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What Will YOU Do in the Famine? - Part 3 · Enjoying the Journey

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  The Book of Ruth begins in dark days, but even in
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  the darkness, God was at work. Through loss,
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  uncertainty, and unexpected turns, we discover a
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  beautiful story of grace, redemption, and hope.
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  Join Scott Pauley for this new study, The Gospel According
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  to Ruth. Light for Dark Days.
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  Your response is your responsibility. No one can decide for
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  you, and you can't blame everybody else if you make a bad decision.
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  When difficulty comes, when decision comes, when some
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  direction must be chosen, you must respond for
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  yourself. And I'll remind you, this response is very important because
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  it's going to have implications for you and for many others for years
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  to come. We return again to Ruth chapter number 1,
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  to the famine in the land in the,
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  in the days of the judges, and to a family that
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  has moved to Moab. Beware about moving to Moab. If you don't believe me,
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  ask Elimelech how that ended. Elimelech was the first
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  response. Some people respond by fleeing.
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  They run. They run all their life. A friend, you ought to live
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  in such a way that you have nothing to run from and only
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  one person to run to. The only, the only thing nipping at your
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  heels if you're walking in obedience is the goodness and mercy of God that follows
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  you all the days of your life. But you don't have to live looking over
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  your shoulder worrying that past decisions are going to catch up with you if
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  you do the right thing. Elimelech made a bad decision, made a bad move,
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  moved his entire family to Moab, uh, rebelled against
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  what God had commanded his people plainly to do. He told him, don't go to
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  Moab, don't look to the pagans and the heathens to meet your needs.
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  But that's exactly what he did. And sin, when it is finished,
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  always brings forth death. Do not err,
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  my beloved brethren. Some people flee.
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  Then his wife Naomi is really, I think,
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  representative of the second response, and that is that some people
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  live in fear. They just operate in fear,
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  and they are just consumed with anxiety and worry and
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  care. God didn't want you to live that way. Be careful for nothing,
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  but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
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  let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God passeth
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  all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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  Naomi wasn't operating with peace. She wasn't operating in prayer.
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  She was operating in fear, and that's evident by what she says
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  to her daughter-in-laws. And I would remind you that when you're not
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  operating in, in faith, and when you're not living
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  with your eyes on the Lord, you're not going to give
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  good counsel to other people either. Because you're speaking out of unbelief,
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  you're speaking out of doubt. And if I could just give you some practical advice
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  today, if you're having a hard time right now, guard your tongue. Be careful what
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  you say when things are not going well, because you may say
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  something and you may even forget saying it, but the
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  power of those words may put to death somebody else's
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  faith and somebody else's hope. It's good to seek counsel from mature
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  people. It's good to ask for prayer. But beware of speaking
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  in unbelief. It's like the psalmist who said in his haste, all men
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  are liars. Keep reading in that same psalm, he, he comes to realize,
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  wait a minute, God is good. We get our eyes fixed on men
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  and circumstances and ourself, we never say the right thing. Look to
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  the Lord. Get your eyes back on God. And so that brings
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  us to the 3rd response. Elimelech shows us some people flee.
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  Naomi shows us that some people fear, and Ruth
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  shows us that some people respond in faith.
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  Oh, this is so beautiful. Remember when Naomi's trying to tell her,
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  go back, go back with Orpah, just go home, just go home to your mother's
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  house, things will be better for you there? Can you imagine
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  a believer— that's what Naomi is, she's a believer in Jehovah
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  God— can you imagine sending her daughter-in-laws back to that pagan land to
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  serve their old gods. I'm telling you, even God's people
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  sometimes can say the most ridiculous things when they're not where they ought to be
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  with the Lord. But Ruth responded differently.
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  Look at verse 16, Ruth chapter 1.
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  And Ruth said, entreat me not to leave thee
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  or to return from following after thee,
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  for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou
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  lodgest I will lodge. Thy people
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  shall be my people. And then here's the key: and
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  thy God my God.
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  Remember, Orpah went back unto her gods in the previous verse, but in verse
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  16, no, no, Ruth doesn't want gods.
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  She wants one God, and she doesn't want any god.
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  She wants Naomi's God, the God of Israel,
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  uh, the, the Jehovah that she has heard about.
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  No doubt Naomi spoken of the true and living God to
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  her. She said, I want your God to be my God.
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  She continues, verse 17, where thou diest will I die,
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  and there will I be buried. I love this. The Lord—
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  and she uses the name Jehovah here, all capital— Lord,
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  the Lord do so to me and more also,
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  if ought but death part thee and me. When she saw that
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  she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
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  So they too went until they came to
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  Bethlehem. This is powerful. What a statement of faith.
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  Look, the, the covenant, the commitment, uh,
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  that Ruth demonstrates in verse 16 and verse 17 is more than
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  a commitment to family. It is a commitment of
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  faith. It is more than a, than a dedication to Naomi.
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  It is a dedication to Jehovah God,
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  to the true and living God. In fact, if you turn one page in your
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  Bible, come to chapter 2 and verse number 12, Boaz will
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  say to Ruth in the next chapter, the Lord recompense
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  thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God
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  of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
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  Do you see here that the thing that brought Ruth out of Moab
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  and into Bethlehem was faith in God? Faith is the victory.
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  This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
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  Mark 11:22, have faith in God.
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  Let me tell you how to get out of Moab. Let me tell you how
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  to move back into the bounty of Bethlehem. Let me tell you how to enter
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  into the family of God by faith in God.
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  It is the only way. It is simple trust in the
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  Lord. It's not fleeing from God. It's not
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  fearing circumstances. It is faithing the Lord.
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  Let me give you several scriptures that I think will, will help you make this
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  connection. In the book of Job, Job chapter 5 and verse
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  20, we read this: In famine he shall redeem thee from death,
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  and in war from the power of the sword.
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  Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue, neither shalt thou be afraid
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  of destruction when it cometh. At destruction and famine thou
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  shalt laugh, neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of
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  the earth. Look here, only a person of faith can laugh in the
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  famine. You see, she's come to understand that there is a true God
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  who will sustain her. Again, how about Psalm 33 and verse
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  number 19? Now the Bible says God's eye is on us to deliver
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  their soul from death and to keep them alive
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  in the famine. You're not going to die. You're going to live.
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  You're going to make it. God is with you. The Lord is enough. And if
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  that were not enough, turn a couple pages in the Psalms and come to Psalm
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  37, verse number 19. They shall not be ashamed in
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  the evil time and in the days of famine.
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  They shall be satisfied. Friends, you're not just going to live through the famine,
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  you're going to be satisfied. God's going to spread a table for you in the
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  presence of your enemies. In that same psalm, the psalmist
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  says, I've been young and now I'm old, yet have I not seen the righteous
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  forsaken nor his seed begging bread. I want to tell you that God
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  is going to meet your needs in the famine. In our last study, I quoted
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  from Romans chapter 8, if God be for us, who can be against us?
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  But let me give you another verse from Romans 8, verse 35, who shall separate
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  us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution
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  or famine or nakedness or peril or
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  sword. See, God puts famine all through the Bible because famine is all
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  through life. But friends, God is going to meet
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  you and meet your need in the famine if instead
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  of fleeing and instead of fearing, you will simply faith God,
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  trust the Lord Respond as a believer,
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  and God will prove himself to you even in
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  the famine. Thank you for joining us
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  for today's study. If you've enjoyed this journey through Ruth,
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  visit us at etj.bible and explore our Journey
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  Through Scripture section, where you'll find overviews,
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  Until next time, keep following God's Word and finding Christ's
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  joy.