Returning & Turning God Of Mercy - Ruth 1:6-22

I have forgotten to mention earlier that the DeLon lecture is at 7pm tonight in Cork Baptist Church.

I don't know if I mentioned the time.

So, verse 1, verse 1.

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

So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.

The man's name was Elimelech.

His wife's name was Naomi.

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

They were Epaphrites from Bethlehem, Judah.

And they went to Moab and lived there.

Now, Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died.

And she was left with her two sons.

They married Moabite women.

One named Orpah and the other Ruth.

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

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

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

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

With her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

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

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

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

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

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud.

And they said to her,

We will go back with you to your people.

But Naomi said,

Return home, my daughters.

Why would you come with me?

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

Return home, my daughters.

I am too old to have another husband.

Even if I thought there was still hope for me,

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

would you wait until they grew up?

Would you remain unmarried for them?

No, my daughters.

It is more bitter for me than for you because the Lord's hand has turned against me.

At this they wept aloud again.

Then I'll pack, kissed her mother-in-law goodbye.

But Ruth clung to her.

Look, said Naomi,

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

Go back with her.

But Ruth replied,

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

Where you go, I will go.

And where you stay, I will stay.

Your people will be my people and your God, my God.

Where you die, I will die.

And there I will be buried.

May the Lord deal with me,

be it ever so severely,

if even death separates you and me.

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

she stopped urging her.

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

When they arrived in Bethlehem,

the whole town was stirred because of them,

and the women explained,

Can this be Naomi?

Don't call me Naomi, she told them.

Call me Mara,

because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.

I went away full,

but the Lord has brought me back empty.

Why call me Naomi?

The Lord has afflicted me.

The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.

So, Naomi returned from Moab,

accompanied by Ruth the Moabite,

her daughter-in-law,

arriving in Bethlehem

as the barley harvest was beginning.

Father, we thank you for this word.

We pray for Gary as he comes

to explain it to us

and to apply it to our lives.

Please empower him by your spirit

to do that effectively now.

And Lord, incline our hearts

and our ears

that we may hear,

receive,

and put into practice

your word.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

It's good to be with you again this morning

for Ruth, take two.

We're in the second in our series.

And I wonder if you know

what it feels like

to be alone,

to be lost at sea,

to feel that you are

devoid of help.

There's nothing that can reach you,

nothing that can help you.

It's you.

You're all alone.

Maybe you're at school.

Maybe you've been

the brunt of the bullying that day

and you feel alone.

Maybe you've lost a contract

at work

and you feel that it's your fault

and you have that sense of

aloneness or isolation.

I suppose over the weeks

you will find that

I have a love for popular music.

And so Neil Diamond,

he had a thought also

about this.

And so he wrote this song

and he said,

L.A.'s fine

and the sun shines

most of the time

and the feeling is lay back.

Palm trees grow

and the rents are low

but you know I keep thinking about

making my way back.

He says,

Well, I'm New York City

born and raised

but nowadays

I'm lost between two shores.

L.A.'s fine

but it ain't home.

But New York's home

but it ain't mine.

No more.

And he goes on to say

that the song I am,

I said,

if you know the song

and I said it to no one there

and no one heard at all,

not even the chair.

He is alone.

He feels alone

in this world.

And I think

right here in this text

this is how

Naomi feels.

It's not clear

but in verse 5

where it says

Naomi was left

without her husband

and her two sons.

The actual

the Hebrew text

doesn't say

the word Naomi.

It's put in there

for our information

hopefully by the NIV

to identify Naomi

but actually it says

the woman was left.

It doesn't even name her.

She's left.

She's there.

She's alone.

She's left.

Can we get into

the emotion of that

that we have?

We're looking at

how is God merciful to us

in that instance?

She's there.

She's alone.

She's lost

literally everything.

She's lost her livelihood.

We remember last week

that she had

you know,

women in that culture

they needed

their meal providers,

their meal protectors

and in that culture

without a man

she was destitute.

She was facing

poverty.

She was facing

a life

of hardship.

Okay.

Ah, there we go.

And so we can think

of two questions.

