We want to just take a moment in the prophecy of our soul. Each believer has the promise of 1 John 1 9, that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from each unrighteousness. So we'll just take a moment in the prophecy of our soul. And as believer priests, we can confess and be restored instantly. And then we'll have a word of prayer. Dear Gracious Holy Father, we thank you for the opportunity to gather here. Thank you for each person here. Each one is crafted in your image. Each one is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and has been set apart from this world so that we are to live a new way of life, life by the spirit, not by the flesh. And we pray, Lord, that we would take in your word and take it seriously and be able to keep it on our minds on a moment by moment notice so that we're able to remember it and live by faith and have the Spirit work in our lives to produce His fruit and not live by our own flesh and have the fruits of the flesh produced in our life. As we study the book of Ruth we pray Lord that we would glean wonderful things and see a fascinating story but within it of course a message and what that message is and help us to be more sanctified and conform to your image and thinking your thoughts after you. And thank you for those who are unable to be with us and pray for them in their absence and pray that they'd be restored to us. And we thank you for the many blessings we have just by being Christians, all the positional truths that we have and help us to remember those as a great motivation, a great grace motivation to live the Christian life. And we pray for the Lord Jesus Christ to come for us quickly. We look forward to his any moment return and help us live each moment as if it's our last moment, awaiting anxiously for Him to arrive. And we thank you that we are a part of your great plan for history, that we're no longer in Adam, we're now in Christ, and because of this, we're a part of the greatest story that's ever been told. And so, we appreciate you drawing us into the drama, the significance it gives to our life, the meaning, the purpose, and all these things. We just ask that you'd bless the teaching of your word tonight in our lives, and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, tonight we're going to start the book of Ruth, and Ruth was a part of the Hebrew canon that was known as the Kethuvim, which is the third class here on the canon. They had the Torah, the Law, with the first five books. They had the Navim, the Prophets, with those eight books, one of which was the Twelve, and Jonah was in those within those books, and then the Kethuvim, the writings, in which you see about ten books, and Ruth is in the Kethuvim, the writings, which are wisdom literature, and within the Kethuvim there's a set of five books known as the Megaloth, and these are the scrolls that were read at the Feasts of Israel, and Ruth is actually read at one of the Feasts of Israel. It's the Feast of Weeks, what we know as the Day of Pentecost. So this was actually read on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. And for that reason, what we are going to do is have a dramatic reading of Ruth after I give a little bit of background. So I've asked some people to play certain parts, and it'll take about 20 minutes to go through the whole book. Some of those parts are very significant, yes? and I see some people smiling and laughing because they know their parts. This is going to give us a feel for how the book was designed to be presented. So, it was not designed to just be sat down and just be taught. Just as at the Feast of Weeks for Pentecost, it was read and the audience is to listen, to listen to the story. So, as we do this, I don't want you looking at your Bible and following along because Israelites, for centuries and centuries, did not have Bibles. They could not follow along. It was not designed for them to read along. So what you want to do is imagine yourself as an Israelite and hearing this book for the very first time. And as you listen, here are some questions you can ask yourself. How does the book begin and end? What's the subject matter? Who are the principal characters? That's not as easy maybe as it may seem to be. What is the basic problem? How is the problem solved? Who actually speaks the most in this book? Or who is the most prevailing figure? Are there any cities or locations that I recognize as having significance? And what names in the story do I recognize as significant? And if you're able to answer these questions, they're going to help you answer the biggest question of all. And that question is, what is this book really about? Or who is this book really about? So I'll put this list back up when we do the dramatic reading. But as with Jonah, here's just a few things. The genre is narrative. And in particular, the class of narrative is what we call a short story. It's not a tale. And it's not a novel. A novel is much longer and you see development of character in a novel. But in a short story, you don't see the development of character as much as you just see character exposed. You see what is already there in the characters. And you see their characters come out through the circumstances they face, okay? So it's a short story, it reveals the character of the people in the story. So Naomi, of course, she does undergo some development of character in the book, but still the primary purpose is just to expose her character and that of Ruth and that of Boaz. So to do this, the author, who is a literary artist, under the inspiration of the Spirit, controls what we see, when we see it, and how we see it. So I'm not going to rush to the end of the book this time and tell you what it's all about. I'm just