Well, today we are beginning a new study in the book of Ruth, and I invite you to turn to the book of Ruth. That's found on page 262 in those Bibles that are in front of you, and we will be looking just at the first six verses, really verse five, but I'll read through verse six this morning of Ruth 1. And to set up the story, you'll see that in five verses, everything unravels terribly here. It's a dark moment in the story of Ruth, and that's what sets up the glory that is to come. And so that's the beauty of this little book. There's so much here to show us the person and the work of Christ. But we have to walk through the valley here at the beginning, this great and sad difficulty that is presented to us in the life of Naomi. So we're going to read 1 through 6. This is the word of the Lord, beginning here, Ruth 1. In 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 were Malon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died. And she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about 10 years, and both Malon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. And there will end the reading of God's Word. The book of Ruth is a fascinating little short book, a fun book to study, an enjoyable book to study, because what it does is it shows us God's work of providence and care for his people in some of the darkest of all circumstances. It really is that point that is going to be made and shown here as we work through this book, it does something rather unique. The book setting comes in the time of the judges, and you can't miss that little inclusion by the author here. That is meant to be pondered and to be thought about and to be reflected upon. In the time of the judges, it captures something about the state of the times in which this book comes to us. You'll know that the book of Judges, of course, provides us a sort of corporate view of Israel at the time, the problems with Israel at the time, the need for a deliverer, but all of the corporate aspect, the larger body of Israel aspect is captured in the book of Judges. What's unique about Ruth is the book is set sometime in the period of the Judges and it zeroes in on a little family in Israel. And that's not an insignificant choice by the author. You'll notice it zeroes in on this particular family, a surprising family, a family that is in such a mess and in such difficulty that it meant to capture for us a snapshot more locally and individually and also family-wise into the nation of Israel and the spirit of the times in which the people lived. It's showing us the spiritual state of God's people zeroing in on this family. The treasure of this book is that it's meant to challenge us and it's meant to encourage us that God has always worked in the darkest moments of human history. God has always done surprising things in the darkest moments. In the moments, in the darkest of situations where in the worst of situations, in the smallest of situations, in the most insignificant of situations. We see God's powerful providence at work and his powerful plan being enacted and fulfilled. When there is an absolute bleak outlook on life, in a place of great obscurity, in a place of great darkness, light shines, light shines. And this is where we are as we enter this little story of Ruth for, you can't help but to say that the same sort of discouragement fills our times. It fills Christians. It fills those who are living in hope and expectation of the good things to come but see no light in the present. That this book is a great encouragement and help to us to show the grand story and the grand plan of God's deliverance and help to his people. What this book is going to show us is how God makes light to shine out of darkness and to see how great that darkness can be in contrast with how great his light is that comes upon us. This morning, we're only looking at really the first five verses, somewhat into six, but I want you to notice here the outline is simple. As we're looking at this, you're going to notice here there's a great trial that is presented right at the front of this. And the first few verses were hit quickly with a lot of deep blows upon this family. And then we're going to look at the great trial, the great tragedy, and then the great triumph, anticipating somewhat of what is to come. Because you can't just leave it here in this dark moment without getting to some hope here. And that's the note we're going to end on. The trial, the tragedy, and the triumph. We enter this book at a surprising juncture in Israel's history. Notice verse 1, now it came to pass in 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 two sons. This is not just a statement to pass right over. It's giving us a key to understand this and to interpret this. The author is very plain here, and he wants us to fill in the gaps. You have to fill in the gaps. You can't do this without filling in the gaps. It's a loaded first verse. It's capturing for us the spirit of the times. Most likely, as those scholars say, this was written in the time between the judges Ehud and Jephthah. That's the sort of general rule and general accepted truth of when this was written. One of the darkest times, of course, in Israel's history. Very significant for the book. Everyone was doing what? Well, we know. Twice in the book of Judges, not only in chapter 17, but again to make the point, testimony of two witnesses here, the very end of the book of Judges we have this powerful statement that's made. In those days there was no king in Israel. It's the very end of the book of Judges. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Everyone, no king, everyone lived life as if the Lord didn't exist. You ever thought about how significant a statement that is for it to be said of Israel? It's a remarkable statement. There's a statement that, it's a statement saying that the Lord was completely rejected and forgotten about and left out of the social and religious life of Israel. He was forgotten. He was forgotten. And this is the sort of place in which we live. This is the place, the times in which we live, and also the place in which we find ourselves in this book. It's not so surprising to me that we would come, and if God had said about the nations of the world, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Would that ever be a surprise to us? The surprise of this is, is that it's God's people who were living this way. God's people had forgotten. The people of the covenant. The people who had seen all the wonders of God of Israel delivered them from out of the land of Egypt. The people who had, as we looked at last time, the memorials in front of them to remember all of God's great works. God had been with his people. God had delivered his people. God had always helped his people. How do you get to a place like this? And thus we enter the book of Ruth at this dark moment. In chapter 2 of Judges, we read the children. Listen to this characterization of the times of Judges. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and forsook the God of their fathers who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them and they bowed to them and provoked the Lord to anger. You have statements in Judges like they turned quickly from the Lord. They departed quickly from the Lord. They did not cease from their doings or their stubborn ways, it says. This was the long history of Israel and how they treated the Lord, wasn't it? No repentance. Little change of heart. Rejection of the Lord until things started going really badly and finally they would call out and he would send deliverers. He would send judges. Serving their own hearts. Probably one of the most apostate times in Israel's history. We really don't see the full turnaround that I would like to see until 1 Samuel 7 where a great judge, the last of the great judges was sent Samuel. And then we see in 1 Samuel 7, the Ebenezer stone and the sacrificing of a lamb and the people after years, it says 20 years, they, they returned to the Lord with all their hearts. So it's, it's no small statement when you open up Ruth and you read in the very next breath, there was a famine in the land. There was a famine in the land. You remember in the Old Testament, under what we call a theocracy, when the covenant people, when things were not going well, when they had rejected the Lord with these kinds of rejections, they had come under the covenant curses. the covenant curses listen to Deuteronomy 28 listen to this carefully and it sets up the book here but it shall come to pass if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the country cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle, and the offspring of your flocks. The people were under him right now. The curses had fallen on the land and on them. Now this is the setting. This is the setting to which the book comes to us. And so we have this interesting inclusion right at the beginning. We zero in now on this family in Israel, an obscure family, a family that's somewhat surprising to us. Who are these people? Why in the world would God choose them? And already we're being sort of provoked. God's setting something up for us. Setting something up. Notice it. A certain man of Bethlehem. That's not an insignificant city, is it? A certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab and his wife and his two sons. What's challenging with the book of Ruth, what's challenging as an expositor and a preacher, is like I said before, you have to fill in the gaps here. You have to do it to get to a real point here. We're left to do that. and there are hints that are given to us to help us to make the right choice and where to go with this. The man's name was Elimelech, the wife of, you'll notice that the name of his wife was Naomi. The name of his two sons were Malon and Chilion, Ephraithites of Bethlehem. That last description, Ephraithites, is very important. The way to describe them was to describe them, as the author is doing as people of kind of status in Israel. They were big names in Israel. They were a family name in Israel. They were of the first families in Bethlehem. They were what some have noticed are aristocrats. One pastor said, the Vanderbilts, however, had suddenly become sharecroppers. This is exactly what's happened. This well-to-do family in Bethlehem, a very prestigious family, a good well-known family, had done very well in the land, all of a sudden had come on very hard times. The text is teasing us somewhat with the names on purpose. Elimelech, you know what that name means? Yahweh is king. Yahweh is king. The Lord is king. Naomi means pleasant or sweet. What a moment. A man named Yahweh is king. And remember, when Israelites named their names, they didn't just do it to sound cool with the times like we do. Right? I had anointed people asked me as a pastor, why did you name your children this or that and not a biblical name? And I just kind of dropped my, I have no idea why. did it. I don't know. I agree. It was a hip thing to do at the moment. It's not what Israelites