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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/jim-beattie/men-in-the-book-of-ruth/
Let's read together in the book of Ruth chapter 1. I saw Brother Crawford earlier this week, spent time with him, and I had a question that I wanted to ask and I thought if anyone will know the answer to it likely he will.
And talked to Bob and Doreen Buck ahead of time, and they said it may not be that he'll be up to it. I asked him the question and without hesitation he instantly answered and then went on to give me a little exposition on it, and I want to tell you it was a joy to be with him.
He prayed with me before I left and he took me up to heaven. It's not always well, we know that, but I thank God for that opportunity to be with him for the afternoon earlier this week. It was a wonderful time with him, enjoying the sweetness of his spirit.
A very gentle man. I've said to my wife, I hope when I get older, which I'm not yet, I don't think, that I don't turn into a cranky old man. Because some do, and I don't want to be one of those, but if I could be like Brother Crawford, I would be quite content.
So gentle, so kind, it was just wonderful to be with him. Ruth chapter 1 and verse 1,. 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 and his two sons.
And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Malon and Killian, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. And they came into the country of Moab and continued there, and Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died and she was left and her two sons.
Now they took wives, dwelt there about ten years, verse 4 tells us, verse 5, Malon and Killian died also, both of them, and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.
Now Naomi encourages the daughters-in-law to go back to their own land, and of course we know that Ruth did not do that, but in verse 14, they lifted up their voice and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth claimed unto her.
Let's go down the chapter a little bit further, down to the little speech, you might call it, in verse 17, the end of it, where Ruth says, Where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
I want to read further, but I just want to draw your attention to something in our King James Bible, likely many know this, but just to remind you that where you have the word Lord or God, and it is all capitals in the Old Testament, it is the word Jehovah.
Where you have the word Lord or God, where it's just the first letter capitalized, it will be another variation of one of the terms for God, but where the letters are all capitalized, as they are here, it is Jehovah, and that would teach me that Ruth had been taught something of the true God by Naomi when she was with her in the land of Moab, because she uses that term clearly as a relationship that she understands between her and God in some way or other.
Now, let's go over to chapter 2, and I'd love to read more, but it just, the whole book is so full of wonderful things that you just have to make a decision. In chapter 2, Ruth goes out to glean in the field because they need to eat, and later on she comes back, and in verse 19 of chapter 2, her mother-in-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today?
And where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her, Daughter-in-law, blessed be he of the Lord who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.
And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. Now, chapter 3, Naomi says that she wants to seek rest for Ruth in a relationship with Boaz, and so she sends Ruth down to the threshing floor where Boaz would be, and at verse 6, she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her.
And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn. And she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. It came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself, and behold, a woman lay at his feet.
And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid, spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest not young men, whether poor or rich.
And now, my daughter, fear not, I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman, howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.
Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well, let him do the kinsman's part. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth lie down until the morning.
Chapter 4 and verse 1. Then went Boaz to the gate, and sat him down there, and behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by, unto whom he said, Ho, such-and-one, turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down, and he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here, and they sat down.
And then he goes on to explain the necessity of a kinsman, a person who was a relative who would raise up the name of the dead upon the widow. And in verse 6, the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance.
Redeem thou my right to thyself, for I cannot redeem it. Verse 9, and Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people, Your witness is this day, that I have bought all that was Alimelech's, and all that was Killian's, and Melon's, of the hand of Naomi, moreover Ruth the Moabite, as the wife of Melon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of this place ye are witnesses this day.
Verse 13, so Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife, and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son, and the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
I often think of the beginning of a conference that we need our hearts stirred and prepared for ministry that will follow. That we need to really ask ourselves, Why are we here? What do we expect? What is the outcome going to be?
Will it make any difference that I am here at this conference this weekend? Now we can go through the weekend, have a good time, enjoy the Word, enjoy the Christians, and here at Stout you also enjoy the meals.
You can enjoy all that, and the tragedy is that we can go home the same way we came. I don't want to be hard on Orpah. I sometimes have, many times I've hoped that she came back again, because when you come to chapter 4, you find out what we read, that there was a price that was paid, but not only for Ruth and Elimelech's wife, Naomi, but the price was paid for Orpah too.
