Good afternoon, brethren. Please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Ruth, Ruth chapter one.
And Ruth is only a small book with four chapters. So you'll find that after the book of Judges,
and before 1 Samuel. It's wedged between those two books, the book of Judges and 1 Samuel,
you'll find the book of Ruth. And I really wanted to teach on the book of Ruth because I wanted to
tell a nice story. We've been going through the end times and I've been preaching about
the coronavirus, these kinds of things. I wanted something a little bit more lively. There's a
beautiful story here in the book of Ruth. And so I hope to be able to take some great truths from
this book. But look at Ruth chapter one and verse number 16. Ruth chapter one and verse number 16,
the Bible reads, And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, nor 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. The title for the sermon this afternoon is Thy God, My God,
Thy God, My God. So this was the heart of Ruth. She wanted to worship the God of Israel. She wanted
her people to be the people of God. And you know, one thing that makes me sad during this lockdown
period is that we can't have church. You know, we can't make the people of God, our people,
as it were, being gathered in fellowship together, worshiping the true God of the Bible at this point
in time. But this was the heart of Ruth. You know, she wanted to be where God was. She wanted to
worship God. She wanted to be friends with God's people. And this is why church is so important.
And you know, this is why I'm so excited. Once this lockdown, these restrictions on churches
are lifted, it can be gathered once again, so we can worship the God of Ruth, we can worship the
God of Israel, but we can also make His people our people. And it's important for us to make
friends of God's people. You know, we shouldn't be seeking the friendship of an ungodly world.
And you know, you might say, well, our church is small. There aren't many people.
Well, are you friends with everybody in our church? Are you striving to make friendships?
Are you striving to spend time with them and get to know them and to love and to care for them?
You know, I know of people that are in big churches of 100, 200, 300 people, and they
struggle to make friendships. It's not the size of church. It's whether your heart is right.
Is your heart seeking to make friendships to make the people of God your people? That should
be your desire to be in church. Yes, to worship God, but also to be gathered with the people of
God. And none of us are perfect. I know that, okay? No one's perfect outside of church. No
one's perfect inside of the church. This is why we come to worship Jesus Christ who was perfect,
who did lay his life down for his sheep. But let's pick it up there in Ruth chapter one,
verse number one. Ruth chapter one and verse number one, the Bible reads,
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. So we pick that up here with the timing of
of when this story took place. It says here, Now it came to pass in the days when the judges
ruled. Okay, so we have the book of Judges. Now let's just get the timing around here. Of course,
Moses would lead the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. Then they would wander in the wilderness
for 40 years. And then God will pick them up from the wilderness and bring them into the promised
land, the land of Canaan. And as they came into the promised land, they were to defeat the enemies,
they would defeat the Canaanites on the land, take that land for themselves. But they didn't
finish the job. They left some people to live on the land. And this caused them a lot of problems.
They had problems with the people of the land in the surrounding nations. And quite often,
they would fail in their faithfulness toward God. God will allow these nations to come in
and conquer them like the Philistines. And God would have to raise up judges like Samson.
You know, certain men that would deliver the people out of the hands of their enemies for
the power of God. And so the story takes place here during that time of the judges,
but before the kings, before King David, King Saul. You know, when we look at 1 Samuel,
which is the book after Ruth, you know, that's commonly known as the book which would bring in
the kingly line of Israel into view, where the people demanded a king. So the book of Ruth takes
place before the kingship, you know, the kingly line of Israel, and during the time when the
judges were overseeing that nation. Okay. And so it also took place when there was a famine,
said there in verse number one, a famine in the land. And this is what drove this man,
his wife, and his two sons to leave this place and go into Moab. Now, this is the first mistake
that they make, this family makes. Look at verse number two. It says, And the name of the man was
Amimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the name of his two sons, Melon and Chileon,
Ephraates of Bethlehem, Judah, and they came into the country of Moab and continued there. And so
they went to the land of Moab. They went to the Moabites. Now, the Moabites were part of those
that were of the land of Canaan. They were the enemies, as it were, of Israel. But they were
led to go there because of the famine. They decided to make the decision, let's leave the
land that God gave us. You know, God brought us here, and they went to Moab instead. I mean,
that's their big mistake they make in this book. Okay. They left the land that God had told them
to go, and they made this man, this man made his own decision to leave what God had asked him to do
and to go to the land of the Moabites. And, you know, when God tells you to go somewhere,
when God shows you what you need to do, where you need to go, it doesn't matter how bad a famine may
be. It doesn't matter how many difficulties there might be. God wants you there for a reason. God
will use you where he has led you, you know. And it's not God's desire that you would run away from
his plan even in a time of famine. In a time of hardship, God may very well be allowing that
famine to be trying you, to test you, to help you be a greater Christian for his name's sake.
