Is God Your Highest Good? (Ruth 1)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.719 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land 2 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:10.589 and a man of Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn in the country of MOAB, 3 00:00:11.710 --> 00:00:15.589 he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man 4 00:00:15.710 --> 00:00:20.269 was a Lamelek, the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of 5 00:00:20.390 --> 00:00:25.699 his two sons were Maelon and Killean. They were ephortites from Bethlehem and Judah. 6 00:00:26.859 --> 00:00:31.980 They went into the country of Moab and remained there, but Alimelech, 7 00:00:32.100 --> 00:00:36.210 the husband, and Naomi died and she was left with her two sons. 8 00:00:37.609 --> 00:00:40.890 These took moabite wives. The name of the one was or paw and the 9 00:00:40.929 --> 00:00:45.649 name of the other was ruth. They lived there about ten years and both 10 00:00:45.729 --> 00:00:50.439 Maelon and Killean died, so that the woman was left without her two sons 11 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:55.240 and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters in law to returned from 12 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:59.439 the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that 13 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:03.909 the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So she set out 14 00:01:03.909 --> 00:01:07.629 from the place where she was with her two daughters in law, and they 15 00:01:07.709 --> 00:01:11.750 went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said 16 00:01:11.750 --> 00:01:17.230 to her two daughters in law, go, return each of you to her 17 00:01:17.310 --> 00:01:19.579 mother's house. May the lord deal kindly of you, as you have dealt 18 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:25.019 with the dead and with me. The Lord Grant that you may find rest, 19 00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:29.579 each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them 20 00:01:29.620 --> 00:01:33.129 and they lifted up their voices and wept and they said to her, no, 21 00:01:33.450 --> 00:01:37.810 we will return with you to your people. But namely said, turn 22 00:01:37.890 --> 00:01:41.569 back my daughter's. Why will you go with me? How I yet sons 23 00:01:41.650 --> 00:01:44.409 of my womb, that, mad, that they may become your husband's. 24 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:48.079 Turn back my daughter's. Go your way, for I am too old to 25 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:52.560 have a husband. If I should say that I have hope, even if 26 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:56.519 I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore 27 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:00.400 wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from Mary and know my 28 00:02:00.430 --> 00:02:05.989 daughters for a succeedingly bitter for me, for your sake, that the hand 29 00:02:06.109 --> 00:02:09.150 of the Lord has gone out against me? Then they lift it up their 30 00:02:09.189 --> 00:02:13.550 voices and wept again, and or Paul Kissed her mother in Law, but 31 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:17.020 Ruth Clung to her and she said, see, your sister in law has 32 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:22.419 gone back to her people. And to her God's return after your sister in 33 00:02:22.419 --> 00:02:28.060 law. But Ruth said, do not urge me to leave you, which 34 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.729 return from following you, for where you go, I will go, and 35 00:02:30.770 --> 00:02:34.770 where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, 36 00:02:34.849 --> 00:02:38.569 and your God my God. Where you die, I will die and there 37 00:02:38.610 --> 00:02:43.889 I'll be buried. May The Lord do so to me, and more also, 38 00:02:44.169 --> 00:02:47.439 if anything but death parts me from you. And when they only saw 39 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:52.639 that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. So 40 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:55.120 the two of them went on until they came to Bafflehem. And when they 41 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:59.949 came to Bafflehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the 42 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:04.909 women said, is this Naomi? She said to them, do not call 43 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:08.189 me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty hastelt very bitterly with me. 44 00:03:09.150 --> 00:03:14.099 I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why 45 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:17.860 Call Me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought 46 00:03:17.939 --> 00:03:23.740 calamity upon me? So nami returned and ruth them all bide. Her daughter 47 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:28.009 in law with her, returned from the country of Moab and they came to 48 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:34.650 Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. May God bless the reading of his 