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Voddie Baucham - The God who redeems his people Ruth 1 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: The book of Ruth. Ruth chapter 1. We had a
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  Speaker 1: wonderful overview of the book of Ruth last week and
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  Speaker 1: this week and next week we'll look at the first
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  Speaker 1: chapter of the book. It is a beloved but in
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  Speaker 1: many ways misunderstood book. There are several things that you
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  Speaker 1: have to grasp in order to be able to appreciate
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  Speaker 1: the We looked at a lot of those on last week.
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  Speaker 1: One of the things you need to be able to
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  Speaker 1: grasp is Israel's national history in order to understand and
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  Speaker 1: appreciate many of the things that are going on in
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  Speaker 1: the book. You also have to be able to grasp
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  Speaker 1: and understand several of Israel's laws and traditions in order
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  Speaker 1: to be able to see the significance of what's happening.
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  Speaker 1: And we'll get both of those in this presentation. really
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  Speaker 1: first half of the first chapter on today. If you'll
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  Speaker 1: look with me at that first paragraph, we'll read what is,
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  Speaker 1: I would argue, one of the darkest paragraphs in all
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  Speaker 1: of Scripture. And fittingly so. The book of Ruth is
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  Speaker 1: ultimately about redemption. It's redemption on multiple levels. But in
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  Speaker 1: order to appreciate redemption, you have to understand what it
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  Speaker 1: means to be lost and in need of redemption. Anyone
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  Speaker 1: who's ever bought a diamond or seen someone buy a
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  Speaker 1: diamond has probably witnessed the moment where the merchant brings
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  Speaker 1: out a piece of black felt and they put down
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  Speaker 1: this piece of black felt and then they bring the
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  Speaker 1: diamond And they put the diamond on the black felt.
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  Speaker 1: So that the contrast, the juxtaposition of the black felt
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  Speaker 1: and the clear brilliant diamond allows you to see and
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  Speaker 1: appreciate the brilliance and the clarity of the diamond. Well,
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  Speaker 1: if redemption is the diamond, then chapter 1 verses 1
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  Speaker 1: through 5 is the black felt. It is the darkness
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  Speaker 1: that allows us to see and appreciate the redemption that
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  Speaker 1: is to come. Let's look at those first five verses.
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  Speaker 1: We'll look really at the first 18 verses today, but
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  Speaker 1: I want us to see those first five. In the
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  Speaker 1: days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in
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  Speaker 1: the land. And a man of Bethlehem in Judah went
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  Speaker 1: to sojourn in the country of Moab. The name of
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  Speaker 1: the man was Elimelech. The name of his wife was Naomi.
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  Speaker 1: And the name of his two sons were Malon and Kilion.
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  Speaker 1: They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem and Judah. They went into
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  Speaker 1: the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the
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  Speaker 1: husband of Naomi, died. And she was left with her
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  Speaker 1: two sons. These took Moabite wives. The name of the
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  Speaker 1: one was Orpah. The name of the other, Ruth. And
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  Speaker 1: both Malon and Kilion died. And a woman was left
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  Speaker 1: without her two sons and her husband. Again, darkness upon
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  Speaker 1: darkness upon darkness. If the main idea of the book
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  Speaker 1: of Ruth is redemption, if the main picture that is
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  Speaker 1: painted here is a picture of redemption. The driving force
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  Speaker 1: in that redemption is providence. God's providence over all things.
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  Speaker 1: And oftentimes when we use that word providence, I've often
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  Speaker 1: said that providence is often misunderstood as the Christian version
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  Speaker 1: of luck. Something happens and, you know, we say, oh,
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  Speaker 1: that was providential. If I'm driving and and suddenly something
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  Speaker 1: comes out in front of me and I swerve and
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  Speaker 1: I miss it, we say, oh, that was providential. As
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  Speaker 1: though providence only covers those things that are good. If
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  Speaker 1: I swerve and I miss it, that was providential. If
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  Speaker 1: I swerve and I don't miss it, then that was, what,
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  Speaker 1: not providential. No, providence covers swerving and missing, and providence
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  Speaker 1: covers swerving and hitting. See, providence is... the doctrine of
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  Speaker 1: God's good governance of all things in order to fill
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  Speaker 1: his purposes. Providence has three main components. Component number one
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  Speaker 1: is this, that God creates the world and all things
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  Speaker 1: in the world, and he gives all things their properties.
