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At His Feet · Enjoying the Journey

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  The Book of Ruth begins in dark days, but even in
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  the darkness, God was at work. Through loss,
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  uncertainty, and unexpected turns, we discover a beautiful
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  story of grace, redemption, and hope.
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  Join Scott Pauley for this new study, The Gospel According to
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  Ruth. Light for Dark Days.
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  The little book of Ruth is not long, but it is full,
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  full of so much truth and full of the grace
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  of the Lord on unworthy people. Aren't you glad that
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  the Lord loves us exactly like we are?
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  He's not waiting on you to get better, to try harder, to do more.
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  No, the gospel is that He came to us when
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  we could not come to him. We've progressed now
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  in our study through the little book of Ruth to the second half, only 4
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  chapters, and we've studied Ruth chapter 1 and Ruth chapter
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  2, and now we come to Ruth chapter number 3. And may
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  I just say, we're getting to the good stuff. We're getting, we're getting to the
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  part of the story that I think is just so stirring
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  because it again is picturing the gospel and
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  the work of the grace of God in our lives. And so we begin the
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  study. Ruth chapter 3, verse 1. Then Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her,
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  my daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be
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  well with thee? And now is not Boaz
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  of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winneth barley tonight
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  in the threshing floor. Wash thyself therefore
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  and anoint thee and put thy raiment upon thee and get thee down
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  to the floor, but make not thyself known unto the man until
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  he shall have done eating and drinking. And it shall be,
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  when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie,
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  and thou shalt go in and uncover his feet and lay thee down,
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  and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. And she said
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  unto her, all that thou sayest unto me I will do. And she went
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  down unto the floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her.
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  And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to
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  lie down at the end of the heap of corn. And she came softly,
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  and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. And it came to pass at
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  midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself, and behold,
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  a woman lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou?
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  And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid.
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  Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art
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  a near kinsman. And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord,
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  my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness in
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  the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest
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  not young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not,
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  I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the city of my
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  people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it
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  is true that I am thy near kinsman, howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than
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  I, Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning that
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  if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well, let him do
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  the kinsman's part. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to
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  thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord
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  liveth. Lie down until the morning.
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  And she lay at his feet until the morning,
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  and she arose up before one could know another. And he said,
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  let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. Now This
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  is a strange story, strange to our
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  ears because it is so foreign to our culture.
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  Let's get this out of the way right up front: Boaz and Ruth are not
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  dating. This, this modern idea of dating, which by
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  the way often works against actually knowing someone because you get to know the
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  facade or the front without the real person, is not
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  at all the way that men and women got
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  to know one another and pledged themselves to one another in marriage in the
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  ancient culture. So this is not— though there's
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  love here, this is not the kind of romantic encounter
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  that some might imagine. And I would also point out to you that Boaz
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  is a man of integrity. In fact, let me point out to you
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  that here is a, a man of power, a man of
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  means, and yet he's not seeking to take advantage
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  of Ruth or anyone else. He is a man who fears God.
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  And what about Ruth? Well, Ruth is, by even Boaz's
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  testimony in this passage, a virtuous woman in verse number
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  11. She literally is a Proverbs 31 woman.
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  So what does this mean, that she comes by night and
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  she lays down at his feet? Now,
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  the truth of the matter is they got acquainted with
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  one another in public settings in that
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  day. Uh, let's say it this way, they got acquainted in groups,
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  and I think that's healthy. I remember years ago my pastor saying
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  to me, encourage young people to get acquainted with one another where attention
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  is given to everyone and intention is given to no one.
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  Because in a group setting, you learn a great deal about people— how they
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  react, how they respond, how they treat other people.
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  And they not only got acquainted in groups, they got acquainted as they worked.
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  Remember in Romans chapter number 2— excuse me, Ruth chapter
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  number 2— they're in the field. It's harvest time. And so Boaz
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  has been watching Ruth work in the field, and Ruth has been watching the
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  industry of this man Boaz. You can tell much about a person
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  by their work ethic. And during these settings,
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  in the group and in the place of work, they grew
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  to love one another. And what you're reading in Ruth chapter number 3 is
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  an expression of that. Now, the idea here
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  of lying down at the feet was
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  a means of humbly approaching. It was—
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  we'll talk more about this— the place of submission.
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  It was the place of trust. It was a place not where
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  physical attraction and physical intimacy
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  was initiated, but rather it was a demonstrable
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  pledge of affection. And of commitment.
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  So Ruth is offering herself in a virtuous
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  way to this man, and he responds equally in
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  a virtuous way. Now there's a phrase that I want to draw to your
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  attention. It's found repeatedly. In verse number 4,
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  Naomi says to lay down at his feet.
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  In verse number 7, the Bible says that Ruth came
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  and uncovered his feet and laid her down. Again,
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  in verse 8, Boaz awoke and there was Ruth lying at his
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  feet. In verse 13, he says
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  to her, lie down. In verse 14, she lay at his feet.
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  Do you see the repeated emphasis here on her being at
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  his feet? Let me remind you that
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  Boaz is a picture of our Lord Jesus and
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  that Ruth is a picture of of the humble and needy
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  soul that comes approaching because
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  of grace and experiencing love and all the
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  blessings that come from that. Can I tell you, dear friends, where we
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  come to when we come to the Lord? We come to his feet.
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  Someday every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that
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  Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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  Someday all of us are going to kneel at the nail-pierced feet of
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  the Lord Jesus Christ. But I want you to know that actually now we
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  ought to be living our lives at the feet of Jesus.
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  We come with a spirit of surrender and we consecrate
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  ourself to the Lord. He laid down his life for us.
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  We now lay down our life at his feet. We yield ourself
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  without reservation, without equivocation,
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  without negotiation. We yield ourself to the lordship
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  of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful picture this is. So may I
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  ask you, have you laid down at the feet of Jesus?
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  Have you humbly and honestly and openly
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  and personally laid yourself down at the altar
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  of sacrifice before the throne of God and said to the Lord, Lord,
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  I'm all yours, do with me as you will?
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  Can I just tell you, that's not a scary thing. No, it's a wonderful
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  thing because the Lord never is going to make a mistake with your life.
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  You can trust one who loves you unconditionally.
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  Don't you know that Ruth trusts Boaz
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  at this point and knows he is going to do what is in her
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  best interest and what is the right decision?
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  Well, I want you to know you can trust the Lord that way. Bring yourself
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  to him, your whole self— spirit, soul, and body—
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  and lay it today at the feet the Lord Jesus
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  Thank you for joining us for today's study. If you've enjoyed this
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  journey through Ruth, visit us at etj.bible and
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  explore our Journey Through Scripture section, where you'll find overviews,
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  Bible teaching, and preaching for every book of the Bible.
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  simply click give at etj.bible.
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  Until next time, keep following God's word and
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  finding Christ's joy.