Amen. So it's a new Bible study, a new book, and we're going to be studying Ruth for the
next four weeks, which is, yeah, I really like the book and there's a lot of kind of
topics and doctrine and lessons that we can get from this book. I haven't actually heard
it studied through before, so I thought this would be a nice book to study through, something
a bit new for people as well, for some that maybe haven't taken their time and gone through
it slowly. And for those of you that haven't been with us before, what we have been doing
is on a Sunday evening we do a Bible study where we kind of choose a book of the Bible
and we go through chapter by chapter each week, try and go through verse by verse in
that. And so far this church has done 1 Corinthians, Jude, Gospel of John, and just before Christmas
with Philemon. Now we're going into the Old Testament with the book of Ruth, so yeah,
hopefully you're all going to enjoy it. I've enjoyed looking through this first chapter
and going through it slowly, and you just find so much when you go through things slowly
don't you, that you don't see when you're just reading through it, so hopefully you'll
get something out of this. I do appreciate it's a Sunday evening, and it's a Sunday evening
after soul winning and preaching this morning, and it can get a bit warm in here as well.
I have actually turned the thermostat down, try and give you guys a chance of keeping
those eyes open. I am going to do random bangs on the pulpit and shouts if I see any eyes
going, but hopefully everyone will be able to keep going, and I don't know, we'll see
how we do with this. It might be a little bit shorter than an hour today. Okay, so Ruth
chapter 1, and starting in verse 1 it 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. Let's have
a quick word of prayer before we get going. Father I thank you for your word, I thank
you for this great book in the Bible, as we know all scriptures given by inspiration is
profitable for doctrine, for proof, correction of righteousness, and we pray that you just
help me to preach it accurately now, to learn from it, for us all to be edified by this
sermon and for the upcoming sermons as well, and just pray that you, you know, just fill
me with your spirit right now and just help me to preach, preach exactly what you want
me to preach. In Jesus' name I pray all the less. Amen. Okay, so the book of Ruth takes
place as we see here during the period of the judges. It says now it came to pass in
the days when the judges ruled, so that's after Joshua time when Israel are in the promised
land now, but they're going through these sort of different judges and if anyone's read
through the book of Judges you've got some pretty crazy stories in there. It's a pretty,
yeah, pretty, pretty crazy book in some ways in terms of just the stuff you see people
getting up to. And sort of in that time Israel's constantly serving other gods and God keeps
sending them leaders to straighten them out and you kind of see this kind of up and down
system where kind of a leader comes in, they start getting right again and then things
start to kind of go downhill again. And although the timeline isn't precise, we know that Boaz
and Ruth, if you've read this book and you know if not, you know, don't worry about the
spoiler because we're going to get to that anyway. Boaz and Ruth are the great grandparents
of David, of King David, and these events took place probably somewhere around 120 years
before Samuel anoints David in 1 Samuel 16. Okay, so that's sort of timeline for you.
Turn to Judges chapter 6 because with that in mind and the mention of a famine here,
it could, and again I'm not saying it is, but it could have been during this period
of time in Judges chapter 6 where from verse 1, obviously keep a finger in Ruth 1, but
Judges 6 just before the book of Ruth and verse 1 where it reads, and the children of
Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, this is this continuing sort of theme we see
in the book of Judges, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel and because of the Midianites, the children
of Israel made them the dens which were in the mountains and caves and strongholds. And
so it was when Israel had sown that the Midianites came up and the Amalekites and the children
of the east even, they came up against them and encamped against them and destroyed the
increase of the earth till they'll come unto Gaza and left no sustenance for Israel, neither
sheep nor ox nor ass, for they came up with their cattle and their tents and they came
as grasshoppers for multitude, for both they and their camels were without number and they
entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites
and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. Now whether that was a particular famine
that he's talking about in Ruth or it was another one, do you think God either caused
the famine, such as here in Judges 6, or allows a famine, because it's one of the two
pretty much isn't it, so that the people of Israel would leave the Promised Land? Is that
his goal? It's not is it? He doesn't want to drive them out of the Promised Land. The
desired result, the reason I turn there is because it says it clearly in verse 6. Have
a look at verse 6 here. Again we don't know if this was it but this is a desired result
of the famine. Verse 6, and Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites and
the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. And that's the goal isn't it? And that's
the goal every time there's some form of punishment, some form of chastisement upon his people
is so that they will draw nigh to him. Like James 4-8 says, draw nigh unto God, he shall
draw nigh unto you. Cleanse ye hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.
And really, you know, God there, he'll do things like that, he'll punish people so
that they'll come close to him, so they'll draw close to him. And here they're crying
unto the Lord and that's what he wants us to do, doesn't he? In hard times, in times
of struggle, times of trouble, we should be crying unto the Lord, shouldn't we? And here
that's the result, sorry, that's a desired result and if you've read Judges 6, God then
raises up Gideon to deliver them, okay, and we see that great story with the 300 etc.
