As preached by Zach Thompson.
1) God's good providence extends beyond our understanding (1-7).
2) So beware of short-sighted bitterness (8-13, 19-22).
- First, actively embrace gratitude.
- Second, anchor your perception in God's character, not in your circumstances.
3) And instead, cling to Christ (14-18).
I’m excited to get to open the word with you today!
We will be starting a three-week series through the book of Ruth.
The book of Ruth is in the Old Testament. It is set during the time of the Judges, and it follows Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth as they come back from tragedy in the land of Moab and try to make a life in Naomi’s hometown of Bethlehem.
Today, we will start with Ruth Chapter 1.
If you are able to, please stand in honor of the reading of God’s word.
Ruth 1:1–22,
“In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in 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 Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem 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 the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion 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 they 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 should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to 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 to return 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. Where you die I will die, and there will I 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 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 barley harvest.
Let’s Pray.
Imagine a story about a Grandmother dying of breast cancer because a doctor disregarded her pain. Depression and eventual healing.
How do we walk through that crisis? What truth do we need to hold in front of us when we are walking through the bitter days?
That’s what we will be pondering as we walk through our time today.
And here is our first point.
God’s good providence extends beyond our understanding (1-7).
God’s good providence extends beyond our understanding.
I want to take a moment to define providence. What is providence?
We talk about God’s sovereignty. God’s sovereignty and his providence are closely connected. His sovereignty is his uncompromised power and authority over everything in the universe.
God’s providence is the application of his sovereignty. He providentially guides each moment because he is sovereign.
Providence is what we call the wise and sovereign action of God.
And His good providence extends beyond our understanding.
I would argue that this is one of the main points of the entire book of Ruth.
Throughout this book, every prayer is eventually answered. Every pain is met with consolation. Every uncertainty finds resolution.
And spoiler alert. One of the clear purposes of this book was to clarify the lineage of King David. At the very end of the book, there is this dramatic moment where you find out that the relatively mundane lives of these normal people resulted in the greatest king of Israel who would receive the Davidic Covenant. The king who would produce a line of kings and would result in the King of Kings being born. Jesus, the Christ comes from this line.
As we walk through this book, you’ll see how it all weaves together in a story of love and kindness and sacrifice. And on this side of Jesus Christ, we can appreciate how beautiful it is.
But here is my point.
Naomi couldn’t see it. She didn’t know all of the beauty and resolution that was downstream from her pain. She didn’t know that the union of Ruth and Boaz in a couple of chapters would eventually result in the birth of the Messiah who would be the savior of the world.
She couldn’t see it. How could she? It was beyond her understanding.
All she could see was the narrative that we have in verses 1-7.
A famine forced her to leave her home, and then in a foreign nation, her husband died, and then a few years later, both of her sons died.
And then in verse 6, God breaks the famine in Bethlehem, and Naomi decides to try her chances there.
Just try and put yourself in her shoes for a moment. Just take a moment to appreciate the pain and the loss that she was walking through. In that world, she would have been seen as a hopeless case. Destitute. Without protection. Without a way to provide.
Now take that. Take this recognition of her pain, and ask a different question. Dream with me here.
What if she could look down through the ages and see the ways that God was going to use that pain?
What if she could have seen how her destitution would drive her back to Bethlehem? What if she could see Ruth’s unwavering love and faithfulness? What if she could see how this would compel her to find rest for her daughter-in-law Ruth? And that Boaz would be characterized by such generosity and faithfulness. What if she could see that her pain in those years would ultimately lead to King David and later, the Messiah who would die to save the world?
Do you think that if she could see these things it would have changed the way she walked through that pain?
Certainly, it would still have hurt, but she would have had a different confidence in her steps.
And what about you?
What circumstances are you walking through? Maybe it’s something in the past that continues to define you. Maybe it’s something that is still fresh, and you don’t even know what to think of it.
Whatever it is, consider God’s providence. Consider the fact that God is good and that everything that comes from his hand, comes with purpose.
For Naomi, we have the benefit of knowing exactly what happens in her story. We know what happened to David. We know about Jesus. But what would you see if you could look down through the ages and see every ripple in God’s good purposes for you?
I’m not asking you to act like everything is okay! I’m not asking you to think fondly about the most painful moments in your life.
I’m asking you to recognize this – that God is working, and you can only guess at all that he is doing because you just can’t see that far.
And that brings us to our second point.
God’s good providence extends beyond our understanding (1-7).
So beware of short-sighted bitterness (8-13, 19-22)
Beware of short-sighted bitterness.
Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean that it isn’t for your ultimate good.
Imagine that you had two lists. One was a list of all of the things that you know. And the other list was of all the things that you don’t know. Which one would be longer?
Obviously, it’s the one with things we don’t know. But still, we are so quick to think that we have things figured out.
