WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.000 We serve a great God. 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:09.759 You know, singing that song, I was just standing there thinking, it takes me back to when I was growing up. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:13.679 And my pastor growing up, that was his favorite song. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:24.079 And we could he could be in the middle of a sermon, and uh he he could sing, and he would break in the middle of a sermon and just sing how great thou art. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:33.359 And I was hearing his voice, and man, it just takes me back to the foundations of my faith and to think about how great our God is. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.439 Now you don't have to worry today about me breaking out and singing in the middle of preaching. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:43.039 But uh we we would really have an altar call then. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.039 Be praying for me. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:53.840 But praise the Lord, we have a great God, we have an awesome God, and a God whose greatness does not depend on my works. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:55.759 Aren't you glad about that? 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.000 And so let's pray together this morning as we open up God's word. 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:02.799 Father, we are so thankful. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:10.640 Lord, we don't have enough words, we don't have enough language to get to the depths of your greatness. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:18.799 You are a great God, and God, we can't heap up enough good works to match an ounce of your greatness. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:20.319 Thank you, God. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:29.200 We thank you for your love, we thank you for your mercy and the depths of it, Lord, that your word says that it fails not, that it's new every morning. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:31.760 And Lord, great is your faithfulness. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:47.920 Lord, we're thankful for the God that you are, and the God, Lord, that we can call Abba, that we can call our Father, Lord, that we can cling to in hardship, that we can walk through a struggle with, Lord, that we can depend on your strength when we're weak. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.799 So, God, thank you for being that great God. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.599 Now, this morning I pray, Lord, that you would move in our hearts. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:57.280 Make us sensitive to your word. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:01.599 Lord, I pray now that you would rebuke any work of Satan in this place. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:03.840 Lord, distraction, activity. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:11.680 Lord, we pray that this just be your time, that your Holy Spirit would move, and Lord, that our hearts would be ready and prepared. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.719 Lord, every person in here be ready for your word. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:19.199 Lord, I pray that you would just make me a speaker and get me out of the way. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.639 Lord, let your agenda be the agenda this morning. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:26.639 And God, I pray that as we leave here, we will have met with you. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:29.039 We ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:30.000 Amen. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:31.599 You may be seated. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:35.439 If you got a Bible this morning, turn it to Ruth chapter 3. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:43.199 Thank you, uh, Steve and Niva and Ace and Ben and worship team. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.599 It's awesome at our church that we have people that will just fill in the gaps when needed. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:51.520 And so appreciate you guys leading the worship today. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:53.520 Ruth chapter 3. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:01.360 As you're turning there, by way of introduction, I just want to ask you a question to think on. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:07.840 Have you ever gotten to a place where you just wish in life that you could hit a reset button? 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:13.840 That there was a button that you could just press to change the trajectory of where things had gotten. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:26.400 You gotten into a stretch where there had been bad news and struggle, and it seemed like at every turn another obstacle, and you just thought to yourself, God, can I just have a restart? 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:28.719 Can I just have a reset? 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:35.039 Well, as we look at the story of Ruth where we've gotten to, in chapter one, it was devastation. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:48.560 And we saw that that devastation took Ruth and Naomi back to Naomi's homeland of Bethlehem, and they came back, and Naomi said, I left here and I was full, and I'm coming back, and I'm empty, I'm bitter. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:58.879 And so she comes back to Bethlehem that way, and she has Ruth with her, a picture of her affliction because she was a Moabite woman whom her son had married. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.159 She came back with her. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:04.159 And at the end of chapter 2, we saw that Ruth went out to glean some food. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:05.840 They were hungry, they were destitute. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.000 And so she went out into a field. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:09.759 She did it God's biblical way. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.159 She went out to glean from a field. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:17.360 And we remember, as we looked at last week, he said the steps of a good man are ordered by a Lord. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:24.959 So she went out biblically, she went to a field, and as chance would have it, she went out to that place, and it was Boaz's field. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:32.959 And we get to the end of chapter 2, and it hits Naomi like a light bulb, and she said, Boaz, did you say Boaz's field? 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:37.040 This is a good thing that you've bumped into this. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:42.720 As it should happen, this field, Boaz, as it should happen, he is our kinsman. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:48.319 And I don't know why before in Scripture it doesn't show that Naomi knew this or thought of this. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.000 I don't know if she had just forgotten. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:58.480 But that's where we pick up in chapter 3, and we see an alignment that has come from God, it seems. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:06.240 When God aligns a window, you've gotten to that point where you just wish you could reset, and it appears that God's aligning a window of new opportunities. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:11.680 So I want to share from you, to you, from Ruth, chapter 3, today, three ways how to reset. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:18.959 And those three ways that we see in this passage are there's a strategic arrangement for the OCD people. 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:20.399 You can fill in your blanks early. 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:21.120 Here you go. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:30.399 A strategic arrangement, a serious and sensitive approach, and the third point will be a suspenseful accommodation. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:36.160 So I want to take you almost cinematically to the climax of the chapter for a moment. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:41.680 To start this out, I want to take you, and then we'll just like a movie, we'll go in reverse. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:46.639 Sometimes you get to a climactic point at the beginning of a movie, and then it says, six months before. 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:46.959 Okay? 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:54.319 So I want to take you to the climactic point of the chapter so we can introduce the title. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:06:00.240 To do that, I want to show you what I think will be a familiar clip to many of you. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:03.120 If it's not familiar, you're probably very young. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:04.959 So watch this clip. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:36.560 As you fast forward to chapter three in the climax of the chapter, we see Ruth and Boaz lying together, looking into the stars in a romantic, if nothing but suspenseful moment where nothing short of cinematic here, where there's one decision, and that one decision will be the hinge of their future. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:41.920 So as they're laying there in the still of the night, we're going to talk about how that unfolds. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:43.920 So, Ruth chapter 3. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:46.800 I want you to see the first point this morning. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:49.920 A strategic arrangement is made. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:56.079 And I want to cross-reference, if you'll turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, hold your place in Ruth. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:56.639 Okay? 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:58.319 A strategic arrangement. 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:00.879 I want you to know that God is a God of order. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:04.879 God is a God with plans and strategies, and he never takes off. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:06.160 He's always at work. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:18.319 And it says this, for God, 1 Corinthians 14, 33, and we're going to read verse 40, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:24.160 And then verse 14, it says, Let all things be done decently and in order. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:27.040 And all my type A people just got excited. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:30.319 God has a strategic arrangement. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:32.000 God is into planning. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:36.639 Even in Scripture, when God says to be still, it's a part of a plan. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:42.320 Benjamin Franklin said this: to fail to plan is a plan to fail. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:47.919 Ziegler says, if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:53.360 So if God is calling us to something, let me give you some theology this morning. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:09:04.159 If he is calling in your life, if he's arranging some things in your life, and you suppress what he is calling you to, that's called quenching the Holy Spirit. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:04.559 Okay? 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:11.679 Quenching the Holy Spirit is when God is calling, okay, we'll have an altar call later, and maybe God will be working on your heart. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:19.279 Maybe God, through some people in your life, will be calling you towards a direction, a job, a change, a new reset. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:26.159 And if we quench the work of God, if we suppress what he's doing, it's called quenching the Holy Spirit. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.080 And that causes some things in your life. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:38.559 If you're here this morning and you felt spiritually indifferent, just cold, apathetic, and you don't know how to get out of it, okay, that could be quenching of the Holy Spirit. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:42.960 It causes indifference, it awakens worldly appetites. 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:50.080 If you say, man, I didn't used to feel like this about sin in my life, but it's tempting me more and more. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:51.919 Quenching the Holy Spirit does that. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.840 It causes infidelity in marriages, it causes unknown stress. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:04.159 It's a strategic arrangement that God has planned in your life, but if you quench what he plans, you can expect some issues in your life. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:09.039 But Hebrews says this, okay, for those, okay, it's not easy. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:20.320 Hebrews 5 14 says that solid food belongs to those who are of full age, and that is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:23.759 It takes discernment to follow God's plan. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:26.159 It takes wisdom to follow his plan. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:31.279 But we see here in Scripture as we start off, there is a strategic arrangement. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:37.600 And I want to read verses 1 and 2 of Ruth chapter 3 for you so we can see what's happening here. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:39.200 Look there in chapter 3. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:46.960 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? 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:53.360 Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:57.200 In fact, he's winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:01.519 So what we see here, letter A, is a matchmaking at midnight. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:02.000 Okay? 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:11.120 We see some matchmaking, and we pick up with Naomi giving a gentle nudging, if you will, to Ruth. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:17.360 She says, in other words, you read it there in verse 1, but in other words, today's terminology, she said, Ruth, you need a man. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:22.320 And as it should happen, you've been working in this field. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:24.799 Now there's some time from chapter 2 to chapter 3. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.879 Some people try to link it like it just happened right after she said this is a good thing. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:30.559 They had gone through harvest season. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:33.759 Naomi had given Ruth ample time to figure it out for herself. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:38.480 And so finally she says, Ruth, you need a man. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:43.200 Boaz, he's a man by all counts, and he's single. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:46.080 And so we see this nudging. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:54.720 You remember, he's a strong man, he's a wealthy man, he's a dependable man, he's a loving man, and that would make a good husband. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:12:00.639 And so she says, Um, Ruth, have you thought about Boaz? 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:06.720 And not only that, but but verse number two, she says, but there's a window tonight. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:07.679 There's a window. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:09.440 He will be widowing tonight. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:17.360 If you can picture Naomi's eyes, fingers, okay, and she is just saying, Ruth, tonight is an opportunity. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:22.399 Now she didn't stop to say, Ruth, um, do you find Boaz attractive? 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.080 Is uh do you does Boaz treat you kind? 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:29.519 Um does he uh have all of his teeth? 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.320 Does Boaz wear white after Labor Day? 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.720 She didn't ask him all the important things, okay? 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:39.200 She just said, he is available and tonight he is winnowing. 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:41.120 Tonight he'll be can you believe it? 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:42.639 He'll be winnowing tonight. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:44.320 Go while he is winnowing. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:46.480 What luck he'll be winnowing tonight? 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.080 What is winnowing, you ask? 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:49.120 I'm glad you asked. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:49.519 Okay. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:13:09.919 So winnowing was a process during the harvest where they would take grain, and there were small chaffs of the grain that they wanted to get out of it, and so they would go to a secluded part of the field or an empty space and throw grain in the air so the wind would catch it and separate the chaff. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.279 So he would be out there winnowing the grain. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:17.840 And if I may, I think there's some times where God aligns something. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:25.360 There's a moment, he'll place something on your heart, and we start to try to consult with logic. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:31.440 And I think we have a window here, and we start to try to figure out, well, does this make sense? 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.080 I don't know if this plan is good enough. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:43.200 And God tells us, put something on your heart, and he says, pass an offering, and you say, Okay, God, you said 100, and you pull out your wallet and you say, Oh, 50 looks good. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:45.919 And we start to consult with logic. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:52.000 And God tells you, well, maybe you should go on that missions trip, and you say, Um, God, I've got mission right here. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.399 God, I don't think you've got the right person. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:56.320 Let me give you another address. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:08.080 And we start trying to consult with logic, and I don't know if the plan that follows, okay, I'm gonna read it for you, and then I'll go on, is shady or smart, okay? 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:10.240 As I read it, I really don't know. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:15.360 It ends up in a good way, but when I read it, okay, listen to what it says, verse 3 and 4. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:20.799 Therefore, wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment, and go down to the threshing floor. 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:27.440 But do not make yourself known, so hide, until the man has finished eating and drinking. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:39.600 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, lie down, and then he will tell you what you should do. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:40.080 Okay. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:45.039 So at midnight, when the clock strikes, he'll be winnowing. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:48.639 He's gonna go fall down to sleep, and then you go in. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:54.159 Listen, if you got a single daughter here and she's looking for a man, I'm not saying this is the best advice. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:54.480 Okay? 00:14:54.799 --> 00:15:01.600 I'm not saying tell your daughter when a man goes camping, climb in the tent at midnight, and then wait for him to tell you what to do. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:02.000 Okay? 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.639 I'm not saying, okay. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:10.080 And when the clock strikes midnight, in today's society, people say, what? 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:13.519 Nothing good happens at after midnight, right? 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:13.919 Okay. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:18.399 Um I know from a particular instance that's funny as I was studying this. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:22.879 I have shared this uh probably with hundreds of teenagers. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:28.320 Never once had an opportunity with adults, so I hope it's okay if I get a little undignified. 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:41.279 But I, when I was about 15, me and my friend uh were playing video games, and at midnight we we stopped, we looked at each other, I look at my friend and I go, donuts. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.480 And he goes, I was thinking the same thing. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:48.799 And so my parents are asleep, and I'm like, How are we gonna get to this? 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:51.200 So we climb out my window. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.360 My friend had his car, a 1988 Buett Cutlass boat. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.960 We even made fun of it for being a boat. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:58.639 Someone would get in, we say, pull anchored. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:08.639 And so we got in the boat and we put it in neutral and pushed it out of my driveway so as not to awake my parents or my six beagles. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:13.679 Okay, I had six beagles growing up all the time, and they would, that's when they woke up at midnight. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:18.559 And so we get on down the road, we go to what's called Wa Wa, which is a convenience store. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:28.000 We get in there, we get our donuts, everything's great, we're excited, we're gonna go back and eat them all, and then continue playing video games like any 15-year-old's world should be. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:37.840 And so we get our donuts and we're coming back, and as we pull down the drive, my friend turns off his lights because we don't want to wake up my parents. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.440 And as we're going down the drive, he tries to do a burnout. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:41.840 Okay. 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:48.080 In this car, if you can imagine, you know, like after the fact, I'm like, what is wrong with you? 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:50.639 That car cannot produce a burnout. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:55.120 Like, we're lucky to have made it there in 15 minutes when you can walk in 10. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:57.360 Like, it's just an old messed-up car. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:05.119 And so he tries to do this thing, and the next thing that happens, we see red and blue going off behind us, and I'm like, oh my. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.000 And I get like freaked out. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:09.680 Like, this is going off. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:16.079 And so he hits his brakes, and he the the cop is instructing us through some kind of megaphone. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:21.200 And so he's yelling something, and the car moves forward. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:27.519 He put he goes to put in park, but it moved forward, it rolled, and he said, I said, put your hands where I can see them. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:28.799 I've got canines. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:30.720 And I look over in front of, I'm like, canines? 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:32.000 What does he need dogs for? 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:32.960 What are they gonna do? 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.119 What does he think we have done? 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:41.519 And the guy comes over, he rips me out of the car, throws me against the door, and he's doing the frisk thing. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:49.440 He's up, down, everywhere, and I'm like, Whoa, okay, he's done this thing, had a hat on, he puts it back on and it's sideways. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:55.119 He goes over to my friend and he pulls him, I mean, throws him hard against the car, and he starts going off on him. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:01.119 And he looks over at me for a second, and I start to adjust my hat and he says, Put your hands where I can see. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:02.480 I'm like, oh my god. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:05.839 Oh my god, I'm going to jail tonight. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:10.240 And so he's doing that, and another cop pulls up. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:13.440 Another cop, I'm like, who do they think we are? 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:18.240 Like, another cop car pulls up, and the first thing he said, Have you frisked them yet? 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:19.839 I'm like, I have been frizzed. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.319 I don't need it anymore. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:22.880 Okay. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:25.680 So he comes, they get talking to us. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:27.680 All this time, lights are going. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.920 My dogs have gone off. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:33.440 These beagles, off, going off. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:41.279 And he's checking the car, checking the trunk, and he looks down and he says, I promise you, couldn't have set this up. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.279 He says, What's in the bag? 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:48.960 And I'm like, There's doughnuts. 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:52.160 And he said, Is that some kind of joke? 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:55.599 I'm like, no, you can have one. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.319 He he the his explanation, we were all done. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:04.240 There was nothing, no charge, nothing. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:10.400 He says, when people turn off their lights and go down a lane and drive like that, that's what bad people do. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:11.359 That's a sign for us. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:15.200 I'm looking at our phone, yeah, that's what bad people do, dummy. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:19.680 You know, like the whole time my parents never woke up. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:26.640 After midnight, I understand the saying, okay? 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.680 When it says nothing good happens after midnight. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:32.000 Look, I was so scared that night. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:38.240 But if you go to some places in Scripture, some really neat things happen at midnight. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:38.559 Okay? 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:47.200 At midnight, we see that Gideon took an army with very little equipment and have what I like to call the midnight musicals. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:48.559 He lets go of a trumpet. 00:19:48.640 --> 00:20:00.000 He says, In the name of the sword of the Lord in Gideon, and a whole army awakes in disarray and starts attacking one another and flees and runs, okay, with God's power and his instruction. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:05.920 In Psalms 119, we see that David awoke often and gave praise at midnight. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:13.279 Paul and Silas had a prayer meeting and a hymn sing at midnight, and God sent an earthquake that shook open the jail. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:15.920 They got free, and a jailer got saved. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:17.599 That happened at midnight. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:27.359 In the middle of the night, Scripture says, as when Jesus walked on water, and he bid Peter to see a place where his faith had never taken him before, at midnight. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:33.599 And in Matthew 25, verse 6, it says that the bridegroom will return at the midnight cry. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:38.559 So Naomi says, Ruth, there is a window. 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:40.480 But first she says, Let her be. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:41.759 Remember, we read it. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:43.440 She gives her some instruction. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:45.839 And at first it just looks very practical. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:47.039 She says, spruce up. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:49.119 Let her be as spruced up and scheming. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:50.160 She says, spruce up. 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:51.279 She says, take a bath. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:55.440 She says, take a bath, go get anointed with oil, put on your best. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.960 And if there's some singles out here today, can I give you some practical advice? 00:20:59.119 --> 00:20:59.359 Okay. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:03.119 This is good advice if you're going to go on a date. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:03.599 Okay? 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:05.200 Smell good. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:06.640 Get a good deodorant. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:07.680 Brush your teeth. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:12.559 And if you got a job and you put on a nice shirt, you're ahead of the game. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:13.119 Okay? 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:14.240 Nothing wrong. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:16.720 Listen, there's nothing wrong with being the best Jew. 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:21.039 But there is a principle here that we could miss if we just read over that. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:21.440 Okay? 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:23.200 And I don't want you to miss this. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:27.440 She tells her to go clean, go exchange her garment, go anoint. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:30.880 And I want you to see Isaiah 61, verse 3. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:33.359 Okay, we could totally miss this. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:42.160 And it's a tender moment, and we've talked throughout the story of Ruth and Naomi, there's all these tender moments between their relationship. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:43.599 We'll see it with Boaz. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:46.799 But this is a very tender moment. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:59.759 Isaiah 61 3 says this console those who mourn in Zion to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and exchange the garment of prayer. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.200 Praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called righteousness. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:12.720 I want to show you one more verse if you'll flip over to 2 Samuel, chapter 12, verse 20. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:17.039 David's little boy just died. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:18.960 Verse 19. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:25.680 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that his child was dead. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:30.400 Remember, David had put on sackcloth and ashes. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:31.759 He was fasting. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:33.920 Now he's found out his child was dead. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:36.880 Therefore David said to his servant, Is the child dead? 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:38.400 And they said, Yes, he is dead. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:46.160 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:48.079 Don't miss this, listen. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:55.359 She says, without saying a whole lot, Ruth is telling her to go clean up. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:57.680 But this is what I'm picking up. 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:01.039 There's a movement from mourning to moving on. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:04.880 There's a movement from exchanging the garments I've had on. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.720 She says, Ruth, honey, listen. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:08.559 It's time. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:14.960 She says, Ruth, you were good to my son, Malin. 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:17.119 You're a good wife. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:24.160 And I know, like you know, the last ten years have been horrific and it's been hard. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:26.400 She says, but it's time. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:28.880 It's time to move on. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:31.119 It's time to exchange that. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:36.799 It's been despair, but let's wash your hands clean of this struggle. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:40.240 For some of you here, that's what you need to hear from God today. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:41.039 It's time. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.880 There's a window for a reset. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:44.319 It's time to cleanse. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:46.319 It's time to exchange that. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:48.079 Not to hold on anymore. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:52.319 Maybe that bitterness, maybe that struggle, maybe that trial has had a hold of you. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:56.319 And it's time to let go, to let go and exchange that spirit. 00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:59.440 Anoint with new oil and make a reset. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:01.039 Today is time for a reset. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:02.480 Will you say reset? 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:05.680 Look at verse number three again. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:06.240 Okay. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:08.480 Now she gives her some more instructions. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:18.960 She says, put on the garment and go down to the threshing floor and don't make yourself known unto the man until after he's finished eating and drinking. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:19.359 Okay. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:21.920 Wait until he is in a good mood. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:23.279 That's what she says. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:29.359 Now, a lot of people here would try to twist this scripture and say, wait until Boaz is good and drunk. 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:33.440 And I want you to understand from everything I've looked at, people want to debate this. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:39.279 In every area, Boaz has shown himself to be an upright man. 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:44.799 And people want to twist this and say, oh, well, God made this happen through a drunken man. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.079 I just don't believe that. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:48.000 I believe that's flat, false. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:49.279 I believe that's made up. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:49.599 Okay. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.000 And that's what we see there at the end of verse 3. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:57.680 She says, wait until he's eaten, wait until he's tired and in a good mood, and he's going to bed. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:02.640 And then verse 4 is nothing less than rated R Old Testament. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:03.039 Okay? 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:05.359 It's nothing less. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:05.839 Okay. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:09.759 The conjunction even in verse 4 raises the tension. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:11.119 Then it shall be. 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:13.359 Or and then. 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:15.759 You can see Naomi. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:21.759 And then when he is lying down and he's good and happy, he's full. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:25.839 And then, oh my goodness, uncover him. 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:31.200 Uncover his legs and then lie down. 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:39.039 Now I want you to understand the original readers that would have read this would have looked at each other and thought, this is scandalous. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:44.400 This, I've never even seen the likes of this in the bold and beautiful Bethlehem. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:47.920 Never have we seen anything like this. 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:55.680 A woman sneaks in at midnight to uncover a man and then lay with him? 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:01.759 Oh, I wish I could have been a part of that original group of readers who got this. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:06.400 But it's kind of funny what she says in verse 4 that follows. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:10.720 Then it shall be when he lies down that you shall notice the place where he lies. 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:16.160 So Naomi says, make sure that you check and it's Boaz. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:18.000 Notice the place where he lies. 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:21.519 None of this walking up, uncovering, say, oops, wrong legs. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:24.799 Make sure it's Boaz. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:31.279 And this is Naomi's steamy strategy. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:31.839 Okay? 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:35.920 And an old proverb says this, though. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.880 Remember, God has a plan. 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:43.519 An old proverb says, vision without action is a daydream. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:47.359 Action without vision is a nightmare. 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:50.720 Vision without action is a daydream. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:53.039 Action without vision is a nightmare. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:55.440 And so we see what follows. 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:59.359 The second point this morning, a serious and sensitive approach. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:00.400 There's an arrangement. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.319 We can take it or we don't have to. 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:04.079 But now how do we act? 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:06.079 A serious and sensitive approach. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.559 I want to read to you verses five through nine. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:11.839 And she said to her, All that you say to me I will do. 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:17.119 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:25.599 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, 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. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:31.519 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled and turned himself, and there a woman was lying at his feet. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:32.799 And he said, Who are you? 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:35.599 So she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:39.119 Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative. 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:41.920 So we see here Ruth's serious and sensitive approach. 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:45.759 The first thing about that that we see, Ruth stands with respect. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:49.759 She could have looked at Naomi and said, I'm not doing that. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.319 I'm not, that's that's not the right plan. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:53.440 Let's go for another plan. 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:54.880 But she has respect for her. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:01.200 And 1 Peter 5, verse 5, it talks about how that we should have respect. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:02.640 Do we have that verse? 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:04.079 I'm gonna turn there, if not. 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:05.519 1 Peter 5, 5. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:10.079 We see how Ruth had respect for Naomi. 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:12.799 And we see that in the tender moments throughout. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:24.240 This is a moment that if she follows it, she could be in trouble, she could get hurt, she could get taken away, but we see here what happens. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:31.119 The Bible says, 1 Peter 5, 5, likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:38.240 Yes, all of you, be submissive and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:49.279 We already talked about last week Ruth's humility, but she looks at Naomi and she sees this plan and she gives her the respect that she is deserved. 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:54.000 And so she looks at her loved one, and you gotta see the friendship here to understand. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:29:12.400 Now, if anyone just throws you a plan like this that you don't have a relationship with, like, I don't know, but if you've got a relationship and you trust somebody, after she gives this matchmaking plan, I think Ruth goes back and she said, I said, Naomi, wherever you go, I'll go. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:18.319 I said, Your people, they'll be my people, your God, my God, where you die, I will die. 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:22.640 I said that and I meant it, and I'm gonna go. 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:30.720 And at least if I do this with your wisdom and discernment, then I'm doing it with someone that I trust. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:36.319 And if I lose my life, I did it listening to someone that I love and trust. 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:41.839 And so Ruth stands respectfully, let her be, she walks with risk. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:50.720 As you see this plan unfolding, it is a risky plan, if at the least full of risk. 00:29:51.359 --> 00:30:01.279 Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a man of God, and his life of Christianity led him to being executed on June 9, 1945. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:09.680 Let me tell you, he was executed because he was involved in a July 20th plot to see Adolf Hitler assassinated. 00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:20.160