and I'm not talking about 300 men in skirts and long hair fighting weird things in some
bizarre movie that sadly I watched many years ago. But no, but here in Ruth chapter 1 verse
1, we see the alternative response, don't we? So back into Ruth here, Ruth 1-1, it says
where we just saw, and a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab,
he and his wife and his two sons. And for me, that's a picture of when times are hard
going off into the world, isn't it? So here he's gone to sojourn in the country of Moab,
running away from God and trying to find a solution elsewhere. And look, how did that
work out for him, do you think? It worked out well for him? No, look at verse 2. And
the name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi and the name of his
two sons Marlon and Killian, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah and they came into the country
of Moab and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi's husband died and she was left with
her two sons and they took them wives of the women of Moab, the name of the one was Orpah
and the name of the other Ruth, and they dwelled there about 10 years. And Marlon and Killian
died also, both of them, and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Didn't
work out so well, did it? Not well at all, because that wasn't the desired, you know,
that's not the response that God wanted, was it? Okay, to just run away, to go somewhere
else. But here, not only has her husband died for Naomi there, they weren't blessed with
any more children, were they? Children are a blessing, aren't they? As much as the world
tries to tell us they're not, children are a blessing. And they're not blessed with any
children there, are they? And look, we don't know the reasons for that, but look, she doesn't
seem to have much when she leaves, we see further on Naomi, does she? So when she leaves
it's not that she's kind of selling everything up and leaving with a fortune, it looks like
she hasn't really got anything at all. So it doesn't look like anything was blessed
at all, but I'm sure it looked like a good idea when they left, didn't it? It's like,
well, there's a famine here, let's go to Moab. And for me, that's a picture just going into
the world, isn't it? Going into the world, leaving the things of God. Was it ever going
to be blessed? It was never going to be blessed, was it? And this guy, let's go back to Elimelech
here, because who made the decision here? Who should have been making the decisions
of Elimelech? So Elimelech, he's left his spiritual home, he's left other believers
for what he probably considered was a better life for a time. Remember, he's so journeying
here, isn't he? That's for a time, for a period. Ended up being a long time, didn't it? And
he's ended up dying. So he's moved, he's tried to make a decision, he's made a bad decision,
he's ended up dying. And then you've got his sons, they had a chance, so at this point
after he's died, we don't know when that is, but at this point they're adults, old enough
to marry. And what did they do? Well, they sealed their position in Moab, didn't they?
Both of them. So they've followed after what their father's done, haven't they? They haven't
gone, right now it's time to go home, mum. They've carried on, they've basically cemented
their home in Moab by marrying two Moabites. And look, I don't know whether they got them
saved first, whether they got them saved after. For me, Ruth is saved, Orpah probably is too.
But not really very wise decisions by any of these people here, is it? And I think there's
a lesson there, because then what happens? The sons end up dying, likely young, considering
that their mum does actually not only outlive them but later in the story is nursing a baby
as well, at the end of the story. And look, those decisions we make as fathers, all of
you fathers here, all of you people, all of you men here that are eventually going to
be fathers, and really even if you're not a father, just as a husband, just as a man
in general, look, those decisions you make affect more than just yourself, don't they?
They affect your whole family, they can affect generations. And that's what it's done here,
doesn't it? And look, notice, like I said, they went to sojourn. Verse 1 said to sojourn,
that's for a time. And you could look at that, you could apply that to our lives, couldn't
you? I'm just going to miss church for a couple of weeks, just to earn a bit of extra money.
Just going to sojourn for a little bit in the world, for a couple of weeks. Do you think
it always ends up as a couple of weeks? No, it doesn't. I'm just going to, just for a
little bit, because I'm just going to find it a bit hard for this month, or next month,
or it doesn't end up like that. I'm just going to leave my Bible reading until I can,
just until I've done those extra hours at work, just going to put in a bit more extra
time at work, then I'll start picking up my Bible again. Do you think they pick up the
Bible again? So often, people don't, do they? So often, it ends up years down the line,
and you're out of the will of God, you're out of church, you're out of your Bible reading.
Well, I'm not going to so win this month. I'm not going to go so winning this month,
because I've just, I need to do those extra shifts at work. Do you really need to, though?
Is that really the right decision? For me, it's not, and I think there's a great picture
here of that, great picture here. Verse six, then she arose with her daughters-in-law that
she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab how
that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. Now, who's making a wise decision
here? Naomi. Naomi makes a wise decision, doesn't she? She goes back to God and his
people, because it's never too late, though, is it? So those of you that have made those
bad decisions before, those of you that feel like you continue to make bad decisions like
that, it's never too late, though, is it? It's never too late to go back to God. God
will always, will always want you back. We're talking about his children here, okay? His
children, look, when you're a saved man or woman of God, and you choose to go off into
the world, look, you're not going to be blessed, and it's not going to work out well, but God
will have you back, okay? And that's not an incentive to go out, but that is an incentive
just to come back, isn't it? God wants you living for him, but it's Naomi here that makes
that wise decision, and ultimately, maybe, maybe before we know, Naomi never wanted to
go in the first place. We don't know that, because that could be the case, because really
she had to submit to her husband, didn't she? She should have submitted to her husband,
even though really he was making a bad decision there, but really, look, like I said again,
the decisions you make as husbands affect more than just you. They affect your wives,
they affect your children, they can even affect your children's children and onwards
and onwards, can't they? And that is a great responsibility we have, and for some, the
world would say, oh, what a terrible life for women. I tell you what, that's a responsibility,
and that's a hard responsibility, isn't it? For all of us. Every single man here, yeah,
the world might look at it like, oh, how lucky you are, you get to make the decisions, but
you better make sure you make some right decisions for your family, okay? Because people are
relying on you, okay? Your wives rely on you, your kids rely on you, your grandchildren
rely on you. Men, you better be spiritual, you better get spiritual, you better make
sure you're in the word of God, you better make sure that you're making decisions according
to the word of God, okay? That's a responsibility every single one of us has. Verse 7, wherefore
she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her,
and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two
daughters-in-law, go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with
you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. Because these women could have just abandoned
her already, couldn't they? They could have just left her. Why are they still with her?
