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Good morning. 
All right, grab your Bible. 

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We're going to jump straight in.
We're going to be in Ruth 

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chapter 2 today. 
If you are new to the book of 

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Ruth, of you unsure of the 
backdrop, chapter 1. 

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Essentially what we believe that
Ruth is written by Samuel and 

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what he does in chapter 1 is he 
reaches back into a time when 

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there's a moment of time of 
famine over a few years in the 

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nation of Israel and Judah. 
And he reaches out and tells the

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story of one family that in the 
midst of that famine, they 

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decided worst possible decision 
you could make. 

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They're going to go to Israel 
and Judah's arch enemies, the 

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Moabites. 
And they're going to try and 

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make ends meet there while the 
famine is going on back home. 

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And the the man who leads the 
family into Moab is eliminate. 

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And over the course of time, he 
passes away, leaving his wife as

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a widow. 
And also his two sons passed 

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away leaving their wives as 
widows. 

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And so Ruth, chapter one, we 
find a Naomi left to fend for 

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these two. 
She says to them, actually, I 

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think it will be better if you 
go back to your home, to your 

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people. 
I'm going back to my home and my

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people. 
And, and Ruth Chapter 1 ends by 

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saying, so Naomi returned from 
Moab, but she was accompanied by

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Ruth the Moabite, her 
daughter-in-law, arriving in 

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Bethlehem as the barley harvest 
was beginning. 

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So that's the backdrop to the 
story of Ruth Chapter 2 is where

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the, the, the wheels of 
redemption begin to turn. 

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You know, everything that we've 
heard about today, all these 

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weavings that we've seen of God 
doing in and through our lives, 

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where you begin to see it in the
book of Ruth. 

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And what I want to do is I want 
to just pick up on three 

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characters that we find in Ruth 
chapter 2. 

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And I want to show you how they 
lean into the redemptive 

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purposes of God rather than 
pushing back against it. 

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And this is the invitation that 
you and I during the course of 

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the book of Ruth and there's 
redemptive undertones that you 

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and I lean into the redemptive 
work of God rather than resist 

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it, rather than push back 
against it. 

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So I'm going to show you these 
three people as we read through 

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Ruth chapter 2, starting in 
verse one says now Naomi had a 

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relative on her husband's side, 
a man of standing from the clan 

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of Elimelech, whose name was 
Boaz. 

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It needs a little bit of context
here because I want to 

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differentiate between verse 1 
and 2. 

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So it says then verse one, it 
refers to Boaz as a man of 

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standing. 
And this is just an ancient Near

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East way of saying this is this 
is a man of caliber capacity. 

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He's a, he's a wealthy man, a 
wealth to do man, but he's also 

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got the character to match. 
And actually what we found about

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Boaz is that he comes from a 
family of men of standing this, 

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this clan of the Limeluk, even 
the Limeluk himself who led his 

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family into Moab. 
These were well to do high 

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flying, effective quality 
businessmen. 

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These were families of good 
reputation. 

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You know, the kids were 
influencers on Instagram. 

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They had the homes in the in the
Lani estates and the holiday 

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homes scattered across the 
country. 

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And so now you've got this 
entire tribe that's Naomi and 

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Ruth have access to when they 
come back, They've got a network

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that they can milk. 
So they've come back. 

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They're literally come back the 
poorest poor, only with the 

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shirts on their backs. 
But the best thing is that 

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they've got a family that they 
can go to ask for help with. 

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They've got family that you can 
stay at one of our homes. 

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We'll furnish this plot, this 
spot or, you know, let's get you

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a car when you donkey or 
whatever it was that they did in

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those days. 
But essentially, they wouldn't 

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have felt it. 
And where we often miss this 

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because we know the story of 
Ruth, but it's important that we

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stop there and realize actually 
there's this side of the story 

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where they have a Ways and Means
of getting themselves back on 

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their feet. 
So that's first one. 

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Now, Naomi had a relative on her
husband's side, a man of 

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standing from the clan of 
Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 

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If you were reading this the 
first time and you didn't know 

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the story, verse 2 would then 
surprise you knowing this access

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that she has to resources 
because verse 2 says instead 

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Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 
let me go to the fields and pick

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up the leftover grain behind 
anyone and who's as favored? 

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She's like, no, no, I'm going to
go pick up scraps. 

