I'll be reading out of the book of Ruth, Ruth, the first chapter. Now, it was in the days when the judges judged that there was a famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to live for a time in the fields of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife, Naomi. And the name of his two sons, Machlon and Kilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they entered into the fields of Moab, and they came to be there. Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she and her two sons were left. And her sons took up to themselves Moabite wives. The name of the one was Orpha, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there for about ten years. Then both Machlon and Kilion also died, and only the woman was left alive as a result of her two sons and her husband's death. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, so that she might turn back from the fields of Moab. For she had heard, while being in the fields of Moab, how Yahuwah had visited his people in order to give them bread. So she went forth from the place where she dwelt, and her two daughters-in-law with her. And they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, turn back each to her mother's house, and may Yehua accomplish keseh with you, just as you both have dealt with the dead and with me. May Yehua give this to you both, that you may find rest, each of you, in the house of her new husband. Then she kissed them, And they lifted up their voice and wept. Then they said to her, We will return with you to your people. And Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my belly so that it would come to pass that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters. Go your way. For I am too old to have a husband. And if I should say, I have hope, If I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they should be grown? Would you shut yourselves off from having husbands? No, my daughters, for he has been exceedingly bitter to me more than to you, because the hand of Yahuwah has gone out towards me. And they lifted up their voice and wept still. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth cleaved to her. And so Naomi said, Look, your sister-in-law has turned back to her people and to her gods. Turned back after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, Ask me not to forsake you or to turn back from following you. For where you go, I will go. Where you remain, I will remain. Your people, my people. Your God, my God. Where you die, I die, and there will I be buried. Thus, Yehua do so to me, and more also, if anything but death shall divide between me and you. When she, Naomi, saw that she, Ruth, was determined to go with her, then Naomi stopped speaking to her. So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they had come to Bethlehem that all the city was abuzz concerning them. And they said, This Naomi? And she said to them, Don't call me Naomi. Call me Marah. For Shaddai has made me exceedingly bitter. I left here full, and Yahuwah has turned me back again empty. Why call me Naomi? Yahuwah has afflicted me, and Shaddai has done evil to me. So Naomi turned back, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, turned back from the fields of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. Please be seated. The time of this book, the setting is pretty straightforward. It's right there in the narrative. It was during the time of the judges. As most of you recall what that means, it was a time when Israel had finally come into the land under Joshua, and he died. And all the other patriarchs of that time, all the elders of that time died. And now, it was God leading them directly. And what else that we know about the time of the judges is this. It's defined in Judges 17, 6, Judges 18, 1, Judges 19, 1. Over and over, God is saying, they did what was right in their own eyes. They had this law that we read this morning. But what did Israel do? What did the people of God do? What did the assembly, the church of God at this time do? Well, they did what was right in their own eyes. They didn't follow God's law. They said, you know what? I think we know how to do this. I think we can make good decisions on our own. And so they were doing that. Unfortunately, a lot of their so-called good decisions were sins against God. And God was starting to judge them for it. And so, with this in mind, this setting of a time when the people of God were habitually, as a congregation, as a corporate entity, and kids, a corporate entity means everybody all together. And the people of God, as a corporate entity, was sinning against God. Imagine that. The whole church, Maybe some individuals weren't. But the church as a whole, sinning against God. And so then, we have this famine. And you know, most people, if you think about it, you'll say, oh, well, famines come because there's not enough rain. Or maybe they come because during wartime, and there was a time of war between various tribes, not to mention other groups. During this time of war, what's one of the weapons you can use against your enemy? Destroy their crops or steal their crops. In other words, induce a famine. And so to keep us from thinking, oh, well, that's just the way things are. You know, bad things happen. Things happen. The writer here is letting us know, uh-uh, that's not the way things are. The writer is guiding us to understand that the famine was God's rebuke for Israel's corporate disobedience. The time of the judges, they were disobeying and he visited, in this case, famine. If you want to read some more things about what he did and what he had promised he would do with their disobedience, read Deuteronomy chapter 28. And you'll see he did a lot more things. And he threatened or actually promised a lot more things and the people did suffer those things. So what the author of this book wants us to see, though, is this. God is in charge. God ordains everything that comes to pass. Even this famine, he made this happen as well. God is behind everything, either directly or through second causes. But it's God, not