Had a little fight

with the controller there.

Must have hit the wrong button.

So where do we

turn to

when we've got

nowhere else

to go?

When trouble comes

into your life

what's your first

port of call?

Where do you go?

Where do you turn to

when you're

in that

state?

When you need

a helping hand?

Where do you go to?

And so

we find that here

in the first couple of verses

in verses 6 to 7.

Let's look at them together.

And we look at

Naomi's

empty

return.

And she's

leaving,

she's decided to leave

this place of judgment.

It's a place

that's, you know,

as we read in the text,

she's saying

that she feels

that God is against her.

Somehow

she is attributing

her current state

of losing her sons

as an act of God.

And where is she?

Why should she feel

that way?

Remember that she's

in Moab.

And we have to remember

what is Moab?

What does Moab mean

in this story?

Well, Moab

obviously is the place

of God's enemies.

It's where God's enemies

reside.

They worship

false gods.

They sacrifice

their children

to idols.

In history

with Israel

they have,

you know,

they are the result

of an incestuous

event

between Lot

and his daughter.

They're the offspring

of Lot

and his daughter.

We read

in Numbers 22

that the king

of Moab

actually tried

to get the prophet

Balaam

to curse Israel.

So there is no love

lost between

these two groups

of people.

And in Numbers 25

actually the ladies

of Moab

have brought

the men of Israel

into sexual sin

and they started

worshipping

idols

rather than God.

And in this

time period here

and in Judges 3

12-14

the Moabites

have inflicted

18 years

of pain

and punishment

on the Jewish

people in Israel.

So of all the places

that Elimelech

decided to take

his family

and to take Naomi

Moab seems

a very strange

location.

It seems a very

strange place

to have gone.

And what did she

leave?

She had left

the people of God.

She had left

the promises of God.

She had left

the covenant of God.

She had left

the worship

of the true

and living God

and she had left

God's promises.

And so she decides

through this event

that she's now

going to leave

this place.

This place that has

in the beginning

had such promise.

She left a famine

in Bethlehem.

She went to Moab

seeking food

and all that she's got

is death

and disaster.

And that's where

we left

Naomi

last week.

And so she's decided

to turn

to the place

of mercy.

And there are

three ladies involved.

There is

Naomi

and Orpah

and Ruth

the daughters-in-law

and they've decided

to leave the place

of Moab

and they're

setting out

on a road.

They're setting out

on a journey

and they're turning

towards a new home.

For Naomi

it's returning home

but for these two

young Moabite ladies

they're facing

an uncertain future.

They're three widows.

They're alone.

They have no male

protector

and they're going

to make a journey

on their own

which is dangerous

in itself

and they're heading

back

to a place

of mercy.

And why is it

a place of mercy?

Well we learn that

from the text.

It's because God

has had mercy

on his people.

It says

when Naomi

heard in Moab

that the Lord

had come

to the aid

of his people

the word there

means visited.

He's come

around them.

It also

can be used

in a negative term

that the Lord

has come

to visit his people

in judgment

or chastisement

but here

it's quite clear

that whether or not

Israel has repented

God has shown

grace to them

and he has come

and visited

to them

and that he has

brought food.

He's brought

bread

again to Bethlehem.

And as we were

looking in home groups

on Wednesday

the word Bethlehem

literally means

house of bread

and God was

stocking up

if you like

the house

he was refilling

the house

of bread.

And so

God had visited

his people

and the thought

from Naomi

is well

if God

has blessed

them

maybe I can

go back there

maybe God

can bless me

maybe I might

be able to have

some of that

bread.

In the law

it says that

the children of Israel

are to look after

their widows

so maybe

I can leave

Moab

I can return

home

and I will

find grace

and mercy

at home.

But she's empty

she has nothing

she went away

full

and she's now

heading back.

And so they head

off on the road

and we have

what I'm calling

a crisis of faith.