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What is going on here? 
So in the ancient Near East, 

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there was a thing called 
gleaning, which was incorporated

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into the law of God. 
It was there for the poorest of 

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poor. 
So gleaning, I heard someone 

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describe it as this saying they 
would plant in squares, but 

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they'd harvest in circles, which
is, which is a great 

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description. 
Essentially the law said, 

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listen, you don't mock that 
entire field for everything it's

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worth. 
So if they're harvesting olives,

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you know, you shake olives off 
the tree, you have some stubborn

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olives stay on the tree. 
You just leave them there for 

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the poorest are put to come and 
they'll take them for themselves

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or for you. 
You know, you've got to a 

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vineyard and and you can't quite
reach that bunch of grapes. 

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You leave it there for the 
poorest of poor, or in this case

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with barley and wheat harvest, 
you know, you've got the stalks 

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that are falling together. 
You're carrying it to the to the

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cart and it leaves stuff behind.
You leave it there. 

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The poorest of the poor on their
knees in the dirt would come and

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pick up that little bit. 
And this is what she decides to 

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do? 
Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 

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let me go to the fields and pick
up the leftover grain behind 

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anyone. 
And who's has a fan fare? 

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What on earth is she thinking? 
You've got this unbelievable 

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resource. 
You know, just ask him to put 

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your fingerprints on silver 
lakes, and you can get in there 

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and you can stay. 
And, you know, problem solved. 

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You can even play a round of 
golf. 

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And she decides instead to go 
and grovel in the dirt and pick 

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up grains. 
What's going on here? 

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You're familiar with the terms 
introvert and extrovert, right? 

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I think they've had a little bit
too much of the limelight 

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because there's another way that
we engage and interact with the 

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world. 
And this I want to overlay over 

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roof and that is a scarcity 
mindset or an abundance mindset.

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So I've been doing a little bit 
of research because, you know, I

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mean, I always find myself down 
some rabbit hole somewhere 

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learning random stuff. 
But it struck me because they 

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say of scarcity, I'll get back 
to Ruth in just a second. 

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I say about scarcity is having a
scarcity mindset captures your 

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mind, it encases it. 
It cements it in this idea that 

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there's not enough. 
There's no way that I can be 

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looked after. 
I've got to go make my own plan.

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But added to scarcity, we've got
what is called a negativity 

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bias. 
So negativity bias, it's, it's 

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facetious to say, well, you 
know, a glass half full, it's 

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way more powerful than that. 
A negativity bias, they say if 

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you have one negative opinion, 
you know, the economy or 

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corruption or whatever the case 
might be. 

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And even if you're wrong, it 
takes 6 or 7 positive 

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contradictions before you even 
start thinking, well, maybe I'm 

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wrong, doesn't change your mind.
But to get you to the point 

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where you're going on. 
So it's, it's, it's completely 

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slanted in the wrong direction 
towards this negativity bias. 

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Plus we also have this part of 
our nature called a confirmation

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bias. 
Yeah, you see, you see, I told 

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you, you see. 
And so you got these three. 

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You got a scarcity mindset 
undergirded by a negativity 

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bias, compressed by this 
confirmation bias that leaves 

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you, as they say, absolutely 
taken over and captured by a 

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scarcity mindset that says it 
changes the way we think. 

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It leads us to a higher degree 
of worry, a higher degree of 

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anxiety. 
And we took into rampant 

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selfishness and self protection 
because of the scarcity mindset.

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Now here's the scary thing. 
They say there is a very small 

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percentage of people who don't 
have a scarcity mindset, which 

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means, and if I have to do quick
maths, which is not my Forte, 

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but if we all are here according
to the percentages, these front 

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2 lines here, front two rows 
would have an abundance mindset.

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The rest of us are governed by a
scarcity mindset. 

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Now that's secular research. 
If I can put a biblical lens 

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over that, essentially scarcity 
doubts God's sufficiency. 

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Now, those who carry an attitude
of abundance, these two front 

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rows think about life altogether
differently. 

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It goes on to say Christians 
with an abundance mindset live 

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from a place of understanding 
that God is kind, compassionate,

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caring, and greater than we can 
even begin to imagine. 

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A abundance mindset says there's
no limit to his grace. 

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There's no limit to his capacity
to provide, protect, rescue, 

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restore and redeem. 
And so I heard someone say that 

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if the distance between the sun 
and the Earth was as thick as a 

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piece of paper, OK, if we had to
shrink this down ratio wise to 

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the the the width of a piece of 
paper like this, the next star, 

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you'd need to line up pages 22 
meters long distance wise to get

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to the next nearest star. 
And the diameter, if you're 

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using this ratio between the 
planet Earth and the edge of our

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Galaxy would mean paid to pages 
lined up for 500 kilometers. 

