I invite you to open your Bibles with me to the book of Ruth, chapter one. Page 222, if you're using the Bibles in the seats. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. So if you're looking in your own Bible, it's right there. We're looking for Christ in the Old Testament through the various books of the Old Testament. This is our eighth book. Ruth is a book that is written in the time of the judges, and we see that in the first verse. We're looking for Christ, looking for progress and promises, looking for types and themes, Old Testament images or people that point to Christ or themes throughout the Bible. And we're considering how God might compare or contrast the way that he works with his people. And before I read Ruth chapter one, I ask the question, what road are you traveling? How would someone tell your story? Ruth is a beautiful story, filled with depths of sorrow and towering heights of joy. It's full of pivot points where the story shifts, a crisis, and then a shift and a solution. As we read chapter one, we get to verse seven. We have three women on the road to somewhere. I'll acknowledge that another pastor has written a series of three sketches on the book of Ruth, and that was the title of one of his sketches. His sketches influenced my thinking about this, but I don't think it's his sermon that I'm preaching. But these three women are on the road to somewhere, and so let's read what God says about them. Hear the word of God. Let me just mention, this is a story, but it's not a make-believe story. It is a true story given by God for us. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Benjamin in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives. The name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about 10 years, and both Malon and Kilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, no, we will return with you to your people. But Naomi said, turn back, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters. Go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter for me for your sake 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, see, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, do not urge me to leave you or return from following you. For where you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people. And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die. And there I will be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also, if anything but death parts me from you." And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, is this Naomi? She said to them, do not call me Naomi, call me Mara. For the Lord, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me? So Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. This is the very Word of God, and having heard from God in His Word, please join me in your hearts as we pray. Our Father in Heaven, would you indeed teach us from your Word this morning, May it be that the words of my mouth and the meditation of our heart together is pleasing in your sight. We ask in the name of Jesus, our Redeemer. Amen. In Matthew 7, Jesus speaks of only two roads. He says, enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction. And there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life and few find it. And I'd like to use those two roads that Christ talked about to summarize this story of Ruth. First, the road to destruction. And I encourage you if you're taking notes on the back that you put an X through on and you say get off the road to destruction. On the road to destruction is a state of being, and yet it's not a state of being that we want to be in. And so it wasn't an error there, but I just encourage you if you're taking notes there to cross off on and write get off the road to destruction. But what is this road to destruction that we see here in Ruth chapter one? Well, the first is self-confidence, and there is an error in the bulletin there. It was my fault. I don't know why there's a U there instead of a C. Just turn it sideways and write confidence, self-confidence. That was the first thing that we see here, self-confidence that led to bad choices. The context, again, remember, this is in the time of the judges. There was no king in Israel, we're told twice in the book of Judges, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Everyone did what they thought was right. And so what we have here is Elimelech, and it seems like Elimelech is saying, I can figure it out. There was a crisis, to be sure. There was a famine. How is he going to provide for his family? Elimelech means my God is king. And yet this one whose name meant my God is king went to the land of the enemies of God and God's people. Moab were the descendants of Lot. The territory of Moab was to the southeast of the Dead Sea, east of the land of promise that had been given to God's people. And the Moabites were enemies of Israel. They were either fighting against Israel or seeking to lead them into sin. And yet Elimelech, it seems, in a self-confident way, I can make a good decision here, thought, they'll have bread. There's no bread in my house, so I'll go there. And it seems, as we read the account, that doing what was right in his own eyes, which led to this move to Moab, led to unbelievable hardship, unbelievable hardship. And those on the road to destruction who stay on the road to destruction will face hardship either in this life or in the life to come. Not all will face it in this life. The psalmist says in Psalm 73, I envied the prosperity of the wicked. He struggled with why is it that they're on the road to destruction and yet their lives aren't full of hardship. and sometimes our lives are. Let me just suggest, as you know people who might be on that road to destruction, look for and listen for hardship because it's often, not always, but it's often in hardship that God softens a heart. It's often in hardship that God makes a person willing to listen for a solution. And you and I have that solution in Jesus Christ. So listen to that, it won't always happen. But often those who either are on the path to destruction or those who I would describe it this way, who are walking on the path to life but get distracted and just step over for a moment onto that road to destruction. Maybe they just want to see if the grass is indeed greener on the other side of the road, and it's not. God's people, when they step onto that road, will face hardship. And even so, we must be careful as we observe God's people facing hardship. It's not up to us to decide if the hardship that they're facing is because of their