Sermon Report (Yes a Day Early)

Today's sermon was on the first five verses of the book of Ruth. The pastor didn't have a lot to go on as this section basically introduces the characters of the book, the time, and the place. Just a standard exposition, but he was able to craft a very good sermon from just these four verses. He showed Israel as the Promised Land, the place where God favored the people, and Moab as a picture of sin. Israel was going through a tough time (As a side note the rest of the major powers of the ancient world were too, namely Egypt and Greece, likely caused by environmental stress and several earthquakes. This allowed smaller countries, like Moab, to rise.) Elimelek's family left Israel to Moab, thinking they would only go for a short while, to wait out until Israel was back on its feet. This, however, turned out to be a near-permanent stay. Elimelek died, and his sons married, and then they died. Imagine how hard this must have been on the entire family, especially in the ancient world, which put a lot of focus on the patriarch of the family. If they had just stuck with God and his promises in Israel, they would have enjoyed his favor, but since they turned away from him, they didn't.