Sunday morning, I tried to preach
to you from the law of the Jubilee that God required Israel keep
once every 50 years. As God was giving commandment
concerning that law, toward the end of Leviticus 25, he gives
a commandment that goes like this, Leviticus 25, 25. If thy brother be waxen poor,
and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his
kin come to redeem it, then he shall redeem that which his brother
sold. That law, like all the laws of
the Old Testament, and I must stress this repeatedly, as I
have stressed it repeatedly, All the laws, all the commandments,
all the ceremonies, all the rituals given in the Old Testament were
given only to the nation of Israel. They were never given to any
other nation. They were never given to be ruled
by which nations are to be ruled. They were given to be a law of
God to the nation of Israel for a purpose far beyond the ruling
of that physical nation. They were given to portray the
gospel of the grace of God, redemption, grace, and salvation by Jesus
Christ. More than that, more than that,
every event recorded in Old Testament history, actual historic events,
yes they were, actual historic events, were much more than just
events by which God chose to give an illustration of redemption
and grace. Those events were brought to
pass by divine predestination and divine providence for the
specific purpose of being a picture of redemption and grace in Christ
Jesus. Well, how do you know that? God
said to Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee
up. That is to say, there's only
one reason why the nation of Egypt was ever made to exist. The mightiest nation in the world
in Pharaoh's day. Only one reason they even existed.
Only one reason. Why God put Pharaoh on the throne
in Egypt and made him the mightiest man in all the earth. A wicked
man. A godless, reprobate man. An
unbelieving man. A hellish man. A representative
of Satan himself. God said I raised you up for
one reason. Just one reason. That I might show my power in
you. That all the world might know that I am God. and I have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. Oh, my soul. Let us then read
the Old Testament scriptures in that light, not as merely
a historic book, not merely as a book of law and order, but
a book of prophecy, a picture book of our Redeemer, and it
pops to life as you read it. If you read it any other way,
It is a meaningless dead letter and will do you no good. It will
not profit your soul. The book is all about Christ,
our Redeemer. Specifically, this law of the
kinsman Redeemer portrayed the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the restoration of all that we lost in our father Adam by
him who said, then I restored that which I took not away. The Lord Jesus came here and
restored that which was lost in our father Adam and restores
it to us by his free grace. God commands his servants as
it sends them out to preach the gospel saying, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people. This is what every preacher of
the gospel does. This is what every preacher is
responsible to do. This is what every preacher of
the gospel does. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak ye comfortably to the heart
of Jerusalem, a chosen specific people, and say to her, she hath
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Her warfare
is over. Her iniquities pardoned. She
hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Ruth's grandfather, Sitting in
the office back here one night. Oh, I can't remember how many
years ago, but a long time ago, read that first verse of Isaiah,
those first two verses back in the office and tears running
down his cheeks. He said, I sure would like to
know something about what that means. Double for all her sins. What? He not only has pardoned our
iniquity, put away our sins, But he has brought in and given
to us everlasting righteousness that can never be lost and can
never be marred. That's the message God's servants
are sent to proclaim. And that's the message God's
servants proclaim. Jesus Christ, the Lord, has put
away sin. Not he's going to, he's done
it. And he has made a people righteous before God. That's
the good news of the gospel. Oh, may he be pleased to give
you ears to hear it and make you to experience that which
he has done for his people. This whole thing is pictured
marvelously for us in the book of Ruth. There was a man in Bethlehem,
Judah, a mighty, wealthy man. A mighty, wealthy man, Elimelech. His name means my God is king. And Limelech apparently had a
mother and father who believed God. His parents apparently worshiped
God, and they named their son accordingly, as believing parents
often do and almost always did in the Old Testament scriptures.
They said, God's given us a son. Let's name him something reflecting
our God and his grace. Let's call him My God is King. hoping that God might be pleased
to have mercy on their son. But their son Elimelech didn't
believe God. He was raised in religion all
his days, but he didn't believe God. He was prospered. Oh, how
he was prospered. He became the greatest, the mightiest,
the most wealthy man in Bethlehem, Judah in the days of the judges.
