1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:05,600 We're going to be in Ruth Chapter 3, so you could open 2 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:07,440 your Bibles there. And we we're kind of going to 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:08,960 jump around a bit. So we're not really going to put 4 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:12,680 the script up on the screen. But Ruth, as Clinton shared, 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:17,200 it's this incredible love story. And it really is like a like you 6 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,640 could make a Hallmark movie about this. 7 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:22,320 You know, it's got all the, all the right characteristics. 8 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,360 There's, you know, a little situation at the front. 9 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:26,160 There's tragedy, everything goes wrong. 10 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:28,000 Yeah. Things are slowly restored. 11 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:29,400 Suddenly there's a bit of jeopardy. 12 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,280 And then and then there's this beautiful love story at the end. 13 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,000 And and it's you almost miss, you almost miss something there 14 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,960 because the story is told on on multiple levels. 15 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,880 And the one level you've got this Naomi and Ruth and Boaz, 16 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,000 and you've got this, the story about how God redeems a family. 17 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,400 But the author of the book is telling a slightly bigger story. 18 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,360 He's telling a story of how Israel is redeemed through King 19 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,840 David. And so to, to give a bit of 20 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:04,760 context, I know Stephen said there's a, the book of Judges, 21 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,880 the one that sits both in the Bible just before and 22 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:08,480 chronologically just before this one. 23 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,440 It ends with this verse. In those days, there was no king 24 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,200 in Israel. Everyone did what was right in 25 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,760 his own eyes. And and it's really a picture of 26 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,160 tragedy. The book of Judges. 27 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,000 And so to do a quick recap on the book of Judges, you've got 28 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,400 the story of the, the, the promised land. 29 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,440 The people move in and they and they, and they start to live in 30 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,560 the promises that God has. And then they walk away. 31 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,840 And then God, there's a, there's a disaster and a judge comes and 32 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:34,720 then they everything gets restored. 33 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:36,640 And then the judge goes and then they walk away. 34 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,760 And there's this sort of like cyclical story of a judge coming 35 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,000 and restoring something of what God wants for his people. 36 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,200 And then the judge going and they're walking away. 37 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,440 And you get the feeling if you read the book of Judges that 38 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,000 this is just going to continue forever. 39 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,800 But if if you read from Judges 19, there's a story of a Levite 40 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,520 and his, his concubine, which is like a, like a second class 41 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,480 wife. And he treats his concubine 42 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,920 incredibly badly. And what happens is there's 43 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,840 this, this, this crime is committed, this atrocity, and 44 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,720 she ends up dead. And, and that thing snowballs to 45 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,160 the point where one of the 12 tribes of Israel is basically 46 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,760 wiped out. This thing doesn't fit my head. 47 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,040 One of the 12 tribes of Israel is wiped out. 48 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,600 This this crime just just wreaks havoc in the tribes of Israel. 49 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:28,240 And you think to yourself, you know it, it was the tribe of 50 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,800 Benjamin completely wiped out other than a a few hundred men 51 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:33,720 left. And you think, you know what 52 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:35,480 caused that? Was it the Philistines? 53 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:37,720 Those dirty Philistines? Did they come through and wipe 54 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:39,080 them out? Was it the Moabites? 55 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,160 Who was it? No, it was the Israelites. 56 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:45,800 The Israelites wiped out one of their own tribes, 11 tribes rise 57 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,080 up against one, and one of them is completely wiped out. 58 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,320 And you have the scenario where you have a judge rise up and the 59 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:52,800 sun is restored and then goes away. 60 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:57,080 And suddenly, how do you restore a tribe that's gone? 61 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,200 How do you bring back to life what's dead? 62 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,720 You can't. And so Samuel, writing this book 63 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,560 is starting to sow the seeds of a story of how God is going to 64 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,120 redeem. And he uses a picture with a 65 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,440 real story of Ruth and Boaz and Naomi. 