49 00:03:34.889 --> 00:04:06.229 word he may be seated. What is our highest good in this life? 50 00:04:09.750 --> 00:04:15.339 Is it God and God alone, or is it someone or something else? 51 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:25.850 That's one of the great questions of life, but it's also a question that's 52 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:30.850 at the heart of the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth Presses us 53 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:34.889 about what we treasure in this life, what we value in this life, 54 00:04:35.209 --> 00:04:43.079 what motivates us in this life. It presses us about what is our highest 55 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:50.639 good in this life. Is it God in God alone? And do we 56 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:56.310 love the Lord? If that's the case, if he is our highest good, 57 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:03.910 do we love him, even if that means are suffering and our loss? 58 00:05:05.069 --> 00:05:12.500 Do we love him above all else? Now, that's a very easy 59 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:19.180 for us, where we confess readily and gloriously that our chief end is to 60 00:05:19.259 --> 00:05:26.209 glorify God and to enjoy him forever. But what happens? What happens, 61 00:05:26.329 --> 00:05:33.290 say, for instance, what if you struggle to provide food for your family? 62 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:42.800 What if you could provide food for your family, but the tradeoff would 63 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:48.839 be that the Lord God was no longer your highest good, that you no 64 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:59.430 longer be worshiping? Yeah, what if you were alone and shaken to the 65 00:05:59.550 --> 00:06:03.379 core. What if you wanted to do the right thing, which you found 66 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:10.660 life so hard and you found yourself so beaten down that you often were despairing? 67 00:06:13.779 --> 00:06:17.220 And what if you were called to leave everything you had ever known, 68 00:06:18.490 --> 00:06:24.170 your family, your home, everything you had ever know? What we if 69 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:31.170 you were called to leave that all behind? Well, the book of Ruth 70 00:06:31.490 --> 00:06:41.199 gives us those three scenarios with the historical incorporate figures of a Limeilec, Naomi 71 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:49.709 and root. They are each confronted with the question is God my highest good? 72 00:06:50.589 --> 00:06:57.110 Is God in God alone my highest good in this life, or is 73 00:06:57.149 --> 00:07:03.660 it someone or something else? What we'll see in this opening chapter is that 74 00:07:03.819 --> 00:07:12.819 a Limelec chooses something else and the result is death. But the Lord shows 75 00:07:12.899 --> 00:07:16.970 his kindness, his covenant mercy to Naomi and to root. He works in 76 00:07:17.129 --> 00:07:23.009 their hearts that they might believe, that they might know that he alone is 77 00:07:23.209 --> 00:07:30.920 their highest good, and the result is life. But this account here in 78 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:38.319 the word of God first story is also our story and it challenges us. 79 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:45.350 Is God and God alone our highest good, or is it someone else? 80 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:53.790 But we'll see, the book of Ruth points us to know that Jesus Christ 81 00:07:54.110 --> 00:08:00.819 is our highest good, in that in having him we have every good thing 82 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:07.259 in this life and then the one to come. Well, first there is 83 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:13.490 a LIMILEC, and to understand that Limilec we need to understand the historical setting 84 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:16.769 of the book of Rout now, the book of route takes place in the 85 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:24.050 period when the judges ruled. Now that was approximately from about twelve fifty BC 86 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:31.519 to about Zen fifty BC. It was after the exodus from Egypt and before 87 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:37.840 the establishment of the monarchy in Israel. And what marks this period? We're 88 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:43.389 told over and over the refrain, is everyone did what was right in their 89 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:48.350 own eyes. That's what was going on in Israel. Everyone was doing what 90 00:08:48.669 --> 00:08:54.070 was right in their own eyes. And so what Israel would do this, 91 00:08:54.389 --> 00:09:00.379 when they would do was right in their own eyes, the Lord would chastise 92 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:07.139 them for their sin, and one of the ways that he would chastise them 93 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:16.009 is that he would bring famine to the promised land, and that's unthinkable certain 94 00:09:16.009 --> 00:09:20.330 respects. The Promised Land was that land overflowing with milk and honey. But 95 00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:22.649 in the people sin during the period of judges, when they were doing that 96 00:09:22.850 --> 00:09:30.399 was right in their own eyes, the Lord would chastise them with famine. 