WEBVTT 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:13.300 Hello, and welcome to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast. 00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:14.839 Thank you so much for listening. 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:16.199 We're startup church. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:23.480 We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together. 00:00:23.579 --> 00:00:32.299 And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect, be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more. 00:00:32.679 --> 00:00:36.420 You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:40.359 We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:44.380 We're going to get into the lesson this, uh, this, this morning. 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:48.500 And so if you guys have a Bible, you can pull it out. 00:00:48.700 --> 00:00:53.000 But I will say this is one of the, one of the lessons, you know, it's really interesting. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:01:08.659 And usually in our, uh, in our church, what we ordinarily do, and you guys know, this is we'll grab a single passage and try to put like this magnifying glass to bring out all of the intricacies and what could the, what is the writer mean? 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:14.099 What's the background story and what is going on inside of, uh, inside of this story. 00:01:14.379 --> 00:01:17.560 And so, but, but for this morning, we're not going to do that. 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:21.140 Instead, we're going to flip around in the Bible a pretty good amount. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:36.099 The goal is at the end of this lesson is for our understanding and conviction of what God is able to do is expanded just a little bit to greater fit what God is actually able to do. 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:51.000 And so wherever your perception is, whatever your impression is about God this morning, the goal is at the end of it, your, your impression grows to be as big or growing to be as big as God really is and as powerful as he really is. 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:51.219 Amen. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:51.700 Amen. 00:01:54.349 --> 00:02:06.030 I want to just a couple of, you know, just personal stuff, uh, just for me, just so you guys know what's going on this last, uh, this last week, me and Bianca celebrated our 10 year anniversary of being married. 00:02:08.110 --> 00:02:09.990 Yeah, we're excited about that. 00:02:10.389 --> 00:02:13.969 And so we, we got to go, we went to Chicago first and then we went to St. Joseph. 00:02:14.050 --> 00:02:19.770 So we got the city and then we got the, uh, kind of the, the relaxing part of, uh, of an anniversary trip. 00:02:19.870 --> 00:02:20.469 And so that was great. 00:02:21.129 --> 00:02:25.770 Uh, in a few hours, I'm going to be going over to, uh, to Riga Latvia. 00:02:26.009 --> 00:02:28.689 So the plane leaves from Detroit at about 6 PM. 00:02:28.949 --> 00:02:34.189 Um, and so I'm kind of, I'm here for a day and then I'll be gone for another week and then I'm going to miss service. 00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:38.069 Uh, next Sunday, Paul, uh, Paul is going to preach the word for us. 00:02:38.530 --> 00:02:40.750 Um, don't, don't, don't clap for him though. 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:43.050 Uh, no, no, no, I'm just kidding. 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:43.469 I'm just kidding. 00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:45.810 You guys, you guys can clap if you want. 00:02:45.889 --> 00:02:46.169 Yeah. 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:50.509 But if you clap too much, then I'll think like, you guys don't want me, me here. 00:02:50.889 --> 00:03:05.949 So, uh, yeah, there's a lay, that was, that was a good, a good, a good amount, uh, at the end of the lesson, then we're going to tie it into the cross and, and the, the goal of any, you know, you think, what's the goal of showing up to church on Sunday? 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:07.629 Certainly it's to be inspired. 00:03:07.750 --> 00:03:11.409 Certainly it's to, uh, to, to have this fellowship in this community. 00:03:11.689 --> 00:03:14.789 It really is to be able to honor and glorify Jesus. 00:03:14.789 --> 00:03:18.129 And we should do that all throughout our lives every single day. 00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:28.370 But there's a special, you know, 45 minutes or about 35 minutes, uh, that that's dedicated that we're going to hopefully expand our thinking and then really grow in our gratitude for Jesus this morning. 00:03:28.409 --> 00:03:28.629 Amen. 00:03:29.169 --> 00:03:31.289 In order to do that though, we're going to have to flip. 00:03:31.349 --> 00:03:36.250 And so if I, I'm painting with a broad brush, there's things you feel like, ah, he didn't cover this. 00:03:36.330 --> 00:03:36.909 You're right. 00:03:37.129 --> 00:03:42.310 Even there's things like, oh man, he should have, maybe I should have talked about this or that, that, that, that facet. 00:03:42.310 --> 00:03:45.830 But we're going to, we're going to speed through, uh, some of these, some of these concepts. 00:03:46.409 --> 00:03:54.789 Um, so we're looking first at, at Judah and in order to, uh, understand this is where we are in our, our narratives. 00:03:54.830 --> 00:04:04.810 We just looked at Jacob and we learned how Jacob became Israel and then he has some sons and one of these, these sons is named Judah. 