I’m sure those of you who are tuning in through the live-stream are singing with your families perhaps at home. But I have to say that I’m personally very encouraged that this morning we have at least some congregational singing- some congregational singing. So I believe we all look forward to the day where we can hear more congregational singing, and hopefully that will not be a time too far off in the future. But we can be thankful that God has slowly brought us back bit by bit. Now before we come to consider our passage this morning, let us turn to God in prayer.

“Our Father in heaven, we are so thankful for every opportunity to gather around Your Word. Even this morning, we know that it is because You have allowed us this privilege that we can once again open up Your Word and listen to You speak to us. Teach us, guide us, convict us, encourage us this morning, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”

Now, what do you do when there is nothing much you can do? What do you do when you really don’t know what to do? What do you do when life is so difficult, when it is so full of grief; when it seems like all hope is lost? Now, what do you do when your heart is so full of anguish and pain? You see, our society don’t really like talk like this, correct? Now we tend to shy away from the sad things or the bad things or the unhappy things and just show people all around us the exciting things and the happy things that happen to us or to the circle of people around us or to our families or to you know to our lives.

And that’s why we have things like Facebook and Instagram so that you can you know showcase all the, you know, good things all around you. But the reality is this, that if you have lived long enough upon this earth, now you would have experienced sadness. Now you would have experienced pain. You would have experienced suffering to one degree or another. Now perhaps it is the fact that you’ve once again didn’t get good grades despite how hard you have studied for the exams. Or maybe you’re frustrated because you have been overlooked again regardless of how hard an effort you have put in your role, in your job, or even in the project that you have been working on. Perhaps you have just lost your job and you know you have a family to feed.

Or perhaps you’ve lost a loved one. Maybe a parent, a child, a relative, a spouse. Or maybe you hear the words: “It’s cancer”. Now in each of these situations, what do you do? What do you do? Now see, this then brings us to our text this morning as we start a new series, a short series in another Old Testament book. Now this time, the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth. And I said it is a short series because there are only four chapters in this book. It is an easy read. If you have not read through this book, you may want to do it sometime today, sometime this week. You can sit down and finish it in one sitting.

And in case you’re wondering, the book of Ruth was not written by Ruth alright. So Ruth didn’t write the book of Ruth. In fact, Jewish sources are quite unanimous. Now we cannot be dogmatic, but they are quite unanimous that this book was written by Samuel. Samuel, the prophet who lived to anoint the first two kings of Israel- King Saul and King David. So you get a sense of the timing as to what period are we looking at as we come to this particular book, okay? Now so as we come to our text this morning in Ruth chapter 1, I have only three points. Just three points for us this morning. Now point number one is this. Point number one, a suffering widow. A suffering widow.

You see, this book itself. In fact, this chapter starts with such a gloomy introduction. It’s such a gloomy introduction. It’s so much so that it is difficult to get more gloomy and more bleak than what the author is saying in just the first sentence of this book. So look with me at the first sentence of the first verse in Ruth chapter 1: “Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land.”. Now let’s just stop and not rush through this first sentence and ponder what the author is trying to tell us here. Now see, this was the time of the judges. This was the time of the judges.

And if you know anything about the time of the judges, see this was not a good period of time for the nation of Israel to be living in at all. This was a time where there were constant wars with their enemies, particularly the Philistines. And you see that the people were very idolatrous. Intermarrying with pagans were rampant. People were disobedient at almost every turn of the page, not much different from our day and age today alright, but this was the time of the judges. And from time to time now some men and occasionally some women would be raised up by God to deliver Israel from the tyranny of the outside forces. And that’s why we call them the judges. These people will be known as the judges.

Now but by and large, this was a terrible, terrible period of time to be living in. It was not a good period of time to be living in. In fact, if you have your Bibles in front of you still open to the book of Ruth, just turn one page. As mentioned just now, Judges is just before the book of Ruth. And just look at the last chapter of the book of Judges and the last verse in this last chapter. So Judges 21:25, here is the summary of this time period. The last sentence says: “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”. So this was the time of the judges. Everyone was doing what was right in his or in her own eyes. People were disobedient. The fear of the LORD was generally not in the midst of the people, no regard for God.

