The Book of Ruth Interim Pastor John Kane

Opening Prayer, Scripture Reading, and Worship

Now it's good to hear everyone. Having a little conversation with each other because in this time and day we're missing all that are we not.

So I.

Think some of you might have known by now, but we let you know that Harold's mom passed away. I believe Thursday. You want to be in prayer for he and his family as all the family? Gather probably have a house full off and on so need to be in prayer for Harold and dead as they Work their way through this week and taking care of all the things that need to be taken care of.

So I'll pull them in prayer as you think about them. We want to welcome everyone here today. Good to see all of you again and.

Let's open with the word of prayer our Heavenly Father and our God will come before your throne.

This morning and we thank you that we can meet together and Hear a word from you and to sing praises to you. Pray that you would be with each individual that has come today that you might Have a blessing for each one.

And they can say when they went out Today they it's been good to be in the house of the Lord. And we'll thank you for that. Be with pastor John as he brings your word today. We uphold him your Holy Spirit give him liberty to say the things that you've laid on his heart.

And we would thank you for that. We do pray for Harold and his family and the loss of his mother. Pray that you would give them the strength that they need to Accomplish all the things that they need to this coming week and we would thank you for that.

And we pray this in Jesus name Amen. If you will stand with me we'll sing our firm a foundation.

Praise the Father praise the Son we turn to the book of Ruth chapter 1 verses 1 through 16. Ruth 1 1 through 16. 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 sojourn in the country of Moab.

He and his wife his two sons. In the name of the man was a limanek in the name of his wife Naomi In the name of his two sons Malone and Shalom Ephraites of Bethlehem Judah and they came into the country of Moab and continued there in a limanek.

Naomi's husband died. And she was left and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah in the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there about ten years and Malone and Shalom died.

Also, both of them and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Then she rose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab. For she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people and giving them bread.

Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was and her two daughters-in-law with her and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah and Naomi said unto 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. The Lord grant you that you may find Rest each of you in the house of her husband and she kissed them and they lifted up their voice and wept.

And they said unto her surely We will return with thee unto thy people and Naomi said turn again. My daughters, why will ye go with me? Are there yet? Anymore of sons in my womb that they may be your husbands.

Turn again my daughters. Go your way. Or I am too old to have it and husband if I should say. I have hope if I should have a husband Also tonight and should also bear sons. Would ye tarry for them till they were grown?

Would he stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters for they grieve with me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me and they lifted up their voice and Wept again and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her and She said behold the sister-in-law is gone back unto her people and unto her gods return thou after thy sister-in-law and Ruth said entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee.

For whither thou goest I will go and where thou largest I will lodge. My people shall be my people and I God my God. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his Holy Word. Well, praise the Lord.

We want to.

Go to the Lord in prayer at this time. Before we do that though. Is there anybody that has a need. We know that we're praying for Harold and his family. Very challenging two weeks of his life. Well, let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Father.

How thankful we are? To you God for this precious precious gift of meeting together to worship. We know God that everything every good and perfect gift comes down from you. You're the father of lights James 1 says.

And there's no shadow or turning God. We live in a day father where every politician We just wonder what's coming next God we look for a day look back to a day when At least there was some measure of integrity and government God some care for the people and the days in which we live God anything but Lord we do.

Pray for Kim and her need, you know the challenge God. When you need caregivers God it's so Vital to her and Kevin and David's emotional and mental well-being God and we pray for that. We ask God that you would intercede and and be involved in that God.

You think of my own father-in-law and just The blessing that comes to our family Knowing that he's in a home where people care for him and watch over him God. So we only can imagine when you have such needs as Kim and Kevin and David and others God we are asking so much for your care in that situation and We think of Carolyn God with her laser surgery coming up Elmer Open heart surgery God.

We pray for these needs father in our church and in our families God and think of Harold and and just there's so many details that Not many of us know about maybe his family knows even more God that that he would work so hard to have her moved and then literally Within less than a day you call her home.

