Engle, Ken: Emmaus Bible Hour-[Judges]-05 ~ Studies In The Judges

Welcome to the Emmaus Bible Hour, a program for you and your family, a time to see what God has to say to us through his word. Welcome to another Bible study in the life and times of the Judges. On this broadcast, we're going to look at the small book of Ruth. You may ask, I thought you said you were going to continue, uh, the study of the Judges. Yes, and let me read the first verse of the book of Ruth. This is chapter one, verse one. It came about in the days when the judges governed that there was a famine in the land. So you can see, uh, we're going to continue our studies in the days of the judges. We've noted that these are the dark ages of the Bible, but the little book of Ruth is like a breath of fresh air after so much that we've seen in the book of Judges. Or as someone has said, we go from a stagnant pool to a lovely lily pond, from a battlefield to a harvest field, from unfaithfulness to loyalty. You're going to like the book of Ruth, and I hope after the broadcast you'll just sit down and read the book. It takes only a few minutes. So after the wars of the book of Judges, we have peace in the book of Ruth. After cruelty, there is kindness in this book of just four chapters, and after disloyalty, we have devotion. In our reading of part of the first verse, we learned that there was a famine in the land. Let's read the rest of the verse. I'd like to invite you to read along with me. Uh, this is Ruth chapter one and verse one. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and two sons. Let's go ahead and read a part of verse two. This is Ruth chapter one verse two. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. Names in the Bible are important. The name Elimelech means my God is king. His wife's name, Naomi, means pleasant or lovely. When you see the letters EL in a name, usually at the end and sometimes at the beginning, usually means that the name of God is in that name. And as we noted, Elimelech means my God is king. Possibly it was a desire of his parents that Elimelech make God king of his life. It mentions a famine, and we can count thirteen famines in the Bible. We realize how serious a famine can be when we remember the Dust Bowl days in the central part of the United States some years ago. It's interesting that the first verse seems to indicate when they went to Moab, they planned to just sojourn there or stay only a short time, but the way it worked out, they stayed about ten years. During those years, first Elimelech died. The sons married Moabite women. One was named Orpah and the other Ruth. As the story goes on, we see that the two sons died also. And so we have Naomi left with two daughters-in-law, and all of them widows. She decides to return to Bethlehem, Judah, because she learned that they now have food. She encourages Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moab. Here's what she says to them. This is chapter one verse eight. Go, return each of you to your, to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. Now, verse nine, May the Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. And then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. First, they indicated that they wanted to go with her. Naomi reasoned with them, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. She wanted to go with Naomi. Then Naomi made a very sad statement. Listen to this. This is chapter one verse fifteen. Remember, this is Naomi speaking to Ruth. Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. That was bad advice. Naomi knew better. She knew the living God. She knew it was wrong to worship gods made of wood and stone. Then Ruth makes this beautiful choice and said, do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you, for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Let's stop right there, because I feel we have the key here. Ruth had trusted the God of heaven. She knew the gods and, or the idols of Moab were powerless. This was a very important decision, and it changed the whole course of her life. She goes on to say in the next verse, this is verse seventeen, where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me. So Naomi and Ruth traveled to Bethlehem. Their arrival caused quite a stir in the town. The people questioned, is this Naomi? She answered, don't call me Naomi. Remember, we said her name means pleasant. She went on, call me Mara. This is a word that means bitter. She was bitter over her experience in Moab, losing her husband and two sons. She continued, the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. I think what she's saying to the people of Bethlehem is this, I made a decision to go to Moab. I went out full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Well, that's not quite accurate as a statement. She's not empty. She has Ruth, and Ruth is going to be a great help to her. But let's move on and see how this all works out. The Bible says as they arrived, it was the beginning of the barley harvest. Yes, and the Lord had a harvest for her far beyond her expectations. We come now to chapter two in the book of Ruth, and we'd urge you to open your Bible and read along with us, if it's possible. Ruth chapter two, verse one: And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. This is God's way of introducing us to Boaz. He's a very important person in the rest of the book. We note in verse two of chapter two that Ruth asks Naomi if she has permission to glean heads of grain in the harvest. Naomi grants the permission with these words, go, my daughter. We see how the Lord has brought these two people together. Difference in age, a difference in home countries, difference in religions, yes, different languages. Someone has commented, only God can draw two people into this kind of friendship. And so Ruth goes out into the harvest. She's only able to pick up the heads of grain that have been left behind. Now, God had instructed the Israelites in Leviticus to not glean all of the heads, but to leave some grain for the poor and strangers. Ruth was a stranger in the land, and she was with Naomi, and they were probably poor. The Bible says that Ruth happened to come on a part of the field belonging to Boaz. We know that this was the hand of God. When Boaz, the owner, came on the scene, he asked about this person, the new one that was gleaning. When he learned that it was Ruth, he talked to her, and she asked if, if she could glean there, and he gave her full permission. In fact, he urged her not to go into any of the other fields. He also told her that he knew of the kindness she had shown to her mother-in-law since the death of her husband, and how she had left her homeland to come to a people that she did not know before. He even commanded the reapers to allow some grain from the bundles to fall on purpose for her. That first day, Ruth gleaned enough to take home a whole bushel of grain to Naomi. Then she reported on the day, and Naomi was so happy to learn that she had gleaned on the field of Boaz. Naomi told Ruth an important fact. That man Boaz is one of our closest relatives, or literally a near relative, one of our redeemers. Chapter two ends so differently from chapter one. In chapter three, we learn of the way God taught his people to care for one another in families. Property such as land stayed in one family year after year. There was even provision made for widows to be cared for. It was a responsibility of the near relative to marry her, if he w- if he were not married. The man was called a kinsman redeemer. After a time, Naomi urged Ruth to remind Boaz of his responsibility. Boaz said he was closely related, but, but there was one that was even closer. Ruth reported back to Naomi, and Naomi was very wise in advising her to now wait because Boaz would care for the matter. In chapter four, Boaz met with the near relative in the place near the gate of the city where legal transactions were taking place. Chief men of the city, or elders, met with them. Boaz presented the case by telling of Naomi's return from Moab and that she had some land to sell. He told the nearer relative that he could buy the land. The man indicated he would buy the land that Naomi was selling. Then Boaz told him the rest of the story. Here's what he said. On the day that you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance. The other man indicated that he could not buy it under those circumstances. He undoubtedly did not want to complicate the inheritance of his own sons. Note verse seven, chapter four. As this transaction takes place, Boaz indicates that he will buy the land and Ruth will be his wife. And so Boaz bought the land and married Ruth. The Lord blessed them with a son. They named him Obed. Then we come to something very exciting. We're told that in the very closing verse of the book that Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. That's King David. In other words, Obed's son was Jesse, and Jesse's son was David. Someone has put it this way: through marrying Boaz, Ruth gained an honor coveted by all good Israelite women, for she became an important link in the chain from Judah to Jesus Christ. Ruth's great-grandson was David, Israel's most beloved king and royal ancestor of Christ. Yes, Ruth, from the enemy country of Moab, a Gentile entered the line, the royal line of the Lord Jesus. This is the grace of God. We too, as sinners, can enter in by faith. The Bible says, but as many as received him, the Lord Jesus, to them gave he the right to become the children of God. The choice is yours. Decision determines your destiny.