97 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:35.679 And that's what's occurring at this point as the book opens. There's famine in 98 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:41.190 the land. There's famine in Bethlehem, which literally means House of bread. 99 00:09:41.230 --> 00:09:46.350 The House of bread has no bread. And so, in Israelite limelect decides 100 00:09:46.549 --> 00:09:52.620 to do what is right in his own eyes. He takes his family across 101 00:09:52.779 --> 00:10:00.820 the Jordan. He takes it, his family to Moab to live. Now 102 00:10:01.019 --> 00:10:07.450 we move around all the time, I mean it's it's for us. Relocation 103 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:15.169 is is a fact of modern life. But this, this was no innocent 104 00:10:15.289 --> 00:10:18.409 thing. In the old covenant, this was no innocent thing. Here, 105 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:24.480 during the period of the judges, the worship of the Living God, according 106 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:30.120 to his law, was bound to the land at that time. This is 107 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:33.240 where the Ark of the Covenant was, this is where you were to worship 108 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:39.909 the Lord, this is where the blessing was found, and to take your 109 00:10:39.149 --> 00:10:46.190 family away from that worship was a very sinful thing. But even worse, 110 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:56.779 to take your family to the despicable land of MOAB is it's hard to comprehend. 111 00:10:56.860 --> 00:11:05.330 For us, Moab worshiped idols, detestable. We're tolding where the God, 112 00:11:05.370 --> 00:11:11.929 we're told in kings. Second King, they worshiped the testable idols. 113 00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:16.610 They worshiped the God keimosh. Do you know how you would appease Kimosh? 114 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:28.080 You would sacrifice your children to get him to act. That's the pagan nature 115 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:33.350 of the religion in Moab. Second Kings, three twenty seven. The King 116 00:11:33.429 --> 00:11:39.149 of Moab, wanting to get his the gods of Moab to act, sacrifices 117 00:11:39.269 --> 00:11:46.870 his eldest son. Moab was no place for any Israelite to be instant there. 118 00:11:46.909 --> 00:11:50.379 In fact, we see in the book of Deuteron, and we've seen 119 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:56.019 the book the deterronomy, if you married a Moabite a wife, and then 120 00:11:56.139 --> 00:12:01.970 the context, I believe it's a pagan worship Moabite wife. If you marry 121 00:12:01.809 --> 00:12:05.490 a mobite wife, you were prohibited from entering the Assembly of the Lord for 122 00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:13.250 ten generations, for four hundred years, you could not enter the assembly of 123 00:12:13.370 --> 00:12:18.960 the Lord to worship the Lord. That's how the testable that MOAB was. 124 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:24.000 But here's what makes it so doubly sad. Moab was related to Israel. 125 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:31.909 Moab was the son of lot, but you remember what happened in the exodus, 126 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:39.909 and the Exodus Moab would not help Israel's matter of fact, moabs King 127 00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:48.059 Bailick. He hires Balem to curse Israel, but the lord boils that plan 128 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:56.460 and rather the Lord has balem blessed Israel. We all know that. But 129 00:12:56.659 --> 00:13:03.529 you recall what happens next in the narrative there in numbers, the Israelites Start 130 00:13:03.690 --> 00:13:13.639 Intermixing with the MOABITES, they start committing a dollar adult tree and the Lord 131 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:22.759 brings immediate judgment of a plague in which twenty four thousand Israelites are killed. 132 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:30.389 So we have to understand this in this opening verses of this book. What 133 00:13:30.669 --> 00:13:37.909 is going on here? This is no innocent thing. When a little elect 134 00:13:37.070 --> 00:13:45.740 leaves the land and he goes to moat and he is making a clear choice. 