If you would, please turn with
me to Ruth 1, Ruth 1. And I'm going to read verses
16 and 17 for now, but I am going to be on the whole chapter basically.
Ruth 1, 16 and 17. Entreat me not to leave thee,
or to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest,
I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall
be my people, and that thy God my God. Where thou diest will
I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more
also, if ought but death, part thee and me. We read here the account of the
family of Elimelech. When a famine came to the land,
that is, Bethlehem, Judah, but when this famine came to the
land, he took his family to sojourn, it says, in another country,
the country of Moab. If you remember, I mentioned
the Moabites in one of my messages. These are those people who descended
from Lot and his daughter, who she had a child from what happened.
They went to this place Moab, that is Elimelech and his family,
because of the famine. In the process of doing this,
or after doing this at some point, the husband dies. Elimelech dies. So it was his wife Naomi and
the two sons left by themselves. These two sons took wives of
the Moabite people. One was Orpah and the other Ruth. After 10 years, both sons died
as well. So then only Naomi, Orpah, and
Ruth were left. Of course, in those days, that
basically leaves the woman with nothing because the husband was
the only one considered in most cases at that time. Naomi hears
of bread being given by the Lord in her own country, so she wants
to return. All the women traveled so far
until a certain point. Then Naomi tells both daughters-in-law
to return to their mother's house. They both said they would return
to Judah with her to her country and to her people. So she then
tells them there's no prospect of them getting another husband
from her because she's too old. And even if she could, they would
have to wait too long. After hearing this, Orpah kissed
her goodbye and returned to her family. But Ruth held on to Naomi
and would not let her go. So Naomi saw she was determined
to stay with her so she could quit asking her to go back. So they went on to Bethlehem,
that is, Naomi and Ruth. And when they got there, the
people there remembered Naomi and were saying, is this not
Naomi? She then tells them to call her
Mara because God had dealt bitterly with her. When they arrived,
it was the beginning of barley harvest. Now I just wanted to
give you the overview of that whole chapter because I'm not
really gonna go through it again, but I wanted to give you that. But now I want to talk about
some gleanings we can get from this chapter. the truth of God
we get from this account and gleanings of the gospel we get
from this account. This was a real account. These
people really existed and these things happened to them as it
says in the book of Ruth. But there are gospel gleanings
we can get from this book that all of God's people have experience
with. These things that happened in
this book resulted or were a part of that lineage of our Lord.
Our Lord would come through this bloodline, that is, Ruth and
Boaz. And I will endeavor to bring
four messages from the book of Ruth, one for each chapter. So
I will have four points, if you will, with each message. The
first is, thy God, my God. The next, near of kin. The next,
the man will not be in rest. The next, the restorer of life. So for today, let's look at thy
God, my God. We can see, as Walter pointed
out not so long ago, and he did it ably, we can see the truth
in this passage about man. That is the truth of God. We
can see the truth in this passage as to who God is. And we can
see the gospel in this passage, which is God's truth. I will
not be able to pull everything out of this passage. I'm sure
I will go back and see things I missed that I could have expounded
on more. But I'm gonna endeavor to try
to show you these things out of this. So for this message,
I have four points that I want to look at from this book, from
this chapter. Judgment, death, hearing, and obeying. So judgment. We read in the first verse that
there was a certain man of Bethlehem Judah. Now the word Bethlehem
Judah is two words combined and they mean together praise in
the house of bread. But we read that there was a
famine in the land. Man in the garden, that was Adam,
had communion with God. And I want to distinguish this
from what we have in Christ with God because there is a difference.
Adam had communion with God, but he was joined to his wife
Eve and had communion with God. Adam disobeyed God, and I'll
have some more on that a little bit later, but Adam disobeyed
God outright on purpose because he wanted to. Genesis 3.6 says,
and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. Eve was deceived,
Adam was not. In doing this, he plunged mankind
into darkness, and there was no more communion with God. This
is a famine, a famine of judgment brought on by God. Because God
said he would do this if Adam disobeyed his command. Adam disobeyed
his command. Man has been disobeying God's
command ever since. Mankind is in a famine of the
most serious kind. Their famine is one that has
separated them from God altogether. Romans 5.12 again, we've read
it many times. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. God is light and life, and has
no communion with death. It is his judgment on mankind. He is not going to carry this
out. He has already carried this judgment
out. Man died because of one man's
disobedience. The only things to happen now
is for this to become felt for eternity, you might say. Right
now, God is long-suffering for his people, but even their body,
that is God's people's body, will go back to the dust. So
this famine put mankind into the land of Moab, so to speak.
This word means from father. But when you look at the word
Moabite, this word means from father, what father? Man is in the land of Moab and
does not even know who his father is. Man by nature is a harlot
and a daughter and son of a harlot. They know not from whence they
came. Some may never know from whence they came. I know all
men will one day bow down to Jesus Christ as Lord, but I'm
not sure if they will even know then what they really are. It
is a scary thought. But there does come a time for
some that God brings them into famine in this life. They can
find no satisfaction. These are just sojourning through
the land. They are not of this world. However,
they joined to and look like every other Moabite in the land.
