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Will You Marry Me? · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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Hey, man, if you have your copy of God's Word, and I hope you
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do, go and make your way to Ruth chapter 3, Ruth chapter 3 as we
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continue our series from this Old Testament book that we've
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titled When God Writes Your Story.
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And of course, what I mean by that is when we put ourselves by
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faith into God's hands and say, God, I want you to have total
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control of my life, but not that he doesn't already have total
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control of your life in one way. All right.
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But then when we willingly by faith, say God, I want you to do
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with my life, but otherwise wouldn't happen if I didn't
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entrust all of me to you so you can use all of me for all of
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you. This is 100% surrender.
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This is when we give God the pen.
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Say, God, I want you to write the story of my life, the when,
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where, what and how, the way you want to write it.
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Not where I write it, but where you do it.
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And where God, you do things that I couldn't do.
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God, you lead me where I wouldn't know where to go.
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God, you have your way and you get all the glory.
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This is what we're talking about when we say when God writes your
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story. Well, when it comes to stories,
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one of the things that I enjoy most about being a pastor is
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hearing the stories, your stories, the stories of what
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God's doing in people's lives and our church.
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And it's amazing to me and I'll never forget right and never get
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tired of hearing the stories about God has worked in your
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life. And how many of you have shared
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that with me? And they, they never get old.
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The power of God's grace and the goodness of the gospel and his
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son Jesus Christ is, is overwhelming.
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It's never, it's never tiring. I love hearing your stories and
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of course, and I'm able to get to know you.
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And maybe if you're married, I get to know you as a couple.
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And sometimes hearing your story involves learning how you met
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and maybe eating how you got engaged or how he proposed to
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you, right? So proposal stories can be all
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over the map. They can be really simple and
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private. And you know that you never,
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some people don't tell that story very much.
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And, and sometimes that story can be as crazy and creative as
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as you can get, right? I mean, sometimes guys have done
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stuff like put it on a Jumbotron in front of 100,000 people, some
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guys that they've been at the beach.
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Next thing you know that Beach Plains got the banner behind it
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that says those 4 words will you marry me right and drops to a
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knee on the sand or whatever it might be.
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So I mean some guys have gone so far as they faked their death
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and they faked an arrest. They planned a drug raid.
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Don't know why you want to do that.
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Set themselves on fire. I don't know why she'd say yes
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after that, but guys have done all sorts of stuff to pop the
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question and say those 4 words. Will you marry me?
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Well, why do I bring that up? Because our text today, Chapter
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3, contains one of the most unusual proposals that you'll
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read about. But the point really is not this
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proposal. The point is a different
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proposal that is the greatest beyond your wildest imagination
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proposal you could ever, ever, ever dream up and it's towards
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you. And I want you to be thinking
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about that even as we read and process Ruth chapter 3.
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But let's begin here. The first 5 verses of our text
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today. The Bible says this.
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Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, that's Ruth's mother-in-law,
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said to her, My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it
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may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative with
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you, with whose young women you were?
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See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
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Wash therefore, and anoint yourself.
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Put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not
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make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and
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drinking. When he lies down, observe the
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place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and
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lie down. He will tell you what to do.
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And she replied, all that you say I will do when we pick up in
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this story of Ruth, what you got to remember is after 10 years in
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Moab, Ruth and Naomi after losing their husbands have moved
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back to the promised land and to try to eke out in existence,
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somebody's got to get up and go to work.
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And so that means Ruth is spending all day, sun up to
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sundown in the barley fields for the last several weeks, gleaning
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so they can have food for her and her mother-in-law to eat.
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Well, obviously, one of these days Naomi's home by herself,
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and Ruth is off at work getting the groceries.
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And no, Naomi begins to think to herself, she comes up and says,
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My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be
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well with you? Is not Boaz our relative with
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whose women you were? First of all, what in the world
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is happening? Well, we've already seen Ruth's
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extraordinary kindness to Naomi. She's not abandoned her.
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She's returned with her. She's committed herself to her.
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She's out busting her day in and day out, not just for herself,
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but for her mother-in-law. This is extraordinary kindness
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and commitment that Ruth is shown to Naomi.
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But now Naomi, we see is returning that kindness.
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Now we see her being extraordinarily kind to Ruth.
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How so? Well, here's what's happening.
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One day Naomi's home and she's like, you know what?
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I'm getting old and I got somebody to care for me, but
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who's going to care for the one caring for me?
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Who's there for Ruth? I've have her giving me rest,
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providing Wellness for me. But Oh my goodness, what's going
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to happen when Ruth is in my shoes?
