1 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:11,440 We're going to continue in our second week now in a series for 2 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,280 Advent. And so we'll begin by looking at 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,280 the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1, and then 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,120 we're going to move over to the book of Ruth. 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:25,160 And before we do those things, just to kind of kind of explain 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:30,920 why it's so good and right to take a moment to prepare our 7 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,280 hearts for the incarnation. The celebration that Jesus 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:39,160 became flesh came into the world in what is called Advent is 9 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:44,240 because it it reminds us that just as the people of old had to 10 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,880 wait for Jesus to come in a time that sometimes felt dark and 11 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:54,360 confusing, so do we. The the times that you live in 12 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:59,440 will not always be the excitement of the sanctuary at 13 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,880 church and the blessing of hearing the word of God preached 14 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,720 in the community of Jesus. No doubt you you should know 15 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,000 this by now and in case you you don't, your life will go through 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,800 times that are very hard. And that is what what the Advent 17 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,480 season reminds us of that in waiting you wait sometimes in in 18 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,200 darkness and confusion. I was reminded of the importance 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,560 of of remembering that for believers that the church 20 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,200 calendar gives us this time to to remember that life is not 21 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:32,320 always just joy and happiness. As I was listening to Christmas 22 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,920 music this week that it's the time is among us. 23 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,760 How many of you have turned on light One O 8 and you're just 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:40,600 enjoying all of the holiday classics. 25 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,320 And so in listening to the Christmas music, I, I think I 26 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:47,960 can confidently say I found the most inappropriate Christmas 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,800 song. And I'll share it with you with 28 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,000 confidence that it's not inappropriate in the worldly 29 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:55,320 sense. So just hold off. 30 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,960 I'm not going to declare what that song might be, but the most 31 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:03,200 inappropriate in the Advent sense is sadly one of my 32 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,240 favorites. And it goes, it's the most 33 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:11,840 wonderful time of the year. It's the hap happiest season of 34 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:13,840 all. And I love that song. 35 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,440 And I know many of you are already singing that song with 36 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,560 your turtleneck and your Christmas sweater and your 37 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,080 eggnog. Because it is a wonderful time. 38 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,720 I love Christmas lights. I love Christmas movies. 39 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,680 I love it all. But it's inappropriate for the 40 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,200 church calendar. It is not meant to be a time for 41 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,440 us to just sing how wonderful life is right now. 42 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:40,360 When we when we remember that Jesus came into a world in the 43 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:45,120 expectation and longing for people in darkness, it gives us 44 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,520 a reminder that we too have to embrace that in our lives. 45 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,760 In fact, the season that we celebrate Jesus coming into the 46 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:57,160 world as the light of the world is the season on the seasonal 47 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,920 calendar that is the most dark. It's the month of December. 48 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:04,240 The days have been getting increasingly darker since June 49 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,760 and they're going to get darker still until they finally turn 50 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,480 right before Christmas. And God has put into the rhythms 51 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,960 of the, the, the, the year darkness. 52 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,000 And he's put into the rhythms of your life, your journey from 53 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,240 earth to heaven. There will be, in fact, 54 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,680 darkness. You will have to wait through 55 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:30,160 times where you're not quite sure the path forward and you're 56 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,480 not quite sure what God is up to. 57 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,800 That is why we take a moment to celebrate Advent. 58 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,880 It's a a time to look at different stories of the Bible 59 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,400 that had to wait on the Lord without seeing all the details. 60 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,720 And so last week we looked at the story of Abraham. 61 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:51,800 He hoped against hope. He trusted God against all of 62 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:53,840 the specific details he could see. 63 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:56,760 Today we'll look at another story and I'll remind you where 64 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:58,840 these stories come from. They actually come from the 65 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:03,800 genealogy of Jesus, and that is why we're starting each week of 66 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,280 our Advent series in Matthew chapter 1, where we find the 67 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:10,720 genealogical record of the Messiah. 68 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,440 Jesus comes into the world and the gospel writers are in fact 69 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,920 declaring him, confirming him as the Messiah. 70 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,079 And the Messiah has to meet certain genealogical 71 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:24,120 requirements, one of them being the in the line of David. 