1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:01,880 And it's good to be together today, isn't it? 2 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:05,040 And we have the opportunity to worship together. 3 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:09,160 And there's no better place we could be today than right here. 4 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,240 So thanks for being here. If you're watching online. 5 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,040 Thanks for joining us in worship. 6 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,280 And it's Valentine's Day weekend. 7 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,840 You guys had a good weekend, everybody. 8 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:22,800 Maybe not every. OK, Well, some clapping, some 9 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,960 real good weekends. Hey, today we're going to 10 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:30,760 continue our story of the story of Ruth, and we're going to 11 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,480 celebrate love done right. And so before we do that, I want 12 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:39,000 to celebrate something like that in our congregation. 13 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,040 So Ed and Kathy Weaver, this weekend you're celebrating 50 14 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,440 years of marriage, correct? Congratulations. 15 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,880 Can you congratulate them? God bless you guys. 16 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:51,680 And don't be mad at me for saying it up here. 17 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,040 Well, hey, it's Valentine's Day weekend. 18 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,400 If you're wondering why I look so terrible and why I kind of 19 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:00,680 sound terrible, it's because it's been kind of a long 20 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,720 weekend. Friday night, we've had sickness 21 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,480 in our house all week. Couple of my kids were sick and 22 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,760 Friday at 11:30. Now I, this will sound weird to 23 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,640 you, but Friday night I thought I'm going to go to bed early. 24 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,360 And so at 11:30 I was like, I'm getting in bed. 25 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,200 Now for some of you that sounds late. 26 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,480 For me, that's early. And I was thinking, I'm going to 27 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:22,680 do the responsible thing and I'm going to go to bed early. 28 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:27,160 And then at 11:45 my phone rang and it was Pastor Grace, she's 29 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:31,000 our teens are at Winner Retreat and she said hey, Eli is here 30 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,600 and he looks like death. He's he's in bad shape. 31 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,960 And so I said well I've got 3 basketball games to coach 32 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:40,360 tomorrow. My assistant coach is out sick 33 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:42,000 and so I got three games tomorrow. 34 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,760 I don't have the time tomorrow to drive in between and so it's 35 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,200 either tonight or late tomorrow night. 36 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,960 And so I got on the phone with Eli and he said please come get 37 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,720 me. And so at midnight, I left and I 38 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,280 drove 2 1/2 hours to Southern Indiana and picked up Eli and 39 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,160 drove back and got back at 5:00 and then had a game at 9. 40 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:04,800 Three games. Yesterday was a great day. 41 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,840 Hey, it really was great. But I'm kind of forgive me for 42 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,840 looking the way I look. OK, it's Valentine's Day weekend 43 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:14,360 here. Here's here's what I got. 44 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:21,600 But today we're going to be in Ruth Chapter 3, the the story of 45 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:28,840 Ruth is an incredible story of love, of God's love and God's 46 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,560 redemption. And today we're in Ruth chapter 47 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,640 3, Ruth chapter one, we saw the beginning of the story. 48 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:40,120 We met this family and, and, and Ruth is the daughter-in-law of 49 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,160 Naomi, Naomi and her two daughters and her husband. 50 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:48,000 I mean, her two sons and her husband moved away from the the 51 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,640 promised land, moved to to Moab, the place of Moab because there 52 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:55,120 was a drought. They tried to settle things 53 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:55,960 their own way. They went. 54 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,680 Tragedy struck. Naomi's husband passed away. 55 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:07,840 Ruth and Orpa, the daughter in And so we saw in Chapter 1 this 56 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,880 moment where Naomi, back to your people, you'll be better off if 57 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:15,280 you just go home, be with your people. 58 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,600 But Ruth, we have this perfect moment where she says, no, where 59 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,800 you go, I go. Where you stay, I'll stay. 60 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,120 Your people are my people and your God is my God. 61 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,120 And she makes this, this statement. 62 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,000 I'm going to choose love and faithfulness. 63 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,040 So that's Ruth chapter 1 and Ruth chapter 2. 64 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:35,040 They head back to the promised land, back to Bethlehem, and we 65 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,440 see that Ruth goes out into the fields and she's going out to 66 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,000 glean, which was a Old Testament practice. 67 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,680 It was that that God said, hey, when when you, when you harvest 68 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,080 your fields, leave the edges for those that are less fortunate to 69 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,640 come and gather. And so God had put this thing in 70 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,600 place that that people could come and be taken care of. 71 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,360 And so Ruth went out to glean and she just so happened to 72 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,320 glean in the field of Boaz. Boaz was a member of the family. 73 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:04,960 He's what would be considered a kinsman Redeemer. 