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  Speaker 1: Things are the way they are because God created them
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  Speaker 1: that way. The second principle in providence is that God
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  Speaker 1: keeps things in operating in accordance with the properties that
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  Speaker 1: he gave. In other words, God created water. Amen? H2O, right?
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  Speaker 1: A hydrogen molecule, two oxygen molecules, they come together and
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  Speaker 1: they make water. At a certain temperature, that water will
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  Speaker 1: freeze and become ice. And it's the same temperature every time. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you guys do Celsius. I come from the
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  Speaker 1: Fahrenheit world, right? So in the Fahrenheit world, it freezes
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  Speaker 1: at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, right? And then it turns into
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  Speaker 1: steam at a certain temperature, right? And we know what
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  Speaker 1: that temperature is and we can rely on it. We
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  Speaker 1: can rely on water having those properties because God created
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  Speaker 1: them created water with those properties now if water gets
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  Speaker 1: below 32 degrees fahrenheit or zero celsius and it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: freeze something is wrong amen but we can count on
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  Speaker 1: it that's why we can do science we can do
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  Speaker 1: science because god created the world and everything in it
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  Speaker 1: he gave everything its properties and he keeps things operating
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  Speaker 1: in accordance with their properties that's providence That's providence. But
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  Speaker 1: there's a third principle of providence. And that is that
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  Speaker 1: God cooperates with all things so that they fulfill his purposes.
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  Speaker 1: So that they fulfill his purposes. All things. Whether good
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  Speaker 1: or bad. And so here we see God's providence at
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  Speaker 1: work in bringing about God's redemption. But again, before we
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  Speaker 1: can see and appreciate redemption, we have to understand the
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  Speaker 1: need for redemption. Who needs to be redeemed in Ruth
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  Speaker 1: chapter 1? Well, remember I said there are layers of redemption.
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  Speaker 1: Ruth is often referred to as a love story. And
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  Speaker 1: I would agree that it is a love story. But
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  Speaker 1: if it's a love story, it's not just a love
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  Speaker 1: story between Ruth and Boaz. It's a love story between
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  Speaker 1: God and those whom God redeems. And the first object
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  Speaker 1: of God's love and affection is Israel. Look at the
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  Speaker 1: first part of verse 1. In the days when the
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  Speaker 1: judges ruled. In other words, during the darkest days in
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  Speaker 1: the history of Israel. The days when the judges ruled
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  Speaker 1: were the darkest days in the history of Israel. It
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  Speaker 1: was Israel's dark ages. And there is a phrase that
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  Speaker 1: comes up in the book of Judges over and over again.
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  Speaker 1: And that phrase is, every man did what was right
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  Speaker 1: in his own eyes. It was a time filled with
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  Speaker 1: sin and misery and oppression and wickedness of all kinds.
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  Speaker 1: Some of those wicked occurrences in the history of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: So it begins with, in the days when the judges ruled.
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  Speaker 1: And at the end of it, we end in chapter
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  Speaker 1: 4 with what? With an allusion to the coming of
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  Speaker 1: King David. So we're here in between the time when
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  Speaker 1: we've gone from the administration of Moses and the law
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  Speaker 1: to the administration of Joshua to the administration of the judges.
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  Speaker 1: And things are getting progressively darker to the administration of
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  Speaker 1: the kings, of the monarchs. So we're switching these administrations.
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  Speaker 1: And we're going from the darkest time to the golden age,
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  Speaker 1: which is the age of not just the monarchs, but
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  Speaker 1: the age specifically of King David. So the book of
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  Speaker 1: Ruth begins in the darkest time in Israel's history. and
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  Speaker 1: ends with the illusion of the coming of the greatest
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  Speaker 1: time in Israel's history. So it is a picture of
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  Speaker 1: Israel's redemption. The book of Ruth is about God redeeming
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  Speaker 1: Israel out of their darkest days because God loves his people. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: And not just that, but look in the days when
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  Speaker 1: the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.
