WEBVTT 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:15.419 I'm going to read Ruth chapter 1. During the 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:17.960 time of the judges, there was a famine in the 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:21.679 land. A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.719 wife and two sons to stay in the territory of 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:28.280 Moab for a while. The man's name was Elimelech, 00:00:28.420 --> 00:00:31.559 and his wife's name was Naomi. The names of his 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:34.960 two sons were Malin and Kilian. They were Ephrathites 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.659 from Bethlehem and Judah. They entered the fields 00:00:38.659 --> 00:00:42.659 of Moab and settled there. Naomi's husband, Elimelech, 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:45.939 died, and she was left with her two sons. Her 00:00:45.939 --> 00:00:48.719 sons took Moabite women as their wives. One was 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:52.479 named Orpah, and the second was named Ruth. After 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.359 they lived in Moab about ten years, both Malin 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:58.119 and Kilian also died, and the woman was left 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:00.560 without her two children. and without her husband. 00:01:03.299 --> 00:01:05.599 She and her daughters -in -law set out to return 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:08.340 from the territory of Moab because she had heard 00:01:08.340 --> 00:01:10.700 in Moab that the Lord had paid attention to his 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:14.140 people's need by providing them food. She left 00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:15.939 the place where she had been living, accompanied 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:18.439 by her two daughters -in -law, and traveled along 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:22.200 the road leading back to the land of Judah. Naomi 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:24.859 said to them, each of you go back to your mother's 00:01:24.859 --> 00:01:28.140 home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:31.120 have shown to the dead and to me. May the Lord 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:33.120 grant each of you rest in the house of a new 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:36.040 husband. She kissed them, and they wept loudly. 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:39.719 They said to her, We insist on returning with 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:43.000 you to your people. But Naomi replied, Return 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:45.400 home, my daughters. Why do you want to go with 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.120 me? Am I able to have any more sons who could 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:50.700 become your husbands? Return home, my daughters. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:53.599 Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:56.180 Even if I thought there was still hope for me 00:01:56.180 --> 00:01:59.239 to have a husband tonight and to bear sons, would 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:01.480 you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:04.280 you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No, 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:06.739 my daughters. My life is much too bitter for 00:02:06.739 --> 00:02:09.280 you to share, because the Lord's hand has turned 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.000 against me. Again, they wept loudly, and Orpah 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:15.400 kissed her mother -in -law, but Ruth clung to 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:19.099 her. Naomi said, Look, your sister -in -law has 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:22.080 gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.819 your sister -in -law. But Ruth replied, don't 00:02:26.819 --> 00:02:29.939 plead with me to abandon you or to return and 00:02:29.939 --> 00:02:33.080 not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:36.520 And wherever you live, I will live. Your people 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:39.319 will be my people and your God will be my God. 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:42.800 Where you die, I will die. And there I will be 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:45.919 buried. May the Lord punish me and do so severely 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:50.620 if anything but death separates you and me. When 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:52.719 Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:55.400 her, She stopped talking to her. The two of them 00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:58.159 traveled until they came to Bethlehem. And when 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.139 they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited 00:03:00.139 --> 00:03:02.840 about their arrival. And the local woman exclaimed, 00:03:02.979 --> 00:03:06.580 Can this be Naomi? Don't call me Naomi. Call 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:09.379 me Mara, she answered. For the Almighty has made 00:03:09.379 --> 00:03:12.199 me very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.719 has brought me back empty. Why do you call me 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:17.139 Naomi, since the Lord has opposed me, and the 00:03:17.139 --> 00:03:20.789 Almighty has afflicted me? So Naomi came back 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:22.789 from the territory of Moab with her daughter 00:03:22.789 --> 00:03:25.569 -in -law Ruth, the Moabitess. They arrived in 00:03:25.569 --> 00:03:27.590 Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. 00:03:36.210 --> 00:03:44.490 Let's pray together. Lord, you say in your word 00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:47.569 that all of your word is valuable and important. 00:03:49.449 --> 00:03:52.949 All of it is useful for teaching us and equipping 00:03:52.949 --> 00:03:58.849 us, calling us out, rebuking us, and leading 00:03:58.849 --> 00:04:03.050 us, God. And so as we examine the book of Ruth 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:05.330 today, Lord, we want to start with this posture 00:04:05.330 --> 00:04:10.849 of just saying, God, we submit to you. All of 00:04:10.849 --> 00:04:17.480 us for all of you. Help us to see. your truths 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:22.220 in this incredible little story. Help us to see 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:26.500 the gospel in this story. Help us to see you, 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:30.879 Jesus. Lord, help us to understand your character. 