did. It captured the times. Parents were capturing things. They were capturing what they were experiencing. They were, this was a sort of testimony of things. Terrible circumstance here. Yahweh is king. And you're teased by the author to say, Oh, is this a godly man or not? Is this a good man or not? Is it just a name that he bears his religion? Was it just passed to him from dad and grandpa, but he doesn't really embrace it? Or does he really embrace it? Important questions, isn't it, for Israel? Because as we know, generations departed easy from the Lord. Covenant people. And then you have the names of the sons. Malon and Chilion both have negative connotations. Malon, the scholars have all pointed this out. That probably means to be weak and sick. And Chilion means to pine away. Huh. So terrible circumstances are upon us here. You have no food. Your children are wasting away. You've captured that in the way that you've named them. But you hear over in Moab that there's food. It's lush and it's plentiful over there. You don't have to deal with all this hardship. So the next thing you read is that they pack up with just one stroke of a pen. The author says they packed up and they went to Moab. They went and they sojourned in Moab. Was that to stay for a while and then come back? Was it to stay permanently? Is this a good choice? You see, we're all being, we're being teased by these questions and the author's not telling us. It's just, which sort of is intended to leave the listener on the edge of his seat. Did you know there's a place called Moab, Utah I've wanted to go? Yeah, you can ride doom buggies and ride all those things. Is it wrong to do that? To flee our circumstances? You see, all these things come together. All these thoughts. When you start to ask the right questions, though, it becomes a little more clear. Was it okay to leave the promised land due to famine? What about the Moabites, you know? What about those people? They were the immediate neighbors to the west, and you think about the Moabites that came into existence. You know how the Moabites came about, of course. It came from Lot and his daughters in the cave. that was a bad situation ugly situation it was the moabite leader balak who hired balaam to curse the sons of israel and then of course how all their women were seduced into harlotry with the the men were with the moabite women nothing ever good came out of moab this was israel's enemy throughout history their enemy and if you understand the instructions given to Israel. You can, you can tease this out a little more. The people probably should have cut them off, remember, when they entered the land. Weren't they commanded to do so? They were a thorn in their side. Now, all of this is starting to present a little bit of a clearer picture for us. Elimelech had come to one of the greatest choices of life. Those choices that, you know, at the beginning, you say, of the sermon here, and at the, as we think about the issues here, this would have dire consequences either way. What would be the consequences of this choice? The name Malon and Kilion captured, though, his real pain. Didn't it? His children are hurting. There was no seeking of the Lord, was there? I think that should be the starking omission here. Where is the Lord sought? Where was the calling upon the Lord's name recorded? It always was when God's people returned. You know, they say right now that Christianity is dying in the West. The decline among God's people is everywhere. And you can see it in the spirit of the people. What has happened to Christians in the time in which we live as the culture has turned on us? A lot of discouragement. A lot of giving up hope? And is there a lot of calling out to the Lord in prayer? Not much. Who's gathering in families around the table troubled about the times that they complain about? What's happening to churches right now? The trend is clear. It's a time of great spiritual decline among us. This would be a time in which they would say, in Israel's time, as the book is captured right from the beginning, the Lord doesn't seem to be involved much in Israel. The darkness of the people is evident. Where is the repentance? Where is the turning to him? The consequences of the darkness that has come upon them or seen now, as I think the book is teasing us to see, in the choices that are being made. The way that families are being led. The way the values that were once there are gone in Israel. You can apply that. Sure, you can apply that. The Lord is not consulted. In an Old Covenant context, now listen to me. This is the verse. If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. That's not America. That's Old Covenant Israel and the land. If you're ever going to apply that to today, Apply it to the holy nation, which is the church. Are my people calling out to my name? I'll strengthen their churches again, corporately. Have they made my worship a show and forgotten me? Apply it. What we need from an aristocrat whose name means God is king is someone with this kind of clout, someone with this kind of influence to lead the people in repentance to the Lord. And remember that God promised the land of them forever. But instead, what we have is the long besetting sin of Israel right in front of us. Everyone went to their enemies for deliverance. Everyone went to their enemies for deliverance. It wasn't just when people were being threatened with sword. They went to their enemies to feed them. Why should I have to suffer here with famine when