One Hour. One Book: Ruth

all right so I want to take you to the Book of Ruth and I am delighted to do that because this particular book is set at the time of the Confederacy now this is in essence this is a play it's funny for us because up to this point we've done some narrative biographies but this is actually a play it actually plays out in four acts that end up being the funny enough the four chapters it ends up being four acts of a single theme the timing is the time of the book of Judges now I want to walk through the four acts of it and see if I can't break it down for you but the actual central subject is as simple as covenant love it's a whole story of God's covenant love it's an illustration of something but it's also a literal story it also in my view really happened okay and and I want you to see that in act 1 curtain rises and with this curtain what we have is what I would call the pain of covenant love that's chapter 1 the pain of covenant love and and and and to define the pain of covenant love let me just say it's the emptying of my hands let me suggest something to you some of you really think you want the will of God but your hands are so full of what you already have he can't get you to his will until he empties your hands your schedule so full of you he doesn't have any space in it so he's got to empty your schedule so sometimes he'll do that by moving in and then how and then we can look at the way we respond to pain take a look at the beginning it says it came about in the days when judges governed well that tells us exactly when so we can put this somewhere around between 1300 and 1100 BC and there was a famine in the land now do you remember that there are three reigns in Israel there's the or moraine the rains in the latter rains former rains start now you have in October and November former rains those are early rains the early rains come to break up the soil okay if you don't get early rains when you get the main rains which are January February you'll get too much too fast and the seed will run right off the land and you won't get any crops a famine comes when you don't get early and latter rains you only get rains so October November surly rains January February and sometimes in December but December's usually dry January February is rains and into March April as latter rains latter rains it's used by the prophets to talk about the end times there was a time when the rains came too much too fast and the soil got washed off and so they had a famine a certain man of Bethlehem in Judea or Judah went to sojourn into the land of mole off with his wife and his two sons the name of the man was my God is king el God II my god Malik King my God is king and the name of his wife was pleasant one Naomi in technical terms it's unpleasant but she's not anyway and the names of her two sons were Mahone and thei Lyon wasting and puny from F recites of Bethlehem of Judah F recites is if fraught is the area of fruitful place around Bethlehem it's like a county name it's not they're not from the tribe of a fraught there is no tribe of a front a front F recites means people from the fruitful place or the a bountiful place of Bethlehem and Judah now they entered the land of Moab and remain there and my God is king plesance husband died and she was left with her two sons and they took for themselves Moabite women as wives should they have done this no this was an improper thing to do but remember this is the time of the judges when every man does that which is right in his own eyes there's no singular leader no singular court no singular voice of God to the people you got to remember people aren't walking around with a hot copy of Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy in their back pocket nobody's meant mented them off of a printing press yet so there's a vague memory of some laws and they sort of do some things and keep Sabbath maybe and that's as good as it gets so this is an example of how quickly the memory of God's law faded in the people okay and they as says they took one's name was Orpah that's the girl from which Oprah's name was misspelled on her birth certificate and which is why she's called Oprah Orpah and the name of the other was root which is the word that means friend we don't know if it was her name or if it's resupplied back because she becomes the prototypical friend of friends okay but they lived they lived there about 10 years now both Malone and Healey own died with names like wasting and puny what did you think was going to happen apparently they were sickly I mean seriously who names their kid wasting you know the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband what does that in verse 5 according to the law then what is her position they owned a farm back in Bethlehem under the name of Allah Malak and he is now dead she can return to the farm but what can she not do she can't sell it nor can she raise crops and sell the crops ok she she doesn't really have a lot of latitude here because there's no male heir you know proverbs 31 she can slice dice sell buy and sell real estate if she has a male heir but without a male heir she's dead in the water then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return to the land of Mothe for she had heard in the land of mauve that the Lord had visited his people and giving them food so she departed from the place where she was and her due daughters-in-law with her and they went on the way to return to the land of juda now here's what I want you to see the setting is in the first half of verse 1 but when you go to the second half of verse 1 all the way to verse 5 look at how God moved in ok in verse verses 1 & 2 God might take from your life things she lost her farm in verses 3 & 4 God might take from your life people she lost her husband she lost her sons in verse 5 God might take from your life wealth and security look at what we're saying we're saying that in order for God to put in play what he wanted to do in her life he had to remove from her things that she cared about people that she loved and wealth and security that she cherished all those things God took if you sign on to the God of the Bible you are signing on that God has the right to move the furniture off the deckchairs of your cruise ship and he can empty you out and sink the boat if he wants now that's not the message to tell