This is what Naomi does. She assumes that she understands the full nature of her circumstance, and it leads her to an incredibly dark place.
In verses 8-13. Her entire reasoning is based on the premise that her life is hopeless because the Lord is against her.
Look in verses 12-13, “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 should bear sons, 13 would you, therefore, wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
She is hopeless because the Lord is against her. She has it all figured out. To be fair, it does seem like she is trying to be kind to Orpah and Ruth, but it’s in a twisted way. “God hates me, so you should distance yourself from me.
It’s a bad application because she is believing things that are false.
Then look down in verses 19-22, “So the two of them [ that is, Naomi and Ruth] went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the woman said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 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?”
The townspeople are shocked to see their old friend Naomi, but she tells them that they can’t call her that anymore. Do you know what Naomi means? It means pleasant.
She changed her name to Mara, which means bitter. She literally changes her identity so that every time someone says her name they would think of what God took away from Naomi and how bitter her life is.
Naomi is bitter because she can’t see the full purposes of God in her circumstances.
So how do we avoid short-sighted bitterness?
I have two points here. Certainly, we could make a longer list, but there are two things that I want to point out right now.
First, actively embrace gratitude.
Look at what Naomi says at the beginning of verse 21. “I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty.”
Naomi said this. “The LORD has brought me back empty.” Guys, Ruth is standing right there! Naomi is so blinded by her bitterness toward God that she doesn’t even recognize the gift of a faithful daughter who has made an oath on her life to stand by Naomi’s side until the day that she dies.
Thanksgiving is this week. Ask yourself the question. Has sin blinded you to the good gifts that God has given you? Are you bitter at God because your story isn’t unfolding the way that you think it should?
If that resonates with you, then make a note on this. When was the last time that you took an extended time to just express your gratitude to God for the long list of good things that he has given you?
Gratitude is the antidote for bitterness.
And not just general gratitude. This time of year, you’ll hear people talk about a vague gratitude. I’m just generally grateful. The universe really did me a solid on this one. You can read self-improvement books that talk about times of thanksgiving to encourage a general air of positivity.
Pay attention, and you’ll start noticing this all over the place. But we aren’t called to just be generally grateful. In fact gratitude is NEVER something that is just a general attitude.
Gratitude ALWAYS has a direction. To whom are you grateful?
Christian, God is the giver of all good gifts. Every single good thing that you have is from his hand.
So for as long as they are yours, soak up the good gifts that he has given you, knowing that in a moment, it could all be taken away. And even if that happens, his favor still rests on you. If you are in Christ, God’s favor on you is unshakeable.
Second, anchor your perception in God’s character, not in your circumstance.
Anchor your perception in God’s character, not in your circumstance.
Are you changing your view of your circumstance in light of God’s character? Or are you changing your view of God’s character in light of your circumstances?
Do you notice how Naomi makes claims about God because of her circumstances? She assumes that God has abandoned her because she is walking through the worst season of her life. But God never changed. He never abandoned her.
Your circumstances will change. You’ll have good days and you’ll have bad days. Do you look at God favorably on the good days? But on the bad days, do you think that he hates you? Or that he is just indifferent?
What about when all of it piles up? Sickness and death and betrayal and loneliness and anxiety and all of the other things that you dread fall on you at the same time. We can be so quick to call out Naomi, but when the day of bitterness comes, all of us will feel the same temptation toward bitterness.
What do you do with that?
Again, I’m not asking you to put on a mask and act like everything is okay! DON’T DO THAT. Don’t just ignore the heaviness.
It was good for Naomi to be sad. That was the right response. When everything in your life falls apart, it’s right to be sad about it.
But what do we do?
This – weep and trust. On that day, simply trust that God is good and that he is working out his good plan. And trust that his good plan includes your good. He is working in you. He’s working in others in ways that you don’t even know about–in ways that you won’t know about until you get into glory. Trust that God is shaping in you an eternal weight of glory. Not even a moment of pain is wasted.
Think of Job. After all of his worldly possessions and all of his children were taken from him, he said this, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Our God is sovereign, and his providence influences every giving and every taking.
The promise of God’s providence isn’t just for you. God is influencing people around you by your pain, even future generations. The assurance of God’s providence is not a promise that your story will end exactly the way that you hope.
I think of Ellie. A member of Christ Fellowship who has been chronically ill with something that medical professionals have had no idea what is going on. So tired that she can barely leave home. Even a video call is difficult with her level of energy. And I know that she weeps and grieves, but she does it with faith. And as I see her trudge through it, my faith is bolstered. As she suffers well, she ministers to me. God ministers to me through her. This is someone who clings to her God. Her circumstance is beyond difficult, but she is anchoring her perception in God instead of her circumstance. May she continue to do so. I encourage you to pray and fast with us this Wednesday as we finally have a diagnosis. Myalgic encephalomyelitis. Chronic Fatigue syndrome.