72 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,920 And so we look in Matthew chapter one that the genealogy 73 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:33,000 each person tells a story of God's plan all along to send his 74 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,200 son into the world says in verse one, the book of the genealogy 75 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:42,040 of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, who 76 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:46,120 we looked at last week. These are two major players in 77 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:51,240 the the proof that Jesus is in fact qualified to be the savior 78 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,840 that everyone was waiting for. And the story of Abraham was a 79 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:58,400 reminder that the redemptive story came through unlikely 80 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,560 odds. And we continue down the line 81 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,080 each week looking at a story that we're going to highlight 82 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,640 from the genealogy. This week we'll find it in verse 83 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:13,160 5, Simon begot Boaz by Rahab. Hold on to that name. 84 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:18,440 We're going to look at her story next week, but notice she begot 85 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:26,200 Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed by Ruth and Obed begot Jesse 86 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,960 throughout the genealogy. As you study it, it is so worth 87 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,240 your attention that God surprises the people that were 88 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:39,960 waiting for the Savior with all sorts of circumstances and 89 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,360 people that you wouldn't think would be in the line of the 90 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,520 Savior of the world. And one of them, maybe one of 91 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:52,200 the best examples of that, is in fact Ruth, a woman who's very 92 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,200 rarely women are very rarely given in the genealogical 93 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,320 records of kings. So praise God that that Jesus 94 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:05,080 breaks that tradition. Also, a woman outside of the 95 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,600 nation of Israel. We'll read her story today. 96 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,840 She was actually from Moab. So this surprising woman of Ruth 97 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:17,720 is going to be given to us as a story that reminds us that God 98 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:22,360 takes very confusing, difficult, hard circumstances and uses them 99 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,640 as his plan for redemption. That's true in Ruth's life. 100 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,520 It was true in the nation of Israel waiting on the Messiah. 101 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,960 And it is in fact believe this true of your own life. 102 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,720 So I hope you'll be encouraged as we essentially do a fly over 103 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,000 of the entire story of Ruth. We're going to look at a few 104 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,800 details along the way as we go through these 4 short chapters. 105 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,120 There's only 85 verses. It takes you about 25 minutes to 106 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:52,360 read the entire book of Ruth. So I encourage all of you to go 107 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,280 and read it. The the book of Ruth is much 108 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:57,000 better than any sermon that can be preached on the book of Ruth. 109 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,520 So we'll start in Ruth chapter one, verse one, and really we're 110 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:02,800 just going to get the whole story. 111 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,000 And by the end of the story, we'll have some moments to, I 112 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,320 hope, find encouragement that God uses dark times to bring 113 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,480 redemption. So we start in Ruth chapter one. 114 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,360 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there 115 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:24,040 was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, 116 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:28,400 went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his 117 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:30,240 two sons. The name of the man was 118 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,160 Elimelech. The name of his wife was Naomi, 119 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:38,120 and the name of the two sons were Malon and Kilian Iphrates 120 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,680 of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of 121 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,040 Moab and remained there. This is an incredible 122 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,800 establishing shot of the story because just in these few verses 123 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:55,120 that we've already read it, it shows us that this is in fact a 124 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,160 story that happened in times of great darkness. 125 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,520 It it begins by telling us that it was in the days when the 126 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,160 judges ruled. And if you've studied the Bible 127 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,720 and read through the book of Judges, you know that this is 128 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:12,320 probably the most chaotic and difficult and unruly time for 129 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:16,400 the nation of Israel as they were waiting for God essentially 130 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,560 to bring them a king before they ever had a king. 131 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,040 They had basically judges that ruled different regions as 132 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:25,400 needed. And it was gruesome. 133 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,200 It was violent. And the, the, the refrain that 134 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,039 comes up over and over again to describe that period of the 135 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,600 nation of Israel was that everyone did what was right in 136 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,520 their own eyes. Now, if you've ever been in a 137 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,520 small setting where everyone does what is right in their own 138 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,680 eyes, you know that chaos breaks out very quickly, let alone an 139 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:49,400 entire nation essentially just doing what each person thought 140 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,600 was the best. We also see not only were was 141 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,080 this the most chaotic time in the history of the nation, it is 142 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,120 also a specific time when there's a famine in the land. 143 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,680 And there's this family, Naomi, her husband and two sons. 144 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,120 The famine is so severe in Bethlehem, Judah that they 145 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,920 actually are on the run looking for food. 146 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,640 So, you know, we don't have to look too far back into our own 147 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,520 nation's history to relate to a famine in the land. 148 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,240 It wasn't but 100 years ago that our nation went through the 149 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,240 famine of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, the middle 150 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,800 America where all of the agriculture was supposed to be 151 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,120 happening, just went dry. And what you find is a nation 152 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:32,240 that was desperate to just find any kind of sustenance, and many 153 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:34,080 people had to travel everywhere looking for it. 154 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,080 So if you've ever known that story, you have a reference 155 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,200 point for what Naomi and her family were doing. 156 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,920 They were looking for a way to survive. 