To be here, I'm looking forward to it.
I feel a little bit under pressure that it's some people's first time, you know,
and I feel under pressure that, you know, that after today you want to come back to church
and hear the sermon and you're not longing to get back to Sunday school.
I was down in Middleton Baptist on the 11th of August
and my two children were invited to come with us
and they opted to stay with Granny.
They said, I'm not going to travel all of the way just to listen to you speak.
We can hear you speak, you know, every day, you know, preaching at us over the dinner table.
So they declined.
So hopefully I don't disappoint those who are joining us for the first time from Sunday school.
But if you'd like to turn in your Bible to the book of Ruth,
So that will go Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua,
and then you should find Judges, then Ruth.
And so hopefully on the other page or just before in my Bible,
you should see Judges chapter 21 and verse 25.
And that's where we're going to begin our reading.
In those days Israel had no king and everyone did as they saw fit.
And in those days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.
And so a man from Bethlehem and Judea, 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.
And they were Epaphrites from Bethlehem, Judah.
And they went to Moab and they lived there.
Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died.
And she was left with her two sons.
And they married Moabite women, one named Orpha and the other Ruth.
And 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.
But 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.
Amen.
So Ruth is a strange little book.
It's a story of romance.
It's a story of loss.
It's a story of redemption.
And it's also the story of the birth of a king or eventually.
It's a book that sort of ties together the book of Judges and the books of 1 and 2 Samuel.
Well, the kids in Sunday school, they were learning about the succession of kings.
But how did we get to kings?
Well, Ruth helps sort of fill in the narrative.
It also provides us a little bit of a window of what it was like to live during the time,
during the period of the judges.
When you read the judges, you're reading about, I suppose, the judges themselves,
the conquests, the sins of Israel.
But here is a little, you could say, period drama, right in the middle of all of that.
And we even have our own Mr. Darcy.
We have a character called Boaz, who we'll read about later in the coming weeks.
He's not here yet, but he's coming.
But here we have the title this morning of Running on Empty.
We need to know about a God of grace.
But first of all, we need to think about the background to the book of Judges.
So we're going to do a little bit of thinking about that.
I don't know, you don't need to put up your hand,
but I'm sure there are some country and western musical fans about here, I'm sure.
Well, a modern sort of, I don't know if people like Katie Musgraves or not,
but she is quite popular, I think.
But she had this hit song, and it goes like this.
If you save yourself for marriage, you're a bore.
And if you don't save yourself for marriage, you're a horrible person.
If you won't have a drink, then you're a prude.
But they'll call you drunk as soon as you down the first one.
And if you can't lose weight, then you're just fat.
But if you lose too much, you're on crack.
You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't.
So you might as well just do whatever it is you want.
So make lots of noise and kiss lots of boys or kiss lots of girls,
if that's something you're into.
When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight,
roll up the joint or don't.
And here's the kicker.
Just follow your arrow wherever it points.
Yes, follow your arrow wherever it points.
And that's basically today's culture,
the overriding arch of what our young people
or what our middle-aged people
or what our old people should do with their lives.
They should just follow their own arrow.
Just do as they see fit.
And so we are no different than the people in the book of Ruth.
We are no different from the people in the book of Judges.
We are following our own arrow.
And so we're the same.
We do as we please.
We live like there is no God.
You know, when we sin, we almost become,
you know, for that moment, a momentary atheist.
We think that we're, you know, God can't see us.
If you're not a Christian here this morning,
I'm quite sure that you live
and you do as you see fit.
I thought I was going to lose my sermon, you know,
as we began to share in the worship.
It's true.
Ireland has no king.
That's not a political statement.
It's a fact.
Great Britain has no king.
The USA has no king.
And by that I mean that no one who can stand up and say,
I am the authority.
I am the person that you must obey,
that you must listen to.
With our idea of democracy and politics
and our ideas of freedom of speech,
which are all great.
But they also have bred in a sense of rebellion
and a sense of we can do what we want to do
just because we can.
A society of rights.
I get to choose.
I get to choose who I am.
I get to choose what I do.
I get to choose how I do it.
And there's nothing that you can do
that can dissuade me from that.
And so that's the world we live in
and that is the world, really,
that we look into in the book of Ruth.
What we really need is a psalm too.
We need the Lord's anointed.
We actually need a true king.
Someone who is the king of kings
and the Lord of lords.
We need to bow to the lordship of Christ.
That's the only solution to our situation.
So the drive to change laws and promote lifestyles
is basically a world ignoring God
in large or small ways
and people doing what is right in their own eyes.
