Ruth – Part 1 – “The Problem of a Wrong Choice”

Posted: September 11, 2011

Pastor Bryan Guinness
Ruth 1:1-5
September 11, 2011

<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/29747778">http://www.vimeo.com/29747778</a>

Love, tragedy, hope, romance. No, I’m not talking about the latest Hollywood blockbuster, I’m talking about a story from the Bible. Today, I’ll be starting a new series from the book of Ruth, which tells us the beautiful love story between Boaz and Ruth. The book of Ruth is one of two books in the bible that bear the name of a women (the other being Esther), and as we study the book we’re going to see how the love that Boaz has for Ruth is a picture of the love that Christ has for us, his church. And so that makes this love story an echo of the greatest love story ever.
Now, the book of Ruth was written in dark days—during the time of the judges. When you turn to the book of Ruth, this is the opening 7 words of the book:
Ruth 1:1 – In the days when the judges ruled…
If you aren’t familiar with the Old Testament, the period of the judges was one of Israel’s darkest eras. It covers all the time between the Joshua’s death (Judges 1:1) and the coronation of Saul as king (1 Samuel 10). In fact, the phrase that best describes the time of the judges is the last verse of the book of judges which says:
Judges 21:25 – “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”
It was a real time of anarchy, apostasy, and apathy. The people of God were ignoring the Lord, and worshiping idols. They had a greater appetite for wealth, pleasure, and comfort than for God. And in the midst of that time, we see a shining example of love and redemption. That reminds us that no matter how dark the times are, there is always hope with God. No matter how dark your school seems, you can shine brightly in that place. No matter how dark your circumstances are, there is hope with God. In chapter 1 of the book of Ruth, we’re going to talk about the pivotal choices that people make. If you think about it, our life is really the sum total of our choices. Today, I want to talk about the problem of a bad choice, and next time I will talk about the power of a wise choice.

Ruth 1:1 – In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.

So, here we are introduced to a family and a famine. Now, most of the time in the Old Testament, when famines are mentioned, they are God’s judgment on his rebellious people to get their attention. In Deuteronomy 28:22 God said to Israel that if they didn’t obey his commands then he would get their attention in different ways, one of them being famines. So, here is a family living through a famine and living in Bethlehem. Do you know what the word Bethlehem means in Hebrew? It means “house of bread”. The Book of Ruth is full of irony, because here’s a town which means house of bread, and there is no bread. And our attention is focused on one man and his family. Look at the next verse.
Ruth 1:2 – The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

The head of the family is Elimelech, and his wife is Naomi , and they have two sons Mahlon and Kilion. As an aside, although these names are in the Bible, please do not give these names to your children because Mahlon and Kilion in Hebrew mean “sick” and “dying”. Who names their children sick and dying?

So, Elimelech faced a choice. The choice was this: Do I stay in my country Israel in my city Bethlehem where there is no food, or do I go to the neighboring country Moab, which is 50 miles away and has food? Actually this confirms the idea that the famine is God’s judgment on the nation, because, apparently, 50 miles away in the country of Moab there was food. Why else would Elimelech want to relocate his family?

After some thinking, he makes a choice and he decides to leave Bethlehem and go to Moab. Now, at first, it seems as though Elimelech is justified for doing so. After all, a man should provide for his family. But, his choice, as we’re going to soon see is a bad choice. It turns out bad for him and bad for his family.

I. The Anatomy of a Wrong Choice

1. He had a wrong method

Elimelech wasn’t operating in faith. He was operating by sight. He was operating out of fear. Scripture says we are to…
2 Corinthians 5:7 – Walk by faith, not by sight.
That means that we don’t make our choices based on appearances. We make our choices by faith. Faith is believing God in spite of appearances and obeying God in spite of consequences. For example, if you’re single and want to get married, don’t lower your moral standards to avoid a life of singleness. Walk by faith not by sight. Or, if cheating or lying would appear to help you in the short-term, don’t fall into that trap. Walk by faith, not by sight. Elimelech wasn’t operating by faith. Rather than trust God to provide for his family in the land he had given to them and rather than deal with the underlying spiritual causes for the toils of life, Elimelech uproots his entire family to a pagan country, Moab.

Moab was considered a godless place. It’s citizens were descendants from Moab, who was the son of incest between lot and his own daughter (Genesis 19:30-38) and the Moabites didn’t worship Yahweh, the one true God that the Israelites worshipped. They worshiped a false god named Chemosh (Numbers 21:29; 1 Kings 11:7). Now, not only did he have a wrong method…

2. He had a wrong Master

When Elimelech went to Moab, he was going into enemy territory. The history between Israel and Moab was not good. When the Israelites were on their way into the promised land, Moab had refused to let them pass through their territory and had refused to give them any help. Furthermore, the king of Moab had hired Balaam to curse Israel. So, this is what God had said:

Deuteronomy 23:3-6 – No … Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation. 4 For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. 5 However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. 6 Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live.