74 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,520 Now in those days, if a husband passed away, then a relative, 75 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,320 one of his relatives could come in and redeem the wife by 76 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,680 marrying her, providing and then taking care of them and 77 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,760 continuing on the family. And so she just so happened to 78 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:24,440 be in the field of Boaz. This is, I said it last week and 79 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:25,920 the week before. This is Hallmark. 80 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,960 This is beautiful, perfect thing. 81 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:34,320 Well, route 3 is where it all comes together and it there is 82 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,040 this beautiful moment. I want to start by saying this. 83 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:45,880 When we love with faithfulness and obedience to God, it's God's 84 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:50,960 greatest blessings. I said Hallmark in Netflix. 85 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,520 Listen, I, I know some of you are into those movies, pretty 86 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,280 much any movie you watch, there's very few things that are 87 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:02,480 put out there these days that really honor and glorify God and 88 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:04,960 do things the way that he says we should do them. 89 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:11,800 This is a beautiful story of not just love, but of faithfulness 90 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,120 and obedience. It's good stuff. 91 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,600 And Megan said yesterday, she said, do you have a backup plan 92 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:19,800 for who can, who's going to be there if you're not there? 93 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,560 And I said I'm going to be here, I'm not missing this one, this 94 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:25,400 is too good. So staying with me Ruth, Chapter 95 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,400 3, I'm going to read the whole chapter. 96 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:35,280 It's long, just bear with me. One day Ruth's mother-in-law, 97 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:39,720 Naomi said to her, My daughter, I must find a home for you where 98 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,560 you will be well provided for. Now Boaz, with whose women you 99 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,120 have worked as a relative of ours. 100 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,960 Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 101 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:53,000 Wash, put on perfume, get dressed in your best clothes, 102 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,160 then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know 103 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,920 you're there until he has finished eating and drinking. 104 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,720 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. 105 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,400 Then go uncover his feet and lie down. 106 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,280 He will tell you what to do. I will do whatever you say, Ruth 107 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:12,520 answered. So she went down to the 108 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:14,800 threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law 109 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,600 told her to do. When Boaz had finished eating 110 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,000 and drinking was in good spirits, he went over to lie 111 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,240 down at the far end of the grain pile. 112 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,560 Ruth approached quietly. She uncovered his feet and lay 113 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,360 down. In the middle of the night 114 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,680 something startled the man. He turned and there was a woman 115 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:33,360 lying at his feet. Who are you? 116 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:35,800 He asked. I am Ruth. 117 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:38,480 I'm your servant, Ruth, she said. 118 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,600 Now spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a 119 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:44,640 guardian, Redeemer of our family. 120 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,160 The Lord bless you, my daughter, he replied. 121 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,320 This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier. 122 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,720 You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or 123 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:56,520 poor. And now, my daughter, don't be 124 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,760 afraid, I will do for you all you ask. 125 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,840 All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble, 126 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,560 noble character. And although it is true that I'm 127 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,800 a guardian Redeemer of our family, there is another who is 128 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,600 more closely related than I. Stay here for the night. 129 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,920 In the morning, if he wants to do his duty as a your guardian 130 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,400 Redeemer, than good, let him redeem you. 131 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,560 But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will 132 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,360 do it. Lie here until morning. 133 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,400 So she lay at his feet until morning but got up before anyone 134 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:34,680 could be recognized and he said no one must know that a woman 135 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,480 came to the threshing floor. He also said bring me the shawl 136 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,160 you are wearing and hold it out. When she did so he poured into 137 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,400 it 6 measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. 138 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,160 Then he went back to town. When Ruth came to her 139 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,960 mother-in-law, Naomi asked how did it go my daughter? 140 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:56,800 Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her and she 141 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,600 added, he gave me these six measures of barley saying don't 142 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:02,960 go back to your mother-in-law empty handed. 143 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,320 Then Naomi said, wait my daughter until you find out what 144 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:12,320 happens for the man will not rest until the matter is settled 145 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:13,840 today. Praise the Lord, you can have a 146 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:16,160 seat. All right, here's what we're 147 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:17,760 going to do. We're going to walk through this 148 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,120 story and then I've got 3 big points at the end that I want to 149 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,400 get to, but we're going to walk through this story, guys. 150 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:29,880 This story it, like most of scripture, is just filled with 151 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,039 goodness. Little things that if you catch 152 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:36,760 them and you got to study to catch them, filled with 153 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,280 goodness. So when we left Chapter 2, Boaz 154 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,720 has given Ruth the invitation to continue gleaning in the field. 