What are they getting out of her now? They could have left, they could have just been
immersed in their own grief. I don't know if any of you, you know, if you've ever grieved
hard before, been around people that are grieving hard, it's very easy to start being irritated
by anyone else around it, it all becomes about yourself and my grief and what I'm going
through. And people get like that a lot of the time when they're grieving, it'd be very
easy for these ladies to just go, yeah, anyway, but our husbands, we've lost our husbands,
you know, okay, you've lost your sons, we've lost our husbands, and that's a lifelong partner,
et cetera, because people start to almost compare, I've seen this before. You know,
well, for me, it's worse because of this, because people can get very self-absorbed
grief, but they haven't done that here, have they? Now, Naomi has said to them to return
because they have dealt kindly, they're still with her, she says, the Lord grant you that
ye may find rest, each of you in the house of a husband. Then she kissed them and they
lifted up their voice and went. Pretty emotional time here, they obviously have a lot of time
for Naomi, don't they? A lot of care and love for her. But notice how she said in verse
nine, the Lord grant you that ye may find rest. What does Naomi mean that they may find
rest? She says each of you in the house of a husband, in the house of husbands. Well,
turn over to chapter three, Ruth chapter three, and verse one, Ruth three one reads,
then Naomi her mother-in-law said unto my daughter, talking to Ruth here, shall I not
seek rest for thee that it may be well with thee? Now, she basically goes on after that
to instruct Ruth how to go about an eventual marriage with Boaz. So until that point, and
again, it's a spoiler, but it doesn't really matter, I hope everyone here should have read
it anyway. Until that point, she's basically been working hard in the fields at harvest
time. Okay, so she's having a graph to provide for her and Naomi. And she's saying, look,
go and find rest as in, you know, go, you know, hopefully he's going to want to marry
you and you can find rest. Now, here in back in Ruth chapter one, verse nine, their lives
have become pretty tough. They're having to provide for themselves right now. So between
these three women, and look, that's not easy. Okay, that's not easy anyway. That's not easy
back a few thousand years ago, for sure. Okay. Now, with that in mind, notice a wording
is that she may find rest because, look, getting married isn't meant to be seen as this hard
slog, this just, you know, working your fingers to the bone, where a young lady has gone from
this life of luxury to this serving misery, where she's just, you know, just it's what
a hard life, I'll keep going, but there's heaven at the end of it. That's not how it's
meant to be looked at. I mean, Ruth said that you may find rest, you know, that it was basically,
it's an incentive to get married, to find rest, because the alternative is likely some
hard labour here to provide for herself and Naomi, isn't it? Okay, to be grafting, to
be really, it's going to be some form of labour, isn't it? Some form of helping, some sort
of farm labour, something similar. We see later on, obviously, in the Book of Acts,
other sorts of jobs like making tents and things like that and working with their hands
and I think we see, you know, people basically like sewing and things like that, but look,
all of it's hard work to provide for yourself. Are women designed for that? Anyone think
women are designed for that here? No? Don't worry, any of you feminists, you can just
put half a hand up, no? Anyone think women are designed for hard graft, for slogging
it out, for back-breaking labour? They aren't, are they? Okay, as much as the world will
tell you that they are, they can do exactly what I meant and they're not designed for
it. God didn't design them for it. Okay, that is hard work. They're not designed for that,
are they? And women are designed for some other stuff that men aren't designed for,
okay? So we're not down on women, but they're not designed for hard labour, for hard graft.
They find rest in the house of their husband, okay? And that's something that sometimes
women I think could do with being reminded of because in this day and age it's a bit
different now, isn't it? Because in this day and age we look at all these non-manual jobs
and all these other ways of earning money and there's many other ways that we're going
to look at as well, but even with those jobs are women designed to stress out about providing
for their family week in, week out? They're not, are they? Let's be honest, there's a
general rule and there's exceptions to the rule, but as a general rule, when times are
hard, who generally is going to deal with that a bit better, with that responsibility
of providing that responsibility? It's generally the man, isn't it? Okay? That's life. That's
the way it is. That's the way God designed us. I don't care what our world tells us now,
this wicked world that gets everything else in a muddle and everything else is wrong.
That's life, isn't it? So for these women here, getting married is rest. Getting married
is rest. It's a good thing. What if they had been raised in a Christian home? What
if those women had been raised in a Christian home and they weren't just getting cast out
at 18 or 21 or whatever, they've decided, right, you're out now, go and make a life
somewhere else. Because for me, I don't know about you guys here, but for me, my daughters,
I pray to God they'll live with me until they get married. Why on earth would I send my
daughters out to work in the world? Why am I going to send them out, away from my protection,
away from my providing for them, to go and be around a load of unsaved devils, to be
around a load, and look, to be completely away from me just out, and what do they need
to learn to work for if their goal and God's will for them is to be a wife and a mum? So
why am I going to send them out into the workplace? What are they going to achieve by that? Oh,
well then they're able to be independent. Why do I want my daughters to learn to be independent?
Well, that's not what they're designed to do. They're designed to find rest in the house
of their husband, aren't they? Oh, but you've been unfair because then, well, what if they
get divorced? Well, firstly, are you really planning for divorce? I hope you're not planning
for divorce in their lives and hopefully you'll guide them to marry the sort of man that hopefully
never even contemplates divorce if you're a man of God, but also, look, if that ever
God forbid happened, they'll be coming back to me, okay? Sadly, but I hope that would
never happen, but why on earth am I going to provide them, try and prepare them for
anything else? Now, that doesn't mean I don't want my children to be educated. I want my
daughters to be educated because they've got to educate their kids, and that's how it works,
isn't it? And they want to be able to live life in it and be able to see through things
and to be able to educate their children and be able to be a help to their husband as well
in whatever way they can, but ultimately, I'm preparing my daughters for the married
life and for God's life, yeah? So with that in mind, if they've been raised in a Christian
home, eventually they're going to get to the point, it's not, well, that's just easy. Well,
they could just stay with you then for the rest of their life, isn't that an easy job?