So I say, this was not the best of times to be living in. And to make matters worse, return back to Ruth chapter 1. The author tells us that there was a famine in the land. Now there was a famine in the land. Now we read of this word ‘famine’, and we can see it in the text here. But I don’t think any one of us, at least if you’re from GRC, now you would be able to understand what a true famine really is. See, we live in such blessed times that even during a time of pandemic such as this, I think most of us, if not all of us can still have abundance of food and water in supply, more than we ever needed. And we even have even luxuries that we can enjoy.

Although our movement is slightly restricted a little bit, but you know we are still so blessed that when we look at this word ‘famine’, we may not have a real idea as to what that really means. But kind of transport yourself back to ancient Israel during this period of time, or imagine that you are living during this time where your source of food is literally from the ground and your source of water is also from the ground. If you want to eat, you have to plant something quick. If you want to drink, you better quickly go and dig a well. And so there’s no small thing to have a famine. There’s no such thing as 7-Elevens or kind of shopping malls or sundry shops or a KK Mart or Speedmart. No, no such thing.

Of course, there’s a barter system here and there where you can trade things. But if you don’t have anything to trade, you’re in deep trouble. It’s actually a scary thing to experience a famine. It is no small matter. See, so in short- in short, a time of famine is a time of death. A time of famine is a time of death. And so you see this first sentence itself can actually be rewritten to say something like this. It said: “Now it came to pass that this was a time of godlessness and this was a time of death”. This is how the author chose to begin the book of Ruth. What a depressing introduction. What a gloomy introduction. Now I say it is to this context that our story begins today, and it probably gets gloomier and gloomier as we go along.

Now, remember our first point. What is our first point? A suffering widow. A suffering widow. Now, who is this widow? See, if you’ve been following the reading of the text just now, you would have noted that this widow is a woman by the name of Naomi. This widow is called Naomi. Now she is certainly the main character in the first chapter of the book of Ruth, and some commentators who even go as far as to say that she is actually the main character for the entire book of Ruth. And as we progress along, I think we may be able to detect you know strands of such. You know but be that as it may, we’ll still call it the book of Ruth.

And you know what we do see at first is that Naomi, this woman, she actually had a wonderful family. She had a, you know little nice family. You look at verse 2. Naomi had a husband whose name was Elimelech. It’s there in verse 2 for us. Now the name Elimelech simply means “my God is King”. So Naomi’s husband is a man by the name of Elimelech, presumably a man who fears the LORD, who fears Yahweh, who acknowledges Yahweh as King, as his LORD. And to both Elimelech and Naomi were born two sons. Also in verse 2: “the names of their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. Now Mahlon and Chilion.

And so from the surface, you see this woman has a pretty you know you can say, complete family? Not the perfect family, but I think sufficient enough to put a smile on any woman’s face. Naomi with her husband, together with her two sons. In fact, the name Naomi, the very name Naomi means pleasant or beautiful. So here was this woman who was beautiful with her husband and her two sons, a small little nice unit of a family. Now but you see in a short period of time all that was about to change. That was all about to change. Now we read that Elimelech, Naomi, and her two sons had to leave Bethlehem because they had to escape the famine that was in Bethlehem.

And in the course of just ten years, her life is as close to tragic as you can get. It’s almost as close to tragic as you can. Now how many of us can relate to her this morning? Look at verse 3: “Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died”. Now you see, that sentence is almost enough for some of us who are married to have your husband or your wife first leave you upon this earth. So you can imagine that was probably a time where Naomi and Elimelech met for the first time. They fell in love, decided to get married. Well, they welcomed the birth of their two sons as they started their family. Now either one or both of them perhaps made the decision to leave Bethlehem because it was a time of famine to go to Moab to escape the famine.

But now in verse 3, we read that Elimelech is gone. Elimelech is gone, and Naomi is now a widow. “Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.” Now you see at least there was still some comfort. Now, Naomi still had two sons. She had two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. And verse 4 tells us that “they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.”. So the two sons were able to even marry, and the family can continue to grow a little bit. So there’s some consolation for this woman, Naomi as she was able to see her sons marry, take daughters-in-law of hers, and continue living on on this earth.

