WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:02.399 Good morning, everybody. 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.040 It's good to see you. 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:14.400 Summer inexplicably is coming to an end, or at least if you have school-aged kids, the heat will last for much longer. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:22.559 But uh as we reach the end of July, we are continuing in our summer series or our July series in the book of Ruth. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:24.239 Also, let me introduce myself. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:25.280 My name is Matt Armstrong. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:26.719 I'm an associate pastor here. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:32.320 Our senior pastor Russ and his family take every July for a time of rest and refreshment. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:36.560 So they are away, and we look forward to their return in August. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:47.359 But we, as I said, we're continuing through this book, this Old Testament, this little beautiful kind of gem in the Old Testament called the Book of Ruth. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:52.399 It's a story of loss and faithfulness and a beautiful redemption. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.640 And today we come to the final chapter. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:58.000 We've broken it into two parts, so we'll finish next week. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:01.359 Brian Robinson will preach, and I'm looking forward to that. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:04.480 So where are we in this story? 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.719 Let me give you a brief recap because I know a lot of us travel during the summer. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:11.200 So where have we gone so far? 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:20.879 At the beginning of the book, uh we meet a woman named Naomi, and she lives in Bethlehem, a small village in the nation of Israel. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:31.519 And there's a famine in the land, a famine so great that her family has to pick up and move out of Israel to the land of Moab, where food is more plentiful. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:38.799 But while they are there in a foreign land, her husband dies and her two sons die. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:45.920 So she has gone from being culturally wealthy to being culturally bereft. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:52.319 This is a highly patriarchal society, and she has very few resources. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:02:08.639 Her two sons had married in that time, and so one decides to return home to her family in Moab, but her second daughter-in-law, Ruth, who the book is named for, returns with her to Bethlehem now that the famine is over. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:18.319 When they return to Bethlehem, they're forced to kind of fend for themselves, to figure out how they're going to survive in a place where they have no, very few legal rights. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.680 They begin to live off the generosity of others. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:23.759 Ruth goes out into the fields. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:29.120 This is harvest time, and she's gleaning what the harvesters have left behind. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:34.719 This is what Naomi and Ruth have been left to in their state. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:49.120 In that process, they attract the attention of a wealthy landowner named Boaz, and Boaz, we'll come to find out, is one of Naomi's distant relatives, related to her dead husband Elimelech. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:03:01.840 Boaz notices Ruth and he inquires about her, and he realizes that this is a foreigner, this is a Moabite who has remained faithful to her mother-in-law Naomi, whom he's related to. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:04.879 And so he shows them unusual kindness. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:11.680 He speaks to Ruth and says, Hey, you have free access to my lands to glean from it. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:14.479 My workers will watch over you and protect you. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:19.919 This was a huge stroke of luck for these two widows. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:28.400 That's when Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, concocts a dangerous plan that we looked at last week. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:35.680 She sends Ruth in the middle of night under the cloak of darkness to the threshing floor where Boaz is alone and sleeping. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:41.599 And in the middle of the night, Ruth surprises him and proposes to him. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:46.560 Again, in this society, this was highly unusual, a deeply risky move. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:51.840 We don't know what is going to happen, but it goes beautifully. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:55.360 Boaz has already taken a liking to Ruth. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:03.599 He's noticed her deep faithfulness, love for Naomi, the fact that she is willing to work and to provide for her loved ones. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:07.680 And so he tells her that he will do all that she asks. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.080 And this is this is kind of the climax of the book, of the story. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:14.159 But there's one hindrance. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:22.639 Legally, there is one other family member that is closer in bloodline to Naomi. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:26.000 And I'll try not to get too bogged down in these details, but they're important. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:27.439 That's how the story unfolds. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.480 So he tells Ruth, I'm gonna take care of it. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.519 Go back to your mother-in-law and wait. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:36.319 And so that's where we leave Ruth and Naomi. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:41.279 They're waiting to see what Boaz and what the Lord will be able to do. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.879 And that's where Katie read from this morning. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:52.879 Boaz goes to the city gate of Bethlehem, and this is where community business was done, and this was community business. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:05:06.000 He gathers together the elders or some of the elders of Bethlehem, and he sees, because this is a small town, that closer relative to Naomi just walked by and he says, Hey, come over here and have a seat. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:07.600 We need to have a meeting. 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:09.839 And he sets the matter before them. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:34.399 Naomi wants, she's requesting that her relative would redeem the land, which means that he would take responsibility for her deceased husband's land so that it would come back into the family, begin to produce food and livelihood for her family, and that she would be and Ruth would be taken care of. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:42.399 And so he presents this to this Redeemer, kinsman Redeemer, is kind of the what it's called in the Old Testament. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:48.879 And the elders are there to witness this kind of contract, negotiation, and discussion. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:56.000 And at the end of verse 4, the kindred Redeemer says, I will redeem it. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:02.800 Now, if you're following the story, if you've been walking with Naomi and Ruth, this is horrible news. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:07.120 But we're not going to talk about that yet. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:10.560 But that's where we're kind of leaving off. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:15.360 But before we go there, this is the first point of the sermon today. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:19.439 That God works in and through the small and the mundane details of life. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:25.680 This is a point I've been wanting to make for three sermons, and this is my last one, so I'm going to make it today. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:30.639 Because here's the question: why is this book here? 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:36.560 Some of us grew up with the Bible and we get used to the things that are there, but what is this story about? 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:44.720 This story is fundamentally about a widow from a small backwater village named Bethlehem. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:53.279 And it's named after her Moabite daughter-in-law, who's also a widow, who find themselves poor and destitute. 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:58.240 How is this a book in the Bible, in the Word of God? 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:07.199 And as we read this, especially this section in chapter 4, we get an education in ancient contract negotiation and discussion. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:17.279 We haven't read the whole passage, but they go back and forth, uh, Boaz and this other uh kinsman, and we never get his name. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:23.279 And when they finally work things out, the guy takes his sandal off and he hands it to Boaz, and that seals the deal. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:24.720 And we're like, oh, that's cool. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:26.160 Uh I don't know why you do that. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.560 And even the author of the book of Ruth says, this is what they did in the old days. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:36.160 So even when this book was written, that practice was long gone. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.600 And so we just have to ask the question, why? 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:41.839 Why is this book here? 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:50.959 Well, one reason that we'll see next week is that this book actually bridges the story of the judges, the story of Israel, to the story of King David. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:57.519 Uh, spoiler alert, Boaz will become King David's great-grandfather. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:00.000 This is the line of King David. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:03.920 And that that is important for the history and lineage of Israel. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:20.720 But the theme that fills this book and actually fills the Old Testament and then spills over into the New Testament is that God cares and God is deeply involved in the lives of the small and the mundane. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:33.440 A widow, a poor, a destitute, her Moabite, daughter-in-law, these people do not register on the important list. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:37.840 Nobody cares about these people. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.000 That's why Boaz stands out. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:41.200 He cares. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:44.480 But he's the exception that proves the rule. 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:46.799 And yet they get a book. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:51.039 So who do they care to? 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:52.320 Who cares about them? 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:54.399 God cares about them. 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:57.840 God cares about the poor, God cares about the destitute. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:02.080 God works through the mundane details of life. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:04.799 And so this book was given to God's people. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:15.039 It was given to us so that those who find themselves in the small, in the out of way, the people on the margins, the people who are suffering. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:19.440 It's meant to answer the question: does God care? 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:21.759 Is God involved? 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.320 You know, I've been a pastor for many years. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:25.600 I spent time as a missionary. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:35.440 I've talked to a lot of people about the gospel, a lot of non-Christians, and I've heard more times than I can count people say, well, God doesn't care about me. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:41.840 God cares about, you know, kings and nations and things going around the world. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:43.919 My little problems don't matter to God. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.000 But the book of Ruth says, no. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:49.039 That's not the case at all. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:53.360 And we see this in the life and ministry of Jesus, don't we? 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:58.320 This is why he was so confusing to his people in his day. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:09:59.840 He's the Messiah. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:07.279 Everything he's doing is proving and showing that he is the anointed one, the son of David, the one who is to come to save their people. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:16.159 And yet he was spending time with the poor, the lame, the untouchables, foreigners. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:22.799 Everybody's like, he seems like the one, but he's not doing anything like we would expect. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.480 Jesus embodies the heart of God. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:32.080 The heart of God for the poor, the hurting, the marginalized. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:36.159 This also connects with one of the things we talked about last week. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:45.120 If you were here, we talked about kind of the tension and the difficulty of understanding divine sovereignty and human responsibility. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:51.840 And we said that they actually more overlap more than, you know, fight for dominance. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:11:01.759 And what we see in this passage is the character, the ingenuity, the wisdom, the wealth of Boaz on display here. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:06.480 He shows a shrewdness that we're going to see in a minute. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.039 And we are to see that and to emulate that. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:15.600 We're to praise Boaz and to see him loving and caring for these two widowed women. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:23.120 At the same time, we see God's plan unfolding before our eyes. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:24.639 And so which is it? 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:30.879 Is this Boaz being praised, or is this God's sovereign plan working out in front of us? 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:32.720 And the answer is yes. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:44.639 The answer is that God is at work in all the details and all the mundane things of our lives, even seemingly trivial contract, disputes, and negotiation. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:50.159 So as you go about your day, does God care about your choices? 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:56.720 Does God want you to live with high character and faithfulness and a willingness to sacrifice out of love for others? 00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:58.159 Yes, he does. 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:04.000 But does God's sovereign plan depend on you coming through and you doing everything right? 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:05.519 No, not at all. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:11.279 This is the beauty and the complexity of these two things. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:18.879 That God desires for his people to be holy and to be faithful and to fight against sin and to fight against evil in the world. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:21.519 And he is glorified and honored by that. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:28.960 And at the same time, his plans don't rely or depend upon us, and so it gives us great relief. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:35.679 And in fact, throughout the scriptures, we see God's people trying to be faithful and often failing terribly. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:40.320 And yet God's sovereign plan comes through perfectly in the end. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:45.279 It reminds me of that famous line that Joseph speaks to his brothers at the end of the book of Genesis. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:49.679 He said, What you intended for evil, God intended for good. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:13:00.480 And so God is always able to bring about his good and perfect plan through our faithfulness and through our failing and even through evil. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.120 Alright, that's enough for that. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:04.799 Let's get back to our story. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:09.519 Our second point is that redemption takes love and sacrifice. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:20.879 Again, when we left Boaz here at this, at the city gates, he's got the other kinsman redeemer, would-be kinsman redeemer there, the elders, and he's presented uh the situation. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.639 And he says, Naomi would like her land to be redeemed. 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:26.879 He says, Oh, yes, I'll redeem that. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:32.960 I'll take this free land and and um you know sow it and reap from it. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:35.519 Um and again, this is terrible. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:36.799 We don't know this guy. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:47.279 He has he has shown no love or or desire to help Naomi and Ruth, and he has no obligation to do so, even though he has the legal right to redeem this land. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:49.360 So, what's going to happen? 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:52.000 Well, Boaz isn't done yet. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:54.799 Let's let's pick up in verse five. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:14:10.399 Boaz said to him, The day that you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also uh acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:16.320 Then the Redeemer said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:22.080 Take my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:24.639 Whoa! What just happened? 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:28.000 Huge twist all of a sudden. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:36.240 Well, Boaz has reminded this would-be redeemer of the cost of redemption. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:44.399 This isn't just an opportunity for you to acquire new land from your deceased relative, there is there's actually cost involved. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:52.879 Tied together with this Old Testament law of keeping land within the family is something called leverett marriage. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:15:14.159 And again, I'll try not to get too deep into the details, but what it said is if uh a man dies and he leaves a widow and no children or no male children, then his closest male relative was to provide him with an heir through his widow. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:15.919 Yes. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:18.960 That's just what it sounds like. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.480 And that sounds so weird to us. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:24.960 It sounds super weird to me. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.320 But we live in a very different culture with very different values. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:33.840 And as I said, children and progeny and inheritance was everything. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:39.360 And in fact, not just among the Jewish people, but among most ancient cultures in the world. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:52.159 The worst thing in the world that could happen to you, especially as a man, you know, nobody cared that much about women except the women, uh, unfortunately, um, or they didn't write down what they cared about. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.840 No man wanted to die without an heir. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:00.480 It was as if you were erased from the annals of history. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.120 It was through the names of your descendants. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.879 Why do you think the Old Testament is so full of genealogies? 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.720 List after list, the Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:11.200 Why? 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.519 Because it matters where the bloodline comes from. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:23.440 And so the worst thing in the world for Naomi, Naomi longs to have an heir for her deceased husband and for herself. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:28.000 And so that this is enshrined in Old Testament law. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:34.960 And Boaz reminds this would-be redeemer hey, you want the land, you take the wife. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:42.480 Well, this is incredibly costly because sure he can acquire the land, but if he produces an heir through Ruth, what happens? 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:51.039 All of that land that he pays for, that he cares for, that he tills, goes to this other heir, and it becomes a limelex family line. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:55.840 And so it would cost him deeply, and from his perspective, it would gain him nothing. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.759 And so he says, This is not a hard decision. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:01.039 I'm out. 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:14.640 And so, yes, Boaz swoops in, and through his cunning, through his ingenuity, right, he he was intentional the way he laid this plan out in front of this would-be redeemer. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:20.160 And so he has come through in the end for Naomi and for Ruth. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:30.400 But this raises the question for us: why was Boaz willing to go through so much to go through with this cost? 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:34.400 And as we said last week, the answer is love. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:38.640 Boaz has come to love Ruth. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:43.680 And he has developed a great love for Naomi, this distant relative. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:48.160 He's seen Ruth's faithfulness to her mother-in-law. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:18:06.799 He's seen her character and her willingness to work hard in the field, and he's seen Ruth's deep love for her mother-in-law that we saw last week, that she was willing to go again in the middle of the night to risk her safety and her future by boldly proposing to Boaz. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:10.160 This woman has blown him away. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:12.640 And she's a Moabite. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.119 Again, these details are so important. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:18.079 The Moabites were enemies of the Jews. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:24.000 This was, you know, you only married within the Jewish family, first of all, but a Moabite? 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:24.559 Right? 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:33.519 That's why you'll notice when Boaz presents this to the kinsman Redeemer, he emphasizes, you must marry Ruth the Moabite. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:34.799 It's like her full name. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:38.079 Like Jesus of Nazareth, Ruth the Moabite. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:40.319 And he's like, ooh, no. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:44.400 But Boaz has fallen in love with her. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:57.599 So much so that he's willing to give this great cost, to take her as his wife, to love her, to provide for Naomi and heir at great cost to himself. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:01.279 And this raises something else about Boaz that makes him unique. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.400 Not anyone could redeem Naomi and Ruth. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:09.039 They had to have the standing, the cultural standing, the wealth that Boaz had. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:14.799 He was the perfect kinsman, redeemer for these women. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:22.880 And so Boaz wins the day out of love and becomes Naomi and Ruth's kinsman redeemer. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:24.319 And the people celebrate. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:26.319 This is how our passage closes. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:28.559 He calls, Boaz celebrates. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:35.119 He calls the elders and the witnesses there to witness what has happened to kind of ratify what's gone on. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:36.400 And this is what they say. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:37.839 We are witnesses. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:45.119 May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:50.240 May you act worthily in Ephratha and be renowned in Bethlehem. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:20:00.799 And may your house be like that of Peres, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:03.599 They celebrate, what do they celebrate? 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:07.359 The potential of children and a future. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.599 And they call back these names. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:13.200 If you're familiar with the Old Testament, who were Rachel and Leah? 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:21.440 The two wives of Jacob, who produced, along with a couple other women, the twelve tribes of Israel. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:23.279 Right? 