Show me the truth concealed And there's very much, very much. We haven't touched
our toe in the ocean of God's knowledge. That's about all we've
done. We've just tasted that the Lord
is gracious. We've just dipped our tongue.
He's just put a drop of water on our spiritually parched tongues
from a vast ocean of fullness. And tonight we may get a little
fresh glimpse. I'm a lover of bread. I know
it doesn't show, but I am. If there's one thing, we were
talking today about eating, if there's one thing that I could
literally gorge myself on, that I could eat as much as anybody,
Don Fortner or whoever, it's homemade bread. Homemade bread. And my little wife makes it mighty
fine. Mighty fine. And I love every
new and different way she serves up bread to me. If you are a lover of Christ,
the bread of life, then you delight, and if you've tasted that the
Lord is gracious, then you delight in the serving up of the gospel
in a new and a different way, something you probably haven't
tasted before. I hope that will be the case
tonight. Let's read verses 19 through
22 in our text. You know where we're at, don't
you? The book of Ruth. Verses 19 through 22 will be
our text. And our story tonight centers
around this one statement. This would be a title, if I had
a title, The Beginning of the Barley Harvest. Read verses 19
through 22 with me. So they too, Ruth and Naomi,
went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they
were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about
them. And they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call
me not Naomi, call me Marah, 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 me Naomi? See,
and the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted
me." So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law,
with her. which returned out of the country
of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the barley
harvest." By way of review, we've looked
at several things. We've seen God's marvelous sovereign
power and providence in his dealing with this woman Naomi and with
the little Moabite maiden named Ruth. whom he had chosen before
the foundation of the world to be the means of bringing his
Son into the world. And God moved in mysterious ways
in bringing about this story, this romance of redemption that
would usher in the Christ someday. God moved through nature, he
moved through circumstances that the average man or woman would
not He did these things through nature
and circumstances to accomplish this purpose. He sent a famine
in order for a particular man to leave the country, just to
get one man out of the country, and to take with him his family,
which he had two sons and a wife. He took with him his two young
sons all the way down to Moab in order for these two sons to
meet two Moabitess women and marry. And then the man died,
Elimelech, and then his two sons died, and that placed these two
women in the family of Naomi. And these three widows were left,
one, Naomi, of whom hears the gospel or the good news that
the Lord had visited his people and given bread. She hears the
good news, and she decides to go back to the Lamb. And we saw
in that, in that mysterious and marvelous providence of God,
how God Almighty brings all things to pass. for the sake of one
of his elect hearers, one of his sheep, to bring them to hear
the gospel. And he moves in mysterious ways.
Each one of you have a particular and peculiar story. You are his
peculiar people. It's peculiar how he brought
you personally, each one of you, to hear the gospel for the first
time. Brought you out of paganism,
brought you out of a godless religion, brought you out of
a destitute world, just like Naomi and just like Ruth. you
have your own story about. And then we saw in these two
young women, Orpah and Ruth, we saw these two young widows.
One goes back to her people and to her gods, and the other, Ruth,
in spite of Naomi's insistence or trying to dissuade her from
going She cleaves steadfastly to Naomi and continues the journey
all the way to Judah, and you know the rest of that story,
into bliss and happiness that she had never known before. Now, the events surrounding that
story of these two women, the events surrounding the story
that we are looking at were to forever change the lives of these
women. And they would be the key events
in that one event which God was to bring about, the greatest
event in all of history, the central event of all of history,
the entrance of the Messiah into the world, the coming of the
Christ. And all of this, understand me now, who hath despised a day
of small things? All of this is the result of
this one poor widow hearing some good news about bread in Bethlehem,
in Judah. Just hearing a story. Forever
changed her life and ushered in the glory of God as never
seen before. Now, the young lady named Ruth,
we saw this. The young lady named Ruth in
God's all-wise and marvelous providence is to be brought into
a relationship with a near kinsman, a kinsman-redeemer, by whom she
is to bear a child which will someday be the grandfather of
King David, which is the earthly kingdom from which Christ proceeded,
the son of David. And the difference between these
two ladies, Ruth and Orpah, we saw the difference being that
Orpah, who turned back Orpah turned back because she was of
a double mind. She had received her religion
from her husband. As long as he was alive and doing
well, she was religious too. When she lost her husband, she
left and went back to her gods. I hope the Lord doesn't try any
of our ladies on that count. She had some affection, didn't
she? She appeared to have some interest in the things of God
until calamity came, and she went right away back to her people
and her gods. There was no real lasting heart
or change in her. But Ruth, Scripture says, Ruth
was steadfastly minded, verse 18. She was steadfastly minded. She was resolute, firm and resolute,
and she claimed to Naomi, going on her way to Judah with her."