You know

we all start off

on a journey

and we all think

yeah

we're going

to climb

that mountain

we're going

to start off

with a couch

to 5k

and we're going

to make

that distance

we all start

off with

good intentions

and then somewhere

about week three

we realise

what we've

committed ourselves

to

we realise

you know

I have to

come back here

three times a week

you know

for the next

and we suddenly

count the cost

of what it is

that we've

agreed to do

whether it's

running around

a park

climbing a mountain

in this case

it's making a journey

and moving

an immigration

from one place

to another

and so we have

a misplaced

faith

I think it's

interesting

that we have

a person

after such loss

she still has

faith in her God

she still has

faith in the God

of Israel

Naomi

setting out

on that trip

she has

faith

but what

happens

suddenly

as they're

walking along

Naomi

decides

do you know

what I've asked

of these two

girls

I've asked

too much

I've asked

too much

from these two

girls

you know

maybe God

could bless

them

in Moab

maybe that's

best

she decides

that

those two

girls

coming with

her to

Israel

is just

too much

to ask

and so

that ensues

this conversation

that we're

going to look

at here

the majority

of this

morning

this conversation

between

Orpah

Ruth

and Naomi

and so

we look at

that and we

find that

here and

then in

verse 8

then Naomi

said to

your two

daughters-in-law

go back

each of you

to your

mother's

home

may the

Lord

show you

kindness

as you

have shown

kindness

to your

dead

husbands

and to

me

so

she's

got a

very

logical

response

she's

saying

thank you

very much

but I'm

I'm

setting you

free

you don't

have to

show any

loyalty

to me

I want

you to

go back

to your

mother's

home

I want

you to

be free

to marry

again

I want

you free

to have

a life

and in

that she's

showing us

a glimpse

of her

own

heart

and her

own

grief

she's

saying

there's

no

don't

come

with me

there's

only

heartache

there's

only

heartbreak

there's

no

future

with

me

and so

she's

urging

them

to go

back

and they

have

a

response

and she

says

in

verse

10

we look

and said

to her

we will

go back

with you

and your

people

it's a

good

response

the ladies

have

resolve

and they

say

no

Naomi

we're

we're

not

going to

go back

we're

going to

go with

you

and your

people

but in

some ways

in this

response

they've

only

gone

so far

and later

we'll

see that

Ruth wants

to go

just that

little bit

further

they're

encouraged

they say

no

Naomi

we're

not

going to

leave

you

we know

it's

tough

but we're

going to

hang

in

there

and you

know

sometimes

we also

look for

what I'm

going to

call

looking for

the DIY

solution

you know

the do

it yourself

it's the

cheaper

option

shall I

get someone

to paint

my house

no

I'm

going to

go to

B&Q

and I'm

going to

buy the

paint

and I'm

going to

do it

myself

and

so

Naomi is

looking at

herself

and she's

thinking

how can I

solve this

problem

what am I

going to

do

and so

she has

another

logical

argument

and she

says

return home

my daughters

I'm too

old to

have another

husband

and even

if I

thought that

there was

still hope

for me

even if I

had a

husband

tonight

and then

give birth

to sons

would you

wait until

they grew

up

and so

she's

using all

of her

argumentative

skills

all of

her logic

and she's

saying

look

there's

nothing

here for

you

I

cannot

help

you

at this

point

we need

to

understand

a little

bit

about

the

custom

and the

custom

of

marriage

if

you were

married

and you

had a

brother

and he

was not

married

and you

died

and your

wife

and you

had had

no

children

well then

the custom

was

in

Deuteronomy

25

510

the custom

was then

that your

brother

would marry

your

wife

he

would

marry

the

widow

and

then

the

first

child

from

that

marriage

then

would

be

considered

the

child

of

the

dead

brother

and so

that his

name

and his

inheritance

would

continue

and so

this is

what's

going on

in the

background

of her

her

mind

she's

saying

even

if I

got a

man

tonight

and even

if

we

manage

to

conceive

tonight

it's

going

to be

another

18

years

until

there's

a

son

who's

able

to

marry

you

are

you

pair

going

to

hang

around

that

long

are

you