And so we shouldn't be people that are running around, you know, going to and fro, you know,
one person might go and start a church somewhere. It doesn't work out. It runs off, starts a church
somewhere else. Doesn't work. Runs off and starts a church somewhere else. Or, you know, these
people that say, well, God's leading me here, leading me there. But it seems like it never
works out. It's because they're not following the heart of God. They're not following God's
direction. They are following after their own heart. They're seeking their own counsel. And
they might see a time of famine and say, we need to get away from this famine. But if God sent you
there, he wants you there for a reason. And so that should be the first lesson that we see here,
because this then leads them to the chastisement of God. And God brings great judgment upon this
family for leaving where they should have been.
And if you don't know who the Moabites are, the Moabites, I'll just read to you a passage
in Genesis 19 verse 37. This is when Lot, you may remember Lot, left God destroyed Sodom, Gomorrah.
He had to leave. He went to reside in a cave and he was there with his daughters. And it says here
in verse number 37, Genesis 19, and the firstborn bear a son and called his name Moab. The same is
the father of the Moabites unto this day. And so the Moabites are descendants of this
relationship, this wicked relationship between Lot and his firstborn daughter. And if you know that,
we've gone through the series on Genesis. You can go back and listen to the sermon then if you want
the full context of that. But this is where the Moabites come from, okay. Look at verse number
three in the book of Riff. Riff chapter one verse number three. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband died
and she was left and her two sons. So you know this man brings his family in a place where God
did not want them to be and he loses his life. Now as we go later on in this chapter, you'll see that
this was the judgment of God, okay. God saw that this man was leaving his family in the wrong place
and he passes on. Now his wife and his family without the number one breadwinner is left in a
land where God never wanted them to be. And fathers, husbands, this is something you need
to think about. You know the decisions you make, you know the decisions that you have in your heart,
you need to consider your family. What if something happens to you? You know can is your
family going to be taken care of? Is your family in the will of God? If you lead your family away
from the will of God and something happens to you pass away, then what's going to happen to
your family? You know you got to be careful about the decisions you make as the head of your home,
careful about the decisions you make because you might leave your wife in a bad place.
And this man was not thinking about the future. He was not thinking that if I lost my life,
what would happen to my family? And so fathers, this is something husbands, you need to be
thinking about when you lead your family. The decisions I make are not just for me,
but they have a lasting effect on my wife and my children. You need to keep your family's
best interest in mind. You got to keep your family in the will of God. Look at verse number four.
And they, that's the two sons, took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was
and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there about 10 years. Wow. So this famine in the
land of Israel, this was obviously a significant famine that caused them to leave, but it's not
like they came back straight out of the famine. They stayed there for 10 years. You know, and if
you lead your family away from the will of God, you get away from the will of God, it might be
a time that you're away from the will of God for 10 years. It could have lasting, long lasting
effects into your life and into your family's life. You got to be careful to stay in the will
of God 10 years. And the two sons took wives of the women of Moab. You know, the Israelites were
instructed to not take wives of these other people. They were to take wives within their
own tribes, within their own families, you know, within their own nation, they were to take wives.
People that actually worshiped the true God of Israel and these Moabites, they worshiped
false gods. Okay. So you can see these bad decisions that are made,
but we do have the story of Ruth coming here because Ruth was a great woman. Ruth was a woman
that left the false gods of her fathers and decided to worship the true God. She made
the God of Naomi, her God. Okay. The God of this family, her God. Look at verse number four.
Sorry, verse number five. And Malon and Chilean died. That's the two sons.
Also both of them and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. So now this woman,
Naomi, not just loses her husband, but she loses her sons. Her sons pass away. Once again,
she recognizes that this is the judgment of God. This family had made a bad mistake going to this
land, married ungodly women, and this was the consequence. God took their life. And this is,
again, something difficult. Some Christians don't understand this, that God can bring judgment.
