We'll return to the verse that we were considering last Sabbath evening. It's at verse 19 of Ruth chapter 1. So they too went on till they came to Bethlehem. It came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them. And they said, Is this Naomi? When it came to the parting of the ways, for Orpah. Naomi and Ruth were told in verse 14 that Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and then returned to the country of Moab. That's weakly considered the number of times in the Scriptures where we find references made to those who kiss one another. He recalled how Judas kissed the Lord. That, of course, was the kiss of falsehood and betrayal. Paul, whenever he finished his ministry to the church at Ephesus, said farewell to the elders of the church, and they accompanied him on to the ship. And we are told that he kneeled down with them all, and they went sore and fell on his neck and kissed him. It was the kiss of friendship. had grown to love the Apostle Paul during his time in ministry there. Now we read about Orpah, and she kisses her mother-in-law. And for Orpah, it was the kiss of farewell. We never read about Orpah again. She's not mentioned anywhere else in the Scriptures. So this farewell indeed was final. But then we read that Ruth cleave unto her. The same word is found in Genesis 2, verse 24, Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. So in Ruth cleaving unto Naomi, Ruth was really saying to Naomi, I am one with you. And she expressed that oneness. When she gave her that pledge, verses 16 and 17, Naomi, wherever you go, wherever you live, wherever you die, wherever you're buried, that's where I want to be buried. She said seven things in that pledge. Seven is the number of completion. And what Ruth was saying, I am completely at one with you. And I want your God to be my God. It was the central one of the seven matters that she mentioned there. And we read then, So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. We noted last week, and I'll just go over this very quickly. We noted, first of all, Naomi and her company. She had gone out from Bethlehem, Judah, with a husband and two sons. She was returning to Bethlehem, Judah, without a husband and without her two sons to return with her daughter-in-law, Ruth. We noted her steps. We're told in that verse 19, So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. So they started out and they went until they came to Bethlehem. We noted how she persisted. It wasn't a matter of having a good intention of going to Bethlehem. No. She continued until she came to Bethlehem. She persisted. Some backsliders start out on the way that leads to home, but they never make it. They don't persist. They'll start to read the Bible, but they don't persist. They'll start attending the prayer meetings again, but then they don't persist. They seek to be less worldly, more spiritual in their conversation, but they don't persist. After all, Orpah went part of the way with Naomi. And there are some like Orpah. They go part of the way as far as their return home is concerned. But they don't persist. We noted her place. So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. Now, whenever Naomi went out with her husband and two sons, we read in the opening two verses, they went out from Bethlehem, Judah. But now on her return, Judah is not mentioned. And I believe that is very significant. Bethlehem means the house of bread. Judah means praise. And so here we have Naomi, and she's returning to the house of bread, to Bethlehem. But what about her praise? It doesn't say Bethlehem, Judah. No. Yes, she's returning to the house of bread. But she's doing so without the note of praise in her heart. Because she's lost her note of praise. She's lost her joy. It was bound to happen. Spending ten years in the country of Moab amongst their gods, she's bound to lose her joy. A backslider who wanders away from the Lord will soon lose his or her joy, will soon lose the note of praise in their hearts. So it was with Naomi. So it was with David. He departed from the Lord. And when his sin was pointed out to him He wrote that psalm 51, and in the verse 12 of that psalm he said, Lord, restore unto me the joy. I've lost my joy. I've lost my note of praise. That's why the Scriptures teach us that the backslider is the most miserable person on the earth. So it was with Naomi. We noted also not only her steps, but her sojourners, those who journeyed with her, namely Ruth. They too went out, went until they came to Bethlehem. Note, they too went out. We pointed out that two is the number of witness. The Lord sent out His disciples two by two. Two is the number of witness. It could easily have recorded the event by saying Naomi and Ruth, returned to Bethlehem, but the Holy Spirit didn't put it that way. Rather, He put it this way. They, too, went until they came to Bethlehem. Two being the number to witness. They went home, and that walk back to Bethlehem was a witness that the way of the transgressor is hard. It bore witness to the fact that it was a mistake going down to the country of Moab. It bore witness to the fact that the grief of the backslider, that grief is experienced by the backslider when they depart and leave the sight of the Lord. It was bearing witness to that very fact that Naomi had left the side of her Lord and gone away into the country of Moab. Remember what Moab means? It means waste. It means nothingness. And there was Naomi, and she left the house of bread and the place of praise and went to the country of Moab, the place of waste and nothingness. And when she returned home with Ruth, and they too went until they came to Bethlehem, That was a witness to the fact that she had made a terrible mistake. It was a witness that there was nothing to be gained in the country of Moab. Next, we