And in the book of Ruth,
there's nothing different here.
Elimelech was not different.
He was the head of the family
and he takes his family
from the land that God had promised
and he takes them to Moab.
And he left Bethlehem.
We all know that story from Bethlehem
from the narrative of the birth of Christ.
It's where Christ was born.
It's the city of David.
It's where King David was born.
And so it means house of bread.
So they literally left the house of food
and they went in search of greener grass.
And you might say,
well, what's wrong with that?
Why is that significant?
What's wrong with them leaving one place
and going to another?
People do it all the time.
But what's interesting about the place
that they went to,
first of all,
it's a place that God said,
these are your enemies.
These are the enemies of Israel.
Have nothing to do with them.
They had a history with Israel
which meant that God wasn't pleased
with the Moabites.
And so going to Moab was a bad idea.
Not only was that,
they were also told
to not intermarry with Moabites.
So it wasn't like just going off
and moving house.
It was like going off and moving house
and going to,
I suppose,
live in Syria.
Going to somewhere where
you're not really liked,
you shouldn't really like them,
and living there.
And everybody else going,
what are you doing that for?
So they went and they were living
in a place that wasn't good for them,
biblically speaking.
Elimelech's name,
ironically,
means that God is king.
Yet,
he doesn't acknowledge God as his king
and he decides that he's going to up sticks
and go to Moab.
And the other context we need to think about
as we look through the book of Judges
is how the book of Judges,
how women are characterized
during this period of the Judges
according to the book of Judges.
And then we have Ruth,
which is very, very different.
I don't know what it's like to be a woman
and I never will know
what it's like to be a woman.
But I certainly don't know
what it was like to be a woman living
in the period of the Judges.
I don't know what it's like
to be a woman today,
but
let's have a look at a few things
of how women were portrayed
during the Judges.
They were people of violence.
They were both victims and perpetrators.
We have Jael,
who takes a tent peg
and she sort of,
quite graphically,
puts it through King Scissor's head.
And Deborah,
she's delighted in this killing
of this evil king.
And Abimelech,
who is the would-be king,
he gets crushed
by a woman using a millstone.
It's quite a graphic idea
how women are being portrayed.
We have the story of Samson and Delilah,
the seductress,
who takes Samson
and breaks him
until they get the secret from him
so that Samson can be captured
by the Philistines.
And then we have this horrible story
of a concubine
who has been brutalized
by the people of Israel.
And so the priest then takes her
and cuts her up
and takes her about
and scatters her body parts
to express the horror
of what was being done
in the land of Israel.
And then we have
the forced marriages
from the young virgins.
It paints a picture
of brutality,
of horror,
and also of the lack of,
you could say,
protection that women had
during that period.
And we see that marked
in the Book of Ruth.
And so that's the context
that we have.
We have no king.
Everybody's doing
as they see fit.
And we have
this very unstable,
unsafe place
for women.
But we start off
in the Book of Ruth
with,
if you like,
our first point.
We start off
with a family
that's full.
It's a happy home.
It says,
in the days
when the judges ruled,
there was a famine
in the land.
So we know
that times are tough.
There was an economic crisis.
There weren't the jobs
for everybody
to avail of.
Things were tough.
And so a man
from Bethlehem,
the house of bread
in Judah,
together with his wife
and two sons,
they went to live
for a while
in the country
of Moab.
And so there's
a few things
we can have here.
We have
Emelech.
He's the man.
He's not named yet.
But he takes his wife
and his two sons.
He's a nuclear family.
He has his,
all of his ducks
in a row.
We're not really
quite sure
why he left.
The early rabbinic
sources say
that Emelech left
basically because
he was selfish.
They said
that he didn't want
to share with people
during the famine,
so he took everything
that he had
and he legged it
to Moab,
selfishly,
because he could.
The text is silent
on why he left,
but we know
that he did leave.
And in leaving,
there is a sense
of disobedience.
He's going to the enemies
of God,
leaving the people
of God,
and he's going.
It's not clear
if Naomi was on board
with the plan,
whether she wanted
to stay or not,
but she doesn't get
a say in the matter.
Emelech leaves
and he takes Naomi
with her
and the two sons
and they have
a full family
and they go
and they spend
a period of time there.
And we're not sure
when it happens,
but it does happen
that Emelech dies.
But if we just
want to back up
and we have a look,
they went to live
for a while.
Now the commentators
and everybody
want to sort of
highlight this,
is that it wasn't
a permanent thought.