Now verse 5: “Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died”. Now see, let us pause here and again think for a while. Just think of Naomi. Just think about what Naomi had to go through in a period of ten years, a short time of ten years. See, this woman left home with a complete family. Ten years later, she has lost all of them. I’m sure she has still two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, but she was now a widow. Now Naomi was a widow who not only had to bury her husband but she also had to bury her two sons. In this case, what should Naomi do? Now in just five verses, Naomi’s life is turned upside down. What can Naomi do? If you were Naomi, what would you do?

Now we know that Naomi was utterly devastated. Naomi was utterly devastated. She was saddened. She was depressed. How do we know that? Look at verse 21, or look at verse 20 in fact. So as Naomi was journeying back to Bethlehem because she heard that there was bread there, as she was approaching Bethlehem, there were some women who came out and recognised her. And they said: Is this Naomi? What did Naomi say? Here was her response in verse 20. Naomi said: “Do not call me Naomi”. Now, why call me pleasant? Now, why call me beautiful? “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara”. Now, call me bitter. Now, call me grief. I went away full, and I’m coming home empty. And what more is there to look forward to? I have nothing left, says Naomi. I’m coming home empty.

You see at this point of time, how many of us are tempted to look at Naomi and say: Naomi. Come on now, Naomi. Why are you so depressed? Why are you so sad? Do you not remember who God is? Now maybe some of us may even throw some memorised Bible verses at Naomi and say: Naomi, do you not remember you know Romans 8:28 that God does all things for good to those who love Him? Or how about 1 Thessalonians 5:16, now rejoice always. In all things you can give thanks. Even in this situation, you can give thanks. Now maybe some of us may have responded like this to people who are grieving, who are going through suffering now in the past.

But again I say, let us just take a glimpse at this woman here. Just take a glimpse at this woman from a human standpoint, and then let us understand that Naomi is suffering. Here is a woman who is truly suffering. She has lost her husband and her two sons, whom she bore and she nursed and she carried in her womb. And that is no small thing. We can all relate in one way or another right? That’s no small thing. We can understand, can’t we, now why she is bitter, why she is in grief? And I said, how would you have responded if that was you? But what I’d like for us to note here is this.

Now yes, Naomi is suffering, and we see her response to her suffering may not be one that is exactly perfect. Although her response to her current suffering may not be one that is exactly perfect, now but this we can say that Naomi’s theology is spot-on. Now although at this point of time she may be inaccurate in terms of her response to her current situation, but she is certainly not wrong about God. She is not wrong about God, and this is something I say we can learn from this suffering widow. And you ask the question: Now in what ways is Naomi not wrong about God? In what way is she correct about God? Let me give you two, and Naomi is correct about God in two ways.

Number one, Naomi knows that suffering comes from God. Now she knows that suffering comes from God. Now look at verse 11. Verse 11, here’s Naomi talking to both her daughters-in-law, Orpah, and to Ruth. She’s saying to them: “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way— for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!”.

Now look at verse 20, again the words of Naomi: “But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?””. How many times in these few verses did you detect the word ‘the LORD’, ‘the LORD almighty’, ‘the LORD’? Now it is clear that Naomi acknowledges that God is the One who has put her in this situation. God is the One who has allowed things to happen to her. And you know what? The Bible would say that she is correct. She is correct.

Now the psalmist would say that God does whatever He pleases. I bring peace and I bring calamity. I am the God who does all these things. See, things in life, tragedies in life occur because God has allowed for it to occur. Now in that sense of the world, there is no such thing as a tragedy, isn’t it? There’s no such thing as a tragedy. Now hear the words of a preacher as he kind of analysed the life of Naomi. Now he says this, I quote: “Now look at the suffering of Naomi- the early famine of Bethlehem, a family’s exile in Moab, the death of her husband and sons, the barrenness of her daughters-in-law. In Naomi’s mind, the divine source of these things are clear. Now she was not merely the victim of bad luck or misfortune but the victim of Yahweh’s violence.”.