If He sees you in a wicked place, He sees you unfruitful, unable to do anything for His name,
unable to work His work. God may very well just end your life like that. That could be His
judgment because you've become worthless to Him. And we've got to be careful not to get to that
point in our lives. This is why we must remain in the will of God. Verse number six. Then she arose
with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab. And then she heard in
the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited His people and given them bread. Now, brethren,
a couple of things I want to bring to your attention here. Notice how the Bible calls
the women that her sons married, her daughters-in-law.
Now, marriage is a lawful covenant. It is something that is bound by law.
Now, I understand that marriage in our nation,
people are trying to destroy what marriage is. They've brought in homosexual marriage. They've
brought in same-sex marriage. And I've heard some people say, well, does that mean then we should
not, when Christians get married, should we not seek to have that confirmed by the law of our
land? No, no, no. It is binding by law. Even when it comes to divorce, it's called the Bill
of Divorcement. There's a document. There's a legal document associated with divorce. And that's
why it's important that marriage is done legally as well. Yes, there are people trying to destroy
what marriage is in our nation, but that shouldn't stop the fact that when people get married,
they do so lawfully. These are daughters-in-law. And then it says here that Naomi said,
verse number seven, sorry. Oh yeah, sorry. And then it says here that she notices that the
Lord had visited his people and given them bread. So she wants to go back to the land. She wants to
go back to the land of Canaan because she found out, news traveled, that the Lord was giving them
bread, that the Lord was providing their needs. They had gotten out of the famine. And that was
going to be the case anyway. If this family decided to stay in the land of Canaan,
God was going to provide their needs. And God showed them that yes, Israel was going to be
taken care of. That land would bring forth that milk and honey that they were aware of.
God will provide their every need. And now Naomi realizes they're in a bad place. They should have
just stayed in the land where they were because God would always have provided. And brethren,
once again, this is why we need to stay in the will of God. God will provide our every need.
Let's not get out of the will of God and then try to return later. You know,
don't make those mistakes. This woman lost her husband. She loses her children. Okay,
but look at verse number seven. Wherefore she went 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.
Now the next verses that we're about to read has some really good advice on having a happy
in-law relationship. This is a woman with two daughters-in-law. This is a mother-in-law.
And quite often in this world we think about mother-in-laws and how they meddle into the family,
into the life of her son and the daughter. There's a lot of bad relationships between mother-in-law
and daughter-in-law. But what we read about here is a great relationship between mother-in-law and
daughter-in-law. You know, a great relationship between Naomi and the wives of her sons.
And so I want to take some good principles that we can apply. You know, if you are having rocky
relationships with your in-laws, then let's take the lesson that we see here in why they had a
good relationship. Look at verse number eight. 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. So she says, look, go back. There's nothing I can do for you. You better go
back to your mother's house. And the Lord would do kindly with you the same way you dealt kindly
with the dead. That's, you know, their husbands and with me. Okay. So the first thing that we
notice about this relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is that
there was kindness in this relationship. You know, the daughter-in-laws, even though their
husbands had died, were dealing kindly with their mother-in-law, to deal kindly. You know,
the definition of kindness is to be friendly, generous and considerate. Friendly, generous
and considerate. You know, you're being mindful of your in-laws. And you know, when I married my
wife, you know, what I should do is to show kindness to my in-laws. My wife should show
kindness to my parents. Now look, it's not for my parents or for her parents. It's not for the
in-laws to meddle in people's lives in the new family unit that's been created out of marriage.
But rather, we should consider them. We should think of them and be kind toward them, to be
friendly, to be generous toward them. This would help maintain a close friendship, close
relationship, a good relationship, I should say. You know, I don't know what it is. I mean,
I've never had to marry off any of my kids just yet, but it's going to happen one day,
right, God willing. And I'm assuming, especially for the mother, it's very hard to let go of her
children. You know, the children that she's given birth to, she had great grief and sorrow to bring
forth that child. And then that child gets married, you know, leaves the family home,
starts a new family. I think it must be difficult for mothers to let go. And because it's hard to
let go, they want to meddle. They want to be involved in that person's life. But no,
the Bible says that a man should leave father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and they twain
shall be one flesh. And so marriage is leaving that family unit, creating a new family unit.
