Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / April 14, 2021 | Chronological Bible Study with Patty Diliberto - Session 12: Ruth

Transcript

April 14, 2021 | Chronological Bible Study with Patty Diliberto - Session 12: Ruth · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Hi, welcome to Chrono.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to be looking at the Book of Ruth.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's one of your favorite movies too, but I love it because we see how true love triumphs over adversity.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Princess Buttercup, who is played by Robin Robin Wright, tells Prince Humperdink, Chris Sarandon, You can't hurt me.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: Wesley and I are joined by the bonds of love.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: And you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Wesley and Buttercup are ultimately victorious over all the obstacles that stood in their way, and they live happily ever after.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: And it ends with a kiss because this is a kissing movie.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: God includes many wonderful love stories in his word, and today we are looking at two of them.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: Last week we saw that terrible cycle of how Israel would go from disobedience that led to bondage, which led to misery, which led to them crying out to God for deliverance, and eventually they compromised, which led them back to disobedience.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: And we saw that that cycle kept them trapped for 400 years.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: That is one of the reasons the book of Ruth is so refreshing.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: This story takes place during the times of the judges.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: Boaz and Ruth's story show us that it's possible to live faithfully in the midst of adversity and conflict, in the midst of compromise, and in the midst of living in a disobedient nation that is in turmoil.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: I would say that the book of Ruth is pretty applicable to us right now.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: When we meet Naomi and Ruth, they are experiencing great pain and loss and sorrow.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: Ruth chapter 1, 1 through 5.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malon and Kileon.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: They were Ephraitites from Bethlehem, Judah.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: And they went to Moab to live there.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: They married Moabite women, one named Orphah, and the other Ruth.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: After they had lived there about ten years, both Malon and Kileon also died.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: And Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: Verse 1 told us that there was a famine in the land.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: And this could have come from a drought, from a plague of locusts.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: It could have come from all the peoples around them, the Midianites, the Amalekites, who would come and raid them as they harvested the crops for the year and took their crops during like we saw during Gideon's time.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: Whatever the cause of the famine, God uses it to make this family refugees who are seeking a new start in a foreign place.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: This famine was the first link in many chains that just happened to come, but we know on this side of it, from this viewpoint, we know that all of this is divinely orchestrated for Israel's destiny and future.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: Names have a special meaning in the book of Ruth.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: The name Bethlehem means the house of bread, and during this famine there was no bread.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: The name Elimelech means my God is king.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: Naomi's name means favor, delight, pleasant, and the name Ruth means friendship, comfort, or refreshment.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: So in the span of ten years, Naomi loses her husband, she has two weddings, gains two pagan daughter-in-laws, and loses her two sons.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: She has lost her home, her family in Bethlehem, her immediate family, her daughter-in-laws, or so she thinks, her income, her livelihood, and her identity.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: Those are huge losses.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: On the heels of these losses, Naomi hears this.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: That the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: Back in Bethlehem, back in the land of promise, God was providing for his people.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: The Lord had come through for them once again.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: And remember, they're in the time of the judges, and in that cycle, God has obviously delivered them from their oppressors or whatever happened to them.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: And now they were experiencing resp.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: They were being blessed.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: This new information was all the motivation that Naomi needs.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: So she packs up her herself and her daughter-in-laws and she heads out.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: She gets down the road just a little ways, and then she urges her daughter-in-laws, both of them, to return to their families in Moab.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: She had to be feeling like the best of her life was over.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: Like it was never, ever going to be as good as it had been.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: And that is a really difficult place to be.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: That is so hard.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: And that's what grief and loss do to us.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: Grief can rob us of hope, and it can give us a diminished view of God and of everything else.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: Naomi didn't know at this point if God would bless her in the future, or if she would live an impoverished life for the rest of her life, dependent on other people, and not her own family.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: And she didn't want to submit Orpha and Ruth to that kind of life.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: In her deep sorrow, Naomi says in verse 13, It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has turned against me.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: Yes, these two women have also lost their husbands.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: They are also grieving, but in many ways it was more bitter for Naomi.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: Naomi would have no more children, whereas Ruth and Orpha could remarry and have children, and she had lost all of her immediate family.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: They still have theirs.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: But what do we hear Naomi blaming God for?
