I would invite you to turn in your Bibles this evening to the book of Ruth. We begin a new series this evening, having concluded the series from the book of Judges, moving to the book of Ruth, which takes place, as we know, as we will read, in the time of the Judges, and represents for us, at least in the beginning, the nature of the compromise of Israel and yet God's sustaining, redeeming, converting grace to bring about even from the people of Moab, one who will herself bear a child, one of the tribe of Judah, who will be the grandfather of the King, the great King David, the first great true King of Israel of the line of Judah. This evening, I would invite you to turn to Ruth chapter one. I'll be reading verses one through 18. Ruth chapter one, verses one through 18. Now 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 dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech. The name of his wife was Naomi. And the names of his two sons were Malon and Kilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died and she was left and her two sons. Now they took wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about 10 years. Then both Malon and Kilion also died. So the woman survived her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab. For she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. And they went on their way to return to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. So she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, surely we will return with you to your people. But Naomi said, turn back my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there still sons in the womb, or my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go. And wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. thus far the reading of God's holy word. Let me pray now for the blessing of the preaching of it. Lord, grant to us tonight by your spirit favor to hear, to love, and to do what is in accordance with your word. Oh Lord, we are a people who are in need of being taught according to that which is divinely given. inspired, and passed down from one generation to another. We thank you that you are a God who relents over disaster, who redeems despite our compromise. Lord, we cling to you, the only Lord and God of heaven and earth, and ask that tonight you would strengthen our hand to do what lies ahead. Do this, we pray, for the glory and honor of your name and for the good of your people, we ask. Amen. This evening we come to a new book, although it is a story that is very well suited to take place in the period of the Judges. Many moments in Israel's history that are recorded in the book of Judges illustrate their rebellion and faithlessness against the one who had so graciously delivered them out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of sin and death. Ruth, Naomi, the other characters, Boaz, find themselves living in the time after the occupation of the promised land and the second generation's wars against the kings of that land, though they did not finish the job. And for the reason of their disobedience, God said that they would be hampered by, constantly frustrated by the enemies of God in the promised land. The third generation was not taught, as we read in Judges chapter 2, of the mighty deeds that God had done, and therefore they did not fear God, nor were they devoted to God as they ought to have been. We see something of the same here at the beginning of the book. We see compromise. We see sojourning. And all of it, not necessary, but voluntaristic, because we see in the house of this man, Elimelech, compromise that results in death. And despite this compromise, we see conversion. We see the confession that Ruth gives at the end of this section tonight, where she confesses that she will be one devoted the God of Israel, to the people of Israel, and to the place itself. Perhaps it is instructional for us how we are to think of what it means to be those who love the Lord, who love his people, and love this place that he has put us. Two points that I want to make tonight, two points. A foolish compromise. a foolish compromise, and second, a gracious conversion. Let's look at the first point, a foolish compromise. The book of Ruth opens with these words, Now 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 dwell in the country of Moab he and his wife and his two sons. The name of that man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malon and Kilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Now, as I've said already, we find ourselves in the time of the period of the judges. Bethlehem is the area from which this family left, and they were experiencing a famine. Now we know why famines, or what caused famines. Famines were not just some accidental consequence of weather events, but they were the express punishment of God upon a people who were disobedient to his word. Bethlehem was under a famine because Bethlehem and those who dwelt there were not living lives of covenant faithfulness to God, and so they were living under covenant cursing. That is the reason for the famine. In fact, the name Bethlehem means house of bread. And yet they're out of bread. And because they are out of bread, Elimelech, whose name means God is King, does not live according to his namesake. But rather than marching through the city and the land of Bethlehem and calling the people of God to repentance that famine might be lifted, what happens? He goes to the