155 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:45,800 She went into his fields. She was working. 156 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,160 He noticed her. And he said, you know what, 157 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,640 Please stay here under the protection and provision that I 158 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:56,480 can offer and continue to gather, continue to glean until 159 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,760 the end of the harvest. And so that's where Chapter 2 160 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,320 ends. Chapter 3 picks up toward the 161 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:07,440 end of that season, and all of a sudden we see that Naomi has a 162 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,680 plan. In chapter 1, Ruth says, Naomi, 163 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:14,560 I'm going to stick with you. She chooses to be faithful and 164 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:17,000 loving, and she says, I'm choosing to be with you. 165 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,080 Where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay. 166 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,800 Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. 167 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:26,600 Now Naomi in chapter 3 says, it's time for me to worry about 168 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,000 your future. See, they've been provided for. 169 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:35,240 They have food, but there's still the problem that Ruth, her 170 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,320 future is uncertain. She's unmarried, she's living in 171 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,320 a foreign land. And so Naomi comes up with this 172 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,440 plan and and what we see is so good. 173 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,080 This moment that we see that we're going to look at is so 174 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,360 beautiful. And guys, I mentioned Netflix 175 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:57,640 and ROM coms and and all of that stuff, Hallmark Channel movies 176 00:09:57,640 --> 00:09:59,400 that they're fun. Sure, whatever. 177 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,160 This is really, really good stuff. 178 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:09,760 So here's the plan number one, get dressed up, get yourself 179 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,760 smelling good, get yourself looking good. 180 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,600 You like like this plan so far, pretty good plan. 181 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,680 I mean, this is a big thing you're going to do, so go ahead 182 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:24,040 and get yourself smelling good, get your best clothes on, and 183 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:25,560 then you're going to go meet Boaz. 184 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:27,600 Now, there's a couple things and I'm going to give you a lot of 185 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,880 stuff here and, and this will just be stuff that'll help you 186 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:32,320 understand the story a little bit better. 187 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,200 There's a couple ways we can see this. 188 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,800 Number one, it was customary when someone had lost a husband 189 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,040 and they were grieving that when they were ready to move on, they 190 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,120 would clean themselves up. They would get themselves 191 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,120 dressed up. And it was a sign that, hey, I'm 192 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,760 ready for what's next. So maybe that's in play here. 193 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,480 The other thing is she's going to. 194 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,280 This plan is to bring Boaz and Ruth together. 195 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:02,560 And you don't want to go smelly and ugly, right? 196 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,440 I mean, that's not Hallmark. That's not Netflix. 197 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,840 That doesn't work. And so she says, get yourself 198 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,040 dressed up, make yourself attractive. 199 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:16,560 And then she says, go to the threshing floor. 200 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:18,520 They're finishing up. They've been working all night. 201 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:21,680 Go to the threshing floor, she says, but wait, don't do 202 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:25,200 anything until he's done eating and drinking. 203 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:30,240 Wait. And so she goes and she waits. 204 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:31,960 Now, there's a couple reasons for this. 205 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:37,880 Maybe #1 this wasn't to be a public event, this was something 206 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:42,480 between Boaz and Ruth #2 he's probably just going to be in a 207 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,040 better mood if you wait. And this moment is a big moment. 208 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:47,840 I mean, she's putting herself out there. 209 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,960 And so it would be wise to not interrupt him and his eating and 210 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,720 drinking, but wait until he's done. 211 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:58,800 Then she says wait till he goes and lies down. 212 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:03,560 This is maybe my favorite part, Says watch where he lays down. 213 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:05,560 All right, let me translate that for you. 214 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:10,040 Don't get the wrong guy. Don't mess this up. 215 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:15,200 Make sure you know exactly where Boaz is, because if you get the 216 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:19,640 wrong guy, this all gets ruined. Watch. 217 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:24,040 Take note where he lays down. Then there's this weird thing 218 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:26,800 when he lays down and falls asleep. 219 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:32,440 Uncover his feet. OK, there, there's a lot there, 220 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,480 but what's going to happen if she uncovers his feet? 221 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,200 Anyone Oh, he's going to wake up. 222 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,120 He's going to wake up. This is all part of the plan. 223 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,400 Now there is some significance to the corner of his garment and 224 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:50,680 we'll see that in a minute. But but she says when he falls 225 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,000 asleep, go ahead and uncover his feet. 226 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,960 And then it it sets the stage for what's going to happen. 