Great Texts of The Bible: The Two Redeemers | Ruth 2 | Pastor William Hixson

choices, make good choices.

But guess what?

We don't always make good choices.

And sometimes people

we love

don't make good choices.

The book of Ruth is filled with people

making choices.

Some of those choices were bad choices.

Some of those choices were good choices.

Uh, some of those choices were the best

choices. Some of those choices were not

the best choices. They might not have

been bad choices, but they were not the

best choices. Because in our life,

we are not

just affected by our choices. We're

affected by other people's choices,

right?

Other people make choices we have to

live with

and good or bad or in between.

And we make choices that we have to live

with. And isn't that the book of Ruth? I

hope you've been reading Ruth.

IMC made a choice. His family had to

live with that choice.

So did he.

And uh Naomi had to live with that

choice that her husband made.

And then there's the sovereignty of God

in this whole business.

Who would ever guess? Who would ever

guess that IMC and the two sons after

they married, not before,

would die?

You see, we make choices not knowing

what the future is. That's the

interesting thing about life.

We can't say, well, if I make this

choice, this is going to happen. If I

make that choice, that's going to

happen. We don't know all the what's

going to happen.

But our choices affect us. Our choices

affect others.

And that

we can't control others choices. We can

only control our choices by the grace of

God.

So we should make good choices but we

also have to live with the bad choices

or the imperfect choices of others don't

we? It just is the way it is. The

government in Ohio or in United States

does not always make the choices we

think are the best.

The church we go to doesn't always make

the choices we think is the best.

The family we live with do not always

make

the best choices.

Life is full of choices, isn't it?

And so, how do we navigate that?

How do you how do you navigate

when you don't know the future? And you

don't always we don't always know the

result of our choices. And all of us

have made choices where we wondered, did

I do the right thing?

And so as we come to the book of Ruth,

we understand several things.

Life has its crushing

moments.

A crushing moment when IMC died in Moab.

It was a crushing moment when the two

sons, Chilean Malan, died in Moab.

Crushing moments.

Crushing for the widows, the Moabitete

gals that were married and expected long

life with the two husbands. Crushing for

Naomi most of all.

She was the most vulnerable of all.

But life has its crushing moments. Life

has its crisis moments. This is an

important moment in my life. I need to

make the right choices, especially now.

Crisis moments. Wasn't that the crisis

moment for um

the two gals that Naomi said, put the

alternatives before them. Life has its

critical moments. These are critical.

They may not be crisises, but they're

critical.

and we don't always know them when they

come. When Ruth went out to glean in the

field, she didn't think she was going to

meet her future husband.

That wasn't on her menu.

That wasn't in her perspective. Oh, I'm

going to go glean in the fields and meet

my future husband. That wasn't what she

was for after. She was just trying to

support herself and her older

mother-in-law. Life has its critical

moments. Life has its comforting

moments.

When we see the hand of God in the glove

of our history, that's comforting. Even

if it's hard,

Naomi was a God fearing, God loving,

Godfocused

woman.

We're going to see that about her. She's

bringing God into everything.

Even the pain

I went out full,

but the Lord's brought me back empty.

You see, she was always focused on the

Lord,

in good times and bad.

So, life has its critical moments and

life has its crisis moments and life has

its comforting moments.

What a comfort it was. What a comfort it

was

to Ruth

when Boaz took notice of her,

helped her.

in a comforting moment to Naomi when she

saw how much she brought home

and she saw something she hadn't seen

for a while but it was there all the

time in this

God's brought me back empty but God's

now going to fill things back up

she saw a lot

so life has its comforting moments

doesn't it?

And actually, Ruth comforted Boaz. He

couldn't believe she was interested in

him. He was old enough that he didn't

think she'd be looking at him.

He was kind of attracted to her before

she he met her. You know, he'd already

heard about her.

He was impressed.

And then when he met her, he she he was

more impressed.

And so interesting. We never know what

we're going to get, right? What's the

day going to bring forth? Is this going

to be a day of comfort or a day of

crisis or a day of correction or a day

of uh

uh crushing

difficulty?