00:04:04.909 --> 00:04:06.250 He's the fourth born son. 00:04:06.409 --> 00:04:13.669 What you guys should know is in that day, if you've been following along with us, then you'd understand that the first born is the one that ought to receive the blessing. 00:04:13.810 --> 00:04:17.470 And yet we see that's not always the case, even in God's story. 00:04:17.588 --> 00:04:25.649 And so the first three sons that were born, they, they forfeit their blessing due to, uh, just some, some gross misconduct. 00:04:25.750 --> 00:04:26.769 We can, we can say that. 00:04:26.790 --> 00:04:34.629 And Judah is not the model of a, of a great God follower, but he becomes one. 00:04:34.629 --> 00:04:44.589 Um, uh, and, and, and right here, uh, Judah is actually one of the guys who, if you guys remember, uh, maybe you learned about it in school or you saw the play like Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:46.529 Joseph is one of Judah's brothers. 00:04:46.769 --> 00:04:56.250 Joseph was the son that, that Israel or Jacob really liked or really loved and favored him and his brothers were not fired up by that. 00:04:56.629 --> 00:05:05.449 And so it was Judah's great idea in Genesis 37, it says, Judah said to his brothers, what will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 00:05:05.589 --> 00:05:09.569 Come let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hand on him. 00:05:09.649 --> 00:05:11.949 After all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood. 00:05:12.129 --> 00:05:12.910 That's so kind. 00:05:13.009 --> 00:05:17.589 You're going to sell your brother, uh, instead of kill him, um, his brothers agreed. 00:05:18.329 --> 00:05:28.230 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for 20 shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt. 00:05:28.230 --> 00:05:36.769 And so we have this little bit of an understanding then of Judah that this guy wasn't, wasn't necessarily a great character. 00:05:36.769 --> 00:05:44.230 And then we even understand after that, the oldest son, Reuben wanted to, he had the idea that he didn't want Joseph to be sold. 00:05:44.430 --> 00:05:50.329 Uh, and so he was going to grab him, but then he, he goes later to the cistern and realizes he's not there anymore. 00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:51.209 He's sold. 00:05:51.310 --> 00:06:02.410 And, and what we could understand and even surmise is that Judah from that point is kind of ostracized from his family, at least for a time because of, of some of his decisions and his, his manipulation. 00:06:03.949 --> 00:06:12.529 And then, uh, this is probably the definition of painting with too broad of a brush, but we're going to keep following along and we see Judah. 00:06:13.009 --> 00:06:15.589 Now he goes to a foreign land. 00:06:15.689 --> 00:06:16.750 He gets married. 00:06:16.870 --> 00:06:18.050 He has three sons. 00:06:18.209 --> 00:06:23.189 The first son marries, uh, this, this woman, her name is, uh, Tamar. 00:06:23.589 --> 00:06:31.170 And Tamar, it means palm tree, uh, women in that day, what I understand were, uh, often named after, after trees. 00:06:31.209 --> 00:06:43.850 And so that would signify fruitfulness and, you know, motherhood being kind of the pinnacle in that day and age, like that, that you are worthy of, uh, you know, carrying along your, uh, you know, the, this bloodline. 00:06:44.069 --> 00:06:46.750 And so women were often named, named after trees. 00:06:46.750 --> 00:06:49.490 And we know that names are very important in this day. 00:06:49.490 --> 00:06:55.209 And so Tamar is a palm tree, which would, it wasn't like there's palm trees now. 00:06:55.310 --> 00:07:02.290 I mean, not outside there's palm trees if you go and they're kind of like wispy and swaying, but palm trees in that day would have been straight. 00:07:02.370 --> 00:07:03.470 They would have been upright. 00:07:03.709 --> 00:07:08.009 They would have you been like this guy, this, this person is straight and narrow. 00:07:08.069 --> 00:07:09.029 They're, they're very righteous. 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:11.589 And so even Tamar's name means righteous. 00:07:11.709 --> 00:07:15.129 What happens to Tamar though is her first husband dies. 00:07:15.129 --> 00:07:26.490 And in that culture, what would happen is if your first husband died, then, uh, then this, your second husband would be the brother of your first husband who died, especially if you didn't have any children yet. 00:07:26.569 --> 00:07:40.350 And so, and then the first child that's born from, uh, the second, you know, basically the brother and, and this, this woman, his, his wife would be then the eldest son's, uh, bloodline basically. 00:07:40.370 --> 00:07:41.810 They would carry on that bloodline. 00:07:42.350 --> 00:07:44.509 Um, Judah has three sons. 00:07:44.509 --> 00:07:48.310 The first son, uh, dies cause it says he acted wickedly. 00:07:48.410 --> 00:07:59.209 The second son dies as well because he acted wickedly as well as he's married to Tamar and he does not want to, uh, he doesn't want to pass on his, his, the bloodline basically. 00:07:59.670 --> 00:08:05.410 Again, if you've read the story, it's kind of, it's, uh, it's in the Bible and it's kind of rated R, you know? 00:08:05.449 --> 00:08:10.350 And so if you, uh, if you, if you want, if that perks your ears up, then go ahead and read it. 00:08:10.350 --> 00:08:13.889 Uh, if it, uh, if it doesn't, then, then just trust me and then read it later. 00:08:14.189 --> 00:08:21.870 Uh, what happens then is Tamar then, uh, kind of, she, she tricks Judah basically. 00:08:22.629 --> 00:08:32.529 And uh, and what happens is she gets pregnant, um, by Judah's children and Judah, this, this character who later on we're going to learn has this, this change of heart. 00:08:32.570 --> 00:08:37.230 But in that moment he, he realized, he said, man, she's more righteous than I am. 00:08:37.690 --> 00:08:42.830 And, and it says, this is the thread that we're going to follow is one of a scarlet thread. 