Boaz & Ruth

Amen. You may be seated. Turn your Bibles to the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. The book of Ruth right after Judges and just before 1 and 2 Samuel. The book of Ruth in the Old Testament. We're going to continue our serieses on our series on marriages made in heaven but lived on earth. What can we learn from the Bible marriages for our own life? Not only in our marriage, but for our life in general as well. If you're here and you're married, I believe there's going to be a lot of good information for you. And if you're not married, we're still going to give you some things that will be helpful to you as well.

So look at Ruth chapter 1 and we're going to look at verses 16-8. Ruth chapter 1 and:es 16-18. The Bible says and Ruth said, "Entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee. For whether thou goest, I will go, and whether thou lodest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also if ought but death part thee and me. When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. Some of you may know the story Ruth. Ruth and her husband left Israel because of a famine and went over to Moab Moabites and and uh there her two sons got married to Ruth and another young lady and and then her husband died and her two sons died and and now she's decided the best thing for her to do is go back home to Israel.

And so she brought her two daughter-in-laws in and said, "Listen, uh your husbands are dead. You have no obligation to me. You can go back to your home, find somebody else to marry, and that's no problem at all. uh I'm going to go back to Israel. And one of them said, "Okay." And went back home. But the other one, Ruth, said, "No, I'm not leaving you. Uh you're my mother-in-law and I made a commitment. I'm staying with you." And these verses here in verses 7 16 and 17 are are verses that a lot of people know because they're often used in a wedding ceremony. Uh even though as Ruth talking to her mother-in-law, uh many times they'll take a variation of this and use their wedding ceremony at all.

My wife and I uh we got married and and my wife says the vows that we used when we got married were that somewhere in in the vows I said the words what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine and that's what she claims I said. I'm not sure if I did that or not. Uh but you ladies probably understand that. Uh but uh these were beautiful words of of commitment and those are the kind of words you want to make in a marriage and Ruth not only made them in her marriage but she made them to her family and to her mother-in-law as well. You know, vows are very important. Vows are very important. In Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and:es 4 and 5, it says, "When thou vowest to vow unto God, defer not to pay it, for he had no pleasure in fools.

Pay that which thou has vowed, better is it that thou shouldest not vow than thou should vow and not pay." You know, when we do a wedding ceremony, uh we have a couple here, by the way, today that got married at Ohana Baptist Church 25 years ago, and they're back for their 25th anniversary. It's good to have the Andreas with us as well. And when I did their ceremony, and that ceremony somewhere, I talked about these vows were before the congregation and before the Lord. And when you make your wedding vows, you are making those vows before the Lord. And those vows are important. They mean something.

And we need to make sure we are ready to keep that commitment for our entire life. Yesterday I got to renew vows with a couple from Australia been married for 33 years and they came to Hawaii to renew their vows and they figured maybe we can go another 33 years. And and vows are important. Uh when we make our vows, we need to be willing to endure. In James 5 and 11 and 12, it says, "Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, but have seen the end of the Lord. That the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. But of all above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by earth, neither by any other open, let your yay be yay, and your nayday, lest you fall into condemnation.

And when you say yes in a wedding vow to one another, you need to be ready to endure whatever comes. for better, for worse, for for richer or for poorer, for sickness and health, whatever is going to come, you need to be ready to endure through all the trials, through all the challenges, through all the difficulties because you made a vow. And and that vow is not only one you need to endure, but you need to persevere. And the difference between endurance and perseverance, a lot of people are enduring in their marriage, but they're not persevering in their marriage. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and:es 9 to 10, live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life thy vanity, which he hath given thee unto the son all the days of thy vanity, for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest.

Whatsoever thy hand findth to do, do it with thy might. For there's no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave with thou goest. He said, live joyfully with thy wife. Don't just endure through your marriage, but persevere through your marriage. Uh it ought to be something that if we're going to be together, we might as well enjoy it. You see, I told my wife at one point, I said, "Listen, we're going to stay married. We're not getting divorced. And so, let's just make the best of this. Let's just make sure we enjoy it. I don't I want I don't want to just be together. I want to be happily together.