They weren't going
to live there forever.
They were only going
to go and stay
for a wee while.
They were only going
to go and stay
a short time.
Maybe they wanted
to see out the famine.
But that's not
what happens.
We think,
look in verse 2
and it says,
and they went to Moab
and they lived there.
It became more
of a permanent fixture
than maybe
they had once thought.
So we have
a full family.
We're not sure
why there was a famine,
but we read
in Deuteronomy 28,
3, verse 24,
that if the people
of Israel didn't
follow after God,
that God would send
judgments on the land
and one of those
was a famine.
So the text doesn't say
this is a famine
that's been sent
as judgment,
but we can safely assume
that it has that potential
behind it.
He gathers up his family
and he goes to the
descendants of Moab
who are Lot's descendants.
So if you remember
in Genesis,
you had Abraham
and Lot.
Lot was Abraham's nephew
and his daughters
had children
and they became
the Moabites.
And so we have
the two sons.
So in verse 2,
it says the man's name
is Imelech,
meaning that God is king
and his wife's name
was Naomi,
which meant
was sweet.
So there we have
Imelech
and his sweet Naomi.
And then we have
Malon and Kilion.
And these two names
are sort of
in the text,
they kind of mean
weakling
or sickly.
So Malon
has the idea
of being weak
and Silon sickly.
So maybe
he wasn't being
selfish at all.
Maybe Imelech
was really thinking,
you know,
mighty sons,
they're not going
to survive the famine.
So maybe it was just
a, you know,
let's do the logic.
Let's go somewhere
where there's food.
Let's go and
help our children.
Maybe it was
motivated
by his own care
and his love
to see his two boys
grow up
and have lives.
We're not sure,
but
true to their names,
we find out
that the family
has a setback.
And we have
the setback
one in verse three.
Now,
Elimelech,
Naomi's husband,
well,
he died
and she was
left with her
two sons,
so all is not
lost.
Like every good
drama,
we start off
with tragedy.
And then this one
is no different.
We have tragedy.
They go to Moab
and then
the husbands
died.
Now,
that may
not necessarily
be that significant
to us.
It's also,
you know,
someone's husband's
died,
it's terrible
and now
you grieve
the loss
of someone.
But
in the ancient
world,
when you lost
your husband,
you lost
your livelihood,
you lost
your income,
you lost
your means
of protection,
you lost
your support.
And so
the family
has a setback.
You see,
they had planned
to escape
the famine
by going
to Moab.
But actually,
by going
to Moab,
you can't
really escape
life and
circumstance.
There's a
lesson there.
Running
to Moab
is never
a good idea.
Doing
things in
our own
way
is never
a good
idea.
They should
have stayed
in the
promised land.
It's the land
that God
had said
that he would
bless his
people.
And if
God was
judging them
for the famine,
well,
surely the right
thing would
have been
to be
there to
promote
godliness
and for
them to
repent.
But no,
they decided
not.
But in
verse 4,
we find out
that it's
not complete
disaster.
So the
children,
by this
time,
we assume
that they
have grown
up to
be of
age so
that they
can marry
and work.
So they're
not children
anymore.
And it
says in
verse 4
that they
married
Moabite
women,
which they
were forbidden
under the
law not to
do.
One named
Orpha and
the other
was named
Ruth.
So they
had lots
of things
going on
here.
After they
had lived
there about
10 years,
disaster
strikes again.
So they
go from
the general
scheme of
things in all
families.
they went
from crisis
to some
restoration
to crisis.
Isn't that
how we all
live sometimes?
We're just
waiting for
the next
wrong thing
to happen.
And then
there's good
things.
Life is
full of
struggles.
And so
Elmac's
family is
no different.
The sons
have married
but there's
no children.
It's
interesting.
The names
in the
book of
Ruth are
I think
quite
significant.
And Ruth,
this lady
Ruth who
we're going
to learn
an awful
lot about,
her name
means friend,
companion.
And we're
going to
learn throughout
the coming
weeks how
true that
she lived
up to her
name,
how much
of a
friend and
a companion
that she
becomes
to Naomi.
And so
she's gone
in the
space of
four verses
from a
full life
to one
that is
completely
empty.
That's
harsh.
And what's
really good
is that we
don't really
come out of
that this
morning.
That's
where we
leave Ruth
this morning
and Naomi
and Orpha.
We leave
them in
their
emptiness.
happiness.
It's a
total loss.
It's
disaster.
It is
not a
good picture.
The three
ladies have
been left.