227 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,960 You see, you guys thought that when someone steals your covers 228 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,400 that that's disrespect. It's really just this beautiful. 229 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,760 It's this respect. It's this, hey, I want to be 230 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,640 closer to you, right? No kidding. 231 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,320 I, I, I mean, our room is the Arctic. 232 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,400 And some of you men love that. Not me. 233 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,920 And, and I had these, I had these two blankets that I was 234 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,400 using, one from Guatemala. Guatemalan blankets are not 235 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:24,480 heavy. And so I had a Guatemalan 236 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:25,880 blanket and then another one over it. 237 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,200 And some of you guys are looking at me and judging me and saying 238 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:29,920 you're a Sissy. But I had these two blankets. 239 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,000 And a couple weeks ago, Megan decided she was going to steal 240 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,440 the better of the two blankets and put it on her side. 241 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,520 And I'm telling you, for a week, I wasn't sleeping well, it's 242 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,360 freezing. Finally got my blanket back, my 243 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,520 blankie. I'm such a grown up. 244 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:51,200 Don't judge me. So she uncovers his feet, just 245 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,560 the corner of his garment, uncovers his feet and, and, and 246 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,800 of course, he wakes up. Now, I, I want to talk about 247 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:00,400 something really quick. I don't want to spend too much 248 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,120 time here, but this plan, it's a plan. 249 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,880 Naomi and Ruth put this plan into motion. 250 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:13,520 I'll be honest, I've studied a lot of different places and 251 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,960 people. I have done a lot of research on 252 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,120 this. I'm not sure if this was a pure 253 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,360 plan or this was a manipulative plan. 254 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,800 Naomi certainly had tried to take matters into her own hands 255 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,440 before. This certainly doesn't seem like 256 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,160 a real good situation to put yourself in. 257 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,960 To go to the threshing floor, to wait till he's asleep and 258 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,800 everyone's asleep and then to sneak in and to uncover this 259 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:43,840 seems not parent approved right? Doesn't seem like the best plan 260 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,120 now. Maybe the intentions are pure. 261 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,280 Maybe. Maybe like I said, people are 262 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:51,840 divided. Here's what I do know. 263 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:59,440 The outcome is completely pure. Verse 7, When Boaz had finished 264 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,720 eating and drinking and he was in good spirits, he went over to 265 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:04,680 lie down at the far end of the grain pile. 266 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,400 Ruth approached quietly, and she uncovered his feet and lay down. 267 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:12,240 Also a really good part. In the middle of the night, 268 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:14,400 something startled the man. He turned and there was a woman 269 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:16,040 lying at his feet. Who are you? 270 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:18,840 He asked. You ever been startled and not 271 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,680 knowing who was around you? This happens to me sometimes. 272 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,240 I wake up, I'm in a panic, and Megan's there and I'm like, not 273 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,360 because she's anything's wrong with her, but just because 274 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,880 there's something wrong with me. Who are you, you ask? 275 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:36,440 I'm your servant, Ruth, she said. 276 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,320 Now spread the corner of your garment over me. 277 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,480 Since you are a guardian, Redeemer of our family. 278 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,960 We, we see the situation and, and listen, if you watch movies, 279 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:54,360 if you watch Hallmark, Netflix, any of it, you're seeing plenty 280 00:15:54,360 --> 00:16:00,760 of situations similar to this. And 99.9% of the time they are 281 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:07,080 not God honoring pleasing situations and and the 282 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:12,040 circumstances are here for things to happen that don't 283 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:17,080 honor God. But what we see is that there's 284 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,120 purity. This is not a situation I would 285 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,160 want my kids in. It's not a situation my parents 286 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,080 wanted me to be in. I'll never forget my senior year 287 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,000 high school, a big group of us church kids, by the way, not all 288 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:31,200 from our church, but different churches. 289 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:32,880 We decide we're going to go to prom together. 290 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,880 And so everyone decided that we were all going to spend the 291 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:37,920 night at the same house after prom. 292 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,640 All the guys, all the girls, a group of like 8 of us. 293 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:45,520 My parents decided everybody but me was going to spend the night 294 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,800 at that house, and I was a little upset about it. 295 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:50,440 Everybody else is hanging out there. 