And we saw that these two ladies were a picture, a type, of two
professors of Christ, two professing believers in Christ. One was
an unregenerate religionist, Orpah. She had a mere profession. She had some outward signs, some
outward show of interest, but no heart, no regenerated love
of God had not been shed abroad in her heart, Vicki. Not at all.
The other, Ruth, represents a truly regenerated child of God, a disciple
of Christ who would not, would not and could not be put off
or dissuaded from her desire, that is, to go to Judah. She could not and would not be
put off. It was impossible. So Naomi,
speaking to her like that. Now, let me say this in light
of that, and then we'll go on. It is characteristic of God's
true people. Because of God's sovereign, effectual,
eternal grace, because of the work of the Holy Spirit, because
of who it is that saves them, it is characteristic they are
steadfastly minded, and they cannot be put off or dissuaded
from following the Lord Jesus Christ. They see their need of
Christ, and they follow him. And like the disciples of old,
even though Christ appeared to dissuade them or question their
faith, he said, Will you go away? There you are, there's the door.
They say, Where would we go if we left? Now it's the words of life. Go
back to death, go back to sin, go back to Gods which are no
gods go back to the cistern when we taste it of the river of life. No, we're not going anywhere,
they said. We're not going anywhere. We'll
follow you. Peter said, I'll follow you all the way to the
cross. Well, believers, though, they
have their ups and downs, though. There are times in the life of
a believer that they appear to be going the other direction,
life of a believer when they appear to be going back from
following Christ. Like Abraham when he said Sarah
was not his wife. Like David when he feigned madness.
On and on the list goes. Peter when he denied the Lord
at times. When every believer acts like an unbeliever and acts
like he's going the other way. But, Brother It is the general
tenor of every believer's life, the general characteristic of
his life, the thrust, the aim, the goal of his or her life to
follow Christ. There may be times when he says,
Oh, I don't know, but it won't be long. The Lord in sovereign
power, his Holy Spirit, turn him around. Turn us and we'll
be turned, the psalmist said. Isaiah said, Turn us, and he
does. He turns them. No, you're not
going back. You're not going back. and we
press on again. It's like the Mississippi River,
Ohio River, Ohio River, Shenandoah River. Rivers on the whole. Rivers. All rivers run south. Their general course is south. At least the Ohio, I better not
make that qualified. I know the Ohio River does. The
Ohio River does. It runs south. The general course
of that river is south. If you look from an aerial point
of view at that river, there will be times when that river
appears to be going due north. There are also times when that
river goes east and west. But the general course and the
flow of that whole river is where? South, down into the Mississippi
River, into the Gulf of Mexico, and out to meld into the fullness
of the ocean. And that's the believer. The
general tenor of his or her life, though at times appearing to
run east, west, and north, the general tenor of their life is
toward Christ. Tenor. Do you know where tenor
came from in the musicals? I would embarrass Janette and
ask her that question, our resident musical expert, but she doesn't
know that. What tenor means? Do you know what tenor means?
The word, the tenor, part of the music was derived from the
word tenor, the tenor of one's life, the general bent or course
or will of a life. It's that which holds one together
or that which focuses one in one general direction, the tenor.
What holds the music together in song? The tenor. The tenor
is the general melody. And the tenor of a believer's
life is tenored by Christ. His or her heart strings are
tuned to middle C. They may sound an off note at
times, a flat, a sharp, but generally speaking, their hearts are tuned
to Christ. I said that for your comfort. Ruth followed Naomi out of love
to Naomi. not out of what Naomi could give
her. She didn't have anything to give
her, did she, at this time, right? But she followed her out of love
to her, not out of love or not out of desire for her benefits.