chance, not things that just happen. It's God that makes things happen. And at the beginning of Ruth, we see the reaction of one of God's covenant people to this difficult circumstance. This man, Elimelech, moves his family out of God's promised land. He takes them out of the land of promise, the land that God had promised to these people. And Elimelech takes them out. He takes them away from the covenant community And what else is he taking them away from? God. How did you worship God back then? You worshipped him in Shiloh, didn't you? There was a place to do it. And it wasn't in Moab. But that's where he took them. He took them to Moab. And Moab, by the way, wasn't that far away. It was just adjacent to Israel. But you can also see God's working there as well. Why is it? that Moab, the place of Chemosh, a false god, why is it there that there's food? But in Israel, in Bethlehem, house of bread, why isn't there any bread there? Because what the people are doing, and God is judging them for that. He's not just thanking them. He's saying, come back to me. I'm doing this so I'll get your attention and you come back to me. But what did Elimelech do? Well, he did what some of us might say is the logical thing to do. There's no food here. I've got to feed my family. What shall I do? Well, I heard there's food in Moab. Okay, let's get the U-Haul and let's head out there. You know, that might make sense. After all, he does have to feed his family. But what did God say? This is your land, people of God. You're to be here. And instead of running away, run to me. I made this happen for a reason. So come to me, and I'll remove this famine. But not Elimelech. Not the man whose name means, my God is king. Elimelech, Eli, Melech. Eli, my God. Melech, king. here's a man whose name is, my God is king. What's he doing? Taking off. He's going to a foreign country, a place with false gods. You know, God's people sometimes stray this way when difficulties come. Isn't that true? And they often do it for what may seem to be logical or wise reasons at the time. You can see it kind of progress here with Elimelech in this narrative. Take a look at verse 1. They went to live for a time in the fields of Moab. Then in verse 2. Then they came to be there. Well, you notice it's starting to get a little bit more established here. And then, by verse 4, what's happened? And they dwelled there about 10 years. Well, we're going to be there for a little while. Oh, well, okay, now we're here. might as well kind of, you know, make the best of it. Ten years later, they're still living there. Got a mortgage, you know, and everything's good. They got some, what do you call it, neighbors. And they're being fed. Must have been a good idea, huh? We took a gamble, we went to Moab. Sure, God doesn't like it, but, you know, he'll put up with it a little bit. But you know what's ironic about what Elimelech did? Moving his family from the house of bread to the fields of Moab. What's ironic is in his quest to move his family for survival purposes, in his quest to save his family, what Elimelech has really done is jeopardized his entire family. That's right. By moving them, he's out of the land, out of the covenant people. He's jeopardized this very family he's trying to preserve. And how so? Well, look at this. After his death, his sons, which according to some interpretations could be called sickly and spent. How do you like that, kids? Do you like to be named sickly or spent? Spent like, I'm just worn out. I'm all spent. I'm ready to go. And there's some commentators that would say, surely nobody would name their kid sickly. I mean, think about it. Oh, honey, I'm pregnant. Oh, how exciting. What are we going to name the kids? Well, I don't know. I think we'll name this first one sickly. Oh, honey, let's not name him from your side of the family. But you see, it's not always the way we think. Because what about the man Ichabod? That was his real name. And what did it mean? The glory has departed. And you remember when the ark was taken from the people of God by the Philistines. And what did that woman, the priest's wife, do? She was ready to deliver. When she found out her husband was dead and the ark was gone, she delivered and died. And just before she died, what did she name her son? Ichabod. The glory has departed. Was she naming him after somebody? No, she was naming him after an event. And that's what people did. But oftentimes, in the Old Testament days, they named their children after significant events, either in their own personal life or in the national life. So it's quite possible. and probably quite likely, that yes, these boys were named Sickly and Spent. And what did Sickly and Spent do while they're in Moab? Well, they grew up. And like most young men, they got married. But did they marry within the faith? Did they go looking for a Hebrew wife? No. They married Moabite women. They married outside of the faith. And then, had they not died, well, then they might have had children. Although, they may not, because after all, 10 years is a long time not to have kids. Perhaps another judgment of God on this family. But nevertheless, here they are in Moab. They're all settled down. And what is this family doing? Getting used to it. Getting acclimatized to it. becoming a part of that culture. And there's the danger. Becoming a part of the culture. And maybe not ever going back to Israel. And now they'll pick up maybe Moabite names with the next generation. Or maybe they'll just die out there. And now a family in Israel is missing. And part of the covenant community is missing a family. And so you see, there was a big danger about him moving to save his family. Because in fact, he was jeopardizing the very family he was trying to save. But God has different ideas. God loves his people and he thinks a whole lot better than we do, fortunately. And so God turns his own people back to him. Even when they do these things like this. God determined to preserve Elimelech's family despite Elimelech's disastrous move. And God was bringing Elimelech's family back into the land. Sure, not without Elimelech, not without his sons, but he was bringing the family back with Elimelech's wife and his daughter-in-law. God often works through difficult ways to accomplish his tasks. And for the people of God, that's a hard thing, isn't it? You know, hardships aren't always the result of sin. Now, a lot of people we know probably think that way. If someone is having a hard time, the first thought is, I wonder if they're doing some sin. I wonder if they're living in sin. I wonder if they confess their sin. And that could be true. But sometimes, God brings hardship on his people and they haven't sinned. In fact, what does he say in Philippians? Chapter 1, verse 29. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. So what's our lot? to suffer with our Lord. But then again, we will share in his glory, will we not? But back to Naomi. What was Naomi's case? Well, Naomi's circumstances were the result of sin. But she herself had not sinned. At least we don't see that in the narrative. It wasn't from sin that she was suffering. But she was suffering greatly. And even though she probably knew she hadn't sinned, because she'd done exactly what her husband told her, all these years, that was small comfort, wasn't it? Because look at her situation right now. She was now a widow without even any sons. This was a widow with no males in the household. And in that day and age, if you didn't have a male in the household, you didn't have anything. you needed a male in the household. It was a very patriarchal society. It wasn't like nowadays where women can rule. Back then, it was men or nothing. And if there were no males in your family, if you were a woman, a widow indeed, guess what? Now you're hoping someone will show mercy on you. Hopefully from within your family. And you're going to hope someone's not going to take advantage of you. Maybe even take you and sell you into slavery. You're going to hope that. You're going to hope you're in a family that will take care of you. But you see, back then, as is today, that wasn't always the case. People don't change. People are selfish. So she was a widow with no male to provide for her or to protect her. And you know what was worse? She had no prospect, no real prospect of attracting any male into her household. What did she say in verse 12? I'm too old to have a husband. Well, what does that mean? She was probably only in her 40s. She wasn't that old. But you're thinking nowadays where it's no big deal. But back then, what was going to attract a man to her, except money, which she didn't have, was the prospect of children. And as she's past childbearing age, no man in his right mind is going to say, oh, oh sure, I'll marry you. She was spent as well. So here she is, no male and no prospect of having one. And the only hope she had right now was the knowledge that there was bread in the house of bread and she's from the house of bread and she's got some relatives and maybe, just maybe, she'll survive there. She's certainly not going to survive in Moab. So she's got to leave. And that's all according to God's plan. That's how he got her out of Moab. That's how he was starting to rescue Elimelech's family. A hard way of doing it, perhaps. But nevertheless, as any of you that have read Ruth, there's much glory to God and much joy to Naomi later. But still, we're here in the first part. So now Naomi is in great distress. And in this great distress, her perception of God gets warped. That's right. Has that ever happened to you? Where you're under so much pressure, you're not thinking straight anymore. You used to think real clearly. You could do that. But if there's enough stress on you, enough pressure, you don't start thinking clearly because you're trying to think too many things at once. And you're so destitute, perhaps. You're starting to lose hope. You're starting to despair. And this is Naomi. And all she saw was her earthly circumstances. And because of that, her witness of her God was somewhat fractured. We see that in verses 8 through 15. I'm not going to read it for time's sake, but what does she do? She says, Girls, you've got to go back to your blood kin. I'm going to go back to where I'm from. you go back to where you're from. I can't take care of you. When I go there, I'm going to be next to nobody. And if you come with me, you're foreigners, you're going to be next to next to nobodies. Go back. You're thinking, well, that's decent of Naomi, isn't it? To care for her daughters-in-law like that. Go back and get husbands again. Have someone take care of you. But it isn't that easy. Because you see, in those days, in the Near Eastern culture of that time, whatever culture or group you went to, that was also where you got your gods. And what was Naomi really telling these people, these girls? They had a small opportunity to see Yahuwah through Naomi. But Naomi is now saying, go back. Go back to Moab. Go back to Chemosh, who's really not a god. Any hope you might have of eternal life, kiss it goodbye. I'm going to send you to hell. Basically, she's saying in a nice way, not even knowing it, go to hell, girls. Go to hell. Because she's sending them back to a pagan society and there's going to be no opportunity to worship the one true God. And it was all because, yeah, she's suffering real stress. It's a real hard time in her life. Well, what else is she doing? Because of this stress, she's misinterpreting God's motives. In verse 13, what does she say? For he has been exceedingly bitter to me more than to you. Who's she talking about? This He? God. She's saying to these girls, my God has been harder on me than on you. You don't want to hang around with me. Look what He's doing to me. He's been bitter to me all these years. Girls, you better go away. Because if you hang with me, then the same thing that's happening to me is going to happen to you. That's what this God's going to do to you. Do you see what her witness has become? Her understanding of God's been distorted because of all these problems. And there is more. In verse 20, she says, For Shaddai has made me exceedingly