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And then he went on to say, 
which basically means that if 

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you had to hazard a guess of how
big our God is, he says the 

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entire universe is the size of a
contact lens on the end of God's

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finger. 
Now, here's the thing. 

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You don't say to that God. 
Yeah, I think you can be my 

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assistant. 
You don't say to that God. 

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Don't call me. 
I'll call you. 

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You don't say to that God. 
Once I've exhausted all my 

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possible options, spoken to all 
my relatives who I've worked my 

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next network, If I don't come 
right, I might give you a call. 

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But scarcity does. 
They say that the proud would 

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rather starve than stoop to the 
purposes and plans of God. 

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Let me show you how Ruth 
responds to the redemptive 

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purposes of God and read that 
same verse again. 

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Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 
Let me go to the fields and pick

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up leftover grain behind anyone 
in whose eyes I find favor. 

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Why? 
She has an abundance mindset. 

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She is looking at the piddly, 
pathetic wealth of her 

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relatives. 
And she said I'd rather trust 

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the purposes of God, even though
they don't make sense, even 

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though it requires A loneliness 
and a humility from me. 

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I would rather put my faith in 
God who says, listen, I have put

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into the law a way for you to be
provided for. 

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I've put into the law a plan and
a purpose for the wheels of 

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redemption to turn. 
Trust in me that I know what I'm

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doing, even though it looks 
contradictory to a humanistic 

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worldview. 
So don't believe the lie of 

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scarcity. 
I'm a God of abundance, a God 

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who's able to do exceedingly 
abundantly above, irrespective 

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of the situation that you're in.
And we're going to look at some 

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dark situations that you're in. 
So that's where we start with 

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Ruth, and then we bump into Boaz
verse 3. 

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So she went out, she entered the
field and began to glean behind 

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the harvesters. 
As it turned out, she was 

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working in a field belonging to 
Boaz. 

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I think the 1984 NIV says it 
just so happens so you don't get

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a. 
It just so happens when you're 

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working the system. 
You get a. 

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It just so happens that we've 
got Portuguese people getting 

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baptized while we're giving 
feedback on Portugal. 

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When you're trusting in the 
redemptive purposes and plans of

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God, we don't get a it just so 
happens unless you're leaning in

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on the redemptive purposes of 
God. 

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And there's the cedar tree in 
the middle. 100 year old cedar 

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tree when it's meant 100 years 
ago God was going. 

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I wonder if they see this. 
Let me put the little cedar seed

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in the ground here. 
Anyway, I'll digress. 

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As it turned out, it just so 
happened I'm captivated and 

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fascinated by that. 
Unbelievable web God weaves. 

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As it turned out, it just 
happened. 

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She was working in a field 
belonging to Boaz. 

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OK, here we come, Boaz, who was 
from the clan of Elimelech. 

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Just then Boaz arrived from 
Bethlehem and greeted the 

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harvesters. 
The Lord be with you, the Lord 

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bless you, they answered. 
Boaz asked the overseeing of his

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00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,000
harvesters. 
Who does that young woman belong

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00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:04,520
to? 
I wanted to. 

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00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:08,880
I just want to stop there. 
So Samuel's writing the story, 

226
00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,120
right? 
I looked at it and I thought, 

227
00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,600
like, you know what, it would 
have been far more 

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00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:15,680
straightforward if he's just 
said so. 

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00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,440
Boaz arrived, said to the 
overseer, who the heck is that 

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working in my field? 
Do you know who she is? 

231
00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:25,760
But he intentionally inserts 
these things. 

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Every word. 
The real estate and scripture is

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00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,120
prime property. 
So he's not just haphazardly 

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including the fact that Boaz 
arrives and he says hello. 

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Everybody doesn't just say that.
He says the Lord be with you. 

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00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,520
And they respond positively, 
I'll all be with you. 

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00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:43,720
And then he shows as well that 
he goes to the oversea and says,

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00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:45,000
listen, I've noticed someone 
new. 

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00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,640
What's what's his story? 
Because I want to show you the 

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character of Boaz. 
So we're talking about how 

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00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,400
people lean into the redemptive 
plans and purposes of God versus

242
00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:00,000
push against it. 
And sometimes it's revealed in 

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00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:04,120
our character. 
So Boaz can see he's he is a man

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00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:08,000
of standing the way that he 
deals with the the least of 

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00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:09,640
these, his employees and all of 
that. 