157 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,640 And that's the setting. That's the, as I said, the the 158 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:50,280 establishing shot to let us know that this is a dark and serious 159 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,640 time of trouble. And the trouble only gets worse 160 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,200 as the story continues. What we'll find is Naomi's 161 00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,600 husband dies as they get to Moab. 162 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:02,800 The husband, the patriarch in those days, very important 163 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,480 figure of the family. He dies. 164 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:09,280 And so the sons marry the women of the land who are Moabites. 165 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,400 So they're living in a foreign land. 166 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,600 The patriarch has died and they're having to take foreign 167 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,960 wives. All of this is spiritually 168 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,360 dangerous and not good for an ancient Jewish person. 169 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:25,000 The story gets worse. Naomi's sons marry 2 Moabite 170 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,280 women. One is Orpa and one is Ruth. 171 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:33,440 And then the sons die. So within a short moment of this 172 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:38,440 story we have a widow named Naomi now living in a foreign 173 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:43,560 land without her husband and with her two daughter in laws 174 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:48,200 who are also widowed. This is a story that is meant to 175 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:52,920 set the bar of of hard times so high that anyone could walk 176 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:55,200 under it. And I'll just pause here and say 177 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,400 one of the reasons this is worth studying now. 178 00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:00,600 It's because all of us need to have moments where we're reading 179 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,960 the word and seeing the God that we believe in reaching into 180 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,680 people's lives to help them. Because all of us are going to 181 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:10,280 find ourselves in moments where life seems chaotic and hard, 182 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,920 generally speaking. And some of you are specifically 183 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:19,360 speaking in that right now. Even this morning, I've listened 184 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:23,040 to people's stories of just the year that has unfolded for our 185 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:24,840 church family. And people have walked through 186 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,760 unexpected death. People have walked through 187 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,160 unexpected diagnosis, broken relationships. 188 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,920 And if you're in that, the Bible is meeting you and it's 189 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:40,440 reminding us that we are not supposed to be a people who just 190 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,520 walk in a direct upward line to heaven. 191 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:47,840 Life is hard and God knows what to do about it. 192 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:53,840 And so the story will continue. It takes a turn as Naomi gets 193 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,680 word that back in Bethlehem, back in her her land where she 194 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:02,000 has been 10 years away from, she hears that God has visited the 195 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,240 people and there's now a harvest, that he's provided them 196 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,280 bread. So Naomi, being a widow, decides 197 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:13,080 to do her last resort, which is to go back to her homeland where 198 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:17,200 people may remember her, where she has some rights to land and 199 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,520 restart her life alone as a widow who essentially has no 200 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,560 other choice. Before she leaves, she gathers 201 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:31,200 her only existing family, two daughter in I'm going home, you 202 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:33,200 guys. I've never been to my home. 203 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,760 You are Moabites in Moab. You need to leave me and you 204 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,240 need to go and find husbands in this land. 205 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,400 And it's a serious, painful moment. 206 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:44,360 In fact, it says that they all wept. 207 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,160 All three of these widows weep as as as she's saying, it's time 208 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:49,840 for you to leave me. I'm going to go. 209 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,920 Orpa listens to this. And although she didn't want to, 210 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:58,240 the advice was sound and she went back to her foreign to her 211 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,720 land to look for a husband, to have the hope of restarting her 212 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,280 life. And then we have one of the 213 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:11,440 great moments in all of scripture to give us a picture 214 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:16,280 of what covenant unrelenting faithfulness looks like. 215 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:21,280 Although Naomi begged Ruth to leave her, although she she made 216 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,120 a great case that there's no hope for Ruth to stay with 217 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:24,760 Naomi. She would do. 218 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,880 Naomi says I'll never be able to give you another son to marry. 219 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,480 And if I did have another son, he'd be too young for you. 220 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:38,760 And yet Ruth says this verse 15, it says and she said, look, your 221 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,080 sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her Gods 222 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:46,280 return after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, entreat me not to 223 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:49,520 leave you or to turn back from you, following after you. 224 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:55,080 For wherever you go I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will 225 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,120 lodge. Your people shall be my people 226 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:02,640 and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and 227 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,680 there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more 228 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:14,640 also, if anything but death parts you and me, this is one of 229 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:20,200 the great commitments of undying love that you will see not only 230 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,160 in the Bible, but in any literature ever. 231 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,920 And we begin to find a glimmer of hope in this story. 232 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:33,040 You know, as you get to know the church calendar and the Advent 233 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:35,960 tradition, there's there's different themes that you'll 234 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:41,120 find each week are the emphasis of how to maintain a posture of 235 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,560 trusting God in dark time. So last week we looked at hope. 236 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:46,800 If you're going through a dark time, stay hopeful. 