So, you've got Romeo and Juliet, Cleopatra and Mark Antony, Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
! They're all classic romance stories, aren't they?
And the book of Ruth, if you've read it, you'll know that it has got everything we'd expect from an epic love story.
It's got the sadness at the beginning, the disappointment, the waiting, it's got the confusion, the attraction, and then finally the marriage.
And Ruth and her husband-to-be, Boaz, in the story, are one of the great unlikely romances of the whole Bible, aren't they?
Now, I don't know whether this is true, I hope it's not a stereotype, but the big book of Ruth is perhaps one of the books that is very close to women's hearts.
As I've been chatting to some of you over the last few weeks, that seems to be the case.
It's one of the few books in the Bible that's named after a woman, isn't it?
And in many ways, women do dominate the story.
Ruth and Naomi, it's a sort of Thelma and Louise kind of story.
So it's written about women, set in a women's world, with women's concerns and cares.
It deals with childbirth and husbands and women's work and marriage.
But actually, I want to say to us from the beginning, that as we begin looking at Ruth, while it feels like a very feminine book, and it is a romance story,
It's a romance story driven by redemption.
Redemption that comes through the main male character in the book, Boaz, who we meet at the beginning of chapter 2.
So I think there are lessons of male sexuality and leadership in the book.
And Boaz will be the man through whom the lives of women in the book are transformed.
Boaz will turn Naomi and Ruth's fortunes around.
He will redeem their situation.
So it's a book about romance, but it's also a book of redemption.
Now over 23 times in the book, the word redemption or redeemer is actually used.
So it's a story in which the women characters are redeemed by a man.
Romance and redemption.
And the writer highlights redemption in the book, not just to show us how men should behave in society with women,
but to point to the man, the redeemer of all mankind, Jesus Christ.
So Ruth is a kind of shorthand version, really, of the whole Bible story.
God's big story of romance.
Of him wooing his people, of lavishing his love upon them and turning their lives around.
Of redeeming them back from death through his son, the man, Jesus Christ, the redeemer.
So that's where we're heading over the next four weeks.
I hope you can be with us for the next three evenings in August.
I want us to look at chapter one tonight, and I've got three headings to help us through that.
It is the romance and the redemption.
But firstly, at the beginning of Ruth in chapter one, we see the misery of leaving the Lord.
The misery of leaving the Lord.
So the first chapter of Ruth is a chapter full of misery.
It is a chapter full of weeping and loss and bitterness, isn't it?
Back in verse one, we're introduced to an Israelite family from Bethlehem in Judah.
And the father in the family is a man called Elimelech.
We're introduced to him.
Now Judah, the land that they live in, we're told has been hit by a famine.
So Elimelech in verse two, he packs his bags and he says to the family,
Listen, we're going to head out of the land of Judah and we're going to live, sojourn in the land of Moab.
So he takes his wife, Naomi, and their two sons.
So do you see, they leave the Lord's land.
They leave Judah.
And they go outside of the promised land.
Now over time, the two sons marry foreign Moabite girls.
And those girls are called Orpah and Ruth.
But do you see, by verse five, ten years on, out in Moab, all the men in the story have died, haven't they?
Look at verse five.
Both Malon and Chilion, the two sons, died.
So that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Now if you can just picture the scene for Naomi there.
Naomi stands, doesn't she, at the graveside of her husband.
And the two sons are buried either side, perhaps, of the grave.
You know, we've got some young lads in our family.
We saw my nephews a few weeks ago.
They're great fun.
And their mother absolutely don'ts on them.
And I just cannot imagine, I can't bring myself to think,
of the pain that it would cause the family if anything should happen to those lads.
It's just unthinkable.
Just imagine the funeral of those two lads.
Naomi has to watch her own children die.
Any mother would be shattered by that, wouldn't they?
And so she has just a numbing pain, away from Judah and in the land of Moab.
You know, the name Naomi means pleasant.
