SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us on the CCW podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you connect with us on social media to stay up to date on ministries and events happening at CCW.
SPEAKER_00: We hope you're encouraged, inspired, and motivated by today's message.
SPEAKER_00: To find out how to connect with us, keep listening after the message ends.
SPEAKER_01: Well, the first point this morning in Ruth chapter 3 is a strategic ask.
SPEAKER_01: It's a strategic ask.
SPEAKER_01: You know, if you look up in 1 Corinthians 14, which we'll look at in just a moment, we find in Scripture that our God is a God of order.
SPEAKER_01: Our God is not a God of confusion.
SPEAKER_01: Our God is not a God of upheaval.
SPEAKER_01: Our God is a God of planning.
SPEAKER_01: And even when God says to be still, it's a part of a plan.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Corinthians 14, verse 33 and 40, for context, it says, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 40 says, so let all things be done decently and in order.
SPEAKER_01: If God is calling us to something today, let me give you some theology.
SPEAKER_01: If you suppress what God is saying to you, something is happening within you called the quenching of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: If we quench and suppress what the Holy Spirit is knocking on our heart's door about, then things can happen in your life that some of us go through.
SPEAKER_01: Things like spiritual coldness, indifference, words like apathy.
SPEAKER_01: It awakens worldly appetites to suppress when God is speaking to our hearts, myriads of problems.
SPEAKER_01: When God gives direction, I want you to know it's with precision.
SPEAKER_01: Order is not, what some of my friends might say, is the opposite of passion.
SPEAKER_01: It's the pathway to passion.
SPEAKER_01: Every miracle in the Bible came through someone who obeyed God's ordered plan.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Ruth doesn't know what God is going to be doing, but I can guarantee you God knows what God is doing in the story of Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: And so, I'm so impressed with Ruth's obedience in this.
SPEAKER_01: But let's take you, getting closer to the climactic point scene by scene.
SPEAKER_01: Letter A is matchmaking at midnight.
SPEAKER_01: If you look at verse 1 and 2, remember, Ruth came back with this grain, and her mother-in-law, all of a sudden, things began to change in her perspective of the situation.
SPEAKER_01: In chapter 3, then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek security for you that it may be well with you?
SPEAKER_01: In other words, this is a nice way of her saying, Should I not look for a man for you?
SPEAKER_01: You've been living here all this harvest season.
SPEAKER_01: Is it okay for me to look for security for you?
SPEAKER_01: Now, Boaz, she brings back up, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative?
SPEAKER_01: In fact, in fact, he's winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_01: And so we see a little bit of nudging by Naomi, right?
SPEAKER_01: In other words, Naomi, you need a man.
SPEAKER_01: Or Ruth, you need a man.
SPEAKER_01: And she says, Emboaz, as it so happens.
SPEAKER_01: I believe he's still on the market.
SPEAKER_01: He's a bachelor, he's good, he's strong, he's loving, he's got some cash in his pocket.
SPEAKER_01: Sounds like a chance for a good husband, I'm just saying.
SPEAKER_01: Says the mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_01: There's a window for winnowing.
SPEAKER_01: Naomi, can you picture it?
SPEAKER_01: Wide eyed, fingers clasped.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: She hadn't stopped to find out.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth, do you think he's attractive?
SPEAKER_01: Ruth, is he nice?
SPEAKER_01: Ruth, does he have any teeth?
SPEAKER_01: She just says, tonight, Boaz will be winnowing.
SPEAKER_01: Can you believe it?
SPEAKER_01: Tonight, winnowing.
SPEAKER_01: What a great night.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm glad you asked, what is winnowing?
SPEAKER_01: Winnowing.
SPEAKER_01: So it was common when a breeze would come through at the late of the night, a man would go off the gleaming field and he would begin to toss hay into the air so that the uh particles of it that wouldn't be used, the wind could take away, but he would do it off secluded.
SPEAKER_01: To a corner of a field.
SPEAKER_01: He would go by himself.
SPEAKER_01: And so when Naomi says, as it would happen, he's winnowing tonight, Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: Why is that important?
SPEAKER_01: Because, Ruth, it would be very strange for a Moabite woman to walk up to the Jewish field owner in the middle of the day in front of everybody working and say, hey man, what do you think about a date?
SPEAKER_01: This would be a strange occurrence, but she's like, he's gonna be by himself tonight, Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: Go tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: There are times when God in a moment places something on your heart, church.
SPEAKER_01: And you may not have time to consult with a lot of logic.
SPEAKER_01: I think sometimes too often we hear God and we begin to filter instead of act.
