Elevate - The Story Pt 11 - Ruth

Jesus was able to become the final sacrifice for our sins because he was a perfect son of God who did not sin. The Bible is the story of Jesus and redemption. The book of Ruth tells the story of Naomi and Ruth, who faced a seemingly unredeemable situation. Ruth finds favor with Boaz, a relative, and he offers her protection and provision. This story foreshadows the coming of Jesus and the redemption he offers to all. Why was Jesus able? Because he was a lamb without blemish or defect. He was the perfect son of God, who did not sin when he was on this earth, who fulfilled the law in its completion, something that nobody else up to that point and ever since has ever been able to do. He, therefore, was the only one able to become the final sacrifice for our sins. He alone was able to actually redeem us. Welcome to Elevate from Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama with Pastor John DiQuatro. We hope it builds your faith and helps you to live a life for God that you've always wanted to live. We hope it inspires you to be a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Enjoy the message and welcome to Elevate. We are in our series, The Story. We're going to be in here for a while, folks. It's just such a great book because it gives us the story of the Bible. And sometimes we don't realize that this really truly is a story. It's not just a collection of miracles and a bunch of random teachings by people that lived in ancient times. There is a story of how God has revealed himself to mankind ultimately through his son, Jesus Christ. And so this book, our Bible, it is the story of Jesus. It is the story of redemption. And that's what we're talking about today is redemption, being redeemed. And so if you read through chapter 9, basically you read through the story of the book of Ruth. And I don't know if you've ever read Ruth before. Ruth, it almost seems like just a random story kind of tucked away in the pages of the Bible because on the surface it doesn't really seem to move the narrative forward, nor does it offer any great miracles or demonstrations of the power of God. And so it's rather just a simple story about the life of one particular family. Now, the book of Ruth takes place at the same time as the Judges. And we were in the book of Judges for the last two weeks. And if you remember, last week we talked about Gideon. And many believe that during the siege of Israel, when Midianite came against Israel, we talked about this last week, and it's kind of with starving them out, that that is the time when Ruth was written because we read that this family moved out of Israel during a time of famine. And they believe that this was the particular time when Gideon rose up to deliver them. And so let's begin. We're going to start in chapter 1, verse 1 of Ruth, and we'll read a couple of verses there together. It says this, In the days when the Judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelech. His wife's name was Naomi. And the names of his two sons were Malon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Malon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. Wow, this book starts off pretty bad. I mean, this one's just going to be a sad tearjerker of a story. A famine drives this family, Naomi and Elimelech, and their two sons drives them to a foreign nation where they served foreign gods. They went to the land of Moab. And while they're there, all the men die. And before the two sons died, they got married to women from Moab, foreign women. But they died, and so they left all the wives widowed. So you had Naomi, you had Orpah, and you had Ruth. Now eventually, through the deliverer Gideon, God delivers Israel from the hand of the Midianites, and so they're able to come back to their homeland. There's prosperity once again in Israel. They're enjoying a time of peace after the judge rose up and delivered them. And so they head back to the homeland. But Naomi tells her daughter's-in-law, she says, listen, go back to Moab. Go back to your families there. You have family there, your mom and your dad. You got brothers and cousins and aunts and uncles. You got all those people. Go back with them. Don't stay with me. And so she's encouraging them to remarry and to move on with their lives. And Orpah takes Naomi up on this offer, and she goes back to Moab. But Ruth refuses to leave Naomi, and she stays with Naomi as they go back to Bethlehem. So we'll read that beginning in verse 16 of Deuteronomy 1. But Ruth replied, Don't urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me. When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. So Naomi and Ruth, Ruth is just bent. She's like, I am going to serve. I'm going to stay with you, Naomi, and your God will be my God, and your people will be my people. I'm with you, heart and soul, Naomi. So Naomi and Ruth, they set out for Bethlehem. And when they get there, they're warmly received. People remembered Naomi. Of course, they were concerned because Limelech wasn't theirs. But they're poor. Like, they come back to Israel and they're in Bethlehem, but they're poor. Their husbands are dead. And in those times, there wasn't a lot of opportunity for women to earn the living, to earn the provision for the household. So they had no husbands to provide. So they are left to scavenge along the edges of the fields as harvests are being harvested at harvest time. They are following along, and they're going to the edges of the fields, and they're just getting, they're scavenging whatever they can, whatever falls. They're taking that, and they're trying to just scrape together some grain for food. Now, some of you may remember in the days when you could collect soda bottles. I'm sure there's several of you in this room today that remember as a kid, just collecting a bag of soda bottles and