And the disciple of Christ, he or she follows Christ out of
love to him, not for his benefits. Ruth realized, Ruth knew that
she didn't deserve anything. She just loved Naomi. She was
going to go with her. She was unworthy of Naomi's favor and
her help, wasn't she? And the believer feels unworthy
of the least of God's favors. And he will follow him no matter
what. Right? Why? He's worthy. I love this illustration. John
Calvin, one time, someone came to him. and asked him, said,
John Calvin, you believe there's a Lamb book of life? This man
was saying this in a derogatory way. He said, you believe there's
a Lamb's book of life, don't you? Where all of the elect of
God's names are found and only they will be saved? John Calvin,
I said, I most certainly do. And the man said, what if you
could look at that book and your name was not there? Your name was not found in that
book. John Calvin, would you continue to do what you're doing
now and all of this work for the glory of God and this and
that and the other? John Calvin said, I most certainly
would. I would continue. It wouldn't change a thing. Why?
Because he's worthy. He's worthy. Whether I get anything
out of him or not, he's worthy to be worshiped. The believer
follows Christ. This is a true mark of a believer.
This is a litmus test of a believer. Now, why do you love? Is it because of the loaves and
the fishes? Didn't Christ ask his disciples
the same question? You get your belly full, what
you can get out of Jesus, got your arthritis healed, is that
it? That would be worth asking this generation, wouldn't it?
Why do you follow Jesus? Out of love to him? admiration
of his glorious person, because he's worthy of what you can get
out of it, heaven. That's the litmus test, isn't
it, of a true believer and a non-believer. Perhaps Orpah saw that she wasn't
going to get much out of this poor, ragged widow named Naomi. She didn't have anything left. All right, now let's look at
the story here of Naomi's entrance into the city. Look at verses
19 and 20. Verse 19, And the two, or that is, Ruth and Naomi,
went until they came to Bethlehem, and it came to pass. I love every time I read that
in the scriptures. It may seem like a simple thing. And an insignificant
thing to the average person that reads it. But what I see in that
is the almighty, eternal, sovereign, predestinating power of God Almighty
in all things. It came, why? Because God brought
it to pass. All things will come to pass.
He said, I purposed it, I'll bring it to pass. Now believers, that's for your
comfort. All trials, though for a time they're grievous, it will
come. They will come. Lord said they would come. You
must remit tribulation. But it will come to pass, to
pass. And they'll all pass when you
pass over Jordan. There's nothing by chance, accident,
or luck. All things are brought to pass
by the sovereign direction and foreordination of God Almighty.
All things. So these two came into the city,
and it came to pass. when they were come to Bethlehem,
that all the city was moved about them, and all the people cried
out." Apparently, the people were working out in the fields
or wherever, out in the marketplace and all that, and they looked
up, and they saw these two poor ladies
come walking into town. Obviously, many people immediately
recognized And they all said, all the city was moved. They
stopped what they were doing. They dropped their rakes and
brooms and looked up and said, Is this Naomi? They saw these two ladies coming
in, strangers. Is this Naomi? Now, Limelech and Naomi had once
been proud dignified, beautiful, honorable, well-known, rich,
prosperous, a man and a woman about to have somebody full,
full of all the goodness of this life. Now, years later, two women
Walking into this town, one of them is old, one of them is haggard,
one of them is in rags, perhaps both of them in rags. The older
one is downcast, downtrodden, both of them downtrodden. The
one older one has a bent-over look about her that only stress
and sorrow will bring about, even in a young woman. She had a mournful look. on her
face and beside this older woman, probably behind the older woman
because she was a stranger, walked this little sunburned brown Moabite
maiden, probably carrying all the burden, all the belongings
of those two which could probably be kept in one small bag. And the city was moved and they
all said in unison, Is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? The once beautiful
and distinguished and dignified woman of times gone by, is that
Naomi? And she said in verse 20, she
said, "'Call me not Naomi. Don't call me God is sweet. Call
me Mara, for the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord
hath brought me home again empty. Why then call you me, Naomi?
Seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and rightfully so,
and the Almighty hath afflicted me, not the devil, but God." Many years before this, there
was a similar story, a story of a once young, handsome vibrant, wise, strong, robust,
dignified, glorious man, full of grace and truth. He walked about with an absolute
dignified manner. And now, years later, an old,
wrinkled, broken-down man, his face etched by years of pain
and sorrow, his mind almost gone, a mere shell of the man he once
was. And I think I hear all the angels
in the city of God say about this one, Is this Adam? Is this the once beautiful Adam? Is this man? No, call me not
a man. Call me a worm. No, ma'am. Call me a sinner, because that's
what the wages of his sin had earned him—death. All of you can tell similar stories
to this, but I recall going to visit my grandfather in a nursing
home. He was eighty-two years old the
year he died. Just before he died, I went to
visit him in the nursing home. He had hardening of the arteriosclerosis,
hardening of the arteries. And he was once a very strong, a very crafty man who was very
talented in many ways, a carpenter, just a real mechanic and industrious
fellow, hardworking, a farmer, a gardener, a hardworking man. very hardworking and very strong
and robust. I remember going to see him just
before he died, and he had lost his mind, totally lost his mind. He didn't know me. We were good
buddies. We were good buddies. He didn't
know me. He was doing something, trying
He was talking about bugs and things all around him. There
was nothing there. He just lost his mind. And you've gone through
nursing homes and you've seen these shells of men and women
wrinkled beyond recognition, sitting there with their mouths
open, some laying in beds, you know, waiting. Is this man, is this man the way God created
him in his image? Don't call him man, call him
a sinner. Well, Naomi left in glory. She left in honor and fullness,
and she comes back in shame and poverty and disgrace. I've got
to hurry. And our text says in the last
part of verse 22, it was the beginning of the barley harvest. She came at just the right This
was a good time to be coming into Judah. Turn over with me
to Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23. Prepare to be blessed. Leviticus 23. Now, the barley
harvest. Let me tell you a little bit
about the barley harvest. The barley was the first grain
harvested in the land. It might be what you would call
winter wheat here. I grew some. and it grows in
the latter part of winter and the earliest part of spring.
It's the first grains, it's the first harvest, the first grains
harvested, the first ones that ripen after a long winter season,
winter being a time of death and great deprivation and barrenness. And the barley harvest was a
time of great joy. Everybody was full of joy and
happiness, and they showed it by these feasts. And the Lord
is the one that designated these feasts, for them to have a party,
have a feast in the name of the barley harvest. And there are
several feasts that were held at various times, all of which
feasts show the divine order of God in salvation. Now, listen.
Stay with me, all right? They show the divine order of
God in salvation. Leviticus chapter 23, here the
first feast is mentioned, verse 4 and 5. The Lord is talking,
these are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations which
you shall proclaim in their season. In the fourteenth day of the
first month at even is the Lord's Passover. All feasts depend upon
this one. They all start with this one.
There is no joy, there is no rejoicing, except this Passover
feast be proclaimed and take place. Now, you know what the
Passover represented, don't you? The Passover is a symbol of deliverance,
a symbol of the blood on the doorpost which delivered the
firstborn of the children of Israel, and this signified the
atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. for the deliverance of
his people, for the redemption of God's Son. And Paul said it
in 1 Corinthians 5, 7, even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for
us. Christ died that we might live,
and we rejoice. That's the first cause of our
rejoicing. We were dead, and because Christ died, we can live
again. We can live. Put away in Christ
the second Adam, we live. Christ came and satisfied divine
justice against our sins by taking them upon himself and becoming
our substitute, a substitute for sinners. And putting away
that sin, the wages of which we earned, he took them, and
we got the wages which he earned. You know in those two words,
the gospel is proclaimed satisfaction and substitution. If you learn
the meaning of those two words, you'll learn something about
the gospel. Satisfaction of God's divine law and justice and substitution. The second feast, verse six,
on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened
bread. Seven days you must eat unleavened
bread. This followed the Feast of Passover.