237 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:49,960 In the future weeks, we'll look at joy. 238 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:55,560 And today we are also going to look at one of those themes that 239 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:57,840 is right here. If you're going through a hard 240 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:04,480 time, cling to love. One of the keys to the the 241 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:06,800 themes of the Bible that if you're looking for the 242 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,480 ingredient for how people endure and what makes someone 243 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,120 successful and what makes someone go to the end of the 244 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,600 line. It is, in fact, this thread 245 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,560 throughout all of God's stories that is love, that this story 246 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:27,360 begins to take a turn when there's nothing left but love. 247 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:29,960 And so as your first bit of encouragement, if you're going 248 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,440 through one of those times where you feel like you're in pruning 249 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,240 or you feel like you're in waiting, you feel like you're in 250 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,800 confusion or one blessing, one of those surprising blessings 251 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:41,360 will be that there's something so beautiful about coming to a 252 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,360 place in your life where there's nothing left but love. 253 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:51,440 And in this moment, Naomi has nothing left in her life but the 254 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:56,440 covenant faithfulness of someone who is committing to her undying 255 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:58,560 love. And and with this, the story 256 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:03,400 will start to take a turn. We continue to read after the 257 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,200 the vow of commitment. It says in verse 18, when when 258 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:08,520 Naomi saw that she was determined to go, she stopped 259 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:09,720 speaking to her. She gave up. 260 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,040 I can't convince you to go back to your foreign gods. 261 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:15,960 So worst evangelism ever. She's like, fine, you can follow 262 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,160 me and my God. And then verse 19, it says now 263 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,320 the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem and it 264 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:25,360 happened when they came to Bethlehem that all the city was 265 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,560 excited because of them. And the women said, is this 266 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,080 Naomi, imagine you've been away from the place where you, you 267 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,040 know, grabbed roots and you grew up and and for 10 years you've 268 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,680 been away. This is a homecoming. 269 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,880 And the the great news is that people do remember her and 270 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,600 they're so excited to see her. They see Ruth and Naomi coming 271 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:48,640 and they give her a fanfare. But she said to them, Do not 272 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:54,040 call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very 273 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,680 bitterly with me. I went out full and the Lord has 274 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:00,920 brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi? 275 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:05,040 Since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has 276 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:11,760 afflicted me, This is Advent. This is why we have to 277 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:16,920 acknowledge that life is hard because there will be times in 278 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,000 your life that test your trust in God. 279 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,720 She says don't call me Naomi, call me bitter. 280 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:29,120 Naomi meant pleasantness. She wants the name Mara, which 281 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:34,120 describes a life that is soured and bitter. 282 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:41,760 And this is something that in fact, we all at times probably 283 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,920 relate to. One of the tests of your faith 284 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:49,040 will be when you go through the funeral, when you go through the 285 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:52,840 famine, when you go through the years of waiting without an 286 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:58,120 answer, you may begin to question whether or not God 287 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,720 still cares for your life. Notice that this is not an 288 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,320 atheistic declaration that God doesn't exist and she's just 289 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,280 moving on with her life. She still believes in God, she 290 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:14,280 just doesn't believe that he loves her anymore. 291 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,280 And this is a story that I think we should all embrace. 292 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,400 A moment four times past, present or future. 293 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:26,080 When life gets so hard, we begin to wonder, God, do you even 294 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,920 care? God, do you actually care? 295 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:30,920 Because I'm beginning to get bitter. 296 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:39,600 Your life cannot be sustained by 24 hour sanctuary worship as 297 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:43,760 much as it would be great if all of your days and every minute of 298 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,000 your life was as powerful, as exciting as coming to church, 299 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:49,400 singing. No one else is worthy hearing a 300 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,840 sermon, being encouraged and leaving without any doubt in 301 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,800 your mind. But that's not the way that God 302 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,440 designed it. There will be times when you 303 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:00,400 really wonder, God, are you still with me? 304 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:05,160 And This is why I love the book of Ruth, because it is in in, in 305 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:09,040 a sense, the Advent season unfolding chapter by chapter. 306 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:13,640 It starts with the extreme darkness and now the story will 307 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:18,080 turn 1 chapter at a time to bring a little bit of light and 308 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,400 then a little more light and then the grand revelation of 309 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,720 what God had planned the entire time. 310 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:25,960 And here's where it begins to turn. 311 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,440 Verse 22. Naomi returned and Ruth and Moab 312 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,880 Itis, her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the 313 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:35,400 country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at 314 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,720 the beginning of barley harvest. Impeccable timing. 315 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,840 They've come at a time, April or May, when it's they're beginning 316 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:48,240 to gather all of the produce. The field has been ripe with 317 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:52,200 harvest and now the workers are going out to bring the field in. 318 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:55,960 And this is now the backdrop that Naomi and Ruth walk into. 319 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,640 And it's a very important one because at the time of harvest, 320 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:05,040 Ruth's life and by Ruth Naomi's life is about to be changed 321 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,960 radically by something that God had planned. 