Somewhere in the late seventeen hundred Samuel Johnson, a literary giant of England, read to the London Literary Club the story of Ruth and they heralded him as presenter of a fresh new modern short story. They thought it was a literary jewel. A rather shock to know came from the Word of God. You and I are going to be looking at this as the Lord allows and I trust be able to perceive some very immensely practical lessons regarding life in the home. relationships between in-laws and family, and then in a special way be able to see a divine truth illustrated that is illustrated nowhere else in the Word of God but here in this book, and that is a valuable lesson as to the attitude of God in regard to redemption, a kinsman-redeemer. There's some very beautiful lessons to learn from this homie, unsophisticated, simple story that we can read so readily, and I would hope that you might just sometime during the day and the evening time when you have a quiet few moments, spend about fifteen to eighteen minutes and just read through the book of Ruth. You'll find it not only easy and comfortable, but then be able to have the background as we read together. Ruth, chapter one and verse one. 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 a man was Elimelech. And the name of his wife, Naomi. And the name of his two sons, Malam and Killian. Ephraites 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. And they took them wives of the women of Moab The name of the one was Orpha, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. And Malin 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. 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 that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then 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 you go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters. Go your way, for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say I have hope, I should have an husband also tonight, and should also bear sons. Would you tarry for them till they were grown? Would you stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters, it grieveth me much for your sake 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, thy sister-in-law has gone back into her people and unto her God. 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 lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people should be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die. And there will I be buried. The Lord do to me also, or more also, if ought but death part thee in me. When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass that when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi. call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me, Naomi, seeing that the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitis, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. In order to properly appreciate any kind of a story, you and I have to know something of the background. And the background is summarily stated in just that little phrase, it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled. The judges were deliverers. The name for a judge was Shofatim. And here it says, the two strange words to be brought together, and it's done by the Spirit of God, the Shofatim Shafata. The judges were judging. The people that God uniquely raised up to lead the nation were the ones that were guiding and directing and ruling the land. Now that is kind of a passing incident to us, but for the persons at that time and living under those circumstances, It's really some of the background why I feel that I need to address this book and talk to you about things that are upon my heart. You see, today is a day when, very similarly, to when the judges ruled, every man seems to feel free to do that which is right in his own eyes. There is an ethical laxity. There is a moral neglect. Few ever seem to be exercised by spiritual principles. and our nation itself bears the dreadful stain of terrible tension and pressure within the home. And we're going to see that in the most wretched days during the dark ages of the nation of Israel, when they were under the most dreadful circumstances, and there seemed to be a rampant prevalence of rejection of God, God in His supremely perfected greatness, which was drawn to our attention last evening, The Spirit of God is reaching out to touch your heart and cause you to realize during this week that with all the magnitude of our great God, He is interested in the details of your life and your behavior and the intricacies of the give and take within your home. And this is a charming picture here. that we have of a woman that has been obedient and submissive to her husband and left the house of bread, left the place of blessing, left their own inheritance, left loved ones and friends and relatives that were there and have journeyed off into a very poor condition only because they were looking for a little bit better practical condition, a little bit better living circumstances. There was a famine in Jerusalem. Bethlehem was afflicted very harshly, and for whatever reason, Elimelech felt for the welfare of his family he should leave the place of pressure, leave the place of difficulty and trial, and go off somewhere else to escape his problems. And by doing that he took his family with him. Now famine has been used of God a number of times to teach God's people valuable lessons. Our gracious God, who controls all matters, who in his wonderful infinite wisdom and his absolute power, he allowed a famine to befall them. Now, it would be good for us to perceive, I would think, that Boaz, who appears later in the story, he's not been introduced, but the man Boaz was a child of Rahab. And that places the circumstance early in the book of Judges. It would very likely be during the dreadful famine that affected the central part of the