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Who's going to care for her? Ruth?
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Should I not seek rest? Should I not in kindness back to
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you, seek that things should be well for you?
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Who's going to provide for you? Well, Naomi's plan, if you
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noticed it when we, when we read, is to play a little
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matchmaker. Y'all see this, Ruth?
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She says that Boaz is. I mean, he's he's pretty cute,
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don't you think? Yeah, well, every Mama out there
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has done that, whether she wants to admit it or not.
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I've actually met couples in our church that the mom is the one
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who set them up on a blind date. Amazing, right?
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Praise God. Sometimes it works out,
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sometimes it doesn't. All right, Mama's going to try
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either way. All right, Naomi.
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Then she says further. Ruth, listen, Boaz is not only
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cute, he's a relative. Now that'll shut things down
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right there in our day and time, if you discovered that, all
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right. But in this day and time, this
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is exactly what the doctor ordered, right?
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Remember, part of God's welfare plan for his people when things
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went wrong was when a widow was left after her husband passed.
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The nearest male adult relative would have had the right
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responsibility to step in and marry that widow in order to
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provide for her to bring up off spring and continue the dead
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husbands name and inheritance and family line.
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This is part of God's plan, all right.
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So this is what he's qualifying to be.
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Not only is a cute, he's qualified because he's a
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relative. He's a prime prospect.
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All right, Naomi is hatching a plan for Ruth's rest, her good
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and her future. And here's the plan.
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All right, She knows that Boaz is at the threshing floor.
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That's the location where they are separating all the barley
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that's been gleaned and threshing it or winnowing it,
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preparing it for grain so they can separate out what's not
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edible from what it is edible. And here's the plan, right?
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Number one, she gives Ruth three very specific things.
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You notice this? Number one, take a bath.
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By the way, that's great advice, teenage boys, especially when
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I'm at camp with you next week, every day, take a shower.
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All right, But you got to, you got to think, why would she say,
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take a bath? Listen, the days before hot
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running water, people didn't bathe that often, all right?
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This was a day. This was a night for a bath, all
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right? No matter what it took all day,
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working in the barley fields before date night was not going
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to be good without a bath. So take a bath #2 anoint
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yourself, straighten, curl, fix your hair, whatever way, fix
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your face, deodorant, perfume. The point is, make yourself look
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as good and smell as good as you can.
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All right #3 put on your cloak. Now, we don't know this for
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sure, but lots of scholars think that it's probable that up until
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this time, Ruth may have been continuing to wear the garments
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that a widow would have worn after losing her husband that
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showed she was in mourning. And perhaps this is Naomi's way
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of saying to her, honey, it's time to take a bath.
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It's time to anoint yourself. Fix your hair.
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It's time. Not like we're not grieving
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anymore. It's time to put on your cloak.
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And actually, I hate to use the word, advertise that you're now
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eligible. All right?
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We're no longer in mourning. We're moving forward, she's
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saying. And you're a prospect for
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marriage. She says go down to the
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threshing floor. Don't make yourself known.
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When he lies down to sleep, uncover his feet and lie down.
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He'll tell you what to do. Now, I don't know about you, but
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my Mama told me that plan. If I was in Ruth's shoes, I'd
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say you're crazy, right? I mean, who comes up with that
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kind of stuff? Well, just keep following.
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We get Naomi wanting to play matchmaker out of kindness.
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But I mean, we're kind of thinking, right, Mama,
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mother-in-law, you've gone too far at this point.
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But this whole spy on him, pull the covers off, you know, lay
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down sounds crazy and shady at the same time, but Ruth's got to
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be thinking no way. But what does the text say?
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Ruth says to the plant. You'd expect her to have some
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questions maybe like Naomi, Are you sure?
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What if this goes wrong? What does she say?
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All that you say I will do. She got some faith in
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mother-in-law, Amen. She's got some trust.
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She's respecting her and she says I'll do it.
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Now let me just stop right here and say let me be clear.
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None of these actions right here in the Bible or for our modern
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day application in dating or marriage or proposal, all right?
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I mean, sometimes we preachers got to be clear what we said and
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what we didn't say, all right? So what I'm not saying is that
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anything literal here should apply to your dating life,
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marriage life or thoughts about proposing, right?
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Just because something's done in the Bible does not mean it's for
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our literal application. It often times is, but often
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times is not. Now it's instructive for us, but
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not to go and do this is not a take home and try, all right?