246
00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,680
But then in verse 8, he says 
something that bothered me. 

247
00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,960
He's an older man. 
And in verse 8, he says, so Boaz

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says to Ruth, my daughter, stay 
here, listen to me, hang around 

249
00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,040
in my spot. 
But he uses this term my 

250
00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,000
daughter. 
And knowing that he's a whole 

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00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,320
lot older, I kind of thought 
like, oh, that's maybe is a 

252
00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:32,200
little bit sleazy, you know, 
Hey, girlie. 

253
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,040
So I did some digging, just 
wanted to make sure that he 

254
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,040
really was a man who's standing,
you know, and I found that it 

255
00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,960
does mean daughter and one says,
but here's the thing, right, I 

256
00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,720
noticed it says so Boaz said to 
Ruth comma. 

257
00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:54,600
He doesn't say to Ruth the 
Moabite, his standing and his 

258
00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:59,720
conversation is to her as Ruth 
and then he calls her my 

259
00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,200
daughter, which in the Hebrew is
Baath and it means to be a 

260
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:04,880
daughter. 
But it's an unbelievably 

261
00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,640
endearing term, like apple of my
eye. 

262
00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:10,680
One person says it's a term of 
endearment of the utmost 

263
00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,440
respect. 
And then it got like properly 

264
00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,480
confusing because the one guy I 
decided, you know, let me help a

265
00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,800
brother out and and just make it
as muddy as possible. 

266
00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,960
He says when he called her my 
daughter instead of Moabite, it 

267
00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,040
says farm the mud. 
The bath is as far away from 

268
00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,720
Moabite S as an EW lamb is from 
a she goat. 

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00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,480
Makes perfect sense, right? 
Unlike you, sometimes we give us

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00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:37,400
preachers. 
We can make things so difficult 

271
00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:43,320
like OK, so he calls her my 
daughter, and my daughter is as 

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00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:49,000
far away from Moabite S as AU 
Lam is from a she goat. 

273
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,720
So I'm going like OK, but I'm 
feeling there's something in 

274
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:55,440
here. 
It must be Samuel doesn't just 

275
00:15:55,440 --> 00:16:00,240
include stuff for random. 
So I'm busy my my system is busy

276
00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:01,840
twitching while we're driving in
the car. 

277
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:03,280
I said to my wife like, how's 
this? 

278
00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,880
He says, no, it's like that's 
why because you know, calling 

279
00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:11,440
her my daughter so far away from
mow my tests like a you lambs 

280
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,280
from a she goat. 
And my wife says, yeah, that's 

281
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:20,320
because a she goat as part of 
the sacrificial system and 

282
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,400
suddenly a lot came on. 
You see, because a you lamb, 

283
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:28,520
you're taken to your arms and 
into your home, the she goat 

284
00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,520
he'll sacrifice and slaughter. 
And we're talking about his 

285
00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,120
character. 
He deals with her like one who 

286
00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,560
he'll wrap his arms around and 
bring into the home, not as one 

287
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,400
that he would slaughter. 
And that reminded me of John 

288
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:44,720
Gottman. 
I don't know if you know him. 

289
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,760
He's one of the foremost 
researchers around relationships

290
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,560
and marriages. 
And John talks about marriages 

291
00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:55,080
being masters or disasters. 
So you get guys who are masters 

292
00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,480
at their marriage and those who 
are disasters at their marriage.

293
00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,560
Anyone here who's disasters, and
I'm just kidding, don't put you.

294
00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:02,560
I thought my wife and just 
you're lucky. 

295
00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:08,160
Oh, here we go, babes, come on. 
But he says this. 

296
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,240
He says he can sits with a 
couple and in a matter of 

297
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,200
seconds, he can discern whether 
they're masters or disasters. 

298
00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,359
And he talks about the four 
Horsemen of the apocalypse. 

299
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,599
I like that. 
He says never include these four

300
00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,319
in your marriage. 
This is free marriage advice. 

301
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,120
OK. 
They are #1 we'll pop it up on 

302
00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:30,960
the screen if you want to take a
photo because I'm going to go 

303
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,440
through them quickly #1 
criticism talking about the four

304
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,560
Horsemen of the apocalypse. 
You want to turn any 

305
00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:39,640
relationship into a disaster. 
Criticism, attacking your 

306
00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,560
partner's character instead of 
addressing specific behavior. 