I want to enjoy our relationship." And and that's the challenge. You ought to your vow is a commitment before the Lord. and one you need to keep for the rest of your life till death do his part. But don't just endure but persevere in that relationship as well. Don't become bitter. Now Ruth uh made this promise to Naomi her mother-in-law. If you look at verse number 13, it says, "Would you tar for them that they were for till they were grown, saying, "If I had more boys, would you wait for them so they could be your husband? And would you stay uh for for them for having from having husbands? Nay, my daughters, for it grieveth me much for your sakes, that you uh that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.

Notice her statement. The hand of the Lord has gone out against me. And then go down to verse number 20. And she said unto them, "Call me not Naomi. Call me Mara." Now the name Naomi means pleasant. The name Mara means bitter. And she said, 'Call me Mara uh because for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Why then call you mean me mean me mean me mean me mean me mean me mean me mean me mean me mean me mean me mean me Naomi seeing the Lord hath uh testified against me and the Almighty hath afflicted me? You see she had become bitter and you can understand she lost a husband, she lost two sons.

Uh she lost everything. She was in a land that was not her own land. And I can understand her bitterness, but we cannot allow ourselves become bitter in life. See, count your blessings, not your problems. In Psalms 68: The Bible says, "Blessed be the Lord who daily loaded us up with benefits, even the God of our salvation, Cila." God wants us to count the blessings, the benefits of the Lord, and not always be counting our problems. You see, Ruth had a lot of problems. She lost her husband. She lost her two sons. But you know what? She had two blessings standing right there in front of her. These girls were good girls.

These girls loved her. Even though one stayed at home, she still expressed her love towards Naomi. And Ruth was willing to go with her wherever and not leave her. And sometimes we forget the blessings of God. And we forget that that God has given us many benefits. And you need to count your blessings. Name them one by one. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and 16-18 says, "Rejoice ever more. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." You know, when you start counting your blessings, you start realizing you're blessed. You know, we were at a point in our marriage a number of years ago where Diane and I were, you know, a lot of conflicts going on, a lot of challenges in life and everything and and she was kind of, you know, not happy with me, let's put it that way.

And and so she decided that she was going to start uh what I'm thankful in Wayne list. And so she typed out this list of all the things that she appreciated about me and all the things that was good about me. And she put it up on the mirror in our bedroom. She didn't tell me anything about it. Just one day I came in, here's this list on the mirror of all the good things about Wayne. Now my first thought was that list is pretty short. But you know what she did? She kept adding to it. And she kept adding to it and it got longer and longer and longer and that reminded her, yeah, we've got our problems.

Yeah, he can sometimes be an idiot, but you know what? There's a lot of good things about my husband. And and ladies and men, I would recommend that you maybe start a list like that in your marriage to remember the good things, the blessings of God. In my daily prayer list, what I go through, one of the lists is what I'm thankful for. And I just have things listed on there that I'm thankful for. Because when we stop being thankful, that's when we become bitter. And bitterness will poison you. In Acts 8 23, for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. When you're bitter, it's like drinking poison and so hoping someone else will die.

You know, it's it's all inside of you and you're the one that's got that bitterness eating away at the inside of you. And you cannot allow yourself to become bitter and you cannot hold on to that anger and that hurt. Uh you've got to let it go because it will keep growing until you pull it out. In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 15, it says, "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled." If you'll remember back when we early on in the series, we talked about Adam and Eve and how they were in the garden and and I and I'm not a real good gardener.

I I don't have a green thumb. I have a black thumb. When I walk into Home Depot's garden department, the plants start screaming uh because they say, "He's back." And they know that means they're going to die. And uh but I've been trying to work in our yard and there's one hill in back of my yard I want to get cleaned up. And it's constantly growing weeds. And to begin with, what I went to up there is I went up there with a weed eater and mowed them down. But you know what they do? They keep growing back. And I mowed them down. They keep growing back. And so I decided, I've got to do something better than this.

And my wife got this thing called the grandpa hoe. And it's kind of thing you shove down a dirt and you just twist it and it pulls the roots out. And boy, that makes all the difference in the world. You've got to get to the root of the problem. If you're bitter, if you're angry, if you're hurt, don't hold on to it. Don't just keep mowing the lawn, mowing the weeds, but dig out the root of that bitterness. Naomi had become bitter. And so you see Ruth and Naomi, but then we see Ruth's love so story. If you look at Ruth chapter 4 and verse number 13, Ruth chapter 4 and verse number 13, the Bible says, "So Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife.