So God, thank you for your comfort. Only you can comfort. We think of the psalm that says as I approach the hills of Jerusalem. Where does my help come from. Our help only can come from you God? It's not going to come from a new president God or a re-election.

The hope for the United States of America God. For the hope for Israel the hope for any country the hope for every man woman boy or girl born since the fall is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Abraham was not Justified by his works by his obedience.

He was justified by faith God we as a church not just faith Bible Church, but across this country. We confess to you how sinful.

We have been.

We have left our first love. When you look father God at the church in America the condemnation of the church at Ephesus that they had left their first love is the Testimony of many of the churches in the United States today God.

We are guilty as Believers across this land of neither being hot nor cold God.

Being lukewarm and.

Despite the warnings to the churches in the book of Revelation God here. We sit as the church in America God. Not sharing the gospel not evangelizing the lost not praying for the lost God and in so many respects father our country is reaping what it's sown and.

We're sorry God, you know how.

Hard it can be God when we have a job. When we have family when we have cars to wash houses to clean. To think about doing more for you.

It's beyond us God. We're to be salt. We're to be light. I.

Thank you God so much for the recent decision in Michigan. All the way to the Supreme Court of the state of Michigan God. Where they ruled in favor of the people that were saying. The authority that the governor took the emergency powers.

He took our.

Unconstitutional.

Opening the way for that state to begin to return to normal. I Pray for the lawsuit against Gavin Newsom and our state legislature God that you might Prevail that they might prevail God that your will would be done God.

I think if all the churches that have won and lost lawsuits God praying that they could meet like we're meeting God.

I.

Thank you for that. And like like Victor said, you know We didn't want to start to worship because we are so glad to see one another. Pray God for your will for faith Bible Church for Victor and Harold and for this church.

That's going to be voting very soon On the 18th God about a future chapter in the life of this church. So we pray for your will to be done and all these things. God Pray for the glory of God to be first and foremost on people's mind on our minds as a church family.

God that Christ would be exalted the gospel would go forth and give you praise honor and glory for this in Jesus name Amen.

Our next song is I stand in awe. And I was thinking this week I was watching universe these programs about how the universe and you see all these things spread out and they talked about The fact that these people just took a picture and it has to be so many million miles away.

Mm-hmm. And then I heard the verse that the Lord laid out the heavens. And I said boy. When you think about that, I do stand in awe of my Lord. So stand with me as we praise our Lord.

Great. Thou art certainly follows. I stand in awe of you. So the book of Ruth and.

Many of you know the book of James the theme or the the main point of James. Faith without works is what dead, right? Faith without works is dead. In fact I actually heard an entire sermon series or part of a sermon series on the book of James and they said James is more faith in action faith in action.

And that's really the message of the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth is a Story it is a chronology. It is a history of faith in.

Action.

The Bible as God's Revelation and the Place of Ruth in Redemptive History

All right, let's pray God. I thank you so much for this time. Thank you for.

What.

The preaching of the Word of God does for us. It's not the preacher. It's the Holy Spirit of God. It's it's the holy inspired Word of God that is authoritative and sufficient. Man does not live by bread alone.

But by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God not out of the worth of out of the mouth of a preacher. God is only effectiveness of this Message and these times around your word like this is when you empower it and when you Planted in our heart that it produces fruit.

So we commit the message now to you praying for your glory your honor the exaltation of Christ in Jesus name. Amen, I think when you think about the Bible, it's it's always important to keep in mind That the Bible is not just another book.

It is not just another book. The Bible the Holy Scripture is God's revelation of himself to mankind the Bible is the revelation is the uncovering of himself to Man, and it was written with a purpose. It is God's message to mankind.

It is inspired. It's it's authoritative. It's it's sufficient. It doesn't matter what's going on in a person's life. Even what's going on in the United States of America at this time? The Bible is authoritative and sufficient.

Nothing that's going on right now. Should surprise anyone that is a Christian because the Bible tells us this is exactly exactly what's going on in our country is Exactly what God said would go on. If you know your Bible at all, you know, that's true.