And I'm going to tell you something

else. Life has its crowning moment.

More is going on in your daily life and

mine

than we will ever know till the judgment

seat.

Those crowning moments are not always

recognized as crowning moments at the

time. We're just kind of living our

life,

doing making decisions, trying to do the

right thing. Sometimes not. Sometimes

yes. Sometimes we're comforted.

Sometimes we're crushed. And yet God is

working. And it has its crowning

moments.

You can't read the book of Ruth without

knowing more was going on than Naomi and

Ruth or or Boaz

or anyone else who knew at the time.

God was not only solving a national

problem. They needed a king. He was

solving an international problem. The

whole world needs a savior

from the Davidic line

who is qualified

to do it

and identified

by who he is and his right to the throne

as the one who would die for us and be

our kinsman redeemer.

Yeah, I don't know that they knew ever

knew in this life

how much was going on in the little town

of Beth.

You don't have to be in a big city to do

big things and walk away with that.

You can be in a little place and God can

do big things in a little place or a big

place.

He's not limited.

In fact, he kind of likes to work in

little places

that other people think are

insignificant. We sing, "Oh, little town

of Bethlehem." Well, that's right. It

was just a little town. It was a big

place.

Birthplace of David.

Yeah, that was, you know, that was

important.

No one knew how important.

until Jesus was born

and the angels announced it.

Except for the prophet Micah, he knew.

So as we come through our life,

none of us want affliction,

disappointment. None of us want to be

shocked and pained and

raveled.

But we have to put our lives in a larger

context. And I think I mentioned this

last time. Esther's cousin Morai said to

her and what a painful thing she had to

be drafted to be the wife of the emperor

who who really wanted that. He was a you

know she didn't want it. She didn't have

any choice.

Having good looks is not always a good

thing. It can actually backfire on you.

people are interested that wouldn't be.

But Morortei said to Esther, "Who knows

whether you have not come to the kingdom

for such a time as this?

What do you think God stirred up your

life for anyway and put you in this

place?"

And so

God has higher and larger purposes for

our lives than our own comfort and

convenience

or even if our in our own happiness.

I think most of us would kind of like a

24-hour day,

70 year happy.

Life's a whole happy meal. I'm good.

But your life and mine doesn't work that

way.

So in the book of Ruth, decisions were

made, choices were taken,

and there's two widows

that made a choice. But before them,

Naomi made a choice.

I've heard that God has given bread in

the house of bread.

Bethlehem means house of bread.

Bethlehem

house of bread. Oh, there was no bread

in the house of bread. But now they got

bread.

And she felt the need to go home.

There's nothing in Moabites weren't

going to take care of.

So we've got three widows

and but two widows are young and one is

older

and her choice started to be a catalyst

for their choice. Now they have to make

a choice cuz she made a choice. I'm

going back.

And they saw something in her that they

didn't see in their own family. They saw

something in her that they didn't see in

their own country and no doubt in their

husbands that had died.

and in their father-in-law who died.

Maybe it was the way they died

that impressed

them.

We don't know. Or maybe it was the way

they lived.

You don't have to have a long life to

have a meaningful life.

We all know people whose lives been cut

short, we say.

But who are we to say

that cut short? Yes, in one sense. But

if they if they played the part that God

wanted them to play in the drama of

redemption and it was their if if the

work of God went forward more by their

death than bear their life, then they

are winners.

Most of us parents would say, "If my

death would bring about the conversion

or salvation of my children or my

grandchildren faster than my life, I'd

rather just go."

So God was doing something in the lives

of those three men that died and through

them as well as in the lives of the

women that were left behind.

But now decisions need to be made

and um 10 years in Moab is now coming to

a conclusion

and that's where we are. So let's look

at the book of Ruth and we'll get back

into our text if you will. Ruth chapter

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

1 and we'll remind us of where we are.

Naomi makes her decisions.