They went
from a
family that
was full
and where
they had,
you know,
it was a,
if you like,
a male-led
family and
now they're
destitute.
so in
the space
of ten
years,
because we're
not quite
sure in
the text,
it doesn't
say that
Emelech
died and
they got
married.
We're not
sure if
that all
happened
around the
same time
or whether
there was
a space
between it
and it's
ten years
later that
the sons
die.
But there's
no heirs,
there's no
children,
there's no
sons,
there's no
daughters.
The men
have gone.
And so the
significance of
this is
that food
is now
their secondary
concern.
They are,
if you like,
all lost at
sea with
no direction,
no seal,
no rudder,
because now
they have no
providers for
food.
And on
top of
that,
poor Naomi
is in a
foreign country.
And if
you're feeling
sorry for
Naomi,
I hope that
you are.
That's the
kind of picture
that the
Bible is
painting.
This is
devastation.
I know you
were wanting
to come and
hear a nice
encouragement
sermon this
morning,
and not a
story about
how bad
life was in
the period of
the judges,
but for
Naomi and
her family,
that is the
reality of
the book of
Ruth.
She is
destitute.
But isn't
that like all
of us?
Without
Christ,
without God,
no matter how
much we have
or how little
we have or
where we live,
really what we
have isn't
really worth
very much.
Nine Inch
Nails,
I'm sure you're
all quite
familiar with
that band.
You might be
more familiar
with Johnny Cash.
He took one
of their songs
and sort of
made it more
popular to
people that
didn't like
Nine Inch
Nails.
And this is how
it goes.
It says,
I hurt myself
today to
see if I
still feel.
I focus on
the pain,
the only
thing that's
real.
The needle
tears a
hole,
the old
familiar
sting.
Try to
kill it
all away,
but I
remember
everything.
What have
I become?
My
sweetest
friend,
everyone I
know,
goes away
in the
end.
And you
can have
it all,
my empire
of dirt.
I will
let you
down,
because I
will make
you hurt.
I wear
this crown
of thorns
upon my
liar's
chair,
full of
broken
thoughts
that I
cannot
repair.
Beneath
the stains
of time,
the feelings
of despair,
you are
someone else.
I am
still right
there.
What have
I become,
my sweetest
friend?
Everyone I
know,
goes away
in the
end.
And you
can have
it all,
my empire
of dirt.
I will
let you
down.
I will
make you
hurt.
If I
could start
again a
million miles
away,
I will
keep myself,
I would
find,
away.
I think
that Naomi
might be
feeling just
a little
like that.
She might
be feeling
that,
what have
I become?
What about
my hopes?
What about
my dreams?
What about
the expectations?
I'm here,
I'm alone.
Even the
people that
I'm with
don't need
to be with
me.
I'm left
with my
daughters-in-law.
And so
where do
we go?
And we
look at
verse
six.
When
Naomi
heard in
Moab,
good news
travels
all the
way to
Moab,
that the
Lord had
come to
the aid
of his
people
by
providing
food for
them.
So she
and her
daughters-in-law
prepared to
return home
from there.
Good news
reached Naomi.
It wasn't
completely
good news.
Nobody
likes to
go back
to where
they left
in failure.
And so
that's where
we're going
to leave
Naomi.
She's going
to go on
that journey.
We're going
to go on
that journey
with her.
But we're
going to
stop and
we're going
to think
about that
the Lord
had come.
When I
was a
young boy
of,
I think I
was about
12 years
old,
and I
went to
a camp
and someone
actually told
me the
word of
the Lord.
I was a
rascal.
I,
yeah,
I was that
kid,
you know,
the one
that,
yes,
their parents
pulled their
hair out
over,
you know.
But I
went away
to a
camp and
someone told
me about
Christ.
Someone said
that you can
live a
different life.
Someone said
to me that
you can
change,
and the
way to
change is
that you
believe the
gospel,
and that you
repent of
your sin,
and that you
follow after
Christ all
of your
days.
And the
reason that
you can do
this is
because Christ
died for
your sins,
and he
died to
make you
a different
person.
He died
to make
you from
a rascal
into a
child of
God.
And I
thought,
that's
awesome.
And so I
believed in
Christ,
and I
followed him
ever since,
and it's
been
an interesting
journey as I
have walked
with God,
but I've
never once
thought that
was a bad
idea.
I heard the
word of the
Lord,
and I heard
that there
was food,
and I
came,
and I
found bread.
