WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:24.399 Good morning and welcome. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:31.440 Please take your Bible with me for a few moments this morning and open to the Old Testament Book of Ruth. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.200 Going to be spending today and the next two Sundays in the book of Ruth. 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:46.000 If you don't know where that is, find the book of Judges early on in the Old Testament, and it's right between the book of Judges and 1 Samuel. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:47.200 It's short. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:51.759 If I remember right off the top of my head, about 58 verses is all. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:57.520 But I'm not going to be able to cover everything in this book. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.600 It is rich, much like the Old Testament book of Jonah. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:07.920 There is great depth and great riches in this story about Ruth. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:29.359 The prophet Micah penned the familiar words, but you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you will come for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:41.840 The prophets foretold that the hope of Israel would come from the little insignificant village of Bethlehem. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:51.920 One day, the prophets declared, the world would be surprised by the hope coming from that one small town. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:02:04.000 Long before the prophets gave those promises, however, Bethlehem was a place of no great renown. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:11.599 It held sentimental value for the Jewish people because Rachel, Jacob's wife, was buried near there. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:19.039 And in today's language, we might call Bethlehem the breadbasket of Israel. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:24.000 Not because necessarily it is the breadbasket, but that's where Bethlehem got its name. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:28.719 It's a compound Hebrew word, Bethlehem, which means house of bread. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:38.000 However, in the Bible, even the meaning of Bethlehem points to an inglorious history. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:46.800 To be from Bethlehem was not necessarily a good thing. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:54.240 Bethlehem's reputation begins in the depressing book of Judges. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:59.919 Judges records the settling of God's people in the land of Canaan. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.560 He brought them out of Egypt. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.520 They spent 40 years wandering in the desert. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:10.240 Then at the death of Moses, Joshua led them across the Jordan River. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:12.159 They defeated Jericho. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:14.319 They had some setbacks here and there. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.639 Eventually, they settled throughout the whole land of Canaan. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:27.360 Finally, they thought God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were being realized. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:47.680 But just like a bright summer day is suddenly obscured by dark clouds of a severe storm, the excitement of finally experiencing the blessing of God's promises turns dark and ominous. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:04:01.759 Judges chapter two records that after Joshua's death and those who led with him, Israel abandoned their God and served false gods. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:09.039 Listen to Judges chapter two, beginning in verse thirteen. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:17.120 Says the people of Israel abandoned Yahweh and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:26.800 So the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he gave them into the hands of their plunderers, who plundered them. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:29.120 And he sold them. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:36.959 Yahweh sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:48.160 Wherever they marched out, whenever they marched out, the hand of Yahweh was against them, as he had warned, and as he had sworn to them. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:53.759 And they were in terrible distress. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:05:00.160 Then Yahweh raised up judges who saved them out of the hands of those who plundered them. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:07.920 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:19.920 They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commands of Yahweh, and they did not do so. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:23.360 We call this the judges cycle. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:33.680 The book of Judges recounts Israel's sad downward trajectory deeper and deeper into sin and further and further away from God. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:43.759 And he brought up judges who would rescue them out of that and turn them a little bit back towards God until the whole cycle starts itself over again, over and over and over again. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:53.839 And gradually, as we work our way into the book of Judges, we see that even the judges themselves become more and more sinful. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.759 The further you read in judges, the worse it gets. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:11.439 The last two cycles in Judges, which are the most perverse and depraved of all, center around the little village of Bethlehem. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:20.319 The rampant sin results in almost an entire Israelite tribe being exterminated. 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:25.920 And the concluding comment of the book of Judges is ominous. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:30.399 In those days, there was no king in Israel. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:34.720 Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:42.720 The end of Judges records what may be the most spiritually dark time in the Old Testament. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:55.439 And the records show that Bethlehem existed near the epicenter of that lawlessness, of that injustice, of the cruelty and idolatry of the time. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.000 It was a time of spiritual darkness. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:01.839 The people of God were leaderless and faithless. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:08.720 There was no king to lead them, and their covenant God was strangely absent from their minds. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:18.319 The mood is dark and dreary and depressing. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:23.920 Sorry to begin that on Sunday morning. 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:31.360 But that is how we must begin reading the short Old Testament account of Ruth. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:44.079 You see, in our Bibles, Ruth is placed right after the judges because it is the third story involving the village of Bethlehem. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:55.600 But unlike the two accounts at the end of the book of Judges, this story rescues Bethlehem's reputation by bringing hope to the dark world of judges. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:01.439 And it doesn't just bring hope to the dark world of judges, but to our world today. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:06.079 And not just to our world, but to you. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:08.319 And to me. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:18.399 Ruth is a story of God's redemption to a family, and through a family to a nation, and through that nation to the whole world. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:20.959 Look with me at Ruth chapter 1. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:33.360 In those 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. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:37.759 The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife was Naomi. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:42.000 The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilon. 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:45.679 They were Ephrahites from Bethlehem and Judah. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.720 They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:54.559 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.200 They took Moabite wives. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:00.480 The name of one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:09.440 They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Kilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:21.519 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 Yahweh had visited his people and given them food. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:29.200 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. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:34.639 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:39.279 May Yahweh deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:46.879 May Yahweh grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:50.960 Then she kissed them, and they lift up their voices and wept. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:55.519 And they said to her, No, we will return with you to your people. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:00.480 But Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:03.759 Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:05.919 Turn back, my daughters, go your way. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:08.159 For I am too old to have a husband. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:14.799 If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:16.720 Would you therefore refrain from marrying? 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:18.320 No, my daughters. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:28.320 For it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:32.960 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:38.159 And Orpa kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:43.360 And she said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.759 Return after your sister-in-law. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:50.960 But Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:55.200 For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:59.360 Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:03.279 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:09.039 May Yahweh do so to me, and more also if anything but death parts me from you. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:14.240 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:18.639 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:23.519 And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred up because of them. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:26.240 And the women said, Is this Naomi? 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:31.120 She said to them, Do not call me Naomi. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:37.679 Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:42.320 I went away full, and Yahweh has brought me back empty. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:49.279 Why call me Naomi when Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:57.039 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:02.960 And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:04.159 Amen. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:15.120 As many good stories do, in its Hebrew version, it makes full use of the nuances of the Hebrew language that are difficult to translate. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:27.039 So, as English readers, we miss a lot of the sounds, the nuances, the tongue-in-cheek aspects that the original composer put in this story. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:31.360 It's quite fascinating how it's all woven together. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:38.960 For example, the first five verses of chapter one set the stage for this account. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:56.480 Maybe to kind of put it in a modern kind of parallel, if we used the words from one of our Christmas songs, the first five verses would reflect the line long lay the world in sin and error pining. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:09.679 It says, in the days when the judges judged, in the days when the judges judged. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:24.559 The first detail in the story looks back over our shoulders to see the sin and the error of the days of the judges when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:35.039 From the Bible's viewpoint, this is another way of saying there is not much right in God's world in the time of this story. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:51.279 And even in Canaan, that promised land that God said was flowing with milk and honey, even there when God's people were no longer looking to their covenant God, even the house of bread was lacking bread because of famine. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.840 Famines were feared in ancient times. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:04.000 You were in for a slow, painful death if you were not a wealthy landowner with plenty of food in reserve. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:11.200 The likelihood of surviving a famine was pretty rare. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:22.879 And if you survived a famine, the likelihood was very great to be in ruinous debt or even having sold yourself into slavery just to have food to eat. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:32.240 So it's unsurprising to hear of a family leaving one area to find food somewhere else. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:38.240 In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:47.840 And a man of the house of bread in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:54.399 Even God's people were pining in sin and error. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:57.200 Everything is upside down in this world. 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:10.720 Israel's history here is filled with lessons of not leaving the promised land during times of famine, but instead of remaining there and of trusting Yahweh to provide. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:19.840 Every time you see God's people leaving the land of promise in times of famine, it never turns out good. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:29.279 But we know, because this is the time of the judges judging, that everything is not right with the world. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:32.320 This is a period of not trusting God. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:33.919 Everything is upside down. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:38.480 Everyone does what is right in his own eyes, and so does Elimelech. 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:43.440 His name means my God is king. 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:54.240 The implied irony is that Elimelech doesn't trust God to provide in the house of bread. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:58.720 Our parallel would be Christian. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.000 We are called Christians. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:06.720 But how often do we fail to trust Christ our King? 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.919 Naomi's life was turned upside down. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:19.759 As she struggled to feed two boys in Bethlehem without bread, life became unpleasant. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:25.200 Naomi's name means pleasant. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:31.200 Do you feel the tension of the dark and dreary world? 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:36.000 Even the boys are strangely named Mahlon and Kilion. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:40.080 Sick and pining. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.200 Great names for your boys. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:47.759 Maybe they weren't typically healthy children. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:50.799 Maybe they were born unhealthy. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:58.480 Maybe this reflects that there wasn't enough food to feed them and to feed the family even when they were born. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:16:59.519 We don't know. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:02.879 And by the way, they are Ephraithes from Bethlehem. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:09.519 With judges in our rear view mirror, we think we know where the story is heading, and it's not pretty. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:16.000 It's only going from bad to worse in Bethlehem. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:22.799 So what they did was right in their own eyes. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:28.720 They heard that there was food across the river in the fruitful regions of Moab. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:32.799 So they went intending to sojourn there. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:43.519 That means, if you don't know what a sojourn is, that means you're planning to go on a little trip and you're going to stay there for a while until things get better back home and then you come back home. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:48.720 It's temporary, it's for a shorter time period. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:58.720 But good intentions like planning to stay a short while are common when people do what's right in their own eyes. 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:09.440 But our storyteller frames this account such that we see everything here in light of a failure to trust in Yahweh, the covenant God. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:15.839 And generally speaking, in the Bible, life doesn't go so well when you don't trust in God. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:24.799 What happens next is not stated as judgment. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:31.920 It's not stated that what happens next is God judging his people. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:44.240 Instead, it is framed as the inevitable result of doing what is right in your own eyes instead of looking to God as your king and trusting in his provision. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:19:09.680 So it's no surprise to us then that when they leave the house of bread because they think Yahweh isn't providing, it's no surprise that the man whose name shouts, God is king, suddenly dies when he does not trust that God is king. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:13.119 And so Mrs. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:18.960 Pleasant's life turns more wretched. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:21.920 But she has some hope, right? 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:26.799 Her sons have married pleasant Moabite women. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:37.200 Oh, but by the way, don't forget that God had told his people already that they were to never intermarry with the Moabites. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:39.759 Just one of those little side details. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:41.359 We can shove that under the carpet, right? 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:42.880 And not worry about that. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:52.960 But we're not surprised because God's people are doing what's right in their own eyes. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:57.279 It's the days when the judges judged. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:01.359 When they refused to look to God as their king. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:15.359 And another thing, that that temporary sojourn, that that short stay in Moab until the famine broke, that tragic wandering away from trusting God, yeah, that turned into a 10-year relocation. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:20.799 The Hebrew word changes in verse 4. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:26.880 The storyteller wants us to know that the sojourn became permanent. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:30.079 In verse 1, they went to sojourn. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.240 In verse 4, they lived there. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:35.200 They lived there. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:40.240 The storyteller wants us to know that what was intended as temporary has now become permanent. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:44.000 And that happens sometimes when we do what's right in our own eyes. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:51.519 Our well-intentioned, not so wise choices become more permanent aspects of our self-led lives. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:21:00.480 There's no rejoicing in this weary world. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:03.359 At least not yet. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:14.079 The two brothers, known as Sickly and Pining, also died outside the land of promise. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:27.119 And so Mother Pleasant was left with two daughters-in-law and no way to provide for themselves outside of the house of bread where God was apparently no longer king. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:34.720 You can understand the setting of Ruth in the days of the judges. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:48.640 If you, as a Christian, have ever endured a dark and gloomy period of life where you just struggled to see God's kindness and his grace and his mercy to you. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:59.759 And even more so, if as a Christian, you have experienced the gloom of living life by your own standards, and then suddenly you come face to face with the harsh reality that your choice is. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.400 Have led you down the wrong path. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:10.480 You don't have to live too long to know what that's like. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:28.160 But even then, just as in the days of the judges, God will sometimes step in and interrupt your life to rescue you from yourself. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:38.640 As the song says, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:44.160 The Hebrew story hints that something is about to happen. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:52.000 When verse 4 says that they lived in Moab, it is the Hebrew word that's often used for sitting. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.920 You sit down in the seat, in the pew in front of you or behind you or whatever. 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:59.279 But now in verse 6, what does Naomi do? 