Father, we thank you for the day that you have given to us thus far. We thank you for the risen Christ who is our anchor there behind the veil. and we pray that you would cause us to be more spiritually minded at the end of this day than when we started. We plead with you, O Spirit of God, that you would come and own your word before our mind's eye. whether we're here, whether we are remote to us, that you would draw near and encourage our hearts and challenge us in your word. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. I want to thank the opportunity, thank Pastor Mitch for the opportunity for me being before you tonight. I also have a debt of gratitude that I owe to Pastor Bill Hughes, I wish he were standing up here this evening instead of me, frankly, for the several studies that he has made in this book. And so, for his labors have enriched my appreciation of this book. I feel it even a privilege to look at this book with you this evening as my appreciation has grown. By way of introduction, there are a few comments that I would like to make to keep us in mind when we read a book such as the Book of Ruth. First, the perspective of the writer is different from the characters that we find in the narrative. The writer, in this case, we believe it is Samuel. knows more about the situation of the characters than the characters that he's writing about. They have no idea what is going to happen next. And so obviously the writer also knows more about these characters than you or I do. And this will draw us out of ourselves and into the story. And so I'd ask that as we look into this book, As often as we're able to, I ask you to place yourself alongside of the characters of this book to imagine their experience as your own and enter into theirs. Ultimately, though, we're going to see the events of this book from God's perspective. And we are seeing how God is relating to the people in very troubling times. Along the way, God the Holy Spirit, through the author, will use certain terms, names of places, names of people, as clues as to what he is doing in the lives of these people. One example, of course, would be the term kinsman redeemer, which appears several times. And this word is a clue, which is vital to understanding what God is doing during this period of time. And all these are going to help us to fill out our appreciation of what God is doing in this story. And so in this study, we're going to focus on the characters of the book. and draw out some practical lessons from our lives as well. And so as we look at the historical setting of the Book of Ruth, this is going to take place during the period of the judges, some 330 years from the death of Joshua until the ascendancy of King Saul. Ruth stands in vivid contrast to the books that precede and follow this narrative. When we look at Judges, when we look at 1 Samuel, and this book really acts as a hinge that's going to join these two periods of redemptive history together. As we look at the genealogies and the names of people in this book, approximately the Book of Ruth is taking place right around the period of Gideon. And as you know, some of the noteworthies in the Book of Judges would include Deborah, and Gideon, and Samson, and ultimately Samuel, who follows. And so the Book of Judges, as you know, follows other narratives in the Word of God. In Exodus through Deuteronomy, we read of God delivering his people out of bondage to slavery under Moses, and constitutes the nation of Israel as God's covenant nation. Moses is going to chronicle the 40 years of wilderness wanderings. And then following that, as you know, the Book of Joshua. We read the conquest of the land of Canaan under Joshua as God's people are brought into the land promised to them by, promised to the fathers, rather, by God. And during this period of time it is marked by great spiritual decline following the death of Joshua, a lack of spiritual leadership and authority in Israel. The nation by and large is going to fall into unfaithfulness and idolatry. They're opposed by the godless nation surrounding them, God using them as it were a scourge to chasten them for their unfaithfulness. And as they cry out to Jehovah, he's going to respond in mercy to them, bring them a deliverer, and then over the course of Usually a generation, they're going to slip back into unfaithfulness and idolatry. And that period of time is really going to spiral down spiritually to the point where the nation is in a terrible state. And so we must keep in mind that we're not merely reading a book of history, although it is history. But it's God dealing with his own people, even in a time of unfaithfulness and falling away. We could summarize this book by a period of phrases if you take a look at Judges chapter 19, verse 1. And it came to pass in those days when there was no king, Israel. And then further along, Judges 21 and verse 25. In those days there was no king in Israel. Our author is drawing attention to the fact. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. There is no central authority, humanly speaking. But more we're observing the marvelous dealings of God, miraculous at times, as he deals with his people in that kind of situation. And this has become a byword that characterizes this time, that everyone has done what is right in his own eyes. When men and nations throw aside the word of God, we can see the grim consequences of what can take place. And so as a result, the glory of God is going to largely depart from Israel. So it is a very dark time. We can see compromising leadership along the way. And so what is the relevance for you and me this evening? There is a state of affairs in which many nations today, also many churches, and our day is well. Every man does what is right in his own eyes. We witnessed this past week where supposed protests over the jailing of a former leader in South Africa their former president, turn into a free-for-all in which whole shopping malls were looted and then set ablaze. We can