So the Bible is it's complete it's authoritative. It's God revealing himself to man. It's closed. The Bible tells us multiple times that that this is the complete canon of Scripture that the complete when you see a Book like the book of Thomas the gospel according to Thomas it does not fit the book of Mormon.

It does not fit when you look at these things through the lens of this book that we call our Bible the 66 books 39 in the old 27 in the new we understand that when we look at any of these writings any writings of Hinduism Buddhism any of that and we put it through the filter of this book.

It does not Stand the test the the litmus test comes back negative and We have arrived in our study of the Old Testament at one of the most beautiful books in the Bible. There's only two books in the Bible named after a woman one is the book of Esther and That is an amazing book because God is not even mentioned.

Did you know that trivia trivia question? We're on Jeopardy. Final answer figure out how much you're gonna bet the only book of the Bible where God is not mentioned even one is the book of Esther who was Jewish and now we have the book of Ruth and This is the kind of stuff when you know scripture that blows your mind.

Because the book of Ruth is not about a Jewish birth Old Testament is about who? Israel right Old Covenant people New Testament what New Covenant, right? So we now have a book in the Old Testament in the history of God's chosen people under the Old Covenant Israel.

About a Gentile.

What does that tell us. Come on think about this. The Gospels for everybody even in the Old Testament. You just got to look. You got to look for it, but it's for everybody it's good news for everybody.

So we have a pagan Gentile Moabite of all people my word if I had the time to tell you about how bad the Moabites are or were and Here she is a woman who has a leading role in God's Word. Now if you look in your notes just to remind you.

There's two if you think about the Bible. Summarizing it into one sentence. The message of the Bible is God's wonderful plan of salvation. That's true. You go to coffee with somebody tomorrow. What's the Bible all about?

It's God's wonderful plan of salvation. Then you can open up into a gospel conversation. What does salvation mean? So on and so forth. I Prefer this one. The the message of the Bible is a revelation of God's plan and purpose for the universe.

I Teach science eighth grade science. I'm teaching on the Adam this week. I Can't even believe how fast I mean.

It's it's.

Unbelievable how much they say they know about the atom and they know nothing about the atom. Well, there's a neutron a proton electrons and they draw them. Yeah, you ever see a drawing of an atom. There are these electrons going around right?

Well, guess what? They don't go like that. That's an orbit a satellite around the earth. You you know how it's going. The electrons are orbital. That's what site they say. Well we think this is what they're doing we think because they're going so fast.

They can't even measure it and then they have this big thing in in Switzerland called the lard the the Lang Haldron cauldron. I can't always can't say it. It's Swiss LCH. Where they take the particles of because because right if you can break something down.

To the to the size of an electron and a proton and a neutron, right? It makes some sense that maybe there's something smaller than an electron neutron and a proton, right? So they smash protons together in this thing get them up to as fast as you can get in a vacuum tube on the planet Earth because.

They would go faster in space because there's nothing to hit it, right? So anyway, it's amazing.

Both these.

Summaries of the Bible are good. Okay. There's more than one way to cut up an apple pie, isn't there? So there's more than one way to express the message of the Bible.

By the way.

Just as a sidebar another another free not the atom this time. Are you worried about climate change and global warming? Let me just put your fears at ease, right? I Don't know if you you know, we don't not have to worry about the oceans rising and everything flooding.

Do we? Because what did God say in Genesis chapter 6? He's never going to destroy the earth by flood again, right? What do we have to worry about fire and brimstone from heaven like Sodom and Gomorrah?

Okay.

Second Peter chapter 3 tells us the world's going to be destroyed by fire. It's going to be so hot the elements are going to be burnt up. We're never going to know anything like it and then a new heaven and a new earth.

Amen. So don't worry about climate change. They used to be global warming. Now, it's climate change. Okay, don't worry about it. So the book of Ruth. Where does it fit into? God's revelation and plan and purpose for the universe.

