Ruth 1:16-18 (p. 182) September 29, 2013
Introduction:
Loyalty is the characteristic of never giving up. Never quitting – no matter how bad things get. No matter how hard things are –
(Show Video of John and Ann Betar – 1:37)
80+ years together...good times, bad times, happy times, sad times...John says the secret is contentment...by the way, so did the Apostle Paul to the Philippians. “I’ve learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” (Phil.4:11)
Satan on the other hand is the god of discontentment...from the Garden of Eden to today he still whispers... “I know you can have all the other fruit, but the one you can’t have is more tastey.”
He just doesn’t show you the kicked out of the garden..death part...He doesn’t show you the kids screaming “Daddy don’t go part” or that...
The reason the grass is greener on the other side of the fence is because its growing over a septic tank!
80 plus years...Ann was 17...John was 21 and through it all neither would quit on the other...
They made that vow of “for better or for worse Nov 25, 1932. It was just a vow then, but after 80+ years it’s the truth.
Ruth’s story in the Bible is a wedding story...a true love story...but it’s Ruth’s loyalty that puts her ALL IN.
In the midst of “a for worse time,” a time of death, grief, anxiety, fear and lonliness she chooses to be loyal...she chose to be totally committed.
[I love the story about the farmer who loved and cared for his animals. Farmer Brown was so good to them that one of the hens said “We should do something nice for him...The pig said, “I know, but what? The chicken said, How ‘bout a bacon and egg breakfast...And the pig said, “for you that’s a donation...for me that total commitment!]
Ruth choose total commitment...you cannot have a real love story without loyalty...Because REAL LOVE STAYS when everyone else leaves.
Ruth’s story begins with despair, but ends with heartwarming joy.
[When Benjamin Franklin was the Ambassador to France he would occasionally attend “THE INFIDEL’S CLUB,” a society that spent much of its time searching for and reading literary “masterpieces.” On one occasion Franklin read the book of Ruth to the club, but changed the names so it wouldn’t be recognized as a book in the Bible. When he finished the listeners unanimously praised it as one of the most beautiful short stories ever written and they demanded Franklin tell them where he had run across such
a remarkable work of art. He loved telling them it was from the Bible.]
But this love story from God’s Word is better than any Harliquien Romance novel. Rom. 15:4 says “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance and encouragement of scripture we might have hope...
This story of endurance and encouragement begins with Naomi and her family, living in Moab...Elimilech, Naomi’s husband had brought his family here because of a famine...Naomi & Elimilech have 2 sons who marry Moab women...one names Orpah...the other...Ruth. And then Elimilech dies...and then her 2 sons die. Within 10 years she faced poverty, the death of her husband, and then the death of her children. She has no one in this foreign land...She is grief stricken, broken hearted... She hears that things are better at home so she heads there...
At first both Daughter in laws try to go with her, but in her brokenness she says,
“Go back to your fathers, find other men to marry. I’m too old to start again.”
Naomi sums up her feelings in verse 13 of Chapter 1 “It is more better for me than you because the Lord’s hand has turned against me.”
Have you ever felt like that? I don’t have anything, I’m alone, I’ve lost my husband, my sons have been buried. I’m too old to start again and no one’s left to help me.
But God’s hand hasn’t left Naomi. He will deal with this tragedy with love, grace and hope...and that makes all the difference.
I. HEARTACHES AREN’T MEANT TO BE HANDLED ALONE.
It’s hard for us to even imagine Naomi’s circumstance. A widow alone in a foreign land grieving the death of not only her husband, but her sons...No family, no friends, surrounded by people who don’t worship her God. She would have no one to protect her, no one to provide for her. Ruth and Orpah were also widows...but they were young...Could start again...could go home. Naomi was homeless.
Ruth 1:5 sums it up “Naomi was left without her 2 sons and husband.”
The heartache of being left without creates a huge hole...without a mate...without a child...without a parent...without a job.
[I’ve been left without..and I’ve been with folks who are left without...and the hole that’s created seems huge...This last year a friend of mine named Jeff Noah in Hazard, KY lost his wife Karin to cancer...They have 4 children, she was 43...Jeff is like me...he cannot hide his emotions or pain...And his facebook post during the grief process tore my heart the shreds...”I believe...I love God...but my heart is broken beyond repair...my grief is unbearable...I cannot breathe.”
I could not imagine being without Kari...or how hard that journey would be...but I experienced “a left without” heart through Jeff that is almost unexplainable...but he always even in the darkest moment said, “I hang on to God...I trust Him even in the pain.”
Naomi was not without God – even though she wanted to change her name to Mara -“Bitter” because of her circumstances...God had a plan and it involved a Ruthless Love that would not let her go..God has not changed!!!
