Ruth Week 2 • Ruth 1

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Thanks for listening.

Well, good morning.

Glad that you guys, excuse me, are with us today.

If you've got your Bibles with you, going to open them up to Ruth chapter 1

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

is where we are going to be.

As you turn there, it's the first Sunday of the month,

and so we'll be taking the Lord's Supper together at the very end of the service together this morning.

And so if you didn't grab your elements as you came in, please take the time now.

Head back to the back.

You can grab some of those for those that came with you.

And like I said, we'll give some instructions for those as we get there.

Well, I'm excited that we are now fully into, we're going to be going verse by verse through the book of Ruth over the next several weeks.

Last week, we kind of did an introduction where we kind of hit some of the themes that we're going to work through.

And then this morning, as we just sang that song, it's a reminder of one of our themes that we're going to go through.

And so before we get to where we're going, I want us to kind of preface it with a little bit through the words of Jesus.

And so I'm going to read to you out of Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

I want to read several verses as Jesus is teaching, and he says this.

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, and it fell.

And great was the fall of it.

I read that passage to you before we get into Ruth this morning, because I feel like there's this tension in the lives of those who profess themselves and call themselves to be believers and followers of Jesus Christ.

And that for so many of us, where we come to is a conditional faith.

I'm standing there thinking about this morning.

I've been in ministry now for, whew, 21 years of my life.

And as I've walked through ministry, what I see so often in the lives of people who profess themselves to be believers,

is that when the rain comes, when the winds blow, when the floods rise, they check out.

When they walk away, they desert.

When we look at this passage of Scripture, there's the wise and the foolish.

Different outcomes happen in their life.

But the same thing happens to both of them.

The storms come.

Oftentimes, a garbage that is taught from pulpits, that's embraced by many believers,

is that when we give our lives to the Lord, our lives become easy.

If we're faithful to the Lord, then our lives will always be pleasant.

That if we're truly devoted followers of Jesus Christ, then what comes our way is prosperity in its many different forms.

But Jesus doesn't say that.

The Bible doesn't say that.

And what we're going to get into, Ruth, over the next four weeks, definitely doesn't lead us there.

That the storms come.

The rain falls.

The wind beats.

The flood rises.

And what matters is the foundation.

What matters is where our faith is rooted in.

You see, it doesn't take away the storm, but it lets us press on through the storm.

Right?

And so as we look at this, as we look at Ruth, like, it's going to cause us to wrestle with how we view ourselves.

It's going to wrestle with how we view our lives.

And I'm going to be honest with you.

It's going to wrestle with how we view the Lord.

And we're going to see his faithfulness.

So let's start reading Ruth chapter 1, starting in verse 1.

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

Read verses 1 through 5.

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.

And the name of the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi.

And the names of his two sons were Malan and Chilion, and they were Ephratites from Bethlehem and Judah.

They went into the country of Moab and remained there.

But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died.

She was left with her two sons.

These took Moabite wives.

The names of one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth.

They lived there about ten years.

And both Malan and Chilion died.

So that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Let's pause there for a few moments.

Well, these first five verses kind of set a tone.

And I think we could all agree as we read through this, it's not a good tone.

But I want to remind us what we're going to see, what we're going to experience,

and what we're going to walk through over these four chapters.

That even when the beginning of this tone isn't good,

we can be reminded of the faithfulness and providence of God, both in and through sorrow.

That what we're going to see in here is that even though we're in sorrow,

even though we're going through sorrow,

like we can all yes and amen,

and we're going to understand a little bit more of what's happening here in these first five verses.

None of us are signing up for this intentionally.

None of us desire this.

But what we will see is the faithfulness and the providence of God,

both in the sorrow and through the sorrow.

So let's look at a handful of things from these five verses

that help us understand exactly what is happening in this story.

Well, the first verse tells us that the story of Ruth happens during the time of the Judges.

Now, the book of Judges is the book right before this.

And if you want to read through this in your quiet time,

I would encourage you to do so as we journey through this.

But the book of Judges largely is a time of failure for the people of Israel, for God's people.

And as you read through the book of Judges, you will see a pattern that unfolds.

And here is the pattern in simple terms.

God's people sin,

And then God in his justice gives them over to an enemy.

And this nation, this people, rules over God's people.

And then eventually, God's people cry out to him to save them.

And so God in his justice has turned them over.

And now God in his mercy raises up a judge who delivers them and saves them.

And if you've read through Judges,

and I was thinking, I think it was a couple of years ago that we walked through that together as a church

where we looked at the different judges that God sends.

What you see is that there's a season of peace

until God's people fall into a pattern of sin.