00:04:33.899 --> 00:04:36.620 Lord, I pray that we will have soft hearts before 00:04:36.620 --> 00:04:38.939 you and pray and ask that the Holy Spirit will 00:04:38.939 --> 00:04:41.379 speak and move in our church and move in our 00:04:41.379 --> 00:04:46.389 lives as we unpack this amazing book. In your 00:04:46.389 --> 00:04:50.810 name we pray. Amen. Well, if you don't have a 00:04:50.810 --> 00:04:52.930 Bible and you notice that we did not put them 00:04:52.930 --> 00:04:55.569 up on the screen, we will as we work our way 00:04:55.569 --> 00:04:57.009 through it. But there's a couple of Bibles in 00:04:57.009 --> 00:04:59.230 the back there. Take one of those. If you don't 00:04:59.230 --> 00:05:01.269 have one, it's yours. Take it home with you. 00:05:02.550 --> 00:05:06.310 But take it and turn to the book of Ruth. Today 00:05:06.310 --> 00:05:09.230 we're going to begin a four -week series in the 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:13.029 book of Ruth. And somebody said to me when we 00:05:13.029 --> 00:05:14.550 were getting ready for this, I don't get this 00:05:14.550 --> 00:05:22.319 book. I get it. It's just a short little story. 00:05:22.379 --> 00:05:24.680 It seems nice. It seems good. It's really meant 00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:27.160 to be read all in one swoop, so I encourage you 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:30.779 to do that this week. Read the whole thing. But 00:05:30.779 --> 00:05:33.980 it is packed with meaning. So as we look at the 00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:37.600 story of Ruth, we're going to start with chapter 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:40.699 1 today. And I want to invite you to do something. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:43.560 It's a narrative. It's a different kind of writing 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:46.509 in Scripture. It's a narrative and it's meant 00:05:46.509 --> 00:05:49.949 for us to enter into the story. We love stories. 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:51.990 We have stories all the time. And we love movies. 00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:54.810 And we can kind of feel ourselves get into a 00:05:54.810 --> 00:05:57.209 story. Well, this story is no different. And 00:05:57.209 --> 00:05:59.910 so I want to invite you to enter into the story. 00:05:59.990 --> 00:06:03.529 Imagine what it would be like to stand in the 00:06:03.529 --> 00:06:06.769 different characters' shoes as we unpack this. 00:06:07.430 --> 00:06:11.550 And how does that translate into your life? The 00:06:11.550 --> 00:06:15.009 story of Ruth is a story of loss. which you'll 00:06:15.009 --> 00:06:19.430 see today. It's a story of love. It's a story 00:06:19.430 --> 00:06:22.610 of redemption. And it's a story of belonging. 00:06:24.350 --> 00:06:28.310 So as we step into the opening scenes of this 00:06:28.310 --> 00:06:31.069 story, I want to ask you to picture something 00:06:31.069 --> 00:06:34.529 in your brain. I want you to picture with me, 00:06:34.629 --> 00:06:40.230 there are three women walking down a dusty road. 00:06:41.790 --> 00:06:47.790 Dirt road. And they have lost everything. Everything 00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:52.870 but each other. As we zoom in closer, we can 00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:56.029 see and we can hear their pain and their weeping 00:06:56.029 --> 00:06:58.730 together. Can you picture that in your brain? 00:07:02.269 --> 00:07:05.810 How did we get to that point? How did we get 00:07:05.810 --> 00:07:08.689 to a place where we see three women in suffering 00:07:08.689 --> 00:07:12.170 and pain along this road with nothing? How did 00:07:12.170 --> 00:07:17.730 we get to this point? Where are they going? So 00:07:17.730 --> 00:07:20.250 let's enter into the story together and just 00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:22.970 at first look at some of the context of this 00:07:22.970 --> 00:07:26.810 story. And verse 1 really helps us in it. So 00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:28.389 we're just going to slowly work our way through 00:07:28.389 --> 00:07:34.990 this, okay? Verse 1. During the time of the judges, 00:07:35.089 --> 00:07:39.589 there was a famine in the land. And a man left 00:07:39.589 --> 00:07:44.819 Bethlehem in Judea. with his wife and his two 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:48.839 sons to stay in the territory of moab for a while 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:54.259 so simple enough right just kind of gets the 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:56.220 setting well there's a lot going on and one of 00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:57.860 the things about ruth you'll understand is that 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:00.500 it's so deep with meaning so let's just start 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:02.379 off with one our story takes place during the 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:05.579 time of the judges now it was a four judges if 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:08.019 you look at your bible it goes joshua judges 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:11.509 ruth right Not Joshua, Judges, Ruth, which is 00:08:11.509 --> 00:08:13.089 the way we remember that, but that's where it 00:08:13.089 --> 00:08:16.769 falls. And the book of Judges is a 400 -year 00:08:16.769 --> 00:08:19.990 period of Israel, and Israel had entered into 00:08:19.990 --> 00:08:22.350 the promised land, and not too long before it, 00:08:22.389 --> 00:08:24.370 they had said to God, coming out of the Exodus, 00:08:24.709 --> 00:08:26.790 they had said to God, like, hey, man, we're going 00:08:26.790 --> 00:08:29.810 to follow you forever. We're going to be committed 00:08:29.810 --> 00:08:33.730 to you. Man, it's a beautiful covenant they make 00:08:33.730 --> 00:08:36.909 with God. Like, we're in. And if you know the 00:08:36.909 --> 00:08:38.990 story, they don't do a very good job, do they? 00:08:39.950 --> 00:08:44.710 They enter into this promised land. And this 00:08:44.710 --> 00:08:47.590 is a time before, from the time of Joshua, before 00:08:47.590 --> 00:08:51.429 there was any kings of Israel. But it's one of 00:08:51.429 --> 00:08:55.330 the darkest, it is the most dark and most wicked 00:08:55.330 --> 00:09:00.210 and rebellious period of Israel's history. In 00:09:00.210 --> 00:09:02.610 fact, if you read all of Judges, it's quite depressing. 00:09:03.090 --> 00:09:05.450 I did it this last week again. Read the whole 00:09:05.450 --> 00:09:08.070 thing in pretty much one setting. And it's ugly. 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:15.720 Joshua 21 verse 25 is the very last verse basically 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:18.440 in the book of Judges before you open the page 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.399 of Ruth and it says this, in those days there 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:25.580 were no king of Israel and every man did what 00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:29.200 is right in his own eyes. It gives you a sense 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:31.779 of what was going on. Every man, every person 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:34.100 was doing whatever they wanted, whatever was 00:09:34.100 --> 00:09:36.200 right in their own eyes and we know where that 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:40.899 leads, right? Destruction. Kind of like today. