Peril & Providence
Ruth - It Just So Happens…
October 22, 2023
In the days when the judges ruled… —Ruth 1:1
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. —Judges 21:25
1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. —Ruth 1:1-5
DOING WHAT IS RIGHT IN YOUR OWN EYES ENDS IN DISASTER.
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. —Judges 21:25
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. —Psalm 110:10
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. —James 1:5-8
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. —Ruth 1:6-7
EVEN IN THE DARKEST TIMES, THE GRACE OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE SHINES THROUGH.
GOD’S PROVIDENCE
When God guides natural and historical events for the fulfillment of His purposes.