destroyed

the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,

Lot and his daughters

escaped and went up

into the hills

and his older daughter

got him drunk

and had intercourse with him

and she gave birth

to Moab,

the ancestor

of the Moabites.

So they come from incest.

In the book of Numbers,

when Israel was traveling

to the promised land,

Moab refused

to let them pass.

And the king of Moab

hired Balaam

to curse Israel.

But when that didn't work,

the women of Moab

came out

and sexually seduced

the men of Israel

and led them

into idolatry

and it's one of the

great scandals

in Old Testament history.

So if you're an ancient Israelite

and you're reading this book

and you hear that

they went to Moab,

you just kind of get

this sickening feeling

in the pit of your stomach.

Like, Moab?

Ugh.

It represents idolatry

and all kinds

of sexual deviancy.

So the setting

of the story,

we're only in verse 1,

but the setting

of the story

sets up all kinds

of expectations

for us as a reader

because we know

how this is going to go.

Not well.

Right?

The Israelites

in this story

in the time of judges

are disobeying God

and doing whatever

is right in their own eyes.

They're raping

and killing

and dismembering

each other.

And it's in Moab

where especially

Moabite women

have this reputation

of being conniving

and idolatrous

and sexually immoral.

These are dark times

and we're just thinking,

oh boy,

this is not going

to end well.

No good is going

to come out

of any of this.

Then in verse 2,

we learn the names

of the family.

Naomi means pleasant.

That's important.

We're going to talk

about that in a bit.

Machlon in Hebrew

means something

like sickness

and Kilion in Hebrew

means something

like death.

I mean,

who would name

their sons

sickness and death?

But it's appropriate

because they die

very young

and it just sort of

adds to the sickly,

dark picture

of this family

that we're being

presented with here.

And we're not told

how Elimelech,

the husband of Naomi,

died,

but Naomi was left

a widow

without her two sons.

And those two sons

took Moabite wives.

The name of the one

was Orpah

and the name

of the other

was Ruth.

Now,

marriages to foreign

women were not

forbidden in the

Old Testament,

Testament.

But we can question

the wisdom of this.

Because Moab was

typically at war

with Israel

in the Old Testament

and the people

of Moab

were pagans

who worshipped

their own gods.

And in Deuteronomy 23.3,

it says,

that because of the

history,

no Moabite

would ever be

allowed to enter

the assembly

of the Lord

ever

because of how

they had treated

Israel.

So,

it raises a question

in my mind,

why didn't Naomi

stop her two sons

from marrying

these two Moabite

women that they,

I don't think

they should have

married?

And then there's

another clue

that this isn't

right.

Because the word

marry here

is the word

took.

they took

Moabite wives

and in Hebrew

that is a word

that is reserved

for illegitimate

marriages.

Marriages that

should not

have taken place.

It is almost

always used

in connection

with concubines

or mistresses

or taking wives

that were forbidden.

And then

it says that

they lived there

about ten years

and yet there

were no children.

There are many

couples in the Bible

that are unable

to conceive

children.

And that is

a very

sad

and heartbreaking

fact.

And it's

something that

definitely adds

to the pain

of the situation

here.

But when you

think about it,

neither of these

couples had

children for ten

years.

I think it's

possible

that there may

be something

additional going

on here.

Moses had said

in Deuteronomy

28 that those

who break his

covenant will not

be allowed to have

children.

That was a

special circumstance

in the Old

Testament in

Deuteronomy.

And it just

makes me wonder

if there's some

indicator here

of something

that was off.

In verse 5,

Naomi's two

sons, the

husbands of Ruth

and Orpah,

die, and Naomi

is left with

nothing.

I mean, this

is like the

female version

of Job.

It is hard

to be a widow.

In our society,

it's hard to be a

widow.

A widow is

alone.

A widow has

lost her social

connections.

She's lost her

companion.

It affects her

friendships.

When everyone

pairs off, she

doesn't have a

partner like she

used to.

She doesn't have

the support of

her husband.

She struggles

with loneliness.

At least in our

society, there are

often financial

safety nets.

sometimes the

husband will

have life

insurance or

there are food

stamps or other

kinds of

government

assistance.

But in the

Old Testament, a

woman who was a

widow was truly

desperate.

She had no way

of providing for

herself except

through her sons.

Because someone

has to go out

there and work in

the fields and

grow the crops to

eat.

There are no

grocery stores and

you can't get a

job somewhere.

But Naomi didn't

have any sons

because they had

died.

And so here is

Naomi with no

one except two

other widows who

are also with her.

It is a terrible,

desperate situation.

