Ruth 1:16-18, But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. 
	Today we began our reading of this book of Ruth. It follows the Book of Judges because it takes place during the time of the judges as stated in the very first verse. Ruth 1:1, Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 
	The Book of Ruth also precedes the books of Samuel as it ends with the genealogy of David, who becomes the King of Israel in the accounts of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. Ruth 4:18-22 Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron, and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David. 
Ruth is a delightful book to read and to ponder. It is a short story which has been described as a perfect model of the technical aspects of what a short story should be. It is also a story that fills us with hope and delight in the effective Sovereignty of God being manifested in the lives of His people. He is not some imagined deity who governs with lightening bolts and thunder. He is shown as the loving, compassionate, and effective Lord God Almighty Whose hands are poised to work intimately in the lives and hearts of those who call out to Him and honor Him. 
As well, there is the wondrous element of how anyone can turn to God and seek Him and become part of His family. Ruth was an outsider, a woman born in a nation filled with idolatry and pagan rituals. Yet, when she declared herself as one who would honor and obey and love Jehovah, the true and living God of the Jewish nation, she found herself enrobed by the full measure of the love of God. He manifested His heart of love and acceptance to this one who was not originally part of the blessed family of the Jewish nation.
Additionally, there are so many other wonderful aspects to this book which make it special for the vast number of those who delight in reading it. F.B. Huey, Jr., in his introduction to Ruth contained in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, lists a number of reasons as to the purpose of this short story’s inclusion in the Bible. There are some of the reasons that Ruth is so beloved by so many of its readers. He begins with the declaration of the scholar Hals and then proceeds to highlight a large number of other aspects of the tremendous validation of this beloved book. Please bear with me in the reading of Huey’s observations.
	Quote, Hals believes that the purpose of Ruth is to show how God is totally and continuously in control of all human events …, though in an unperceived way, and compares the hidden causality of God in Ruth to the Joseph story (Gen 37-50)…and to the succession history of David (2 Sam 9-20)… Gray, Haller, Hertzberg, and Rudolph also support divine providence as the principal emphasis in Ruth.
	Other suggested purposes of the book are so numerous that they can only be listed without comment: Ruth shows how anyone can become a believer and experience the blessings of God; the rewards are great to those who perform deeds of kindness for others…, it shows how a person or nation can best be loyal to God; its only purpose was for entertainment; it was written as a plea for racial tolerance and a demonstration that true religion exceeds the bounds of nationality; the writer wanted to teach a number of spiritual and moral truths…; it was intended to awaken the people of God to their high privilege and responsibility…; it was a polemic against the exclusion of the Moabites from the community of Israel…; it was a story in praise of the loyalty and worth of Ruth…; it was written to explain why David took his parents to Moab while he was in flight from Saul…; its purpose was to emphasize the laws of levirate marriage and the redemption of a kinsman’s property; and, finally, it has been suggested that its primary purpose was to celebrate friendship or faithfulness. 
	With so many proposed purposes of the Book of Ruth (and the above list is not exhaustive), it is obvious that the book has something for everyone… End quote. 
	Thus we revel in the perfection of that which God has brought forth from a short story that is divided into four chapters. In it, we can hear the distinct echo of the beloved declaration by Joshua with the resultant response from the people of God as so confirmed and acknowledged in Josh 24:15-18. 
This dedication and determination as witnessed, had to be in evidence within the home of Naomi, in order to bring forth such fervor in the heart of Ruth. The oath of the people resonates within the oath of Ruth to follow Naomi and to be with her until only death separated these two women. 
Josh 24:15-18, And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." And the people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. "And the Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God." 
	As the result of this dedication to the Lord by Naomi and the manner in which Ruth honored both Naomi and the design of God in the family unit by caring for Naomi with all her heart and effort and abilities, God brought her unto the man who would take care of all their physical needs. Ruth was fervent in her desire to make the best life she could for her mother-in-law, and that was not unnoticed by the Lord through the provision through Boaz. This is highlighted in Ruth 2:10-13. 
