I was so good to see everyone.
I was such a joy on a Friday night to be able to meet with the Lord's people,
you know, to gather in His name. And I pray God meets with us. He'd be pleased to speak to our
hearts and enable us to see Him. He's all one can. And man, if
you ever see Him, nothing else matters. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing can compare to Him. We're
turning your Bibles to the little book of Ruth. Lord willing, I want to try to
look at this book over the next three messages. Mainly be trying
to just look in chapter one tonight, and I want to give you a reading
assignment. Sometime between now, maybe tomorrow
evening, try to read chapter two and part of chapter three,
and we'll look at it tomorrow. And then Sunday morning, Lord
willing, we'll look at the latter part of chapter three and the
rest of chapter four. The theme of this book, the primary
theme, is the kinsman-redeemer. And this is such a beautiful
story, just looking at it from the human standpoint, how this
Moabite-rejected girl has come from a nothing and nobody, and
how she meets this mighty man called Boaz, the mighty man of
valor. How she meets him, and how God
in his providence brings them together, and how he redeems
marries her, and through that union comes a man named Obed,
who is the father of Jesse, who is the father of David. That's the primary thing. Now,
there's another thing that runs all through this book, and it's
the mystery of God's providence. What a mystery it is. I mean,
we see one individual act. And we judge, we miss, we judge,
and most times misjudge things before that one act. But all
things are working together for good to them that love God, to
them that are the called according to his purpose. And we see that
all through this book. And it's a mystery. The mystery
of God's providence, and I'll say that we may not understand
it. We may not understand what's going on in your life or even
in this world. But I can tell you this. If you're
his, it's working together for your good and for his glory.
And it's a mystery, a mystery. I don't know some of some things
that we'll ever understand in this life. We may not even in
the other. I don't know. But we see this
and it's this little book set between the book of Judges and
1 Samuel, and God put it here as a picture. I'm glad God used
these pictures. He gave us these pictures so
that we in our humanity, even when we're regenerated, that
He enables us to be able to see, oh boy, I see that. I see Him. I see myself living in Moab.
He remembers that we're just dust. Dust. And sometimes He gives us just
a little glimpse of who He is and what He does. He leadeth
me. Oh, blessed thought. He leadeth
me. Whether you know it or not, He
leadeth me. Leads His people. So let's begin in verse 1. In verses 1 through 5, we see
this famine. It says, 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 sojourn in the
country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. And the name
of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi,
and the name of his two sons, Malion and Chilion, Ephraimites
of Bethlehem, Judah. And they came into the country
of Moab and continued there. In Elimelech, Naomi's husband
died, and she was left in her two sons. And they took them
wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpha,
and the name of the other was Ruth. And they dwelled there
about ten years. And Malian and Chilian died also,
both of them. And the woman was left of her
two sons and her husband. We see here in the very first
verse it says, this came to pass in the times of the judges. If
you go back and read what happened in the times of the judges, to
me that's a kind of, there's a lot of sadness there. The children
of Israel, they came in and dwelt in the land of Canaan, and they'd
begin to worship God, and the first thing you know, they'd
begin to rebel against God and disobey God, and God would allow
all these enemies to come in against them. Well, then they
would cry out to God, and God would raise up a judge, whether
it was Gideon or Samson or some other judge, and He would deliver
them. Then they'd go right back into the same way. And it said
in the time of the judges that there was no king in the land.
And everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. That's when this happens. And
it says there was a famine in the land. And the only famine
that I can find in the book of Judges, I think it's in Judges
chapter 6, where it talks about The children of Israel had sinned,
and God allowed these Midianites to come. The Midianites, and
I think it was the Amalekites and then some other countries,
they came against Israel, and they took everything they had.
And then they brought what they had and put it in its place.
So that's when this is happening. And you know what happened in
the time of that famine? That's when God raised up Gideon. You
remember when the Lord came to Gideon? He was down by the winepress
hiding some wheat because he was afraid the Midianites would
come and steal it. So during this famine, this is
when this happens. This famine comes, and you know
what happens? This man who lives in Bethlehem,
where is the house of bread, he takes his whole family to
Moab. What does this famine represent?