And in-laws, you know, father in-laws, mother in-laws, you need to understand this. You need
to let go of your children when they get married. Let them have that new family unit. Don't meddle
in their affairs. But we should have good friendship. We should fellowship. That is still
your family, your extended family. And that man that married your daughter, you know,
he's part of your family now. That's your daughter's husband. Or if it's your son,
you know, that's your son's wife. You should show kindness toward them. Look at verse number nine.
The Lord grants 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 wept. So notice verse number nine.
Naomi realizes that, look, you go and then she goes, that you may find rest, each of you in the
house of her husband. You see, she realized you're going to go back and you need to get remarried.
You need to go and find a new husband, okay. She's ready to let go of them. She honors each
house, that each of those daughters may very find new husbands, they would have new families,
and they're saying you've got to find rest in the house of your husband. Now if you've married off
your daughter, you need to tell your daughter, go find rest in the house of your husband.
That's their house. And of course, the Bible uses the term house interchangeably with family,
okay. So when someone gets married, that's a new house, that's a new family. That's not part of
your family anymore. That's a brand new family when you let go of your children to marriage.
And of course, the Bible uses that word, like I said, family interchangeably. Just for example,
in Genesis chapter seven, verse one, when Noah built the ark, what does God say to Noah? He says,
and the Lord said unto Noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen
righteous before me in this generation. And so God tells Noah, look, take your house into the ark.
Now of course, God's not talking about the bricks and mortar of a house, how we use the term house
today. He's talking about those that reside in his house, those that are of his household. And
so he was to take, of course, we saw his wife, his sons and their wives onto the ark with him.
That was his house. That was his family. The Bible also says in Psalm 113, verse nine,
Bible says, he maketh the barren woman to keep house. What does that mean to keep house? Is it
she's vacuuming, she's dusting, she's mopping the building? No, no. You know, it says here,
woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children, praise ye the Lord. That's what we get
the term the housekeeper from, you know. It's about a wife who was a housekeeper. It's not that
she, you know, she fixes a broken down house. It's not like she's going and building a new veranda,
okay, or that she's putting new tiles on the roof. No, when she's keeping the house,
she's looking after the household. She's looking after the children, the husband, the family,
that God has given her. And of course, one of the most famous passages that we love to turn
to when we're given the gospel, Acts chapter 16, verse 30, and brought them out and said, says,
what must I do to be saved, asked the Philippian jailer. Verse number 31, and they said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And then the next words, and thy house.
Your house can also be saved if they believe on Jesus Christ is what they're saying. What's the
house? Well, in verse number 32, it says, and they spake unto him the word of the Lord,
and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of that night and washed their
stripes and was baptized. He and all his straight away. So the Philippian jailer believes, and then
he's baptized the same night. He and all his, his entire family believed on Christ. His entire
family were baptized straight away. And in verse number 34, and when he had brought them into his
house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. So I like
verse number 34, because it covers house in two ways there. It says, and when he brought them into
his house, so that's where he lived, that's where he reside, he set meat before them and rejoiced,
believing in God with all his house. That's not like the building believed in God. It's not like
the building believes on Jesus, but his household, his family, his servants, whoever it was that made
up his house, they all believed on Jesus Christ and were baptized. And also if you look at Riff
chapter one, verse number nine, not only do we see that Naomi honored each house, and that's important,
okay, if you want to maintain good relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law,
is honor each house. You know, understand that is a separate family. Don't go and meddle in
someone else's affairs. And you know, if you're a man, you need to make sure you take care of
your wife. It's not your mother. You don't go and prioritize your mother and father. You prioritize
your wife. You prioritize the family that God has given you. You know, you are to be a provider
for that family. You know, you're not to run to mom and dad for help. You are the man of the house.