nation of Israel during Gideon's time when he was threshing wheat and embattling with the Midianites. During that period of time, I'd like to suggest that Elimelech left and took his sons with him. Likely they were fragile of physical form or had a propensity toward weakness and frailty. Their names are thick one and pining. And the very name suggests. Now, we have a strong affirmation of that because of the history and the language. It was a common name for the time. And very likely, Elimelech, out of his sensible reasoning of his own heart, this is a difficult time the nation is going through. I have to take care of my boys. I just must leave. And he leaves to take care of his sickly sons and journeys into a far land. But it's only going to be for a short period of time. It's only going to be a little digression in my life. I'm just going to sojourn. I'm just going to travel there, the historian says, and come to this spot and just settle down where there's some food and stay just long enough for the boys to get their health and strength, and then we'll come back and I'll obtain my inheritance. It is quite likely to make the trip. He has found himself indebted, and a little bit later in the story, the implication is that he has sold his property, and there are others in the family that have certain kind of legal rights to his property. But the debt is too great. The need is too much, he finds himself in a very serious condition, and it's logical to avoid problems. We all know that. Many women have learned the value in a marriage relationship to encounter problems. Most men have learned that the only way to administrate any kind of an office is to immediately encounter a problem, and when they have done that in their office work, it's so nice to come home and avoid them. And there's hardly a man in a home that doesn't know artistically how to avoid problems. He never encounters them, never meets them face to face if there is a way to hang your head, mumble something, to back away, to change the subject, to find some pressing, oh yes, well I need to, and we find all different kind of ways to do it. We're artists at it, and Limelech was no exception. He found a way to get away from the difficulties and problems of life and take his wife off to a fresh new place. Wouldn't you like to travel, dear? Let's go off somewhere and off they go to travel. But the hand of God, the hand of God that controls all things, And this is the remarkable major lesson. With all the other genealogical facts, with all the historical background, with the dispensational truth that's woven into the book, the masterful lesson of all is a divine insight into the person of God. And His interest and His concern, love is not mentioned in the book, but it's lived out. It is lived out in a remarkable way. Here is a woman. who knows the hand of God in her life. Her husband dies while I still have my children. I'm amongst the Moabites. I'm at a distance. I feel alone. It's been a difficult time. But at least I have my sons. And the sons marry two Moabite girls. That's sad, isn't it? But what can you expect when your sons come of that age and their natural inclinations? And of course, the Moabites are extremely attractive people. They have not only allowed certain things in their lives, and they profess certain values and interests, but because of their religious practices, they indulge and gratify their lust in many different ways that is outside the limit of what God has designed for his people. And as a result, there's a great deal of an appeal to the flesh amongst the ungodly. Maybe it's a good thing that Olimelech didn't live long enough to see his sons married to Moabites. There's many a thing that happens in your family and many a place in a situation that your sons are brought into because of our ill-advisedness. Language, we don't often travel off at a distance, sometimes we bring it right into the home. Commercially, professionally, things we read, things that are visible, language, stories, literature, we wield a tremendous influence on our children. And even if only you and I become exercised of soul in some manner, If only you and I would discipline ourselves with just a touch of concern for the welfare of our children." Poor Limelech, he's gone, and Naomi now has Gentile, unbelieving children in her home, around near her, and she has to wield an influence upon them. Now, if you think it's pitiful, and you should, to be a widow in this day, when there is no care, no concern, no retirement benefits, no IRAs, no social security, no government that cares about you, and nobody in the community is particularly interested in a Jewish woman, she's alone. But then she becomes even more impoverished and so isolated when she is cast entirely upon her own personal relationship with God through this dreadful trial, her sons are left and go off into eternity. And now she is alone. and in her exercises of soul and the burden and cares that she goes through, we read in the latter part of the chapter, she perceived the hand of God in her life. She was deeply aware that God was dealing with her. We don't know what kind of disposition she was in when she left with a limoneck, but we know that she was a woman that was sensitively exercised by God and was aware of the hand of God in her soul. She claims herself to be bitter. You women here at Bethlehem, why don't you dare talk to me about Naomi? My name was once the pleasant one, the bright one, properly so. I never realized how good it was when I was home amongst God's people. Now, I refuse to call this woman and her husband a backslider. The implication is there in the minds of some, but I prefer to think of them as just doing what seems to be the reasonable right thing to care for their family, without the guidance of God. There is no direction of God for this move. Elimelech is going to