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That's not what the Bible say. I'm just trying to be clear now
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again, I, I want to be, I, I don't want to skip over
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anything. You can read about this yourself
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and your homework. I'm just going to face it
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straight on. The term here for feet actually
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does refer to the lower half or really the legs, if you will,
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the lower half of the body. And I know maybe what you're
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thinking. She's instructed to go and take
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the covers off. And this is going from wild to
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worse real quick. And don't, don't, don't go
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there. All right, This is this is
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provocative, but it is pure, all right.
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This, as we see, is not a not a bad move, but it is a bold move,
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all right? It's risky, but it's not risque.
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There's nothing seductive in what she is attempting to do
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here. That's going to become more
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clear. Naomi is planning for Ruth's
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good, as crazy as it sounds, right?
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But the essence of the plan is this.
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She knows she's got to get Ruth and Boaz together alone so they
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can have a conversation. All right, right, threshing
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floor at night. She's going to work this out.
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She also knows Ruth has got to perform an action that
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unmistakably says the message, which I'll tell you what that
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message is in a moment. But she's got to unmistakably
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communicate her intentions and #3 it's got to put the ball in
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Boaz's court. And all all three of those check
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marks are, are made by this plan that Naomi is hatched as
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matchmaker. Naomi has a plan.
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But what I really want you to see, if you're reading between
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the lines, I know this might be hard to see right now, but when
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you zoom out, you can see what's going on even in the 1st 5
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verses of this chapter. Is this not just Naomi planning
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for Ruth's good that I want you to see?
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And what I want you to does apply to us is that God in a
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much bigger way is planning not just for her good, but for our
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good. God is planning.
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God is behind the scenes. I love how somebody said like
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God is plotting for our good even when we can't see it and we
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don't feel like it. God is always behind the scenes,
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even if it is a wild crazy idea or plan.
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God's always planning for your good and for mine.
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Here we see Naomi purposefully planning for Ruth's good.
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Now Naomi is going to going out of her way to show kindness to
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Ruth, but ultimately all the kindness of Naomi here is again,
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the kindness of God on display. It's like, how?
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Why would you say that? Because he's the one writing the
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story. He's the one orchestrating these
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things and you see the kindness of God in your life and mine
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most often isn't going to come out of a dropped out of heaven
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all the sudden didn't see it come in miraculous kind of way.
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It's going to come through the small little ordinary actions
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and words and thoughts and deeds of other people and
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circumstances around you where God just, you can just see
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little evidences here, sometimes big, but everywhere around you,
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evidences of the kindness of God who's planning for your good.
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And you look back and you see, man, I didn't see that coming.
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I didn't know God would use it that way.
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And yet hindsight's 2020. And you look back and see the
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whole time God was planning for my, for your good.
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And that's what's happening here.
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Let's pick up in verse 6. So she went down to the
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threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded
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her. And when Boaz had eaten and
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drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end
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of the heap of grain. And then she came softly and
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uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight the man was
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startled, turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet.
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He said, Who are you? She answered, I am Ruth, your
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servant. Spread your wings over your
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servant, for you are a Redeemer, he said.
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May you be blessed by the Lord. My daughter, you have made this
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last kindness greater than the first, and that you've not gone
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after young men, whether poor or rich.
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And now, my daughter, do not fear.
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I will do for you all that you ask for.
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All my fellow townsmen know that you are, I don't miss this, a
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worthy woman. Boaz has finished a long day's
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work. He ate and he drank.
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His stomach is full, his heart is happy.
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He's ready to go to bed for a good night's rest.
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He he lies down and goes to sleep totally undetected.
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Ruth begins to make her move she sees exactly where he had lain
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and she tip toes up, takes the bottom if you will off his
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garment and removes it and uncovers his legs or lower half
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and lays down beside him. At midnight, startled by the
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cold of the middle of the night, Boaz awakes, and to his
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amazement and shock, you know who that he doesn't know who is
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yet, there's a woman lying laying at his feet right now.
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Please, let me just say again, don't get any ideas, men.
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Don't expect this to happen to you, all right?
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And if it does for any reason, when you wake up, run, run.
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That's probably the best thing I can tell you don't ask any
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questions like Boaz. There's no need to ask any
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questions. You can do that in the daylight.
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Just run. All right, so Boaz asked the
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most logical question he could ask.
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Praise God, we know he's a worthy man.
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He he doesn't jump to conclusions.
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I mean, 99.9% of the time, a, a woman at your feet on the
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threshing floor at night, it it probably be a shady thing.
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All right, let's just just put that out there.
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This is not so we ask a logical question.
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Who? Who are you?