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.460 And the Israelites were surrounded by people 00:09:46.460 --> 00:09:51.179 who had no time for the one true God, much like 00:09:51.179 --> 00:09:53.620 you and I live in a world today. But in a world 00:09:53.620 --> 00:09:58.279 where disgusting, horrific, immoral things were 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:01.700 happening all around them, and as time went on, 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:04.139 they gave in to those things, and as they gave 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:09.220 in to those things, destruction came. And they 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:12.700 were just surrounded by temptation. Surrounded 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:16.639 and giving into those temptations instead of 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:20.299 being surrendered to God. That was the process. 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:22.899 And they would get to this point in their life 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:26.279 where things would just fall apart. And then 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:28.159 they'd finally cry out to God and God would come 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.000 and rescue them. And then everything would be 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:32.559 good. In one generation, everything would fall 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.480 apart again. And it's this pattern over and over 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:39.190 and over. And you see it really. This incredibly 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:42.870 disgusting and dark picture in the book of Judges. 00:10:46.610 --> 00:10:49.850 So the result was God's people from one generation 00:10:49.850 --> 00:10:52.190 to the next would increase in their wickedness 00:10:52.190 --> 00:10:58.490 and rebellion. Now, what the book of Ruth does 00:10:58.490 --> 00:11:02.490 though, is it's set literally in the middle of 00:11:02.490 --> 00:11:05.580 the book of Judges. Some people think it's right 00:11:05.580 --> 00:11:07.659 around chapter 10 or 11, somewhere in there. 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:10.299 I don't know exactly, but we know that it's pretty 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:13.500 close. It fits right in there. And my wife used 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:14.879 this statement the other day, and I thought it 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:17.340 was so good. She says, you know, Ruth is like 00:11:17.340 --> 00:11:22.659 a whisper of hope during the dark period of wickedness 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:26.019 and rebellion. It's a whisper of hope. And so 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:27.980 you've got to understand, like, when in this 00:11:27.980 --> 00:11:31.779 opening scene, We're seeing, we understand the 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:34.360 context of what's going on with the book of Ruth. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:40.019 It's dark. It's an evil time. So on top of Ruth 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.820 being set in this period of the judges, now we 00:11:42.820 --> 00:11:45.659 see in verse 1 that there's also a famine in 00:11:45.659 --> 00:11:47.940 the land. We don't know if this is because part 00:11:47.940 --> 00:11:50.200 of God's judgment or what's going on. All we 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:52.980 know is that things were going really bad for 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:55.840 the children of Israel, those that lived in Bethlehem. 00:11:56.940 --> 00:12:01.070 And so there's this family. We see this family, 00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:03.730 this Jewish family that goes, okay, that live 00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:07.889 in Bethlehem. And by the way, Bethlehem means 00:12:07.889 --> 00:12:10.809 house of bread. That's what it means. And so 00:12:10.809 --> 00:12:14.850 it's interesting to me that in the house of bread, 00:12:15.049 --> 00:12:19.750 God's people are starving to death. So there's 00:12:19.750 --> 00:12:25.070 a decision to take the family and move to Moab. 00:12:25.389 --> 00:12:33.950 Look at verse 2. Man's name was Elimelech and 00:12:33.950 --> 00:12:37.409 his wife's name was Naomi. And their names of 00:12:37.409 --> 00:12:42.090 their two sons was Milion and I like Chilin, 00:12:42.149 --> 00:12:46.590 but it's Chilin. Chilin just sounds better. They 00:12:46.590 --> 00:12:51.929 were Ephraites from Bethlehem in Judah. And they 00:12:51.929 --> 00:12:55.110 entered the fields of Moab and settled there. 00:12:55.549 --> 00:12:58.750 Okay, so what's significant about this? So Elimelech 00:12:58.750 --> 00:13:02.320 takes his family 50 miles away. Now, 50 miles 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:04.700 is nothing for us, but if you're walking, that's 00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:07.679 a long ways. 50 miles, and he moves his family 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:12.460 50 miles away to Moab, where everything seemed 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:14.220 to be fine. There was no famine there, right? 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:18.559 Seems like a good choice. Seems like a wise choice. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:20.080 If you're a husband, you're like, man, I gotta 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:21.679 take care of my family. They're starving to death. 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:27.059 Problem is, is God's people were not to dwell 00:13:27.059 --> 00:13:30.830 there. It was direct, like, this is not where 00:13:30.830 --> 00:13:35.330 you go. See, the Moabites, they were wicked people, 00:13:35.470 --> 00:13:38.250 descendants from Lot. And the story of Lot, and 00:13:38.250 --> 00:13:39.789 I won't go into a lot of detail, but the story 00:13:39.789 --> 00:13:43.210 of Lot and how the Moabites came about is a dark 00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:47.509 story. It's a story of a daughter having intercourse 00:13:47.509 --> 00:13:51.889 with Lot and then bearing a child, and that child 00:13:51.889 --> 00:13:56.620 is named Moab. And the Moabites were known as 00:13:56.620 --> 00:13:59.399 a wicked people who worshiped false gods, multiple 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:02.919 gods. One of them was Baal. And one of the things 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:05.360 they know about it is they were perverted in 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:07.779 their worship and they were also sacrificing 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:11.620 people. This was a dark and ugly. We don't even 00:14:11.620 --> 00:14:14.320 have a category for the kind of wickedness that 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:18.100 Moab, well, we do. We have categories, similar. 