going to go through it, okay, after we have the reading, and we will discover as we go, okay? The author does not exclude extraneous details. He only includes details that serve a purpose in advancing the narrative to reach an intended goal, okay? Now, the narrative is complicated. Assuming you know what it means already will cripple you in your understanding, pretty much guaranteed. What is expected is not always the case, though it is sometimes the case. And just as far as the setting, we are at the end of the judges' period. The plot, this is just before the time of King Saul. into the judges before King Saul the plot is introduced in the first chapter you will see that there is a problem and then that problem will seem to have a solution but then that solution turns out to also have problems and then at last a solution does emerge and all the knots are untied okay so I'm gonna ask these players to come forward And the goal here, to put these back up, is to really listen to the story. If you don't want to pay attention to these questions, that's fine. But if you want to, that's fine too. And everybody has a script? You have the first line of all of y'all. So I'm going to be the narrator. My wife is Naomi. This is Elimelech. This is Ruth. All right. So I'm the narrator. So I'm going to stand over here. Most of it's me. They'll chime in at their appropriate times. Are you ready? Back in the days when the government of Israel was in the hands of tribal chieftains, a severe famine struck the land. It was so severe that a certain family of Bethlehem and Judah, made up of a man and his wife and their two sons, moved to the country of Moab, where they intended to live as resident aliens. The man's name was Elimelech. His wife's name was Naomi. and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. These were Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah who crossed over into the country of Moab where they remained for quite some time. While they were there, Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. Can you die now? Okay. Perfect. Perfect. Leaving her alone with her two sons. Eventually, both men married Moabite women, with whom they lived for about 10 years in the country of Moab. But then, these two men, Mahalon, died. And Kilion, died. Please exit stage left. This left the women without her two sons, and without her husband. One day while they were still in the land of Moab, Naomi heard that the Lord had taken note of the plight of his people, that he had provided them with food. So she decided to pack up with her two daughters-in-law to leave the country of Moab. Together with the younger women, she left the place where they had been living and set out on the road back to the territory of Judah. But then Naomi stopped and turned to her daughters-in-law. You really should turn around, both of you, and go back to the homes where you grew up. May the Lord reward your kindness to those who have died, and your kindness towards me by dealing just as kindly with you. May the Lord provide security for both of you, each in the house of your own husband." And as she kissed them both goodbye, they broke down and wept. We can't do this. We will go back with you to your people. But you must go back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Is it possible for me to have any sons whom you might accept as your husbands? Go back, my daughters, go. After all, I am an old woman, too old to marry again. Even if I thought there is still hope for me, and even if I remarried tonight and would immediately have children, you would wait around for them until they had grown up? Would you avoid all contact with men and avoid getting married? No way, my daughters. My pain is far greater than yours because the Lord has been against me. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth refused to let go of her. Look, your sister-in-law has turned around and is going back to her people and to her God. Why don't you turn around and follow your sister-in-law? Please don't pressure me to abandon you, to turn around and to stop following you. I promise that wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you spend the night, I will spend the night. Your people are my people, and your God is my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord bring his curse upon me, if anything, even death itself separates you and me." When Naomi realized how determined Ruth was to go with her, she stopped arguing with her, and the two of them resumed their journey in the direction of Bethlehem. Scene 2 When Naomi and Ruth reached Bethlehem, their arrival created quite a stir among the seed's population. Can this really be Naomi? The women asked. Please don't call me Naomi. Which means pleasant. Call me Mara instead. Which means bitter. Because Shaddai has made my life extremely bitter. I was full when I came to this country, but the Lord has brought me back empty. How can you call me Naomi when my Lord has testified against me and when Shaddai has brought me such misfortune. So this explains how Naomi returned from the land of Moab accompanied by Ruth her Moabite daughter-in-law. Now it happened to be the beginning of the harvest season when Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem. Now Naomi had a relative through her husband whose name was Boaz. He was an extremely rich and influential man. who happened to be the member of the same clan as Elimelech. Ruth, the Moabite, turned to Naomi. Please let me go out to the field to scavenge for ears of grain behind someone who might be gracious to me. Go ahead, my daughter. So Ruth went out to the field to scavenge behind the people who were harvesting the grain. As luck would have it, she just happened to come to the