sojourn. He's made his decisions for his family. I trust, even if you were a woman and raising a family alone, or if you're a man and have family, or if you're anticipating entering into that relationship, or God shall yet in the future bless you with family and children and loved ones, that you will purpose in your mind to exercise your heart before God. and be surrendered in inner disposition. Be amenable, soft, pliable, adaptable. That when you do face the inevitable burdens of life, you will do it with a clear conscience. That you will know that you have yielded and thought to do what was God desired for you. And if the progress is impeded, remember the same God that can open doors is the one that can shut doors. And he will guide us in that very gentle, tender pathway of leading our families. Just be sensitive. And when you are doing that, you are cultivating a shepherd spirit that will be of tremendous value in your later years, when your family has been raised, and you have been experienced through all of these articles of life itself and sometimes even death, then you'll be able to turn and with a broad, rich, gentle, shepherding heart, be an elder in truth. Be an elder in experience. be a father-like shepherd and I don't strain now to find this analogy because in the book of Hebrews chapter twelve five to twelve there is a discourse by the Spirit of God and there the Spirit of God moves the author to say that one of the byproducts of trials and difficulty and in the King James Bible is looking diligently for the needs of others and that's exactly a translation of the Greek words look like a shepherd Be an overseer. Now, he's not talking about elders and overseers in Hebrews twelve, but it's the disposition that trials and burdens bring you through, that you begin to understand the needs of men and women, and then you become a reservoir of blessing because of your experience. It was so important. Round that little family is raging confusion and warfare and estrangement. the lowest ever in the nation's history. But God has a woman with whom he's dealing. God has a woman whom he has touched, who is exercised of soul, who knows inner disciplines and grief and burden, and yet at the same time is living in such a way that her daughter-in-law is drawn to God. There's the key. Do you draw men and women Oh, not in your Bible classes and not in your Sunday school classes. That's not what we see here. And that's not the great arena which we are effective in the lives of others. And if we're ever going to be effective in the life of others, it must be because God is going to speak to me. Bring me through that ringer. And then when the other side, you're able to tenderly and gently extend your fingertips and draw the saints into places of blessing and enrichment. To avoid troubles seems reasonable. but it's very natural. Jeremiah warned the nation of Israel in Jeremiah chapter twenty-four. And God says, Jeremiah, what do you see? He says, I see two baskets of figs. Now this was after the discipline in the captivity of Nebuchadnezzar. And sitting before the altar were two baskets of figs. He said, what are those figs? He said, one is filled with luscious, succulent, juicy, tasty figs. And the other basket is bitter, tarred, dried, wither figs. He said, now here is a picture of God's people. For any in the nation of Israel that accept the Babylonian captivity, for any in the nation of Israel that see the disciplines of God, and surrender themselves to the chastening hand of God, for any in the nation that go along and try to accept my corrective chastening training, they shall be like sweet, rich, succulent, palatable things. But for the nation that tries to hide and flee to Egypt, and run away into the barren, arid waste of Saudi Arabia. They will be bitter and hard. They will face my judgment. The implication is God trains us. And Proverbs chapter three, remember the Proverbs says that whom the father loveth, he gives child training. The Lord has allowed me to have three children. He has allowed me also a great delight in the pleasure, one of the most delightful pleasures of my life is to be able to be in some way as a father to others that are young men and women, sometimes children. Possibly because I never had a father myself who was one who was able to express himself or be caring for his family. It seemed very charming and appropriate As Joyce and I would talk and read and do things together, I realized the great importance of trying to be close and communicate and speak, and that wasn't the easiest thing for me to do, to be able to talk and verbally express. But I can remember when the children were very tiny talking to them, and sometimes people in the local church laughing at me, because Maybe my vocabulary was a little stiff or stilted for an infant. You know how infants only seem to understand dad, mamma, goo-goo, things like this. And I would maybe say a structured sentence. But that's the only way I know how to speak. And as a result, I had an opportunity to influence or touch a life. And then maybe because of that, the children even yet as young adults are willing voluntarily to come and sit and talk. But they know, they know that the reason why they were disciplined was because I loved them. On one occasion, it was necessary and a frightful experience to take my son and walk him from the New Jersey Borough Walk back to our cabin and give him such an extensive administration of the Board of Education. And it just broke my heart and was really grieving to me and it sent him to his bed and just cried himself to sleep. And in the next morning, I was having a little quiet time and kneeling and reading the Word of God before we went out to the beach to relax a little bit. And I felt this tap on my shoulder. And it was this five or six-year-old child just tapped me. And the gist of it was, he