We don't believe in a limited atonement. The price was paid for all, even for the person in the far country. Wonderful, and I always hope she came back, but here she is in chapter 1, and she kisses her mother-in-law, she shows affection, she had walked part of the way, and then she goes back the way she came.
Are we going to leave this conference and just go back the way we came? I ask myself that. I am NOT here just to speak. I'm here to listen, to learn, to grow, just like everybody else, and the question is, will I leave this conference?
And while we will sing the hymns, and I'll sing the hymns, and we will, our hearts will go out to the Lord, and we'll show affection, it's still possible to do all that and go back the same way. And if this conference, in some way, does not change every one of us in our own personal experience, that is the greatest tragedy that can ever take place.
May the Lord help us as we start out this Saturday morning to say, by the grace of God, I will not be the same as when I came. Where was the problem that caused this difficulty that Alimelech left? You said, well, you say, well, there was a famine in the land.
That's true. There was a famine. Did they need to leave? The famine will test us, but there is no need for it to cause us to be turned aside. See, there was plenty for them in the land. Now, you likely know that the book of Judges and Ruth connected together are not necessarily in chronological order.
Some suggest, and it's likely, that the book of Ruth, the experience of Ruth, was actually around the time of Gideon. That's a possibility, but they have been put together by the Spirit of God to give us this beautiful trilogy that we have in chapters 17 and Judges, chapters 19, and then this book, and then over to 1 Samuel, chapter 17, because you have four stories that are never repeated again where the term Bethlehem Judah is used.
The only place in our Bible where the term Bethlehem Judah is used, that expression found four different narratives, and chapter 17, chapter 19, the book of Ruth, and 1 Samuel 17, in the life of David, in every case, and I can't get sidetracked, but in every case, a person is leaving Bethlehem Judah.
The first man is leaving Bethlehem Judah to become a false priest to do the work of the devil. The second man, chapter 19, leaves Bethlehem Judah for the work of the flesh. The book of Ruth, a man leaves Bethlehem Judah for another world, and so on those three, you have the devil, the flesh, and the world.
But when you come to chapter 17 of 1 Samuel, you have David, and he leaves the father's house to do the father's will, to go into the valley to fight the battle. Beautiful picture of our blessed Lord.
And so the stories are put together in that way to give us this beautiful panorama of the Lord Jesus in 1 Samuel, chapter 17 in the expression, in the illustration of David. But in chapter 1, all the men die.
So in chapter 1, there is no man. Chapter 2, Naomi says, concerning Boaz, he's one of our near kinsmen. He's one of a number. In chapter 3, Boaz is now one of two, and in chapter 4, he's the only one.
And brothers and sisters, when we come to this conference, if we do not leave with the Lord Jesus being the only one for us, and I'm speaking to believers, there will be no new birth. Chapter 4, you have a birth because there's only one man.
Chapter 1, there are no men, and there's misery and complaining and fault-finding and bitterness. The hand of the Lord is against me. Little did Naomi know that in coming back, the greatest blessing that she could ever have was just lying ahead of her.
Her daughter-in-law becomes an ancestor to our blessed Lord. Wonderful. And brothers and sisters, sometimes when things look the darkest, God is at work, and things will turn out just fine. It's amazing, the tender heart of our God.
But in chapter 1, no man. Chapter 2, one of a number. Chapter 3, one of two. And chapter 4, just one. You ever noticed in your New Testament, there's a man and his name is Quartus, number four. There's a man whose church is number three.
There's a man who's Secundus, number two. But there's no man in our New Testament called either the Latin Primus or the Greek Protos, because there's only one person who's number one in all things. He shall have the preeminence.
Wonder where the Lord is in my heart today. Is he number one? I hope when the conference is over, we will not only sing and believe, but go out with the determination that love so amazing, so divine, demands my heart, my life, my all.
We live in a world that it is so easily to be distracted. We have more inventions, and by the way, I use them too. But you go around seeing people, and you wonder if they've got back problems, because everybody's walking along like this anymore.
And all they're doing is, instead of talking to people and enjoying people's company, they're texting. I saw people, and they looked like they were texting to one another at a restaurant. Maybe they weren't on speaking terms.
