Don't Run!
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Introduction information:
Time of the judges: Ruth 1:1.
No king in Israel, everyone kind of does whatever they want
Famine in Israel: Ruth 1: 1.
Not explicitly stated, but typically a famine was a judgement of God in the OT.
Bethlehem actually means, “house of bread,” and yet they are still in a famine
Names
Elimelech: God is my King
Naomi: Pleasant
Chilion and Mahlon: Both mean sickly or fatal.
Don’t run away from God.
Don’t run away from God.
Elimelech and his family ran away from God.
They were apparently going to only go temporarily (sojourn in Ruth 1:1), but then they lived in the land of the Moabites (who were huge enemies of Israel, as well as being called against God, Deut. 23:3-6. ) for ten years by Ruth 1:4.
They had run away from God, and had given up on Him.
“We can’t run away from our problems. We can’t avoid taking with us the basic cause of most of our problems, which is an unbelieving and disobedient heart. “The majority of us begin with the bigger problems outside and forget the one inside,” wrote Oswald Chambers. “A man has to learn ‘the plague of his own heart’ before his own problems can be solved …” (The Shadow of an Agony, p. 76).”
If you run away from God to solve all of your problems, all you will find is more problems.
If you have run, turn back to Him.
If you have run, turn back to Him.
Naomi thought that she had nothing left, she thought her life was over and that God had given up on her, and even then she still decided to return to God.
And yet, this story ends with God showing up powerfully in the lives of Ruth and Naomi.
For you, if you have turned away from God, or you’ve never really thought about ever turning to God, you are still able to.
Jesus shows in the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15: 11-32 that God will forgive and will have a place for you.
Running away from God won’t solve your problems, but turning back to Him certainly will.
Questions:
What are some ways that you have run from God?
Why is it important that the name Elimelech means “God is my King?”
Have you ever turned back to God? How did that feel?