men in Ruth chapter 1 here it starts out in verse number 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 a limilech and the name
of his wife Naomi and the name of his two sons Malon and Caelian Ephrathites
of Bethlehem Judah and they came into the country of Moab and continued there
so we start out here we're in the period of the judges in the nation of Israel
and there's a famine in the land and because of the famine this certain man
just decides that he's going to move to Moab because he feels like he has better
financial opportunity there you know there's a famine in the land and so
people are struggling times are tough and I mean a famine is a serious thing
there's not enough food to eat this isn't just like oh it's an economic
downturn and so you know my wife and I have to share a vehicle now or something
or you know or we have to set the thermostat a few degrees different than
what we're used to I mean this is a serious thing where you know people are
dying because they don't have any food and so because of this famine in the
land they leave the Promised Land because think about this is in the time
of the judges the children of Israel have inherited the Promised Land it's
God's will that they be there occupying that land they go over into a heathen
godforsaken country in Moab because of the fact that they feel like they can do
better there now the first thing I want to point out is that you're always going
to do best in the will of God not necessarily where humanly speaking the
opportunity is but where God's will is you know they would have been better off
staying with the people of God staying near unto the house of God staying in a
place where God wants them then to go into a heathen land well just because
you know we got to do what we got to do and a lot of times we as Christians
might be tempted to think well you know we got to do what we got to do
financially and so therefore we're going to move somewhere where there's no good
church or something and here's the thing I'm not against anyone moving for a
better financial opportunity you know I've I don't think that there's anything
wrong with that I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to make
money and provide for your family and better your situation I think there's
zero issue with that at all unless you're moving somewhere where you don't
even know if there's a good church there you know it's like if you're moving
somewhere and you don't even know if there's a great church there if there's
a soul winning church there if there's a church you can go to and you're leaving
a place where you know you have a good church you know that's where I would be
against it okay now obviously if you're moving to a giant city chances are
there's going to be a good church there thank God in America you know there are
going to be an abundance of churches and in most big cities but when you're
moving out to the middle of nowhere not so much okay and so the Bible teaches
that we should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then all
the other things will be added unto us the food and the clothing etc so again
I'm not against somebody moving you know from one good church to another because
they have a better financial opportunity amen you know people have left our
church that way and I think that that's great as long as they're going to
somewhere where they can actually serve God and the house of God is there
because we're not living in a time where the house of God is in one place you
know there are houses of God all over the place right we have churches all
over the place whereas in this period there's one place where the house of God
is there's one tabernacle there's one nation where the children of Israel and
the people of God are worshiping the Lord that's the place and if you go to
Moab there's no good church in Moab I'll tell you that right now okay so
that's what's going on here we need to apply this to our lives and think to
ourselves you know what I'm always going to be best off when I'm in God's will
when I'm in the house of God when I make church the priority in my life and seek
first the kingdom of God you know there are people who've literally moved to
Arizona just because they wanted to go to our church and sometimes family or
friends would look at that and say you know you're moving for a church but yet
if you move for a job those people wouldn't even blink an eye if you said
hey I'm getting a major pay raise they'd be like oh man well of course that's a
no-brainer but what is life really about is it really just about how much money
we can make or is it about serving the Lord and being in a church where we want
to raise our families and we want to go soul-winning and hear the Word of God
preached and so you know moving shouldn't be taken lightly with regard
to what the church lay of the land is you know both where you're leaving and
where you're heading to and so when these people move to this foreign
country of Moab it says in verse 3 and a limilech Naomi's husband died so did
this go well no this did not end well and she was left in her two sons and
they took them wives of the women of Moab the name of the one was Orpah
that's not Oprah okay so read that carefully the name of the one was Orpah
and the name of the other Ruth and they dwelled there about ten years so notice
how they went to Moab just to sojourn sojourn implies just a temporary stay
but it ends up dragging out to ten years and that's how a lot of things end up
you know we think like you know I'm just gonna put church on the back burner for
a little while so that I can get my finances in order and you know just
focus on other things I'm just gonna kind of take a break from church you