This signified, spiritually, how a believer, because of the
death of Christ, enters into communion with Christ. He partakes, he's a participant
in the broken body and shed blood of the Christ. And he communes
with the Christ at the table of the Lord. This could be rightly
called the Lord's table. The table, the feast of unleavened
bread. And because Christ did that work,
we can commune with God. We can have fellowship with God. do no work. And that shows that
Christ is our Sabbath, and we enter into his rest. And we just
sit back like Noah did on the ark, sit back and rest and eat. Partake of him. Cease from our
own works. He that has entered into his
rest, Hebrews 4 said, has ceased from his own labors and works,
doesn't he? Even as Christ did from his.
So that's symbolic of the believer's rest and communion All right,
now here's the third one. Are you with me? If not, I'm going to quit. Here's
the third one. Look at verse 10 and 11. "...Speak
unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come
into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest
thereof," the first harvest, "...ye shall bring a sheaf,"
a handful, "...of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priests."
and you shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted
for you." Now that's on the morrow, look
at this, after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. Now this was at the time, this
was the Feast of the Barley Harvest, is what this is here, the Feast
of the Barley Harvest. The first grains were gathered,
the first fruits of the crop, in the promised land which the
people did not sow to begin with. But the Lord himself prepared,
even at the hands of an enemy. And they were waved, the first
fruits were gathered and were waved, chosen out by the people
and waved before the Lord to be accepted for the people, for
you. And it was the day after the
Sabbath. It's Sunday, right? Now, this is the third feast
on the first day of the week. The third feast on the first
day of the week. Now, this typifies the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Christ. Christ
is spoken of over and over in the scriptures being the what?
Firstborn. among many brethren, the firstfruits,
the firstborn, the only begotten well-beloved Son of God, who
rose from the grave on the first day of the week." Now, where
in the world do these people get this? Ed, would you tell
me how men and women can get seventy-two hours within Friday
and Sunday morning? For the life of me, that mathematics
just does not figure. Seventy-two hours from Friday,
good Friday, you know, and Sunday morning when Christ was supposed
to have risen. Is that to say he's splitting hairs here? No.
Christ did rise on the first day of the week after the Sabbath,
but he didn't die on Friday. He had to have died on Thursday,
right? Three days. Three days. After
the third day, he shall rise again. I'm going to split it
as far as God splits it. Anyway, our type says that, doesn't
it? This is the third feast. It fits
in with the type, doesn't it? The firstfruits. Christ is called
the firstfruit, and he arose from the grave after he died
on Thursday. Good Thursday, he arose from
the grave on the day after, or the morrow after the Sabbath,
and he went before the Lord. The firstfruits from among the
dead, and he waved. his hands. Lift up holy hands,
the scripture says. He waved his nail-scarred hands
before the Lord, and what does that mean to us? It's our acceptance. If Christ hadn't risen from the
grave, his sacrifice wouldn't have been accepted. If the high
priest hadn't come out from the Holy of Holies alive, the sacrifice
wouldn't have been accepted, would it? It all stems from the
resurrection, doesn't it? the deity of Christ, the effectualness
of the sacrifice, the substitutionary atonement. Our salvation depends
upon Christ rising from the dead. If there are bones in Israel,
the bones of a man, which many claim there are, that there was
the greatest conspiracy ever made, that Jesus Christ did not
rise from the grave. That's what many are saying.
If there are some bones in Israel of that man named Jesus, you
are yet in your sins. and you're without hope. But there ain't no bones in Israel.
There's no bones in Israel. There's some bones in heaven,
but they've got sins on them. They've got flesh on them, flesh
and bones. It's not a spirit, it's a man,
and his name is Jesus, the Christ, this same Jesus, who died and
rose again the third day, and who went before God Almighty
as our High Priest, our Substitute, our Mediator, and our Intercessor,
waving himself before the Lord. Spare them if you seek fruit!"
Here I am. I satisfied justice. I was their
substitute. The law has been satisfied. Sin
has been paid for. Accept these. Accept these, my
dear beloved, into your holy city. And over in Matthew 13,
our Lord calls it, we read it in John 4, didn't we? He called
it the generation of the age of harvest. Two thousand year
periods seem to be generations in the scriptures, don't they?
Two thousand year periods seem to be the generations that the
scriptures talk about, and our Lord said, This generation shall
not pass away until the Son of Man comes back again. Be not
ignorant of that, beloved. Brother and beloved of the Lord,
a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day, six
days about to go off, the seventh day. The Lord calls this generation
the age of harvest, the barley harvest, if you will. The gospel
is preached, the good seed of God's word right now is being
sown. It's falling on ears, whether they be stony or good ground.
