WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.379 about came by. Boaz said, come over here and 00:00:03.379 --> 00:00:07.139 sit down. So he went over and sat down. Then 00:00:07.139 --> 00:00:09.839 Boaz took 10 men of the town's elders and said, 00:00:09.939 --> 00:00:13.500 sit here, and they sat down. He said to the redeemer, 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:16.019 Naomi, who has returned from the territory of 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:18.399 Moab, is selling the portion of the field that 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:20.660 belonged to her brother, to our brother Elimelech, 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:23.480 and I thought I should inform you. Buy it back 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:25.699 in the presence of those seated here and in the 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:28.660 presence of the elders of my people. If you want 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:31.300 to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:33.679 redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:35.759 there isn't anyone other than you to redeem it, 00:00:35.859 --> 00:00:39.520 and I am next after you. I want to redeem it, 00:00:39.579 --> 00:00:42.619 he answered. Then Boaz said, On the day you buy 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:45.159 the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:48.880 Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.520 the man's name on his property. The redeemer 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:54.579 replied, I can't redeem it myself, or I will 00:00:54.579 --> 00:00:58.179 ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:01.320 because I can't redeem it. Now at an earlier 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.859 period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:06.939 gave it to the other party in order to make any 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:09.319 matter legally binding concerning the right of 00:01:09.319 --> 00:01:12.239 redemption or the exchange of property. This 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:14.180 was the method of legally binding a transaction 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:17.640 in Israel. So the redeemer removed his sandal 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:20.260 and said to Boaz, Buy back the property yourself. 00:01:21.710 --> 00:01:24.250 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, you 00:01:24.250 --> 00:01:26.450 are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi 00:01:26.450 --> 00:01:29.049 everything that belonged to Limelech, Killian, 00:01:29.189 --> 00:01:32.390 and Milan. I have also acquired Ruth, the Moabitess, 00:01:32.450 --> 00:01:35.489 Milan's widow, as my wife to perpetuate the deceased 00:01:35.489 --> 00:01:38.269 man's name on his property so that his name will 00:01:38.269 --> 00:01:40.750 not disappear among his relatives or from the 00:01:40.750 --> 00:01:43.730 gate of his own hometown. You are witnesses today. 00:01:45.409 --> 00:01:47.750 All the people who were at the city gate, including 00:01:47.750 --> 00:01:50.799 the elders, said, we are witnesses. May the Lord 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:53.260 make the woman who is entering your house like 00:01:53.260 --> 00:01:55.700 Rachel and Leah, who together built the house 00:01:55.700 --> 00:01:58.700 of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and 00:01:58.700 --> 00:02:01.400 your name well known in Bethlehem. May your house 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:04.239 become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:06.980 bore to Judah. Because of the offspring the Lord 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:11.759 will give you by this young woman. Boaz took 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:14.280 Ruth, and she became his wife. He slept with 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:16.280 her, and the Lord granted conception to her, 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:19.740 and she gave birth to a son. The woman said to 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:22.879 Naomi, Blessed be the Lord who has not left you 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:25.419 without a family redeemer today. May his name 00:02:25.419 --> 00:02:28.439 become well known in Israel. He will renew your 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:31.360 life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, 00:02:31.580 --> 00:02:33.639 your daughter -in -law who loves you and is better 00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:36.199 to you than seven sons has given birth to him. 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:39.699 Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:42.060 and became a mother to him. The neighbor woman 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:45.199 said, A son has been born to Naomi, and they 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:48.360 named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse. the 00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:51.400 father of David. Now these are the family records 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:55.300 of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:59.099 Ram. Ram fathered Aminadab. Aminadab fathered 00:02:59.099 --> 00:03:02.520 Nashon. Nashon fathered Saman. Saman fathered 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.400 Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:18.979 And Jesse fathered David. Well, We are coming 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:22.680 to the end of our study in Ruth. So this was 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:25.780 four weeks. Some of you may have noticed there 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:28.939 were four chapters, which was convenient. But 00:03:28.939 --> 00:03:34.180 we are going to be closing this book up. And 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.860 as we get started with that, if you don't have 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:41.580 a Bible, there are some on the back tables, on 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:44.479 the black tables there. Grab that. It's yours. 