think over just the past year of what has taken place in our cities in the United States. Policeman, policewoman leaving the cities in droves looking for employment elsewhere. We could multiply examples of this, the lawlessness that's prevailing in many neighborhoods that are around our land. in the halls of government, in schools, in universities, public health policy, medicine, the media, and even church life. Every man seems to be doing what is right in his own eyes. There's little sense of, little recognition of any kind of real authority. And so now to clarify, the purpose of true religion is not to maintain civil order, and yet that is certainly a fruit of true religion. And we only can look back to the early history of America as well to see evidences for that. were very far removed from the Mayflower Compact, where our Puritan forefathers and others as well had covenanted together to constitute a new form of government by the people and for the people, voluntarily entering into this agreement under the administration of a godly William Bradford. No more is the word of God foremost in the hearts and minds of people as it was with those faithful pilgrims. And so we see a time of falling away where the Word of God is scarce. If you turn to 1 Samuel 3, verse 1, a scarcity of the Word of God in this time, where we read, now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. No purifying influence of the Word of God. And this also characterizes most of the nations of the Western world in our time as well. Even the United States, there is no regular ministry of the Word of God. You see pockets of godly believers that are gathering in one place or another, but it's nothing like that we would see in a former generation. You only need to reflect for a moment on the people and places that you pass by as you travel to church this evening. People going about their business. I saw a sign on the way over here, you are enough. Really, what does that mean? Where is that coming from? There is no comfort. There may be good intention in offering people some sort of encouragement as you drive by. And yet, where is the Word of God having place in people's hearts and minds in this day? People seemingly oblivious to God's worship, mowing their lawns, the stores are full of shoppers on the Lord's Day, fans going to sporting events, and so on. And so there are many people in many churches who have never really heard a sound word of God from one month to the next. Thousands upon thousands of hungry sheep are not being fed. And so as we look back to our scriptures for guidance during this time, If you remember the grandson of Eli, as that woman was giving birth in 1 Samuel 4, verse 21, names her child Ichabod. The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God had been captured there. And this child's name seems to sum up the state of the nation in that day, the glory has departed from Israel. The whole nation at this time is at a point of spiritual collapse. Why has this happened? We don't need to look far for the answer. Slowly, over the course of time, the people of God have departed from the living God. And the nation is at a point of ruin from the inside out. They're no longer experiencing the blessings of God that he had promised in Deuteronomy through Moses. And they're no longer experiencing the blessings that they had known in former days. And so when a nation departs from God, this is a very solemn and sad thing. And yet, when God departs from a nation, that is even a more serious and a more solemn event. It brings darkness, disaster, and tragic consequences. And this is why the Church and our day must go. If there is no other reason for you and I to attend our midweek prayer meeting, it is to pray that God would restore the United States to himself. That he would turn the hearts of the fathers back to the sons, and the hearts of the sons back to the fathers. We read in Psalm 80, Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth, restore us, O God, cause your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. And so we see there's no central authority to keep the people close to God. And this is what our need is today. We need to stay close to the Word of God. It's absolutely essential that you and I continue to band together as a church to keep close to the Word of God. When a person believes upon Christ, they are saved not only as individuals, but as members of the body of Christ, saved into a fellowship of other Christians. And the man or woman who tries to live their own life singly is going to eventually depart and compromise their faith. It is always the sick sheep that's going to draw apart from the flock, while the healthy ones stay together. And so to stay away from the fellowship of believers is really to despise God's people. It is trying to come to God on our own terms. And so the one who is loyal to God will evidence loyalty to God's people. and the fellowship as they gather together. It is there where they are under the means of grace and they'll be helped to keep within the bounds of the word of God and by the aid of his spirit. Now, all of this seems very discouraging, doesn't it? And yet, in this period of darkness, there is light on the horizon. If you would turn to 1 Samuel 3, again with me. There is an encouragement of grace here. God will not leave his covenant people in this low and darkened spiritual condition. And so we read in verses 19 and following of 1 Samuel 3. So Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew, that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. And then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel." Think about that. There was a widespread revival that broke out under Samuel's preaching of the word of the Lord in that time. Today, God is still at work with his people in many parts of the world. And even as we look around the church this evening, we have a number of young couples, how God is faithfully caused to preserve, to save, and to cause to cling in this