Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
When Benjamin Franklin, one of the former presidents of the United States, was an Ambassador in France, he occasionally attended a literary association. The group spent most of its time searching for and reading literary masterpieces. On one occasion Franklin read the book of Ruth to the club when it was gathered together, but he changed the names in it so it would not be recognised as a book of the Bible. When he was finished, they were unanimous in their praise. They said it was one of the most beautiful stories that they had ever heard. They demanded that he tell them where he had run across such a remarkable literary masterpiece. It was his great delight to tell them that it was from the Bible, which they professed to regard with scorn and derision, and in which they felt there was nothing good.
And we have to agree. The book of Ruth ís a literary masterpiece. It is a short story only about eighty-five verses in total. But within those eighty-five verses we have all the makings of a good short story: travel, calamity, heartbreak, suspense, romance; and let us not forget, a ‘lived-happily-ever-after’ ending. The story hold your attention from the beginning till the end. Even the composition is ingenious. It is a fine story. A love story as well; pure, honest, lovely. It is a relief after the cruel stories of the book of Judges. And the whole story leads to Dávid, and thus to David’s great Son, David’s Lord as well, the Christ Himself. Thus, the book of Ruth is a love story.
However, anyone who reads Ruth with romantic eyes, will find a lot of beautiful matters, but will grasp nothing at all of the meaning of the story. For it is a love story that makes up an essential part of the history of God and His people, the Bridegroom Christ and the church as His bride. For it is not Ruth who steals the show. But it is the LORD who is running the show and works the deliverance of His people. Therefore we have to summarise the message as follows:
THE LORD WORKS RUTH’S PROFESSION OF FAITH
IN VIEW OF THE DELIVERANCE OF HIS PEOPLE
We will examine this in
1 the start of His deliverance in the time of the judges;
2 the crisis of His deliverance through Naomi;
3 the completion of His deliverance at the harvest time.

THE LORD WORKS RUTH’S PROFESSION OF FAITH
IN VIEW OF THE DELIVERANCE OF HIS PEOPLE
1 We will examine this in the start of His deliverance in the time of the judges.