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  Speaker 1: Famine is a sign of God's judgment. So this is
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  Speaker 1: judgment on top of judgment. In the days when the
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  Speaker 1: judges ruled, this is Israel's darkest hour. In Israel's darkest hour,
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  Speaker 1: there came a dark hour. In Israel's darkest season, there
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  Speaker 1: came a season that was even darker. So there's a
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  Speaker 1: problem of being dark Under the judges. There's a problem
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  Speaker 1: of no longer having the Mosaic administration extended through Joshua.
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  Speaker 1: And now being in the time of the judges, often
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  Speaker 1: these wicked men and women. But even in the midst
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  Speaker 1: of that, we have a moment of greater darkness. Not
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  Speaker 1: darkness because wicked men are leading and ruling. but darkness
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  Speaker 1: because God's hand is against Israel in the form of
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  Speaker 1: a famine in the land. It continues. And a man
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  Speaker 1: of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country
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  Speaker 1: of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, now we have a family that needs
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  Speaker 1: to be redeemed. So we're introduced to the fact that
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  Speaker 1: Israel is in darkness and Israel needs to be redeemed.
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  Speaker 1: Now we see that there's a family that needs to
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  Speaker 1: be redeemed. Well, why do we say that there's a
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  Speaker 1: family who needs to be redeemed? Well, number one, because
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  Speaker 1: this family is having to leave the land of promise
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  Speaker 1: because of the famine. And not only are they having
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  Speaker 1: to leave the land of promise, but they're having to
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  Speaker 1: go into a land of oppression. Verse 2, the name
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  Speaker 1: of the man was Elimelech. The name of his wife
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  Speaker 1: was Naomi. The names of his two sons were Malon
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  Speaker 1: and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They
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  Speaker 1: went into the country of Moab and remained there. Why
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  Speaker 1: would that be a bad thing? Well, if you look
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  Speaker 1: at the book of Judges, Judges chapter 3. If you'll
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  Speaker 1: turn there with me. Judges chapter 3. And if you'll
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  Speaker 1: remember in the book of Judges, the people of Israel
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  Speaker 1: are oppressed over and over again from various directions and
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  Speaker 1: by various peoples. Look here in chapter 3, beginning of
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  Speaker 1: verse 12. And the people of Israel again did what
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  Speaker 1: was evil in the sight of the Lord. And the
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  Speaker 1: Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel. because they
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  Speaker 1: had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites and
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  Speaker 1: went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the
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  Speaker 1: city of Palms. And the people of Israel served Eglon,
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  Speaker 1: the king of Moab, 18 years. So the nation of
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  Speaker 1: Moab is one of the oppressors of Israel during Eglon.
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  Speaker 1: the time of the judges. So now we have Israel
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  Speaker 1: in darkness because it's the time of the judges. We
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  Speaker 1: have Israel in darkness because there's a famine in the
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  Speaker 1: time of the judges. And now we have a family
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  Speaker 1: who has to leave Israel, who has to leave Judah
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  Speaker 1: because And not only do they have to leave, but
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  Speaker 1: they have to go and live in one of the
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  Speaker 1: countries that oppressed Israel during the time of the judges.
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  Speaker 1: It's dark. Amen? And it's getting darker all the time.
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  Speaker 1: There's more. Verse 3. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died.
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  Speaker 1: And she was left with her two sons. Well. Things
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  Speaker 1: just got worse. Verse 4. These took Moabite wives. It
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  Speaker 1: just got. Darker. Not only does she lose her husband.
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  Speaker 1: But now. In this foreign land. This land of oppression.
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  Speaker 1: Her sons. take Moabite wives, women from outside of the
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  Speaker 1: covenant community. And we know throughout redemptive history that one
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  Speaker 1: of the charges that God brings repeatedly against Israel is
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  Speaker 1: the sin of marrying wives from outside of the covenant community.
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  Speaker 1: So this is a problem. They've married Moabite wives. But wait,
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  Speaker 1: there's more. The name of the one was Orpah. The
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  Speaker 1: name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about
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  Speaker 1: 10 years. That's a long time for a famine to last.
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  Speaker 1: And both Malon and Kilion died. Now they're dead as well.