know put church on the back burner and then boom ten years go by and guess what
God didn't bless you for doing that and so now a limilech is dead and then it
says in verse 5 and Malon and Kylian died also both of them and the woman was
left of her two sons and her husband I mean this is a disaster in the ancient
world you know the men are the only really viable breadwinners here I mean
these guys are bringing home the bacon and the dad dies the two son-in-laws die
I mean this is a disaster now you say why is everybody dying so much you know
the Bible doesn't give us the cause of death it doesn't tell us exactly how a
limilech died or Malon and Kylian died but it's very likely that they died
because of this famine that's going on because the famine seems to be all over
the place but you know we don't know that for sure but that would be my
guess because typically in a famine situation women do better than men in a
situation like that typically if you look at statistics on survival
situations situations where people are short on food typically women are better
as surviving and enduring those kind of conditions so you know that's
speculation but it's very possible that they died from that famine which would
mean that they basically you know left Israel to get away from a famine and
then they found a famine over in Moab too and the grass was greener on the
other side of the fence but when they got there it wasn't what it was cracked
up to be okay but either way either way God didn't bless this they would have
been better off staying in the land of Israel but it is what it is that's what
happened right so now you've got this woman and her two daughters-in-law
you've got Naomi and you've got Orpah and Ruth and there's no breadwinner you
know there's no man of the house there's nobody to bring home the money and so in
verse number six it says 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 and giving them bread so see if she would
have been patient things got better in the promised land you just have to hang
in there and wait and things get better so they're heading back to the promised
land and it says in verse number seven therefore 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 under 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 is she's saying look you know
you were good to Malan and Kylian on your good wives you've been good
daughters-in-law I love you guys let's leave on good terms but you know what
you're probably better off going back to your own family's house your own mom's
house then to come with me into this foreign land of Israel you know it's
foreign to you and it says in verse 9 the Lord grant you 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 web she's saying look you know what you really
want for your life you young ladies that are widows you want to find new husbands
you don't want to just live with me as a widow we're gonna be struggling we're
gonna be poor in Israel why don't you go back home live with your mom and find a
new husband that's gonna be your best bet and so she's blessing them in that
way and it says in verse 10 they said unto her surely we will return with thee
unto thy people so that they're showing loyalty unto Naomi and say no we love
you we're family you know even though we're not blood relatives even though
we're just related by marriage we love you we want to stay with you we want to
help you so we're gonna go with you back to Israel verse 11 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'm
too old to have a husband if I should say I have hope if I should have a
husband also tonight and should also bear sons would you Terry for them till
they were grown she's basically saying look this makes no sense I don't have
anything going for me I can't really offer you anything because even if I
were to get married today and get pregnant tonight are you gonna sit there
and wait for this dude to grow up and be your husband it doesn't make sense it's
not gonna work so she says look just just go back go home and she says at the
end of verse 13 nay my daughters for it grieve with me much for your sakes that
the hand of the Lord is gone out against me she's like look God's not blessing me
I'm in a bad place right now and I don't want you to go down with the ship
here you know I'm struggling it is what it is it's too late for me save
yourselves you know just go back just go home and and be a moabite and you know
obviously she wants them around but she just feels bad for them so then it says
in verse number 14 and they lifted up their voice and wept again and Orpah
kissed her mother-in-law but Ruth clave Hunter so after this protest Orpah ends
up taking off and heading back to Moab but Ruth sticks around and cleaves unto
her basically she hangs on to her she doesn't leave and in verse 15 Naomi says
behold thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people and notice this little
dig that she puts in and unto her gods return thou after thy sister-in-law now
we're gonna get into this a little bit more as we read through here but the
idea is that Ruth ends up staying with Naomi because of the Lord because she
says your God is gonna be my God so this is a spiritual choice that's being made
here and I think that that's why God includes this little part where she says
like she went back to her people and her gods it's the contrast with Ruth who's
making the choice to sacrifice and serve the Lord even if it means going to a
foreign country with a poor woman who has nothing going for her where her
prospects are terrible prospects I mean keep in mind you know the moabites
aren't necessarily the coolest citizens in Israel you know coming from Moab is
