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Introduce

She had to leave her home because of a famine. Soon after that she found herself alone in a land of wicked people. Her husband? Dead. Both of her sons? Dead. No child. No grandchild. No one to carry on the family line. No one to provide for her. As she sees it, the Lord has turned against her. He has afflicted her. He has brought misfortune upon her. He has made her empty. He has made her life bitter. So bitter that it has become her identity. She has changed her name from Naomi (meaning pleasant) to Mara (meaning bitter).

It is her story that we will look at today as we open the Scriptures. But it’s not just her story. It is your story too. Now, hopefully you haven’t gone to the courthouse to have your name legally changed to “Bitter” (if you have I would urge you to reconsider). But you have experienced suffering. And if you haven’t you can know with certainty that you will. There will be times when death or the threat of death surrounds you. There will be times when poverty or the threat of poverty encompasses you. There will be times when you feel utterly alone. Times when it feels to you as if the Lord has turned against you. Times that you are tempted to respond with bitterness.

This is why God has preserved Naomi’s story in the Scriptures. He has preserved her story because her story speaks to your story. And what does her story tell you about your own? What does her story have to say to you when you confront death, poverty, loneliness, bitterness? This is the question we’ll answer as we review Naomi’s story, conclude Naomi’s story, and identify two very specific ways that her story speaks to yours. Please turn to Ruth 4. The book of Ruth is right after Judges and right before the book of 1Samuel.

Tell

We begin by reviewing her story. The book of Ruth opens in a very dark place with Naomi — in a foreign land — husbandless, childless, penniless and bitter. Looking at this opening scene of her story it’s quite clear to us as readers: things can’t possibly get any better…they can only get worse. And Naomi’s assessment is the same. She tells her daughter’s-in-law, “The Lord’s hand has turned against me.”

But just as we’ve written her situation off as hopeless we start to see little glimmers of hope, small signs that in her suffering God’s hand is working for her, not against her. The first is that her homeland, Bethlehem, is no longer consumed with famine. So Naomi decides to return there for the first time in ten years. Now, Naomi doesn’t expect this to make much of a difference. She’ll still be husbandless, childless, penniless, and bitter. She’s so sure of this that she urges her two daughter’s-in-law to stay in Moab and leave her to suffer alone.

But one of Naomi’s daughter’s-in-law, Ruth, refuses. “Where you go I will go,” she tells her, ”Your people are my people and your God my God.” And here’s where we see our second glimmer of hope, our second sign of God’s hand at work. This woman — a Moabite, an idolater – has made a turn from her false God to Yahweh the True God. If you know the Scriptures you know there is no explanation for this conversion other than God being at work. But if, for some reason, you still doubt that God is present in Naomi’s suffering think about this: not only did Ruth turn to Yahweh in worship she also turned to her mother-in-law and said, “I want to go where you go.” That has to be God. How else do you explain that? How else do you explain a young woman volunteering to follow her old, bitter, mother-in-law wherever she goes? Would your wife sign up for that? Mine wouldn’t. So, yes, Naomi’s suffering remains. Yes, she’s still husbandless, childless, penniless, and bitter. But whether she recognizes it or not we are starting to recognize that in her suffering God’s hand is working for her not against her.

These small glimmers of hope continue when Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem. First, Ruth volunteers to go into the fields and glean behind those who harvest the grain. This is hard work. And it is dangerous work. But Ruth is bold enough to take this risk in order to provide for Naomi. This is significant in and of itself but it becomes more significant when we find out where Ruth ends up picking grain. Of all the fields in the land she wound up in a field that belonged to Boaz, a good man who was related to Naomi. Again, we see that in Naomi’s suffering God’s hand is working for her and not against her.

But there’s more. When Boaz arrives on the scene he notices, of all people, Ruth. And he has compassion on her. He approaches her and says, “Listen. Don’t go anywhere else. Stay here and follow after the harvesters with the women who work for me. And don’t worry,” he adds, “I have told the men not to lay a hand on you.” Now, Ruth may be an out-of-towner. But she’s no naïve tourist. She recognizes the very uncommon nature of what has just happened. She bows with her face to the ground. “Why are you showing favor to me – a foreigner?” Boaz answers. “I have heard of all you have done for your mother-in-law. May the Lord repay you for what you have done.”

And that seems be just what he is doing. Through Boaz. At mealtime Boaz allows her to eat freely with him and, not only that, he seems to have supersized her meal because even after she is full she still has food left over. And then he gives his men special instructions. Instructions that are absolutely unheard of for any woman, much less for a foreigner of such low status. He tells them to take some of the stalks of grain that they cut and allow her to follow behind and collect them. Again, we see that in Naomi’s suffering God’s hand is working for her and not against her.