296 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:51,760 Why can't I go hang out with them? 297 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,640 And here's what I want to say. Thank you, mom and dad. 298 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:02,720 Thank you for not putting me in that position where I could have 299 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,520 messed up. Thank you mom and dad. 300 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,520 This certainly seems like a position and and listen, whether 301 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,240 the intentions were pure or not, here's the deal. 302 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,480 Ruth and Boaz found themselves in a position. 303 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,280 He's eaten, he's drank, they're laying on the floor. 304 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:22,160 He find they find themselves in a position where there could be 305 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:29,280 problems, but it doesn't happen. Instead, Ruth goes off script. 306 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:35,200 Instead, she says, cover me with the corner of your garment, for 307 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,640 you are a kinsman Redeemer. Now. 308 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,480 This is beautiful, guys. There's nothing sexual. 309 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,000 There's nothing immoral. There's nothing dirty about 310 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,120 this. This is basically a marriage 311 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:51,960 proposal, Ruth says. Take your garment that was 312 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:53,880 pulled back and spread it over me. 313 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:55,760 Now. Now the the language here is 314 00:17:55,760 --> 00:18:00,320 actually the same language we see in Ruth chapter 2 when Boaz 315 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:05,320 says, Hey, May God bless you, May he richly reward you under 316 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,640 whose refuge you've you've take under whose wings you've taken 317 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:11,480 refuge. Boaz said that to Ruth in 318 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:13,480 chapter 2. He says, May God bless you 319 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,760 because you've taken refuge under his wings. 320 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:18,880 That's the same language that's used here. 321 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,400 Spread your, your, the edge of your garment over me. 322 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:27,240 I want to take refuge under you. For you are a kinsman Redeemer. 323 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:32,600 This is a marriage proposal, which was perfectly OK because 324 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,760 she had the right as a, as a woman whose husband had passed, 325 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:41,160 she had the right to ask the kinsman Redeemer to redeem her. 326 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:48,280 And So what we see what happens next in this moment that 99.9% 327 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:50,440 of the time our world shows us something different. 328 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,320 What we see is something beautiful, real love, real 329 00:18:55,320 --> 00:19:00,880 faithfulness, real obedience. Verse 12 Boaz says, although 330 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,760 it's true that I'm a guardian Redeemer of our family, there's 331 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,760 actually another who's more closely related than I Stay here 332 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,040 for the night in the morning. If he wants to do his duty as 333 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,200 your guardian Redeemer, good. Let him redeem you. 334 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:18,720 But if he's not willing as surely as the Lord lives, I will 335 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:20,160 do it. Lie here until morning. 336 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,120 Now this is important guys. We we need to see this So she 337 00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:31,200 lay at his feet until morning, but got up and anyone before 338 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,320 anyone could be recognized and he said no one must know that a 339 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:35,680 woman came to the threshing floor. 340 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:37,360 There's nothing dirty about this. 341 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:41,200 They didn't do anything wrong. They were in that tough 342 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:45,320 situation, but they chose faithfulness and obedience to 343 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,440 God. Now you're you might be 344 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,360 wondering, why would he say don't tell anyone? 345 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:53,280 That seems shady, but the truth is, this is about protection. 346 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,080 See, if he says, all right, get out of here and I'll come get 347 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:57,960 you tomorrow, that puts her at risk. 348 00:19:58,080 --> 00:19:59,760 But he says, no, just stay there. 349 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,160 Nothing bad is going to happen. And then we've got to make sure 350 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:04,680 nobody knows. Now, why would he say that? 351 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:06,240 That once again seems shady, But. 352 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:08,960 But here's the deal. If he's going to go to the other 353 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:11,600 guardian Redeemer, the other kinsman Redeemer, and then if 354 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,040 word gets out that she spent the night with Boaz on the threshing 355 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,080 floor, we've got all sorts of problems. 356 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,280 Instead, they live in obedience and in the morning. 357 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:24,880 She heads home. We've seen Boaz is a man of 358 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,400 integrity. We've seen Ruth is a woman of 359 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,360 virtue. And they're both walking in 360 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:36,920 complete obedience to God. So much so that Boaz doesn't 361 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,480 say, I've got you. He says, no, hold on. 362 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,880 There's another person in front of me, another person that 363 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,520 actually has the right to do this before me. 364 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:51,840 And I want to, and I'm all in, but I'm not going to be 365 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,280 disobedient. I've got to go take care of that 366 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,320 first. So this is not your typical 367 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,680 Netflix story. It's not your typical worldly 368 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:02,920 story. This is a story of beautiful 369 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,520 obedience and faithfulness. All right, three things. 370 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,240 And I want to start by saying this, guys. 371 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,640 And I'm not just talking about romantic love here. 372 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,120 I'm talking about the love that God gives us, maybe in romantic 373 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:20,320 relationships, maybe in friendships, maybe in in your 374 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,200 relationships with family members. 