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  Speaker 1: So that the woman was left without her two sons
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  Speaker 1: and her husband. Now, if you look at this paragraph
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  Speaker 1: together you see that there's a beginning and an end
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  Speaker 1: it's like a frame the beginning of the frame is
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  Speaker 1: the introduction of a man in the midst of dark
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  Speaker 1: times and at the end of the frame is a
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  Speaker 1: woman his wife who is now alone now why is
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  Speaker 1: that a problem here's where you have to understand the
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  Speaker 1: historical context this will also help you understand what happens
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  Speaker 1: later on in the book. Why is it significant that
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  Speaker 1: Boaz is a kinsman redeemer? Why is there a need
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  Speaker 1: for a kinsman redeemer at all? I mean, it's just
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  Speaker 1: a famine, right? When the famine is over, you go back,
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  Speaker 1: you go back to your land, you go back to
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  Speaker 1: your farming, you go back to whatever, you just go
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  Speaker 1: back and you take care of yourself. Listen to this.
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  Speaker 1: This is from the Bible background commentary from InterVarsity. Widows
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  Speaker 1: in the ancient Near East had lost all social status
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  Speaker 1: and generally were also without political and economic status. They
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  Speaker 1: would equate to the homeless in our modern society. Typically,
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  Speaker 1: they had no male protector and were therefore economically dependent
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  Speaker 1: on society at large. They couldn't own property. They were
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  Speaker 1: dependent upon their husbands and their male heirs, which is
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  Speaker 1: why there was a need for a kinsman redeemer. If
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  Speaker 1: you don't get this, then it doesn't make sense later
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  Speaker 1: on when Boaz goes to the other redeemer and says, hey,
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  Speaker 1: here's Ruth, you're next in line. You redeem her. And
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  Speaker 1: when you redeem her, you redeem everything that belonged to Elimelech.
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  Speaker 1: We don't get that if we don't understand the historical
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  Speaker 1: context in the ancient Near East. But we also don't
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  Speaker 1: understand the depths of the darkness in these first five verses.
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  Speaker 1: There is a need for redemption for Israel. There is
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  Speaker 1: a need of redemption for this family. And now there
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  Speaker 1: is a need for redemption for this woman who is
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  Speaker 1: left alone. This individual Israelite woman. Now, before we rush
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  Speaker 1: past this and look to Ruth, who also needed to
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  Speaker 1: be redeemed, don't miss the picture here. Because this picture
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  Speaker 1: explains how and why Naomi responded to the circumstance. To
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  Speaker 1: the way that she said, no, no, no. Call me bitter.
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  Speaker 1: My name is bitter because the Lord has dealt so
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  Speaker 1: bitterly with me. She sees that God is judging Israel.
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  Speaker 1: She sees that she's judging Israel not just because they
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  Speaker 1: are under these oppressive judges, but also because they're in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of this famine. She also sees this sense
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  Speaker 1: of judgment because she's now outside of the covenant community,
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  Speaker 1: outside of the land of promise. And in the midst
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  Speaker 1: of all of this, which has to do with Israel
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  Speaker 1: being judged, now all of a sudden she personally begins
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  Speaker 1: to experience loss. Her husband dies. But that's okay. My
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  Speaker 1: husband is dead. At least my sons. will inherit everything
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  Speaker 1: so that when the famine is over and we go back,
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  Speaker 1: we'll have something and my sons will take care of me.
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  Speaker 1: Then her sons die and she has nothing and she
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  Speaker 1: has no one and she can't even go back home.
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  Speaker 1: If we don't get this, we don't get the book
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  Speaker 1: of Ruth. If we don't understand this desperation, then we
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  Speaker 1: don't understand the beauty of the redemption that is to come.
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  Speaker 1: And let me just pause here for a moment. Because
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  Speaker 1: this is important for every last one of us. Because
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  Speaker 1: every last one of us as believers will find ourselves
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  Speaker 1: or have found ourselves in the midst of these moments
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  Speaker 1: where if we're honest, and we give the kind of
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  Speaker 1: answers that you don't give in Sunday school. Amen, somebody.
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  Speaker 1: We've been in places where we would say, just call
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  Speaker 1: me bitter. God hates me. Either God is not there
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  Speaker 1: and God is not paying attention, or God is there
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  Speaker 1: and God is paying attention. If he's not there and
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  Speaker 1: he's not paying attention, then I'm in trouble because I've
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  Speaker 1: got no health and no hope. If God is there
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  Speaker 1: and he is paying attention, then I'm in trouble because
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  Speaker 1: God is against me. What did I do to deserve this?