Now you see, some people would think that verse 1 to verse 5 is actually a punishment on Naomi. You see, Naomi and her family left the land of promise. They left Israel, they went to a pagan land, Moab to escape the famine, and now God is punishing her now because she left the land of promise. Now is that a true statement? Now the answer is, it may be, it may not be. Now we do not know because the Bible didn’t tell us the reason why Naomi is suffering. We don’t know why Naomi is suffering like this. But one thing is clear is that Naomi is currently suffering, but yet she sees God’s hand behind it in that few verses that we have just read.

And I say here that this is a great lesson that we can learn from this suffering widow, isn’t it? Now, why do I say that? Now because how many people do you know who made the choice to abandon God in a time of suffering? Now have you heard people saying that if there is a God, how can He allow me to go through something like this? Or if there is a God, why is it that He is allowing me to suffer such a thing as this? If I’m suffering so much, God must not exist. Now you hear that very frequently, especially repeated during the 9 11 event and during catastrophes like the tsunami and natural disasters such as that. If there is a God, how can I go through something like this?

Now see, that is actually not correct theology. That is not the correct view of God. And I said Naomi is not somebody like this because although she knows that yes, she is currently suffering. She is going through a very difficult time, but it is because the Almighty. It’s because God has allowed her to go through it- because God has allowed her to go through it. You see, it’s true that God sometimes allows suffering, now sometimes even extreme suffering now in the case of Job to happen to His people, but it’s not because He does not exist. But rather, it is because He allows for it. Now see so firstly, Naomi acknowledges that suffering comes from God. Now that is the first thing that we see she saw. But that is not all.

Now secondly, Naomi also knows that blessing comes from God. Not just suffering but also blessings. Now, look at verse 8. Now verse 8: “And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.”. Now, do you see what Naomi is saying here in verses 8 and 9? See she’s now preparing to go back alone to Israel, to Bethlehem because she heard that there is bread there. Now she turned to both her daughters-in-law. She turned to both of them. She turned to Orpah and to Ruth. (By the way Orpah, not Oprah. Different person, although they may have the same worldview.)

She turns to Orpah and to Ruth and she says to them: “The LORD deal kindly with you. May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of your husband.”. Now, isn’t this great? Isn’t this wonderful? Now even in the midst of her suffering, Naomi knows that blessing comes from God. May the LORD deal kindly with you, she tells them. Now this word ‘deal kindly’- this word ‘deal kindly’ is the, you know the weighty Hebrew word that we have learned about so many times. It is the word ‘hesed’. May the LORD show ‘hesed’ to you. Now this word, which means kindness, great comfort, great compassion. May the LORD show you devotional faithfulness. May the LORD show loyal love to you. May the LORD be kind to you.

Yes, even to you, both of you, although you are Moabites, may the LORD show hesed to you. You see, Naomi’s theology is sound. It is sound. She knows that the true Yahweh, she knows that the true God is in control of both suffering and blessing. Although we don’t know, and she doesn’t know the reason for her suffering, now one thing is clear that if she knows that God is the One who allows for it, whether for punishment or for testing. And I say that this is certainly something for us to glean from this suffering widow- this suffering widow. But let us move on. We’ve seen the suffering widow, now let us look at the next point. The next point is this. The next point is a surprising conversion. A surprising conversion.

Now as we saw just now in verse 8, now here is Naomi pleading with both her daughters-in-law to return to her mother’s house. Just go back. Go back. Don’t come back with me to Israel. She’s saying that because she had nothing left for them. She’s got nothing for them. And when you look at verse 10, initially, both of them wanted to follow her back: “And they said to her (which is Orpah and Ruth said to Naomi), “Surely we will return with you to your people.””. Now that was the initial response of her daughters-in-law to Naomi. Now, we’ll come back with you. We will not leave you. But Naomi didn’t give up. Now she continued to reason with them as I’ve read just now. Let me just read it again in verse 12. Now Naomi is continuing to press.

In fact, verse 11: “But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; now why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Now would you restrain yourselves from having husbands?””. You see what Naomi is doing here is she’s asking a series of what we call rhetorical questions. Now these are questions that don’t demand an answer. This is what Naomi is telling her two daughters-in-law. Now she’s asking them to look at her. Look at me. Why are you not going back?