In Amos 8, verse 11, it says, Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of
bread, nor of a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. And they shall wander from sea
to sea, and from the north even to the east, and they shall run
to and fro, and seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find
it." Now, that's a famine. We're in a famine today. You
are blessed that God would send you a preacher. Blessed. In any little group, wherever
they may be, they're blessed God sent them a preacher. That
little community is blessed. Blessed. But you just look. You try to find a church where
the gospel is preached. That's the famine. And why is
there a famine? He says, God said, I will send
the famine. It's on purpose. It's on purpose. God still sends famine as a sign
of his judgment. God still judges men and nations
for refusing to obey Him. That's why God allowed these
Midianites to come. Can you imagine living in Bethlehem,
living in Judah, and these enemies coming against you and taking
everything you've got? That's this famine. The things
that happen upon this earth, earthquakes, tornadoes, famines,
These are not acts of nature. I get so tired of hearing people
say, oh, mother nature. These are not acts of nature.
They're acts of God. They're acts of God. Sandy's mama called
her last night. And she said she heard on the
news that it was about over in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake Bay.
Some of y'all may have heard it. That tornado come through
a campground, 1,300 people in that campground. They had 30
seconds notice. One man was sitting in a car
and it drove a limb plumbed through the car into that man. Those
are not acts of nature. They're acts of God. Acts of God. God rules. God rules this earth. All things. Even allowing this famine to
come in the days of the judges. And let me tell you this, when
things like this happen, the righteous suffer with the wicked.
You remember in the days of Elijah, there was a famine. It didn't
rain for three years, and it says they saw Elijah and couldn't
find him. And God sent him up by brook. And while he was at
the brook, God fed him and God took care of him, but eventually
the brook dried up. But here came this famine in
the time of the judges. And you know what Elimelech did?
He took all that he had, his wife, his family, his two sons,
and he packed up everything. And instead of staying in Bethlehem,
Judah, he goes to Moab. He said, I believe it would be
a little better down there. I believe I can see him sitting
down talking to Naomi. He said, you know, I really don't
want to leave, but I think it would be best for me and the
family if we go to Moab. And you know what Moab is. Moab
is a picture of the world under the curse and judgment of God. And this is for this man. Packs
his family up, and he goes. He says, I can probably keep
my wealth. I believe he was a wealthy man when he left. And he took
it, and here they go. And it says that they went to
sojourn. He planned on just staying for
a little while. We're going to find out he stayed
longer than that, but that wasn't his intention. Elimelech's name
means, my God is king. Do you think whoever his parents
were, somebody must have knew God? To name this child when
he's born, my God is king. I wish he'd have lived up to
his name. He says, well, I'll go to Moab.
You know, we'll just stay for a little while. Don't you see
this? He took his whole family. Naomi's
name means sweet or pleasant. Malian's name means sickly. Chilean's
name means consumption. These boys were probably sickly,
and their names attest to the fact that everything that we
look to and cherish in this world is weak, corrupt, fading, and
it's dying. That's everything. Everything. Everything you see. If you had
a stamp, you could take it and stamp it and say it's marked
for the burning. Everything. Everything. He decided to leave the house
of bread It probably looked like a promising
place to him. I kind of, as I thought about
this, thought about Lot. Remember, Lot looked out on the
well-watered plains. To the human eye, it says, man,
that's the place we ought to move to. Why didn't he just stay? He says, we're going to leave.
We're going to move. And that's what they did. That's what they
did. Here in Moab, they're strangers
to God. They didn't worship God, didn't
believe God. In the limelight here, he shows
a lack of trust in God. The song says, trust and obey,
for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and
obey. He was not content to live in
Bethlehem. He wanted to live in luxury,
even if it meant living in Moab. Now, man, that's sad. It'd be
better to live in Bethlehem with nothing than to have everything
physically and live in Moab. And when his family came, he left.
