Good morning. Join me, if you would please, in your Bibles, in the book of Ruth.
The book of Ruth, four short chapters after the book of Judges, just before 1 Samuel.
Before we begin today's study of Ruth 1, I want to give you some brief background on
the book and a brief explanation of the reasoning for spending the next four weeks, Lord willing,
in this book.
And I wrote that sentence before I wrote the rest of the introduction, so we'll see
how brief it is.
Both the authorship and the date of authorship are uncertain concerning Ruth.
I most like the tradition that holds Solomon as its author because, as we will see, he
may have written it as a telling of his family's story.
However, regardless of who or when the book was written, the reason for its writing can
be clearly ascertained.
Verse 1 sets the scene for the book.
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.
We have studied in great brevity the book of Judges the past two weeks.
We did an overview of it.
We looked at a single story in it.
Perhaps we'll revisit it sometime soon.
But in that time that we spent in it, I noted a pattern for us in the book.
And you may recall, first the people rebel, then God hands them over to the people of the
land.
Then God shows them mercy by raising up a judge.
And then the judge, by God's help, delivers the Israelites, and they have rest.
And finally, the judge dies, and the people return to their wickedness.
So this occurs over and over and over again.
So when the events we will study over the next month occur, this is God's dealing with
the nation of Israel.
Wickedness, judgment, mercy, rest, wickedness over and over.
In the midst of all the stories of turmoil that occur across a 300-year span in the book
of Judges, we get this little gem of a story.
It happens in the days when the judges ruled.
The bulk of this story takes place across a single harvest season.
And it zooms our attention in on a widow and her daughter-in-law.
And the sovereign kindness of God towards them.
It is proper for us to understand God as sovereign.
Absolutely powerful.
If you don't believe that God is sovereign, I'm not sure that we worship the same God.
The scripture is replete with the expressions of God's absolute power.
It is also proper for us to understand that his sovereignty takes action.
It's not just something he possesses, but he actually works sovereignly.
He is not idle, but he is working at all times in the affairs of men.
This is a great comfort to those who know God and who belong to him.
Take, just as an example, the possibility that you have been troubled in this election season
by who may be our next president.
I think we have reason to be troubled.
Either way, to be frank.
But Daniel chapter 2 and verse 21 says that God changes times and seasons.
He removes kings and sets up kings.
As sure as the summer gives way to fall.
Did we all doubt that this year?
I did at times.
And here it is.
Finally, in November, fall seems to have arrived.
God is ordering the matters of the world.
This doesn't always happen in a way that we understand.
But we do well when we remember that God has the good of his people in mind as he acts.
It's not always felt as good.
But if we remember God does, in fact, work for the good of his people, we really do well.
I want to show you this from two places in the Bible.
One in the Old Testament and one in the New.
Briefly, you can mark Ruth and go there or you can just listen to me.
The first is in Psalm 84, verse 11.
This is the last half of it.
There the psalmist says,
No good thing does God withhold from those who walk uprightly.
If we are in Christ, then we walk uprightly before God.
And this psalm tells us that God doesn't withhold anything good from us.
I don't believe that this means that we are just waiting to receive the good things and the bad things are in a different category.
But this means that God, in everything he gives us, is working good.
And I believe this because of a more clear text that we see in the New Testament.
Romans 8, verse 28 and following.
There Paul writes,
And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.
For those who are called according to his purpose.
And then he carefully defines the good that God is working in the first half of verse 29.
For those who before knew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.
We see in these texts that God is working, that we would be more like Christ.
That we could be with Paul in his writing to the Philippians from a Roman jail.
That for him to live is Christ and to die is gain.
We call God's sovereign ordering of the world for the good of his people, his providence.
Most of you likely know that your elders have proposed a name change for our church.
And were present at or have listened to the proposal and accompanying explanation.
But allow me a moment more to repeat some of what was said there concerning the word providence.
In Latin, this word literally means to foresee.
