Hi welcome to Between the Sundays. Thank
you for joining me today. I wanted to
start into the Book of Ruth today. It's
been a while since I've read that and I
love that book. So we're gonna start
into chapter 1.
Verse one says, 
"In the days when the judges ruled in
Israel, a severe famine came upon the land.
So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, left
his home and went to live in the country
of Moab, taking his wife and two sons
with him. The man's name was Elimalech
and his wife was Naomi.  Their two sons
were Malon and Kileon. They were Epaphraites from Bethlehem in the
land of Judah. And when they reached Moab,
they settled there. Then Elimelek died
and Naomi was left with her two sons. The
two sons married Moabite women. One
married a woman named Orpah and the
other woman named Ruth. But about 10
years later, both Mahlon and Kilion
died. This left
Naomi alone, without her two sons or her
husband. Then Naomi heard in Moab, that
the Lord had blessed his people in Judah
by giving them good crops again. So Naomi
and her daughters-in-law got ready to
leave Moab to return to her homeland.
With her two daughters-in-law, she set
out from the place where she had been
living and they took the road that would
lead them back to Judah. But on the way
Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,
"Go back to your mother's homes and may
the Lord reward you for your kindness
to your husbands and to me.  May the Lord
bless you with the security of another
marriage. Then she kissed them goodbye
and they all broke down and wept. "No" they
said, "we want to go with you to your people."
But Naomi replied,  "Why should you go on
with me? Can I still give birth to other
sons who could grow up to be your
husbands?  No my daughters.  Return to
your parents' homes,  for I am too old to marry
again, and even if it were possible and I
were to get married tonight and bear
sons, then what?  Would you wait for them
to grow up and refuse to marry someone
else? No, of course not my daughters. These
things are far more bitter for me than
for you, because the Lord Himself has
raised his fist against me."   And again
they wept together and Orpah kissed her
mother-in-law goodbye,  but Ruth clung
tightly to Naomi. "Look" Naomi said to her,
"your sister-in-law has gone back to her
people and to her gods. You should do the
same." But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to
leave you and turn back. Wherever you go,
I will go. Wherever you live, I will live.
Your people will be my people and your
God will be my god.
Wherever you die I will die, and there I
will be buried.
May the Lord punish me severely if I allow
anything but death to separate us."  When
Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go
with her, she said nothing more. So the
two of them continued on their journey.
When they came to Bethlehem, the entire
town was excited by their arrival. "Is it
really Naomi?" the women asked.  "Don't call
me Naomi," she responded. "Instead call me
Mara, for the Almighty has made life very
bitter for me. I went away full, but the
Lord has brought me home empty. Why call
me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to
suffer and the Almighty has sent such
tragedy upon me?"  So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter in law Ruth, the young Moabite woman.
They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring at
the beginning of the barley harvest.
I just love Ruth's loyalty to her mother-in-law
And so God ends up blessing her later on,
not just for that but for following
after Him.  I'm just gonna pray for us.
"Dear Lord, I pray that whoever is
listening that you would just calm their
spirits, that you would help them Lord,
with the stresses in their lives that
they would give them over to you and, and
let you help them Lord. And I I pray that
for me too. I pray that  I would continue
to trust you more and know just how much
power you have Lord. I'm so thankful that
you are in control. I thank you. In Jesus'
name, Amen.
Bless you guys.   Have a wonderful day. Bye.
