If you turn to the book of Ruth, to the chapter 1, you will see in those opening verses that the book has a very sad beginning. It starts out with what can only be described as a human tragedy. A man, Elimelech, with a wife, Naomi, and a family, two sons, Malon and Cilion, made a serious error of judgment, but more than that, It was a sinful decision to remove himself and them from the lot of his inheritance which God had appointed to him to a place of idolatrous worship. Now, last time we were studying the sad fallout to the move that was made. We made some comments about that, among which were these. Elimelech allowed himself to be guided by circumstances alone. And that meant that his family had food for their bodies, but famine for their souls. And so his posterity was damaged. We see this downward step going to Moab, which produced another downward step. The sons married heathen women. It shouldn't have happened, but it was the fallout from the compromise of Elimelech in moving to Moab. He led his family into that environment. So what would you expect to happen when you take your sons to such a place? Not only was his posterity damaged, however, his profession was denied. And we focused upon the name Elimelech. El for God. Melech for King. My God is King or God is my King. He did not live up to his name. Great name. Wonderful name. Tremendous name. Setting forth a certain profession that the covenant God was his sovereign Lord. But everything that he was doing was denying what his name professed. And are there not people who do that even today? It's not enough to have a name. You have to have the reality that goes along with the name. What good is a reputation or a profession of something if there's no reality? We might even say, what good is it to be known as a fundamentalist if you don't take a fundamentalist stand? A name may suggest something is true of you, but it may not. be true. As well as the sad fallout, we talk about the spiritual fundamental. And really what we were focusing on there was that the idea that the end justifies the means is unscriptural. And by the way, the end justifies the means is a Jesuit principle. That's how they operate. And it is something by which the Muslims also operate. Because Islam has a doctrine which is known as the doctrine of Taqiyya. Basically, to sum that up, it means that a Muslim, in defense of his or her religion, for the benefit of his or her religion, can tell a bare-faced lie. They can answer questions under oath. And if it's in the interest of Islam to give the wrong answer, they'll give the wrong answer. It's called the doctrine of taqiyyah. It overarches everything else. This particular spiritual fundamental, the end does not justify the means, is something that applies to this story. Some will argue, well now wait a minute, look at how all this worked out for good. I mean, I know that Elimelech went to Moab. It's an idolatrous country. I know his daughters-in-law were idolaters. His sons married unequally yoked. I know all of that happened. But at the end of the day, it all worked out, didn't it? It all worked out. Because Ruth was brought into the family. She met Boaz. They had a child. The line of the Messiah was preserved. So what? It all worked out in the end. The end justifies the means. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. Wrong is wrong, however you dress it up. And while we know that God can bring good out of evil situations, of course He can. He does it all the time. He overrules the wickedness of men. Sin is still sin for all of that. Wrong is wrong and right is right. And no action can be justified just because it's followed by blessing. And by the way, it's very apropos today. I think that was the principle under which Billy Graham operated his ministry. The end justifies the means. So what if you've got liberals on the platform? So what if it's sponsored by a Roman Catholic cardinal? So what I'm getting people in and I'm getting them quote-unquote to Christ. This is a false notion. It's never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right. We need to understand that. But the story becomes more tragic as it goes on. That's where we take it up today. Look at verse 2, the latter part of the verse. And they came into the country of Moab and continued there. That was something that was not intended, but it's something that they did. They were going there, verse 1 says, to sojourn, but they continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. And she was left and her two sons. But then you come down to verse 5. Here are the two sons. And Malon and Kilion died also both of them. And the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. The story becomes more tragic because here we now have what I would call the several funerals. The several funerals. The move to Moab was made to escape a famine, wasn't it? And presumably the fear of death was part of that. I mean after all if there's a famine, there's no food, there's no food, you die. That's how Elimelech was thinking. So we'll move to Moab so that we can have a life. And he moves to Moab and he died. Elimelech died. It appears soon after they got to Moab. And friends, there's a simple life lesson here for us to learn. You can run away from many things in this life. Outwardly bad circumstances, outwardly evil situations, but you cannot run away from the cold hand of death. The Grim Reaper always gets access to the house that he calls at. There are people who would go to a house and knock on the door and ring the doorbell and nobody answers. But when death comes to the