00:08:43.048 --> 00:08:47.070 Uh, in Genesis 38, 28, it says that she was giving birth. 00:08:47.289 --> 00:08:52.750 One of them put out his hand, one of these twins that are in her, her belly, one of them put out his hand. 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:57.690 So the midwife took the scarlet thread and tied it on the wrist and said, this one came out first. 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:16.240 The, uh, then, then what happens is, uh, the second comes out and the second is the one who's, who ends up being, you know, Perez and he ends up being the, uh, the one who follows along this, uh, this, this bloodline, all of this, this bloodline again, why is this important? 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:18.559 We're gathering facts at the end of this lesson. 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:21.000 I think it's going to make a lot of sense for us though. 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:25.139 Let's follow on then Judah, Judah, we understand he's the fourth. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:31.740 He's the fourth son, uh, Reuben, Simeon, Levi all do despicable things. 00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:34.000 As Judah you'd read, he's not an awful lot better. 00:09:34.139 --> 00:09:49.980 And yet, uh, by the end of it, he has this impressive dialogue where he convinces, uh, he convinces Israel to allow his most valued son at the time to go meet this, this guy who's this mysterious guy who we understand is, is Joseph. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:57.879 Uh, and again, it's, it's a, it's a powerful dialogue and it really paints Judah as being somebody who has this change of heart. 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:07.519 And so he receives this blessing from, from God says, Judah, your brothers will praise you. 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:10.480 Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:12.960 Your father's sons will bow down to you. 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:14.919 You are a lion's cub, Judah. 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:18.659 You return from the prey, my son, like a lion. 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:23.039 He crouches and lies down like a lioness who dares to rouse him. 00:10:23.460 --> 00:10:35.379 The scepter will not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations will be his. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.500 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choice's branch. 00:10:39.779 --> 00:10:43.799 He will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:50.980 His teeth will be darker than wine, his teeth, or his eyes, sorry, his eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk. 00:10:52.740 --> 00:11:06.000 So Israel on his deathbed gives Judah this great blessing and says, this is, uh, this blessing, we'd understand it even as you read it, probably with 21st century Christian eyes, you would see this is, it's a prophetic message, right? 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:09.820 And in, in verse 11, he will tether his donkey to a vine. 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:12.580 That sounds a little bit like the triumphal entry, right? 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:22.000 When Jesus gets this, this tethered, he tethers this, this, uh, this donkey, this promise that the scepter will not depart from Judah. 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:35.539 It would have even been understand in Jesus's day as something that this, that, that means that whoever is going to come, the Messiah has to come from Judah, the, the physical location, but also the, the, the bloodline as well. 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:42.759 And this is why people had a difficult time with their perception of Jesus, because we understand Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.919 Bethlehem is a city in town in Judea. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:48.600 Uh, but what do they also called you? 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:51.620 They say Jesus of Nazareth, right? 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:54.120 Because that's, that's where he spent a lot of his time growing up. 00:11:54.120 --> 00:12:00.860 And so they would have said, there's no way that Jesus could also be, uh, he, he can't be the Messiah. 00:12:00.940 --> 00:12:01.779 He can't be the chosen one. 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:04.919 The chosen one has to come from, from Judah or Judea. 00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:06.159 We understand that. 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:22.059 Uh, now again, it's, it's so powerful that the Jesus was in fact born in, uh, in, in, in Judea, Judah gets this blessing and we see this, this, this scarlet cord, uh, continue on through again, work with me. 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:25.019 Uh, you guys are paying great attention and I'm grateful for it. 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:26.879 I, there's going to be something for you at the end. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:40.419 Fast forward 330 years, we, we've got past now Moses and all this Exodus period. 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:53.899 And we, we pick up here where there, there's some spies that are interacting with this, this prostitute and the spies get found out and they're going to be killed and they're interacting with this prostitute named Rahab. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:07.519 And it says in verse 17, now the men said to her, the oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless when we entered the land, you have tied the scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down. 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:15.440 And unless you have brought your father and mother and your brothers and all your family into your house agreed, she replied, let it be as you say. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:20.659 So she sent them the way and they departed and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:30.679 They were going to catch these spies that were, you know, Israelite spies going to basically to stake out their, their claim and stake out a new land. 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:37.799 They, they enter into this house and Rahab has every opportunity to say, we don't, you're not a part of us. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:38.659 Get away from me. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:43.200 You're, I'm going to go tell, I'm going to go tell the people and they're going to kill you actually. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:49.860 And instead of that, she decides to allow them to pass through quietly and go undetected. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.080 And because of that, she's, she's blessed. 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:54.940 And we'll, we'll figure that out a little bit later as well. 00:13:54.940 --> 00:14:02.500 But we've got this, this, this, this theme then that's, that's connecting the scarlet cord. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.279 One of the, again, we're following through you guys. 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:14.899 If you want to turn to Ruth, you're able to, if you don't want to, that's okay. 00:14:16.220 --> 00:14:22.940 What happens is Rahab is able to marry an Israelite and has a son named Boaz. 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:27.500 Boaz is, ends up being married to Ruth. 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:32.740 But you see from Boaz comes Obed, who we don't know too much about. 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:36.320 And then comes Jesse and Jesse's the, the father of David. 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:45.460 David being the guy who slayed Goliath, but also Israel's most powerful, first and most powerful king of this, this, you know, nation. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:51.639 Ruth in Ruth 4 in verse 13, it says, so Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:56.659 When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:04.039 The woman said to Naomi, praise be to the Lord who this day has not left you without a guardian redeemer. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:07.659 May he become famous throughout Israel. 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:17.639 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age for your daughter-in-law who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons has given him birth. 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:21.059 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 00:15:21.059 --> 00:15:22.419 The woman lived there. 00:15:22.659 --> 00:15:25.679 The woman living there said, Naomi has a son. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:26.500 They named him Obed. 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.820 He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:45.559 One of the reasons that, uh, that Ruth, this woman is, is blessed is because she decides to be extremely loyal to one of God's people in a time when it would have made sense not to be loyal to, to God's people. 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:51.860 She, uh, she decided it wasn't her, it wasn't her culture necessarily. 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:57.700 She, she married somebody and this is her, then her mother-in-law who, uh, the, the, the son dies. 00:15:57.720 --> 00:15:59.840 And so she's just left alone with her mother-in-law. 00:15:59.899 --> 00:16:09.179 And there's two of them, uh, both, both of, sorry, both of Naomi's sons got married and then one of them, uh, and they both died. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.100 And one of them says, okay, I'm going to go live with my own people again. 00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:13.379 And I'm not going to be by you. 00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:16.539 Ruth decides, no, wherever you go, I'm going to go as well. 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:26.039 It doesn't matter if I ever get married again, I'm committed to being connected to you because I know life is quite difficult and the grief you're going through is too great for just you. 00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:29.259 We're going to be together and we're going to, I'm going to walk with you. 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:32.740 Your people are my people is what Ruth says. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:34.700 And she's, she's blessed because of it. 00:16:41.470 --> 00:16:56.309 This, uh, this thread continues fall, uh, following through in, in Isaiah in verse 16, we, we understand then that somehow, uh, somehow sin is connected to this scarlet thread. 00:16:56.350 --> 00:16:57.649 Wash and make yourselves clean. 00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:00.789 Take your evil deeds out of my sight. 00:17:00.850 --> 00:17:01.769 Stop doing wrong. 00:17:01.909 --> 00:17:03.129 Learn to do right. 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:03.970 Seek justice. 00:17:04.029 --> 00:17:04.910 Defend the oppressed. 00:17:05.088 --> 00:17:08.490 Take up the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. 