SPEAKER_01: I think often that happens.
SPEAKER_01: It has to make sense.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says about God making sense to you and me.
SPEAKER_01: His ways are higher than my ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and you'll see theologians come together for years debating so hard, and they just can't come to stomach the fact that we're so human, we can't understand some things.
SPEAKER_01: It's called the great mystery.
SPEAKER_01: But we want to make sense, we want to make it scientific, and there's just some things that are above our ways, and we're not gonna know, I guess, till we're in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: So, here's this opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: There's a window.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I don't know if this is the plan.
SPEAKER_01: The plan that comes from Naomi, I don't know if you think it's shady or if it's smart, but there is a window.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if you have a single daughter, man, if this is the plan you want to give her.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that's plan A.
SPEAKER_01: When clock strikes midnight, you gotta go.
SPEAKER_01: You know what we say in culture?
SPEAKER_01: Nothing good happens after midnight, right?
SPEAKER_01: We've heard that.
SPEAKER_01: Well, actually, some great things in the Bible did.
SPEAKER_01: I'll just give you a few for fun.
SPEAKER_01: The people of Gaza surrounded Samson as he picked up the gates of the city and he carried them and threw them on the top of the hill in Gaza at midnight.
SPEAKER_01: Dave talked about Gideon's musical.
SPEAKER_01: It happened at midnight.
SPEAKER_01: Paul and Silas had a prayer meeting and a hymn sing in a jail when God released an earthquake that happened at midnight.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: At midnight, Jesus bid Peter to walk on water.
SPEAKER_01: And in Matthew 25, 6 it says, one day at the midnight cry, the bridegroom Jesus Christ will come to receive his bride.
SPEAKER_01: Now Umi says, There is a window.
SPEAKER_01: But first, she gives her some more advice.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at her sage advice, let her be.
SPEAKER_01: Verses 3 and 4.
SPEAKER_01: We call this point spruced up and surprising.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 3 and 4, she says, Therefore, there's this opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: Wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
SPEAKER_01: Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go in, uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what you should do.
SPEAKER_01: Man, y'all hearing this?
SPEAKER_01: She said, First of all, spruce up.
SPEAKER_01: Get yourself together, girl.
SPEAKER_01: It's time to clean up.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to know this there's a picture, a bigger picture here that conveys something.
SPEAKER_01: Same language in 2 Samuel 12, verse 20.
SPEAKER_01: When David lost his son, David, he went and he cleansed after the death.
SPEAKER_01: He mourned, he changed his clothes.
SPEAKER_01: And there's a picture here of a Ruth who lost a husband.
SPEAKER_01: That gets lost on us a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: We look at Naomi's situation, but Ruth lost a husband.
SPEAKER_01: And she says, Go and cleanse the same language.
SPEAKER_01: Exchange the garments of mourning.
SPEAKER_01: You've had this period of grief.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe now, Ruth, it's time for you to be happy again.
SPEAKER_01: It's time for it to be okay.
SPEAKER_01: Honey, listen to me, Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: You were a good wife to my son Malin.
SPEAKER_01: You were so good to him, and he's been gone.
SPEAKER_01: And it's time.
SPEAKER_01: You've had despair, but it's time for a new day.
SPEAKER_01: You've been through this.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's wash your hands because it's time for an exchange.
SPEAKER_01: For some of you here, church, that's what God wants of your life right now.
SPEAKER_01: It is time for a cleanse.
SPEAKER_01: It's time to wash your hands of that thing.
SPEAKER_01: It's time for a new day.
SPEAKER_01: It's time for an exchange.
SPEAKER_01: And we ended last week talking about exchanging that garment of heaviness for a garment of praise.
SPEAKER_01: It's time to anoint with new oil.
SPEAKER_01: God can't pour new oil into an old vat of grief.
SPEAKER_01: And so there's this picture.
SPEAKER_01: It's time, Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: And I think this is more tender, but Ruth, listen.
SPEAKER_01: It's time to clean up.
SPEAKER_01: It's time to exchange that.
SPEAKER_01: Put on some new clothes.
SPEAKER_01: But that was verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 4, I think, is pretty close to rated our Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: The conjunction here raises up the tension.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 4, and it says, and then.
SPEAKER_01: And then this is what you do.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to these words and picture maybe the original readers of this and what they're taking.
SPEAKER_01: And then uncover his legs, his bare feet, and lie down.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine.
SPEAKER_01: Scandalous what she's saying.
SPEAKER_01: We're not seeing the likes of this since Bethlehem's bold and beautiful.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the things that are being said right here.