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.299 But in that time, this was, God had clearly said, 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:25.409 no, I don't dwell there. And so what you have 00:14:25.409 --> 00:14:29.090 is so Elimelech takes matters into his own hands, 00:14:29.210 --> 00:14:32.570 and he justifies his actions, and he takes this 00:14:32.570 --> 00:14:36.929 tragic decision to move his family to another 00:14:36.929 --> 00:14:39.029 land. You think, well, that's stupid. Well, think 00:14:39.029 --> 00:14:45.330 about it for a second. No food versus food. Starving 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:48.370 children versus there's food over there. Now, 00:14:48.409 --> 00:14:51.190 you may think we can easily quickly judge Elimelech 00:14:51.190 --> 00:14:53.419 and say, Elimelech, you're... What were you thinking? 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:57.320 Well, he was thinking with his belly. And he 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:00.179 justified his decisions, but very clearly was 00:15:00.179 --> 00:15:06.220 God saying, no, you're not to go. But he justifies 00:15:06.220 --> 00:15:10.480 it. So now, as we go through the story, it's 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:13.299 important for us to understand what these names 00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:15.980 mean. The reason they're in there. So Elimelech, 00:15:16.059 --> 00:15:19.080 check this out, means God is my king. That's 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:21.379 what his name means. And for these people, their 00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:23.139 name meant something. And we'll see that at the 00:15:23.139 --> 00:15:25.899 end of this chapter. God is my king. And the 00:15:25.899 --> 00:15:28.980 sad part is that he doesn't act like it. He doesn't 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:32.120 cry out to his God as king. He goes against his 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:36.179 God and he acts like he is king and makes a tragic 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:41.539 decision. Then Naomi, her name means pleasant 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:48.120 or sweet. But her life is anything but. Very 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:53.860 pleasant and sweet. Milion, her son, means sickness. 00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:59.320 Chilion means wasting. You get this idea like, 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:02.080 this is a mess. Who names their kids sickness? 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:08.240 Unless you're in a place of pain. So the first 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:12.279 two verses that you look at, start out, you get 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:15.100 this idea that it's not going the way it should. 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:18.919 It gets worse though. Let's look at verse 3. 00:16:24.820 --> 00:16:28.940 Naomi's husband, Elimelech, died. And she was 00:16:28.940 --> 00:16:32.100 left with her two sons. You know, sickness and 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:37.279 wasting. Her sons took Moabite women as their 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:41.039 wives. One whose name was Orba, and the second 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.340 named Ruth. And after living in Moab for about 00:16:44.340 --> 00:16:48.230 ten years, both... Melian and Chilin, I can never 00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:51.889 say it right, also died. And the women were left 00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:59.070 without two children and without her husband. 00:17:01.529 --> 00:17:04.230 Okay. You're welcome to dyslexia. I don't know 00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:06.269 why I'm right there, jumping all over the place. 00:17:06.349 --> 00:17:09.289 But here's the thing. This story goes from sad 00:17:09.289 --> 00:17:13.150 to hopeless in a matter of just a couple verses. 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:17.579 I want you just to imagine what it would be like 00:17:17.579 --> 00:17:20.759 to be Naomi in this situation. Think about her 00:17:20.759 --> 00:17:22.839 pain. Like I asked you to enter into the story. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:27.980 Enter into Naomi's story for a minute. First, 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:33.319 you're starving to death because there's no food. 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:35.700 And so you move to a new land where you don't 00:17:35.700 --> 00:17:37.940 know people. You have no friends, no family. 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:42.420 Isolated. You submit to your husband. whatever 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:45.039 happened in that dynamic, but they're there together. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.519 And then as you're there, your husband dies, 00:17:48.579 --> 00:17:53.140 leaving you with two boys who are not very good 00:17:53.140 --> 00:17:57.720 off. And then these two boys do what they shouldn't 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:01.839 do, and that's marry Moabite wives. That's like 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:07.259 a bad day. They're not supposed to do that. It's 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:11.000 very clear. And then... On top of that, now both 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:16.740 of her sons die. Blow after blow, tragedy upon 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:19.900 tragedy, a 10 -year nightmare summed up in three 00:18:19.900 --> 00:18:26.519 verses. Starts off really depressing. 10 years, 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:31.119 and now here's Naomi with nothing. Look at verse 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:36.339 6. She and her daughters... daughter -in -law 00:18:36.339 --> 00:18:39.240 set off out to return from the territory of Moab 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:42.920 because she had heard in Moab that the Lord had 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:46.579 paid attention to his people's needs by providing 00:18:46.579 --> 00:18:50.859 them food. She left the place where she had been 00:18:50.859 --> 00:18:54.099 living accompanied by her two daughter -in -laws 00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:57.460 and they traveled along the road leading back 00:18:57.460 --> 00:19:03.160 to the land of Judah. So now we see these three 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:08.059 women in this dusty road. In all of their pain, 00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:13.440 in all their despair, Naomi is moving toward 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:19.039 the only hope imaginable. She's going home. Now, 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:20.940 before you think that's just normal, I want you 00:19:20.940 --> 00:19:22.740 to think about the prodigal son returning home. 00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:26.539 The story in the New Testament of the prodigal 00:19:26.539 --> 00:19:29.059 son returning home with emptiness and disgrace. 