Look at me. Can you see my current state? What do I have for you? I have nothing left for you. Why don’t you go back? Even if I’m able to get married tonight, even if I can get a husband tonight and if I should conceive tonight, would the both of you wait for the sons nine months down the road to be grown, to be born, and wait for them to grow up and take them as your husbands? Here are some questions that don’t demand a response. And so this was what Naomi is saying. Go back. Don’t come with me, I have nothing for you. Now you see at that verse 14: “Then they lifted up their voices and wept again”. Now you see what the author is trying to do here? Can you see the overflow of emotions here from these women?

Now the author has told us in verse 9 that they lifted up their voices and wept. In verse 14, here are they lifting up their voices again and weeping. What we see here is the author is trying to tell us that this is not merely a story. Now here is not just a fictional tale that Samuel is perhaps writing for the benefit of the people or for the instruction of the people, just like that. Now, this is a true story that happened in history. There really was a woman by the name of Naomi. There really was this woman by the name of Orpah as well as Ruth. Can you see the emotions here as they are exchanging conversations with one another, and Naomi’s telling them go back, I have nothing for you? But Ruth and Orpah is saying we want to stay with you.

But Naomi is continuing to persuade them not to. There’s just an overflow of emotions right here. And verse 14, the second part: “and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and left, but Ruth clung to her”. Ruth clung to her. I want you to pay attention to this word ‘clung’. Now the Hebrew word that is used here is the word that means to fasten one’s grip or to hold on tight. Ruth fastened her grip upon Naomi. Ruth held on tight to Naomi. See, the picture here is like when you’re trying to snatch something from a person. Now the more you snatch from this person, the more his fist kind of clenches around the thing and grips the thing. And so this is the word that is being used here, Ruth clung to Naomi.

Now in fact, this is the exact same word used in that famous verse in Genesis 2:24, where it says that a man shall leave his mother and cling to his wife. This is the same word that is used here, Ruth clings to Naomi. This is a response to her mother-in-law, and I want to say that this is shocking. This is a shocking response. Now, why is it shocking? Now because what Ruth is doing here is actually something radical. She’s doing something that is extreme. See in today’s terms, people will look at Ruth and will look at Naomi and would say that actually Naomi is trying to do Ruth a favour.

Now what Naomi is saying here is helping Ruth out. Do you not see that you know Naomi is helping you out, Ruth? Because what Naomi is doing is she’s releasing Ruth from her marital in-law duties. She’s saying go back, Ruth. Go back. I have nothing for you. I have no food for you. I have no more sons for you. Look at me, I’ve got nothing left. I’m going back to Israel, to Bethlehem. Don’t come with me. Don’t come with me. Why? Because you are a Moabite. You will not be able to find a place there because you are a Moabite. Nobody will want to marry you because you are a Moabite. And on top of that, look at your sister-in-law. Look at Orpah. She has left. She has gone back to Moab. She’s gone back to her gods. Go, go, return after her.

You see, that was Naomi’s plea to Ruth. See, it sounded reasonable, right? It all made sense, what Naomi is saying to Ruth. It makes sense. But look at Ruth’s response in verse 16. Just look at her response. It is a shocking response: “But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”. Now see, here I say is the surprising conversion of Ruth. Here is a surprising conversion of Ruth.

How is it that a Moabites, someone that is outside the chosen race of Israel, who can have a faith such as this? Isn’t this unbelievable? Just look again at the last part of verse 16 what Ruth is saying there: “your people shall be my people, and your God, my God”. Do you know what Ruth is trying to say here? Now she’s effectively saying this. She’s saying forget Moab. Forget where I was born. Forget where I grew up. Forget all my friends. Forget my family, forget my achievements, forget my success or my belongings. Forget everything that I have in Moab. Forget my gods. You see, forget even if I’m able to marry in the future.

Now although I know that the road ahead is difficult, it’s not easy; although I know that it is not easy, but I have come to know Yahweh. I’ve come to know the LORD, the name which means covenant-keeping God, the true God. And she’s looking at Naomi and she’s saying regardless of how much you want to push me away, Naomi, from now on your people, my people. Your God, my God. See, how many people can say that today? See, isn’t that shocking? Isn’t that surprising? See, in fact, isn’t that delighting? It almost just like takes your breath away to read what Ruth is saying to Naomi here.

