WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.000 Well, good morning. 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:03.439 Morning. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:04.240 My name is Matt. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:06.879 I'm an associate pastor here at Redeemer. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.960 And it's my joy to get to bring the word to you this morning. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:18.640 Please pray for Russ and his family as they are taking July off, as is their custom for rest and refreshment. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.760 This morning we're continuing in our July series in the book of Ruth. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.199 And it's been really fun to dive into this Old Testament book. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.000 I've heard from various people here. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:36.560 Some who love this book are very familiar with it and are enjoying this series, and some who are being introduced to it for the very first time. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:45.039 And that's that's kind of exciting as a pastor to know that some people are walking through this book for the very first time because it's uh it's so full. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:53.679 It's like you know, if when you hear someone reading one of your favorite books or seeing a movie for the very first time, you're like, oh man, I kind of envy you in that. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:59.359 Um, because there's so much to be gleaned from this beautiful little Old Testament book. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:04.400 And uh chapter three is no different than the chapter that we're on this morning. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:05.519 So let's jump in. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:09.920 We're gonna walk through this chapter, making observations and points as we go along. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:11.519 So let's jump in. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:22.400 First, our first point this morning is that in our three main characters in this book, Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, we see faith working through love. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:25.040 We ended uh chapter two. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:32.640 Sam preached to us last week from chapter two, uh, and we saw there that Naomi and Ruth are getting settled in Bethlehem. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:34.400 This is where Naomi is from. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:44.400 Ruth is uh a foreigner, she's a Moabite, um, kind of an enemy of the Jews, but has come into Naomi's family through marriage. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:46.799 Um, and they are both widows. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:57.359 Uh Naomi is Ruth's mother-in-law, and they find themselves widowed in a patriarchal society where they really have very little opportunity themselves. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.719 And so uh Naomi sends Ruth out into the fields. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:03.680 This is an agrarian culture, and it's harvest time. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:24.000 And so, uh, and in fact, Old Testament law, if you read the Old Testament law, uh God actually gave to the Israelites this command that as they harvest uh their grain during harvest season, they are intentionally not to go meticulously and pick everything up, but to leave some for those poor who are in need. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.879 And so this is who Ruth is, and this is what she's doing. 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:34.719 She goes out into the field and she's gathering, and she uh gains the attention of a landowner named Boaz. 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:37.120 And Boaz takes an interest in Ruth. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:42.719 She's heard he's heard of her uh because Naomi is his kinswoman, his kin. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:44.240 They are related. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:52.159 And um Boaz offers Ruth sort of an unusual kindness. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:03:00.479 Uh he says to her, uh, Ruth, I know that you've come with your mother-in-law, you've shown her a great kindness. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.599 Feel free to glean from my fields. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.560 Don't go to other fields where you might be taken advantage of. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:07.280 Stay here. 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:11.599 I'll instruct my workers to watch over you, to care for you. 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:13.199 Uh stick around. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:19.520 And so she returns home joyful, and Naomi is encouraged. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:25.439 Um, this is a big deal to them, this kindness that's being shown. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:30.479 Uh, and as we'll see, the fact that Boaz is uh Naomi's kinsman. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:34.000 So Naomi concocks a plan. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.199 She sees uh the an opportunity here. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.000 Um, and it's really a risky plan. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:41.199 It's a delicate plan. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:45.680 It has to be pulled off just so if it's gonna work. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:50.879 She tells Ruth to wash, put on some fresh clothes, put on a little perfume. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:55.759 Uh she's gonna go and meet Boaz in the dead of night. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:04.800 Um, that's why this passage is one of the most controversial in this book, and people have made a lot of hay from what we're about to see. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:07.599 But really, everything's on the up and up. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:08.560 We'll see that. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:14.400 Um she tells Ruth to go in the dead of night to the threshing floor. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:28.639 They she knows somehow that Boaz is going to be working day and night, and he'll sleep in the threshing floor by himself because he needs to protect his commodity, his grain from anyone who might come and steal from him, because this is a multi-day process. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:35.360 Um, Naomi wants to get Ruth and Boaz alone for her plan to work. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.160 She is to go and to wait to observe Boaz from a distance, kind of hidden. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:50.879 After he's eaten and drunk his full and he goes to bed content, she's to sneak in after he's asleep, uncover his feet, uh, and then lay down at his feet. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.720 Now it's no wonder that scholars have had a heyday with this picture. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:04.480 I mean, where does your mind or imagination go when you think about a man alone in the threshing floor and this single woman going in, uncovering his feet? 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:05.279 What's that all about? 