1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,240 Good morning, everyone. For those of you who don't know 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:09,640 me, my name is Vance Furtado. I'm a volunteer teaching pastor 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,520 here at Resurrection Church, as well as an elder. 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,320 And if you are visiting us this morning again, we want to say 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,080 welcome to you. And please, if you get a chance, 6 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:24,320 fill out that little card in the Pew in front of you so that we 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,320 get an opportunity to say hello. All right. 8 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:33,480 We are continuing our series this morning called Christmas 9 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:39,000 Roots, which has a study in the small but beautiful Old 10 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:43,880 Testament book of Ruth. Now last week, Pastor Daniel 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:48,880 took us through the 1st chapter, and it's my privilege to take us 12 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,440 through Chapter 2, Ruth Chapter 2, which we're calling 13 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,760 Providence in the field and later. 14 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:58,160 So we're going to go in there momentarily. 15 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:03,720 Before we do that, I'd like to share with you a true story out 16 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,880 of my own life that illustrates something that we're going to 17 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:13,080 see in today's message. I was in my late 30s, so you 18 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:19,480 obviously, you know, this was some time ago and I was teaching 19 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,880 at a local Christian School in northeast Bakersfield called 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,920 Heritage. I've been there eight years 21 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:32,280 teaching Bible, history and other subjects and I was making 22 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:40,560 28,000 minus paying for Linda, my wife and our two kids medical 23 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,640 insurance. No, it wasn't very much back 24 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:50,760 then either. I worked summers to try to earn 25 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:56,040 a little bit of extra money. Linda was working crazy hours, 26 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:01,000 and I mean crazy hours at our business, sometimes getting up 27 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,640 at 3:00 in the morning to start work so that she could get stuff 28 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:09,160 done at home with her business before our kids even got up. 29 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,720 She was starting to have health problems, especially high blood 30 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:14,880 pressure, because she wasn't sleeping enough. 31 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:21,680 So our kids had and our children Joe and Kathleen were still 32 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:23,680 pretty young. They had basically 2 absentee 33 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,880 parents who were doing their dead level best to try to 34 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,480 provide and we were barely making it. 35 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,800 And some of you know exactly what I'm talking about because 36 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:36,680 you've been there or you are there. 37 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:44,880 Something had to change. So I was teaching a Bible class 38 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,800 at the old church and a friend of mine, my Co teacher, he 39 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,080 offered to give me an opportunity that I had dreamed 40 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,080 of for years. He was willing to allow me to 41 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:02,240 help me to be able to go back to school to get my doctorate so 42 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,280 that I could teach at a Christian university or at a 43 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,440 seminary. That had been my dream. 44 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:18,040 But am I sacrificing my family again to do this dream? 45 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,520 So Linda and I were praying about it and I started to take 46 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,480 the first steps to do that all right, taking a special exam, 47 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:31,160 signing up for some classes. But is this the right thing? 48 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,280 And then another opportunity was presented. 49 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,520 A friend of mine, she got a job teaching at current high school 50 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,720 district and she got it bam, right away. 51 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:55,080 So I started thinking, Lord I have tried twice before to get a 52 00:03:55,080 --> 00:04:00,440 job teaching in Kern High School District and both times flopped. 53 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:07,240 Should I try 1/3 time knowing I suck at job interviews and I do? 54 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:16,680 What do I do? The job will pay enough for me 55 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:22,079 to support our family to where Linda can leave her business but 56 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:30,800 it's a new job. I applied, I went through three 57 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:38,280 job interviews and I got offered a job teaching at a place called 58 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:43,960 Nueva High School in Lamont. I didn't even know Lamont had a 59 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:48,400 high school, and it does. You can barely find it, but it 60 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,240 does. I would be teaching continuation 61 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,680 students. Now, some of you know what that 62 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:57,640 is, but let me explain it to the rest of you. 63 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,440 Think back to when you were in high school. 64 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:05,360 Do you remember the kid that maybe you sat by in class that 65 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,120 was always popping off, always creating trouble, maybe getting 66 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,360 into fights on campus, coming into class smelling funny? 67 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:14,920 You know what I mean? All right. 68 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,760 And then suddenly that kid disappeared. 69 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,640 You didn't see him anymore because they came to me. 70 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:30,120 That's the kind of kids that I taught because I took the job. 71 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:34,320 Did I? No. 72 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:39,080 This is definitely God's will. No, I'm struggling. 