But by the end of the chapter she wants to change her name, doesn't she, in verse 20,
to Marah, which means bitter.
No, no, no.
No, no.
Life is not pleasant in Moab.
It's bitter for this woman.
For these widows left behind.
It is one of those families, isn't it, that just gets struck with disaster after disaster,
heartbreak after heartbreak.
Broken lives and emptiness.
But can you see here that it's the misery and the broken heartedness caused by the foolish man,
Elimelech, as he has led them away from the Lord.
It is the misery of the separation that has happened between them and the Lord.
They've left the Lord's land, Judah.
They've left the Lord.
Even though it might look pleasant, Naomi says,
No, no.
Life away from the Lord has left me bitter and full of sorrow.
Life away from the Lord has just left me amidst death and pain.
Now, the book of Ruth, it comes in the Bible after the book of Judges.
If you didn't know that, Ruth starts off in verse 1, doesn't it?
In the days when the judges ruled.
There was a famine in the land.
Now, that helpfully sets the time frame for us for the book of Ruth.
At that point, alarm bells should be ringing
because there's an unmistakable problem about this time in the Bible story in this period.
Just flip back one page to the last verse of the book of Judges.
Just have a look there.
Chapter 21, verse 25.
In those days there was no king in Israel.
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Now, Judges is a famous book, isn't it?
You've got stories like Samson and Gideon and Ehud.
But if you read Judges, you'll see that it's like a never-ending downward spiral
of bad behaviour and of sin,
followed by misery,
followed by God sending a rescuer or a judge,
and then sin again,
and then more misery,
and God sending them a rescuer.
It's the same again and again and again.
The people, it says there,
are without a king to lead them in living for God.
And they're all just doing what each one of them thinks is best in their own eyes.
Each person did what was right in their own eyes.
They did what was right in their own eyes.
Again and again.
Each person calls the shots in their own life.
Now, don't forget that this is after Moses, isn't it?
So they've all got God's law in their society.
They've got the Bible.
They know how they should live.
But they're not listening to God's law,
and they're not living in that way.
They make up the rules on the spot,
doing what seems to be best in my eyes,
for my life, best for me.
God is just left out of the picture.
And so do you see, the famine comes in verse 1.
There is a famine in the land of Judah,
and that shouldn't surprise us.
Because famines were a sign from God
to the people to say,
you are in danger.
As you reject me, you are in great danger.
A famine was a warning sign.
It was a call out from God to say,
come back and live in the right way.
Deuteronomy chapter 28 says this,
If you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God,
or be careful to do his commandments,
then cursed shall you be in the field.
Cursed shall your basket and your kneading ball be.
Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb,
and the fruit of your ground.
So the condition of the land
was like a gauge
as to how their relationship with God was going.
So famine was a signpost from God
saying loud and clear,
come back to me.
Because they weren't listening to him,
and they weren't living for him.
They needed to turn back to him,
but when the signpost comes for a limelight,
that's the last place he goes, isn't it?
He says to the family,
there's no food here.
It's no good returning to God,
looking to the Lord,
and to his land,
and for his food.
So he leads them to sojourn
in the land of Moab.
He leads them away
from the Lord
and his blessings.
It's ironic,
because the name Elimelech
actually means,
my God is king.
My God is king.
He was a Christian
in name,
but not in faith,
not in action.
He leads his family
away from the Lord.
When the going gets tough,
he's the family leader, isn't he?
But he doesn't run to God,
he runs from God.
He did what was right
in his own eyes.
He looked at what was in front of his face,
and he ran from God.
So the famine comes,
hard times come,
but Elimelech doesn't wait
for God's bread,
does he?
He goes for Moab's bread.
There's an obvious problem here,
but Elimelech addresses
the wrong problem,
the lack of bread,
rather than
the lack of relationship
with God.
He leaves the Lord.
And Elimelech's story,
it ends in tragedy,
doesn't it?
Because he dies in Moab,
he dies away from God.