evangelists tell you but that's the one that's in the Bible and it's not easy to stomach that God might remove from my hands somebody that I love when you get to verses 6 to 22 the first 5 verses are about how God moves in the rest of the verses are how about how you respond now look at the response in verses 7 6 to 22 you get down to 6 she rose she took her daughters-in-law verse 7 she departed with him verse 8 Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law go return each of you to your mother's house you know what I find I find that when we are in pain when God moves out of our life things that we cherish very often we look past what he left partly I think she was letting them go because she was going back to Judah and she knew that they shouldn't be in her life to begin with I mean let's face it who wants to move back in the Bethlehem and say here are my two daughters from the Moabites probably not her I don't know why it is guys I don't know why it is but when we are hurting we tend to look at what we lost and not look at what we still have and what she saw was right past the girl that God left in her life this is what I lost the second thing I want you to do is understand that when in addition to looking past God's gifts is that one of the things we do is we push away the very people who are there to help us look look at what happens and eight may the Lord deal kindly with you second half of eight as you have dealt with the dead and with me may the Lord grant that you find rest each in the house of her husband then she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and they wept apparently they really loved their mother-in-law and they said to her no but we will surely return with you to your people but Naomi said return my daughters why should you go with me have I yet sons in my womb so that they may be your husband's she's fixed on one thing I have no inheritance and no place for you I can't give you anything now here's the thing does she need people that love her to cry with yes but she's dismissing out of her life the last people that are a piece of the pain she's been through and that is exactly what we do when we go through pain we start dissing all the people that want to help or attacking the people they're still in our life and what's interesting is if you go on we also believe God's not looking out for our best interest see we start believing God has turned against me why because my life my physical life isn't going well who doesn't understand this the people that you love die you lose your stuff you know at some point don't you think Jobe wanted to look up and go alright I get it already I'm slime what do you want from me he didn't but I think it would be normal to do look what it says first I'll have anything she said would you therefore wait until they were grown would you therefore refrain from marrying no my daughters it is harder for me than for you for the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me do you see it God doesn't care about me run don't walk to the nearest exit you don't want to be near me I bring the plague God doesn't love me anymore you sort of see that once we start believing God's not looking out for our best interests we're going to be walking headlong into sin it's interesting verse 14 says they lifted up their voices and wept again and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law but Ruth clung to her there it is Ruth not letting her go so Orpah goes back verse 15 then she said behold your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods return after your sister-in-law Ruth said do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you for where you go I will go and where you Lodge I will Lodge your people shall be my people now look at the end and your God my God don't ask me to go back to the gods of my people I want your God your people I want you can you hear can you hear how bitter Naomi is sounding and Ruth is standing right there look at verse 17 where you die I will die and there I will be buried thus may the Lord do to me or worse if anything but death parts you and me you have a friend like that you have somebody in your life that's like that I got to tell you something that's worth more than gold and she's an idiot to get rid of somebody who says no I'm standing with you for the it's you and me to the end kid when she saw that she was determined to go with her she said no more to her there's no encouragement from Naomi none she said leave Leave leave Leave Ruth said I'm not leaving I'm gonna die with you I'm clinging to you you know getting away from me I love you I'm staying right here no response crickets okay but she says all right she's not gonna leave so I'm not gonna say anything look at verse 19 they both went until they came to Bethlehem and when they had come to Bethlehem all the city was stirred because of them and that women said is this my sweetness she said do not call me my sweetness call me Mara call me bitterness for the Lord Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me I went out full but the Lord has brought me back empty can anybody tell me what Ruth felt like I don't have anything my whole world has come apart what is she chopped liver we talking spam here what is this why do you call me Naomi since the Lord is witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me can you hear bitterness dripping is that what happened did God take ulema Lac Malone and clearly owned because he wanted to strip her down because he wanted to be angry with her did he take away her farm and a famine because he wanted to just be vengeful no the problem is the pain of covenant love before God can put you on the path he wants you want he's got to get you off the path you want to be on and sometimes corrective paths are tough so let's say let's put it in real terms I mean for most of you you know it's gonna be hard to talk about a husband or a wife and two kids so let's just put it in in order for God to get you to the right guy ladies sometimes she's got to get you to break up with the one you got in order for him to get you to the right gal gentlemen he might make her turn on you or run off with somebody else and you're just stunned and devastated so Naomi returned and with her ruth the moabite us her daughter-in-law who returned from the land of Moab