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  Speaker 1: Have you been there, saints? Are you there now? What
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  Speaker 1: did I do to deserve this? And there's two main
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  Speaker 1: reasons that we find ourselves in this place. One reason
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  Speaker 1: we find ourselves in this place is because we think
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  Speaker 1: too highly of ourselves. If you can't say amen, you
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  Speaker 1: ought to say ouch. We think too highly of ourselves.
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  Speaker 1: We think when terrible things come our way, We think,
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  Speaker 1: I deserve better than this. You know, we have a
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  Speaker 1: saying in our home. All you deserve is death, hell,
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  Speaker 1: and the grave. Whenever there's somebody in our household who
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  Speaker 1: is having a pity party and feeling like they've been
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  Speaker 1: done wrong and that they deserve better than whatever, all
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  Speaker 1: you deserve is death, hell, and the grave. Anything other
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  Speaker 1: than that is a bonus. Amen, somebody. But we don't
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  Speaker 1: believe that. We actually believe that God owes us something.
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  Speaker 1: We believe that we've been so good, we've been so wonderful,
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  Speaker 1: or that we are just inherently so whatever, that if
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  Speaker 1: God just took the time to look at how magnificent
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  Speaker 1: we are, he'd do a better job than he's doing.
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  Speaker 1: We think too highly of ourselves. There's another reason though
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  Speaker 1: that we wallow in this kind of darkness. And that's
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  Speaker 1: because we think too little of God. We don't understand
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  Speaker 1: or we don't believe that God is in control and
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  Speaker 1: that God is working all things in accordance with his will.
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  Speaker 1: We don't believe that That to those who love God
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  Speaker 1: and who are called according to his purposes, God causes
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  Speaker 1: all things to work together for good. Not to be good,
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  Speaker 1: not to feel good, but to work together for good.
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  Speaker 1: We don't understand it and we don't take the long view.
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  Speaker 1: But when we do take the long view, then we
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  Speaker 1: see things like this. Because ultimately what we're about to see,
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  Speaker 1: what's the name of this book? The name of this
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  Speaker 1: book is Ruth. The name of this book is Ruth.
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  Speaker 1: So Ruth is going to be redeemed, right? So when
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  Speaker 1: Ruth looks back at her redemption, what Ruth would have
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  Speaker 1: to acknowledge is that God sent judges who were often
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  Speaker 1: wicked men to judge Israel during their darkest days. God
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  Speaker 1: sent a famine so that Elimelech and his family would
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  Speaker 1: be cast out of the land of promise and into Moab.
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  Speaker 1: That God basically ended the lives of Naomi's husband and sons,
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  Speaker 1: which also meant that he ended the life of Ruth's husband,
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  Speaker 1: all in working out his providential care for her to
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  Speaker 1: bring her to himself. And what does that look like?
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  Speaker 1: Beginning in verse 6. We see the need for redemption
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  Speaker 1: in these first five verses, but now in this next
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  Speaker 1: major section, we see the outworking of that redemption. And
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  Speaker 1: look at God's providence turning. Verse 6. Then she arose
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  Speaker 1: with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab,
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  Speaker 1: for she had heard in the fields of Moab That
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  Speaker 1: the Lord had visited his people and given them food.
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  Speaker 1: The great irony here. We're in the fields of Moab.