Well, no, because they stay with me. I'm going to find it hard to provide eventually. My
wife's going to find it harder to do the things she needs to do, so they're going to be picking
up the slack. In fact, I know people that have raised daughters this way who say that when
their daughters get married, that's hard. That is a hard time. Forget paying for the wedding. You
want a dowry because she's been in your home helping your wife, helping you, helping to do
all the jobs around the home, and suddenly some man's whisking her away. And look, you don't want
to stop it, do you? But you know what? They better be the right man because I ain't blessing it,
and they better be the sort of man that deserves that because, you know, we're raising, I hope
everyone is raising hardworking daughters here, raising daughters that are a blessing for their
household, and I ain't paying for no wedding. They better be coming bearing gifts because me and my
wife are going to lose out. We'd lose out straight away with my eldest daughter. We'd lose out
already straight away with a lot of chores, a lot of jobs around the home. And look, let alone when
Grace is older as well, and as they get older, it's going to be more and more. So look, for me,
it's not, oh, just quickly marry her off. It is if she's just living off you and doing nothing.
But as we get older, look, she's still going to be, she's going to have to be doing more and more
and more, and it's still going to be rest in the house of her husband, I believe, because it's going
to get to the point where, well, look, my wife's not going to be able to do so much. It's going to
be us to provide for. But ultimately, look, life is hard. Life is meant to be hard, okay? There isn't
an easy option. There's not an easy option in the will of God. Life is hard. Life is work. The first
man on this earth worked, okay? He tended a garden, okay? He worked, he grafted, yeah? And
it's continued like that, and that's how it's meant to be. And in fact, it's hard for our own good. And
as much as the world wants to persuade you that being lazy is the best thing you can do, and you
just need all this rest, what a load of nonsense. Cursed is the ground for life's sake. It's for our
own good that we work, because if we didn't, if we were just lounging around all day, wow, how much
sin would we all be getting into? Wouldn't we all? Yeah? When you're busy, you haven't even got time to
get into all the sin. But it's a good thing, yeah? And look, they should be getting, not that they're
getting rest so they could just put their feet up and just be like the Queen of Sheba and, you know,
as people, as the world would call it, and just doing absolutely nothing as people see it. Look,
that's not why they're getting married. But they're getting married to take away that, what's even
worse is for a woman is to have that responsibility of grafting and breaking your back to provide. That's
not what they're designed for, is it? But in our society, sadly, young ladies at home barely lift
a finger, okay? And we can, we've got to be careful that we don't get pulled in, oh well, we don't want
them working too, oh we don't want to ruin their childhood. What are you talking about? What, what?
See, and I've talked about this before, you're going to switch a, flick a switch at 18. Oh, so,
whenever they get married, flick a switch, they're going to suddenly be able to graft now. No, if they
haven't learnt from young, we're not saying they can't ever play and be kids, of course, we all
want them to play and be kids. But, look, we're training our children, you train up a child the way
she can, when he's old he will not depart from it. That's what we're trying to do, we're trying to
train them for adulthood. Adulthood is a lot longer than childhood, by the way, okay, on average. And
that's what we're training them for. So, look, we want to, we want to train them up, don't we? Teach
them how to be good wives, teach our sons how to be good husbands, to be good workers. But in our
society, they do barely lift a finger, don't they? And when they get asked to, they can have a strop
and just go and get a council place. Oh, the relationship's broken down, this country, that's
what they could do. Have a strop, no, mum and dad kept telling me I've got to do, well, we've fallen
out, can't live at home anymore, free place, feet up, you know, claim whatever other issue, and
quickly that manifests as well. And suddenly, look, they're in the trap of the benefit system, okay,
and that happens, that happens all over this country and it is a trap, isn't it? It's a trap.
And people get caught by that trap. And I'm not, you know, having a go at people that are caught by
it, but we don't want to train our families up to get caught by that trap, do we? And look, you've
also got women in cushy non-manual jobs. Cushy, like, non-manual jobs, you know, the kids are at
school, the thought of being a wife, according to how the Bible says, and a mother, wow, that
doesn't sound like rest, does it? No, you could turn up at a job at 10 o'clock, leave at three
little part-time, or maybe, you know, take the kids to school first, turn up, have a bit of a
relax, bit of a chat, do a little bit of work, get, have many paid holidays a year, and everything
else, and suddenly you're thinking, do I even need to be married? Do I even need to do that stuff at
home? Do I even need my husband? Because I could just get, I could get 20, what is it, 20 hours, 30
hours free childcare now in this country, isn't it? They want your kids off early, I mean, forget
even getting them out of diapers, you know, right now it's just, right, get them off, get them off
early, and you can get back to work. And for a lot of women that is actually easier, it's easier to
shove them off in some nursery somewhere, a load of people you don't even know, than to actually
look after children, okay? And it, look, people, so they look at it, it doesn't sound like rest, does
it? But the sort of wife and mother that God wants, it might not be appealing to our world
standards, but God is clear in his will for women, isn't he? I think God's clear, we see
picture after picture in the Bible, oh, that sounds like years ago, well, the Bible doesn't change, the
word of God doesn't change, in 1 Timothy, you don't have to turn to 5, 14, says, I will therefore that,
talking about the the younger widows, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the
house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, when you put that alongside
submitting to your own husbands, not to someone else's husband in the workplace, yeah, not
submitting to whoever else's husband, no, you submit to your own husbands, marrying, bearing
children, guiding the house, that's God's will, but being in God's will is rest, isn't it? Because
anything out of God's will ultimately is at rest, because when you start to look at the adulteries
in the workplace, when you look at the the amount of unhappy marriages with two working, when you
look at the issues and the stresses of children going to school and getting taught all sorts of
wickedness now, isn't it wickedness? When you look at all of that, and you look at, look, the rest of
it, the influence from the other kids, look, for me, God's will is a perfect will, now again,