SPEAKER_01: And Naomi's looking at her and telling her, this is what you need to do.
SPEAKER_01: Sneak in at midnight.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_01: So as you go throughout the story, we find out this is Ruth takes this action.
SPEAKER_01: And it's funny the things that she says.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to lay there.
SPEAKER_01: And I like what Naomi says.
SPEAKER_01: She says, now look, notice the place where Boaz lies.
SPEAKER_01: Now when you look in that field, there's there may be other people.
SPEAKER_01: There's gonna be we don't want none of this.
SPEAKER_01: Pull up the blanket and go, oops, wrong legs.
SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
SPEAKER_01: She says, notice the place where he lies.
SPEAKER_01: So she gives this plan.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to hear this this morning, church.
SPEAKER_01: Vision without action is a daydream.
SPEAKER_01: An action without vision is a nightmare.
SPEAKER_01: Say it again.
SPEAKER_01: Vision without action is a daydream.
SPEAKER_01: An action without vision is a nightmare.
SPEAKER_01: They have a plan.
SPEAKER_01: And point number two, we see about that plan a serious and sensitive approach.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth listens to Naomi and simply she says to her, all that you say to me, I will do.
SPEAKER_01: I will do as you say.
SPEAKER_01: And what we see in that is letter A.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth stands with respect.
SPEAKER_01: The friendship that's come about between these two is notable.
SPEAKER_01: Naomi is looking out for Ruth after Ruth has clung to Naomi to help see her life reach a suitable means.
SPEAKER_01: And Naomi now, the matchmaker, unveils this plot to Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: And Ruth, you remember what Ruth said?
SPEAKER_01: She said, wherever you go, I will go.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever will be your people will be my people.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever is your God will be my God.
SPEAKER_01: And I will go with you to the death.
SPEAKER_01: And so Ruth has asked of Naomi this plan.
SPEAKER_01: And I think Ruth, if it kills me, I'll do as Naomi says, because I've got trust in her.
SPEAKER_01: And at least I will have lived my life and given myself for somebody that I love.
SPEAKER_01: I was reminded of the relationship in my quiet time this week.
SPEAKER_01: I was reminded of the relationship of Elijah and Elisha.
SPEAKER_01: And Elijah was coming to the end of his life, and Elisha did not want to leave his side.
SPEAKER_01: He kept going on to another place, and Elisha said, I want to be with you.
SPEAKER_01: And finally, Elijah said, What do you need?
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Grant me a double portion.
SPEAKER_01: But he wanted to be there with his mentor.
SPEAKER_01: We have something to learn in this relationship about godly respects.
SPEAKER_01: Turn your Bible if you got a moment to 1 Peter 5.5.
SPEAKER_01: It's important.
SPEAKER_01: Something we can learn in this subtext today.
SPEAKER_01: In this beautiful relationship.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Peter 5.5 says, likewise, you younger people, submit to your elders.
SPEAKER_01: It says, be clothed with humility.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to take a moment for our church folk here today, and I want to say thank you.
SPEAKER_01: I want to thank the elders of our congregation.
SPEAKER_01: I want to thank there's people that have been in this building and they've been across the Jordan over at the other building.
SPEAKER_01: And they've been here and you've been loyal and you've been faithful and you've been an encouragement to this pastor and the staff in this church, and you come in and you're always looking for a word or a way to encourage people.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm so thankful.
SPEAKER_01: But we're taught in this relationship.
SPEAKER_01: Look out for those.
SPEAKER_01: Submit to those.
SPEAKER_01: And so Ruth does this.
SPEAKER_01: She stands with respect and let her be.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth steps towards risk.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 6 and 7.
SPEAKER_01: She says, it says, so she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her.
SPEAKER_01: And after Boaz had eaten and drank, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain, and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth takes a wild step towards risk.
SPEAKER_01: I was studying back through some things this week and looked at Bonhoeffer.
SPEAKER_01: When you talk about taking a step toward risk, Bonhoeffer was executed on June 9, 1945.
SPEAKER_01: And it was because of his involvement in the July 20th plot to kill Adolf Hitler.
SPEAKER_01: Bonhoeffer staunchly opposed Hitler's treatment of the Jews.
SPEAKER_01: He said, as a Christian, he couldn't sit idly by and watch what was going on.
SPEAKER_01: He had to get involved.
SPEAKER_01: He had to step towards risk because it was right.
SPEAKER_01: John Huss was martyred in 1415 and he refused simply to recant his faith.