What an amazing statement coming out from the mouth of this Moabite woman in a time of the judges when everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. Now could it be that the faith of a Moabite woman is putting to shame the faith of a majority of the Israelites? Now you see, how many people today who call themselves Christians would be similarly put to shame by the faith of perhaps a simple Christian widow in a country like Pakistan of the things that she is prepared to forgo for the sake of Christ, compared to a comfortable Christian living in a comfortable part of the world like perhaps in Malaysia?

Or how many professing believers who claim to be Christians for many, many years now would also be put to shame by the faith of a new believer, of a young believer of the choices that this person is willing to forgo or the decisions that this person makes in his or her life with respect to career or family or goals in life or aspirations? You see, Ruth said to Naomi: “Entreat me not to leave you” (in some other translations it says: “urge me not to leave you”). Do not urge me away. Do not push me away. See, this is a surprising conversion. Now let me ask: Has this conversion happened to you? This morning, has this conversion happened to you? Can you say together with Ruth from your heart to the people of God that from now on your people, my people; your God, my God?

How many people can say that today, or perhaps are you still thinking that you know I still have some affections for the world? I’m not sure whether God exists or if Yahweh is really the true God. Perhaps you’re still thinking like that. You see, when you sing the hymn: “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold, I’d rather be His than have riches untold, I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land, I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.”, do you mean what you sing when you sing? Now because if you don’t, then perhaps it’s better not to sing, knowing that one day we will have to give an account of all the things that we have done, said, and even sung.

Now here is a beautiful story of a true conversion seen in the life of Ruth, giving up everything that she has, clinging on to the true God regardless of what would happen. Now if you’ve not experienced this conversion, it may not be a dramatic conversion. It may be perhaps an ordinary conversion, but it will still be a surprising conversion because every conversion, every regeneration is a surprising conversion. It is God working in the hearts of dead people raising them to live, to see their need for life. Now if you’ve not experienced this conversion, would you pray?

Would you pray that the God who opened the eyes of Ruth and the God who opened the eyes of Lydia now would similarly also open your eyes to see who this true God is, to see the need to be made right with this God? And the only way to be made right with Him is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that is the second point. We’ve seen the suffering widow. We’ve also seen a surprising conversion. Now lastly and thirdly, we see also in this passage a sovereign God. A sovereign God.

Now verse 21, hear the words of Naomi. Hear the words of this suffering widow: “I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty”. Went away full, coming home empty. Now as you can see, this morning’s sermon title is taken directly from the words of Naomi. But what I did was I simply changed the end of Naomi’s statement from ending with a period to ending with a question mark. See because I want to ask the question: Naomi, is it true that you are coming back empty? Now is it true that in this particularly difficult situation of your life, and we know that it is a difficult situation- is it true that in this time of suffering that everything is meaningless and everything is empty?

Now as we have heard in the beginning that it seems as if everything is no longer under any form of control and all hope is lost. Went away full, coming home empty? You see as we look at Naomi’s response, yes we know that she is suffering. And we saw that Naomi acknowledges that God is the One that allows certain things to happen to her. God is the One that allows suffering. And God is also the One that allows blessing to happen to her. Now, but I believe what Naomi is not able to see in the middle of her grief, in the middle of her suffering is that God is not just a God who is in control of certain things but what she has and what you and I have is a God that is in control of all things.

God is not just the God who is in control of the good things, blessing or the bad things, suffering, but He is also a God that is in control of the normal things, the ordinary things, the mundane things. Now He’s a God who is in control of your situation. He’s a God that is in control of your circumstances, your surroundings, your happenings, your neighbour’s happenings, your colleagues’ happenings, the decision that goes in the mind of the doctor. He’s in control of all these things. And we have a sovereign God. We have a sovereign God who is not just by the definition of the word in control of all things, He is a sovereign God who cares. Now we have a God who cares. Now even in the life of Naomi, how do we see that?