00:03:44.580 --> 00:03:47.969 Take it home with you. And we are going to dive 00:03:47.969 --> 00:03:50.770 in to God's word. But before we do that this 00:03:50.770 --> 00:03:58.590 morning, let's pray. Lord, you are so good. We 00:03:58.590 --> 00:04:04.370 give you all honor, praise, and glory. Lord, 00:04:04.430 --> 00:04:07.590 as we open your word this morning, I pray that 00:04:07.590 --> 00:04:13.770 we wouldn't be distracted, Lord, but that we 00:04:13.770 --> 00:04:17.790 would just... allow you to work in our hearts 00:04:17.790 --> 00:04:20.810 and our minds. Lord, thank you so much for the 00:04:20.810 --> 00:04:24.970 richness of your word. And as we get to explore 00:04:24.970 --> 00:04:29.870 it together, we just ask that it would teach 00:04:29.870 --> 00:04:33.730 us more about who you are and what you have done. 00:04:33.829 --> 00:04:39.550 I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So, I mentioned 00:04:39.550 --> 00:04:43.250 we've been in the book of Ruth, but I have a 00:04:43.250 --> 00:04:46.459 question first. Have you ever looked at a season 00:04:46.459 --> 00:04:50.379 of your life and wondered, how did my story end 00:04:50.379 --> 00:04:58.660 up here? See, often we go through times of struggle, 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:06.019 of grief, of loss, and maybe we're not where 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:08.540 we expected. We're not where we planned to be. 00:05:09.259 --> 00:05:12.750 Maybe we even feel like... Everything that made 00:05:12.750 --> 00:05:18.089 life stable has fallen apart. And that's exactly 00:05:18.089 --> 00:05:23.850 where the book of Ruth begins. See, over the 00:05:23.850 --> 00:05:27.569 course of the last three weeks, we have explored 00:05:27.569 --> 00:05:31.610 Ruth chapter 1 through chapter 3. And the book 00:05:31.610 --> 00:05:35.189 begins with a man named Elimelech, whose name 00:05:35.189 --> 00:05:39.899 means, my God is king. But... He doesn't live 00:05:39.899 --> 00:05:43.519 like God is his king. See, instead of trusting 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:45.779 the Lord during famine, he moved his family to 00:05:45.779 --> 00:05:50.720 Moab, and then everything collapsed. Elimelech 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:56.680 dies. Malon dies. Kilion dies, his sons. And 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:01.160 now there's three widows that remain in Moab. 00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:05.720 So Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem, believing 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:10.819 her story has ended in emptiness. And she leaves 00:06:10.819 --> 00:06:13.000 and she tells her daughter -in -law, don't come 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.259 with me, there's nothing for you as foreigners 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:21.959 into Israel as widows. One daughter -in -law, 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.079 Orpah, goes home. Ruth comes and she says, no, 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:29.079 I am going to choose to follow you, but more 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:34.509 importantly, I am going to follow you. And so 00:06:34.509 --> 00:06:39.509 they go back, and it sure just seemed like there 00:06:39.509 --> 00:06:43.569 was nothing left for them. It was all just empty. 00:06:44.089 --> 00:06:49.189 It was hopeless. Many of us have been there. 00:06:50.970 --> 00:06:53.930 Many of us feel like, I'm in that season right 00:06:53.930 --> 00:06:58.970 now. But the surprising thing that happens in 00:06:58.970 --> 00:07:01.629 the book of Ruth is, we're going to see a shift. 00:07:02.629 --> 00:07:07.629 See, because they return to the land of Israel 00:07:07.629 --> 00:07:12.350 and they return to Bethlehem. And that's where 00:07:12.350 --> 00:07:14.910 this story takes place. Now, typically when we 00:07:14.910 --> 00:07:19.370 think of Bethlehem, we don't typically think 00:07:19.370 --> 00:07:25.170 of the story of Ruth. We often think of the town 00:07:25.170 --> 00:07:27.839 of Bethlehem and we think... of some shepherds 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:29.879 that were watching their flocks by night outside, 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:32.579 and these angels came, and they come, and they 00:07:32.579 --> 00:07:36.360 come, and they're told that the Messiah has been 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.259 born in Bethlehem, and they rush down, and we 00:07:39.259 --> 00:07:43.220 think of, we sing songs about Bethlehem, a little 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:47.819 town of Bethlehem, and that's often what we think, 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:51.279 but long before Christmas, there was actually 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:55.079 another redemption story that was unfolding there. 00:07:57.580 --> 00:08:01.639 See, it says that Naomi and Ruth returned to 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:04.540 Bethlehem at the start of the harvest. The narrator 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:08.939 gives us a whisper of hope. They arrive at the 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:12.279 start of a season where there is food where there 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:16.379 wasn't before. In Ruth chapter 2, Ruth goes to 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:20.000 glean, and the Bible says it just so happens. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.600 She landed in the field of Boaz. Or what's interesting, 00:08:23.740 --> 00:08:25.339 the way it's written in the Hebrew, it's like 00:08:25.339 --> 00:08:27.879 a tongue, not quite a tongue twister, but it's 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:31.459 like her hap happened to be. So it was really 00:08:31.459 --> 00:08:35.220 clear that this wasn't just coincidence. It was 00:08:35.220 --> 00:08:38.120 actually the providence of God. And then she 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:42.320 meets this man, Boaz. Boaz, who has the potential 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:47.080 to be a kinsman redeemer. for Naomi. And Boaz 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:50.399 shows remarkable chesed. We've talked about this 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.419 word. There's no perfect translation to English, 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:57.919 but it's this idea of a covenant loving kindness. 