I want to begin this with a quote. This is good. A young minister was told by
an elder of a Welsh chapel that he had preached a very poor
sermon because Christ was not in his
sermon. The young man replied, Christ
was not in the text. The wise old man said, Christ
is in every text. In every text of scripture, there
is a road which leads to Jesus Christ and him crucified. Your business is to find that
road and get on it. That's our business, isn't it? The whole book of Ruth, all four
chapters, it has a theme which is the picture of Christ. You
know what the theme is? The kinsman redeemer, right? the kinsman redeemer, the one
who will redeem Ruth and make her his bride. By the end of
the story, this woman is a married woman. That's Jesus Christ. That's the
Lord Jesus Christ. But he's not mentioned until
chapter 2 verse 1. Look at it. Chapter 2 verse 1.
It says, And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man
of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. That's
the first time he's mentioned. Chapter 2, verse 1. And we're only going to look
at the first five verses of chapter 1 this morning. That's all we're
going to look at. Just the first five verses of chapter 1. So will Christ be in the text
this morning? Christ is in every text. In every text of scripture, there
is a road which leads to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our
business this morning is to find that road and get on it. And
I don't think I've ever seen a highway this big in my life. 37 years old. I don't think I've
ever seen an interstate like this. In the first five verses of Ruth
chapter one, we have a very clear story of events. It's very clear. A series of
events that take place. All we're going to do I was looking
at this this morning thinking, I wonder how long this is going
to be? It doesn't really matter, but sometimes you don't want
them to be an hour and a half, and you don't want them to be
nine minutes either. But I thought, I wonder how long
this is going to be? And I thought, it does not matter. I don't care
how long it is. I don't care how short it is.
This is the message. Every word. We're not going to
leave one word out. We're not going to add one word to it. All we're going to do is read
the story. and see the message of it. That's
all we're going to do. Verse 1. Chapter 1, verse 1. It says, Now it came to pass
in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the
land. There was a lack of bread. A true lack of bread. People were dying because of
a lack of bread. So are we. So are we. Men and women are dying right
now because of a famine in the land. And I'm not just talking about
remote portions of Africa. I'm talking about Kingsport,
Tennessee. Kingsport, Tennessee. People
are dying because of a famine in this land. Let me show you
that over in Amos chapter 11. Hold your place in Ruth and go
to Amos chapter 11. It's after Hosea and Daniel. It's before Jonah and Micah. Amos 8. Did I say 11? Amos 8. Amos 8, verse 11. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine
of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. In this land today, there is
a famine of the words of the Lord. And men and women are dying because
of it. They're dying because of it. Our Lord said, man cannot live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God. That's how man lives, by every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Is that not the
absolute truth? Don't we live on and feed on
His word? Don't we live on it and feed
on it? Something comes up and we wind
up having to miss the meeting and the assembly of His saints
together once or twice, and it feels like it's been an eternity
since I've eaten food, spiritual food. David wrote, Oh, taste
and see that the Lord is good. Taste and see. How sweet are
thy words unto my taste. Yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth." The words of the Lord. Turn with me to John chapter
6. John chapter 6 verse 48. Our Lord said, I am that bread
of life. I am that bread. Verse 51, He
said, I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.
If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the
bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world. Look at verse 63. He said, It
is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. The words. Sing them over again to me. Wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see. Wonderful words of life. Revelation
1.3 says, Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the
words of this prophecy. You know that's a blessed person.
A person who can read and hear the words of this prophecy. Look at John 5 verse 24. John 5 verse 24, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. The greatest
blessing that could come to any man or woman the absolute greatest
blessing. The greatest gift that could
be given to any sinner is if God would allow the words of
the Lord to be heard in a sinner's ear. If God would allow the true
bread of heaven to enter the ear and pierce the heart and
then feed the soul. the greatest gift that could
ever be given. The sad truth is, here's the
sad truth, there's a famine in the land. Alright, now let's
go back over to Ruth, Ruth chapter 1. This message is going to hang
on every word in this text, okay? Verse 1 says, 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. This certain man was of, and
that means he was from, Bethlehem Judah. Do you know what that
name means? There's a dictionary called a
concordance and it has in there all the words in the scripture
and it has the Hebrew words of the Old Testament and the Greek
words in the New Testament and you can look these words up for
yourself and it'll tell you what it means in the original Hebrew. You know what that Bethlehem
Judah, you know what that means? House of bread. That's what it
means. House of bread. There was a great
famine in the land. But a great man, a certain man
who was from the house of bread, verse 1 says, a certain man of
Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab. Moab is a person that is Lot's
son of incest. The product of a vile, evil,
wicked, filthy sin. And that's you and me. There's
nothing good in us. The worst of the worst, the vilest. Not only is there a famine in
the land, a famine in the land of the living, healing, spiritual
words of Christ, but on top of that, we're filled with a loathsome
disease. You know that? We're vile and