He left. If everybody else had done what
he'd done, soon there'd been nobody in Canaan. They'd all
been gone. And we're going to find out. I don't see that anybody
else perished by staying in Bethlehem. God took care of them. And you
know what David said, I've never seen the righteous forsaken.
I've never seen them begging bread. The famine came and they
don't know that God's over here and He's raising up a man named
Gideon. Do you remember that story of Gideon's off? Such a
beautiful story. How God used him. He had all
these men and God said, you've got too many Gideon. And He said,
you've got too many Gideon. And He got him down to 300 men.
And how can this man beat all this great army? If God before me, who can be
against me? And God delivered them. But they're living down
in Moab. He did not consider when he left
what it would cost him or his family. And God help us not to
make the same mistake. We're all flesh. We say, well,
this looks promising. This looks good. And a man would
take his family from where the worship of God's at, the people
of God, and go to a place where there's no worship. Look what it cost him, it said
in verse three. In a limo that Naomi's husband
died. He never planned when he went
to Moab that he'd ever die in Moab. And we don't understand
how he died. We don't know. God didn't seem
fit to tell us, but he died. And she was left alone. They only went to sojourn. Now,
I want you to see this. In verse two, it says they went
to sojourn. And in the latter part of verse two, it says they
continued. And then it said, in verse four, it said they dwelt
there ten years. Naomi's now a widow. And who
are two girls, her two sons, marry these two girls from Moab? You thought, I mean, we're looking
at it, we'd have thought, well, her husband died. Well, let's
pack up and go back to Bethlehem. No, they didn't. Them two boys
married two girls from Moab and they were strictly forbidden
in God's law to marry these girls. You know where they learned this
from? You know where they learned rebellion from? From their daddy. Your children want you. They
do. Would you like it or not? You
know, my dad's been dead about four years now, and I still remember
things he did. And some of the things that I
despise the worst in my daddy is some of the things I actually
see in my own life. And I hate it. But they learned
rebellion from you. And these boys learned it from
their daddy. And then it says, Them two boys
died. I don't know how they died, but
they died. So Limelech, the husband, dies,
and now her two sons die. And can you imagine what Naomi
thinks? My husband's gone. A means of
protection, someone providing for me, is gone. And now my two
sons are both gone. And the only one left is these
two daughters and these two moorbike girls. This is to teach us that we are
to find our comfort in God alone, not in things. Like I said, the
mystery of providence, this is no accident that these things
happened. I know God, and we're going to see that God gives faith
in the hearing of his gospel. But God, I believe, still works
through circumstances. I've seen people that wouldn't
even think about God until they get sick. You know, it's bad
that we have to get plumb sick almost on our deathbed before
we begin to think about God. Elimelech disobeyed God, and
his whole family suffered for it. Adam disobeyed God in the
garden, and his whole family suffers for it. We're still a
bunch of rebels. If God had left them alone, they'd
have died right there in Moab. I believe God had done something
for Naomi. We're going to find that out in a minute. I believe
God had done a work of grace in her heart. And you just imagine,
if you can picture Naomi. She believes God. She's following
her husband. And she goes to this God-forsaken
place where there's no worship of God, much idolatry, and all
this going on and living there. And her husband dies on her two
sides. We can't even imagine the heartbreak. And I'll tell
you this, where grace did abound, sin did much more abound. I love
verse 6. You picture this. She's here.
Her husband's gone. Her two sons are dead. And all
it is is her and these two daughter-in-law, two more white girls. Then she
arose with her daughter-in-law, with the daughter's-in-law, that
she might return to the country of Moab. She's going to return. I don't see any before this point
that she had any desire to return. They made no inclination to go
back. You know when she did? You know
when she decided to go back? When she heard in the country
of Moab how the Lord had visited His people and given them bread. You know what she heard? She
heard the gospel. How did she hear it? I don't
know. It says in the book of Proverbs, As cold water to a
thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. I believe
she probably was trying to keep up with what was going on. And
somebody said, no, you ain't going to believe this. God has
visited his people and given him bread. And she looks at them
two girls and she said, girls, I'm going home. I'm leaving this place. God'll
make you willing to leave Moab. He'll make you sick of it. You
know, unless God makes you willing, you'll see it and die right where
you're at. David said, Is the heart pants
after the water broke? My soul pants after thee. She
says, I've got to have something to eat. I can't stay here. I won't stay here. Faith comes
by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. You know, when you'll
leave Moab, it's when God gives you ears to hear that God has
visited His people and giving them bread. It's the children's
bread. Why did He even give them bread?