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:04.620 And Boaz shows remarkable chesed toward Ruth. 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:07.539 And then the whole book quietly moves towards 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:13.169 one central moment. In Ruth chapter three, Verse 00:09:13.169 --> 00:09:15.950 9, Ruth says to Boaz, spread your wings over 00:09:15.950 --> 00:09:18.529 me or spread your cloak over me. You are a kinsman 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:20.830 redeemer. And that moment sits at the center 00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:22.750 of the book because the whole story up until 00:09:22.750 --> 00:09:29.029 then is about there's emptiness. And maybe there's 00:09:29.029 --> 00:09:32.789 this redeemer, but can we be redeemed? And then 00:09:32.789 --> 00:09:36.309 that moment sits at the center of the book. Will 00:09:36.309 --> 00:09:41.600 there be a redeemer? Everything before leads 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:44.279 to the request. Everything after then flows from 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:47.799 it. Because redemption begins when Ruth turns 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:53.000 to the Redeemer and says, I'm willing. I want 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.620 to be redeemed. And then Boaz says he's willing. 00:09:55.899 --> 00:09:59.399 But there's a closer Redeemer. And Boaz promises 00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:02.720 the matter will be settled in the morning. Well, 00:10:02.740 --> 00:10:09.019 guys, Ruth chapter 4 is that morning. See? To 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:13.620 recap it simply, Ruth chapter 1 shows us a broken 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:20.919 story. Ruth chapter 2 gives us a hint at redemption. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:25.799 Ruth chapter 3 brings the request for redemption. 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:30.539 In Ruth chapter 4, we actually ask, will the 00:10:30.539 --> 00:10:32.820 redemption be complete? So that's what we're 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:37.899 going to look at today. So please open your Bible. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:42.179 to Ruth chapter 4. We're going to read verses 00:10:42.179 --> 00:10:47.379 1 through 6. Boaz went to the gate of the town 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:50.519 and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:53.840 Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, come 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:56.399 over here and sit down. So he went over and sat 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:59.440 down. Then Boaz took 10 men of the town's elders 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:03.059 and said, sit here. And they sat down. He said 00:11:03.059 --> 00:11:05.649 to the redeemer, Naomi, who has returned from 00:11:05.649 --> 00:11:07.769 the territory of Moab, is selling the portion 00:11:07.769 --> 00:11:10.370 of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 00:11:10.870 --> 00:11:13.610 I thought I should inform you. Buy it back in 00:11:13.610 --> 00:11:15.870 the presence of those seated here and in the 00:11:15.870 --> 00:11:19.250 presence of the elders of my people. If you want 00:11:19.250 --> 00:11:23.850 to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to 00:11:23.850 --> 00:11:26.629 redeem it, tell me so that I will know because 00:11:26.629 --> 00:11:28.909 there isn't anyone other than you to redeem it 00:11:28.909 --> 00:11:32.230 and I am next after you. I want to redeem it, 00:11:32.309 --> 00:11:35.960 he answered. Then Boaz said, on the day you buy 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:38.759 the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth, 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:42.299 the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, 00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:44.440 to perpetuate the man's name on his property. 00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:48.500 The redeemer replied, I can't redeem it myself, 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:52.919 or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:58.779 of redemption because I can't redeem it. So let's 00:11:58.779 --> 00:12:03.269 look at what's going on here. See, It starts 00:12:03.269 --> 00:12:07.370 off, if we remember from last week, where there 00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:10.850 was this whole thing going down where Ruth comes 00:12:10.850 --> 00:12:13.490 to the threshing floor. She's laying at the feet 00:12:13.490 --> 00:12:17.190 of Boaz. She got all nice and dressed up. And 00:12:17.190 --> 00:12:20.590 Caleb said, smelled nice and looked nice. And 00:12:20.590 --> 00:12:26.169 she says, I am available for you to redeem me. 00:12:26.269 --> 00:12:30.309 I want you to redeem me. And Boaz then says, 00:12:30.490 --> 00:12:34.240 okay. If there's someone else closer, I'm willing 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.299 there's someone else closer. And if he's willing 00:12:36.299 --> 00:12:39.940 to do it, good. If not, I will. So no matter 00:12:39.940 --> 00:12:46.700 what, have hope in redemption. And then she goes 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:48.840 back and talks to, Ruth goes back and talks to 00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:51.080 Naomi. And Naomi's like, oh, it's going to be 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:55.620 settled tomorrow. And so that is where we start. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:58.899 So Boaz goes to the gate of the town and sat 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:03.169 down there. We don't really have town gates all 00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:07.009 that much today. Maybe if you go over into like 00:13:07.009 --> 00:13:09.850 some of the old cities in Europe. But in Israel 00:13:09.850 --> 00:13:12.549 and in the Middle East in this time, the town 00:13:12.549 --> 00:13:15.129 gate was pretty much where all of the business 00:13:15.129 --> 00:13:18.730 was done. It was the courtroom. It was the center 00:13:18.730 --> 00:13:21.529 of commerce that was outside of the market. It 00:13:21.529 --> 00:13:23.710 was kind of where the business deals got done. 00:13:24.669 --> 00:13:31.620 And so Boaz goes to the city gate. And then what's 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:36.700 really interesting, so the CSB translation doesn't 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:39.940 quite help it land, but it says, soon the family 00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:43.360 redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. ESV, 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:46.120 I think, says behold. The Hebrew says, lo and 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:51.399 behold. He just happened to walk by. And so we 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:54.419 see this really interesting piece again where 00:13:54.419 --> 00:13:58.860 we're seeing the author saying like, hey. Knuckleheads, 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:02.720 here's the providence of God. Because back in 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.779 Ruth chapter 2, Ruth just happened to land in 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:09.399 Boaz's field. And here, Boaz goes to settle this 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:12.580 business, and scripture says, and lo and behold, 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:16.240 the exact guy that he needs to deal with happens 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.120 to walk by. He probably would have come through 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:23.539 at some point, but there is evidence of the... 00:14:23.610 --> 00:14:26.350 providence of God at work. And so Boaz explains 00:14:26.350 --> 00:14:30.590 the situation. He says, hey, you come here, sit 00:14:30.590 --> 00:14:33.309 down. And then he goes over and he grabs 10 of 00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:34.789 the elders. The elders would have been in the 00:14:34.789 --> 00:14:38.129 gate, but it seems like Boaz has a bit of respect 00:14:38.129 --> 00:14:40.190 and sway to be able to be like, hey, you sit. 00:14:40.350 --> 00:14:43.029 Hey, you 10 elders? Yeah, sit. We're going to 00:14:43.029 --> 00:14:46.809 get this done. So they all sit down and Boaz 00:14:46.809 --> 00:14:54.230 explains the situation. And this guy hears, hey, 00:14:54.450 --> 00:14:58.809 there is a chance that I could get some land 00:14:58.809 --> 00:15:03.070 probably at a pretty good discount because I 00:15:03.070 --> 00:15:06.570 can redeem this land that Naomi's selling. Boaz, 00:15:06.629 --> 00:15:08.669 it's really interesting how he goes about this 00:15:08.669 --> 00:15:10.490 because he talks about the land first, and then 00:15:10.490 --> 00:15:15.090 he says, yeah, and, because the Redeemer's like, 00:15:15.190 --> 00:15:18.690 yeah, I'll buy the land. And then Boaz is like, 00:15:18.789 --> 00:15:23.289 right, cool. Also, With this business transaction, 00:15:23.649 --> 00:15:27.309 you're going to acquire Ruth the Moabitess. And 00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:29.970 yeah, also with that, you have to do all the 00:15:29.970 --> 00:15:34.230 duties of Leverite marriage. And your inheritance 00:15:34.230 --> 00:15:37.470 from this land isn't going to go to your posterity. 00:15:37.490 --> 00:15:40.210 It's actually going to go to our dead brother, 00:15:40.250 --> 00:15:45.830 Elimelech. And he's like, maybe not. Never mind. 00:15:45.889 --> 00:15:47.850 I actually can't do it because it's going to 00:15:47.850 --> 00:15:52.789 endanger my inheritance. He's telling this guy 00:15:52.789 --> 00:15:56.090 he has to marry Ruth and then raise the first 00:15:56.090 --> 00:16:00.789 of the offspring as the child and legal inheritance 00:16:00.789 --> 00:16:04.850 of the deceased. So he backs out and he says, 00:16:04.889 --> 00:16:07.129 I can't redeem it or I might ruin my own inheritance. 00:16:07.730 --> 00:16:11.850 And what's so interesting, there's irony here 00:16:11.850 --> 00:16:16.730 that we can miss because it's really clear in 00:16:16.730 --> 00:16:21.049 the original language. But this guy who is so 00:16:21.049 --> 00:16:24.289 concerned about his inheritance and his name, 00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:27.970 the original language, when it talks about when 00:16:27.970 --> 00:16:30.730 Boaz is inviting him over, the Hebrew is basically 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:35.029 saying, hey, Mr. So -and -so, come sit over here. 00:16:35.649 --> 00:16:39.549 It's intentional in actually leaving this guy's 00:16:39.549 --> 00:16:43.070 name out. So I find a little bit of irony, and 00:16:43.070 --> 00:16:45.490 I think the author was intending some of that, 00:16:45.529 --> 00:16:49.580 of the guy who is most focused, on his inheritance 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:53.480 and his name, refuses to redeem and his name 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:57.740 is left out of the inheritance and in moving 00:16:57.740 --> 00:17:01.779 forward. So he becomes the character whose name 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:04.680 is forgotten. And yet the man who risked in his 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:08.440 inheritance, Boaz, who is still willing to redeem, 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:15.259 his is remembered and lasts forever. When I was 00:17:15.259 --> 00:17:17.420 reading through this, it just made me think, 00:17:18.190 --> 00:17:24.609 of Matthew chapter 16, verse 25. So Matthew 16, 00:17:24.730 --> 00:17:30.970 25 says this. For whoever wants to save his life 00:17:30.970 --> 00:17:35.230 will lose it, but whoever loses his life because 00:17:35.230 --> 00:17:41.970 of me will find it. Boaz was more focused not 00:17:41.970 --> 00:17:47.000 on a land deal and transaction. and getting to 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:52.960 marry this lady, he was more focused on what 