Ruth: A Journey of Obedience and Redemption

One of the marks of a true man or woman of God is their unrivaled allegiance to obedience to him above all other things. One's passion for obedience to God can be recognized in many ways but here's one of the strongest ways: that when there is a command set out from God according to his word there is no refusal to unnecessarily delay the execution of that command. There's no hesitation and in boaz's case all other things including his own rest became secondary because he wanted to obey God he wanted to obey God and that's important because that's a quality that the Bible highlights about all men and women of God. [00:03:25]

No hesitation he set his alarm as early as possible he woke up and he said it's time to go we have to obey God and then he walks for a three-day journey to think about it and he has no hesitation to turn back he keeps moving forward and that is the pulse of somebody who truly loves God and fears God, and doesn't that make the story of Abraham so much more impactful? Don't we see the the truth of his faith and his love for God because in that same chapter later on God declares over Abraham you truly fear me don't you? [00:05:10]

But Boaz here is much more than an example of what godliness and Leadership looks like you know why because his actions here are a sparkle to the beauty of Jesus Christ as Our Redeemer. How like Boaz, Christ initiates and eagerly longed to rescue us and in Heaven's perfect timing he enters into this world, takes on flesh and dies a gruesome death in order to redeem for himself a bride. He wasn't reluctant, he wasn't hesitant, he wasn't thinking of different options, he wasn't contemplating of creating a new world and wiping us all out. He says I want this bride and I'm going to do everything to get her. [00:06:02]

Christ going to the Cross is not just the expression of his extent of his love towards us it was also the expression of his extent of willing to obey God as the God man and why is that important for us because we look to the cross and we realize Jesus did that for me yes but he also went to the Cross to show us how we should obey the father that to whatever what extent he calls us to obey him we should willfully, joyfully submit ourselves to that decision and to his will. [00:07:32]

Don't forget this Christian that loves and preaches the grace of God because we should that's what makes our faith unique but don't forget this Jesus didn't just say believe in me he said follow me and that's where a lot of people's Christianity stops and believe in me and they don't follow him. Jesus said here I do this so that the world would know not just my love for them Sinners but my love for the father. Do you want your life to look like that? Do you want your life, your obedience, your submission, your sacrifice to show the world that you love the father? [00:08:05]

But don't limit God's work to his obvious work. See the beauty about Ruth, the beauty about this story again is that God is is is writing the story through natural means, real people, real events, day-to-day activity. Everything about this book up to this point has been people moving, people going to work every day, family, legal things, it's all normal and what we want right for many people in the seasons of this life...let's go to the context of this book and marriage. What we want is that Grand Story...but here's my point: is it any less of God? It's not. [00:09:56]

No matter how passionately in love Boaz was with Ruth, no matter how limitlessly gracious he was toward her, his desire was submitted to the means that God provided of how somebody is redeemed. Now this is important. Why? Because the law here for you to redeem a widow in your family was that you had to be the closest relative and you had to be willing, you had to be willing. You know it's amazing, you have many people ask why did Jesus have to come into this world and die? Why do you have to take on flesh? [00:13:26]

Do you know why? Because Redemption was bound by Allah. The desire to redeem Humanity could just be a random act, it had to go through the requirement of God's demands for us to be redeemed. Everything that Jesus did submitted to the requirement of God's holiness and he could not compromise God's desire and commands for the sake of us being saved. It had to happen. Boaz could not just come here and say I want Ruth and just because I want her I'm going to make it happen. No, you have to go through the protocol. Jesus did the same thing. [00:14:24]

Do you realize that Jesus had to become our relative to redeem us? See, in our mind when we sing Jesus My Redeemer or Jesus Is My Redeemer we always see it in the view of just the act of redeeming, not realizing that there's a biblical definition of a redeemer. When you heard Redeemer, if you were a Jew and you heard Redeemer, you understood it in the context of the law of redemption like we're seeing it here. Jesus had to become our relative to save us. [00:15:37]