And then there was a Great Depression in Israel. Poverty struck. The stock market started to fall.
Land property went to nothing. Farms being practically given
away. And Lemilek said, I've got to
do something. I've got to do something. I'm
going to lose everything I've worked for. And what am I going
to lead to my sons? What am I going to retire on?
So he took all of his gold and silver and everything he could
convert to gold and silver and moved away from Bethlehem, Judah,
away from the house of God and the people of God and the worship
of God and the word of God and went down to Moab. Down in Moab,
things were going well. Down in Moab, everybody was making
money. Down in Moab, there was plenty
of bread. Down in Moab, everybody got along well. But there was
no one in Moab who believed God. There was no one in Moab who
worshiped God. There was no one in Moab who
brought the word of God. No place in Moab to hear a prophet
of God. But Elimelech, he said, my God
is king. I'll go to Moab. He'll take care
of me. And he went down to Moab. And there he stayed and stayed
and stayed. He had a wife and two sons. His wife's name was Naomi, means
sweet and pleasant. Their sons were Maelon and Chileon. Maelon means weakness. Chileon
means consumption. And he took Naomi, his wife,
Melon and Chilion, his sons, and said, come on, we're going
down to Bethlehem, Judah. Things are bad. We're going down
to Moab. Things are bad in Bethlehem, Judah. We'll come back one day,
but for now, we're going down there and take care of our riches.
We don't want to become poor, you know. We worked hard for
everything. While they were there, Melon and Chilion married two
Moabite women. What a mistake. But the daddy
taught him how. Made two more white women. And
there they abode with them for 10 years. And then Melon and
Chileon died. And Naomi is left a widow, a
widow with two daughters-in-law with no one to take care of them.
And she's as poor as Job's turkey. She's poor. She's got nothing. All the silver, all the gold,
all the riches, all the name, all the fame, all that they sought
to preserve in Moab was gone. And now she's bitter. She's bitter. She's bitter. She's bitter in
the sense that she's in bitterness. Imagine what a bitter life, what
a bitter life. woman in those days with no man
to provide for her and so old she's not likely to get one a
Woman in those days with no one to care for her and protect her
and so old She's not likely to get one and she's got two daughters-in-law
She's responsible to take care of them and no way to do it.
She says my name will be better called Mara We would call it
Mary today bitter bitter truth for the Almighty hath dealt bitterly
with me." But Naomi never forgot God and his word and his law. She was a woman to whom God had
been gracious. And while they were down in Bethlehem,
Judah, or down in Moab, away from Bethlehem, Judah, Naomi
told her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, about God's ways and
God's word and God's law. She said to them, there is a
law in Israel. The Lord Jehovah made the law. The law is a law concerning a
kinsman. He was next of kin to Elimelech
in Israel. If he's able and he's willing,
He can redeem everything for us if we could just get back
to Bethlehem, Judah. And she heard while she was in
Moab that the Lord had visited his people again in great mercy. And now there's bread in Bethlehem,
Judah. And she said, I'm going back
home. I'm going back home. I'm going back to the house of
bread. I'm going back to the house of God. I'm going back
to my people, to my God, to my God and to his people. And she
said to Ruth and Orpah, you girls stay here. Y'all stay here and
take your husbands and wives and may the Lord or take your
husbands and go back to your families. And may the Lord be
gracious to you and show you kindness and give you rest here.
But I'm going back to Bethlehem, Judah. And at first they said,
oh, no, no, we won't do that. We'll go with you. And she persuaded
them. And Oprah kissed her goodbye.
And she wept and she's broken hearted. And she went back to
Moab. She said, I'll stay here. I like it pretty good here. And
I had no doubt Oprah genuinely loved Naomi as much as flesh
can love flesh. But not Ruth. Look at chapter
one, verse 16. Ruth said, entreat me not to
leave thee. or return from following after
thee. For whither thou goest, I will
go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God." It was not just natural affection
that Ruth had for Naomi, though certainly she had that. Ruth
heard what Naomi said about her God. I've got to have him. She heard what Naomi said about
a kinsman redeemer. Naomi, I have no question, understood
the purpose of the law as few do today. The purpose of the
law of the kinsman redeemer was to preserve a seed in Israel.