taking them back. And you would take them, and you would redeem them, right? You would bring them to the store, and you would recover the deposit that was made on them, like a nickel, right? But when you're a kid, a nickel is a lot of money. You also may remember that there were some bottles that you collected, and it said on the back of them, it said, no refill, no return, right? And in other words, this particular bottle is non-redeemable. And many, of course, probably every, probably, it's probably on this bottle right here that says, it's not redeemable. You're not going to turn this in and get any money. They want you to put it in a landfill, all right? But I'm sure that Naomi and Ruth felt that the days of redemption were beyond them. Naomi having her husband and sons die in the land of Moab, being left with one daughter-in-law who was a foreigner, everything seemed hopeless to be redeemed in this situation. It seemed like an unredeemable situation for Naomi and for Ruth. And let me just tell you something. I'll stop right here now, but there is nothing today, nothing on this earth, there is no person you are not beyond redemption. Now listen, nothing in this world will ever be able to redeem you. There's nothing in this world, but I'm ahead of myself right now. We'll continue with the story. Naomi remembers that she has a relative on her husband's side, and this guy's name was Boaz. Everybody say, Boaz. All right. So because Boaz is a relative, Ruth decides to go to his field, and she begins to pick up the leftover grain around the fields of Boaz, hoping that she will find favor in the eyes of a family member. And so we're going to read that in Ruth chapter 2, beginning in verse 5. It says, Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, who does that young woman belong to? Talking about Ruth. The overseer replied, she's the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters. She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter. So Boaz said to Ruth, my daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field, and don't go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you, and whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars that the men have filled. At this she bowed down with her face to the ground, and she asked him, why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me a foreigner? Boaz replied, I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and your homeland, and you came to live with a people that you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my Lord, she said. You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant, though I do not have the standing of one of your servants. What an incredible story here. And before we continue, I want you to understand what it is that we're reading here in this passage of Scripture. You see, throughout the Bible, we find what they call types and shadows. If you read through the Old Testament, you'll come across types and shadows, right? You'll read about Melchizedek, and he was a type, and there's, you know, different ones that represent part... These types and shadows, they're portions of Israel's story, and they're told to kind of pre-echo the coming of Jesus. That's what we find in these stories throughout the Old Testament, and they pre-echo the coming of Jesus. And so these stories, when we look back through the cross, we look back through what Jesus did, we look back on these stories, and we see these types of Jesus, and we say, oh, now I understand more fully what Jesus did on the cross. That's why these are here for us. Remember, this book is ultimately the story of Jesus. It's not... ultimately, it's not just the story of the Israelites, right? It's the story of Jesus. Ruth is one of these pre-echo stories. And Boaz is a type of Jesus. And so as we continue through this story, I want you to be thinking in terms of Boaz being the Jesus character in the story, and the Ruth being the you character in the story, all right? So we have to understand this. Ruth is a foreigner. She's from the land of Moab. Her only tie to Boaz is by marriage through Naomi, okay? Naomi's not related to Boaz. Naomi's husband was related to Boaz. So Naomi is related to Boaz as an in-law, and Ruth is her daughter-in-law. How many times removed are we here? I don't know about you, I kind of lose track of the in-laws' extended family, right? I'm like, whose cousins and with who, and I don't know, right? My wife knows, I don't know, right? And so she does not deserve the kindness of Boaz. There's no blood relation there, and she is a foreigner. She does not deserve Boaz's kindness. She has no inheritance among the Jewish people, among the Israelites. She has no standing among the people of Israel. She is not one of God's chosen. Yet, through Boaz, she is receiving immense favor. Are you starting to see a connection? Oh, and one more thing about Boaz. This is the son of Rahab the prostitute. Rahab the prostitute who is in the lineage of Jesus. We talked about that several weeks ago, maybe several months ago at this point. And so, Rahab was the one that hid the spies when they went into Jericho, and she's listed, and so Boaz and Ruth are also listed in the lineage of Jesus. Ruth being another Gentile woman, a foreigner. Rahab and Ruth, both outsiders, right? In the lineage of Jesus. So let's continue with the story. So Ruth continues to glean grain along the fields of Boaz, and Boaz continues to show her favor. And so in verse 20, chapter 2, it says, And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May he, referring to Boaz, May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead. Naomi also said to her, The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers. Now there is this concept, and you find it throughout the law, if you read through the law in the Old Testament, of the kinsmen redeemer. And