Now in verse 6,

she had heard that

there was food in

Israel, so she

decides to pack up

and travel with her

daughter-in-laws back

to Judah.

Judah.

And they're on

their way and

they're traveling on

the road toward

Judah and at some

point, Naomi starts

to think about the

situation here and

she changes her

mind.

This is really what

dominates, this

conversation is really

what dominates this

chapter.

She realizes that

there is no hope

for her daughters

back home in

Judah.

It is not in

Ruth and Orpah's

best interest to

come along.

And so she says to

them, somewhat

forcefully, go,

return each of you

to your mother's

house.

And as she says

goodbye, she

blesses them and

she says, may the

Lord deal kindly

with you as you

have dealt with

the dead and with

me.

What is this kindness

that they have

done?

Well, maybe their

faithfulness to her

in hard times.

I think perhaps the

fact that they're

returning to her

with Judah.

Returning to Judah

with her, I should

say.

They're moving to a

foreign country to

stay with her and

help take care of

her.

This word kindly or

kindness is a

really significant

theological word in

the Old Testament.

It's the Hebrew

word chesed.

And sometimes it's

translated covenant

love or something

like that.

In the passage in

Lamentations that

Brian read this

morning, it's

translated as

steadfast love,

the steadfast love

of the Lord never

ceases.

It's characteristic

of God throughout

the Old Testament

and it's built upon

his relationship with

his people.

It involves love

and mercy and

kindness and

grace and

goodness and

benevolence and

loyalty.

And because God

acts toward his

people with chesed,

because he is kind

to them and he

loves them on the

basis of his

covenant relationship,

he expects his

people in the

covenant community

to show chesed

toward each other.

And Naomi's

blessing of her

two daughters-in-law

suggests that the

Lord is interested

in chesed.

She says, may the

Lord deal chesed

with you as you

have done with me.

She hoped that

the Lord would

recognize the chesed

that they had

showed toward her

and that he would

then deal kindly

with them in

response.

And in verse

nine, she

blesses them,

hoping that they

will find new

husbands back in

Moab and that

they'll be taken

care of and

provided for.

And the dialogue

here in verse

nine is just

infused with

emotion.

She kisses

them and they

lifted up their

voices and wept.

This isn't,

this isn't, you

know, standing

around dabbing

your eye with a

little tissue.

They are, they

have lifted up

their voices.

They are wailing

and weeping,

three desperate

widows on a dusty

road on the way

to Judah.

It is a

miserable scene.

This family has

experienced so

much brokenness

and so much

pain and now

these desperate,

poor, miserable

widows are wailing

and weeping on

the road because

now they have to

separate because

there's no hope

for them at all

in the future.

Naomi says,

look, don't even,

don't even come

with me.

As bad as things

have been in

Moab, in Judah,

you will be

foreigners and

there is no

possibility of

your finding a

husband there.

That isn't going

to happen.

All they have

left is each

other and now

they have to

separate.

But the two

daughters-in-law

say, no, no,

no, we'll go

with you and

Naomi urges

them again and

says, why would

you do that?

It's a really

good question.

She's probably

right.

She's probably

right about that.

What do they

have to look

forward to in

Bethlehem,

where they

are foreigners

who have been

so traditionally

maligned by the

people of Israel?

And then Naomi

says to them,

do I have sons

in my womb

right now that

they would grow

up and be sons

for you?

Verse 12,

turn back.

I am too old

to have a husband.

Even if I should

have a husband

tonight and

conceive two sons

and bear them,

are you going to

wait until they're

grown up?

Now, it's a

ridiculous scenario,

but the point

that she's making

is quite serious.

There is no

possible way that

they are going to

find husbands in

Israel.

No one is going

to want to marry

them if they're

Moabite women.

What Naomi's point

is, is this,

the only possible

way that you are

going to have a

husband to take

care of you and

make you anything

other than desperate

when we get to

Judah is if I

bear him for you

and you wait

20 years until

he's grown up

and then you

marry him

yourself?

Or we can say

it like this,

it is more

likely that I

will have a

husband and

conceive a child

and give birth

to him and

you will wait

20 years and

marry him than

that anyone in

Israel would

ever want to

marry you.

That is not

going to happen.

So don't get

involved with me.

I am a poison

pill.

I'm like a

sinking ship.

Just get off

while you can.

Go back to

Moab.

Maybe you can

cobble together

some kind of

life back there.

Now we

shouldn't miss

here that Naomi

is actually being

very unselfish

because think of

how important it

is to her to

have that support,

to have these

daughters-in-law to

stay with her and

help provide for

her.