73 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,640 I'm trying to figure it out. Should I have stayed where I 74 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:42,920 was? It was comfortable. 75 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:45,640 We were poor, but I was comfortable. 76 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:46,960 Should I have gone back to school? 77 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,320 That would have taken another three or four years. 78 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:56,800 Or do I take this job having to basically learn to be a teacher 79 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:04,600 all over again? Well, let me tell you, it was 80 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:12,520 incredibly hard, but eventually, eventually, I really liked it. 81 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,840 And I remained at that school for 21 years until I retired. 82 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:20,760 So here's my question, all right. 83 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:27,400 During all those months of uncertainty, anxiety, Linda and 84 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:29,560 I are trying to figure out the next step for me. 85 00:06:31,840 --> 00:06:34,920 I was floundering. It's like I was drowning and I'd 86 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:37,600 pop back up again, and then I'd go back to drowning again. 87 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,240 During all those months of uncertainty, I was just 88 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:47,880 floundering. Or was I being guided by God 89 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,680 himself? And the answer is yes. 90 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,720 Yeah, that's how it is sometimes with God. 91 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,160 OK, we don't always figure it out, but He's in charge. 92 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,680 As a matter of fact, that's exactly what we're going to see 93 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:14,040 in the Book of Ruth, chapter 2. See the prophet Jeremiah in the 94 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:16,880 Old Testament. He figured out something that I 95 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,840 did not understand, and here's what he wrote. 96 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:27,840 I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not in himself, but 97 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:32,920 that, and that it is not in a man who walks to direct his 98 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:38,920 steps. In other words, we're uncertain. 99 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,320 We're not sure what the next step is. 100 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:49,360 That never happens to God. What this is called, everyone is 101 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,240 the Providence of God. I know it's a big word. 102 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,040 What is Providence? Here's a good short definition 103 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,440 of it. Providence asserts that God, 104 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:07,240 having called the world into being, continually sustains, 105 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:13,680 renews, and orders it. In other words, the Lord is in 106 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:21,640 charge and nothing is beyond his power, including everything 107 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,840 that's happening in our lives. The main point of this message 108 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:31,840 is this, guys, what we see is coincidental is often 109 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,799 providential. All right, let's take a look now 110 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,080 at Ruth, Chapter 2. I invite you to read along with 111 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,840 me as we take a look at this chapter of Scripture. 112 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:44,880 After we've read through it, then we'll go back and talk 113 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:46,040 about it. All right, here we go. 114 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:49,760 Now. Now I only had a relative of her 115 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:54,080 husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Eli Melek, whose name 116 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:57,680 was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to 117 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:01,840 Naomi, let me go to the field and glean among the ears of 118 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:06,480 grain after him, and whose side I shall find favor. 119 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,560 Now that word favor, I underlined it in my Bible 120 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:14,120 because it's important. And she said to her, Go my 121 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,960 daughter. So she set out and went and 122 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,000 gleaned in the field after the reapers. 123 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,880 And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to 124 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,040 Boaz, who was of the clan of Eli Malik. 125 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,640 And behold, Boaz just came from Bethlehem. 126 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,960 And he said to the reapers, the Lord be with you. 127 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,560 And they answered, The Lord bless you. 128 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,200 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the 129 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,280 reapers, Whose young woman is this? 130 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,680 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered. 131 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,960 She is the young Moabite women who came back with Naomi from 132 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:55,920 the country of Moab. She said our excuse me. 133 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:59,800 She said, please let me glean and gather among the sheaves 134 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,840 after the reapers. So she came and has continued 135 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,920 from early morning until now, except for a short rest. 136 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:15,120 Then Boaz said to Ruth, Now listen, my daughter, do not go 137 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,320 and glean in another field or leave this one, but keep your 138 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,800 eyes to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field 139 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:25,200 that they are reaping, and go after them. 140 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,640 Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? 