A seed in Israel of a redeemer who would come and by whom the
people of God would at last be redeemed. Ruth said, I'm going
with you. Your people be my people. Your
God will be my God. Where you die, I'll die. And
there will I be buried. The Lord, the Lord. She calls him the Lord. I'm talking
now about him who is God, Jehovah. The Lord do so to me and more
also. If aught but death, part me and
thee. Now let me give you the outline
of a message, the outline of this book again. I want to show
you five things. First, in chapter one, we have
a picture of our ruin by the fall of our father Adam. Then
in chapter two, a picture of our savior's free love to sinners. In chapter three, we have a,
or chapter two rather, we have a third thing is a picture of
God's providence. And then in chapter three, a
picture of what true repentance involves. And in chapter four,
a picture of Christ, our kinsman redeemer. All right, let's look
at verses 19, 20 and 21 of chapter one. Here is a picture of our
ruin by the sin and fall of our father, Adam. So they too went until they came
to Bethlehem, and it came to pass when they would come to
Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them. Try to get
the picture now. Here comes Naomi and Ruth, an
old woman and a younger one, both widows in rags. But somebody recognized Naomi.
I know that face. I've seen her before. That's Naomi. That's Naomi. Joe, look here. That's your living
ex-wife, Naomi. Santa, look, look. That's Naomi. You remember Naomi? Oh, what
on earth happened to Naomi? What happened to Naomi? They
said, is this Naomi? Can't be the same woman. Can't
be the same woman, but it's her. And she said unto them, call
me not Naomi, sweet and pleasant. Call me Mara, Mary, bitter, afflicted. For the Almighty hath dealt very
bitterly with me. She's about to find out that
his bitter dealings were blessed dealings. 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 the
Almighty hath afflicted me? Preparing to preach this morning,
As I do every morning, kind of forced to do so, I looked in
the mirror. And I saw a reflection. And this
is on my mind. And I said, is this Adam? I look in your faces. Is this
Adam? Is this Adam? God created Adam
and put him in the garden, a garden which was made specifically for
Adam. Made for Adam and his sons perpetually. God created the whole world for
Adam. Man was not created for the earth,
contrary to popular opinion. The earth was created for man. The Earth was created for man.
And God gave to Adam and Eve everything in the world. Imagine that. Is this yours? Every tree. You want something
to eat? Go out there and pick those oranges,
apples, tangerines, pears, whatever you want. Eat it. It's all yours.
No poison berries. You can have any berries you
want to. Just eat them. Just eat them. The animals, what do
you want to call them? I'll call that a lion, all right?
That's your lion. I'll call that a dog, all right?
That's your dog. I'll call that a cow, all right? That's your
cow. It's yours. It's yours. It's yours. You can
have it for a house pet, or you can kill it and eat it, whatever
you want to do. Whatever you want to do. It's yours. It's
yours. Well, there are people today who don't
think well, think about the world like that. Yeah, that's just
how y'all think about the world. God created it for man. And then
he planted a tree in the garden. He said, now here is a representation
of the fact that I'm God. Adam, don't ever eat the fruit
of that tree. And in the day, he didn't even
say, but he said, and in the day, that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die." Because God intended that Adam should
eat of the tree and die. After all, Adam was made for
the purpose of being a similitude of another man. a similitude,
Romans chapter 5 verse 14, of that second Adam, the last Adam
who was to come in whose image the first Adam had been made.