place. And so we have reason to be encouraged. by all these events and may he be glorified in granting us and strengthening us in many more ways in the months and years to come. We can also look further to the book of Nehemiah, as Nehemiah praises that as that nation has come back together following the period of captivity and the walls have been built up around Jerusalem. They gather together and in Nehemiah's prayer, he says this, nevertheless, looking back to this period, nevertheless, they were disobedient. and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their backs, and killed your prophets who testified against them, to turn them to yourself. And yet they worked great provocations." If you look down to verse 31, in the same chapter. Nevertheless, in your great mercy, you did not utterly consume them nor forsake them. For you are God, gracious and merciful. And so this is our hope with the grace and mercy of our God, who will not utterly consume our nation and turn us back to him with all of our hearts. And so as you can see, with this very dark background, the book of Ruth is going to appear to us as a jewel gleaming. and sparkling with beauty. On a first very casual reading, you get the impression this is a beautiful love story of how this Moabitess becomes attached to her Jewish mother-in-law. And then she meets this charming Jewish man. There is bereavement. There is heartache. There is disappointment. There's disillusionment. There is love. And ultimately, there is great rejoicing. It has been said of the Book of Ruth that it is one of the greatest stories in all literature, particularly in chapter one, where we read of Ruth's poetic statement of her loyalty to Naomi for its beauty and for its simplicity. Its very significance is far more important than a piece of literature, however. The real significance here Is God working his plan of redemption, bringing about that plan of redemption that he had established before the worlds had began? And that's certainly a theme of every book in the Bible, isn't it? And so as we go through this narrative here, it's important to understand we're looking at God fulfilling his purposes in and through these people in very challenging situations, and learning again how God has dealings with people in such situations. And so when you ask yourself, who is the main character? of the Book of Ruth. Is it Ruth, the name by which it is named? Or is it Naomi? Is it Boaz? Certainly, it's God who is the central character of the Book of Ruth. And he's bringing about his eternal purposes. If you turn back to Ruth chapter 4, we read these words at verse 17. Also, the neighbor women gave him a name, who is the child of Ruth, saying, there is a son born to Naomi. Not Ruth, but Naomi. And they call his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. And so what you see at the end of the book is the history of David. Ruth's story is the story of the royal line of David, as you know, who in turn was the ancestor of his greater son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And so the significance of this book is the role that it plays. and a much vaster purpose of God redeeming his people out of every kindred and tribe and nation. Ruth the Moabitess is chosen and caught up into the line of Christ. And that line begins with Adam and flows on to Christ as she is a part of this much greater story. And the other lesson is also a very simple and a practical one. And I have to quote from Pastor Bill Hughes here, who knows British literature far better than I do, who found a poem that he actually had to memorize when he was in elementary school from Sir Thomas Gray. This is a pastoral scene of a graveyard in a small English village, and it is called the elegy written to a country churchyard. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. The lowing herd whines slowly o'er the lee. The plowman homeward plods his weary way and leaves the world to darkness and to me. Beneath those rugged elms that you trees shade were heaves the turf of many a moldering heap. Of course, he's referring to the graves. Each in his narrow cell forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. Let not ambition mock their youthful toil, Their homely joys and destiny obscure, Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile The short and simple annals of the poor. And so in the Book of Ruth, You are witnessing God's hand at work in the lives of everyday people, not being played out in the halls of government or on some great field of battle, but in the obscure provincial village of Bethlehem. with two impoverished women. We normally see God's hand in the dealings with kings of armies and noteworthy events. We've picked up that theme throughout the book of Exodus, in Joshua, in Judges. You find it in Chronicles and in Kings. You see God's hand at work in these great events. You see the conflicts and miraculous events on the national and international scene. And yet now in Ruth, God focuses on apparently insignificant people. And it seems as though all of history is going to hinge on these events of these poor, insignificant, impoverished people in an unknown town that we've come to know as Bethlehem, the short and simple annals of the poor. The eyes of nearly all the world are focused on the United States, this new administration. How are they going to deal with the other superpowers? How is the issue of Taliban taking over Afghanistan to be addressed? The COVID variants with Taiwan, the crisis of the Nigerian Christians that either are kidnapped or murdered. and brought into slavery. How will the United Nations address this crisis? And we as believers are reminded that all the nations of the earth are under the sovereign jurisdiction of a sovereign God who, according to Ephesians 1, works all things after the counsel of his own will. He alone has ultimate control over all things of men and nations to do whatever he has determined. We only need to look to Psalm 2 to understand that. And so the same God who