And when he went unto her, the Lord gave her conception, she bare a son. When the story started, Ruth was a widow with no hope for for a marriage. And yet, it is a story and now she's married to this man, Boaz. It's kind of like a a Hallmark love story. You know, you like to watch those things. Most men don't like to watch them. I figured out a way to make them better. What we do is we watch a Hallmark love story. Every time they kiss on the TV, my wife and I kiss, so it makes it more fun to watch it. Uh, but you know, it's like a Hallmark love story. Now, in Writer's Digest, this is what they said.

A love story has to contain four things. First of all, a man and woman to fall in love. There can be no love story without two people who fall in love, right? And then number two, a problem that creates conflict and tension between them and threatens to keep them apart. The tension between the main characters typically seen in conflict. The difficults that threaten to keep them apart and and the story is about how they overcome those difficulties to be together. And then number three, a developing love that is so special. It comes about only once in a lifetime. And and then number four, a resolution in which the problem is solved and the couple is united.

That's basically all Hallmark love stories follow those four things, don't they? There's a little bit twist on the on the plot and there's a little bit twist on the words that are used, but they all come down to those four things. And and Ruth and Boaz have a beautiful love story here in the Bible. You know, we often read the Bible and forget these are real people with real stories. And so kind of put yourself in their shoes and try to read in between the lines and see what we can see. First of all, go to Ruth chapter 2 and look at verse number three. And the first thing is this. In in the Hallmark love stories, a lot of times the couple, they meet by coincidence.

They just kind of happen to meet each other uh by accident or coincidence. But you know what? There are no coincidences with God. In Ruth chapter 2 and verse number three, it says, "And she went up and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and her hap was to light on part of the field belonging to Boaz who was of kindred uh to Lemon, her father-in-law." Now, if you look at verse one, it says, "And Naomi had a kinsman as her husband." It talks about Boaz, and it so sounds like she told Ruth to go to Boaz's field, but she didn't. If you read the story correctly and you follow along with it, uh it's just telling the narrator saying, "Hey, she has this this cousin, this person that's related to her, uh but the she did not tell Ruth to go that field."

The Bible says again in verse number three, and she went and came and gleaned the field after the reapers, and her hap was the light on Boaz's field. That word hap means that kind of by chance, she happened to go to his field. Now in the Bible there are no chances. In in Luke 10:31 the Bible says this and by chance they came down to a certain priest that way and when he saw him pass by on the other side and that word chance there is an interesting word in the Greek. It's a combination of two words and the first word son means together with and the second one means curios which means supreme in authority.

And so the biblical de the biblical definition of this word chance is this. What occurs together by providential arrangement or circumstances. You know what providence is, right? Providence is God moving. What we call chance is not chance. It's God working in that situation. And she didn't just happen to show up in Boaz's field. That wasn't just by accident or coincidence, but that was an act of God. And so often our lives, we need to see the providence of God to see the go things that God does. Now folks, life happens. In Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse number 11, it says, "I returned and saw unto the son that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happenth.

And things happen in life that we don't expect. And things happen in life. You might get sick. You might lose your job. You, you know, uh I was at a point one time back in the 70s where I lost my job. Not because of my fault, but because the economy, it just kind of crashed and and I lost my job and I couldn't get into a job for months after that. You know, things in life happen. Now, God's still in control, but yet they happen because that's part of life as well. And we need to understand when things happen in life, we need to realize that we have a choice about what happens next. In Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse number 10, it says, "Whatsoever thy hand find to do, do it with thy might.

For there's no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whether thou goest." You see, Ruth wouldn't have happened to be in Boaz's field if she didn't decide to go with her mother-in-law to this to the new land. If she didn't decide to get up that morning and go out and get some get some work to get some food coming in. See, she didn't just sit around waiting for something to happen. She got busy. And because she got busy doing something, then God through chance, providence, arranged for her to be in Boaz's field. And so, listen to me. Don't just sit in sit around in life waiting for something to happen.

I I've seen young people kind of sitting around waiting for to meet the right person. Now, I don't believe we need to be desperate going out desperately looking for somebody, but you know what? You got to get up and and get involved and get get busy in life and get out there where you can meet people and in life. Don't just sit around. Get out there and get busy waiting for the providence of God to lead you where you should be. You see, it's not luck. It's not chance. It's not coincidence. But it's the providence of God. In Proverbs chapter 16 verse number 33, the lot is cast into lap the rolling of the dice, but the whole disposing there is of the Lord.