Ephesians 2.3 says, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. In this judgment, God our maker
died to us. Elimelech means, my God is king. So this kind of communion died
immediately. All we were left with was Malon
and Chilion. That is sick and failing, that
is the meaning of their names. So from the top of our head to
the sole of our feet, we are sick. Malon and Chilion were
not in very good health, and I imagine it was from their own
doing that this was so. But for those whom God has chosen
from before the foundation of the world, there comes a time
when there is not satisfaction in the land of Moab. Have you
been there? You try to do the right thing,
but every time you do, you make things worse than they were before.
You try to believe God, but when you do, all you can do is forget
God and get involved with everything else coming and going. The sky
is as brass, it seems, so that God does not hear you at all.
It is famine of spirit. That time when God brings his
people to that place where they have a broken heart and a contrite
spirit, there is no satisfaction without favor from God. You try
to do right, but when you do, your sin comes up before you,
condemning you before God. There comes that time when there
is nothing but death that surrounds you. So death. When death is total and complete,
leaving us all alone with no one to plead our cause for us,
we are naked and ashamed, but there is no one to plead our
cause. Again, there was a time, as we
read in Genesis, Genesis 2.25, and they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed. This death brings us
to shame before Him, knowing that which we work with the works
of our hands will only condemn us. We read here in verse five
that all who were left were women. Malon and Chileon died. Now you
can say what you want to for today's time or era, that is,
but back then the man was the one who stood up for his family.
The woman could not own anything. These women were all left without
anyone to stand up for them. They had no daysman. They had
no next of kin to provide for them what they needed to live.
They had nowhere to live because all the men had died. The final
end of this fall for that one who God is dealing with is death. We, as we are born into this
world, are the children of wrath, even as others, and being joined
to this world and the things of the world, God ultimately
brings us to a place of death. There is nothing else we can
see around us but death. Everyone and everything that
could take care of us has died. We are left naked before God.
Man as he is born in nature is so tied to this world he has
no hope of being joined to anything worthy of God our creator. God
puts his people just as he did Paul in the place where his holy
law comes up before us and we die. But then we read in verse
6, verse 6, Then she arose, and that is Naomi,
with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country
of Moab. For she had heard in the country
of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving
them bread. Naomi heard of how the Lord visited
his people in giving them bread. This is that time in a believer's
life when they are like the prodigal son in coming to himself. What
does it mean to come to yourself? Coming to know what the Father
does for those he owns. Who he owns, they all have bread
and some to spare. If you would turn with me to
Luke 15. Luke 15 for a minute. Luke 15
verses 12 through 19. Luke 15 verse 12. And the younger
of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods
that follow to me. And he divided unto them his
living. And not many days after, the
younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far
country. And there wasted his substance
with righteous living. And when he had spent all, there
arose a mighty famine in that And he began to be in want. And
he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country. And
he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain
have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat.
And no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself,
he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough
to spare and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father
and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. Naomi hears of how Christ, and
I can say Christ because it says she heard how the Lord, that
is capital O, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, had
visited his people with bread, in verse six. Jesus Christ is
that bread of life. When he visits them, he will
feed them that bread of life, which is himself. But she hears
how the Lord has visited his people with bread and that that
is where she wants to be. A child of God who has been taken
through famine, suffered death, and by that I mean their own
dying before God, knowing themselves to be dead to God, dead to his
law so that they cannot keep his law for life before him.
but they hearing of bread being hungered, desired to be filled
with that bread. What does this kind of hunger
do? It causes that one to get up and get out, to go where the
bread is. That bread is Jesus Christ, but
Jesus Christ says in Matthew 18 20, for where two or three
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. First of all, those gathered
together must be gathered in His name. They must be praising
and honoring that name which is above every name, Jesus Christ
the Lord, who He says He is in His Word. But He says that He
is right there. Jesus Christ is in our midst
because we are declaring the Son of God who has accomplished
salvation for His people. But His Word tells us in John
14, 17, Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. But ye know him,
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Every believer
has the Spirit of God in them, so we have God. But Christ says
where he will be. He will be in the midst of his
people where they are praising him. But this is where that one
desires to go and they not only desire it, they get up and go
by his power. So that brings me to obeying.
It says she arose, that is Naomi. That means she got up to move
out. First of all, these ladies really had no choice at all.
The men who protected them and kept them were all dead. This
caused her to get up From where she was, and that's Naomi, this
was not a dead faith as we read in James. This is a faith given
by God that causes action, or that is obeying. Orpah and Ruth
had never been to Judah. We have a brief look at how those
whom God has revealed himself to, how they implore others to
look to Christ with them, to bow down to him for mercy. I
know it says she told them to go back to their mother's houses,
but we know she wanted them to continue on with her. And in
verse 15, we read, verse 15. And she said, behold, thy sister-in-law's
gone back unto her people and unto her gods. Return thou after
thy sister-in-law. This was Naomi talking about?