You are the one to lead that home. So she recognizes that, Naomi. And then it says at the
end of verse number nine, then she kissed them and they lifted up their voice and wept. And so the
third point that I had, you know, to maintain good in-law relationships, number one was to be kind,
kindness. Number two was to honor each house. And number three is show affection. And here we see
Naomi kissing her daughter-in-laws. Not only do they kiss, but they lift up their voice and they
wept. They wept. You know, they wept because there was going to be this separation, right,
the separation. They were going to go back to their old families. And so we see affection
between the in-laws. And here, again, it was by a kiss. Okay. And this can be a hug. You know,
nothing wrong with kissing and hugging your in-laws, showing them affection. But if that's not
your style, I know, you know, especially in Australia, some Western culture, it's not
common to show physical affection to people like that, like your in-laws. And so, you know,
you can show affection some other ways. You know, a gift. You know, giving your in-laws gifts from
time to time, showing them that you care for them, showing them that you have affection for
them. Okay. This is how you're going to maintain solid in-law relationships. Okay. Kindness,
honoring each house as separate individual houses. And number three, showing affection
one toward another. Look at verse number 10. 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, if I should have an husband also
tonight, and also 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, for he grieveth me much for
your sakes, that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me. And so here we have Naomi recognizing
the fact that God's hand has been put against her and against the family. This is why she lost her
husband, her sons. And she's saying, look, you might as well leave. I can't have any more children.
It's not like I can have more sons. They can grow up and marry you. Say, well, that's a bit weird.
Well, keep your finger then, go to the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 25, because
Naomi's speaking about a law that was passed with the law of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy,
Deuteronomy chapter 25 and verse 5. And this was a law that God gave. It says here in verse number 5,
if brethren dwell together, that's two brothers that grew up, that lived together in the same
household, and one of them die and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry
without unto a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in unto her and take her to him to wife
and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. And so if a woman were to marry a man,
and that man were to pass away, and she were to have no children, then by law, the brother
of that man that passed away was to take that woman as a wife. That was one way that God put
in place for that woman's needs to be taken care of, okay? And for her to have children
through that brother. And then in verse number 6, it says, and it shall be that the firstborn
which she bearers shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put
out of Israel. So the firstborn in that new relationship would be considered a son of that
first brother. Verse number 7, and if the man like not to take his brother's wife, so if you said,
I don't want to take my sister-in-law as my wife after my brother had died, well, there was an
option as well. You didn't have to, okay? This was God's plan. This was God's desire for the people
of Israel to do this, but you could also have, this is an arranged marriage. You could opt out
of that, okay? And this is what we read about here in verse number 7. And if the man like not
to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gates of the elders and say,
my husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform
the duty of my husband's brother. Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak unto him,
and if he shall stand to it and say, I like not to take her, then shall his brother's wife come
unto him in the presence of the elders and loose his shoe from off his foot and spit in his face,
and shall answer and say, so shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's
house. And his name shall be called in Israel the house of him that hath his shoe loosed. Okay, so
a bit of a strange thing and obviously something that we're not very familiar, not common at all
in our day and age, not common at all, not done at all in Australia, is if a man desire to not take
that sister-in-law as a wife, that he would kind of be brought to shame, that he would not carry
out his duty, but then once, you know, that sister-in-law would spit in his face and she
would be loosened off his foot and be ashamed, then he could go about and marry whoever he
wished. Okay, so it was an optional thing, but the right thing to do at this point in time was to take
that sister-in-law as his wife. Now the situation we have with Naomi is that she had no other sons.
Both sons had died, okay, and she's saying to them, look, are you hanging around just so I could
have more children? I'm too old, I'm too old to get married, I'm too old to have more children,
and even if I could get married, even if I could have children, are you going to wait for that
child to grow up? You know, let's say they're 20 years old at this point, 25 years old, let's just
say 25 years old, you know, you're going to wait for this guy, this young man, you know, if I were
able to give birth, you know, to grow up, to be say 20 years of age where he can provide for you
and then get married. I mean, you'll be like 45 at that point in time, right, of age. So, you know,
Naomi's just showing that it's pointless. Why are you here? There's nothing I can provide for you.
There's nothing I can give you. I can't give you a husband. You might as well go back to your land
and find a husband for yourself in your land. And then look at verse number 14,
Ruth chapter 1 verse 14. And they lifted up their voice and wept again, and Oppa kissed
her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her. So, you know, Oppa is ready to leave, but Ruth wants
to stay. Verse number 15. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people
and unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. So you can see once again that
these women were not people, believers of the God of Israel. You know, maybe they were now,
I'm not sure, but when they were married to the sons, they had their false gods that they
worshipped. And so she went back, Oppa did, to her land, back to her false gods. And then it's verse
number 16. And Ruth said, Intreat 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. These are amazing words that Ruth spoke. These are words that are
repeated very often in the Bible. And she desired that the God of Israel would be her God. She did
not want to go back to the false gods. She knew the true God. She knew that this was the God that
she would worship. This would be the God that she would serve. This would be the God that could
provide her salvation. And again, this term, thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God,
this comes from the book of Leviticus. So I'll read it to you in Leviticus chapter 26 verse 11.
