BACKGROUND- Time of Judges/ Story of Naomi, not Ruth / STORY ABOUT GOD’S CHARACTER
HESED- 1) Based on Relationship of deep commitment 2) Urgent Need on part of Recipient. 3) Voluntary Act going beyond the call of duty. 4) Situationally weaker person is recipient. 5) SELFLESS LOVE at it’s highest.
Principle #1 “IN THE MIDST OF THE TRIALS OF LIFE, GOD’S KINDNESS (HESED) GIVES US HOPE.”
READ 1:1-7
TIME of JUDGES ‘People doing what is right in their own eyes” WHY A FAMINE? DEUT. 28 CURSES…
FAITHLESSNESS of Elimelech left “house of Bread” for a pagan land. 10 YEARS OF INFERTILITY…..
Naomi was BEREAVED of her Little BOYS. WORST POSSIBLE SITUATION FOR NAOMI.
1) Woman who was ALONE in a man’s world.
2) Woman who was HOPELESS with no one to provide for her.
3) Woman who was OLD AGE with no possibility of any descendants.
HOPE has COME in the fact that YHWH had VISITED His people by giving them BREAD.
Principle #1 “IN THE MIDST OF THE TRIALS OF LIFE, GOD’S KINDNESS (HESED) GIVES US HOPE.”
ILLUSTRATION: does your MARRIAGE look hopeless? Does your JOB SEARCH look hopeless? Your FINANCIAL situation? Do you have SICK LOVED ONES? IS IT AS BAD AS NAOMI’S situation?
QUOTE: Lewis Smedes wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.” **** WE HAVE HOPE IN GOD’S CHARACTER OF HESED. *****
Principle # 2 “IN THE MIDST OF THE TRIALS OF LIFE, GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY GIVES US HOPE.”
READ and COMMENT 1: 8 – 18
NOAMI’S PERSPECTIVE….. CONTRASTS HESED with the GIRLS as the STANDARD.
VERSE 14- “COMMITTED HERSELF to Her.” Compare Proverbs 18:24 “A lover who sticks closer than brother.”
Even in the MIDST of Naomi’s ACCUSATIONS, YHWH is working on her BEHALF by giving her RUTH.
ILLUSTRATION: A professional carpet-layer stepped back to survey a newly installed carpet. Reaching into his shirt pocket for a cigarette, he realized the pack was missing. At the same time he noticed a lump under the carpet in the middle of the room, about the size of the missing cigarette pack. There was no way to retrieve his cigarette pack from under the attached carpet without ripping everything up and starting over. Finally, he decided to beat the object flat, thereby destroying any evidence of his mistake.
Gathering his tools, the carpet layer walked out to his truck. There on the seat of his truck was the mislaid pack of cigarettes. As he lit one up, the homeowner hurried out of the house and asked, “Hey, have you seen my son’s gerbil?”
NAOMI ASSUMED GOD WAS AGAINST HER, but instead, GOD GAVE HER RUTH. HOW OFTEN DO WE DO THIS?
Principle # 2 “IN THE MIDST OF THE TRIALS OF LIFE, GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY GIVES US HOPE.”Principle #3 “IN THE MIDST OF THE TRIALS OF LIFE, GOD’S WISDOM GIVES US HOPE.”
READ and COMMENT 1:19-22
*******CLOSING*****
NAOMI’S PAIN IS REAL. Her PERCEPTION is BLURRED
SIN OF SELF-ABSORPTION 8 X she says ME, ME, ME
She was not ALONE, she had RUTH !!!! GOD’S WISDOM WAS FOR HER TO HAVE RUTH! As we shall see.
WRITER GIVES US A GLIMPSE WITH comment about TIME OF BARLEY HARVEST… but wait until next time.
***Conclusion***
Principle #1 “IN THE MIDST OF THE TRIALS OF LIFE, GOD’S KINDNESS (HESED) GIVES US HOPE.”
Principle # 2 “IN THE MIDST OF THE TRIALS OF LIFE, GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY GIVES US HOPE.”
Principle #3 “IN THE MIDST OF THE TRIALS OF LIFE, GOD’S WISDOM GIVES US HOPE.”
ARE YOU ASSUMING anything in your Trial? Or ARE you trusting in GOD’S CHARACTER?