The Bottom of the Barrel - Finding Hope in Dark Times | Part 1
Naomi’s return to Bethlehem is not just a physical journey; it's a spiritual one, filled with lessons on faith, loyalty, and the importance of community. Life often takes us through seasons of loss and loneliness, and sometimes we find ourselves in the land of Moab, feeling lost and alone. Join us as we unravel Naomi’s heartbreaking journey from despair to hope, and discover how God can turn our bitterness into sweetness!
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Transcript
Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.
Speaker A:Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.
Speaker A:And now here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.
Speaker B:Last week I preached a message and I talked about their return and their journey back to Bethlehem, Judah, the land, the presence of God.
Speaker B:That is Naomi, who was a believer, now has felt the tug of God and she has heard about the revival in the land, the place of blessing, where God is.
Speaker B:And so she is being pulled back to return back to the place of the presence of God.
Speaker B:But there's a decision to be made by her two daughters in law who are from Moab.
Speaker B:Orpah and Ruth must make a decision.
Speaker B:Will they go back with her or will they stay in this cursed and godless place called Moab on the banks of the Jordan before they cross?
Speaker B:There's a hallmark moment, we might say, where that Oprah and Ruth are crying on the shoulder of Naomi because they don't want to leave her.
Speaker B:Naomi is trying to convince them to stay, but they don't want to leave her.
Speaker B:They want to go back.
Speaker B:But Orpah finally makes a decision to stay in Moab and to follow her gods, her little G gods instead of the one and true living God.
Speaker B:And then we looked at Ruth.
Speaker B:Ruth was a different story.
Speaker B:We see that Ruth as now sacrificially pulled by the love of Naomi to go back with her.
Speaker B:And we see the beautiful statement that she makes in chapter one where Ruth says, Entreat me not in verse 16 to leave thee or return from following after thee.
Speaker B:And here's the statement we hear in weddings.
Speaker B:And here's a statement that is framed on many people's walls.
Speaker B:For whither thou goest, I will go.
Speaker B:And where thou lodgest, I will lodge.
Speaker B:Thy people shall be my people and thy God, my God.
Speaker B:Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried.
Speaker B:The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.
Speaker B:It was a moment of decision for Orpah.
Speaker B:She turned away from God, but Ruth turned to God.
Speaker B:And this was a time in her life where she said, naomi, your God will be my God.
Speaker B:I convert to your God, the one and only and true living God.
Speaker B:And so now we see the conversion of Naomi and we see her with conversion of Ruth.
Speaker B:And we see her with Naomi as they are now traveling back to the place of blessing, traveling back to Bethlehem.
Speaker B:Judah.
Speaker B:And after Ruth makes his statement, Naomi in verse 18 says, when she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left.
Speaker B:Speaking to her, that is, Naomi thought, it's not going to do any good to try to convince Ruth to stay.
Speaker B:Now she is converted to God.
Speaker B:There's nothing else to say.
Speaker B:She is going back with me.
Speaker B:Now let's pick up the story for a message today in verse 19.
Speaker B:So look at it with me, if you would, in verse 19.
Speaker B:And I want to read down through the end of the chapter in verse 22.
Speaker B:So they too went until they came to Bethlehem.
Speaker B:And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them.
Speaker B:And they said, is this Naomi?
Speaker B:And she said unto them, call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Speaker B:I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty.
Speaker B:Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me and the Almighty hath afflicted me.
Speaker B:So Naomi returned and Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab.
Speaker B:And they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
Speaker B:Have you ever before felt like that?
Speaker B:You have literally hit rock bottom.
Speaker B:Worth it.
Speaker B:It seems like maybe for you that the sun has set in your life and maybe you feel like the sun is never going to rise maybe ever again.
Speaker B:Or maybe you feel like you have entered a dark tunnel and you feel like you're driving through that tunnel and you feel like there's nothing but darkness ahead.
Speaker B:And maybe there will never be light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker B:Maybe you feel like you're scraping, as the old saying goes, the bottom of the barrel.
Speaker B:But now you've taken the barrel and you've held it upside down and you've shook it and there's just nothing you feel like that's left inside.
Speaker B:I believe that's where Naomi is.
Speaker B:I believe that's where she feels.
Speaker B:I believe that's what she feels like as she goes back to Bethlehem and she's walking to that town.
Speaker B:She is turned around from the place of cursing away from God.
Speaker B:She's been a prodigal away from God.
Speaker B:But now she's headed back to Bethlehem, Judah.
Speaker B:Now she's headed back home.
Speaker B:Try to put yourself in her sandals for a minute, trying to feel the pain, trying to feel the agony of her heart.