135 00:13:46.179 --> 00:13:50.259 What is my highest good in this life? And it's not the Lord 136 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:52.620 God alone. What is my highest good in the in this life? It's 137 00:13:52.659 --> 00:13:56.970 not worshiping the Lord God according to his work. What is my highest good 138 00:13:58.129 --> 00:14:03.129 in this life? It's putting food on the table, even if that means 139 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:09.809 I have to turn my back upon the Lord. And that's what he does. 140 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:20.720 He takes his family there and he dies and then we're told, we're 141 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:24.470 told the text, that his widow Naomi and his two sons. His two 142 00:14:24.509 --> 00:14:31.070 sons ends up marrying two moabite women, or Pout, and then we're told 143 00:14:33.830 --> 00:14:41.899 that his two sons die. And so that brings us then to Nayomi into 144 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:50.019 this question. What is Naomi's highest good in this life? Is it God 145 00:14:50.700 --> 00:15:00.610 and is it God alone? Now she goes with her husband. But here 146 00:15:00.970 --> 00:15:07.759 note in the text, she remains in this despicable land ten years after her 147 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:16.600 husband dies. But then her son's die and she's there. But the Lord 148 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:22.870 is kind to her. She hears a report, she hears good news. 149 00:15:24.429 --> 00:15:31.470 The Lord is kind to her, he extends his Covenant Mercy to her. 150 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:41.179 She hears this report and then she decides to return to Bethlehem. Now that 151 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:46.940 theme of returning marks the first chapter. I don't know if you picked it 152 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:52.570 up while I we read the text, but note in our in our passage, 153 00:15:52.809 --> 00:15:56.649 the return theme. So first six, then she arose with her daughters 154 00:15:56.690 --> 00:16:03.480 in law to return from the land of MOAB. For seven, they want 155 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:11.360 on their way to return to the land of Judah. Verse Eight. But 156 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:19.590 Naomi said to her daughter's in law, go return to your mother's house first 157 00:16:19.590 --> 00:16:26.350 ten, and they said to her know we will return with you to your 158 00:16:26.429 --> 00:16:33.539 people. First Eleven, Naomi said turn back or return. First Twelve, 159 00:16:34.539 --> 00:16:41.539 the only said turn back, return. First Fifteen, Naomi said to ruth, 160 00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:48.730 return after your sister in law. First Sixteen, but Ruth said the 161 00:16:48.769 --> 00:16:55.570 Naomi, do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. 162 00:16:56.169 --> 00:17:03.400 First Twenty one, Naomi spoke of her return, saying the Lord has 163 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:14.119 brought me back. And then first twenty two. So Naomi returned and rout 164 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:21.509 the mobile with her. In the Hebrew it's all the same word. It's 165 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:27.630 comes from the Hebrew Word Root Shoe. Do you know what that word and 166 00:17:27.710 --> 00:17:37.420 the Old Testament is used for? It's the primary word for repentance. It's 167 00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:45.769 the primary word using use for turning away from sin and turning to the Lord 168 00:17:45.809 --> 00:17:52.049 or her husband had turned away from the Lord. She had gone with him. 169 00:17:52.890 --> 00:17:56.849 She had been there for ten years. But then the report comes to 170 00:17:56.930 --> 00:18:02.720 her, the good news comes to her, and her heart is changed and 171 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:07.880 now she's repenting, she's turning, she's turning back to the Lord, God 172 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:12.630 and the old in the old covenant. At this point, a turning towards 173 00:18:12.710 --> 00:18:19.950 the land is a turning towards God she's turning from these pagan gods of Moab 174 00:18:22.109 --> 00:18:26.740 and she's turning back to Lord. Her heart has been changed. Now, 175 00:18:26.819 --> 00:18:37.500 please understand, doesn't mean she's not hurt. Doesn't mean she's not devastated by 176 00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:44.089 the loss of her husband and her two sons. She went away with them, 177 00:18:44.609 --> 00:18:48.170 she went away full, she had them. She came back without them. 178 00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:56.559 She's empty in that sense. This path has been hard, it's been 179 00:18:56.680 --> 00:19:03.359 bitter, but her ultimate testimony, and we can see this at the end 180 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:10.069 of chapter two, her ultimate testimony, is that the Lord God has been 181 00:19:10.269 --> 00:19:15.309 kind to her, merciful to her. That's her old them in testimony. 