I wanted us to look at Ruth for
many reasons. It was a delightful and joyful
time. We had some four or five years
ago spending time in the book of Ruth and it's been something
that's captivated me. It's obviously a glorious picture
of redemption. It's a glorious picture of the
depth to which we fell in our father Adam. It's a picture of
the religion of this world and the redemption from that world. But most of all, it's a glorious
picture of our Saviour and identifies our Redeemer by His words, by
His actions in the lives of His people, by His sovereign rule
over all things. As a kinsman Redeemer, is the
title of my message. We've seen in the first two chapters
his sovereign rule and his power to draw his people out of Moab,
his grace and his provision. He's a mighty man of wealth.
We've seen his love tokens, the gleanings left on purpose and
the promises made. And we see in the next chapter,
chapter three, his betrothal and his espousals and his promises
to his bride. And we see his marriage, the
marriage as a result of legal redemption. and we see his fruitfulness
in his relationship with his bride and we find and see his
sweet rest. Just before I get to chapter
3 I want to paint something of the picture of the first two
chapters. What a stark picture we have
of The fall of man in Elimelech
and Naomi. Elimelech's name means, my God
is king. And Naomi, her name means pleasant. What a fall they had. What a fall. They fell. by their
own willful activities, as Adam did. Adam sinned knowingly, willingly,
and he sinned representatively. And Elimelech and Naomi, they
fell from the place of God, they fell from the house of God, they
fell from the house of the bread of God, they fell from the worship
of God, and they fell from the fellowship of God's people. And
it doesn't appear if they needed to go, there was a famine, but
they went out full. And all during that famine in
that same region, Boaz was a mighty man of wealth, and it doesn't
appear that his wealth was diminished in any way at all. But such is
the picture of our fall, such is the picture of the fall of
man, and to go to Moab is to go to a land that is cursed.
You might recall that Moab's beginnings began with Lot's elder
daughter. After Lot and his daughters were
taken by the hand out of Sodom and Gomorrah and rescued by a
sovereign hand of God, the daughters got lot drunk and slept with
him and had children. And Moab is the daughter, is
the tribe, the nation that came from the first of those unions
with the elder daughter. Moab means of his father. And such is the nature of the
Fallens, isn't it? That we will repeat the activities
of our father. We will walk in the paths of
this world in the very footsteps of our father, Adam. They fell
and they went to that place. where Elimelech died and the
others were left dead, and these two daughters-in-law, these Moabitess
women, were there with Ruth. But we have a glorious picture,
don't we, of how the Lord rescues his people from that place of
cursing, from that place where we follow in the footsteps of
our father Adam. And it comes as a word from God. that comes at the beginning as
a word from God. In verse 6 of chapter 1 it says,
She heard in the country of Moab She heard in the country of Moab
how the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. It's almost exactly the same
words that is used by Zechariah regarding the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ in his flesh. The Lord has visited his people.
He's visited his people. When he visits his people, he
gives them bread. When he visits his people, he gives them the
bread of life. And Naomi, who went out pleasant, comes back,
comes back emptied, emptied. She found that in the place of
Moab, which is a place of fruitfulness, there was no hope for her. There
was no place for her to live. She had no one to go to there.
She came back as Mara. Who took away her hopes in Moab? It's the sovereign hand of God
that takes away your attachments to this world and its religion.
They had plenty of gods in Moab. They lived beside Israel, and
so they knew of the God of Israel, and they had stacks of their
own gods. Who provided the bread in Bethlehem? God did. Who sent the word to Moab? God
sent the word to Moab. Who was always in Bethlehem,
Judah? Through all of that sojourn that
pictures the fall of man, all through that famine, is the mighty
man of wealth. And who sovereignly directed
Ruth? Who moved Ruth's heart? so that when all of the attractions
of Moab were laid out before her, she had family, she had
friends, she had future, all there in Moab, and yet the Lord
moved in her heart. She'd heard of the God of Israel
from Naomi, and she clung to Naomi. She says, my God, your
people should be my people, and thy God, my God. It's a work
of God in bringing his people to himself. And she comes back
as a gleaner. She comes back in the company
of Naomi. And Naomi owns the fact that
all of her fault and all of her sin and all of her bitterness
is from the hand of the Lord and is all of her responsibility.
