Text: Ruth 1:1-5, Title: Running From or Into Trouble? Date/Place: LSCC, 4/22/06, AM
A. Opening illustration: a story about pain being the indicator of something—leprosy, pig, crow, acorn, tree
B. Background to passage: Ruth is the only book in the OT named after someone who is not an Israelite. It is a short story that lays some marvelous foundations for the coming Messiah, and gives some hope during a time that was arguably one of the worst in Israel’s history. It is set during the time of the book of Judges, which spans about 400-year period of time before Israel had a king. It was characterized by the statement about people doing what was right in their own eyes. The book finished up with a story that symbolized the depth of depravity that Israel had succumbed to including idolatry, rape, murder, dismemberment, and genocide. Our story begins with a time of famine in the land. We have a hard time understanding the fact that death waited around every harvest for many people each year, but that was the reality.
C. Main thought: If you run from the pain in life, you may short-circuit your joy. Our text shows four consequences of designing our own deliverance from God’s pressure in our lives.
II. BODY
A. You may miss God’s best (v. 1)
1. Elimelech, as the leader and provider for the family, had a decision to make when famine came in Bethlehem. Ironic that the translation for Bethlehem is the “house of bread.” He chose to go to Moab. Let’s examine that decision. Tell about Moab’s past history with Israel, and their banishment from the religious life of Israel, and the worship of their God, Chemosh. Elimelech left the land that God had given him, and where God had promised to provide for him, to go to the land of the idol-worshipping enemies of God. He probably did not intend to stay long. Explain the instruction about the disobedience of Israel and the curse of God on them with famine. Pain in our lives can be an indication of where God is working.
2. Lev 26:19-20, 23, Jonah 1:3,
3. Illustration: think about the testimony of the widow that God miraculously provided for in 1 Kings 17, then witnessed her son being raised from the dead, divorce: 85% of couple surveyed five years after deciding for divorce, but not doing it, say that they are happier in their marriage than ever, 60% of divorcees with children wish they had not divorced, have you ever noticed that the deepest Christians are the ones that have gone through much pain?
4. It’s kind of ironic that God uses pain to bring about our greatest joy. But His glory shines through the darkest situations greater than if everything is going well. We don’t know what would have happened, if Elimelech had stayed in Israel. But the point is that God was calling for repentance through pain, and he just went another way. How foolish to think that one could run from God’s presence. If you run, God’s spirit will follow. Conviction, guilt, chastisement will be upon you until you repent and follow after Christ. Elimelech didn’t act in faith, but in sight. Therefore it cost him and his family blessings, and eventually his life. I am not saying that if you run from pain, God will kill you. If we face up to our problems, and deal with them biblically, we can be assured that we will fare far better than if we design our own escape route. What kind of problems and pain are you experiencing? Are you dealing with them biblically? What character trait or discipleship goal is God accomplishing in your life through it?
B. You may cause further sin (v. 4)
1. One of the results of Elimelech’s sin in going to Moab was that he set a powerful negative teaching example for his wife and children. They did some things to follow his lead. First, they stayed in Moab. They didn’t stay foreigners; they became residents. Next they wanted to marry Moabite women. Then Naomi didn’t stop these marriages as the new head of the household. What would Elimelech do? Who cares about what God thinks?
2. Deut 7:3-4, Ex 34:7
3. Illustration: have you seen the commercials that ask “what do you want to pass on to your kids? And the parents talk about all the good things, then the commercial reminds you that if you smoke, you kids are about 3 times as likely to smoke, regardless of what you tell them. King David’s example, state of MA making everyone have health insurance, the Dad on the TV show who kept undermining his wife,
4. Parents, what kind of example are you setting for your kids? Do you say one thing, and practice another? All of us have people that look to us for examples of how to handle problems. The world looks at us as the church to see if our God really can help. God’s honor is a stake by how you handle difficulty in the eyes of others. The great lie that we believe is that our sin only hurts us. Satan will help you make good arguments. Sure everyone is responsible for his own sin, but you may be too.
