Date: March 9, 2025
Lord’s Day: 9
Series: Ruth
Title: The Bread of God’s Will
Text: Ruth 1:1-7
Introduction:
Several years ago, a passage in Luke 24 really spoke to me. This is a story which appears after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and it details two people walking on a road to a city named Emmaus. And while they were walking, they were talking about the events that had just taken place, but they had no idea that Jesus had been resurrected.
As they walked Jesus happened to join them, but it says that their eyes were kept from recognizing him (Luke 24:16). “What are you talking about as you walk?” They responded (M.O.V.) “Have you been under a rock? Are you not aware of what has taken place in recent days?” Jesus replies, “What things?”
It is here that one of the two begins to give a Cliff Note version of events that Jesus was thought to be a prophet. He spoke well, he did great a mighty deeds but the last week has seen him put on trial, judged and crucified. Then further, word has spread that some women are saying that he has risen and some people we know went to see the tomb and he is not there. But it appears the way the text reads that these travelers to Emmaus were doubtful.
Jesus said, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets he interpreted to them all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)
Would this not have been the best Bible study of all time? It would be so great to go back to that discussion with a notebook and pencil and listen to Jesus’ words.
This is an odd introduction to our study in the book of Ruth but it is relevant. Today, March 2, 2025 marks 50 days leading up to Easter Sunday. Several years ago, I was introduced to a book by Michael Barrett titled, Beginning At Moses. The theme of the book was an introduction to finding Christ in the Old Testament. This sparked a deep desire within me to go further in this study and beyond Barrett’s introduction into this topic.
Jesus’ words here was that from “Moses and all the Prophets he interpreted to them all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Recall if you will all the moments in the Gospels and Acts where it is mentioned that Scripture is discussed. The Scripture to which they are referring is the Old Testament. The Ethiopian Eunich in Acts 8 was brought to faith by reading our Old Testament.
I find this is a big challenge and ask myself, if I had to lead someone to Christ with only my Old Testament, could I be successful? At one time I would have said, no. Yet when you understand Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures (our O.T.) because in them you think you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.” (John 5:39)
One example: Think if you will, of how Jesus’ began his ministry by going into the temple in John 2, just after his first miracle of the water to wine in Cana. Then fast forward to his appearing in Jerusalem that would ultimately lead up to his crucifixion. One of the first things he did (Matthew 21:12-17) after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, is go back to the temple for Temple Clearing 2.0. A second time he overturns tables, runs out the money changers and sets free the pigeons.
Why would Jesus do this twice? Now understand of 30 years in the life of Jesus we only have documented about 52[1] days. Why would they repeat this account? Is Jesus unhinged?
Think of the Law of Moses. We learn in Leviticus 14 (where we tend to get bogged down in our Bible reading because it gets weird) it speak of a house that becomes unclean. When a house had an infection, mold or leprosy, there was a visit by the priest and the house had to be cleared and everything cleaned. After a certain number of days, the priest comes back to the house to inspect. If the thing that made it unclean was still there, the house had to be destroyed.
These texts would have been fresh on the Jewish mind. So, when Jesus came into Jerusalem the week before his death, burial and resurrection and cleansed the temple for the second time (Matthew 21) it was pointing to something. This something was clarified as Jesus began to teach about the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24).
Now you see when you begin to look for Christ in Scripture, books like Leviticus and Numbers, and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Jonah become much more interesting.
In our time together in Ruth, I seek that this text draw us closer to our Lord. That we can begin to see how He has worked through time and how ALL Scripture is tied together and points us to Christ. It begins with this very small book called Ruth.
Trouble At The Great Harvest Break Company
Ruth 1:1a In the very opening verse of this book we get our timelines. In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land.
The period of the Judges was after Joshua, so the Children of Israel are in the land of Cannan but precedes 1 Samuel where the kings began to rule. When the word judge is used our mind often thinks of a courtroom setting where a judge is on a bench and hears arguments and makes decisions. This is not the way it is used here.
When Joshua brings the people to the land of Cannan and he is about to die, he gathers the people and gives them one last message. You will most likely recognize part of the message because it has been on a lot of artwork and social media posts and t-shirts. As he reminds the Hebrew people how God has delivered them to this land he says to them, “Choose you this day whom you will serve, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
This is actually just a part of the verse. There is much more to what he said. That phrase is the first part of the verse and the last part of the verse and it skips the middle, which is not an unpardonable sin, but it certainly cuts out an interesting part.
“If it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24;15)
Joshua is in the process of reminding them, “You did none of this. This land you are inheriting, you got it because God gave it to you. He is a good and Holy God. You got this not by your sword or by your bow. You are getting cities you did not build. You are going to drink wine from orchards you did not plant or tend to. You will be getting olives from orchards you did not plant. God did this for you. Now here are your choices, the gods on the other side of the Jordan, you know the Jordan River that God stopped up for you to cross, just like the Red Sea. You can choose those gods of your fathers or you can choose the gods of this land we are taking.”
Their reply? Oh no, we will absolutely serve YHWH. Reading into the book of Judges you will learn that their answer was YES to Joshua. Joshua said, “You can worship the gods of your fathers or the gods of the new lands,” and they replied, “Yes.” Both!