the kinsmen redeemers, they were relatives who protected the needy members of their extended family. And so they could redeem or buy back, right? When you took the soda bottle, you took it to the store, they bought it back from you and gave you the deposit, right? That's redeeming. And so they could redeem a relative that was sold into slavery. A kinsmen redeemer could do that. They could find a relative that was sold into slavery because they owe debt or whatever, and they could go and they could redeem that person and buy them back. They could preserve the family lineage of a deceased male by marrying his widow and providing an heir. So the kinsmen redeemer basically said, Oh, my brother died and left a wife childless. Then as the kinsmen redeemer, I could come in and marry his wife and I will produce an heir for my dead brother. That's what a kinsmen redeemer would do. They could also buy back land that a relative had sold to somebody outside of the family. And if you know that the land that the Israelites owned was very, very important. If you go through the Old Testament, you'll see that certain tribes were allotted certain portions of the land. And then there was a time of Jubilee where any land that was sold off gets to be brought back into that family that owned that land. So land ownership is extremely important. And a kinsmen redeemer was able, by law, to buy back land that was sold to a foreigner. And so understand why this notion that Boaz is a redeemer for the family is so exciting for Naomi and Ruth. They have the opportunity to see a bitter, miserable life that's marked by death and loneliness and poverty. They can see that life be turned around and given another chance. That's what they're faced with. Now at this point, it's just a possibility. Naomi's like, hey, Boaz, he's one of our family redeemers. Now in order for a kinsmen redeemer to redeem a person or land or to provide an heir and preserve the lineage of a family, he's got to fit three qualifications. Number one, he has to be a blood relative, right? So Naomi's husband was blood-related to Boaz. So he fit the criteria. Number two, he must be able to redeem. Redeeming is buying back. So he has to have the proper currency to be able to buy back whatever it is, right? Land or somebody out of slavery, pay off a debt, whatever that is. Has to have the ability to do it. And number three, they have to want to do it. They have to be willing to redeem, right? There's nothing that says that they absolutely have to. And so these are the three criteria. Blood relative, got to be able to do it. You got to be willing to do it. And so in the story of Ruth, and we're going to read it here, there is another Redeemer in the family. In fact, a Redeemer that's even more closely related to Elimelech than Boaz is. But he's not able or willing to redeem. Let's look in Ruth chapter 4, beginning in verse 1. Meanwhile, Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there, just as the guardian Redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, come over here, my friend, and sit down. So he went over and sat down. Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, sit here. And they did so. Then he said to the guardian Redeemer, Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line. I will redeem it, he said. Then Boaz said, on the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property. At this, the guardian Redeemer said, then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it. So now Boaz steps up to be the kinsman Redeemer to redeem the land and the lineage of Elimelech, which is Naomi's deceased husband. I hope you're all following me so far. Say yes if you are. All right. So Boaz fits all of the criteria of the kinsman Redeemer. Boaz is a blood relative, Boaz is able to do it, and Boaz is willing to be the Redeemer. Now here's what's so amazing about this story, because there's a Christ connection here. We already explained that to you. And in this story, Boaz is the Redeemer. He is the type of Christ. Ruth is a Moabite woman. She is a Gentile, not Jewish, not part of Israel. In redeeming Elimelech's land and lineage, he is also redeeming this Gentile, and he's grafting her into the lineage of Elimelech. And now he's granting her children and land and security and a place at the table of God's chosen people. Anyone seeing this connection so far? This foreign woman gets grafted into this family through redemption and is now a part of the family of God, which is Israel. Now we said Ruth is also listed in the lineage of Jesus, right? Having been redeemed and brought into the family of God, she becomes King David's great-great-grandmother. That's for another day. We'll read all about King David in about two weeks, all right? Jesus Christ is our kinsman Redeemer. Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. And unless you are in this room and are Jewish, directly descended from Abraham, then you would have zero claim to the inheritance of God's people. You would have zero claim to having a relationship with God and a seat at the table of His chosen people. But through Christ, you in this room today have been brought into that wonderful fellowship and that relationship with God through the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Grafted in, brought into the family, and given all of the rights and the blessings that come with being a son or a daughter of the King of Kings. Amen? Now we said that there were three conditions that make somebody eligible to be a Redeemer, all right? So again, this is a type and a shadow so that we can understand what happened at the cross. And so for Jesus to be our Redeemer, Jesus, as one who followed the law, has to fulfill the three criteria for being able to be a Redeemer. Well, let's look. Number one, He's got to be a blood relative. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a divine and eternal being, came and took on the form of men, of humanity, and that same blood that courses through our veins, that keeps us alive, that same blood began to course, that human blood began to course through the veins of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and in doing so became our blood relative. Connected by blood, we had the same life force running through us. Of course, He had divinity. We're all human. He also had the divinity in Him. But look at this. John 1.14 says, The Word, Jesus, became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father. Full of grace and truth, Jesus Christ fulfills the criteria of being a blood relative to all of humanity. Amen? The second criteria is that He must be able to redeem. Well, Jesus was certainly able to redeem us. Let's read in 1 Peter 1.18, it says, For you know that it was not with perishable things, such as silver or gold, that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. Why was Jesus able? Because He was a lamb without blemish or defect. He was the perfect Son of God who did not sin when He was on this earth, who fulfilled the law in its completion, something that nobody else up to that point and ever since has ever been able to do. He therefore was the only one able to become the final sacrifice for our sins. He alone was able to actually redeem us. And we were redeemed, it says, not by silver or gold. We were not redeemed by money. We weren't bought with money. We were redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. He was a blood relative. He was able. But the third criteria is that He had to be willing. Hebrews 9.12 says, He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the most holy place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption, right? He entered by His own blood. It was His blood that paid the price. He did it with His own blood, not somebody else's blood. He didn't go borrow a lamb. He didn't go borrow a goat, sacrifice it, and try to use that blood as the atonement for your sin. He was willing, and He did it with His own blood. We see His willingness when we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in chapter 26 of Matthew. He says, going a little further, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me, yet not as I will, but as You will. He said, God, this is going to be really hard, but at the end of the day, I'm willing to do whatever You want me to do, God. I am willing to redeem all of these people. He was willing. He chose the Father's will. He chose the suffering. He chose the torture. He chose death on a cross so that He could buy back all of humanity. Not just Jews, not just people who followed the law of Moses, but the Gentiles, you and me, and the entire rest of the world. Yes, the Jews are God's chosen people. Let me tell you, and they are still God's chosen people, and there is a blessing among the Jewish people and on their land, I promise you. Everything you read that's going to happen in the end times, it's not happening here. It's happening over there, in God's territory, right where His chosen people are. Right? But you have been brought in. You have been grafted in. And now all of God's creation has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And you are invited into relationship with God simply by believing on the finished work of the cross and on the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2, verse 11, it says this, Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth, everyone say, that's me. Unless you're Jewish, you don't have to say that. And called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision, which is done in the body by human hands, remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from... Listen to this. At that time, you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. That's old me. That's old you. Separated from Christ. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Come on. It's like the Bible just preaches itself. I'm telling you. Now this seems like a lot of theology. And it is. And the concepts of redeeming and all that, that's something that's a little far removed from our culture. In fact, we don't even redeem bottles anymore, right? I mean, that's a foreign concept. So it can be challenging to fully grasp this notion. But let me just suffice it to say that you were once like Ruth. She was a foreigner, alienated from God, reduced to doing the work of a slave in order to eke out a meager existence. We were once alienated from God, as we just read, from the slaves to the sin that controlled us. Ruth was hopeless, without a bright future, with no dreams to chase after, nothing to look forward to. We had no sense of purpose or hope for what lies ahead, other than the meager existence of just trying to attain a measure of earthly success and wealth, as though that was the only thing worth living for. A meaningless existence. But because of Boaz and his willingness to redeem Ruth, she was brought into the fullness of being one of God's people and given the inheritance of Elimelech. Now because of Jesus and his willingness to redeem us, we were brought into the family as a child of God and given the full inheritance of God's promise, co-heirs with Christ Jesus Himself. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We hope this message encouraged, inspired, and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at 3750 Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website, AuthenticLife.tv, for more information about Authentic Life Church. To find out what we have going on, or to make a donation, you can also find us on Facebook. We'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's, nursery, and youth programs, so bring the family. For Pastor John DeQuatro, I'm Scott Chestnut. Thanks again for listening, and God bless you.