She starts off the two widows be go to

go with her. They start off and as they

begin on their way home,

Naomi begins to think this I can't I

have to be honest with these two young

women.

Not much of a future for him in

Bethlehem. None of these Jewish guys are

going to marry a Moabitete woman.

My sons did, but that's because we were

in Moab. To come back to Bethlehem and

have that happen, probably not going to

happen.

To her credit, she didn't hide for them

the difficulty they were getting

themselves into.

May we not hide from people what it cost

them to be saved

and to serve the Lord.

Jesus did not.

He was upfront about all of it.

And so verse 11, let's pick it up there

for time sake. Naomi said, "Turn again,

my daughters.

Why will you go with me? Are there yet

any more sons in my womb that they may

be your husbands? Turn again, my

daughters, go your way, or I'm too old

to have a husband."

Basic basically she was saying,

"Nobody's going. I'm too old. I can't

have kids. who

nobody's going to see a benefit

for me.

If I should say I have hope, but maybe

she was right on the edge where she

might have been able to have a child,

but probably not. If I should say I have

hope, if I should have a husband also

tonight and should bear sons, would you

tar for them till they're grown? Think

this through what you're getting

yourself into here.

Would

you refrain from marrying? Nay, my

daughters, for it grieves me much for

your sakes. The hand of the Lord is gone

out against me. She's always talking

about God. Always

even in the heart.

They lifted up their voice and wept

again. And Orpa kissed her

mother-in-law.

That was a goodbye kiss.

But Ruth

clung to her

and she said, "Behold, your

sister-in-law has gone back to her

people and under her gods.

Return thou after thy sister-in-law."

Now, she wasn't recommending idolatry.

She was simply saying, "This is going to

be the result if you go back."

Little choices can influence big

choices.

Sometimes our little choices turn into

bigger choices. Our choices about who we

marry or where we go or who we follow

can determine other choices we make

concerning God.

so Naomi is being totally honest.

And

um

she saw what maybe they didn't see and

she felt obligated to just lay out

everything.

What a costume.

And let's go down to verse 20.

when she came again, she's very

God-focused person. Uh when they when it

when finally we know what happened.

Well, let me read this uh

in verse 15. She said, "Behold, your

sister-in-law has gone back to her

people to her gods. Return thou after

your sister-in-law." And Ruth said,

"Entreat me not to leave thee,

or to turn away from following thee.

For where you go, I'll go. Where you

lodge, I'll lodge. your people be my

people and your God my God. She knew

what it was going to cost and she wanted

it.

I don't know what those 10 years were

like. I don't know how long Ruth was

married to uh her husband, but she knew

I don't want any more Moab bite.

Had enough of that Moabitete stuff and

they're gods.

I'm cutting my wheels this way for

better or worse.

richer or poor till death user.

Now,

good for her. This is an incredible

verse.

In fact, she even says, "Where you die,

I'll die. I'm going to stay where there

I'm going to stay in Bethlehem even

after you die.

I'm not going to live till you die and

go back to Moab. I'm all in.

and there I'll be buried

and the Lord do so to me and also if

anything but death partly in me. She's

bringing the Lord into the conversation.

She's just like Naomi now.

So this is this is an amazing

thing. And then when they get back, it

says in verse 19, so the two of them

went to Bethlehem. I think that's about

60 miles, something like that, on foot.

I depending on which way you go, take

the northern route or cut around across

the Dead Sea and or go around the

bottom.

And the two of them went till they came

to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when

they were come to Bethlehem that all the

city was moved about them.

And they said, "Is this new

a whole city?"

Uh,

this is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

Um,

IC and Naomi must have had a big impact

on that city

and they remembered her after 10 years.

My family moved from Chelikathy. I was a

senior in high school. My sister was a

junior. My brother was a freshman.

Other brother was in grade school.

My parents were raised there in that

city.

And uh I was uh connecting with my

senior class even though I didn't

graduate with them because I we moved

the middle of my senior year. and I've

joined their group and reminded them who

I was

and that our family had left. And

several others say, "Well, we left

senior year, too." And we're in the

group. And another another fellow said,

"Cheliki wasn't the same when the Hixons

moved."