66 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,720 And then 1000 meters higher than that, he's telling the story of 67 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,840 how God is going to redeem Israel through King David. 68 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,000 And then 100,000 meters above that, the Holy Spirit's telling 69 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,280 a story about how God will redeem all of mankind through 70 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,520 Jesus. And that's the book of Ruth. 71 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,680 And so it's important to know where we sit in this book 72 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,440 because we can learn a lot from the character of Boaz and, and, 73 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:39,200 and Ruth's behavior and all these things. 74 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,400 But but let me put it to you that we are not Ruth in the 75 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:44,720 story. We are Naomi. 76 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,840 You see, Ruth is a picture of Jesus. 77 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,720 So is Boaz is also a picture of Jesus. 78 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:51,720 But Ruth is this picture of Jesus. 79 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,200 And here's why Ruth left her home. 80 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,280 She she had a place where she was, she, she could have been 81 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,120 looked after there. She left, she gave up everything 82 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:05,280 she had there to serve Naomi. Ruth came and served Naomi. 83 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,040 She cleaned and feels and and and and she was the only reason, 84 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:13,560 not only reason Naomi had food. And then at the end, Ruth is the 85 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:15,680 one that throws herself at the feet of Boaz. 86 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,160 Ruth is the one that brings about this child Obed, which 87 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,720 brings the family of Elimelech back from the dead. 88 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:26,240 So we start the, the, the, the book of Ruth with, with, with 89 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,520 three men that die. They walk away from the purposes 90 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,000 of God in their life. Elimelech and his two kids, 91 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:37,160 they, they leave Israel and it's a picture of them walking away 92 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:38,520 from what God has asked him to do. 93 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:43,160 Now, I'm not saying, and I mean sometimes you hear if if you 94 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,880 immigrate, you're walking away from the But God had asked these 95 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,640 people to be in a specific land at a specific time under a 96 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,640 specific authority. He had given them a way of 97 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:56,680 living and an area to live, and he had asked them to be there. 98 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,200 Elimelech walks away. He walks away from where God had 99 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,520 asked him to be, and he walks away from God's authority in his 100 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:05,960 life. And he pays the price for it, 101 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,800 him and his whole family. And then we pick up with Naomi. 102 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,200 She's now a picture of us. She is like the prodigal son in 103 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,520 a foreign land with nothing but the clothes on her back. 104 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,480 She has nothing. And at that point she decides, 105 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,080 actually, I'm going to turn and I'll come back. 106 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,080 I'll turn and I'll come back to Israel. 107 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,560 There's this incredible as she decides to turn and come back, 108 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,400 God adds Ruth to her. Remember, Ruth is a picture of 109 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,960 Jesus. And so for you and I, no matter 110 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:41,120 how far off we are when we decide to come back, Jesus 111 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,920 journey is with us. He's with us there. 112 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,760 He starts journey. He he he God doesn't wait until 113 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,080 we've arrived back. He doesn't wait until we've, 114 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,320 we've got things right, right, right. 115 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,360 When we decide to turn, that's when Ruth is added. 116 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:57,720 And that's the first gift that Naomi gets. 117 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,680 She gets this gift of Ruth. Anyway, she journeys back, she 118 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,400 gets to the land of the land of Israel. 119 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,760 And the second thing she picks up is that irrespective of what 120 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,440 you've done, irrespective of where you've been, if you come 121 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,680 back to Israel, your land is there for you. 122 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:17,240 That's the law. That's the authority that God 123 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:19,400 had put over the people. So she arrives back and even 124 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,360 though her husband is dead and her sons are dead, the land is 125 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,160 still hers, Elimelech land. And so she picks up the second 126 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,040 blessing. She's now got land. 127 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:33,080 And then what happens in Ruth chapter 2 is, is Ruth decides 128 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,200 she's actually going to go glean, which is a practice put 129 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:40,760 in place by God to look after poor people in, in, in Israel. 