Well, as I said, I've just got one verse, the very first verse of the book of Ruth. To introduce it, it comes right after the book of Judges. Listen to verse one, now it came to pass. Anytime you see that phrase, this is the providence of God. This is how things come to pass. God brings them about.

In the days when the judges ruled, When the judges judge, now you notice that Ruth follows the book of Judges. And the book of Judges, we'll talk about that in just a minute, it said, now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land.

And it says, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, and we'll learn in the next verse, his name was Elimelech, and he had his wife named Naomi they had sons but this certain man of Bethlehem Judah now that's the same as Bethlehem we'll talk about that in a minute he went to sojourn in the country of Moab now what do you know about Moab?

Moab is an idolatrous terrible sinful place Moab, the nation Moab was one of the results of the incestuous relationship between Lot and one of his daughters. Remember when Lot came out of Sodom and then his daughters with him, his wife looked back and she turned into a pillar of salt. But his daughters came with him and they seduced Lot. They wanted to have children and they didn't see any men around to do it and so they sinfully, and Moab was one of the results. And out of that came the nation Moab.

I think in the book of Psalms, Moab is called God's washpot. And a washpot's not what you wash in, if you get my drift. And that's what he called it. So Elimelech took his family out of Bethlehem, which is called the house of bread. And that's, of course, that's where the Savior was born in his humanity. took him into Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. And so we'll launch out from there next week verse by verse to show some things. But here it took place in Israel during the time of the judges.

And it's named after a Gentile woman named Ruth who lived in Moab. So that's significant. What we're going to see in the book of Ruth, one of the things that's significant is the connection of the Gentile world coming in to the line of Christ. Because if you read Matthew one, his genealogy, this woman Ruth is included. She married this man named Boaz, we're going to see later on. And then their son, I think, was Obed or something. I don't want to get my names mixed up now, but I'll correct it if I do. But anyway, he was the grandfather of King David. So we see the line going through here, the physical line. included Gentiles and there were other Gentiles, Gentile women in that line. So that's one of the significances of this.

But Ruth was one who was born a Gentile, an idolatress. Some traditions say she was a priestess to the god Chemosh in Moab, a false god, an idol. And Ruth ended up with this family, Elimelech and Naomi, marrying one of her sons who died, and moved from Moab to Israel, the city of Bethlehem, with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and ended up marrying an Israelite farmer, a landowner, a nobo, if you want to call him, named Boaz.

The key that we need to see starting off before going through this book verse by verse, and I'll put this in your lesson, this book, like all Old Testament scriptures, ultimately speaks of Christ in his person and work, specifically through the truth of the kinsman redeemer and our redemption in and by Christ. And the key word is kinsman. And I've got listed here one of the verses, there's like, let's see, I got one, two, three, four, about five or six verses where this term kinsman or kinsman redeemer is used.

In Ruth 3.9, when Ruth first met Boaz, who was to become her husband, and her redeemer, well, physically, He asked Ruth when he saw her, and it's in Ruth 3 verse 9 on your lesson here. Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid.

Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, which was a token of his accepting her, for thou art a near kinsman. A near kinsman. Now Boaz was her near kinsman by marriage to Naomi and Elimelech's son, who died. Naomi was a near kinsman, was a kinfolk, we can say, of Boaz. So he was Ruth's near kinsman for that reason, all right?

And that kinsman redeemer, it was a law under the old covenant that God had given to Israel, which was, and this is important now, it was one of God's wise provisions for Israel to retain the land that he gave them so that they wouldn't totally lose it. Now, there's something we need to understand about the old covenant, the law of Moses given to Israel.

The land, you know, the land that they occupied in Palestine is called in the Bible the land of promise. And the reason it's called the land of promise is because God gave it to them freely based on a promise that he had made to Abraham 400 years before, 400 and some years before he gave them the law on Mount Sinai. so that they're taking and occupying the land and you know how all that happened, you go through Israel's history as they left Egypt, they got the law, they wandered in the wilderness because of their disobedience, finally they ended up being led into the promised land by Joshua through a miracle, God defeating the people that were there, Jericho and all of that. So their taking and occupying the land of promise was not something that they earned and not something that they deserved. It was totally free, given to them by God. And there's verses in the first five books of the Bible. He says, I'm gonna let you, you're gonna have fields that you didn't plow. You're gonna have homes that you didn't build. God's gonna give it to you.