307
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,600
Two, defensiveness, self 
protection through counter 

308
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,440
attacks or victimhood. 
Oh, you don't understand how 

309
00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,320
hard it is to be married to you 
#3 stonewalling, emotional 

310
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:54,920
withdrawal and shutting down. 
And #4 contempt. 

311
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,640
This is disrespect, Belittling 
someone's sarcasm, mocking or 

312
00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,960
speaking with superiority or 
disgust as if someone is 

313
00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,480
worthless or beneath 
consideration. 

314
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:10,400
And then he adds, of these 4, 
contempt is the strongest 

315
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:18,520
predictor of divorce. 
Contempt belittling sarcasm. 

316
00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:22,760
And my mom always used to say 
sarcasm is the lowest form of 

317
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,960
wit, to which I always used to 
respond, but it's the funniest 

318
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:34,280
to which I've had to repent 
because contempt is the 

319
00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,760
strongest predictor of divorce. 
He actually says contempt is 

320
00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:47,240
sulfuric acid for relationships.
Men, what comes out of your 

321
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:54,680
mouth? 
Sulfuric acid See, it's 

322
00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,160
belittling. 
We do that in the workplace. 

323
00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:03,920
Sarcasm, speaking with 
superiority or disgust as if 

324
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,480
someone is worthless or beneath 
consideration. 

325
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:11,760
You know, contempt is like, did 
you seriously trigger the alarm 

326
00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,600
again? 
How many times does I tell you 

327
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,320
before you go downstairs, just 
switch off the alarm now I'll go

328
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:22,360
to answer my phone. 
Contempt, belittling, where 

329
00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:28,000
someone is worthless or beneath 
consideration, What comes out of

330
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,560
your mouth? 
He then goes on to say kindness 

331
00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,800
is the most important predictor 
of a stable, healthy 

332
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,920
relationship. 
And she says kindness glues, 

333
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,680
couples together. 
This is an unsaved man saying 

334
00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:47,160
the very words of Scripture. 
It is God's kindness that leads 

335
00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,440
us to repentance. 
It's his kindness. 

336
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,880
It takes those of us running 
from him and glues us to him. 

337
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,680
You know what comes out of 
Boaz's mouth, He says to his 

338
00:19:57,680 --> 00:19:59,680
staff. 
He says don't reprimand it. 

339
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,040
Don't rebuke her, he says. 
I want to serve her. 

340
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,120
I want to honor her. 
I want to protect her. 

341
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,200
You know what he says to Ruth? 
He goes to her and she says, he 

342
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:10,240
says, I've been told all about 
you. 

343
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:14,800
And now he could drop anything 
in there. 

344
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,840
She was a Moabiteess. 
Her history, her past. 

345
00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:21,560
That's shame. 
He could have dropped anything 

346
00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,400
in there, but he doesn't. 
He doesn't say. 

347
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,120
Yeah, but you remember last time
and yeah, you said that 

348
00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:29,640
Christmas. 
And yeah, you're doing it again.

349
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,480
Ladies, Contempt is sulfuric 
acid to a relationship. 

350
00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:36,920
He doesn't say that. 
Says I've heard all about you. 

351
00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,720
How you've served your 
mother-in-law, how you've loved 

352
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,840
it to the point of leaving your 
family and coming and making our

353
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,400
God, your God, our people, your 
people. 

354
00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,200
Kindness, kindness. 
Kindness. 

355
00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:59,800
What best describes you, Boaz or
a bully, contempt or kindness? 

356
00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,560
Heard a story about Brian 
Chappelle tells that he lived on

357
00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,520
a neighborhood of all farms and 
his farmers divided from his 

358
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:13,560
neighbor's farm by river and the
neighbors kids decided they were

359
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,160
going to go play down by the 
river one afternoon. 

360
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,960
The mom as always, like listen, 
just make sure you're back by 

361
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:20,640
sunset. 
You know, the good old days. 

362
00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,480
And so they disappeared and, and
what had happened was there was 

363
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,880
a little bit of a development 
going on next to the river where

364
00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,800
they built these massive mounds 
of sand as they were busy 

365
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,920
preparing to build. 
And they'd had some heavy rains.

366
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,640
And what these boys didn't 
realize, they wanted to go climb

367
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,320
up these sand mounds and do like
our kids do on the beach where 

368
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:40,760
they make little landslides down
the side there. 

369
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:45,040
But because of the amount of 
rain, the, the, the moisture in 

370
00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,840
that sand turned it essentially 
into quicksand. 