And perhaps even Naomi is starting to see some glimmers of hope. Because when Ruth returns home with this ridiculous amount of food Naomi is shocked. She is even more shocked to hear that of all the fields Ruth could have been noticed in she was noticed by Boaz – a close relative. A close relative that, in fact, would be the perfect man to marry Ruth, give her a home, and carry on the family line. So Naomi quickly transforms from Naomi into Chuck Woolery and starts working on making a love connection. She tells Ruth to put on her best clothes, splash herself with perfume, and then gives her very detailed instructions on exactly what to do and exactly when to do it in order to propose marriage to Boaz and to receive the desirable result. And it works. Again, we see that in Naomi’s suffering God’s hand is working for her and not against her.

But there is one obstacle remaining. Boaz informs Ruth that there is another man in town who is more closely related to Naomi than he is. It is this man’s right to redeem her. If he is willing to do so then Boaz will have to step aside. But he is not. And this brings us to our text for today. Let’s conclude Naomi’s story by reading from Ruth 4:13-22,

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a family guardian. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter–in–law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

Explain

This is Naomi’s story. But as we said in the beginning God has placed her story in the Scriptures because her story speaks to your story. And what does it say? It says two things. Two things that are slowly uncovered as her story unfolds and are that are finally and firmly punctuated in the closing text we just read.

The first is this: in the midst of your suffering God is great. By that I mean that God is sovereign: he does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants, with whomever he wants. God is great. God is firmly in control. That is just as true in the midst of your suffering as it is at any other time. Now, to some, this fact alone may not be all that comforting. It certainly wasn’t for Naomi. To know that God is great and that God has all power is one thing. But your question is how is he going to use his greatness? And that’s the second thing Naomi’s story says to your story. Her story not only tells you that God is great in the midst of your suffering. It also tells you that in the midst of your suffering God is good. What Naomi’s story says to your story is that God is great and in his greatness God is good. He has all power and authority and he uses his power and authority to redeem the unredeemable.

From the very beginning of Naomi’s story this is what we see. But nowhere is God’s greatness and goodness more evident than in this closing passage. First we have this phrase in verse 13, “The Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son.” Ruth had been barren for 10 years before Naomi’s son died. But now, almost immediately, she lay with Boaz and “The Lord enabled her to conceive.” Naomi’s story opens with a funeral. It ends with a baby shower. It opens with Naomi childless and heirless. It ends with Naomi holding her grandchild in her arms. It opens with Naomi penniless. It ends with her well provided for through her new son and daughter. It opens with Naomi filled with bitterness. It ends with Naomi at the center of a joyous celebration. God has used his greatness for goodness. He has all power and authority and he has used his power and authority to redeem what appeared, to us, to be unredeemable.

If the story ended there you would have reason enough to be encouraged in your suffering. But it doesn’t end there. There is more. And it is found in verse 17, “The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” In Naomi’s story God does not merely use his greatness for the good of Naomi and Ruth. He uses his greatness for the good of the world. From Naomi’s grandson would come Jesse, from Jesse would come King David, and from King David would come the King of all kings, Jesus Christ.

Conclude

Naomi’s story speaks to your story by reminding you of the story. It reminds you that God doesn’t just work in history he personally entered into history to live the life of perfection that you have failed to live, to die the death of judgment that you deserve to die, and to rise from the dead to defeat the enemies that you could never defeat. Naomi’s story speaks to your story by reminding you of the story. It reminds you that God doesn’t just work in your suffering he personally enters into your suffering. If you, like Naomi, find yourself penniless you must remember that though Jesus had all of the riches of heaven he willingly made himself penniless so that you could be forever rich in him. If you, like Naomi, find yourself feeling abandoned you must remember that though Jesus deserved to be worshiped by his friends he allowed himself to be abandoned by them for your sake. If you, like Naomi, are overwhelmed with suffering to the point that you feel afflicted by God you must remember that though Jesus was innocent in every way he willingly allowed himself to be afflicted by God so that you would never have to be.

Because of this even when death or the threat of death surround you you don’t have to respond with bitterness. Even when poverty or the threat of poverty encompass you to don’t have to respond with bitterness. Even when your children are not obeying, even when those you love are not loving, even when the job you need is not coming you don’t have to respond with bitterness. Instead, you can respond with gratitude. You can respond with gratitude because while you don’t know why God has sent this suffering you do know that he has not sent this suffering to punish you, humiliate you, or destroy you. No. He has already sent his Son to be punished, humiliated, and destroyed for you so that you could one day be free from all suffering – forever. And God was already laying the groundwork for this redemption of yours 3,000 years ago when he gave a little baby boy to a bitter old widow named Naomi. This is a God who uses his greatness for goodness. Even in your suffering.