Today we have some youngsters in our midst who want to profess their faith. In our mind we always connects this event with Pentecost. For at Pentecost we remember the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the believers. ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, you young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.’ [Acts 2:17f].
In the book of Ruth we are reminded of Pentecost. The book is even typified as an idyll between Easter and Pentecost, a romance during the fifty days of the barley and wheat harvest. In the Old Testament this is known as the Feast of Weeks [Deu 17:9 ao]. It is the festival of the harvest [Exo 23:16]. And this is the way our text ends: ‘Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.’ It is a subtle nuance and indication that we still may expect something.
In the Jewish synagogue the book of Ruth is read at Pentecost, but we are not bound to this tradition. Much more important is the connection with a certain era as is said in the first sentence: ‘Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled…’ From this we can learn that the Book of Ruth has an excellent place in our canon: just behind the book of Judges, with which the book is closely connected. I can explain this in this way: the Book of Judges prepares the kingdom of David in a négative way. The Book of Judges shows us that there is no future without a king. You know the characteristic sentence: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: everyone did what was right in his own eyes.’ [Jud 21: 25].
In the same way we can say that the Book of Ruth prepares the kingdom of David in a pósitive way. In the Dark Ages of the Judges the Spirit of God is busy, giving faith and preparing the kingdom of David. Mind you, the book leads to the genealogy of David. The book is proof of God’s immeasurable love. The Lord makes a new beginning in the jammed life of His people. The Lord puts a crowbar in a desperate situation and He forces the future open.
But before we get that far, a lot has to happen. Because the beginning is not bright at all. ‘In the days when the judges ruled.’ Now you can expect everything. And yes: there was a famine in the land. And two people struggle with a problem. ‘What to do in such a situation? Should we leave or should we stay?’ Dreadful, such a big decision to make. They had made a good start. Elimelech, ‘My God is King’, his father had said just after his birth. Naomi, ‘what a sweetheart’, the neighbours said. And that was her name: ‘Pleasant’. It is possible that they soon experience problems: ‘Mahlon’ and ‘Chilion’, not very big names. They are called ‘Weakling’ and ‘Sickly’. They may very well have experienced a famine or an infectious disease from the beginning of their marriage. And together with the famine there is enough reason to take the decision to go away, to leave their inheritance and to wait for better times. Who would blame father Elimelech? He has to care for his family, and forced by the circumstances, they had to go away to survive.
But wait a minute. For what can we do when trouble comes into our lives? First of all we have to ask ourselves the question: what is the background against which we have to understand the difficulties? What is the reason that we have to face this problem. Is it possible that the LORD has something to say through the problems we have? In our story we hear about the misery, the hunger, the death, the pennilessness of this family. But we have to realise that in this case not only these four people, later six, are involved. In this case we are talking about the whole people of God. Their trip to Moab is proof of the disaster under which the whole people of God moan. For that reason the trip to Moab is not purely a private affair. No, it is an attempt to get out of the misery. It is a desperate attempt to obtain deliverance and to get rid of the misery.
This is where the problem starts. Elimelech is not free of the sins of his time. Everyone does what is right in their own eyes, Elimelech too. For we know from Scripture that a famine is the evidence of God’s punishment. For Moses had said, ‘it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I commanded you today, that … cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be… the produce of your land.’ [Deu 28: 15. 23f]. If you do not obey the LORD, then the LORD will punish His people.. your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit’ [Lev 26: 18ff]. The flight from Canaan, from Judah, is at the same moment an attempt to escape the punishment of God. In fact this means that the migration to Moab is a self-chosen path of deliverance, in glaring contrast to the way the LORD has shown; the way of faith and repentance, the way of the messianic salvation. For when you repent and turn again to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, then the LORD will ‘again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers and the LORD your God will make you abound in the produce of your land for good.’ [Deu 30: 1-10].
In addition, Elimelech and his family go abroad. But they do not go anywhere at random, they go exactly to Moab. And the whole history of Moab and its relation to Israel is controlled by the same problem: self-deliverance. Think of the birth of Moab as son of Lot. He was the fruit of the incest of the daughters of Lot with their father. The girls thought: we will never, never have a husband. And therefore our father will never have descendants. Therefore they took in control [Gen 19: 30ff]. The origin of Moab was controlled by the rash attempt to hold the salvation of life in their own hands. Think also of the actions of Balak with Balaam: he tries to save Moab’s life with magical power at the expense of God’s own people. They tempt Israel into idolatry. It was the Moabite women who seduced the Jewish men into immorality and as a result 24,000 people died [Num 25]. And therefore a Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD, we read in the law of Moses [Deu 23: 2-6].
The contrast between Moab and the people of the LORD regarding the question ‘by which man shall live’ and ‘through what man shall receive deliverance’ is very sharp in the history of Moab and Israel. So, when this family who lives ‘in the days when the judges rules’ leaves their own country, Israel, - apparently on it’s own initiative -to find salvation from the famine - God’s curse upon the apostate church - precisely in Moab of all people, then is this exactly the opposite of what the LORD requires. The family seeks salvation precisely among those people who have the very bad reputation of self-will and self-determination as the foundation of their salvation.
Elimelech seeks the solution to the famine in a place where he can’t find it. Although Elimelech wanted to stay in Moab temporarily, as a resident alien only, Moab does not want the salvation through the LORD. The LORD had said to Israel: ‘there is no salvation outside the church’. Elimelech said: I go and seek my salvation outside the church among those cursed people. ‘The just shall live by faith’, the LORD had said. No, says Elimelech: we will follow our own path of deliverance.
The results are clear in this situation: this path leads to death. ‘Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband died; … then both Mahlon and Chilion also died.’ Elimelech seeks life. But he does not want to have anything to do with prayer and repentance. He thinks: bread is the most important thing in my life, so he migrates to Moab where he finds plenty of bread. But he does not realise that the LORD had made known to his children ‘that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.’ [Deu 8: 3].
Later, Naomi summarises her experience: ‘It grieves me very much for your sakes, my daughters, that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.’ [vs 13]. To obey is better than sacrifices, to heed better than a mouth full of bread [comp. 1Sam 15: 23].
In the Dark Age of the judges, in which everyone does what is right in his own eyes, the LORD starts the deliverance of His people. We already find a little ray of sunshine. In the country of Moab Naomi hears that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread. And she takes the initiative to go back. And the LORD works Ruth’s profession of faith. But Naomi has to learn the hard way, at the expense of her husband and sons. ‘Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.’
Again we have young ladies and young men in our midst who will profess their faith. Nine rays of sunshine in our Dark Age of apostasy. But this does not means that after your profession of faith you may serve the Lord in your own self-styled service. That your life has gone to a higher level and that you can have your own solutions in serving the Lord. Of course, our time is a completely different one. We are confronted with problems Elimelech and Naomi had never dreamed about. But basically it is all the same. The God of Elimelech, Naomi and Ruth is our God as well. The path of self-willed salvation is in our bloodstream. Therefore it will be fantastic to hear that you find your complete salvation in Jesus, the Lord. For remember and believe that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was broken for the compléte forgiveness of áll our sins. The precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was poured out for the compléte forgiveness of áll our sins. There you will find the way of your salvation. For this means that you, who accept this Saviour - and you do -; that you ‘must find in Him áll that is necessary for your salvation’ [LD 11], the obedience of faith as well. For ‘not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who dóés the will of My Father in heaven.’ [Mat 7:21].
I once stayed with a family for a couple of days. And I don’t know whether it was because I am a minister, but the name of the Lord was on everybody's lips. The Lord had done this, and when they had asked for a bigger house, suddenly there was the opportunity to buy a huge one; and so on, and so on. They could truly experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They had - for sure - the Spirit in their hearts. They could only talk about their regeneration and the blessings of the Lord. When people start talking in this way, always be careful, brothers and sisters. It is often used to hide their disobedience. In this case as well, after a few days it was obvious that there was no trúé repentance. There was no faithful Sunday observance, their children were not sent to their own reformed school, the name of the Lord was used in vain, and so on; they wanted to do their own will and follow the path of their own invented salvation. And when you - hesitatingly - pointed to the will of God, they found it too legalistic.
But, I may ask you, what is profession of faith? What is true repentance or conversion of man? That you more and more hate your sin and flee from it. That you have love and delight in living according to the will of God in all good works, the works God has prepared for you, and not those which are based on your own opinion or on precepts of men [comp. LD 33]. Remember the words of the apostle James: ‘What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? … Show me your faith without your works, and I will show my faith by my works. … Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?’ And with a little alteration of the text you may say: ‘Likewise, was not Ruth the Moabitess also justified by works when she professed her faith and left her country and her mothers house and clung to her mother-in-law, to follow the path of salvation shown by the LORD: ‘Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God!’ There, in obedience, the LORD will grant salvation!