and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest so we we know that when they're arriving they're coming in and by now the timer by the way in bread in this time was mostly barley bread wheat was only something wealthy people had so barley bread was the average bread of the day and when you when you're trying to set the story it starts in a barley harvest which is an autumn harvest and it starts on that for a reason okay if chapter one is the pain of God emptying my hands the pain of covenant love then chapter two is the process of of covenant love this is God filling up a cup that he emptied God dumped out her cup now God is going to begin to fill it but here's what he desires he desires my understanding in the process of his filling he wants me to understand he's the one directing my life and he wants us to experience blessing but understand that he's the source of it and he has a purpose for it the greatest sin in the 21st century American church is that we have been blessed immeasurably in America and we don't know why we think it was so we could have a bigger swimming pool or a third car many of us have been incredibly materially blessed and we use it more on ourselves let me start off by saying that these are principles of God's blessing in Chapter two when God is blessing you here's some basic principles the first one I think is in verses 1 & 2 it begins with our ability to be humble before God God does not bless arrogant people he resists the proud but gives grace to the humble so look at verses 1 & 2 now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband a man of great wealth of the family of Elimelech whose name was Boas and Boaz is in him his strength in him his strength so my God is king had relative by the name of in him his strength a lot turns on the meanings of the words as you can tell verse two and the friend wrote Ruth the Moabitess said to the pleasant one Naomi please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain and she's not talking about corn she's talking about barley okay after one in whose sight I may find favor and she said to her go my daughter now here's the interesting thing verse one says that there is hope in the family but verse two says the person who doesn't know the person in the family who gives hope is sent out to go and get food in other words Ruth doesn't know what Naomi knows Naomi knows that there are other options here why is she not going for them because she's bitter when you believe God's not looking out for you you don't keep trying harder you just go fine he took everything that I'm just not having anything and so she's sitting in the corner kind of feeling bad about herself and Ruth says you know we got to get some food in here how about I go out too and find someone that will let me glean the corners of the field fine go do it look it begins with our ability to be humble before God and Ruth has no problem representing humility in the story I would tell you this in verse 3 verse 2 humility can be expressed in letting somebody help us so I want you to see that in verse 2 Naomi begins to soften the very first softening point in the story of Naomi Upton till now is she says okay I'll let you I'll let you go get what we need but that's the first softening in verse 3 let me give you a third principle when we do our part God directs the blessing toward us you don't have to seek the blessing you just have to do your part in it if you'll do your part in it he'll come after you so in verse verse three she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the Reapers and she happened to to the portion of the field belonging to in him a strength Boas who was of the family of Elimelech now did you notice in verse three she doesn't know what she's doing she's stepping out to try and do something positive but she doesn't have any idea what what she's doing she happens into the field now of course we gotta leave the hand of God in here right so in verse three when she did her part God brought her to the place of blessing it's always easier for God to redirect you when you're already doing something sit in your corner and sob and say I gotta meet somebody you're not gonna meet them unless they happen into the corner okay so the smartest thing you can do is get busy doing what is good and right and God can redirect you I think it's interesting because in verse four God often blesses people because of a believer who happens to be close by so in comes in verse four the believer now behold Boas came from Bethlehem and said to the Reapers may the Lord be with you why did I call him the believer because he opens up with may the Lord be with you and they said to him may the Lord bless you then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the Reapers whose young woman is this he looks at this girl and he thinks that Ruth must be a servant of someone what I think is interesting is look at what happens in verses five through nine when God gives he covers more than the need so the blessing pours out and when it's it's almost like when you start pouring and it just it all comes out so look what happens verse six servant in charge of the Reapers replied she is a young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of mauve and she said please let me glean and gather after the Reapers among the sheaves thus she came and has remained from the morning until now she has been sitting in the house for a little while it's not a house it's a little lean-to Shack it's the middle of the day where people take the siesta time she's taking the time off to sit underneath the shade he comes upon and says who is she finds out that she's representing part of his family he now has an opportunity to bless his family he can do some he didn't know that Naomi was back he doesn't know anything that's happened and so he's going to catch up on some of the history here and in verse verse 8 then Boaz said to Ruth clean I'm sorry I just reversed 7 she said please please let me glean gather after the Reapers among the sheaves thus she came and has remained from the morning until now she's been sitting in the house for a while then bow I said to Ruth listen carefully my daughter do not go to glean in another field furthermore do not go on from this one but stay here with my mates in other words get out of the waiting till after they've picked you can pick alongside them and take whatever