Pro, before.
Vite, to see.
If you put those together, you have simply the English word provide.
However, to foresee doesn't quite get at how the word is used.
It will be helpful for you to think of the English idiom, I'll see to it.
If I say this, I am saying that I will accomplish what needs to be accomplished.
I'll do everything that's necessary to do the thing I'm promising to do.
And this is what is meant by God's providence.
God will see to it.
What is the it that he will see to?
All the good that he has promised us in order that we would look like Jesus Christ.
Recall Romans 8, 28, and 29.
And stay with me just a bit longer and look with me at one more text.
And then we will begin looking at Ruth.
I want you to see a place where we readily see both providential work and the language itself of providence.
This is Genesis chapter 22, verse 7 and 8.
God has commanded Abraham to make a sacrifice of his son Isaac.
And they have traveled to Mount Moriah and have left behind the servants that went with them.
And verse 7 says,
And Isaac said to his father Abraham,
My father, here I am.
He says that my son.
He said, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
Abraham said, he responds to Isaac,
God will provide or see.
The literal translation of the Hebrew word is,
God will see for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.
So they went both of them together.
And then in verse 14, there's a ram that's provided to be sacrificed in the place of, instead of Isaac.
And then verse 14, Abraham called the name of that place,
The Lord will provide or see to it.
And it is said to this day on the mount of the Lord,
It shall be provided or seen to.
God provides.
He is providential.
In the giving of the ram as a replacement for Isaac for Abraham's sacrifice.
This episode is typologically rich as we know that the ram foreshadows the provision of Jesus Christ to die in our place.
God's providence includes the means of our salvation,
the subsequent sanctification and glorification,
but it also includes all the minutia in between.
Regardless of what troubles you this day,
if you belong to God in Christ,
if you are one of his people,
you can rest in the fact that God is working all things for your good.
Your highest good.
That you would look more like Christ.
In union with your creator.
A life that is full of peace that surpasses understanding,
regardless of your circumstances.
Thankfulness in your heart.
Confidence in your future glory.
Now, I have folded in the front of my Bible an origami sparrow.
Thanks to YouTube, I learned how to make this origami sparrow.
It serves to remind me to look at the birds of the air.
They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet my heavenly Father feeds them.
Am I not more valuable than they?
Matthew 6 and verse 26.
Now, assuming that you can see what I am holding,
this little origami sparrow,
you can see in this creased paper,
this form of a sparrow,
but how it takes this form is not discernible.
Maybe you are one of those people who do origami,
and you know how this was created.
The average person has no idea how this shape was made.
I had grand plans to unfold it and refold it for you,
but I am so nervous I will not get it back together,
that I am not going to.
It might go terribly wrong if I were to do that,
but if you were to take it,
and carefully unfold it,
and fold it back again,
perhaps you would begin to understand
how it has come to take this shape.
How we understand providence can be a bit like
this origami sparrow.
We often don't understand how God is working
in the circumstances of our lives,
but often, not always,
but often we are allowed glimpses
of how all that he does is for our good
and for his glory.
We get to look back and say,
oh, I see now what he was doing
on my behalf and for his glory.
The book of Ruth is a love story.
I want to be clear on the front end.
It is that, but it is not only that.
It is also a story about suffering
and survival.
So much more is packed into it
than the story between Ruth and Boaz.
The theme of it is not wait on your Boaz,
to be clear.
Ruth presents to us the providential work of God
unfolded and should be of great comfort
and encouragement to our souls.
God works in the lives of the characters
of this narrative,
in congruence with their human agency,
to bring about astonishing things.
Let me show you that by looking at the first five verses
of chapter one,
and then I'm going to rush us to the end.
We're going to look at the end
before we read the entirety of chapter one together.
So let me just show you the first five verses
of chapter one.
chapter one.
In the days when the judges ruled,
there was a famine in the land,
and a man of Bethlehem in Judah
went to sojourn in the country of Moab,
he and his wife and his two sons.