notice this site. Upon entering Bethlehem, we are told that all the city was moved about then. And they said, Is this Naomi? She'd only been away ten years and they hardly recognized her on her return. There was a question mark over Naomi. Is this Naomi? You know whenever someone backslides and gets away into the world, there's a question mark over them. And the question is, was that person really saved? Was the root of the matter ever in him? It's the question mark. Will they really, truly convert it? It's the question mark. There was a question mark over Naomi. But they said, is this Naomi? They hardly recognized her. We are told there that the city was moved. The word moved there means to make a noise. In other words, it was the talk of the town. Naomi had returned home, and people were saying, I'm sure, one to another, you want to see Naomi now? You'd hardly recognize her. Of course, that's what happens. When a Christian leaves the sight of the Lord and gets away into the world, after a while you'd hardly recognize them. To lose that sweet countenance of the Christian. Naomi couldn't spend time in the country of Moab amongst the gods and it not affect her. You cannot live in the world and live for the world and run with the world Without it affecting you? You lose your joy. You lose the note of praise. And you lose that lovely Christian countenance, that Christ-likeness that you had when you walked with the Lord. It said, is this Naomi? I hardly recognized her. Moab had left its mark. Naomi. She lost that sweetness. Remember, Naomi means pleasant. She lost that pleasant, sweet spirit. As we see, she came back bitter. Note her sorrow. Verse 20, She said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. She acknowledges that she is not the same person who left Bethlehem, Judah, ten years before. She acknowledges she's not the same person. And she acknowledges that the hand of Almighty God had been at work in her life. She said, the Lord brought me back empty. She acknowledges that the hand of Almighty God had been upon her. She acknowledges that she had lost her joy. She had lost that sweet, pleasant spirit. In fact, she had lost everything that was dear to her. two sons, her joy, her sweetness, her pleasantness, all gone. And all the sorrow that filled her heart. That brings us now to our second point. We take up the story again. We have Naomi and her complaints. Upon her return home, Naomi spoke about those ten years in Moab. Verse 21, she said, I went out full, and the Lord had brought me home again empty. She said, I went out full. Now she comes home ten years later, and she says, the Lord has brought me home. Whenever someone gets away into the world, it's only the Lord who will bring them home. It's only the Lord who is able to bring them home. Whether they come home empty or full, still, it's only the Lord who can do it. It's only the Lord who can restore the backslider. It's only the Lord who can restore onto the backslider the years that the locusts have eaten. And Naomi confesses, the Lord has brought me home. But then she adds this, the Lord brought me home empty. I went out full. Mark the words. I went out. She shouldn't have. But she confesses, I went out. There's her departure. She departed from the place from where she should never have departed. She remembered the day that everything started to go wrong. That's what she's doing. She's remembering the day. She says, I went out to school. She remembers that day. When she left Bethlehem, Judah, and along with her husband and two sons made her way to the country of Moab, she remembers that day. She remembers the day that the family packed up all their belongings and made their way to the country of Moab. How could she ever forget that day? The day that she departed from Bethlehem, Judah, It was really the day she departed from the Lord. She remembered it. And I can guarantee this, the backslider will remember. Will remember where things started to go wrong in their life. They'll remember when and where they began to drift away from the Lord. They'll remember how they went out. They'll remember how they departed. Turn to Luke 22, please. Luke chapter 22. We're all familiar with the story of Peter. Luke 22, verse 54. Verse 54, And then took they him, and led him, that is, Christ, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. There's his departure. The time that he should have been at the side of the Lord. The time that he promised he would be at the side of the Lord. He's nowhere to be seen. He followed afar off. He went out from the Lord's presence. Verse 55, And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were sat down together, Peter sat among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not." You know the story. How he denied the Lord three times. We come now to the verse 61. The cock crew, as the Lord said it would. Verse 61. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. Now, those are powerful words. He didn't say a word to Peter. His look was enough. And as the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, you know, those eyes looked into the very soul of Peter and looked into the dark, hidden crevices of his heart. And Peter knew it. And Peter remembered. He remembered the words of the Lord. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord. How he had said unto him, Behold a cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. There it is. Peter went out. Just like Naomi. She went out from the Lord's presence. And Peter was in an area where the Lord could see him. And Peter could see the Lord. And all the Lord had to do was turn and look at Peter. And he went out. And he wept bitterly. And those words mean that as Peter walked down the street away from the Lord, he wept aloud. He wept like a child. He cried like a child. At the very thought of letting the Lord down, he went out. Peter remembered the point in time when he departed from the Lord. It was whenever he was following the Lord afar off. He said he would be by the Lord's side in life, in prison, in death. But how miserably he failed. Just like Naomi, she remembered. For it all went wrong, just like the backslider today. They can recall the day when they began to turn their attention away from the Lord and turn their focus away from the Lord to the world. When they fell in love with the ways of the world, the music of the world, the fashion of the world, the conduct of the world, the conversation of the world. That's where it all started. And every backslider remembers it. They will never be able to say, I don't know where it all went wrong. Because they know full well. They become a demis. Remember what Paul said about demis? In his last inspired letter, 2 Timothy 4, in writing to Timothy, he said, Demas hath forsaken me. What had happened? What happened to Demas? Why did he forsake the apostle Paul? Paul tells us, having loved this present world. And then we have the words, and he departed Thessalonians. He departed. He went out. There's it again. He forsook and departed from the cause of Christ, from his walk with the Lord, from his service for Christ. And that's where it started, when he fell in love again with the world. And Naomi remembers where it all started. The day she went out from Bethlehem Judah. She went out full. She came home empty. But at least she was able to say, The Lord has brought me home. Praise His name. He's ready to bring you home. He's ready to bring the backslider home. I want you to notice not only her departure, but also her desolation. She recalled the day that she went out, and she says that she went out full. But the Lord has brought me home again empty. It was her desolation. Emptiness. Do you notice something? She actually became what Moab was. Moab, again, we remind you, means emptiness, nothingness, means waste. Why did Naomi come home? Empty. Nothingness. She became like the land where she had lived for ten years. And the person that runs after the world will become like the world in a very short time. They become like the people they run with. You can always tell the character of a man by the company that he keeps. No wonder the people in Bethlehem said, is this Naomi? She became more like the people of Moab than the people of Bethlehem Judah. My, how sad that is. Sad it is for the backslider. The prodigal son asked the father for all that was due him, and we are told he went out. He went to the far country, couldn't get away from the home far enough. And he went out full. We know the story. All that he had in a short time was gone. And he came home, but he came home empty. He hadn't one shekel left of all that his father had given him. Spent it all. He went out full. He came home empty. He said, How many hired servants of my father's house have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. I have nothing. He hadn't one shackle to his name. It had all been taken from him. Naomi went out with a husband and two sons, and they were taken from her. And she came home empty, empty. You see, dear Christian, it is the will of the Lord for the Christian to be full. He wants us to be full. Like Barnabas, he was full of the Holy Ghost. The Lord wants us to be full of the Holy Ghost. Acts 11 and 24. Like Stephen, he was full of faith. Acts 6 and verse 5. Like James, or as James has said, as strangers and pilgrims, we should be full of glory. 1 Peter 1 verse 8. Dorcas, She was full of good works. Acts 9, verse 36. As the Romans, we should be full of goodness. Romans 15, verse 14. Like the seven servants chosen to look after the tables in the church in Jerusalem, they were full of wisdom. Paul says in Philippians 4, verse 18, As a Christian, he says, I am full. That's what we ought to be. But there's Naomi. She's backslid. She's been away from home for ten years. She went out full. And the Lord has brought me home again. Notice her discernment. Naomi didn't have a great deal to say about the Lord while she was in the country of Moab. Oh yes, she talked about the Lord having visited her people and giving them bread. But she wasn't really glorifying the Lord. All she was thinking about was the bread that the Lord had given his people. Because she was hungry. There's no bread in the country of Moab. But here she begins to speak about the Lord and the Lord's dealings with her. My, it's good when Christians come together and they can talk about the Lord's dealings with us. It's good to be able to talk about how the Lord has been dealing with us. Well, here's Naomi. And she tells the people in Bethlehem all about how the Lord has been dealing with her. Call me not Naomi, call me Mara, 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 me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me. Four times she talks about the Lord or the Almighty. She had much to say about the Lord when she was in Moab. The backslider doesn't have much to say about the Lord when they're out in the country of Moab, when they're out in the world. But now she has. The Lord has brought her home. And my, it's good when the backslider begins to talk about the Lord again. It is good when the backslider realizes and discerns the divine hand of God has been at work in their lives. That's what really Naomi was saying. The Lord has been dealing with me. That's what she says in verse 20. The Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. It is good when the backslider discerns the loving, caring, chastening hand of God at work in their lives because the Lord only chastens those whom he loves. I'm sure Naomi, when she spoke about the Almighty dealing very bitterly with her, I'm sure