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:34.480 Nothing about Naomi's life had honor. She was 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:38.460 all disgrace. culturally in a place of disgrace. 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:42.400 Here she is moving home and her pain and her 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:45.240 suffering, she turns though in the midst of all 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:48.019 of that struggle, listen to me church, she turns 00:19:48.019 --> 00:19:55.000 back to God. This is the picture. In verse 6, 00:19:55.079 --> 00:19:57.440 God is mentioned for the first time by the author. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:02.099 In verse 6 and in chapter 4, we see that this 00:20:02.099 --> 00:20:06.490 theme about God that God gives. God gives. He 00:20:06.490 --> 00:20:09.450 gives food and he gives a child. We'll see that 00:20:09.450 --> 00:20:12.390 later. And what I wanted to point out here is 00:20:12.390 --> 00:20:14.829 this is the first glimpse of one of the characters 00:20:14.829 --> 00:20:18.670 of God in this story. That God gives. In midst 00:20:18.670 --> 00:20:22.089 of the pain and the suffering, God gives. So 00:20:22.089 --> 00:20:24.839 let me just stop at this point. in the story 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:27.859 and explain a couple of the theological themes. 00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:29.359 And it's really important that you understand 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:32.480 what is at the thread that's going on theologically. 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:35.539 It's our understanding of who God is and what 00:20:35.539 --> 00:20:38.960 he does and how that works, right? It'll help 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.819 us if we understand these as we go forward in 00:20:41.819 --> 00:20:43.539 the book, as you read the book, to understand, 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:46.619 to have a lens to see it through. So think about 00:20:46.619 --> 00:20:49.099 an eyeball lens. I don't understand eyeball. 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:52.440 I'm not Raul, but there's an eye doctor in the 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:54.900 house. But just think about your lens where you 00:20:54.900 --> 00:20:57.099 have a kind of an arc, a top of the lens and 00:20:57.099 --> 00:20:59.039 the bottom of the lens, okay? I didn't do any 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:02.380 drawing for you. Use your imagination. On the 00:21:02.380 --> 00:21:04.980 top of the lens, we have this thing called the 00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:09.059 providence of God. And in there is that God is 00:21:09.059 --> 00:21:11.809 sovereign and that is good. That God is good. 00:21:11.849 --> 00:21:13.890 Those are two doctrines that fall in that. But 00:21:13.890 --> 00:21:16.589 on the bottom of the lens, we have this idea 00:21:16.589 --> 00:21:21.190 of redemption. That God is our redeemer. As the 00:21:21.190 --> 00:21:24.430 story unfolds, you'll see the theme of redemption 00:21:24.430 --> 00:21:28.670 and belonging begin to happen. When we talk about 00:21:28.670 --> 00:21:31.410 the providence of God, we're talking about how 00:21:31.410 --> 00:21:35.430 God is at work. His hand in scripture, his hand 00:21:35.430 --> 00:21:39.980 in history, and his hand in our lives. God's 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:43.859 hand of providence is the belief that God is 00:21:43.859 --> 00:21:46.619 at work, not just in history, but in everyday 00:21:46.619 --> 00:21:51.619 details of normal peoples like Naomi and like 00:21:51.619 --> 00:21:56.359 Ruth and like you and I. God's providential hand. 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:58.940 So when we speak of the providence of God, we 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:02.119 have to think about two doctrines that fall in 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:04.599 the providence of God. One is that God is sovereign 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:09.460 and that God is good. That God is sovereign. 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:14.220 He possesses supreme authority, absolute power, 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:19.779 and total control in all of creation. God the 00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:22.559 Almighty. We sang about this, right? That last 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:25.160 song, that God Almighty, like He is sovereign. 00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:29.359 God Almighty reigns in all affairs of man. And 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:34.160 He is the highest authority. That's the one side 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:36.769 of it. But there's the second part that God in 00:22:36.769 --> 00:22:41.930 all of that, but God is good. He is loving and 00:22:41.930 --> 00:22:46.710 patient. He is merciful and he's kind and he's 00:22:46.710 --> 00:22:51.049 compassionate and he's slow to anger and he's 00:22:51.049 --> 00:22:53.349 abounding in steadfast love. This is who God 00:22:53.349 --> 00:22:56.250 is. And it's wrapped up in the providence of 00:22:56.250 --> 00:22:58.869 God. And you'll see in this story how some of 00:22:58.869 --> 00:23:03.819 that begins to be unfolded for us. Both of these 00:23:03.819 --> 00:23:08.400 threads are throughout all of Scripture. These 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:10.799 theological themes are at work in the book of 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:13.720 Ruth, and they're really important to keep in 00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:15.660 that back mind as we go through the story. So 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:18.160 let's go back to the story. These three women 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:21.279 back on the road again. They're started off to 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:24.039 Bethlehem, but somewhere along the way, Naomi 00:23:24.039 --> 00:23:28.200 with her two daughter -in -laws stops and has 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:33.839 this to say. Look at verse 8. Naomi said to them, 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.579 each of you go back to your mother's home. May 00:23:37.579 --> 00:23:41.920 the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:46.259 to the dead and to me. May the Lord grant each 00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:50.279 of you rest in the house of a new husband. And 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:56.380 she kissed them and they wept loudly. So she 00:23:56.380 --> 00:24:00.180 