just down on the plains of Moab is all this produce and all this good living? I shouldn't have to suffer. It is eerily similar to Lot in his choice. So he packs up his wife and his children and he leaves all his people behind and he goes out to the plains of Moab. It's going to be better there for him, of course. It's going to get a lot better if he can just get away from all of this. And here Elimelech looks over to the plains of Moab and is willing to separate his wife and his sons and himself from the promised land. Here's the irony of the text. You know what Bethlehem means? From the house of bread. See how the author is setting all this up? The house of bread has no bread. Why? And they're going to a land where Yahweh is not there. That makes sense, doesn't it? The spiritual life of God's people. I guess there's a reason Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things you worry about will be added unto you. You think he's going to feed you? You think if you ask your father for bread, he's going to throw a stone at you? I think this is probably why, interpretively, James, you could use, today or tomorrow we will go in such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit. Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You're a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Thus it is when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Now, has the law done its job today? I think the law has probably done its job. This is what the intention of the text is. And now we enter to the tragedy briefly, and then we'll get to the triumph. The sermon points are not as long, I promise you. Verse 3. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. And she was left with her two sons. Now they took wives of the women of Moab. The name of one was Orpah. The name of the other was Ruth. And they dwelt there about 10 years. The family arrives in Moab. And of course, it didn't go real well. Shortly after they arrive in Moab, the man whose name is Yahweh's king dies. what a horrid situation. You wouldn't want to write this script. What's so moving about the text is the way it's presented. We aren't told why he died. We aren't told how he died. All we know is he died. People make all kinds of decisions in life. We're not any better, by the way. One point of the story so far is really clear. We're not, as the culture says, masters of our destiny. we're not determining reality we're not going to escape anything in life that's that's one thing that's really important just to say in general here we always hear just keep grinding what does that mean the young people know what that means but the older people don't you never heard rocky balboa quoted in a sermon but i'm going to do it this is the spirit of the age it ain't about how hard you hit it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward how much you can take and keep moving forward that's how winning's done i'm so tired of that that is how losing is done apart from the lord what a horrid situation now his wife and sons are left alone without a husband. Naomi is a widow, and it was awful to be in this culture without a husband. It just was. That was how it went. How could she provide for herself? So we read that the sons take daughters of Moab, and there you're left with another interpretive question. Is that okay? Is that okay? The thing you'd want to ask is, would you ever set it up that way. Would you ever want that to happen? You shall not make marriages with them. There's some question about whether the Moabites were forbidden in that. But one thing was clear. No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the 10th generation. They were cursed. Outside the land, now married to pagan women, and the husband's gone. Doing what's right in your own eyes can be costly. Never really brings the happiness you think. What a hopeless situation. Then we come to the shocking verse 5. Then Malon and Chilion die. The family's done. All that's left is a little widow. No heir. Listen to this. The greatest tragedy on the Israelite mind is this imagery of a family in Israel. In many ways, Naomi is the Job of the Old Testament. She is a little old widow, past childbearing age, no protection, no means to survive, in this culture, can't support herself, now has no children to provide for her. She's in the worst possible situation an Israelite woman could be in. No social security. One pastor said, the narrator has sketched the gloomy, hopeless setting for this tale driven from her homeland by famine, cruelly robbed of her loved ones by death. A lonely widow sits abandoned in a foreign land. Sometimes we make a mess of things. But for others, There are recipients of others, somebody else's mess. Many of you have suffered loss and pain. You know the pain of this all, the emptiness of it all, the hurt of it all. That may not have been your fault at all. Some of it might be. Depending on the choices we make in life. Welcome to Naomi's hopeless plight. Well, I have presented to you a hopeless situation. Where's the Lord? What's he gonna do? You see how you're on, it's created to put us on the edge of our seats and all of a sudden you start to think because we know a little bit and can begin to answer the question here. Stand back and look at the bigger picture, beloved, for a minute. Just stand back, stand back from it all and listen to what I'm about to say. A barren woman without a husband in a foreign land with no seed or deliver. Does that sound familiar? We've already been here. Hadn't Israel