So it was based on Abraham's promise. However, that's the covenant that God made with Abraham. And that covenant is a gospel covenant. That's where he told Abraham, he said, I'll bless all nations through you. And of course, ultimately what that's talking about is his elect among both Jew and Gentile, his spiritual nation. Well, when he made, now this covenant that he made with the nation Israel physically through Moses, sometimes it's called the Palestinian covenant because it's the land covenant. And what it shows us is this, their taking and possessing the land and occupying it was a free gift. That's a type of the gospel. Every blessing we have, with God in Christ is free and full. All spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. But now their prosperity in that land was conditional on their obedience.

And God threatened many threats if they didn't be obedient. Famine was one of them. I'll send you famine. Captivity and conquering was another. There were times in that the old covenant lasted about 1500 years total. That's from Sinai to Christ. And during that 1500 year period, there were times that they were occupied, conquered, and taken into captivity.

But they didn't totally lose the land altogether. God always brought them back. Now why? Because it was God's initial purpose in giving them that land to bring the Messiah through that nation, and they weren't gonna lose it until the time of the Messiah, when Christ came. And then they totally lost it. Most historians give the date AD 70s when they totally lost it. Now some people say, well, they've gained it back. Today they gained it back in 1940.

That's not the biblical promise. First of all, any promise of Israel or Judah and Israel regaining the land in the future after the time of the Messiah is a people coming back together under the headship of Christ. Now the Jews over there today, they're not under the headship of Christ, they're unbelievers. Now, that has nothing to do with the politics of that situation and what should be done on that, okay? I'm just saying that's not the fulfillment of a biblical promise. The fulfillment of the biblical promise is the church, spiritual Israel, under the headship of Christ. I think it's in the book of Amos, in his prophecy, he talks about him coming back under one Lord. But that's not the way it is.

And those, quote, Christians, unquote, who unite with them religiously are uniting with an unbelieving people. In fact, they have to kind of publicly deny Christ. I saw a couple, three years ago, they were having a rally in Washington, D.C. of Christians and Jews together. I thought when I was listening to him, even the main Christian pastor, as he calls himself, when he prayed, you know, he didn't mention the name of Jesus, because he knew that would offend the Jews. They don't believe in Jesus. They don't believe in our Savior. They don't believe in our Kinsman Redeemer.

And so I thought, I wonder what the Apostle Paul would do if he were there. They'd probably hang him from the highest tree because he'd tell them the truth. So my point is this, their prosperity in that land for that 1,500 year period had to do with their obedience. And here's the other point.

They show continually throughout their lives under that covenant that they were sinful people, unbelieving people, rebellious people, idolatrous people, just like us by nature. Now we're no better off than them. The only reason, if we are better off, it's only for one reason, and that's the sovereign mercy, love, and grace of God.

There were some believers back then under that covenant, but they weren't saved on the terms of that covenant. That covenant was conditional, it was stipulated. And he told, if the rulers and the majority of the nation obeyed, he'd prosper their land, but it had nothing to do with eternal salvation now. It was just physical. That was things of the earth, those earthly elements, all right? But on the whole, they were rebellious. There were a few times of national obedience, but it didn't last long.

And that's why when I hear preachers talk about the old covenant, I even heard one say one time, said, oh, if I were there, I would have done this, I would have done that. We'd have done just like those people, because we're a sinful people. And the main reason that covenant was given is to show them the impossibility of salvation by their obedience and to turn them to Christ in pictures and types and ceremonies like this kinsman redeemer. Like old Job said, now this was before the old covenant was given. Job said, I have found a redeemer. Found a ransom.