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Boaz is asking this. And Ruth says I am Ruth, your
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servant. Spread your wings over your
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servant, for you are a Redeemer. Now, let me try to explain
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what's going on. I told you that part of the plan
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had to involve an action by Ruth that gave an unmistakable
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message. All right, here it is.
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You ready? The Hebrew word kanap is the
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word we translate for wing or edge of 1's garment.
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It's the same word for wing or edge of 1's garment.
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Now listen closely. Remember what Boaz said to Ruth
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in Ruth chapter 2 verse 12. Listen to this.
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He said, the Lord repay you. This is like a prayer of
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blessing. The Lord repay you for what
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you've done. A full reward be given to you by
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the Lord the God of Israel. Under whose knap?
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Under whose wing? Under whose edge of Yahweh's
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garment you have taken refuge? What is he saying?
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Ruth has taken refuge. Under whose garment first?
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Under whose wings first? Yahweh's.
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She's given her heart to Him. She's given her life to Him.
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She's in faith decided to follow Him and to belong to Him.
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Now Ruth not only has taken refuge under the wings or the
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knap, the edge of Yahweh's garment if you will, but now
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Ruth is taking refuge in an act that symbolically has removed
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the edge of his garment, laid down beside him and say, Boaz,
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spread your knap, spread your wings.
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I'm seeking for refuge under the edge of your garment.
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Boaz, he sees unmistakably saying, redeem me.
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Be the answer to the prayer you prayed for me, Boaz.
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She's saying she's proposing forward.
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Say with me, will you? That's what she's unmistakably
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saying, with a pure of heart and intentions as possible.
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She has every right, even an unusual way, to seek redemption
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that she's eligible for. Boaz, will you marry me now?
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I don't know about you, but my mind just happens to go.
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Can you just Fast forward a few years and they're married and in
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conversation they get asked. Well, how'd y'all meet Barley
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Field? You're trying to say as little
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as possible. Barley Field?
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Really. Tell me more about that.
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Well, you know how How did you propose, Boaz?
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Well, I I I did. I didn't.
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What? Yes, she did.
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Ruth, tell me how you propose. That's how unusual.
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Well, it's my mother in law's idea.
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The Lord bless her heart. And yeah, I mean, Can you
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imagine how this went? You know, I mean, how unusual a
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proposal in the story that they had.
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Right. But what in the world does Boaz
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say? He will he say yes.
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Listen, Verse 10, may you be blessed by the Lord.
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My daughter, You have made this last kindness greater than the
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first. And that you've not gone after
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other young men, whether rich or poor.
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What is he saying there, Ruth? This this kindness is greater
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than your first kind. What was Ruths first kindness?
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That was her kindness to Naomi. That was her kindness to commit
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to her and care for her and not leave and abandoned her.
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This was her first kindness to her deceased husband and to her
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father-in-law. And to do that which would care
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for his relatives and perhaps even one day carry on his name.
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Right. So now your first kindness was
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to Naomi. But now, Ruth, you're showing an
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even greater kindness to me. Ruth, you could have pursued
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other men. Now, what does he mean by this?
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Well, I think what he's talking about is this, Ruth, you could
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have pursued marriage in a way that was selfishly all about
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you, all about you, what you wanted, all about what you
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desired. But you've not gone after other
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men just to get what you would selfishly want.
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You could go off and start a life of your own, a marriage of
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your own, a new family of your own.
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But what you've done is you've been kind of Naomi, and now
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you're seeking marriage in a way that's further kind not just to
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Naomi, but now to me. Because guess who Boaz was a
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relative of the Limelux. Guess what?
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She would be giving Boaz a chance to redeem that which
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belonged to Elimelech and her husband.
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You're doing for the family that which is bigger than just you,
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Ruth. You're thinking more than just
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you. You're not just being kind to
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Naomi. Now you spread that kindness
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even to me by pursuing one who's has the right to be Redeemer.
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This kindness is greater than your first kindness.
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This kindness includes more people than your first kindness.
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Look at verse 11. And now, my daughter, do not
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fear. I will do for you all that you
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ask from my fellow townsmen. Know that you are.
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Don't miss that word. A what?
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A worthy woman. Yes, Ruth, I'll redeem you
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because you are a worthy woman and everyone knows that you are
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just the kind of woman that I've been waiting for.
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Now here's what's fascinating to me.
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Boaz has already been called a what kind of man?
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Same word, a worthy man. Now we have a worthy woman.
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But remember, what kind of days are they living in?
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The days of the what? The judges.
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You can read the book of Judges if you want to for homework.