door, he always gets an answer. You can't stop him. You can't keep him out. Now this is reality. Hebrews 9.27 records, it is appointed unto men once to die. It's appointed. It's something you can't escape. Psalm 90 teaches us the very same thing. There we have a general statement about the scope of a person's life. This is a general statement you understand. Because there are people who don't even make it to three score and ten. And there's others who live a lot longer. But it says there in verse 10 of Psalm 90, the days of our years, are three score years and ten. A score is twenty. Three score, that's sixty and ten. Seventy. And if by reason of strength, they be four score years, or eighty. Yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger, even according to thy fear? So is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. No, you don't want to live a morbid life, thinking about death all the time. But we need to be living in the light of this truth. We're not here to stay. You are not here to stay. Neither am I. You go to a cemetery, to a graveyard, you'll see graves of all sizes. There's little tiny ones. And there's longer ones. There are people who are buried young. There are people who are buried older. But it is appointed unto men once to die. The Bible also tells us, by the way, in the book of Job, several things about our days. For example, Job talked about, my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. My days are swifter than a post. Job 9 verse 25. They flee away. They see no good. In Job chapter 14 and verse 5, God's servant says, Concerning man, saying his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. You're not staying here one moment longer than God has ordained. And then he says in verse 10 of that chapter, But man dieth and wasteth away, yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? That tells us that there's something after death. You put the body in the ground? That's not the end. Where is he? The person that lived in that body is now somewhere. Where is he? Well, Paul said, I'll be absent from the body and present with the Lord. There are others who are absent from the body, but they're not present with the Lord. There's a man of whom it says, in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment. But then Job says in Job 14 verse 14, If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. There is an appointed time. And as we think of this portion in the book of Ruth, we read of Elimelech who went to sojourn in Moab and ended up being buried there. Now, I was thinking about this whole situation as I studied this portion. What would have happened if he had stayed in Bethlehem and trusted God to provide? I don't know. Would he still have died at the same time? You might say, well, in the purpose of God, that was his appointed time, right? Yes, in the purpose of God. But just think about it. Would this have happened if he had stayed in Bethlehem? Well, it might have. But at least if he had stayed there and trusted God to provide, his family would have been still there at home. His sons would not have been in that compromising situation. We can't be sure about any of these things. Was there something in the climate? Was there something about the circumstances that caused the limeleck to die at that time and the sons to die at that time? Or was it just their natural sickliness? and their consumptive nature? We don't know. But we're certainly warranted in thinking that this was the chastising hand of the Lord. Because the Bible says, you see, in Romans chapter 6, that the wages of sin is death. Death always follows in the wake of sin. James chapter 1 records the words concerning man and his lust, that lust, when it hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin." It's something that's born of sin. It's the child of sin. The lust in the heart that produces the action and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death. And then it says this, Do not err, my beloved brethren. Don't be falling into that trap. Now think about Elimelech. Could he not have trusted God when he was in Bethlehem? Yes, there was a famine. But did he not think that the famine would not last forever? Would it not have been better if him and his family had thought about the reason that God had sent the famine? Would it not have been better for them to consider that, to seek the Lord in confession and repentance and not move to Moab? That was a fleshly move. But one thing I do know, bread did come again from the hand of God. Just go down the passage and read in verse 6. Because it tells us there of Naomi that she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread. The Lord had come to Bethlehem. and brought the people provision once more. But you see, Elimelech wasn't going to wait for God's bread. He was going to work it out himself. He yielded to temptation. He disobeyed God. He failed to trust the Lord's provision. Distrusting God, he moved away to Moab. But folks, I want you to think about this. Moving to Moab did not solve the problem. How many people there are who think, well, if I could only go here or go there or do this or do that, that that would solve my problem. That would be the end of my difficulties. If I could just move to another place, if I could just get to another state or another country or another situation, or maybe I'm not saying it's ever wrong to do this, but perhaps, you know, I'll get another job or I'll do something else. That would be better. And actually what they're doing is trying to get away from a particular situation or