375 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:28,120 Love is a gift from God and it is worth doing right. 376 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,480 Just to start three things we're going to look at, but let me 377 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,480 start here. Love is a gift from God. 378 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,040 And if we do it right, there's great blessing. 379 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:41,280 It's worth doing right. All right. 380 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:45,560 So the first thing we see is that there is personal blessing 381 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,440 and obedience and love and being faithful to God. 382 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,920 See, Ruth in chapter 1 chooses to be faithful to Naomi. 383 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:56,200 She says, I will stick with you. Your people are my people. 384 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,960 Your God is my God. Wherever you go, I'm going. 385 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:06,240 And so she chooses faithfulness. Now, 2 chapters later, maybe a 386 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:12,560 few months later, we see that Ruth is going to be redeemed 387 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:16,600 through this whole thing. Her choice to be obedient and 388 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,920 faithful, her choice to do things the right way. 389 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,240 Now she ends up in a better position than she was before. 390 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,560 She has a guardian Redeemer. Boaz is going to redeem her. 391 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,480 And not only that, Boaz is a great guy. 392 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,560 She's taken care of. But I want you to see verse 10 393 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:42,280 because I think Boaz response is significant here. 394 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:45,920 When she says I want you to cover me with your garment when 395 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,360 she proposes his response is this. 396 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:52,240 The Lord bless you my daughter, he replied. 397 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,720 This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier. 398 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:00,280 You've not run after younger men, whether rich or poor. 399 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,040 Now my daughter, don't be afraid. 400 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,360 I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know 401 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:09,360 that you're a woman of noble character. 402 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:11,080 All right, here's what I want you to understand today. 403 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,960 It wasn't just a blessing for Ruth, it was a blessing for 404 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,640 Boaz. She says, will you redeem me? 405 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,080 Will you take care of me? Can I take refuge under you? 406 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,840 And he says thank you, because not only is it a blessing for 407 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:27,200 her, but it's a blessing for him. 408 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,840 See, she's a woman of noble character and he, it ends up 409 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:36,640 with a wonderful woman in this, he says you could have run after 410 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,360 other people. You could have run after money. 411 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,880 Instead, you choose me. Thank you. 412 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,240 Because she's such an honorable woman. 413 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,040 Boaz is thrilled. Now the question that I have in 414 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,680 here and it doesn't get answered is was she really good looking? 415 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,960 It doesn't say. I'm going to guess yes, but I 416 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:01,160 don't know. Probably. 417 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,760 I mean, it kind of matters, but but, but here's the deal. 418 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,320 It doesn't tell us if she's beautiful physically or not. 419 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,960 But what it does tell us is that she's such a beautiful person 420 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:17,000 and faithful person that Boaz knows, knows that he has a 421 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:21,920 blessing here, He's blessed. And then they come to this 422 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:26,680 moment, this moment that our world gets wrong 99.9% of the 423 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:28,280 time. And what do they do? 424 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,520 They stay obedient and faithful to God and they walk away from 425 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:39,400 this night with no shame. That's important, guys. 426 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:45,600 No shame with no guilt. They walk away from this night 427 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:53,400 completely pure and clean, guys. That that is love is a gift from 428 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,240 God and it's worth doing the right way. 429 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:58,680 We probably all have some regrets. 430 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,960 Raise your hand if you have some regrets in life, all right? 431 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,520 Raise your hand if you're not honest and the half of you that 432 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,040 are either asleep or not being honest. 433 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,760 We all have regrets, right? We all have things that we 434 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:12,040 probably would have done different. 435 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,480 I can promise you that you will never be sorry for living 436 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,080 faithfully and obediently to God. 437 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:25,400 Love is a gift and there is so much blessing and doing it the 438 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,360 right way. There's personal blessing in it 439 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:34,960 #2 their obedience not only gives them blessing and not only 440 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:39,360 provides for them, but also Naomi and others benefit from 441 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,640 it. When we love well, when we are 442 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,920 obedient, when we are faithful, it actually spills out to 443 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,600 others. You guys know that other 444 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,240 people's actions and choices have an effect on you, right? 445 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,200 Maybe some of you have been radically affected by the 446 00:25:55,200 --> 00:26:00,120 choices of people around you, whether they loved the wrong 447 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:03,640 way, loved the right way. I, I know that this is true for 448 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:05,040 all of us. They have an effect, and the 449 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,400 same is true here. This is so, this is so awesome. 