141 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,600 And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the 142 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,200 young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, 143 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:45,200 bowing to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favor 144 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:50,440 in your eyes, that you should take notice of me since I am a 145 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,960 foreigner? But Boaz answered her. 146 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,360 All that has been done, all that you have done for your 147 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,320 mother-in-law since the death of your husband, has been fully 148 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,040 told to me. And how you left your father and 149 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:09,240 mother and your native land, and became to a people that you did 150 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:14,160 not know before. The Lord repay you for what you 151 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,240 have done, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the 152 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:23,440 God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge. 153 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:31,880 Then she said, I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, for 154 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:36,280 you have comforted me and spoke kindly to your servant, though I 155 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:40,680 am not one of your servants. And a meal time Boaz said to 156 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:45,160 her, Come here, eat some bread, and deep dip your morsel. 157 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:46,840 That's a piece of bread in the wine. 158 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,080 So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her the roasted 159 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,640 grain, and she ate some until she was satisfied and had some 160 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,720 leftover. When she rose to glean, Boaz 161 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:03,640 instructed his young men, saying, Let her glean even among 162 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,840 the sheaves and do not reproach her. 163 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:11,720 He and also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it 164 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,320 for her to glean and do not rebuke her. 165 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:20,800 So she gleaned in the field until evening beat out what she 166 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,080 had gleaned, and it was about an EFAF of barley. 167 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,600 She took it up and went to the city. 168 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,480 Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. 169 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:35,320 She also brought out and gave her what food she had leftover 170 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,160 after being satisfied. And her mother-in-law said to 171 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:43,560 her, where did you glean today and where have you worked? 172 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:46,960 Blessed be the man who took notice of you. 173 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,240 So she said to her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and 174 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:56,000 said, The man's name with whom I work today is Boaz, and I only 175 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:01,040 said to her daughter-in-law, may he be blessed by the Lord, whose 176 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,800 kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead. 177 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:10,360 Naomi also said, This man is a close relative of ours, one of 178 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,600 our Redeemers. And Ruth and Moabite said, 179 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:18,200 Besides, he said to me, You shall keep close to the young, 180 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,800 to my young men, until they have finished all my harvest. 181 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:27,200 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is good, my 182 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:30,640 daughter, that you go with his young women, lest in another 183 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:36,160 field you be assaulted. So she kept close to the young 184 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:41,560 women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat 185 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:45,360 harvest, and she lived with her mother-in-law. 186 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:52,400 So point number one, what we see in this chapter is Ruth's great 187 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,000 need provision. That means food, but it's more 188 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:01,880 than food actually and favor. OK, Now before we talk about 189 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,280 this, two important facts we have to remember from chapter 1, 190 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,520 from Pastor Daniel's message last week. 191 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:14,240 First of all, Naomi tried really, really hard to get rid 192 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,640 of Ruth. We used to say try to beat her 193 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:26,600 with an ugly stick didn't work. It says Ruth clung to Naomi. 194 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,120 It's the same word used in Genesis 2 to describe the 195 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,000 relationship between a man and a woman in marriage. 196 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:35,720 She was holding on to Ruth for dear life. 197 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,120 Ruth couldn't get rid of her, and she finally gave up. 198 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:43,240 So then they arrived in Bethlehem, where Naomi was from. 199 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:48,760 Ruth had never been there. She's a foreigner and we're told 200 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,840 last verse of chapter 1, the barley harvest has just started, 201 00:14:52,840 --> 00:15:00,280 meaning God's at work. Food is being provided again, 202 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:09,960 the famine is over. So they arrive and Ruth has to 203 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:15,200 do something. They're going to starve unless 204 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:19,680 Ruth takes action. So Ruth, in desperate courage 205 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,800 and resolve, she tells basically her adopted mother, I'm going to 206 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,760 go out into the fields and I'm going to get food. 207 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:34,120 Now, it takes real courage to do this. 208 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,280 She's never been there before. She has no idea what's going to 209 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,120 happen. But you know what? 210 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:45,280 To obtain a blessing often takes a risk. 211 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:52,640 I remember years ago when I was still teaching, I was working at 212 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,840 my desk in my classroom, and it was like lunchtime for the 213 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:57,800 students or snack time or whatever. 