holds the nations in his hands and counts them as less than dust on the scales, the same God who mocks at their godless boasting, is the same God who in grace and mercy is going to come to poor men and women, to unknown men and women in an ongoing routine of their ordinary lives. In the book of Ruth, your attention is drawn to four unknown people in an obscure town in Judea. And yet the writer is telling us this was equally important to the work of God. He is still at work. We are being shown what is really important in this short and simple annals of the poor. And God is having dealings with this family, advancing his purposes in the midst of hardship and tragedy. Three women will be bereft within a period of 10 years. And you see them in their turmoil and their sadness in their everyday lives. And God is drawing attention to these. And while he is no doubt concerned with what is taking place in the Supreme Court this week and in the halls of Congress, he is also at work in the lives of the poor, seemingly insignificant family, exerting the same attention and care as any other place. And so for you and I, this opens up immense possibilities of what God can do in even such a situation as ours. Who knows where God is going to further his purpose? He is the only wise God, 1 Timothy 1.17. And God alone knows what he is going to do in and through your children and mine as well. You do not know what foundation you are laying in the generation that is to come. In your Sunday school class, in your VBS, as you have family devotions with them, as you pray over them, as you kiss them goodnight, keeping in mind God's hand in every mundane task, modeling, Godliness and trust in God as you instruct your children. And you men, as you go out and you grab that fresh shirt for the next day at work, dragging that shaver across your face, remember that God is fulfilling his purposes in and through you. You may wonder, is there any real value to what I'm doing in this mindless job that drives me crazy? in this grinding job, this routine that I have. You just do not know how God is going to act in the midst of those situations. And so those of you that are going through an extended trial with your slow advance here and then facing that setback, that disappointment, You do not know what God's purposes are and what he is going to accomplish through those trials. And you need to grab hold of yourself and say, God is at work, yet even in this bearing fruit, working his grace in and through me and through my loved ones. And that is precisely what the book of Ruth is about. There is not only physical famine, but a spiritual famine, a famine of the Word of God. It's a time of terrible distress. Well, I need to jump ahead, looking at the clock. And we need to run down to Roman numeral 3. We need to consider finally getting to the Book of Ruth, chapter 1. I want to go ahead and read the first three verses. 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, there is another Bethlehem by the way, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi. The names of his two sons were Malon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. So we need to look at this man's life briefly under the four heads that I've given you in the outline. First, Elimelech did not recognize the word of God and the works of God. A famine impacts his family in their everyday lives. In the land of promise, in the time of judges, the famine may have been a judgment on the nation for their unfaithfulness to Jehovah. We mustn't minimize, however, the great difficulty that this presented this family. As they're dealing with the difficulties of the famine, it's easy for us in the West, many of us, well some of us have traveled abroad, we've seen up front personally what poverty looks like. But it's hard, it's a humbling thing to go about and recognize that as you go to the store when the shelves are empty, that you have very little to offer your family. Several of us have seen that firsthand. It's hard to realize living in the middle of a famine with your children who are hungry. We can safely assume that as an Israelite, Elimelech was a man who feared God, but now goes to seek bread in the land where his God is not known, and where his God is not recognized. They were living in the land of promise, and God had covenanted to meet with them in the land and provide for his covenant people in the land that he had given to them. And now Elimelech decides that he's going to move his family into the land of Moab and making a serious mistake. Imagine an American going to live in Libya or Pakistan or North Korea. Can you begin to imagine the culture shock that you would experience if you did such a thing? You can appreciate what it would be like for a Limelech taking his family to live in Moab. It hardly seems this would be the will of God to put his family in such a situation. Why did he make this particular move? It does not appear that he himself was destitute. If he was, his neighbors would have been under obligation to care for him. And as we look further down in chapter one, we see that Ruth says, I went out full and the Lord brought me home empty. Naomi describes herself as going out full. That's hardly destitute, isn't it? And so we see further that there is no mention of a mass emigration of people from Israel to Moab. So it appears that Elimelech had made this decision on his own. And even as Ruth comes back, as Ruth and Naomi return to the land, they discover their near relative, Boaz, who is a wealthy, prosperous man. God has obviously provided for him in that area of Bethlehem. Bethlehem. So why did he go? You wonder whether a limeleck is like some people that, as they experience a difficulty, that they find it difficult to reduce their standard of living due to some trial, due to some pressure of life. He's not learned in whatever state he is to learn to be content. Could it be that? And this raises questions about how you and I respond when we face a famine, either materially or