7:20
SPEAKER_00: We hear her blaming him for turning against her.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: She is blaming God for her problems.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: It's more bitter for me because God is against me.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: She's coming to a conclusion about God based on her circumstances.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: And that is a very easy thing to do.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: The author of this story, probably Samuel, the prophet, wants us to realize that Naomi's grief and loss has brought her to a place of blaming God.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: She is judging God.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: And over and over in this study, we've already seen that it is always too soon to judge God.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: Why?
8:07
SPEAKER_00: Because God is always working behind the scenes to bring about his plans and his purposes and his redemptive plan.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: These kinds of losses are devastating, and every single one of us would have felt exactly like Naomi feels.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to pass judgment on God.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to pass judgment on God when we go through difficulties.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: And God knows that.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: God is patient with us in grief.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely so patient.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: He is near us in grief, even if we don't feel like it.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: And aren't you glad that God is patient and that God is near when we go through those depths of difficulties?
9:00
SPEAKER_00: I sure am.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: He does not judge us the way we judge him.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't, he doesn't distance himself from us the way we often distance ourselves from him.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: It was always, it is always too soon to judge God.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: And Naomi's story is a perfect example of this.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: God has more in store for her, even though she can't see it right now.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: And in his kindness and faithfulness, he's going to bring it to pass.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Eyes of faith are what she needs to see her desperate circumstances.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: Eyes of faith, not eyes of sight.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: When we can't see our way through something, we can still see to something.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: And that something that we can see to is God's faithfulness in the midst of pain and sorrow.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: And that takes eyes of faith, to believe he is there even when we don't feel him.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: To believe even when we can't see him.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: Orpha kisses Naomi and then heads back to her people, to her family, to her gods.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: She chooses to go back to the familiar rather than facing this uncertain future that is with Naomi.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: In contrast, because there's lots of contrasts in the book of Ruth, but in contrast, Ruth renounces her pagan gods and proclaims her faithfulness to Yahweh and Naomi with some of the most beautiful words ever written.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Don't urge me to leave you or turn back from you.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Your people will be my people, your God, my God.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: There you will die.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: Such beautiful words.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: These words have been have been used in a myriad of wedding ceremonies.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: And for good reason.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: They represent what all true love stories have in common, and that is unending love until death do us part.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: That kind of love.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: What beautiful words that Ruth uses to convey her loyalty to Naomi.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: When Ruth said she would die and be buried where Naomi was, she was voicing her strong commitment to the people of Israel, to the land of promise, and to Yahweh, the God of Israel and the God of Naomi.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Ruth is a former pagan worshiper, and she had been influenced to believe in Yahweh, and it was most likely even Naomi herself who had influenced Ruth to want what she hadn't found in the pagan religions and the pagan cults.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: When they arrive in Bethlehem, the whole town is stirred because of them.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: And the women exclaimed, Can this be Naomi?
12:23
SPEAKER_00: Don't call me Naomi, she told them.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: The Lord has afflicted me, the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: So Naomi returned to Moab, accompanied by Ruth, the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: Look at the contrasts here.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: They're really amazing.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: The beautiful words of Ruth that we just read and her profession of faith in Yahweh are contrasted with Naomi's weak faith and the accusation against Yahweh.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: It's a really striking contrast.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: Remember, Naomi's name meant favor, delight, pleasant.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: But now, as a result of what has happened to her, she regards herself as bitter.