own sin. When Jesus was confronted with that idea in Luke, questioning whether people who had terrible things happen to them were worse than others, and Jesus said, don't suppose that the Galileans or the Sidonians are worse than others, but you, unless you repent, will be destroyed. The reality is that any who are permanently on that road to destruction, who do not repent, who do not confess Christ and trust his work, will face eternal hardship. But Elimelech and his family faced unbelievable hardship. Not quite the hardship of Job, but in these first five verses, We're rid of 10 years of misery and death. They go to Moab because of famine. And after some amount of time, Elimelech dies. Naomi is left with her two sons, Malon and Kilion, and they take Moabite wives. And I suspect at those weddings, there was some joy and some sorrow. A couple of reasons for sorrow, perhaps, for Naomi. She probably knew the Lord's instruction that an Israelite should not marry a Moabite, and it wasn't a racial thing. It was a spiritual thing. And she also thought probably likely that her sons would stay in Moab, even if she ever went back. They would stay with their wives and their wives' family. We don't know. But after some period of time, Malon and Kilion died. And so you have the widow, Naomi, and her two widowed daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. This unbelievable hardship, often as it did in Naomi, leads to bitterness. Again, not always in this life, but certainly in the life to come. Any who stay on this road to destruction will face unbelievable hardship and a bitterness of soul that will only increase for all of eternity. No one in hell will ever repent, but they will continue to rebel against the God who is just. But Naomi, as it seems, was perhaps for a moment stepping over on this road, faced bitterness. She said to her daughter's-in-law, it's too bitter. There's a bit of a translation difficulty in verse 13, but some English Bibles translate it, my bitterness is too much to share. Don't stay with me, because I have more bitterness than would fill all three of us, and I don't want to share it with you. And then when she does go back, And people said, is that Naomi? Is that my delight? For that's what Naomi means. She said, no, call me Mara, which means bitterness. Call me Mara, for God has dealt bitterly with me. But in her emptiness, in her bitterness, Naomi finds a hint of hope. There's bread again in the house of bread. That's what Bethlehem means. It's the house of bread. And she hears from the fields of Moab that there's bread again in the house of bread. And so with her widowed daughter, she's on the road, in verse seven, and they come to a decision point. Which way will we go? Naomi is going back to Bethlehem. Which way will Orpah and Ruth go? And Naomi, I think overflowing with this bitter grief, says to her daughters-in-law, go back. Return to your false gods. And she says, return to your people and your gods. But Naomi knew that the God of Israel was not the God of Moab. Go back to your people. Go back to your false gods. And there was probably in Naomi's heart, even in her bitterness, a gentleness, a love, an affection for her daughter's-in-law, but she said, I can't give you husbands. If I had a baby right now, you're not gonna wait till he grows up and marry him. You go back, go back. Find rest in your husband's house. In other words, may God grant you another husband and may you find rest in his house. And Orpah goes back. And so Naomi says to Ruth, you go back too. Your sister has gone back. Your sister-in-law has gone back. You go too. Go to your people. Go to your gods. And it makes sense in some ways. It seems like the logical thing for Ruth to do. Stay with your people. Stay where you're comfortable. Stay where you know the ways and even the false gods. But in his grace, God takes Ruth and Naomi on the road to life. On the road to life. And I might encourage you, if you're taking notes in the back of the bulletin, to write, walk on the road to life. Walk on the road to life. Ruth says, I'll not go back. Quit asking me to go back. It's kind of a funny expression. It says, when Naomi realized she was determined, She quit talking to her. I don't think she gave her the cold shoulder. I don't think she never spoke to her again. In fact, we know that she continued to speak to her. I think she merely said, okay, I'm not gonna try to convince you anymore. And so Ruth joins Naomi on the road to life, prompted by God's mercy. It's always prompted by God's mercy that we walk on the road to life. Mercy in God visiting his people to give bread And later, the father of John, the baptizer, before John was born, would speak again of God visiting his people, and though he didn't use these words, giving them true bread from heaven. What Zechariah said, was blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and provided redemption for his people. Mercy in God visiting his people to give them true bread. Mercy and affliction to bring Naomi back. God uses affliction to bring his people back. The psalmist writes, it was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn your statutes. Now if we were to pass around a sign-up sheet and say who'd like to sign up for affliction, I suspect that it would go all the way around and come back empty of signatures. But if we were to pass around a sign-up sheet, and I were to ask how many of you have been brought closer to the Lord through affliction, I suspect it would be full of names. Because it's often a mercy of God to use affliction to bring his people back. It's not always true. Sometimes there can be a hardening in affliction, but God's mercy in affliction often brings his people back. And if you find yourself in affliction, Speak to God and ask God to bring you closer to him. Ask God, having been afflicted, that you would not go astray, but that you would keep his word. This mercy was not a mercy that made everything easy all the time. When Naomi got back to Bethlehem, she said, don't call me Naomi. Don't call me the delightful one. Call me the bitter one. She still struggled with bitterness. And this mercy of God doesn't make everything easy all the time. We get to chapter two and we find that they're struggling to have enough to eat, these two widows. And so they have to be cared for by others. But this mercy that God, by which God prompted Ruth and Naomi to walk on the road of life is a mercy that brings life. It's a mercy that brings life, as God's mercy does. It's interesting in verses eight and nine when Naomi is urging Ruth and Orpah to go back, she