you need this is a way for him to cover a need for his family and one of the great things is she doesn't understand why this blessing is happening she's just trying to take care of a problem and stand in for her friend who is obviously hurting so badly that she can't help herself I think one of the interesting things is when you get down to verse 10 when we truly understand the goodness of God we cannot understand why he considers us worthy and you see it in verse 10 listen to this she says then she fell on her face bowing to the ground and said to him why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner this is interesting because she is of a foreign people and but she exudes a humility that is an attractive humility I can't believe you would even pay attention to me I'm just a Moabite US what she doesn't know is he's he is now supplying also for his family and when you get to verse 11 here's another principle God blesses those who are faithfully dedicated to do what he wants them to be doing so in verse 11 Boaz replied to her all that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me and this is the first time Boaz reveals he's understanding more than he appeared to be understanding and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and came to a people that you did not previously no he said I've seen your sacrifice and I've heard your whole story in the background and I got to tell you something I'm really impressed with what I heard you get down to verse 11 and in verse 12 and God blesses the people who act in faith right so verse 12 may the Lord reward your work and your wages be full from the Lord the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to seek refuge then she said I have found favor in your sight my lord for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant though I am NOT like one of your maid servants I I think what's interesting is she's a thankful person one of the people that God I will tell you this God loves to bless thankful people it's not only humble people it's thankful people people you know it's you know what a joy it is to do something nice to somebody who really appreciates it how many of you know how unjoin it is to do something for somebody who doesn't appreciate it if you if you drop from 14 all the way down through the rest of the passage you come to the conclusion that God's an object in blessing is to get our attention and keep it on him so look what he does in 14 at mealtime Boaz said to her come here that I may eat that you may eat the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar you're all excited about that meal right bread and vinegar actually it's a pretty decent meal for a midday when it's really hot out and so she she sat beside the Reapers and he served her beside the Reapers he served her roasted grain and she ate and she was satisfied and had some left it's roasted barley dipped in vinegar it's actually quite good I know it doesn't sound good but it is when she rose to glean Boaz commanded his servants saying let her glean even among the sheaves and do not insult her why did he say that because she's a Moabite Asst there's a lot of prejudice out in that field but he doesn't have it and although she is able to speak the Hebrew language it's clear she has learned to do so she is not she probably speaks it with an accent she's an immigrant and they're not the most immigrant friendly people and what's interesting is it says also you shall purposely pull out from her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean it and do not rebuke her so she gleaned in the field until evening then she beat out what she had gleaned that sounds funny but when you take barley you actually pick it and then you actually beat it and then you actually break up the barley and then it's eventually ground okay so she's gone she's processing what she has picked and she had about an ephah of barley she took it and went into the city and her mother-in-law saw that she what she had gleaned she also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied her mother and loll then said to her where did you glean today where did you work may he who took notice of you be blessed now this is the first that's the first positive statement she's given in the whole book this is the first time she said anything nice about people I think you're almost halfway through the book and by now you should feel like lady you really have a chip on your shoulder but don't forget what she's lost she's lost everything that matters to her I don't know if you know what that feels like but that / this is the person whose whole family dies in the car accident but then she totally has her world ripped apart what I think is interesting is Naomi said to her her daughter-in-law may he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead again Naomi said to her the man is our relative he is one of our closest relatives what's interesting is Naomi recognizes who Boaz is but that's not the surprising part she for the first time acknowledges she does have an alternative to sitting there and dying slowly there are relatives oh there are relatives why don't you tell me there were relatives now what's interesting is after she tells him about Boaz and they're talking back and forth first 21 then then ruth the moabite is said furthermore he said to me you should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law it is good my daughter that you go out now that this is the second positive statement it is good that you go out with his maids so that others do not fall upon you in another field apparently she's drop-dead gorgeous and her mother-in-law is afraid that she's gonna be out there undefended she's a Moabite is exactly who does she yelled to it's pretty easy for the person who's the foreigner to get kind of singled out so she says this is really good I feel good about you going out there I feel like you're safe out there what's interesting to me is that's the first tender thing she says to Ruth like it's almost starting to spark inside of her you know I do care about you what you're seeing is God slowly brings blessing to first Ruth and then to Naomi to help fan the flames and wake her up God is not against you he's not trying to harm you he has a future for you but he can't get you there until he ends your past because you're clinging to a set of things