not a good resume in the land of Israel if you study the Mosaic law okay so
she's going to a foreign country where she's gonna be part of a minority that's
not cool in Israel that's not considered like oh cool you're a moabite great it's
like oh you're a moabite that's more they're looked down upon so she's gonna
go to a place where she has no prospect no future it doesn't really make sense
on paper but yet she's gonna do it because of the Lord you know she says
look your God is gonna be my God as opposed to Orpah goes back to a heathen
place and you know presumably goes back to false gods at least that's what Naomi
is assuming although we don't you know we don't really know that for sure that
she actually just went back and started worshipping false gods little
hypocritical on Naomi's part too because she's been living there for ten years
herself but but anyway here's the point that I want to draw from this part right
here okay both of them and this is something that I think we often don't
think about in this story we always think about how Ruth stayed with Naomi
and Orpah went back but what we often don't think about is the fact that they
both said that they were gonna go to Israel they both initially had that
thought so it's not that Orpah just had no desire or love for Naomi and and
didn't want to help her out didn't love her you know they're everybody's crying
right everybody's crying Orpah says that she's gonna stay she wants to stay she
wants to go to Israel but once Naomi explains things to her and she thinks
about it she takes up and you know to me this pictures the Christians who say
that they're going to stay faithful to the Lord no matter what they say that
they're going to be there through thick and thin they say they're gonna be
faithful they say that nothing's gonna dissuade them and then the people who
actually follow through with that right are two kinds of Christians the ones who
follow through and actually do keep serving God when the persecution comes
when the times are tough and the ones who say that and and and look when they
say that they're not even lying they mean that but they're weak spiritually
so they say that but then when the chips are down they falter you know and this
reminds me of the people in the parable of the sower where they don't have any
root in themselves and so when tribulation or persecution arises
because of the word they're immediately offended so when it's easy they're great
church members you know they love the Lord and and I look I'm not saying that
they're fake I believe that they're real I believe that they're sincere but they
don't have a root and they're weak so when times get tough they fail and so
when Orpah is looking at the situation and saying you know what this is not a
tenable situation here you know I've got to go back to Moab for financial reasons
whereas Ruth says you know what it doesn't make sense on paper I don't know
how it's gonna work out but you know what where you die I'm gonna die and
that's where I'm gonna be buried and your God's gonna be my you know and she
just steps out in faith and that's what this is this is Ruth stepping out in
faith Orpah wants to do what's right Orpah loves Naomi maybe even loves the
Lord but even though she wants to do what's right she's not strong enough to
do what's right when faced with a rough circumstance and so that's what we see
here the difference between the two they both talk the talk but one of them
actually walks the walk when things are difficult and hard okay so she says in
verse 16 and Ruth said and treat me not to leave thee saying do not ask me to
leave don't send me away and treat 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 shall be my people and thy God my God and notice she says
where you lodge I'll lodge you know because there's probably some question
about how good the lodging is gonna be and this this reminds one of Jesus
saying to the man who said Lord I'm gonna follow you wherever you go and he
said well you know the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but
the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head he basically said I don't know
where I'm even sleeping tonight and then the guy ends up you know not being a
part of the group because when he departs it ends up just being the 12
that go with this other guy doesn't come along once he hears that he kind of
pulls an Orpah at that point and turns around after he said hey I'm gonna
follow you whithersoever you go sort of like Orpah said surely verse 10 surely
we will return with the end of thy people well it turns out wasn't such a
sure thing was it a couple minutes later she's leaving when she sees the
circumstances and so she says look I'll lodge where you lodge it doesn't matter
to me it's not important to me what kind of a house we live in oh you know what
I'm gonna follow you I want your people to be my people your God to be my God
and so I'm gonna follow you wherever you go where thou diest will I die and there
will I be buried the Lord do so to me and more also if ought but death part
thee and me when she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her then
she left speaking under and what does the Bible tells the New Testament be
steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you
know that your labor is not in vain the Lord we ought to be steadfast as well
and she was steadfast in serving the Lord and she doesn't let anyone talk her
out of it she doesn't let Naomi talk her out of it verse 19 so they too went
until they came to Bethlehem and it came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem
that all the city was moved about them and they said is this Naomi I mean this