That surprised me. I didn't know I was

that significant.

We weren't exactly the big shots in this

high school

or in the community.

And and I don't know why he said that.

He was probably just

but definitely that people in Bethlehem

notice this family and they noticed

their lives and they noticed when they

left.

We should live so it will be missed.

And that causes us that that how do you

do that? You live for God. You live for

others.

That's that's what you do.

Now the people said, "Is this Naomi?"

Apparently they hadn't heard.

Her husband's dead. Her sons are dead.

Is this Naomi? They said nothing about

Ruth. Nobody said anything about her at

this point.

And she said to them, "Call me not

pleasant." That's what Naomi means. To

call me Mara. That means bitter. Doesn't

mean she was bitter against God. Just

means bitter things happened to her.

Mara is my name now.

For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly

with me.

I went out full

and the Lord has brought me home again

empty.

Why then call me Naomi, seeing the Lord

has testified against me and the

Almighty's afflicted me.

I think Naomi was on some kind of guilt

trip that maybe we did the wrong thing

and God's punishing us. Sometimes when

bad things happen, we think God's

immediately, "Oh, God's spanking me for

something."

Well, maybe. And if he is, you should

take the discipline. But sometimes bad

things happen. It's not because of

anything we did. We're pro. It might be

because we're doing everything right.

Job was doing everything right. There

was nobody like him in the earth. Even

God said that he feared God and skewed

evil. And then the devil started beating

up on him. Killed his 10 kids. Took away

all his wealth.

Turned his wife against him.

You know Job's statement, the Lord gave

the Lord took away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

God knows better for us than we know for

ourselves.

The hard providences are part of life as

well as the

wonderful.

And when his wife got discouraged and

became an agent of Satan to tempt him,

curse God and die, he said, "Shall we

receive good at the hands of God? Shall

we not receive evil?" That word evil

doesn't mean sinful. It means um

painful, difficult, hard.

God's got purposes in everything.

So, this is Naomi, I think, was feeling

somehow there must have been something

that God was dealing with her about.

Either way way, she was she was down.

She was depressed. And she didn't hide

she was depressed.

She wasn't putting a happy face on it.

She wasn't trying to say, "Oh, things

were great." and things were really

great in Moab. But that she didn't do

that.

Now, you might say to me, "Well, I can

relate to that, pastor.

I'm so far down. I have to reach up to

touch bottom."

Hitting rock bottom doesn't mean you got

to stay there.

like Jeremiah in the sistern,

God can get you out

providential. And like Paul, we need to

learn to be abound and to be a base. And

like Jonah, we need to let God be in

charge and not ourselves.

And sometimes God gives hard things to

us because he's got great things to

come.

When God wanted to make David king,

someone said when God wanted to make a

king out of David, he didn't give him a

crown. He gave him Goliath.

Our challenges

have purposes.

And rock bottom is not your end. It's

your beginning

of better things.

Even Confucious said, "Our greatest

glory is not never failing, but in

rising every time we fall."

So, she comes back, but she's honest.

I believe

this was the greatest moment

in Naomi's life

was this particular moment when she came

back and was honest about what was going

on.

And then

how she praised God when she found out

Boaz was involved.

He's a redeemer.

He's one of our nearest kinsmen. I

didn't think of that.

And she saw God turning

things. Ruth thought, "What are you

talking about?

Her lowest moments

became her best moments.

And the baby that was born to Ruth

vindicated her faith and explained her

trials.

That baby produced a king

because the time of Judges, there was no

king in Israel. Everyone did what was

right in their own eyes. That baby Obed

was the grandfather of David

to become king

explains the whole book of the last

chapter.

Remember Jesus was born in Bethlehem,

right? Everybody starting to follow

this?

And David was born in Bethlehem. And his

father was born in Bethlehem. and his

grandfather Omen was born in Bethlehem.

