1 00:00:00,166 --> 00:00:01,000 All right. 2 00:00:07,099 --> 00:00:09,199 All right, well... 3 00:00:09,199 --> 00:00:12,500 Again, Philip 4 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:13,866 has preached my sermon. 5 00:00:13,866 --> 00:00:17,533 In the call to worship... 6 00:00:17,533 --> 00:00:20,600 So I'm 7 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:24,266 just going to give you a little scriptural backing behind what he said earlier. 8 00:00:24,300 --> 00:00:27,366 So, and over and over again, 9 00:00:27,366 --> 00:00:32,000 this is a truth that is found in scripture, that God is 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:33,333 sovereign over all things. 11 00:00:33,366 --> 00:00:36,533 So, if you would, open in 12 00:00:36,566 --> 00:00:39,866 your Bibles, or look at the screen, and we'll read Ruth chapter 13 00:00:39,866 --> 00:00:43,566 number four, the final chapter in the account of Ruth 14 00:00:43,566 --> 00:00:45,799 and Naomi and Boaz. 15 00:00:45,799 --> 00:00:49,100 Ruth chapter 4, we're going to read the whole chapter. 16 00:00:49,166 --> 00:00:50,233 So sit tight. 17 00:00:50,399 --> 00:00:53,399 God's voice says, now Boaz went up to the 18 00:00:53,399 --> 00:00:56,866 gate, and sat down there, and behold, the 19 00:00:56,899 --> 00:00:59,966 close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by. 20 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,866 So he said, turn aside, friend, sit down here. 21 00:01:02,966 --> 00:01:05,733 And he turned aside and sat down. 22 00:01:05,766 --> 00:01:09,900 He took 10 men of the elders of the city, and said, sit down here. 23 00:01:10,033 --> 00:01:10,766 So they sat down. 24 00:01:10,799 --> 00:01:13,966 Then he said to the closest relative, Naomi, 25 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,066 who has come back from the land of Moab, has 26 00:01:17,066 --> 00:01:20,433 to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother, Elimelech. 27 00:01:20,533 --> 00:01:23,700 So I thought to inform you, saying, Buy 28 00:01:23,700 --> 00:01:27,066 it before those who are sitting here and before the elders of my people. 29 00:01:27,133 --> 00:01:30,666 If you will redeem it, redeem it, but if not, tell 30 00:01:30,666 --> 00:01:34,700 me that I may know, for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you. 31 00:01:34,799 --> 00:01:36,966 And he said, I will redeem it. 32 00:01:37,099 --> 00:01:40,099 Then Boaz said, on the day 33 00:01:40,099 --> 00:01:43,200 you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must 34 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,200 also acquire Ruth the Moabites, the 35 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,200 widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of 36 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:50,566 the deceased on his inheritance. 37 00:01:50,599 --> 00:01:53,766 The closest relative said, I cannot redeem 38 00:01:53,766 --> 00:01:56,700 it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. 39 00:01:56,833 --> 00:01:58,266 Redeem it for yourself. 40 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,299 You may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it. 41 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,533 Now, this was the custom, in former times, in Israel 42 00:02:05,533 --> 00:02:09,366 concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter. 43 00:02:09,366 --> 00:02:12,500 A man removed his sandal, and gave 44 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:16,166 it to another, and this was the manner of attestation, in Israel. 45 00:02:16,266 --> 00:02:19,433 So, the closest relative said to Boaz, 46 00:02:19,466 --> 00:02:22,400 buy it for yourself, and he removed his sandal. 47 00:02:22,466 --> 00:02:26,133 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, 48 00:02:26,166 --> 00:02:29,333 You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi, 49 00:02:29,366 --> 00:02:32,900 all that belonged to Elimelech, and all that belonged to Kylian 50 00:02:32,900 --> 00:02:34,233 and Mahalon. 51 00:02:34,266 --> 00:02:37,866 Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitis, 52 00:02:37,866 --> 00:02:40,866 the widow of Machalon, to be my wife, in 53 00:02:40,866 --> 00:02:43,866 order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, 54 00:02:43,866 --> 00:02:46,933 so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off 55 00:02:46,933 --> 00:02:50,066 from his brothers, or from the count of his court 56 00:02:50,066 --> 00:02:53,500 of his birthplace, you are witnesses today, all 57 00:02:53,500 --> 00:02:57,433 the people who were in the court, and the elder said, We are witnesses. 58 00:02:57,500 --> 00:03:00,500 May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your 59 00:03:00,500 --> 00:03:03,599 home like Rachel and Leah, both of 60 00:03:03,599 --> 00:03:05,333 whom built the house of Israel. 61 00:03:05,466 --> 00:03:08,466 And may you achieve wealth in Afratha, and 62 00:03:08,466 --> 00:03:09,733 become famous in Bethlehem. 63 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,800 Moreover, may your house be like the house of 64 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,866 Perez, whom Tamar wore to Judah, 65 00:03:15,866 --> 00:03:18,866 through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman. 66 00:03:18,966 --> 00:03:22,433 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. 67 00:03:22,500 --> 00:03:25,500 And he went in to her, and the Lord enabled 68 00:03:25,500 --> 00:03:27,766 her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 69 00:03:27,866 --> 00:03:31,166 Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed 70 00:03:31,166 --> 00:03:34,266 is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, 71 00:03:34,266 --> 00:03:37,133 and may his name become famous in Israel. 72 00:03:37,266 --> 00:03:40,333 May he also be to you a restorer of life, 73 00:03:40,333 --> 00:03:43,466 and a sustainer of your old age, for your daughter in 74 00:03:43,466 --> 00:03:47,666 law who loves you, and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him. 75 00:03:47,699 --> 00:03:50,699 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her 76 00:03:50,699 --> 00:03:52,033 lap, and became his nurse. 77 00:03:52,099 --> 00:03:55,099 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, A son 78 00:03:55,099 --> 00:03:56,666 has been born to Naomi. 79 00:03:56,699 --> 00:03:58,633 So they named him Obed. 80 00:03:58,766 --> 00:04:01,699 He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 81 00:04:01,766 --> 00:04:04,599 Now, these are the generations of Perez. 82 00:04:04,633 --> 00:04:08,000 To Perez was born Hezron, and to Hezron 83 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,366 was born wrong, and to Ram, Aminadab, and 84 00:04:11,366 --> 00:04:15,433 to Aminadab, was born Nashan, and to Solomon, 85 00:04:15,433 --> 00:04:18,666 and to Solomon, was born Boaz, and to Boaz, 86 00:04:18,666 --> 00:04:22,433 Obed, and to Obed, was born Jesse, and to Jesse David. 87 00:04:22,566 --> 00:04:23,100 Let's pray. 88 00:04:23,166 --> 00:04:26,300 Heavenly Father, we love you, and thank you for your marvelous word 89 00:04:26,300 --> 00:04:29,366 that you've given us, that we can learn from, that we can grow, and 90 00:04:29,366 --> 00:04:32,833 that we can turn that growth and knowledge and the praise to you for how good you are. 91 00:04:32,899 --> 00:04:35,966 I pray that you bless your word, to our hearts and our minds, and bless 92 00:04:35,966 --> 00:04:38,366 your message in spite of the messenger, in Christ's name. 93 00:04:38,399 --> 00:04:39,000 Amen. 94 00:04:39,300 --> 00:04:42,766 All right, so we are going through this 95 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,933 were the last chapter of the story of Ruth 96 00:04:45,933 --> 00:04:49,199 and Naomi and Boaz, and it 97 00:04:49,199 --> 00:04:52,199 was put in here to shine a light onto our 98 00:04:52,199 --> 00:04:53,866 own lives as believers. 99 00:04:53,966 --> 00:04:57,433 It was put in there to point how a normal life, 100 00:04:57,433 --> 00:05:00,566 with its ups and downs, will still and 101 00:05:00,566 --> 00:05:02,433 can still be used by God. 102 00:05:02,466 --> 00:05:05,833 Now, I'm an extremely common person. 103 00:05:05,899 --> 00:05:08,133 My life is very common. 104 00:05:08,233 --> 00:05:09,066 I am not very special. 105 00:05:09,133 --> 00:05:12,566 I come from a common family, with 106 00:05:12,566 --> 00:05:15,100 common means, very common means. 107 00:05:15,133 --> 00:05:16,466 I'm not exceptionally smart. 108 00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:20,100 I'm not exceptionally rich compared to others in my nation. 