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:57.400 was right before the Lord. So he was willing 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:03.200 to lose on inheritance because this is what would 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:10.079 honor God. So we see there's a redeemer that 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:12.599 was put into play here who was not willing to 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:17.210 redeem. He said, No, I can't do that. That has 00:18:17.210 --> 00:18:21.450 personal cost to me. I'm not going to do it. 00:18:22.650 --> 00:18:28.670 So then we have Boaz, and he's the redeemer here 00:18:28.670 --> 00:18:32.990 who chooses to redeem. So we're going to look 00:18:32.990 --> 00:18:40.660 at verses 7 through 13. At an earlier period 00:18:40.660 --> 00:18:43.119 in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.599 it to the other party in order to make any matter 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:47.839 legally binding concerning the right of redemption 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:50.960 or the exchange of property. This was the method 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:53.920 of legally binding a transaction in Israel. So 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:56.539 the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, 00:18:56.740 --> 00:19:00.559 buy back the property yourself. Boaz said to 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.640 the elders and all the people, you are witnesses 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:06.150 today that I am buying from Naomi. everything 00:19:06.150 --> 00:19:09.609 that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Malon. 00:19:10.130 --> 00:19:13.210 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Malon's 00:19:13.210 --> 00:19:15.450 widow, as my wife to perpetuate the deceased 00:19:15.450 --> 00:19:18.589 man's name on his property so that his name will 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:21.630 not disappear among his relatives or from the 00:19:21.630 --> 00:19:25.349 gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today. 00:19:26.289 --> 00:19:28.710 All the people who were at the city gate, including 00:19:28.710 --> 00:19:33.309 the elders, said, We are witnesses. May the Lord 00:19:33.309 --> 00:19:35.849 make the woman who is entering your house like 00:19:35.849 --> 00:19:39.589 Rachel and Leah, who together built the house 00:19:39.589 --> 00:19:43.849 of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and 00:19:43.849 --> 00:19:46.529 your name well known in Bethlehem. May your house 00:19:46.529 --> 00:19:49.250 become like the house of Perez, the son of Tamar, 00:19:49.269 --> 00:19:52.009 bore to Judah because of the offspring the Lord 00:19:52.009 --> 00:19:55.029 will give you by this young woman. So Boaz took 00:19:55.029 --> 00:19:59.089 Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her 00:19:59.089 --> 00:20:02.440 and the Lord granted conception to her. And she 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:11.140 gave birth to a son. So Boaz steps forward. And 00:20:11.140 --> 00:20:13.059 he tells the people there, you are witnesses 00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:20.259 today. And Boaz redeems the land, the family 00:20:20.259 --> 00:20:25.900 line of Elimelech and Ruth. When I read this, 00:20:25.900 --> 00:20:33.559 I thought, why? What? was the motivation of Boaz 00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:39.000 in choosing to redeem Ruth, who's an outsider, 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:48.960 Naomi, who was bitter at cost to himself. And 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:55.880 as I chewed on that, I also shot a text to Josh 00:20:55.880 --> 00:20:57.740 and to Josiah, and I said, hey guys, what do 00:20:57.740 --> 00:20:59.890 you think? And what was really cool is we all 00:20:59.890 --> 00:21:02.309 kind of came to the same point, which was Boaz 00:21:02.309 --> 00:21:07.789 was motivated by this chesed, this covenant loving 00:21:07.789 --> 00:21:10.769 kindness. And this word runs throughout the entire 00:21:10.769 --> 00:21:14.950 book. See, in Ruth chapter 1 verse 8, Naomi prays 00:21:14.950 --> 00:21:17.710 that God would show chesed to her daughter -in 00:21:17.710 --> 00:21:22.930 -law. Ruth chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, Ruth shows 00:21:22.930 --> 00:21:26.170 chesed by staying with Naomi and choosing the 00:21:26.170 --> 00:21:29.930 God of Israel. Ruth chapter 2, verses 11 through 00:21:29.930 --> 00:21:33.650 12, Boaz shows chesed in his protection and provision 00:21:33.650 --> 00:21:37.769 for Ruth. Ruth chapter 2, verse 20, Naomi sees 00:21:37.769 --> 00:21:41.910 God's chesed again in the provision of a redeemer. 00:21:42.849 --> 00:21:46.089 In Ruth chapter 3, verse 10, Boaz calls Ruth's 00:21:46.089 --> 00:21:52.170 request for him to redeem her chesed. And then 00:21:52.170 --> 00:21:55.690 in Ruth chapter 4, Boaz shows chesed by redeeming. 00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:59.400 Throughout every single one of these moments, 00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:07.200 this loving kindness, throughout all of this 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:12.079 redemption, we see God's providence at work. 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:16.720 Because God is moving the story toward redemption. 00:22:18.670 --> 00:22:20.490 That piece about the sandal, we're not going 00:22:20.490 --> 00:22:22.609 to unpack that today. It's kind of interesting. 00:22:23.150 --> 00:22:25.990 We don't really normally use sandals anymore. 