Ruth 1:1-5

Let's look at the Book of Ruth together. I debated on reading the entire book and the reason why I chose not to was because I had the stuff to say on the front end but the reason I would have done it and just this is just a teaching moment before we even get into the sermon is that when we read through the scriptures specifically, when we read through in particular books, Elijah let's not keep our feet. Okay Bubba thank you when we re to through particular books, it's better that we would read through it as a hole because so often we will take one verse or a few verses and we would take it and we would separate it from the rest of the book itself. But we really shouldn't do that because either a book or a letter or any of our segments or are to be put together in the whole context of the book itself. When we read this, if you don't know anything about Ruth, when you get through with this evening sermon, you're going to walk away and much despair. You're going to walk away with very little Joy or peace or happiness as you try to look on to the life of Ruth from distance of way. Now, the issue though is that weird when you read through the book, you actually see that that's not the case. You see that God doesn't amazing working or life. The small tissue moment here would be that when we read through books of the Bible even in church or in our own lives that we would look at it as a whole, not just individual versus or individual segments of the book. When I understand that, God has one meaning in the entire book and that means we should be doing the work to find the second point that I want to say before we read the verses is that I'm still crafting on how to do this. I've been preaching for 9 years now, more or less in the middle 5-6 years. I preached more than the first year and 1/2 in the second year and a half, but in this nine-year span, I've changed my preaching style, various times for various reasons primarily because of the context in which I was preaching. And so, one thing I want to accomplish while we preach the word of God week in and week out, is it to be not only edifying in the moment, but edifying and helpful? And every other moment, when you as an individual, or you, as a family, sit down to read the word of God together. And because of that, what we're going to try to work towards. I'm personally going to try to work towards doing is breaking down the text in a way that you see directly how to read, and understand and apply scripture in your day-to-day life, in the way I do, that is really for things. Okay? If the first one is, I asked myself. This question in, this isn't new to me or original by me many other. I've said this in various different ways, but I asked a question is, what is the meaning to the original audience? Meaning those who would have, sat down and Red Roof for the very first time? What was God trying to say to them through the individual who wrote it? By the way, we don't know who wrote Ruth. I hate books like that. But that's just what we got. Hebrews is one of the other ones and it's actually not one of my favorite books as well. So it's ironic that the ones I have no idea who wrote all the ones I like, but we don't know who wrote Ruth. What we would ask. The question is if you were that audience said, that was reading this book for the very first time, you were reading the first manuscript of the book. What would it? What would his it would of it had meant to you? That's the first question I ask is what would it mean to the original audience and for 2. What's the difference is between I and the original audience? Imagine that is building a bridge, okay? Building a bridge between the old Concepts and new context, okay? Because the second two things is now how we look at it and then our point of view in our eyes and now we know what it meant to the original audience would doing the work to see the differences between us and them and even the similarities between us and them. And from there, we asked, two more questions. This next one is principles, being caught with in this book or in this set of scriptures, what are some principles that we find here. And then the