I'm not down, look, there are people that have situations, have reasons why maybe they can't do
that at this point, but for me, seek the will of God, seek the will of God, and it is rest, yeah,
being in God's will is rest. The alternative, the lazy lifestyle, the too much time on your hands,
leads to sin, doesn't it? It always leads to sin, that's what happens, and look, God's will is the
right way, when you're in God's will, things work out. Talking about leading to sin, again actually,
in 1 Timothy 5-13, don't worry about turning, maybe I should have got you to turn there, but
talking about young widows being provided for by the church, he says, and with all they learn to be
idle, and look, you can translate that to just basically young women not working, okay, and with
all they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but tacklers
also, and busybodies, speaking things, excuse me, which they ought not, and sadly, that's what happens
when women have too much time on hands, and don't get me wrong, when men have too much time on
their hands, it's a disaster as well, okay, I mean, we had it today, we were knocking on what is, I don't
know if they call it social housing or something, that little block of flats, just when you
got a sheltered housing, I mean, that is, we were talking about this, me and brother Gary,
it's bizarre, you could walk down a road in this town, and you could literally go a few meters up
the road, and you're looking at a half a million pound house, and just before that is, I mean,
we were literally holding our noses in some of the foyers, it was rancid, like people who literally
have not washed for a year, you knock on the door, and already the smell is emanating
through the door, I'm not exaggerating, am I brother, absolutely terrible, and these are
people that basically are doing nothing, and have all this time, and of course there's a lot of drugs
involved, and everything else, and they're just seeing a home, and even with all that time,
they're still not even able to clean themselves, not even able to have a shower, and they're answering
the door wearing all sorts, if much at all, a lot of the time, and it's pretty bad,
it's pretty bad, and they're people basically doing nothing all day, and doing nothing just
leads to sin, doesn't it, it just leads to sin, it's a horrible life, and it's not the,
you know, this sort of, what is it, like a golden chalice that the world makes out, just you just
want to retire early, just want to get rich, you don't have to do anything, you're just going to be
in a world of sin, and you're going to be unhappy, because being a wife and a mum is a busy job,
isn't it, all you mums here, it's a busy job, isn't it, and look, all you wives here, if you're
being a wife, as the bible tells you to be a wife, and you're providing for your husband in terms of,
I don't talk about money here, but you're giving them meals, and you're looking after the home,
and everything else, that's a busy job, and the kind of, the more kids you have, I suppose the
hardest point is when you've got lots of young kids and no older kids, I think that's like the
hardest spot, because the older kids start to help, but maybe when you've got a few young kids,
poor brother John here with their three triplets, that had to be tough for many years, because
at the beginning it's, you know, you're not getting that help back from them are you,
and that's tough, and that's a tough job, it's a busy job, it's harder for me than any other
job out there, but it's worth it, you're in the will of God, and ultimately you are still finding
rest, and rest from the stresses, rest from all the other issues that come from being out of God's
will, and being out in the world, being out in the workplace, and everything else, but with all that
in mind, when you get a wife, and so I've gone off on this for a little bit of time now, but it's an
important point, yeah, but when you get a wife, men, okay, men here, when you get a wife, it's not your
job to find any way you can to make married life as hard a slog as possible, okay, remember she's
coming to you for rest, yeah, so all right, we're mad, we haven't got any kids, that's it, I want you
doing this, this, this, this, this, look, kind of go easy as well guys, yeah, and especially, look, at the end of the day
a lot of people are coming from this world, okay, they've come from growing up, but it's not that they
they've been living in a Christian, I don't think anyone here grew up in a proper saved Christian
household, okay, living by the word of God, so look, you've got it, you're easing them in, and really
each child kind of eases them in more a lot of the time as well, but look, it's, we still, we're
trying, we're not just right, you're with me now, that's it, okay, this is what you're doing, this
our day, this our day, look, you know, you want them to still enjoy that marriage, and we want
to make marriage a great time, and we can, we can go a bit too far the other way sometimes, men here,
and we can kind of sometimes stick to that submit part more than that, and look, wives should submit,
don't get me wrong, wives submitting to your husbands, okay, that's, that's clear as day in the word of God, okay,
but we can sometimes get a bit carried away that bit and forget that loving bit, you know, that
lovely bit's a bit mushy, forget that bit, but submit, obey, you know, and they should submit and obey,
but we, we need to love our wives, don't we, husbands, you know, okay, verse 9, he said there,
the Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of a husband, then she kissed them,
and they lift up their voice and wept, so obviously care for her, and they said unto her,
surely we will return with thee unto thy people, 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, so did she say,
come and be a strong independent woman, did she say, no, go, go and be a strong, no, don't come with me,
go and provide for yourselves, the world is your oyster, go travelling to some cheap country
somewhere and get drunk for a year and fornicate and do whatever the world says is what, what women
should actually, that's, you know, that, that's, that's a fair way, they don't need to live their
lives a little, go and do some sin for a while, ladies, you know, then maybe later get married, you know,
no, she said, will you go with me, are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your
husbands, because what's really the goal there is to get married, isn't it, and again, it's not just
to marry any old person, but again, you know, and you can say this to men and women here, look,
ultimately you're looking for someone that's, that yeah, you need to like them, you need to, you need
to love them, don't you, and you need to find someone that you believe is going to also help your,
your spiritual life as well, okay, and that's really important, because it's very easy to just,
to, well, anyone, anyone will do, or the flip side, where literally no one will do, because they don't
tick every single, look, we're all, everyone's a sinner, everyone's imperfect here, you want to find
somewhere that, someone that you like and you can live that Christian life with happily, but, but
also here, she could have been selfish, Naomi, couldn't she, she could have said look, yeah, yeah,
great, come with me, I need some grafters, I can't work, what am I going to do, well, look at verse 12,
