Three Weeping Widows.

Title inspired by Ruth chapter 1:9,14 Naomi, Ruth & Orpah

The book of Ruth is a book that begins with famine and ends with fullness
The book of Ruth is a book that begins with a sob and ends with a song
The book of Ruth is a book that begins with love lost and ends with new love found

Firstly- The setting - Judges 21:25 "In those days there was no King in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes".
Ruth 1:1 And it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man went from Bethlehem-Judah, to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.  A famine in Bethlehem - "The House of Bread". Years later it was to be the birth place of the Lord Jesus Christ - The One who said - "I am the Bread of life."

Verse 1-2) Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion went to the country of the Moabites and remained there.35 miles south east of Bethlehem.

Why on earth would a family leave the House of Bread - and leave the worship of the one true living God, and go and live with the Moabites, a people that God excluded from being in His congregation for ever, because they had refused to give His people bread as they journeyed from Egypt to the promised land. (Deut 23:3)

It does not seem right that there should have been a famine in the house of bread.  It is not right today when there is a famine in so many Churches - Church should be a House of Bread. So many Churches today are only open to offer spiritual bread to the people on Sunday morning.
A Church near where I live recently had a large TV Screen installed to enable the congregation to watch a football match on a Sunday evening.
Another Church not far from here - had a large TV Screen installed so the Congregation could watch Wimbledon Tennis on a Sunday evening.

When we look at the world around us - we see that many shops and supermarkets are open all day on Sunday - But so many Churches are closed from lunchtime on Sunday.

The Bible says in Amos 8:11-12 "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord God, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, But shall not find it." 

In 2 Timothy 4:2 The Bible says "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; (4) and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 

Why go and live and remain among people who worshipped false gods?
Could any good ever come out of such a decision? Well let's look at the story.

Elimelech and his two sons Mahlon and Chilion had left the house of bread.  Soon the sons married Moabite women but both the women remained barren.

Moab was a place of spiritual and physical barrenness, and for Naomi it became a place of great loss and sorrow.
In the space of ten years - Naomi suffered the loss of her husband and her two sons.
Elimelech had taken his family from the house of bread, soon to die in Moab

The name Elimelech - means - My God is King

Could God not have provided bread in Bethlehem? He is the God that furnishes a table in the wilderness. When He is our shepherd - We do not lack (Psalm 23:1).  No good thing will He withhold from them that walk right before Him.

Psalms 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (9) Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. 
(10) The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. 
Psalms 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. 

Matthew 4:4 Jesus said - "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' " The words that I speak to you - they are Spirit and they are life.

Consider Naomi for a moment - It was not her fault that she was in Moab - It was not Her fault that she became a weeping widow and had suffered the loss of her two sons.

She had sought to be a submissive/obedient wife - She had gone along with her husband's program.  That program appeared to bring nothing but loss and grief and sorrow and Barrenness

As Husbands/Fathers we need to be very careful about the decisions we make that will effect our family - Spiritually & Physically We need to stop and carefully consider - is this MY way or GOD'S way

In Heb 11:8 The Bible says "Abraham went out not knowing where he was going.  He obeyed God when he was called to go".

Very often I see Christians moving location to a new area with little or no thought of the kind of Church in the area - Many have left a house of bread and ended up in a spiritually dry and barren place.

Consider Naomi's grief - See v12-13 Hopelessness - A wrong perception of God Poor Naomi - It seemed that the past 10 years had been a total waste of time.  It even seems as if the hand of God is against her.

But God is working behind the scenes - He is working for Naomi, He is not working against her - He is working in order to bring her into a place where He can open up a brand new life for her, with blessings that she could never dream would be possible.

In Rom 8:28 The Bible says "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are the called according to His purpose".
Phil 2:13 "It is God that works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure".

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. (9) "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. 

Note verse 6-14 - A turning point in the life of the three weeping widows

Note - Naomi heard that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread, and along with her two daughters in law she started the journey to go to Bethlehem - the house of bread.
In verses 7, 11 and 12, The Bible says Naomi told her daughters in law to go back to their Mother's house.

Now the reality is this - Not everyone who begins the journey to go to the place where God has visited in blessing actually completes the journey.

It takes determination and commitment.

