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What a Beautiful Wedding! · Enjoying the Journey

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  The Book of Ruth begins in dark days, but even
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  in the darkness, God was at work. Through loss,
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  uncertainty, and unexpected turns, we discover
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  a beautiful story of grace, redemption, and hope.
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  Join Scott Pauley for this new study, The Gospel According
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  to Ruth. Light for Dark Days.
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  Wedding days are wonderful days.
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  They are celebrations. I must say to you,
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  they have a very different perspective depending on whether
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  you are a guest at the wedding or a participant,
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  because if it's family, it's just
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  different. I remember when Tammy and I were married, we were
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  married on a Friday the 13th. That was a very lucky day
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  for me, a day of great blessing. But now,
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  as a father, we have given away both of our daughters
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  in marriage to 2 fine young men, and we're grateful
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  to God for them. But speaking as a father, the wedding is different
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  when you're the one paying for it. And so we have a son now And
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  I, I am rejoicing that somebody else is going
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  to help pay for that wedding. But weddings are costly things,
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  and yet the most valuable thing at the wedding is not the flowers,
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  it is not the venue, it is not the food, it's not
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  the dress. The most valuable thing at any wedding is the love. It is
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  the love between a man and a woman and the union of
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  those 2 hearts before a holy God. And for
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  the record, there is nothing quite like a Christian wedding because this
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  is not just the union of, of body and soul, it is also the union
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  of spirit. 2 who are given to God are now given to
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  one another. And we get a picture of that in Ruth chapter 4
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  as Boaz and Ruth come together. It truly is one
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  of the great romance stories of the Bible, and they become one
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  of the great couples of scripture. And I'll remind you From the
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  very beginning, I said to you this is the Gospel according to Ruth because it
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  is a picture of the loving union of
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  a worthy man and an unworthy Moabitess
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  woman, a woman that really had no place in Israel, no place certainly
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  in the line of Messiah. And yet through Boaz,
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  through his love, through his sacrifice, through his grace,
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  she comes into this relationship and into this family.
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  I, I think it is just a remarkable reminder of
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  the work that the Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly bridegroom,
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  has done to bring us into God's family. Remember in Ephesians
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  chapter 5, marriage is a picture of the union between
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  Christ and his church? Well, you're going to see that dramatically
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  portrayed today in the union of Boaz and Ruth in Ruth
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  chapter 4. The Bible says in Ruth chapter number 4 and
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  verse number 8 that the kinsman,
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  uh, which was the near kinsman to Ruth, has now decided he
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  cannot redeem all that belongs to Ruth and to her family, all of that
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  inheritance, lest he mar his own inheritance. So he says to Boaz,
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  you redeem her. In other words, I cannot,
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  so you bring her into your family.
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  Verse number 8, therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz,
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  buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.
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  Now this is a— this is an unusual, uh,
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  symbolic thing in ancient Israel. This goes all the way back to
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  the book of Deuteronomy, all the way back to the Law of Moses.
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  In fact, in the previous verse, verse number 7, the Bible says,
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  now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning
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  redeeming and concerning changing. For to confirm all
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  things, a man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor, and this
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  was a testimony in Israel. So in that day,
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  if a man would not redeem, uh, the,
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  the inheritance, it was really a disgrace. It was a dishonor.
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  In fact, there were 2 parts to this custom. One was that he
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  had to draw off his shoe, and the other was that the woman would spit
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  in his face. Now, in this particular instance, there's no record of Ruth spitting
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  in his face because it was done in an honorable way. He was
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  not rejecting her. He was saying, I don't have the
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  capacity, the power to redeem all that belongs to her.