And then the process starts all over again, right?

It honestly feels like doing laundry at my house, you know?

Like, y'all know that feeling when all the hampers are empty

except for the clothes that you're wearing, right?

That's the only dirty thing.

And then the next day, it's filled up and overflowing again, right?

Like, how did we get back here, right?

Like, this feels like God's people, right?

Just coming over and over and over again.

So as we read through this,

we'll know that this is the pattern that we're going to see

and that we're going to experience in the people.

But then also that it tells us that there was a famine in the land, all right?

I laughed at myself this morning because I thought of this.

Erin will laugh at me as well because she knows that I do stuff like this.

So a few months ago, we realized that we needed pasta, all right?

We needed spaghetti pasta.

And I didn't care.

Angel hair pasta, thin pasta, thick spaghetti pasta.

It didn't matter.

We needed like a box of pasta.

And so I go to the grocery store to get pasta.

And I couldn't find it.

I could find elbow macaroni.

They had the multicolored corkscrew stuff.

They had the lasagna.

They had gluten-free but not going there, right?

But no spaghetti.

And I panicked.

I panicked.

And I went to three different grocery stores.

No spaghetti, no spaghetti, no spaghetti, no spaghetti, right?

And then I went to another grocery store and I found spaghetti.

And I bought 12 pounds of it.

Now, not my greatest moment, right?

Erin's nodding her head, right?

She's like, yep, that's my husband, right?

But that's what we do, right?

In South Carolina, it's going to get below 40 degrees with a slight chance of rain

and try to find milk or bread at the store, right?

It's gone.

It's gone, right?

Now, we live through moments of inconvenience in where we live.

No greater struggle than not being able to find spaghetti, right?

But they're going through famine.

They're going through famine.

There's discussions in the Bible, and we can see things in different areas,

even in the world in which we live, where famine means death.

There's no food to eat, and the people die.

And we see from the very beginning on of this story

that that's the dynamic that Naomi and her family,

where they find themselves.

And this is going to be an important piece.

That Naomi, I believe, as she's walking through this,

Naomi, who is living in the time of the judges,

we don't exactly know when in that period of Israel's history that we find Naomi,

but she knows the patterns, and she knows God's Word.

In Leviticus 26, and I apologize, it's not on the screen,

verses 3 and 4, God says,

if you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,

then I will give you your rains in their season,

and the land shall yield its increase,

and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Naomi knows who's bringing on the famine.

You see, part of this story of what we're walking through

is Naomi knows that she's going through these difficulties of what's there.

She knows where the difficulties are coming from.

The difficulties are coming from the Lord.

And so from the very beginning,

Naomi's going to struggle and wrestle with this.

And we wrestle with this as well.

That even though things are bad, God is still in control.

And that God even causes and uses things that we think are bad

to draw us to Him and to grow our faith.

You see, God uses storms and rain and wind and floods

to bring those into our life,

to draw us closer to Him,

to build our faith in Him,

and to lay our roots in who He is.

Our God is a God who both manages calamity

and manages the rescue from it as well.

We've got to understand this as we read through Ruth.

That this is the tension that we're going to see,

the tension that we're going to feel.

It's what they've experienced and judges, right?

It continues on.

So things are bad.

So Naomi, with all of her family, they go to Moab.

Now God has said,

stay away from places like Moab.

And I want to talk about what some people think

and what we believe and what we feel like Scripture points to.

Some people have used this as a racial dynamic.

God says,

do not go to Moab because of the mixing of the races that could exist.

But it's not a race issue that we see.

It's a religious matter.

You see,

Moabs were pagan in a common practice with God's people

where they were holy and set apart,

but yet they continue to intermarry within those that were pagans.

And what would continually happen more times than not

is those who were followers of the Lord

would bring in the concepts of the pagans, right?

It's what we saw as we walked through our series in 1 Corinthians

of we're to be different.

We're to be set apart.

And so God says,

don't go there.

Don't do this.

And so as we're building through these first several things here,

right, things are bad for Naomi.

There's this great famine in her homeland.

They're fleeing to a foreign country that says,

God says, don't go.

But then things get worse.

If you feel like famine isn't bad enough,

packing up and going to the land you're not supposed to go to

as if it isn't bad enough.

And when they get there,

things get worse.

Elimelech, her husband's die.

Her sons marry women.

Now we're going to see the redemption in this,

but in this for Naomi in the beginning,

her sons marry daughters that culturally

they're not supposed to marry.

Her sons die,

and there's no children,

no more of her own,

and none of theirs.

And this happens

over the course of 10 years.