With God, there's no such thing as luck and chance. Even the rolling of the dice, he's under control of. Now, sometimes he just allows it to happen the way it would by uh by numbers and by chance in that way. Uh but you know what? God can change it at any time he wants to. God is in full control. We don't make our own luck. But what we can learn to do is to be aware of the providence of God and be ready for it. If you will learn to live your life in such a way that you're always looking for the providence of God, then when that providence that happens, you're ready to take advantage of it. A lot of us, we miss what happens in our lives.

We miss the opportunities because we're not ready for it. We're not looking for it. We're not prepared for the providence of God. And the way to be prepared for the providence of God is look for God's providence in your past. In Psalms 143 and verse number five, I remember the days of old. I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. Let me challenge you as a couple and as individuals as well to go back and look in your life and see all those times where you can look back now and say, "Oh, God did that. See, my wife and I, we look back when we got together as a couple, and we can see the providence of God that brought us together.

My wife and I look back when we how we end up here in Hawaii. It was all the providence of God. If God hadn't have done this, which seemed totally unrelated to being here, and if God hadn't done this, and if God hadn't done that, and you can see each step of the way, things that we thought, what's going on at the time, now we can see that was the providence of God moving us and and arranging us for us to be in the right place at the right time to accomplish and do what he wanted to do in our lives. And I want to challenge you, go back and look at those times in your life. Make a record of them.

Share them with your children. Let them see the providence of God. So many of you have been to my house and getting that house was the providence of God. There's no question on that. But if you don't pay attention to it, you'll miss it. And then when you miss the providence in the past, you won't be ready for the providence in the future. And you'll miss that as well. And so we need to understand the providence of God and be ready for that. and and Ruth was ready by doing what she's supposed to be doing. And we need to seek his providence in the future as well. In Proverbs 3:5 and six, the Bible says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own sending.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." See, as I go into the future as an individual, as you go into the future as a couple, as a family, you need to pray every day, God, direct my paths today. and realize that something may happen that day that can literally change your life for the rest first rest of your time. But if you're not looking for God's happenings, if you're not looking for God's providence, you're not ready for it, you might miss it. And so, learn to watch for the providence of God. See, Ruth didn't go looking for a husband. Ruth just went out said, "I need to get out there and do something to bring some food into the house."

Instead of sitting at home feeling sorry for herself, she got up and went out and did something and gleaning the field. And she happened by the providence of God to end up in the field of Boaz. Now look at Boaz's reaction. Ruth chapter 2, look at verses 4 and 5. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, said unto the reapers, "The Lord be with you." and answered him, "The Lord blessed thee." Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, "Whose damsel is this?" Now, you need to understand the gleaning, the process of gleaning that day. They would go through the fields and reap the harvest.

And they were commanded by God not to harvest everything. Sometimes when you go through, especially when you have machinery, you'll leave something behind and miss a few things. Well, they weren't only just to leave behind what was missed, but they were literally supposed to leave about 10% of the harvest in the field so that the reapers could come afterwards, the gleaners, I'm sorry, could come afterwards and and collect that for food. The people that were poor, this is how they were provided for. A and so every field, and usually this was the women that were out there doing it. So every field probably had a dozen or more women out there gleaning the field.

So here Boaz comes and he looks out in the field and he sees one woman out there. He says, "Who's that?" You can kind of hear the spark in his voice. You know, you can kind of hear his you see his eyes lighting up. And he asked the servant, "Who's that damsel over there? Who's that beautiful lady over there?" And she look at his reaction. I think he liked her. Look at verse number eight. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, "Hearest thou not, my daughter. Go not to glean in the other field, neither go from hence, but abide here by my maidens." Hey, don't go anywhere else. You stay right here. Uh you can be you can you can clean my field anytime.

That sounds like a guy that was kind of falling head over heels, don't you think? Again, think picture it like a Hallmark movie. You know, you can see that point where the light bulb goes on and one of the other all of a sudden realized, "Hey, I like this person." He liked her. Look at verse number 10. Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found grace in thine eyes that thou should take knowledge of me, seeing I'm a stranger?" Why'd you pick me out of all these other ones? You know, one of the reasons he liked her is not just because she was pretty, but because she had character.

Look at verses 11 and 12. And Boaz answered and said unto her, it hath been fully showed me all that thou has done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how thou has left thy father and thy mother in the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou kneest not here to for. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given to thee of the Lord of Israel, a Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. He said, "Ruth, I can see your character." Young people, when you're looking for a wife, you're looking for a husband, don't just look at the outward appearance because that can fade.