214 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,200 And these two girls came in, two high school girls, and I was 215 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,440 just kind of working away. And one of the girls, she was a 216 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,160 bit more talkative. The other one, she was pretty 217 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:10,520 quiet all right. But I had them both as students, 218 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,000 so they came to my desk. And it turns out the quiet girl, 219 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,240 she needed to ask me something, but she had her friend come with 220 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:19,800 her. So they both talked with me 221 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,280 about it was an assignment or something like that. 222 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,560 And I said, yeah, that's no problem, you can go, you guys 223 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:25,800 are fine. Here's how you do it. 224 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,320 OK, you're good. All right, see you and the 2 225 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,840 girls turn. And they left and I went back to 226 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,280 working at my desk. But as they stepped out of my 227 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:41,880 classroom, the talkative girl said to the quiet one, See, he's 228 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:48,720 not so scary after all. If you don't take a risk, you 229 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:56,920 don't get a blessing. So Ruth goes out what she can 230 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,240 do. This is how it was set up in Old 231 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,760 Testament times. According to Deuteronomy 24, 232 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:08,400 when a farmer harvested his fields, he was to go through 233 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:12,520 once, whether it was grain, barley, olives, grapes, 234 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,560 whatever, he went through and he had it harvested. 235 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:20,319 But once he harvested his field, he was not to go back a second 236 00:17:20,319 --> 00:17:23,440 time. Whatever would fall on the 237 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,960 ground, grapes, olives, wheat, whatever, whatever would fall on 238 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,360 the ground. Then the poor people could come 239 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:34,320 along and they could pick up this food. 240 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,840 Yeah, it that's called gleaning. It's back breaking stoop labor. 241 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:42,760 But if you didn't do it, you starved. 242 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:49,400 They also left alone the corners of the field so that also the 243 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,720 destitute like Ruth and Naomi could go to the corners of the 244 00:17:53,720 --> 00:18:00,400 field and get some food there. Now maybe. 245 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,640 Maybe at the end of that, because Ruth is gathering for 246 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:09,200 two people, not just herself but also for Naomi, she might have 247 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:14,600 enough to feed them for one day, but it's better than starvation. 248 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:23,400 So it says verse 3, she goes out to the field. 249 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,400 Notice it's singular because it's not other fields. 250 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:33,280 It's one big field, and there's no sign saying which part of the 251 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,880 field belongs to which part. She goes out there and she just 252 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:44,160 happens to go to the part of the field owned by Boaz. 253 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:53,240 Coincidence or Providence? There's no sign saying harvest 254 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,400 here. This guy's nice harvest. 255 00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:02,120 No, she just goes out there and she asks around and she starts 256 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:07,560 to work back breaking stoop labor. 257 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:15,800 And then Boaz comes out to check on his workers. 258 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:20,120 He just happened to come as Ruth is there working again. 259 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:29,440 Coincidence or Providence? Ruth does not know one part of 260 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,640 the field from the other, but the Lord does. 261 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:40,840 A person's heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his 262 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:50,310 steps. Boaz, who knew everybody in 263 00:19:50,310 --> 00:19:56,350 Bethlehem because he's the elite of the city. 264 00:19:56,710 --> 00:20:01,560 He's in the top 5%. The ESV Bible describes him as a 265 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:04,120 worthy man. The Christian Standard Bible 266 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,400 describes him as a man of noble standing. 267 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,800 He's at the top. Ruth is not even on the scale. 268 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:15,560 She's not even an Israelite. It's like a wealthy rancher 269 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,800 comes out, checks on everything that's happening on his ranch, 270 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,160 and he notices A ditch digger that was hired just for the day. 271 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,760 That's the social difference between these two. 272 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:39,680 And he tells her, stay in my field, have lunch with my 273 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:44,400 workers, which means it's like she's now part of his extended 274 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,200 family. Here's even more food that you 275 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,560 can gather because he tells his workers, I don't care what the 276 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,280 law says. Leave her more. 277 00:20:54,560 --> 00:21:01,400 The Lord had moved Boaz's heart to give her a great blessing. 278 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,200 It was so far above what the law required. 279 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:10,920 Guys, it was crazy. But all that is an illustration 280 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:17,280 of how God cares for us. How much does God care? 281 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:22,040 Well, I had to pick just one verse, but this is just one 282 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:26,760 verse and a whole mess of them. It says this Blessed be the God 283 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:34,440 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with 284 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:39,680 every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 285 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:47,560 Now, having food to eat, that's a blessing, but having spiritual 286 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,080 blessings that last throughout eternity and the fact that God 287 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:57,280 gives us every single one of them in Jesus, that's amazing. 