Speaker B:She has lost her husband.
Speaker B:She has lost two sons.
Speaker B:I can't imagine what pain that would be to lose your mate and to lose your two children.
Speaker B:And she's in a place far away from God.
Speaker B:She doesn't.
Speaker B:She isn't near the church of God, the people of God.
Speaker B:She's in a land that does not believe in her God.
Speaker B:But in verse 19, we see that they're moving back in the right direction.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:Look at what it says at the beginning of verse 19.
Speaker B:It says, so they went.
Speaker B:They too went, until they came to Bethlehem.
Speaker B:In my Bible, I circled that word, Bethlehem.
Speaker B:Listen, anytime the children of God go to Moab, there is a Bethlehem on each side of Moab.
Speaker B:You say, preacher, what do you mean?
Speaker B:I mean there's a Bethlehem like for Naomi and Ruth, where they were going, where the prodigal can go back home, repent of their sin, go back home to the place and presence of God.
Speaker B:There's another Bethlehem, I believe on the other side of Moab that if they don't come back to the place where God is drawing them back, that God may draw them home to heaven.
Speaker B:But, folks, God will not leave his child in Moab.
Speaker B:He will not leave you away from him.
Speaker B:If you're truly a child of God, he will not leave you in Moab.
Speaker B:He loves you too much, he cares for you too much to leave you in a place away from him.
Speaker B:Commentator Ian Dugood said, there are moments in life when God's pursuit of us seems like that of a persistent mosquito, constantly buzzing around our heads and causing us pain, and we're utterly powerless to shake him off.
Speaker B:And if you're a true child of God, as I said a while ago, he will always bring that prodigal home, whether it's home on this earth or whether it's home to a place called heaven.
Speaker B:And if there is no repentance, your life, I think we can see examples of it many places in the Bible.
Speaker B:If there is no repentance, if there is no turning back, then God again may take you home.
Speaker B:But Naomi has returned to Bethlehem.
Speaker B:But when she arrives, look at the question that's being asked in the town.
Speaker B:Look at verse 19.
Speaker B:Again, it says, and it came to pass when they would come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them.
Speaker B:They said, this Naomi, is this Naomi.
Speaker B:Naomi walks back into Bethlehem with Ruth right beside her side.
Speaker B:And Bethlehem is a town, a small town, and it only has one town gate.
Speaker B:What I'm saying is when Ruth walks back into Bethlehem, she can't walk back through a back door into Bethlehem.
Speaker B:She's forced to go through the main city gate.
Speaker B:Right back into the entrance of the city.
Speaker B:She couldn't slip in unnoticed, is what I'm saying.
Speaker B:She had to go through the main entrance, the gathering place of the city, where most people were there in the market and everybody would see you.
Speaker B:Friends, I believe when someone truly repents, they aren't ashamed to walk down an aisle before God and before God's people and say, have done wrong.
Speaker B:I have sinned against God.
Speaker B:But notice it says that the city, when they saw her, was moved.
Speaker B:Notice the reception that she got.
Speaker B:They were moved.
Speaker B:Or that word means stirred.
Speaker B:The city was abuzz.
Speaker B:The city was alive in the fact that she had finally returned back to Bethlehem, Judah.
Speaker B:In fact, if you study this, it really infers that the women there in the city were abuzz.
Speaker B:That is all.
Speaker B:The women start talking to themselves and said, is this.
Speaker B:Is this really?
Speaker B:I mean, we could ask that question a lot of different ways, couldn't we?
Speaker B:We could ask it with compassion.
Speaker B:Is this Naomi?
Speaker B:We could ask it with contempt.
Speaker B:Is that Naomi?
Speaker B:They were asking the question, is this Naomi?
Speaker B:Perhaps they were thinking, is this pleasant?
Speaker B:Naomi means pleasant.
Speaker B:But wow, she doesn't look very pleasant now.
Speaker B:I mean, is this Naomi?
Speaker B:Where are to her husband and where is Maon and where is Chilion?
Speaker B:Where is her family?
Speaker B:Oh, look at the scars and the wear and tear on her body?
Speaker B:Look at what Moab did to her.
Speaker B:And who is this strange woman beside her anyway?
Speaker B:Who is that woman standing beside her?
Speaker B:Oh, the town has moved or the town is stirred because they have returned and they're in the gate and they're asking this question.
Speaker B:They're experiencing revival in the land.
Speaker B:Crops are coming in, songs are being sung.
Speaker B:They're ready to celebrate.
Speaker B:But I believe all Naomi would really like to do is just quietly disappear somewhere.
Speaker B:Notice a bitter and broken confession that spilled its way out of Naomi's heart in verse 20.