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  Boaz, you have that. You do that. And of course,
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  we know by now that's exactly what Boaz wanted to hear. Yes,
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  yes, that's what we want. We want Ruth to become Boaz's
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  wife and Ruth to come into this line and into this
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  family. So they're going through the custom. Remember, they're sitting in the court
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  at the gate of the city. He takes off his shoe. Verse number 9,
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  Boaz said unto the elders and to all the people, Ye are witnesses this day
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  that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, all that was Chilion's
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  and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
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  the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise
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  up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of
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  the dead be not cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of
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  his place. Ye are witnesses this day. And all the people that
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  were in the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. The Lord make
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  the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah,
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  which two did build the house of Israel. And do thou worthily
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  in Ephratah and be famous in Bethlehem.
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  And let thy house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah,
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  of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. So Boaz
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  took Ruth and she was his wife. And when he went in unto her,
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  the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. It's beautiful,
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  isn't it? May I just pause and say he did it the right way.
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  He did it God's way. Now, uh, the— their ancient custom,
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  their culture, very different from ours. For example, if somebody at
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  a wedding today took off a shoe or threw a shoe, we would think this
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  is not a good thing. But in this instance, uh, the, the transaction
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  that was taking place was very much understood by everyone there.
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  And it's wonderful when there is a wedding that
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  is done God's way, in a way that honors the Lord,
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  honors the woman, honors the man. This is
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  God's way. Sin brings dishonor, but righteousness
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  always brings honor. Now let's return to our understanding
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  of this being a picture of the, the romance and redemption
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  of Christ, the love and sacrifice of the
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  Lord Jesus. There are some common denominators even to weddings today.
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  For example, first of all, notice the price of
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  the wedding. Boaz said, I bought it all, I paid for
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  all of it. You don't go halfway in, friends, you go all the
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  way in. When you buy the ring, you pay for it. When you buy the
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  dress, you pay for it. When you When you plan the wedding,
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  you pay for it. There is a price to be paid. And for the record,
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  the wedding is only part of it. Far too many couples today want
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  a great wedding day, but they think more about the wedding than they do the
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  marriage. Friend, I want you to know that the, the price of having a great
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  marriage is much more costly than the cost of a ceremony.
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  And so Boaz understands that. He's making a commitment.
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  It is a loving commitment to say, I have bought it all.
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  I'm willing to pay the price. Can I tell you what the Lord Jesus Christ
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  did for us? In the words of the hymn writer, Jesus paid it all,
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  all to him I owe. In fact, on the cross when he
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  cried, it is finished, he used a merchant term, tetelestai,
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  which means paid in full. He paid the sin debt,
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  friends. He paid it in full to bring you into God's family.
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  And so number one, there is the price of the wedding. Secondly, there's the proclamation
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  of the wedding. Because he's very concerned that all the witnesses observe
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  it and testify to it. Even today we have witnesses at a wedding.
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  That's why I think it's beautiful to see a, a church wedding, a Christian
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  wedding, whatever the venue itself happens to
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  be, that it be done in the presence of witnesses is, is important.
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  Because what kind of love wants to be hidden? No,
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  true sacrificial love wants everybody to know. That's why you send out
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  the invitations. That's why you make the announcement. That's why you wear the ring.
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  You, you do it publicly. And so the proclamation is,
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  praise God, we have come into God's family through the
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  redemptive work of Jesus. And then finally, there is the prayer at
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  the wedding. The most holy thing at the wedding is when we
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  make our dedication prayer to God, when the couple dedicates themselves
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  in prayer to the Lord. And in verse 11 and 12, there's a
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  prayer. We'll pick up with this prayer in our next study. But it sanctifies
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  the whole union because it's more than Boaz and Ruth. It is the
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  work of the Lord. Can I just tell you, salvation is
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  of the Lord. Christ has paid it in full. Be unashamed
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  to proclaim that you're a follower of the Lord Jesus and make this your
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  prayer: Lord, let us be fruitful and bring you great glory as
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  a result of the work of salvation you've done in our hearts.
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  Thank you for joining us for today's study. If you've enjoyed
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  this journey through Ruth, visit us at etj.bible
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  Until next time, keep following God's Word and finding Christ's