182 00:19:17.029 --> 00:19:22.750 And you can see in the chapter itself this repentance, in this change of 183 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:27.140 heart, in that something's happening with her, this change. You can see 184 00:19:27.180 --> 00:19:32.700 it in first ate, in first a. She says to her daughters in 185 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:36.579 law, may the lord deal kindly of you, as you have dealt with 186 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:38.289 the dead and with me. Friends, you want cheese. What's going on 187 00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:47.769 there? Sometimes we miss it. She's praying for them. What we're reading 188 00:19:47.890 --> 00:19:53.720 there is a declaration of prayer. She is praying for her daughters in law. 189 00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:59.680 That's what's going on there. She's praying that the lord may deal kindly 190 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:04.319 with with them. She's praying that her daughter's law might know this covenant God 191 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:12.190 who is faithful to his promises. That's what she's praying for there. Well, 192 00:20:15.029 --> 00:20:21.859 that brings us now to ruth. And Ruth is the widow of Malon. 193 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:27.700 We know from the second chapter that her parents are still living. So 194 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:33.700 Ruth could have stayed in the land of Moab, she could have gone back 195 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:40.809 to her parents. She's probably still in her s. She could have found 196 00:20:40.849 --> 00:20:48.609 a husband and she could have had her wife in Moab. And but she 197 00:20:48.849 --> 00:20:56.839 determines to go with Naomi, as does or pot. Now they're on their 198 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:03.039 way and but at a certain point, perhaps knowing how hard this is going 199 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:12.309 to be, their widows from Moab, of going to Israel, Naomi says 200 00:21:12.470 --> 00:21:18.539 to them go return to your mother's house. And then she had and then 201 00:21:18.579 --> 00:21:25.740 there's that declaration there. Well, it's hard for us to grasp at times, 202 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:32.099 but India, in the old covenant, here in the Land of Israel, 203 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:40.930 the inheritance was tied to the mail. These three are returning. There's 204 00:21:40.970 --> 00:21:45.650 no males, there's no husbands and no signs and no seed. This is 205 00:21:45.809 --> 00:21:56.599 going to be a very hard life. Potentially can be a very hard wife. 206 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:07.630 And Naomi is not only praying that they would know the Lord's kindness, 207 00:22:07.670 --> 00:22:10.990 of the Lord would bless them, these daughters in law, but she's also 208 00:22:11.269 --> 00:22:15.779 praying that they would know the costliness of the matter, the suffering involved. 209 00:22:18.539 --> 00:22:25.299 You See, if you go back to MOAB, it is probably it's not 210 00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:29.500 going to be this hard. You're still young, you still have your life 211 00:22:29.579 --> 00:22:32.450 in front of you, you can still find a husband, you can still 212 00:22:32.450 --> 00:22:36.289 have a family, you can still be I'm not worried about putting food on 213 00:22:36.410 --> 00:22:41.130 your table every night. You'll find this husband and he'll be able to provide 214 00:22:41.210 --> 00:22:48.759 for you in that way. But what is left unsaid here? But the 215 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:53.880 text makes the the the whole context and what's going on in this book makes 216 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:59.190 it clear to us. What is left unset is the heart of the matter, 217 00:23:00.390 --> 00:23:03.069 and the heart of the matter is you can have all these things, 218 00:23:04.069 --> 00:23:14.859 but you will not have the living God of Israel. So what will they 219 00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:22.980 do? Will they choose the comfort of Moab and having all these things that 220 00:23:22.099 --> 00:23:27.769 will provide for them earthly security, or will they be willing to suffer loss 221 00:23:27.890 --> 00:23:33.089 for the god of Israel, because he and he alone is now their highest 222 00:23:33.170 --> 00:23:45.279 good. That's the question. Or Paul decides to go back, and what 223 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:51.519 are we told? We're told that she can only returned to the land, 224 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:57.390 but she returned to her gods. That's no innocent statement in that text. 225 00:23:59.029 --> 00:24:03.710 That tells you everything you need to know what's going on here. She is 226 00:24:03.829 --> 00:24:10.299 returning to the Gods of MOAB. The costliness of the matters too much for 227 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:19.619 her. She wants something else as her highest good. But Not Ruth Rufe's 228 00:24:19.700 --> 00:24:26.450 heart has been changed. She is not going anywhere. She's willing to suffer 229 00:24:26.569 --> 00:24:33.329 the loss. She clings to Naomi and she says to her she's clinging to 230 00:24:33.369 --> 00:24:38.319 her. Your God will be my God. She's using the language of the 231 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:45.519 Covenant and then clinging to Naomi, this Israelite who's returning. She is clinging 232 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:55.509 to God himself. That's what's going on here. She's been changed. The 233 00:24:55.670 --> 00:25:00.029 God of Israel is now her God, and even at that means that she 234 00:25:00.869 --> 00:25:06.710 will have an existence when she's without husband and which she's without family, even 235 00:25:06.750 --> 00:25:10.980 if it means that she will be a stranger in the land and a moabite 236 00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:18.940 widow in this land. She is willing to suffer that cost because her heart 237 00:25:18.980 --> 00:25:34.130 has been changed. God, and God alone is her highest good. Well, 238 00:25:34.170 --> 00:25:41.119 I said at the beginning of the sermon that they were historical figures. 