Speaker B:And she said unto them, call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Speaker B:She is deliberately.
Speaker B:At this point, she has changed her name from Naomi to Marah.
Speaker B:Mara means bitter or bitterness.
Speaker B:She's changed her name from Mrs.
Speaker B:Pleasant to Mrs.
Speaker B:Bitterness five times in chapter one, she says, God done this to me.
Speaker B:God has dealt bitterly with me, she says, everything has changed.
Speaker B:God's hand has been upon me and I am broken because of it.
Speaker B:At this point, I believe.
Speaker B:I believe that Naomi is sure about three things.
Speaker B:You say, preacher, what three things is she sure about?
Speaker B:At this point, I believe, number one, she's sure that God exists.
Speaker B:I believe, number Two, she's sure that God is sovereign over all things.
Speaker B:And number three, she's sure that God has afflicted her.
Speaker B:This God who exists, this God who is sovereign over all things has brought affliction into her life.
Speaker B:Maybe you feel this way today.
Speaker B:Maybe you'd say, if I could, I would change my name from Mr.
Speaker B:Or Mrs.
Speaker B:This or Mr.
Speaker B:And Mrs.
Speaker B:Depressed or Mr.
Speaker B:Or Mrs.
Speaker B:Bitterness.
Speaker B:Oh, I feel like the hand of God is upon me.
Speaker B:I feel like I have been afflicted by the hand of God.
Speaker B:Let me pause and ask a question, a very important question here this morning.
Speaker B:Why should Naomi not have been bitter?
Speaker B:Why should she not have been bitter?
Speaker B:I believe that by calling herself Mara, she's remembering what happened over in Exodus, chapter 15.
Speaker B:Hold your finger and Ruth and turn with me.
Speaker B:I want you to see this in Exodus chapter 15 and verse 23.
Speaker B:I believe that she, by calling herself Mara, by calling herself bitter, is thinking back to this occurrence in Exodus where the people of God have experienced what we see there in Exodus, chapter 15 and verse 23.
Speaker B:Look at it with me.
Speaker B:When they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were what church?
Speaker B:They were bitter.
Speaker B:Therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Speaker B:They remembered.
Speaker B:That is, Naomi remembered this part of the story.
Speaker B:She remembered this time in the history of the covenant people of God where they came upon these bitter waters.
Speaker B:And because it was bitter, they.
Speaker B:They called it Mara.
Speaker B:So she called her name Mara because she felt bitter.
Speaker B:But notice verse 24.
Speaker B:And the people murmured against Moses saying, what shall we drink?
Speaker B:And I love this.
Speaker B:Oh, folks, this is so big.
Speaker B:You ought to underline.
Speaker B:You ought to highlight this in your bible in verse 25.
Speaker B:And he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made.
Speaker B:Now say it with me, church.
Speaker B:What sweet, bitter waters were made.
Speaker B:Sweet waters.
Speaker B:When Moses took this tree and casted it into the waters.
Speaker B:Listen, folks, Marah was not just a place of grumbling and bitterness, but a place of God's grace to sinners.
Speaker B:It was a picture of God's unfailing goodness and God's unfailing mercy upon an undeserving and rebellious and a grumbling people.
Speaker B:And the tree that Moses threw into these bitter waters that turned bitterness into sweetness was a shadow of a tree upon which a savior would die for the sins of the world.
Speaker B:That we might have forgiveness of our sins and that we might have sweetness in the person of Jesus Christ or If Naomi had taken time to ponder this truth all the way through, maybe it wouldn't have made her bitter, but rather would have brought new hope into her life.
Speaker B:But friends, also.
Speaker B:If Naomi could have remembered that the next stop on the wilderness road for these people in Exodus was not a bitter place, but it was a place called Elim.
Speaker B:Look at verse 27.
Speaker B:And they came to Elim, where were 12 wells of water and threescore and 10 palm trees, and.
Speaker B:And they encamped there by the waters.
Speaker B:The next place God brought them to was a place of great comfort, a place of great rest.
Speaker B:In the midst of her depression, in the midst of her bitterness, Naomi had forgotten the history of God's faithfulness to his people.
Speaker B:You see, Naomi made a sad mistake that many Christians make every day.
Speaker B:She took an isolated segment of her life and passed final judgment on herself by dwelling on that isolated segment of her life.
Speaker B:Hope you're listening.
Speaker B:What I'm saying here this morning.
Speaker B:This is huge.
Speaker B:This is big.
Speaker B:Now, listen.
Speaker B:I'm not saying that God.
Speaker B:I'm not saying that God doesn't intend that his children realistically judge themselves.