130 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,720 And so Ruth goes to glean and in, in chapter 2, so they, they 131 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,160 arrive on the first day of the body harvest. 132 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,000 She arrives back home after the first day with 22 liters of 133 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,800 barley. So if you like barley, you're 134 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,120 going to be fine. You're going to eat well. 135 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,040 And we start Ruth Chapter 3 with, it's the end of the barley 136 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,120 harvest now. And so if she arrived back with 137 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,800 22 liters on the first day, every day of the body harvest, 138 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,480 you know, these people have been kind to her. 139 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,160 So she's probably arriving back with more. 140 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:15,960 So we start Chapter 3 with the scenario where Naomi is now not 141 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,440 destitute anymore. Her house is full of food. 142 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,120 She's not going to die alone. Ruth is there with her. 143 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,240 She has land, She has some options. 144 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:28,440 She can sell the land, She can lease the land. 145 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:30,680 There's a number of things that she can do. 146 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,440 And actually, this is for for us when we put ourselves in the 147 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,480 story. And I believe Samuel wants us to 148 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,720 put ourselves in the story. He wants Israel to put 149 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,760 themselves in here. And we see that if we look at 150 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:48,960 Naomi and Ruth in chapter 1, it doesn't really resonate too much 151 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,480 with me. And here's why. 152 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,840 And I'm going to do this not because I'm I lack humility, but 153 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,560 because I think many of us find ourselves in the same situation. 154 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:00,240 If you ask me, Matt, how you doing? 155 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,040 Like, you know, there are two ways of asking, like, hey, Pete, 156 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:03,560 how you doing? And then you don't even wait for 157 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,480 the answer or you like, Dennis, how are you doing? 158 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:09,040 And then you get the real answer. 159 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:11,120 If you ask me, Matt, how are you doing? 160 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,640 My marriage is good. It's really good. 161 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,920 Like we're doing well. I feel sorry for the rest of 162 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:19,200 you. You're all competing for 2nd, 163 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,000 you know, like it's good, like going well. 164 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,520 I can't, I can't say I'm like Naomi. 165 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,160 I've lost my whole family. We've got three kids. 166 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,040 I mean, it's early days yet. We can still mess them up. 167 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,400 But they seem to be doing OK. Like we're getting there. 168 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,960 We're getting there. Financially, we're in a strong 169 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,840 position. It's not a, you know, we are. 170 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,720 I keep having to remind my wife we're not poor, but we mustn't 171 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,120 be stupid. So we're doing well in my 172 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:48,680 career. It's just sort of it's, it's 173 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:51,800 gone well. My parents, they're good 174 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:53,560 parents. Some people have terrible 175 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:56,080 parents and and it's something they have to deal with as they 176 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,200 learn to walk with Jesus. I've got good parents, got good 177 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:03,360 grandparents. Maybe the only thing I've got is 178 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,600 I drive like a 15 year old polo. That's my car. 179 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:09,440 Like that's the one thing I'm like, OK, maybe up there. 180 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:11,800 And then I really felt the sense of conviction that I keep 181 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,920 running around telling people I drive a 15 year old polo. 182 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,280 It's actually just false humility. 183 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,120 And so God's told me to stole my car and stop bragging. 184 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,480 And so my life is not bad. I've got there are many 185 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:26,680 blessings and there isn't a sense. 186 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:31,960 That's how God works. Jess and I honored each other 187 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,240 and the way we dated. We didn't mess around. 188 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,200 We, we have honored God with our finances. 189 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:43,080 We, we've, we've put the principles and the, the gods 190 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,440 love over our lives. We have listened to it and we've 191 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,320 walked in it and we've walked in it for a couple of decades and 192 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:52,040 we walk in the blessing of it. And Naomi as she starts Ruth 193 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,520 chapter 3 has walked in some of this blessing for a while. 194 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,920 She's no longer poor. And I think for many of us, it's 195 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:03,040 a better picture of where we are than Ruth chapter 1. 