SPEAKER_01: He said, if you will recant, you can keep your life.
SPEAKER_01: He said, in the same truth of the gospel which I have written, taught, and preached, I am ready to die today.
SPEAKER_01: Do you have something you believe so much in that you would give yourself to it fully?
SPEAKER_01: Because the Bible says to live is Christ and to die is gain.
SPEAKER_01: It says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, not I, but Christ that lives within me.
SPEAKER_01: I die daily.
SPEAKER_01: Church, faith is risky.
SPEAKER_01: And you're either living that way and you're living out your faith, or you're maybe not living any faith at all.
SPEAKER_01: It's risky.
SPEAKER_01: The cross was risky.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus took the greatest risk.
SPEAKER_01: He took my strap and he took my nails and he took my payment.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you today there is no redemption at all without any risk.
SPEAKER_01: There was risk.
SPEAKER_01: What's the last risk you took for your Christianity?
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever taken a faith risk?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe today is your risk day.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a day with a step, and that's the first thing.
SPEAKER_01: God's put something here, and it's a step.
SPEAKER_01: It's a step of faith that's a risk.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a talk, a conversation that's been put off for so long, and maybe it's a talk, uh, maybe it's a move.
SPEAKER_01: But what has God called you to do?
SPEAKER_01: Well, maybe not your ideal place for romance, winnowing out in the field, but there's Boaz, and he's throwing grain in the air.
SPEAKER_01: And imagine with me Ruth, who it she said, keep yourself unknown until he goes to sleep.
SPEAKER_01: So Ruth sneaks on the field.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if she's hiding over here.
SPEAKER_01: He's throwing grain and she's just waiting, waiting, and not being seen.
SPEAKER_01: And her heart has to be racing as she's waiting for the moment.
SPEAKER_01: She's like, Does he ever get tired?
SPEAKER_01: Boaz works and works.
SPEAKER_01: Please just go to sleep.
SPEAKER_01: And she's waiting for this opportunity to unfold, and he's just throwing grain in the air.
SPEAKER_01: And it made me think about uh a lot of you have young children.
SPEAKER_01: You remember when you were trying to get your young children to nap?
SPEAKER_01: Do you remember this?
SPEAKER_01: This little game they like to play with you?
SPEAKER_01: And you learned how to look at it.
SPEAKER_01: And then that little head pops up and like, no, don't I had him?
SPEAKER_01: Ruth is just waiting.
SPEAKER_01: Will he ever fall asleep?
SPEAKER_01: Her heart is racing.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, finally, he goes down.
SPEAKER_01: He gets into bed, he falls asleep.
SPEAKER_01: And then, picture it with me, folks.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth creeps over.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is like the cartoons you watch growing up.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, she gets over there to him.
SPEAKER_01: She's not, she doesn't want to wake him up because you know what Namu said?
SPEAKER_01: You get over to him, lay down at his feet, uncover his feet.
SPEAKER_01: And so he finally falls asleep.
SPEAKER_01: She creeps over.
SPEAKER_01: She's hoping.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, God, please don't let a breeze.
SPEAKER_01: Wake him up now.
SPEAKER_01: She pulls back the cover.
SPEAKER_01: This is insane.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: She pulls back the cover.
SPEAKER_01: And she gets down there and she lays at his feet.
SPEAKER_01: Now, hear me, Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: From everything we see, Ruth and Boaz.
SPEAKER_01: Not provocative, not immoral people.
SPEAKER_01: But Ruth is there and she's in.
SPEAKER_01: That's what scripture says.
SPEAKER_01: She's in.
SPEAKER_01: Picture it.
SPEAKER_01: She's in.
SPEAKER_01: She's at his feet.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 8 and 9.
SPEAKER_01: What happens?
SPEAKER_01: Are you on the edge of your seat?
SPEAKER_01: Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled.
SPEAKER_01: And turned himself, and there a woman was lying at his feet.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: She answered, I'm Ruth, your maidservant.
SPEAKER_01: Take your maidservant under your wing, for you're a close relative.
SPEAKER_01: So you can imagine.
SPEAKER_01: I love this.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Boaz is startled.
SPEAKER_01: Like, you better believe he's startled.
SPEAKER_01: He turns over, he's asleep, he's been working, and there is a woman lying there.
SPEAKER_01: And I wish we knew more about the tone.
SPEAKER_01: You know, like I don't know if he said it angrily, if he said it with surprise.
SPEAKER_01: Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: Because other people are around, did he whisper it?
SPEAKER_01: Well, you can imagine.
SPEAKER_01: Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: But in this moment of courage, Ruth veers from Naomi's plan.
