Ruth 1:1-22; Repent Before You Have To

Introduction

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Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like God had totally forgot about you? Or maybe He didn’t even care about you? God wouldn’t even care about how I act right?

Need

Saints, we need to be reminded that the Lord is sovereign over the affairs of kings and rulers and nations and us. Whatever feels we may have or actions that we have taken because we have felt like the Lord has forgotten us need to be repented of. Even if it is not something you are doing right now, there is a time to reflect on the actions we have taken to get here.

Referent

Ruth 1:1-22

Organization

Elimelech Leaves (vs. 1-5)

Naomi Returns (vs. 6-18)

The Lord’s Presence (vs. 19-22)

Sermon in a sentence:

I will repent before I have to.

Context

Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges.

Judges 21:25 “25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Ruth also ends with the genealogy of David.

Ruth 4:18–22 “18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.”

9 times the word “return/turn back/go back” is used in this chapter.

Elimelech Leaves (vs. 1-5)

The author takes special care to tell us where Elimelech’s family is from. (vs 1-2)

The author is also doing something with the names of given here.

Elimelech -

Bethlehem - house of bread

Mahlon - sickness

Chilion - frail

Naomi - sweet

They left God’s people to go to Moab.

Deuteronomy 23:3–6 “3 “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, 4 because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you. 6 You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever.”

Judges 3:14 “14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.”

They lived there for 10 years.

Naomi Returns (vs. 6-18)

Naomi returns (repents [partially]) when she hears that the Lord has visited his people. (see vs. 20)

The longer you stay in sin, the harder and more painful it is to repent. (vs. 10-14)

God also uses our sin to bring about his purposes!

Ruth will be in the Davidic line that brings about Jesus!

Genesis 50:20 “20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

The Lord’s Presence (vs. 19-22)

The town is excited to see their sister who has been in a foreign land for 10 years.

This is not the same, but similar to the Father’s joy at seeing his wayward son coming home.

Naomi recognizes God’s presence throughout her life, but only his correction and not his provision.

God did give Naomi a very bitter providence! But God also provided for her during her decade of sin.

God brought Naomi and Ruth into Bethlehem during the time of harvest.

Conclusion

Sin will take you father than you want to go. Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay. Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.

Even if your decisions are not sinful in nature, we need to learn from God’s providential hand throughout our lives. Are there things that you need to repent of or learn from? Do not harden your hearts just because your life has been difficult and burdened. The Lord often crushes his people before they can ever see the benefit of his purposes and plans.

Application

Repent and Believe In the Lord Jesus Christ!

Take every chance you can to repent as soon as possible. Do not wait.

This week, are there things that you have not asked the Lord for forgiveness? So many times, we see people that sin and not talk about it.