She owns herself as a sinner. That sin is all her fault and
she has no one else to blame. But the God of glory afflicts
his people. The God of glory causes for his
people for sin to be unattractive, for sin to be seen as sin really
is. All our fault and no one else
to blame. They come back so poverty-struck
that Naomi is never recorded as going out gleaning. Naomi
sits and she sends Ruth out into the fields. She gleaned in the
fields of Boab. The only qualification for gleaning
was poverty, and the owners of the field were to leave the sides,
and they weren't to glean every single grape or every single
head of grain. They were to leave something
there for the poor. her humbling need. She gleams
in the field of a kinsman redeemer. See, God suddenly brings her
to a place where she's in his field, in the field of this mighty
man of wealth. And his word of provision is
sent to Moab, and his word of provision is sent to Nailam,
and he draws his own back to his field. And his field is his
word, isn't it? And the gleaning that she was
doing is the gleaning in the very fields of Boaz. And look at the extraordinary
words that he says to her. He says in verse eight, Don't
go into any other fields. You abide fast by my maidens,
verse 9. Don't look at other fields. This
is the field of the kinsman redeemer. Don't look in other fields and
don't go to them. He expresses his love to her,
don't he? He says to her, with me you shall
be safe. With me you'll have water, the
water of life. Then you won't even have to draw
it yourself. It'll be provided freely for you. Verse 14, chapter
2, you'll be fed by me. Verse 15, you'll be protected
from reproach and rebuke by me. Verse 16, you'll glean successfully
because my provision, my servants will provide gleanings for you
in the field. And they'll leave handfuls for
you all over that field. Such is the word of God, isn't
it? Where are you gleaning? The people
of this world glean happily in Moab, don't they? They're satisfied
in Moab. God's children glean. Glean in the fields of the Kinsmen
Redeemer. and they'll glean successfully
because he leaves those grains there for them. And he receives
promises of blessing in verse 12 of chapter two. The Lord recompense
thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of
Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust. The wings
of God are the wings that are shadowed over the mercy seat,
the place where the Redeemer takes his precious blood. And
there is, as a result of his precious blood, there is communion,
there is life, there is forgiveness of sin, there is restoration
to fellowship with him. She's come Under his wings you
are come to trust. Verse 12-13 is glorious. And
then she said, see anyone who is a recipient, this is a great
picture of salvation, it's a great picture of grace, isn't it? Anyone
who is ever a recipient of grace is going to be a requester for
more grace. Show me your glory. Norm spoke
about it last week. If I've found favor, if I've
found grace in your sight, show me more. I need to see more. Moses had seen so much in all
of those years prior to that. And yet, like all people who
are recipients of grace, open your mouth wide, says God, and
I'll fill it. Seek and you will find. She said,
let me find favour, let me find grace in thy sight, my Lord,
for thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly
unto thine handmaid. Though I be not like one of thine
handmaids, and she's just a male biter, had grace poured forth into a
heart. Verse 10 shows how someone who comes into the presence of
a Redeemer as a sinner, she fell on the ground. She fell on her
face and bowed herself to the ground. And anyone who's ever
received grace will be saying the same question as Ruth, isn't
it? Verse 10, why have I found grace in my sight? All I see
in myself is sin. All I see in myself is undeserving. All I see in myself is my rebellion
and my wickedness. I'll never see a reason for grace
inside of myself. look inside for evidence, evidence
of salvation, evidence of grace. The evidences aren't there, you're
looking in an empty box, there's nothing there. You look away,
you look away, you look away to the Lord Jesus Christ and
be comforted. Everyone who's found grace is
a recipient of the hand of and he instructs them, you stay
in my field. You stay with my servants. You
stay in this particular field. There are plenty of other fields
all around, Moab's just across the border, but you stay in my
field. St. Boaz makes his love known
to his bride. He makes his provision known
to his bride. He reveals himself as sovereign. He reveals himself as a mighty
man of wealth. What wealth did the Lord Jesus
Christ have? What extraordinary sovereignty
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He just spoke a word and this
universe comes into existence. What wealth in our Saviour in
every aspect and every attribute of His glorious What wealth in the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He makes himself known as one
of the glories of the gospel, isn't it? The gospel comes by
sovereign revelation. It comes not because of our endeavours,
it comes because of God's activities, God's sovereign activities of
revealing His eternal, infinite love for His bride and the drawing
of her to Him. This is a picture, isn't it,
of Jeremiah 31.3 and we quote it often, don't we? The Lord
has appeared to me of old saying, yea, I have loved you, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. A love that never had any
beginning. He loved it. He loved Adam and Eve and He
loved all of His chosen in them. He loved them before the foundation
of the world. I love what someone said, I'm
so pleased that God loved me from before the foundation of
the world because if He saw what I am now, He'd never love me.