196 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,280 I think all of us at some point in our lives will find ourselves 197 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:10,080 in Ruth chapter 1, if not in every area of our life, in an 198 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,760 area, maybe we're barren, maybe our business tanks, but maybe 199 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,320 something goes wrong and we find ourselves in this place where 200 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,760 it's just desperation. You've got no option. 201 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,080 You have to turn to God. And it takes a certain type of 202 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,560 faith at that point. It takes it takes faith to be 203 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:30,600 poor. It takes faith to be barren and 204 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,560 not be able to have children. It takes faith to have really 205 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:37,600 poor parents and still trust in a loving heavenly Father. 206 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,920 These things take faith. But there's another picture here 207 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:45,040 in Ruth chapter 3. And so we've I want to point out 208 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,200 one, one more thing in Ruth chapter 2 and then we'll jump 209 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,960 into Ruth chapter 3. So there is a statement that 210 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:54,160 Naomi makes to Ruth in in Ruth chapter 3 when she says, is not 211 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,360 this man one of our one of our close relatives, one of our 212 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,120 redeemers? And so in addition to having a 213 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:04,080 house full of food, land and Ruth, there are many, many 214 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,440 options on the table for Naomi to consider for Ruth. 215 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,600 Boaz is not the only one. There's a whole bunch. 216 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,240 And so we start chapter 3 with Naomi's choice. 217 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,360 What is she going to do? What is she going to do with the 218 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,200 life? What is she going to do? 219 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:18,400 And how is she going to go about it? 220 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:22,040 And so let's read in your Bibles, Ruth 3 verse one. 221 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,480 Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should 222 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,080 I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 223 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:31,560 Is not Boaz our relative? With whom? 224 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:37,240 With whose young men you were? See, he is winnowing barley. 225 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,840 Tonight at the threshing floor, wash yourself and anoint 226 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:43,600 yourself. Put on your cloak and go down to 227 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,560 the to the floor. Do not make yourself known to 228 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:48,680 the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 229 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,440 But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. 230 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,680 Then go uncover his feet, lie down and he will tell you what 231 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:59,760 to do. And she replied all that you say 232 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,280 I will do. Now, I've heard many people 233 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,600 preach out of Ruth Chapter 3 on how to find a husband. 234 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:11,360 And so I would just like to take a moment. 235 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,640 Can all the Single Ladies quickly come up to the front so 236 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:15,200 we can Now I'm kidding. We're not going to do it. 237 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,680 We're not going to do it. But but honestly, would you give 238 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:26,680 your daughter that advice? Naomi is nuts. 239 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,760 What has gone wrong? Like this is like, if my 240 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:33,360 daughter comes to me and says there's this guy I really like 241 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:35,440 and you know, I'll be like, you know what, Juliet? 242 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:36,440 You know what I think you should do? 243 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:44,840 Dress up nicely. Hide in his garden while he's 244 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,400 catering with his mates. When they all start passing out 245 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,880 on couches and stuff, make sure you see where he is. 246 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:54,400 And then in the middle of the night, jump him. 247 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,000 That's the advice. And we can put a metaphor on 248 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,680 this and explain how the wing of the covering is this, but it's 249 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:09,360 actually nuts. Naomi has gone nuts. 250 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:15,880 What is she thinking? Hey, and, and, and here's the 251 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:17,560 thing. Let's break down the risk she's 252 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:20,040 taking. Let's let's break down so 253 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:24,040 there's more than one Redeemer. There's more options for her. 254 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:29,760 I mean, if I was Naomi, I would, you know, walk up to Boaz in the 255 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,120 market and be like, have you met Ruth? 256 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:37,240 Like she's quite nice, you know, but that's not her approach. 257 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:39,400 She goes for this nuts all in play. 258 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,000 She walks into the casino and she says, I put it all on black 259 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,400 roll. It's just like insane. 