God's a covenant-keeping God. They're His people. and it will
not leave them alone. She heard. She lost everything
here in Moab. Naomi was a believer, even in
the midst of this land of idolatry. And when she hears, she leaves,
and God made her want to leave. But as she leaves, both daughter-in-laws
leave with her. I don't see that the girls tried
to persuade her to stay. They leave. Why did they want
to leave with her? I can see Naomi, if she was a
believer, telling these two girls about her God. Boy, I wish I
could go back home, girl. You don't know what it's like.
Oh, God, he's merciful. He's gracious. And, you know,
I just heard news. He's he's visited his people
and given them bread. I'm going back home. And I'm
going to say, well, we'll go with you. There was something in that woman.
They saw something. You know what it says about Joseph
and Joseph was in Potter's house, it says Potter saw that the Lord
was with Joseph. Now, I'm not talking about that
religious stupidity where people say, well, I want people to see
Jesus in me. I'm not talking about that stuff.
I'm talking, she saw something. She saw something of the grace
of God. They saw something of the mercy
of God to make them want to leave. They saw something. And she told
them, they heard the gospel too. And until you hear the gospel,
you cannot believe. I need to repeat that. Until
you hear the gospel, the gospel, you can't believe. How can a
man believe in a God he's never heard of? He can't. But if God
ever allows you to hear and he gives you faith and gives you
ears to hear, you'll believe. You'll believe. She arose with her daughters-in-law,
that she might return from the country of Moab. She had heard
in the country of Moab how the Lord had visited his people and
given them bread. Wherefore, she went forth out
of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-laws with
her, and they went out of the way, on the way, to return to
the land of Judah." Now watch this, verse 8. "...And Naomi
said unto her two daughters-in-laws, Go, return each to her mother's
house. You girls go back. The Lord deal
tally with you as he had dealt with the dead and with me. The
Lord grants you that you may find rest each of you in the
house of her husband. Then she kissed him and they
lifted up their voices and went and they said to her, surely
we will return with thee unto thy people. She prays for them. She prays that they might find
rest, but she just tries to turn them back. She said, girls, you
just go back. You go back. Then it says in
verse 11, and Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters, why will
you go with me? Verse 11, and Naomi said, Turn
again, my daughters, why will you go with me? Are there yet
any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn
again, my daughters, Go your way, for I am too old to have
a husband. If I should say I have hope,
if I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear
sons, would you tarry for them till they were grown? Would you
stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters, for it grieveth
me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out
against me." And she asked this question. She looked at these
two girls. Now, they're going with her.