going

to

do

without

a

husband

for

the

next

16

18

years

and

even

then

what

age

will

you

be

are

you

going

to

be

past

child

bearing

by the

time

there's

an

old

enough

son

she's

saying

naturally

speaking

this is

a

hopeless

situation

hopeless

and

this

highlights

Naomi's

loss

even

further

it

highlights

that

she's

saying

look

look

girls

it's

over

for

me

I've

lost

my

inheritance

I've

lost

my

family

I've

lost

my

name

I've

lost

everything

please

go

back

so

what

happens

well

as we

see in

the text

we read

on

it says

return home

my

daughters

I am

too

old

to have

another

husband

and

even

if

I

thought

there

was

still

hope

for

me

even

if

I

had

a

husband

tonight

and

then

gave

birth

to

sons

would

you

wait

until

they

grew

up

would

you

remain

unmarried

for

them

no

my

daughters

it

is

more

bitter

for

me

than

for

you

because

the

Lord's

hand

has

turned

against

me

and

at

this

they

wept

again

then

Orpah

kissed

her

mother-in-law

goodbye

and

so

Orpah

I

can't

be

too

hard

on

her

she's

going

back

she's

bought

the

argument

she

says

you

know

what

Naomi

I

think

you're

right

I'm

going

to

be

an

obedient

daughter-in-law

and I'm

going

to

do

what

you

ask

I'm

going

to

go

back

to

my

mother's

house

and I'm

going

to

trust

hopefully

that

God

will

bless

me

in

Moab

and so

she

kisses

her

mom

in-law

for the

last time

and she

sets off

back down

the dusty

road

alone

heading

towards

Moab

and

this

and this

isn't

without

emotion

we can

read

that

there's

loud

wailing

there's

crying

there's

kissing

embracing

this is

an

emotional

mess

I've

seen

those

you know

goodbyes

and coming

home

my son

he was

in America

for

for four

weeks

and

you know

when kids

are there

teenagers

are four

weeks

on the

day that

they had

to come

home

from

America

and they

lived there

you know

for four

whole

weeks

they were

in tears

you know

they had

a day

of you

know

how to

cope

with

going

home

you know

it's like

come on

guys

and four

weeks

and they

were in

tears

the girls

were in

tears

the girls

that had

found new

boys

and the boys

that had

found new

girls

transatlantic

relationships

via you

know

text message

and they

were all

broken hearted

and in

tears

but this

is way

worse

this is a

decade of

life together

this is going

through grief

this is

this is them

sharing

in the

bereavement

throwing the

the soil

on the

coffin

of their

loved ones

and so this

isn't a light

decision

that Orpah

makes but she

makes it nonetheless

and she decides

to go back

but with

this

narrative

is wonderful

is wonderful

because of

this lady

Ruth

Ruth's

response

is startling

on any

any kind

of scale

despite

knowing that

the future

ahead is

bleak

despite

knowing that

it doesn't

look good

her response

is outstanding

let's read

together what

she says

it says

but Ruth

but Ruth

clung

to her

look

said Naomi

your sister-in-law

is going back

to her people

and to her

gods

go back

with her

but Ruth

replied

this is

this is

amazing

she said

don't urge

me to leave

you

or to turn

back from

you

where you

go

I will go

where you

stay

I will stay

your people

will be my

people

and your

God

my God

where you

die

I will die

and there

I will be

buried

and may the

Lord deal

with me

be it ever

so severely

if even death

separates you

and me

wow

she says

I don't care

I'm going

with you

Naomi

but more

than that

I'm going

with you

and there's

nothing

that's going

to stop me

not even

death

from being

with you

and being

your daughter-in-law

I'm going

to be there

and even

when you

die

even when

you're

buried

I'm going

to stay

in your

land

with your

people

and your

God

and I'm

going to

die there

also

no matter

what the

cost

wow

I don't

know about

you but

when I

read this

it's

charged

with

emotion

it's

charged

with

just

the

amazing

prospect

that

she knows

she's

a Moabite

but there

are a few

questions

that I

have

a few

questions

that I

would like

to have

answered

she's clinging

to Naomi

but what

did she

know about

God

what did she

know about

the God

of Israel

what had she

learned in the

ten years

of being

with Naomi

about the

God of Israel

what did she

learn that

made her so