The name of the man was Elimelech,
and the name of his wife Naomi,
and the names of his two sons
were Malon and Chulion.
They were Ephraphites from Bethlehem in Judah.
They went into the country of Moab
and remained there.
But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi,
died, and she was left with her two sons.
These took Moabite wives.
The name of the one was Orpah,
and the name of the other, Ruth.
They lived there about ten years,
and both Malon and Chulion died
so that the woman was left
without her two sons and her husband.
So it begins tragically, right?
Nothing very good is going on
in these first five verses,
and we'll see a bit today
and then in the coming weeks
how the story unfolds,
if you're familiar with it.
But I want to take you to the end,
the first part of this double ending
of the book,
to chapter 4 and verse 17.
We see that there's a child
born to Ruth.
So to be clear,
a child was born to Ruth.
Verse 17 says,
And the women of the neighborhood
gave him a name,
saying,
A son has been born to Naomi.
They named him Obed.
He was the father of Jesse,
the father of David.
So incapped, right?
Here's a thing going on
at the beginning,
this great tragedy,
and we can see
where it's headed already.
In the days when the judges ruled,
there was a promise of a king
whose reign would last forever.
This promise is temporally fulfilled
in King David
and eternally fulfilled
in King Jesus.
What an incredible providence.
We get to see the full display of it
in these four chapters.
We have the joy of spending
the next four weeks
considering it.
So let's look at Ruth,
chapter 1 together.
Before I read it in its entirety,
let me remind you, beloved,
this is God's word to us,
written for his glory
and our good.
And so we would all do well
to listen to it
in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
In the days when the judges ruled,
there was a famine in the land
and a man of Bethlehem in Judah
went to sojourn
in the country of Moab,
he and his wife
and his two sons.
The name of the man was Elimelech
and the name of his wife, Naomi,
and the names of his two sons
were Malon and Chilion.
They were Ephraphites
from Bethlehem in Judah.
They went into the country of Moab
and remained there.
But Elimelech,
the husband of Naomi,
died,
and she was left
with her two sons.
These took Moabite wives.
The name of the one was Orpah
and the name of the other Ruth.
They lived there about ten years.
And both Malon and Chilion died,
so that the woman was left
without her two sons
and her husband.
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law
to return from the country of Moab,
for she had heard in the fields of Moab
that the Lord had visited his people
and given them food.
So she set out from the place
where she was with her two daughters-in-law,
and they went on the way
to return to the land of Judah.
But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,
Go, return each of you
to her mother's house.
May the Lord deal kindly with you
as you have dealt with the dead
and with me.
Lord, grant that you may find rest,
each of you,
in the house of her husband.
Then she kissed them,
and they lifted up their voices
and wept.
And they said to her,
No, we will return with you
to your people.
But Naomi said,
Turn back, my daughters.
Why will you go with me?
Have I yet sons in my womb
that they may become your husbands?
Turn back, my daughters.
Go your way,
for I am too old to have a husband.
If I should say I have hope,
even if I should have a husband this night
and should bear sons,
would you therefore wait
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.
Then they lifted up their voices
and wept again.
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.
For where you go, I will go.
And where you lodge, I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people
and your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die.
And there will I be buried.
May the Lord do so to me
and more also
if anything but death
parts me from you.
And when Naomi saw
that she was determined
to go with her,
she said no more.
So the two of them went on
until they came to Bethlehem.
And when they came to Bethlehem,
the whole town was stirred
because of them.
And the women said,
Is this Naomi?
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
and her daughter-in-law with her
who returned from the country of Moab.
And they came to Bethlehem
at the beginning of barley harvest.
Now, I just want to observe
two things briefly
from the text today.
As we go on in our study,
I'm sure we'll have to access
chapter one a bit more.
But I want you to see two things.
Number one,
a bitter providence.
A bitter providence.