SPEAKER_01: She said, Lay down at his feet and wait for the man to do whatever it is he's gonna do and say what he's gonna say.
SPEAKER_01: But Ruth, in a courageous moment, she said, get in and wait for him to instruct.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth just belts out.
SPEAKER_01: She said, Take me under your wing.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: She said, I'm Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever woken up and somebody's eyes was looking at you?
SPEAKER_01: You had a kid just staring at you.
SPEAKER_01: She said, What are you doing?
SPEAKER_01: Lucky you don't get hit with a pillow.
SPEAKER_01: What are you doing?
SPEAKER_01: Why are you staring at me?
SPEAKER_01: So Ruth is there and she says, Take me under your wing.
SPEAKER_01: Now that's important.
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss these words.
SPEAKER_01: Take me under your wing.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, she says to Boaz in this moment, if you want to propose to me, it's okay with me.
SPEAKER_01: Now I don't know if that's how y'all women went about it.
SPEAKER_01: That ain't how it happened with me in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'd have propose on the spot, but that ain't how it happened.
SPEAKER_01: She comes and she says, Take me under your wing.
SPEAKER_01: Same language was used in Ruth chapter 2 when Boaz says, I've heard of all you've done and how you came here to be sheltered under God's wing.
SPEAKER_01: Same language.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And so she says, Here, this proposal is so bold.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay with me.
SPEAKER_01: A homeless gal, if a wealthy landowner, me, your worker in your field, if you, the owner of the field, would propose to me, a Moabite woman, no less.
SPEAKER_01: And a Jewish man.
SPEAKER_01: She said, Spread your wing, not knowing how he may respond.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever had your heart racing in that moment?
SPEAKER_01: Anybody here?
SPEAKER_01: You were ready to go ask for the date?
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, you put everything out there, right?
SPEAKER_01: And no, could have been right on the cusp of her tongue.
SPEAKER_01: And so she goes, all cards on the table.
SPEAKER_01: She, in effect, proposes to Boaz.
SPEAKER_01: You are a close relative.
SPEAKER_01: It was risky, but hear me, it was not inappropriate.
SPEAKER_01: Because of Leviite law, the deceased Elimelech had the right to have his family name carried on by a Goel.
SPEAKER_01: I mentioned that earlier.
SPEAKER_01: A kinsman redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: He had the right.
SPEAKER_01: And because he was a kinsman, this could happen by Boaz agreeing to marry Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: So Ruth boldly, humbly comes and sells her rights.
SPEAKER_01: What would Boaz reply?
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's just pray and find out next week.
SPEAKER_01: I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_01: Point three.
SPEAKER_01: A suspenseful assurance.
SPEAKER_01: Look down there at verse 10 through 12.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if there was a pause.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if there was a wait.
SPEAKER_01: I like Boaz, so I feel like he was a man of action.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Blessed are you of the Lord my daughter, for you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.
SPEAKER_01: And now, my daughter, do not fear.
SPEAKER_01: I will do for you all that you request for all the people of my town.
SPEAKER_01: Know that you are a virtuous woman.
SPEAKER_01: Now it is true that I am a close relative.
SPEAKER_01: However, there is a relative closer than I.
SPEAKER_01: The first part of that, verse 10, letter A, we see a desirable woman.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth is a desirable woman.
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss this and look at it like Boaz was over here, a wealthy landowner, and that Ruth was just nothing.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth was just someone who was in desperation, but Ruth is a desirable woman.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz says, I'm honored.
SPEAKER_01: He's honored that Ruth is interested in him, an older man, not a younger man, when she could have gone any direction.
SPEAKER_01: And as far as we can tell, Boaz at this point has been single for a good while.
SPEAKER_01: And he points out her virtue.
SPEAKER_01: That's interesting because Proverbs 31 talks all about the virtuous woman.
SPEAKER_01: And in the Hebrew Bible, they had sections ordered differently than we have today.
SPEAKER_01: And many scholars believe that the group order of the Hebrew Bible finds Ruth right after Proverbs.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that's concretely true or not, but it would make a lot of sense that right after chapter 31, who mentions all about the virtuous woman, we dive right into Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: The picture of a virtuous woman.
SPEAKER_01: This hardworking woman providing, providing for her mother-in-law, could be the perfect lead-in.
SPEAKER_01: But Boaz in chapter 2, remember Boaz's state?
SPEAKER_01: A man a wherewithal.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to put this all on Ruth here because if you remember Boaz, he was asking about Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: He watched her.