So anyway, God gave them laws that if they through their ignorance, their unbelief, their rebellion, lost the land, they could get it back. One of them was the law of the year of Jubilee, things like that. But one of them was the kinsman redeemer. Well, what happens here in this book is Elimelech and Naomi, they lose their land. And the only way they can get it back is through the kinsman-redeemer, and we'll see that in just a moment. But I've got here, has God gave the law of the kinsman-redeemer?

And listen to how it's stated in Leviticus 25, 23. It's in your lesson here. I'll quote it. Leviticus 25, 23, it says, the land shall not be sold forever. If you get in trouble and you have to sell it away, it shall not be sold forever. For the land, God says, for the land is mine. It belongs to God. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all the land of your possession, you shall grant a redemption for the land.

And if thy brother be waxen poor, if your brother grows poor, and has sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, to pay the price, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. Now that's the law of the kinsman redeemer. So in order to redeem it, the man to redeem it had to be your kin, your blood kin, or kin by marriage. He had to be willing to pay the price, and he had to be able to pay the price.

Well, what does that tell you about Christ? Well, he's our kin. He was made so when he was made flesh and dwelt among us. And you know, he constantly called his people, the elect of God given to him, his brethren, his wife, his bride, That's our kinship with Him. I'll show you that in just a moment.

And He is willing to pay the price. He willingly took upon Himself our sin debt that separated us from God in our state. And He had the price. He had the ransom price. So that's Christ our kinsman redeemer. The law was also, I put here, it was also prophetic and provided a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beauty of his person, that's the kinsman, God and man in one person, and in the power and success of his work of redemption. He paid the price in full. He didn't leave anything undone. He didn't leave anything for us to do in order to attain or maintain our position of salvation. It was totally paid for. And so the kinsman typifies Christ's person as both God and man in one glorious person, having been made flesh without sin.

And if you look over at Hebrews, look over at Hebrews chapter two. This language is fraught with references to the kinsman redeemer. Hebrews 2 and verse 14. Excuse me. It says in verse 14 of Hebrews 2, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.

And always remember now, the devil's power of death is accusation. Devil's not able to kill you or to make you alive, that's God's business. But the devil can accuse. And if the accusations stick, then that's the power of death. but the accusations don't stick to God's people. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justify.

So verse 15 of Hebrews, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. That bondage is legalism because we feared death and we wanted to do whatever it took to survive death. Verse 16, for verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Now that's the seed of Abraham, God's elect, that's his children. Wherefore, verse 17, in all things it behooved him. That word behooved means to be in debt. To be made like unto his what?

His brethren. He's our kinsman redeemer, see. that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he's able to succor or comfort them that are tempted. Look at scriptures like John 17, his high priestly prayer, how he constantly refers to his people for whom he died and arose again as children, as brethren. Brethren, it's what they are.

So as our near kinsman, Christ was and is able to perform and complete his work as our surety, our substitute, and our redeemer and our mediator. The redeemer, as the kinsman, typifies his person. God-man, making him our kinsman, The redeemer part typifies Christ's successful work to pay the debt. When he obeyed the law and suffered under the wrath of God for the sins of his people imputed to him, charged to him, and he drank damnation dry, he paid the debt in full, he was acting the part of a kinsman redeemer.

Complete redemption. that ensures the salvation and final glory of all for whom he lived and died and was buried and arose again, for whom he now sits at the right hand of God. And that's why we say, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? You see, when Naomi and Ruth came back and they found that near kinsman who is willing and able to pay the price to get their land back. Once he paid the price, nobody could take it away from them. It was theirs. See?

And that's the way salvation is through our kinsman redeemer. Once he paid the price, my friend, it's a done deal. It's not an open-ended salvation or an open-ended blessing. It's not God will save you if you do your part. No, we have a near kinsman and what happened is our near kinsman found us. And how many times, how many ways is Christ described in various capacities? Like for example, he's the shepherd who sought his sheep. and found us. The sheep didn't find him, he found them. And once he found us, we found him. He's our bridegroom and he found his bride.