land of Moab. He sells the farm. and he moves to a pagan realm. This is like someone leaving a red state to move to a blue state. What are you doing? You're going the wrong way. Elimelech, whose name means God is king, instead of calling the people of Bethlehem that this famine is the result of our disobedience to God, let us wail in ash Let us fast and pray that God might relent over disaster, which God showed himself willing to do over and over and over again in the book of Judges. Did he not? In fact, by the end of the book of Judges, God is showing mercy even when Israel did not ask because of the hardness of their hearts. The context is very important here. In fact, Israel was called to remain in the land. And so from the very beginning of this book, we see a man whose name means God is King, not living in light of that reality. And he rejected the land, he rejected covenant faithfulness, he was compromised. Now concerning Moab, Moab was a nation that was not a nation friendly to the people of God whatsoever. And in fact, in the book of Deuteronomy, we read of those not only who are excluded from the congregation of the Lord, Deuteronomy 23.3, an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord even to the tenth generation. None of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever. Why? because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Baor from Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse you. Nevertheless, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. You know the story? You know the story of Balaam? Two reasons why an Israelite should never move to Moab. First of all, Elimelech left the city that is called the house of bread, to go to a place that is filled with people who two generations ago refused to give aid to the nation of Israel after they left Egypt. Do you see the irony of that? We're gonna leave this place where God has said he will bless us if we keep covenant, but we need only keep covenant. Keeping covenant at times requires repentance. not merely obedience, but sometimes repentance is required. And rather than repent, he left the land that God had promised him to go to a land that is filled with a nation that at one point refused to actually feed them. And he's going there for bread. He was compromised. And not only did they not share bread and water with them, but they actually hired Balaam to curse them. Of course, we know that God prevented Balaam from cursing them. And then when that did not work, the people of Midian and Moab hired women to go into Israel to compromise them religiously. This is the story where Phineas becomes famous, where an Israelite is lying with a Moabitess, and they are in the tent, and to guard the integrity and the purity of the camp, Phineas goes in with a spear and runs them both through with the spear. And he is celebrated, and he is commended by God for his integrity. I love that story. It's one of those stories that I turn to in my middle school Bible class whenever we do Bible surveys. They love those kinds of, this is in the Bible? Yeah, it's in the Bible. I'm not sure what the parents think. I'm sure they hear quite an earful, Pastor Fowler, yada, yada, yada. And so we find compromise. Not only do we find compromise and disobedience in moving there, but there is also disobedience when his two sons, Melon, which means sickness, and Kilion, which means wasting away, marry Moabite women. Now, these are not the names that the parents would have given to them. In fact, throughout scripture, oftentimes the names that we are given of people are editorialized by the writer. What good Hebrew names their son sickness? or wasting or pining away. No, these are names given to them most likely by Samuel to evidence the covenant cursing that is upon the family of Elimelech. Naomi means pleasantness. Now we know later that she changes her name to Mara which means bitterness because she is disenchanted. She is angry with God despite the fact that it was her husband's fault that they were living under God's covenant curses. Limelech dies, the sons are married. And for 10 years they live in Moab, and then the sons die. What is also striking to me is that though the sons were married for 10 years, God never gave them children. He had closed the wombs of those women. Why? Because this family chose the land of life for the land of death. This symbolism is not nothing. Nothing happens by accident. We know that God opens and closes the womb, which is why we pray for couples who want to have children who cannot have children. I don't think we should ever pray for the closing of the womb, but we always pray for the opening of the womb, don't we? Let's have kids. Children are a gift from the Lord. But the great tragedy of this family that they die in the land of slaves, a self-imposed exile. They could have repented. In fact, so important to the people of God was the place that God called them to when Joseph died. Do you remember what he requested of his brothers or those who would come later in Genesis chapter 50? When God leads you out of this land, dig up my bones and take my bones with you. This is the significance of the old churches, we have them all over this country, where you have the saints militant in one building and then the saints triumphant in the yard next to them. It's a picture of what? We are identifying ourselves with the institution that God has chosen to bless the world. Now in the Old Testament, what was the holy