spiritually. When there is a time of famine in their local church, some people find that's the best time to pull out. Well, there's no music ministry here. I just can't relate to this. Well, there's no children's ministry. There's no youth group here. And then they go off into another situation that they think is more desirable. And you find out later on that their children are nowhere spiritually. And that was the very reason that they left, to be under a sound gospel ministry. And this is not unlike a limo like suns when you think about that. Melan and chilean. Melan means sickly. Chilean means consumption. So obviously Elimelech had some concerns about the health and well-being of his two sons, which is a perfectly legitimate concern. And yet he finds himself compelled to move to a different situation. And the tragic consequence is that they're the ones that followed him in death, the very sons that he was concerned about. And so we go back to the Proverbs. I had a poster in my classroom of this. Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. Another like it, Psalm 37, verse 4. There is no indication Elimelech did this, although there is a material advantage. It was hazardous in terms of spiritual well-being. And so as you can see, he did not recognize the Word of God. The Word of God had warned against intermarrying with the pagan nations, specifically against that. He should have remembered that the nation of Moab had descended from a lot, and the Moabites were forbidden to be in the assembly of God's people to the 10th generation. They worship the pagan god Chemosh, and where he is with his two sons, they're approaching marriageable age at this point. And so naturally they're going to begin looking for wives and who else do they have to look for but to the Moabite women that were there. And so you can see the consequences of one move are beginning to have rippling effects throughout his whole family against things clearly prohibited in scripture. And so once you make one seriously wrong decision, You can see that what follows likely is you're going to continue to make bad decisions as a consequence. And there's no lead, there's no way of knowing where all this is going to lead you. There's no indication of the narrative, nor Naomi really objected to what the boys had done. It seems that he may have passed before they married, I'm not sure. Naomi certainly was alive. And so surely if there was a religious upbringing in this family, you would have thought it would have been unthinkable for them to consider marrying outside of the Israelite nation to a Moabite woman. And so if we as parents are out of place in our walk with God, then the power of our influence is going to diminish proportionately. If parents don't take God's commands seriously in making important decisions, how are the children ever learned to do the same? Secondly, Elimelech did not recognize the providence of God in his life. His name, Elimelech, means, my God is king. And you reflect back upon what kind of parents Elimelech necessarily had. Names of people were very important during this period of time. And so this man's parents must have taken very seriously God's claims upon their lives and the upbringing of their son. Our son is going to be called, my God is King. And you can see their parents had poured all their spiritual hopes into that son. In another time, when most of the nation was going astray, worshiping Baal, there was another man that was named, my God is Jehovah. And that was Elijah. And we can consider the impact that Elijah had on his generation. And Elimelech could have pondered God's dealings with the people of God over the centuries to realize, my God is king. He's going to provide for me. He's not going to fail me in this time of famine. And perhaps there's some here tonight who've been raised in a godly home, And though far from perfect, your parents have prayerfully and sought carefully to bring you up by their example and by their nurture that you would look to their God and Savior Jesus in the ups and downs of life. How have you made use of those spiritual privileges that God has given you through your parents? And again, Elimelech grew up in Bethlehem, which means the house of bread. In a time of famine, you would think that the name of the very town in which he lived would have encouraged him. God will provide for me. I'm living in the house of bread. He will care for me and for my family. Had he looked to these things and considered the providence of God, He would have recognized the hand of God upon him as well as the nation. And it makes you think of the words of Ecclesiastes 7, 14. In the day of prosperity, be joyful. But in the day of adversity, consider. Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other so that man can find out nothing that will come after him. In the day of adversity, consider. In the day of adversity, the Word of God and the providence of God. Are you regularly exposing your mind to the Word of God, your conscience to the Word of God, pondering the Word of God and the providence and care that He is already giving you in making those important decisions? Thirdly, Elimelech strayed from the realized presence of God. He refused to be guided by the promises of God and the providence of God, and ultimately strayed from the realized presence of God. God had not altogether abandoned his people, even though there were judgments and chastening that had come. God was still having dealings with his covenant people during this time. And moving to Moab, he was straying away from all of God's dealings with them. And some people respond to difficult situations this way. And so this is how they've learned to avoid problems. I'm going to get up and I'm going to leave. Instead of powering through them by the grace and wisdom of the Word of God. Sometimes our responses are not responses of faith. And as you know, what is not a faith can also be sin. And Elimelech went literally, when you look at the Hebrew word there, it means to sojourn in the land of Moab. He went to abide there as a resident Ali. He's probably thinking, well, I'm going to go here temporarily until this famine blows over. Not a permanent move. but just until the crisis is over. But it is rare for a famine to last 10 years, doesn't it? When you think about it. It's a long time to live in a place as a resident alien just to avoid a famine. Something else was going on in his heart. It makes you remember the father of the Moabites. When you consider Genesis 13.11, of what? Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan. And the next time we read about Lot, he's taken up residence in Sodom. And how the spiritual disaster that brought upon his whole family, remember the words of the Lord Jesus, remember Lot's wife. Lot never considered the consequences of that move, and neither did Elimelech, apparently. What tragedy and heartache resulted. These Moabites were the direct descendants from the incestuous relationship that Lot had with his daughters in a drunken stupor. And so what we make when we think what will be a temporary situation in our lives later becomes a permanent disaster. We need to consider these things. We dare not make major decisions like this without bearing in mind how such a choice will have long-term consequences to ourselves. And then to some of you young people right now, this is probably flying over your head. Mom and dad have very challenging decisions to make sometimes. And you need to pray for them, that God would give them wisdom. Because sometimes life gives us hard situations that we need to work through, and we really need wisdom. And we ask that you would pray for your parents, that God would help them, instead of complaining about this or that. As Pastor Hughes would say time and again, pinch your tent near to your tabernacle. Pinch your tent near to your tabernacle. You need to make a priority that where you're going to place your home is going to be near to where you're going to worship. And make sure that you're in a place where you're going to be spiritually fed. And so when a famine or a trial arises, there's going to be tests to a man's faith, to a woman's faith. And so it is wrong to leave a place where God has made it plain you should stay, even if you face challenging circumstances. It's also wrong to stay in a place where God has clearly told you that you need to leave. When you think Lot and his family, they needed to get out of Sodom if they were going to save their souls. And then finally, Elimelech failed to attain to the fullest blessings of God. Elimelech died in the land of Moab, and there he was buried. And there, really, the story for Elimelech ends. He now falls into the background, and in chapter 1, the shift quickly changes over to focus on the interaction between Naomi and Ruth. His legacy died with his sons, who were also buried in Moab. And it's a hard thing to learn. A hard, difficult trial to go through. We can't minimize that. Naomi looked back to these events and interpret them as the chastening hand of God. At least three times she says that. We can't say about Naomi, don't talk about God the way that His hand is out again. No, I think she interpreted her circumstances accurately, that the Lord had gone out against her. And so when we withdraw from the will of God, anything can happen. Sadly, Jonah learned this as well. We are not told how long Elimelech lived. We don't know if he lived to regret his choice. We only know his two sons followed him shortly in death. His sons could have carried on the family name. So Elimelech's hopes died with his sons. And it is sadly ironic, isn't it? The very children he might have been concerned about are the ones that followed him in death. And so if you would turn to Ephesians 1 with me, we want to wrap these things up and consider the truth of God. Are we regularly, prayerfully meditating upon the Word of God, His promises of salvation in Christ, of provision and guidance? As we can see in verse 7, in Him, in Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Are you considering prayerfully the godly counsel you received from your spiritual betters, your pastor, your godly parents, your brethren here in those critical decisions facing you? When we look at verse nine, having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself. God has made his will known to you and to me. We can thank God for that. You need, by grace, to embrace that will and the favor that God will bless you with as you seek to walk before him faithfully. Thirdly, are you prayerfully considering the providence of God in your life, how he's led you and provided for you thus far, and the tremendous destiny that you have as a Christian, as a believer in Christ? Verse 11. In him also you have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. And finally, are you looking to him for stability, for comfort and blessing in the ups and downs of life? Verses 13 and 14. In him, in Christ, you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purpose possession to the praise of his glory. There is a destiny, there is a destination for all the people of God. throughout this pilgrimage that we're all on together, and that we can look to him with confidence that we will reach those distant shores as we walk in faith, trusting in Christ, independence upon the Spirit of God and the Word of God, and God having an active role in each of our lives. Let's pray. Well, Father, we thank you for We thank you so much for the account of Ruth and Naomi and even of Elimelech. May we be encouraged by What you have done in each of their lives, may we be warned by Elimelech's disastrous choice. And may we learn to trust in you in the ups and downs of life, recognizing that you not only have your hand upon the globe, but you have your hand, as Pastor Mitch had said earlier, in all the details of our lives. And so we give you thanks. We pray that you would encourage our hearts through this week. By your word, we pray this in our Savior Jesus' name. Amen.