109 00:05:20,166 --> 00:05:24,066 And I'm really not exceptionally talented. 110 00:05:24,133 --> 00:05:26,399 I live in Denim Springs. 111 00:05:26,466 --> 00:05:27,666 which is not New York City. 112 00:05:27,733 --> 00:05:29,766 It's not Los Angeles. 113 00:05:29,833 --> 00:05:33,566 It's not good at all in many ways. 114 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,966 It's, uh, some people call it donkey springs, uh, 115 00:05:36,966 --> 00:05:38,033 or donkey springs. 116 00:05:38,100 --> 00:05:41,166 And as far as I know, every single person 117 00:05:41,166 --> 00:05:44,300 in this room, more or less, are the 118 00:05:44,300 --> 00:05:46,566 same in their commonness. 119 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,133 So the Bible has great stories 120 00:05:50,133 --> 00:05:53,466 of great men and women, exceptional men and women. 121 00:05:53,533 --> 00:05:57,300 Men and women like Moses, like Mary, like David 122 00:05:57,300 --> 00:06:00,666 or Solomon, the wisest king in all the world, or 123 00:06:00,666 --> 00:06:01,699 like Paul. 124 00:06:01,766 --> 00:06:05,000 Wouldn't wouldn't we like to be like Paul? 125 00:06:05,066 --> 00:06:06,133 And when we read those stories, 126 00:06:06,666 --> 00:06:09,733 And compare ourselves to these men and 127 00:06:09,733 --> 00:06:12,800 these women, sometimes we feel like we could never 128 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,166 measure up to their their greatness, their stature. 129 00:06:16,166 --> 00:06:19,333 Like, I don't have any exceptional ability 130 00:06:19,333 --> 00:06:22,333 to let me rule a kingdom like 131 00:06:22,333 --> 00:06:25,466 the kingdom of Israel, like David, the man after 132 00:06:25,466 --> 00:06:26,966 God's own heart did. 133 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,166 I can barely rule my own house, right? 134 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,166 But Ruth is different. 135 00:06:33,566 --> 00:06:36,566 Our story is just about an 136 00:06:36,566 --> 00:06:40,100 everyday Hebrew family, just 137 00:06:40,100 --> 00:06:41,899 trying to make it in the world. 138 00:06:41,966 --> 00:06:45,300 They ran from a famine in Israel to 139 00:06:45,300 --> 00:06:48,000 a foreign land, just to try to survive. 140 00:06:48,066 --> 00:06:51,233 And then as they did that, tragedy 141 00:06:51,266 --> 00:06:54,800 struck them, and the husband dies, Elimelech. 142 00:06:54,966 --> 00:06:59,000 And then the two sons die and leave three 143 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,666 widows in complete and abject poverty in 144 00:07:02,666 --> 00:07:05,300 helplessness outside of God's provision. 145 00:07:05,399 --> 00:07:08,466 And then, as we saw in the last two sermons, we 146 00:07:08,466 --> 00:07:11,633 went through Ruth, and Oomi traveled back to 147 00:07:11,666 --> 00:07:15,000 their hometown, or Naomi's hometown, Bethlehem 148 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,000 of Afratha, and began to glean, 149 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,766 because of their poverty and their hunger, and 150 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:23,833 to a man named Boaz's field. 151 00:07:23,899 --> 00:07:26,899 God provided a way for 152 00:07:26,899 --> 00:07:30,000 them to survive, these normal, everyday, poor 153 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,066 people, to survive through the laws that he had given 154 00:07:33,066 --> 00:07:35,399 the Hebrew people about gleaning. 155 00:07:35,466 --> 00:07:38,466 But this simple act of 156 00:07:38,466 --> 00:07:42,233 survival for Naomi and Ruth turned 157 00:07:42,266 --> 00:07:45,566 out to be that the hand of God working through his 158 00:07:45,566 --> 00:07:48,699 providence in these two widows' lives. 159 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,933 Boaz turned out not only to 160 00:07:51,933 --> 00:07:55,566 be a godly man, but a graciously generous 161 00:07:55,566 --> 00:07:59,033 man, and he just happened to be a 162 00:07:59,066 --> 00:08:02,100 kinsman Redeemer, the Goel, 163 00:08:02,100 --> 00:08:04,333 to Naomi, and to Ruth. 164 00:08:04,399 --> 00:08:07,466 So this was someone that the Goel was 165 00:08:07,466 --> 00:08:10,933 someone who would marry a widow, if you remember, of a relative, 166 00:08:10,933 --> 00:08:13,933 for the express purpose of raising up 167 00:08:13,933 --> 00:08:17,233 a son under the deceased man's 168 00:08:17,233 --> 00:08:20,300 name, and so that his inheritance wouldn't be lost. 169 00:08:20,366 --> 00:08:23,800 So when the gnomi realized that Ruth 170 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,233 just hacked upon Boaz's field and 171 00:08:27,266 --> 00:08:30,333 realized who Boaz was, she 172 00:08:30,333 --> 00:08:33,466 told Ruth to go and ask Boaz for 173 00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:36,600 help that he would perform the duty of 174 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:38,566 the kinsman redeemer for them. 175 00:08:38,666 --> 00:08:41,966 And then last time, we saw that Ruth did that in 176 00:08:41,966 --> 00:08:45,399 chapter number three, and that she showed extreme courage, 177 00:08:45,399 --> 00:08:48,799 and how she went about doing that, listening 178 00:08:48,799 --> 00:08:52,100 to Naomi, and going and begging for 179 00:08:52,100 --> 00:08:54,033 Boaz's help to do this. 180 00:08:54,066 --> 00:08:57,133 And we saw Boaz's generosity, and 181 00:08:57,133 --> 00:09:00,366 his grace towards her, his godliness, and a 182 00:09:00,366 --> 00:09:04,266 spark of love that he had for Ruth, 183 00:09:04,266 --> 00:09:08,033 and promising to make sure that she would be taken care of. 184 00:09:08,233 --> 00:09:11,833 Now, I just want you to think that 185 00:09:11,833 --> 00:09:14,833 this is just a story about a couple 186 00:09:14,833 --> 00:09:18,066 of people in between the time of the judges and 187 00:09:18,066 --> 00:09:20,466 of when the monarchy came in Israel. 188 00:09:20,666 --> 00:09:23,833 These are just normal people, living 189 00:09:23,833 --> 00:09:26,833 their lives as best as they could, just one 190 00:09:26,833 --> 00:09:29,966 step in front of it, one problem they face, and another one comes up, 191 00:09:29,966 --> 00:09:31,233 and they handle that. 192 00:09:31,266 --> 00:09:34,399 And how many people in this 193 00:09:34,399 --> 00:09:37,033 world are living, normal lives. 194 00:09:37,100 --> 00:09:40,333 Just trying to get through it, to survive every 195 00:09:40,333 --> 00:09:42,566 day, just one step after the other. 196 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,600 Most of the people that are in the cities 197 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,833 don't know the other people's names. 198 00:09:47,899 --> 00:09:51,566 If you think about the famous people, the great men of our time. 199 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,666 We only know maybe a hundred people's 200 00:09:54,666 --> 00:09:57,833 names out of all the billions around 201 00:09:57,866 --> 00:10:01,000 this world, and billions of those people will be 202 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,200 born, will live their entire life, and we will die, 203 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,233 and we won't even know who they were. 204 00:10:06,366 --> 00:10:09,600 We won't know anything about them, but they're going 205 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,733 through the life, just like we are, and we 206 00:10:12,733 --> 00:10:16,333 know each other's name, the 25 ish people in here, but 207 00:10:16,333 --> 00:10:19,399 how many people outside these walls know who we are, and 208 00:10:19,399 --> 00:10:21,033 know what we do, know what we care about. 209 00:10:21,133 --> 00:10:24,566 And much less the people that are on the other side 210 00:10:24,566 --> 00:10:27,866 of the world, each one of us experiencing 211 00:10:27,866 --> 00:10:30,433 joy and pain in our lives, right? 212 00:10:30,566 --> 00:10:33,799 Struggles and trials, success, 213 00:10:33,799 --> 00:10:36,799 triumphs sometimes, great things in 214 00:10:36,799 --> 00:10:40,399 our lives, but all of us normal people, going through good 215 00:10:40,399 --> 00:10:43,700 times and bad, just like Ruth 216 00:10:43,700 --> 00:10:47,066 and Naomi and Boaz, these nobodies, 217 00:10:47,066 --> 00:10:50,166 in the middle of Bethlehem, Afratha, the 218 00:10:50,166 --> 00:10:52,633 donkey springs of Israel, right? 