SPEAKER_01: He invited her to eat.
SPEAKER_01: He sent her home with gifts.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't think Boaz is aware of the circumstances, I don't think you know the Boaz that I'm reading of.
SPEAKER_01: I think he's had his eye on Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: And then verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: I'm all good with that till verse 12, right?
SPEAKER_01: The regular, the fleshly side of me.
SPEAKER_01: We get to verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: And the story takes a twist that I don't want.
SPEAKER_01: When I'm reading and watching and listening to this, verse 12 says, now it is true that I am a close relative.
SPEAKER_01: I am a kinsman.
SPEAKER_01: I am a Goel.
SPEAKER_01: However, there is a relative closer than I.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine Ruth's feelings at this moment.
SPEAKER_01: There is another.
SPEAKER_01: Well, let her be.
SPEAKER_01: We see a time for discretion and decision.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know if you feel like I feel in this moment, but I want Ruth and Boaz to run.
SPEAKER_01: I want them to go in a loop.
SPEAKER_01: I want them to make a family, have five kids, a dog, a cat, and a goat, and live happily ever after.
SPEAKER_01: But Boaz is too godly.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: There's not a too god, but Boaz is godly.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, I am verse 12, a close relative.
SPEAKER_01: But there is one closer.
SPEAKER_01: So look at verse 13 through.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he, the other relative, will perform the duty of a close relative for you, good.
SPEAKER_01: Let him do it.
SPEAKER_01: But if he does not want to perform the duty, then I will perform the duty for you.
SPEAKER_01: As the Lord lives, lie down until morning.
SPEAKER_01: So she laid his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another.
SPEAKER_01: Then he said, Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_01: Also he said, Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it.
SPEAKER_01: And when she held it, he measured six effes of barley and laid it on her.
SPEAKER_01: Then she went into the city.
SPEAKER_01: When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Is that you, my daughter?
SPEAKER_01: Then she told her all that the man had done for her, and she said, These six effes of barley he gave me, for he said to me, Do not go empty.
SPEAKER_01: I like that word, handed to your mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_01: Then she said, Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out.
SPEAKER_01: For the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.
SPEAKER_01: And so, again, back to Ruth laying there, hearing what Boaz has to say.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz, in the moment, it seems as excited.
SPEAKER_01: It seems he's honored by the idea that Ruth proposes this, but both of them laying through the night.
SPEAKER_01: Heart racing, head spinning.
SPEAKER_01: Will I be married?
SPEAKER_01: Will the other kinsman take this bride from me?
SPEAKER_01: Ruth, in the same way, will I be married to Boaz?
SPEAKER_01: And Boaz, because of discretion, protects Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Stay here through the night.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want you all going through the fields.
SPEAKER_01: You see, a godly man, church, does what's right.
SPEAKER_01: When God presents you with a time of decision, do you vet your decision through God's books?
SPEAKER_01: When God presents you with a decision, do you take your decision through God's law because Boaz did?
SPEAKER_01: He could have taken her, he could have taken advantage of her.
SPEAKER_01: He could have done a number of things, but what he does do is he says, you know, the law says there's a closer kinsman.
SPEAKER_01: So we need to look at that.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth, you talk about people who, in their time of decision, Ruth obeys God's law.
SPEAKER_01: She went down to God's food bank for her and her mother-in-law when they were hungry.
SPEAKER_01: Then she listened to her elder.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz now has a decision.
SPEAKER_01: What is his first consideration?
SPEAKER_01: What does God's law say?
SPEAKER_01: What does God's book say?
SPEAKER_01: In Joshua 24, 15, church, the Bible says, choose and act fast.
SPEAKER_01: And act fast.
SPEAKER_01: Do you have some decisions to make, Church?
SPEAKER_01: Do you have some steps?
SPEAKER_01: Any other those that are before you?
SPEAKER_01: The Wycliffe translators, this was practical, about making a decision, gave five things.
SPEAKER_01: And this is just if you want to write something down in decision making.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, they said, pause.
SPEAKER_01: When you got a big life decision, take a pause.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, I like this.
SPEAKER_01: They said, ask God audibly for wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: James says, if you lack wisdom, cry out for it.
SPEAKER_01: So ask God audibly for wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Number three, it said, make two lists.
SPEAKER_01: Heather and I have done this throughout our life.
SPEAKER_01: The pros and cons list of things.
SPEAKER_01: Make two lists.
SPEAKER_01: Number four, seek godly counsel.
SPEAKER_01: And then number five, in risky decisions.
SPEAKER_01: Consider the lasting impact.