And number two,
an exceptional faith.
So verse one begins with tragedy,
as I've mentioned already before.
In the days of the judges,
there was a famine in the land.
And a man from Bethlehem in Judah
went to another country,
went to Moab,
which is modern-day Jordan,
so out east of Jerusalem.
he and his wife
and his two sons.
So right at the very outset
of the book,
a famine is taking place.
And for the sake of survival,
one would presume
they leave their land
and they go off
to another land.
And then we begin,
we learn at the beginning
of verse two,
the names of those
in Naomi's family.
Of significance,
Naomi means pleasant.
Perhaps this is why
her daughters-in-law
love her so.
There's a name to her.
Children,
Malon and Chilion.
Malon,
her oldest son,
means sickly.
And Chilion means wasting.
Sickly and wasting.
So,
if we were readers of Hebrew,
this is not off
to a very good start
just in verse two.
And so the tragedy continues
in verse three.
We see that Elimelech,
the husband of Naomi,
dies.
We don't know how much time passes,
but it doesn't seem to be
much time at all
when they've relocated
in Moab
and she's left
with her two sons.
And then in verse four,
these two sons
take Moabite wives,
one named Orpah
and the other named Ruth.
Ruth, interestingly,
is a Hebrew name,
so it could have been a name
that was given to her.
Orpah,
which my computer
tried to autocorrect
to Oprah again
and again
and again.
the people of Israel
had been commanded
not to intermarry
with foreigners.
Not for ethnic purity,
I don't believe,
but because
of the potential
for idolatry.
Listen to this command
from Deuteronomy chapter seven,
verse two and following.
You shall make no covenant
with them
and show no mercy
to them.
You shall not intermarry
with them,
giving your daughters
to their sons
or taking their daughters
for your sons,
for they would turn away
your sons
from following me
to serve other gods.
Then the anger of the Lord
would be kindled against you
and he would destroy you
quickly.
They were commanded
not to intermarry
being compounded upon us.
Like,
think of Jewish readers
of this text.
They're saying
you had to move
from the land
that was promised to you
and then your husband dies
and then your sons
took foreign wives.
What tragedy
is being added upon
and added upon
here
in just these first
few verses.
Now,
some have said
that perhaps
these men died
because of this,
that it was a judgment
on them.
I'm not sure.
Certainly,
Naomi seems to think so
later on
in the text.
The way she's reading it
and understanding it.
Of interest,
the name Orpah
means stubborn.
Maybe she stays with her
for a bit
because she had decided to
and then she turns back
and the name Ruth
means friendship.
So,
Naomi now,
at this point
in our text,
has moved to another country,
a foreign land.
She's lost her husband.
Her sons
have married
Moabite
wives
and then added
to that
both Malon
and Chilion
die.
So,
verse 5 says,
the woman
was left
without her two sons
and her husband.
And I'm just
guessing at this point.
I don't know for sure.
But it seems to me
that the author
could have said
that Naomi
was left
without her two sons
and her husband
but doesn't use
the word
pleasant there
because we don't
want to see her
in a pleasant state.
Right?
Great
tragedy
upon tragedy.
The patristic laws
of the day
meant that
Naomi's livelihood
was tied
to that of her husband
and or
her sons.
So,
with all of them
gone
and hearing the news
that her hometown
is no longer
suffering a famine,
she decides
to return.
We discover
later that
she holds
the rights
of the land
of her husband
slash sons
if a relative
will redeem
the land
which we'll
talk a bit
more about
in the coming
weeks.
The first five
verses of this story,
what you need
to be clear about
are nothing
but
tragedy.
And note
how Naomi
feels
about this.
Look at
verse 19
through 21.
So the two
of them,
this is her
and Ruth,
went on
until they
came
to Bethlehem.
And when they
came to Bethlehem
the whole town
was stirred
because of them
and the woman
said,
is this
Naomi?
She's been
gone now
for years
and years
and so
they're abuzz
about this.