You see, if Naomi would just turn to her side and look at who is standing beside her, now she would see beside her this Moabite girl, Ruth who is clinging to her, who is not leaving her even in this time of distress, in this time of suffering. She has beside her a girl who does not forsake her, who does not go back and leave her to be alone. Ruth has the faith of ten men, and there she is beside Naomi. You see, that certainly must not be a description of emptiness, isn’t it, as Naomi turns to her sight and look at Ruth? But on top of that, you just look at the last verse in this chapter. Ruth chapter 1 and the last verse and the last sentence. Now we’ve looked at the first sentence and how gloomy it is.

Now look at the last sentence of Ruth chapter 1: “Now they (referring to Naomi and to Ruth), now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.”. Now both Naomi and Ruth are coming back to a harvesting season. No longer is there going to be famine. No longer is there going to be a lack of food. No longer is there a lack of water. But what we see is the sovereign God, the God was in control of everything is setting the stage. Now He’s preparing the scene for a wonderful future for both these widows, Naomi and for Ruth.

He’s not just setting the scene for a wonderful future for them as we shall hope to see in the next few chapters, but He is also setting the scene for an event that would go down as an absolutely crucial piece of history, not just for the church but also for the world. Again we shall hope to see that in the subsequent weeks. Now but at this point, you see how often are we in difficult situations in suffering? So often we are tempted to be you know very narrow-minded and very focused upon the things that are happening to us. And that is, I say, that’s natural. That’s normal. But at times we get so focused and so myopic in the things that we are going through that we forget. We forget the great God that we have.

Now we forget that we have a God who is in control of everything, and we have a God who cares for His people. Now sometimes even in difficult situations, we cannot see the kindness and the faithfulness that God is showing to us even in the middle of our difficult times, now just like Naomi. Perhaps she is unable to see that there is this girl beside her. Perhaps she is unable to see that famine is no longer, over. She now has provision. She now has food. And I believe Ruth 1 gives us reason to hope. We have reason to hope, and the reason to hope is again we have a God that is in control of all things. He is utterly sovereign over everything that happens in this world.

And if you are His child this morning- now if you are His child this morning, now you can rest in His absolute control over the things that are happening to your life. You see, sometimes we like Naomi may not be able to understand why we are going through certain things in our life. Now why is it that my job is taken away from me now? Why is it that I’m losing a loved one now? Why is it that this pandemic is affecting me so badly now? Now, why is it that my health is failing now? Now we may not know the answers to all these things, now but as Christians, we can take comfort that though we are going through hardships and we are going through hard times, the truth is we have a sovereign God that never changes.

And this is a God that has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. The sovereign God who loves you so much; cares for you so much that He did not spare His only Son but gave Him up for you and for me. Now this is the God that you have, and this is the God that I have. Now you see, there is a song that goes something like this, not sure if you have heard. It says: “God had not promised skies always blue, flower-filled pathways all our lives through; God had not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, and peace without pain. But what God had promised strength for the day, rest for the weary, and light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing kindness, and undying love.”.

Now in that sense, a Christian is never truly empty, isn’t it? Regardless of what you’re going through, you will always have your heavenly Father in heaven who cares for you. You have a God who is in control of all things. You always have a church, a family that you can turn to. You always have life (in fact, eternal life) through Christ, and you always have an abundance of inheritance waiting for you in heaven above.

And so let us learn to approach our situation, however difficult it may be, with the correct perspective to know that Christ is the One that has already bore the hardest or the greatest suffering for you and for me. And let us endeavour to apply this when the crunch time comes or when the testing hits and to remember this simple yet profound truth that God is sovereign and that God cares. And perhaps in the middle of your suffering, the barley harvest may just be around the corner. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You again for revealing to us who You are. We recognise once again that we have a sovereign God, a God who is in control of all things, who cares for us. Not just in control of all things but the God who is for us. We pray for those of us who have not yet experienced this delighting conversion story. We pray that You as the God who is in control of all things may also grant to us this great privilege of coming to know Christ, coming to love Christ, knowing that He has first loved us. We thank You for Your Word. We pray You’ll help us to apply Your Word in our lives, even in difficult times of our lives, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.