00:17:08.490 --> 00:17:11.410 Come now, let us settle the matter. 00:17:11.529 --> 00:17:16.490 It says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. 00:17:16.630 --> 00:17:19.309 Though they are like, they are red as crimson. 00:17:19.608 --> 00:17:20.670 They shall be like wool. 00:17:24.598 --> 00:17:32.819 This is the, this is the last time in, in the old Testament that the word scarlet is used. 00:17:36.009 --> 00:17:47.950 So we looked at this, this concept, this thread that it goes from, uh, the, the clothes of Joseph that were dipped in blood all the way through. 00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:50.630 And you guys would be right. 00:17:50.650 --> 00:17:56.529 If you asked, well, he's just as connecting dots that don't really make sense to connect that he's just making it up. 00:17:56.589 --> 00:17:57.009 Basically. 00:17:57.009 --> 00:17:59.349 What is, what is the point of all of this? 00:17:59.470 --> 00:18:05.730 I learned a little bit this morning, but I, you know, what I, I don't, I don't, I didn't, I can't do anything with it. 00:18:06.589 --> 00:18:12.089 And what I want to point out though, is that this is, um, this is the powerful line of Judah. 00:18:12.089 --> 00:18:14.529 So the line of Judah is where Jesus was born. 00:18:14.630 --> 00:18:21.109 And we're going to make sense looking at, uh, at really at these three women, uh, Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. 00:18:21.329 --> 00:18:39.789 Um, I'm going to read the genealogy, uh, because we understand that our Lord and savior, it would make sense if he was born from a bunch of noble people and it would make sense if he was born from a bunch of ethical, amazing, powerful, strong, uh, never did wrong. 00:18:39.809 --> 00:18:41.269 We're on the righteous path. 00:18:41.269 --> 00:18:42.250 That would make sense. 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:44.829 And yet that's, that's not the case. 00:18:44.849 --> 00:19:17.849 He's, he's born of, uh, of, of really difficult circumstances and circumstances that wouldn't make sense to you and I, I'm just going to read just a, just a little bit in verse three, verse two, rather Abraham, the father of Isaac, Isaac, the father of Jacob, Jacob, the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah, the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar in verse five, Salman, the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab Boaz, the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. 00:19:17.970 --> 00:19:27.789 And then in verse 17, thus, there were 14 generations, all from Abraham to David, 14 from David to the exile to Babylon and 14 from the exile to the Messiah. 00:19:29.369 --> 00:19:35.769 It would have been extremely unusual in genealogies for women to be mentioned at all. 00:19:35.769 --> 00:19:44.750 This would have been, it would have been something that it doesn't make sense that like, whenever there's a woman mentioned, you have to open your eyes and look a little bit closer. 00:19:44.890 --> 00:19:46.269 How could this possibly be? 00:19:46.529 --> 00:19:49.890 Because the, the bloodline in that day was understood. 00:19:49.930 --> 00:19:51.029 It comes from the man. 00:19:51.109 --> 00:19:56.309 And that's, it doesn't, the women are, are, you know, for, unfortunately are menial. 00:19:56.430 --> 00:20:00.849 They, you can, you can disregard them as long as the man has the, the, the child. 00:20:00.849 --> 00:20:08.910 And yet for Tamar, for Rahab and for Ruth, the, the, the Bible is trying to get us to say, what is, there's something going on here. 00:20:08.950 --> 00:20:09.750 Let's pay attention. 00:20:10.250 --> 00:20:13.609 And so I want us to learn a little bit from these three women this morning. 00:20:15.910 --> 00:20:20.750 So you say, well, we're, we're going to have a takeaway from mothers on Father's Day. 00:20:20.769 --> 00:20:21.089 Okay. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:28.819 Yeah, I know. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.059 We should, we could have done it a few, about a month, a month ago. 00:20:32.140 --> 00:20:33.380 That would have been, that would have worked better. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.400 Yeah, I guess next Mother's Day, we'll talk about fathers then, huh? 00:20:40.819 --> 00:20:41.940 It works out well. 00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:43.720 So Tamar, what are you going to learn? 00:20:43.779 --> 00:20:44.859 What are you going to learn from Tamar? 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:51.059 As a, as a reminder, Tamar is someone who was disregarded. 00:20:51.640 --> 00:20:58.259 She was somebody, even in, inside of her own family, who was seen as expendable. 00:20:58.259 --> 00:21:09.079 Somebody who doesn't, uh, who, who's, who's usefulness to the family had, had worn out and somebody who it's okay to make a promise to, but not follow through. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:11.319 And that's exactly what Judah did. 00:21:12.539 --> 00:21:24.140 You know what I think the, I think what the, the, the authors are trying to teach us is that with Tamar, God uses the unlikely and God uses the things that we would not make. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:25.740 That doesn't, that don't make sense to use. 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:31.759 God uses, uh, people and situations and places that we would not attribute to him. 00:21:32.259 --> 00:21:33.759 God decides I'm going to use it. 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:40.240 It's, it says in first Corinthians one verse 27, but God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:43.019 God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:51.799 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him. 