C. You may invite God’s judgment (v. 3-4)
1. And of course, the next logical conclusion if sin abounds, is that God’s judgment will abound. We see a number of events that could be, and should be in this occasion, construed as the judgment of God. First, Elimelech, who left a land of physical famine to live in a land of spiritual famine, escaped possible death at home, and found certain death in Moab. The full, flush fields of grain killed him. The OT picture of dying and being buried in a foreign land was the picture of shame and judgment. Next, the barrenness of the two Moabite wives through 10 years of marriage. And finally, both the boys died too!
2. Gen 20:8, 1 Cor 11:30, Heb 12:5-15
3. Illustration: there was a woman in our church whose husband was lost. When he got saved, he began to lead his friends to Christ, grow in the Lord, and be faithful. Then someone hurt his feelings, and he quit. At that point his emotional state soured, his health began to fail, his marriage was on the rocks, and finally he died. We also had a youth minister who went on a mission trip and met a married woman who was about to divorce her husband, and fell in love…
4. Just a little reminder that not all pain and hardship is a judgment from God, i. e. Job. But all pain and suffering is ultimately from God. And if you truly know Christ, and you persist in sin, God will chasten you. And if there is no chastening, then you are not truly his. And if you feel the chastening hand of God, and harden your heart in rebellion, God will turn up the heat. They saw the judgment on their father, but stayed in Moab, and married Moabites. God will reclaim what He has bought and paid for, or He may remove you from this life, so that His honor is maintained, and you will not heap up for yourself sin. But if God does not remove you, His goal is repentance. And after repentance, all the OT texts teach the restoration of the blessing of God. So do not see hopelessness, repent and begin restoration!
D. You may bring unnecessary pain (v. 5)
1. The last verse of this passage paints a bleak picture of Naomi, whose name means “pleasant.” She has buried her husband and her children in a pagan land. She is old and alone. The word used to describe her here was often used of those who survived the judgment of God with scars. She was destitute—no life insurance policy, no social security, no welfare, no government system. Women relied on the men in their lives to provide for them. She was too old to work or remarry or go back to her father’s house. She was at the lowest point. Forced obedience. And all this was brought about by a poor response to a painful situation.
2. Pro 13:15, Abraham’s journey to Egypt in Gen 12, brought back Hagar,
3. Illustration: Joshua’s example of not conquering all the land because it was painful, “O how different the dreams of the family were from the reality of Moab.” “Immorality is the cumulative product of small indulgences and minuscule compromises, the immediate consequences of which were, at the time, indiscernible.” At the board meeting: "So the vote is as follows: Larry, Ruth, Dan, Sid, and Marcia are for the proposal. God and I are against."
4. Obviously we are not masochists that believe that pain has inherent value. The only reason that pain is valuable is that there is a sovereign God who is orchestrating it for our good. In fact, the OT commands are followed by promises of abundant life when followed. The clear teaching of scripture is God’s way is the best way, and even though other ways may look good, they are not. We must be faith, trust God that His counsel is the wisest and best way, then follow it! When you are at the lowest point, there is no way to go but up, but you have to decide you want it. Small decisions are just as important, in fact more important to avoiding unnecessary pain than big ones.
III. CONCLUSION
A. Closing illustration: “What the world attributes to the impersonal forces of chance and nature, the Scriptures attribute to the sovereignty of God.” “While God allows emptiness to come to Naomi, he does so in order to bring her fullness once again in an even more significant way and brings great glory o Himself as the God of Israel, who keeps His hesed to a thousand generations.” 1st verse to When all that is left is to believe—Clay Crosse
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
O Lord, sometimes You seem unfair
If You really love me, why would You bring me here
O Lord, I’ve tried to do what’s right
But why won’t You deliver me from this never-ending night
Sometimes the truth can hurt, but You said it would set me free
Somewhere in this pain, You must have a plan for me
When all that’s left is to believe
I give my doubts and fears to You and fall down on my knees
And I may not have the answers now, but You give me what I need
So, Father, I will cling to You, when all that’s left is to believe