place? It was the land of Israel allotted to the tribes. Those 12 tribes had land allotted to them by God and that geographical boundary was the land of promise and blessing. But what about now? There are many Christians who say that's still the place, which is why they fight tooth and nail for what's going on right now. That though, however, does not pay homage to the fact that when Christ is speaking to the woman of the well and she asked, where shall we go to worship? He says, not there in Samaria or on the hill in Jerusalem. But wherever there is word and there is spirit, that is where you will gather in my name. What Christ is doing is he is anticipating the spreading out of the people of God throughout all of the earth so that wherever the saints of God are, that is the place that is holy. This place is holy. Bad plumbing and all, right? It's holy because this is where the saints gather in the presence of God for worship. And that actually means something in terms of application. Why, when God calls us into his presence to dwell in that holy of holies, do we seek the presence of other places? Why do we seek membership outside of the Church of Christ? Why do we seek lives not lived in repentance, but to go to those nations where we think we shall be satisfied with the good stuff of Moab and its modern-day correlate? When God says, I have it here. I am the one, the bread of life. Come to me and you shall be satisfied. It is all going wrong here at the beginning. And then there is tragedy. Malon and Kilion, verse five, died. And so now we have three widows. And we go to verse 6, then arose, then she, that is Naomi, arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, this is a good move, out of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. God had poured out mercy upon the land of Judah. Now, one of the things that you need to see that is happening in light of God's covenant promises and God's covenant curses is God is keeping up with all of this in this glorious, majestic, sovereign way. Now, as I read earlier in Deuteronomy 23.3, and we see elsewhere in the Old Testament in the Pentateuch, Judah Judah, which is the royal tribe of Israel. Only from Judah can kings come. The problem with Judah is, there are two illegitimate children born to Judah, and for this reason, there is a curse upon the tribe of Judah unto the 10th generation. Guess which son is born? just after the lifting of the curse. It's David. I want you to see, the significance of that is this, God is not slow to show mercy. As soon as the law that he gave to Israel is accomplished in its punishment, the 10th generation, immediately, David is born. And David will one day be crowned king. God is, if I can say it this way, chomping at the bit to show mercy and pour out favor to those who seek it from Him and not Moab, and not the kings of this earth. What is also interesting is that even as this curse is in some fashion being lifted on Moab, which also applies to them as we read in Deuteronomy 3, Ruth comes on the scene. Ruth is a story of the mercy of God, even as covenant curses are being lifted, and a way is being opened whereby the King of Israel might come forth from her seed. And it's not just about David, right? Second Samuel 7 is coming, when David restores the Ark of the Covenant to the temple, and God says, upon your throne, a king shall sit forever. And this is why we get to the genealogies in the Gospels that we often skip over. Because who comes from the tribe of Judah? Jesus. Ruth is really the story of God establishing a royal line in Israel. In fact, I think on your bulletin, I have Ruth the Restoration of Life. This is sort of a working title for the series. The actual series title is The King is Coming. I mean, both of those things are true from the Book of Ruth, but that's one of the hardest things to figure out. What do I call a series of sermons? Well, I think the theme of the Book of Ruth is The King is Coming. Now, we have a dilemma. They come back from Moab, they get to Judah, and Naomi says to them, go home. And she expresses an enormous amount of what comes across as irrational angst. She's focusing on this law that was called the Leverite Law. In fact, this is where Judah went wrong. You know the story of Judah and Tamar and all that nonsense. It's like a, you know, it's a terrible episode in the history of Israel. And this is why Judah was under the curse of God. But here, Naomi is seeking to at least honor the Leverite Law. Now, the Leverite Law was this. If there is an older brother who is married to a woman and he dies, then it is necessary for the younger brother to give to that woman an heir that the line of the older brother might continue. Judah refused to do this, the family of Judah. Here it is mentioned five times in the book itself that Ruth was a Moabitess, and not only that, but her sister, Orpah, or sister-in-law, which Siri changed to Oprah in my outline, which I guess Oprah is more famous to us now than Orpah. Naomi, as I said earlier, her name meant pleasantness. But here she's beginning to evidence not something of that pleasant disposition. She says in verse 8, to her two daughters-in-law, go return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. Now, here is the problem. There are some commentators that call this a compassionate, gracious response. I think that is completely and utterly misguided. Naomi is telling two women that are in her family now to go back to the pagan land of Moab. And not only does she say that here in verse 8 and 9, but go to look at verse 15. And she said to Ruth, when Ruth said, I'm going to stick around, look to your sister-in-law. She has gone back to her people and to her gods. This is the antithesis of what Israel was called to be to the nations. Not a group of people that said, God is cruel, go back to your homes. But what? God is merciful. Now Naomi will learn that by the end of the book of Ruth. In fact, the two central characters of this narrative are Boaz and Naomi, through which all of the actions of Naomi are through this agent, this wonderful character, Ruth. But Ruth is acting on behalf of Naomi. Why? Because she says that she will. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death, parts you and me. Ruth has the heart of a true Israelite. But Naomi does not. And she will not until the end of the book of Ruth. In fact, here, Naomi has lost hope. She becomes bitter. She has sojourned too long. And God has dealt, true enough, harshly with her. And there is not real repentance and hope for Naomi until the end of this book. In fact, Boaz will serve as the kinsman redeemer according to the Leverite law. This is what he says later, there is a relative closer even than I. And Boaz, cunning as a serpent but innocent as a dove, makes a way where he can marry this woman Ruth. But despite the compromise, We see in this blessed opening chapter one daughter willing to return, but one daughter, who though of the people of Moab, wants to be an Israelite. Where did this come from? Ruth was raised a Moabitess, and then she married into a compromised family in Israel. of Israel, not in Israel. And now, upon the death of her husband, she goes to Judah because that's where the food is. It is the testimony of God's grace working in the heart of even those not born of the tribes of Israel to redeem for himself a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. This is solely the grace of God at work. Perhaps she learns something of the justice of God. But whatever leads to this confession, she expresses a desire to remain faithful to God's people, to the holy land of promise, and to the Lord himself. This is a true expression of a heart converted by God's grace. Sometimes I wish our vows would be a little more poetic. They're very technical, aren't they? They're beautiful in what they express. In fact, what Ruth has to do here is not just push back on the call of her homeland, but she has to push back against Ruth. Ruth is not being a good evangelist or a good apologist here. Ruth rejects Naomi's proposal. Look at verse 15. Naomi said, look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. Again, I go back. Can you imagine? Can you, in any context, see that this is covenantally faithful? Naomi is now, in essence, the head of the household. And she is telling her children to reject the God of Israel, to go back to the gods of Moab. She's lost hope, but not Ruth. Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also, if anything but death parts you and me. She is, at what point, I don't know, but by the testimony of her mouth, she has shown herself to be more of an Israelite than the one who is named God is King. She does not compromise. She rightly confesses, and in a sense, what God is doing is He is rebuking, on one hand, He is rebuking His people, and on the other hand, He is showing them extraordinary grace. This is what I will do with the nations. I will bring them to this land, and they shall confess what is true of me. It is the confession of an unlikely convert. Is this not God's extraordinary grace to bring about from compromise such a confession? Naomi does not deserve it. Lemuel has gotten what he deserves. And here's Ruth. She was never raised to confess that Yahweh is Lord. Her history, her people despised Israel. And yet here she confesses. And then verse 18. When Naomi saw that she, that is Ruth, was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. Now this doesn't mean she's just saying, I'm not going to talk, you know, talk to the hand. She knew that Ruth would not be persuaded. Ruth will be an instrument of the redemption of this family. Salvation will come from Moab, but not really, because salvation will come from Judah. But what God will do is he will graft in even hundreds of years before the coming of the Messiah. And you look at the genealogy of Christ and there's Ruth plugged right in. Where did she come from? And maybe that's the point. She came only because God makes a way. God brings life from rebellion and death, and the true King of Israel, the one that would be born at the line of Judah, would restore to the land those who did not walk by faith, who turned to the lost nations. And even here, God is showing his hand a little bit, that God will one day open wide the floodgates of heaven and pour out his covenant blessings, even upon those who did not seek him, as we saw in Romans 9 this morning. God will, through Ruth and Boaz, show both grace but also rebuke Israel by bringing about redemption through a stranger. God will reveal the king, the true king, who will be born of the line of Judah. That is why Ruth is part of our Bible, not just because it happened. There's a lot of things that happened that we don't have recorded for us. But of the things that are recorded, Ruth belongs because it shows us that God is faithful to restore, to preserve, to forgive, and to bring life even from death. Amen. Let's pray.