is kind of big news you know she's been gone for ten years and it's their long
lost buddy Naomi showing up and they're surprised and they're excited all the
ladies come out and and greet her and she said unto them call me not Naomi
call me Mara for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me so a lot of times
in the Bible names have significance and and the meaning of people's names so
she's saying don't call me Naomi because Naomi means like pleasant and she's
saying you know but like if you when you meet somebody if you want to say to them
mucho gusto in Hebrew you'd say not even mode which is like the same thing you
know so it's a pleasure to meet you so she's saying my name is not pleasant
it's Mara it's bitter right and she says because the Lord has dealt bitterly with
me don't call me pleasant don't call me Naomi call me Mara right call me bitter
I mean that's a pretty rough name for a woman to have right bitterness sounds
like a real fun person call me Mara now I apologize if anyone's name is Mara
okay you know I'm not saying it's a bad name in English it sounds lovely it
sounds just lovely it sounds very pleasant in English but you know to them
it means bitter and a lot of women you know if they were honest that would be
their name but that's another sermon okay call me Mara you know it's like
it's a certain percentage of the female population that could they could
actually adopt that name but anyway that's another subject for the Almighty
it dealt very bitterly with me I went out full and the Lord had brought me
home again empty now this is such a great statement I went out full and the
Lord had brought me again empty stop and think about why did they leave why
did they leave at the beginning of the book they're leaving because of a famine
so would you think of a famine as being a time of fullness or hey we're doing
great financially so let's leave because of the economy no what it is is that
sometimes we think we're doing really bad until we do really bad so they
thought they were doing bad when they went to mop they're like oh man this
famine it's terrible you know we can't handle this let's go to Moab and then
God basically shows them what it's really like to do bad because you can it
turns out you can always go lower and a lot of us today in America you know we
have it so good in America we live in the most prosperous country in the world
with the most opportunity for the common man to get ahead and to make something
of himself and so a lot of times when we're poor and struggling in America
we're still doing a lot better than somebody who's struggling in India today
or somebody who's struggling in South America today you know people in
Venezuela right now that are struggling they're struggling hard that's not like
being poor in America okay you know I watched this documentary one time about
all the hunger in America and all these these people that are starving in
America and they were all overweight they were obese and I'm not kidding this
is not a joke they're like these people are starving and I'm kind of like and
they're like well they're really hungry
and I'm thinking like I'm really hungry too you know because you know the more
you eat the hungrier you get am I right but I'm just thinking to myself like
okay like I get it you're you're you're you're really hungry and you're eating a
lot of junk food so you're starved of nutrition but it's like you know it I
wonder what other people in the world would think about that though if they
looked at that as an outsider like look at these poor starving Americans and you
know and meanwhile they actually have no food whereas a lot of people in America
are choosing to eat junk and so their body kind of is starving because they're
not eating any fruits or vegetables you know they're not getting a good you know
animal products or anything they're just eating junk that's void of nutrition but
you know what we in America today that that's what a joke it is when we talk
about the poor and the need I mean literally in the same documentary I
forget what the documentary was called but it was absurd okay the whole thing
was just absurd but it showed a police officer a full-time police officer going
to the food bank talking about how he's hungry and I'm thinking to myself like
okay I understand that you know maybe some departments pay more than others
but you know I have a feeling that any full-time policeman in America is
probably not just destitute and starving and just unable to to feed himself okay
I mean maybe he doesn't get as many doughnuts you know as he would have
chosen but come on what a joke but that's how we are in America right we
live in this bubble we live in this place where just there's such an
abundance where homeless people that are by the side of the road saying I'm so
hungry but then when they leave that street corner what's left behind an
unfinished burrito you know people that are actually hungry in this world they
finish that burrito you give them a burrito they're gonna finish it today we
have homeless people there we had it we had a homeless guy parked outside our
door and he left a whole bunch of half-eaten food and like I was just
horrified that the guy didn't finish his food because that's kind of a pet peeve
of mine you know wasting food I like to see people finish their food and kind of
bothers me when they don't and so we today you know oh man I'm struggling
it's so hard the economy and look I'm not I'm not saying that you're not
struggling all I'm saying is there are people in this world who have it worse
than you and there are millions of them probably even billions of them so let's