He loved you eternally, He loved you infinitely and He loved you
knowing all of what was about, wasn't it? All of what was about
to come upon you, all of the pain that you were going to go
through in this world. all the pain of being in Moab. I've loved you with an everlasting
love, and therefore, says our God, therefore, because of this
everlasting love, this particular everlasting love, this redeeming
love, with loving kindness, have I drawn you, drawn thee. It's
the drawing power of our great Redeemer. It's one of the glorious
pictures. But I wanted to look at chapter
three a bit more closely. I love what Naomi says in verse
one. She said to my daughter, shall
I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? That's
the church's desire, isn't it? And that's our desire for all,
all that we meet, isn't it? That we will find, they will
find a place of rest in the arms of our Redeemer. Rest, seeking rest in the arms
of a Redeemer. And she says, he's not Boaz of
our kindred. He's one with us. What a glorious
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. Hebrews 2, 14 says, we are one
with him. He was ever united to his bride. They were of one flesh, for both
he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of
one, in which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. See, he is a kinsman, and he
is a kinsman-redeemer. A kinsman-redeemer had to have
the right to redeem, which means he had to be in near relation.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is very, very near to his people in his
humanity. He had to have the right to redeem.
He had to have the power to redeem. And he had to have the willingness
to redeem. That's Boaz. That's our great
Boaz. Verse 3, wash thyself therefore
and anoint thee. Put off your clothes of work
and put on your garments of celebration. This is not about you working,
Ruth. Put your raiment on ye, and you get thee down. The first
meeting, the first activity for her in this is to go down, to
meet with the Redeemer at his threshing floor, is to go down. And then you wait. Make yourself not known unto
the man until he is done eating. Verse four, and it shall be that
when he lies down, You wait. You wait until he's
come to his rest and you mark the place. You mark the man. You mark the man, says Psalm
37, 37. You mark the place where he is. You mark who he is and you mark
where he finds his rest. And what's he doing? He's winnowing.
That's all he's doing. He's always winnowing, isn't
he? He's separating the wheat from the chaff. is winnowing. I love how the Shulamite in the
Song of Solomon has exactly the same plea, doesn't she? She says,
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest. Where does the Lord feed? He
feeds amongst his sheep. It means church. And where thou
makest thy flock. rest at noon, can you tell me
where? You mark the place, you mark the place where he feeds,
where he finds the glory of his holy name, the glory of his father,
the glory of his redemptive work. You find the place where he is
revealed in his glory. Find the place where he's revealed
in his fields of his word, and you find the place where he finds
satisfaction. where you make where you make
your flock to rest at noon will never will never rest. Come to me,
says the Lord, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll
give you rest. Rest is His to give. You uncover His feet and you
lie down there and you wait. I love the instruction of the
church, isn't it? And He will tell thee what thou
shalt do. Associated with redemption, associated
with these glorious espouses, is obedience. He shall tell you
what you shall do. What's he saying? He says lie down. He says rest. It's the obedience of faith,
as Romans 1 and 16 says. What must I do? What must I do
to be saved? He shall tell you what you shall
do. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved. What must I do to be saved? Look
unto me, all you ends of the earth, and be ye saved. What
must I do to be saved? Come unto me. He shall tell you
what you shall do. He'll tell you how to lie and
have rest and to watch and wait as he does his glorious, glorious
work. Verse nine, he says, who art
thou? And she says, I am Ruth thy handmaid. She's no longer
Ruth the Moabite. She says, I'm just your servant.
I'm just your servant. I so much like the story of the
prodigal son, isn't it, when he comes back. He's been into
a land that's so much like Moab, hasn't he? And he's been stripped
of everything. And then he comes to his senses and he realises
in his father's house there's bread. And he says, just make me one of
your servants. Just make me like a servant. Let me come and shelter
under your wings and make me a servant. I am Ruth thy handmaid. I'm not Ruth the male bitess. I'm not Ruth the virtuous woman.