Because we are flesh and blood, in order for Redemption to actually be a possibility Christ partakes of Flesh and Blood himself. He comes into the world and makes himself part of the family of Fallen Humanity, though he himself was perfect, he clothes himself with flesh and in that place he has the rightful position to redeem us and be our Redemptive representative before God. And so Christ here steps into our world, becomes one of us, relates himself to us so that he can rightfully represent us and redeem us. [00:16:46]

The first part of the agreement when Ruth wasn't involved was like an obvious yes because all that would do is just make him more prosperous, benefit him personally. But then the moment there was a price tag attached to it, the moment that there was a responsibility attached to it, the moment there was a sacrifice highlighted with it, he backs out. Why? Because according to the law the whole point of this whole Redemption thing, that if you're a woman your husband dies, that the closest relative is supposed to marry you. What's the reason for that? [00:19:00]

This man who is unknown, we don't know his name, proves an ugly picture of many people: that obedience to God seems very attractive when we know the personal benefit that comes from it, but the moment we see the price tag we back out, don't we? That's for a lot of people. Uh, we're so quick to accept the excitement of serving God, the romance of being a a consecrated vessel for the Lord, a voice in our generation, right? We want to stand out and we want to be, we want to be right, and what we really mean is I want to be famous. [00:20:19]

The very thing that this person wanted to preserve and maintain was lost. In what sense? We never know his name. We didn't know about his lineage. We don't know what he's done. He's just like orpa in chapter 1, she just disappears when she chooses to go down her own path and saying I don't know if I want to, I don't know if I want to obey this God with the uncertainty of whether I'm going to be married or not, I'm just going to back out and she just disappears into the Horizon and this person here is doing the same thing. [00:21:51]

This costed Ruth nothing, the only thing that Ruth gave was her need and her expression for the desire of a redeemer. That's the only thing she contributed to this whole moment and what's Happening Here? Who's paying the high price? Who's going to sacrifice? Moas. So it is with Christ. Salvation is free for you, right brother? Salvation is free for you, right sister? But God paid a very high price, he did. And God didn't send into this world one of his mightiest angels...He sends his precious son. [00:23:29]

And what did it cost you? The only thing that you contributed to your salvation was the sin that made it necessary. That's Jonathan Edwards, I did not come up with that. And this is true for Ruth as well and like Boaz we don't know if this Redeemer realized that she was a moias and he's like yeah I don't want that part of my lineage, I don't want my name attached to that. But Boaz didn't care. The moabites had a history of originating from a relationship from incense and then you had what you had a false god that was worshiped throughout the years. [00:24:29]

If you want a reference, it's Matthew 15. What does that mean? What does that tell us? It tells us many things and I'll tell you one of the things it does say: that when we come to that genealogy and we read those lists of name that the things that we skip over usually, right? We want the psalm 23 and the John 3:16. No, the genealogy itself has a sermon for you and I and when you read those names and you come to Ruth and you realize her background, you realize what she has done, her people have done to the people of God, you say Christ in his sovereignty, Christ in his perfect wisdom chose to go through Ruth. [00:25:36]

That would mean a lot to somebody who was like Ruth, that would read the genealogy of Jesus Christ and say if Christ is willing to join himself to such a person then surely he's willing to allow me to join himself to me. If Christ is willing to go through Ruth to enter into this world then surely he's willing to receive me into his spiritual family and yes that is true. Again, I'm sure most of us in here grew up in the church so we sit there, we go that that's a nice thought. That would mean a lot to The Prostitute, that would mean a lot to the person who's served a false god for his life, for his whole life. [00:26:20]

And so Christ in his wisdom says I want to make a statement in my genealogy, look who I chose to go through and look who I'm willing to bring in if they just believe that truth. So what happens? The man says take it for yourself, I cannot redeem it. Verse 7: now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging to confirm a transaction, the one Drew off his sandal and gave it to the other and this was the matter of attesting in Israel. [00:27:14]