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Things get real shady there, like legit shady because they're
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sinning and doing what's in right in their own eyes, not in
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God's eyes. And it is, it is wicked.
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Now you got two people living in a time and a culture and a world
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where they're not doing what everybody else is doing.
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They are swimming upstream. Can you see it?
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Because they have trusted in the kindness of God and sought
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refuge under his wings. And now they're living not
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because they're worthy, because God is worthy.
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And they're seeking to show that he's worthy.
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And now and now they're they're living out that righteousness in
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their own lives. What I also think just blows my
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mind is this. If you were to pick up a Hebrew
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Bible with the ordering that the Hebrews had, the books in it had
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been divided into the three sections, the law, the prophets,
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and the writings, right? And the book of Ruth follows the
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book of Judges in our English ordering of the Bible.
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But in the Hebrew ordering, the book of Ruth would have come
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right after the book of Proverbs.
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Now you say, Kyle, why is that significant?
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Do you know anything about how the book of Proverbs ends?
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The final chapter, a famous chapter called Proverbs 3031,
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which is all about a what? A virtuous, A worthy woman that,
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by the way, describes as a woman that Let her be praised in the
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gates. Let The Town Talk of her virtue
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and her worth. Guess what's happening in the
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life of Ruth right now. They're Speaking of her worth in
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the city gates. Now here's what's crazy.
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Ruth would have been the farthest thing at one point in
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her life from a worthy Proverbs virtuous 31 woman.
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She'd have been a Moabite foreigner, a worshipper of false
23:41
little G gods outside the will of God, outside the land, the
23:45
promised land of God, cut off from the people of God.
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And yet because of faith in God, she's gone from being one far
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away from God to being called a virtuous, worthy Proverbs 31
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woman. In the Hebrew Bible.
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You read Proverbs 31 and then you read Ruth chapter 1.
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Is that not amazing? It's like God just say, hey, let
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me in the order, just show you an example of what I've just
24:07
described. By the way, if you want to
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something that I hope you never forget, if you walked in the
24:15
doors today wondering about if you're far from God, if you
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think that I'm far away from the will of God, I'm far away from
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the people of God. I'm far away from being worthy,
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walking worthy of the Lord, and with the Lord.
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If you think you're too far away from God's mercy and compassion,
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kindness and grace, the book of Ruth proves to you beyond a
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shadow of a doubt that you're not.
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If God could take her and now describe her as a worthy woman,
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God could take you as a man, woman, boy or girl, if just by
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faith in Him. Be willing to say God have your
24:56
way in my life. God take the pen, God write the
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story. God do in me what only you can
25:00
do, and God would do the same for you.
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The third the second thing I want you to see is not only is
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God planning for our good, but God is proposing for our good.
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I told you the point of chapter 3 is not really Ruth's proposal,
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as crazy as it is the point of Ruth chapter 3 is actually the
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fact in a much bigger way, God is proposing for our good.
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You see, we saw the kindness of God on display through the
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kindness of Naomi. We've seen the kindness of God
25:28
on display through the kindness of Ruth.
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The kindness that they've shown is bold, It's risky, it's
25:34
shameless and provocative. But I want you to consider with
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me how much more shameless God has shown his love.
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How much more shameless has God, how much more boldly has God
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shown us his of how much more provocatively has God shown us
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his love in his Son Jesus Christ?
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You say, what do you, what do you mean by that?
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Here's what I mean. Let's let's just think through
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it. How provocative, how bold, how
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shameless number one, that God would send his one and only son
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to be conceived in the womb of a virgin.
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Y'all realize everyone else living at that time, they
26:08
thought as pure as that was and as perfect as that was, it was
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scandalous in the moment. God shamelessly, boldly did it
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in a way, a perfectly pure way, but nonetheless in a way that in
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men and women's eyes that looked on, look scandalous, look
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provocative, conceived of a virgin, He would send him to
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take on human flesh and live among us.
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How provocative that God would take on human flesh and actually
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be named Emmanuel. God with us living and
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breathing, walking among us in our shoes by calling him to
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suffer on a cross. And I want you to think of, we
26:45
don't talk about this a lot, but He's up there physically bearing
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the physical shame, and not just the physical shame, but the
26:52
spiritual shame of all of our sin laid on Him becoming a curse
26:58
for us. I'm talking about between two
27:01
criminals. How much more scandalous that
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the Son of God would lay there physically laid bare before the
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world and laid bare and hanging there suffering to the point
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that he would cry out, shedding His blood for us to the point it
27:15
was finished and gave His last, dying in our place, becoming a
27:19
curse for us, His blood shed for us.