371
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,520
So these two boys climb up to 
the top and they start getting 

372
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,520
buried under the sand so they 
don't come home for supper. 

373
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,600
By the time it's dark, the mom 
is really, really worried. 

374
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,280
It's the husband and farm hands.
And they go to try and find 

375
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,520
these boys and eventually 
discover them down by the river 

376
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,160
buried in the sand mound. 
One of the sons just managed to 

377
00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,400
get just a little bit. 
He's taking sips of air as he 

378
00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,440
struggles to hang on, and the 
parents lean in and pull him 

379
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:17,840
out. 
And the first question is, 

380
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:19,320
where's your brother? 
Where's your brother? 

381
00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:22,680
And his answer was, I was 
standing on his shoulders. 

382
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:33,200
See, that is the heart posture 
that allows redemption not just 

383
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,000
to come to you, but redemption 
to work through you. 

384
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:42,120
It's the heart posture that we 
find in Boaz that is so 

385
00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:46,680
attractional, so remarkable, 
that Samuel years later is 

386
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,600
looking through the filing 
cabinets, the history of the 

387
00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:54,240
people in Jerusalem, and says 
that is a point of redemption 

388
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:59,240
because of that hot posture. 
See, Ruth, because of her 

389
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,520
abundance mindset, is able to 
say, I can trust this God even 

390
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:03,840
though it doesn't make sense to 
me. 

391
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,720
And redemption comes to her. 
Boaz, because of his 

392
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,600
understanding of the nature and 
character of God, is able to 

393
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,120
lean in and show kindness rather
than contempt. 

394
00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:16,960
And we see redemption throwing, 
flowing through him. 

395
00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:20,720
So I'll ask again, what best 
describes you? 

396
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,520
And then last we come across 
Naomi verse 19. 

397
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,800
Naomi asked her talking about 
Ruth. 

398
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,240
Where did you glean today? 
Where did you work? 

399
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,760
Blessed be the man who took 
notice of you because she's 

400
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,200
coming in with wheelbarrows and 
donkey cost full of food. 

401
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,880
She's got leftovers from lunch 
and food to spare. 

402
00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,040
The name of the man I worked 
with today is Boaz, she said the

403
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,640
Lord bless him, Naomi said to 
her daughter-in-law. 

404
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,440
He's not stopped showing his 
kindness to the living and the 

405
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,560
dead and then Sia says she 
added. 

406
00:23:52,080 --> 00:24:00,360
She added that that man wields a
time and then is our closest 

407
00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:02,840
relative. 
He's one of our kinsmen, 

408
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:07,040
redeemers. 
I wonder what God is up to. 

409
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,400
I want to show you something. 
What I believe is going on in 

410
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,480
Naomi's heart of this stage, 
which we see very clearly in the

411
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,480
next chapter next week. 
We'll get there, but I want to 

412
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,080
show you what's going on inside 
here so you can see the fruit of

413
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,240
it next week. 
But to do so, we're going to 

414
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,720
take a serious detour. 
OK, Bear with me. 

415
00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,480
We'll come up for air. 
It's going to be like 4 years of

416
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:33,720
Bible college into 4 1/2 
minutes, OK. 

417
00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,280
And then we'll come back to 
Naomi, right? 

418
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,640
And we're going to start in Two 
Chronicles chapter 34. 

419
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:41,560
It's a young boy. 
You don't have to turn there. 

420
00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:43,000
Pop it up on the screen, a young
boy. 

421
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,880
His name is Josiah. 
And verse one says Josiah was 8 

422
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,040
years old when he became king. 
So his dad passes away. 

423
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,560
He naturally moves into the role
as a king and says, and he 

424
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,800
reigned in Jerusalem 31 years. 
He did what was right in the 

425
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,560
eyes of the Lord and followed 
the ways of his father David, 

426
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,240
not turning aside to the right 
or to the left. 

427
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:07,000
Now we're talking about what is 
it that shows our leaning into 

428
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,960
the redemptive purposes of God 
versus pushing back against it? 

429
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,040
And what's interesting here, 
it's it's names almost three 

430
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:15,640
times over. 
He did what was right in the 

431
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:17,560
eyes of the Lord. 
He followed the ways of his 

432
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,960
father, David. 
And he didn't turn aside to the 

433
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,880
left, to the right. 
But there's one problem right in

434
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:24,960
the middle there. 
It says he walked in the ways of

435
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,960
his father, but David. 
But David wasn't his father. 