Orpah, and she was telling this to Ruth. This is like those we read about
in the parable of the seed and sower, that is Orpah here. The
different grounds, or that is hearts, respond to the gospel
in different ways. The first three do not last,
even though they may make a start at it, but they do not last. only the good ground or that
honest and good heart will produce any fruit with patience. Orpah
kissed her mother-in-law. This is telling Naomi goodbye. She was as one that is spoken
of in scripture, 2 Peter 2.22. But it is happened to them according
to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again
and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in mire. Thank
God there are some who do not do this. Ruth did not do that. She claved to her, it says. Ruth
caught Naomi. She grabbed her and would not
let her go. So will God's people do with
the gospel of his free grace. They will not let it go. Luke
11, 27, 28 we read, and it came to pass as he spake these things,
a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said
unto him, blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps which
thou hast sucked. But he said, yea rather, blessed
are they that hear the word and keep it. There comes that time
when the people of God hear what God does for His people in giving
them bread. This leads the people of God
to act in faith toward Him who is their salvation. This time
you will learn of that battle where your natural man wants
to go back to what it knows. But that new man will cleave
unto that which is pleasant, and there is nothing more pleasant
to the soul touched by the sovereign God than the good news of Jesus
Christ their Lord. The old man will give way, and
the new man will be served. No one can say anything to you
that will discourage you from following Jesus Christ. There
are those who hear the difficulties or they experience the difficulties
that come along with the gospel, and they do not want any of that.
They do not last, so they leave. Some may not leave in anger,
but in some way they leave. There are way too many other
things far more important to them than the gospel of Jesus
Christ the Lord. Only those for whom God has been
gracious to them in giving them life and faith will continue
on in the pleasantness of the gospel, for only they will know
of its pleasantness. For the child of God returning
to your formal idols is not a choice to you. You know what the end
of that would be. You cleave to the gospel of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified, knowing this is where you will find life.
His gospel now quieting all those thoughts and questions of ever
going back to what you once were. Now there's one more thing about
Naomi and Ruth that I see it as it concerns the gospel. I
see the gospel here when you look at the interaction of these
two, keeping in mind the meaning of their names. Naomi means my
delight. This is what we hear in the gospel,
the delight of God, Jesus Christ. The one who hears that gospel
telling us where bread is causes the one moved by God to come
close and near to God's delight so that it is now their delight,
their friend. Ruth means friendship. We are
talking about a real friendship here, one that causes this one
to cleave into it and will not let it go. God so moves on an
individual so that person from that point on, although they
may fall, they will cling or that is cleave to the gospel
of Jesus Christ and him crucified. They will be committed to Jesus
Christ, not perfectly because they still have this old nature
and they must mortify constantly. but they will be so joined to
Jesus Christ that it will cause them to cry out, whether thou
goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people. Thy God, my God. So then they
now return to that place where bread is found. When you go to
that place, you can count on it. When you get there, it will
be a time of harvest. Fallen sinful man has come under
the judgment of God. They have received that which
God has said he would do. He told Adam in the day that
you eat thereof, you shall surely die. We all died in Adam, and
now all that human flesh can do is produce fallen, sinful,
dead flesh. There has to be life come from
somewhere. But we wander as lost sheep in
our sojourn here. that is those for whom Jesus
Christ died, they sojourn. They will do what every other
Moabite does. They will worship idols and align
themselves with idols. This will go on until our great
God causes death to come upon us so that we see that in and
of ourselves, we cannot stand before God. We must have another
that will stand for us to help us and to save us. But then God
sends them that, sends them word that he has saved his people.
He has saved them by providing them bread from heaven. Jesus
Christ coming down, being made of a woman, made under the law,
that he might redeem them that are under the law. This he has
done. He has done it completely so
that the law of God is completely satisfied. Death now through
Jesus Christ no longer has a hold on them. They now find life in
Jesus Christ. It sets them free so that they
can do and will get up and get out. They in fact not only return
to the place where they lost what they had previously, they
are restored something that is much more than just communion
with God. It is much more than that. They
have something they did not have before. They not only have communion
with God, and they do have communion with God, but it is because they
are made one with God in Jesus Christ the Lord. God's people
are unioned together with God in Jesus Christ. Having His righteousness,
they are friends of God by and through Him. They come to that
point where they are glad of what God has done for them. Psalms
119.71 says, it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that
I might learn thy statutes. This causes his people to confess
once again, whether thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest,
I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people.
Thou, God, art my God. Dear Lord God, thank you for
allowing us to be here. We're not worthy to hear these
words, dear Lord. You're so glorious, but we are
thankful that you have allowed some to be fed with the bread
from heaven. All these things we ask in Christ's
name, amen.