450 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:13,880 I want you to see this verse 16 when Ruth came home to her 451 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,760 mother-in-law, Naomi, Naomi asked how did it go my daughter 452 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,080 And then she told her everything Boaz had done for her. 453 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:26,640 And then she added, he gave me these six measures of barley 454 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:31,600 saying don't go back to your mother-in-law empty handed. 455 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,000 Now that might not mean anything to you, but man, if you think 456 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,480 back to chapter 1, Naomi went to Mohab. 457 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,320 She came back lost her husband, lost her two sons. 458 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:45,160 She comes back to Bethlehem and they say, hey, it's Naomi, There 459 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,240 she is. And Naomi says, no, no, no, no, 460 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:53,440 don't call me Naomi, call me Mara because I'm bitter. 461 00:26:54,320 --> 00:27:00,960 And then what does she say next? She says I went away full, but 462 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:09,520 God has brought me back empty. Here we are two chapters later 463 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:17,000 and God is still providing. And I don't think this is a 464 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,120 small thing. Boaz says. 465 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:21,960 Yeah, I'll redeem you as long as it works out. 466 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:23,200 I'm going to do it the right way. 467 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,000 But don't go back to your mother-in-law empty handed. 468 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,840 Take this with you. I think God is just showing over 469 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:34,000 and over again that He provides for his people. 470 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:38,000 She thought that God had taken everything. 471 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,320 Meanwhile, God was working through the story of Ruth and 472 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:46,680 Boaz to continue to provide for Naomi. 473 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,760 Our obedience can be redeeming and restoring for other people. 474 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:53,840 Guys, I grew up in a house with two. 475 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:25,360 I grew up in a house with two wonderful parents who loved 476 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:31,600 well, who were faithful and obedient to God. 477 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:38,080 And I saw over and over again that when you do things the 478 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:41,840 right way, there's so much blessing. 479 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:50,000 And I personally have benefited and been blessed so much by 480 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:54,200 their choices and their obedience and their 481 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,560 faithfulness. Guys, your choices don't just 482 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:01,080 affect you, they affect the people around you. 483 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:07,040 When you're faithful to love and care for others, number one, 484 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:11,600 you'll never come away empty. But #2 neither will the people 485 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,720 around you. All right, the third thing, I'm 486 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,520 already crying a bunch. This is maybe my favorite part. 487 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:26,400 Their obedience redeemed the story of a girl who was born 488 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:31,120 into brokenness, generational brokenness and sin. 489 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,760 There's this really cool parallel we're going to see 490 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,320 here. Ruth's story was a story of 491 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:41,760 brokenness and pain. She comes from a people I talked 492 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,880 about this last week, the Moabites, who had a really bad 493 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,520 past. They were thought of poorly. 494 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,360 They were made fun of. They were enemies of God. 495 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:59,400 And through her obedience, there's redemption, not just 496 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:03,680 redemption for her and Boaz, not just provision for Naomi, but 497 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,480 generational change. And we're really going to look 498 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,960 at this next week. But I want you to see this real 499 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:10,240 quick. Ruth is a Moabite. 500 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:13,680 Told you the Moabites have a pretty bad past. 501 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,240 Genesis 19 shows us this past. And there's a really close 502 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,520 parallel here that I, I, I would hate it if we missed it. 503 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,040 See, in Genesis 19, Lot is with his two daughters. 504 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:29,280 So once again, we have two women and the daughters, we don't know 505 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:33,080 what the future holds. And so they decide that they are 506 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:34,960 going to take matters into their own hands. 507 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,720 And so here is the story of how the Moabites became. 508 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,240 And I got to warn you guys, this is this is ugly. 509 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:47,320 It's dark law. And his two daughters left Zohar 510 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:51,400 settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zohar. 511 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:53,560 He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 512 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:55,880 One day the older daughter said to the younger daughter, Our 513 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,600 father is old and there is no man around here to give us 514 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,080 children. As is the custom all over the 515 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:03,560 earth. Let's get our father to drink 516 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,480 wine, then let's sleep with him and preserve our family line 517 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:09,560 through our daughter or our father. 518 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:12,720 That night they got their father to drink wine and the older 519 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:14,360 daughter went in and slept with him. 520 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:18,200 He was not aware of it when she lay down and when she got up the 521 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,360 next day, the older daughter said to the younger, Last night 522 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:22,720 I slept with my father, let's get him to drink wine again 523 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,720 tonight and then you go in and sleep with him so that we can 524 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,920 preserve our family line through our father. 