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  Speaker 1: And in the fields of Moab, she hears that God
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  Speaker 1: has visited his people and given them food. That the
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  Speaker 1: famine is over. Verse 7. So she set out from
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  Speaker 1: the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law. And
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: they went on the way to return to the land
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: return each of you to her mother's house. May the
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: may find rest, each of you, in the house of
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: your husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: their voices and wept. And they said to her, No,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: we will not return. I'm sorry. They said to her, No,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: we will return with you to your people. So Here
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Naomi turns and she's about to go back to her
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: people and to her land. And as she's about to
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: turn and go back to her people and her land,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: she says to her daughters-in-law, thank you. You've been good
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: to me and you were good to my sons. Go
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: back to Moab. Don't come with me to Judah so
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: that in Moab you can find So that in Moab,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: you can be taken care of. Now here's what's ironic
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: about this. In verse 6, we see that God has
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: provided for his people in the land of promise. That
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Naomi is on her way back to the land of promise.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Now remember, when I say to the land of promise,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: I mean to the land Of the God of Abraham,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Isaac and Jacob. The land that God swore to give
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The land that he said
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: would be flowing with milk and honey. The land where
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: God's presence dwells with God's people. The most significant and
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: important and blessed place on planet earth. And she looks
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: at her daughters and says there's something better than that
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: for you. Why? Why? Because when we're not thinking right,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: we allow hardship to affect our theology. Difficult times can
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: give you bad theology. And that's what's happening with Naomi.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Naomi's got bad theology right now. Naomi is saying essentially
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: to her daughters-in-law, there's something better than being in the
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: land of promise. There's something better than being where God dwells.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: There's something more significant than that. Go back to your
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: mother's house, find a husband, and dwell with a husband
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: because it's better to have a husband than it is
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: to have God. That's bad theology. That's the wrong answer.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: answer and we see that that's the wrong answer as
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: we continue to read verse 11 but Naomi said it
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: and here's what's interesting out of Naomi's own mouth she
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: is about to give the answer. But it's the answer
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: that she doesn't believe and that she's rejecting, which is
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: precisely the answer that God has that is going to
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: solve the problem. Verse 11. But Naomi said, Turn back,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: my daughters. Why will you go with me? Have I
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Turn back, my daughters. Go your way. For I am
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: too old to have a husband. If I shall say,
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: I have hope, even if I should have a husband
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: this night and should bear sons. Would you therefore wait
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: out against me. Then they lifted up their voices and
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: to her. Again, in order to understand this, you have
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: to understand Israel's laws and traditions. And let me give
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: this to you. Look with me if you will. In
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Deuteronomy chapter 25. We'll look at the law and then
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: we'll look at an example. This is the law of
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: liverite marriage. And this is what Naomi is alluding to.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: Naomi says, go back, right? I don't have any sons.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: Even if I got married tonight, y'all are grown women.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: By the time, even if I got married tonight and
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: I got pregnant tonight, by the time my sons grew
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: to be old enough to fulfill the law of liverite marriage,
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: you guys would be too old. What is she talking about?
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Deuteronomy 25 beginning at verse 5. If brothers dwell together
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: and one of them dies and has no son, the
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: wife of the dead man shall not be married outside
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: into her and take her as his wife and perform
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: the duty of a husband's brother to her. And the
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: of his dead brother. that his name may not be
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: blotted out of Israel. That's the law of Levite marriage.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: So if a woman is married within a family there
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: in Israel and her husband dies and has brothers, then
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: a brother has the responsibility of bearing children with her.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: The firstborn male then takes the place of that brother
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: as far as inheritance goes, so that his name does
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: not die out in the land. There's a classic example
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: of this, and it's an example that's also alluded to
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: in the book of Ruth. It is the classic example. Now,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: later on in chapter four, let's go there first before
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: we look at this classic example. Go to Ruth chapter 4.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: Ruth chapter 4. Look at verse 17. And the women
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: of the neighborhood gave him a name. This is after
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Boaz and Ruth are married. Ruth bears a son. Right? Right?