219 00:10:52,799 --> 00:10:55,933 And now we have an 220 00:10:55,933 --> 00:11:00,266 account of normal people just like us under 221 00:11:00,266 --> 00:11:03,366 the hand of providence of 222 00:11:03,366 --> 00:11:05,600 a holy, almighty God. 223 00:11:05,700 --> 00:11:09,000 And this story about Ruth is 224 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:13,333 the same story that is the 225 00:11:13,333 --> 00:11:16,633 story of our lives, that the almighty sovereign 226 00:11:16,633 --> 00:11:20,233 God takes his all knowing hand of 227 00:11:20,233 --> 00:11:23,466 providence, and puts it over each one of our lives as believers, 228 00:11:23,466 --> 00:11:25,399 just like he did in Ruth. 229 00:11:25,466 --> 00:11:28,566 We can look at their life in the book of Ruth, and 230 00:11:28,566 --> 00:11:30,833 see how God works out in their life. 231 00:11:30,899 --> 00:11:33,366 And we can apply that to ours. 232 00:11:33,500 --> 00:11:37,100 Even the common, poor, widow's 233 00:11:37,100 --> 00:11:40,266 lives are important to God, and he 234 00:11:40,266 --> 00:11:43,799 is using their common, minuscule, 235 00:11:43,799 --> 00:11:46,966 tiny lives through his wisdom, and 236 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,600 for his own glory, as we see by 237 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:54,200 being written down in his word and as talking about it today. 238 00:11:54,366 --> 00:11:57,966 So, as believers, the same way that 239 00:11:57,966 --> 00:12:01,633 Ruth got to use her life to share God's 240 00:12:01,633 --> 00:12:04,700 glory to people, our lives, the 241 00:12:04,700 --> 00:12:07,833 providential hand of God, the ups and downs, the blessings 242 00:12:07,833 --> 00:12:10,966 that he gives us, will one day be used for 243 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:12,366 his glory as well. 244 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,600 At the end of this life, no matter how many 245 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,766 pains or trials that 246 00:12:18,799 --> 00:12:21,866 we face going through, that one step at a time, 247 00:12:21,866 --> 00:12:25,166 life, like Ruth and Naomi, God 248 00:12:25,166 --> 00:12:29,000 will use those things in ways that we can't even imagine, 249 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:30,666 for his own glory. 250 00:12:30,799 --> 00:12:34,100 John Piper said the life of the godly 251 00:12:34,100 --> 00:12:38,166 is not a straight line to glory, but we do get there. 252 00:12:38,299 --> 00:12:41,466 And that's why each one of us, as we go 253 00:12:41,466 --> 00:12:44,633 through these good times, and these hard times, is suffering, and the trials, 254 00:12:44,666 --> 00:12:47,666 we need to remember that, that at 255 00:12:47,666 --> 00:12:51,000 the end of it, at the end of our life, as a believer, he 256 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,000 will use it in some way for his glory, 257 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,600 just like he did in Ruth and Naomi and Boaz's 258 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:01,066 life, that they, as we'll see, can't even imagine how 259 00:13:01,100 --> 00:13:03,666 it would have all worked out, but how that it did. 260 00:13:03,733 --> 00:13:06,966 So the last chapter of our story, and the 261 00:13:06,966 --> 00:13:10,266 really, the overall theme of the whole book teaches us that 262 00:13:10,266 --> 00:13:13,633 God uses in the lives of normal, everyday people, 263 00:13:13,633 --> 00:13:16,799 to bring himself glory, and 264 00:13:16,799 --> 00:13:19,799 we must remember that as we go through this 265 00:13:19,799 --> 00:13:21,733 life, at the end of all things. 266 00:13:21,899 --> 00:13:24,966 Every person's life, every aspect of 267 00:13:24,966 --> 00:13:27,966 our life, is the glory of God, and he 268 00:13:27,966 --> 00:13:30,600 allows us to participate that in that. 269 00:13:30,666 --> 00:13:34,700 And that gives us strength to face those trials and the sufferings. 270 00:13:34,766 --> 00:13:37,766 The first way, in the first part, I believe, that 271 00:13:37,766 --> 00:13:41,166 he teaches us as that, is by recognizing that 272 00:13:41,166 --> 00:13:44,533 he uses the actions of men to accomplish his will. 273 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:50,000 So you took my sermon, chapter 274 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:51,066 4 verses 1 through 6. 275 00:13:51,133 --> 00:13:54,299 Now, Boaz went up to the gate and sat 276 00:13:54,299 --> 00:13:57,366 down there, and, behold, the close relative 277 00:13:57,366 --> 00:13:59,833 of whom Boaz spoke was passing by. 278 00:13:59,966 --> 00:14:03,066 So he said, turn aside, friend, sit down 279 00:14:03,066 --> 00:14:05,466 here, and he turned aside and sat down. 280 00:14:05,533 --> 00:14:09,666 He took 10 men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. 281 00:14:09,799 --> 00:14:10,566 So they sat down. 282 00:14:10,633 --> 00:14:13,866 Then he said to the closest relative, Naomi, 283 00:14:13,866 --> 00:14:16,866 who has come back from the land of Moab, has 284 00:14:16,866 --> 00:14:19,933 to sell the peace of land, 285 00:14:19,933 --> 00:14:21,666 which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 286 00:14:21,799 --> 00:14:24,799 So I thought to inform you, saying, buy it, 287 00:14:24,799 --> 00:14:28,466 before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. 288 00:14:28,500 --> 00:14:30,533 If you will redeem it, redeem it. 289 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,666 But if not, tell me that I may know, for there 290 00:14:33,666 --> 00:14:37,033 is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you, and 291 00:14:37,033 --> 00:14:38,233 he said, I will redeem it. 292 00:14:38,366 --> 00:14:41,366 Then Boaz said, on the day, you buy 293 00:14:41,366 --> 00:14:44,766 the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire 294 00:14:44,766 --> 00:14:47,899 Ruth, the Moabitus, the widow of the deceased, 295 00:14:47,899 --> 00:14:51,033 in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance. 296 00:14:51,066 --> 00:14:54,200 The closest relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself. 297 00:14:54,299 --> 00:14:56,700 because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. 298 00:14:56,833 --> 00:15:00,066 Redeem it for yourself, you may have my 299 00:15:00,066 --> 00:15:02,000 right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it. 300 00:15:02,066 --> 00:15:05,299 Now, this is the following day, after the 301 00:15:05,299 --> 00:15:08,299 end of chapter 3, when Boaz promised 302 00:15:08,299 --> 00:15:10,700 that he would take care of Ruth. 303 00:15:10,766 --> 00:15:14,500 And remember, Naomi said, look, just calm down, Ruth. 304 00:15:14,533 --> 00:15:18,000 He's going to do, you'll know at the end of the day what's going to happen. 305 00:15:18,066 --> 00:15:21,133 Boaz is the type of man that's going to go and take 306 00:15:21,133 --> 00:15:22,166 care of this business. 307 00:15:22,266 --> 00:15:25,399 So our man, Boaz here, goes out and 308 00:15:25,399 --> 00:15:27,133 to take care of his duty. 309 00:15:27,266 --> 00:15:30,366 He had a duty to Ruth and to Naomi as 310 00:15:30,366 --> 00:15:31,799 a relative at the time. 311 00:15:31,866 --> 00:15:34,433 And he was, Boaz was a godly man. 312 00:15:34,500 --> 00:15:37,733 He sought to write by Ruth 313 00:15:37,766 --> 00:15:41,000 and Naomi, but he also sought to do right by God, 314 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,233 and we could see his character, how he allowed his field to 315 00:15:44,233 --> 00:15:48,899 be cleaned in a very gracious way, as we saw in the past chapters. 316 00:15:48,966 --> 00:15:51,666 Now remember, there is someone else. 317 00:15:51,733 --> 00:15:55,100 There's a closer kinsman that 318 00:15:55,100 --> 00:15:58,399 has the right to first refusal to perform the 319 00:15:58,399 --> 00:15:59,466 duty of the Goel. 320 00:15:59,533 --> 00:16:02,666 He could have said that I want the field, and I'll 321 00:16:02,666 --> 00:16:04,600 take Ruth as a wife. 322 00:16:04,700 --> 00:16:07,933 And Boaz has a duty, as an honest, 323 00:16:07,933 --> 00:16:11,766 godly man, to inform the closer kinsman, 324 00:16:11,766 --> 00:16:14,766 that there was a duty to perform here in 325 00:16:14,766 --> 00:16:17,933 taking the inheritance of the deceased 326 00:16:17,966 --> 00:16:21,633 Elimelech, to pass on to keep it in his family. 327 00:16:21,733 --> 00:16:25,766 But Boaz loved Ruth. 328 00:16:25,799 --> 00:16:28,866 And so here he does something that is 329 00:16:28,866 --> 00:16:32,166 very wise, and what the commentators 330 00:16:32,166 --> 00:16:35,166 call Boaz's master stroke. 331 00:16:35,233 --> 00:16:38,766 So Boaz had become very fond of 332 00:16:38,766 --> 00:16:41,899 Ruth, and he saw her faithfulness as she 333 00:16:41,899 --> 00:16:44,466 came to him at night, asked for protection. 