and he wants you over here doing this so he finally it says um Naomi said verse 22 to Ruth her daughter-in-law it's good verse 23 so she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest which by the way is short comes a little bit later than the barley harvest and you have a lot less week than you have barley and she lived there with her mother-in-law okay so as act 2 closes act 1 was about the pain of emptying my hands the pain of covenant love but act 2 really is about the process of covenant love what is God trying to do he's trying to work with Naomi to become pleasant to go from being bitter to being pleasant in other word to be revived in to be now what's interesting is the person who came from the foreign people who did not know God is the one who's representing God in the place the one who's doing right is the mo of itis the one who's doing wrong is the Israelite and now you have boas and he comes into the story and what you see is a redeemer a redeemer motif enters all right if chapter one is the pain of covenant love in chapter two is the process chapter three is the power of covenant love and there are five characteristics of God's brand of love in this chapter you're gonna see God's love in in five characteristics and we're gonna fall through them very quickly the first one is in verses 1 through 10 love places the needs of others above my personal comfort God's kind of love puts the needs of other people above my comfort god is looking for the kind of love that gets the woman up at 3 a.m. when the baby's crying because the baby needs to nurse its you act deliberately to meet Annie because there's a need expecting nothing in return that's love but God's brand of love places other people's needs above your personal comfort now here's the illustration in verse verses 1 to 10 then they owe me her mother-in-law said to her my daughter shall I not seek security for you that it may be well with you now it's not Boaz our kinsman with whose maids you were behold he widows barley at the threshing floor tonight wash yourself therefore anoint yourself put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor but do not make yourself known to the man until he is finished eating and drinking it shall be that when he lies down that you shall notice the place where he lies and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down and then he will tell you what you shall do I'm not saying that they were entrapping Boaz I am saying that they are catching him in a moment in which he is absolutely going to be open to listening to what she has to say because if she if he's caught out there at night with a woman alone who's a Moabite us it's not going to go well for him so it's not exactly entrapment but it's really persuasive let's put it that way so what why is he sleeping out there on a barley harvest threshing floor Oh what is a threshing floor I can't wait to take you and show you a threshing floor all right you have a mountain outside of a village and what you do is you clear off the top and you put little walls in a circular you wall in kind of a semicircle let's go up here this is you floating above it looking down okay and what it looks like is this on the inside this is the wall all the way around the outside those are stones work with me here or a birthday cake one of the two anyway and what you do is you have this bumpy surface it's actually the bumpy surface of the ground itself it's more or less level then you take something can you picture a toboggan does everybody know what a toboggan looks like so normally you sled on these okay because it's not a sled sleds have those little things on the bottom but the bargain is just flat on the bottom okay but what they do is they put stones they insert stones in the bottom of it when you turn it up on its side there stones you drill holes and stick stones in it all over and you set it down on the floor and then you get on top of it you put the barley or the wheat down on the ground on the uneven surface of the ground you get on the top of it stand on the toboggan put your foot against the front of it get a donkey and have him pull you and you go about 15 feet and you crush it the donkey turns around 15 feet you come back and crush it and what you're doing is going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth you are crushing and breaking the actual barley or wheat open then you'll take a winnowing fork it's basically a looks like a pitchfork made out of wood and you go like this and you throw it in the air and the reason you do it at the top of the hill as the breeze comes by and all of the casing the chaff around the wheat or the barley goes against the stone wool but what drops is the barley itself and that's what you're going to sell okay and you're trying to get just the grain now it's all done like on machines and stuff but still a lot I can take you to places where it's still being done this way in the Middle East the problem is it's very labor intensive you spend hours and hours and hours and why are you sleeping out there what's yeah because this is your bank account and it's laying all over the floor there's really nothing you can do but lay right there probably keep a dagger right here anybody comes to get your barley they're gonna get a little bit of steel instead now what ends up happening is the way she does this Nayomi by the way is the one with the conniving mind Ruth is being told what to do she's like okay and next what I do uncovers the uncover feet then what do I do it says in verse five she said to her all that you say I will do so she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her beware of those mother-in-law's when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry okay which means he had just done Thanksgiving he passed out after the football game he he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain she came secretly and uncovered his feet you used the top most people had a wrap that they pulled off of themselves and laid down and put it over their feet and wrapped it underneath and besides this this is your coat that you wear but your coat is also your blanket that's why jesus said you know don't don't get into a court at law because they may take away your coat and then you'll be cold at night the coat that you wear during the day is also your blanket at night so you that