00:22:26.069 --> 00:22:27.829 Like when Jay closes a real estate transaction, 00:22:28.089 --> 00:22:30.589 he's not like, cool, here we go. It's all done. 00:22:31.049 --> 00:22:33.869 But there was significance to that. We just don't 00:22:33.869 --> 00:22:36.150 get to unpack that today. So if you have questions 00:22:36.150 --> 00:22:38.109 about it, dig further. We can talk about it. 00:22:38.269 --> 00:22:42.390 But we see that God is moving the story toward 00:22:42.390 --> 00:22:46.880 redemption. we started with a redeemer who was 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:51.960 not willing to redeem. Then we moved to a redeemer 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:58.279 who did choose to redeem. But what's kind of 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:04.579 interesting in this text here is after the Lord 00:23:04.579 --> 00:23:10.339 grants Ruth and Boaz a son, Boaz's name kind 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:12.890 of fades out of the story. Like he's mentioned 00:23:12.890 --> 00:23:18.609 again in a genealogy, but this guy who, you know, 00:23:18.609 --> 00:23:21.170 if we're writing this as a book, we're going 00:23:21.170 --> 00:23:25.170 to think, oh, wow, look, we're going to focus 00:23:25.170 --> 00:23:30.190 on the end of their story. We see him fade out. 00:23:32.210 --> 00:23:40.670 So let's look at verses 14 through 17. So this 00:23:40.670 --> 00:23:43.170 is after Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. 00:23:43.769 --> 00:23:47.910 So verse 14 says, The women said to Naomi, Blessed 00:23:47.910 --> 00:23:50.690 be the Lord who has not left you without a family 00:23:50.690 --> 00:23:53.930 redeemer today. May his name become well known 00:23:53.930 --> 00:23:56.009 in Israel. He will renew your life and sustain 00:23:56.009 --> 00:23:58.890 you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter -in 00:23:58.890 --> 00:24:00.690 -law who loves you and is better to you than 00:24:00.690 --> 00:24:04.130 seven sons has given birth to him. Naomi took 00:24:04.130 --> 00:24:06.250 the child and placed him on her lap and became 00:24:06.250 --> 00:24:09.569 a mother to him. The neighbor women said, a son 00:24:09.569 --> 00:24:13.210 has been born to Naomi, and they named him Obed. 00:24:13.630 --> 00:24:16.890 He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 00:24:18.089 --> 00:24:22.910 So Boaz marries Ruth, and the Lord gives them 00:24:22.910 --> 00:24:29.549 a son. But the focus then shifts to Naomi and 00:24:29.549 --> 00:24:35.710 to this child. And this was the first time I 00:24:35.710 --> 00:24:39.029 read this. where this actually kind of like clicked 00:24:39.029 --> 00:24:41.769 and sunk home for me. Because every time I've 00:24:41.769 --> 00:24:43.809 read this before, when I'm reading through the 00:24:43.809 --> 00:24:46.349 book of Ruth, I've read this and it's like, oh, 00:24:46.369 --> 00:24:47.930 you know, he hasn't left you without a family 00:24:47.930 --> 00:24:49.789 redeemer. May his name be well known in Israel. 00:24:49.829 --> 00:24:55.509 I was like, yeah, go Boaz. No. Boaz actually 00:24:55.509 --> 00:25:00.809 isn't the redeemer at the culmination of this 00:25:00.809 --> 00:25:10.779 story. The child is. This little baby is the 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:17.299 Redeemer. The women of the town say, Blessed 00:25:17.299 --> 00:25:21.440 be the Lord who has not left you without a Redeemer 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:28.240 today. So while there is this thread all throughout 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:35.029 the book of this story of the desire for redemption, 00:25:35.049 --> 00:25:37.710 and then redemption happening. And we see this 00:25:37.710 --> 00:25:41.670 interplay between Ruth and Boaz. We get to the 00:25:41.670 --> 00:25:46.269 end, and this child is the redeemer. But notice 00:25:46.269 --> 00:25:55.970 who the women praise. The Lord. The Lord was 00:25:55.970 --> 00:26:02.170 the one who was at work bringing about the redemption. 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:07.619 Throughout the entire process, we see God at 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:12.380 work in amazing ways to bring about this redemption. 00:26:15.380 --> 00:26:18.700 And the women helped remind us, and probably 00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:21.440 Naomi at the end. We talked about how Naomi had 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.079 said when she came back at the end of chapter 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:27.140 one, call me Mara because I'm bitter. The Lord 00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:31.259 has oppressed and afflicted me. And then in chapter 00:26:31.259 --> 00:26:34.140 two, we said about how her theology actually 00:26:34.140 --> 00:26:38.160 started to change a little bit. Because she said, 00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:44.019 wow, the Lord is at work in this. And now she's 00:26:44.019 --> 00:26:47.519 reminded by the women in the town, blessed be 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:51.880 the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer. 00:26:52.619 --> 00:26:54.480 And they said something surprising. And this 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:56.440 was the piece that for me was like, what, wait, 00:26:56.519 --> 00:27:00.829 Boaz isn't the main redeemer? A son has been 00:27:00.829 --> 00:27:04.269 born to Naomi. So the last time I checked, the 00:27:04.269 --> 00:27:06.829 way that typically works is if Ruth and Boaz 00:27:06.829 --> 00:27:10.029 got married and loved each other very much, and 00:27:10.029 --> 00:27:13.349 the birds and the bees, that child was the son 00:27:13.349 --> 00:27:15.589 of Ruth and Boaz. And yet, throughout the rest 00:27:15.589 --> 00:27:19.849 of the story, it talks about how he sat on Naomi's 00:27:19.849 --> 00:27:25.430 knee and she was a mother to him. See, the community 00:27:25.430 --> 00:27:29.710 is recognizing the work the Lord has done. that 00:27:29.710 --> 00:27:34.869 this child is God's restoration for Naomi. And 00:27:34.869 --> 00:27:38.990 then the women in the town name him Obed, which 00:27:38.990 --> 00:27:42.809 means servant. So Obed's actually the redeemer 00:27:42.809 --> 00:27:45.710 in the story. The whole culmination of the story, 00:27:45.809 --> 00:27:49.470 all of this subplot of redemption, we see a culmination 00:27:49.470 --> 00:27:55.589 in the redemption that is brought by Obed. See? 00:27:56.140 --> 00:28:00.859 The Redeemer restored Naomi's life. The whole 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:04.720 line describes future generational restoration, 00:28:04.859 --> 00:28:07.079 not just the legal act. That's actually what 00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:10.559 Boaz redeemed, was essentially a legal transaction. 