334 00:16:44,533 --> 00:16:47,533 He saw her courage as she came from her 335 00:16:47,533 --> 00:16:50,600 own country, turned her back on her old gods and her own 336 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,500 nation, and came into Bethlehem, a new place. 337 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,899 Remember, he said that in chapter number three, verse 10. 338 00:16:58,033 --> 00:17:00,299 He said, then he said, may you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. 339 00:17:00,366 --> 00:17:03,433 You have shown your last kindness to be 340 00:17:03,433 --> 00:17:06,733 better than the first by not going out young men, whether 341 00:17:06,733 --> 00:17:07,766 poor or rich. 342 00:17:07,799 --> 00:17:09,766 Now my daughter, do not fear. 343 00:17:09,866 --> 00:17:13,166 I will do whatever you ask, for all my people in 344 00:17:13,166 --> 00:17:16,766 the city know that you are a woman of excellence, 345 00:17:16,766 --> 00:17:20,366 and a spark of love and admiration for 346 00:17:20,366 --> 00:17:23,966 Ruth has been begun to form, and Boaz's heart. 347 00:17:24,066 --> 00:17:27,133 And so he sets off for the gates of the city in 348 00:17:27,133 --> 00:17:30,366 this day to take care of this business that he had 349 00:17:30,366 --> 00:17:32,599 to do, to take care of Ruth. 350 00:17:32,666 --> 00:17:35,799 So he goes to the gates of the city, which is where all 351 00:17:35,799 --> 00:17:39,200 kinds of business happened in the city, where 352 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,266 the city gate became the hub of all 353 00:17:42,266 --> 00:17:46,299 the action in the city, because it was where the people would have to come in. 354 00:17:46,333 --> 00:17:49,166 So the trade routes would have to go through the gate. 355 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,433 And so it naturally became a marketplace where 356 00:17:52,466 --> 00:17:54,566 people would go and to buy and sell goods. 357 00:17:54,666 --> 00:17:57,799 And so all the men of the city would go there to 358 00:17:57,799 --> 00:18:01,033 meet and talk and discuss political matters and business 359 00:18:01,033 --> 00:18:03,266 dealings, just like it's happening now. 360 00:18:03,299 --> 00:18:07,799 So Boaz goes here, and he waits for this closer kinsman to come by. 361 00:18:08,233 --> 00:18:11,233 And when he 362 00:18:11,233 --> 00:18:13,033 sees them come by, he calls out to him. 363 00:18:13,099 --> 00:18:15,633 Verse one, turn aside, friend, sit down here. 364 00:18:15,733 --> 00:18:19,033 And he turned aside and sat down, so 365 00:18:19,033 --> 00:18:22,099 that the closer kinsman comes and sits down, and then Boaz 366 00:18:22,099 --> 00:18:25,033 calls 10 of the elders to come and be a witness as well. 367 00:18:25,166 --> 00:18:28,766 So he tells this closer Goel 368 00:18:28,766 --> 00:18:31,700 of the situation that Naomi's in. 369 00:18:31,766 --> 00:18:35,000 She came back as a widow, and she has this property, and 370 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,400 she needs to sell it to survive, and so 371 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,633 he has a duty and a right, a privilege, 372 00:18:41,666 --> 00:18:43,900 to purchase this field from her. 373 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,133 And if he purchases this field, he gets to look like 374 00:18:47,133 --> 00:18:50,566 he's the man of the family, he's performing his duty. 375 00:18:50,666 --> 00:18:53,766 He's an honorable man and he gets the land that 376 00:18:53,766 --> 00:18:55,266 becomes part of his inheritance. 377 00:18:55,700 --> 00:18:59,766 So in his mind, Boaz 378 00:18:59,766 --> 00:19:02,833 is setting up this whole situation in front of 379 00:19:02,833 --> 00:19:05,966 these 10 elders and this man to 380 00:19:05,966 --> 00:19:09,133 where he is giving officially offering 381 00:19:09,133 --> 00:19:13,099 this man the right of first refusal to take this land. 382 00:19:13,466 --> 00:19:16,033 The man agrees to purchase. 383 00:19:16,099 --> 00:19:17,433 said, Look, I'm going to redeem it. 384 00:19:17,533 --> 00:19:21,566 And then this is where Boaz's wisdom comes through in verse 5. 385 00:19:21,799 --> 00:19:25,266 He said, Boaz said, on the day that you buy the field, from 386 00:19:25,266 --> 00:19:28,500 the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth, 387 00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:31,500 the Moabitus, the widow of the deceased, in 388 00:19:31,500 --> 00:19:35,533 order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance. 389 00:19:35,599 --> 00:19:38,833 So if you're going to buy this land, there's a catch. 390 00:19:38,966 --> 00:19:40,633 It comes with this woman. 391 00:19:40,766 --> 00:19:44,066 And it comes with this widow that you're 392 00:19:44,066 --> 00:19:46,900 gonna have to provide for, that you're gonna have to take care of. 393 00:19:46,933 --> 00:19:50,066 And when you marry 394 00:19:50,066 --> 00:19:53,666 Ruth, your duty as to go well is 395 00:19:53,666 --> 00:19:54,733 to have a son with her. 396 00:19:54,799 --> 00:19:58,266 Now, that son is not going to take your name. 397 00:19:58,333 --> 00:20:00,733 take he's going to take a Limbilex name. 398 00:20:00,799 --> 00:20:04,333 And Mahalan's name, and all that land, 399 00:20:04,333 --> 00:20:07,466 and that the work that you've put into that 400 00:20:07,466 --> 00:20:10,766 family is going to go with him when you die, not 401 00:20:10,766 --> 00:20:12,700 with your other sons. 402 00:20:12,799 --> 00:20:15,900 And so Boaz does this on 403 00:20:15,900 --> 00:20:18,900 purpose in order to get him to really think 404 00:20:18,900 --> 00:20:21,299 about what he's going to have to do. 405 00:20:21,366 --> 00:20:24,533 So, when this man heard this, that 406 00:20:24,566 --> 00:20:26,733 there was a marriage that would be involved. 407 00:20:26,766 --> 00:20:29,466 He quickly changed his mind, verse 6. 408 00:20:29,533 --> 00:20:33,866 He says, I cannot redeem it for myself because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. 409 00:20:33,966 --> 00:20:35,299 Redeem it for yourself. 410 00:20:35,366 --> 00:20:38,599 You may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it. 411 00:20:38,666 --> 00:20:42,566 And now, before all the witnesses, he 412 00:20:42,566 --> 00:20:45,799 gives up his right to the land and to the marriage of Ruth, 413 00:20:45,799 --> 00:20:49,533 and just think about how Boaz worked this all out. 414 00:20:49,566 --> 00:20:52,566 The man knew about Naomi, but 415 00:20:52,566 --> 00:20:54,833 she was too old to bear children, right? 416 00:20:54,900 --> 00:20:57,966 So the closer relative 417 00:20:57,966 --> 00:21:01,500 said, Look, if I take this, I won't have to marry Naomi, 418 00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:05,033 because she can't have a son to take the inheritance. 419 00:21:05,099 --> 00:21:08,266 But then Boaz brings in the reality that there's Ruth, 420 00:21:08,299 --> 00:21:11,533 Mahalan's widow, and 421 00:21:11,533 --> 00:21:14,533 that would come with the duty of taking care of 422 00:21:14,533 --> 00:21:16,700 her and her family as well. 423 00:21:16,766 --> 00:21:20,133 And he says, thanks, but no thanks. 424 00:21:20,233 --> 00:21:23,833 But Boaz does this, because now the 425 00:21:23,833 --> 00:21:28,099 man is able to save face when he says no. 426 00:21:28,166 --> 00:21:31,400 It doesn't look like he's shirking his duty because Boaz 427 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:33,866 is there saying, I will redeem it if you won't. 428 00:21:34,266 --> 00:21:35,700 You're not obligated to do that. 429 00:21:35,766 --> 00:21:38,833 You're not obligated to take care of them, because I'm offering 430 00:21:38,833 --> 00:21:42,900 to take that duty, that burden from 431 00:21:42,900 --> 00:21:43,933 your shoulders. 432 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,066 So this is, as we'll see, as we 433 00:21:47,066 --> 00:21:50,833 get to the end of the chapter, is the great working of God's providence. 434 00:21:50,966 --> 00:21:54,266 He's turning, the suffering of Ruth, all 435 00:21:54,266 --> 00:21:57,433 the pain and the hardship that Ruth and Naomi have been through. 436 00:21:57,566 --> 00:22:01,200 He's turning it into his own glory, 437 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,733 God's own glory through their story. 438 00:22:03,866 --> 00:22:06,966 hundreds of years before the 439 00:22:06,966 --> 00:22:08,000 story had happened. 440 00:22:08,066 --> 00:22:11,299 God had laid down, as we've talked about before, 441 00:22:11,299 --> 00:22:14,966 the custom and the laws behind this leverite 442 00:22:14,966 --> 00:22:20,366 marriage, this kinsman redeemer. 