When Life Stinks...

Introduction

This morning and for the month of December, Bro. Ronnie and I will be teaching through the Old Testament book of Ruth.  It has four (4) chapters, and there are five (5) Sundays in December so we will look at each chapter plus the Sunday immediately preceding Christmas.

 

If you look across the room this evening, you will find 250 or so different and unique individuals.  Some of you are very different compared to the rest of us. 

 

However, even in our diversity, we have multiple commonalities.  We are all currently at EBC.  We are all alive.  For the moment, we are all awake.  We are all clothed.  We are all human. 

 

And for our purposes this morning, we all will experience tragedy in this life sooner or later.  The reality is that in this life on earth, we have either just experienced a tragedy, we are currently experiencing a tragedy or we will experience a tragedy in the very near future.  This is true for every person in the room, both young and old, male and female.

 

When we think of “life stinking” in the Bible, we often think about Job. Have you ever found yourself in a situation like Job?  The Scriptures tell us that Job was a righteous man but also a man who lost house and home, family and health.  And when tragedy strikes, how many of us have said or thought, “Life stinks?” 

 

In our text this morning, I want to show three scenes to you and ask three (3) questions regarding “When Life Stinks…” 

 

 

1. When Life Stinks, where is God?

 

In verse one (1), this phrase “when the judges ruled” serves as a chronological marker letting us know that the date of this story is approximately 1,000-1,300 years before Christ.

 

And judges judged or governed or ruled when there was no king in Israel.  They functioned as military leaders and local rulers administering political and legal justice.

 

And the very last verse in the book of Judges tells us that when there was no king in Israel, evil dominated.  See Judges 21:25.

 

Judges 21:25, 25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

 

May I remind you of how much evil dominated during this time?  We get a very graphic picture of this culture and society from the last five (5) chapters of the book of Judges.

 

In Judges 17-18, we find grave idolatry.  Chapter 17 tells the story of Micah, a man involved in idolatry.

 

Judges 17:4-5, 4 Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.  5 The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

God’s people had turned their backs on Yahweh and turned to grave idolatry.

 

However, in chapters 19-21, there is more.  In these three chapters, we see gross immorality. 

 

In Judges 19, we see a Levite married who married a prostitute.

 

And in Judges 19:22-25, we find an incredibly horrific scene involving this Levite, his daughter, his wife or concubine and a neighborly old man.

 

Judges 19:22-30, 22 As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!”  23 But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!” 25 But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go. 

 

Can you believe what we just read?  Accounts of militant homosexuality, gang rape and murder?  But the story doesn’t end there.

 

Judges 19:26-30, 26 Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light.  27 When her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 And he said to her, “Get up and let us be going.” But there was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place.  29 When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30 And so it was that all who saw it said, “No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!” The Levite took his concubine and dismembered her body and sent the members to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

 

I don’t think I need to go any further, but chapters 20-21 tell of the evils specifically of the tribe of Benjamin.

 

If you watch any television news or read the newspaper, you know that our world still witnesses evil dominating every single day. 

 

Where is God when evil dominates?

 

In the rest of verse one (1) we not only see that evil is dominating, but we also see that nature destroys. 

 

There was famine in Bethlehem.  It is interesting that in the city that means “house of bread,” there was no bread.

 

So Elimelech and his family headed out of town east to Moab.  What is even more interesting and also sad is that Elimelech and his wife and his sons, who were faithful Jews, headed to Moab. 

 

Do you know about Moab?  Moab is seen throughout the OT as the archenemy of Israel.  This country originated when Lot fathered Moab by an incestuous union with his oldest daughter, and it was the Moabite women in Numbers 25:1-5 that led the Israelite men into idolatry. 

 

Numbers 25:1-5, 1 Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. 2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.  4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”  5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”

 

Moab should have been the last place any Jew would go, but isn’t that how sometimes it works?  When life stinks, good religious people often do that which hurts them instead of helping them. 

 

Was there a reason for this famine?  Did it happen “just because” or was there actually a message within the famine?  In light of what we just read in Judges 17-21, it is certainly a possibility that God was sending judgment upon His people.

 

Deuteronomy 11:13-17, 13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’ 16 “Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

 

Do you see that it is very likely that Israel was suffering during the time of this famine because of their own spiritual rebellion?