Why would you go with me? Why would you go with me? What did they have in common
with Naomi? Well, them girls married her sons. They're all
three widows. The only connection they had
is because they was married to her sons and she said, If God
seemed fit to give me a husband and I, and then God allowed me
to conceive and have two more sons, would you stay barren? Would you stay with us so them
boys were grown and marry them boys? Would you? That's what she's saying. Turn
again, my daughters. Why did Naomi yet seem to try
to discourage them from following her? It seems like she don't
want them to follow her. All along, I believe she wanted
them girls to come to a saving knowledge of who her God was
and who her kinsmen redeemed. I believe she did. But listen,
but in her zeal, now listen, for their salvation, she judged
it prudent and set before them the difficulties in the way,
and hereafter that they had not turned back. You know what she's
doing? She wanted them to count the cost. She said, here girls, This is
what it's called. Are you willing to stay a widow,
if God means that way, the rest of your life? Are you willing
to follow me if that's what it costs you? People today don't want people
to count the calls. They try to hide it. It says here, it said that those
women wept. It said they cried. They had
an emotional attachment to this woman. But it has to go more
than that. And she knew it. She just didn't
want them to follow them just because of her. And it has to
be more than that. And both of these girls followed
them for a while. I told a young man, it's not
being A year or so ago, he he seemed like he began to see some
some glimpse of the gospel. He began to see some things and
to embrace them. And, you know, I was encouraged
about it. And I said, now, listen, his whole family, especially
his in-laws, who have money, religious, you know, that pulls
the strings. And I said, you need to understand
what it's going to cost you. He came to hear, I think it was
Barber and Pruitt one time at the church, and I said, if you
bow to this Christ, here's what it's going to cost you. It's
going to cost you everything. Your whole family will turn on
you. They'll cast you out. They won't
have anything to do with you, and they just about have. He's
not left, and I pray that God still has mercy on him. But this
is what it's going to cost him. People want religion. It doesn't
cost them anything. Isn't that right? That's what
they want. They want religion. It doesn't
cost them anything. And they only said, here's what it's going
to cost. Are you willing to count the cost? She's saying it will cost you
everything. You'll have to leave Moab. Leave
it and leave for good and leave your family and follow me. Our Lord said in Luke 14 verse
25, And there were great multitudes with him, great multitudes with
him. And he turned and he said unto
them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and
his mother, and his wife, and his children, and his brethren,
and his sisters, Yea, in his own life also he cannot be my
disciple. For whosoever does not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. That's what it
will cost you. That's what it will cost you. You know what? Most slow
winners would say, oh, you need to strike while the iron's hot.
Let's get on. Oh, they're weeping. They're
crying. I've just convinced them everything's
okay. Now, why would you follow me? In verse 14, look at this. Don't
you picture this. Both these two girls, both of
these Moabite girls, had heard that God had visited His people
and given them bread, and both leave Moab for a while. And they lifted up their voices
and wept again. And Orpha kissed her mother-in-law,
but Ruth claimed her. And when it says she kissed her
mother-in-law, you know what she did? She kissed her goodbye.
And she left and went back. I was reading that again to John. I actually heard a message you
preached on about those people followed our Lord and said when
He said that, they said this is a hard saying. And many left
Him and didn't follow Him anymore. They go back, she went back to
Moab, she went back to Moab's God, and she left the living
and the true God. But you know what it said about
Ruth? She claved unto Naomi. Would you like to describe to
me what makes the difference in them two girls? It's called grace. Heard someone say one time, they
said, what made the difference between the two on the cross?
This man reviled him, they both did it one time, but this man
died in his sins and this man God opened his eyes and revealed
himself to him and he said, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
What made the difference between those two men? The man in the
middle. These two girls, Moabite girls, and one says, I believe
I'll just go back. It ain't worth the cost. And Ruth said, it said she clave
to Naomi. You know what that word's used
again? For a man shall he leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife, and they'll be one flesh. Naomi,
Ruth, clave unto Naomi. God done something to that girl's
heart. Why don't you leave and go back? It's grace. Do you see the mystery
of providence here? This is an old Moabite girl.