And it's my personal belief that Ruth knew of these writings. Of course, these were the writings
of Moses. She must have learned this from her husband or from her mother-in-law. And she was
aware of what she was saying because in Leviticus 26 verse 11, God says, and I will set my tabernacle
among you, and my soul shall not abhor you, and I will walk among you, and will be your God,
and ye shall be my people. These are the words of God. He says, I will be your God, and ye shall be
my people. And this is, of course, God entering into this covenant with the people of Israel.
And Ruth wanted to enter into that same covenant. She wanted to make that God, the God of Israel,
her God. And the people of Israel, her people. And this is such a great heart. She wanted to be
with the Christians. She wanted to be with the believers. She wanted to be with the people
of God. And this phrase appears six times in the book of Jeremiah alone. I'll just read a portion
to you. Maybe you can keep your finger there, and you can go to 2 Corinthians for me. Go to 2
Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. And I'll just read to you from Jeremiah 24 verse 4.
It says, Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,
Like those good figs, so will I acknowledge them that I carried away captive of Judah,
whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land, and I will
build them, and not pull them down, I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them
at a heart to know me that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God,
for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. So not only did God say these words when
he established the covenant with the Israelites, but also when the people of Judah would be taken
into captivity, God would speak about those that would return back to the land of Canaan,
once again reaffirming the fact that he will be their God, and they will be his people.
And you've gone to 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse number 15,
now in the days of the New Testament. And the Bible says here in verse number 15,
2 Corinthians 6, 15, and what concord have Christ with Belial? Or what part have he
that believeth with an infidel? So the Bible's saying here, look, what could possibly be in
common with Christ and Belial? That's a name for the devil. What could you possibly find in common
with someone that believes with someone that is an infidel? An infidel is someone that doesn't
believe. What can you find in common? Okay, verse number 16, and what agreement have the temple of
God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God have said, I will dwell in them,
and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So you see, God says of
us in the New Testament, that he will be our God, and we will be his people, of course, by believing
on Jesus Christ. Not by following false gods, not by having idols in our life,
but by setting Christ as our Savior, by believing on his sacrifice. Look at verse 17,
wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing, and I will receive you. And so let's bring this back to Ruth. You know,
Naomi's saying, look, go back to your lands, to your false gods, like your sister-in-law has,
and Ruth says, no, what is there in common? What can I possibly find in common with this false
religion, with these false gods? No, I want to make your God my God. I want to make the God of
Israel my God. These things cannot go together, and that's what I love about verse number 17,
in 2 Corinthians 6, 17. This is the heart of Ruth. You know, God says, wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate. Ruth chose to be separate from unbelievers, to be separate from
the false gods. She decided to worship the true God of Israel. Back to Ruth chapter 1,
Ruth chapter 1 verse 17. Ruth chapter 1 verse 17. Ruth says, where thou diest will I die,
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought not but death part thee
and 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, when they
were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, is this Naomi?
You know, is this Naomi? So they come back to Bethlehem. They come back to the city where Naomi
was originally from. And you'll soon see that, well, that ten years had passed. Ten years had
passed from when they left for the famine, and they were coming back to Bethlehem. Ten years
had passed. Look at verse number 20. And she said unto them, call me not Naomi, call me Mara,
for the Almighty have dealt very bitterly with me. So verse number 21. I went out full,
and the Lord have brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord have
testified against me, and the Almighty have afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth the
Moabitess, 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. So Naomi says, look, you know, people
recognize it. They say, well, is this Naomi? It's been ten years. We haven't seen her for ten years.
Is this her? Obviously she's aged. Probably wondering, where's your husband? Where are your
sons? She comes back with this woman that they've never known, Ruth, and she again acknowledges
that God had judged her, that God had judged her family. She said, look, don't call me Naomi,
call me Mayra. And it said there, for the Almighty have dealt very bitterly with me.