If hard times come,
if famine comes,
I wonder,
by the time
you and I die,
where will we
have taken our families,
if we have families?
No matter what you go through
on the way,
will you have taken them out
to Moab?
What sort of legacy
will you leave behind?
We pray,
don't we,
that we will never
take our families away
from the Lord,
just doing what is right
in our own eyes.
So we see the misery
of leaving the Lord
for Naomi.
The misery of leaving
the Lord.
But secondly,
is there determination
to return to the Lord?
The determination
to the return to the Lord.
Now there's an old TV ad,
it's one of my favourite adverts,
The Hovis,
the bread brand,
where a child runs away
from the family home.
It's quite an old advert.
But you know,
mum doesn't panic
because she knows
the one thing
that will bring him back
without fail.
It is the alluring smell
of freshly baked Hovis,
isn't it?
So the aroma
waffes down those
Huddersfield streets
and that guy
starts playing the trumpet
and the lad comes back.
It's a really moving story,
actually.
Now,
Naomi gets a whiff
of something,
doesn't she?
Just have a look
at verse 6.
Naomi,
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 there she is
in the fields of Moab.
She hears that
there is more to be had
back in Judah,
back in the Lord's land.
Now,
we're told that they've been
in Moab
for about 10 years.
Now,
just think for a moment.
Without our modern communication
that we have today,
we don't actually know
how long it took
for Naomi to find out
that there was any food
back in Judah,
do we?
Could have been weeks.
Could have been months,
even.
Just think of all that time
that Naomi could have been
feasting
back in the Lord's land
when she remained
in the fields of Moab.
Naomi and the girls
were outside of God's land,
outside of his covenant blessings.
They were outside of
God's people,
the church
in the fields of Moab.
Being away from the Lord
and it could have been
so much better for them,
couldn't it?
Life in Moab,
it was slowly starving them,
sapping their life.
That is life, isn't it?
Away from the Lord.
It's just sapping.
Life away from the Lord,
always eating,
but always hungry,
never really satisfied.
But there is a feast
available with the Lord
and with his people
back in his land.
And that's part of
becoming a Christian,
isn't it?
It is to say,
why should I do
without bread?
Why should I starve
when I can go back to God
and I can feast
from all that he gives to me?
Don't we want to be a church
where people look in
and they go,
wow, the hovis is in the oven.
It smells so good in there.
What is that aroma?
What are they feasting on in there?
Why should I do without that?
So Naomi,
she's determined
to return to the Lord
because there's a feast
for her.
Now, Elimelech's choice
to leave the Lord earlier
has limited
the life
and provision
of the family,
hasn't it?
Faced with a famine,
he thought,
you know,
I'll grab what is right
in front of my face
and I'll get away
from Judah
and I'll go to Moab.
Now, it's interesting
if you look at
how those two places
are described in the passage.
Now, every time Moab
is mentioned,
it's called
the country of Moab,
isn't it?
Verse 1,
the country of Moab.
Verse 2,
the country of Moab.
Verse 6,
the country of Moab.
Again.
Whereas Judah is called
the land of Moab,
the land of Judah.
Verse 1,
the land.
Verse 7,
the land of Judah.
Country and land.
Now, those two words
are at polar opposites
in terms of size
and of scale,
of place.
It's probably
the opposite
of what we'd usually think.
But the word land
is used over 300 times
in the Bible
and it means
the earth,
the whole world,
the big wide world.
And the word country,
country of Moab,
is used far less.
It means something
more limited,
a smaller plot
or piece of land
or earth.
So you see,
Elimelech chooses,
doesn't he,
to leave the land,
the world of God's land
behind.
And he goes to the
little country of Moab,
the big,
wide,
wonderful world
of God's land,
and exchanges it
for little Moab.
He chooses the limited
instead of the unlimited.
You know,
at that point,
he thought leaving the Lord
would be the big move
for the family,
wouldn't it?
Leaving the Lord,
freedom at last,
the country of Moab,
the land of opportunity.