it that it's an all-purpose stuff okay but that way if you happen to be on a journey you're wearing the same thing you're always wearing honestly people could be identified by the color that they wore or what they because they weren't everyday you never you never really changed and you clothed you cleaned your clothes when you cleaned you right now it says that uncovered her feet and lay down it happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward and behold a woman was lying in his feet in other words she didn't exactly wake him up she very carefully kind of pulled it over to where it was on her uncovering his feet and he woke up and she's laying there okay now this is at best an embarrassing situation for him he's trying to wake her he'll wake up if his feets uncovered at some point he'll get cold okay but it's also her position that his feet is intentional it's a servant possession he says who are you which is what you say when somebody is there and you didn't expect them I am Ruth your maid so spread your covering over your maid for you are a close relative this is her explaining very closely I'm in the family and I will reunite the family if you want to do that he said may you be blessed of the Lord my daughter you have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men whether poor or rich apparently he's a lot older than her and she's good-looking so he's like wow you're kidding me right seriously this is like the best moment of my life right now can we slow this down maybe get it on tape and he says now my daughter do not fear I will do for you whatever you ask for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence I want you to see that I think what's interesting about the story is the first ten verses tell you that love places the need above comfort she goes out and does what otherwise could have been humiliating in her life because the need is greater for Naomi than her sense of herself so she does it but in verse 11 love sees the value of others and I want you to switch places now look at the value he places on her what does he say to her you're a woman of excellence but even more than that who knows that you're a woman of excellence the entire city you mean the entire city of Israelites that was liable to look at her down on her because she was a Moabite Asst see what he's doing he's saying you have distinguished yourself in the most unlikely place possible you you're the immigrant that everybody admires everybody sees that you have something really excellent I think that that put in her heart a joy that's much bigger than you think it's not only that he saw her as a woman of excellence but that all the price that she was paying to be a loving example to Naomi was paying off in the voices of women at the well in the morning where she couldn't hear it let me just remind you something when you do write you don't just do it for the people that are observing it there are people watching your life that you're not aware of and and when you continually do right and you do it as unto the Lord not worried about what people are seeing what people are seeing is great when you do it humbly not on display but just to do it for the Lord now go to verse 12 because in verse 12 and 13 love seeks the best for the object of that love it love provides rest and and comfort look of what he does remain this night and when morning comes if he he says wait a minute I got a backup verse 12 now it is true that I'm a close relative however there's a relative closer than I this has to do with the kinsman redeemer law the closest relative gets the opportunity first to redeem the family now in the redemption what happens okay let's say my name is Joe and I am I am a limb elects long-lost brother that came back from the war okay work with me here Joe is closer than boas so Joe gets a first shot but what does Joe have to be willing to do in order to redeem the name of alumina normally who would Joe marry Naomi however he could by proxy marry Naomi's maid and still it would be legal so what though would Joe give up if Joe takes on a limb elects property he also takes on a limb elects name he also takes on alumina X liabilities if Joe's not in a position to meet the markers of whatever the lemon lack left that he owed Joe would be stupid to do it especially if there's somebody else who can so Joe might step out of the way and in this case he's going to I made him up on what his name is but okay so so although Oz is saying is I'm not I don't get first dibs on this somebody else gets first and if they don't want to do it then I can do it then look at verse 13 remain this night and when morning comes if he will redeem you good let him redeem you but if he does not wish to redeem you then I will redeem you as the Lord lives lie down until morning now look at verse 14 she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another and he said let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor in other words go home when it's still before dawn so nobody knows you were here why is he doing that yes he's protecting her reputation she's built a reputation of excellence in the community he doesn't want to ruin it and one of the things I would tell you is when somebody really loves you they care about your reputation they care about what it looks like it's one of the reasons why I don't ask you all as students to like each other but I do ask you to love one another enough to protect each other's reputations your living in community okay and that means it can be terribly dangerous the kinds of things you could say about one another so be careful to guard one another in love now the other thing I will tell you is look at verse 14 that's love seeks the best reputation that's what it is love is looking out for the reputation of the other and then go to verse vs. 15 and following look at the excitement there is excitement in coming to grips with God's love I want you to see the excitement this is two girls okay she's sneaking into the house now verse 15 he said give me the cloak that is on you and hold it and she held it and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her and she went into the city now she came came to the city to her mother-in-law and she said how did it go my daughter that is not what it she said come on I want to hear every detail now how did it go sit right here just put