The gospel seed is being sown in the world, and someday, we
read it in Revelation 14, Christ himself, who sitteth on the cloud,
will take his sickle and harvest it, gather it, all the wheat
into his garner, bring it in the sheaves, because the first sheaf was brought
in before Christ himself. Therefore, we can come in. And
we will someday be presented before the Lord, to be waved
before him, presented before him. Here they are. Here they
are. Golden sheaves. You say, what significance does
that have to Naomi and Ruth? Well, if that doesn't bless you,
let's look at this. Just as the barley harvest, the
barley harvest was a time of refreshing and renewal after
a long winter's season of death and barrenness. Turn with me
to 1 Samuel 21. Now look, wait a minute, don't
turn yet. Turn over to Ruth and look at
the last verse in chapter 1 again. Look at it, I want you to be
familiar with it. The last verse says it was the
beginning of the barley harvest. This is why I tell you all the
time to run references. The best way possible to study
the scriptures is to compare scripture with scripture. The
best possible way. That is to look up what God has
inspired other men to do for you. Look up passages of scripture
that apply and that confirm and that seal, that God lays his
own seal of approval or understanding upon his own word. God will open
up his own word to you. You don't have to reach for Gil.
If you have a reference, marginal reference, it says in your margin
concerning the beginning of the barley harvest, does it say 2
Samuel 21, 9? All right, turn over there. Now, only other time in all of
the Word of God that this term is used, the beginning of the
barley harvest. The only other time. Is that
significant? Certainly is. are brought out of death. The
significance to them is they are brought out of death and
destitution and despair to walk in newness of life. They are
brought out of misery into abundance of life. They are brought, as
it were, out of the land of the dead. All of their husbands had
died, Terry. Both of their husbands had died.
They came out of the land of the dead into the land of the
living. And were they about to live? They were about to eat
and live in the palace. joy unspeakable they were about
to have, like they had never had before, like they didn't
have in the beginning. And so the scripture says, "...you hath
he quickened who were dead, and trespassed in sin." Get ready
for the barley harvest, Brother John. And this is how it's ushered
in, 2 Samuel 21, the barley harvest. It's always a sacrifice. It's
the only other time when it's spoken of, and these speak clearly
of Christ's substitutionary death and atonement for sin. Now look
at verse 1. Chapter 21, verse 1, there was
a famine. You see, harvest and fullness
and blessings and food and Christ always comes at the back of Famine,
destitution, despair. Life comes after death. There
was a famine in the days of David, a famine, three years after the
year of David. And David inquired of the Lord,
and the Lord answered. He said, It's Esau and his bloody
house. The Lord said, It's judgment.
It's always judgment. Count on it, people, it's always
judgment. The hand of the Lord, Romans 1, clearly says that it's
always judgment for some reason. Be sure men's sins will find
them out and they will be judged accordingly. It's all a judgment
of the Lord, Kenner. Because Saul slew the Gibeonites.
Well, let me bring this story down for you. God sent judgment
against the house of Israel because Saul, remember David went into
the house of the showbread and this was in Gibeon. And he ate
the showbread, and there was a spy in David's camp, and he
went back and told Saul where David was. And the priests, the
Gibeonites, that's who these men were, they harbored David. They fed David, and they harbored
him and secretly kept him and sent him away with provisions.
And Saul found out where David had been, and he came to Gibeon
looking for David. Now, the Lord had made a pact
The Lord told the Israelites to spare the Gibeonites, even
though they were another people. But at any rate, the Lord spared
them, even though they were enemies of the Israelites. The Lord made
a covenant concerning them. They wouldn't tell Saul where
David went to, so Saul killed them all. kill them all, slew
them, slew them all. So later, God punished this iniquity
by sending this famine. That's what this famine is all
about. And David, you see, that represents Adam, disobeying the
expressed commandments of God Almighty. Saulric was God's anointed
and he disobeyed God and suffered accordingly. David was told about
this by the Lord. He said the Lord said it was
because of Saul, his bloody men, and they killed the Gibeonites.