So guess what? God's working. And we

don't live to see all the results of

that working. But that working is still

there.

Why did so and so die? They were so

young. Why didn't God keep them around

longer? Why did this happen? Why did

this tragedy happen? Why did this

disappointment? Why did they have to

have this pain? IMC's name was my God is

king. It's what the whole book is about.

Israel might not have a human king, but

they got a heavenly king and he's

running everything.

So may God guide us here today.

Now there was tremendous choices here in

the book of Ruth

and um

both as we move from Naomi and we move

to Ruth and Boaz,

they both made sacrificial choices that

other people

shunned me

or Paul couldn't do it.

You know,

have you ever made had a choice to make

and you really wanted to do something

and then

you chose not to do it?

When push come to shove, you just

couldn't do it.

That's what happened to Orpaw. And

that's what happened to the guy that we

don't even know his name. We call him

such a one.

such a one. He was in line to be the

redeemer, the kinsman redeemer.

He had first dibs on marrying the widow

and he said, "I I can't do it."

Noral said, "I can't do it."

And so

the these are fascinating things here.

Somehow God's in charge of who does what

and who doesn't do it.

Doesn't Jesus say, "Seek first the

kingdom of God and his righteousness and

all the other things will be added to

you." Make that your ultimate choice.

And that's what Ruth did.

I'm not leaving. Nothing you can say is

going to make me leave. Nothing's going

to stop me.

Many people bounce around with choices,

always looking for something better,

never content to go through the hard

time someplace.

And that's even true in churches.

Charles Haden Spurgeon said to be driven

from church to church as some are is

wretched business.

He wasn't saying you can't change

churches. Sometimes it's God's will to

change churches. But some people always

looking for perfection.

and they're never finding.

They're church hoppers.

I'm not thinking about anybody in

particular what I'm saying.

But Spurgeon said to be driven from

church to church as some are is a

wretched business. To be like others,

changing their view as often as the

moon, happy nowhere, miserable

everywhere, agreeing with nobody, not

even themselves,

is poor business.

There's some people not only changing

churches, they're changing opinions.

They're changing theology. Now, there's

a certain amount of growth in theology.

There's a certain amount of maturing and

understanding, but some people never get

out of that. They're always looking for

something better, better, better,

better, better. And they're never

content with what they got.

They haven't come to that conviction.

This is where God wants me. This is how

God wants me. That's where comfort is.

Is to know you're where God wants you.

Not necessarily something that's

comfortable. I don't think being on

welfare is comfort. Comfort.

Comfortable.

That's what gleeing in the fields were.

That's Ruth and Bo and and Naomi are on

welfare. That's the Old Testament

welfare system.

The pickers go through the field first

and then the gleers come to get what's

left.

It was welfare. Not the kind of welfare

we got where you write a check and

people get rich in the welfare system in

America. Some some of them do by

cheating it.

But you had to go out work. You're

able-bodied. Now Ruth wasn't I mean

Naomi wasn't. So Ruth went and um

but she went out looking for food and

she got a husband.

How about that? And it doesn't say she

was looking for Boaz. She just happened

to be in his field. She didn't have a

clue who Boaz was. Isn't that wonderful?

Isn't God a romantic?

It's This is a wonderful love story.

Ruth couldn't believe it. Boaz is she's

heard about me. He knows about me.

People were talking

and he was impressed before he met her.

Her reputation preceded her presence.

He was smitten. I don't know if he knew

it or not, but he was smitten.

So Ruth made her decision. Where you go,

I'll go. And where you dwell, I'll

dwell. And that's just what uh

John the Apostle and I think it was

Andrew. I can't remember which other was

in John one. Jesus said, "Why are you

following me? What do you want? We want

to know where you dwell.

We want to be with you. I was a Baptist

told you you're the Messiah. We just

want to be with you."

So Luth basically Ruth said, "I'm not

leaving. Where you go, I'll go and all

of that. I'm all in.

Your people will be my people.

That cost her. Your God will be my God.