But all it's left
his wife with
is a little corner
to bury him
and his two sons in.
a little tiny piece
of land called Moab
by a graveside.
They find out,
don't they,
that to leave the Lord
is to put your life
in a box.
It is to live
in a little corner.
It is to starve yourself
and to limit yourself
and your family's life.
It is to be
closed-minded
and stunted.
Life becomes
restricted and small
away from the Lord.
the unlimited
for the limited.
C.S. Lewis
puts it really well.
He says,
we are half-hearted creatures
fooling about
with drink,
sex and ambition
when infinite joy
is offered us.
Infinite joy
like an ignorant child
who wants to go on
making mud pies
in a slum
because he can't understand
what is meant
by the offer of a holiday
by the sea.
Great, isn't it?
Naomi knows
that back with the Lord
it smells good.
there is a feast
back there.
So she's determined
to return to the Lord
back to the big
beautiful
plentiful
wide world
of living
with the Lord.
Isn't it funny
how God calls
his people
to what often
looks smaller
and yet
is far far bigger.
So Abraham
he is called
to a tiny piece
of land
isn't he?
The promised land.
Moses is called
into a wilderness
and through a wilderness.
And people today
we are called
into a tiny
looking church
aren't we?
But what looks
smaller
in the world's eyes
is actually
far far bigger
in reality.
because it opens
up all of life
as it's meant
to be lived.
Returning
to the Lord.
Is that how
we think of church?
The big
full
unlimited
wide world
of God's church
God's land.
So
they choose
to return
to the Lord
but what about
the two daughters?
Ruth
and Orpah.
In the time
we've got
we just need
to see
I think
the difference
in the reaction
to Naomi
telling them
that they have
to stay
in Moab
in verse 8.
Just look there.
Verse 8.
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've
dealt with
the dead
and with me.
That's an
emotional
moment isn't it?
Both of the
girls cry
about the
prospect
of leaving
Naomi
don't they?
Verse 9.
They kissed
each other
and they lifted
up their voices
and wept.
Verse 14.
They lifted
up their voices
and wept
again.
They've grown
to love
their mother-in-law
Naomi
and they both
weep tears
about this
idea.
They both
refuse to go
back don't
they?
In verse 10
they said to her
no we will
return with you
to your people.
they refused
to go back
but the issue
here is the
desire for
marriage
and for
rest.
Look at
verse 11.
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'm
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?
The issue
here is that
the daughters
find husbands.
Now those
words husbands
and daughters
come up again
and again
in those
verses
daughters
six times
husbands
four times.
So in a
sense the
quest of
this book
is to
find Ruth
a husband.
To have
a husband
meant
security
and to
have
children
was to
have
posterity
and
provision
for
older
life.
So there
was a
lot
riding on
this
decision.
To
find a
husband
with
Naomi
seemed
ludicrous.
She was
too old
to have
other
sons
and who
would
marry
two
Moabite
girls?
You
see for
the girls
personal
loyalty
to
Naomi
would
mean
marriage
probably
wouldn't
happen.