322 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,720 It says there was a relative Chapter 2 verse one of Naomi's 323 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:16,720 husband, a a man of great wealth of the family of Elimelech. 324 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,920 His name was Boaz. So Ruth the Moabite has said to 325 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,360 Naomi, please let me go to the field and glean heads of grain 326 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:28,840 after him, who in whose sight I may find favor. 327 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,240 And Naomi said to Ruth, go my daughter, this is a practice 328 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:38,520 that is the the practice of gleaning that God had designed 329 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:43,960 as a form of very wise and loving welfare for those in 330 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,920 need. You'll find in the vault law in 331 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,920 Leviticus and also in Deuteronomy that those who had 332 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,880 the fields that oversaw the harvest of the fields were meant 333 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,360 to leave a certain percentage on the corner of the fields. 334 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,760 And also they were, they were told not to pick up whatever 335 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,840 they dropped so that while the harvest is happening, anyone who 336 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:07,120 was poor, hungry, willing to work to find the provision could 337 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:10,440 go pick the corners of the grain and pick up whatever was left, 338 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:12,600 take home and have provision for themselves. 339 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,520 It was essentially a welfare program for those who are 340 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:17,840 willing to take part. And Ruth said, let me go. 341 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,480 I want to go in. I'm going to bring home 342 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,800 something for us to be begin to restore our lives by the harvest 343 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,680 of the Lord. And of course, this is what they 344 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,280 would call in the romantic comedy, the Hallmark season. 345 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,560 This is what they would call the meet cute. 346 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,240 You know, when the the the two people that you just know are 347 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,160 meant to end up together in spite of crazy circumstances, 348 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:44,320 they bump into each other and you say, OK, this is how the 349 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,240 movie's going to end. But I can't wait to watch the 350 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:51,400 next 45 minutes. Ruth goes out to the field that 351 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,960 happened to belong to Boaz and Boaz immediately immediately 352 00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:00,040 notices her, says to his workers, who is this woman? 353 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:05,800 To which they say, this is the woman that was so faithful and 354 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,960 loyal to Naomi. Remember when Naomi came back, 355 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,680 the word is now spreading that she brought back this determined 356 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,080 person to stay by her side. It had spread to the field 357 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,920 workers under Boaz's authority. They told him. 358 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,120 And Boaz is blown away by this woman's covenant love, and he 359 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:28,520 takes it into his own hands. He he meets Ruth and says, I'm 360 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,080 so impressed. May, May, May God give you 361 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,280 blessing in this land. And then he tells to his 362 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,440 workers, I want you to take care of this woman. 363 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,520 I want you to make sure nothing happens to her. 364 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,600 I want you to purposely leave some out for her in such a way 365 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:47,480 that by the time the day of gleaning had ended, she walks 366 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,960 back home with 40 lbs of barley. Just imagine this woman and 367 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,640 Naomi's waiting. I wonder how this is going to 368 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:55,200 go. And she doesn't come back with 369 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,640 enough to make one or two pieces of bread. 370 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,520 She comes back with an entire haul. 371 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:08,080 Naomi's like what happened? And Ruth gets to share a little 372 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:12,320 bit of light that is going to open up Naomi's heart away from 373 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,120 bitterness and back towards faith just a little bit more. 374 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:22,880 Says in chapter 2 verse 20, Ruth essentially says his name is 375 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:27,080 Boaz Naomi light bulb moment. Naomi says to the 376 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,240 daughter-in-law, blessed be he of the Lord, who has not 377 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,520 forsaken his kindness to the living and the dead. 378 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,840 And Naomi said to her, this man's a relative of ours, one of 379 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:43,480 our close relatives. Naomi is realizing what you may 380 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:47,080 have often heard about the ancient culture that is revealed 381 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:51,760 in this book. Naomi is realizing that Boaz is 382 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,600 in the same family of her deceased husband, which makes 383 00:23:55,600 --> 00:24:00,680 him one of her kin in the family line in ancient days. 384 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:05,320 So that a woman or someone that owned a field could be restored, 385 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:09,640 the field could be bought back by someone who was in their 386 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:14,720 family line next of kin. So because of this, Naomi is 387 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,360 getting stirred with a little bit of hope. 388 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,160 Maybe they don't have to glean the corners of the field 389 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,760 forever. Maybe God is up to something 390 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,080 bigger. And so Naomi pulls Ruth aside 391 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,200 and, and, and prepares her. She says, I, I want you to, to 392 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:35,840 follow my instructions, Ruth. Tonight, the the harvest is 393 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,040 going to come in and Boaz is is going to be guarding the 394 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,400 harvest. He's going to be winnowing the 395 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,080 harpist, essentially separating the wheat from the shaft. 