filthy, dwelling in a land where everybody there has come from
the same lump of clay, the whole country of Moab. There's some really good news
for Moab. There's some amazing news for Moab. A certain man
From the house of bread, Bethlehem Judah, verse 1 says, went to
sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Now let's see who this man is
and who he went with. He went and his wife went and
his two sons. Now before I go any farther,
This word is so amazingly perfect. We say the half wasn't told,
we know the thousandth, the millionth wasn't told. And one of these
days we're gonna understand, the Lord's gonna reveal the scripture
to us. We'll know the stories, we'll see Christ in it, but we'll
see every detail, every amazing detail of this word. After I
looked up in the concordance, Bethlehem, Judah, and Moab, I
just thought, well, I'll just keep looking up words in the
concordance. We'll just keep looking up the
definitions. And not only is this story perfect,
but our God illustrated the entire gospel in the meaning of these
names. All right. This man, his wife
and his two sons went to Moab. Verse two says, And the name
of the man was Elimelech. Here's what his name means. God
of the king, lowercase K. God of the king. His name means
king of kings. Who is that? That's Jesus Christ. Verse 2 says, And the name of
the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. Her name means pleasant, but it also means agreeableness. It means delight. It means suitableness,
splendor, and grace. That's what it means. Her name
means grace. Verse 2, And the name of the
man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the name
of his two sons, Mahlon. His name means to bear sickness,
to be afflicted, made to grieve. Can we go to Isaiah 53? Turn
with me to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 verse 3 says, He is
despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. Verse 4 says, Surely he hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Verse 5 says, But
he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Verse 7 says, He was oppressed
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He opened
not his mouth. Back over in Ruth, verse 2 says,
The name of the man was Elimelech, king of kings. And the name of his wife, Naomi,
agreeableness, suitableness, splendor, grace. And the name
of his two sons, Milan, made sick, made afflicted, made to
grieve. And Caelion, that's the other
son, his name means pinning destruction to consume, to end, to cease,
to perish, to complete, to accomplish. Verse 2 says, The name of the
man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the name
of his two sons, Mahlon and Kylion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah."
Ephrathites, that's another name for Bethlehem Judah. And it means
fruitfulness. The fruit of, to bear fruit.
It's his works. That's what it is. His fruit. Verse 2. Ephrathites of Bethlehem,
Judah, and they came into the country of Moab and continued
there. The king of kings, who was from
the house of bread, went to sojourn in the land of wicked, vile sin. He went there with his agreeableness. He was willing. He went there with His suitableness,
He was able. He went there with His grace,
He was good. For one purpose only, to bear
sickness, to be afflicted, to grieve. Verse 3 says, And Elimelech,
Naomi's husband, died. He died. He came here to cease. To perish. He came here to put
an end to sickness. And He was consumed. Destruction
was pinned on Him. He came here to fulfill. He came
here to complete. And He accomplished everything
He came here for. Every single thing. Salvation
accomplished. Complete in Him. Verse 3 says,
And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. And she was left and her
two sons. The three of them. The King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ, died. And when He died, He left behind
Him, for this vile and wicked land of sin, for you and me,
He left behind Him His grace. That's Naomi. He left us His
grace and He left us His accomplished works. The fruit of His labors. Verse 4 says, "...and they took
them wives." His affliction, that's what Milan means, and
his destruction, death, that's what Cylon means. His accomplishment
took a wife. His accomplishment earned a wife. Verse 4 says, And they took them
wives of the women of Moab from the land of sin. And this is
where you and I come into the story. We have not been in the
story of this family yet. We're from Moab, yeah, but he
went there with his wife and his two sons. That ain't me.
Now this is where we come into the story. Every bit of that
was accomplished before we ever came into the picture. And after all that was finished,
the work that he accomplished, secured a wife. And verse 4 says,
And they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the
one was Orpah. Her name means stiff-necked,
made to bow. That's me. Thanks be to God,
that is me. It means humbled. It means broken. Verse 4 says, They took them
wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah,
and the name of the other Ruth. Her name means friend. Friend. A stiff-necked people. made to be a friend of the king.
Is that not amazing? How? Through his accomplishment,
through his affliction, through his death. Verse 4 says, And
they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one
was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled
there about ten years. Ten means different things in
different places in the scripture. This one means made rich. Made rich. In this union they
were made rich. Because of his works they were
made rich. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. Verse 5 says, And Mahlon and
Kylion died. Also both of them. And the woman
was left of her two sons and her husband. By herself. You know what that means? Grace
alone. Grace alone! Affliction's gone. Death is gone. Grace alone. It means where sin
did abound, grace did much more abound. Is that not wonderful?
Our Lord said, I'm going to be their God. They're going to be
my people. I'm going to wipe away all tears from their eyes.
No more sin, no more death, no more sorrow, no more sighing.
Every bit of it's gone. What's left? My grace. My grace
is sufficient. It's sufficient. That's got to
be the greatest story. There's only one story. That's
the greatest illustration of the story I think I've ever seen.
The Lord's Word is amazing. Let's stand together.