THE LORD WORKS RUTH’S PROFESSION OF FAITH
IN VIEW OF THE DELIVERANCE OF HIS PEOPLE
2 We will examine this in the crisis of His deliverance through Naomi.

When you go to the IKEA shop in Osborne Park you will see a prototype of a chair. Through this model they show you that you can trust their work and that their chairs are safe. Through all kinds of machines and weights they load their models, so that you can be sure that they sell quality. To test their own work, they bring their products - so to speak - through heavy burdens, to a crisis.
We see this in our text as well. For the conclusion is simple and plain: ‘So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab.’ But this happened after the LORD had tested His work in the profession of Ruth’s faith. You wonder: what is behind this conclusion?
Well, when Naomi and Ruth returned and came in Bethlehem, they were four short: Elimelech, Mahlon, Chilion and Orpah. Four are absent. And now there is bread in Bethlehem, the breadwinners are dead, the future fell to pieces. But there is also one too many in Naomi’s opinion: Ruth. Ruth does not belong with the Israelites. She is a Moabitess, so the possibility of discrimination is provoked and there is no future for Ruth in Bethlehem. And through Naomi the LORD brings His work into a crisis. For Naomi tries to convert her family, the wrong way around. She forces her two daughter’s-in-law to go back to Moab.
In her first attack Naomi is very determined. She does not come with a suggestion: ‘would it not be better if you return? But she orders: ‘Go, return each to her mother’s house!’ As if she says: ‘I admit no contradiction! It is not necessary to comfort me, let me alone in my grief. Be realistic, try to become happy again, their are enough men in Moab for you to become happy again. They young women are emotional and start crying. They are truly moved. However, they stay.
But Naomi is not finished yet. There is still another attack: ‘I can’t give you another husband. Are there still sons in my womb? And above all: the hand of the LORD has gone out against mé; not against yóú.’ At first the reaction is exactly the same: crying. But then one of them Orpah capitulates. Orpah, that means: ‘she who turns her neck; she who gives a could shoulder.’ She acts according to her name. But the other remains faithful: Ruth. She is like she is called: ‘friendship, companion’. Remarkable the expressiveness of the names in this story.
Naomi does not surrender. She is determined. The third attack: ‘Look at the sensible Orpah; she has gone back to hér people and to hér gods; return after your sister-in-law.’
This third attack from the side of Naomi is terrible. On the one hand she says: ‘The LORD deal kindly with you’, on the other hand, she sends her back to her own idols. What mother-in-law is there among you who, if her daughter-in-law wants to profess her faith and asks for the living bread, sends her away and will give her a stone? [comp. Mat 7:9]. Ruth however, perseveres, going in against her own modest character. The LORD makes her surpass herself when she forbids her mother-in-law to send her back in the wrong direction. And Ruth professes her faith: ‘Your people shall be my people and your God my God.’ A profession too much for Naomi. The LORD shuts Naomi up. Ruth difficulties are not over yet. That will become clear. She is just at the beginning of her life with the LORD. Just as the youth, in front of the church, who will profess their faith, are only at the beginning of their struggle of faith. They must fight the good fight of faith continuously. The LORD will put you to the test, like He did with Ruth. He will bring your faith into crises again and again. And sometimes the test will come from close by: your family or friends.
But don’t be afraid, says the LORD. Count it all joy, says the apostle James, ‘when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. … for when you have been approved, you will receive the crown of life which the LORD has promised to those who love Him.’ For in you the Lord tests His own work. And with the temptation He will ‘also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.’ [1Cor 10: 13]. This is nothing else than what we confess in the fifth chapter of the Canons of Dort: The perseverance of faith. For God is faithful, who mercifully confirms you in the grace once conferred upon you and powerfully preserves you in that grace to the end.’ [CD V,3]. For those ‘whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified, these He also glorified. [Rom 8: 30]. And therefore you may agree with the praise of God through all generations: ‘To this God alone, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be honour and glory forever.’ [CD V, 15].