Moab was under God’s curse because they had tried to curse Israel and God told Israel not to seek a treaty of friendship with them. And here is Elimelech walking right into enemy territory in direct disobedience to God’s Word. And when we disobey what God in his word has made clear, we are putting ourselves in enemy territory. We give the enemy a foothold into our life.

Ephesians 4:25–27 – Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

The devil can get a foothold in our life if there is persistent unconfessed sin.
Elimelech made a bad choice because he had the wrong method. He was walking by sight, not by faith. He had the wrong master. He was walking into enemy territory. And, thirdly:

3. He had a wrong motive

His motive was physical not spiritual. He was thinking primarily of his family’s physical needs—for food—but not at all about his family’s spiritual needs. By going to live in Moab, his family will grow up not going to the temple. They will not grow up participating in any spiritual community of faith. His wife would not have friends who could encourage her in her faith. The friends his children make would not be fellow believers in Yahweh. And if you are a parent, the people and friends that you put your kids in front of, will be the examples who influence them. He surrounded his sons with Moabite women who they would grow up and want to marry. And the danger for us too, when we make choices, is to think only of the immediate physical gain, and not the long- term spiritual consequences.

Let me give you an example of where thinking past the immediate physical gain to the spiritual consequences would be so important. Let’s say you get a job offer to move to a new city with a substantially higher salary. Most Christians would say, “That must be God’s will.” But, if you start to think beyond the immediate financial gain, this job might be spiritually a bad move. This new job might mean you’ve got to work longer hours—which will eventually take a toll on your marriage and family. This new job will uproot you from your church community. Let’s say that you are growing in the church and God is using you right now where you are in a ministry. If you accept this new job you might be putting making money above God. You might be thinking only of the immediate financial gain and not the long-term spiritual consequences.

And when we are motivated primarily by the material and physical as opposed to the spiritual, we have put other things above Christ and listen to how the Paul describes this:
Philippians 3:18-19 – For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
Notice Paul’s not talking about someone who is obsessed with food. Rather, he is using the image of food to make a larger point. To say that “their god is their stomach” is a way of saying that these people live for themselves. Our appetites are not themselves bad, but when our appetites are focused on pleasing ourselves and not God, then this is really a form of self-worship. Jesus said:

Matthew 6:33 – But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
Many of us seek things first and then tag God on afterwards. But friends, God doesn’t like second place. He wants first place in our life. And we are to give him that first place—to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness

What does that look like? The context of this verse is the Sermon on the Mount – found in Matthew 5-7. When you unpack what those three chapters teach, it gives you a pretty good idea of what it means to seek first his kingdom and his righteousnes. Let me give a few highlights.
-Acknowledge you are spiritually bankrupt, “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3), and that you need the Lord to save you if you will have any hope of eternal life.
-turn away from all known sin and “mourn” (Matthew 5:4) in repentance over the things that displease God.
-show mercy to others by attempting to reconcile, forgive, and make peace with all who have wronged you (Matthew 5:5-6; 6:12-15).
-Don’t repay evil for evil, but instead do good to those who have hurt you, even praying for your enemies (Matthew 5:10-12; 5:43-47; 6:43-47).
-Fight against the lust of the eyes (Matthew 6:27-30) and flee from temptation (Matthew 6:13).
-Pursue an intimate relationship with God through prayer (Matthew 6:5-15) and fasting (Matthew 6:16-17).
-See your money as God’s money entrusted to you for a short while. Therefore, don’t accumulate stuff, but give generously to the Lord’s work which includes helping people in need (Matthew 6:1-4). In so doing so you will “store up treasure in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-24).
-Don’t worry about how you will pay all the bills and make ends meet. God will provide as you trust him and work hard (Matthew 6:25-34).
-Study the Word of God so that you can identify false teachers (Matthew 7:15-20).
-If you call Jesus Lord, live like he’s Lord by obeying his teachings. Then you will be like a “wise man…” (Matthew 7:21-29).
-Don’t judge people’s motives because they are unseen and ultimately God will expose all of our motives at the judgment (Matthew 7:1-6).
-Recognize that the values of the world are completely different than God’s values and that if you adopt the world’s values, you will go to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).
-Share the light of the gospel of Jesus with others (Matthew 5:13-16) and live your faith publicly.

This is some of what it means to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Sadly, it appears that Elimelech wasn’t seeking God first. He was seeking things (bread) first and the consequences of his choice were devastating for him and his family.

II. The Consequences of a Wrong Choice

Ruth 1:3 – “Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.”
What happened to Elimelech? He died. We don’t know how he died. If you’re like me, I want some questions to be answered. Why did he die? How did he die? Did he die of natural causes? Old age. Or was it God’s judgment? The Scripture doesn’t tell us. And this is so typical of our lives. So many things happen to us and we will never know why on this side of heaven.
Deuteronomy 29:29 – The secret things belong to the Lord.
We won’t know all the things we want to know. But, we must live by faith.