Where does it fit in? Why did God? include this book with his revelation to mankind. Now it's only four chapters. So I want to challenge you this week. I hope you'll accept this challenge. Read the book of Ruth this week.

I'm introducing it to you. I'm giving you the overview but read it you'll connect a lot of dots of what I'm going to say today. Okay? The beautiful this book is so beautiful that the poet key it.

Keats.

Alluded it alluded to it in his poem ode to a nightingale a Well-known preacher in the 1800s took the book of Ruth took his Bible. Printed out the pages of the book of Ruth and read it to a literary club.

That he belonged to in the city of London. They were so enthralled with this book and said it has to be one of the most beautiful stories they've ever heard or read. Until they found out it was from the Bible which they despised.

How about that? That's how beautiful the book of Ruth is. Okay, there's two main characters Boaz and Ruth. The author is unknown. Although most traditions attribute it to Samuel and as Dave so Fitly read with such short notice.

He was driving here. You're reading. Okay. Thank you for that. It took place during the time of the judges, right? So it overlaps with the book we studied last week. The main Storyline of the book of Ruth is a love story a beautiful love story and Probably the best way to distill down the message of the book is That Ruth is a story of faith in action.

Like I said the book of James faith without works is dead meaning not real. True saving faith is faith in action. See true saving faith was demonstrated by Abraham right when he obeyed God and took his son Isaac up onto the Mount, right?

True saving faith was demonstrated by Rahab the prostitute remember in the book of Joshua, right? We've heard about your people. We've heard about the God of Israel. We're all afraid and then by faith.

What did she do? She hid the spies. True faith was demonstrated by Gideon. We didn't even have time last week because we were flying through it. But Gideon and Samson. Gideon to go after the Moabites with that few men.

God kept saying no. No fewer fewer because the moment that you you destroy the mini and Moabites with so many or Midianites with so many people. You're gonna take credit and I get all the credit. God gets all the credit.

Rahab. Ruth a Gentile pagan woman turns from her many little gods to the one true God of Israel. The book of Ruth shows us Demonstrates faith in action. It shows saving faith in action. It shows decisions that faith requires.

It shows the work of faith in people's lives as they trust God. It shows an appeal that is based on faith. It shows the rewards of faith in action. This book is literally just four chapters. Dripping with kingdom living truths that can help us in this day.

If there's one thing we need today is.

Faith.

Not be afraid of what's gonna happen in November because we trust God, right? The attributes of God His omniscience his his loving care his interest over all all aspects of his people's lives flow out of these verses.

Insight into his direction and and and guidance and goodness and kindness. All kinds of observations about the kindness of God towards people who are seeking to honor him. How how God works through the circumstances of life.

Listen both in life and death. God is at work. It shows us how we can trust God. It shows us how God is at work in both good and bad circumstances. Even if we don't think he is. So at the molecular level since this is why I brought up Adams at the molecular level at its core.

The DNA of Ruth is a story and an account a record of faith in action. So if you have your notes, how does this beautiful book paint this? Masterpiece work of faith in action. First of all by depicting the decision of faith.

The Decision of Faith in Ruth's Return to Israel

The first aspect of faith that is encountered in Ruth is Depicted and can be seen in her decision of faith now. When you trace the doctrine of faith if you take, you know, you can go online now. But in my day you had a strong's concordance.

How many have ever heard of a strong's concordance. Right with the joke used to be you had to be strong. It was called strong because you carried then there was one called young's that was the other one and it was a little one.

And you could be young and carry young so you carried your strong's and you're young, right? Now you just go online and type it in. But if you trace the word faith and the doctrine of faith, you'll find that it almost always requires a decision a.

Decision.

Trusting God. Okay, and her decision Ruth's decision was to leave her home where everything that she ever knew Was and leave Moab and go to Israel Where her mother-in-law is from verse 1. Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that's the historical setting the chronology that there was 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.