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 tarry for them
till they were grown, now I know this is a bit of a what if, but you get the impression that Naomi's
not that old at this point, maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, but she is, she's not kind of, it doesn't
seem like a big old joke, but she's saying would you tarry for them till they were grown,
would you stay for them from having husbands, nay my daughters, for agree with me much for your
sakes, the hand of the Lord has gone out against me, oh it's just because they were so backwards
back then, oh it's just because, you know, Israel at that time, they just hadn't learned how to be
more, you know, 20th century like us here, because really the women should have been able to just go
to work, no that's God's will for society, isn't it, okay, the world is wrong, the word of God's
right, and for anyone here that feels, gets a bit prickly by this, starts growling a bit, thinking
you know, you terrible sexist brother Ian, and how, I'm just preaching the word of God here,
yeah, the word of God's clear about that, I'm not going to go off into verse after verse after verse,
but if you want me to, we could do a bible study another time on that, the bible's clear, okay,
about a woman's role, and about a man's role, and that is God's idea, and God knows better than any
of us do on that, let alone those wicked people that try and convince us of the world's way, okay,
verse 12, turn again, do we do that, yeah, turn again my daughters, for I am, go your way, for I am
too old to have a husband, if I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband all tonight,
should also be a son, so we have done that, but let's keep going, you know, would you take for
them till they were grown, would you stay for them from having husbands, name my daughters,
agree with me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me,
so Naomi, she, for me, she recognizes it as chastisement, doesn't she, okay, she, and now,
who's it gone out against, the hand of the Lord according to her, her, okay, so she's being
chastised, why? Because of her husband, basically it's a knock-on effect, back to the original point
I was making, her husband's, what a responsibility, because the wife there ultimately is still feeling
like she's being chastised because of his poor decision, because they come as a collective,
and if you think about, for example, you know, the accursed thing back in Joshua
9, maybe, I've probably got that wrong, but, you know, Achan and the accursed thing, same way,
the family, he's responsible for many, I preach now, I remember on the responsibility, the sins
that affect others, and so many of our sins do affect others, is she's still feeling that
chastisement from her husband's poor decisions there, and then maybe even her son's as well.
Verse 14, they lift up their voice and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave
unto her. Okay, so it's not that Orpah is just like, right, I'm off, yeah, as we see in a second,
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth is cleaving unto her, so Ruth just isn't going
without a fight, is she, and she said, behold thy sister-in-law has gone back unto her people, so
Orpah is obviously gone now, and unto her gods return thou after thy sister-in-law, so Naomi's still
trying to say to her, look, you can go. Now, going back to her gods, yeah, it could be that she was
unsaved unto her gods, but for me, I think that's back to her old life, even, it could even be
worshipped, think Solomon, okay, just because you're saved doesn't mean that, oh, well, that's it, I'm
never going to go and get involved with false gods again, look, don't, you know, take heed, he who
thinks he standeth, take heed lest he fall, because, look, we're not, no one here is beyond
going down that slippery slope, okay, and she's saying, look, she's gone back, she's going to
ultimately be back worshipping false gods, now she's saved, she's still saved, isn't she, okay, Solomon, I
mean, what an example that is about her, but we don't know, we don't know about Orpah for sure,
I can't say for sure whether she's saved or not, Ruth, I'm sure is saved, look at what Ruth says here,
and Ruth said, entreat me not to leave thee, or to return for following after thee, for whither thou goest,
I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge, thy people should be my people, and thy God my God,
where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried, the Lord do so to me, and more also if
aught but death part thee, and me, that's a great couple of verses there, isn't it, there's a bond
that Ruth feels, isn't there, that, let's be honest, he's absent with most, with most people and their
real parents, most people in this nation don't have anywhere near that bond and that attachment,
their parents going, just go off, do your own thing, they'll be like, yep, see ya, off to Australia or
wherever else, you know, and yeah, well fine, yeah, I'm off, yeah, I'll leave you to it, and look at that
there, she's saying, look, I'm not, she's going, where you go, I will go, where you lodge, where you stay,
live, I will lodge, thy people should be my people, thy God my God, bearing in mind that she's a foreigner,
she's a Moabiteess as well, and Moabites aren't exactly, you know, cream of the crop in Israel either,
okay, and she's saying, I don't care, I'm coming with you, yeah, I'm going to look after you, is really
what she's saying, because this is a widower here, this is a widower with no other way of providing
for herself, and her, her daughter-in-law is saying, no, I'm going to look after you, I'm going to care for
you, I'm going to be with you, I'm, I'm, I'm not going anywhere, you know, only death is going to part us,
and how many people here would have just shoved her off, maybe not here, I hope not, but would have
just shoved her off into a nursing home, right, off you go, you know, mum, maybe she calls her mum, maybe
she calls her nanny, off you go, you know, time, time to, you know, time to hang out with the, with the,
what are they, the carers now, you know, those carers are always so polite when you're in there,
but you know it's a different story as soon as you shut that door, yeah, because they're only
human at the end of the day, and I've seen this stuff before, I see, I remember a friend of mine, he
actually, he was staying at his nan's for a while, and he actually shut the bedroom, and, and he, he
shut the door, and the, the carer came in, who was always so lovely, and so polite, and friendly, didn't
know he was in there, and he was listening, and it was like, right, get up, do, you know, it's just a
completely different, and that's life, however they are with you there, you know it's not going to be
the same once you're gone, that's the truth, isn't it, however much you convince yourselves, what a
lovely carer, because they always seem to be so friendly, funny how nan, or mum, or whoever it is,
doesn't seem to want to be anywhere near them, but it must be her, she's a bit grumpy, no, probably
because they're pretty mean, like, look, people are like that, sadly, okay, I'm not saying they all are, but
look, that's life, and in this country, people are palming them off as quick, as quick as they can,