field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of Elimelech. Before long Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. May the Lord be with you. He greeted his harvesters. And may the Lord bless you. They replied. Then Boaz asked the foreman of the harvesting crew. To whom does this young woman belong? She is a young Moabite woman. She's the one who came back from the country of Moab with Naomi. She requested of me Please let me pick up the leftovers among the sheaves by the harvesters. She's been standing here ever since she arrived early this morning. She has hardly moved." Then Boaz turned to Ruth. Listen carefully to me, my daughter. Don't go to any other field to scavenge. Don't go anywhere else. Join my crew of young women over here. Keep your eyes on the field where they are harvesting and follow them. In fact, I have given orders to the men that they are not to harass you. When you get thirsty, feel free to go and drink from the containers of water which the young men have drawn." When she heard this, Ruth fell down on her face and bowed low to the ground. Why have you treated me so kindly? Why have you paid such attention to me? After all, I am a foreigner. I have heard the reports of everything you have done for your mother-in-law after your husband died. I am aware that you left your own father and mother and your native land and have identified with a people about whom you previously knew nothing. May the Lord reward you for your actions. May you receive full compensation from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have sought asylum. Oh, may I be worthy of your kindness, my Lord. You have reassured me by speaking gently to me, your servant, even though I don't deserve to be compared with any of your female workers. Now it happened to be time to eat, so Boaz said to Ruth, Come over here and eat with us. Feel free to take your portion of food and dip it in the vinegar. So she came, and she sat down beside the rest of the harvesters. Meanwhile, Boaz served Ruth her portions of the roasted grain, and she ate until she was satisfied. In fact, she had more than she could eat. When Ruth got up to go and scavenge, Boaz gave orders to his young men. Let her gather grain, even among the sheaves, without harassing her. In fact, I want you to pull some of the stalks of grain out of the bundles and purposefully leave them for her to pick up. You are not to insult her." So Ruth scavenged in the field until evening. When she beat the grain out of the stalks she had gathered, it amounted to almost six gallons. She picked up the grain and headed back for town. Now, when Ruth's mother-in-law saw how much she had harvested, and when Ruth had taken out the leftovers from her satisfying meal and presented them to her, Naomi questioned her. Where did you scavenge today? Where did you work? May the person who paid you such attention be blessed! Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man whom she had been working. The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz. Then Naomi heard this, or when she heard this, she exclaimed, May the Lord bless him, so the Lord hasn't withdrawn his kindness toward the living or the dead. The man is a relative of ours. In fact, he is one of our kinsmen redeemers. Oh, there is something else he did. He said to me, you may join up with my servants until my whole crop has been harvested. Then Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, Look, my daughter, it would be better if you went out with his crew of women. That way you won't be violated in another field. So Ruth joined up with Boaz's female workers and scavenged after them until all of the barley and wheat crops had been harvested. Meanwhile, she lived at home with her mother-in-law. And one day, Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, approached her. My daughter, isn't it up to me to find a place for you where you will be secure and well provided for? Look, there is Boaz, a man whose crew of women you joined. He is a close relative of ours. Tonight he is planting a winnow and barley on the threshing floor. Go, take a bath, put on some perfume, get dressed up in your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor. Be careful you don't let the man know you are there until he has finished his evening meal. When he goes to bed, take note of the place where he is lying. Then go over to him, uncover his feet, and lie down yourself. He will tell you what to do. Whatever you tell me, I will do. So Ruth went down and did exactly as her mother-in-law had instructed her. When Boaz had finished eating and drinking, he was in fine spirits. Before long, he went and lay down at the far end of the grain pile. Then Ruth snuck up to him, uncovered his feet, and lay down herself. Around midnight, he was cold and groping for his covers. He was shocked to find a woman lying at his feet. Who are you? I am your maid, Ruth. Now spread the corner of your covering over your maid. After all, you are a kinsman-redeemer. May the Lord bless you, my daughter. Your latest act of kindness is even more impressive than your previous actions. You have refused to go after young men in their prime, regardless of whether they were poor or rich. Listen, my daughter, don't be afraid. I promise to do for you anything you request. The fact is, all of the leaders of this town know what an honorable woman you are. Now it certainly is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is another man who is a closer relative than I am. Stay here for the rest of the night. Then, in the morning, if he agrees to redeem you, fine. Let him do so. But if he prefers not to redeem you, then, as sure as the Lord lives, I promise to do so myself. So go on. Lie down until the morning." So