So, the story is becoming more tragic. Naomi is left a widow. Fortunately her two sons can take care of her and provide for her. But look what happens next:
Ruth 1:4–5 – They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
This is as dark and hopeless as it could possibly be. Could you think of anything worse than burying your own children? I have two children, and I could think of nothing worse than burying my children. And that is what happened to Naomi. Not just her children but her husband. Her whole family is gone. And there she is left in Moab—a place where she has no one to fellowship with, no one to pray for her. It is the ultimate picture of hopelessness, despair, pain, and suffering.

How will Naomi respond? If you want the answer to that question, you’ve got to come back next time I speak! But, let me wrap things up by sharing four applications from these verses about the choices that we make.

III. The Application for Our Choices

1. We are free to make choices

Elimelech makes a choice. God doesn’t force him to stay in Israel. God doesn’t force us to do things. We are not robots. We have as C.S. Lewis called it “the dignity of causality”. We have the freedom to make choices. You are free to choose. In Deuteronomy God says:
Deuteronomy 30:19 – This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life.
We can choose to follow God’s moral laws— which is the path of life, or we can choose to go our own way which is death and destruction. We are free to make choices. But listen to this:

2. We are not free to choose the consequences of our choice

You could climb up a 20-storey building and jump off. You are free to do that. But then after that, your choice chooses for you. You are not free to choose the consequences of your choice. A lot of people like to say how they are free to do whatever they want with their body. They say, “I can get drunk, do drugs, and sleep with whoever I want”. Yes, but you are not free to determine the consequences of that choice—unwanted pregnancy, STD’s, a broken heart, or something worse.
Galatians 6:7–8 – Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
We know about sowing and reaping, but we always think there is one exception to the rule: Us. There is no exception. However, having said that, we all sin and fail spiritually. We all make wrong choices from time to time, and that’s why this next point of application is so important.

3. God give us an opportunity to repent and be restored after we make a bad choice.

The story of Peter is an example of this. Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times on the night that Jesus was arrested. Afterwards, the Bible says that he went out and wept tears of repentance (Matthew 26:75). Then, when Jesus rose again from the grave, Jesus sought Peter out. He appeared individually to Peter, according to 1 Corinthians 15:5 (and Luke 24:34). Then in the company of the other disciples he restored him. He talked with him he asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Why three times? Because he had denied him three times. It was part of the restoration. He then told Peter to go and feed his sheep, meaning be a leader and teacher of the church. God is a merciful God. When we make a wrong choice he gives us an opportunity to repent and be restored.

And later in the book of Ruth we’re going to see how God restores a family devastated by some bad choices. Naomi experiences God’s restoration and because of Ruth’s faith in the Lord, she goes on to become the ancestor of Jesus. God can even take our mistakes and use them for his ultimate good purposes.
Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
God is in the business of restoring those who love him.

4. One big choice takes care of a lot of smaller choices.

Sometimes when I go on a date with my wife, we get into the car and I say, “Where do you want to go for dinner? Do you want Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Indian, and Greek?” And she’ll sometimes say, “I don’t know what do you want?” And we go around the block a few times. I’m in the mood for Italian food. So I turn in one direction. Then she’ll say, “I’m in the mood for Greek,” so I’ll turn in the other direction. Then I’ll say, “Let’s have Mexican,” and we turn the car around again. Now, if we had decided what we wanted before we got in the car, we would save ourselves all those little choices at every block. One decision would take care of a lot of little ones. And the biggest decision we can make is to follow Jesus Christ.

When we choose to follow Christ and let him be our Savior and Lord, it’s that big decision that takes care of a lot of smaller ones. Do you remember the story of Joseph? Joseph was working for a man named Potiphar. Joseph was a godly man and a handsome man and Potiphar’s wife became attracted to him. When she made her move, Joseph didn’t need to make a decision what he would do. He had already decided what he would do. Flee temptation. And when a person makes a decision to please God, it takes care of a lot of other decisions in their day. One big choice takes care of a lot of smaller choices.

Have you made that big choice to follow Christ? To let him be your Savior? If you haven’t, you can do that today. Or maybe you have, but have you made that big decision to live fully for him? If not, resolve that today. That one big choice will take care of a lot of smaller choices.

Let Us Pray

If you’ve never made that big decision to let Christ come into your life as your Savior and Lord, why don’t you pray this prayer now: “Lord, I admit that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe Jesus is the Savior I need because he died on the cross and rose again. I invite you to take control of my life and be my Lord and Savior. I choose life. I choose you.”

Maybe you’re a Christian already and you know you’ve been following the path of some wrong choices. Today is your opportunity to tell God you’re sorry and receive his forgiveness and restoration.

Tags: Choices, failure, faith, forgiveness, priorities, RUTH SERIES, sin & Effects, sin & Repentance