288 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:07,760 Now why? Why did Boaz do all this? 289 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:14,160 Well, he tells Ruth because she doesn't know why either. 290 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,240 And it has to do with Boaz knows about Ruth. 291 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,520 She doesn't know him, but he knows about her. 292 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:28,400 She, he knows her character. He knows that she is coming and 293 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,560 acting out of love for her adopted mother. 294 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:41,480 That's what's motivating her. Courageous, unselfish love. 295 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:47,240 Jesus himself said no greater love exists than this, that 296 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:51,000 someone laid down his life for his friends. 297 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,400 John 1512 And Jesus did the ultimate sacrifice. 298 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,920 He laid down his life for us, but we weren't his friends. 299 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:05,040 Scripture actually calls us his enemies, but Jesus loved us 300 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:12,640 enough to do that. Now it says she gathered an 301 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:14,120 EFAF. That's nice. 302 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:21,080 What in the world is an EFAF? OK, I had to do some checking on 303 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:22,600 this because I got different answers. 304 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:30,600 But basically an EFAF is 30 to 50 lbs of food. 305 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:36,160 You're don't get that picking up little grains at the end of the 306 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,320 day. Maybe you get couple handfuls. 307 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,200 So you got to picture this in our heads. 308 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,560 She gets all this food, wraps it up probably in some cloth that 309 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,400 she's had, and she's trundling it back to Bethlehem, kind of 310 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,480 stumbling along because it's a lot of food. 311 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:58,760 So it's enough to feed her and Naomi for two weeks. 312 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,000 So when she arrives at the house and there's the food, Naomi's 313 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,920 like, where'd you work? Who helped you? 314 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,280 What happened? Because this is unheard of. 315 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,000 So Naomi is revived. Naomi is excited. 316 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:20,360 Naomi at the end of chapter 1, she said, don't call me Naomi, 317 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:28,000 call me Mara, because Mara means bitter and I'm bitter. 318 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:34,160 I'm angry at God. She's not angry anymore because 319 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:40,160 she sees God's kindness in what Boaz has done. 320 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,760 Not only has God in his Providence met her need, He's 321 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:50,880 gone over and beyond that. See God's kindness. 322 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,520 That's that word we saw as kindness in the chapter. 323 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,640 It's a beautiful Hebrew word called hesed. 324 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:04,400 It's the Lord's unexpected, wonderfully rich, Amazing Grace 325 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:15,400 that shows up when we least expect it was a coincidence or 326 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:20,440 was a Providence. It's sort of like last week. 327 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,600 Linda and I were out of town because we're visiting our 328 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,560 daughter, son-in-law and our granddaughter down in San 329 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,240 Marcos. Our granddaughter, Beverly, 330 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,960 she's 19 months old. She has no idea what time is. 331 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,880 It doesn't really matter because the world revolves around her. 332 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:46,640 All she knows is that when she sees now Papa and grandma, big 333 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,480 smile breaks out because it's party time. 334 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:53,920 The good times are going to start. 335 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,520 All right. This is Grace. 336 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,480 All right, what are you going to give me? 337 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,520 What you bring for me? No, that's grace. 338 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:06,760 Let's move forward now to our time. 339 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:17,480 All right point #2 our great need and God's provision was 340 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:23,880 fulfilled with the arrival of the Son of God about 700 years 341 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,600 after the book of Ruth was finished. 342 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:32,000 The Old Testament writing stopped around 400 BC. 343 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,400 God didn't speak through prophets anymore. 344 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,800 Everything stopped and the people noticed. 345 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,520 Why are we hearing from God? Well, because God went silent. 346 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:50,280 But the people knew someone was coming, someone whom they 347 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:55,360 desperately needed, because places in Scripture in the Old 348 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:59,200 Testament talked about him. One of them was the passage we 349 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:06,800 just heard earlier. For to us a child is born, to us 350 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,360 a son is given, and his name shall be called. 351 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:18,680 Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father and Prince of 352 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,680 Peace. One of those titles would have 353 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,320 been enough, but that one title wouldn't have covered everything 354 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:30,120 for Jesus. So Isaiah wrote down all four, 355 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,120 and even that wasn't totally sufficient. 356 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,480 The point is, is this is who is coming. 357 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,120 Some of what we read there happened the first time he came. 358 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:46,720 Some of it happens when he comes back because the next line of 359 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:53,200 the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. 