Principles. And what this does is that it helps us understand scripture in a way that it doesn't initially. Look at it through the lens of, what do I receive from it? Or how it applies to my life. Because when we do that too often out of Good, Intentions often, we tend to take into a scripture into something that God did not intend for it to be. That's why we see various scriptures and there's a bunch out there, but I Jeremiah 29 11 or I even saw a scripture that was quoted by Satan in the wilderness in the Temptation Of Christ on a coffee cup one time. Because it was taken out of context, right? This prevents it from us doing that because we're naturally going to do that. It's nothing bad about us, it's just natural. All right. So with all that being said, I'm excited about it and we're going to look at verses 1 through 5 together. Ruth chapter 1:1, through 5. If you have your Bible follow with me, if not it will be on the screen beside my face. It says it made the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land and a man of Bethlehem in Judah, went to sojourn in the country of Moab. He and his wife and his two sons, the name of the man was elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi and the names of his two sons with mahlon and chilion, they were lights from Bethlehem in Judea They went into the country of Moab and remain there, but elimelech the husband of Naomi died and she was left with her two sons. These took moabite. Why's the name of the wine was orpha in the name of the other roof and they lived about ten years and both mahlon and chilion died. So that the woman was left with her two sons and her Without her two sons and her husband. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we love you. We thank you so much for the scripture. We pray that we would approach it in a way that would be God honoring in God. That would also lead to us to live in life of action. We love you. And we thank you so much in Jesus name. Amen. So I want to be transferred on the front end today. You know, as I kind of said everything that we were going through this week, I don't mean for this to be an excuse or anything of that nature. Just a reality check to, to where I'm at is that in preparing for this sermon. I was able to dig heavily into context and understanding what is going on there, but when it comes to the application point, it was harder for me to really dive in really wanted to. Because when I do this, I generally tried to think of our people, I try to think of our community or area where we're at, as a church, I try to think through a long list of things you ever curious or what. list, or I would be glad to share a PDF with you with my outline of how I go about this, but because of everything going on, it was just difficult for me to plan to have a application for you, but I just want to be transparent with So I can be as well crafted as I wanted to be nothing. That's okay. We're going to see what God does with it. All right, so first and foremost, before we get into anything, if they would go ahead and go to this next slide, what we're going to be looking at is three things, really two things. And under this main topic, the main title of the sermon, there's not really a title. It's really, this idea that when people seek what is wise in their own eyes, God is not King and to their is hopeless, despair. When people seek what is wise in their own eyes when God is not King and two, there was hopeless despair. First and foremost, this look at this idea of when people seek their what is wise in their own eyes if they would go to the next one for me, we see. First and foremost. This first verse is all. We're looking at that says this. And the days when did Judge has ruled there was a famine in the land animal End of Bethlehem in Judea went to surgery in the country of Moab, he, and his wife and his sons. Now, this is a little bit harder for us to understand, but the Book of Ruth, the people arguing in and talk back and forth, on really the intent and the motive in this book, I drew middle. And where I think this was a narrative That was supposed to be an example to us but also in the store called example. Something that actually happened but it's the teaches how to live in a lot of ways but because of that it is written as 8. I never was written as a story is written to grip you in to hold your attention each segment after segment. After segment and ask someone that grew up, not reading it as much as I read now. And now since I read more books and if I don't read a lot of narratives and things of that nature, I'm trying to get back into it but I haven't got there yet but because of that the best idea that I have for this. Movies or TV shows are things with that such as any kind of Storytelling, right? There's this moment where the author is trying to hold your attention tight and hold your hold the grip. So that, you know, what's going to occur next? What's about to unfold, really what's happening in the life of the individuals involved? One TV? Show that, I remember reference, when I preached the latter part of Ruth at Springhill was the TV show Lost. I don't know if anybody is ever watch the TV show Lost but it came out when I was in high school and I watched it a little bit in the garage that again in college. And it does show makes absolutely no sense. But what it does well, is it holds your attention. It keeps you asking, what's next c? Universe one. That's exactly what this altar is doing. He's introducing these theoretical characters. The reverse is 225. We see the whole framework of the entire life. Unfolding in four measly versus, but he begins by giving this a lot of details in a small amount of words, he says, in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.

The land here being Jerusalem or Judea the surrounding area of the land in which God's people dwelt. Now the phrase in the days when the judges ruled is probably one of the most significant things for us to see in the context of these verses, because it doesn't tell us when it was written. It doesn't tell us, which judge was in high esteem at the time. But it would just tell us in the time. About two to three hundred years. If I'm remembering correctly, I may be. And I may not be on that statement. But in this two to three hundred years is telling us this time frame in which it could have happened. Now, some people think it's later some people think is earlier within this Frame, regardless, what we know that it's in the time frame of when the judge has Ruled the Earth, why is that important? Why is it important that we understand that this was in the days in which the judge has ruled? Because in the day, in which the judge has ruled, was this time. Was this constant cycle of man? Rebelling against God. God delivering his wrath on to the men that rebelled against him and then they're repenting of their sin and God showing Mercy to set people. And then it all over again, Rebellion. Repentance. Hope Rebellion. Wrath pensions of rebellion wrath repentance, hope over and over and over again. Sometimes affecting the entire land. Sometimes, infecting portions of Judea in this context. What we would rightly note is that is affecting all of Judea, okay, affecting all of Judea this is going on with this moment that they're in this moment apparently where they have sinned against God and God is delivering his wrath on them. How do we know that to be the case? We don't know for sure. But we would determine that by looking at the words there was famine in the land because when God's people was living in the way, the guy called them to live, we knew and we know that God's blessing was upon them. And so they wouldn't be going through this Calamity in this difficulty of famine. If they were living right in the eyes of the Lord during this time. So most likely they were this phase in this cycle of where they were rebelling against God, No, really to make this make sense to you, not only for our first point and title of the sermon. But also just to make this make more sense for you to the end of days of the judges. If you if your Bible is like mine on the page right next to it, is the last chapter of Judges. Look at verse 25, with me, it says, in those days, there was no key

What was right in their own eyes. Because there was no single King. So true reverence for God, the people live the life they wanted to live. And because of that, we see that there's a man of Bethlehem in Judea that went to sojourn in a country of Moab and his wife and two sons. Now, you may be like me and your initial question. Maybe something along the lines of what is wrong with a man, from Bethlehem going to, Moab to find food for his family. This seems like a proactive mission of this man to provide for his family. And if we don't know anything about the contact is sounds like this unnamed man, so far is doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing, which was a Godly decree of taking care of his family. Especially since you see the word here sojourned, which means that he was traveling through, it wasn't going there to live, he wasn't going there to make this their new home or just set routes or buy a house and put up this picket fence. He wasn't going there to do those things, but he was initially going there to seek food for his family. That would presumably die.