13:17
SPEAKER_00: Mara, not Naomi.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: She went away full, but she's returned empty.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: She was blessed and now she's afflicted.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: She left during a famine and now she returns to Bethlehem, literally the house of bread, at the beginning of the harvest.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: But we can't judge Naomi too harshly here because none of us know how difficult these circumstances would have been.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: But in her misery, Naomi failed to see that God had not brought her back alone and empty.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: He had been faithful in giving her a daughter-in-law who was at her side.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: The despair in chapter one sets us up for the glimmer of hope in chapter two.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: And we see in this section the plans, the plans of God.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: And we'll see many plans, which are all significant.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: We see God's plan, Boaz's plan, Ruth's and Naomi's plan, and then God's plan again.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: And then Boaz's plan again.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: Lots of plans.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: First, we see God's plan.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: As I read this, I want you to listen for how the Lord shows up in this passage.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: And Ruth the Moabite the Moabite said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: Naomi said to her, Go ahead, my daughter.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: So she went out, entered a field, and began to glean behind the harvesters.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: The Lord be with you, the Lord bless you, they answered.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, Who is that young woman over there?
15:15
SPEAKER_00: Who does she belong to?
15:17
SPEAKER_00: The overseer replied, She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: She said, Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: How did God show up?
15:38
SPEAKER_00: He showed up in the words, as it turned out, and just then, remember in Leviticus 23, 22, how uh we looked at this when we saw the feasts, but remember how God commanded the farmers uh the in Israel not to harvest the corners of their fields, the edges of their fields, but to leave them for the poor, the needy, the aliens, the widows, and the children and the orphans, so that they could glean some food so that they could live.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: Naomi and Ruth's circumstances is one of the reasons God had given them this directive.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: God knew that there would be many people who would have no other recourse except this provision in the fields.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: Before there was a need in Ruth and Naomi's life, God had established the solution.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: I love that about him.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Before there's a problem, he's already worked out the solution to that problem.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: Ruth qualified for gleaning as an alien and as a widow.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: She submitted her plans to Naomi for approval and received her blessing, but they were really God's plans for both of them.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: From the human viewpoint, Ruth just happened to glean in Boaz's field.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: But as the story unfolds, we see God's plan and his hand of blessing.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, that his hand obviously guided Ruth's choice to go into that particular field.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: Boaz came upon the scene at just the right moment to get acquainted with Ruth, of whom he had heard a good report.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Are there really any truly, truly any any um chance meetings in life?
17:33
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: And this is evidence that there's not.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: Next we see Boaz's plan.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: As I read this next section, I want you to notice how Boaz shows kindness to Ruth.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Kindness is one of the motifs of the book of Ruth.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: So Boaz said to Ruth, My daughter, listen to me.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Don't go to Gl and Glean in other in another field, and don't go away from here.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: Stay here with the women who work for me.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow after the women.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: I have told the men not to lay a hand on you.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: And wherever, whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars that the men have filled.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: At this she bowed down with her face to the ground.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: She asked, Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me a foreigner?
18:24
SPEAKER_00: Boaz replied, I've been told all about what you had done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: May the Lord repay you for what you have done.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my Lord, she said.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant, though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: At mealtime Boaz said to her, Come over here, have some bread and dip it in wine vinegar.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: She ate all she wanted and had left over.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, let her glean among the sheaves, and don't ramp reprimand her.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up and don't rebuke her.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: We see Boaz showing Ruth special kindness.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: And we see it by the way he treated her, a foreigner as a daughter.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: By the way, he noticed her kindness to her mother-in-law.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: He had heard about how she had treated Naomi, and that prompted him to be kind to her.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: It matters how we treat other people.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: By the way, he provided security for her by placing her close to his servant girls, by the way he treated her generously and courteously, by the way he gave permission to quench her thirst from the reaper's water supply.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: By allowing her to work, Boaz preserved Ruth's dignity, but by providing generously for her, he lightened her duties.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: By the way, he permitted Ruth to eat with his household servants.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: Looking at all the ways Boaz showed kindness really shows us what kind of man he was, doesn't it?