360 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:59,600 Not a whole lot of peace out there in the world is there, and 361 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,120 there won't be until Jesus comes back. 362 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:12,200 Just as Ruth desperately needed favor, so also Israel and all of 363 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:20,920 us need God's favor. We need the provision that God 364 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:25,560 provided in Jesus. He's the perfect God, man who 365 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:37,040 will provide salvation for us. God is absolutely in control. 366 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:46,000 And at the end of those 400 silent years, we're told, but 367 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:51,360 when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, 368 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:58,080 born of a woman. When time was right, when 369 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,120 conditions in the world was right. 370 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:06,760 Most importantly, when people were desperately seeking to have 371 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:11,160 a real and authentic relationship with the living 372 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,600 God, that's when Jesus showed up. 373 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:24,720 So applications and conclusion. What does the word Providence 374 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:29,160 really mean? It's simply guys, the idea that 375 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:37,800 God provides, whether we see it and recognize it or not, He 376 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:43,480 provides. He provided for Ruth, for Naomi, 377 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:50,080 and he sent his son into this world to provide the only way we 378 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:56,680 can know God. Now, maybe you're here visiting, 379 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,920 perhaps because of the baptisms that will happen later. 380 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:03,160 You have a friend or a family member, or maybe you're just 381 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,400 visiting and he's thinking, well, I don't know about all 382 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,400 this, preacher. Well, let me tell you something, 383 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:14,080 all right. God provided for you to hear 384 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:19,200 this message. He preserved you, He protected 385 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:27,440 you, and He brought you into this building or else online so 386 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:31,640 that you would have the opportunity to meet His Son 387 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:36,360 Jesus. And by the way, He planned this 388 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:43,120 for you before you were ever born, because according to Psalm 389 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:48,240 139, God knows every single one of our days before we even 390 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:54,760 existed. So maybe you're here and you 391 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:58,000 don't know Jesus. I'm going to give you an 392 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,320 opportunity right now to come to know the Son of God. 393 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,320 So I'm going to ask all of us, please to bow our heads, close 394 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:10,400 our eyes, simply so that we can kind of push things out. 395 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:16,920 If you want to know Jesus, I invite you to pray this prayer 396 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,160 with me, whether silently or out loud, God hears. 397 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:28,800 Dear God, I ask you to take away my sin. 398 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:36,560 I ask you to give me new life through your Son, Jesus. 399 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:43,800 I thank you, Lord, for the fact that I can have a relationship 400 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:49,120 with you. Come into my heart and into my 401 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:54,760 life. Lord Jesus, if you prayed that 402 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:58,360 prayer, would you mind just raising your hands so that I can 403 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:03,000 see? Thank you. 404 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,960 You may put your hands down. Amen. 405 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:08,960 Let's go ahead and stand, please. 406 00:32:16,770 --> 00:32:19,530 At this point in the service, I need to mention a couple of 407 00:32:19,530 --> 00:32:21,490 things. First of all, if you were one of 408 00:32:21,490 --> 00:32:26,530 those who prayed to receive Jesus, welcome to God's family. 409 00:32:30,050 --> 00:32:35,050 Also, I invite you to go to the tables. 410 00:32:35,050 --> 00:32:37,890 We have one in this wing and one over in this wing. 411 00:32:37,890 --> 00:32:42,680 Lights will come on momentarily where you can meet with someone 412 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,360 and we can chat, have a chance to talk with you and get to know 413 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,760 you and explain to you a little bit more about what it means to 414 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:54,400 walk and to know Jesus. So we invite you to do that. 415 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,920 The other thing is, is that we're going to have baptism 416 00:32:57,920 --> 00:32:59,760 shortly. And so if you're one of those 417 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:03,560 folks that's signed up for baptism, you want to head right 418 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,200 over here. There's a side door that's open 419 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,200 over where Brenda is. Please head in that direction 420 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:11,600 now so that we can get you ready for baptism. 421 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:16,960 All right. The other thing is, fellow 422 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:23,720 Christian, how often do you think God has taken care of you, 423 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:31,120 watched over you, protected you, and you didn't even know it? 424 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:38,120 See, sometimes we're really not grateful for how God takes care 425 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:38,880 of us. Amen. 426 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:46,480 So what do you need God to do for you today? 427 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,000 If you have something Lord's been working on your heart about 428 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,960 whatever it is, I'm going to invite you to come forward for 429 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:58,400 prayer. Our prayer team. 430 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:02,000 Please go ahead and come forward, guys, we want to pray 431 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,680 with you. We want to do for you whatever 432 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:10,880 we can to help you on your journey with God, so as Katie 433 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,960 plays, you come forward as the Lord leads.