 

Life stinks when evil dominates and when nature destroys, and when loved ones die. 

 

In verse three (3), we see Naomi lose her husband and her two sons.  She outlived her three (3) closest male relatives.  She virtually had no chance of survival in this Jewish, patriarchal society. 

 

When life stinks, where is God?  For the follower of Christ, He is right by your side.

 

John 14:16-17, 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

 

If you are Believer this morning, the answer to our first question is that God is right by your side. 

 

Jesus promised us another helper, not another of a different kind but another of the same kind.  Once the Holy Spirit arrived at Pentecost, believers from that point forward received Him upon conversion.  So when you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, at that very moment, God began to dwell within you.

 

The picture of the Holy Spirit as a helper is one who walks along side you lifting you up like a medical trainer or coach or teammate would help an injured athlete off of the field or court.  The Holy Spirit comes along side us and helps us along.  And Jesus says He is with us forever. 

 

 

2. When life stinks, can anything good come?

 

Yes, God can bring good from your situation that stinks.  First, see that Naomi had adoration of God in verse six (6).  While in Moab, she heard that the Lord had visited His people, and He had delivered them from famine and drought.  God had given them bread again.

 

When life stinks, God often reminds us that He is still at work, and life could always be worse…especially if we consider others and keep matters in perspective.

 

Second, notice that Naomi had appreciation for others.  Naomi’s daughters-in-law had dealt with her kindly.  They could have kicked her to the curb, but they didn’t. 

 

When life stinks, we often begin to appreciate others for how they treat us, how they help us, how they minister to us. 

 

Third, notice that when life stinks, God can bring alteration of our behavior.  Naomi’s daughter-in-law, Ruth, who the books is named after, didn’t leave her.  As a matter of fact, in verses 16-17, we see the most famous verses of this book.

 

Naomi tried on three occasions to convince Ruth to go back to her parents and start a new life with a new husband, but Ruth wouldn’t go.  And in 1:16-17, we find those remarkable words.

 

At the end of 1:16, we see Ruth’s salvation experience or alteration to her behavior.  Remember, she was a Moabite, a Gentile pagan.  But in 1:16, she said to Naomi that your people will be my people and your God, my God.  She surrendered her life to Yahweh. 

 

There is no question in my mind that Ruth had observed how Naomi responded to tragedy.  She saw Naomi depend on God in the midst of losing a husband and two sons, and that caused Ruth to want what Naomi had.  She was saved.  Her life and her behavior changed. 

 

A little side note needs to be said about Ruth’s conversion.  When Ruth recognized who the true God was, Yahweh and not Chemosh, she turned her back on everything she knew to answer God’s calling for salvation, including family.  She had the opportunity to choose her family and as a result her family’s god, Chemosh.  But she chose Naomi, and Naomi’s God, Yahweh. 

 

When we answer the calling of God on our lives for salvation, it often times can mean turning our back on our family and on our family’s religion.  It means giving up everything for Him. 

 

When life stinks, God can bring good.

 

 

3. When life stinks, what does God ultimately want from us?

 

In a word, He wants us to turn to Him or return to Him.  You may not have caught this, but there is word dominates verses 6-22, and it is the word, “return.”  In these last verses of Ruth 1, you find it six times in one form or another. 

 

Return is once in 6, 7, and 8.  It is then in verse 15 and twice in verse 22.  When Naomi returned to Bethlehem from Moab, she was returning to the God of Bethlehem from the God of Moab.

 

When life stinks, we are prone to wonder.  We wonder from the Lord, and we wonder to that which is not of the Lord.  If your life stinks today, God wants you to return.

 

In the language of the New Testament, the idea of return is captured in the word repent.  This morning, I want to close with the first few verses of Luke 13.

 

Luke 13:1-5, 1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

 

Because life stinks, does that mean God is punishing you?  Not necessarily, but regardless, He wants you to return to Him.

 

 

Conclusion

Regardless of where you are this morning or how your life stinks, my invitation for you is to turn to God for the very first time or return to Him again.  I am not saying that He will solve all of your problems, but I am saying that He will help you get through whatever problem concerns you the most.