239 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:48.400 This story is true, this took place, it's all true, but they're 240 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:56.750 also corporate figures. So when we read this account, we have to understand 241 00:25:56.589 --> 00:26:07.339 that these individuals are representing something larger than themselves. You have a LIMOLEC he 242 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:12.140 is Israel an apostacy. He does not want to serve the Lord, he 243 00:26:12.299 --> 00:26:15.700 is not faithful to the law of God, he will not give up his 244 00:26:15.859 --> 00:26:22.410 life for the Lord. He desires something else and he is willing to remove 245 00:26:22.609 --> 00:26:27.849 his family from the prescribed worship of the Lord, because that is what's more 246 00:26:27.890 --> 00:26:33.319 important to Israel. Will follow after the bails, and it's a posse because 247 00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:37.039 it believes the baals pro bide more earthly good for him, for them, 248 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:45.839 than the Lord God. Naomi, Naomi is Israel in repentance, short of 249 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:51.950 the coming day of the Lord. She returns, she repents, but she 250 00:26:52.150 --> 00:27:00.660 struggles to understand. And then there is ruth. Ruth speaks of that new 251 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:06.619 day, that coming day, when the heart is completely set upon the Lord 252 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:11.140 as one's good. She is willing to lead behind father and mother, sister 253 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:15.890 and brother. She is willing to leave behind all the old things because nothing 254 00:27:17.009 --> 00:27:23.930 compares to the goodness found in the Lord. She is representative of the Gospel 255 00:27:25.049 --> 00:27:30.960 going to the gentiles. She is the first fruit of the Gospel going to 256 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:34.039 the gentiles. And what are we told about that day in the new testment? 257 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:37.319 What Does the Apostle Paul tells us? Tell us in the book of 258 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:41.440 Latian, it's about that new day. It will be a day in which 259 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:48.750 there is neither male or female wins inheritance is not tied to the male. 260 00:27:48.950 --> 00:27:53.630 In this new day, it will be a day in which there is neither 261 00:27:53.670 --> 00:28:03.180 June nor gentile. It's not these prohibitions upon the MOBITES. It is a 262 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:07.380 day, we are told, in which all are one in Jesus Christ. 263 00:28:10.220 --> 00:28:12.329 And that's what the Gospel, or that's what the book of Ruth the Good 264 00:28:12.410 --> 00:28:17.490 News, the Gospel of the book of Ruth's pointing to the coming day of 265 00:28:17.650 --> 00:28:23.329 Jesus Christ. Ruth Hope. Our hope is found in Jesus Christ, the 266 00:28:23.410 --> 00:28:30.240 Promised Messiah, David Seed, and yet David's Lord and like Ruth, in 267 00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:37.119 the words of Paul from Ephesians Chapter Two. We were gentile, separated from 268 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:42.710 Christ, alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise. 269 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:48.230 We were without hope, without God in this world. But now in 270 00:28:48.349 --> 00:28:52.269 Jesus Christ, through his blood, we who are once far off, have 271 00:28:52.470 --> 00:28:56.819 been brought near through Jesus Christ, to the gift of his spirit. We 272 00:28:56.900 --> 00:29:00.900 have access to the father, so that we're no longer we're told in the 273 00:29:00.940 --> 00:29:06.420 book of Ephesians, of Phesians too, that were no longer strangngers and aliens, 274 00:29:07.859 --> 00:29:12.930 but fellow citizens with the saints, in members of the household of God. 275 00:29:15.369 --> 00:29:23.480 And how is this the case? It's because God has been kind to 276 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:32.720 us, and we have heard the report, and we have heard the report 277 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:40.869 about what Jesus Christ has done for us. We are sinners. Jesus Christ 278 00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:52.789 has done everything we have not. Every day we struggle with what is our 279 00:29:52.829 --> 00:30:00.539 highest good. Every day we struggle, even though we've been set free from 280 