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:15.799 But Boaz, through faith, then brought about Obed, 00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:23.319 because the Lord granted that. And then he now 00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:26.799 continues. the generational line. And what's 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:29.579 so interesting is Ruth, sorry, not Ruth, Naomi 00:28:29.579 --> 00:28:33.940 said, I came back empty. And what's so cool is 00:28:33.940 --> 00:28:36.640 at the end now, she holds this child in her arms, 00:28:36.779 --> 00:28:44.380 the product of God's remarkable provision. So 00:28:44.380 --> 00:28:48.980 we're going to go back to our text. And it says, 00:28:49.059 --> 00:28:50.640 and Ruth and Boaz married, and the Lord gave 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.339 them a son, and Naomi was redeemed, and everyone 00:28:52.339 --> 00:28:59.670 lived happily ever after. the end. Right? No? 00:29:00.369 --> 00:29:02.069 Some of you are looking at me like, dude, did 00:29:02.069 --> 00:29:05.650 you just like go crazy? No, that's not what God's 00:29:05.650 --> 00:29:10.970 Word says. We transition to a genealogy, everybody's 00:29:10.970 --> 00:29:14.089 absolute favorite type of read in the Bible, 00:29:14.250 --> 00:29:16.809 a list of names that are tricky to pronounce. 00:29:17.950 --> 00:29:23.509 But I want us to focus on this. Because there 00:29:23.509 --> 00:29:28.849 is so much that is cool about this, so much richness 00:29:28.849 --> 00:29:32.710 in this. And generally, anytime you see a genealogy 00:29:32.710 --> 00:29:34.470 in the Bible, it's not there because somebody's 00:29:34.470 --> 00:29:37.910 like, well, I had a word count for my assignment 00:29:37.910 --> 00:29:39.769 today, and I'm going to throw in a whole bunch 00:29:39.769 --> 00:29:43.369 of names. It actually has important theological 00:29:43.369 --> 00:29:47.910 significance. So, Ruth chapter 4, verse 18 through 00:29:47.910 --> 00:29:51.750 22. Now these are the family records of Perez. 00:29:52.950 --> 00:29:56.990 Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram. Ram 00:29:56.990 --> 00:29:59.930 fathered Amenadab. Amenadab fathered Nashon. 00:29:59.950 --> 00:30:02.569 Nashon fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered Boaz. 00:30:02.769 --> 00:30:07.289 Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. And 00:30:07.289 --> 00:30:14.539 Jesse fathered David. See? The author includes 00:30:14.539 --> 00:30:17.819 this genealogy, I believe specifically to sink 00:30:17.819 --> 00:30:21.660 home that God's providence and redemption is 00:30:21.660 --> 00:30:24.559 at work. See, we talked about at the very beginning 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:27.339 of this, this is set during the time of the judges 00:30:27.339 --> 00:30:29.680 when everyone did what was right in their own 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:35.359 eyes and they were crying out for a king. And 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:38.680 through this book, we see that God was preserving 00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:42.630 and bolstering and bringing about the line of 00:30:42.630 --> 00:30:47.190 King David. So the question of the book of Ruth 00:30:47.190 --> 00:30:51.430 as we've been going through it is, will there 00:30:51.430 --> 00:30:57.410 be a redeemer? And we got to see a culmination 00:30:57.410 --> 00:31:00.670 of this book. But then the author says, yeah, 00:31:00.670 --> 00:31:05.470 but look forward. This was all coming towards 00:31:05.470 --> 00:31:11.329 King David. And guys, I want us to look even 00:31:11.329 --> 00:31:14.210 a little bit further forward because there's 00:31:14.210 --> 00:31:16.109 something really interesting about this line. 00:31:18.349 --> 00:31:20.390 See, the question of the book of Ruth was, will 00:31:20.390 --> 00:31:23.049 there be a redeemer? But the story actually continues 00:31:23.049 --> 00:31:30.190 in the gospel of Matthew chapter one. See, the 00:31:30.190 --> 00:31:33.009 answer of scripture to will there be redeemer 00:31:33.009 --> 00:31:39.930 is yes. And his name is Jesus Christ. If you 00:31:39.930 --> 00:31:42.230 have your Bible with you there, turn with me 00:31:42.230 --> 00:31:48.049 to Matthew chapter 1. And we're going to look 00:31:48.049 --> 00:31:50.230 first at verses 1 through 6, and then we're going 00:31:50.230 --> 00:31:52.849 to skip ahead. We're going to look at verses 00:31:52.849 --> 00:31:57.809 16 and 17. Matthew chapter 1, verse 1, an account 00:31:57.809 --> 00:32:01.730 of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of 00:32:01.730 --> 00:32:06.329 David, the son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. 00:32:07.109 --> 00:32:11.220 Isaac fathered Jacob. Jacob fathered Judah and 00:32:11.220 --> 00:32:18.420 his brothers. Judah fathered Perez and Zerah 00:32:18.420 --> 00:32:22.500 by Tamar. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered 00:32:22.500 --> 00:32:26.119 Aram. Aram fathered Amenadab. Amenadab fathered 00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:28.400 Nashon. Nashon fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:32.480 Boaz by Rahab. Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. Obed 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:36.400 fathered Jesse. And Jesse fathered King David. 00:32:37.450 --> 00:32:40.930 and then we go through a whole bunch of more 00:32:40.930 --> 00:32:44.890 names, but I want us to skip forward to verse 00:32:44.890 --> 00:32:49.950 16. This is the same lineage. And Jacob fathered 00:32:49.950 --> 00:32:53.349 Joseph, the husband of Mary, who gave birth to 00:32:53.349 --> 00:32:58.589 Jesus, who is called the Messiah. So all generations 00:32:58.589 --> 00:33:02.369 from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and 00:33:02.369 --> 00:33:05.890 from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations. 