But starvation because they had none. Now, as I said earlier, this is a narrative and words mean things in life, and they mean things and narrative. Now they don't mean as much to us because as I said earlier, we're not the original audience, so we wouldn't pick up on things they pick up on. But when you read the word Bethlehem, unless you just have this basic, understanding of things are really, really entailed understanding things cuz it's not something I would know right off either. The first thing you would think up This is where he's from the small town in the middle of nowhere. This is where he's from. When we get to the last part of Ruth, you're going to see exactly who Naomi and all these people are in light of who Christ is. But until then, when we see the term Bethlehem, we met, we naturally just think of where Jesus is from, but battle at Bethlehem, has a meeting, looks like any Hebrew word in the meaning for Bethlehem House of Bread, All right, so that's why I my opinion just wanted you to see this from their. This is why I stay in Bethlehem is because he is the bread of life, he's from there, right? But in the here, the author, the author writing this beautiful narrative is giving her. Some irony in the irony is that this man that lives in the land of the House of Bread is in the middle of a famine that is now sojourning to a land that was not a land that he was supposed to be. Say Moab you don't know much about it. I don't know much about it, the scholarly that's not a ton about it, but we do know about it is Moab is the place in which Lots family dwelt after. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It's the land in which lot and his Offspring by his daughters live without his in-laws daughters. If this is a land that ultimately was in the land, they were supposed to be in that because of that, just because it wasn't a land in which God provided for his people. They were supposed to stay in Judea. This was the promised land. The land will God promised to give them milk and honey as long as they did as he called them to do. But now this man is wife and his two sons or leave it in the place in which God had for them to go in to try and accomplish this on their own. Say there was a simple solution for this man, the Sun a Madman so far, the simplest solution for him, was whatever he had done against God, whatever, Rebellion that he personally, and his family had done in committing against God. All he had to do was repent of his sins place trust in God. I trust in God's Providence to provide for his family.

Name, the man doesn't do that. He goes, and he does. Something that seems so ride to us. But was so against who God was calling him to be. And I think that's the first point of application for us is often in life. if we're working outside of the will of God, then it may seem right to us but it's not where God desires for us to go. Out of the will of God, it works. If work not obey skin following his commands, I actually do it, and you're trying to accomplish something in her own strength, but no own ability rather than trusting in The Sovereign at good work of God in our lives.

See the reality is, is that we see throughout all of the Old Testament, even up until this point that God would use fam in for good. God, provided for his people. Who Daniel? Hi, Daniel. Sorry, I did for his people through Joseph, admits of a famine, God provided in places people exactly where they needed to be for them to be enslaved. 400 years to bring forth the plan of God in the life of fare, from the life of the Israelites through her famine. And the other point of application here in this, and maybe I'm getting ahead of myself in the narrative, is that, what is unfolding in the life of this unnamed? So far though, it was right in his own eyes in against the Lord was somehow used by God for good. Are we going to see that in a little bit? But first and foremost, when we as individuals choose to act act outside of God's design, then we see two side effects. According to the scripture, the first one is Racine already, is that God is not actually king or God is not King, William is a little bit more irony here. I was just looking for his two through three together. What is the name of the man who is elimelech, eliminate in the name of his wife Naomi and the names of his two sons were mahlon and chilion? They were in the Heights from Bethlehem in Judea. They went into the country of Moab and remain there but elimelech the husband of Naomi died and she was left with her two sons, her two sons, So first and foremost is the name of the man who is elimelech in the name of the wife Naomi. Here's more irony for us is a lemon eliminate like his name means, god is King.