I'm Ruth your handmaid, and I'm lying at your feet. I'm lying
at those feet that were wounded. You might recall that Mary sat
at the master's feet, and she gleaned in the fields of the
great Redeemer, didn't she? And the Lord said, it won't be
taken away from her. And we're all Martha's, aren't we? We're
all Martha's, running around, doing and doing and doing and
doing. And Mary chose the best of thee, and it won't be taken
away from her. And then she says, spread therefore
thy skirt over thy handmaid. It's a glorious picture, isn't
it? Lord, own me as yours. Lord, cover me with the robe
of your righteousness. Cover my sin, clothe me in such
a way that when God looks upon the beloved son, he sees me in
him, not a tiny skerrick of my being out there. All he sees,
all he sees, nothing of me and all of him. Cover me with the
robe of your righteousness, for you are thou art a near kinsman. Since you've been drawn by love
to him, And she didn't seek any of the others. He says, blessed
be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness
in the latter end than the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest not
the young men, whether poor or rich. I love what he promises, it doesn't
mean. He says, now it is true that
I am thine. Not I was thy near kinsman, not
I'm going to be, but I am thy near kinsman. What a great and glorious promise. Listen to his words. Listen to
the words of our Redeemer to his daughter, his church. He
says in verse 11, and now my daughter, fear not. I will do
to thee all that thou requirest. What do you require of your kinsman
redeemer? Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Lord, save me from myself. Save
me from Satan. Save me from this world. Save
me from sin. Lord, lead me Lord, don't let me be deceived. Lord, love me. Lord, if you be
willing, says the leper, you can make me whole. I'll do to
thee all that thou requirest. What do you require? God's children require Him. I want to be with Him. I want to know Him. I want to love Him. I want to
be able to use personal pronouns about Him. I want to call Him
my Saviour, my Redeemer. As Thomas said, my Lord and my
God. I want Him to love me despite
myself. company forever and ever. I want to look to Him and not
look anywhere else. I want to look to Him and away
from myself. I want to be comforted in His
presence. I want to know His love. That was Ruth's desire, wasn't
it? She had no desire. It says that she had no desire
in verse 10. She had no desire for the young
men. It didn't matter whether they were poor or rich or good-looking
or other. She had eyes for one man and one man alone. That was her requirement. And there comes this, in a sense,
injunction in the story in an extraordinary way. He says, obviously
I love you and I've drawn you to myself. And now he says this,
and throws an issue of doubt into her mind, isn't it? He says,
I know it's true that I am thy near kinsman, verse 12. Howbeit
there is a kinsman nearer than I. There is a kinsman nearer
than I. And he has a legal right, and
the kinsman nearer than I is the law. You'll see that that
kinsman comes and they take the ten witnesses, which is a picture
of the law later on in Chapter 4. We're born under a covenant
of works. It's nearer to us, isn't it?
Our flesh lives under a covenant of works. We keep thinking again
and again and again that we need to satisfy that flesh. We keep
thinking that we're going to be more right in God's presence
by the good things we do and less right in the presence of
God by the bad things that we do. We keep looking to our activities. That's what the law does, doesn't
it? causes us. The law curses but never cures. The law punishes and it never
redeems. The law bruises and it never
blesses. The law terrorises people and
it never gives them peace. The law condemns but it never
saves. The law condemns and it never
forgives. The law binds. The law brings reproach and brings
no fruit. See, there is no redemption,
there is no legal redemption, unless the law is satisfied.
This nearer kinsman must be satisfied. The law is weak. That's what Romans 8 says, doesn't
it? In that the law was weak by the flesh. The law cannot
do it. It cannot redeem people. And
yet, throughout this religious world, throughout this Christian
world, we have again and again and again, people being brought
back under a bondage of works. They must do these things to
establish their salvation. They must do these things to
establish their sanctification. Their standing before God is
always on the basis, in so many of what he said, it's on the
basis of what you do alongside what he does. The law, 1st Romans
4, isn't it? For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son,
in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin condemned in the flesh, which is why there's no
condemnation. There is now no condemnation.
When the fullness of time comes, says Galatians, The Lord Jesus
Christ was revealed to redeem them that were under the law
that we might receive the adoption of sons. The law binds and it
still does its own binding work all the time. For as many, Galatians
3.10, for as many as of are the works of the law are under the
curse. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. If you go back to the law,
for one little tiny thing, you go back to all of the law. But that no man is justified
in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.