And so
at this
point
the girls
split
don't
they
with
Naomi's
final
appeal
to
them
in
verse
13
to
14
both
of
them
cry
out
but
only
Ruth
clings
to
Naomi
they
both
cry
but
only
Ruth
clings
look
Naomi
says
verse
15
your
sister
has
gone
back
to
her
people
and
her
gods
you
should
do
the
same
but
it's
the
determination
to
return
to
the
Lord
do
not
urge
me
to
return
from
following
you
Ruth
says
they
both
cry
but
only
Ruth
clings
verse
18
she's
determined
Naomi
saw
that she
was
determined
to
go
with
her
so
it's
not
just
the
tears
is
it
the
crying
that
marks
a
determination
to
return
to
the
Lord
crying
tears
of
repentance
but
it's
a
clinging
to
him
to
return
to
him
now
why
is
Ruth
so
different
what
makes
her
go
with
Naomi
at
this
point
in
some
ways
it
is
mysterious
isn't
it
we're
maybe
not
told
all
of
the
thoughts
in
her
mind
but
it's
clear
that
she
has
a
deep
desire
not
to
go
back
to
Moab
she
insists
there
was a
fundamental
objection
in her
soul
of living
in
Moab
somehow
she knew
there was
nothing
in Moab
for her
anymore
she'd been
changed
so she's
determined
and she
decides
when faced
with the
prospect of
losing
everything
humanly
speaking
of perhaps
not marrying
she makes
this call
now I
wonder
whether
there are
people
here
tonight
and
perhaps
you
wouldn't
call
yourself
a
Christian
but
you've
been to
church
a few
times
you've
been
with
Christians
and
you've
heard
the
Bible
preached
and
even
though
you
wouldn't
call
yourself
a
Christian
you
know
something
is
happening
something
is
happening
inside
when you
come to
church
or when
you hear
the
Bible
and if
you
had
one
last
chance
and
were
faced
with
the
ultimatum
to
stay
or to
go
you'd
say
like
Ruth
well
I've
come
this
far
I
just
can't
go
back
I
can't
go
back
to
my
old
life
without
the
Lord
you see
before
she
realised
it
Ruth
was on
another
road
wasn't
she
the
narrow
road
away
from
Moab
and
returning
back
to
the
Lord
and
faced
with
that
ultimatum
she
decides
she
is
determined
I
can't
go
back
so I
must
go to
the
Lord
it's
all or
nothing
for
her
now
we're
in a
shape
that
upholds
God's
sovereign
choice
of his
people
aren't
we
but we
also
know
that
God's
word
calls
us
to
believe
and
to
act
upon
our
belief
and
a
will
to
action
to
actually
decide
time
to
decide
to
leave
Moab
and
to
return
to
the
Lord
and
if
you're
wondering
about
whether
to
start
on
that
road
back
to
the
Lord
or
to
the
Lord
for
the
first
time
even
everyone
around
us
here
this
evening
is
on
that
road
just
look
around
you
if
you're
wondering
about
whether
to
start
on
that
road
see
those
of us
who
have
got
to
that
fork
in
the
road
and
we
said
I
just
can't
go
back
and
be
encouraged
Ruth
wants
everything
that
Naomi
has
she
wants
to
follow
her
doesn't
she
verse
16
to
18
where
you
go
I
will
go
I
will
lodge
where
you
lodge
your
people
shall
be
my
people
your
God
my
God
where
you
will
die
I
will
die
her
whole
destiny
has
changed
her
living
and
her
dying
she
wants
to be
with
the
people
and
serve
the
God
that
they
serve
Ruth
says
doesn't
she
I
cannot
live
without
the
Lord
take
everything
away
from
me
if
you
want
take
away
my
life
this
prospect
of
marriage
but
don't
take
Jesus
away
from
me
she
doesn't
know
what
the
future
will
hold
does
she
and
the
marriage
could
be
down
the
drain
but
she
can't
go
back
so
she
decides
she's
determined
to
return
to
the
Lord
even
if
life
gets
harder
I
can't
be
without
the
Lord
one
writer
puts
it
like
this
you'd
rather
have
Jesus
during
the
darkness
of
night
than
be
without
him
in
the
daytime
you'd
rather
have
Jesus
during
the
darkness
of
night
than
be
without
him
in
the
daytime
the
misery
of
the
Lord
but
Naomi
and
Ruth
determination
to
return
to
the
Lord
they
cannot
do
without
him
but
thirdly
as we
close in
more
briefly
verses
19
to
22
the
misery