bitter. Did he? Did he zap her and say, Okay, you who used to be pleasant, which is what Naomi's, the root of her name meant, pleasant, my delight, my pleasant one. And all of a sudden God said, okay, now you're going to be Mara. Now you're going to be bitter because I made you bitter. Is that true? No. That's her reaction to her situation. And what else did she do? Well, there's more. It's almost like those TV things, isn't it? Look what she does to Naomi. She says to Naomi, without really saying it, I mean, she says to Ruth, I'm sorry. She's talking to the people of the land, the women there. And she says, don't call me Mara. Or call me Mara. I left here full and Yahweh has turned me back again empty. Why call me Naomi? Yahweh has afflicted me and Shaddai has done evil to me. No, she doesn't say, well, to me and to Ruth here. No, it's like Ruth isn't even there. She's ignoring Ruth. Ruth, who has just said, I'm with you. No matter what happens, I'm with you till the day I die. Only death is going to separate us, Naomi. That's what Ruth said. And then Naomi forgets all about that. Why? Because all this stress that's on her, this hardship has warped her understanding of reality. And before we get too hard on her, though, has that ever happened to you? Have you experienced what it is? There's no excuse for it. But can you at least cut her a little slack and say, yeah, I can see, I can understand. I may not approve of it, but I can see why she would be that way. Yeah, Naomi's sufferings fogged her perceptions. But at least she was this much, she had this much faith in God to say, God, I'm bitter. No false piety here. She really did trust him. But she was a little warped at this point. But you know what? Despite all this, in the midst of her trials, God was still providing. God is still providing for her in the midst of all this. How so? First of all, the land is fertile again. And she has a place to go. She can leave Moab. There is a possibility, a slim one, but it's there. And then there's a greater possibility that we know because, after all, we've probably read it. And what is it? God has provided Ruth for her. Ruth. Oh, yeah, she's a foreigner. But Ruth is for her. Ruth said, I'm with you, Naomi. I'll do whatever it takes. I'm on your side. And what is Ruth doing? but reflecting God. She's reflecting God. God is saying to Naomi, I'm with you. I'm taking you through this and I'm with you here. Here's my servant Naomi, a flesh and blood example, a reflection of me and what I'm doing for you. And Naomi, what did she do? Or what did Ruth do? She forsook her people. for a strange people and a strange God. But she still forsook him. And this action that we see in what Ruth has done is something that is unique to the Hebrews. And it's a word called chesed. And it's often translated covenant faithfulness, Covenant loyalty, kindness, goodness, mercy, love, compassion. But what is it? Well, cussed, there's a few things I've got out of the commentary here. It assumes a prior relationship of deep and abiding loyalty between two parties. Ruth showed that, didn't she? But doesn't God? And cussed is an action or actions done to meet the needs of someone or someones who are in a really bad situation. It's an action. Kesed is an action of meeting someone's desperate need. Not just, oh, it would be nice to do need, but a desperate need. Kesed is done by someone who's in a stronger situation for someone who is weaker. And because that person is stronger, Keset is something that doesn't have to be done by that stronger person. There is no real legal requirement, but it is a moral obligation of love, of solidarity, of caring for someone that's linked with you. And it's something that is far and above what is expected. In other words, it would be something that you would win the Medal of Honor for. These things are all wrapped up in the idea of chesed. And that's what Ruth was showing to Naomi. But again, what is Ruth? Nothing more than a pale reflection of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ, to his people. People of God, have you experienced the chesed of Jesus? Have you seen your depravity? Have you seen where you were bent? Have you seen where you deserve to be? Have you seen it? And then what did the second person of the Trinity do? Who's ever blessed? Amen. Who didn't need to do anything? Who's got everything? What did he do? He put on flesh for you and me. And it's forever. The transcendent God has put on flesh for us. And for what? So that we can come to heaven. Because we who trust in him are made righteous. It's imputed to us. And all our sins are imputed to him. That is chesed. It's the nature of God. And we see it all worked out in Ruth, in an ever-enfolding drama. People of God. When he puts us through these trials, these hard trials, his chesed is with us as well. So no matter how hard it is, and when we're tempted to say, are you with me or what? We know he is. It's his nature to be with his own. And then He calls us to seek after Him, to search for Him, especially in these hard times. And He's there. This God, whose very nature is this Cassie. You know, we also, like in Galatians 6, have the opportunity to reflect, like Naomi, to one another and to this world, in small measure, the Cassie of God. We can do that to one another. Not to earn anything, but to show our thanks for the Kessen given to us. We can give that back in small measure. I've seen it happen here. I've seen it happen. And people of God, God calls us to that as well. Let's pray. Father, we've seen your nature explained by the word custody. And even though you do also bring us through fiery trials, you are with us. You do care. You go to a lot of trouble to take care of us. Father, what can we do but say thanks? And Lord, we do pray for any of those in this room who have not experienced the custody of Christ. Holy Spirit, even this morning, have mercy on them. Open their eyes. Raise them from the dead in order that they might see their sin and turn to you. Have mercy. Have custom on them. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.