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Verse 16, Naomi took the child and laid him on
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: her lap and became his nurse. Verse 17, and the
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: women of the neighborhood gave him a name saying, a
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: son has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: We get there, right? Amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord, lineage
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: of David. But verse 18 will be strange to you
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: unless you understand the law of liverite marriage and the
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: quintessential example of Levite marriage that led to the very
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: tradition and law that brought about this lineage. Verse 18.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: Now these are the generations of Perez. Why Perez? Back
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: to Genesis. Genesis 38. Genesis 38. Beginning in verse 6.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: And Judah took a wife for Ur, his firstborn, and
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: their name was Tamar. But Ur, Judah's firstborn, was wicked
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, Go into
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: to her and raise up offspring for your brother. But
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: whenever he went into his brother's wife, he would waste
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: the semen on the ground so as not to give
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: in the sight of the Lord. and he put him
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law,
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: remain a widow in your father's house till Shelah, my son,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: grows up. For he feared that he would die like
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in his father's house. Now,
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: if you know the rest of the story, you know
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: that eventually, Judah doesn't do right by Tamar. Tamar disguises
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: herself and eventually becomes pregnant by her father-in-law, Judah. She
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: takes some things of his so that she can prove
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: that it was him. So she's not put to death.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: Not only is she not put to death, but she
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: has twins. Verse 37 of Genesis 38. When the time
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: of her labor came, there were twins in her womb.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: And when she was in labor, one put out a
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: hand and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: on his hand saying, this one came out first. But
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: out and she said, what a breach you have made
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: for yourself. Therefore, his name was called Perez. That's who's
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: listed in Ruth chapter four. Perez, the son of Tamar,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: a foreign woman who ended up being in the lineage
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: of King David and King Jesus through leverate marriage. Ruth
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: is a foreign woman who ends up in the lineage
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: of King David and King Jesus through leverite marriage. Again,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: if we don't understand this law and this tradition, then
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: we do not understand the book of Ruth. So when
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: she says, turn back, Even if I got married tonight
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: and got pregnant tonight, by the time I had a
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: son who was old enough to fulfill the law of
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: leverite marriage, all of us would be too old. In
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: other words, God's provision that he's made for us is
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: not significant or sufficient for this circumstance. Again, Hard times
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: creating bad theology. This situation is so bad that we
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: can't even count on God. Just go back home. But
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: even in the midst of her hardship, and even in
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: the midst of her wrong thinking about the providence of God,
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: we have chapter 1 and verse 15. In this last section,
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: we have one of the most beautiful statements in terms
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: of love and commitment that you'll ever find in the Bible.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: Oftentimes it is cited at weddings, even though it was
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: made from one woman to her mother-in-law and not between
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: a husband and wife. Verse 15. And she said, Naomi,
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: see your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: to her gods. Again, bad theology. Why would a child
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: of God be at all happy or satisfied when someone
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: goes back to their false gods. See, your sister-in-law has
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: gone back to her people and to her gods. Return
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, do not urge me
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: to leave you or to return from following you. For
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: will lodge. Your people should be my people and your God,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: my God. Where you die, I will die. And there
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: will I be buried. May the Lord do so to
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: me and more also if anything but death parts me
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: from you. And when Naomi saw that she was determined
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: to go with her, she said no more. Now, in
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: order to understand the significance of this, again, we have
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: to go back to Genesis. And we won't turn to it.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: But remember in Genesis, the promises that have to be made.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: There's a promise to Jacob and then there's also a
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: promise to Joseph. What's the promise? What is so significant?
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: They're about to go into Egypt so that they can
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: be saved from a famine. But even when they're going
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: into Egypt to be saved from the famine, after they
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: come out of Egypt, what do they bring out of Egypt?
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: When they're finally delivered from Egypt, they bring bones to
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: be buried. Huh? They bring bones to be buried. Don't
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: bury me there. Bury me. with my people bury me
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: with my ancestors bury me with my lineage bury me
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: in the land that God has promised to Abraham and
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: to Isaac and to Jacob bury me there because it
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: matters where I'm buried it signifies something and I want
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: to be buried not just in the land of my
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: ancestors but in the land that God has promised to
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: my ancestors because it's symbolic of me being with God
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: And Ruth says to Naomi, where you're buried, I'll be buried.
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to be buried with my people. I'm
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: going to be buried with your people. Because I consider
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: myself one of you and one of your people. Because
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Ruth understood her need for redemption. Naomi, in her darkness...
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: was temporarily afflicted with bad theology. But God in his
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: providence allows Ruth to be the cooler head that prevails.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Why is this significant? Well, there's a last picture here
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: when we're talking about the need for redemption. There's a
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: last major redemption that takes place when we recognize that
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: Ruth is also about to be redeemed. Remember, Ruth is
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: a Moabite. Who are the Moabites? Again, Genesis. And the
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: parallels between the book of Genesis and the book of
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Ruth are almost too many to number. Genesis chapter 19.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: Go with me there. Genesis chapter 19. Lot has left Sodom.
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: Sodom and Gomorrah have been destroyed. Lot's wife has turned back,
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: turned into a pillar of salt. Lot's daughters are discouraged
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: because there's no one for them to marry and they
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: have no hope. Again, these two young women. because there's
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: no one for them to marry. What's happening in Ruth?