And the law is not of faith. Law has no origin in faith. It
binds people, but it doesn't cause them to believe and to
love. It doesn't draw them to the Lord Jesus Christ. The man
that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For as it is written, cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. But the blessing of Abraham,
the blessing of Abraham is the presence of God. The blessing
of Abraham is to have the spirit of God. The blessing of Abraham
is to have the promises of God, not on the basis of what Abraham
did, but entirely on the basis of what the Lord Jesus Christ
did. God looks to his son. and he finds satisfaction in
Him. All of God's children look in
exactly the same place that God looks and finds their satisfaction. I come upon the Gentiles. And
so in dealing with this law, I love what the Redeemer says. I love what He says. He says, he will do it. If this
other Redeemer can't redeem, then I'll do it. And then what's
he say at the end of verse 13 of chapter three? You lie down. You lie down. You lie down and
rest at my feet. You lie down, resting and sleeping
at my feet, covered in my robe. He sends her home while she waits. And Naomi in verse 18 says these
glorious words. Sit still, my daughter, sit still. He's told you to lie down. You sit still until thou know
how the matter will fall. in rest until he has finished
the work this day. Isn't that exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ said on Calvary's tree? It's the same words almost.
It is finished. Finished forever. Sins, the sins
of Ruth and Naomi and all of the elect of God were laid on
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the law of God exacted a
punishment upon him until God's wrath was satisfied. The fire
of God's holy justice, inflamed by that law, fell upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the sacrifice consumed the
fire. This lamb was slain before the
foundation of the world. The man will not rest. The man will not rest. What a
glorious picture of redemption. What a glorious picture of redeeming
love and grace. I might read some of these last
verses. Then Boaz went up to the gate. What were Ruth and
Naomi doing? What were you doing when redemption was won for you
outside of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago? What were you doing before
the foundation of the world when the Lamb was slain in the covenant
of grace before the foundation of the world? What were you doing
when all the promises were made? Naomi and Ruth were at home. And Naomi's saying to Ruth, you
rest. work of redeeming. Boaz went
up to the gate. This redemption of his bride,
this having his bride as one with him, is a public activity. And Boaz goes to that gate as
a sovereign ruler. He goes there in obedience to
the Scriptures. The Scriptures must be fulfilled.
Redemption requires all of the Scriptures and all of the law
being fully and openly and publicly least satisfied exactly what
the Lord Jesus Christ did on Calvary's tree and he's the one
that is sovereign in all of this activity isn't he he speaks to
the one this man who's the near a kinsman he says turn aside
verse 1 of chapter 4 and you sit down here you sit down here
and he laid out the cost of redemption And he says in verse 5, in the
day that you buy the field of the hand of Naomi, you must also
buy it of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise
up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman
said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. I can't have Ruth, a Moabiteess,
as my wife. I can't have her and cause her
to be fruitful, which is exactly what the law does. The law curses
and condemns and never brings life. The law takes and never
gives. The law burdens and never lifts
that burden at all. I cannot redeem it. And this
matter was exacted in such a way that all the witnesses could
see it. He plucked off his shoe. This
was a testimony of all Israel. And I love what Boaz says. the Covenant of Works and Boaz
has redeemed his people by his own blood. He says I bought all
that, verse 49 of chapter 4, I bought all that was the Limeleks
and all that was Chileans and Marlons of the hand of Noah and
I love what he says, moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife
of Marlon, have I purchased, purchased to be my right to be his wife, to raise up the
name of the dead, that it not be cut off from among the brethren. And you are witnesses, you are
witnesses. And verse 13 shows that there
is fruit only to God, in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
13, This is what our Saviour does. This is the sovereignty
of our Redeemer. He took. He took Ruth. He took Ruth as a sovereign. He took her in love. He took
her as being redeemed. He took her as one with himself
in union with her. You see, the finished work of
the Lord Jesus Christ makes the children of God perfectly fit
receptacles for God to dwell with them and in them. It's a
glorious work, isn't it? She brings forth fruit unto God. That's what everyone wants to
do, don't they? People in religion, they want
to bring forth fruit unto God. And she bear a son. She's now married. She's now
married and gloriously married to the kinsman redeemer. He's
dealt with the law. He's redeemed her by his own
precious blood. I love what Romans 7 says. It says, as a woman is bound by
law to her husband as long as he lives, but if the husband
be dead, she's loosed from the law of her husband. So verse
three, so then if while her husband liveth, she be married another,
she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is free from the law. Free from the law. God demands
nothing from his people except what he provides for them in
the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not to go back to the
law. We are not to look to the law. We look to the law in love
and we delight in the law of God. We delight in the fact that
the law is holy, we delight in the fact that the law is just,
and we delight in the fact that the law is good. But our works
can never make us holy, and our works can never make us just,
and our works can never make us good. But if you go back earlier
in chapter 7 of Romans, she's free from the law so that she's
not an adulteress, she's married to another man. We're married
to the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
We were betrothed to him in eternity. We were one with him in his flesh,
and we died with him. That's what baptism pictures,
isn't it? We are one with him. We've died with him. We've raised
with him. We're in union with him. He lives
in us, abides with us, cares for us, and casts And he says, Paul says in Romans
7, wherefore, my brethren, you are also become dead to the law
by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another,
even to him who was raised from the dead, that we should bring
forth fruit unto God. Boaz bought his wife at the cost
of his own life and blood. He purchased her. We're a purchased
possession, children of God. Purchased possession. We are
a precious possession of him. We are the result of a pleasurable redemption.