That will cost her. That's the central

issue.

And she's assuming that Naomi, the older

one, will die before she does. And where

you die, you die. I'll die. And where

you're buried, I'll be buried because

I'm not leaving once you're dead. How

many people have leave a church because

the pastor retires or dies?

Don't anybody ever say this, "Pastor

Hixon's my pastor." Even though he's

dead,

if God wanted you to have Pastor Hixon

longer, he keep around longer. When I'm

dead, don't go around saying stuff like

that. I've heard so many people say

that. So, and so is my pastor. And he's

and you know, they won't go to church

anymore. The pastor's not even there.

And that they're done with church

because she's not there.

your God will be my God. That's the

central issue.

That's a central issue.

And so,

um,

but anyway, she's assuming Naomi will

die before her, and she her loyalty is

more than lifelong.

Nothing but death will separate us.

You know, David had that with Jonathan.

They were all in for each other all the

way through life.

Not in a sexual way or marriage way, of

course, but they're friendship.

So, may God help us to

uh reflect on these things a little bit

today.

Not everybody

deserves

this kind of loyalty.

Not everybody

should have this kind of commitment.

Naomi was one

and Naomi's God is one and Nomi's nation

was one.

Uh think of all life's relationships,

friendship, courtship, partnership,

disciplehip, relationship, citizenship.

A lot of ships,

but not every one of those ships is not

everybody is should be on one of those

ships. There's some people you shouldn't

be friends with. You should be friendly,

but not friends.

So Ruth didn't go around vowing this to

anybody and everybody. She did that to

her mother-in-law who she'd seen go

through the death of her husband and her

sons. And she saw she's got something

I need more of.

So here we are.

Uh

so that's life is decisions. Life is

choices. Make good choices.

Be grateful

for the wounds that push us closer to

God.

Who you worship is the main thing.

Your God's my God.

The main thing is not who you vote for

or who you'll marry or where you'll live

or where you go to church. The main

thing is who's your God.

And our job as Christians is to live in

such a way and to have relationship with

folks in such a way that people say,

"You're God. How about you're not

sometimes that comes at the end.

Remember the two thieves crucified

beside Jesus? One got saved, one didn't.

One said,

"I know you're the Messiah.

I can see it.

I've heard what they're saying,

criticizing you, but I know you got

something I need. Remember me when you

come into your kingdom.

So,

here we go.

We live in times when people seem to be

doing the opposite. They run from any

kind of commitment to anybody. Don't

want marriage anymore. marriages. No, we

don't need that. We don't want that kind

of commitment. That's too much.

We don't want even we don't even be

committed to our parents who loved us

and raised us. They weren't perfect.

They were trying to figure out life when

they had us, but they did one thing we

didn't like. So, we're writing them off.

That one thing. People do that

and they think they're making progress.

Coloring outside the lines is not a sign

of maturity.

God has lines

for marriage, for family, for conduct,

for churches.

Churches change and they think they're

maturing and oh, we'll grow for this.

We'll get more people out. coloring

outside the lines of God's revelation is

not the sign of maturity.

So

that brings us

to what the book of Ruth's all about.

It's not just about something that

happened

3,000 years ago. It did happen 3,000

thousand years before David was born and

reigned. It's not just about something

that happened 3,000

years ago.

It's about something bigger.

And the book of Ruth is a book in the

Bible that's very much connected to

later events.

There's prophecy here. There's genealogy

here. A direct genealogy to David and

then to Jesus. There's a geography here.

Bethlehem.

It's like a foreshadowing in a novel

because of why can you have

foreshadowing in a novel? You have hints

of what's going to happen later because

the author knows the end when he's

writing the beginning. And this Bible

with 66 books and over 40 authors,

it's foreshadowing later things,

namely the cross of Calvary. From the

first book of the Bible, Genesis and the

Old Testament to Malachi, there's

prophecies,

typologies, and foreshadowings, and all

these wonderful things,

genealogies.