Judges if filled with the most dark, wicked, rebellious periods in Israel’s history. There was increasing wickedness. What you will find throughout the book is what the figure to the right portrays. They would forget God, rebel, be taken into captivity, cry out to God and He would send a Judge to deliver the people, and they would be faithful, only for a short while. This took place twelve times. This cycle of disobedience, captivity, deliverance and obedience. The Judge would be the one to militarily impose God’s justice and deliver the people.
Ruth takes place in this period.
Ruth 1:1b And a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to Sojourn in the country of Moab. Herein sets the foundation for the problems.
As God made covenant with Moses and the people He made several of what I call, “if . . . then” statements. They are stated many times spread throughout the book of Deuteronomy however, the best place to get the full picture is in chapter 28. If you obey, things will go unbelievably well for you. If you disobey, things will go terribly wrong. This includes famine.
Seeing the book of Ruth begins during the time of great rebellion it is not a stretch to see that the reason for the famine in the land lies in the disobedience of the Children of Israel[2].
Additionally, the father of the family took his wife and sons to Moab. The people of Moab were born from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters[3]. They were also enemies of the Israelites[4] and were not permitted in the assembly.
These were a people who did not worship YHWH. They had their own god, Chemosh[5]. Essentially the family is taken far away from all support spiritually and socially.
Ruth 1:2 We meet the family. The father was Elimelech which means, “God is my King”[6]. The mother’s name was Naomi, whose name means, “my sweetness, delight, sweetheart”[7]. The two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. Even though these are Bible names, it is not recommended you name your children after these two boys. Their names mean, “sick and dying”[8].
You are seeing the importance of making good decisions, with your wives and family. There are several issues here and because of time, we will come back to them next week. The purpose today is to tie our opening remarks regarding Luke 24 and Christ in the Old Testament. Let us focus there and return to this next time for other important lessons.
Ruth 1:3-5 We have here a tremendous amount of tragedy. What has happened to Naomi would be deemed a death sentence in that day. She has lost her provider. The A team died. Within ten years, the B team died. The offspring of the family is gone.
She is a foreign land, having to learn a new language. There is no place for her to worship. This is a devastating set of circumstances that again, as we discussed last week, may we not read too quickly past this and miss the immensity of the moment.
We look at these passages and quickly realize this sometimes looks like our lives. You have been through some stuff. I have been through some stuff. People I know have been through some really tough stuff.
Ruth 1:6-7 We see here the very first mention of YHWH. Occasionally we may wonder, WHY LORD? We may be tempted to say, “Why am I going through this?”
We must be careful though. On the one hand with our passage, it appears that the suffering endured here is a direct result of poor choices by the people of Israel. This is not always the case. This was the very thing Job’s friends were saying. Yet, it was not true that Job was suffering as a result of some sin in his life.
Those of us who are of the faith place our trust in the providence of God and the sovereignty of God yet how can we justify this sovereignty here?
When it comes to considering the sovereign God there is another word that is wedded with it. Sovereignty and Good are joined together. These two words cannot be separated.
Today I want to increase your faith and show you that they are true.
God’s Sovereignty
Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted”
Isaiah 46:9-10 “My counsel will stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.”
Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the Lord.”
Psalm 135:6 “whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.”
Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.”
Daniel 4:25 “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
These are some pretty astounding passages, and I could like 20 more. God is sovereign over all things. If we were to look at that attribute ONLY it would make Him into a hard, distant and cold God. But He is not. Without understanding that God is good there is an imbalance.
How are we to understand our passage? How does this relate to us?
Sometimes God does discipline us. It is during these times that God brings famine to Bethlehem, the house of bread.
There are other times that this is not the case. God is good.
How do I know? God has a will of decree. He decrees and He makes it known.
Would it be safe to say that it is God’s will that we do not steal? Yes. We know that to be true because He spoke it.
Would it be safe to say that it is God’s will that we not commit murder? Yes. We know that to be true because He spoke it.
That is God’s prescriptive will. Another way to say it is that it is God’s will of decree. God decreed, do not steal. God decreed, do not murder.
But then there is the secret will of God. Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”
This secret will of God plays out in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are 50 days away from celebrating Easter, the day of the empty tomb. That death could not keep Jesus.
Let me ask one question again, is it the will of the Lord not to commit murder? Yes. Yet Isaiah 53:10 states that “It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.” Secretive will.
Do you see that? God is sovereign and God is good. Even in the midst of trouble.
This is why at the end of Genesis as Joseph’s brothers were begging him not to take revenge upon them, he says, “you meant this for evil, but God meant it for good.” It is why Paul can proclaim in Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Oh what a mighty and gracious God we serve.
[1] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, see also William Hendricks, Living by the Book
[2] Deuteronomy 11:14
[3] Genesis 19:30-38
[4] Deuteronomy 23:3-6
[5] Faithlife, LLC (2025) “Logos Bible Study Factbook.” Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, LLC.
[6] Westminster Bible Dictionary, p. 161
[7] Ibid, p. 418
[8] Ibid p, 372, 100