II. HOPE CAME FROM GOD’S PLAN
Naomi asked Orpah & Ruth “Why would you come with me...I can’t give you future husbands even if I started now>”
Oh but little did she know...God had a plan...It’s the same plan He’s had before he created the world...
Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (pg 787)
This is written to believers...like Naomi and Jeff Noah...like Rick Burdette and many of you.
Not everything that happens in this world is good...God doesn’t promise that...His promise is about the future...how He works...How good comes through even the most bitter times...for those who love Him and understand His calling...His purpose...His purpose is to redeem you...and show this world redemption.
When you think it’s more bitter, because it seems the Lord’s hand is against you...wait...because nothing will touch you that doesn’t pass through those nail scarred hands!
So Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye but Ruth says, “I will not leave you! I’m not going back...nothing you say will stop me. Where you go I’m going...where you stay I’m staying. Your people are now my people and your God is my God...Where you die I will die and be buried...May the Lord hold me accountable to this vow if anything but death breaks it.” (Ruth 1:16-18)
This is Ruthless love...loyalty personified! It’s a “Nothing is gonna pry my hands from your hands love.”
I wish I had hours to explain God’s love and how much the story of Ruth teaches us about it...but there’s something you have to know...Ruth is a Moabitess...Moab was a nation that came through Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter...Moabites worship Molech and other death honoring gods...human (children) sacrifices were part of the worship...idols were built and worshipped...Ruth would say, “I reject those gods...I worship your God...Jehovah...Jehovah Jirah...the God that provides...Jehovah Ropha...the God that heals...Jehovah Elohim...The God Almighty.
Ruth the ex Moabite, idol worshipper would become the great, great, great (14) times grandmother of Jesus...Along with Tamar who was raped, Rahab, who was a prostitute...And Bathsheba, who committed adultery with David.
God’s plan wasn’t first to redeem Naomi from bitterness, and Ruth from widowhood...His plan was and is to redeem the entire world from sin!
In the O.T. God’s Law required that a kinsman redeemer would marry a widow...why...so a person’s name would be carried on...So a family or tribe would not lose their inherited land...
Last week we talked about Joshua and Caleb...Where they inherited the Land of Canaan...It was divided up between the 12 tribes of Israel (Jacob’s 10 sons and Joseph’s two)...Caleb who was from the tribe of Judah chose the mts...the hardest place, you have to love that guy.
Since God assigned each family and tribe their land it was extremely important to Israel...It still is. That’s why the Kinsman redeemer law was instituted...If a man died and left a widow with no sons...His nearest relative was given the opportunity to buy the land and marry his widow...If he refused...(tradition had them passing a shoe) to the next in line...There’s a catch...the redeemer had to be asked by the widow to buy back her husband’s land.
I’d encourage you to read the entire book of Ruth with this understanding...because this explains how Boaz became Ruth’s husband...Her and Naomi’s kinsman redeemer...(Guardian Redeemer in the N.I.V.)
Listen...
RUTH 4:1-12 (p 184)
..The Elders say a lot...but my favorite thing is: “May God make you famous in Bethlehem.”
Anyone know who Boaz’s mother is? Her name is Rahab...Yep, the prostitute who believed and saved the spies in Jericho...She’s mentioned in the Faith chapter (the Hall of Faith) Hebrews 11...Boaz’s dad’s name is Salmon...Salmon married an outcast...I’m pretty sure everyone in Israel’s community knew her past. Rahab and Ruth became part of God’s people through Redemption
Salmon redeemed Rahab...and a son who has learned love, grace, forgiveness, and redemption through his parents redeems Ruth...God’s plan!!!
From Adam to Salmon, from Boaz to David, and from David to Jesus...The redemption story is unfolding...Listen to
1 PETER 1:18-20 (p 850)
Boaz purchased the Land and marries Ruth...Jesus paid for our sin and purchased our redemption with His blood...That blood made His bride, the church, pure and spotless without a blemish...
Everyone loves a happy ending...here it is
RUTH 4:13-22 (p 184)
I love verse 16, “Naomi took the child laid him in her lap and cared for him.”
There are 41 separate genealogies in scripture. From Genesis to Revelation these family trees are important...They are faith albums designed by God...in His plan...In Gen 12 God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him..And the story of redemption is woven into the Bible’s very core.
God grafted in people like Rahab & Ruth so we could learn the redemption story...
Boaz would indeed “be famous in Bethlehem”... Not only was it the city of David, his great great grandson...It would be the birthplace of Jesus, born of a virgin in a stable, with God as His Father...The Ultimate Kinsman Redeemer.
Let’s Pray