So he leaves Israel crosses over to Moab. The name of the man was a limelight. The name of his wife was Naomi. The name of his two sons was Mahalon and Chilean Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. So what are they?

Let's get the context. They're Jewish people. They're Israelites and They went to the country of Moab and remained there in the Great Depression. Many many people left the cities and moved west remember that for those of you that are old enough They left in order to what eat and survive.

So this is a very common thing that people do. Then a limelight Naomi's husband died and she was left and her two sons. Now these two sons took wives of the mo of the Moabites. They shouldn't have done that by the way, right?

Because he says don't intermarry. The name of one was or fa or pa and the name of the other Ruth. So here's these two Moabite women and they dwelt there about ten years. Then her two sons died. So the woman Survived her two sons and her husband now and All knowing and all loving God is at work time and time again in the story of Ruth complete in control of the circumstances of an events and he's leading Ruth to a strategic point these Circumstances are leading Ruth to a strategic point where she will make the most Important decision of her life remain in Moab or Go back with her mother-in-law Naomi and live in Israel go to the promised land with her mother-in-law trusting the God of Israel.

So one of the key experiences that that moves Moab Ruth Towards this strategic decision of faith is the dejection that she experiences in Moab. This is the scene of the book this is why Dave read the first 16 verses because this sets the scene and Helps us to see this shift between moods of hope and despair, you know.

Oh, they get remarried right they get and then they die, right? She loses her husband. Naomi loses her husband. He died. I mean you got this shift back and forth right as soon as a limo like moves to Moab in order to survive he dies.

So the people involved are experiencing this double-edged sword hope in the form of hey, there's food over in Moab. We don't have any food we're gonna starve to death right and then despair in the form of death and then hope blossoms again with the marriage of his two Sons and then that hope is dashed again and despair sits in again as both of his daughter's husbands then die so dejection and gloom.

Loss and sadness that's the setting. Naomi buries her husband. Then he then she buries her two sons and where does she bury them in Moab? Where these pagans live come on talk about a traumatic event. The opening verses set the background we get the characters.

We get this mood of despondency and dejection and we also see how this true loving sovereign God who brought Ruth. Right who was a Gentile person outside of the covenant people of God. To become the heroine heroine of the story like Rahab before her.

She had to make a strategic decision of faith so these opening verses show us how God uses these circumstances to bring this woman to this to this place and In this center the laser center of his will.

And plan for human history because it doesn't stop there, right? See her loss created a need and That loss prepared her for her decision of faith. Now think about your own lives for a moment. What happened in your life?

That made you thinking about God for the first time. I mean, I know what happened to me. I Was living the dream for a 21 year old man traveling all over the country with an expense account at 21 years of age making a lot of money a Credit card.

I could fly anywhere in the United States another one. I could rent a car anywhere in the United States and my life miserable at 21. So there's this famine people die. You have an older woman a younger widow stricken with poverty and.

And now they face this difficult journey back To Israel, it's a difficult journey through rugged and mountainous terrain. I wish I could show you the topography. Okay, but when we talk about their decision to go back to Israel right where there was a famine.

Remember that? So you're going back to the bad news. From the Gentile place where there's food to home where people are starving to death and We're not talking about walking from here over to Chipotle on Folsom Boulevard.

Okay, we're talking about Moab is about 3 ,000 feet above sea level. When you go from Moab Back over to Israel to Bethlehem. You go through some mountains that could be as high as 4 ,000 feet. You go down towards the Dead Sea which is 1 ,400 feet below sea level.

So whenever you if you have ever done any kind of hiking and you know anything about hiking. What you always look for is how much elevation is involved because it's one thing to hike, you know on level ground.

It's another thing to hike when you have to go up a thousand feet or 15. And why is it that the hikes always start downhill and then you walk back uphill? See I always try to get them to where we can start uphill and come back downhill.

I Love to hike. Me and my daughters took one day up up and up by by Colfax. And it was so funny because as we're walking back up out of the American River Valley one of my daughters said Couldn't we have started down there?

