You believe in God. Whose?

This is the text of a message I preached at Roswell Alliance Church in Roswell, GA. You may watch or listen to it by following the link to the online service. The sermon begins at about the 15th minute.

Video: 39 minutes

Reading time: 8 minutes

Online service — Roswell Alliance Church

Scriptures: Ruth 1:6-18; 1 Peter 1:3

I want to emphasize a phrase in Peter’s letter: The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This occurs six times, once here in Peter’s letter and five times in the letters of Paul. I hear in these two passages a similar confession:

Ruth says to Naomi, “Your God shall be my God.”

Peter says in effect, “Jesus, your God shall be my God.”

And Paul came to the same belief. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ is our God. His Father is our Father.

Now, Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” The statement, you believe in God, raises the question: What do you believe about God? Or, more to the point, who is your God?

Ruth, Peter, and Paul each believed in God. All three came to the place where the God of someone else became theirs. For Ruth, it was the God of Naomi. For Peter and Paul, it was the God of Jesus.

So, let’s take what Jesus said and apply it to Ruth. She believes in God. Who is her God?

First, a little about Ruth. She was a descendant of Moab, who was a son of Abraham’s nephew, Lot. This made her part of Abraham’s extended family and they were neighbors to the Israelites. Moab was on the southeast border of Israel.

The Moabites had two Gods, Chemosh and Baal.

Chemosh was the national god of Moab. His name conveyed the ideas of powerful and conqueror. He was a strong, active God, not unlike Jehovah. He had subdued the Moabites into worshiping him and they looked to him to subdue their enemies.

Baal was a tribal god. Each of the nations in Canaan had their version of Baal, the god of storms and agriculture, fertility, and justice. Because of his interest in fertility, the worship of Baal encouraged sexual practices.

Chemosh and Baal required animal and, occasionally, human sacrifices.

These are the gods Ruth grew up with.

One day, into her world came this Hebrew family: Naomi, her husband Elimelech, and their two sons. They worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Ruth is familiar with their God. The God of Abraham had reserved land for Lot’s descendants just as He had promised land to Abraham. She knew how Jehovah had delivered the Hebrews from Egypt and conquered the nations of Canaan.

Imagine the conflict when Ruth marries a son of Naomi.

• The laws of Israel prohibited Moabites from the Jewish community.
• Men of Israel were not to marry Moabites.
• The God of Israel condemned her god. Jehovah considered Chemosh, “The abomination of Moab.” The Hebrew for abomination means disgusting; filthy; to pollute. I’ll let your imagination fill in the particulars.

In spite of this, Ruth married into the family. In time, she mourns when her father-in-law dies. Her brother-in-law dies. And then her own husband dies. She has been drawn into a crucible of suffering along with Naomi and she watches her mother-in-law become bitter.

Listen to Naomi’s story.

"The hand of the LORD has gone out against me!"
"Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, 
for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty.
Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me,
and the Almighty has afflicted me?"

So, when news comes from Israel that God has visited His people and the famine is over, I find myself asking, “Why would Ruth go with Naomi? How can Ruth say, “Your God shall be my God”? After all, Naomi is not the most compelling witness. She doesn’t have a glowing testimony.

The answer is this.  It’s not about Naomi. It’s all about God.

As we follow the book of Ruth, this truth emerges.

The God of Israel may afflict His people,
but He also comes to the aid of His people.
God does not forsake them. He does not abandon them.

God had afflicted Israel with famine—this is the reason Naomi was in Moab.

God afflicted Naomi with the death of her husband.

God afflicted Naomi with the death of both sons.

But now, God has come to the aid of Israel: the famine is over.

This is the way of God. God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt. God fought for them in Canaan. God brought the famine, and now He ended it.

God afflicts His people, but also comes to their aid.

How different was this God from her own. When Baal was put to the test, he failed. The test is years later, but Baal is the same. The Israelites were torn between gods and Elijah asked,

“How long will you falter between two opinions?
If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”

Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. “You call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”

“They called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying,
“O Baal, hear us!”
But there was no voice; no one answered.”

There was no voice;
no one answered.

No wonder.

Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell;
They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them. —Psalm 115:4-8

In contrast to her Baal, Naomi worshiped a living God.

Watching Naomi, Ruth heard the call of the God of Israel,

O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. —Psalm 115:9

Despite all of her trouble, all of her hardship, all of her losses, Naomi was still trusting in the Lord. God had come to the aid of her people, and she was heading home.

No wonder Ruth insisted, “You can’t make me go back. Your God shall be my God.” Ruth knew all too well,

The gods we make will let us down.
They must fail, because they are not God.

Thus, Ruth left believing god as she knew him and came to the true and living God—Jehovah, the God of Israel. The I AM.

The disciples of Jesus had this same experience, except their God was not Baal or Chemosh, but the God of Israel. Jesus said to them, “You believe in God.” He added, “Believe also in me.”

It is as though Jesus said, “You have the right God, but He is God as you think He is (or ought to be). Believe also in me.” Jesus sets us straight about God, and about ourselves. No one saw this more clearly than the Apostle Paul.

Paul believed in God and in his letter to the Romans he describes his frustration trying to serve God.

What I am doing, I do not understand.
For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
If I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
—Romans 7:15

The God of his fathers seemed to be no help to Paul. There was no answer. No comfort. No release. And Paul cried out,

O wretched man that I am!
Who will deliver me from this body of death?
—Romans 7:24

Paul believed in God, but Jesus said, “Believe also in me.” And it’s when Paul “believed also” that his question was answered.

Who will deliver me from this body of death?
I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Paul learned that God comes to the aid of His people in Christ. And this is why he and the Apostles preached The Resurrection so fervently.

Jesus was afflicted, smitten by God. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. He was despised and chastised.

We crucified Jesus and put Him to death. We buried Him.

God afflicted His Son but didn’t abandon Him.

You will not leave my soul in Hades,
nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. —Acts 2:27

The Father came to His aid. God raised Jesus from the dead, and He has ascended to heaven and even now is at the Father’s right hand.

No wonder the disciples said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

No wonder the disciples bowed before Jesus and declared, like Thomas, “My Lord, and my God!”

Jesus, Your God is my God; Your Father, my Father. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

My reading friend, you believe in God. Whose? Is it god as you imagine him? Jesus said, “Believe also in me.” Read the teachings of Jesus. Examine His life. Then, see if you won’t also say, “The God of Jesus Christ is my God.” When you do, use the contact form to let me know. I’d love to hear.