Speaker B:Because in First Corinthians, chapter 22, chapter 11, verse 31, he says, for if we would judge ourselves, we should not be.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Judged.
Speaker B:If we would judge ourselves, we would realistically judge ourselves, and we would not be judged.
Speaker B:God says, even though we are to judge ourselves because of sin in our life.
Speaker B:Now, listen, folks, we're incapable of passing final judgment on ourselves or anybody else.
Speaker B:We're incapable of doing that.
Speaker B:But Naomi is passing final judgment on herself, as if the whole story of her life has just concluded and the whole story of her life is over.
Speaker B:And also she's passing final judgment on God.
Speaker B:And neither one of these is right.
Speaker B:We're always wrong when we try to pass final judgment on God or when we try to pass final judgment on ourselves, we don't see the end of the story.
Speaker B:One writer aptly states, seeing is a precious gift, and bitterness is a powerful blindness.
Speaker B:Seeing is a precious gift of God, but bitterness is a powerful blindness.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:What would Naomi have said if she could have seen?
Speaker B:Just a fraction, folks, just a fraction of what God was doing in the bitter providence of her life.
Speaker B:For example, what if she knew that God was choosing an unclean outsider, a Moabitess by the name of Ruth, just like he chose Rahab the prostitute and Tamar, who played the prostitute, as the kind of person that he wanted in the bloodline of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:For example, what if she had known that part of what God was doing was shaping the genealogy of the Messiah that would humble the world.
Speaker B:What if she could see that Ruth would have a man child and this man would be the grandfather of the greatest king of Israel, and that his ancestor would be the ancestor of the king of kings, the Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Speaker B:What if Naomi could have remembered the story of Joseph who, unwillingly, as a slave, went into a foreign country and was framed by an adulteress and put into prison?
Speaker B:Joseph had every reason to say with Naomi the same words that she said.
Speaker B:The Almighty has dealt bitterly against.
Speaker B:Against me.
Speaker B:But Joseph was never embittered by God and never embittered against God.
Speaker B:And God turned all of Joseph, all of this and all that happened to Joseph around for his personal good and for Israel's national good.
Speaker B:In fact, in Genesis chapter 50 and verse 20, it concludes his story.
Speaker B:But as for you, that is his brothers, Joseph's brothers.
Speaker B:You thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass, as it is this day to save much people alive.
Speaker B:Oh, if Naomi.
Speaker B:Oh, if Naomi could have trusted God, that even though she had disobeyed God and she had went into a place of cursing with her husband, away from God, that God had a sovereign plan, that God was still working behind the scenes for her good and for his glory.
Speaker B:If she could have trusted, if she could have seen that, then maybe her words would have been these words.
Speaker B:Judge not the Lord with feeble sense, but trust him for his grace.
Speaker B:Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:Let me repeat what I said a while ago.
Speaker B:Listen.
Speaker B:Seeing is a precious gift.
Speaker B:And bitterness is a powerful blindness.
Speaker B:Little did Naomi know that just around the corner, God had some awesome surprises for her.
Speaker B:God had some awesome surprises for both of them, for her and Ruth.
Speaker B:But Naomi, in her distress and bitterness, failed to remember God's grace in the wilderness as her source of hope.
Speaker B:What about you today?
Speaker B:What about me today?
Speaker B:What are you dwelling on in your mind as you're facing the pain that you're facing, as you're facing the depression that you're facing, as you're feeling that you're alone, that you're by yourself, that there's maybe hopelessness in your life?
Speaker B:Folks, what you need to be dwelling on is the faithfulness of God.
Speaker B:You need to be dwelling on the goodness of God towards you and the goodness of God in your life.
Speaker B:We need to be reminded of the promises of God in His word and one that we often repeat and I'll repeat it again here this morning in Romans chapter 8 and verse 28 and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to them who are called according to his purposes for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of who His Son, Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:God is conforming all of us to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:God has not forgotten you.
Speaker B:God has not abandoned you.
Speaker B:God is right there with you.
Speaker B:Even as we heard the song sung here this morning, I'm reminded of the words of Corrie ten Boone, the great saint of God in World War II, who said this When I look at the world, I get distressed.
Speaker B:When I look at myself, I get depressed.
Speaker B:But when I look at Jesus, I am at rest.
Speaker B:And folks, that's what we need to do.
Speaker A:You have listened to the first part of a two part message by Evangelist Sam Wood.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:And if you feel encouraged by today's teaching, give us a follow so we can invite you back and share us on your socials so more marriages and families can be strengthened and fortified through the truths of God's Word.
Speaker A:Remember, fortifying your family starts with a strong belief in God's Word.