20:36
SPEAKER_00: And next we see God's plan.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening, and when she came home, her mother-in-law asked her, Where did you go?
20:46
SPEAKER_00: Where did you glean today?
20:48
SPEAKER_00: Where did you work?
20:49
SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the man who took notice of you.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: It was pretty obvious that someone had taken notice of her.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Ruth told her about Boaz, and Naomi said, The Lord bless him.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: That man is our close relative.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: He is one of our kinsmen redeemers.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: Then Naomi said, It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else's field you might be harmed.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: So Rus stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvest were finished.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: In verse 20, Naomi says, He, Yahweh, has not stopped showing kindness to the living and to the dead.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: What a spark of hope we hear rising up out of Naomi.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: She's beginning to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living rather than just staying in her grief and in her pain.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: The word kindness in Hebrew is hesed, and it's kind of you do a chesed kind of in the back of your throat, and it means loyal love, loyal love.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Boaz was God's agent at extending loyal love to Naomi and to Ruth, and indirectly to their deceased husbands.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: God was the one ultimately blessing these two women with the provision of food and safety, but these blessings were coming from God through Boaz to them.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: Now we see Naomi's plan.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: One day Naomi said to Ruth, My daughter, I must find a home for you where you will be well provided for.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: Tonight, Boaz will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Wash and perfume, put on perfume and get dressed in your best clothes.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: When he lies down, note the place where he is lying, and then go and uncover his feet and lie down.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: He will tell you what to do.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: I will do whatever you you say, Ruth answered.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Ruth had taken the initiative in proposing a plan to obtain food for them, and now Naomi is proposing a plan to get a home and rest and security for them.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: There was something more than just food and safety that Naomi and Ruth needed, and that was someone to carry on the family line.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: They needed a husband for Ruth so that they could have a future.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at the elements here that they looked at to determine.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: First, they examined the evidence.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Naomi had examined the evidence and saw that God's hand seemed to be in everything that had happened up to this point.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Ruth just happened to go to that field, and Boaz just happened to own it.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: And then consider the harmony.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: The plan that Naomi proposed was in harmony with Israel's laws and social conventions and wasn't a suggestion to do anything wrong or immoral.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: And then receive instruction.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: Naomi had Ruth's best interest at heart.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: And as the older woman, she was giving godly instruction and advice to Ruth.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: And then fourthly, take the next step and see what happens.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see happening here.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: Naomi's not directly causing anything to happen.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: She's just encouraging Ruth to take the next step to see if God would open the door.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: There are times when it's hard for us to know if something is God's will for us or if it's just our plans.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: How can we determine if our plans are God's plan and not our own?
25:31
SPEAKER_00: What should we do to make sure that we're not acting out on our own?
25:36
SPEAKER_00: The first thing that we have to do, obviously, is to pray.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: To pray and get others to pray also.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: The second thing is the same with Naomi.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: Examine the evidence.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: Is God at work?
25:49
SPEAKER_00: What ways have I seen confirmation?
25:52
SPEAKER_00: God give confirmation.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: Connect the dots and see where they lead.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: The third thing is ask yourself, is what I am doing immoral or wrong?
26:03
SPEAKER_00: The fourth thing is ask yourself, have I sought godly counsel about this?
26:09
SPEAKER_00: And if you haven't sought godly counsel, then do so.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Go to a pastor, go to someone whose spiritual wisdom you appreciate and know and ask them.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: Bring it before somebody else.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: And then number five, are you trusting God to lead you to take the next step?