But didn't know. It homies. Name means Pleasant and lovely. So his name means god is King in the land. There was no King in a moment in which he desired to be the king of his own life by acting outside of the plan and will of God by going to Moab instead of staying in which the land that he placed him in, And his wife, Naomi's name is pleasant and in a few weeks we're going to look at this idea that Naomi actually changes her name to Maura. I believe her name Ben mean

why she changes her name is because the meaning of her name here, because her name means Pleasant At this point, in her life, she's Pleasant. She has her husband. She has her two sons. This was ideal. She had hope her husband was alive, which means she had hope of survival, she had loved, she had compassion, she had her two sons. So if something were to happen to her husband, she would still have hope and independent upon her son to provide for her the oldest But then didn't even happen to the oldest son which would be unlikely, right? She was even have that second son that they would be there and leave the staple and be able to continue to provide for her because in this day and time a woman, especially a woman living out of her country. You didn't have hope herself, she couldn't have property without a pepper been over, but a son to change the property. When he becomes of age, she really didn't represent the family. In a lot of ways. It was more than the male characters within the family. But what we see here is a man's name, the man whose name means literally, God is King is acting. If is is if God is not King, Whose wife? Is named Pleasant that in. Just a few verses will no longer be pleasant.

What was the other things going on in this text just to point out mahlon and chilion? We probably won't see those names much more about all that. They have no specific me. Okay, just no irony and those two names but there is honor in the first two names. Legos honest, as they were after I to from Bethlehem in Judea, there may be some significance of plantar part of. We've already looked me over the significance of Bethlehem in Judea. I think we really see it a second time here, because he's really just trying to push where he's from be kept. As we're going to get the very last sermon, in the Book of Ruth is these are our predecessors or people that were the lineage of David and David being from Bethlehem. And then on our contacts will know that Christ is a descendant of David, being a descendent of Bethlehem that this is the lineage of Christ. Okay? To the author year. I think he's just trying to paint the picture. Clear that these men, this man, this woman, her son, Or from Bethlehem where David is from. Okay, but keep on going in the text where I think the most significant thing here, it says and they went into the country of Moab and look at the change of language here and remained there. Play. When you attract a verse 1. It's in with that verse wise as when which of the country went to sojourn to the country of Moab. See, when he initially went to Moab, the mindset wasn't to stay there, he was going to be a Sojourner, which means he was going to travel through his intentions, were possibly even pure in a lot of ways, the living outside of the way in which God would have for him, that he was going to go go out and get enough bread and enough food and enter provide for his family.

But we see a change of some change here because that's why I said earlier. This is a narrative and a narrative, has meaning in the meaning is group, in the words in which the author use and he doesn't use his words by accident it. So what are you saying here is this man and Abel imiolek He doesn't go to the land of Moab know what he may have initially went to sojourn. That's not the ending ending intention. He ends up. Staying there. He remains there.

Went to the land of the enemy, the land of the Pagan, the land of those against God. And he ends up staying there. Looks like a stage the Harris because he found bread and food and excess. And the trust that he should have had in. God, was now in the physical things that he found in the land of the enemy.

It'll be quick for us to say, how dare you? Happy elimelech go and stay there, you know, maybe travel there, maybe get your food from there. Maybe. Maybe provide for your family by making this short and small shrimp to get enough food. But how dare he stay there. Clearly had a good in the land of the Lord in the promised land that they got promise to his people for centuries. How dare him? Stay there. But the reality is, is that when we do what is Watson, our own eyes, we at just like he does. If we stay in places that we should not be for a long. That is way too long.

We say an emoji mood or we stay in sinful actually steak and living in a way that is, just not going to hide and glorifying.

Quit. Look at this man and say how dare him.

But if any of us men were in the same shoes as him, I would beg to say that we would probably have done the same exact thing that he did.

I most certainly would have struggled by looking at my four children and wife and watch them starve. And then finding a land that provided for them. I would have found it difficult to leave.

But we see this picture of boating. This narrative unfolding of a man that was supposed to be at a different place. Staying at a place that he should not be now.

We see what happens to him. He dies, and I'm not going to stand here and try to argue that this was necessarily the wrath of God on display in his life. I'm not God, I can't say God's motives. It doesn't tell me that this was God's Wrath or anything of that nature. I can't sit here and say that elimelech died, simply because he stayed in the land of Moab. Instead of being in Bethlehem were God intended him to be, I can't call you that. I can't say that there's a possibility. Yes. Is there a possibility? He would not have starved in Bethlehem? Yes, but ultimately what we should see in the text is that God is still at work. In the Disobedience of his children that God is still in work in the Disobedience of elimelech and Naomi in this moment because they were going to see Calamity even get worse than their life. We're going to see throughout the entire Book of Ruth that God is their redeemer. He restores and provides for them.

Just look at the progression in the next part. It says, elimelech the husband of Naomi died.

And she was with that with her two sons.

