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REDEEMED! · Enjoying the Journey

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  The Book of Ruth begins in dark days, but even
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  in the darkness, God was at work. Through loss,
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  uncertainty, and unexpected turns, we discover
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  a beautiful story of grace, redemption, and hope.
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  Join Scott Pauley for this new study, The Gospel According
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  to Ruth. Light for Dark Days.
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  Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of
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  the Lamb. Redeemed through his infinite mercy. His child
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  and forever I am. I love the word
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  redeemed. It's a great Bible word. It is a word that we
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  don't use much today, and when we do, we have the idea of clipping coupons
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  somewhere or redeeming some, some bonus benefit.
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  But the word redeem in scripture is much
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  more powerful than that. And we've come today to
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  the last chapter in the book of Ruth. Now we're going to be here for
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  a little while because Ruth chapter 4 is the culmination,
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  the, the crescendo, the climax of the whole
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  thing. And it brings us to the great truth of redemption,
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  really to the great revelation of our Redeemer. Let's read
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  just a bit of Ruth chapter 4. Then went Boaz up to the gate and
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  sat him down there. Now the gate, remember, was a place of authority.
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  It was a place where the leaders would sit. It was also a place
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  where business was transaction— transacted. It was a place where
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  things got done. And so Boaz, this mighty man, this wealthy
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  man, goes up to the gate and sits down there. And behold,
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  the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by,
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  unto whom he said, ho, such a one! Turn aside, sit down here. And he
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  turned aside and sat down. Do you remember in the previous chapter Boaz said
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  to Ruth, there is a nearer kinsman than me, there is a closer
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  relative to your family that has
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  the, the, the right to purchase and to buy back
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  everything that belonged to your husband and bring you into his inheritance.
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  He has the first right of refusal, if you will.
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  And in that culture and custom, he had to be notified.
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  Verse number 2: And he took 10 men of the elders of the city and
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  said, sit you down here. And they sat down. So now we have a council.
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  Now we have a group of people who are like a,
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  like a court. They're going to sit there and
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  be the jury and the witnesses of some business agreement,
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  some transaction. And he said unto the kinsman,
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  Naomi that is come again out of the country of Moab selleth a parcel
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  of land which was our brother Elimelech's.
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  And I thought to advertise thee, saying, buy it before the inhabitants
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  and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it,
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  redeem it. But if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me that I may
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  know, for there is none to redeem it beside thee, and I am after thee.
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  And he said, I will redeem it. So now notice This
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  is really not about Ruth. This is really about Naomi's land.
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  It is about a piece of ground. And this nearer kinsman
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  says, oh yes, I want that land. I'll buy that. Verse 5,
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  then said Boaz, what day thou buyest the
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  field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess,
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  the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of
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  the dead upon his inheritance. He said, I just want you to know she's got
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  a daughter-in-law now, and she's also a widow. And if you're going to buy
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  what belongs to Naomi, then you've got to buy everything that belongs to Ruth as
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  well. And the kinsman said, verse 6, I cannot redeem
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  it for myself lest I mar mine own inheritance.
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  Redeem thou my right to thyself, for I cannot redeem
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  it. Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning
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  redeeming and concerning changing,
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  for to confirm all things. And we'll come back and we'll,
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  we'll read and study the rest of the story and all that transpired there
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  that day. Uh, this was just a business deal
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  for the unnamed kinsman, but for Boaz, this was more than
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  just a business transaction. This was love.
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  He loves Ruth. He wants her to be his wife.
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  He wants them to be a part of his immediate
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  family. And, and I love this— this redemption is rooted
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  in love. This is not to get something, but rather
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  to give everything. In fact, the word redeem literally
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  means to buy, to pay the purchase price. If you take Ruth chapter
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  4, take a pen and go through and mark all the times you find
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  the word redeem or buy or purchased, it is very obviously
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  the emphasis of the passage. The word redeem is found 9 times.
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  The word buy is found 5 times. The word purchased is found once.
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  This is a big deal. There's a cost that must be paid,
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  and there is a relative that would not redeem it.
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  That's the first 8 verses. Thank God, in the rest of the chapter,
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  there is a relative that will redeem it. Aren't you glad what nobody
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  else could do for you, Jesus Christ has done for you?
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  Uh, this is, this is the power of the redemptive work of the Lord
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  Jesus. Christ redeems everything. He redeems our
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  soul. He redeems our days. He redeems our troubles. Someday he's even
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  going to redeem our bodies. Are you looking forward to that? The Redeemer wastes nothing.
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  Every good thing comes out of our redemption.
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  By the way, that song that I opened with, Redeemed, how I love to proclaim
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  it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. That was one
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  of Fanny Crosby's favorites. It was known as her
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  conversion hymn because it articulated the glory
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  of what happens when a person comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ
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  as their personal Savior. Now, we've learned already some
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  things about the Redeemer himself. We learned that he had to be a near relative.
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  We learned that he had to be a person with the ability to redeem,
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  and he had to be willing Christ is all. He is connected
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  to us by his humanity. He has the ability because
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  he is God and is willing because he
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  is love. But let me tell you a bit today, not just about the Redeemer
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  but about redemption itself, because in Israel redemption was
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  significant for 3 reasons. There were 3 times someone
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  or something was redeemed. First of all, in Leviticus 25 A
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  person could be redeemed from bondage.
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  Slaves, servants could be purchased,
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  uh, out of bondage, out of slavery, brought out
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  of that through the redemption price. So remember that— redeemed
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  from slavery, redeemed from bondage. Also in Leviticus 25,
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  a person could be, could be redeemed from poverty, much like today
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  a person has a debt, someone else pays the debt. And so they're purchased
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  out of, out of that debt, or they're brought out of
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  debtor's prison, the redemption from poverty.
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  Then in Deuteronomy chapter 25, a person could
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  be redeemed and things could be redeemed that belonged to someone who had
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  died. So redemption connected to death— that was Ruth's situation.
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  She's a relatively young woman, but her husband has already died. And so
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  now everything that she has must somehow be
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  purchased. It must come into a larger inheritance.
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  So get the picture. Listen to it carefully: bondage,
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  poverty, and death. Let that sink in.
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  Bondage, poverty, and death. This is Ruth.
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  She has no children. She has no legacy. She has no hope. She has no
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  means of her own. And so what is
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  her only hope? Redemption. Can I tell you what redemption in Christ
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  Jesus is? He has redeemed us out of bondage. We were slaves to sin.
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  We were servants of the devil. But blessed be God, we've been redeemed
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  from the power of Satan and the power of sin.
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  And we were poor. We were beggars.
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  We had no means, no, no riches of our own. But one
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  with means came along and redeemed us out of the poverty of our own
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  sin. And ultimately we were dead in our trespasses and sins,
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  and he has come and redeemed that which was tainted
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  by death. We, my friends, had no legacy,
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  no hope, no future, nothing to look forward to
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  until the Redeemer came. But when the Redeemer comes,
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  he redeems it all. In our last
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  study, we talked about the all of God. Well, in verse 9, Boaz said,
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  I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's
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  of the hand of Naomi Praise God, he bought it all.
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  And because of that, friends, we are redeemed.
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  Thank you for joining us for today's study. If you've enjoyed
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  this journey through Ruth, visit us at etj.bible
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  and explore our Journey Through Scripture section,
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  where you'll find overviews, Bible teaching, and preaching for every
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  Until next time, keep following God's Word and finding
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  Christ's joy.