always keep that in perspective I'm not saying you're not struggling and look I
know it's like that financial problems I've had financial problems I've had
messed up finances and and and couldn't afford things and and struggled but you
know what at the same time I've always had access to clean drinking water you
know I've always had meals available to me I've never been starving to that and
even today in America there are so many food stamps and and so many I mean it's
not stamps anymore but you know it's like a debit card now right what is it
called EBT yeah you've got the EBT you got the soup kitchen here you got this
place over I mean here's the thing you could actually just eat pretty well
dumpster diving in Phoenix Arizona compared to how somebody over in India
or Venezuela is doing today when they're struggling when they're poor okay so see
the difference there so you know Naomi she thought she was at rock bottom and
hey you know we have to leave the church we have to go to Moab we have to move to
this place where there's no good church we have to go you know and be with the
heathen people and and and raise our kids in this heathen place but did they
really have to know because in hindsight she says man compared to how
I am now I was full back then I left full and I came back empty and here's
the thing when you turn to the life of sin and let's get off the kind of
economic interpretation which is you know the primary interpretation let's
think about this from a spiritual standpoint you know you might be going
to church and living the Christian life and feel a little empty you might be
going to church you're serving God you're a Christian maybe you're a
teenager maybe you're a young adult maybe you're middle-aged and you're just
you feel a little empty you know you feel like there's something else out
there more fulfilling I'm not talking about food now I'm not talking about
money I'm just saying like in life you know you feel like hey that you know
that maybe there's some more meaning I can find out there in the world I can
find more meaning or maybe I can find better relationships out there or you
know something else is better out there but let me tell you something when you
leave I'm not talking about leaving our church specifically I'm saying you know
when you leave the Christian life when you leave the walk with God when you
leave church as an institution and you decide you're gonna go out and live the
worldly life you know what you're going to an encounter an emptiness that you
can't even imagine right now and you know someday you're gonna realize like
wow I thought I thought I had an empty feeling when I was in the house of God
no I left full I left full and and and I came back empty because let me tell you
something whatever emptiness you're feeling in your heart today living the
Christian life is nothing compared to the emptiness that's out there and a lot
of us today were spoiled spiritually too we're spoiled spiritually because we're
surrounded by people who believe like us we've got the Bible we've got church
it's everywhere and you know yet there are other countries today and this time
it's not going to be Venezuela or or India or China or North Korea but you
know there are other places like let's say places like the Czech Republic or
Slovakia or Poland or Hungary where you know people have food to eat they have
what they need financially but you know what they're starving over there for
Christian fellowship you talk to the believers over in Eastern Europe they're
starving for fellowship they wish they had a church to go to they wish they had
Christian friends they wish they had a soul-winning partner and you're like oh
man I go to church with 350 people and I don't have any I don't have enough
friends they wish they could go to a church with 35 people in it you know
what I mean and it's like you got hundreds of people it's like yeah but I
don't have any friends you know a man that had friends must show himself
friendly and you know what life is not about having friends life is about being
a friend being a friend reaching out to others and doing stuff for them and
being a blessing to them ministering to them being friendly to them and you know
we today in America just like we're a little bit spoiled with all the good
food that's flown in from all over the world we eat like Kings every day
literally even poor people in America eat like Kings ate a thousand years ago
or two thousand years ago three thousand years ago I mean we have an abundance of
good food the bomb on the street corner today is eating like things that Kings
would have eaten literally a king would have loved that burrito you know a
thousand years ago he would have finished it by the way but today we're
not just spoiled when it comes to economics and food you know we're
spoiled with the fellowship it's like we've got hundreds of people in our
church that believe like us you know because it's a jungle out there you know
out there in the world they're promoting all this filth in the month of June and
everything isn't it great to just get in a room with hundreds of people who
feel the same way and just hundreds of people who believe in things that are
normal and they actually believe in just normal families and normal relationships
and living a normal Christian life I mean hey it's really nice but you know
we just kind of take it for granted don't we whereas there are people in
other countries where you know the church in their town is a Catholic
Church and you know there is no Baptist Church in their town because they're in
some godforsaken part of Europe or whatever where everybody's turning to
atheism and and whatever and so you know there are more mosques in these places