260 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:48,640 And here's what she risks to to lose. 261 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:51,120 Firstly, there's a reputational risk here that she's going to 262 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:55,280 lose. If someone spots Ruth at night 263 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,920 with Boaz, it kind of removes or eliminates any other option for 264 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:02,600 any of these other men that come from eliminates family. 265 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,360 It's kind of like this. It's this all in and Naomi has 266 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,680 no real control over who will see Ruthie or not. 267 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,080 She goes all in. She goes all in on this one. 268 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,680 Let me give a little bit of a context and a background for, 269 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,560 for this practice of of a Redeemer and you can go look it 270 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,960 up yourself. There's 2 scriptures, Leviticus 271 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:29,560 25, the redemption of land. And then Genesis 38 was the 272 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:33,840 practice of this sort of this Redeemer. 273 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:38,520 And and what it is, is when you look for a Redeemer, this land 274 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,520 belongs to Elimelech and his family. 275 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,520 However, if there is no child, if there's no child, they're 276 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,440 going to lose it. This family is finished and 277 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:50,320 there's no ability to produce a child. 278 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:54,560 And So what would happen? If you read in Genesis, they 279 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:57,200 can't. There Judah has three sons, and 280 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:00,200 the one son marries a woman and the son dies. 281 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:04,520 And Judah asks his second son, go have a child for your 282 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:06,240 brother. We don't practice it today. 283 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:11,760 That's not what we do anymore. But then they did and and and he 284 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:13,320 refuses to do it. Why? 285 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,160 Because that son would not be considered his. 286 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,400 The inheritance then would go would go the other way. 287 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:24,040 And so as a Redeemer, you a, you've got the land of the 288 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:25,720 person. But actually you had the 289 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,560 obligation to produce a child to produce life and other 290 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:31,560 redeemers. If we go to if we go to chapter 291 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:35,680 4, you read when the other Redeemer is approached, actually 292 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,080 he's unwilling or unable or does not have the financial means to, 293 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:43,840 to, to do so. And so Boaz is not the first 294 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:45,480 Redeemer. There is one closer. 295 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,560 He says as much as we carry on in chapter 3. 296 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,600 So let's keep reading. If we jump to so she does 297 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,560 basically what what not what now? 298 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:01,320 I mean also, and if we jump to to verse 10, Boaz says to her, 299 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:04,000 may you be blessed by the Lord. So he wakes up at night there 300 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,520 she is at his feet and says, may you be blessed by the Lord my 301 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,760 daughter, you have made this last kindness greater than the 302 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,080 first underline that this last kindness greater than the first 303 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,320 and that you have gone after that you have not gone after 304 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:22,400 young men with a rich or poor. He goes on to say in verse 12, 305 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:26,400 you know he is willing, but there is another Redeemer closer 306 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:27,880 yet. There is one. 307 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:32,480 There is a Redeemer nearer than I and then in verse 14, if you 308 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:37,240 think I'm making it up that this is a completely nuts play verse 309 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:41,960 verse verse 14 she lay at his feet until morning, but arose 310 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:43,960 before one could recognize another. 311 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:50,280 Both her and Boaz knew that if she spotted there's big problems 312 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,840 and he said to her, let it not be known that the woman came to 313 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,400 the to to the threshing floor that it could be a woman or that 314 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:00,160 woman. But but given the line before 315 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,200 it's let it not be known that you have come here. 316 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,160 It's not about a woman being there in the early hours of the 317 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:07,400 morning. You can see people moving. 318 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:09,520 You can hear them. You can oh, that's a kid that 319 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:10,839 looked like a man that was a woman. 320 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:12,440 But you can't quite see the face. 321 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,319 And so before anyone could recognize her, he sends her 322 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:19,400 away. And so this choice that she has 323 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:23,359 is really based on one thing. Naomi has now got a comfortable 324 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:31,240 life, house full of food, land, roof, but she knows if there is 325 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,200 no child, it ends there. It ends with her life. 326 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:40,200 There needs to be a child. And so she's willing to risk all 327 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:45,080 of that for a Redeemer that's willing to produce a child. 