26:30
SPEAKER_00: That's an important element because if you're only doing it in your own strength, you're not going to have God's blessing.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: But if you feel God's presence with you in it after you've done all of this, then you can have confidence that you are doing what God wants you to do.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: The overarching idea of those five verses is really pray and ask.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: Discernment is key, and sometimes you need others to help you discern God's plan.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: It may seem that Ruth was being inappropriately aggressive, or but but remember, Boaz had previously indicated a strong regard and respect for her.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: She was merely encouraging him to pursue his interest in her.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: And carrying out Naomi's instructions to the T, Ruth was demonstrate demonstrating that loyal Hesed love for Naomi, her mother-in-law, and encouraging Boaz to pursue the possibility of marriage.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: Now we see another plan, and that's of course Boaz's plan.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: In the middle of the night, something startled Boaz.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: He turned and there was a woman lying at his feet.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: Who are you?
27:44
SPEAKER_00: He asked.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: I am your servant Ruth, she said.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman redeemer of our family.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: The Lord bless you, my daughter, he replied.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: And now, my daughter, don't be afraid.
28:08
SPEAKER_00: I will do for you all you ask.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: Although it is true I am a kinsman redeemer of our family, there is one who is more closely related than I.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: Stay here for the night and in the morning.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: If he wants to do his duty as your kinsman redeemer, good.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: Let him redeem you.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: But if it is not if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: Lie here until morning.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: She stayed at his feet until morning, and then she took Barley home with her with her mother, to her mother.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, How did it go, my daughter?
28:50
SPEAKER_00: She's wringing her hands, pacing the floor.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: Ruth told her everything Boaz had done for her.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: Then Naomi said, Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens, for the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.
29:05
SPEAKER_00: How did Boaz know immediately that there was a nearer kinsman redeemer than himself?
29:12
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: He was looking to see if it might be God's will for Ruth to be his wife as well.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Boaz's response, his response to Ruth's actions is as remarkable as what she does.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: And evidently Ruth assumed, or at least hoped, that Boaz was the closest living relative of her husband, Malon.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: With her actions, she's inviting him to exercise the legal right over her.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: In verse 9, Ruth asks Boaz to spread the corner over her garment, and she is literally asking him with that to take her to be his wife.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: In verse 10, we see the word kindness again, this loyal hesed love, and this is confirmation to Ruth that she had done the right thing.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: She had taken the right next step.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: And that she was seeing the blessings of that loyalty.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: Can't you just see Naomi as soon as Ruth starts explaining all of this?
30:14
SPEAKER_00: She's got to be giddy as Ruth delivers all the juicy details.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: And next in chapter four, we see all the plans coming together.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Naomi's, Ruth, Boaz, Gods, all their plans come together in this chapter.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: Boaz goes to the town gate and he talks to the man who is the nearer kinsman redeemer.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here, and in the presence of the elders of my people.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: If you will redeem it, do so.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: But if you will not, tell me so I will know.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: I will redeem it, he said.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: Then Boaz said, On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: At this the kinsman redeemer said, Then I cannot redeem it because I am in danger of my own I will endanger my own estate.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: You redeem it for yourself.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: I cannot do it.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kalion, and Malon.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Malon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: Today you are witnesses.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, We are witnesses.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel.
32:08
SPEAKER_00: May you have standing in Ephraim be famous in Bethlehem.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: I have to think that Naomi and Ruth are just around the corner listening to all of this, and how their stomachs must have dropped when the nearer kinsman redeemer says, I'll redeem her.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: And then the relief when they realize that Boaz gets to have her.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: Both men possessed the legal qualifications to redeem Ruth.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: Since this man was the nearest, he was under a moral obligation, and to and to um to not marry her would have been a disgrace for him.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: It was absolutely to his advantage that Boaz wanted to marry Ruth.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: Ruth 4, 13 through 17.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: When he had made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive and give birth to a son.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: The women said to Naomi, Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman redeemer.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: May he become famous throughout Israel.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons has given him birth.
33:30
SPEAKER_00: Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: The women lived there.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: The women living there said, Naomi has a son, and they named him Obed.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: With the birth of Obed, Ruth and Naomi could both rest.