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:59.000 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:02.180 That is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 00:22:04.309 --> 00:22:10.589 If you are going to call yourself a Christian, you have to understand that you have to be a part of the foolish things. 00:22:10.730 --> 00:22:12.309 You have to be a part of the weak things. 00:22:12.390 --> 00:22:15.630 You have to be a part of the lowly things and the despised things. 00:22:15.710 --> 00:22:17.269 That is, that's a requirement. 00:22:17.410 --> 00:22:21.630 If you're, if you say I'm none of those things, I'm, I'm, everything's going well for me. 00:22:21.650 --> 00:22:22.369 I'm doing great. 00:22:22.369 --> 00:22:24.150 Life is, life is excellent. 00:22:24.289 --> 00:22:25.789 Everybody respects, loves me. 00:22:25.829 --> 00:22:27.730 I get all this adornment and praise. 00:22:27.769 --> 00:22:34.609 And if you can say that, then, then it's worth questioning your, your vocation as a Christian then, because the Bible is clear. 00:22:34.670 --> 00:22:38.349 The Bible says God chooses the, the lowest and the worst. 00:22:38.410 --> 00:22:42.430 And, and perhaps you can look at your life and you say, well, some things were going well. 00:22:43.289 --> 00:22:45.250 Probably most things weren't going all that well. 00:22:45.269 --> 00:22:49.150 And maybe the things that you felt like prior to coming to faith that were going well. 00:22:49.150 --> 00:22:55.430 Once you became a Christian, a real follower, you would have been able to say, well, they, they weren't going as well as I thought they were going. 00:22:55.509 --> 00:23:01.839 Actually says that no one may boast. 00:23:01.900 --> 00:23:04.819 So this is, this is the point is not to make us feel bad. 00:23:04.819 --> 00:23:07.960 The point is not to make us look introspect. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.279 Oh man, I'm not a good person. 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:10.640 I did. 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:11.440 How come? 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:13.839 No, the point is to look at God, God, God did all of it. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:15.500 God did all of it. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:21.660 Like if, if we don't feel like we are the most, some of the most lucky people to ever walk this earth, then we're missing it. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.839 We understand the word and we understand like luck. 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:26.180 Isn't what it's about. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:27.099 We understand it's not luck. 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:31.079 It's, it's, you know, this God just moving, but I feel this all the time. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:32.380 I just feel like, I mean, I'm just lucky. 00:23:32.380 --> 00:23:37.900 You know, I think about, uh, I think about all that's been given to me and I just, luck is the word. 00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:41.880 Like, it just, it seems arbitrary that I didn't do anything to earn it. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:44.720 And yet God decided you're going to be born in this family. 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:48.240 You're going to have this, uh, you're going to have this intellect. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:49.619 You're going to have this disposition. 00:23:49.619 --> 00:23:55.920 You're going to, yeah, I'm going to allow you to have, uh, affluence enough to not have to worry about what you have to eat. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.480 I'm going to allow you to be in a home that values education. 00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:02.599 I'm going to allow you to, uh, to get married. 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:05.160 When you got married, I'm going to allow you to have children. 00:24:05.299 --> 00:24:07.660 I just feel like I'm really lucky. 00:24:07.660 --> 00:24:11.440 And, and I hope you feel the same way though. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:19.339 God, God uses, uh, I hope you don't feel like it's because of your intellect that you're where you're at, or I hope you don't feel like I've earned this. 00:24:19.339 --> 00:24:20.099 I've worked for it. 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:20.980 And so I've got this. 00:24:21.059 --> 00:24:23.359 I hope, I hope you don't feel that in your walk with God. 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:28.309 What can we learn from Rahab? 00:24:28.490 --> 00:24:47.789 Rahab, again, somebody who incredibly unlikely, but in Ephesians one in verse seven, uh, it says in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us. 00:24:53.819 --> 00:25:04.599 It would have been enough for, uh, for the people that were coming in to say Rahab, uh, we're, we're not going to kill your people or we're not going to kill you specifically in your, your family. 00:25:04.700 --> 00:25:06.299 We're not killing you, but that's it. 00:25:06.339 --> 00:25:07.119 That's where it ends. 00:25:07.180 --> 00:25:07.920 That's where it stops. 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:19.480 And yet what they said was Rahab, you're able to marry into this, this, this God's chosen group of people, God's, God's, God's, uh, instrument to the rest of the world. 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:22.980 You're able to go from not a part of it to a part of it. 00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:25.599 He doesn't just forgive it. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:27.740 He restores and he gives lavishly. 