You always lose when you disobey, you always lose when you try to keep your life, you always lose when you think it's too much of a risk to live your future for Christ. You will always lose and you'll always win like boas when you choose to pay the high price no matter what it is. Boaz says you don't want it, I'll take it and you know what's amazing here is that this is a picture of Christ's Redemption for us in another way. [00:22:41]

And you know what you see here? You see two people who fear God coming together and the very appropriate response to such news, right? Both Boaz and Ruth were worthy individuals, they had a reputation in their community and once people found out they're coming together everybody was like yes, they praised God, they blessed God and they prayed for them. You don't get the same reaction from many people today, you get different reactions from different people concerning how others come into relationship. [00:31:31]

God changes stories, he changes season. One night you're weeping, the next day you're rejoicing. For season of life you're in darkness and all for a sudden it seems like all Heaven opens up to you and what's so amazing here is that as much as God is the one who orchestrated the chapters of This Woman's life to be changed throughout this short period, Naomi had a a role to play in it. She didn't have a role to play in it? Of course she did. [00:35:36]

Don't underestimate how your Zeal, your passion, your consistency for Christ will not only bless you but bless those around you. We are so selfish, it's it's all about us, right? It's all about us. My Disobedience affects me. No, it doesn't. It doesn't just affect you, it affects those around you. My obedience will bless me, it will bless you, but it will also bless those that come into contact with you. So Naomi here is benefiting, she's gleaning from Ruth's faithfulness to God. [00:40:19]

The story that you and I just studyed for these past four weeks is much more than what God can do for an individual who needed a husband. It's much more than what God can do and providing a son for somebody whose family name was near Extinction. What was God's grander plan here? Go back to verse one of chapter one: in the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land. Why is that important? Because there's a book before this one called judges and look at the last verse of that book: in those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. [00:41:25]

Whether you are an individual or whether the people of God as a whole, no matter how hopeless and grim and disappointing it looks, God's providential plan will prevail. God's providential plan will prevail. I look out into this world and I see it and I realize it and I can sometimes feel it choking me as I meditate how destitute it looks out there. I'm not concerned about the world, I'm concerned about the state of the the spirituality of American Christianity and it looks disappointing sometimes. [00:42:24]

How do you ensure that in this life you can position yourself for God to write your story and for God to lead you, to direct you and make sure that this is not the Final Chapter, make sure that your disobedience is not the final say of the rest of your existence on Earth? Do what Ruth and Naomi did: come back to the will of God and stay in the will of God no matter what it looks like, no matter how uncertain, no matter how risky it may seem. That's the safest place to be in this life, the safest place to be. [00:44:21]

Are you totally convinced within yourself that you love God with all your heart and that nothing means more to you than serving him? If you can confidently say yes to that, it doesn't matter what's happening. If you can't, you have every reason to fear, you have every reason to be anxious, you have every reason to be concerned because the safest place to be is in the will of God. The most secure place to be is to know that your heart testifies I just want to live for him and I just want to obey him no matter what it means for me and my personal benefit. [00:45:17]

To be in the will of God, to be in his presence is where fullness of joy resides and so here's my point of delivery. Much a set of Christ, we glorify that, we rejoice in that, but let's talk about your life. Where are you today? In a day where everybody's doing right in their own eyes, are you doing the same? In a day where people champion and praise and are finding more joy apparently in things outside of Christ, are you doing the same or are you willing to be like Ruth and say God I don't know what tomorrow brings, all I know is that today I want to love you? [00:46:46]

There's nothing more thrilling in this life than to witness what God will do through a human vessel that completely surrenders. Do you know why there's so much boring in Christianity Today? I have a reason: because so many of them are not completely surrendered. There's not much stories these days because people aren't completely surrendered. They're living day by day debating whether they should live for God or not and God's like I can't work with this. I need somebody that's going to say where you go I go, where you stay I stay, your God shall be my God, your people my...I need someone like that so I can write the story. [00:47:40]