00:33:06.750 --> 00:33:09.829 From the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 00:33:10.029 --> 00:33:16.609 14 generations. What's interesting in the book 00:33:16.609 --> 00:33:21.450 of Matthew, Matthew actually adds in even a little 00:33:21.450 --> 00:33:24.190 more detail than we saw back in Ruth. Because 00:33:24.190 --> 00:33:26.690 we see something that would have been really 00:33:26.690 --> 00:33:29.930 unique back then. He's including some names of 00:33:29.930 --> 00:33:35.250 some women. He says that Boaz was the son of 00:33:35.250 --> 00:33:41.839 Rahab. Rahab was the prostitute from Jericho 00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:46.640 when the people of Israel were first coming in 00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:50.759 to the promised land. She's the one who hid the 00:33:50.759 --> 00:33:53.460 two spies and let them down. When the city of 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:55.500 Jericho was destroyed, only her and her family 00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:59.039 survived. See, she was an outsider rescued by 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:02.599 grace. And then it specifically mentions, and 00:34:02.599 --> 00:34:06.490 then Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. Ruth, a Moabitess 00:34:06.490 --> 00:34:10.969 widow of Israelites who left the promised land 00:34:10.969 --> 00:34:15.130 when things got tough, she came back, but she 00:34:15.130 --> 00:34:20.250 was still an outsider rescued by grace. There's 00:34:20.250 --> 00:34:23.829 more there. There's so many pieces that if we 00:34:23.829 --> 00:34:26.309 had the time to unpack, I'd love to. This whole 00:34:26.309 --> 00:34:29.630 thing about Perez via Judah and Tamar, that's 00:34:29.630 --> 00:34:33.650 a crazy story. It's like, it's real crazy. But 00:34:33.650 --> 00:34:38.289 there's so much here where you're seeing this 00:34:38.289 --> 00:34:43.170 pointing to God working through what you would 00:34:43.170 --> 00:34:47.309 least expect in his providence to bring about 00:34:47.309 --> 00:34:51.869 redemption. And see, the line leading to Jesus 00:34:51.869 --> 00:34:57.170 Christ is filled with stories of redemption. 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:03.719 That baby that Naomi holds becomes part of the 00:35:03.719 --> 00:35:09.300 family line that leads to Jesus Christ. So all 00:35:09.300 --> 00:35:15.340 this time, throughout all of this story, God 00:35:15.340 --> 00:35:20.900 was quietly preparing the way, not just for redemption 00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:24.980 for Ruth, not just for redemption for Naomi. 00:35:26.699 --> 00:35:29.519 Not just to bring about a king in Israel, but 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:40.719 to bring the redeemer of the world. Naomi believed 00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:47.119 her story had ended in emptiness. But that wonderful 00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:49.639 reminder from the women in Bethlehem, blessed 00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:53.420 be the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer 00:35:53.420 --> 00:35:56.510 today. See, Naomi thought she had been abandoned, 00:35:56.510 --> 00:36:00.929 but she hadn't. God had already written redemption 00:36:00.929 --> 00:36:12.050 into her story. That truth of God writing redemption 00:36:12.050 --> 00:36:19.429 into Naomi's story, guys, that's true for my 00:36:19.429 --> 00:36:25.369 story. That's true for your story today. See, 00:36:25.449 --> 00:36:31.530 if you belong to Jesus Christ, you are not without 00:36:31.530 --> 00:36:39.010 a Redeemer. If you feel empty right now, your 00:36:39.010 --> 00:36:47.469 story is not without a Redeemer. Maybe your emptiness 00:36:47.469 --> 00:36:51.690 looks like grief. Maybe it looks like a broken 00:36:51.690 --> 00:36:55.300 relationship, a future that didn't happen. Maybe 00:36:55.300 --> 00:37:00.760 you're wondering if God has forgotten you. Naomi 00:37:00.760 --> 00:37:05.619 felt much of that too. But the women of Bethlehem 00:37:05.619 --> 00:37:08.940 saw something Naomi couldn't see. And as a reminder, 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:12.059 even for myself this week, and it's a reminder 00:37:12.059 --> 00:37:17.659 I want to pass on to you guys this morning. Sometimes 00:37:17.659 --> 00:37:21.139 we can't see the redemption that God is writing. 00:37:22.840 --> 00:37:30.619 But that doesn't mean he's not writing it. See, 00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:35.119 God restores broken stories through a redeemer. 00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:47.179 And that story leads to Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, 00:37:47.340 --> 00:37:55.230 you are good. You are sovereign. We praise you. 00:37:56.010 --> 00:37:58.909 Lord, thank you that we get to praise you in 00:37:58.909 --> 00:38:02.570 music and as the team comes up to lead us in 00:38:02.570 --> 00:38:04.289 that, Lord, I just pray that our hearts would 00:38:04.289 --> 00:38:09.710 be tender to what you would have even as we respond 00:38:09.710 --> 00:38:17.250 in song. Lord, thank you that you are at work 00:38:17.250 --> 00:38:23.519 in each and every story. of each and every person 00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:30.420 here. Lord, you love us deeply, beyond all comprehension. 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:35.400 We thank you for that. Lord, thank you that we 00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:37.280 are not without redemption because of the work 00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:42.219 of your son, Jesus Christ. His perfect work on 00:38:42.219 --> 00:38:45.920 the cross, his death, his burial, his resurrection. 00:38:47.739 --> 00:38:52.159 Lord, if there are any... this morning that don't 00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:56.039 know you, that just feel like their story is 00:38:56.039 --> 00:38:59.940 irredeemable, that their emptiness is too great, 00:39:00.099 --> 00:39:03.920 Lord, I pray that today would be the day that 00:39:03.920 --> 00:39:08.500 they would surrender that to you. Lord, for those 00:39:08.500 --> 00:39:12.639 who are here who do believe you are Lord and 00:39:12.639 --> 00:39:15.300 Savior of their life, but are wrestling with 00:39:15.300 --> 00:39:19.880 emptiness, are wrestling with struggle, Lord, 00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:25.139 Give peace. Draw them to yourself. Help them 00:39:25.139 --> 00:39:31.079 to trust in your chesed, your loving kindness. 00:39:34.139 --> 00:39:41.099 Lord, you are so good, and we praise you. We 00:39:41.099 --> 00:39:43.179 pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.