problem. And it's never good to trust your own wisdom in these situations and to try to sort things out yourself. My Bible tells me, and so does yours, he who trusteth in his own heart is a fool. One man wrote, Elimelech brings the problem with him. to Moab. You see, the heart of Elimelech's problem was the problem of Elimelech's heart. We may change our circumstances, as Elimelech did, and try to go off in a different direction as he did. But until we deal with the problem of our heart's relationship with God, we will never deal with our problem. That's where it was at, folks, where Elimelech was concerned. There was a problem in his heart. That's why he took his family to Moab. And we may have troubles and burdens in our lives. Who doesn't? But we can only really deal with them by bringing them to the cross. Burdens are lifted at Calvary. Jesus is very near. I want to tell you, going to Moab doesn't deal with the problem. The problem only gets worse when you entertain the flesh. The heart of the problem with many people is often a problem of the heart. And instead of finding grain in Moab, Elimelech found a grave. In the place of blessing, his family experienced bitterness. And you can imagine this poor woman, Naomi, standing, weeping at her husband's grave. And I would suggest it was as the consequence of backsliding and sin on his part. And it got worse. It got worse. There was no quick return to Bethlehem and to God's covenant community. Look again at verse 4. And they took them wives of the women of Moab. Now they're really settling down. You know, that's what happens. You hear people say, well, it's time you were married and settled down. Well, you really settle down when you get married. They're really in Moab to stay. They're not sojourning. They're not having in their hearts any notion that they're going back to Bethlehem Judah. No, they're marrying women of Moab. They're settling down there. They're making a life in that idolatrous country. And it tells us there that they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, the name of the other Ruth, and they dwelled there about ten years. So, this is ongoing now, ten years. But then it says, and Malon and Kilion died also both of them, and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. More death, more sorrow, more tears, several funerals taking place. Sad Saint. The father of the home and the two sons within 10 years taken away. This is the chastening hand of God falling heavily on this family. Now how do I know that? Because Naomi acknowledged it. Come down later on to verse 20. Call me not Naomi, Call me Marah, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?" It's those words of verse 21 I want you to focus on. The Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me." Naomi is acknowledging that this is the hand of the Lord in her life. That's what's happened. That's where all this trouble has come from. You see, friends, there's an inexorable law in the Bible, and it's one that you'll find is true in life, of sowing and reaping. When you sow, you reap accordingly. Galatians 6 verse 7 reminds us of that. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. I hear people talk about young people, oh, well, they're just sowing their wild oats. Yes, they are. And they're going to be a reaping. There's always a reaping where there's a sowing. People talk like that as if we're harmless. But the fact of the matter is, there's always this, the reaping of sin where there's a sowing to sin. And Galatians 6 goes on to speak of that. He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. He that soweth to the Spirit shall reap life everlasting. Now, true believers, and that's what we're talking about here, Christians, not sinners per se, but believing Christians who deliberately go astray, who deliberately go outside the confines of the Word of God who disobey the Lord, can expect the chastisement of God. When I was a kid, I'll let you into a secret, when I was a boy, I knew that there were consequences for wrongdoing. If I did something that I knew my parents didn't want me to do, and I knew that they were going to find out about it, That really put the wind up me. Because I knew there were consequences. I couldn't just do stuff and get away with it. Never. Now, there are kids who can do all manner of stuff and get away with it today. Not in our house. No, no. There were consequences. Chastisement. Chastisement for me either meant the palm of my mother's hand, or a little stick that you took out of a hedge that was stripped of its leaves. And that little rod stung, I've got to tell you. It stung. It didn't do me any permanent harm. I can look at my legs and other parts and there are no marks. There are no marks there anymore. But at the time, boy did that hurt. That sent a message to me. You do bad stuff, consequences. This is what happens. And I want to tell you, that's how God works. That's how God operates. That's why you read the book of Proverbs and you see so much there about the rod giving wisdom and reproof giving wisdom. And of course, it's not always the rod. Sometimes it's just you're grounded. Oh, something that you really wanted to do this Friday. Guess what? You're not doing it. You know why? Because you did something wrong. Go to your room. Stay there till I say it's okay to come back out. Doesn't always have to be the rod, but boy, sometimes that hurts more than the rod. I wish I'd got a licking sometimes and be able to do what I wanted to do on Friday night. God operates this way. He is the template. Now look at Hebrews chapter 12. Here is the scripture that I have in mind. Hebrews chapter 12. And we read there, From verse 5, And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, this is from the Old Testament, book of Proverbs, nor faint when thou wert rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. I never once thought that my parents didn't love me because they gave me a whipping once in a while. I never thought that. I knew they loved me. They said so. And they showed it. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. But notice this. Every son. There are no exceptions. If ye endure chastening, verse 7 says, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But look at verse 8. Very solemn words. But if you be without chastisement, the Lord doesn't take the rod to you betimes. Whereof all are partakers, them are ye. Here's this awful English word. That refers to an illegitimate. That refers to one born out of wedlock. It's a word that used to really mean a lot in our societies. Because there was a stigma attached to it. No, it's not the fault of the children. Let's be clear about that. It's not the fault of the children. But the word is in the Bible. Bastards. Then are you bastards and not sons? What does that mean? You're not sons at all. You're illegitimate. You're not the Lord's children if you're without chastisement. He says, all are partakers. And if you don't get chastised, you're not a son. And then it goes on to speak of fathers of our flesh giving us correction and we gave them reverence. It means respect. And respect has to be taught and it has to be learned. But the Lord chastises us for a good reason. Verse 10, for our profit that we might be partakers of His holiness. And then it says this, verse 11, Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. The chastisement produces good behaviour. That's what it's talking about. And so here we have a situation in the book of Ruth where there's chastisement. And we can imagine that Naomi regarded the deaths of her husband, Elimelech, and her two sons as an unmitigated disaster. And yet, it came about in the providence and the sovereignty of God, as He had a great plan and purpose for her yet. God was not finished with this family. Not by a long talk. And that brings us to verses 5 and 6. Because from talking about the several funerals, we can speak about the situation faced. And how was it faced? Well, I would suggest that in the first place, Naomi mourned. She mourned. And mourning is not wrong, by the way. You know, when Abraham lost his wife, the Bible says he came up to that cave of Machpelah to mourn and to weep for her. That's natural. I would say there would have been something wrong with Abraham if he didn't weep and mourn. The Bible says of Stephen that whenever he died, he was stoned to death. The disciples came and they carried him to his burial with great lamentation. There was tremendous mourning, tremendous weeping. And boy, the Jews, they knew how to mourn. They used to hire professional mourners to come to the gravesite And it would help with the wailing and the weeping. Can you imagine? That's what happened when Jesus was at the grave of Lazarus and they all came to mourn and to weep with her. And Jesus wept. She mourned. Obviously, as a wife and a mother, why would she not mourn? She missed her husband and her sons. Grief and sorrow are real emotions. And Naomi experienced the bitterness of bereavement. Let me just mention again there, that in those verses referenced earlier, she said, the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. Verse 20. The Lord hath testified against me. But I want you to notice that it wasn't just the bitterness of bereavement, because she was concentrating as well on the Lord's hand of chastisement. Look at verse 13 at the end of that verse. For it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me." The hand of the Lord has gone out against me. Really, Naomi? Is that what's happening here? Yes, that's what's happening here. And that's why I say going down to Moab was a mistake. It was wrong. It was a sin. And Naomi is emphasizing here spiritual grief. And this is encouraging to me because this woman did not only mourn physically and naturally, but she mourned spiritually. She's speaking about the hand of the Lord going out against her. About the Lord afflicting her down there in verse 21. And testifying against her. And dealing bitterly with her, verse 20. It's all spiritual with her. At least, much of it is spiritual. The mourning is like that that's spoken of in Matthew 5. Isn't that the attitude that some people like to use when they're talking about a natural death? Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. There's a sense in which that's applicable, but that's not what the verse is saying. That's not what that verse is talking about. It's not talking about people who are at a graveside shedding tears and there's a blessing for them because they're mourning. That's not what it's talking about. It's talking about spiritual grief. It's talking about grief and sadness over your sin. That's what it's talking about. It's talking about mourning over transgression. There's a blessing for those that mourn spiritually, for they shall be comforted. When the tears come to your eyes and the lump to your throat and the sadness in your heart because of your sin, That's what the Lord is talking about when He says, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. And that's the great thing. They shall be comforted. Some think that there's some kind of virtue in going on for years and years and years, wallowing