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.119 Like we're gonna we're gonna put down those little details. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:28.240 Let's remember. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:32.960 Through these two women, the nation of Israel was born. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:36.160 And Tamar and Judah, you want to read a messed up story? 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:38.559 Go read Tamar and Judah. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.119 Man, Judah, lion from the tribe of Judah. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:42.079 Isn't Judah great? 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:43.200 Terrible person. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:43.759 No. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:51.359 But that story involves a leverate marriage and birthing of Perez. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.319 Anyway, lots of family, lots of skeletons in this family closet. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:58.799 But they're celebrating. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:01.680 Naomi, here's the point of the story. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:05.039 Naomi went away full, returned empty. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:06.799 She thought her life was over. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:11.839 And here, through the gift of Boaz, she is being filled up again. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:15.759 And it is a beautiful story to behold. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:19.200 Well, and that brings us to our final point here as we close. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:20.480 Running out of time. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:25.039 Boaz points us to our greater kinsman redeemer. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:26.799 As Christians, we can't help it, right? 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:27.920 Kinsman Redeemer. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:29.279 Ooh, that sounds like Jesus. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:30.079 And guess what? 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:30.880 You're right. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:32.960 It totally is a connection with Jesus. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:42.480 Just like Abraham and Moses and Boaz's future grandson, King David, these all point us to Jesus. 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:46.480 Jesus is the greater kinsman redeemer. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:59.039 Who out of love and a cost that we can't even fully imagine, he was willing to come and redeem us from our poverty and certain death, dead and our trespasses and sins. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:00.960 We were his enemies. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:05.839 We, most of us in this room, were foreigners outside the household of Israel. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:10.400 We were not worthy of his love and sacrifice, and yet he came. 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:14.640 Not only did he save us, but he makes us his bride. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:15.920 We talk about that. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:21.839 Not only does he save us from our sins, but he is betrothed to us and he brings us into his family. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:30.319 We become, we go from being destitute and dead in our sins to be part of the royal family and heirs to the kingdom of God. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:46.000 In this little story, in this backwater town, we see a seed of the story that would blossom into the very gospel itself that gathers us together as brides, the bride of Christ, the church. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:53.759 And as costly as this was to Boaz, it pales in comparison to the cost Jesus was willing to pay. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:23:09.279 The Son of God who took on flesh and became one of us willingly went to the cross and paid the bride price, paid the say that five times fast, paid the bride price for us with his own blood. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:14.000 Brothers and sisters, Jesus is the better Boaz. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:17.519 You see, Ruth's story becomes for us like a parable. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:26.079 That though we have trouble in this life, we can rest in the truth that our kinsman Redeemer has overcome the world. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.960 Some of us in this room, we are with Naomi in chapter one. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:32.559 We are in despair. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.680 Some of us are living in chapter two or chapter three. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:37.440 Some of us are in chapter four. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:48.720 Wherever we are, the scriptures testify to us of the faithfulness of God, the love of God, the willingness to pay whatever price because he loves you. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:54.720 Because he sees in you what he placed there, infinite value and worth. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:24:03.200 And so it calls us to worship, to give thanks, and to rest in the very love of God. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:09.119 And if you're here this morning and you're you don't know Jesus, you wouldn't consider yourself a Christian. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:11.599 Do you hear yourself in the story? 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:16.000 Do you long to be loved with an eternal love, a sacrificial love? 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:18.240 This invitation is open to all. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.880 And we would ask that you would receive it even this morning. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:22.079 Let's pray. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:27.119 Our Father and our God, Lord, you do amazing things. 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:32.960 And often in the mundane ness of life, Lord, we forget. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:35.440 We forget what we've been given. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:38.079 We forget what you have given. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:50.960 We forget who we are, the beloved bride of Christ, the heirs with Christ, the children of God, the beloved for who we are, never needing to do anything to earn it. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:54.079 Let us rejoice in that truth this morning. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:55.839 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:56.559 Amen.