Naomi realized I may have forgotten the Lord being ten years in the country of Moab, but the Lord hasn't forgotten me. All the while I was away from Him, all the while I was in the country of Moab, the Lord's eye was still on me, and His hand was at work in my life. You know something? Sometimes the Lord has to deal with us severely to get us back home again. It can be a horrific accident. It can be a serious illness. It can be the loss of a loved one. It can be the collapse of a business. And the backslider will acknowledge The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. But He has dealt bitterly with Naomi in love. He wanted her home again. When the Lord deals bitterly with us, it may be hard to say it. It may be hard to pray it. But we need to thank the Lord. for dealing with us in this way, because it is what has brought us home again. As far as Naomi was concerned, she was coming home, albeit empty. May the backslider even tonight say, I have wandered far away from God. Now I am coming home. The paths of sin too long I have trod. Now I am coming home. Coming home. Coming home never more to Rome. Open wide thine arms of love, Lord. I'm coming home. Naomi didn't have the arms of a husband to wrap around her. She had the arms of one who would take the place of her husband. She had the arms of Christ. She had the arms of the Lord to embrace her as she returned home to Bethlehem. Now in the last place, We have Naomi and her commencement. Naomi's return home marked the commencement of her new life in Bethlehem. Verse 22, So Naomi returned. What heartening words they are. Just three words. So Naomi returned. It was a backslider that we would be very familiar with. in your family, in your church, wherever. And you're able then to tell others, you know, so-and-so has returned. So-and-so has returned home. God's people would be rejoicing. Giving thanks to God because a certain backslider has returned. And here we have this verse 22. So Naomi returned. Praise the Lord, Naomi returned. Where did she return to? First of all, she returned to the place where she started, Bethlehem. She came back to the house of bread. In other words, Naomi came back to the place of beginning. That's where she'd left ten years before. She came back to the place of beginning. This was a new start for Naomi. You know whenever a backslider, a Christian backslider gets away from God, that's what they have to do. The Lord working in their hearts, working in their lives, dealing with them. They need to get back to the place of beginning. They need to get back to the cross. That's the place of beginning. You recall Abraham, who left home for the very same reason that Naomi and Elimelech left home? Because there was a famine in the land. We've already dealt with that, You think that Naomi and her husband thought the Lord couldn't take care of them. There's a famine in the land. You remember, thirteen years ago now, you remember Y2K? You remember the hysteria? You remember the ludicrous things that people were up to? I know of men down in the States, and they sold their homes, and they went and they lived in the desert, and they dug a big hole in the ground, and they stored all their food in the ground because they thought, well, everything's going to collapse and Y2K, and people will be coming, and they'll be wanting our food, and we need to arm ourselves, and so on and on and on and on. I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. But those who are here at this time in this congregation may recall I said you don't need to lose one moment's sleep over Y2K. The sun will still come up in the morning, the grass will still be growing, and God will still be looking after His people. The Lord will take care of us. He's our Maker and our Creator. He's going to let us all starve. And Naomi and her husband thought that because there was a famine in the land, they had to do something. You know what happens when things are not going too well? They say, oh, I have to do something. No, you don't. If you want to do something, take it to the Lord in prayer. The Lord will do the doing. Do you remember Abraham? He went down into Egypt for the very same reason. In Genesis 13, and there we read in verse 1, And Abraham went out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had in lot with him. into the south. And Abraham was very rich in kettle and silver and in gold. And he went on his journey from the south, even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning. Between Bethel and Ai, unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. And there Abraham called on the name of the Lord. He had to get back to the place He had to get back to that place where he had once built an altar, and he had to get back to the altar, and he had to pray and call the name of the Lord. The backslider has to get back to the place of beginning. To that altar that's called Calvary. For Naomi, it was back to the house of bread. which reminds us of Christ, where he was born in Bethlehem, the bread of life. And after being starved in the country of Moab for ten years, Naomi was glad to get back to the house of bread. The backslider would be glad to get back to the one who is the bread of life. We notice where she started, how she started. We notice also her separation. Verse 22 says that she returned out of the country of Moab. You see for Naomi to get home she had to leave Moab. For Naomi to get back into fellowship with the Lord, she had to leave. She had to get out of the country of Moab. She couldn't continue in the country of Moab. She couldn't stand there if it was possible to have one foot in the country of Moab and the other foot in the city of Bethlehem. One or the other. You've heard Christians say that in the testimony when they've been living, as it were, a double