Ruth lay there at his feet until morning. Before it was light enough for people to recognize each other, she got up. Then Boaz said to himself, No one is to know that the woman has come to the threshing floor. As Ruth was about to leave, he said to her, Give me the shawl you are wearing. Here, hold on tightly. So she held out her shawl while he measured out six scoops of barley. When he had put it on her shoulder, she headed back for the city. Then Ruth returned to her mother-in-law. So she reported to her everything the man had done for her, and then she added, He gave me these six scoops of barley. You must not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed, he said. Stay here with me, my daughter, until you find out what happened. Rest assured, the man won't relax unless he can settle the issue today. Meanwhile, Boaz had gone up to the town gate. While he was sitting there, he caught sight of the kinsman-redeemer about whom he had spoken, passing by. Come over here, Mr. So-and-so, and sit down. So he came over and sat down. Then Boaz rounded up ten men who were members of the town's council. Sit down here. So they sat down as well. Then he reported to the kinsman-redeemer. Naomi has returned from the country of Moab. Now she has decided to sell the plot of land that belonged to our relative, Elimelech. I thought I'd present my proposal to you this way. Make the purchase in the presence of the men who are sitting here, these elders of my people. If you would like to redeem it, go ahead. Otherwise, tell me so I know. After all, you are the first in line to redeem it, and I am next. Mr. So-and-so said, I will redeem it. Oh, by the way, when you claim the land from Naomi and from Ruth, the Moabite woman, I will claim the widow of the deceased in order to preserve the name of the deceased on his estates. In that case, I am unable to redeem it, because I would thereby jeopardize my own estate. So go ahead, you may assume my role as kinsman redeemer. I am unable to do so. This is the way that cases involving the redemption or exchange of property used to be handled in Israel. To legalize any transaction, one of the parties would take off the sandal and give it to the other. This is how deals were formalized in Israel. So after the Kinsmen Redeemer had said to Boaz, you may make the purchase yourself, he took off his sandal. Then Boaz announced to the elders and to all the people there, Today you are witnesses to the fact that I hereby have acquired from the hand of Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, as well as everything that Killian and Malan owned. And more importantly, I have also acquired Ruth, the Moabite woman, Malan's widow, so that she may become my wife and so that the name of the deceased may be preserved on his estate. Now the name of the deceased won't be removed from the family tree nor from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses to today. " Then all the people who were in the gate, that is, the elders, answered, We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home as fruitful as Rachel and Leah, both of whom he established within the household of Israel. May you accomplish great things in Ephrathah, and may you become famous in Bethlehem. May your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah because of the offspring which the Lord will give to you through this young woman. " So Boaz married Ruth and she had become his wife. When he had intercourse with her the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, bless the Lord he hasn't left you without a kinsman redeemer today and may his name become famous in Israel. May he restore to you the joy of life, and may he be your support when you are old. After all, your daughter-in-law, who loves you so deeply and has given birth to him, she is better for you than seven sons. Then Naomi took the child and held him to her breast, and she became his foster mother. And the women of the neighborhood joined in the celebration. A son has been born to Naomi, and they gave him the name Obed. He became the father of Jesse. who was the father of David. This is the family line of Perez. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram. Ram became the father of Amenadab. Amenadab became the father of Nashon. Nashon became the father of Salmon. Salmon became the father of Boaz. Boaz became the father of Obed. Obed became the father of Jesse. And Jesse became the father of David. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Not bad. OK, thanks. That gives you the whole thing in one take, one look. It's really four acts. And as we go through the book, of course, we'll break it down. Just going through the introduction, the first five verses tonight, but then we'll do an act each week and then have the conclusion at the end and the significance of what this book is all about, which maybe you already know. But having heard it in one setting, what I want to do for a few minutes is give some background and introduction. I've already told you that the genre of this book is narrative. It's specifically a short story, not a tale or a novel. And this book is, through the events that we just heard recited, revealing the character of the three principal characters whom we met tonight. Naomi's character does undergo some development in the story, but most of what we see is just character revealed through the circumstances they face. But as interesting as the lives of these three characters are, the significance lies beyond all of them. Now the author of this drama is unknown. We don't know who wrote this and we don't even know exactly when it was written. But whoever it was clearly has literary skill. And they arranged it really like a drama. And it really is, in real