328 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,520 And So what she is effectively saying to Boaz is there is 329 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,240 another Redeemer closer. Boaz, you are not Plan B. 330 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,280 In fact, Boaz, you not even plan A. 331 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,040 Boaz, you are that plan. This is it. 332 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:08,000 Boaz also knows that if someone spots Ruth, he's in a very 333 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,760 difficult, very difficult situation that they stand to 334 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:15,000 lose the income. You know, there's, there's, 335 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:20,960 there's a lot there. And so in this book of Ruth, 336 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:26,400 everyone's got a name, Emilia Kick like the the boys have 337 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:30,240 names, Ruth, Naomi, Boaz. But the first Redeemer is never 338 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,920 named. You never find out what the 339 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,640 guy's name is. And it's not like the author 340 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,640 Samuel didn't have all the genealogies in the temple when 341 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:40,400 he was writing this. He could have gone and looked up 342 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,320 where's where's Emilia? You know, who's his family? 343 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:46,000 Which Redeemer was closer than Boaz? 344 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:47,600 That's that's, that's the guy's name. 345 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,880 That's who he is. And it's not like the Bible is 346 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:55,840 shy to put people's names in, you know, people that do things 347 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,440 that you would really not want to be remembered for. 348 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:00,880 They would put their name in. But the name is not mentioned 349 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,880 here. And the reason for that is that 350 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:08,640 there is always something closer. 351 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:14,160 There was always something closer to us than Boaz. 352 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,920 And in this book it's not named. But I believe in our lives, we 353 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,200 need to name these things. We need to understand that 354 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,360 without the life of God, the blessings of God become 355 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:30,480 meaningless. Without God's life, unless there 356 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:35,560 is a child for Naomi and Ruth, all these blessings are 357 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:43,160 meaningless for Israel unless unless God can restore something 358 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,160 of the government or something of the blessing of God in David, 359 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,360 there's you know they will, they will slowly self destruct. 360 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,160 No judge will give them enough of a blessing. 361 00:19:55,160 --> 00:20:01,760 They need, they need King David. See, there in our lives there 362 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:07,040 cannot be a plan A and AB Jesus is the plan. 363 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:11,520 He he. He is the plan that line. 364 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:13,800 This last kindness is greater than the first. 365 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,840 Many of us live in that first kindness. 366 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,200 We live in the kindness of God's blessing on our lives. 367 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,600 There is something of when you walk with Jesus there, there is 368 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:26,760 a blessing. You, you, you, you're. 369 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,600 It's not always the case. And we do believe in in that 370 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,520 things can go wrong even without sin, but somehow, somehow it 371 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,960 goes well, there's this first kindness, but there's a second 372 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,520 kindness that he's talking about here. 373 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,600 Now remember, we find ourselves in Naomi's position. 374 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:51,480 Ruth is a picture of Jesus. Without Jesus, all the blessings 375 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,960 in my life are meaningless. It's not that they're bad 376 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:57,280 things. It's not that this first 377 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,920 Redeemer is a bad person. He was quite honest and upfront. 378 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:05,160 He says he cannot redeem. He just cannot bring a life to 379 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,360 that family. He cannot restore. 380 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,320 There's two places in the New in the New Testament I want to go 381 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:21,120 to and the one is the the parable of the prodigal son. 382 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,360 And there I think there is a parallel with the book of Ruth 383 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:30,520 in that while Naomi was far off, Ruth starts to walk with her and 384 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,760 the son that walks away from his father while he's far off, he 385 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,000 comes to his senses and he starts to walk back. 386 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:38,360 There's a there's an incredible blessing there. 