06/16/2026
(Ep. 5) Ruth: Leaving Moab and Returning to Bethlehem
When famine came to Bethlehem, Elimelech and Naomi went down to Moab with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. Instead of asking God and waiting on Him, they followed what seemed right in their own eyes and searched for a way to survive.
At first, that path may have looked right. But Moab was not a land of life. There, Elimelech died, and later both of his sons also died. They left in order to live, but what remained for Naomi was deep despair — no husband and no sons.
Our lives are the same. When we follow our own thoughts, it may seem right at first. Our judgment feels practical, and our way appears reasonable. But the path of our own thoughts, apart from God, cannot lead us to true life.
Then Naomi heard the news that God had visited His people and given them bread in Bethlehem. So she decided to return.
On that road, Ruth made an amazing choice. Ruth was a Moabite woman, but she did not remain in Moab. She left behind her country, her people, and her gods, and followed Naomi to Bethlehem.
Just as Rahab left Jericho, Ruth left Moab. This was not merely a change of location. It was the movement of her heart — leaving the world of her own thoughts and entering into the grace of God.
When Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, it was the beginning of the barley harvest. It may have seemed like a coincidence, but God had already prepared grace for her. Ruth went out to glean in the fields, and by God’s guidance, she came to the field of Boaz.
Boaz protected Ruth and showed her grace. Eventually, Ruth married Boaz and gave birth to Obed. Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of King David. Through that genealogy, Jesus Christ came into the world.
Ruth did not have the qualifications to be included in the genealogy of Jesus. She was a Moabite woman. But when she left Moab and belonged to the people of God, God brought her into the genealogy of Christ.
This is grace.
Salvation is not something we receive by becoming better, trying harder, or living more righteously. Salvation is the grace of God given when we leave the world of our own thoughts and belong to Jesus Christ.
Ruth’s story asks us this question:
Am I still remaining in the Moab of my own thoughts, or am I returning to Bethlehem, where the grace of God is found?
When Ruth left Moab, God brought her into the genealogy of Jesus Christ. In the same way, when we leave our own thoughts and belong to Jesus, we receive grace and blessing beyond words.
Watch the Full Sermon here: https://youtu.be/C3RJLVTbf_c