of
leaving
the
Lord
determination
to
return
and
the
gracious
scars
of
the
time
in
between
the
gracious
scars
of
the
time
in
between
I
don't
know if
you've
ever
been
on
a
reunion
and
there's
that
awkward
thing
isn't
there
of
trying
to
remember
people
you
once
knew
so
well
years
and
years
ago
but
time
has
elapsed
hasn't
it
periods
in
life
go
by
people
and
faces
change
you
see
them
again
and
so
much
has
gone
by
you've
forgotten
them
what
their
names
are
they
seem
familiar
but
you
don't
know
who
they
are
now
the
women
finally
make
it
back
to
Bethlehem
in
Judah
don't
they
but
Naomi
is
not
the
woman
who
left
there
over
ten
years
ago
at
the
reunion
the
people
of
Bethlehem
look
out
over
the
horizon
and
they
squint
their
eyes
she
is
the
figure
of
a
woman
who
seems
familiar
but
is
only
a
shadow
of
her
former
self
verse
19
the
town
is
stirred
as
they
return
and
the
women
ask
is
this
Naomi
is
this
Naomi
is
that
really
you
you've
changed
you've
changed
so much
but
it
isn't
just
the
sands
of
time
here
isn't
it
isn't
just
natural
aging
but
it's
the
time
she's
had
away
from
the
Lord
she's
been
away
from
the
land
away
from
God's
covenant
people
verse
21
I
went
away
full
and
the
Lord
has
brought
me
back
empty
it's
the
scars
and
the
memories
of
a
life
lived
in
Moab
leaving
the
Lord
in
fullness
and
having
to
return
to
him
in
emptiness
from
pleasant
Naomi
she
is
bitter
Mara
isn't
she
it's
a reminder
to her
as she
returns
of the
toll
it takes
when we
live our
lives
doing what
is right
in our
own eyes
when we
live in a
dark box
for months
years
decades
even
being away
from the
Lord
it is not
freedom
is it
and it's
not fun
no no
Mara
she says
it's bitter
it will
ruin your
life
to
willingly
willfully
depart
from the
Lord
and be
away
from him
the
long
years
of life
doing
what is
right
in my
own
eyes
have a
heavy
toll
she's
paid
dearly
and she
looks
tired
she's
come back
empty
she's
hardly
recognisable
but at
the same
time
Naomi
knows
doesn't
she
that the
Lord
has been
behind
it
to bring
her back
to himself
the Lord
has done
this
and isn't
it so
sometimes
the case
that the
Lord
who will
fill us
must first
empty us
in his
providence
look at
verse 22
Naomi
returned
and Ruth
the Moabite
her daughter
in law
with her
who returned
from the
country of
Moab
and they
came to
Bethlehem
at the
beginning
of the
harvest
there is a
sign
isn't there
at the
end of
this
chapter
of God's
graciousness
they've
returned to
the Lord
in bitterness
and emptiness
but the
harvest
has come
the harvest
has come
and even
though their
past
is full
of scars
there is a
glimpse here
isn't there
of future
hope
of harvest
and of
satisfaction
for
Ruth
and if
you look
at verse
one
of chapter
two
we're
given
an even
greater
hint
aren't
we
Naomi
had a
relative
of her
husband
a worthy
man
of the
clan
of
Elimelech
whose name
was
Boaz
it is
the man
who will
turn these
women's
lives
around
who will
redeem
them
who will
fill
their
empty
lives
we can
be so
foolish
can't
we
we can
leave
the
Lord
at
times
and we
can
experience
the
bitterness
of that
limited
life
but God
is gracious
to his
people
to work
even in
suffering
to bring
you to
the man
Jesus
Christ
his
redeemer
God's
word
it tells us
doesn't it
to come
back to
him
to come
back
to his
wide
world
to come
back to
his
people
to the
church
and to
his
redeemer
the Lord
Jesus
not just
with tears
not just
with crying
but clinging
to him
determined
so tonight
is it time
to finally
decide
to do
that
why not
do it
tonight
to stop
doing what
is right
in your
own eyes
are you
tired of
living in
that way
and come
back to
him
and to
say
why should
I go
without
bread
why should
I be
outside of
his land
and his
people
and his
blessings
living in
a corner
in Moab
let's
pray
as we
close
Thank you.