And when we have them, we have what?

assurance that it's God that was working

in the events 2,000 years ago when

Jesus, the son of David, the son of

Abraham, that's how Matthew 1:1 brings

Matthew 1:1

it, skips the others,

came, lived, preached, did miracles,

died, and rose again

is authentic

and worthy of our commitment. and he is

our kinsman redeemer.

To be a kinsman redeemer, and we'll see,

you'd see this later in the book of

Ruth. I'm assuming you read it.

You had to be qualified

genetically. You had to be able

financially and you had to be willing

personally.

Not just anybody could be a kinsman

redeemer. You had to be related

and and uh related to the one you were a

kinsman. The kidsman redeemer had

several duties. Uh you're the one if

somebody's poor and they in your family

that and they have to sell their farm,

you buy it back for them. You either

give them a loan or buy it back and give

it to them.

That's a heavy responsibility.

or the kinsman redeemer was also

somebody kills somebody in your family

and it's not manslaughter

it's murder

not an accident

kinsman redeemer was the one that traced

that person down and executed

people remember Jesus is the redeemer

yes he is the redeemer

But there's a lot to being kinsman and

redeemer. Part of it is you pay the

price, get other people out of debt, out

of slavery.

Part of it is you marry into that family

and produce an heir for the one that was

dead to live a right marriage.

And so the book of Ruth is you got to

know a lot of the rest of the Bible

because the Bible would say if a man

dies and he doesn't have a son or he

doesn't have a child, the the man's

brother can marry his widow and raise up

a child for

that gets the brother's land and gets so

he will still be in Israel.

Well, what's he get out of that? Well,

you're you're you're spending all your

effort and You could just inherit the

land if you wanted to. You didn't want

to do that.

That's what such a one did. I can't

afford it. I'd buy the property because

I can get something out of that. I'll I

I'll I'll do that. But Mary and Ruth, I

don't know about that. That's going to

cost me and not get anything out of it.

I'm paying a big price and I just don't

want to do that. Boaz wanted to.

Jesus wanted to. That's why he became a

human being. He becomes one of us so he

can be our kins and redeemer. And boy,

he's able. He's got the He's got the He

is God. He's the God man. He can afford

it. The precious blood of Christ

and he's committed.

When we look at the word redeem in the

New Testament and it's called kinsman,

translated in the book of Ruth, kinsman

means the kinsman redeemer.

When we look at redeem in the New

Testament, as we come to the Lord's

table, you've heard me say this before.

There's different words, Greek words and

Hebrew words that are used for this word

redeem.

Very quickly, agurado.

It comes to the word agora, which is the

marketplace.

Agurado means to buy in the agora

means to buy, to purchase.

It's used in the Bible of buying a

field, buying food, buying linen, buying

spices, buying meat, buying ground,

buying oxen, buying a garment, buying a

sword.

It's used in Revelation of the of the

Antichrist. And no man can buy or sell

unless you got the mark of the beast in

the tribulation. That's agarza. But it's

used, that same word is used

theologically. You are bought with a

price. Therefore glorify God in your

body. 1 Corinthians 6:20 and 7:23 and 2

1 Corinthians 6:20 2 Peter 2:1

Peter 2:1 of the false teachers they

denied the Lord the B

talking about the cross. In Revelation

Revelation 5:9

5:9 it talks redeemed us and speaking of

Jesus he redeemed us to God by his blood

by his death. That's a

you see he's our kinsman redeemer and he

paid the ultimate price for us.

Ex agarzo as a prefix e in front of

agaradozo. It's just an intensified form

of agurado. Galatians 3:13 Christ has

Galatians 3:13

redeemed us from the curse of the law.

In Galatians 4:5 to redeem those that

Galatians 4:5

were under the law.

So what a precious thing that's the word

also means to redeem the time because

the days are evil. Buy it up.

And then the third Greek word in the New

Testament is lutro. It means to loose.

You set some body free, a slave or

something like that, or you loose the

the uh rope that's tying up the animal.

And it's often translated redeemed.