396 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,320 At the end of that, he's going to have a meal. 397 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,680 He'll enjoy some drink, celebrate all that God has done. 398 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:53,680 And then he's going to sleep by the the the the harvest that he 399 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,480 pulled in. And Naomi says to Ruth, I want 400 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:01,760 you to put on something really nice and I want you to spray 401 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:06,840 yourself with some perfume and and time it perfect after he's 402 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:07,840 done. Don't bother him while he's 403 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:11,840 working, after he's eaten, after he's made merriment, after he's 404 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,440 gone to bed. I want you to go in and I want 405 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,720 you to uncover his feet, expose them to the cold so he wakes up 406 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:23,320 naturally and he will see you at his feet. 407 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,600 And then I want you to tell him that he's our, our kinsman 408 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,440 Redeemer. This is a beautiful, beautiful 409 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:32,200 moment. And This is why I want all of 410 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,640 you to read the story because the plan works perfectly. 411 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,200 Boaz already had such respect for for Ruth. 412 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,480 Ruth had such respect for Naomi that she would do whatever was 413 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,760 asked. And in an upside down kind of 414 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:52,280 way, Ruth essentially proposes to Boaz and he says, yes. 415 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,000 Someone between services showed me a, a video of her 416 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:57,760 granddaughter getting proposed to. 417 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,160 And it was just, it was like gave me a picture of maybe what 418 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:01,800 happened with, with Ruth and Boaz. 419 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:03,520 The girl just jumped up and down and dug the guy. 420 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:09,680 I'm like, this is the moment he says yes, Maybe because Boaz, 421 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:13,640 being the righteous person that he is, says to Ruth. 422 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:18,080 I will redeem this land. I will bring you as part of the 423 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:22,560 land into my family. But there's one person closer to 424 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:24,840 me. There's one person in the family 425 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,800 line that actually has what we would call in real estate, the 426 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,760 first right of refusal. So Boaz, being the righteous man 427 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,760 that he is by Chapter 4, he calls everyone together. 428 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,120 He finds the person that is one step closer to Naomi than he is. 429 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,000 And he says, hey, Naomi's field is available. 430 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,920 Would you like to redeem it? And the guy's like, oh, 431 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:44,560 definitely. I could pick up some real 432 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:45,760 estate. I would love to redeem it. 433 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,200 And then Boaz says, OK, it also comes with Ruth the Moabite. 434 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,000 You have to marry her. And the guy's like, I actually 435 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,440 can't do that anymore. I'm not willing. 436 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,960 I'm not ready to take on Ruth. What would be with my 437 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:58,320 inheritance? I'm out. 438 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:00,360 And Boaz is like shaking his first. 439 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:03,200 He's like, next item up, forbid. I'm taking it. 440 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:05,400 I'm taking the land. I'm redeeming it. 441 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:10,080 And this is a beautiful moment from famine to wedding. 442 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:17,320 And Boaz redeems the land. He takes Ruth as his wife. 443 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,640 And this story concludes in the most beautiful way. 444 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:27,960 It says in chapter 4, verse 13. So Boaz took Ruth and she became 445 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:32,480 his wife, and he went into her. And the Lord gave her 446 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:38,280 conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, 447 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,320 Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a 448 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:45,840 close relative, and may his name be famous in Israel. 449 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:52,160 And may he be to you a restorer of life, and a nourisher of your 450 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,360 old age for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, 451 00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:01,040 who is better to you than seven sons born to him. 452 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,920 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom and became 453 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:10,000 a nurse to him. Some translations say she 454 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,400 literally became a mother to this young child. 455 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,280 Also, the neighbor women gave him a name saying there is a son 456 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,240 born to Naomi and they called his name Obed. 457 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:25,960 He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 458 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:32,440 This is how we get the line of Jesus that goes through David 459 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:38,320 came through a foreigner named Ruth who relentlessly loved a 460 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:44,000 widow named Naomi who trusted step by step that there was a 461 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:50,040 reason to keep trusting God until he brought everything into 462 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,400 a conclusion that seems too good to be true. 463 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:57,400 And so it truly is the Advent story. 464 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,560 It's extreme darkness to a revelation of light that's 465 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,480 indescribable joy. This is the story of Ruth from 466 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,240 30,000 Feet. So what are the takeaways? 467 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,240 How can we be people who may be related to the beginning of the 468 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:16,000 story, who can somehow be encouraged by the end of the 469 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,880 story? I think there are countless 470 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,720 lessons of course, to do Ruth and you know, one Sunday sermon 471 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:26,560 leave so many things that we could be encouraged by unsaid. 472 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,880 But I will share with you 2 threads that I find through the 473 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,560 whole story that I believe can also be threads that we can find 474 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:38,000 in our own lives that will encourage us from beginning to 475 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:43,440 middle to end to trust God. And the first is the thread of 476 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:48,680 God's provision. The story is truly a story that 477 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,040 puts provision in question. Is there anything more 478 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:56,000 questionable than famine in the way that you're going to provide 479 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,640 for daily sustenance? It starts with a a need to have 480 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:08,680 basic needs of life met. And the the story unfolds with 481 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:12,160 God changing a famine into a harvest. 