Look at what's on the inside. Look at their character. And Boaz said, "Boy, this a beautiful girl, but even more importantly, she's a godly girl. She's got character. She stayed with her mother-in-law. She's out here in the field working inspecting people just to give her something. She's got character. In Proverbs chapter 31 and verse number one, the Bible says a virtous woman is who can find a virtous woman for a price is far above rubies and character matters. And I believe that Boaz understood a little bit about romance. Look at verse number 14. And Boaz said unto her at meal time, come thou hither and eat of the bread and dip the morsel in the vinegar.

Now he didn't ask any of the other girls. And she sat beside the reapers and he reached his part her parched corn and she did eat and was sufficed and left. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded the young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheavs and reproach her not. And let fall also some of the handful of purposes for her and leave them that she might glean them and rebuke her not." He says, "If she happens to go in the field and it's not been harvested yet, that's okay. And and guys, if you happen to drop a few extra ones right in front of her, that's okay. This guy was a romantic.

He he was just kind of in love with this girl and romantic torture. And he understood this idea of romance. But then look at Ruth chapter 3. And we're not going to go through all the verses, but when we go through verses 1- 11, you know how they end up getting together? Because you see, Boaz, even though he liked Ruth, he didn't think he had a chance. You know why? Because he was older. He thought there's too much age difference. She's not going to want to get together an old guy, old fuddy gutty guy like me. And so he really didn't think he had a chance. You read through it and you'll see that.

But so he didn't go about asking her. So guess what she asked him? How many of you ladies here asked your husband, you did the proposing or at least did the pushing on that proposal? You were the one that kind of made it happen. Come on, honest. Anybody here like that? Anybody here like that? Oh, come on. There's got to be some of you like that. You were being chased and you turn around, caught him. You know what I'm talking about? But, but you know, Ruth, she basically proposed to Boaz. Now, what happened is is um she went home and told Naomi about Boaz and Naomi realized this guy likes you and he's family.

You know, they're related to a certain extent. Back in that day, it was not as pro a problem of being related when you got married, but he he he has a he has a reason to marry you. And so, Ruth know Naomi told Ruth what to do. And she went through this process. go tonight when he's at the field cuz this is the final gleaning. So, he's going to be out there. I want you to go there and you're going to when everybody's asleep, you're going to go in and you're going to lift up the blanket by his feet. You're going to crawl under there and lay there and and and then he's going to ask you to marry him.

Now, you and I listen to that, we think, "What? That doesn't sound good. some girl going to a guy's house and get crawling underneath his sheets. That's not a good thing. Now, you and I may not understand it, but this was appropriate in that day. There was a reason, a ritual, a reason for that. I'm not going to go into all that. We may not understand it. And and I don't recommend ladies to go and lay under somebody's, you know, make I want to make myself clear. I'm not recommending that at all because in today's world especially there's an appearance of evil and the Bible tells us in first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 22 abstain from all appearance of evil.

I want to challenge you young people that are dating age when you start dating set some standards where you will be where you will not be. When you will be and when you will not be there what you will do physically what you will not do. Set some standards. Avoid the even the appearance of evil. Bible says it's good for a man not to touch a woman. There's a reason why you shouldn't be in physical a lot of physical contact when you're not married because it leads to things that are not that are reserved for marriage. But even avoiding the appearance of evil. What I thought was really interesting is this in Ruth chapter 3 and verse 14.

After this whole process and he said, "Yeah, if if the if this other guy will give up his rights to marry you, I will marry you." it. And uh look at verse 14. And she laid his feet until the morning. She rose up before one could know another. And he said, "Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor." You know what Bose's greatest concern was? Protecting the reputation of Ruth. Let me say something, ladies. You're dating a guy that doesn't protect your reputation, especially from him. You're dating the wrong guy. You're dating the wrong guy. Because any guy that really loves you is going to want to protect your reputation and especially in how you go about dating each other as well.

There was nothing wrong with what they were doing. This was a ritual that was appropriate to that day and had reasons for it and all the rest of it. But even there he said, "Listen, I don't want anybody to even talk. I don't want any gossip. I want to protect you." And husbands and wives, ladies, your husband ought to protect you, too. I often tell husbands this. If you would beat up another man for saying what you said to her, then beat yourself up. Don't do to your wife what you wouldn't allow another man to do. You need to protect her. And sometimes the one you got to protect her against is yourself.