Is this
Naomi?
And her
response to
them is,
do not
call me
Naomi.
Do not
call me
pleasant.
Call me
Mara,
which means
bitter.
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
or pleasant
when the
Lord has
testified
against me
and the
Almighty
has brought
calamity
upon me.
Naomi
rightly
recognizes
God's
hand
in her
circumstances
but she
has failed
to remember
God's
promised
goodness.
No one
will argue
that the
loss of a
husband
and two
sons
is in
itself
a good.
But we
now have
the insight
an insight
that Naomi
didn't possess
that helps
us to
call this
a bitter
providence.
Naomi
doesn't call
it providence
at all
in chapter
one.
She is
just
embittered
toward God.
She herself
has become
bitter.
She arrives
home
weak
in faith.
I think
that each
of us
can relate
in some
measure
to Naomi.
You may
have
experienced
this
measure
of loss
or
something
near it.
You may
not be
able to
imagine
what this
kind of
loss
would feel
like.
Either way
in some
measure
we have
felt
what Naomi
feels
in the
phrase
I went
away
full
and the
Lord
has
mopped
me
back
empty.
Now
if you're
here
I think
most of
you resonate
you could
say yes
I have
felt this
way
at times
I have
at times
been embittered
toward God
and I have
been weak
in faith
perhaps you
have no
idea
and I will
just say
to you
and you're
probably a
young person
if that's
true
hang on
things are
going to
happen in
your life
they're going
to tempt
you to
turn away
and have
weak faith
and to
become
embittered
to
experience
things
and say
how could
this
thing
how could
this
possibly
be good
they can
be
beloved
because
God's
promises
are
sure
we need
a rich
we need
a thick
theology
of suffering
to bear up
in this
world
you will
at times
in your
life
have to
really
understand
God's
providence
you don't
need to be
told that
if you just
have enough
faith
the difficult
things in
your life
are going
to go
away
oh no
not at
all
you need
to be
told
that if
you have
enough
faith
you will
understand
that God
is working
all of
these trials
in your
life
for
your good
and his
glory
he is
working
for you
even
when the
providence
tastes
bitter
so hold
believe
persevere
one day
we will
all see
the full
reality
of his
purposes
for us
Paul says
that he
doesn't even
consider
current
suffering
worth
comparing
to the
eternal
weight
of glory
that's
going to
be revealed
to us
Thomas
Watson
the Puritan
preacher
once said
this is the
quotation on
your bulletin
this morning
God is to be
trusted
when his
providences
seem to run
contrary
to his
promises
so this is
a bitter
providence
that we see
in the life
of Ruth
excuse me
of Naomi
not
not meant
to embitter
Naomi
toward God
but it
is a
providence
that would
be
difficult
to bear
up
under
I'm so
grateful
that we
have the
fuller
view
of what
God
is doing
in these
affairs
so we
see a
bitter
providence
we also
see
in chapter
one
an
exceptional
faith
we turn
your attention
to verse
sixteen
and seventeen
so Orpah
has gone
back
returned to
her people
and to
her
people's
gods
but Ruth
says this
do not
urge me
to leave
you
or return
from following
you
for where
you go
I will
go
and where
you lodge
I will
lodge
your people
shall be
my people
and your
God
my God
where you
die
I will
die
and there
will I
be buried
may the
Lord
do so
to me
and more
also
if anything
but death
parts me
from you
may God
kill me
if anything
but death
parts me
from you
I suggest
to you
even though
we have
seen the
weakness
of Naomi's
faith
something
of her
faith
is compelling
to Ruth
across those
years that she
was part
of her family
perhaps
the journey
itself
something
about
Naomi's
faith
has
compelled
Ruth
to turn
her attention
to Yahweh
Ruth
has been
exposed
to the
worship
of Yahweh
in Naomi's
house
and we