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Why? To redeem all who would call on
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His name for salvation. To save those who would say yes
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to his proposal of salvation. You see, here's the truth,
27:35
friends. We have not proposed to God.
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God has proposed to us. And that's not the way you think
27:47
it would go. But he did it shamelessly.
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He did it boldly. He did it more provocatively,
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purely than you could ever imagine.
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The question is, have you said yes?
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Have you said yes? Let's pick up with where the
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text where we left off, verse 12.
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And now it is true that I am a Redeemer, Boaz says.
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And yet there is a Redeemer nearer than I remain.
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Tonight in the morning, if he will redeem you, good, let him
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do it. If he is not willing to redeem
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you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you.
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Lie down until the morning. So she lay at his feet until the
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morning, but arose before one could recognize another.
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And he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the
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threshing floor. And he said, Bring the garment
28:40
you are wearing and hold it out. So she held it, and he measured
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out six measures of barley and put it on her.
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Then she went into the city and when she came to her
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mother-in-law, she said, how did you fare my daughter?
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And then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying
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these six measures of barley he gave to me.
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For he said to me, you must not go back empty handed to your
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mother-in-law. That's a smart man right there,
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she replied wait my daughter until you learn how the matter
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turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter
29:10
today. Boaz said yes, but he can't act
29:14
on that. Yes, unless someone else says
29:17
no. Now I just want you to think
29:19
about this. How awkward would this be guys?
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If you know you're thinking about how you're going to
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propose to your wife and got the plan together.
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You got the ring, you're in the moment.
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You drop to one knee and she's like, yes, as long as somebody
29:33
else says no. I mean, how weird would that be,
29:37
right? But the deal is, yes, Elimelech
29:39
is a Redeemer, but he's not the closest male relative.
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There is one closer in Elimelech's family that ought to
29:47
have the right, the right first, the right of refusal first, if
29:51
you will, to redeem. So Boaz is not up to the plate
29:55
yet. He's on deck.
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They got to check and do this right with the first Redeemer.
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In the meantime, right, To send Ruth home in the middle of the
30:01
night would have been unkind and unwise.
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So she continues to stay there under his protection.
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They just set their alarms early enough to get up before
30:09
daylight. Y'all notice that?
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They're like, listen, we don't want people.
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We don't want to give the appearance of evil.
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This has been pure and virtuous. And yet we need to take care of
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this in a way that would be wise.
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And so Ruth makes it home. But Boaz doesn't leave Ruth.
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And she he doesn't send her home empty handed.
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I love the way one preacher put this.
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He said, you know, Ruth kind of catches Boaz off guard, like he
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caught, she caught him by surprise.
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So he didn't really have the ring ready right, but he did the
30:36
next best thing he could, which was six months supply biscuits
30:39
to take home the mother-in-law. So he's like hey, I'm going to
30:41
load you up with bread. Y'all going to eat good for a
30:43
while. This is I'm going to make good
30:45
on my promise. And this is seriously a
30:48
significant act, right? Because it's a continuation of
30:51
Naomi's reversal where she again blamed God when she came back to
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Bethlehem. Remember what she said, Don't
30:57
call me Naomi, Don't call me sweet.
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Don't call me pleasant. Call me what?
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Call me bitter. And you know why?
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Because she was bitter, because she was blaming God.
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That's what happens. We get bitter is when we're
31:07
blaming God. And what she said was, you know,
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I was full. But guess who emptied me?
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Guess whose fault it is? God emptied me.
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But guess who is refilling Naomi?
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Guess who's renewing her? Guess who's providing for her?
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God is. You know, the third thing I want
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you to see? Not only is God planning for our
31:29
good, not only has God actually proposed for our good, but God
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is in heathen, the here and now, providing for our good here and
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now and forever. God is providing for our good
31:41
now and forever. Y'all, the point of Ruth 3 is
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not Mama. You ought to play matchmaker.
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That's not the point. That may work out, it may not.
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Y'all. The point is not ladies, If he
31:53
doesn't propose, then take things into your own hands and
31:56
sneak up on him at night and lie down.
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See what happens. Don't do that.
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The point is not, guys, if you don't have a ring, you know,
32:03
give barley instead that. I mean, none of those are the
32:05
point, right? What, what, what is the point?
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The point is that we see the kindness of God on display
32:17
through the craziest of proposals that we couldn't
32:19
imagine. But actually the point is
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there's a much greater proposal that's much crazier, that's much
32:27
Wilder. It's quite honestly much more
32:30
scandalous, this much bolder, much bolder, much more shameless
32:36
that God has done for us, planning for our good, proposing
32:40
for our good through his Son and providing for our good through
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his Son as well. There, there is a lesson here
32:46
too I don't want to overlook. You've heard it said that, and
32:50
often times it's attributed to Scripture.