You could go on and on with this. As our kinsman redeemer, Christ paid the ransom and delivered us from eternal damnation. I got Job 33, 24. I have found a ransom. The purchase price. I don't have it. I can't pay God for my sins. I had a man tell me one time, he's talking about David and his sin with Bathsheba. And I was showing him how in 2 Samuel, I think it's chapter 12. If y'all can check me on that.

The prophet Nathan came to David and told him the story of the rich man who had many sheep and the poor man who only had one. And the poor man took the one sheep, the rich man took the one sheep from the poor man to add to his flock. And David jumped up and he said, put him to death. And remember, Nathan looked at him and he said, thou art the man, David. But just about immediately, the prophet Nathan looked at David and he said this to David. He said, but God has forgiven your sin. And that's what brought David to repentance and remorse and sorrow. And I told this man, I said, God had already forgiven David. And he looked at me, he said, yeah, but David had to pay for those sins. And I thought, wait a minute.

No, he didn't. Because there's only one payment for sin, folks. The blood of the kinsmen redeemed, the blood of Christ. Now, there were consequences. But now, let's be honest. Do we always suffer the complete consequences of all our sins? And the answer is no. Because if we did, you'd probably be home in bed sorrowing and suffering and crying. We wouldn't be able to lift our heads up.

Yes, David did suffer consequences, and there are consequences of sin. I always use a, and I'm not making fun of it, I'm just using this as an example for us to understand. If you run a stop sign and the policeman sees you, you've committed a sin, you've broken the law, he's gonna stop you, and you have to pay the fine if he doesn't let you off. But your sins are forgiven in the court of God's justice through the blood of Christ. Now don't go out there and start running stop signs, hollering I'm forgiven. That's stupid. and foolish, plus it's costly and dangerous. So don't, you know, use your head. But that's the thing.

Christ brought forth as our kinsman redeemer the perfect righteousness that God has imputed to all his people and which is more than enough for us to stand before holy God as justified saints accepted forever. Now, this is a historical book. This really happened. This book of Ruth. Because like I said, Ruth is in the physical lineage of the humanity of Christ. As the wife of Boaz and the grandmother of David, you go down through. So this is God's inspired work. And through the book, you're gonna see many typical references of the glory of God in Christ, our kinsman redeemer.

You're gonna see our fall into sin in the first five verses here. That's what happened. Elimelech and Naomi going from the house of bread to Moab, that's a picture of our fall. In Adam, we were in Eden, made upright. And we fell into a state of death and depravity and sin. And so you're gonna see things like that. Going back to Bethlehem, all of this, God providentially bringing us under the gospel, where his blessings are, all right? So, our fall into sin and spiritual famine, as well as our sinful state, all of this.

Look back at verse one, let me just close with this. Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, There was a famine in the land. And it says, and you remember in the book of Judges, that was a bad time. Look at the last verse right across the page there. Verse 25 of Judges 21. This is how the book of Judges ends up. In those days there was no king in Israel.

Every man did that which is right in his own eyes. And that's our day, isn't it? Religiously and morally, both. All of that. That's what man does. If I say it's good, it's good. No matter what God says. Well, that's what got Adam in trouble. So there you go.

When we talk about Israel, or these people here, Elimelech and their fall, understand we fell in Adam. We're a sinful people. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. As by one man sin entered in the world and death by sin, so death passed upon all men for that all sinned. That's the case. So that there's none righteous, there's none good, there's none that doeth good, all of that. By deeds of law shall no flesh, that's our state, see. By nature.

And it says here, and a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Now, as I said, Bethlehem Judah, that's just another name for Bethlehem. And that's where our Savior was born in his humanity. And it means house of bread.

So rather than believing God and depending upon, what does the Bible say? Trust in the Lord and lean not to your own understanding. There's a famine here. And so what did they do? Rather than stay in where God told them to stay and wait for his blessings, they heard there was better times in Moab, an idolatrous country, and so they went there. a heathen, idolatrous, cursed land. So we see this in false religion, people making their own way, doing what's right in their own eyes, all of that, but God tells us where to be, where we should stay. That's why we're where the gospel's preached. That's why we have so few sometimes, but that's okay. All right, we'll pick up there next week.