First Peter 1:18, you were not redeemed

1 Peter 1:18

as silver and gold from your vain manner

of life, but the precious blood of

Christ as a lamb without blemish and

without spot. You were tied up. I was

tied up. God, the Lord Jesus paid the

price. Or this one, uh, Lord Jesus gave

his life a ransom for many.

Or Hebrews 9:12, he obtained eternal

Hebrews 9:12

redemption for us. It's all that

particular word.

Now, in the Hebrew, there's different

words. There's pada. That means it's a

term for buying. Uh it's a major word

for buying. But the one in Ruth is go

ga.

It's redeem. It's the kinsman redeemer.

It's the one who uh does all these

things for his family.

They're sold into slavery or overcome

with debt. He takes care of it. If

someone is murdered, he takes care of

it. And uh if someone's a widow, he

marries them and takes care of them

at cost to himself.

That's the word used in Job

Job 19:25

19:25. I know

my redeemer.

That's the word used in Psalm 19:14.

Psalms 19:14

my strength

and my redeemer.

God is our strength. He is our redeemer.

The God man came and died for us and

rose again. You there's a love story.

It's not just in Ruth.

In the boo book of Ruth is about meeting

the redeemer, marrying the redeemer, and

multiplying the redeemer. And when we

get saved, God brings the story on and

things move forward just like it did

3,000

years

ago.

Um,

so I got one more thing to say. Let's

turn to the last chapter of the book of

Ruth.

Again, I'm assuming familiarity with

this

In the book of Ruth, there's two

redeemers.

Both of them represent Jesus.

And there's two that are redeemed.

Ruth, the gentile, the non-Jewish

person, represents the church of Jesus

Christ. She is redeemed by Boaz. Boaz is

her redeemer.

Boaz was willing. He was able. And he

did it.

And so that's a precious thing. Boaz is

Ruth's redeemer. Such a one wouldn't do

it. Boaz did. And he married her and all

the rest. And then Boaz and Ruth had a

child called Oed.

Little Obed, short for Obadiah.

Obed is a dimminitive term for servant.

Obed is Naomi's redeemer.

The little baby born to

Boaz and Ruth is going to be the one

that takes care of Naomi in her old age.

She's his

she he is her excuse me social security

for the future.

Um

you know there's two programs in the

Bible. There's a program of Israel.

There's program for the church.

The book of Ro Ruth anticipates both of

these.

I'm not a replacement theology guy.

I believe I don't believe the church uh

is now the final thing. I believe God's

got a purpose for Israel. I believe he's

got a purpose for the church. Two

different programs. One starting in

Genesis 12 with Abraham and one starting

in Acts two with Pentecost.

Um,

and the Lord Jesus is behind them both

as Boaz was.

He's the one that redeemed Ruth

and he and Ruth produced.

And Obed

is going to be

Naomi's redeemer in her old age.

Obed produce Jesse and Jesse did not.

Hope this is helpful to you. And

as we come to the

table of the Lord,

this is the romance of redemption is

what one person titled the book of Ruth.

God is a romantic

because God is love.

God is also holy.

There's a price for God to pay

a relationship.

God not not only able,

he was willing.

Now we come to the Lord's supper. As we

take the bread and the cup,

we are celebrating our redeemer.

And if you're not yet a Christian, may

God bring you to saving faith in Jesus

Christ for you. Trust him to do for you

what you cannot do for yourself.

One who paid for your sins, took your

hell that you could have his heaven.

rose again and is coming.

Father, we thank you for our blessed

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Whole Bible's about him.

Even the events that occurred before he

was born

occur because they're some way

picturing, foreshadowing, and

uh prophesying

either in word or in pictures.

is coming.

So as we take the bread and we take the

cup, we thank you for our savior. We

look back to his death and look forward

to his coming.

And if anyone

that hears my voice today, has heard

what we've talked about as they may they

get into the book of Ruth and be

overcome with the romance of redemption,

the love of God for their souls.

in Jesus name. Amen.

Would

you thank God

as we go from this place

loving you