Ruth 2:10-13, Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?" And Boaz answered and said to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge." 
	This tremendous theme of the inclusion of those who are not born of the Jewish lineage reverberates throughout this story. Maybe that is why Ruth is so beloved among us, the Gentile believers in Christ Jesus. It shows God’s love to all who will turn to Him and call upon Him for salvation. There is made all provision to those who will seek and honor and obey the Lord God Jehovah. This is whether one is born of the nation of Israel or coming to seek Him and to turn away from all the idols and vanity of the peoples outside the Jewish bloodline. 
	Please turn to 1 Kings 8:41-43, where the prayer of King Solomon at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem is recorded. This was the greatest of occasions within the religious fervor of the nation of Israel. Finally, there was a place in which to house the Ark of the Covenant. This place would be the symbolic home of the Lord on this earth which He had created. There was so much of all the customs and requirements and elements of the full reality of who the nation of Israel was with respect to how God had promised and brought forth a people of His own on this earth. 
	And yet, in the midst of all the solemnity of calling out to Yahweh and giving Him praise and adoration and sacrifices beyond measure, King Solomon made known the full measure of what was at stake within the plan and the purpose of God. There was the evident truth that as the rest of the nations of the world witnessed the work of God and His testimony within the people of this Jewish nation, they would turn from their wicked ways and seek to know Who this God was and how they could find Him in their lives.
	1 Kings 8:41-43, "Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Thy people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Thy name's sake (for they will hear of Thy great name and Thy mighty hand, and of Thine outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to Thee, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name. 
	Ruth is the representative story of how this reality would be forthcoming unto the Gentile nations. It is readily evident that the Lord will make Himself known to any and all who will recognize Him and honor Him. Ruth set aside all the gods of her land and held true to the Lord God of Naomi, demonstrated by the manifested love and care that was bestowed upon her mother-in-law. 
The prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple showed that there was that identification of what the people of God were to present to the rest of the nations for the glory of the name of Jehovah. Other peoples would turn to the True and Living Lord God Almighty to seek to know Him and honor Him because of the witness presented.  
This is as well evidenced in the working power of God seen in the life of Daniel and those others who were taken into captivity by the Babylonian invaders. The witness of the people of God caused the heart of even the most powerful monarch of that era to see that there was truly a personal God Who worked to protect and to supply the needs of His people, just as He supplied all the needs of the two women as recounted in the Book of Ruth. Please turn to Dan 2:46-48, to witness what took place after the Lord made known to Daniel the dream and after the interpretation of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan 2:46-48, Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense. The king answered Daniel and said, "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery." 
	Nebuchadnezzar was introduced to the God of the Children of Israel through this episode. Then, later, when the three young men refused to bow down to the statue erected for the glorification of Nebuchadnezzar, this king was given an even more intense demonstration that God is Who He says He is and that nothing that man can devise will stand against the Lord’s Divine will. God’s plan and purposes will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Consider what this great king had to declare in Dan 3:28-30.
	Dan 3:28-30, Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. "Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way." 
	The final view of King Nebuchadnezzar, in this theme of Ruth that God will include any who will call upon the Name of the Lord, and will bless such a one as a member of the very family of the Lord, is recounted in Dan 4:34-37. After God had completed that which would humble and cause this great king of the whole known world to bow down before the Lord, Nebuchadnezzar made a declaration that stands as the truth of all time and forevermore.
	Dan 4:34-37, "But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' "At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride." 
	Just as God took such great and personal care of these two poor widows in the book of our reading, so He did the same with the most powerful and wealthy of men. He is no respecter of position or fortune or fame. The poor are as much enveloped in His heart as are the movers and shakers of the world stage. No man can earn, nor does anyone deserve the great and manifested love of God. He loves whom He chooses to love, regardless of status or nationality or power. Everyone is equal in the sight of God and He showers all the blessing of heaven upon those whom He chooses to so bless. So be it!
But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."... Amen.

This morning’s benediction is John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. Amen