387 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:41,800 But the parable of the of the prodigal son is actually about 388 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,240 the oldest son, the one who stays at home, the one who lives 389 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,600 with this, with, with the blessing of being with the 390 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,240 father. And when the youngest son comes 391 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,680 home, he's upset. But there's this line that the 392 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,960 father says to the son, Son, you are always with me and all that 393 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:04,080 is mine is yours. And the blessings I have on my 394 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:09,520 life, actually, those cannot get in the way of a heavenly father 395 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:14,760 that says all I have is yours. All my heavenly Father has is 396 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,240 mine. And that's it to the oldest son. 397 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:21,880 And the second, the second part, and then you just want to get to 398 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,560 is the rich young, the rich, young, rich young ruler who 399 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,320 comes to Jesus and he's and he's got wealth, He's got, he's got 400 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,600 his life figured out. And he says to Jesus, what shall 401 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,680 I do to have eternal life? It's a picture of life again. 402 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:39,680 He's obviously got a lot, but he says, Jesus, I need, I need 403 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,680 eternal life. And Jesus says, you know, he 404 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,520 goes through a little bit of an exchange and eventually he walks 405 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:51,000 away and, and Jesus looks at the stop and he said, you know, one 406 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,960 of his disciples said, who can be saved? 407 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,480 Like if, if that's the requirement, who, who, who then 408 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,200 can have eternal life? And he says, then with man it is 409 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,680 impossible, but with God all things are possible. 410 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,520 And, and, and, and, and Peter began to say to them, see, we 411 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:07,960 have left everything and followed you. 412 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,640 Jesus said, truly, I say to you, there's no one who has left 413 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,760 house or brother or sister or mother or father or children or 414 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,200 lands for my sake and for the Gospel who will not receive a 415 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,680 hundredfold now in this life houses and brothers and sisters 416 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:25,240 and mothers and children and lands with persecution and in 417 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:33,400 the age to come, eternal life. Naomi was willing to lose all of 418 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,560 that in the end. She didn't lose it. 419 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:39,120 This is not a preach to say go solo. 420 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:41,840 You have people moved to Outer Mongolia. 421 00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:48,000 But if the blessings of God get in the way of the purposes of 422 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,080 God, all we do is live in the first. 423 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,320 We do not live in the greatest second blessing. 424 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,560 There's this principle that comes through Ecclesiastes and 425 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,160 and also through Proverbs. It's this idea that there is 426 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,280 like a man who stores up wealth and has no, no ability to enjoy 427 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,640 it. It's like you you you have the 428 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:16,520 funds to buy the best food in the world, the sweetest 1 but 429 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:21,400 you lose your sense of taste. I don't know if you've ever 430 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,360 experienced this. I feel like maybe for someone 431 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:27,360 here today you have thrown extravagant parties, actual 432 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,280 parties and people love it. They flock to your house. 433 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:37,640 Just amazing hospitality and everyone enjoys it except you. 434 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,760 We can live in the first blessing, but there's there can 435 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,280 also be no life there. We need life and that second 436 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,480 blessing, that line that this last kindness is greater than 437 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,880 the first. Boa says to Ruth. 438 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:58,080 The kindness that Jesus gives us is not that he walks us back 439 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,280 into blessings in our lives, but that he gives these blessings we 440 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,840 have in our life. Meaning you see no one who's 441 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,080 walked away from house or brothers or sisters or land. 442 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,160 You kind of have to have those before you can walk away and 443 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:14,720 there's something of the Kingdom in there. 444 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,680 It's one thing to have faith when you're poor, to have faith 445 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,440 when you're barren, to have faith when you're when you have 446 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,920 difficult parents. But there is a type of faith 447 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:32,440 that you require to be rich, to do it well, to have a good 448 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:34,840 marriage and make sure that marriage, it counts for the 449 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,320 Kingdom. It counts for something to raise 450 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,000 your kids and they not becoming the obstruction. 