443 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,000 And Boaz was acting just on these parameters 444 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,133 that God had laid down. 445 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,233 God didn't come to him at night and say, 446 00:22:27,366 --> 00:22:28,433 Hey, this is what you're going to do. 447 00:22:28,566 --> 00:22:32,000 He's just putting one step in front of the other, and 448 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,000 within the perimeters that God has set up and acting out 449 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,966 of his own will, out of his own choices. 450 00:22:37,033 --> 00:22:39,566 He physically went to the gates. 451 00:22:39,599 --> 00:22:42,666 He physically called this meeting and laid out 452 00:22:42,666 --> 00:22:43,700 what was going to happen. 453 00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:46,866 But God was behind the scenes, working out 454 00:22:46,866 --> 00:22:50,033 through all of his choices, all of his actions, all 455 00:22:50,066 --> 00:22:54,000 the choices of the closer kinsmen redeeming, kinsmen 456 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,133 redeemer, the situation that the other kinsmen redeemer 457 00:22:57,133 --> 00:23:00,566 was in financially, where he wouldn't be able to take on the burden of 458 00:23:00,566 --> 00:23:03,566 Ruth and Naomi and their children. 459 00:23:03,599 --> 00:23:06,666 All of that, to work out, for God's 460 00:23:06,666 --> 00:23:09,666 own glory, the story of Ruth and Boaz 461 00:23:09,666 --> 00:23:10,799 and Naomi. 462 00:23:10,866 --> 00:23:12,733 So you need to remember that. 463 00:23:12,866 --> 00:23:15,866 When you are going through suffering, even when people 464 00:23:15,866 --> 00:23:19,033 are acting in wicked ways towards you, 465 00:23:19,033 --> 00:23:22,033 that whatever happens now and here, 466 00:23:22,033 --> 00:23:25,033 in the future, and it may be after 467 00:23:25,033 --> 00:23:28,099 it's all over, we will be 468 00:23:28,099 --> 00:23:32,133 standing before God, and we'll say, hey, you did that for your glory. 469 00:23:32,166 --> 00:23:34,033 I made those choices. 470 00:23:34,166 --> 00:23:37,233 I did those actions, but you were behind the 471 00:23:37,233 --> 00:23:40,500 scenes, working it all out in your 472 00:23:40,500 --> 00:23:43,799 great and awesome sovereignty and your 473 00:23:43,799 --> 00:23:44,933 providence. 474 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,733 So we need to remember that as we go through life, as we face good 475 00:23:48,733 --> 00:23:50,900 times and as we face suffering. 476 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,666 And the second thing that God has given us, to 477 00:23:54,666 --> 00:23:57,833 enjoy this life, and to use for His 478 00:23:57,866 --> 00:24:01,200 glory, or gifts, God has given us gifts 479 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,133 to enjoy this life. 480 00:24:05,099 --> 00:24:08,333 The passage will be from verses 7 or 15, 481 00:24:08,366 --> 00:24:10,633 but I'm going to read verses 7 or 10 right now. 482 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,533 It says, Now this was the custom. 483 00:24:13,566 --> 00:24:16,799 In former times in Israel, concerning the redemption 484 00:24:16,799 --> 00:24:19,733 and the exchange of land to confirm any matter. 485 00:24:19,799 --> 00:24:23,766 A man removed his sandal, and gave it to another. 486 00:24:23,833 --> 00:24:27,366 And this was the manner of attestation in Israel. 487 00:24:27,433 --> 00:24:30,433 So the closest relative said to Boaz, 488 00:24:30,433 --> 00:24:33,366 buy it for yourself, and he removed his sandal. 489 00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:36,966 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, You 490 00:24:36,966 --> 00:24:40,433 are witnesses today, that I have bought from the hand of Naomi 491 00:24:40,466 --> 00:24:43,866 all that belong to Elimelech, and all that belong to Kylian 492 00:24:43,866 --> 00:24:45,066 and Mahalon. 493 00:24:45,133 --> 00:24:48,200 Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitis, 494 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,599 the widow of Milan, to be my 495 00:24:51,599 --> 00:24:54,733 wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on 496 00:24:54,733 --> 00:24:57,799 his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be 497 00:24:57,799 --> 00:25:01,633 cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birthplace. 498 00:25:01,700 --> 00:25:02,533 You are witnesses today. 499 00:25:02,599 --> 00:25:05,833 And we have already been witnesses ourselves, 500 00:25:05,833 --> 00:25:08,833 of many strange customs, as we've gone through 501 00:25:08,833 --> 00:25:12,200 Ruth, but I think this may be the strangest, 502 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,299 the taking off of the sandal to 503 00:25:15,299 --> 00:25:16,733 do a real estate deal, right? 504 00:25:16,866 --> 00:25:20,033 Today, we just use notary republics and title companies 505 00:25:20,066 --> 00:25:21,200 and crazy stuff like that. 506 00:25:21,266 --> 00:25:24,500 So this is extremely strange for us. 507 00:25:24,566 --> 00:25:28,533 But this is how God had set it up, the leverite marriage. 508 00:25:28,566 --> 00:25:31,866 When the law was given in Deuteronomy, there 509 00:25:31,866 --> 00:25:35,000 was an opportunity, a chance that the kinsman Redeemer 510 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,000 would say, No, I'm not going to fulfill my duty. 511 00:25:38,099 --> 00:25:41,233 And that was a shame to him, that 512 00:25:41,233 --> 00:25:44,299 he cared more about his own self and 513 00:25:44,299 --> 00:25:47,533 what his desires were than for his family, his community. 514 00:25:47,766 --> 00:25:49,200 And so God set it up. 515 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,566 Taking the sandal off would 516 00:25:52,566 --> 00:25:56,166 be a humiliation for him, and that 517 00:25:56,166 --> 00:25:57,599 kind of transformed, we'll get into. 518 00:25:57,666 --> 00:26:00,966 But Deuteronomy 258 says, then the elders of this city shall 519 00:26:00,966 --> 00:26:04,033 summon him and speak to him, and if he persists 520 00:26:04,033 --> 00:26:07,400 and says, I do not desire to take her, the widow, 521 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,466 then his brother's wife shall come to him 522 00:26:10,466 --> 00:26:13,766 in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal 523 00:26:13,766 --> 00:26:16,033 off his foot, and spit in his face. 524 00:26:16,099 --> 00:26:19,266 And she shall declare, Thus it is done to 525 00:26:19,266 --> 00:26:21,433 the man who does not build up his brother's house. 526 00:26:21,566 --> 00:26:24,666 In Israel, his name shall be called the 527 00:26:24,666 --> 00:26:27,666 house of him whose sandal is removed. 528 00:26:27,799 --> 00:26:30,966 And so, apparently, by the time Ruth comes 529 00:26:30,966 --> 00:26:34,266 around, and Boaz, it's kind of been a 530 00:26:34,266 --> 00:26:37,633 little modified, as culture kind of does sometimes, 531 00:26:37,633 --> 00:26:40,700 where it wasn't necessarily a humiliating thing, and Boaz 532 00:26:40,700 --> 00:26:44,066 didn't have to spit in the closer relative's face, but 533 00:26:44,066 --> 00:26:47,900 this kind of became the situation. 534 00:26:47,966 --> 00:26:51,133 And, if you notice, in the passage, 535 00:26:51,133 --> 00:26:54,299 actually, the author of Ruth is saying, at 536 00:26:54,299 --> 00:26:55,966 that time, this is what Israel did. 537 00:26:56,066 --> 00:26:59,966 So the time that Ruth was written, that 538 00:26:59,966 --> 00:27:01,533 custom had gone away as well. 539 00:27:01,566 --> 00:27:05,299 So he had explained to his readers, that's what was going on. 540 00:27:05,366 --> 00:27:08,500 So Boaz then 541 00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:11,700 officially announces, after he 542 00:27:11,700 --> 00:27:15,366 gets the sandal, that he will perform 543 00:27:15,366 --> 00:27:18,666 the duty of the kinsman Redeemer for the land, and 544 00:27:18,666 --> 00:27:21,500 that he will be taking Ruth as his wife. 545 00:27:21,566 --> 00:27:24,733 And so by this time, as often happens, 546 00:27:24,733 --> 00:27:28,200 in these situations, they had the man there in Boaz, 547 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:29,833 that the 10 elders that were witnessing it. 548 00:27:29,966 --> 00:27:31,766 But then the crowd gathers. 549 00:27:31,866 --> 00:27:35,333 And whenever Boaz finally announced 550 00:27:35,366 --> 00:27:39,099 officially announces this, they all begin to celebrate. 551 00:27:39,133 --> 00:27:42,133 And look at verse number 11, all the people who were in the court, and the 552 00:27:42,133 --> 00:27:44,066 elder said, We are witnesses. 