And she claimed, let me read on. She said, now look at verse
15. Let me go back to verse 14 again. And they lifted up their voices
and they wept again. And I'll tell you, Ophelia, she
loved Naomi. But I'll tell you this. Ruth
saw something that Orpha couldn't see. Neither one of them girls had
ever seen Bethlehem. I believe Naomi told them about
a kinsman redeemed. I believe she told them. That's
their only hope, is that somebody purchased back everything that
they've lost. They've never seen him, don't
know anything, just what Naomi's told him, and she saw with the
eyes of faith. Can you explain faith? Having
not seen you love. Salvation is a heart work is
when a when a God does a work at a man's heart and soul and
he changes them and he makes them willing. You willingly leave
my lab. You turn your back on everything. Sink or swim, I got to go to
him. The kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent take
it by force. There is nothing back there,
and only God can make you see that. Only God can do that. Don't you wish you could make
people see? But they can't see. But if you ever see, you do see. And the only way you can explain
that is to somebody else who does see. Look at verse fifteen, she still
tries to discourage him. And she said, Ruth, behold thy
sister-in-law, she's gone back unto her people and unto her
gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. To me, this is one of the greatest
statements in the scriptures. And here's what Ruth said, entreat
me not to leave or to return from following after thee. But
where thou goest, I'll go. And where thou lodgest, I'll
lodge. Thy people, that I've never met, will be my people. And thy God, He's not just going
to be your God. He's going to be my God. And that's something she's never
sawing, but she's heard. And she saw grace in that other
woman's heart. She said, don't entreat me to
leave. Please don't make me go back. She said, well, look, I
can see them looking back down the road. I can see them seeing
Orpah just walking down the road. She says, Ruth, why don't you
go with her? Why don't you go with her? And
I ask you, why don't you go with them? She said, I can't. And that's, I can't. And she couldn't. And she wouldn't. And she didn't. That's grace. Oh, it's grace. To make someone
turn their back on everything. I love my father and I love my
mother. I have sisters I love. I can tell you, God gave me another
family. Then he said, no man hath let
in this life, I said, father and mother and children, and
this life also shall be multiplied unto him. This is my brother. Older than me, they're my mothers,
they're my fathers, this is my children. Verse 17, for thou diest, will
I die? There will I be buried, the Lord
do so to me, and more also, if ought but death. part thee and
me. And when she saw that she was
steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto
her. Orpah was stiff-necked, would
not bow. But it says Ruth was steadfastly
minded. Minded. She's not going 1 Corinthians
15, 8, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you
know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So we see the
famine. We see the, they hear the good
news. Now we see they're coming home.
Can you imagine on the road back from Moab? It's a long way back
from Moab to Bethlehem. I can see them if they camped
out or whatever they did. I don't think they had a whole
lot coming back with. I can see Ruth said, Would you
tell me one more time about him? Would you tell me about your
people? Would you tell me what they're like? Would you tell
me what it is to worship God? Would you tell me about him? Verse 18, I mean, verse 19. So
they went until they came to Bethlehem. It came to pass when
they came to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them,
and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call
me not Naomi, call me Myra. For the Almighty hath dealt very
bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord
hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi? Seeing
the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted
me. So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law
with her, which returned out of the country of Moab and they
came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. It says the whole town was moved
to these women. Why did their arrival stir such
emotion and such interest? What could these two women do
for anybody? No one would profit from their arrival. Can you hear
their questions? Naomi, where have you been? Where's
your husband? Where's your sons? And is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? Can you imagine
what she looked like when she left? She might have been a very
beautiful, attractive woman, had very fine clothes. And here
she comes back, withered, worn probably in rag. She's a widow.
She's a widow. He said, is this, can this really
be her? Several months ago I was, Sandy
had to have some tests run at the hospital and I was sitting
there waiting in the waiting room and I seen this girl come
through in a wheelchair. And I thought, it seemed like
I recognized that girl. I'd worked with that girl probably
25 years ago, and when I knew her, she was probably in her
mid-twenties, very attractive young lady. This girl looked
like she was in her seventies, probably not 50 years old. I
mean, it was sad. And I'd heard she'd been with
a man who was a drunk, and she'd just had a hard life. What I'm
getting at, what I'm getting at, sin has a way of wearing
on you. And they said, is this the same
woman that left? Is this her? And you know what she said? She
said, call me not Naomi, which means pleasant or sweetness. She said, call me not Naomi,
call me Myra. And I tell you this, many people,
when they are brought low, still like to be called by pleasant
names. But she said, don't call me Naomi. Call me Myra. Bitterness. She recognized God's hand in
everything that happened. She said, the Almighty hath afflicted
me. She said, God hath dealt very
bitterly with me. I can imagine that she's somewhat
ashamed. She's glad to be home, but these
people knew her. And now they see her. She's a
broken, poor woman. Someone quoted Brother Scott
Richardson one time as saying, life in this world ain't much.