And that's what Mara means, or Mayra means. It means bitter. And she realizes God has been bitter
toward her. God has judged her severely. She has lost her husband. She has lost her sons,
and she comes back. She was full. She had everything she needed when they left,
but now she comes back empty. She comes back with a broken, bitter heart.
And so, you know, if you look at, if you can, sorry,
go to, keep your finger then, go to Exodus 15. Go to Exodus 15 for me.
Because as I had mentioned earlier, you know, God had put laws in place for the people of Israel
not to marry, not to intermarry with the people of Canaan. You know, God said that they will turn
your hearts away from the true God. And they had gone, they had left the land that God had promised
them. They had married, intermarried other people with false gods. And of course, God came and
brought heavy, bitter judgment upon Naomi. Now you're turning to Exodus 15 verse 22.
And, you know, if you feel that God has judged you, if you feel that God has judged you bitterly,
if maybe you have bitterness in your heart because of a situation, I want you to really
focus on what we're about to read in Exodus 15. Because we can all suffer bitterness,
and bitterness is such a terrible sin. It destroys you. You know, if someone has done
wrong against you, you may feel bitter toward them, but your bitterness toward them has no
effect on them. They're going about life as per usual. Your bitterness is tearing you apart.
Okay. And if you've been judged to some extent with bitterness from God, or you have that
bitterness in you, then take heed to the next words in Exodus chapter 15 verse 22.
And this follows on from, of course, Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. And it says
in verse number 22, so Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness
for sure. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. So God leads
them to a place. It's dry. There's no water. But then look at verse number 23.
And when they came to Mara, now there's that word Mara, okay, that's where the word bitterness
comes from. Let's keep going. When they came to Mara, they could not drink of the waters of Mara,
for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Mara. So they're thirsty. They're
looking for water. They finally find some water. They drink of it. Oh, this is bitter. This is
disgusting. There's something wrong with this water. That's why they call that place Mara.
Verse 24. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto
the Lord. That's Moses. He cries to the Lord. And the Lord showed him a tree, which when he cast,
when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and
an ordinance. And there he proved them. Proved, that's what he tested them. Okay. If you're going
through bitterness, if you're being judged bitterly, this is a moment for you to be proved.
God is testing you. God is trying you. God is seeing how are you going to respond to this
bitterness. And so the people of Israel started to murmur. God instructed Moses to take this tree
and cast it into those bitter waters. And those bitter waters became sweet. It was drinkable.
There's nothing wrong with the water anymore. It was tasted refreshing, beautiful, sweet water.
Okay. So what was in that tree? That's not the point. Okay. The point, that's a supernatural
thing. You can't take bitter water and throw a tree at it. It's just going to be fixed. Okay.
This was something that God did, a miracle. This was supernatural. The point is, if you're
suffering with bitterness, if you feel the hand of God has been bitter against you, you need to
go to God. You need to cry unto the Lord the way Moses cried unto the Lord. And the Lord can
perform a miracle. The Lord can take that bitterness out of your life. Okay. He will bring
something like a tree. He will bring something in your life to help you find comfort, to heal
the bitterness that you have. Please don't be a bitter person. Don't let bitterness eat you up.
It'll destroy you. Run to the Lord and ask him for deliverance from bitterness. Look at verse
number 26. And said, if that will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,
and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments and keep all
his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians.
For I am the Lord that healeth thee. You see God, he healed those bitter waters. God can heal you
if you're bitter in heart. Okay. But what should you strive to do? What did God ask you to do?
He says, give ear to his commandments, hearken to the voice of God, listen to God,
keep his statutes, so God will not deal with you bitterly. You know, God will not bring the
diseases upon you the way he brought diseases upon the Egyptians. Okay. So if things are bitter
in your life, run to God. Do what God asks you to do and he can lift that bitterness from you.
God can heal you. All right, Brethren, that's the, that's Riff chapter one. I hope there's
been some benefit for you to go through those passages. And we're going to obviously next week,
go through Riff chapter two. And Brethren, once again, you know, church is where we should desire
to be. Unfortunately, at this time, we can't be here. But I hope you're getting excited. I hope
you're longing to be once again, with the people of God so we can worship the true God once again.
And Brethren, if there's bitterness in your life,
run to God, ask him for the cure that he may heal you from that bitterness. God bless.