553 00:27:44,099 --> 00:27:47,166 May the Lord make the woman who was coming 554 00:27:47,166 --> 00:27:50,599 into your home like Rachel and Leah, 555 00:27:50,599 --> 00:27:52,833 both of whom built the house of Israel. 556 00:27:52,933 --> 00:27:55,933 And may you achieve wealth in Afratha, and 557 00:27:55,933 --> 00:27:57,599 become famous in Bethlehem. 558 00:27:58,266 --> 00:28:01,266 Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez, 559 00:28:01,266 --> 00:28:04,500 whom Tamar bore to Judah, through 560 00:28:04,500 --> 00:28:07,366 the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young man. 561 00:28:07,466 --> 00:28:10,599 Now, this was certainly a situation that 562 00:28:10,599 --> 00:28:13,700 was worthy of being celebrated, that the whole community 563 00:28:13,700 --> 00:28:17,466 of God's people, all of Bethlehem of Frathma, 564 00:28:17,466 --> 00:28:20,833 had an interest in the growth of the community, and that someone 565 00:28:20,833 --> 00:28:23,900 will be married, and that there will be Lord willing children 566 00:28:23,900 --> 00:28:25,333 to come from that. 567 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,500 The marriage is a gift of God, and 568 00:28:28,500 --> 00:28:29,833 children are a blessing as well. 569 00:28:29,900 --> 00:28:32,900 But God gave the gift of marriage 570 00:28:32,900 --> 00:28:34,866 to us at creation. 571 00:28:34,933 --> 00:28:38,233 It's a beautiful illustration 572 00:28:38,233 --> 00:28:41,366 of God's covenant with his people and his 573 00:28:41,366 --> 00:28:42,700 sacrificial love. 574 00:28:42,733 --> 00:28:46,333 Bonhofer, said this in one of his letters from the German prison. 575 00:28:46,466 --> 00:28:49,033 And he said, marriage is more than your love for each other. 576 00:28:49,099 --> 00:28:52,200 It has a higher dignity and power, 577 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:53,933 for it is God's holy ordinance. 578 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,066 In your love, you see only the heaven of your 579 00:28:57,066 --> 00:29:00,133 happiness, but in marriage, you are placed at a post of 580 00:29:00,133 --> 00:29:03,733 responsibility towards the world, and mankind. 581 00:29:03,799 --> 00:29:07,700 Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is something more than personal. 582 00:29:07,766 --> 00:29:10,766 It is a status, an office, that joins 583 00:29:10,766 --> 00:29:13,166 it together in the sight of God, and man. 584 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,433 So there's this covenant relationship that God uses as an illustration 585 00:29:16,466 --> 00:29:19,500 of the very gospel, as we saw in 586 00:29:19,500 --> 00:29:20,766 Ephesians 5. 587 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,900 And so Boaz was doing his duty, but 588 00:29:24,900 --> 00:29:28,633 he was also showing his love for Ruth. 589 00:29:28,700 --> 00:29:31,700 Now, this is a great contrast to the way 590 00:29:31,700 --> 00:29:35,366 that marriage is viewed by our culture today, today, 591 00:29:35,366 --> 00:29:38,599 and you've probably all heard this, but people don't 592 00:29:38,599 --> 00:29:41,599 even understand why marriage exists. 593 00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:43,233 They only think it is a piece of paper. 594 00:29:43,333 --> 00:29:46,566 Why do I need a piece of paper saying, I love someone, they say. 595 00:29:47,966 --> 00:29:51,566 It is a question that why 596 00:29:51,566 --> 00:29:53,066 it has come down to this. 597 00:29:53,099 --> 00:29:56,166 It's not a question as to why it has come 598 00:29:56,166 --> 00:29:59,233 down to this in our culture, because we have turned our back on God. 599 00:29:59,366 --> 00:30:02,500 And as marriage is a gift that he's given us, and 600 00:30:02,500 --> 00:30:05,833 an illustration of the gospel, it's no wonder that Satan 601 00:30:05,833 --> 00:30:08,833 attacks it in our culture, and 602 00:30:08,833 --> 00:30:12,133 our nation, all of us, as a community, have 603 00:30:12,133 --> 00:30:15,200 an interest in families being created, and husbands loving 604 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,266 their wives, and wives respecting their husbands as an 605 00:30:18,266 --> 00:30:21,733 illustration for the gospel, and for the blessing, of our community, 606 00:30:21,733 --> 00:30:24,900 and the people that were all around them, knew 607 00:30:24,900 --> 00:30:29,266 this, and were celebrating it, and blessing a Ruth. 608 00:30:29,533 --> 00:30:32,599 They said, look, when you get 609 00:30:32,599 --> 00:30:36,066 married, we want you to be like Rachel, and Leah. 610 00:30:36,133 --> 00:30:39,299 Rachel and Leah were the wives of Jacob, and the 611 00:30:39,299 --> 00:30:42,299 babies that they had became the fathers of the 612 00:30:42,299 --> 00:30:44,700 12 tribes of Israel. 613 00:30:44,833 --> 00:30:47,900 And then they said, we want you to 614 00:30:47,900 --> 00:30:51,033 be like Tamar and Judah, 615 00:30:51,033 --> 00:30:54,433 who had twins from a Leverite marriage. 616 00:30:54,900 --> 00:30:57,966 Judah took on Tamar as 617 00:30:57,966 --> 00:31:01,333 the widow of his relative, and 618 00:31:01,333 --> 00:31:03,599 had babies, and became great as well. 619 00:31:03,666 --> 00:31:06,900 So the next part of our story, is another 620 00:31:06,900 --> 00:31:09,533 gift that God gives us marriage, he gives us children. 621 00:31:09,599 --> 00:31:12,966 He provides all these things for us, that we use for his glory, and 622 00:31:12,966 --> 00:31:15,433 another gift is verse 13. 623 00:31:15,566 --> 00:31:18,566 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his 624 00:31:18,566 --> 00:31:22,099 wife, and he went in to her, and the Lord enabled 625 00:31:22,099 --> 00:31:24,566 her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 626 00:31:24,666 --> 00:31:27,900 So, if you remember, way back in November, 627 00:31:27,900 --> 00:31:30,900 when we started, going through the book 628 00:31:30,900 --> 00:31:34,066 of Ruth and telling this story, Naomi 629 00:31:34,099 --> 00:31:37,233 and her two sons and her husband came 630 00:31:37,233 --> 00:31:40,433 to Moab escaping the famine, and her 631 00:31:40,466 --> 00:31:42,700 son named Mahalan married Ruth. 632 00:31:42,733 --> 00:31:45,900 And they were married for 10 years, and 633 00:31:45,900 --> 00:31:50,033 then Mahalan passed away, making Ruth a widow. 634 00:31:50,099 --> 00:31:53,233 But in those 10 years, apparently, they 635 00:31:53,233 --> 00:31:56,366 weren't able to conceive a child. 636 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,400 And if you think about those 10 years, before they even 637 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,533 knew that Mahalan was going to die, I'm 638 00:32:02,533 --> 00:32:05,900 sure them not having a child was a struggle and 639 00:32:05,900 --> 00:32:08,233 a trial and a suffering for them. 640 00:32:08,533 --> 00:32:11,700 But when Boaz and Ruth are 641 00:32:11,700 --> 00:32:14,333 married, they were blessed with a son. 642 00:32:14,533 --> 00:32:17,666 Now, if she would 643 00:32:17,666 --> 00:32:20,666 have just struggled so much with not having if she 644 00:32:20,666 --> 00:32:23,700 would have had a child with Mahalan, none of this, 645 00:32:23,700 --> 00:32:25,933 what we have talked about, would have been able to happen. 646 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,099 She would not have been eligible to be married by a 647 00:32:29,099 --> 00:32:32,166 kinsman redeemer because she would have a son who would 648 00:32:32,166 --> 00:32:34,733 be able to take the inheritance in his name. 649 00:32:34,799 --> 00:32:37,799 So what she thought was a struggle in those 650 00:32:37,799 --> 00:32:39,599 times was a struggle. 651 00:32:39,666 --> 00:32:40,333 It was a trial. 652 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,700 I'm not saying it wasn't, but she didn't see the full picture, 653 00:32:43,700 --> 00:32:46,866 as now God has brought her into a marriage with Boaz 654 00:32:46,866 --> 00:32:48,833 and given her a son. 655 00:32:48,900 --> 00:32:52,066 Sometimes, when we pray, God says, 656 00:32:52,099 --> 00:32:55,500 wait, but he provides, every time, 657 00:32:55,500 --> 00:32:58,733 a gift to us, verses 14 or 15. 658 00:32:59,066 --> 00:33:02,133 Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed is the Lord who has 659 00:33:02,133 --> 00:33:05,233 not left you without a redeemer today, and 660 00:33:05,233 --> 00:33:08,299 may his name become famous in Israel, may 661 00:33:08,299 --> 00:33:11,299 also be to you a restorer of life, and a 662 00:33:11,299 --> 00:33:14,366 sustainer of your old age, for your daughter in law who 663 00:33:14,366 --> 00:33:17,666 loves you, and is better to you than seven sons, 664 00:33:17,666 --> 00:33:19,033 has given birth to him. 665 00:33:19,099 --> 00:33:22,166 The women in the beginning, remember, in chapter 2, 666 00:33:22,166 --> 00:33:25,166 they all are, chapter 1, they all came around Naomi, 667 00:33:25,166 --> 00:33:28,166 and they were mourning with her, and Naomi 668 00:33:28,166 --> 00:33:31,700 said, Don't call me Naomi, which means kindness, call me Mara, 669 00:33:31,700 --> 00:33:32,766 which means bitterness. 