can't they, but is that what God wants, honour thy father and thy mother, didn't he say, okay, and that
for me, that's not honour thy father and thy mother until you're grown, and no, you don't have
to submit to your father or mother once you're an adult, I don't believe that, but I do believe that
you should be honouring them, and I do believe that you should be providing for them, if they
need providing for, I do believe that you should be caring for them, and finding, and look, they can be,
it can be out with multiple siblings, there can be ways that that works, but they are a responsibility,
aren't they, okay, but, and here Ruth is, like, even with her in-law, she's feeling that, isn't she,
and she's a great example here, isn't she, and we see that later, where she's obviously honoured
for that, and she makes, she's making this vow to God within, isn't she, the Lord do so to me and more
also if ought but death part thee and me, so this old widow hasn't got much going for her, but Ruth
doesn't care, does she, there's a loyalty there, there is beyond most people here, there's a
loyalty there that most of us don't have, let's be honest, okay, most people, look, loyalty,
we like to think we are, it's a great quality, being faithful, okay, what a great quality it is,
being faithful, being loyal, being loyal to people in your lives, here she's loyal to her in-law,
you don't have to turn there, Proverbs 20 verse 6 says, most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness,
but a faithful man who can find, because they're few and far between, they really are, loyal people,
as you grow up in life, you start to realise loyal people are few and far between, aren't they,
and you like to think that everyone's just, yeah, everyone's so loyal and really likes, really wants
what's best, no, a lot of the time they're just out for themselves, Ruth is faithful and what
a great quality to look for in a spouse, isn't it, that's got to be up there, hasn't it, that's got to
be way above the whatever the latest fashionable good looks are, whatever the latest figure is,
it's meant to be the best, because that always changes as well, doesn't it, whatever the world's
telling you is the best quality, for me, being faithful, and I don't mean, well, she's never
going to cheat on you, I mean being loyal, I mean someone that's going to stand up for you, someone
that's not going to slag you off to other people, because how many spouses sadly do that,
someone that's just going to stand by you, someone that's going to put up with your faults and not
be constantly telling everyone else about them, someone that's going to be faithful, loyal to you,
like I said, it's not just about adultery, but in life in general, isn't that a great quality in
someone, when you find people like that, you think, yeah that's a loyal person, that's a faithful person
in church, that's what, you know, church pastors around the world are looking for that in people,
and they don't find it, or it's not, oh well everyone, because you're Christians, that's it, you're all
faith, sad truth is it ain't like that, trying to find someone that's just loyal, loyal to you as a,
whether it's a pastor or for myself, evangelist, whatever it is, it's not that easy, okay, and I'm
not saying you're all disloyal, I'm just saying like to really know for sure that someone's really
loyal and faithful, no, no, it's few and far between, most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness,
but a faithful man who can find, okay, that's the truth of life, okay, and that's something we should
all be striving to be, shouldn't we, to be able to be called our good and faithful servant, that's what
we want, don't we, okay, but it's not just in church, not just in church, and look in the workplace,
how about being that loyal employee, how about being that loyal servant, that one that your
boss can rely on, can count on, they know you're not gonna take the mickey out of them, they know
you're not gonna, you know, turn up late every other day, they know that you're gonna work
those hours, they know that you're not gonna be the one who's having a moan and a murmur
about them behind their backs, they just know that you'll just do as you say, you might not be the best,
you might not be the most skillful, but you're the most faithful, and what a quality, and for me, great,
Proverbs, again, you have to turn there, 25, 13 says, as the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so
is a faithful messenger to them that send him, for he refreshest the soul of his masters, it's so
refreshing when you do find people like that, isn't it, you find people that you can trust, that you
think are loyal, if you have a spouse that you feel that about, it's refreshing, okay, it's refreshing,
if you have kids that you feel that about as well, no, but my children are loyal to me, that's, you know,
that's a great thing to know, isn't it, that's something we look for, that's something we want to
train up in our children, that's something we want to aspire to be like more ourselves, and Ruth is a
great example of this, isn't she, great example to everyone here, you can say especially for you women
here, that's a great example, this lady here, because if you're not faithful to whoever, you know, your
parent, your mother-in-law, whatever else, are you going to be to other people in your life, are you
going to be to people at the church, are you going to be to your husbands, I don't know, what a blessing
that Naomi has that, verse 18, 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 would come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said,
is this Naomi, now she's come back, you know, to somewhere she hasn't been for over, we know it's
over 10 years, don't we, and they recognize her, she's come back, seen her old friends, it's like, for example,
if someone just disappeared from here, went, oh well, I'm off to wherever, because my job prospects
are better here, away from the church, or whatever else, and look, if someone chooses to do that, they
choose to do that, I think the word of God's clear, that you're, where you're moving anywhere, you're
doing anything, one of the most important factors, probably the most important factor, is there a
church that you're going to grow in, is there a church you're going to be able to serve in, is there
proper church, but people do that, but she's come back now, and they're saying, is this Naomi,
they're, and I'm sure they're welcoming her back, same as we'll welcome anyone back here, we, you
know, if people have been here, and then they, as long as they don't get kicked out, they've been here,
and they, they, they've, you know, disappeared, we'd always welcome them back, wouldn't we,
and we always, you know, you want, you want the brethren, you want people here, you want them to
be able to come back, not feel like they're going to be, be, you know, have grief if they do, but she
said unto them, and she said unto them, verse 20, call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty
hath dealt very bitterly with me. So Naomi meaning pleasant, or you could say sweetness, really here,
Mara means bitter, so she's basically saying the opposite, she's saying, instead of being that, that
sweetness, which is quite a nice name, isn't it, sweetness, she's saying, no, call me bitter,