turns to the girls and she says, I have nothing 00:24:00.180 --> 00:24:06.160 to give you, obviously. She says, but my God 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:10.200 is chesed. That's a little word that we can't, 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:12.500 we don't have a definition for, and so it doesn't 00:24:12.500 --> 00:24:15.359 even show up in your English translation, but 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:21.420 it's this word chesed, H -E -S -E -D. And it 00:24:21.420 --> 00:24:26.279 means, it's the summation of the wonderful attributes 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:30.619 of God. The loving and the gracious and the merciful 00:24:30.619 --> 00:24:34.660 and the patient and the kind and the overflowing 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:38.380 love and blessing of God. And she wants this. 00:24:38.420 --> 00:24:40.920 She says, she tells the girls, I have nothing 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:46.680 but I am going to pray to God that because God 00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:52.299 is chesed, because God is this kind of God. See? 00:24:53.289 --> 00:24:56.269 This view of God that Naomi has is really important 00:24:56.269 --> 00:25:00.210 for us to see right now. It's really important 00:25:00.210 --> 00:25:04.029 for us to see because we need to see it all the 00:25:04.029 --> 00:25:07.470 way through. But chesed is this idea that God, 00:25:07.589 --> 00:25:09.950 so Naomi's looking and goes, I believe that this 00:25:09.950 --> 00:25:14.930 God is like this, but is she able to embrace 00:25:14.930 --> 00:25:18.329 that herself? Look at what happens in verse 10. 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:26.180 They said to her, we insist on returning with 00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:30.180 you to your people. But Naomi replied, return 00:25:30.180 --> 00:25:33.579 home, my daughters. Why do you want to go with 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:39.880 me? Am I able to have any more sons who could 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:43.039 become your husbands? Return home, my daughters. 00:25:43.220 --> 00:25:48.109 Go on. For I am too old to have another husband. 00:25:48.210 --> 00:25:51.390 Even if I thought there was still hope for me 00:25:51.390 --> 00:25:54.869 to have a husband tonight and bear sons, would 00:25:54.869 --> 00:25:59.150 you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would 00:25:59.150 --> 00:26:01.849 you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No. 00:26:02.990 --> 00:26:09.250 My daughters, my life is much too bitter for 00:26:09.250 --> 00:26:13.029 you to share because the Lord's hand has turned 00:26:13.029 --> 00:26:19.529 against me. So, have you ever felt that kind 00:26:19.529 --> 00:26:23.069 of pain that Naomi has right now? Just think 00:26:23.069 --> 00:26:27.950 about Naomi's pain. She has nothing. She's got 00:26:27.950 --> 00:26:30.190 her daughter -in -laws, which is evident that 00:26:30.190 --> 00:26:33.269 she loves them. She wants what's best for them. 00:26:33.829 --> 00:26:39.349 But she's in such pain. Have you ever felt that? 00:26:40.589 --> 00:26:42.269 Have you ever been in a place where you just 00:26:42.269 --> 00:26:46.490 go, gosh, I feel so hopeless? See, Naomi believes 00:26:46.490 --> 00:26:51.890 that God is responsible for her tragedy. She 00:26:51.890 --> 00:26:55.289 believes that God is the one responsible for 00:26:55.289 --> 00:26:58.369 the tragedy she's experiencing. She knows that 00:26:58.369 --> 00:27:02.809 God is sovereign in her life. It's obvious it 00:27:02.809 --> 00:27:05.690 comes right out of there. But she is bitter. 00:27:07.529 --> 00:27:11.829 She says it straight up. I know God's real. I 00:27:11.829 --> 00:27:17.019 know he's in charge. I'm bitter. She sees the 00:27:17.019 --> 00:27:20.059 sovereign hand of God, but she is not seeing 00:27:20.059 --> 00:27:27.039 the good, the goodness of God. She wants a said 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.700 for her daughters -in -laws, but she's struggling 00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:36.660 to believe a said for herself. Look at verse 00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:45.769 14. Again, they wept loudly. and Orpah kissed 00:27:45.769 --> 00:27:53.190 her mother -in -law, but Ruth clung to her. Underline 00:27:53.190 --> 00:27:59.890 that. Ruth clung to her. See, Orpah ultimately 00:27:59.890 --> 00:28:04.849 chooses to go back home to her people, and we'll 00:28:04.849 --> 00:28:08.490 see in the next verse, to her gods. She returns 00:28:08.490 --> 00:28:14.200 to her old ways. But what does Ruth do? Ruth 00:28:14.200 --> 00:28:19.279 in this situation clings to Naomi. I just love 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:28.480 that picture. Is there any hope in Naomi? She 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:30.059 just clings to her and says, I'm committed to 00:28:30.059 --> 00:28:37.839 you. Look at verse 15. Ruth begins to talk. Naomi 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.180 said, look, your sister -in -law, now she's talking 00:28:41.180 --> 00:28:43.289 to Ruth. Look, your sister -in -law has gone 00:28:43.289 --> 00:28:47.130 back to her people and to her gods. Follow your 00:28:47.130 --> 00:28:51.970 sister -in -law. But Ruth replied, don't plead 00:28:51.970 --> 00:28:56.829 with me to abandon you and return and not to 00:28:56.829 --> 00:29:00.789 follow you. For wherever you go, I will go. And 00:29:00.789 --> 00:29:04.029 wherever you live, I will live. And your people 00:29:04.029 --> 00:29:08.009 will be my people. And your God will be my God. 00:29:08.690 --> 00:29:12.509 And where you die, I will die. And when you are 00:29:12.509 --> 00:29:16.829 buried, may the Lord punish me and do so severely 00:29:16.829 --> 00:29:22.190 if anything but death separates you and me. And 00:29:22.190 --> 00:29:27.150 Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with 00:29:27.150 --> 00:29:30.009 her, and she stopped talking to her, meaning 00:29:30.009 --> 00:29:36.609 she stopped begging her to stay. So we see Ruth, 00:29:36.869 --> 00:29:41.920 beautiful Ruth, with a different posture. in 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:45.220 this painful situation. Ruth is trusting God. 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:49.099 She is all in, right? Humanly speaking, this 00:29:49.099 --> 00:29:53.519 makes absolutely no sense. There's no hope for 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:58.779 her. If she goes back, there's no real hope for 00:29:58.779 --> 00:30:05.839 her. She's a Moabite. What does she do? And I 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:08.119 love this picture. She puts her faith in God 00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:12.920 alone. She's going to a foreign land where she 00:30:12.920 --> 00:30:16.579 is most likely going to be despised and looked 00:30:16.579 --> 00:30:19.519 down on because she is a Moabite. She has no 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:25.039 food, no husband, no job, no home. It's crazy. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:31.440 This is the opposite of Elimelech. For Ruth, 00:30:31.500 --> 00:30:37.819 her God, the one true God, is truly king. Unlike 00:30:37.819 --> 00:30:41.450 Elimelech who was acting whose name meant, my 00:30:41.450 --> 00:30:44.789 God is my king, Ruth is acting like her God is 00:30:44.789 --> 00:30:50.890 her king. My question to us this morning, is 00:30:50.890 --> 00:30:54.690 that true for you? Is that true for me? Is God 00:30:54.690 --> 00:30:59.289 really your king? See, I think this is a picture 00:30:59.289 --> 00:31:03.369 of what it means to become a Christian. When 00:31:03.369 --> 00:31:06.769 you put your hope in Jesus, you step out in faith 00:31:06.769 --> 00:31:12.039 in Jesus. We put our trust in a good and sovereign 00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:14.400 God, even though it doesn't always make sense. 00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:24.960 Look at verse 19. The two of them traveled until 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:28.700 they came to Bethlehem. 50 miles, right? When 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:31.460 they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited 00:31:31.460 --> 00:31:34.980 about their arrival, and the local women explained, 00:31:35.319 --> 00:31:39.720 can this be Naomi? Can you picture that scene 00:31:39.720 --> 00:31:44.000 just for a minute? Here's raggedy old Naomi after 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:47.680 10 years of being away, coming back with nothing. 00:31:50.180 --> 00:31:53.799 They look and all of her old friends see her. 00:31:55.660 --> 00:32:01.960 Can this be her? Can this be Naomi? Verse 20, 00:32:02.099 --> 00:32:08.160 don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. She answered, 00:32:08.359 --> 00:32:13.740 for the Almighty has made me very bitter. I went 00:32:13.740 --> 00:32:18.740 away full. The Lord has brought me back empty. 00:32:20.180 --> 00:32:22.819 Why do you call me Naomi since the Lord has opposed 00:32:22.819 --> 00:32:28.660 me and the Almighty has afflicted me? I wrestled 00:32:28.660 --> 00:32:31.259 with this section a lot because it almost feels 00:32:31.259 --> 00:32:35.440 like the Lord would do that to her. How did she 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:41.029 leave? She left the presence of God. She left. 00:32:41.829 --> 00:32:48.849 Full. But she comes back empty. The attention 00:32:48.849 --> 00:32:51.490 in this section goes back to Naomi where she, 00:32:51.509 --> 00:32:55.549 here she returns and calls herself Mara, which 00:32:55.549 --> 00:32:58.910 means bitter. Naomi is struggling with bitterness. 00:32:59.670 --> 00:33:02.990 Maybe, and just real, and being real, maybe that 00:33:02.990 --> 00:33:06.059 is one of your struggles. Bitterness is a real 00:33:06.059 --> 00:33:08.599 thing, and it gets inside of us. And so it's 00:33:08.599 --> 00:33:11.220 inside of Naomi right now. She just straight 00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:16.880 up says, I'm bitter. I love that. I love Naomi's 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:20.400 honesty. I love that she's just real with her 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:24.099 people, open and honest, like don't call me sweetness. 00:33:25.240 --> 00:33:31.319 Call me bitter. I believe she's telling these 00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:34.049 other women. She's sharing her heart with these 00:33:34.049 --> 00:33:36.329 women, but I believe in this situation, she's 00:33:36.329 --> 00:33:40.750 also saying, I need help. It's kind of like I 00:33:40.750 --> 00:33:43.950 said, the prodigal son who goes home and he's 00:33:43.950 --> 00:33:46.130 coming back knowing he's got nothing to offer. 00:33:48.049 --> 00:33:53.069 And he's honest and real. I have done this. And 00:33:53.069 --> 00:34:01.059 I need help. I think that's the first part. of 00:34:01.059 --> 00:34:03.319 our relationship with God, that we look at God 00:34:03.319 --> 00:34:08.760 and say, God, I need help. In verse 22, though, 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:12.480 it begins that we get a glimpse of hope. So in 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:14.760 this darkness of this first chapter, by the way, 00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:17.860 the rest of it is not so dark. The darkness of 00:34:17.860 --> 00:34:20.380 this first chapter, at the very end, it leads 00:34:20.380 --> 00:34:25.980 us to this place of hope. Look at verse 22. So 00:34:25.980 --> 00:34:29.440 Naomi came back to the territory. from the territory 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:32.739 of Moab, with her daughter -in -law, Ruth, the 00:34:32.739 --> 00:34:36.159 Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the 00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:40.800 beginning of the barley harvest. Hey, what in 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:45.039 the world does that mean? It's hope. Bethlehem, 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:47.219 where Jesus was born, means a house of bread. 00:34:49.340 --> 00:34:54.880 It's a picture of hope. The barley harvest is 00:34:54.880 --> 00:35:00.809 in the same window as the... Passover feast where 00:35:00.809 --> 00:35:04.750 they would look back at the redeeming work of 00:35:04.750 --> 00:35:08.650 God and redeeming the people out of slavery into 00:35:08.650 --> 00:35:14.570 a place of belonging as his people the barley 00:35:14.570 --> 00:35:18.289 harvest happens right there among the Passover 00:35:18.289 --> 00:35:21.130 the Passover is also the time where Jesus the 00:35:21.130 --> 00:35:24.090 Lamb of God was crucified in our place same time 00:35:24.090 --> 00:35:29.349 where he took He gave us hope. Why? How did he 00:35:29.349 --> 00:35:32.469 do that? He took all of our disobedience, all 00:35:32.469 --> 00:35:35.449 of our brokenness upon himself. And he stood 00:35:35.449 --> 00:35:38.690 in our place. And it was at Passover that this 00:35:38.690 --> 00:35:41.730 happened. And it's all back from the very original 00:35:41.730 --> 00:35:44.369 Passover in the Exodus pointing all the way toward 00:35:44.369 --> 00:35:47.389 Christ. What Christ does is comes in and stands 00:35:47.389 --> 00:35:50.210 in our place. He does what the sacrificial lamb 00:35:50.210 --> 00:35:52.590 in the Passover does. He sacrifices himself. 00:35:54.530 --> 00:35:59.690 He says, I'll take it all. And our response to 00:35:59.690 --> 00:36:03.269 that is, do we hope and do we put our trust in 00:36:03.269 --> 00:36:07.610 Jesus? Are we coming back to the place of hope? 00:36:08.750 --> 00:36:12.750 See, hope is found in Bethlehem. This is the 00:36:12.750 --> 00:36:18.050 picture. Your hope, just like Naomi's hope, is 00:36:18.050 --> 00:36:19.949 found in Bethlehem. Why? Because that's where 00:36:19.949 --> 00:36:22.469 Jesus was from. That's where Jesus was born. 00:36:23.869 --> 00:36:27.940 Their hope is found in Jesus. So as we close 00:36:27.940 --> 00:36:31.360 chapter one today, I want you, this is what I 00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:34.340 want to encourage you with. I don't know your 00:36:34.340 --> 00:36:36.119 stories. I don't know any of our stories. I mean, 00:36:36.139 --> 00:36:37.679 I know some of your story, but I don't know the 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:39.320 inner workings of your story. I don't know your 00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:42.099 heart, but I would encourage you to be honest 00:36:42.099 --> 00:36:46.059 with God. I love this picture about Naomi. Naomi 00:36:46.059 --> 00:36:51.670 is incredibly honest with God. And then let me 00:36:51.670 --> 00:36:53.590 ask you this. Is there anybody, any of these 00:36:53.590 --> 00:36:55.409 characters in the story? We haven't got, there's 00:36:55.409 --> 00:36:57.650 more to come. Boaz is coming. He's a cool character. 