525 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,960 So they got their father to drink wine that night also and 526 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,400 the younger daughter went in and slept with him again. 527 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,480 He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. 528 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:39,640 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 529 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:45,200 The older daughter had a son and she named him Moab, the father 530 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:50,640 of the Moabites. Today, two women a plan. 531 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:58,080 How are we going to take care of our future and nights a night 532 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:02,920 time plan. And what we see in Genesis 19 is 533 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:07,080 that Lot's daughters chose disobedience and unfaithfulness. 534 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:11,760 And the result of that was a whole family of people, the 535 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:16,120 whole Moabite clan, became enemies with the creator God. 536 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,360 Not only that, they were ridiculed. 537 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:20,800 They were looked down at. Everybody knew they were 538 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:25,360 incestuous people. I mean, they became outcast 539 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:30,840 because of their choices. Oh, don't lose this, guys. 540 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:37,240 Don't let this be lost on you, that Ruth, a Moabite who comes 541 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:46,000 from a generation of brokenness, incestuous disobedience, she 542 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:51,040 finds herself in this situation in Ruth chapter 3, and all of 543 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:55,600 the ingredients are there for more darkness and more ugliness. 544 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,760 But instead she chooses faithfulness and obedience. 545 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:06,400 And in that, God redeems and restores a broken past. 546 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:11,600 Here's the beautiful thing. Today, God's blessings and God's 547 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:17,160 redemption are for any that will choose to be obedient and follow 548 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:22,080 him. Any Moabites, People who have 549 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,840 broken past, people who have messed up, people who have 550 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,560 sinned, people who have done the wrong thing. 551 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:32,920 For anyone willing to choose to follow Jesus, there's 552 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:36,120 redemption. There's hope and there's a 553 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:38,680 future. Next week we're really going to 554 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,680 0 in on what that looks like. Worship team, come on up. 555 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:44,360 But today I just want to end us there. 556 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:50,440 Ruth Chapter 3, a moment we see if you watch TV, if you watch 557 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:53,200 movies, you see this moment played out over and over again 558 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,640 and our world shows us the wrong picture. 559 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,920 We see in Ruth chapter 3 a beautiful moment of obedience 560 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:04,360 and faithfulness. In that we see personal 561 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:08,120 blessing, in that we see that God blesses others through it. 562 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:13,080 And in that we see that God changes generations of hurt and 563 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:18,040 pain and brings hope. Staying with me, it's 564 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,600 Valentine's weekend, a weekend that typically the world is 565 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:25,239 focused on love, romantic love. But listen, I want to talk to 566 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:30,480 you just about love. Maybe some of you come from a 567 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:36,400 really broken past. Maybe some of you have broken 568 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:40,560 your past. Maybe some of you have messed up 569 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,800 and messed up, or maybe you've been really strongly affected by 570 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,480 the decisions of others. And maybe you find yourself 571 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:54,320 Today I got good news. God's blessings are here for 572 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,280 you. His love, His protection, His 573 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:01,400 provision, His salvation, His hope is here for you today. 574 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:05,760 All it takes is choosing Him. I don't care where you've been, 575 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:07,120 what you've done. I don't care if you're a 576 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,480 Moabite. God's here. 577 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,000 He loves you and he's calling you to him. 578 00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:15,320 We're going to respond. We're going to sing a song. 579 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:17,600 God, a revival. I just want to invite you today 580 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,960 if you want to commit yourself to Him, maybe you don't even 581 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,560 have that broken of a past, but today you just want to say, God, 582 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:26,040 once again, I commit myself to you. 583 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,280 I want to invite you. You can come to an altar. 584 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,880 You can pray at an altar. You can kneel at your seat, 585 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,000 whatever it is. I want to invite you to respond 586 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:35,520 this word. And today I want you to choose 587 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:41,040 love, faithfulness, obedience. And I don't want anyone walking 588 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,720 out of here without the blessing of Godfather. 589 00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:46,160 Speak to us, lead us, guide us, help us to respond to you. 590 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,520 We want revival, we want it personally, we want it to spill 591 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,120 out to the people around us. We want it for generations to 592 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:55,400 come. Redeem and restore what's broken 593 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,680 now. Help us to choose you today. 594 00:35:57,680 --> 00:35:59,840 We give you everything. We surrender to you now. 595 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,440 We respond in Jesus name, Amen.