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: There are two young women who are hopeless because there's
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: no one for them to marry. Even when Orpah goes back,
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: Ruth and Naomi are two women who are hopeless because
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: there's no one for them to marry. What do you
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: do when you're hopeless and there's no one for you
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: to marry? Well, there's a right answer and a wrong
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: answer to the question. And in Genesis 19, we see
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: the wrong answer to the question.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: Verse 34. Verse 34. The next day the firstborn said
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: to the younger, behold, I lay last night with my father.
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: go in and lie with him that we may preserve
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: offspring from our father. So they made their father drink
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: wine that night also. And the younger also arose and
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: lay with him. And he did not know when she
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: lay down and when she rose. Thus, both the daughters
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: of Lot became pregnant by their father. Absolutely unthinkable. Verse 37.
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab.
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: He is the father of the Moabites to this day.
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: That's where Ruth's people came from. That's where the Moabites
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: come from. From the incest of Lot and his daughters.
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: So God redeems Israel from the dark ages of the judges.
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: God redeems Israel From this famine. God redeems.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: Naomi. Even though. Her husband and her sons. Are dead.
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: And God does so. By redeeming. A Moabite woman. Whose
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: entire lineage. Is connected. To one of the most sinful things.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: and wicked moments ever recorded in scripture. So when we
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: see this picture of Boaz as the kinsman redeemer, yes, absolutely,
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: we need to recognize that this is a beautiful story
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: of redeeming love with a man and a woman. Amen. Amen.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: But don't dare reduce it to that. Because this is
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: God saying that his redemption knows no bounds. Is there
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: darkness in your life? God can redeem out of darkness.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: Is there sin and wickedness in your life? God can
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: redeem out of sin and wickedness. This is what he
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: says through the redemption of Ruth and Naomi and ultimately
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: through the redemption of all of God's people through the
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: offspring of Boaz and Naomi who ultimately is none other
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: than the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Ruth says
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: to Israel, you need a redeemer. Moses was not enough.
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: Joshua was not enough. The judges are not enough. King
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: David is coming and King David will not be enough.
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: But eventually King David will be promised a son who
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: will sit on his throne forever and that son will
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: be enough. and we won't have to ever wait for
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: another redeemer again and ultimately the sin and wickedness of
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: Lot and Lot's daughters was not enough because the righteousness
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: of the redeemer is greater than the wickedness of Lot
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: and Lot's daughters the sin and wickedness of Israel was
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: not enough to keep them from the love of God.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: Because the righteousness of Christ, the ultimate kinsman redeemer, was
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: more than enough to cover the sin of Israel for generations.
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: And it's more than enough to cover the sin and
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: wickedness of your life, regardless of how deep and how
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: dark that sin and that wickedness is. Jesus saves to
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: the uttermost. Christ died for sin once for all, the
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: just for the unjust, in order that he might bring
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: us back to God. As Isaiah puts it, all we
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: like sheep had gone astray. Each of us had turned
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: to his own way, but God hath laid upon him
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: the iniquity of us all. And in the book of Ruth,
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: we're reminded it doesn't matter how deep or how dark
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: that iniquity is. God has made provision. And he saves.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: He saves. All those who will flee from their sin
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: and will flee to him. He is powerful and faithful
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: to save. regardless of your darkness or the depth of
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: your depravity. Flee to Christ because in him there is hope.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: Let's pray. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we bow
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: before you, acknowledging the fact that we are wicked and
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: sinful people. That we come from a wicked and sinful people,
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: that we live among a wicked and sinful people. Thank
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: you for reminding us that there is none righteous. No,
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: not even one. For if it was righteousness that you required,
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: none could stand. And yet, wicked and unrighteous as we are,
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: you in your providence have made a way of salvation.
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you for reminding us of this truth, of pointing
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: us to this truth. Grant by your grace that we
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: might turn from our wickedness and depravity and that we
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: might turn in repentance and faith, trusting in Christ and
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: his finished work alone. Thank you for your reminder that
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: no matter how dark our days may become, That you
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: are the God of all providence. And that your purposes
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: will prevail. That you do indeed sit enthroned in the
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: heavens and you do whatever pleases you. That you work
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: all things according to the counsel of your own will.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: And grant that we might trust in that. Grant that
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: we might say with Job, though he slay me, yet
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: will I trust in him. And we ask that you
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: might grant these things because we ask them in the
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: name of our kinsman redeemer, our Lord and our Savior,
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.