I don't know, but it's just, we live in a world where there is so much to attract that it is a pile of work to keep your eye on the Lord. It really is. But until that happens, it will be tragedy. There was a problem in chapter 1 that really is explained in chapter 2.
Why did they leave? You say, well, there was a famine, and they left. Were there no supplies in the land of Israel, in the city of Bethlehem? Yes, there were. Look with me again at chapter 2. Notice verse 20, and Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord, notice what it says, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.
Boaz had helped them in the past, and you can see by reading the book that he was still willing to help them. There isn't a single word of criticism from the lips of Boaz to either Ruth or Naomi. Nothing.
Here he is, and actually because of the kindness of Ruth to Naomi, he says, it's been fully, I've heard, I know the whole story. You're a wonderful person, and he is glad that Naomi has been blessed by her daughter-in-law.
There's no criticism. And so here's a man who had helped them in the past, and he was willing to help again, and he would have helped if they had stayed. But because Naomi and the others left, what happens?
She says, the Almighty has afflicted me. The Lord's hand is against me. Call me bitter. Don't call me my pleasant one anymore. The Lord hath brought me back empty. Everything is blaming God, and she blames God.
Why? Because she had lost sight of Boaz. If you and I lose sight of the Lord Jesus, everything will look bleak. Brothers and sisters, above everything else, the purpose of this weekend is to bring our hearts back to him.
That's the purpose. That's why we're here, to enjoy him and to fall in love again with the Lord Jesus Christ. But it will not be enough, and I see it, I have to say in many Christians, that they do have an interest in the Lord, but it's one of a number of things that they're interested in.
And other believers, it's only one other thing that takes their attention, like chapter 3 in the book of Ruth, one of two. Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm very interested in the things of the Lord. Brethren, there is no joy, real joy, deep joy, until he is the only one.
I know that the new birth is about salvation, but it wouldn't be harmful if we look at it that every one of us this weekend need a new birth, a new start, a fresh start. Maybe there's someone that you've come here and I've seen it at conferences, this is your last shot.
If it doesn't go well this weekend, you won't be here. In fact, brings to mind used to be when I got letters from people that I almost never heard from, that I answered the letter, you know, the typical generic letter about what you're doing, and how things are going, and that kind of thing.
One time I got a letter from a person I'd never heard from before, and later on I went to the assembly, hardly knew the person, knew them enough, but hardly, and I asked about this sister, and they said, oh, she left the assembly.
I said, when did she leave? And they told me it was right after she had written to me. And I thought, that letter was a cry for help, and I missed it. She wanted to hear from me. She wanted me to tell her not to do what she was thinking of doing.
She said, well, how were you supposed to know? Well, I don't know, but the Lord could have shown me. About three years later, maybe longer, I was visiting another assembly in the same area, and I'm greeting the people after the meeting, and that sister walked by, and I said, good to see you.
Are you an assembly fellowship? She said, yeah, here, this other assembly. I said, can I have coffee with you? She said, yeah, you can. We met at McDonald's. I said, I want to ask you something. Remember when you wrote me that letter?
She said, yeah. I said, were you looking for help? She said, I was. I said, I'm sorry. I missed it. I'm glad you're back. I said, I will never miss it again. Maybe there's someone here, and you're not sure what you're thinking.
Brethren, sisters, get your eye on Him. That'll make the difference. You say, well, the Christians. Yeah, but remember, you're one too, and I believe I give as many hurts as I get. We don't intend to hurt one another.
No one gets up Sunday morning before the breaking of bread and gets down and prays and said, Lord, how can I hurt somebody today? They don't do that. But we're human. But don't let your eye so much get on the circumstances that you miss Him because Elimelech and Naomi lost sight of Him.
And that's why they strayed. And in chapter 2, when the word Boaz comes up, what happens? The heart begins to beat for Him again. Chapter 3, Ruth actually takes action. Says, I want you to go down, Naomi, I want you to go down to the threshing floor.
In chapter 4, she says nothing, but she's got a baby in her arms and everything is so bright and so happy. When we begin to get our eye back on the Lord Jesus, that's what makes the difference. And above all else, I want to spend the rest of my days, however short or long they are, thinking more about Him and enjoying Him because He is our life.
May the Lord help us during this weekend to get such an appreciation of the Lord Jesus that we will go back home a different way.