Part of anchoring your perception in God’s character is praying for others when they walk through suffering that you can’t understand. Pray for Ellie’s faith. Pray for her health. Pray for her entire household. Weep and trust.
I think of Linda Porter, a member at FBC Provo who was recently diagnosed with cancer and given days to live. Right now during our service, she is having a time where her church can come to her home and say goodbye. We were able to visit her in the hospital. She was exhausted and discouraged. One doctor in particular had left her shaken because he was thoughtless in the way he spoke to her. But do you know what she wanted to do when we visited? She wanted to sing. She had two requests. She wanted a playlist of songs that she could listen to in the long quiet hours, and she wanted to sing a song together right there in the hospital. We sang 10,000 reasons.
“And on that day when my strength is failing,
The end draws near and my time has come.
Still, my soul will sing your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more.”
I’ll never sing that song in the same way again. And do you know why she could sing that song with confidence in that hospital room? Because she is anchoring her perception in God instead of her circumstance.
God’s character is unchanging, so make him your anchor whether you are walking through the good times or the bad.
That brings us to our final point.
God’s good providence extends beyond our understanding
So beware of short-sighted bitterness
And instead, cling to Christ. (14-18)
Cling to Christ.
Our text today holds two responses to the same crisis. Two women who totally change their identity in opposite ways because of the same circumstance. Pleasant Naomi changes her name to bitter Mara.
But Ruth responds in the exact opposite way. She is walking through the same bitterness with Naomi, but instead of hopelessly walking away, she clings to Naomi.
Look in verse 14. This is right after Naomi tells them to go back to their homes and try to start a new life.
“Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.”
Orpah kisses Naomi and walks away, but Ruth clings to her.
This word cling is an incredibly important word in the Old Testament. It’s also translated as hold fast. In Genesis 2, this is the word to express that a husband will leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife. In Deuteronomy 10, Israel is commanded to serve the Lord and hold fast to him. In Joshua 23, Joshua warns the people of Israel about clinging to the nations instead of clinging to God.
This is an intensely relational word. It’s a covenantal word.
This is the helpless child clinging to her mother. It’s Peter speaking to Jesus saying, “Where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
And don’t belittle this moment. Ruth isn’t just clinging to Naomi. She is clinging to the God of Israel.
Look in verse 15. “And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.”
Ruth isn’t just clinging to her mother-in-law. She is rejecting her old identity and holding fast to the God of Israel. She is clinging to a new identity as one of the people of God.
Don’t send me back to my old gods! Don’t send me back to the gods who demand the sacrifice of babies for a good harvest. Don’t send me back to people who live in constant fear of men because they don’t fear God.
Brothers and sisters, consider who you would be if it weren’t for the grace of God in your life. Consider the futility of your way of life. I shudder to think of where I would be if it weren’t for the grace of God.
This call to cling – this is the call of the gospel. Turn away from your futility and cling to Christ.
Take off your old life and put on Christ.
Cling to him.
Hold fast to the one who is worthy. Hold fast to the God who took on flesh and lived a life of perfect obedience. Cling to the one who walked toward a horrible and unjust death. The one who absorbed the wrath of God that was meant for you. The one who was resurrected to life eternal.
Cling to him.
If you are here and you haven’t yet turned from every other falsehood and turned to Christ, then do it now. Just pray to him and tell him how wrong and messed up you are, then say what Ruth says. Everything that defined me is in the past and now I’m yours.
And cling.
And know this. When once you cling to Christ, he clings back. Hold fast to him and know that he is holding fast to you.
Christian, as you cling to him, you are like an infant grabbing the finger of his father. His strong hands will never let you go.
We are weak. So often, we are more like Naomi than we are like Ruth. But remember, Naomi had Ruth by her side, and when Naomi might have followed her bitterness into obscurity, God used Ruth to cling to Naomi as Ruth clung to the one true God.
Brother and sister, God uses means. We’ll see it all through this book. God uses people to accomplish his purposes. God used Ruth to hold Naomi fast to himself.
In his providence, God has placed us in this church together so that when we see that a sister’s hand is too weak to cling, we can cling to her as we cling to Christ.
We are the people of God. “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pt 2:10).
As followers of Christ, we have rejected our old way of life, and now we are part of a new people.
This is part of what we express every week as we take the Lord’s Supper together. Every week, we wait until everyone has the bread and the cup, then we take it together. Do you know why we do that? Because we have been saved together. All of us were separated from God, and now all of us have been saved by the same grace of God, and we have been made into a people.
So may it be that we live out identity. As we walk through the trials that characterize today, and as we walk through trials that we can’t even fathom yet, may God shape in us a firm and steadfast trust in his providence so that when the storm comes, would cling to him with hope.
Let’s pray.
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