Ruth 1

Hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we are starting a new plan. It's going to be different too. We're not going to do just one year. Instead, I think we're going to take two years.
So I was wrestling over the last couple of days and thinking over kind of the break since just after Christmas time, how would we accomplish getting through a bunch of the prophets and the historical books and we've already done some of the prophets, right? We've done Joel and Jonah and Jeremiah and so I was just we've done all the wisdom literature so kind of just moving through I thought man this might be a little bit tough so are we going to do? We're going to spend the next two years going through the rest of the historical books and the prophets chronologically.
So, I interspersed things and I thought this might be a fun way to do it. So, we're going to go through chronologically the books that we haven't covered yet, And so we'll go through Jeremiah, we'll go through Ezekiel, we'll go through Ruth, we'll go through Esther, we'll go through all this 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, and all the minor prophets, and they'll be interspersed as we go. So hopefully it will keep it a little bit fresh for us and on our toes.
So this morning we're in the book of Ruth, Ruth chapter 1. What do you do when everything turns sour? When the darkest days happen? What would you do? Where would you go? How would you turn? Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the blessing it is that we get to come to your word and get to hear from you. And Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would help us to understand, help us to hear and to believe and to live for your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Here we go. Ruth chapter 1. Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell 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 was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahalon and Chilion. Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died and she was left. And her two sons. Now, they took wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpha and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt in a land about 10 years. Then both Mahalon and Chilian also died, so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
All right, let's just take a moment. We have Elimelech. God is my king. That's what Elimelech means and they're going to go to Moab, right? They're from Bethlehem. but there's no food, so they go. He takes his wife, he takes his two kids, they go, migrate across the Jordan River to the country of Moab, to that region. And their sons take daughters, or wives, and they have these daughter-in-laws, life is good, well then Elimelech dies, and that's horrible, but at least she's got two boys, but then her boys die. She's left as a widow, and in this culture, destitute.
Then 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. Therefore she went out from that place where she was and her two daughters-in-law with her. And they went on the way and returned to the land of Judah.
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. Then the Lord deal kindly with you. as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband.' So she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept.
And they said to her, surely we will return with you to your people. But Naomi said, turn back my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters. for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.
And they lifted up their voices and wept together. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and Ruth clung to her. And she said, look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people, to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law.
But Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. And your people shall be my people, and my God, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also, if anything but death parts you and me."
Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened when they had come to Bethlehem that all the city was excited because of them. And the women said, is this Naomi? But 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. the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest."
So What's she going to do? She finds out that the Lord, Jehovah, the Tetragrammaton, the covenant name of God here, has brought food back. And so she goes, OK, I'm going to go back to Bethlehem. And her daughter-in-laws are weeping, and we're going to go with you. And she says, no, no, no, no. All right, even if I had babies and I had boys, you wouldn't wait for them. You couldn't restrain yourself. You don't have any loyalty to me anymore. Go back to your families. Go back to your gods.
And Orpah cries, and she loves her mother-in-law, but she leaves. But Ruth clings to her. And she tries to send her away, and Naomi says, you go back home. She said, no. And we have this conversion statement, right? Your God shall be my God, and your people my people, and where you die, there I will die, right? This is an oath of fidelity, of loyalty. She's vowing to care for Naomi, to watch over her, to be with her. It's this beautiful loyalty that we find here.
Well, then she goes. People are excited. It's a wonderful homecoming. And they're like, man, is this Naomi? We haven't seen her in years, decades maybe. She says, don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. And she's come back bitter. She's come back empty. And they're there. The barley harvest is about to start. God has returned. God has brought back. And there's no famine in the land anymore, but there's food to be had. And so while everybody else is rejoicing, we find Naomi weeping in her bitterness and sad.
So what's this section about? Well, this is about, interestingly, not so much Ruth as it is about Naomi. And it's about the Lord and him bringing famine, but then him bringing this poor widow back and bringing food back. So this is setting up the story. So that's what this is about. We're introduced to the tragedy of Elimelech and his son's death. of Naomi and her destitution and yet Ruth and her loyalty.
So what's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I have verse 16 and 17. I have Ruth's just declaration of loyalty to Naomi. That's what I have underlined in my Bible is the best verse to summarize this. Make no doubt about it, this is a vow or it's an oath. The Lord do so to me and more so, if anything, but death parts you and me. She calls upon Jehovah's name herself.
So, what are we called to do in response to this? And how does this show us Jesus Christ? What's our call to action? There are hard times in life. And they're not outside the Lord's control. Sometimes God allows famines to happen. Sometimes God allows things to occur that are outside of our control. We don't have a lot of say over some things in life. And yet, what we're going to find is this beautiful golden thread of God's wonderful grace and providence. Even in hard providences, allowing things like famine to happen because good things were planned by him through it. That's one of the things that I find open. It's one of the things I think about when I think about Romans chapter 5. We've been justified. We've been united to Christ but there's still trials and tribulations, but those things that happen in our lives produce character and perseverance and hope. Hope doesn't disappoint us. Ruth didn't think that the Lord had disappointed, but she trusted. And so, we know all things work together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes.
And so, what a blessing it is that we could stop and we can trust, that we can hope, we can love, that we don't need to fear what's coming next. But we can know that the Lord is watching over all things, caring for us as our good and wonderful shepherd.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for giving us your Son, for uniting us to your Son, and for giving us a hope that could never be taken away. Lord, we pray that we would trust you. Even in the hard times, We know that you truly are a wonderful God and you care for us as your children. And even those tears that come from our eyes will someday be wiped away. And we know that you have a plan and everything you do is good, even though we often struggle. So God, we believe. Please help us even as there are times of our disbelief. In Jesus' name, Amen.
May God bless you. May you cling to Jesus Christ always. May you trust in God, your Heavenly Father who has a good plan. I'll see you next time. Bye.