see here
this expression
of desire
to worship
the God
of Israel
she declares
that Naomi's
God will be
her God
in verse 16
and then notice
in verse 17
she calls him
Lord
perhaps
just maybe
we witness
the conversion
of Naomi
in between
verse 16
and 17
as she is
being
pressed to
depart
and a
devotion
to Naomi
and Israel
and God
well up
inside her
perhaps
whether or not
that's what
happens here
we can
see her
faith
in this
text
so why
do I
call it
exceptional
well first
all faith
is exceptional
faith
because the
natural bend
of mankind
is not
towards God
but away
from him
we are all
born in sin
with the
inclination
to sin
this is the
direction
that every
one of us
is headed
in
all faith
is given
as a gift
therefore
all faith
is
exceptional
you or I
possess faith
this morning
we should
humbly
praise God
for it
because it
was given
to us
by him
additionally
in addition
to that
reality
Ruth
was a
Moabite
here
what
Deuteronomy
chapter 23
and verse
3 says
concerning
her
no
Ammonite
or Moabite
may enter
the assembly
of the
Lord
even
to the
tenth
generation
none
of them
may enter
the
assembly
of the
Lord
forever
this was a
judgment
because of
what the
Ammonites
and the
Moabites
had done
they had
dealt
treacherously
with Israel
now I cannot
be sure
that Ruth
was familiar
with this
text
but I imagine
that she
was
she had
spent some
years
under the
tutelage
of Naomi's
house
exceptional
faith
no
Moabite
may enter
the assembly
of the
Lord
even
to the
tenth
generation
none
of them
forever
may enter
the assembly
of the
Lord
and yet
she declares
in verse
16
Naomi's
God
will be
my
God
and then
she calls
him
Lord
she
believed
she
believed
that
God
could
be
her
God
we
have
seen
that
God
sets
her
in the
middle
of his
redemptive
narrative
as the
great
grandmother
of King
David
he certainly
does
accept her
perhaps
even in
spite of
what her
former
husband
had done
he
grafts
her
in
to this
family
and does
a significant
thing
with her
she's the
great
grandmother
of King
David
and then
more clearly
in the line
of King
Jesus
and Matthew's
genealogy
of Jesus
and I think
you'll appreciate
flipping with me
to Matthew
chapter 1
this is the
most extensive
genealogy
that we have
in the
gospel
accounts
I'm just
going to
read
one verse
and
half
of another
so Matthew
chapter 1
verse 5
and then
verse 6
and we
see the
addition
of two
women
in verse 5
this
additional
piece
there's a
pattern
being followed
of so
and so
was the
father of
so and so
was the
father of
so and so
but then
we see
this addition
of who
their
wife
was
so verse 5
says
and Sammon
the father
of
Boaz
play prominently
in the book
of Ruth
by Rahab
who was
the Jericho
prostitute
who helped
the spies
in Joshua
6
and Boaz
the father
of Obed
by Ruth
and Obed
the father
of Jesse
and Jesse
the father
of David
the king
and then Matthew
goes on
to talk about
this is where
the Christ
this is the
lineage of
the Christ
and we see
this beautiful
insertion
of her
in this
genealogy
this Moabite
woman
should have
been outside
of the
graces
of God
God
kindly
brings
in
she expresses
her devotion
to Naomi
and comes
and says
your God
will be my
God
and she
calls him
Lord
exceptional
faith
isn't it
cool
that we
get to
zoom back
and see
the story
in its
entirety
and then
try to
understand
them
living
in
this
day
we see
an improper
application
of an
understanding
of God's
good promises
and his
sovereign work
in them
on behalf
of Naomi
she is
embittered
towards
God
glad to
see the
resolve
of the
story
even in
brief
this
morning
and then
we get to
view this
exceptional
faith
of Ruth
as she
travels
back
with
Naomi
to
Bethlehem
the
story
of
Ruth
is a
story
of
providence
unfolded
for our
good
and for
God's
glory
let's
pray
together