determined

to stay

and you

can't say

that she

had witnessed

great blessing

you can't

say that she

had witnessed

you know

an abundance

of a joy

filled life

she had

witnessed

Naomi

through pain

and through

suffering

1 Peter

3

15

it tells

us to

always be

ready to

give an

account for

the hope

that we

have

and I

think this

situation

here

it says

something

to us

that God

can speak

to people

God can

speak to

people out

of our

pain

God can

speak to

people out

of our

bad

situation

because

despite

the bleak

situation

Ruth

wanted

to choose

Yahweh

the God

of Israel

over

the Moabite

gods

what had

she learned

that child

sacrifice

the God

of Israel

doesn't like

that

I like

that

about

this

Yahweh

this God

of Israel

Yahweh

being

one of the

Old Testament

names for

God

the covenant

name of

God

what had

she learned

that she

decided

that this

God

it's better

than

my family

it's better

than everything

that's familiar

to me

it's better

than my

security

it's better

than my

possibility

of gaining

a new

husband

it's better

than

it's better

than

it's better

than

that was

what was

running

through Ruth's

mind

she didn't

want to

let Naomi

go

because she

didn't want

to let

Naomi's

God go

and so in

that Ruth

reaches towards

the mercy

of God

she says

no matter how

bad it's going

to be in

Israel I

think it's

going to be

better for

me there

than it is

going back

to Moab

and she

reaches

and she

clings to

Naomi

and she

clings

to mercy

Ruth replied

don't urge

me to

go back

I want

your God

to be

my God

and I

wonder this

morning

in this

conversion

because that's

what she was

doing here

she was

converting

she was

saying I

don't want

to be a

Moabite

I want

to be

an

Israelite

I wonder

if you

could say

that this

morning

maybe you

call yourself

a Christian

maybe you

don't know

what a

Christian

is

maybe this

is your

first time

in the

church

but really

as Christians

we should

be able to

say this

we should

be able to

say to

Jesus

I'm committed

to you

through thick

and thin

where you

go I

will go

what you

do I

will do

whom you

love I

will love

I am

with you

not only

in death

but through

death

could we

say that

this morning

about our

faith in

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

that no

matter where

you go

Lord

no matter

where you

take me

no matter

what you

do

no matter

who you

love

I'm all

in

I'm all

the way

till death

do us

part

and so

they're going

to return

return

and they're

going to

return

back then

to Bethlehem

and so

the story

closes then

in this

chapter

with a

return

they're

returning

to mercy

they're

returning

to the

promised

land

and so

what happens

on the

return

well

if you live

in a small

town

you know

that

gossip

travels

faster

than air

it travels

faster

you know

than the

speed of

light

I was

chatting

to Ross

and he was

saying

you know

there are

not too

many

northerners

down in

Cork

you know

you don't

see too

many number

plates

so maybe

that means

you know

my red

car driving

around here

people are

you know

they notice

and if they

don't notice

your car

when you

open your

mouth

you know

when you

go into

the supermarket

they say

you're not

from around

here

you're

different

and so

the prospect

of that

is in

Ruth

she's going

to face

all of

that

but so

is Naomi

and so

the buzz

and the gossip

of the

small town

it's there

it's

and they

ask the

question

the ladies

are saying

is this

Naomi

let's read

it together

so the

two women

went on

until they

came to

Bethlehem

and when

they have

arrived

in Bethlehem

the whole

town was

stirred

there was

a noise

there was

a buzz

and because

of them

and the

woman exclaimed

can this

be

Naomi

is it

her

is it

really her

she left

over a decade

ago

it looks

like her

oh boy

but the

years haven't

been good

to her

she went

away

she was

you know

she was

the wife

of

Elimelech

she had

two little

boys

but here

she is

she's

alone

and she

has

who's

that

who's that

Moabite

who's that

girl that's

with her

maybe somebody

should go

and ask her

and she

overhears this

or someone

builds up the

courage

and they

say you

know can

this be

Naomi

and she

said

don't

call me

Naomi

you see

what's in

a name

my name

is

Gary

James

Richmond