You're talking about like a difficult stretch to go through.

Like we're not talking about a bad weekend.

We're not talking about a bad week.

We're not talking about a bad year.

We're not even talking about a bad season.

We're talking about a bad decade.

And we're time and time again,

what we see in the life of Naomi.

Now,

now if the story ended here,

five verses in,

right?

Then there isn't much hope for the story.

But,

but the life of Naomi,

what we see in the book of Ruth,

is the reminder of the faithfulness

and the providence of God

in and through sorrow.

And it's beginning the framework

of the storm.

It's given us the framework

of the flood

so that we can see all

that God is going to do.

let's,

let's talk about this life.

Let's talk about your life.

Let's talk about my life.

Now,

if we use comparisons,

I would agree

that the events of life

are seemingly easier

for some than others,

right?

Like we can all see that.

We can see people

who we feel like in their life,

they've got it a little bit easier than us.

And we see

and we look at other people's

whose lives

and we recognize

that we have it

a little easier than them.

But the truth of life is this.

Life is hard for everyone.

All of us

go through these battles,

whether you're a believer or not.

All of us walk through

moments and days

and weeks

and seasons

and years of difficulty.

All of us walk through

and experience that.

And what we have to glean to

is us as believers

who are to be different

in this world

is this.

Do we trust

who God is

during all of the seasons

of life?

During all of the decades

of life?

During all of the years

of life?

Or

the moment the wind blows,

the moment the rain falls,

the moment the flood rise,

we go,

now I'm out.

I'm out.

who are we going to be?

And so do we trust God

but then also,

and this is the part

that we're going to begin

to see

in Ruth herself,

do we live

as one who trusts God

in all seasons?

Do we live

as the one who trusts God

in all seasons?

Like it's very easy

for us to say,

I trust the Lord.

But is that the marking

of our life?

Is it the tangible evidence

of who we are

and what is there,

right?

And so Naomi

is a woman

who is honest

about her life.

This is what I appreciate

about her.

She is honest

about her life

and where she is

with the Lord,

right?

She doesn't sugarcoat it,

right?

So let's look at

what happens

in verse 6.

It says,

and 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 Naomi hears

that 10 years later,

right?

The famine is over.

So go to verse 7.

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 your mother's house

that may the Lord

deal kindly with you

as you have dealt

with the dead

and with me.

Then the Lord grant you

that you may find rest

each of you

in the house

of her husband.

And then she kissed them

and they lifted up

their voices

and wept.

So let's kind of pause

for a second.

Not out of anger

to her daughters-in-law.

Not out of spite.

Naomi's not looking at them

in anger

but out of love

she looks at Ruth.

She looks at Orpah

and says

like your lives

will be better

if you stay here.

So go have a family.

Go find new husbands.

Go be with your family

and kind of look

at this day

as a do-over.

A restart.

A refresh

from where you've been

and where I have to go.

In verse 10

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 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 till they were 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.

And so what I want us

to look at here

is the reality

of misery

in the life

of a believer.

You have some things

that Naomi

is working with here.

We're going to see

the faith

we're going to see

the belief

we're going to see

all of these things

from Naomi

but the reality

is where she

finds herself

in this moment

is stuck in misery.

She's down

she's depressed

she feels lost

and abandoned

and I don't know

about you

but have you ever

felt like

everybody

just get away

from me

because everything

I touch

just falls apart.

And Naomi

in the midst

of her depression

in the midst

of where she

finds herself

this is what

she says

just stay

away

go

my daughters

go away

from me

and we see

the misery

of Naomi.

In spite of all

that Naomi

has experienced

in her walk

with the Lord

in spite of all

that she has

walked through

in the past.

She knows

the story

of the exodus.

She knows

God's faithfulness.

She knows

who he is.

She knows

what he can do

in spite of

all of that.

She knows

his mercy.

She knows

his faithfulness.

She knows

his miracles.

She knows

his promises.

She knows

his deliverance.

She can't

see beyond

the last

ten years

of her life.

She finds

herself stuck

there.

The stories

of the

chapters

of who

God is

are not

what's

fresh

and it's

the reality

that she's

lived in

to go away.

And I think

it's important

for us to

remember

that when

times of

struggle

in our

lives

come

it doesn't

change

who God

is

but the

times that

we face

can change

what we

remember

about him

and how

we see

him.

Right?

As somebody

that's walked

through their

own battles

with depression

and anxiety

and the

frustrations

of this

life

who's felt

lost and

abandoned

and cast

out

who's felt

like he's

being punished

for the

things that

have been

done

like trust

me

you can

walk

through

the times

of struggle

and it

begin to

affect

all that

you know

all that

you've

been taught

all that

you've

walked

through

but it

can change

what we

remember

about God

and how

we see

him.