says, may the Lord show covenant love. It's hesed or hesed. It's that word that's hard to translate in one English word. It's the faithful, steadfast love of God. May God show you faithful, steadfast love because you have shown it to me and to the dead. to her two sons who had now died. And yet Naomi had to know that Moab was not a place to find the covenant steadfast love of God. this mercy that brings life, this steadfast covenant love that God says is his character. Not just something that he does, not just something that he gives, but something that he is. When God appeared to Moses, he identified himself as the God who gives abounding, faithful love. And this love is found only in God. It's found only through Christ. And this mercy that brought life was a mercy that caused it to be that in a very real, though spiritual sense, Christ met Ruth on the road. Christ met Ruth on the road. You say, well, I didn't read about Christ. But how else would Ruth choose to follow God? She was, after all, like we were, a stranger to the covenants of promise. And yet she makes promises and covenants to follow God. And we know from Jesus' instruction in John chapter 14, no one comes to the Father except through me. And so in a way that the Bible doesn't completely make clear to us, but we have to believe Christ met Ruth on the road. For there's no other way that she would have chosen to follow God. And she makes this promise to Naomi, I will follow you because I will follow your God. In a way that we don't fully understand, she came to follow God through Christ. For no one, Jesus said, comes to the Father except through me. How else would Ruth choose to follow God? How else could Ruth and her children be acceptable to God? We read in Deuteronomy, we looked at Deuteronomy a few weeks ago. Chapter 23, no Ammonite or Moabite may enter the Lord's assembly. None of their descendants, even to the 10th generation, may ever enter the Lord's assembly. Let's see, I tried to do this earlier, and I'm not sure I can get it, but that's a great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandchild. I think that's right, because you got a grandchild and you got a son. Maybe I gave you one too many greats, but it's a lot of greats. For 10 generations, a Moabite cannot be acceptable to God. And yet we read at the end of Ruth chapter four that Ruth was the grandmother to King David. Certainly that was less than 10 generations, her grandson. was Israel's greatest king, whose descendant would be even greater, Christ himself. How else, except that Christ met Ruth on the road, could Ruth and her children be acceptable to God? Because she was changed. Her birthplace was no longer to be considered Moab, But in Zion it shall be said of her, she was born there. As Psalm 87 talks about, enemies of God being named as having been born in Zion, born in Jerusalem, what the New Testament calls born again or born from above. Her birthplace would no longer be considered Moab, and so she would be acceptable to God, as would her grandson David, and her greater grandson Christ himself. How else could Ruth choose to follow God? How else could Ruth and her children be acceptable to God? How else, unless Christ had met Ruth on the road, could Ruth be one from whom the star who was to rise out of Jacob would come? had not Christ, that star, met her on the road. Moab, either fighting against Israel or seeking to lead them into sin. And we read in Numbers 24 that they were seeking to lead them into sin. And Balaam was hired to curse Israel but cursed Moab instead because he could only say what the angel of the Lord commanded him to say. And we read these words in Numbers 24. I see him, but not now. I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the foreheads of Moab. And that star that would rise out of Jacob, of course, is Christ. And Ruth would be the forbearer of Christ in his human existence on this earth. Jesus, in a real spiritual sense, met Ruth on the road. She trusted God, and he credited to her for righteousness. She believed God that she could be redeemed, and God sent her a redeemer. So what road are you on? What road are you traveling? How would someone tell your story? How would God tell your story? Because God often meets people on the road. You think of Jesus' account of the prodigal son. Two sons, one asked his father for inheritance early and went off and squandered it in sinful living. And when that prodigal son went back, his father saw him a long way off on the road. and ran to him and kissed him and received him and embraced him. How could that father have seen that son a long way off on that road except he was watching? And he went to meet that son on the road. Think of Saul of Tarsus. He was on a road. He was walking that road to Damascus to put Christians in jail. If they needed to be killed, he was happy to participate in that as well. He was an enemy of Christ, and yet Christ met him on that road and made an enemy into his friend. And that's what happened to Ruth. For she was a Moabitess, an enemy of the people of God. And yet God, in Christ, made her his friend. And there's more to the story. We didn't read all of the story. Most of you have read the book of Ruth. If you haven't, I might encourage you to do it. It's easy to read in one setting. Because we do get to the they lived happily ever after part of the story. But are you being met by Christ today? Are you, even if you're on the road of life, tempted to put your foot for a moment on that road to destruction? Are you straying into self-confidence? Are you straying into doing what's right in your own eyes? Are you finding that your strain is leading to bitterness? Return to the house of bread. Return to follow God. Renew your resolve that nothing will separate you from God and his people. Walk with Christ on his merciful road of life. Walk with Christ on his merciful road of life. Please join me in prayer that God would make it so. Our Father in heaven, we do pray. I pray that each one who hears your word today would be in fact walking on the road to life. And if any are still on the road to destruction, Christ, would you meet them on the road. And would you turn them from an enemy to a friend? Would you grant them the forgiveness that they would ask for and receive in Jesus Christ? And for those on the road, may we never envy the wicked. May we never think that their life looks easy and we should maybe go their way instead of your way. Thank you, Lord, that you've met us on the road and brought us to Christ. May we continue with him all of our days, we pray in Jesus' name.