436
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,800
Actually David was like 15 
generations back. 

437
00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:34,800
This is way after that. 
What's going on here? 

438
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:40,480
See, Josiah's father was Amon. 
Amon's father was Manasseh. 

439
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,560
Historians say the following 
about Manasseh. 

440
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,760
Manasseh was the worst king 
Israel ever had. 

441
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,680
He was a thoroughly wicked man 
presiding over a totally corrupt

442
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,160
government. 
He reigned for 55 years, a dark 

443
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,400
and evil half century. 
He encouraged Pagan worship that

444
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,640
involved whole communities and 
cult prostitution at shrines 

445
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,520
throughout the country. 
He imported Wizards and 

446
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,560
sorcerers who enslaved the 
people and superstitions and 

447
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,600
then houses for a paragraph. 
The man could not do enough 

448
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,600
evil. 
There seemed to be no end to his

449
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,480
barbarous cruelties. 
His capacity for creating new 

450
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,680
forms of evil seemed bottomless 
and as as appetite for the 

451
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:23,160
sordid was insatiable. 
One day he placed his own son on

452
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:27,080
the altar and some black and 
terrible ritual and burnt him as

453
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,880
an offering to Molech his God. 
That's Oprah. 

454
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:39,440
Opah passes his way, has one son
who he doesn't sacrifice, Amon, 

455
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,720
who becomes the new king. 
And it says Amon did what was 

456
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,720
evil in the Lord's sight, just 
as Opah did. 

457
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:52,760
And then you've got Josiah. 
Josiah scripture speaks of his 

458
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,640
devotion to the Lord, how you 
remove Pagan worship, idols, 

459
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,320
witchcraft, Pagan priests. 
He repaired and restored the 

460
00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:00,560
temple. 
He is repentant and responsive 

461
00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,000
to scripture. 
He ultimately leads the nation 

462
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:10,920
in revival. 
OPA is sacrificing children, BA 

463
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,440
is doing the same and Josiah 
brings revival. 

464
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:20,680
How on earth does that happen? 
Well, to answer that question, 

465
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,240
we've got to look at these 
portions of Scripture, these 

466
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:29,960
tucked away in these quiet 
recesses of Scripture like Ruth 

467
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,800
chapter 2 and 2 Kings 22. 
We find the answer. 

468
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,520
So this is 2 Kings 22, same 
story. 

469
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,560
You've got Chronicles and Kings 
documents the life and towns of 

470
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:46,120
Israel and then Kings 2 Kings 
22/1 it says Josiah was 8 years 

471
00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:47,240
old. 
We've heard this before in 

472
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,320
Chronicles when he became king 
and he reigned in Jerusalem 31 

473
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,040
years. 
We heard this in Chronicles, but

474
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,120
then we see something that 
wasn't in one Chronicles 34. 

475
00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:59,440
His mother's name was Jedidah, 
daughter or of Fadiah. 

476
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,800
So anytime we hear of his mother
Jedidah, and it is placed in 2 

477
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:09,440
Kings 22 between him coming as 
king and the revival that he 

478
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,240
brought about. 
And it is so stark and it's a 

479
00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:16,160
dissonance between the two that 
theologians say it was put in 

480
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,440
there because she is. 
Why? 

481
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,600
Jedidah is one who represents 
what we see actually throughout 

482
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,640
Scripture dotted through the 
annals of history. 

483
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,520
We see, for example, Moses. 
Moses gets born when Pharaoh 

484
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:35,280
wants to execute and destroy all
the boys under the age of 2 and 

485
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,680
his parents put him in a basket.
They save him, send him off down

486
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,000
the river Nile and he gets 
rescued by Pharaoh's daughter 

487
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,320
and adopted. 
And then Moses sister says, hey,

488
00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,880
listen, would you like me to get
a witness to raise that little 

489
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:51,000
one? 
And she does. 

490
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,600
And Jochebed and Amram, the two 
parents pour their lives into 

491
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,600
Moses, and his future is not the
same because of it. 

492
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:02,960
Or in Judges. 
Remember, we went through Judges

493
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,080
before we jumped into Ruth, 
where it says that there was no 

494
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,600
king and everyone did whatever 
they pleased except when there 

495
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:12,840
was a judge, one person who 
stood up for the redemptive 

496
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,600
purposes and power of God, and 
an entire nation knew peace for 

497
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:21,000
a generation. 
Or like we've just read, Josiah 

498
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:26,720
had Jedidah refined, Esther has 
Mordecai, or Timothy has Eunice 

499
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:31,120
and his grandmother Lewis and 
Ruth has Naomi. 