Consider the 3 weeping widows v9 and v14
Orpah began the journey - but turned back - to go to her own people - back to the false gods

The reality is that there are many gods in our world today, that seem more attractive to People than the one true living God - For example - There is the god of Possessions - Money - Pleasure - Career - People
The Bible says "The love of money is the root of all evil", and in the last days men shall be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God

The Bible tells the story of a Rich young Ruler who failed to follow Jesus because he valued his possession more.  There are also stories of different men who asked to be excused from attending the "Great Banquet", because of Land, Oxen and a new Wife
There were also men who thought they might like to be a disciples of Jesus but in each case someone or something else had to have first place.
They made the following excuses
First let me bury my father - That man's eye was on the inheritance
First let me go and say goodbye to the people back home

Jesus said - No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God. (Lk 9:62)

Jesus said - Seek first the Kingdom of God .... All these things shall be added to you.

The apostle Paul said - "For me to live is Christ". What do say this morning - What is your reason for living? How do you finish the sentence - For me to live is ......?

It takes real determination to benefit from the blessings of God

The Bible tells how Blind Bartimeaus refused to be silenced - He became the man who stopped God - There was also a woman with an issue of blood for 12 years. She pressed through the crowd in order to reach out and touch Jesus and get healed.

Orpha said - "I'm going back. Ruth said - I'm going forward all the way with Naomi."

Please read Ruth's statement - Ruth 1:16 And Ruth said, Do not intreat me to leave thee, to return from [following] after thee; for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; (17) where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part me and thee! 

Ruth was determined to go all the way with Naomi.  The words of Ruth should be the cry of every Christian to the Christ they profess to love

An old song says "I'm going through Jesus - I'm going through
I'll pay the price whatever others do - I'll walk the road with God's despised few - I'm going through Jesus, I'm going through.

Another songs says - I have decided to follow Jesus
No turning back - no turning back.  The cross before me
the world behind me - No turning back - no turning back

Verse 19 says - "All in the city of Bethlehem were excited to see Naomi & Ruth."

Poor Naomi could not feel excited to be back home in the house of bread - She could not feel excited to be in the place that God had visited.
Verse 19 says - The women asked - "Is this Naomi." Is this the woman whose name means pleasant?

Consider Naomi's response - She had a totally wrong concept of God
Ruth 1:20 - "Call me not Naomi -- call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. (21) I went out full, and Jehovah has brought me home again empty. Why do ye call me Naomi, seeing Jehovah has brought me low, and the Almighty has afflicted me? 

Poor Naomi, she still feels hopeless - helpless and worthless - Grieving over the loss of her husband - the loss of her two sons - the loss of ten years of her life 

Is there a Naomi reading this message? Have you been made to move because of a partner's decision.  Maybe the move has turned out to be a bad move
Maybe you have suffered the loss of a mate/ a child/a close relative or friend
Maybe you feel these past 5 - 10 - 15- 20 years have been wasted
Maybe you feel as Naomi did that you are too old - That your life can never be fruitful again? Maybe you feel that your not worthy to be called Christian

Let me ask you a question - What time was it when Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem?
The answer is found in Ruth 1:22 "So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the fields of Moab; and they came to  Bethlehem in the beginning of the barley-harvest. Naomi & Ruth came to Bethlehem at the beginning of Barley harvest". 
It's always the beginning of a great harvest when anyone returns to the house of bread and to the Lord who is Bread of life in the house of bread

The Christian life is a new beginning 
2 Corinthians 5:17 "So if any one [be] in Christ, [there is] a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new."

The Christian life is full of new beginnings
In Lamentations 3:22-23 The Bible says - "The Lord's compassions fail not. His mercies are new every morning, Great is His faithfulness. 

The story of Ruth and Naomi ends happily with Naomi back in the house of bread
Ruth has made the decision to leave her own country - her relatives - her false gods and with determination cling to Naomi. She has left her comfort zone.
The fact is that so often our comfort zones are really confinement zones

For Ruth - It's a new beginning - It's the time of harvest - a harvest that will bring her a new husband whose name is Boaz - and through that new relationship - a privileged place in the Royal line - as God makes her a vital link in His Redemptive plan.
Ruth became the great-grandmother of David 
When we read the genealogy of Christ in Matt 1:5 - Ruth has a place of honour.

For Naomi it's a new beginning also - Her emptiness is replaced with God's sufficiency
God filled her life with hope and purpose and meaning
God filled her arms again with a baby to love and cherish as she holds Naomi's baby, Obed and became his nurse God has visited where you are sitting just now reading these words
For you it is the beginning of harvest - a spiritual & physical harvest 

I pray that you will let God fill your life - with purpose - meaning - hope - worth - usefulness. My prayer for you is this - Fill this life Lord - Restore life into this person 
Lord - Nourish feed and build up this person 

Fill my cup Lord - I lift it up Lord- Come and quench this thirsting of my soul
Bread of heaven feed me 'til I want no more - Fill my cup - Fill it up and make me whole

God will always finish what He has started
In Phil 1:6 The Bible says - "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you, will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ".

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