33:51
SPEAKER_00: They had produced someone who would carry on the family line.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: But what they didn't know is that Ruth and Boaz had produced someone who would carry on the redemptive promises of God for Israel.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: They didn't realize that from their union would come Israel's greatest kings, King David and King Jesus.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at the genealogy in Ruth chapter 4.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: This then is the family line of Perez.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nashon, Nashon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.
34:43
SPEAKER_00: This genealogy helps us see one of the main purposes for the book of Ruth.
34:49
SPEAKER_00: Why does the genealogy start with Perez?
34:53
SPEAKER_00: He was the founder of this branch of Judah's family.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember his story?
35:02
SPEAKER_00: It's found in Genesis 38.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: What happened between Judah and Tamar?
35:08
SPEAKER_00: Tamar deceives Judah, presents herself as a prostitute, he sleeps with her, she gets pregnant and has twins.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: Perez and Zara.
35:24
SPEAKER_00: Elimelech and Boaz are descended from Perez.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: And that would be great information, but Matthew chapter 1 gives us even more information.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: Judah, the father of Perez and Sarah, Zarah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez, the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Aminadab, Amenadab the father of Nashan, Nashon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab the prostitute, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: Do you see how God circumvents custom and tradition in providing Israel's great King David?
36:16
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: Like Peres, Boaz was the descendant of an Israelite father, Salmon, and a Canaanite harlot, Rahab.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Both Ruth, Rahab, and Ruth entered Israel because they believed in God and they chose to be part of God's redemptive promise, even though they didn't know at the time that they were part of the provision of the promise.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: Rahab and Ruth were non-Jewish women who are included in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: How remarkable.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: Some things we learn about God from the book of Ruth are that God cares for needy people like Naomi and Ruth.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: He is their ally and ours in this chaotic world.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, God doesn't leave us in hard times.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: During really difficult times, God comes near, comes close and stays near, even if we can't feel him.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: God is at work in the lives of his people, even in the darkest of times.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: And third, genuine love and kindness will be rewarded.
37:32
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes, sometimes these rewards exceed our wildest imaginations and transcend even our lifetime.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: Through the book, this book, we've seen how God worked providentially behind the scenes to bring his will to pass.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: I told you at the beginning that there were going to be two love stories today.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: The second love story is yours and mine.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: You see, like Ruth, you were in desperate need of a kinsman redeemer.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: Here are the duties of a kinsman redeemer.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: He had the right to avenge the blood of a kinsman.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: He could redeem property sold by a poor kinsman.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: He could redeem a kinsman who had been sold into debt or slavery.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: He could marry the widow of a brother or near kinsman to secure his line.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: You were a slave of sin, and you needed someone to avenge your sin.
38:51
SPEAKER_00: Your kinsman redeemer did that.
38:55
SPEAKER_00: You needed someone to show you Hasid loyal love and your kinsman Redeemer Jesus Christ did that.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: You are now the bride of your kinsman redeemer.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: And through you he has secured his line, his lineage of faith.
39:20
SPEAKER_00: In the Princess Bride, Wesley says to Buttercup, I told you I would always come for you.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: Why didn't you wait for me?
39:31
SPEAKER_00: Buttercup says, Well, you were dead.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: Wesley replied, Death cannot stop true love.
39:40
SPEAKER_00: All it can do is delay it for a while.
39:44
SPEAKER_00: Buttercup says, I will never doubt again.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: And Wesley's response, there will never be a need.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, how we thank you that you are our kinsman redeemer.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: And that you redeemed us out of your great Hasid love and loyalty.
40:19
SPEAKER_00: How we praise you for that.
40:21
SPEAKER_00: How we praise you for this picture of you in the book of Ruth.
40:31
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you've redeemed us by your glorious will and your glorious name.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: Might you be glorified in our lives as we live for you.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: We thank you and we praise you in your most precious name.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being with me today, and I will see you next time.