God at Ground Zero

Ruth 1:1–22 NASB95

Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with 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 Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food. So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. And 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. “May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? “Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.” And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back 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 I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city 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 out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?” So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Intro: 9/11/01, people asked, “Where is your God? If God is so good, then WHY?” Indeed, even this past year, people asked those same questions and more- perhaps you are one who is asking something similar this morning. The reality is that we are not usually satisfied with the answers we have to these questions- “God’s ways are higher than our ways. God has a purpose that we don’t understand.” The reason that we are not satisfied is because in these times, God can seem so far away- and maybe even as if He is against us.

Today, we begin a series through the book of Ruth- this a story within a story. As we look at the big picture of God’s redemption story, we have the opportunity to peer into the lives of a couple of women and reflect upon who God is and how we can trust Him at our own ground zero.

A couple of notes on Ruth:

Ruth is the only book in the Bible named for a non-Jew

We are going to take it one chapter at a time, but we need to realize that this book was not originally written in ‘chapters’ and so each section will help us understand the others.

We will be tempted, at times, to

Status: Suffering ()

Ruth 1:1–5 NASB95

Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with 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 Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.

We begin the book of Ruth with a cold and somewhat abrupt summary of suffering- particularly for a woman by the name of Naomi. For her, it has gone from bad to worse to worser.

We learn right away the time frame of this narrative- “in the days when judges governed”

This is the time period after Moses and Joshua - in fact if we look back to , we get a good idea of the culture.

Judges 21:25 NASB95

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

These were dark days- what would happen is that people would just do as they wished- they followed false gods, took part in ungodly acts, and God would bring judgement through drought, famine, or another nation in the way of persecution. The people would cry out to God, and He would raise up a judge to deliver them- some of the names you might recognize- Samson, Deborah, Gideon, and Barak.

And we enter the book of Ruth amid this context- there was a famine in the land. And, so a certain man, Elimelech, along with his wife and 2 sons leave Bethlehem (Hebrew for “House of Bread”) and go in search of food. They end up in, of all places, Moab. Moab is an ungodly nation- their heritage begins from Lot- when his daughter got him drunk and had an incestuous fling. Moab is the nation that refused to allow Moses and the Israelites to pass through their land as they traveled. This migration would have been considered shameful… it was bad.

But this family now took residence in a foreign land- leaving behind their friends, community, traditions, all things familiar. They were refugees.

But just 2 short verses into this, Naomi’s husband, provider, and protector, Elimelech, died. Naomi is now a widow and a single mom in a foreign land. Things just got worse. But at least she had her two sons.

BUT- there were no Jewish women in Moab to marry them off to. And so, they took Moabite wives. Now, this may be hard to understand, but regions and religions are closely tied together in this time and these marriages were less than ideal.

And then 10 years passes and both sons die. By the way, neither were able to have kids. Things got worser.

So we are 5 verses into this book and we have witnessed a barrage of suffering. Naomi is a widow and grieving mother.

She has no children or grandchildren, which means no future. You see, Naomi was not able to own land- it had to be a male (don’t roll your eyes at me, I’m just telling you how it was). Naomi was in a place where she felt like God was nowhere to be found. In fact, she even felt that He was against her. What is she to do? Where is there any hope?

Naomi could be considered the female parallel to Job- in fact, she might even out-Job Job! Indeed, this is the status of her suffering.

Resolution to Return ()

Naomi, as we see in v. 6, heard that the famine had been relieved in Bethlehem and so she decided to return.

Perhaps she saw a glimmer of hope- the God who brings judgment also brings relief. And maybe she figured that because of God’s character, she might receive compassion from God’s people… it certainly was not the case in Moab, for she was an outsider there.

Yet, logically, practically, rationally- there was nothing in Bethlehem for Naomi’s daughters in-law, Ruth and Orpah (not Oprah). They were both widows and barren- should they go to a land they did not know and join the poor beggars there?

It made more sense in terms of security and stability for these young women to go to their parents in Moab. Certainly they would receive more compassion from their own people- at least they might have the possibility o remarrying and would have their needs met.