already learned this lesson? Hadn't Israel already been in Egypt, a barren woman under bondage? Hadn't they learned the lesson of this is the consequence of everyone doing what's right in their own eyes? They need an exodus. They need another exodus. And what is God about to do? Make one. I think that's why verse 6 says she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. And in verse 21, she'll confess the Lord brought her home. Little did Israel know who would be brought home. He wouldn't just bring her home. With her would come one. A little Moabitess girl. A little Moabitess girl. What can God do through all the giant messes we've made? He can work his entire plan. A message was right before Israel in her presence. I would imagine they all stopped and said, what are you doing Naomi bringing a Moabitess back into Israel? Maybe they were so spiritually dead in decline it didn't even matter anymore. But the one message for us is starting to come out and we're starting to see the whole picture. There's one grand story already starting to be shown. Through Israel's trespass, through Israel's unbelief, salvation is already being shown to come to the Gentiles. I mean, how can we miss that? But in a surprising way, God's plan always was to return Jew and Gentile together. Here God was already starting to open the door, giving us a forecast of the future and redeeming a bride to himself through the work of Christ. And what a story this is going to be. What a story is going to unfold in Israel. Think about this. God would preserve the name of Elimelech and deliver Naomi as a kinsman redeemer will come and take Ruth. God would raise up the seed from a Moabitess woman. And from her womb would come, guess who David's distant grandma is? Ruth. This is a marvel when you put it together. and in Matthew 1, when you open up Matthew 1, and then you read Ruth the Moabitess, it should make your jaw drop. What did God do in this mess? Redeemed Israel. Redeemed Israel. He answered Psalm 80. What you're going to see unfold is the revelation of the true king in Israel who comes, the one who would bring the nations out of bondage, through the redemption of the one who is her true king. He's our king. He's our redeemer. He's our Lord. The one who would come from Bethlehem and not run away from it, but out of light into darkness would enter it and redeem a people of all the nations in the earth through this mess right here. Right here, right here. How did God work that? You all should be marveling. Stand back and see the story, beloved. Yes, God can fix all our messes and deliver us from the worst things that we have done. Sometimes we have to live out the full consequences of the choices in which we make. But the greater message can never be missed. In our very failure, God decided to act and to shower down his mercy and grace and pull us back to himself. Through this mess of Elimelech, you're going to see the Moabitess Ruth to be the very one in the line of Christ who would bring forth your Redeemer. He has answered our rebellion. And more through the work of his king. Notice this, he's redeemed us. See how precious it is when you read in the New Testament, you were bought back with a price. This king laid down his life for you. through this mess, to identify with us who are great messes. The precious blood of God's king, he gives for his bride. You see? I think that should encourage you today. We've all meant a mess of things in our life. We all have regrets in life. We all have done things we shouldn't have done in life. We all have sinned greatly against the Lord. And many of us need to think about our priorities again as God's people. Are we returning to the Lord when he's come to us with this kind of steadfast love? When he's wooed us this way and loved us this way? Or are we going to continue in the spiritual decline of Israel as is shown? This requires us to come to the Lord as Jesus extended his arms. He said, come to me, all you who are weary. Why are you running to Moab for bread? Why are you going there for your answer? Why are you turning to that idol for deliverance? Come to me, Jesus says. I'll give you the rest you're after. I'll give you the peace you need. You'll enjoy the love of the Father. Isn't the gospel wonderful? This is the God of restoration and mercy we serve. Praise Him today for His redeeming power in your life. And may we acknowledge that there is a King in Israel. And may we live before Him as if there is, as there is a King in Israel. May we worship Him. May we trust Him. May we believe Him in the apostate times in which we're in, knowing he will never give you a stone when you ask for bread. He cares for you. He loves you. Come to him, trust him, and believe in him. Yes, he plans good for you. Let's thank him today in prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, we bow our heads after such a rich text in just five to six verses of this grand story. You are so faithful where we have made a mess of everything and tried to live and do what is right in our own eyes. Here you before us show the unfolding of your plan to redeem a people to yourself. May we not be unbelieving like Israel, but believing. And may we trust you. Forgive our sins, cleanse our consciences, cheer our hearts in your steadfast love. as we celebrate the true King in Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord, who has redeemed us and bought us with a price that we might be his bride. We thank you. Hear our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.