And that's

where we

find Naomi

and so

what we

see in

her

in this

is the

perception

of hope

lost.

Naomi thinks

like it's

done

there's no

hope for

my life

there's no

future for

my life

and if

you come

with me

then there's

no hope

there's no

future for

you as

well

because hope

for Naomi

would be

found

in the

sun

and her

husband

is

gone

her

sons

are

gone

she

has

no

other

sons

there's

no

grandsons

there's

no hope

in the

future

for that

and so

in that

her

protection

her

safety

her means

to provide

for herself

they're

all

gone

and it

may seem

weird

for us

but we

talked last

week a little

bit about a

Jewish custom

that I want

to bring

back up

this week

known as

the kinsman

redeemer

and here

was the

custom

a little

bit more

fleshed

out

and we'll

look at

a little

bit more

in a couple

weeks

but the

custom

said that

if a

man

died

then his

brothers

or a

close

family

member

was

supposed

to marry

the widow

in order

to preserve

the name

of the dead

man

and to care

for her

so when

Naomi

says to

her daughters

like your

sons are

dead

and I

have no

more

sons

what she's

saying is

there's no

hope for

you in

marriage

so you're

going to be

right where

I am

with just

more years

to live

through it

and I say

it's the

perception

because Naomi's

depression

where she

is has

driven her

and she's

forgotten

about the

Lord

she's

forgotten

about the

options

she's

forgotten

about what

God can

do

she's

forgotten

about

Boaz

of what

we're

going to

see

and so

many times

I find

in the

life of

a believer

that when

we're

walking

through

this

seasons

the

reality

of what

is truth

before us

creates

within

us

a misleading

perception

that hope

is gone

and so we

live our

lives

claiming

to

trust

claiming

to

know

all

of

who

God

is

but

with

the

same

mindset

as

Naomi

look at

verse

14

then

they

lifted up

their

voices

and

wept

again

and

Orpah

kissed

her

mother-in-law

I love

these words

but Ruth

clung to

her

and she

said

see

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

so where

you go

I will

go

and where

you lodge

I will

lodge

your people

shall be

my people

and my

God

your 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

parts

me

from

you

and

where

we

see

in

this

moment

is

Ruth's

faithfulness

we talked

about this

last week

and just

a little

precursor

before we

get into

this

it's

the

continual

reminder

that

God

is

the

hero

of

the

story

God

is

the

hero

of

the

story

God

is

going

to

do

a

work

in

Naomi

God

is

doing

a

work

through

Ruth

God

is

going

to

paint

a

picture

in

the

life

of

Boaz

and

all

that

we're

going

to

see

but

the

hero

of

the

story

is

the

Lord

and

what

we're

going

to

see

as we

break

down

as we

look

through

this

covenant

relationship

that

Ruth

forms

with

Naomi

here

in

this

moment

it's

going

to

remind

us

of

the

covenant

relationship

of

what

God

has

with

us

so

let's

look

at

Ruth's

faithfulness

she

says

to

Naomi

I'm

willing

to

leave

my

family

she

says

if

you're

going

I'm

going

with

you

there's

no

turning

back

she

embraces

in

this

moment

widowhood

and

childlessness

forever

she

knows

or

believes

that

there's

no

option

for

marriage

for

her

and

she

knows

or

believes

that

there's

no

opportunity

for

her

to

have

a

child

and

she

says

this

where

you

die

I

will

die

Ruth's

faithfulness

goes

beyond

the

death

of

her

mother

in

law

it's

not

even

well

I'll

go

with

you

and

when

you

die

then

I'll

come

back

no

the

faithfulness

of

what

she

has

she

says

when

you

die

there

I'll

die

too

and

your

family

will

be

my

family

forever

and

then

the

beauty

and

the

hope

of

this

Naomi

had

told

Orpah

to

go

back

to

her

little

g

gods

but

Ruth

says

but

my

faith

is

in

your

God

in

spite

of

all

that

we've

gone

through

in

spite

of

all

that

we've

experienced

in

spite

of

all

of

the

death

and

pain

and

in

spite

of

what

no

longer

what

we

can

understand

of

what

awaits

us

when

we

return

my

faith

is

in

your

God

look at

verse

18

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

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

upon

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

in this

passage

Naomi

gets a

couple

things

right

she

gets a

couple

things

right

number

one

she

acknowledges

God

exists

this

is an

important

part

for us

to

understand

there's

not a

moment

in here

where

she

denies

the

existence

and the

power

and the

nature

of God

she

understands

that