It begins with a slap on the bottom and it ends with a shovel
of dirt in the face. And there ain't much in between
except bumps and bruises. And that's about right. She'd
been gone for 10 years. And they said, can this be her?
She said, I went out full. And the Lord hath brought me
home again empty. Before God does something for
a sinner, you know what He does? He empties them. He kills and
He makes life. She said, He's brought me what? He's brought me home again empty.
This reminds me of the prodigal son who went out with everything. Went out, oh, I've got all the
money. I'm just going to just enjoy it all. And he comes back
home. You know, when he came back home
and he got sick of the hog pen. Everything happened and everything
changed. Her husband's dead. Her two sons
are dead. Everything's gone. Let me tell you this. In the
garden before the fall, Adam was full. He had a righteousness. He was brilliant. God just brought
the animals to Adam and said, Adam, you name them. And he named
them. That was Adam. He had peace with
God, communion with God. Look at him now. Look in the mirror. Is that Adam? We have nothing. We're poor. We're bankrupt. We go out full
and we come back empty. Can this be Adam? Can this really
be the same man that fell in the garden? Look how he's changed. We are spiritually empty. We're
not wise, but fools. We're no longer strong, but weak. Can this be Him? If God had never brought Naomi
home, she would have never come home. But God brought her home. I like to say, like David did
about Mephibosheth, God fetched her. As we sung that song, God leaves
us alone. God never left her alone. Never. Never. God brought her. And I tell you,
all that are His, He will bring every one of them. He said, He
brought me home. Can you imagine what she feels
to be home? I may be ashamed, but I'm home.
I may be empty, but I'm at home. Dennis, I'm not Moab. Robert Hawker said, It is the
highest evidence of grace when the soul is led to see the hand
of God in our afflictions. Let me read that again. It is
the highest evidence of grace when the soul is led to see the
hand of God in our afflictions. And oh, how very precious it
is when we can say, I went out full in creature comforts, creature
confidences, creature dependencies, but my God has stripped me from
them all. Call me no longer pleasant, but
let my name be bitterness. How delightful are those works
of God's Holy Spirit when He empties a man of everything. And can I tell you a little secret?
If you're His, He continually empties you of everything in
this world. And you know, when you really
come to Him when you're empty, you come as a beggar. I like
that story of Elisha. The woman, there was a debt,
and she had no way of paying the debt, and Elijah told her
to go get some vessels. Go get as many vessels as you
can find, but make sure they're all empty. And she took them
in the house, just her and her God and her sons, and they began
to pour oil. And you know when the oil ceased?
When every vessel was full. But the vessels had to be empty. God empties us, and I'm glad
He does. Here's what David said, It is
good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn
thy statutes. I know, O God, that thy judgments
are right, and that thou in faithfulness, thou in faithfulness, has afflicted
me. Naomi said, The Lord has brought
me home. And he did. And this is how he brings you
home. Empty. But you know, when they came
home, look at the last part of verse 22. They came to Bethlehem, the house
of bread, in the beginning of barley harvest. You know what
that's a picture of? That's a picture of the firstfruits.
That's a picture of the resurrection. What's the odds? Right at the
beginning of barley harvest. Right when an old beggar can
go to a field and try to glean and find a few ears of corn.
Just as luck would have it. Luck has nothing to do with it. Oh, isn't that good? I pray that God would bring you
home and that God would enable us to learn lessons from this
right here. Better to dwell in Bethlehem,
Judah in a famine than take our whole family to Moab. Don't ever
take your family from where the gospel is at. Don't ever take
it from the worship of God, the people of God. Don't ever do
it for no reason. He's on the throne. All things. And we're going to see, even
that famine, if there had never been a famine, Ruth would have
never come to Bethlehem. God told Adam, said, in the day
that you partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,
you shall surely die. in the day that you do. It ain't that
it might happen. You're going to do it. And why did it happen? For God to display His grace
and His mercy. Amen.