today then there are Baptist churches and so we need to understand what we've
got here right we need to understand that what we've got in our family what
we've got in our friends what we've got in our church you know I mean friends
you know what here's a great way to make friends go soul-winning you know we're
gonna partner you up with people that have to talk to you okay because they're
your soul-winning partner okay so you know I mean look we you know we've got
we've got food we've got clothing we've got a church we've got friends we got
the Bible you know we have so many blessings but it's easy to take that
stuff for granted and think you know what I'm better off in Moab let's just
go to Moab and see what's there and then you go to Moab and you know what you
find you find death you find sorrow you find bitterness it's a disaster and then
how many people come back to church they leave the church when they're a teenager
or in their 20s and then don't they come back ten years later and everybody's
like hey Naomi you're back hey good to see you you become and you know and
here's the thing we always you know we'd love to welcome somebody back who's been
gone for ten years amen we want you know it's like the sermon I preached a few
weeks ago you can always come back but you know you come back when you're 30
you come back when you're 35 and you're like man I didn't know how good I had it
because I experienced an empty feeling unlike anything that I had ever
experienced I thought I was empty back then man I was full back then and I came
back empty and so don't take for granted what you have and don't think that
there's something better out there you know a lot of people might think like oh
you know I don't have as good of a social life in church I don't have the
friends that I wish I had stop and think about what the rest of the world's been
doing for the last year and a half you think they've been partying with their
friends oh man these public school kids have the social life okay the public
school kids have been barred from public school for like a year or something am I
right in their graduation was like it was like the it was like the Pope when
he like is driving in that plexiglass vehicle that was their graduation okay
so they here's the thing they're stuck at home for like a year year and a half
all schools canceled all their functions are canceled their social life's
canceled right and you know probably the people who had the most normal social
life over the last year and a half were Bible believing Christians think about I
mean something about that in America looking at America who do you think had
the most normal social life over the last year and a half because here's the
thing even when everything shut down all the recreation is shut down the
places we like to hang out or shut down the restaurants are shut down everything
is to go only your classes are shut down your martial arts gym is shut down your
music lessons are shut down your school shut down your job has you working from
home but guess what at least we over the last year and a half had church to go to
three times a week so I mean like like I didn't really feel the isolation that
a lot of people felt during that time and even when our church was was just
had online services only for like what three and a half four weeks that we did
that you know what people were still able to get together at their friends
houses and watch the services online we had still 1520 people here or whatever
and we did you know you still had that social life and it will only last a few
weeks and then boom we're back in business you know but you think oh man
the social life out there is so great well you know what it wasn't not for the
last year and a half I think the social life in church was better for the last
year and a half because our social life barely missed a beat here you know but
you think I just owe everything so perfect out there guess what it's not
and and by the way teenagers you know while I'm while I'm talking to the
teenagers let me say this as well what if I told you that going to public
school doesn't automatically mean that you're surrounded by meaningful
friendship hello is anybody home I mean look you know we all grew up going to
public school Christian school and everything does it does everyone just
have all these meaningful relationships or you know what you know what there's a
lot of kids getting picked on am I right there are a lot of kids getting
picked on there are a lot of kids that are isolated that are lonely and they
have an empty feeling every day when they go to public school or Christian
school or whatever else see oh man homeschooled is such a drag must be so
nice to go see my friends every day you know and then it's like your friends
every day is like those kids that threw the kid in the garbage can on the
never-ending story okay that's your friends every day because you know what
look I can remember and look I look it's a mixed bag you know when I was in
school hey I had some great friendships I had some good fellowship and some good
friends how many people are my friends with now from school 90% of this
auditorium is the same way how many people here would say I don't keep put
up your hand if you don't keep in touch with anybody from elementary junior high
or high school if you don't keep up with them yeah it's virtually everybody
because you know those relationships aren't quite as meaningful as you think
number one but number two I can remember certain years of my school career where
I absolutely hated school and I would have loved to not go and that's how I'm