00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:47.960 Then, you know, anybody who there are some in this room who are in the process of going from lost to saved and you're somewhere in the muddy middle and I can't speak for everybody or where exactly you are, but understand that God doesn't just, when, when he forgives, it's not just, I forgive you and now work your way on back. 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:54.559 When he forgives that the Bible is clear, there's riches of his grace that are given lavishly to us. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:01.500 We go from people who are opposing him to being those who are fighting on the same team. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:09.140 It's, there's not, there's not an in between where we have to earn our way in order to be a soldier for God. 00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:13.460 We just go from not and actually opposing him to being a soldier for God. 00:26:13.539 --> 00:26:13.700 Amen. 00:26:16.250 --> 00:26:19.269 What a great, what a great promise. 00:26:19.269 --> 00:26:34.009 Think about the amount of confidence that God has to have in his love and in his plan to be able to say, I'm just going to make them from not to, they have all of, now I see them as sons and daughters. 00:26:34.190 --> 00:26:40.950 Right before this in Ephesians, it says in love, he adopted us to be sons and daughters of his. 00:26:42.029 --> 00:26:44.970 The Bible says he goes from you, you went from against me. 00:26:45.130 --> 00:26:48.190 Now you have full standing as a son of mine. 00:26:48.190 --> 00:26:50.809 Jesus, Jesus calls us friends. 00:26:51.109 --> 00:26:53.789 We understand he calls us brothers and sisters as well. 00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:57.440 God has to be pretty confident. 00:26:57.660 --> 00:26:58.019 He is. 00:26:58.119 --> 00:26:59.920 Yeah, I, I trust my love. 00:27:00.059 --> 00:27:01.920 I trust my plan. 00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:04.200 I trust what I'm able to do that. 00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:08.220 I don't even need them to understand all of it, but they just need to know they're not going to earn it. 00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:13.259 I don't need them to understand how they can possibly love like Jesus loved. 00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:18.599 I just need them to know I love them regardless that they're not going to, they're, they're not going to run away from my love. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:23.359 If they're trying to follow me, that's a confidence. 00:27:26.619 --> 00:27:40.720 What can we learn from, from Ruth, Matthew 25 in verse 37, this is Jesus is kind of making his way to, uh, you know, to, to praying at Gethsemane. 00:27:40.859 --> 00:27:42.519 And this is some of in Matthew. 00:27:42.740 --> 00:27:54.619 This is some of his last teaching that, that he shares and he shares this, the parable of sheep and goats and he, and he gives, uh, this, this commentary on it in verse 37, then the righteous will answer Lord. 00:27:54.940 --> 00:27:59.539 When did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:04.920 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothes? 00:28:05.019 --> 00:28:09.059 You, when did we see you sick or in prison or, or, and go to visit you? 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:10.700 The King will apply. 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:11.440 Truly. 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:16.559 I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. 00:28:19.329 --> 00:28:21.190 The life of Ruth is, is one. 00:28:21.289 --> 00:28:26.390 We have to understand that God always blesses faithfulness to his people. 00:28:27.430 --> 00:28:29.630 He always blesses whatever you do. 00:28:29.670 --> 00:28:32.490 And you can't, you can't hide good things from God. 00:28:32.529 --> 00:28:33.750 You can't hide bad things from God. 00:28:33.809 --> 00:28:34.430 And that scares us. 00:28:34.630 --> 00:28:36.369 You can't hide good things from God either. 00:28:37.250 --> 00:28:38.410 He sees all of it. 00:28:38.490 --> 00:28:39.609 He's fired up by it. 00:28:39.710 --> 00:28:40.710 I, what does that mean? 00:28:40.750 --> 00:28:46.170 Well, that means when you decide to give a few, a few bucks here, there, that somebody that you know, needs it. 00:28:46.529 --> 00:28:47.869 God's God's glorified by that. 00:28:47.869 --> 00:28:52.910 That means that when you decide to say a kind word, God's God's glorified by it. 00:28:52.910 --> 00:28:54.089 He sees all of it. 00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:02.779 Tamar with Rahab and with Ruth, God uses the unlikely. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.079 He decides to honor what the world deems to be less honorable. 00:29:09.690 --> 00:29:12.630 God, God gives lavishly to all of us. 00:29:12.670 --> 00:29:14.470 It's not, you don't got to earn it. 00:29:17.769 --> 00:29:18.789 And God sees all of it. 00:29:19.009 --> 00:29:23.069 God sees everything that you do and you can rest secure in that. 00:29:23.069 --> 00:29:26.390 Nobody else sees how much work, energy, effort you're putting in. 00:29:26.410 --> 00:29:27.069 God sees it all. 00:29:27.450 --> 00:29:29.509 Nobody else sees how you overlooked an offense. 