482 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:17,680 And how he does that very practically is through simple, 483 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,840 ordinary means. You know, often times we think 484 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,320 of the provision of God or the prosperity of God or the 485 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,360 blessing of God. And we're waiting for, you know, 486 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:30,240 one of those jumbo checks that has finally God has delivered in 487 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:34,120 some way that is undeniably a testimony of the miraculous. 488 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:39,000 And yet what we find in this story is that God provided in 489 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,960 specific, practical, daily ways, in ordinary means. 490 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:48,720 He provided after a long time of waiting by bringing a harvest. 491 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:54,880 And then they received that provision by going out and 492 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,640 picking up grain off the ground. And I will encourage you as 493 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,560 maybe you relate to those seasons of life where you say, 494 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:06,400 God, where are you and what are you up to that it can sometimes 495 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,800 be dangerous to wait for the giant miraculous provisions of 496 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:12,040 God. But it's always glorious when 497 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,760 you're willing to acknowledge the small and specific ordinary 498 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:17,600 ways that God has been providing the whole way. 499 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:20,920 When you go through a season of darkness, you're confused. 500 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:23,360 You don't see the path forward to start looking for this. 501 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,160 How is God providing right here and right now? 502 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:32,240 And he doesn't just provide their physical needs. 503 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,920 I think the the bigger lesson in the thread of God's provision in 504 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:40,640 this story is that he provides people to act on his behalf. 505 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:46,800 It was so important that Ruth was, was provided or with Naomi 506 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:51,080 was provided with a person who showed the faithfulness of God 507 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:55,200 in everyday, ordinary ways. She said wherever you go, I'm 508 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:59,080 going. He provided her with a person 509 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:01,960 that had the hands and feet of love in her life. 510 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,920 And as the story unfolded, it was more pictures of provision 511 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,200 through people they provided him with. 512 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,080 As it says, blessed are you who did not leave you without a 513 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,200 close relative. He provided a way for the field 514 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:19,760 to be redeemed and for her to be brought back into the story of 515 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:21,640 her own inheritance through Boaz. 516 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:26,320 That is a provision of God. And ultimately it says that he 517 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:29,880 provided her with one of her biggest question marks. 518 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,640 She said, well, I ever have a son. 519 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:37,120 She thought she was going to die alone with no one to pass off 520 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:41,160 her her, her family to. And he, it ends with her holding 521 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:45,760 a baby in her arms. And the bigger picture is that 522 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:48,680 this is a story that is very specifically about Naomi and 523 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,840 Ruth and Boaz, but it's also a story of God's plan to redeem 524 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:57,600 his people. He didn't only provide Naomi 525 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:01,520 with Obed. Remember how the story starts, 526 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:04,240 It says in the days of the judges. 527 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,840 And look how the story ends. And Obed begot Jesse and Jesse 528 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:15,800 begot David. In other words, King David, God 529 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:21,320 sovereignly provided the nation of Israel, the long-awaited and 530 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:26,000 much needed King, to be the heart of God's leadership on 531 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:30,040 behalf of the people. He did that through Obed. 532 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,280 He provided not only for Naomi, but for the entire redemptive 533 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:36,840 arc for those who are waiting on God. 534 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,280 God is a provider. And here's the beautiful thing 535 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,280 about where we see His provision turn into His sovereignty. 536 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,520 This is the second thread that will radically change your 537 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,360 ability to trust God in difficult times. 538 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,040 The thread of provision is always part of the thread of 539 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:59,040 God's Providence. The story is so difficult. 540 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,200 For 10 years it it came to us in one paragraph on the page. 541 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:07,040 For 10 years Naomi waited as a widow with no plan. 542 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,639 God knew the plan the entire time. 543 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,280 One of my favorite tells that this is one of the great threads 544 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,000 of this story is in Ruth chapter 2. 545 00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:19,920 It says then she left and went out to glean in the field after 546 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:25,560 the reapers, and she just so happened to come to the part of 547 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:30,880 the field belonging to Boaz. We we often think of God's 548 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,960 Providence and God's plan and His sovereignty in the same way 549 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,360 we think of provisions. We're waiting for the big 550 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,000 moments where clearly God was up to something. 551 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,080 And yet what we find here and throughout Scripture is that 552 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,719 God's Providence is everyday and always. 553 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,320 She just so happened to be in the perfect field with the 554 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,960 perfect kinsman Redeemer at the perfect time. 555 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,159 It's important for you to think about all of the things that 556 00:34:56,159 --> 00:35:00,560 just so happened in your life. How you just so happened to meet 557 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,880 the person that just so happened to tell you about Jesus, just so 558 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,480 happened to invite you to church when you just so happened to 559 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,320 have your heart open to the reality of God in your life. 560 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:13,840 It may seem like a small thread of coincidences, but it is in 561 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,920 fact the Providence of God every day and always. 