32:52
You've heard this saying God helps those who help themselves.
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That's nowhere in the Bible, by the way.
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The book of Ruth seems to say the exact opposite of that.
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The book of Ruth seems to say, you know who God is kind to and
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shows kindness to and goes out of his way to be kind to those
33:11
who first think of others and are kind to them.
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Ruth to Naomi, Naomi to Ruth, Ruth to Boaz, Boaz to Ruth and
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Naomi. Don't you see the kindness going
33:26
around and God behind it orchestrating at all, being kind
33:29
to those who show kindness? But it's even deeper than that.
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Because if we stop there, that'd be wonderful, but it wouldn't be
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merciful and gracious. God is kind even to those who
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are not kind, because we've certainly not all been kind to
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Him. Every one of us have sinned and
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gone our own way, turned our backs on Him.
33:44
God has been kind to us. God has proposed to us even in
33:47
our know, even in our sin, even in our rebellion.
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God's been kind to us and proposed to us anyway to His
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Son, Jesus Christ. Look at the kindness of God.
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You know, I want to finish and land the plane this way.
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I want to kind of go up to just 40,000 feet and connect some
34:08
dots. The book of Ruth is so amazing
34:10
for so many different reasons. One of the ways is just how it
34:13
connects with the overarching story of the Bible.
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I want you to think about it like this.
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Israel, the people of Israel would have been reading the book
34:22
of Ruth while they were in exile.
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Now, if that doesn't mean anything to you, that means,
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right, that what happened is what God said would happen is
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that things would go from bad to worse if His people did not obey
34:33
him. So God would not just shut up to
34:35
heaven. So there was no rain and no
34:37
food. If they kept on the trajectory
34:39
of sin and unfaithfulness, God was one day going to give them
34:43
the boot from the promised land. He was going to evict them
34:46
through foreign people's coming in, conquering and hauling them
34:49
off into exile. That's what's happened.
34:51
And that's where Israel is. When they get the book of Ruth
34:53
and they're reading it. I just want you to think big
34:57
picture, Who else was exiled? Could I put it like this?
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Was evicted from their promised place of living after they
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sinned all the way back in the beginning, Adam and Eve.
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Adam and Eve sinned and they got the boot.
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They had to leave the promised land.
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They were exiled, if you will. Now, they weren't exactly forced
35:23
to leave, but they chosen their sin to leave.
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And under God's consequences, guess who else had to leave the
35:28
promised land or who chose to leave the promised Land here
35:32
described in the book of Ruth, Elimelech and Naomi?
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And their two sons left again. That was not a wise decision to
35:40
leave the place God had promised to provide for them.
35:43
All right, so Israel's, we've got to be reading this,
35:46
identifying with Naomi. We've been evicted.
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Will God be kind to us again? Will we ever be able to return
35:52
to the place and provision of God and his promises for us?
35:57
What's going to, what's God going to do?
35:58
Right? And furthermore, there was a
36:00
promise that God gave back in the very beginning, after that
36:03
first eviction from the garden. Adam and Eve sinned.
36:06
God evicts him, but God gives them a promise, whereas mercy
36:10
and grace is all over. And it's in Genesis 315 where
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one day one would be born. The Bible says a seed and
36:17
offspring of the woman that would actually one day bring
36:20
success, bring a conquering of sin, bring a restoration By
36:24
doing what? Crushing the head of the
36:27
serpent, the enemy that tempted mankind to sin.
36:31
Now, what they don't know right now is that the one to be born,
36:34
the promised one of that line is going to be born in the line of
36:36
who? Ruth.
36:41
But guess what? So far in the story, there's no
36:44
offspring. There is no son.
36:46
And if there's no son, the line of Genesis 315, the promise is
36:51
in jeopardy. Right now.
36:52
There's only two dead sons. And by the way, Ruth has been
36:54
barren for 10 years. What's God going to do to
36:57
fulfill his promise? Well, to jump forward in the
37:00
book of Ruth, we want today, but I'll go ahead and tell you, a
37:02
son is going to be born. Guess where he's born?
37:11
Where are they living right now? Bethlehem.
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Guess where else the Son would be born to fulfill the promise
37:20
that God was not going to drop in Ruth.