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:01.279 She gets up. 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:08.400 She's sitting in Moab for 10 years, and now everything changes because she's now standing up. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:11.599 It's a metaphor. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.519 Sitting is for remaining there, but now in verse 6, Mrs. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:16.880 Pleasant stands up. 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:20.160 She stood up to return, we are told. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:21.119 Why? 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:25.119 Why would she return to Bethlehem? 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:32.480 Well, we're told it's because she had heard that Yahweh had visited his people and given them bread. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:33.680 Lachim. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:44.240 Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah are scrounging around in the fields for leftover grain after the harvest with no support. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:51.599 And by chance, the rumor mill, without email or cell phones, reaches Mrs. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:53.920 Pleasant with the news. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:59.200 But notice the almost insignificant change. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:17.039 The storyteller subtly leaves the impression that the family left Bethlehem because of a lack of trust in Yahweh's provision, and now suddenly that lack of trust is shifting to some kind of faith. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:21.119 What is it that Naomi had heard? 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:27.039 She heard that Yahweh had visited his people. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.680 How did she know that Yahweh had visited his people? 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:38.960 Because there was once again bread in the house of bread. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:47.839 In the New Testament, at John the Baptist's birth, his father Zechariah declared another visit. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:54.880 He said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:01.599 That declaration was made in the hope of Yahweh's powerful work to redeem his people. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:05.359 John the Baptist was a forerunner of the Redeemer. 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:10.400 And here in Ruth, the provision of bread is Naomi's redeeming hope. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:13.440 That is the evidence of Yahweh's visit. 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.799 Yahweh is the covenant God of Israel. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.920 I purposely used that term this morning. 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:24.079 In older times, Christians called it Jehovah. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:31.839 It's the personal name of God that is connected to his faithful covenant loyalty to his people. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:34.799 We don't see it in the introduction to this story. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:38.559 It's not in the first five verses. 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:41.759 He's strangely absent. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:50.799 But the name of God appears seven times from here through the end of the chapter. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:59.039 And those seven appearances of Yahweh are connected to another central theme in this chapter: the concept of turning. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:08.559 Sometimes it means to physically turn or to return, to go back where you came from, to turn around. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:12.960 Metaphorically, it's used to speak of repentance. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:20.799 That turning around and going the other way because of a change of mind about truth and reality. 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:29.599 Our storyteller uses that term for turning or returning twelve times in this chapter. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:35.119 There are only fifteen times in the whole book. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:44.640 So on the one hand, Naomi is returning to her homeland from her untrusting sojourning. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:54.799 But the narrator hints that something more may be at work in this terrible, no good, very bad, dark world. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:02.720 A revival of sorts in the provision from the covenant God of Israel. 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:08.960 And that work may be for more than just Naomi because he has visited his people. 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:19.680 But news of Yahweh visiting his people did not make all things right. 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:24.640 How do we know that? 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:26.079 We know that because Mrs. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:27.839 Pleasant changed her name to Ms. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:28.400 Bitter. 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:32.319 That's what Mara means. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:41.519 She was so bitter that she asked her daughters-in-law to go back to live with their parents and get remarried in Moab. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:46.240 I can't do anything for you. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:47.359 I don't have anything. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.359 I'm going back home empty. 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:51.359 What have I to do to help you? 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:53.359 Verse 13 is quite terse. 00:27:53.519 --> 00:28:01.920 No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter for me, for your sake, that the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me. 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:06.319 Can you hear that bitterness, Christian? 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:20.160 Next to his only begotten Son, Yahweh has given you an excellent name, patterned after his own son. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:35.920 But when life impacts you in a rotten world, do you praise the name of your covenant God, or do you view his power as something that grinds you into the dust? 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:44.319 Do you trust his guiding hand to superintend all things together for your good and for his glory? 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:51.359 And so bring your companions along with you to know him and to trust him, even in the most painful of times? 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:55.279 Or do you exchange your name, Christian, for bitter? 00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:14.079 Because you think that the wisdom of God has deemed your crushing, not believing that he intends that to make you into his image. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:27.200 And so by changing our name from Christian to bitter, we tell people, no, just stay where you are because my God isn't that good. 00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:42.240 Or do you praise the name of the God who crushes you and so motivate others and insist on them coming with you to where that God is worshiped? 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.039 You know, three of the saddest words in the Bible are in verse 14. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:56.559 Three Hebrew words are behind our English words in the English Standard Version here, where it says, And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. 00:29:59.039 --> 00:29:59.519 Mrs. 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:03.519 Pleasant was thankful for Yahweh when he visited with bread. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:05.279 But she was Ms. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:09.359 Bitter when his visit grounded her into the Moabite dust. 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:19.279 And in her bitterness, she sent one daughter-in-law back to idolatry, hopelessness, and condemnation. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:22.799 She would have sent both of them. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:33.839 So our storyteller has left us with some questions about Naomi's faith. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:39.039 And maybe even some questions about our own faith in times of trouble. 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:44.480 She trusted God when he met her ideals of provision. 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:50.400 But at this point, she is embittered against Yahweh for taking her life away. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:31:00.799 So there's a measure of hope, but this hope is infinitesimal, surrounded by gloom. 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:09.519 But there is still the dawning of a new and glorious morn, for while she has changed her name to Ms. 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:17.759 Bitter because of Yahweh's painful providence, there is a confident young Moabite woman insisting on returning with her. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:25.039 Orpah turned away from Yahweh's distressing providence to return to her other gods. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:29.359 Ruth says, No. 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:32.960 I don't care what you say or what you do. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:35.279 I'm coming with you. 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:37.839 And your God will be my God. 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:42.400 Is this a turning in repentance and faith in Ruth? 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:53.759 A turning away from the gods of her youth to trust the God who has brought both bread to the house of bread and the painful providence that has left her destitute and without a husband. 00:31:56.880 --> 00:31:58.319 Seems possible. 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:09.680 You know, verses 16 and 17 are sometimes used in weddings to demonstrate loyalty and commitment and love for one another. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:14.319 I discourage couples from doing that. 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:19.200 Because if we understand these verses properly, they're a curse. 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:29.200 May God kill me if I don't do what I've said. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:34.480 May God kill me. 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:38.559 And we're left to wonder, like like Elimelech? 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:41.279 And Machlon and Kilion. 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:44.960 Is that what you mean? 00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:56.319 May God kill me if I don't turn my back on the idols of my youth and my family and my culture and commit my loyalty to Yahweh and to you, Miss Bitter. 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:07.920 Loyalty to Yahweh in the times of the judges wasn't found among God's people. 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:25.519 Instead, what we see is that it's found in a foreigner, a Moabite girl, who was not even encouraged to come to the house of bread. 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:41.599 And in case you haven't caught it yet, our storyteller wants us to know one more time in verse 22 that both Naomi and Ruth have returned. 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:50.319 They have turned in trust of Yahweh's provision in the house of bread. 00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:58.000 And it just so happened that they arrived at the time of the barley harvest. 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:03.039 So there's a thrill of hope. 00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:10.719 And a weary world rejoices at the end of the first chapter of Ruth. 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:17.760 Yahweh had visited his people with bread in the days when the judges judged, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:26.320 The painful providence and death's dark shadow weighed heavily on his people, just as it does today. 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:32.639 So many of us are wearied and burdened. 00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:38.480 The shadows are hard to dispel sometimes. 00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:48.239 And it feels so desperate, like there's no bread in the house of bread. 00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:54.000 How will God's people today respond? 00:34:55.280 --> 00:35:00.159 Will they say, I have to find my help somewhere else? 00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:04.800 Or will they trust in him? 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:15.760 Ruth begins to show us that the gloomy clouds of night are dispersed when he causes his light on us to rise. 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:21.519 And when that does, death's dark shadow is put to flight. 00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:26.480 When his people turn to him, he becomes our comforter and our guide. 00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:29.599 He becomes our great high priest who intercedes. 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:31.679 He is our covenant redeemer. 00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:33.280 He is the great king. 00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:48.320 Our God is King, who brings an end to all of our suffering, for he promises rest through his redemption to all who will turn to him. 00:35:49.360 --> 00:35:51.599 Lord Jesus, we turn to you. 00:35:52.320 --> 00:36:02.239 May you cause anyone who is listening right now, who has not understood where they are. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:15.280 May you give them insight and understanding to see that they need to turn from their place of trusting in themselves and doing what's right in their own eyes and to trust in Christ our Redeemer. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:18.480 To place their faith in you alone. 00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:28.880 Lord, we know that you understand what Ruth endured. 00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:32.400 You understand what Naomi endured. 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:36.960 You understand the bitterness of life. 00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:41.440 For you were brought so low yourself. 00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:48.239 But that was because we needed, like Ruth and Naomi, redemption. 00:36:50.639 --> 00:37:09.760 So we come to you in faith, trusting that one day you will return again, that you will bring bread to our house of bread, that you will bring light to our darkness to dispel all of our grief and suffering, and restore us to full and perfect joy in your presence. 00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:12.320 It's in this we trust. 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:13.599 Amen. 00:37:15.679 --> 00:37:19.440 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:26.480 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:30.800 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.