life, double standard. They said they've had one foot in the world. Well, that wasn't going to work. Instead, we read that Naomi got out of, left the country. There's her separation. That's the only way to live for God. A separated life. Romans 1, verse 1, Paul said, I was apostle of Jesus Christ, separated unto the gospel. over in Exodus 11, verse 7. Exodus 11, verse 7, there we read, But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against man or beast, that ye may know how the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. There's separation. There's to be a difference. There's to be a difference between the Christian and the man of the world. It's a difference that the Lord has put there. It's to be a difference. It's to be a life of separation. It's not a popular message today. It's a day of easy believism. This is a day in which men more or less told you can have the world. No, you can't. It was said of Job, he was a perfect man who eschewed evil. Eschewed means he turned away, turned us back on it. Naomi had to turn her back on the country of Moab, and in the last place we notice the When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, we are told that it was the beginning of barley harvest. Isn't that interesting? You have the word beginning. When she returned home, it was the beginning of barley harvest. That's what it was for Naomi. It was the beginning. It was a new start. We mentioned Peter earlier on. You know the Lord gave Peter a new start. He denied the Lord. In John 21, he had returned to the fishing, returned to his old ways. Maybe he thought, well, the Lord's not going to use me now. I'm finished. We know how he and his six friends labored all night, caught nothing. Then they saw a stranger on the shore. They didn't recognize Christ. He told them what side of the ship they cast the net. And it was full of fishes. And when they drew it to land, they noticed something. They saw a fire and coals thereon. And then the Lord said to them, Bring the fish that ye have caught. You know, there in those words we have the humility and the grace of the Lord. It wasn't really the disciples who caught the fish. But you see how he deals with them just like children. Bring the fish which ye have caught. And they sat dying, and the Lord said, Come and dine. Then he said to Peter, Lovest thou me more than these? Peter said, Yea, Lord, I love thee. The Lord said, feed my sheep. The Lord wasn't done with them. Remember John Mark? He went to Paul on his first missionary journey. He didn't last long. The first hint of controversy, John Mark came home again. Then when Paul lay in prison, He wrote that letter to Timothy. And he said, bring John Mark with thee, for he is prophet who belonged to me for the ministry. The Lord's not finished with the backslider. The Lord in grace and mercy will deal with the backslider, and they'll be able to say with Naomi, the Lord has brought me home. Whenever Naomi arrived home, it was the beginning of her barley harvest. Just exactly as she had heard it. Because in verse 6 of Ruth 1, she heard that the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread. That's what she heard. The story had been carried to her. And you know something? Whenever she arrived home, it was exactly as she had heard it. The Lord had visited His people, and the Lord had given them bread. That tells us what we have in this book, what is written in this book about the Lord. Every bit of it is true. It's like the Queen of Sheba. She'd heard about the wisdom of Solomon. She thought, I'd better go and find out for myself. And she went. She came to the house of Solomon. And she saw Solomon. Let me read in verse 6. And she said to the king, it was a true report. It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not the words until I came. Mine eyes have seen it, and behold, the half was not told me." What Naomi had heard about the Lord and how He had visited His people was true. And she came home and she found that it was true. It was the beginning of barley harvest. Food was there. What the Queen of Sheba discovered about Solomon, she says, you know, the half wasn't told me. But I'll tell you something. A greater than Solomon is here. And all that we are told and taught about Christ from this book, it is all true. And when a sinner comes to the Lord after many years of battling against the Word and the Gospel, and they eventually come home, that's what they'll say, the half has not been told me. Preacher, you didn't tell me all that is in Christ. I have found much more than ever you told me. And should we live To be 500 years old, we would still make more discoveries of what there is in Jesus Christ. And Naomi returned home. May the Lord bless the Word. Lord willing, next week we'll be in the second chapter and we'll be looking at Ruth now. What a wonderful story that is. Let's bow our heads in prayer. O Lord, our God and gracious Father, we bless Thee for Thy truth. We thank Thee, dear Lord, for this lesson, that the way of the transgressor is hard, that there's nothing to be gained but everything to lose when straying from the side of the Lord. O Lord, we think again of Naomi. She went out full, but came home empty. But then, Lord, we thank Thee that Thou was pleased when Naomi returned home. Thou was pleased then to fill her again. Lord, the only thing we want to be emptied of is self and sin. We want to be full, full of Christ, full of the Word, full of his Word, full of his wisdom, full of his ways. Lord, make us Christians who are full. We ask thee, our God, that thou would abide with us now will shortly come to the table. O, bring the scenes of Calvary before us. Let us see the Lord. Dear loving Father, for any who are unable to stay, may Thy blessing go with them. We pray in the Savior's holy name. Amen.