37:22
He wasn't going to drop from the moment he said it in Genesis
37:24
315, where Jesus the Son of God would be born in Bethlehem, a
37:31
far better, much greater Redeemer than Boaz, a Redeemer
37:35
for all who would trust him by faith to forgive them of their
37:38
sin and offer them life and eternity.
37:42
You know, our Redeemer had to have three things, a Redeemer
37:47
here and for US. Number one, had to be a
37:51
relative, had to be related by blood.
37:54
Aren't you glad Jesus Christ was related by blood to us?
37:58
By taking on human flesh, He qualified as a relative.
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But then a Redeemer also had to have the resources.
38:05
He had to have the ability to purchase.
38:08
He had to have purchasing power. What gave Jesus the purchasing
38:12
power to buy back and redeem sinners from the enemy?
38:17
Why Him? What qualified Him?
38:19
His sinless, innocent perfection.
38:22
The reason why He qualified in your place and mine is because
38:25
He never did what we did, and that's sin against God.
38:27
He had the purchasing power by His innocent blood to buy
38:31
sinners, if they would trust Him by faith.
38:35
He was a relative by blood. His blood was the purchasing
38:39
power and He shed His blood because He thirdly had the
38:43
resolve, our resolve to redeem. And what I mean by resolve, what
38:48
drove Jesus to be our Redeemer for God?
38:50
So His love for you, His love for me gave him the resolve, the
38:58
right, the resources and the resolve to redeem you and me.
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Y'all, we have not proposed to God, but God has proposed to
39:10
you. And by the way, I could have
39:14
told you stories of wild proposals, the most creative
39:17
ideas, but no proposal will ever top God's proposal to mankind,
39:25
to his Son. The question is, have you said
39:28
yes? John and praised him are going
39:31
to come. And here's what I want to ask
39:32
you. If you've not said yes to Jesus
39:36
Christ, I will follow you. I will follow you.
39:41
Only give my heart and my life to you.
39:44
Then the decision that God is leading you and longs for you to
39:46
make today is to trust Him simply to say yes.
39:50
I'm going to stand here as we sing and would love to have you
39:52
step out from where you are. Say, Pastor Kyle, I need to say
39:55
yes to Jesus. I need to say yes to Him.
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I want to today. Maybe you think you or you have
40:05
said yes, but maybe you feel like you've walked away.
40:10
Maybe you felt like you're a long way from the will and the
40:14
kindness of God. Maybe you feel unqualified to be
40:18
back in the kindness of God. Can I remind you again that if
40:24
God can take Ruth from a Moabite Pagan foreigner to a worthy
40:29
woman walking in his will, God can do the same in your life?
40:32
Maybe you seem to come and get on your knees or come to this
40:34
altar and say, God, listen, you know where I am and I want to
40:38
thank you that your kindness has not given up on me.
40:43
Maybe you just need to pray and you're going through a difficult
40:45
time and right now you're struggling to see the kindness
40:47
of God in your life in any way. Maybe been looking for God to do
40:51
something out of heaven, Drop it on you, a miracle inexplicable
40:55
way other than, Oh my goodness, that was God.
40:57
When you know what, God's probably just dropping you
40:59
little bread crumbs every single day to remind you he's with you.
41:02
He's not forsaking you. He's got a plan for you if
41:05
you'll just keep your eyes on him and trust him.
41:07
And maybe you just need to ask God.
41:08
God, help me to see and open my eyes to your kindness and help
41:13
me to be an instrument and a conduit for it, the lives in the
41:16
lives of other people so they can see your kindness and
41:21
respond to him. Heavenly Father, I want to pray
41:25
right now that you would allow us to say yes to your kindness
41:28
to your proposal, the greatest proposals that man could never
41:31
top that you would leave heaven and take on human flesh and step
41:35
in our shoes and hang on a criminal's cross and shed
41:38
innocent blood for sinful men and women who've said no to you
41:43
who often times continue to say no to you and yet you hold out
41:46
your arms to us and Jesus saying would you say yes in faith to
41:50
me? God, I pray that somebody here
41:52
today would say yes to you. God, I pray that somebody here
41:55
today would come from far away thinking there so far and
41:58
perhaps never able to get back to your kindness.
42:01
And yet today show prove to them by what they've heard today that
42:05
they can step back into your will by faith, repenting of
42:09
where they've been, trusting you for where they are and asking
42:12
you to write the directions forward.
42:14
God, I pray that we wouldn't. We would just say yes.
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We'd say yes to you in Jesus name.
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I pray all God's people said Amen.
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Would you stand with me? I'm going to be here.
42:24
I encourage this will be close. Would you come as we sing and
42:27
worship together?