that part aside okay tell me what happened that's more what she said she said these six measures of barley he gave to me four he said do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed then she said wait my daughter until you know how the matter turns out for the man will not rest until he has settled it today well how does he how does she know that oh yeah you hooked him aha he's not sleeping till he works this out honey sit right there let me get you a cup of tea cuz we're okay now we got some barley want some barley cakes we can do some barley cakes how about pancakes with barley cakes what you hear is a different voice on her and that's what I wanted you to hear I want you to hear that at the end of the power of covenant love there's the redemption of the heart of Naomi before Naomi's bank account is redeemed her heart comes alive and here's the funny part she hasn't really sat down and talked about as yet she didn't need to he sent barley that's all she needed the card was good enough the flowers in the card that was it she didn't need to be there she got the barley okay and she's got this nailed he's not breasts and yeah yeah yeah yeah and you also have to read he's like probably not the most handsome guy out there and a good bit older than her she's really good-looking and I think they only can add this up and go AHA now get to the purpose of covenant love because that's the end chapter 4 is the purpose of covenant love and what happens when God's covenant love is made plain when God's brand of love becomes clear and it says now Boas went up to the gate and sat down there do you remember that the gate of the city is where the judges said right so for instance proverbs 31 you know her husband is known in the gate of the city we talked about this in relation to lot sitting at the gate so he went to the courthouse is really what it says he went to the gate of the city and sat down and behold the closest relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by so he said turn aside friend sit down right here and he turned aside and sat down meaning I have something I need to discuss with you and he sits down in the outer chamber of the gate which is where calm little congress's little little private meetings are held so that people can then go before the court and he took ten men of the elders of the city he said would you all sit down here please and now he's calling and convening a group so they set now I don't know but maybe the closer relative thought Boaz was about to sue him I don't know but he comes into the story and he said to the closest relative Naomi who has come back from the land of Moab has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother elimi luck you never heard this before did you this is the first time in the story you hear about selling land she's not selling it he's setting up that she has to transfer the property that's what the sale is she doesn't have a male heir so one of us are gonna have to take the transfer of property on that's what he's doing so I thought to inform you saying I it before those who are sitting here and before the elders of my people if you will redeem it redeem it but if not tell me that I may know for there is no one but you to redeem it and I am after you and he said I will redeem it so the man looked at and say okay well I think I can sign on for that then Boaz said on the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi you must also acquire ruth the moabite us the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased in his inheritance why does he get Ruth and not Naomi Naomi's beyond childbearing years so if there's a woman who's within childbearing years you can raise up the name of the dead one the closest relatives said I cannot redeem it for myself because I would be jeopardize my own inheritance redeem it for yourself if I have a child with her the child with her would compete with my own child for my for the dual inheritance I put together I already have a firstborn child that's what he's saying and if she has a firstborn to firstborns will come in conflict with one another I don't want to do that he could do it by law he could he doesn't want to so he says redeem it for yourself you may have my right of redemption for I cannot redeem it he has just now bailed out and he's done it in front of ten judges or ten elders now this was the custom and former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter a man removed his sandal and gave it to another and this was the matter of attestation in Israel so the closest roads relative said to boas buy it for yourself and he removed his sandal who removed his sandal Boaz removed his sandal so the closest relative says I can't do it and he backs out Boaz removes his sandal whose sandal is Boaz going to get he's taking off his but he's putting on who's a little X Andale he's raising up the dead man's name so he's saying I take and put aside all of my rights and property and make them second to me and I bind myself to raising up the name of a limo act so any children between Boaz and Ruth would be Elimelech legal children but the legal state of a limo lock would remain in a liminal axe hands why because Boas was walking in his shoes he doesn't lose his properties it's not that it's that the air of the air of the Boaz and Ruth will also get Boaz's property so he owns his property he's about to own a limo lacks property but he's gonna lose his name because his property will be ceded to the air who's who's raised in a limb elects name not in his own this is by the way a deeply honorable thing to do in the community I mean people would gain respect for doing this kind of thing now what I'm trying to get you to see is that the opportunity of blessing to others around God's work will become likely and one of the things that strikes me is some people will be anxious to be involved until they know the cost but once they know the cost they're less likely to want to be involved here's the ironic truth those that love their life those that love their reputation those that love their inheritance more than God's will die and be forgotten we don't know who that guy is we don't even know his name the ironic truth is he said no I can't do it because I got this I have to preserve my family name and his name never shows up in the book in the eternal Word of God the people who