THE LORD WORKS RUTH’S PROFESSION OF FAITH
IN VIEW OF THE DELIVERANCE OF HIS PEOPLE
3 We will examine this in the completion of His deliverance at the harvest time.

Those ‘whom He predestined, … these He also glorified!’ It’s a long way off! For what do we see? ‘So Naomi returned, and Ruth her daughter-in-law with her.’ Two widows enter Bethlehem. Naomi has been away for at least ten years. The women of the town are shocked when they see her. ‘Is this Naomi, our sister ‘Pleasant’?’ She is not the Naomi whom they had known years ago. The difficult years in Moab and the sorrows they brought, have taken their toll on Naomi’s appearance and personality. Instead of making her better, the trials of life have made her bitter. ‘Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.’ She airs her grievances to the LORD: ‘I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty.’ To make things easier she forget her own faults and sins. The LORD has destroyed my life under His Almighty hand. Mara, think of Marah in the desert, where the waters were bitter [Exo 15]: life is no longer possible. The LORD broke my life.
And the women of Bethlehem say nothing positive in response. About the LORD who guarantees life; about the hearing of their prayer, so that there is bread again; about Ruth, her daughter in law; about the law among the Israelites about the poor and the widow. Nothing at all.
But the LORD will never leave His children nor forsake them [Deu 31: 6.8; Jos 1: 5; Heb 13: 5]. Therefore He points to the fields in the surroundings of Bethlehem. ‘They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.’ Do you see the barley on the fields? That is the bread I will give to you and the means with which I will guarantee you, Naomi and Ruth! Those whom I have predestined, these I will also glorify! Naomi does not expect anything, Ruth the Moabitess does not expect much, the women of Bethlehem are very pessimistic. But the LORD says: you can already see the completion of the deliverance in the barley in the field. The barley harvest will be the sign that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. Pentecost, the begínning of the harvest, Ruth, Boaz, Naomi, Obed, Jesse, David, Christ, you and me. For with His Spirit He will bring everything to completion. For through the Spirit you are assured that He will dwell in you. He will make you living members of Christ. He imparts to you what you have in Christ, the cleansing of your sins and the daily renewal of your lives. And He shall do this till you shall finally be presented without blemish among the assembly of God’s elect in life eternal. Shall bé presented: Hé shall do it. By means of your faith in Christ you have received the life-giving Spirit. Through Him you have true communion with Christ and share in all His riches, life eternal, righteousness and glory.
Yes, at the moment the final harvest has not yet come. And the tares and the wheat are still growing together in this world until the ‘end of time’ harvest, when angel reapers will root out the weeds, the unrighteous, for burning. But they will gather the wheat, the righteous, into God’s barns [Matt 13: 24ff]. The unrighteous, the unbelievers, will be thrown into ‘the great winepress of the wrath of God’. But you who believe, those who have the victory and are preserved by God’s Spirit will sing the song of Moses about the complete deliverance of God’s people and will glorify God because of that: ‘Great and marvellous are Your works, Lord God almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints! Who shall not fear You and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all the nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgements have been manifested!’ [Rev 14: 14ff and 15 1ff].

Amen.