When you look in the second part of verse 1, averse to, it says the names of his two sons. Where did he is? The theater is showing ownership because as he was still alive, he was the guy that the guider, the director, the provider for the family, the one that that really LED them, right. He was the one that was their leader and make sure they were doing and going work. He thought they should be going. And we see that he in doing what was wise in his own eyes, is actually going against what God would have led them to not only sojourn to Moab but to stay there. Okay. Thor about to see is that the ownership of said Sons change in this? This part of the verse where it says, her husband, the husband of Naomi died says and she was left with her two sons. Husband's dead, she's alive. She still has the two sons in just a moment, but we should see you in this is that not all hope is lost. Yes, she lost her husband. She is grieving inside and we don't know why or how he died. We don't know any of that but she's most certainly grieving over the circumstance but she's not hopeless. She still has her son's to provide and take care of her all to use as a means of provision until they get of an age to where they can physically do it for. We don't know how old they are. But what we do know is that all hope is lost yet. They're simply living a life where God is not King, and living the life or where God is not King. They're doing what is wise in their own eyes and in doing so they're living in Orlando that they should not be living, but you could argue up until this point That's elimelech that made these decisions. It was his decision to sojourn it was his decision to stay there. Most certainly as the as a family, they may have even discussed it and it may have been Naomi. May have been okay with it, I don't know. We can't argue with that now. But I would say that nowadays that we would certainly be the case, but at the end of it all, it was still his job to leave his family. And he did. And so, we would be quick to say Naomi was not at fault in the two previous things, but we see in this next section is Ruth makes the same conscious decision to stay in the land of Moab. So the third thing we're going to see is that really the second think we're going to see that when we hurt you or do what is wise in their own eyes? Is that there is hopeless despair? Verses 4 and 5 says, these took Moab wives, talkin of the two sons, the name of the one is Orphan. The name of the other is Ruth that lived there about 10 years, in both Malin and chilion died? So that the women was left without her two sons and her husband,

So we see it says these took mobile wipes. Most likely Naomi and is we look correctly in the character of Naomi at the in middle of Ruth Story. We would certainly see that this is possibly, the case is Naomi was probably the one that helped them find their wives. Just following an active participant and then finding their wives and took Naomi. Here is making the same conscious decision that her husband made and that was to stay in the land of Moab instead of going back to the land and what they were supposed to be dwelling. And in that process we see that they became they do what they each got. A wife name is Orphan and the others name is Ruth is obviously they made the character. We hear nothing of warfare after the next week's sermon but we see Ruth's character throughout all of it that she goes down in history because of who she was and what God was doing. Which has married which woman? Most likely the first movie, the first and second we're the second but we don't know. Insignificant know what we see here is that they make this conscious decision. She makes his conscious decision to allow her son's to Marymoor by women in the land of Moab instead of going back to Bethlehem to apply for them to marry there. So she could use this, this thread of living in a lifestyle in a practice that they should not be living and what is the outcome of it? The outcome of it, is it to live there about 10 years.

Stop there and then sit. And then I moved back to Bethlehem good story, but that's not why it stops there. It says they live there about 10 years and both male on and Cheney die.

when we pick up next week, but we're going to see is that after this encounter Naomi is going back home, She going back home to die cuz she has no one left, but she doesn't want to die in the land of the enemies. You want to lie in the land of Bethlehem. But in this moment, what we see is that it doesn't happen to be, they decide to move back, but they moved back. Because after 10 years, they died.

But the other thing we should note here is that the the first 10 years can be taken literally as I literally live there 10 years, which is possible. It could be taken as they were supposed to have children within this time. They didn't. And then they died or I can take him to the combination of the two. I would land in the third thing is the combination of the two. And what will we see in this? Is that traditionally a normally

Anytime. The husband and wife would have had children,

but there's no mention of children. So what that tells us about their story, is that someone here able to have children either, it was the wife's or they husbands but they were Barrett. They had no children within a 10-year marriage. None. Just like earlier when we said that the death of the father couldn't be necessarily said as a wrath of God on the people's life. I, we can't say that about this circumstance, you either, but we can certainly say, is that God desired. For Naomi to move back to Bethlehem and four Malone cider and in that desire to do. So what would have prevented her from? That is if she would have had children of her own and the land of Moab? So we don't know why they couldn't have children, we don't know what caused that. We don't know any of those things, we don't know nothing about their personal life that led to this moment but what we do know is that God had his desire for Ruth and that desire for Ruth was to redeem elimelech the land land and namesake as well as being a redeemer. That would foreshadow the true Redeemer.

But in this moment of losing her two sons.

Naomi found herself. And hopeless, despair.