for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me, and you could read that and go, well that's a bit
off, Naomi, blaming God, well, or you could say she just is accepting that there's a chastisement
there, that, that, you know, God had his, has his hands on thing, and Ecclesiastes 3.4 says a time to weep,
and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance, I think she's in that time to mourn right
now, isn't she, remember, she has just lost her husband, she's lost her kids as well, or maybe her husband
was a bit earlier, we don't know the timeline there, but she's, she's lost the people she went
out with, now look at verse 21, I went out full, and the Lord had brought me home again empty,
why then call me ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord have testified against me, and the Almighty
have afflicted me, and that for me is a picture of backsliding, yeah, that's a picture of going out
of the will of God, and look how she went out full, now when you read the beginning of this,
of this chapter, did you go, oh yeah, she really had it, they, they went out full, did they go out
full, it was in a time of famine, they went over to Moab, but really in comparison to now, she went
out full, she had a husband, she had her sons, she had a life, she probably had a, you know, a spiritual
life was intact at that point, she had her friends, she had people around her, she went out full,
and the Lord had brought me home again empty, and that's what that chastisement with backsliding and
being out of the will of God is meant to do, isn't it, is to bring you back home, okay, that's what he
wants to bring you back, you fight about, fight against, and eventually you might be brought home
to your, to your eternal home eventually, because look, there I think if she stayed out there she
probably would have died out there as well, wouldn't she, but look, she's been brought, brought home
empty though, and look, whenever you, look, whenever you're trying to make decisions and you're, you're
making decisions for your life, for your family, for yourself, whatever it is, look, it has to be in
the will of God, seek he first kingdom of heaven and his righteousness and all these things
shall be added unto you, you have to seek him first, don't you, you have to, you can't be just out there
just, oh well, I think yeah, but I think that's going to earn me a bit more money, I think well
there I could get a better, I could get a bigger house over there, okay, it's five hours from the
nearest church, look, that's just, look, like with time that, them journeys are going to get impossible,
I know there are people here that travel and look, I'm not going to tell anyone to do anything, but
what I would say is that being close to the church is the important thing, isn't it, because with time
it gets harder and harder, when you, when you live, you know, six hours from church and your car breaks
down or something else it's impossible to get there, when you live half hour from church and
your car breaks down you can still get to church, yeah, when you live six hours from church those
midweek services are impossible a lot of the time, when you live half hour from church they are
and that's, and it's not just church, is it, because it's everything that goes with that,
when you live hours and hours away suddenly your fellowship time, a lot of the time has to be with
the unsaved, with maybe the liberal Christians, with whoever else, look, and all those things
ultimately you want to be close, you want to be spiritually set, don't you, granted, you want to be
somewhere where you can spiritually grow and God will bless you with that and where you can serve,
how often can you go soul winning when you live on the other side of the country or something else,
how often can you do half the things and we're going to, we are going to be doing more and more
guys, you know, and look, we are early days here and obviously, you know, I have a travel time
myself to get here, my family, it's hard to get in between and do stuff and we're, look, all my
effort right now is just going into trying to get this new building, get that sorted, that's what
I'm focused on, once we've got that there's going to be more stuff coming up, there's going to be
more things, more events, more, you know, bits and pieces we can do and if you're really far it's
hard to do that, isn't it, maybe when they went to Moab, Moab's not a great distance by the way,
at least the borders of Moab, isn't it, so when they went to Moab, maybe they thought, oh we'll
still be popping back, we'll still be coming back and worshipping, maybe they did, who knows, but
ultimately that gets harder and harder, doesn't it, so for me that, yeah, for me that's a picture of
backsliding, but the Lord had brought me home again empty, God wants you back and when you
fall out of the will of God, when you pull away from God, when you stop coming, stop going, look,
he does want you back. Verse 22, so Naomi returned and Ruth the Moab by Tess 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 and just the point here, barley harvest is basically the very beginning of harvest
time because it's the first grain that they harvested, so the point in that being the beginning
of barley harvest is they come at the beginning of the harvest season basically, so there's going to
be, yeah, really they've come at quite a good time, whether that's God's providence or her own
doing, Naomi's, they've come at a time where now at least we're there when there's harvest and we're
going to see in the next chapters how that's going to work out for them as well with the gleaning,
but yeah that's the first chapter of Ruth, I'm looking forward to doing the other ones,
hopefully everyone has enjoyed that first chapter, didn't see any eyes closed so I'm pleased with
that and yeah on that let's go to the Lord in the word of prayer. Father I thank you for your
word, thank you for this church, thank you for all these great women here that want to live for you,
they're here because they want to live for you, help them, just guide them to want to do your will,
to want to be in the will of God, to find that rest in the will of God and help us as men here,
the husbands here, to be the sort of husbands you want us to be, help them to be the sort of
wives you want them to be, help those growing up here and those here that aren't married and
to ultimately find that, unless they're one of the very rare few that have been given that gift to
be able to live without that, but that's pretty few and far between and for most of us who so
fond of the wife, fond of the good thing and we know that that's ultimately your will for most
of us and please please just help us to be those sort of God-honouring spouses that you want us to
be, help us to you know learn from the bad examples of Elimelech and Marlon and Killian and to learn
from the from the good examples of Naomi and Ruth there and we pray that you just bless us with our
week ahead, bless everyone's journey home and help those that aren't with us as well, just please just
help those that are ill and those that have sicknesses, help them please to
to recover and to be able to get back here with any problems that are preventing that, just solve
those problems, help everyone to be back here next week for another day in your house, in Jesus name
we pray all of this amen.