in conviction and never getting relief. That's not scriptural. Blessed are they that mourn, but there's no period there. There's a colon. The next line is, for they shall be comforted. Some like to talk about the man who went down to the temple, the publican, about him smiting on his breast, not drawing near, and feeling that he was such an awful sinner. And of course, all of that is true. But they forget about the next part. This man went down to his house justified. forgiven for his sin. I would suggest to you the next time that man came to the temple, he didn't stand afar off, smiting on his breast, he grew near. Because he was now accepted through the precious blood. Now a famine in the fields of Bethlehem took Naomi to Moab, but now a famine in her heart made her hunger after Bethlehem. So in her time of sorrow, her thoughts turned to the house of bread. Yes, she mourned, but then she moved. Look at verse 6. And folks, this is the turning point in the book of Ruth. This is it. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab. For she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited His people and given them bread. Here's the turning point. Oh, the good news. It was as a result of good news. Naomi heard that she returned. First of all, she resolved to return. And then she actually did return. She arose. When did she do it? It says in verse 6, for she had heard. Because, there's the reason. For she had heard. And verse 7 gives us the reason. Were for. That's a bit like the term, therefore. It goes back to what came before. Wherefore, because of this, she went forth out of the place where she was. She moved. Because hearing of what the Lord had done caused her to desire that. And folks, hearing what the Lord had done reminds me of the gospel itself. You know, the gospel is good news about bread. The Gospel is good news about the provision that the Lord has made of the bread of life. Christ is the bread of life. In John chapter 6, our Lord spoke about the manna that they had gotten in the wilderness from Moses, and He had a conversation with the people about that, and He applied it to Himself spiritually. John chapter 6, verse Verse 31, the people said, Our fathers did eat manna in the desert. As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. And then verse 48, of those great words, I am that bread of life. Oh, Naomi had heard that the Lord had given them bread. And people today need to hear. They need to hear the good news that there's bread. There's bread enough and to spare. And notice it says, the Lord had given them bread. This is the gift of God. And isn't Christ the gift of God? The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ is God's unspeakable gift. And as I read this lovely portion, I see that it's very reminiscent, what is written here, of the parable of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. I think there's a great parallel here. Because you see in verse 7, wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was to return Where was she? Well, she was in a far country. That's where the prodigal was. And when he was to return, what was it that was in his mind? In my father's house there's bread enough unto spare. There's plenty of bread. Even the servants, they're not even in the family. They've got more than they need. And here am I sitting in the pig pen. Because he desired to eat of the husks that the swine did eat. Can you imagine a young Jewish lad sitting there in a place of defilement like that? They weren't allowed to have swine. They weren't allowed to have pigs in Palestine, in Israel. There he is in the far country. He's starving. There's bread enough and to spare in the Father's house. What does he say? You can read it in Luke chapter 15. I will arise and go to my Father. And that's what happens when a sinner is saved. The Lord so works in his heart by His Spirit that He creates a desire in the heart of that person to return to the Lord, to get to the Father's house. And here's what happened to Naomi. She's in want. She's in the far country. But now she was to return, because she had heard of God's blessing. The Lord had visited His people. The interesting thing for me is that it says in verse 6, the Lord had visited His people. It already had happened. But she wasn't there when the Lord came. I always think of that in relation to Thomas in John chapter 20. Thomas was not with them when Jesus came. Oh, how Thomas missed out that first Sunday night. When the Lord appeared and showed them His hands on His side, when He said to them, Peace be unto you. When He breathed on them and said, Receive you the Holy Ghost. Thomas didn't experience any of that. I've always thought it would be a terrible thing if revival came. And I didn't happen to be there that Lord's Day. But then the Lord's merciful because the following Lord's Day, Thomas was there and the Lord was gracious to him and he didn't miss out on that occasion. But isn't it a sad thing only to hear about blessing second hand and not to experience it? But Naomi did return to the house of bread and experienced the blessing then. If there's somebody here today under the sound of my voice and you need to return, You need to return. Let this be the day. Let this be the time. There's good news. There's a house of bread, Bethlehem. There's a place where God has visited. He has given bread and there's enough unto spare. As the old hymn puts it, there's room at the cross for you. There's room at the cross for you. Though millions have come, there's still room for one. Yes, there's room at the cross for you.