But she is being

unselfish and she's

saying I give you

up so that you

have some kind of

hope for the

future.

She's looking out

for their interest

and not her own.

So, maybe she's

right.

And in verse 14

they wail again

and now Orpah

realizes, yeah,

that's probably the

best thing and she

kisses Naomi goodbye

but at the same

time that Orpah is

kissing her mother-in-law

goodbye, Ruth is

just clinging to

her.

And so Naomi tries

one more time and

she encourages Ruth

to follow her

mother-in-law and

she says, look,

your sister-in-law

has gone back to

her people and to

her gods, return

after your sister-in-law.

Now, some scholars

think that this is

bad theology here,

that Naomi is

actually encouraging

Ruth to go back to

the gods of Moab.

But I think what's

happening is that

the author here is

setting up Orpah

and Ruth as a

contrast.

Orpah is providing

a foil for Ruth

and it's for this

reason, Ruth has a

decision to make.

Is she going to go

like Orpah back to

her own family and

her own home?

Or is she going to

go to Judah?

Is it going to be

Naomi's family or is

it going to be Orpah's

family?

Is it going to be

Judah or is it

going to be Moab?

Is it going to be the

gods of Moab or is

it going to be the

God of Israel?

And Ruth makes her

choice and says in

one of the most

beautiful statements in

the Bible, no.

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 I will

be buried.

May the Lord do to

me.

Here she swears.

She swears by the

Lord if anything but

death separates me from

you.

Ruth is not saying here

that Naomi is wrong.

Ruth is not saying here

to Naomi, don't worry

about it.

I'm sure things will

work out.

She's saying it's okay,

Naomi, because when you

die back in Judah of

starvation, I'll be right

there with you.

They will bury me there.

Notice she says, where

you lodge, I will lodge.

That means to kind of

camp out outside

temporarily.

She's saying, I have no

hope for a home.

I have no hope for a

husband.

I have no hope of even

living, but I'm with you.

She is turning her back

on her country.

And I believe here that

she is a believer in the

God of Israel.

She has committed herself

to the God of Israel.

She says, your God is my

God.

It's difficult to be more

clear than that.

And she says, by the

Lord, I swear it.

That is God's covenant

name.

So even though there is

no future for Ruth at

all, and even though

Naomi urges her to leave,

and even though Orpah has

already made the decision

to go home, Ruth has

decided that she is going

along with Naomi, not

for herself, but for

Naomi's sake, to take

care of her and be with

her and have a

relationship with her.

And it's startling.

Naomi has been so

unselfish in trying to

get Ruth to leave, and

now Ruth is being so

unselfish in deciding to

stay with her.

And so, verse 19, the two

of them went on until they

came to Bethlehem, and

when they came to

Bethlehem, the whole

village was just in a

tizzy, right?

They were just worked up.

Because news travels fast

in a small village, and

Naomi had been gone for

ten years, and everyone

is excited.

We can just imagine

people stopping in each

other's homes, or over at

the little market, and

saying, hey, did you hear?

Naomi is back.

She's been gone for ten

years, and she's home, and

she's got a Moabite girl

with her.

But Naomi immediately

squashes their excitement.

She is discouraged.

She's been through a lot.

She is discouraged and

depressed, and she's even

angry.

And she says to them,

don't call me Naomi.

In Hebrew, that means

pleasant.

She says, call me Mara,

which in Hebrew means

bitter.

She says, call me what I

am.

Call me Mara, for the

Almighty has dealt very

bitterly with me.

She says, this is who I am

now.

Have you ever felt that

way before?

Things have been so hard

and so dark and so broken

for so long that you just

kind of feel like this is

who I am.

This is my identity now.

Don't call me pleasant.

Call me bitter, because

that's my name, she says.

I went away full.

She can't be talking about

food, because she didn't

go away full of food.

She went away in a

famine.

I went away full with my

husband, with my sons who I

love.

And now I have come back

empty, and it's God's fault.

And so she uses two

statements in verse 21 that

kind of intensify from one

to the next.

She says, not only has the

Lord testified against me, he

has brought calamity on me.

And not only do I call him

Lord, I call him Almighty,

which is a name often in the

Old Testament that you reserve

when God is a little bit

scary.

She is angry at God.

He is the source of her

trouble, and she has

struggled and lost everything,

and she comes to the

conclusion, I guess God is

just out to get me, so call me

what I am.

You remember what Sam said to

Frodo?

Boy, do we really want to know

the end here?

I mean, this is dark stuff.

How could the end possibly be

happy?

But one thing we can say is

that in the midst of all this

darkness, these two women are

good.