So David desired, it said in verse 2, verse 3, David said
unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? Wherewithal shall
I make the atonement? How am I going to come before
a holy God to appease his anger? Isn't that the question of all
questions? Isn't that what every regenerated and enlightened or
awakened sinner first asks? How am I going to make an atonement?
Hey, I've sinned against the Lord. And I'm of the house of
Israel, and if he gives me what I deserve, I'm of the house of
Adam. If he gives me what I deserve,
I'll be killed right along with him. What should I do to make
atonement? All right, another Gibeonites.
through the sovereign providence of God, they said this in verse
4, We'll have no silver nor gold. You're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, Peter said. They said, We'll
not have any silver or gold, but they wouldn't be satisfied
with anything less than a substitutionary sacrifice for the appeasement
of this sin. They would accept no less than
seven men hanging on a tree. for this wickedness, that God
in his holiness and justice would be satisfied. And God did the
same thing to appease himself and to satisfy his holy law and
justice for us. He hanged his Son, the perfect
man. Seven is always the number of
perfection, isn't it? Christ was the perfect number
of man. This is true. The number of man
is six. The number of the God-man is
seven. Christ is that perfect man, and he hung from a tree
for our sins, didn't he? He was hung from a tree for our
sins to make a substitutionary satisfaction for the holiness
and justice of God Almighty because of our sins. Look at verse 7.
See if you recognize a name here. But the King spared Mephibosheth. He should have been hung, Terry.
He was a son of Saul. Because he had an oath, there
was a covenant, his oath and his covenant with Jonathan is
what spared old Mephibosheth's life. And it says in verse 6 that the
Lord hung up these men unto the Lord, doesn't it? Unto the Lord.
And the scripture also says in Isaiah 53, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him, to crucify Christ. The Lord did it. You with wicked
hands have taken and crucified the Lord of glory, but you did
what God determined before to be done." God killed his own
son, hung him on a tree. And you know when this was? Verse
9, it happened exactly in the time of God's sovereign providence. The last part of verse 9 says,
"...they were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first
days, in the beginning of the bodily harvest." The famine was
over. blood was shed. God was appeased. His anger was
stopped. His wrath was appeased. And Christ paid for all of the
sins of all of God's chosen people, thereby justifying them and ensuring
their complete and eternal acceptance before God Almighty. He died
that we might live. And his death His death was the
beginning of the barley harvest, a great and wondrous, and I hadn't
seen or heard seen, the magnitude of this harvest. We're like Noah's
Ark here, we see just a few, eight souls, thirty-eight, however
many, that appear to maybe be saved. But God has a multitude
of people, and when you get in that heavenly throne, you're
going to see what a glorious harvest this thing was. And you're
right in the middle of it, the beginning of the barley harvest. And it gets good from here on
out, people. if you hadn't found it good yet. I've really enjoyed studying
it thus far. But it gets good now that we've got Ruth in the
city, and she's going to meet somebody next. She's going to
meet somebody. Or rather, he's going to come
right now, and he's going to put it with her. He's going to
woo her. He's going to introduce himself. And she's going to do some leaning.
And the romance of redemption starts.
All because of this barley harvest. It started then. Because one
little woman over there heard the good news. Hey, I hear there's
good things going on. Let's go hear about it. She went,
came in the city at just the right time, the time of the barley
harvest. And she's going to reap what
she didn't sow. All right, stand with me. Heavenly Father, forgive our
vain, feeble attempts at trying to make your word understandable,
but you can take a word. and a sentence, a verse of scripture,
a passage, like this one short passage, the beginning of the
barley harvest. And you can bring forth glorious truths to our
heart. Christ, who is that precious grain who was cut down, cut down
in the prime of life, the ripeness cast in the furnace of God's
affliction, ground to powder cast in the furnace brought forth
this sweet-smelling bread, the bread of life, brought forth
from a fiery grave and went before the Lord as our acceptance, our
firstfruits from the dead, our Lord and our substitute. How
we thank you for these blessed types and ask that you would
make them even more clear to us. The glory of God, the exaltation
of Christ, the edification and feeding of your sheep In His
name we pray. Amen.