For the joy set before him he enjoyed. What's the joy that's
set before him? The joy that's set before him
is union with his bride that is love from everlasting. The
joy that's set before him is the glory of his father's holy
name and reputation. The joy set before him, it's
a precious redemption. We're redeemed by the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a public redemption. He drew Ruth out of Moabite and
he left the Moabite nation to stay there. He always draws his
people particularly and purposefully. My sheep hear my voice and I
call my own out by name and they come to me. They come because
the shepherd's voice is a voice of comfort. The shepherd's voice
is a voice of rest. He says, rest. Rest in who I
am. Rest. in what I have done, a sovereign, glorious saviour,
a sovereign, glorious redeemer. I want us to go back and ask the
question. This redeemer, This Kingsman
Redeemer pictured in those, this Kingsman Redeemer that is the
one in which you pass and I remember. the place where God makes a name
for himself, this Babas. He's a sovereign redeemer. He's
a redeemer, a kinsman redeemer who draws his own, exposing their
sin and their rebellion and all of the depravity of it. He draws
them in sovereign grace. and provides for them. He causes
them to glean in his deals. He gives them tokens of his love. He betrays his self to them.
He marries them in legal redemption. He brings them to be fruitful. He brings them No wonder the saints, as they
were caused by God, to write of this Redeemer. We read those
verses earlier from Isaiah and other places. But listen to the
pronouns. He's our Redeemer. Is he yours? He says, fear not, I will help
thee. Has he caused you to be free
of that fear? Has He caused you to have the
fear of God that you dare not ever think about standing in
the presence of God without being robed in the very righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Has He helped you? Thy Redeemer is our Redeemer,
is my Redeemer. Is the Redeemer who's teached
you? Is a Redeemer who has led you?
Has he led to you into the presence of who he is? Has he led you
into the truth? Has he caused you to know the
truth and know that truth has set you free? Set you free. Has he shown himself to be faithful
to thee? Is he a choosing God? Has he
chosen you out of all the man out of this world and brought
you to himself? Is he thine husband? Is he thine
husband? I am the Lord thy Saviour and
thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. May he cause you to
delight in who he is and the personal pronouns which declare
his ownership in the mutual love that he creates and brings to
his people. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we pray that you might make the Redeemer our Redeemer, that we
might yet again, Heavenly to be covered with the robe of
His righteousness, to sit and be at rest while He goes and
finishes the work, that we might be called as simply Heavenly
Father to wait in faith for Him to do as He has promised. May
He put in our hearts the desires that cause us to require the
things that He will provide in faithfulness and truth to us.
O our Father, we pray that we might yet again be drawn to see
him on Calvary's tree. And may we be drawn, Heavenly
Father, to see that broken body and that precious blood was shed
for those that he loved from everlasting and drew to himself.
We thank you for drawing your people to this day, Heavenly
Father. We thank you that your activities in redeeming your
own and drawing them to yourself have not changed from the days
of Ruth and will not change until this world is no more and all
of the redeemed of God our Father and cause us to delight
in who He is. Bless us Heavenly Father and
bless Your Word to the hearts of Your people. Teach us and
lead us and guide us into the truth that is in Him and in the
Lord. For we pray in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and for His glory