said, Daddy, you really love me, don't you? And then he quoted whom the father loveth, he chastened it. His mother had taught him the parable. She'd prepared him for years beforehand. God loves us, and we need these testimonies of His care. And that same God that has been described to us through the Word of God and His servant as in such greatness of power and such absolute authority and supremacy over all things is touching your life and mind. It may be physically, economically, it may be emotionally, and He is expecting us to understand, blessed is the man that endures trial. For the trial worketh endurance, stability, character. And that's James' keynote in the very beginning of his volume in James one, verses three to five. He is just preoccupied with that concept, and everything else that comes in the book is subordinately supportive of that, all the way down to rightly understanding and listening to the Word of God. The same concept comes to us in Hebrews chapter twelve. Would you turn there for just a moment? Hebrews twelve. Verse five. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, according from Proverbs. My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he child-trained. Father's child training is not always just administrating a belt. Much of the child training that you and I have experienced was verbal. The pointing of the finger, the correction, the asking to do it over, to say that in a different way. Just that patient, ongoing, personal relationship is child training. And whom he loves, he child trains, and sometimes it becomes even more severe, he scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, human illustration, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Did you? You should ask yourself that. It's expected. We gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But he our loving Heavenly Father, for our profit. Naomi, you'll never understand this. You will never grasp the richness and the joy and the blessing and the uniqueness that you're going to have. Right now, all you can see is misery, loneliness, bereavement, widowhood, impoverishment, and going back home in misery, bringing along a Gentile woman with you. Such disgrace, such shame, everything is going to be a mark against you. But Naomi, you just don't know how much your God loves you. No chasing for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness. and to them that are exercised. And Naomi was exercised. She was moved in spirit by what she went through. The Lord has dealt with me. God is exercising my soul. No evangelist spoke to Ruth. No preacher or personal worker spoke to Ruth. Ruth was drawn to God by Naomi. Through her difficult times, and by her tender submission to God, by her yielded acceptedness, even though it touched her and made her almost embittered. Yet Ruth was touched and moved and drawn and ready to leave her gods, and all of her pagan practices. Where did she learn these things? Somewhere along the line, through Malin, her husband, and Killian, her brother-in-law, and Naomi, Ruth began to perceive the heart of God. It's such a lovely thing to portray God in your family, and there's no one that can do it quite like the Father. Be careful whom you choose to be the Father of your children. Be careful as fathers in our attitude and in our speech that we would bear the mark of the dignity and the warmth and the perpetual persevering love toward Mother. No matter what mother does, no matter what mother says, agape love is that which reaches over every barrier, and the children sense that absolute commitment and bond. There's no way to tell the lies that you can touch, and the souls that you can influence, and the spirits that you can be useful in reaching and touching and molding, remaking in a sense, just by the right attitude toward your God. Think of all the chaos and the confusion, the shame, everything that's so distrustful in the whole scene, the dark, dark ages of the days of the judges. And yet our gracious God is working and speaking and touching lives. And Naomi is sensitive and aware of it. Naomi is bearing spiritual fruit. And the tale of three widows now comes before us. And their exercises of soul. And how conveniently. Notice Naomi's speech. Verse eight. the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead. You've been good to my sons. And she perceives and attributes it that God would deal kindly with them. Do you bring the Lord into your conversation in your family? Is he a real person? Do you speak of him and identify him as the one who provides and works and deals and exercises? Is it the fact that we just have a mental acceptance, some kind of an intellectual understanding of doctrine? Or do we genuinely see the hand of our blessed Lord in our lives and look for his blessing upon others? Notice in verse nine, her perspective of marriage, the Lord grant you that you may find rest. What a delightful picture, even though she has been so unrested, so troubled. Yet this deep, rich heart, as far as this little Jewish woman is concerned, she is bitter of soul, she is seen the hand of God, and she just wants to go back home, and God has brought her the good news. There's bread back in Bethlehem. There's something to feed on back amongst God's people. And she is glad to go back, but the instinctive disposition of her soul is to be a source of blessing. What a mother-in-law. What a mother-in-law. What a mother-in-law. and yourself? When your trials and your loved ones, do you speak well of God? I pray so. For His name's sake and for your blessing and for the glory of that great God that's not through yet, but is working for your good and your blessings. Let's turn in our hymnals to number five hundred twenty-seven. Five hundred and twenty-seven. Teach me thy way, O Lord. Let's sing the first, second, and last stanza. Five to seven. Shall we stand, please?