00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:03.579 the tyranny of sin. Every day we struggle with is God, and God 281 00:30:03.700 --> 00:30:14.329 alone, our highest good, not Jesus Christ. He's tempted in the Wilderness, 282 00:30:15.250 --> 00:30:25.559 forty days without food. What does he say? The Satan man does 283 00:30:25.640 --> 00:30:29.960 not live by bread alone, but by every word the proceeds from the mouth 284 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:37.630 of God. Jesus Christ makes it his meat and drink to do the will 285 00:30:37.670 --> 00:30:44.309 of the Father in heaven. And yet he takes our sin, we who 286 00:30:44.390 --> 00:30:48.910 have failed, we have transgressed the law. He takes our sin and nails 287 00:30:48.950 --> 00:30:55.019 it to the tree that we might be cleansed. He has risen from the 288 00:30:55.099 --> 00:31:03.380 dead and he's ascended upon high, where he intercedes for us, and we 289 00:31:03.460 --> 00:31:07.410 are to know that's we're joined to him by faith and united to him in 290 00:31:07.450 --> 00:31:14.930 the heavenly places. We have been blessed with every good thing. We lack 291 00:31:15.170 --> 00:31:19.200 nothing, and that's the wonderful thing. Here now we don't have time to 292 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:22.880 go on the book of roof and of our we're with you the next week. 293 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:29.200 I could show you from chapter two. For the one who comes to 294 00:31:29.319 --> 00:31:34.029 an end of themselves, who knows that God and God alone is their highest 295 00:31:34.029 --> 00:31:45.470 good, there's blessing. The harvest comes. It's actually so incredible. The 296 00:31:45.509 --> 00:31:48.779 word of God has so incredible. I mean, do you know what's taking 297 00:31:48.900 --> 00:31:53.380 place here? When you move from the barley harvest, from the start to 298 00:31:53.460 --> 00:32:00.970 the finish in Israel's calendar, you're moving from the feast of Passover to the 299 00:32:01.089 --> 00:32:06.250 Feast of pentecosts. Some of the Times these things are lost upon us. 300 00:32:09.009 --> 00:32:15.089 Do you want happens at that? The feast of Pentecost in the New Testament 301 00:32:15.170 --> 00:32:21.279 Acts Chapter two, when the spirit is poured out and the gentiles are brought 302 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:28.519 in. That's all being prophesied here in the book of Ruth, and there's 303 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:35.869 blessing. There's blessing for the one who turns from the emptiness of falling after 304 00:32:36.029 --> 00:32:44.380 other gods to following after the true and living God. The story is our 305 00:32:44.500 --> 00:32:52.259 story. The Lord has showed kindness to us and worship secure in him. 306 00:32:52.900 --> 00:33:04.210 So means that we're not going to be those who escape from the realities of 307 00:33:04.289 --> 00:33:07.490 this life, of the pressures of this life or discouragements of this life. 308 00:33:09.529 --> 00:33:16.480 But we're not undone, for the Lord is with us. He is our 309 00:33:17.079 --> 00:33:22.680 our redeemer, a Kinsman Redeemer, and we find shelter under his wings. 310 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:35.990 So my encouragement to you from the book of Ruth is to be those who 311 00:33:36.190 --> 00:33:42.099 truly seek to make the Lord God and his son Jesus, your chief good 312 00:33:42.859 --> 00:33:47.019 and to live out of that reality in a way that does bring your God 313 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:52.819 glory, but also that you might be built up in the faith. And 314 00:33:52.940 --> 00:34:00.650 you know what, that's going to have a tremendous impact in this community in 315 00:34:00.730 --> 00:34:07.329 which you live. That's the opposite way of the world. It's a way 316 00:34:07.329 --> 00:34:13.440 of life that's only by the spirit, but it's a way of life in 317 00:34:13.719 --> 00:34:19.519 which you're dying to sin and you're dying to this world and you're dying to 318 00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:24.949 self and you're living to God. It's a life that shows that the cross 319 00:34:25.710 --> 00:34:31.789 is alive in you, in friends. That actually is the most powerful thing 320 00:34:32.070 --> 00:34:37.659 in this life. You know it to be true, for was it not 321 00:34:37.860 --> 00:34:42.659 the Cross of Jesus Christ, knowing he died for your sins? Isn't it 322 00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:50.940 what brought you to your knees and faith and repentance, knowing that this is 323 00:34:51.059 --> 00:34:54.730 where life is found, and knowing where life is found, knowing that this 324 00:34:54.929 --> 00:34:59.170 is where the meaning of life is, and knowing this is where the good 325 00:34:59.289 --> 00:35:06.489 of life is, but then doing so, you know, doing so, 326 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:14.920 you're actually given everything. In dying to the old age and the old ways, 327 00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:21.360 you're actually given everything. Well, that's my prayer for you, that 328 00:35:21.590 --> 00:35:28.309 you might embrace that, in live that and testify to that that in Jesus 329 00:35:28.349 --> 00:35:30.389 Christ, you have every good thing. Let's pray