00:36:59.090 --> 00:37:01.630 But in these characters we've looked at, do you 00:37:01.630 --> 00:37:05.909 identify with your story? Let's look at Elimelech. 00:37:09.250 --> 00:37:14.110 Do you claim that God is your king? That you 00:37:14.110 --> 00:37:19.250 just call on him when you need him? You're not 00:37:19.250 --> 00:37:23.269 acting as if he's truly king of your life. You 00:37:23.269 --> 00:37:27.289 take matters into your own hands. If I'm really 00:37:27.289 --> 00:37:29.369 honest, this is the one I struggle with the most. 00:37:30.489 --> 00:37:35.190 I like to just do it. And then I have to go backwards. 00:37:36.809 --> 00:37:39.210 You only see your immediate problems in your 00:37:39.210 --> 00:37:44.409 life. Maybe your money or your well -being matters 00:37:44.409 --> 00:37:49.750 most to you. That's a limelight. Then there's 00:37:49.750 --> 00:37:53.090 Ophir. I think that's how you say your name. 00:37:54.989 --> 00:37:59.230 Orpha. There we go. You tried God, but it didn't 00:37:59.230 --> 00:38:02.130 really work. So you're just going to go back 00:38:02.130 --> 00:38:05.389 to your old way of life. I suspect that there's 00:38:05.389 --> 00:38:07.969 not a whole lot of those in this room, but there's 00:38:07.969 --> 00:38:11.730 a whole lot of people like that. Because if you 00:38:11.730 --> 00:38:14.030 were in this room, good chance you still are 00:38:14.030 --> 00:38:17.760 hoping on hanging on to something. But if this 00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:21.780 is the posture you've lived in, don't run back 00:38:21.780 --> 00:38:27.119 to the old way. Then there's Naomi. Oh, there's 00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:31.639 Ruth. Let's go to Ruth first. There's Ruth. Ruth 00:38:31.639 --> 00:38:34.480 says, I'm going to trust the Lord as my Savior 00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:37.760 and my Lord. And I'm going to walk in faith. 00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:41.739 I don't even know what this looks like. Then 00:38:41.739 --> 00:38:45.750 there's Naomi, who's... broken who's frustrated 00:38:45.750 --> 00:38:52.289 who's a bitter person that god deeply loves i 00:38:52.289 --> 00:38:55.409 believe you believe maybe in the sovereign hand 00:38:55.409 --> 00:38:58.409 of god but you are struggling to see him as a 00:38:58.409 --> 00:39:05.010 good and loving god so wherever you are at today 00:39:05.010 --> 00:39:07.150 i just want to encourage you right where you 00:39:07.150 --> 00:39:09.710 sit when we're saying today just to be honest 00:39:09.710 --> 00:39:16.500 with god he can handle it Be honest to God, but 00:39:16.500 --> 00:39:20.820 get your eyes on Jesus. Get your eyes on Jesus. 00:39:21.940 --> 00:39:25.980 Because that's where your hope is. Ruth is our 00:39:25.980 --> 00:39:29.860 example where she humbly steps in faith to a 00:39:29.860 --> 00:39:34.280 good and loving and sovereign God. Step in faith 00:39:34.280 --> 00:39:39.960 toward him. Step toward the hope that you have 00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:41.739 in Jesus. And the band, I want you to come up 00:39:41.739 --> 00:39:46.599 now. And as you go back, we always do communion 00:39:46.599 --> 00:39:48.760 every week, and the reason we do it is that our 00:39:48.760 --> 00:39:53.099 gaze, our attention goes back to this most important 00:39:53.099 --> 00:39:56.079 thing, and that is Jesus and what he did for 00:39:56.079 --> 00:40:00.139 you and I. Guys, when we go to the communion 00:40:00.139 --> 00:40:02.280 table, that is a picture of the hope that you 00:40:02.280 --> 00:40:06.460 have in Jesus. You're not clinging to something 00:40:06.460 --> 00:40:08.679 that's false. You're clinging. Like Ruth, you 00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:12.539 cling to Jesus. You cling to the hope. And as 00:40:12.539 --> 00:40:14.400 you look at the reason you can cling to that 00:40:14.400 --> 00:40:17.239 hope is because Jesus did it for you. He stood 00:40:17.239 --> 00:40:19.920 in your place. His body was broken. You think 00:40:19.920 --> 00:40:22.800 he understands pain? You think he understands 00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:29.260 hurt and suffering? Absolutely. His body was 00:40:29.260 --> 00:40:31.840 broken for you and his blood was shed for you. 00:40:33.699 --> 00:40:39.400 Because of that, you stand new in him. And come 00:40:39.400 --> 00:40:42.170 back to that moment over and over. with your 00:40:42.170 --> 00:40:48.769 eyes with hope toward the future on Jesus. So 00:40:48.769 --> 00:40:56.690 cling to Jesus today. Let's pray. Lord, help 00:40:56.690 --> 00:41:03.769 us to come to you like Ruth and say, your God 00:41:03.769 --> 00:41:08.409 is my God. In the midst of whatever struggle 00:41:08.409 --> 00:41:10.230 we're going through, God, I pray that we will 00:41:10.670 --> 00:41:12.889 come before you and say, God, I don't understand 00:41:12.889 --> 00:41:15.030 all the problems. I don't understand the outcome, 00:41:15.190 --> 00:41:19.010 but I trust you. I want my life to honor you 00:41:19.010 --> 00:41:21.730 and to be where you are first and foremost in 00:41:21.730 --> 00:41:27.230 every detail. Help us not to take matters into 00:41:27.230 --> 00:41:29.590 our own hands, but to humbly submit and surrender 00:41:29.590 --> 00:41:36.710 to you. All of us, we give to you, Lord. All 00:41:36.710 --> 00:41:41.489 of us. We know that you give all of you back 00:41:41.489 --> 00:41:47.789 to us, and that's a pretty good trade. Thank 00:41:47.789 --> 00:41:49.730 you for what you did on the cross. We thank you 00:41:49.730 --> 00:41:56.730 for your surrender so that we might have a right 00:41:56.730 --> 00:41:59.230 relationship with you. Thank you for suffering 00:41:59.230 --> 00:42:02.369 in our place, for dying for our sins, that we 00:42:02.369 --> 00:42:10.510 may be made new in you. Before we close this 00:42:10.510 --> 00:42:15.230 prayer, if there's anyone in this room who has 00:42:15.230 --> 00:42:19.289 yet to surrender, do like Ruth said, and my God 00:42:19.289 --> 00:42:24.530 is your God. Do like Ruth and surrender your 00:42:24.530 --> 00:42:27.570 life to Jesus. I pray that today will be the 00:42:27.570 --> 00:42:39.440 day for you. Thank you, Lord. As we respond, 00:42:39.940 --> 00:42:43.900 we're going to sing a song. And I just encourage 00:42:43.900 --> 00:42:48.800 you, listen to it. If you feel like standing 00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:53.199 and singing, you're welcome to. This is a song 00:42:53.199 --> 00:42:54.900 that's just like pouring out.