in the

midst

of all

that's

happened

to her

over

the

last

10

years

that

God

is

God

and

that

he

exists

and

then

the

second

thing

that

she

acknowledges

that

she

gets

right

is

God

did

not

spare

her

God

didn't

spare

her

her

husband

died

she

walked

through

famine

she

wandered

into a

foreign

land

her

sons

died

and now

in the

perception

of where

she goes

forward

it's her

and her

daughter-in-law

and she's

showing back

up into

her hometown

with everybody

else

that I'm

sure is

running around

with their

kids and

their grandkids

and everybody's

looking at her

and seeing

and she

sees

the

prosperity

of what

everybody else

is experiencing

what everybody else

is going

through

and I don't

know

but I feel

like we're

probably a

little bit

like Naomi

and she's

probably

thinking

well I'm

better

I'm

better

than

them

then why

do I

find

myself

where I

am

now

she

says

because

God

had

his

sovereignty

he

didn't

spare

but here's

what she

gets wrong

here

in this

she's

receptive

to

bitterness

she

changes

her name

and name

changes

are big

in scripture

you see

Naomi

means

pleasantness

right

it's a

beautiful

name

right

like

pleasantness

within

there

so she

left

that's

who

she

was

but now

she

returns

and she's

not pleasant

anymore

she's

now

Mara

which

means

bitterness

and so

she left

as one

who's

pleasant

and she

returns

as one

who's

bitter

and that's

going to be

the tension

that we

see

and that

we

experience

now

we've

seen

from

Ruth

what

Ruth

does

and now

we've

seen

through

Naomi

what

Naomi

does

and what

we

glean

from

who

both

of

them

have

walked

through

this

season

both

of

them

have

walked

through

these

battles

both

of

them

have

walked

through

these

struggles

but what

we find

in Ruth

is

freedom

and what

we find

in Naomi

is

misery

so I

want you

to think

through

as you

walk

through

these

things

of life

what

are we

identifying

with

what are we

drawing

toward

the freedom

of Ruth

or the

misery

of

Naomi

they both

in essence

have the

same life

ahead

they've

both been

dealt

the same

hand of

cards

what they

know

awaits

both of

them

without

husbands

without

sons

which means

life

without

care

and security

and hope

but

Ruth

chooses

freedom

and

chooses

faithfulness

and she

grows

but

Naomi

chooses

bitterness

and

victimhood

and it's

what defines

her

and what

marks

her

you know

God

gives you

and I

a lot

of freedom

to make

choices

but so

much of

what happens

in our

life

is out

of our

control

amen

I can't

control

my wife

my kids

you

right

my neighbors

my co-workers

right

we can't

control

we think

we can

we have

this false

facade

of hope

but we

can't even

control

things within

our lives

right

we can't

even control

things that

are happening

within us

right

who here

can control

the weather

the family

they were

born into

the natural

gifts that

they were

given

it was funny

Joanne said

to me this

morning

sorry Joanne

she said

how about

I preach

and you

sing

right

and I

appreciate

that

right

and here's

what I

believe

like

I can

sign up

for lessons

to sing

and it

might

improve

but it

ain't

gonna be

good

you know

it

ain't

gonna be

good

at any

point

in time

right

I

can't

control

that

this is

the voice

I was

given

right

we can't

control

but what

God

understand

what we

understand

about the

Lord

is that

he's in

control

and here's

what we

begin to

see and

understand

we

control

how we

respond

to it

we

control

what we

go through

you see

Naomi forgot

about the

years of

faithfulness

of God

because of

the last

10 years

of struggle

now I

feel like

so many

times in

my life

I'll give

her credit

for the

10 years

I feel

like sometimes

I forget

about the

years of

faithfulness

of God

because of

the last

10 minutes

right

the last

10 seconds

in that

last

moment

but where

God

is

and so

my prayer

as we

wrap this

up here

my prayer

for us

this morning

is we're

going to

go through

and we're

going to

look at

these

chapters

in this

study

my prayer

for you

this morning

is this

that no

matter where

you find

yourself

right now

no matter

where you

feel like

this life

has been

led

and where

you are

in it

no matter

the choices

you feel

like you've

made to

get you

where you

are

or the

choices

that you

didn't

make to

get you

where you

are

that we

can trust

in the

faithfulness

and the

providence

of God

that we

know that

in all

of it

that God's

working

and what

God's

doing

and when

we find

ourselves

in a

moment

in a

day

in a

season

in a

decade

of

misery