life, it was a drama. There's a setting that we'll look at tonight. Then there's a problem, which hopefully you notice with some young men dying and one older man. creating a problem. Then there's a possible solution to the problem, but that has problems. But then it gets finally resolved and then everything comes together. The location of the book of Ruth in your canon, in the English canon, within the 39 books of the Old Testament, you'll notice it follows what book? Judges. And it precedes what book? 1 Samuel. or which some call, actually, better, 1 and 2 David, by the way, because really those stories are about David, both 1 and 2 Samuel. And this tips us off, not only to when this took place, because chapter 1 verse 1 does that as well, but it tips us off that this book is forming a bridge from the period of the judges to the time of the monarchy of David, right? So, let's look at verse 1, and here's the introduction of the events, with words that are reminiscent that this is just the continuation of a story. If you think of verse 1, it's a little strange that it says, now it came about in the days when the judges governed, because that sounds like a phrase in the middle of a story. And it really is, okay? So, this is the continuation of the previous story in the book of Judges. Now, When the judges governed is a period from the death of Joshua after Moses, right? All the way to the crowning of Saul. That's the period of the judges. During this period, the twelve tribes lived in loose confederation with one another on their tribal allotments. Okay? When trouble arose from foreign enemies, what would God do? God would raise up a judge. Someone like a Gideon. Someone like a Samson. And this judge would deliver them from their enemies. This cycle of trouble followed by deliverance repeats itself during the judge's period until we are told repeatedly that every man only did what was right in his own eyes and there was no king in Israel. What does it mean that there was no king in Israel? Does it mean that there is no human king in Israel? Of course there was no human king in Israel. But could it not mean that not even God was king in Israel during this period? Even though he had become their king at Mount Sinai. But he was not really God in Israel because he had been rejected, okay? And this seems to be more likely the meaning of no king in Israel because the people in 1 Samuel reject God as their king, 1 Samuel 8, and they want a king like all the other nations, right? So the events of the book of Ruth took place in this time period when not even God was king in Israel. And the people wanted a king like all the other nations, and the answer to that was God gave them Saul to show them that their desire was a faulty desire. But Ruth is really written for another reason, and it's to show us that God was at work to bring a king who would ultimately rule, and rule well, and that he comes from the humblest of origins, from people who, despite all the ungodliness in Israel at that time, were godly people. Now, there's not much hope at this time in Israel's history. And you can see in verse 1, not much hope because it says there was a famine in the land. Now, why was there a famine in the land? Well, anyone who's familiar with Old Testament theology knows that Israel, by means of the Abrahamic Covenant, has an eternal relationship with God, a relationship that can never be destroyed. This Abrahamic Covenant promises them an ultimate land, seed, and blessing, right? But within the Abrahamic Covenant, there's also the Mosaic Covenant that was given at Mount Sinai, and this covenant sketched blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience. So if they disobeyed, of course, they would be cursed, and the blessings and cursings are described in great detail in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, right? The cursings could actually be seen, if you just walked outside your door, through their relationship with nature and through their relationship with foreign nations. And there are five degrees of cursing that are listed in Leviticus 26 that God would send as divine discipline. And if you study those degrees of cursing out, you see that famine is a part of the second degree of divine discipline. So because of Israel's disobedience to the laws of Moses, what had happened? Well, the sky had become like iron above Israel, and the earth had become like bronze. They sowed the seed in the field, but the land did not produce its yield. So in this context, we are introduced to a certain man during the famine, who is ironically from what city? Bethlehem. Ba'it Lechem in the Hebrew, which is from two words. The first word, ba'it or bet, means house, and the second word, lechem, means bread. So Bethlehem is the house of bread, yet there was no bread in Bethlehem. Now this Bethlehem is said to be of Judah and this distinguishes it from a Bethlehem that was in the Zebulonite territory and so this Bethlehem, the one of Judah, just happens to be the town where David is going to be born and of course it just happens to be the town where someone greater than David, Jesus, the Messiah, will one day be born. So what we see here in Bethlehem is the wings of kingship are stirring." Okay? Now this certain man from Bethlehem left Bethlehem and it says he went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. Now it's not clear at all if this was an authorized move or not. In other words, whether God divinely authorized him to leave the land or not. He left the land, the question is did God want him to leave the land? Now The phrase famine here, this phrase in the Hebrew is identically found in the book of Genesis and we know of several famines in the book of Genesis and that is what is