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:10.000 And then lying down there, waiting for him to awaken. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:18.800 And Naomi says, eventually the chill from being uncovered is gonna wake up Boaz. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:23.279 And when he sees you, you need to make your intentions known. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:29.839 You're no longer a widow in mourning, but you are an eligible bride. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:32.879 And you need to ask him to marry you. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:34.399 Whoa. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.920 Now, this this might be hard for us to understand, right? 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:47.519 We live in a day and age where it's still pretty unusual, I'd say very unusual for a woman to propose to a man, but it's not unheard of, right? 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:49.680 That that happens, we see it. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:54.639 Um, you know, 30 years ago, 50 years ago, very unusual. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:58.000 2,000 years ago, crazy go nuts, right? 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:02.160 This is this is uh super duper unorthodox. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:15.360 And it was risky and in fact dangerous because though Boaz had publicly shown himself to be kind of faithful and kind, who knows what he would do in the privacy and under the dark of night. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:21.199 He very easily could have taken advantage of her and discarded of her if he wished. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:36.879 Now, on the other hand, he was known to be a pious man, and so this very forward act of proposal could have offended him, and he could have sent her home shamed, uh crossing these borders of culture. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:40.639 And so what we're about to see here is the climax. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:44.399 This is the pinnacle of action in the book of Ruth. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:50.879 Because Ruth takes Naomi's advice and she heads towards the threshing floor. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:52.480 What's gonna happen? 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:56.879 But before we move on, we need to ask the question: why are they doing this? 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.720 Why would they risk so much in this moment? 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:07.360 Because if things don't go according to plan, things could get much worse for both Ruth and Naomi. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:11.519 Why would Naomi risk asking Ruth to go through with this? 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.639 And why would Ruth risk going along with it? 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.040 Well, the answer is love. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:20.160 Love is what motivates them. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:23.600 Naomi knows that Ruth needs a husband. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:33.839 As her mother-in-law and only existing parent in this situation, it's her job to secure a husband for Ruth. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:34.160 Right? 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.120 This is the this is the time of arranged marriages. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:45.759 Uh Ruth would, it would have been, again, unheard of for her to go and seek her own marriage partner. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:54.800 And so Ruth knows Naomi knows uh what could be in store for Ruth if and when Naomi dies. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:08:02.879 Not only would she be alone and a widow like Naomi is, but she's a Moabite in an Israelite town. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:04.480 Not good. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:07.439 And Ruth, why does she go along with this? 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:08.959 Well, she does it out of love. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:20.879 Love for her mother-in-law, love for Naomi, the same love that that bound her together with her back in Moab and uh influenced her to return here to Bethlehem to be with her. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.519 Uh, where you lodge, I will lodge. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:28.000 Your God will meet my God, and where you die, I will die, Ruth said. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:40.159 And she knows that more than anything in the world, what Naomi longs for in this situation is an heir, is someone to provide a son for her deceased husband. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:49.919 Now that may sound very Game of Thrones, it may sound very strange to us in our day and age, because this is not, that's not really where we get our value or worth or how we see our legacy. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:52.399 But in this day and age, it was huge. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:53.440 It was huge. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:09:00.240 We we saw in chapter one that Naomi came home and and the women that knew her said, Is this Naomi? 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:03.360 And she said, Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.039 I'm bitter. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:06.720 Because I left full. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:11.919 I had a husband, I had two sons, and now I come home empty. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:14.720 And the Lord has brought me home empty. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.519 She was incredibly angry. 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:28.799 And Ruth knew that what would make Naomi full again would be an heir, a son born under her lineage. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:34.879 And the only way that could happen was to go to a relative, a kinsman redeemer. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:44.879 Sam talked about this last week, and we won't go into too much detail, but Old Testament law provided for uh a close relative. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:54.240 If a if a if a husband or a father died, a close relative could come and assume his land, his family, and take responsibility for it. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:05.360 And part of that was something called a Leverite marriage, which is where he would actually uh provide a child through his deceased relative's wife. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:11.279 And that sounds weird, and we won't get too into that, but it's it's it's important for the story. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:13.840 So, what's going on? 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:18.000 She wants, she loves Naomi, and that's what we see here. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:23.679 And so now we'll see uh that Boaz responds with equally surprising love. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.320 Let's let's look at verses 8 through 11. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:31.360 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.200 He said, Who are you? 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:35.759 She answered, I am Ruth, your servant. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:40.080 Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:41.279 Don't miss it. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:43.200 She just proposed to Boaz. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.080 He said, What's he gonna say? 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:48.559 Right? 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:49.600 We're on the edge of our seat. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:50.320 Are you are you? 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:51.679 Okay, you should be. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.360 May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:02.720 You have made this last kindness greatest greater than the first, and that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:05.840 And now may, my daughter, do not fear. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:09.279 I will do for you all that you ask. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:14.399 For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:16.240 This is amazing. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:19.200 Things could not have gone better. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:24.000 Ruth must have experienced incredible relief in this moment. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:28.879 Boaz was given eyes to see Ruth for who she is. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:30.320 This is the same word. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:31.759 He calls her a worthy woman. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:39.120 This is the same word used to describe the ideal woman in Proverbs 31, if you're familiar with this chapter. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:49.600 He sees the sacrifices that she has made as a Moabite, again, a foreigner towards his relative Naomi, and he praises her. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:54.000 He will take up the mantle of kinsman redeemer. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:57.120 He comforts her and tells her, Do not fear. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:02.000 Her sacrificial love has been received and will be rewarded. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:10.320 Now, before we move on, I just want us to pause and I want us to praise Ruth with Boaz. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:17.279 One of the reasons this story is so powerful is the trinity of love that's on display. 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:23.120 Naomi for Ruth, Ruth for Naomi, and Boaz for them both. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:29.519 We're meant to admire and seek and want to emulate these people. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:32.000 They have deep character. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:36.960 They're willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of others. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:42.320 They show faithfulness, kindness, and courage in the face of adversity. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:53.759 Now, at Redeemer and in any good Christian church, we emphasize, as Abby did earlier, that we are sinners in need of grace, that we are far worse than we actually first understood. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:57.840 But God's love and care and grace is more than we could have imagined. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:00.240 And all that is absolutely true. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:16.080 And God desires for his people to desire holiness, to seek holiness, to see the character and the beautiful virtue in these three, and seek to emulate it for his glory and for our good. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:18.000 Okay, let's keep going. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:22.399 This brings us to point two, waiting on Providence. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:25.120 Let's keep reading in the story. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:31.519 When Ruth came back to her mother-in-law, she said, How did you fare, my daughter? 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:42.240 Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:48.000 And she replied, Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:52.799 For the man will not rest, but will settle this matter today. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.879 So Ruth returns home successful. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:05.200 Not only has Boaz promised to do as she's asked, he gives her a promissory note, these six measures of barley. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:15.360 It's almost like a bride price to say, look, I'm giving you this small gift as a retainer for the gift that I'm going to give you. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:31.120 But what I love about this moment is that as much as Naomi and Ruth have risked, and as much as Boaz has responded, responded beautifully, they still have to rely on God's providence. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:34.080 What does Naomi say to Ruth in this moment? 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.080 Yes, my plan worked. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:37.120 I knew it. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:45.279 I thought this through, and I'm amazing, and woo! No, she says, wait. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:46.480 Let's wait. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:48.159 We've done all that we can. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.279 Now we must wait to see what happens. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:59.759 No matter how much good we do, God's people must still wait and rely on the goodness and faithfulness of God. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:14.080 I was talking to someone about this part of the story this week, and it reminded me of how I was, we were taught in seminary about the great eternal debate about God's sovereignty and human responsibility. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:18.559 We often think about these two things like American football, right? 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:27.200 You've got two teams, you've got God's sovereignty and human responsibility, and they're both on the field, but they can only occupy their own part of the field, right? 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:37.360 Some people see it as 50-50, some people see you know God taking up 10% of the field and human responsibility being 90%, and some people see it the other way around. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:43.679 But that's not how Scripture talks about these two real-life realities. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:51.840 Scripture talks about it more like a soccer field where both teams are all over the field all at the same time. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:16:02.480 And that's what we see here in this story: that Ruth and Naomi are taking risks, and Boaz is taking up the mantle of responsibility and acting with integrity and courage. 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:12.320 And yet, even as they do that, they acknowledge and they credit their future, their well-being to the Lord. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:19.519 As the Proverbs says, the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.039 And we see that beautifully carrying out in our passage. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:24.960 Alright, final point. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:27.440 Excuse me. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:32.799 Just making sure you're awake. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:40.480 Alright, last thing I want us to see before we close, and that is how Ruth shows us Jesus in a beautiful way. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.000 Now it's easy for us to look to Boaz, right? 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.759 He's the kinsman redeemer. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:49.039 He's the one who will meet Ruth and Naomi's needs. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:54.159 And all that is absolutely true, and we'll probably look more at that next week. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:59.840 But I believe Ruth, in a unique way here, shows us the beauty of Jesus. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:05.759 I came to this through wrestling with what Boaz says to Ruth as he praises her. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:16.559 He says, This kindness coming to him, Boaz, and seeking marriage, is a greater kindness than the first. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:17.599 Well, what was the first? 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:24.079 The first kindness was Ruth returning with Naomi back to Bethlehem, both as widows. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:30.160 She, like Orpa, the other daughter-in-law, could have returned home and Naomi would have returned alone. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:35.279 That was great faithfulness on Ruth's part to stay with Naomi. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:38.880 But here Boaz says, this is even greater. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:39.519 Why? 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:40.720 What is he saying? 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:48.000 What he's saying is it's one thing for a daughter-in-law to return home with her widowed mother-in-law, right? 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:52.160 You made sure she wasn't alone, you accompanied her, you are her companion. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:52.960 There you go. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:18:03.839 But once you got there, you'd say, Hey, I need to get married, I need you to find me an eligible bachelor, somebody I find attractive, somebody that would be a good match, somebody we can have kids together with. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.720 That would have been perfectly understandable. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:18.559 But what Boaz says is that not only have you been faithful to Naomi in returning with her, but you are willing to sacrifice even your own desires for marriage and children. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:25.440 Again, so powerful and so important in that day and age, out of love for your mother-in-law. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:34.079 You're willing to go to the kinsman, redeemer, the only one who could provide what Naomi so deeply longs for. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:40.400 To be filled again, to be provided with an heir to her deceased husband. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:48.000 It's through this choice that she could again become full as opposed to being empty. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:58.400 Boaz is amazed because she is showing profound faithfulness, the profound faithfulness of an Israelite, but she's a Moabite, right? 00:18:58.559 --> 00:18:59.359 It'd be one thing. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:08.240 He'd say, I'd be amazed if you were an Israelite daughter-in-law, serving her Israelite mother-in-law, but but you guys are enemies. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:13.359 What you're choosing to do, this kindness, doesn't make sense. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:18.319 And I believe there's an echo here of what Paul writes in Romans chapter 5. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:19.920 He's speaking about Jesus. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:28.480 He says, one would scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:36.079 But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:43.599 What Paul is pointing out is that there was nothing lovable about us in our sin. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:58.480 We were enemies of God, we were sinners, we had turned our backs on God, and yet God's love for us is in this amazing grace that even for us sinners, he was willing to come and take on flesh and die for us. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:23.039 See, Ruth points us back, she is the foretaste of the Savior to come who would who would come and go before the Father on our behalf and would plead for us and ask the Lord's kindness and faithfulness not just to provide for us, but to draw us in to his family. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.279 See, the story of Ruth is the story of Jesus and our story. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:34.079 We are Naomi, we are those who are poor and destitute that we could not save ourselves. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:38.400 And yet Jesus came and interceded for us. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:46.880 And because of his kindness and faithfulness, we are now children of God and heirs according to the promise. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:54.480 Ruth's amazing love for Naomi was a foretaste of this beautiful love. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:56.000 But here's the thing. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:01.359 Unlike Ruth, Jesus' story didn't work out. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:06.640 Ruth went to Boaz and he responded beautifully. 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:18.559 Jesus went as our representative and was beaten, was tortured, and was executed and died. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:27.920 The father, in fact, turned his face away from the son so that his face was turned towards us. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:46.720 You see, Jesus is the greater Ruth who willingly came to love his enemies, to advocate on our behalf, and even to die for us, so that we might be received, that we might be loved, that we might become children of God. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:22:02.079 And so just as Boaz praises Ruth for her amazing faithfulness and love, so we so much more praise Jesus for his love and sacrifice and faithfulness to us. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:03.279 Amen. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:05.119 Let's pray. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:11.279 Our Father in heaven, uh, Lord, what an incredible story the story of Ruth is. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:18.640 Uh, and thank you for the way that it shows us in a more, even deeper way how you have loved us. 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:23.440 Lord, we were uh without hope in this world. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:29.039 And yet, even while we were sinners, while we were your enemies, you died for us. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:30.559 Lord, we thank you. 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.279 We rejoice in that sacrifice. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.079 And we pray with thanksgiving in Jesus' name. 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:36.880 Amen.