670 00:33:32,833 --> 00:33:36,433 I'm bitter, because of all that God has brought me through. 671 00:33:36,500 --> 00:33:38,433 But now at the end of the story. 672 00:33:38,466 --> 00:33:41,599 All the women, all the little biddies, 673 00:33:41,599 --> 00:33:44,666 were coming around her, and praising God, and 674 00:33:44,666 --> 00:33:47,666 blessing God for how he's worked out 675 00:33:47,666 --> 00:33:51,633 this horrible story, into this great story. 676 00:33:51,666 --> 00:33:56,033 All of her physical needs will be taken care of, because 677 00:33:56,066 --> 00:33:59,366 of Boaz, and because now she has this grandson 678 00:33:59,366 --> 00:34:02,533 who's going to grow up and be able to take care of her, and 679 00:34:02,533 --> 00:34:05,666 of his mother, where before they didn't see anyone 680 00:34:05,666 --> 00:34:07,099 that would be able. 681 00:34:07,166 --> 00:34:07,533 There was no hope. 682 00:34:07,566 --> 00:34:10,400 Remember, Naomi told Ruth, Go back and marry somebody else. 683 00:34:10,466 --> 00:34:13,300 There's no hope if you come with me to Bethlehem. 684 00:34:13,333 --> 00:34:16,033 Everything seemed to have been snatched from them. 685 00:34:16,099 --> 00:34:19,266 They're husbands, their sons were taken from them, 686 00:34:19,266 --> 00:34:22,333 but now, in a way that only God can do. 687 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,633 You think that Naomi or Ruth could have dreamed 688 00:34:25,633 --> 00:34:28,766 that this would have been the way that their lives had worked out as 689 00:34:28,766 --> 00:34:32,599 widows in Donkey Springs, Bethlehem of Fratha. 690 00:34:32,699 --> 00:34:35,699 You can't even imagine what God is going 691 00:34:35,699 --> 00:34:39,233 to do and how he's going to work things out in his time and his way. 692 00:34:39,300 --> 00:34:42,733 He has given everything back to them, shaken, 693 00:34:42,733 --> 00:34:46,199 pressed down, and overflowing with his goodness and his glory. 694 00:34:46,266 --> 00:34:48,366 And who gets the glory? 695 00:34:48,433 --> 00:34:52,500 Are we sitting here praising Ruth or Naomi or Boaz? 696 00:34:52,633 --> 00:34:56,833 No, we're looking at the story and turning it back into praise for God. 697 00:34:56,900 --> 00:34:58,033 God gets all the glory. 698 00:34:58,099 --> 00:35:01,099 He gives the gift to Ruth, and Naomi, 699 00:35:01,099 --> 00:35:04,400 and to us, and we turn it back into glory for him. 700 00:35:04,500 --> 00:35:07,500 And the last thing that we can do is 701 00:35:07,500 --> 00:35:10,866 we look at how he turns the suffering and trials into 702 00:35:10,866 --> 00:35:12,599 glory, and in his glory at the end. 703 00:35:12,733 --> 00:35:16,033 as we're by remembering that this life is 704 00:35:16,033 --> 00:35:18,599 tiny compared to eternity. 705 00:35:18,666 --> 00:35:19,933 Look at verse 16. 706 00:35:20,066 --> 00:35:23,099 Didn't Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, 707 00:35:23,099 --> 00:35:24,300 and became his nurse. 708 00:35:24,366 --> 00:35:27,533 The neighbor women gave him a name, 709 00:35:27,566 --> 00:35:30,866 saying, A son has been born to Naomi, so they named him Obed. 710 00:35:31,033 --> 00:35:34,333 He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 711 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,333 Now these are the generations of Perez. 712 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:40,766 To Perez was born Hezron, and to Hezron 713 00:35:40,766 --> 00:35:43,766 was born Ram, and to Ram, Aminadab, and 714 00:35:43,766 --> 00:35:47,400 to Aminadab was born Nashan, and to Solomon, 715 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:50,566 and to Solomon, 716 00:35:50,599 --> 00:35:54,433 and to Boaz, Obed, and to Obed was born Jesse, 717 00:35:54,433 --> 00:35:56,000 and to Jesse, David. 718 00:35:56,066 --> 00:35:59,300 Now, if anyone is planning on having kids or 719 00:35:59,300 --> 00:36:02,466 grandkids in the future, if you need a name, there's a list. 720 00:36:02,533 --> 00:36:06,000 But this is the culmination of 721 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:07,133 the account of Ruth. 722 00:36:07,266 --> 00:36:09,800 This is the end of the story. 723 00:36:09,866 --> 00:36:13,033 And it's the end of a story that only the Bible can 724 00:36:13,033 --> 00:36:16,466 do as it ends the story in a genealogy. 725 00:36:16,500 --> 00:36:18,733 Now, there's many genealogies and scriptures. 726 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,866 There's a lot of them in the Old Testament. 727 00:36:21,900 --> 00:36:25,133 And sometimes, especially when we're starting out in our Bible reading 728 00:36:25,166 --> 00:36:28,166 plans, and we get to these long lists of names, and it kind 729 00:36:28,166 --> 00:36:30,333 of gets overwhelming, because we don't do things like that anymore. 730 00:36:30,366 --> 00:36:33,366 I heard a preacher one day say that there's a good 731 00:36:33,366 --> 00:36:36,666 reason why there's lists of names in the Bible, 732 00:36:36,666 --> 00:36:39,733 it's because God likes names, and he likes to write 733 00:36:39,733 --> 00:36:41,900 them down in books, so praise God for that. 734 00:36:41,966 --> 00:36:45,433 But every single person that you meet, in 735 00:36:45,433 --> 00:36:48,866 this world, in this church, in our families, in our lives, are 736 00:36:48,866 --> 00:36:52,333 all connected, all the way back to the beginning of creation, 737 00:36:52,333 --> 00:36:55,633 by a genealogical tree, and 738 00:36:55,633 --> 00:36:58,800 God is telling the story of history through 739 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:00,000 these lists of names. 740 00:37:00,066 --> 00:37:03,300 Again, all these were just people, just 741 00:37:03,300 --> 00:37:06,966 like us, living their lives, putting one foot in front of the other, making 742 00:37:06,966 --> 00:37:10,866 choices, having things happen to them, and them happening to things sometimes. 743 00:37:10,866 --> 00:37:14,400 But thousands of years ago, in Bethlehem, 744 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,699 of Afratha, God has weaved these 745 00:37:17,699 --> 00:37:21,000 nobodies, these common people, just like us, into 746 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,133 the tapestry of his great story, and 747 00:37:24,133 --> 00:37:27,733 he's showing us that he did that through these genealogies. 748 00:37:27,866 --> 00:37:31,033 Naomi took this child, and the gift 749 00:37:31,033 --> 00:37:34,099 from God, and laid him in her lap, that 750 00:37:34,099 --> 00:37:37,166 all the women were mourning, as we said, with Naomi in 751 00:37:37,166 --> 00:37:40,333 the beginning, now came to celebrate with her this birth of 752 00:37:40,333 --> 00:37:43,033 this grandchild, that she was taking care of. 753 00:37:43,099 --> 00:37:47,066 And then he first gives this little mini genealogy, verse 17. 754 00:37:47,233 --> 00:37:48,866 So they named him Obed. 755 00:37:48,900 --> 00:37:51,900 He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 756 00:37:51,966 --> 00:37:55,033 This very son, this grandson, 757 00:37:55,033 --> 00:37:58,033 who would not have been born outside of the sovereign 758 00:37:58,033 --> 00:38:01,266 hand of God, working providentially in the lives of 759 00:38:01,266 --> 00:38:04,400 these three protagonists of ours, is the 760 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,766 grandfather of King David, the greatest 761 00:38:07,766 --> 00:38:11,533 King of Israel, the man after God's own heart, the 762 00:38:11,533 --> 00:38:13,866 very David, who would slay Goliath. 763 00:38:13,933 --> 00:38:15,966 And we know all the stories of David. 764 00:38:16,033 --> 00:38:19,266 They're still making movies about him and cartoons about him today. 765 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,166 The official genealogy is given after 766 00:38:23,166 --> 00:38:26,766 the mini genealogy, going back to Perez, 767 00:38:26,766 --> 00:38:29,933 who was one of the twins that was born to Judah and 768 00:38:29,966 --> 00:38:32,433 Tamar, from the Leverite marriage. 769 00:38:32,533 --> 00:38:35,900 So they traced the lineage of this 770 00:38:35,900 --> 00:38:39,300 Moabitous widow woman all the way back to 771 00:38:39,300 --> 00:38:41,566 the start of Israel's history. 