And done this first instead of last.

So this is it's it's it's.

Bethlehem is 2 ,600 feet above sea level. So they're gonna go up and they're gonna go down and then they're gonna go back up. It's 90 miles from here to Lake Tahoe about. So think about this kind of trip for two women one very old and You have this picture of gloom.

Look at verse 19 now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem and It happened when they had come to Bethlehem that all the city was excited because of them and the woman said is this Naomi? But she said don't call me Naomi.

Call me Mara for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full and The Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi. Since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me.

And now we have this backdrop of Gloom this is how can you imagine walking from Moab back to Bethlehem with the lady who's feeling like this? Who's gone through this much loss? On a walk like that and Ruth says to her in verse 16.

Well verse 15 Naomi's telling go back to your people go go back. Ruth says and treat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you forever. You go I will go 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. Do you understand what we just read?

The very verses that we just read set the course of human history. They impact us in so many ways. Ruth decision Continued God's prescribed genealogy of Jesus Christ. Read Matthew chapter 1 sometime. Ruth is in the line of David who is in the line of who Jesus Christ?

Her decision demonstrates many aspects of saving faith. But and there's no in-between. Ruth tells Naomi that her God will be that Naomi's God will be her God under the penalty of death. So we can see this theme virtually in every book of the Bible we've studied so far so often.

Listen, this is for us. It's all or nothing with God. We are to put our hand to the plow and not look back. Right. We are to take up our cross daily. We are to love God with all of our heart all of our soul all of our mind all of our strength.

There's no wiggle room with God. True saving faith requires complete obedience. It requires complete separation from sin. She's leaving the Gentile pagan idolatrous home, that's all she ever knew and.

This kind of commitment of true saving faith is personified personified in the life of Ruth. So this beautiful love story. We see the decision of faith number two. We see the work of faith. We see the work of faith.

The Work of Faith: God Guides, Protects, and Provides for Ruth

That's all of chapter 2. Once Ruth steps out in faith. Once she decides to turn from a pagan life and the gods of the Moabites to faith in the God of Israel. Like anyone else that steps out in faith. Her faith begins to flesh out her faith begins to work out in her life.

And the first way that we see this.

Is how.

God.

Guides her look at chapter 2. By the way, they returned at the beginning of the barley harvest see verse 22. Okay. Now there was a relative of Naomi's husband a man of great wealth of the family of Elimelech.

His name was Boaz. So Ruth the Moabites said to Naomi, please let me go to the field and Glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor. And she said to her go my daughter. Then she left and went and gleaned in the field after the Reapers and She happened to come to the part of the field.

Belonging to Moab who was of the family of Elimelech now behold Boaz came from Bethlehem and Said to the Reapers the Lord be with you. Now the word behold calls our attention to a chain of circumstances and directs us to the activity of a sovereign and faithful loving God that is work behind of all the fields that she could have gone to.

Whose field did she go to of all the days that she could have gone there? Who shows up?

Her.

Relative. Boaz. I'm sorry Naomi's relative. This book is a record of the testimony of God is all-knowing activity and direction in Ruth's life. Ruth just happens to go out to Boaz field to glean. There's many fields in Verse 4.

Boaz just happens to come to that particular field on that particular day. He just happens to notice Ruth who just happens to be in the house. By the way, they had shelters. Look at verse 5 Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the Reapers.

Whose young woman is this? So the servant who was in charge of the Reapers answered said it's a young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi. From the country of mud. Now we have text messaging today, right?

And I I know kids in in myself included there's an app called discord. So like if you're in a class or something you have a discord and all these messages show up. You know like a Twitter feed you can really keep on you know.

If you have a Twitter account on your phone boy, you can know what's going on. Well in those days they didn't need that. Because word-of-mouth traveled like that. You're not talking about big cities like this, right?

So everybody knew about Naomi had come back right. And the these Workers in in Boaz's field knew about who this woman was. Oh, that's Ruth that Gentile pagan. It came back when Naomi and you understand.