451 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,120 There's this question that's played in my head for for many, 452 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:50,560 many years and it's is this The thing is this the thing that 453 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:55,480 blocks me from walking in. You see the the the whole New 454 00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:00,000 Testament screams to us walk into the Kingdom, walk into it 455 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,640 and many things will block us. Bad church will block us. 456 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,280 And so if you're a part of this church, it's a fantastic church. 457 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:15,840 It's a great church, but it will disappoint you unless you're 458 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:20,840 willing to pursue Jesus here. See this last. 459 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:24,040 It takes faith to be poor. It takes faith to be barren, but 460 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,400 it takes faith to be rich. It takes faith to have kids who 461 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,680 do it well. It takes faith to do marriage 462 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,040 well. And that's the picture that 463 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,920 Naomi gives us in the beginning of Ruth chapter 1. 464 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,040 She says all these blessings, all these blessings I'm willing 465 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:43,760 to risk. I'm willing to risk if a child 466 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,920 can be born. And the greater picture that the 467 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,200 Holy Spirit paints is that a child is born. 468 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,680 This whole story takes place in Bethlehem and there is a child 469 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:58,480 born in Bethlehem who is the greater blessing, greater than 470 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,680 greater than living in the purposes of God and greater than 471 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:04,840 that, having your marriage work out well and your kids. 472 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,360 There is a blessing that comes with following Jesus that puts 473 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:10,200 purpose and meaning in your life. 474 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:16,920 This book ends with a genealogy. Boaz was the father of Obed, 475 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,960 Obed, the father of Jesse, Jesse, the father of David and, 476 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,800 and, and the book of Matthew uses exactly the same language 477 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:24,600 to describe the genealogy of Jesus. 478 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:30,080 It's a it's a direct picture. There is something on my life 479 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,320 that even if I do it well, Here's an example. 480 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,320 My my grandfather left a trust fund. 481 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,320 It was sizable. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe took 482 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,560 care of some of it, and my grand living into her 90s took care of 483 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,440 the rest. But where's Rockefeller's wealth 484 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:52,360 today? Where's the greatest marriage of 485 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:54,880 the 1910s? Today it's gone. 486 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,360 But here we have this very simple story of a child being 487 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:06,640 born and 123 generations the salvation of Israel, and 456 488 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:09,520 carry on. You eventually have Jesus. 489 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:14,200 When the gospel story grips our lives and when the blessings we 490 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:19,200 have are actually poured out in that purpose, we can expect that 491 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,320 actually generation after generation, God's gospel does 492 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:27,360 more, more than anything, the best life that we could live 493 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,800 could achieve. I want to encourage you that 494 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,280 that the, that line, the last kindness is greater than the 495 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,200 first. We've, we've got this ability to 496 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,240 live with an incredible purpose that Jesus gives us. 497 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,840 Sometimes the blessings of God get in the way. 498 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,440 We're not willing to risk those to walk in, in the, in the 499 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,360 purposes of God. Naomi didn't walk into a casino 500 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,280 and put it all on black. Well, with, with, with Boaz, it 501 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:57,240 was a risk with us and with Jesus. 502 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,680 It's not a risk. It's not a risk. 503 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,120 It feels like it. It feels like when you do it, 504 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,480 you fly upside down and the rest of the world. 505 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,880 But as as Nick Davis used to preach in this church, we're 506 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,240 actually flying the right way up and the world is flying upside 507 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,680 down. It looks like recklessness. 508 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,880 It looks like foolishness. Ruth, chapter 3. 509 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,920 But actually Naomi understands that it's better. 510 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:32,280 It's better to be foolish and have that son and in our lives. 511 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,960 It's better to be foolish and live with the blessing and the 512 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:39,080 fruit that the gospel produces in our lives than just with the 513 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:43,120 good things that we can get by by listening to some principles. 514 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:44,840 Come on, plenty.