500
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:38,400
Naomi steps up and responds to 
the redemptive power of God. 

501
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,840
And it breaks the cycle. 
It breaks the barrenness and the

502
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,640
brokenness. 
It breaks the the death. 

503
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:49,840
And what I want to show you 
here, we're talking about 

504
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,160
leaning into the redemptive 
purposes of God. 

505
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:54,280
Sometimes we get to experience 
it. 

506
00:29:54,520 --> 00:30:00,480
Sometimes it flows through us, 
but ultimately, when we respond 

507
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,480
to God's redemptive purpose, one
person can change the lineage of

508
00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:11,080
an entire family life. 
One person, even if OPA and 

509
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:14,760
Pennsylvania were Manasseh and 
Amon, when there's a Jedidah, 

510
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,600
there's a Josiah. 
When there's a Naomi, there's a 

511
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:23,400
Ruth. 
And from Ruth eventually David 

512
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:28,560
and eventually Jesus. 
You see, in Exodus chapter 20 we

513
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,480
get the 10 commandments and God 
as an aside. 

514
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,360
He says, listen, I want you to 
know something here. 

515
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,720
Sin is so poisonous that it can 
actually it will, it will poison

516
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:39,640
down to the 3rd or 4th 
generation. 

517
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,800
So he says, hang on to my 10 
commandments, hang on to my word

518
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,800
in my ways, trust in my 
redemptive purpose. 

519
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,640
Because while sin can go to the 
3rd or 4th generation, his 

520
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,560
redemptive power as it says in 
Exodus 20 verse 6 says my, my 

521
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:58,800
love, my favor, my power will 
flow to 1000 generations of 

522
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:04,080
those who love me and keep my 
command, 1000 generations. 

523
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:09,040
Such is the redemptive power of 
God in one life. 

524
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,840
Now I don't know when Jesus is 
going to come back. 

525
00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:22,480
I phoned Donnie Berta, he also 
doesn't know, but if he decides 

526
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:33,040
to delay for 1000 generations, 
your response to his redemptive 

527
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:41,520
power and his work in your life 
today will show itself through 

528
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,360
your family line all the way 
till he returns. 

529
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:50,120
If we respond, if we lean in 
rather than push against the 

530
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:54,560
redemptive power of God. 
See it just so happens that 

531
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,440
we've been through the book of 
Ecclesiastes and we've wrestled 

532
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,440
with what is heaven meaningless,
meaningless. 

533
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:04,240
What is tough, that which 
carries eternal weight. 

534
00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,880
And then we've gone through 
Romans chapter 8 and we've seen 

535
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:12,480
the inheritance of a fully 
redeemed life looks like, and 

536
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,960
now we have been shown in full 
living color. 

537
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,920
What's that redemptive power 
looks like on the dusty streets 

538
00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:24,160
of Bethlehem and Ruth and Naomi 
and Boaz. 

539
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,840
But that we need to know the 
weightiness of what we're 

540
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,320
dealing with when we decide not 
for me. 

541
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:37,320
And so I'm going to go all the 
way back to the very beginning 

542
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:41,400
and remind you of the God of the
universe, the God who is so 

543
00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:47,280
great it's as if he holds the 
universe the size of a contact 

544
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,520
lens on the edge of his finger. 
I want to show you that picture 

545
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:56,400
again, because this God wants 
in. 

546
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,200
This God wants in your mindset. 
He wants to show himself 

547
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:06,360
abundant. 
He wants to show his grace as 

548
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:09,600
inexhaustible. 
This God wants in. 

549
00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,960
He wants in even to the dark 
recesses of your heart and your 

550
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:17,360
marriage and your relationships.
But most importantly, this God 

551
00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:24,080
wants in because how he gets in 
and how you allow him in will 

552
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,600
affect generation upon 
generation upon generation. 

553
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,080
And if you are here and OPA is 
just like Manasseh or something 

554
00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:37,760
as sort as as that. 
We love to highlight the rubbish

555
00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:41,600
that's been thrown to us. 
But here's the invitation. 

556
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:46,240
How we respond to the redemptive
work of God in our lives can 

557
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:51,720
change the direction of an 
entire family line, the script 

558
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:55,440
says. 
As for me, in my house we will 

559
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:56,080
serve the Lord.