do show up in the book are the people who were willing to give up their name I think that's a little bit of ironic the point is the illustration of love all the way through the book each person keeps swapping off the illustration of love and what I want you to see is look at the purpose of what God is doing here now if you if you come down to it it says the closest relatives said their bows by it for yourself verse 8 and he removed his sandal then Boaz said to the elders and all the people you are witnesses today that I bought the land fought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to a limb alack and all that belong to hey Leon and Malone moreover I have acquired Ruth them all bite us the widow of Malone to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the based on his inheritance so that he so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth birthplace you are witnesses today so he's effectively now taken over the name of Elimelech all the people who were in the court all the elders said we are witnesses may the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like rachel and leia both of whom built the house of israel and may you achieve wealth in Ephrata and become famous in bethlehem this is this is supposed to be a compliment I think if anybody said may your wife be like Rachel and Leia having known Rachel and Leia and the story I'm not sure that that's as much a bargain as you might you know you know yeah let's move on moreover may your house be like the house of Peres whom Tamar bore to to Judah through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman in other words they blessed him all around with all kinds of Bible blessings okay and they sent him off with you know Bibles and and Bible things and it says so boaz took ruth and she became his wife and he went into her and the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son then the women said to Naomi blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today and may his name become famous in Israel may he also be to you a restorer of life a sustainer of your old age for your daughter-in-law who loves you is better to you than seven sons and has given birth to him it's interesting how the people around Naomi saw the blessing of God on her hand and on her life more profoundly than she did or earlier than she did and that's often the case people that have been through the harshness and bitterness of having their hands emptied are sometimes the last to see how God is really at work I love that the people here not only blessed him but they all bless her the women bless her now here's the end of it what's the purpose of covenant love God redeemed a family to redeem a nation how did he do it Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap and she became his nurse this is she's lost her sons she's lost her husband but in this young baby she finds this great love and promise of her future the neighbor neighbor women gave him a name saying a son has been born to Naomi so they named him Ovid he is the father of Jesse the father of David el Vettes is worker it's a word means servant or worker and what's interesting is she she's so often seen with this baby that she that the baby becomes known as the servant of her what what they're doing is a tender image here this is a woman who's found new life in her old age holding on to this child but I want you to see something the child has to take care of her and it's sort of turned around by the time the child's five he's probably running and getting her water from the well because she can't get him water okay she's old and so in the delights of her old age she's smiling because as she sits and rocks him and he's now bigger than her and stronger than her everybody's making the making the illusion that God has redeemed your life he's given you something satisfying and rich and then he goes on and says can connects it to God not only gave you Naomi blessing but God gave to the nation King David through this now these are the generations of Peres to Paros was born kazran to hezron was born rom to ROM amanada of Amana DAF not shown not shown Salman salmone born to Boaz and 2 oboes Ovid and Ovid was born to Jesse and to Jesse David and the last word here daveed is also the word much-loved one okay or beloved one and the you would then put dot dot dot at the end of verse 22 and from the line of David came Jesus now let's close this by simply making one simple statement God took everything from this woman and part way through the story she said I am bitter the Lord has been terrible to me had he well yeah in a way you could say losing everybody you love losing your family farm being stuck in some place it's pretty bad isn't it but God was emptying her hands so that he could bless the entire world with a redeemer if God is saying no to what you're asking it's because he's saying yes to something more important you have to know the character of God and his hesed his loving kindness is not going to let you go and if your heart is broken and the things in your life are falling apart you must understand that when I cannot see what he's doing I have to fall back on the character of who he is that's what I have so how many times this year so far have you asked so why did God and I've cut you off and said who the point isn't understand you're not reading the Bible say you can be build a compendium on how God works you're you're studying the Scriptures so that you can know the character of God so that when his acts make no sense his character is what you trust do not do not do not trust the circumstances trust the character of God trust the character of God the circumstances rise and fall and you cannot read the tea leaves of your own life very well guys you can't you're gonna be convinced that you understand where it's going you don't know do I like that no do I trust it you better believe it the character of God is good so we leave our class with God is good all the time all the time God is good he doesn't it's not possible for him to be not good for he defines what good is by his very character [Music] I don't have [Music] to bring to you [Music]

Channel: One Hour. One Book.

Views: 26,426

Rating: 4.8064518 out of 5

Keywords: Book, Literature (Media Genre)

Id: Vwqunk9LSoQ

Length: 60min 21sec (3621 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 08 2015