They are kind to each other and

good.

And so having worked through

this story, we want to ask

ourselves, what's the point

here?

What is the message that the

author is trying to

communicate to us?

I think one of the ways that

we can identify that message

is by noticing the key

details in the story, the

most significant things that

the author wants us to note

in the story.

And here they are, I think.

Number one, these women stand

out in stark contrast to their

surrounding culture.

In verse one, the author makes

sure that we know that this

story takes place in the time

of judges in the country of

Moab.

It sets up expectations that

these are going to be horrible,

disobedient, evil people that do

whatever is right in their own

eyes.

And then that's not what happens

at all.

These two women are showing

tenderness to each other and

kindness to each other and

loyalty.

And Ruth is from Moab.

She's not a seductive, licentious

idol worshiper.

She's a faithful woman who is

sacrificing her own future to

commit herself to the God of

Israel.

It is, that's a surprise.

Second, a second key detail is

that Naomi links good character

with God's character.

In verse eight, Naomi wants the

Lord to bless Orpah and Ruth

because of their chesed, because

of their kindness.

And so she says, may the Lord

show you kindness as you have

shown the dead and to me.

This word chesed, this word

kindness only occurs three times

in the book of Ruth.

It occurs one time in chapter

one, one time in chapter two, and

one time in chapter three.

Isn't that interesting?

This is going to be the key

theological thread that we follow

through the book.

I believe it's the interpretive key

to the book.

The question here is, why does Naomi

think that God cares if Ruth shows

kindness to her?

Well, the answer is obvious.

It's because God is kind.

In other words, there's a link between

God's character and the way that his

people act.

Naomi is angry at God and hopeless, but

she still believes.

In fact, I would say that her anger at

God is proof that she believes in him.

So she tries to send her daughters-in-law

back to the family, even though she will

be alone.

And Ruth has determined that God of

Israel is her God.

So even though Orpah goes home, Ruth

swears an oath to the Lord that she

will stay with Naomi, even though it

will probably end in starvation and

death.

This kindness that they show to each

other is a reflection of their faith, and

that is the reason Naomi think that the

Lord might bless them because of it.

There is a link between the chesed of

God, the kindness of God, and the

kindness of his people.

And that, I think, is the main point of

this particular chapter.

God's people are sacrificial in their

actions toward each other because God

is sacrificial.

It's because he is sacrificial that his

followers look out for each other's

needs, even at their own expense.

It's because God is sacrificial that his

followers act differently than everyone

else in that country, in that time

period.

His character is reflected in his people, and

the way his people act is showing us

something about God's character.

We can look at the actions of Ruth and

Naomi here and say, so that's what God is

like because of that link.

And I think there are three more sort of

sub-points of application that we can take

from this.

First of all, this story reminds us that God

cares for apparently insignificant people, which

is really good news for all of us.

Ruth and Naomi are poor peasants without any

political or social connections.

They are women.

They are widows.

They don't have anything to contribute to society.

In fact, they have to be cared for by other

people.

And Ruth is an immigrant from Moab.

She's a foreigner.

She's an outsider.

She speaks with an accent.

She comes from a different people group.

Isn't it amazing that there is an entire book of the

Bible about these two women?

In our culture, there is constant pressure to network,

to connect with people that will benefit you,

to get a following on social media,

to meet the head of the company,

to have dinner with someone who can advance your vocation.

There is pressure to avoid wasting time with people that

are a drag on you and don't have anything to contribute to

your personal welfare.

But that's not how God is.

That's not how God prioritizes his concerns at all.

He doesn't need to network with anyone.

Every relationship he has is lopsided.

Every relationship that God has is about him giving to

someone else who has nothing to give to him in return.

These poor widows in the middle of nowhere,

weeping on the road, are significant to him.

And this story, as we'll get into chapter 2,

chapter 2, and 3, and 4, is about how God will care for them

in increasingly significant ways.

If you're an unimpressive person,

if you're weak,

if you don't measure up,

that's okay.

We aren't significant because we benefit God.

We are significant because God benefits us.

The second sort of sub-application, I think, that's going on here

is that God is faithful through his people.

How is it that he sacrificially cares for the people that he loves?

It's through his people.

When we say that God sacrificially cares for people,

of course we mean that he will never leave us

and that he will help us,

but that rarely comes as sort of an airdrop out of heaven.

He's not sending C-130s over,

and here come the package and the parachute.

It doesn't work that way.

He didn't provide for Naomi through a package from heaven

or even through the high priest up in Jerusalem.

It wasn't even through the local town elders.

