Monday, June 28, 2010
God Is At Work - The Story of Ruth Part I - The Worst of Times, Part 21 of 32
TEXT: "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" (Ruth 1:16-17).
IDEA: The commitment of Ruth stands as the most impressive in the entire Bible.
PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate what faith was involved in Ruth's great commitment to Naomi and to Naomi's God.
Do you read much about evangelism crusades in the Old Testament?
I. There aren't many foreigners who even come close to being converts to Israel's God.
A few foreign personalities praised the God of Israel.
The Queen of Sheba, 1 Kings 10:9
Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:37
Darius, Daniel 6:26-27
Beside Ruth, only two foreigners actually professed loyalty to Him:
Rahab, Joshua 2:11
Naaman, 2 Kings 5:15, 17
II. Ruth from Moab has the most daring commitment to God and God's people recorded in the Bible (Ruth 1:16-17).
Her words encompass both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of life.
Geographical: they embrace all future locations.
Chronological: they go from the present into eternity.
Genealogical: they merged the young Moabitess with Naomi's family.
Theological: her words embraced Jehovah exclusively as her God.
She gambled the certainty of the familiar for the uncertainty of the unknown.
III. She resembles Abraham in the faith that she showed in going from the certain and familiar to the uncertain and the unknown.
What did Abraham do that marked him out as a person of faith?
Abraham left the security of Ur for an unknown land, based on a promise from God.
Would you agree that Ruth's venture of faith outdid Abraham's?
Ruth had no promise from God about some divine blessing in store for her if she made this great commitment.
She had no spouse, no possessions, no supporting revenue.
She gave up the prospects of a husband to devote herself to an old and bitter woman in a world dominated by men.
Conclusion:
At this point we are left to wonder if Ruth is playing "a fool's game."