sure a lot of people feel the same way I can remember being in seventh grade
going to this horrible school when I was in seventh grade I was literally scared
every morning getting dropped off I was scared I was scared to walk in okay and
you say oh you're a baby you're a wimp well I was a 12 year old boy and I was
going to a school that was integrated seventh through 12th grade half the kids
that were there had been expelled from public school but the Christian school
takes them because their money's green and so you know we're we're like 12
years old getting picked on by 17 and 18 year olds that got expelled from from
high school in the public school system sounds great huh yeah I was scared it
was not pleasant it was Mara okay it was it was Naomi Baptist School no it was
Mara Baptist okay so my point is that you know it the grass is always greener
on the other side of the fence you look at Moab and it's so great guess what
Moab stinks okay Moab is a terrible place Moab is the place you go to fail
and ruin your life and you stay with the house of God you stay with the people of
God you stay in the promised land and you're blessed by God and look are you
gonna go through some rough patches look God sent this famine upon his own
people in Israel but you know what Danny visited his people with bread so look
I'm not saying that you're never gonna feel an empty feeling in church I'm not
saying you're never gonna struggle financially when you seek first the
kingdom of God but here but here's what I am saying it's worse out there I
guarantee you that promise you that it's worse out there and you know what
whatever struggles you're going through in the Christian life the Bible says
that the same temptations are accomplished in your brother in which
you're in the world you think people you think worldly people are going through
no problems look all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer tribulation
but did you know that the people out there are suffering too the difference
is that when we suffer as a Christian happy are we and when they suffer it's a
suffering with no silver lining it's just a suffering upon suffering and a
side of suffering whereas when we suffer it's like hey we're suffering but the
glory is coming you know weeping may endure for night but joy cometh in the
morning but they don't have that out there and so that's what we see in the
story with Naomi and Ruth we see Naomi making a mistake by not seeking first
the kingdom of God and you know what we see with Ruth her making the right
decision by seeking first the kingdom of God and saying it doesn't make sense I
don't know how it's gonna work on paper but you know what wherever you lodge I'm
gonna lodge because your God is gonna be my God so she says I went out full and
the Lord had brought me home again empty why then call you me Naomi seeing the
Lord have testified against me and the Almighty hath afflicted me it's like
okay we were just happy to see you chill out verse 22 so Naomi returned and Ruth
the Moabianus her daughter-in-law with her which returned out of the country of
Moab and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest and just you
know spoiler alert but basically Ruth in a very short period of time is gonna end
up marrying the most successful powerful guy in the whole city a godly righteous
wealthy landowner who has all these servants and all these resources I mean
she's gonna go from just hey wherever we lodge we don't have anything we don't
have any resources there's no man in the house no breadwinner I'm going into a
country where you know I don't have Israelite privilege because I'm a
Moabite everything's working against me it doesn't make sense on paper I don't
see how it's gonna work out but what happened God worked it out and she ended
up getting married to the most eligible bachelor in the town and she ends up
having all the wealth and all the resources and not only is she accepted
even though she's a Moabites you know she wants to be an Israelite she's a
Moabites but you know the Moabites are looked down upon but guess what she's
not looked down upon when she's married to the leading citizen of the town Boaz
okay because Boaz is who she ends up marrying and she ends up of course being
in the lineage that produces King David that produces Jesus Christ and so did it
pay off serving God absolutely and so Orpah she said you know what I got to
take care of myself Ruth said you know what I'm just gonna trust God I'm just
gonna go to the house of the Lord I want to serve God that's all that matters
and you know what I don't know what happened to Orpah I don't know what kind
of a Moabite dude she married or if she even got married at all but I really
highly doubt that Orpah ended up doing better even on this earth I really doubt
that Orpah ended up doing better than Ruth now even if she did who cares
because spiritual things are what really matter and we know Ruth got it right
spiritually but even on this earth God ended up blessing Ruth and giving her
the desires of her heart what did she want a husband what did she want food
right she wanted to be able to feed herself and she got it so the moral of
the story is seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these
things will be added unto you as far as I never were to prayer father we thank
you so much for this powerful story about these women Naomi Ruth Orpah Lord
help us to apply these things to our lives and and to understand what it
means to have the right priorities and to seek you first with all of our heart
and mind and soul Lord and help us never to envy the wicked or think that Moab
has it going on Lord help us to stay in the Israel of God and it's in Jesus name
we pray Amen