00:29:29.609 --> 00:29:30.230 God sees it all. 00:29:30.369 --> 00:29:36.230 Nobody else sees how you, how you give and give and give and you never get a thank you. 00:29:36.289 --> 00:29:37.049 God sees it all. 00:29:37.130 --> 00:29:41.990 And if God sees it all, we can, we can rest secure that, that he sees it all. 00:29:42.049 --> 00:29:44.210 And not only that, he sees that we're doing it for him. 00:29:45.630 --> 00:29:46.269 That's what he said. 00:29:46.289 --> 00:29:47.130 He said, you clothed me. 00:29:47.150 --> 00:29:48.190 And he said, when did I clothe you? 00:29:48.710 --> 00:29:50.190 When you helped that guy out, you clothed me. 00:29:50.210 --> 00:29:51.309 And when did I give you something to eat? 00:29:51.309 --> 00:29:53.289 When you helped that guy out, you gave me something to eat. 00:29:53.390 --> 00:30:00.329 And so as we are loving people and serving people and honoring people, we can understand that we're doing it for, for God. 00:30:00.490 --> 00:30:07.990 And not only for God, but it's, it's not only for God, like for his honor, but he's saying, no, I view it like you're actually doing it for me. 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:19.400 And so as we, as we, we're going to bring it in for a communion right now. 00:30:19.400 --> 00:30:29.339 As we, we think about Jesus's sacrifice on the cross, his death and, and then his burial and then his resurrection. 00:30:29.859 --> 00:30:38.019 I want us, we're going to, we're going to read this Lion of Judah, the blessing that is talked about from Jacob. 00:30:38.500 --> 00:30:41.740 Thousands of years later, it comes to fruition with Jesus. 00:30:41.819 --> 00:30:44.140 And then in Revelation, it speaks of it. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:45.359 Let's read it together. 00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:47.480 Follow along, I should say. 00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:56.200 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 00:30:57.579 --> 00:31:03.660 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. 00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:09.920 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:16.400 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:20.500 Then one of the elders said to me, do not weep. 00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:26.900 See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed. 00:31:28.220 --> 00:31:31.039 He is able to open the scroll and at seven seals. 00:31:32.259 --> 00:31:41.140 Then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. 00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:49.440 The lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 00:31:50.619 --> 00:31:54.640 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 00:32:01.420 --> 00:32:09.059 This Lion of Judah somehow in some amazing way that we cannot understand is king. 00:32:09.240 --> 00:32:15.319 And yet he allowed himself to become man and be the lamb who was slain for you and for I. 00:32:17.329 --> 00:32:19.509 Right now we're going to pray. 00:32:19.509 --> 00:32:29.190 And as we do that, I want to ask you to look inside of yourself, to consider where you need to make Jesus king still. 00:32:29.670 --> 00:32:31.150 Where has he not been king? 00:32:31.349 --> 00:32:40.430 Consider where your perception of God has just been a little bit too narrow and where you need to expand it to fit how big God actually is. 00:32:40.509 --> 00:32:40.630 Amen. 00:32:41.170 --> 00:32:42.250 Let's pray right now. 00:32:49.940 --> 00:32:55.039 Dear God, Lord, we're so grateful for your plan. 00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:57.660 We're grateful for the narrative of the Bible. 00:32:58.859 --> 00:33:11.160 It's not just a series or a compilation of books put together, but it is a story that takes us through your heart for humanity. 00:33:12.059 --> 00:33:14.859 Lord, we're grateful that you decide to use us. 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:17.119 We're grateful that you decide to use what... 00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:19.119 We don't deserve it, Lord. 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:23.579 We're grateful that you give lavishly to us. 00:33:23.579 --> 00:33:25.680 We're grateful that you see everything. 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:36.019 I don't know how you can comprehend that you're able to see everything and you bless us for everything, but we can't do anything to earn your love and your honor, Lord. 00:33:36.140 --> 00:33:40.500 You just love us and you give us a place of great honor that we don't deserve. 00:33:41.180 --> 00:33:43.779 Jesus, we're grateful for your sacrifice. 00:33:43.980 --> 00:33:46.599 We're grateful that you are the Lion of Judah. 00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:51.880 We're grateful that you are the fulfiller of prophecy, Lord. 00:33:51.880 --> 00:34:04.359 Then we're so grateful that you decided to be a lamb for us, to die for us and to give us an opportunity to commune with your father who is our father. 00:34:05.059 --> 00:34:07.339 Lord, thank you so much for your sacrifice. 00:34:07.819 --> 00:34:16.519 Jesus, thank you so much that you did it and you did it willingly, but the Bible's clear that you did it for the joy set before you. 00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:22.300 Lord, we want to pray that you move in our hearts and our lives individually. 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:25.179 Lord, I pray that you move collectively in this body. 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:26.460 Lord, we love you. 00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:28.739 Jesus, this is in your name that we pray. 00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:29.039 Amen. 00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:35.460 Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:34:35.900 --> 00:34:39.139 If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected. 00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:46.780 Please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on. 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:49.400 In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.