SPEAKER_01: Church, I'm so glad we have this church body, and I'm looking at vision for 2030, but then God's been at my heart of how do we become a multi-generational church that lasts past me and my family?
SPEAKER_01: How do we consider the lasting impact and the value of the things that we do that will go on?
SPEAKER_01: This was a big decision.
SPEAKER_01: And the right thing to do is what Boaz says.
SPEAKER_01: Look back at verse 16.
SPEAKER_01: When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Is that you, my daughter?
SPEAKER_01: Naomi, in a time where there's no cell phone, right?
SPEAKER_01: Can't text Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: How's it going?
SPEAKER_01: How's the winnowing?
SPEAKER_01: Update me, please.
SPEAKER_01: Naomi, just back waiting.
SPEAKER_01: I assume praying.
SPEAKER_01: No Facebook.
SPEAKER_01: Can't look for a status update.
SPEAKER_01: She says, Who art thou as Ruth is walking?
SPEAKER_01: Is that you?
SPEAKER_01: I imagine she's got this question.
SPEAKER_01: Did he take you?
SPEAKER_01: What happened?
SPEAKER_01: And verse 17, Ruth shares something that was said earlier.
SPEAKER_01: That's interesting.
SPEAKER_01: She said, These effas of barley he gave me, he said to me, Do not go empty.
SPEAKER_01: Empty.
SPEAKER_01: Again, Naomi faced with this idea.
SPEAKER_01: Everything's been taken.
SPEAKER_01: My life's been taken.
SPEAKER_01: My sons have been taken.
SPEAKER_01: My dreams have been taken.
SPEAKER_01: And what I've been left here with is this roof.
SPEAKER_01: Empty.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't want you to be empty.
SPEAKER_01: There's more, Naomi.
SPEAKER_01: Naomi said, I got nothing.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just Mara.
SPEAKER_01: Little did she know Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth was just a reminder of her affliction.
SPEAKER_01: When she looked at Ruth, I can't help but think she thought, my son is the one that brought this girl into my life.
SPEAKER_01: My son has passed.
SPEAKER_01: My husband has passed.
SPEAKER_01: My other son is passed.
SPEAKER_01: And the picture of her affliction kept coming back in this new chapter.
SPEAKER_01: Fool.
SPEAKER_01: She kept coming back full, full of grain, full.
SPEAKER_01: And church, when I think about that, what you think is a setback, God can turn into the seed of your new supply.
SPEAKER_01: What you think is a setback, God can turn into the seed of your new supply.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, God.
SPEAKER_01: God will take Ruth, what reminded you of affliction, and turn it into an abundance.
SPEAKER_01: God can take anything in your life.
SPEAKER_01: That is what grace is.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to tell you, you're all over the place.
SPEAKER_01: And we sang this, that song was beautiful.
SPEAKER_01: When I look back over my life, I called according to his purposes.
SPEAKER_01: That's grace.
SPEAKER_01: So stay faithful because today might be famine.
SPEAKER_01: But tomorrow, God might be preparing a harvest.
SPEAKER_01: You just keep faithful.
SPEAKER_01: He can turn it around.
SPEAKER_01: And in the picture of Ruth and Naomi, He's doing that.
SPEAKER_01: So maybe you've had a problem and you're just reminded of that affliction.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe today you're here and you've had an addiction problem.
SPEAKER_01: I want to tell you candidly, God can take a person that's been through a problem, and that reminder of affliction, and He can take you and help somebody else out of that same problem.
SPEAKER_01: He can take your reminder of affliction and break chains of somebody else's addiction.
SPEAKER_01: He can take a person who has listened to the lies of the enemy in the mirror and for years looked at themselves and had low self-esteem.
SPEAKER_01: And he can take that person, he can take one Psalms 139, and he can reshape you into the person he created you to be.
SPEAKER_01: And he can take you in that picture of affliction and take you to some girl who's been self-harming.
SPEAKER_01: He can take you to some person who's been bulimic and anorexic and been looking and listening to the lies in the mirror.
SPEAKER_01: And he can take what was a picture of your affliction and help break chains from somebody else.
SPEAKER_01: And give them a new life and a new story through you.
SPEAKER_01: You say, why did God put me through all of this, Pastor?
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know who can help somebody like somebody who's been through divorce?
SPEAKER_01: Somebody who's been through divorce.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody can help somebody walk through cancer like somebody who's been through all those appointments and felt the highs and lows.
SPEAKER_01: And so what was a picture of affliction, God can use it.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody died.
SPEAKER_01: Naomi was barren, a mess.