Some of you know the story of Ruth. They went to this thing called redeemer kinsmen. In that day, if someone died, one of their relatives was supposed to marry his wives if she had no children so she could have a child, have an heir, and all the rest of it. And it was a very big involved process about it. And it goes into that in in Ruth chapter 4. And such a beautiful picture of the love of Christ and the redeemer, our savior. You see, Ruth was a moabitete. And and a moabitete, first of all, they came. Do you remember Sodom and Gomorrah and how Lot was chased out of ran out of Sodom and and his wife turned and turned to a pillar of salt and the only one saved was Lot and his daughters.

And they end up in a cave. And the daughters thought, "Everybody in the world has died. There's nobody living." I mean, so they got their father drunk and committed incest and had children by them because they thought there was nobody else to do that with. And this is where Moabites came from. They're a result of that incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter. Well, that's not good. And not only that, but in Deuteronomy 23:3, it says, "And an Ammonite or a Moabitete shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to their 10th generation shall they not enter the congregation of the Lord forever.

Because they had deceived Israel and because they had opposed Israel, God said, "Okay, they cannot be a part of Israel for 10 generations." The thing is Ruth was a Moabitete and yet she was loved by Boaz. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans chapter 5 and verse number 8, the Bible says, "But God commendeth or showed his love towards us and that while we yet sinners, Christ died for us." I'm so thankful for a redeemer that loves me despite me. that loves me even when I don't deserve it. And God loves you and God loves me. In Romans chapter 6 and verse 23, for the wages of sin is death.

The Moabites for 10 generations weren't supposed to become part of Israel. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord. God loves you and wants to be your redeemer. He wants you to be his child by faith. You can become one of his through his through the redeemer Jesus Christ by trusting in him. Go to Ephesians chapter 1 real quickly if you would. Ephesians chapter 1. Look at verses number six and 7. to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein made us accepted in the beloved whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.

Look at verse 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance having predestined according to the purpose of him who workketh all things after the counsel of his own will that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ in whom you also trusted. After that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. And also after that you believed you were sealed with that holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the purchased possession on the praise of his glory. Ephesians 2:89 it says for by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves.

It's the gift of God not of works any man should boast. We understand why Boaz fell in love with Ruth. beautiful young lady, godly character, but God loved you and I while we're yet sinners. And he said, "I want to redeem you. I want to give you eternal life. I want you to come and live with me forever. I'm so thankful for Christ our redeemer." In 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For heath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He bought me with a price. He paid for my debt on the cross. And all I need to do is call upon him. Romans chap 10:es 9 to 10.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth under righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And today you can call upon your redeemer. You can call upon Jesus Christ. I want to close by going back to Ruth. Look at verses seven and n. Again, I challenge you to read through the book of Ruth. It's only four chapters. And there's so much in there I don't have time to go through.

But in verses 7 and N again, there was another relative that had first dibs on Ruth, so to speak. And and um he offered it to her. you know, you get not only Ruth, but you also get the land. And he wanted the land, but he didn't want to marry her. And and so Boaz said, "Okay, I'll do it." Now, look at verses seven and N. Now, this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming, concerning, change changing, for to confirm all things, a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor. And this was testimony Israel. Therefore, the kinsman said unto Boaz, "Buy it for thee." Uh, so he drew off his shoe.

So again, this is something you and I don't understand. They they made a deal with each other and and and so the guy took his shoe off his foot and said, "Here, okay, deals made." And and that's how they did their deal. Now, why why did they do it that way? You want to keep that? No. All right. Uh why did they do it that way? I I I've done some study. Haven't fully figured it out. But this one thing I thought about is this. In Exodus 3 and:e 5 it says he saidd draw not man nigh thither put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place where thou stand is holy ground. When you make a deal it's holy ground.

It's a commitment. It's a what did we talk about earlier? A vow. It's a vow. And God bought us with the price. His son Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and you're not your own? For you're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your sp God in your body and spirit which are his. God redeemed you. God redeemed me. And he made a vow that day that when I trust him as my savior that he would give me eternal life and never leave me nor forsake me. By the way, that's why the wedding vows are so important. They're such a beautiful picture of God's love for us.