Orpah makes this choice- and it’s sensible. Many of us would make this choice as well.

But Ruth clung to Naomi-

This woman was determined to return with Naomi.

It was risky and a very big deal- Ruth likely would face a lifetime of poverty and hardship-> remember that she was both a widow and barren and now an immigrant.

Ruth was so committed that she makes a vow-

These words remind me of wedding vows- “Til death do us part...” But you know what I have never heard at a wedding? Vows like this to the in-laws!!!

Ruth was committed- perhaps she recognized the difference between Yahweh and the Moabite god, for she vowed to serve Naomi’s God and remain with her no matter the cost. This is bold and unusual… and awkward.

I’m convinced that Naomi knew it would be hard for Ruth- and if it was hopeless for Naomi, it would be more so for Ruth.

So as we get to

But, she argued no more… in fact, the text says that Naomi didn’t speak to Ruth any more on this journey (v. 18 b)

To return to Bethlehem- this was the decision, and the two women traveled there not knowing what was in store for them.

Declaration of Despair ()

Upon their arrival in Bethlehem, the whole town was abuzz.

You can almost picture these two women walking into town.. everyone stops and looks- people whisper, stare, etc. I remember the looks that I got… we get, when we go to Haiti. We kind of stick out. This would have been slightly different - some of the women recognized Naomi.

But here is the point where we see Naomi attempt to express her grief. Look at what she says in - “Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara”

One of the disadvantages of a Bible translation is that we always lose some of the author’s intent when we go from one language to another- This was recorded in Hebrew. The Hebrews named people and places with intention. Naomi means “pleasant”. Mara means “bitter”

What Naomi is saying here is don’t call me “pleasant” call me “bitter”.

Here, Naomi is saying that God has allowed her this suffering and was declaring her despair.

“This is my life now. For whatever reason, God only knows, I have lost everything. I am empty. I have nothing- my life is nothing. I am not the person who left here...”

She was not asking for anything, simply declaring her hopelessness.

Put yourself in Naomi’s shoes for a minute. Or maybe, you don’t have to- maybe you feel like Naomi

Or maybe put yourself in Ruth’s spot- her decision to come with Naomi- her vow to her mother in law… this was all too real at this point.

Now, as we draw chapter one to a close, you might ask what these women are asking. Where is God?

And if we aren’t careful, we either walk out of here depressed or we skim through the next few chapters so we don’t have to live in this tension. So let me give you 3 quick points to take with you today:

God is Great - As bitter and depressed as Naomi was, she knew that God was still sovereign in her suffering. Otherwise, she likely would not have returned. She would not have had the desire to come back to God’s people. .

At this point, Naomi and Ruth do not know what God is going to do. And maybe you don’t know what God is going to do in your life either, but we must remember that God is great, even though life is bitter

God is Good - It is often difficult to relinquish our desire to control this life - We have to remember that God directs our steps and that He has numbered our days. We have to remember the character of God who, in His great love, sent Jesus to save the world from our sins. And we have to recognize that in the case of so many people, what looks like evil, God uses for good. Friend, our God is the God who makes a way when there is no way, who makes rivers in deserts! ()

God is Here - Sometimes in our despair we have to remind ourselves, like the psalmist in , that we cannot go where God is not. Friend, I want you to know that God is here this morning.

Remember how I told you that Ruth is a story within a bigger story? This first chapter wondrously paints a picture for us so that we might see and understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You see, there was a time in my life where I was hopeless- I didn’t have anything to give and the idea of God seemed so distant to me… BUT GOD, rich in mercy, called me unto Himself through the Holy Spirit and breathed life into this dead man! And that has been the case for billions of people around the globe this morning- desperately lost. Desperately hopeless- their spiritual poverty is like a cancer that will eventually bring about an excruciating death… But by God grace through faith, they trusted in the name of Jesus for salvation.

I wonder: Is God displaying His Gospel through your suffering? Friends, I know how Naomi and Ruth’s story ends. I’ve read it several times. And what I want you to hear is that no matter the depth of your suffering, no matter the extent of your sin - God is great, God is good, and God is here- even at your ground zero. Will you trust Him?