And so I
would encourage
you this
morning that
if you don't
know Christ,
and this is
the first time
that you've
been in
church,
Christ is
there for
you,
just like
God was
there for
Naomi.
You see,
we leave this
morning with
a word of
grace.
Yahweh had
provided food.
The news
prompts Naomi
to say,
I know what
rascals they
were back
home.
Maybe,
maybe if I
go home,
at least I
can find
bread.
And then,
whose idea
was it anyway
to come
here?
My husband,
Emilech,
he brought
me here.
I didn't
really want
to come.
My husband's
dead.
My children
are dead.
I have
some friends
back in
Israel.
I have
some friends
in Bethlehem.
I have
some family
there.
Maybe
they'll take
me back.
Maybe
they'll accept
me back
into their
community.
Maybe.
But as
Naomi
would discover
God has
better plans
than just
maybe.
God has
better plans
for you.
God has
better plans
for me
than just
maybe.
See,
it reminds
me a little
of the
story Jesus
told about
the prodigal
son.
It's in
Luke chapter
15,
verses 11
to 32.
We won't
go there,
but we have
a story of
a son who
says,
do you know
what,
Father,
I wish you
were dead.
I want to
go and live
life on my
terms,
and I
want to
go and
live life
my way.
In fact,
I wish you
were dead,
so let's
imagine that
you are
dead and
give me
all of the
money that
you would
have given
to me
if you
had died.
I want
my
inheritance
now.
And he
goes to
the far
off land,
he goes
to Moab,
you could
say,
and he
squanders
his life.
And he
loses all
of his
money,
he loses
all of his
family's
inheritance,
and he
ends up
feeding
pigs,
and having
nothing.
He is
gone as
low as
he can
go.
But in
the midst
of that,
he remembers.
He remembers
that in his
father's house,
even the
servants have
enough to
eat.
And he
says to
himself,
what am I
doing here?
My father
loves me.
Maybe he'll
accept me
back,
even just
as a
servant.
And at
least I'll
have food,
because here
I have
nothing and
I'm starving.
And he
returns to
his father.
But when
he returns
to his
father,
he finds
out that
his father
has better
plans than
just food
and service.
He finds
that his
father embraces
him back
into his
own heart.
And like
the prodigal,
and like
Naomi,
we need
to hear
the word
of the
Lord.
We need
to know
that
Father God
is waiting
for us.
He's there.
He's wanting
to welcome
us back,
just like
the prodigal.
And he
proved it,
in that he
sent his
son,
the Lord
Jesus Christ,
to die
for us.
God so
loved the
world that
he sent
his one
and only
son.
And that's
the good
news.
That's why
we're all
here this
morning.
If you
know and
love the
Lord Jesus
Christ,
we're going
to celebrate
his sacrifice
through the
breaking of
bread.
We heard
the good
report,
the good
news,
and we
returned home.
And so I
would encourage
you to
return home
this morning.
Sometimes it
takes extreme
circumstances.
Sometimes it's
at our point
of need.
It's like the
prodigal son.
It's when we're
at our lowest.
It's when we're
feeding pigs
and the pigs
die.
Maybe it's
like Naomi.
It's loss.
It's famine.
It's
bereavement.
And it
brings us to
the point
that we
realize,
you know
what?
Life's not
too good
living it
my way.
Doing what's
right in our
own eyes is
not really
where it's
at.
I need
something
else.
Let us
pray.
O Lord,
whose power
is infinite
and wisdom
infallible,
order things
that they
may neither
hinder nor
discourage
me, nor
prove obstacles
to the
progress of
thy cause.
Stand
between me
and all
strife,
that no
evil befall
and no
sin corrupts
my gifts,
zeal, or
attainments.
May I
follow duty
and not
any foolish
device of
my own.
Permit me
not to
labor at
work, which
thou wilt not
bless, that
I may serve
thee without
disgrace or
debt.
Father God,
would you
help us
realize
that you
being king
is the
most important
thing that
we can ever
know.
Lord, that
we would
not want to
live lives
as we see
fit.
Lord, that
we would
seek to
desire to
know you,
to know
your will,
to know
your ways.
And Lord, to
follow you in
love and to
share that
love and
that knowledge
of you with
everyone.
Because
knowing that
there is
bread in the
house of
bread,
knowing that
you are the
bread of
life.
Knowing that
is the
greatest treasure
for anyone.
And Lord,
would you
impact us
again just
with the
glory of
Christ and
what you
have provided
for us in
your sacrifice.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.
Anne.
Amen.
Maim.
Amen.