772 00:38:42,199 --> 00:38:45,433 But it's not the only genealogy that 773 00:38:45,433 --> 00:38:47,366 mentions these names. 774 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:50,466 If we go to the Book of Matthew, the very first 775 00:38:50,466 --> 00:38:52,099 chapter and the very first verse. 776 00:38:52,199 --> 00:38:55,133 It says the record of the geneal. 777 00:38:55,266 --> 00:38:55,933 excuse me, gosh. 778 00:38:57,566 --> 00:39:01,099 The record of the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, 779 00:39:01,099 --> 00:39:04,166 the son of David, the son of Abraham, Abraham was the 780 00:39:04,166 --> 00:39:07,333 father of Isaac, Isaac, the father of Jacob, and 781 00:39:07,333 --> 00:39:10,699 Jacob, the father of Judah, and his brothers, Judah 782 00:39:10,699 --> 00:39:13,833 was the father of Perez, and Zerah by Tamar. 783 00:39:13,833 --> 00:39:17,533 Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron, the father of Ram. 784 00:39:17,533 --> 00:39:20,666 Ram was the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab, 785 00:39:20,666 --> 00:39:23,533 the father of Nashan, and Nashan, the father of Solomon. 786 00:39:23,666 --> 00:39:26,800 Solomon was the father of Boaz by Rahab. 787 00:39:26,833 --> 00:39:29,966 Boaz was the father of Obed, by Ruth, 788 00:39:29,966 --> 00:39:33,033 and Obed, the father of Jesse, and 789 00:39:33,033 --> 00:39:37,133 it goes on and goes on until it ends up with Joseph, 790 00:39:37,166 --> 00:39:39,566 and then Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. 791 00:39:39,599 --> 00:39:43,266 If you notice, there's another name in there, Rahab 792 00:39:43,266 --> 00:39:47,233 was the grandmother 793 00:39:47,233 --> 00:39:50,366 of Boaz, or the mother of Boaz. 794 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,633 But anyway, our protagonists are mentioned here in the genealogy 795 00:39:53,666 --> 00:39:55,766 of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 796 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:58,966 And this is the ultimate glory at 797 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:00,566 the end of the story. 798 00:40:00,599 --> 00:40:02,400 Now, just imagine. 799 00:40:02,466 --> 00:40:05,533 Ruth and Naomi, they've 800 00:40:05,533 --> 00:40:07,333 passed on that all this stuff has happened to him. 801 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:11,300 They thought it was great, but now they're standing before God, the Father. 802 00:40:11,366 --> 00:40:14,766 And they're seeing his glory, and they start to hear what 803 00:40:14,766 --> 00:40:17,933 was going on in real life, what the end of the story would 804 00:40:17,966 --> 00:40:22,166 be, that, hey, Ruth, you Moabite us, you nothing. 805 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:32,400 You're going to be the grandmother to 806 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:34,433 the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my son. 807 00:40:37,500 --> 00:40:40,633 And this is what I mean when you compare the length of 808 00:40:40,633 --> 00:40:43,766 time of our tiny lives to eternity, the 809 00:40:43,766 --> 00:40:47,066 story that God is writing using our lives in 810 00:40:47,066 --> 00:40:48,333 this short little life we have. 811 00:40:48,366 --> 00:40:52,266 This is the same thing that Paul said in Romans 8:18. 812 00:40:52,466 --> 00:40:55,533 He said, for I consider, that the suffering of this present time 813 00:40:55,533 --> 00:40:58,633 are not worthy to be compared with the glory that 814 00:40:58,633 --> 00:40:59,966 is to be revealed to us. 815 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:03,066 And 2 Corinthians 4:17, for 816 00:41:03,066 --> 00:41:06,433 momentary, light affliction is producing 817 00:41:06,433 --> 00:41:09,599 for us, an eternal weight of glory, 818 00:41:09,599 --> 00:41:12,766 far beyond all comparison, while we 819 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:15,800 look not at the things which are seen, but at 820 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:19,400 the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, 821 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,266 but the things which are not seen are eternal. 822 00:41:22,333 --> 00:41:25,800 This genealogy is a fitting conclusion 823 00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:29,033 to the book of Ruth, to the story of Ruth, 824 00:41:29,066 --> 00:41:32,366 and Naomi, and Boaz, because the real 825 00:41:32,366 --> 00:41:35,699 story of Ruth, and Naomi, and Boaz 826 00:41:35,699 --> 00:41:38,566 is an eternal weight of glory. 827 00:41:39,133 --> 00:41:42,733 And I hope that I've done justice to this 828 00:41:42,733 --> 00:41:44,666 story in the last five months. 829 00:41:44,766 --> 00:41:47,833 And that this story has caused us 830 00:41:47,833 --> 00:41:51,000 to look back, to step back from our suffering, 831 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,166 our trials, even the good things in our life, and 832 00:41:54,199 --> 00:41:57,333 remember that the good things are eternal, that 833 00:41:57,333 --> 00:42:00,733 God is using our little lives, including 834 00:42:00,733 --> 00:42:03,866 the immense suffering, for His glory, in ways 835 00:42:03,866 --> 00:42:07,199 that we can't even comprehend, like Ruth and Omi 836 00:42:07,199 --> 00:42:09,966 couldn't even imagine happening to them. 837 00:42:10,033 --> 00:42:13,099 And no matter what we go through in this life, 838 00:42:13,099 --> 00:42:16,233 the end of it is going to be the same as Ruth and 839 00:42:16,233 --> 00:42:19,633 Naomi, seeing the face of God and his full and complete glory 840 00:42:19,633 --> 00:42:23,300 and understanding things, that we have never been able to understand in this life. 841 00:42:23,533 --> 00:42:26,699 But I also want to remind you that that is a 842 00:42:26,699 --> 00:42:29,933 story that only happens for believers. 843 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:33,000 No matter what happens in this life, the end of the believer's life 844 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:36,066 is good and glorious, and a complete 845 00:42:36,066 --> 00:42:37,933 and utter gift that we can't even picture. 846 00:42:38,166 --> 00:42:41,599 But the end of the unbeliever's 847 00:42:41,599 --> 00:42:45,599 life, in complete contrast to our life, is 848 00:42:45,599 --> 00:42:48,599 they can have a life of complete prosperity, and 849 00:42:48,599 --> 00:42:51,833 complete health, everything in this world could provide for them. 850 00:42:52,333 --> 00:42:55,333 And then when they see the 851 00:42:55,333 --> 00:42:58,466 Lord and Savior on that last day, and art judged 852 00:42:58,466 --> 00:43:01,466 by him, no matter what the life provided 853 00:43:01,466 --> 00:43:04,766 for them in good ways, they will get eternal 854 00:43:04,766 --> 00:43:08,666 punishment in hell, without the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 855 00:43:09,199 --> 00:43:12,666 And so we need to remember that, like the author 856 00:43:12,666 --> 00:43:15,833 of Psalm 73, Asaph, when he considered the health of 857 00:43:15,866 --> 00:43:17,833 prosperity of the wicked, he got jealous. 858 00:43:17,966 --> 00:43:22,033 But then he went into the temple and considered their end. 859 00:43:22,099 --> 00:43:25,699 So as we love our people, as 860 00:43:25,699 --> 00:43:28,766 we love our families, our co workers, as we think about 861 00:43:28,766 --> 00:43:32,233 our lives, the suffering that we go through, always 862 00:43:32,233 --> 00:43:35,366 consider the end, and no 863 00:43:35,366 --> 00:43:39,099 matter what way it goes, remember that God will 864 00:43:39,099 --> 00:43:43,400 get glory in ways that we can't even picture or imagine. 865 00:43:43,500 --> 00:43:46,933 Remember that, strengthen yourselves by that, like 866 00:43:46,933 --> 00:43:50,066 Ruth, and Naomi, and Boaz, these normal, everyday 867 00:43:50,066 --> 00:43:53,233 people, and Bethlehem, Ephratha, just like us. 868 00:43:53,366 --> 00:43:54,266 Let's pray. 869 00:43:54,366 --> 00:43:57,366 Heavy Father, we love you and thank you for your great mercy on us. 870 00:43:57,433 --> 00:43:59,900 Every time we were reminded of the gospel. 871 00:43:59,966 --> 00:44:03,400 We were reminded that you deserve all of our praise, 872 00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:07,033 all of your glory, Lord, we 873 00:44:07,033 --> 00:44:10,033 can't even begin to bring you the glory that you deserve. 874 00:44:10,099 --> 00:44:13,633 But I pray that we've made a small effort this morning, 875 00:44:13,633 --> 00:44:16,500 and that you will be praised, bless us as believe, for your glory in Christ's name. 876 00:44:16,566 --> 00:44:17,033 Amen.