562 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:24,480 And I love that word Providence. It comes from 2 Latin words put 563 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:30,560 together, pro meaning before and V day which means sight, which 564 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:34,920 if you put them together, Providence means before sight, 565 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:40,680 in other words foresight. Providence means that God sees 566 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:45,280 before you do. Providence means that when we 567 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:48,960 open the book and we see a funeral, he knew that there 568 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:54,040 would also be a feast. Providence means that God knows 569 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,560 how he's going to work out all of the confusion and the things 570 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:01,400 you don't quite understand, moment by moment and story by 571 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,760 story. To trust in the Providence of 572 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:08,960 God is to trust that he knows your story better than you do. 573 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:13,920 And aren't you glad? Maybe you can use Naomi as an 574 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,280 example of why it is so important to trust that God 575 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:18,800 knows your story better than you do. 576 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:24,840 Can you imagine if Naomi got her way From what she could see? 577 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,840 There's so many moments where Naomi is essentially telling 578 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:31,200 people the story and she got it all wrong. 579 00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:37,640 She said. Ruth, I'm begging you, almost to 580 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:41,080 the point of frustration, Go worship a different God and 581 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:43,440 leave me alone. Go find a husband. 582 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,080 If if Naomi had it her way, Ruth would have stayed in Moab. 583 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:52,240 And if Naomi had it her way, everyone would have called her 584 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,120 Mara, which means bitter. She would have been known for 585 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:59,920 the rest of her life as someone who truly believed and lived out 586 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:01,760 the story that God was against her. 587 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:06,480 If Naomi had it her way, she never would have met Boaz and 588 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,160 there never would have been an Obed. 589 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:14,800 But praise be to God that God Providence had foresight in ways 590 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:19,160 that Naomi couldn't see. You have to be so careful when 591 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:22,640 you try to have it your way, when you try to tell God what 592 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,800 the story is or what your name is or what you should actually 593 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:31,840 do with your life if you want to make it through the seasons of 594 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:34,120 Advent. That will happen surely outside 595 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,360 of the calendar that we celebrated. 596 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,160 You look for those two threads constantly. 597 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:44,480 Look for the thread of God's provision in simple and ordinary 598 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:49,400 ways to remember to trust Him that He's faithful and look for 599 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:51,040 the threat of His provisioning people. 600 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:56,240 You go through the hard time and just think to yourself, has God 601 00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:59,600 provided me this person to be an encourager, this person to pray 602 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,360 with me, sometimes to the point where you don't want them Now 603 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,200 I'm sick of you praying for me or sharing scripture with me, 604 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:06,800 inviting me to church. I know the answer. 605 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:12,360 God is providing you with the people that you need to know 606 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:16,560 that He's faithful. And likewise, when you're going 607 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:21,840 through the difficult times, cling to the Providence of God. 608 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:26,760 He knows exactly what He's doing. 609 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:32,440 There was not one moment in the story of Naomi where God was off 610 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:37,600 the throne or He was not working the details of her life together 611 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:42,320 to make her the grandmother of King David. 612 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,600 And it's true of your life. You don't know the incredible 613 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:50,240 ways that God is going to do something with your life. 614 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:54,480 He's going to turn your life into something that is beautiful 615 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:57,960 for His namesake. And you don't know how, but you 616 00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:00,800 can trust in the Providence of God that He does. 617 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:04,800 And if you ever forget those two things, if you ever forget the 618 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:10,120 thread of provision and the thread of Providence, every time 619 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,360 you gather, you can be reminded because there is no better 620 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:17,480 picture of the provision in the Providence of God than the 621 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:21,800 ultimate kinsman Redeemer. That as we were all waiting to 622 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:28,160 be redeemed, not just by land but by soul, God sent His Son to 623 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:33,600 provide a way into the family to pay the price that someone else 624 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:38,240 couldn't pay to be the Redeemer of your life. 625 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:43,400 He provided a person, and it was all part of his Providence at 626 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:45,920 the perfect time. Jesus was born in the time of 627 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,600 great darkness. A light shined at the perfect 628 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:51,000 time. He died on the cross, rose 629 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:55,080 again, and the message has gone out at the perfect time, story 630 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:59,280 by story by story since and at the perfect time you heard the 631 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:06,920 gospel of Jesus in your life. God has provided by His 632 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:12,200 Providence your redemption. So I hope you'll be encouraged 633 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:14,360 that whatever you're going through now is just a living 634 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:17,360 parable of something so much bigger to give God glory. 635 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,400 Thanks for joining us today. If you would like to watch the 636 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:23,920 full service, check out the link in the description. 637 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:28,160 For next steps and to learn more, visit calvaryboise.com.