SPEAKER_01: She must have thought, I'm just going back to my home to die and my story be done.
SPEAKER_01: At least I'll be buried at home.
SPEAKER_01: That I know that God's hand and God's help, that I know that God's hand and God's help has to be in and God.
SPEAKER_01: Could you raise your hand?
SPEAKER_01: There's something going on.
SPEAKER_01: Look around, church.
SPEAKER_01: God's hand is needed.
SPEAKER_01: Look, there's no reason to be shy.
SPEAKER_01: We're in church family.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone else?
SPEAKER_01: Many hands.
SPEAKER_01: Momentarily, we're gonna have an altar call.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to consider your decision.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't end though at verse 17.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 18 again.
SPEAKER_01: She said, Naomi, sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out.
SPEAKER_01: For the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.
SPEAKER_01: The man will not rest.
SPEAKER_01: He will resolve the matter.
SPEAKER_01: The man, the language, the kinsman, the goel.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one who has the right.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to take you to a couple of passages to show you understand this.
SPEAKER_01: If you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 25, verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: Who is Boaz as the Goel?
SPEAKER_01: Deuteronomy 25, 5.
SPEAKER_01: If brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family.
SPEAKER_01: Her husband's brothers shall go into her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to look back at Leviticus chapter 25.
SPEAKER_01: Remember what Boaz is doing.
SPEAKER_01: He's looking into the law, ready to do his part.
SPEAKER_01: Leviticus 25, verse 48.
SPEAKER_01: After he is sold, he may be redeemed again.
SPEAKER_01: One of his brothers may redeem him.
SPEAKER_01: So there's laws, Leverite law, and there's laws of redemption.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz qualifies.
SPEAKER_01: That's why Naomi was so excited.
SPEAKER_01: She remembered he is one of Elimelech's clan.
SPEAKER_01: He actually is someone who can redeem.
SPEAKER_01: He will see it through.
SPEAKER_01: He is someone who can protect you, who can put out children through you.
SPEAKER_01: So you, Ruth, me, our family can continue.
SPEAKER_01: He is able to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Church.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean, Pastor?
SPEAKER_01: Well, in December, we're all gonna come in here and we're gathering and the decorations and lights, everything are going to change.
SPEAKER_01: But the reason is we're gonna be celebrating the birth of this baby that was born in Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_01: And because that baby was born, John 1.14 says, and the word became what?
SPEAKER_01: Flesh and dwelt among us.
SPEAKER_01: And because he became flesh, he became a blood relative.
SPEAKER_01: He was able then to do the act of a kinsman.
SPEAKER_01: And there was a price that was to be paid for our redemption.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz could pay the price for Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna find out next week just what happens.
SPEAKER_01: But he was able, and he was by law a relative.
SPEAKER_01: He was able.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ had a price to pay, and he was able.
SPEAKER_01: But there's one more question.
SPEAKER_01: Were they willing?
SPEAKER_01: By law, they were able.
SPEAKER_01: But were they willing?
SPEAKER_01: And we sung about it today.
SPEAKER_01: Not only was my Jesus able, church, but oh the precious blood, was he willing?
SPEAKER_01: His blood was the price that had to be paid.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you today what Naomi said.
SPEAKER_01: Sit still, he'll resolve the matter.
SPEAKER_01: Church, sit still, your Redeemer will resolve the matter.
SPEAKER_01: He can and he will, but I want to tell you today if God is calling you, He'll resolve it, but you got to take a step.
SPEAKER_01: You got a decision to be made?
SPEAKER_01: Will you take a faith step?
SPEAKER_01: Boaz did not resolve Ruth's matter without Ruth taking a risky faith step.
SPEAKER_01: Take the step.
SPEAKER_01: It's midnight, church.
SPEAKER_01: How much time do we have left to take the step that needs taken?
SPEAKER_01: If you don't step now, when will you step?
SPEAKER_01: If you don't leap now, when will you leap?
SPEAKER_01: If you're not motivated now, when is it coming?
SPEAKER_01: Bible says now is the acceptable time.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if not now, then when?
SPEAKER_01: Would you bow your heads and close your eyes this morning?
SPEAKER_00: We're excited you joined us for today's message.
SPEAKER_00: Our heart is to connect with others in our community, to grow with one another, and build a bigger kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: If you accepted Jesus today, we want to hear about it.
SPEAKER_00: Take a moment and text CCW Connect to 94,000.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you again for joining us on the CCW podcast.
SPEAKER_00: We hope you'll make plans to join us in person on Sundays.