supposed to come to our mind when we read about a famine in the land. Abraham had sojourned in the land of Egypt because of a famine. Isaac, he faced a famine and he was tempted to go down to Egypt as Abram had but the Lord told him not to go and he said stay in the land and I'll bless you in the land." And then Jacob, the third in the series of patriarchs, also faced famine in the land and the Lord authorized him to go to Egypt, didn't he? And they went down to Egypt and that family of 70 people, God grew into a powerful nation over a period of 400 years. So the question in all of our minds is supposed to be, was this man, was he divinely authorized to leave the land? as Jacob had been, or not, like Isaac had not. And we're not told. That's the whole point. We're not supposed to know right now. The author introduces what he wants us to see, when he wants us to see it, and not before. Because what he's doing is creating suspense. Is he doing what he's supposed to be doing or not? Should he go or should he not? They don't have food. I think I would go, right? What should I do? Did he do the right thing? Now, his destination is a place called Moab. This was on the east side of the Dead Sea, a little bit south, and they worship the god Chemosh there, and his wife, goddess. During the wilderness wanderings, of course, Israel had gone through the area of Moab, and the king, interestingly, when they came through Moab with Moses, the king refused to give them bread and water. So now, ironically, a man who's from the house of bread, Bethlehem, is going to go to Moab, a place that did not give Israel bread and water. So this is again supposed to heighten the suspense. And what were this man's long-term intentions going to Moab? It says he went to sojourn, ger. Now this word is somewhat ambiguous. It can mean to become a resident alien or it can mean to become a temporary resident. One is much more permanent the other is only temporary. Is this a temporary move? Or is this a permanent dwelling for him and his family? Again, we're not told. We're just simply left wondering. And this is designed to do what? Build suspense. That's what stories do, right? So this man took his wife and his two sons with him, all because of a famine. And in verse 2, we finally meet them all by name. And the name of the man was Elimelech. and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Maslan and Kilian, and they were Ephrathites of Bethlehem and Judah." Now, this is what we are supposed to assume. Ah! These are the four main characters in the story. These are the people the story is going to be about. Okay? Now, the narrator doesn't go in and comment on the meanings of all their names, okay, but a lot of discussion takes place around the meaning of these names and commentaries. So we'll just look briefly at it and see if there's any significance, okay? The name of this man, the first man, Elimelech, means God is my king. God is my king. Now, this is interesting because in this time period, there was no king in Israel, remember? That's what the book of Judges is closing with. And if this man did recognize God as his king, that creates a real question. Why didn't this man follow the procedures of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 and do what he was supposed to do when his nation was living in sin and rebellion against God? And that thing is to repent so that the Lord would restore blessing. He didn't do that. Yet his name means God is my King. So he is something of a living contradiction. Now next is the name of his wife, Naomi. She's going to tell us the meaning of her name later in the wordplay, so we're not going to bother with that until the author tells us. The next is the name of the first son, Mahalon. Alex. His name means to grow weak, to fall sick. Lovely. Your name's not much better, Killian. We In Israel, children would not be named until after they were born and often they were given a name that was fitting what they look like or something about how they acted or something. Perhaps this name Mahalon was given to him because when he was born, during a famine, he was weak and sickly. The other son was named Kilian. His name means mortality or wasting away. So it sounds like he was also born somewhat sickly and wasting away due to the famine. But interestingly to me the author doesn't discuss any of the meanings of any of these names. He simply tells us these names and then he says that they were all Ephrathites of Bethlehem and Judah. That's the second time he said Bethlehem of Judah or in Judah. And we are of course to catch the royal motif, right, of Bethlehem because If we were to go back into the Judges period, we'd see in Judges 17, Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Bethlehem, there's a priest who went out from Bethlehem and did some, there's some terrible things there. Okay? And then Bethlehem's going to be mentioned again in 1 Samuel, the next book, 1 Samuel 17, 12, where it says David was born in Bethlehem. And of course, we all know later there was a prophet, Micah. And in Micah 5, 2, he prophesied that one will go forth from Bethlehem Ephrathah. Notice the greater specificity here. They're not just inhabitants of Bethlehem. They're of a family called the Ephrathites. The Ephrathites were from Ephrathah, which is a very small village that was very near Bethlehem. But these Ephrathites didn't live in their village. They lived in Bethlehem. And this makes the passage even stronger in its royal motif, okay? And finally at the end of verse 2, the story resumes with these words, Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. So they didn't come back, they stayed. Now that's the setting. In verse 3, the plot. The plot begins to unfold. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. Now what are we being told here really? The first thing we're being told is this, Elimelech is not a main character in this story. He's a flat character. His whole purpose of being in the story is to die. That's it. Now the second thing we're being told is that his move to Moab was not a divinely authorized move. He was struck dead as divine discipline for leaving the land, not trusting the Lord. Now this leaves Naomi bereft of her husband. But she's not entirely alone, right? Because the end of the verse says, she was left with her two sons. And then in verse 4, these two sons took for themselves Moabite women as wives, and the name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And we're told that they lived there about ten years. So in this verse, These two verses actually, more time transpires than will transpire in the entire rest of the book. Ten years pass in this verse. The Moabite name of Orpah is difficult and a lot of people find great significance in her name but it's probably not that significant. It means turn the neck or neck or nape. Some Jewish Midrash say that what this is picturing is that she will turn her neck against Naomi when she goes back to Moab. The name Ruth is also difficult. It means something like refreshment or pleasant or friendliness or friendship. And that, of course, is what she brings to Naomi. So it does seem to be somewhat significant. But the more prominent issue is this. Whether these two sons should have married Moabite women or not. Because the scriptures say this. Deuteronomy 7, 3 and 4. I forgot to put these up. Deuteronomy 7, 3 and 4. Well, we can look there. It's not going to hurt. Let's turn to Deuteronomy 7. Hold your place in, Ruth. Deuteronomy 7, 3 and 4. Furthermore, in the Mosaic Law it says, you shall not intermarry with them, you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will quickly destroy you. I think that's kind of what happened to those two guys, don't you? Yeah, that's what happened. They were quickly destroyed. The other passage is Deuteronomy 28, 32. Deuteronomy 28, 32, in the cursings passage, the blessings cursings passage, where you have the five degrees parallel to Leviticus 26. In Deuteronomy 28, 32, we read this as a judgment. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people while your eyes look on and yearn for them continually, but there will be nothing you can do. In other words, they want to marry foreign people, but they and they will burn to do so, and there will be nothing you can do to stop them." Well, isn't that what they did? They went to Moab and they yearned after these two girls and they married them. So, what happened here in verse 4 is they took these wives, okay, and this is not something they were supposed to do, okay, and we find that to be the case in verse 5 because then it says, then both Mahlon and Kilion also died. And, of course, these were young men. They weren't old, so they're not dying of natural causes. They're being disciplined by the Lord for their rebellion. And now, though, this sets up the situation, right? We have a woman, Naomi. She's bereft of her two children. She's bereft of her husband. And this is the problem. This is the complication of the book. Because when Naomi left Bethlehem, she had hope. She had a husband. She had two sons. Now in Moab, she has no husband and no sons and she has no hope. She has no heir. The line of Elimelech is in danger of dying. And all she has is two foreign daughter-in-laws, Moabites. If we can express the problem this way, Naomi, she carries the plot. She's the central figure as far as these principal characters are concerned. She leaves Bethlehem full, meaning she has a family. She is now in Moab empty, meaning she has no hope and no family. So at this point we discover that of the four people mentioned in verse 2, Ruth 1, 2, She is the only one left. And that means that she is our first principal character of the book. And she is going to be the one through whom the plot is carried. Okay? Alright. So, that's an introduction to the Book of Ruth. Next week we will look at Act 1. It has two scenes. Scene 1 and 2. And we'll work through that. And we'll just develop. And it's supposed to be a lot of fun. And it's also supposed to reveal some fantastic truth, and I hope you already kind of see that truth in the royal motif that is developing, even in the first few verses. Okay? All right. Thanks for bearing with all that. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, that you have given this book, that you gave, ultimately, a situation of despair in Israel, in a time when you decided to take a situation that looked dire, and turn it into one that had great hope. To marvel at your hand in history as how you worked all these things. To see the providence of God as you worked through these people's lives in a hidden secret way. That providential pattern of your work to bring about something that seemed to be basically created almost out of nothing. and to bring about a great work in history and to know that we are connected with this great work, to marvel at your hand and to be appreciative for the way that you guide history and work in these people's lives. So teach us lessons as we move throughout. May we be humble and appreciative of the way you work in our own lives. Remember that sometimes our lives seem hopeless and in despair and yet You are working all things together for good, for those who love you who have been called according to your purpose. And to trust these great images and pictures in scripture where you demonstrate that you work all things together for good. And that's true of our lives too. And we ask this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.