He provided for Naomi through Ruth,

and he provided for Ruth.

Well, we'll get to that in chapter two.

There are people in our church who have given up hope,

and they're discouraged,

and they are tired of everything always turning out wrong.

And maybe when we talk to them,

they sound like Naomi,

and they just feel like,

I'm trying to follow God,

but it is not working.

Maybe they have a questionable past.

Maybe like Naomi and Ruth and that situation in Moab,

maybe there's some murkiness there,

some illegitimacy there.

That's okay.

The way that God will show faithfulness to them

and sacrificially care for them is through us.

So as a body here at Christ the King,

we won't wait for the pastors to do it.

We won't wait for the elders to do it

or the deacons to sort of jump into that situation.

It's our job, all of us.

Because that's how God will care for these people who are hurting.

We're the ones who will listen to them.

We're the ones who will hug them,

who will give them money that they need for their daily needs

on behalf of God.

And finally, the story is a good reminder

that God is faithful even when he is silent.

Did you notice in the course of this story

that God doesn't say a thing the whole time?

He doesn't say a thing.

He's there in the background.

People are talking about him,

but he has not done one thing yet.

And so from Naomi's perspective,

not only was God silent,

but he was actually working against her.

I mean, how could she not feel that way?

She had experienced one soul-crushing event

after another one.

Even though famine and sickness

and death and poverty with no hope for the future,

she calls out to God,

where are you?

And he is silent.

For 10 years, he was silent.

But one thing this book tells us,

not only in chapter 1,

but in the course of the book,

is that being silent

is not the same thing as being absent.

God has not abandoned Naomi,

even though she doesn't know it.

He is there.

First of all,

in the form of Ruth,

clinging to her and saying,

I will not let you go.

And he is also there behind the scenes,

watching, caring,

biding his time

until the moment is right

for him to step in

and redeem her.

Even though Naomi feels like

God is working against her,

we will soon find out

in just the next chapter

that he is actually working for her,

even though she doesn't know

anything about that yet.

Some of us have suffered

and experienced God's silence.

It is painful.

It is painful to struggle and suffer.

That is when we want God the most.

That's when we want some answers from him

and we want to feel that he is near.

We want to have some type of hope

that we can cling to in the future,

that God has not given up on us.

It's painful to think about the fact

that in this situation,

God could do something,

but he doesn't.

But silence is not the same thing

as absence.

God's presence doesn't always

remove our suffering,

but he is there in our suffering.

He will always know

and care

and work

in the situation

that we are going through

even though we cannot see it.

Now, Naomi is angry now,

but if she would just wait

a little longer,

then she would see

that God is at work.

In fact, there are some hints of hope

in the next two verses.

Look very quickly at verse 22.

They came to Bethlehem

at the beginning

of the barley harvest.

Oh.

So there is food.

And then in 2.1 it says,

And Naomi had a relative

of her husband's,

a worthy man

of the clan of Elimelech

whose name was Boaz.

Interesting.

Why are we told

that little detail?

Maybe God has something

even greater in mind

for Naomi and Ruth

that they don't know about yet.

But that's for next week.

We'll continue the story next week,

and for now we'll remember

that God cares for us

sacrificially,

and his people care

for each other sacrificially

in good times and in bad.

Let's pray.

Father, we know

that there are people among us,

there are people here

in this building

who are hurting.

Some of us don't have enough.

we pray that you would provide

for what they need.

Some of us are lonely.

We pray that you would comfort them

and give them friendship.

Some of us need counsel

and support

and are struggling

with what to do.

We pray, Lord,

that you would give them

wisdom and guidance.

Some of us are dealing

with physical sicknesses

and illnesses and pain.

We pray, Lord,

that you would give them

healing and grace.

And we pray

that you would do that

through us.

That we would be sensitive

to the needs of each other

and that we would reflect

your character

by sacrificially caring

for each other,

looking to the needs

of each other,

encouraging each other

in really significant ways.

You are a good God.

And you have shown yourself

to be good and kind

in the way that you care for us.

And we know that

in this book of Ruth,

you show yourself

to be an amazing,

redeeming,

kind God.

And we know that

that kindness

and even that sacrifice

was ultimately

demonstrated

in Jesus' sacrifice

on the cross

and his glorious resurrection.

We thank you

that you have saved us

from our sins

because you sacrificially

gave your son

as an atonement for us.

You are a good God

and we want to be like you.

We pray that you would

teach us your ways,

transform our hearts,

and bring glory to you

in the ways that we act

in our daily lives

in the good times

and the bad.

We pray these things

in your name.

Amen.