He was made to be a similitude, a picture, a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And Eve was beguiled by the serpent
and persuaded to eat of the fruit of the tree. And she brought
it to Adam and she said, here, honey, look what the serpent
gave me. And Adam, with his eyes wide
open, Frank, he knew exactly what he was doing. He said, God, you've got no right
to be God. You've got no right to tell me
I can't have this. You've got no right to do this
to my wife. You've got no right to punish
this woman. You've got no right. Give me
that. And he took the fruit and said,
God, get out of my way. And when he did, he plunged himself
and the whole race under the wrath of God in death. For you see, Adam was a representative
man by God's decree. Adam didn't live just for Adam.
He didn't walk in the garden just for Adam. And he didn't
eat of the fruit just for Adam. He did it as a representative
man, a representative of all the human race. So that when
he said, God, get out of my way, Merrill, we lifted our fist in
God's face and said, God, get off your throne, get out of the
way, I'll be my God. And that's how every son of Adam
comes out of his mother's womb, speaking lies. Depraved because
we all died in our father Adam and our father's nature is that
nature We pass on to our sons and daughters generation after
generation So that no mother ever has to teach her baby how
to lie Hard it's it's it's as natural to them as breathing
You're not teaching how to be rebels It's natural to them as
breathing. You don't have to teach them
how to be deceitful. It's as natural as breathing. You don't have
to teach them how to commit fornication and adultery. It's as natural
as breathing. Comes out of the heart, you see. In Adam, all died. Wherefore, as by one man, sin
entered into the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. In Adam, all died. I don't much like that. I do. I'm tickled to death, that's
the way it happened. I'm thankful God arranged it that way. Because
I read in the book of God of some other creatures, created
holy, created righteous, created upright, created in perfection.
who sinned against God in the rebellion of Satan against God
before the world was made. And the angels that kept not
their first estate, dying one by one, sinning one by one, are
reserved in darkness and chains of darkness under the day of
judgment with no mercy. No mercy. But we all became sinners
and we all died by the deed of one man. a representative man,
a substitute man. And in that very act, there is
a hint, there's an indication that there might be another man
by whom we might all live. Another man by whom we might
all be raised from the dead. Another man by whom we might
live forever with God. And that other man is the last
Adam, Jesus Christ, our Lord, a substitute man. We were ruined
by the fall of our father Adam. Look at man today. Created once in the image and
likeness of God. Created in the image and likeness
of God. I don't know what all that means.
I don't pretend. I know, I know what all the theologians
say about it, but I know there's just one person in the world
who's described as being the image of God. And that person
is Jesus Christ the Lord. God made the first man, Adam,
in the image of him who would come as the last man, Jesus Christ
the Lord. Made Adam a substitute man, an
upright man, a righteous man, a sinless man. They stood. They stood. God's servant in
the world. And I look in your faces. Now,
other folks might pretend to see it, but Mark, I don't see
much of God's image in any man's face. I don't see much about man that
reminds me of God. Do you? Go home and turn your television
on and just hear what happened this morning on the news and
tell me what you see of the image of God. Rehearse your life and
tell me what you see of the image of God. Man who once was prince
over everything is now a pauper and subject to everything. Man
who once was king in God's world is now a beggar. Man who once
lived in pleasantness now lives in bitterness. Man who once was
full is empty. It's amazing what an empty life
he's had. Listen to men talk. They'll tell
you in a heartbeat everything they've got's empty. They want
more. I don't think I will ever forget,
Brother Skip, your trip to Mexico with us shortly after you and
Sandy came over here. You don't need to know all the
background. We were sitting out on Brother
Walter Gruber's porch Late in the evening after a day of preaching
and visiting, Walt and I were sitting there smoking a cigar
and drinking a glass of wine and reminiscing, just like we
do every time we go down there. Old fellows get together and
talk about old times. But we were just sitting there reminiscing.
And Skip got real quiet. He got real quiet. Sat there,
didn't say a word for a long time. You remember it, Skip?
And I looked at him. I thought maybe he was sick.
I said, you all right, buddy? He said, yeah, I was just sitting here
thinking. He said, I've been everywhere a man would want to
go. And I've done everything anybody would want to do. And
listening to you two fellows talk, I just realized I've never
known what it is to live. Empty. Everybody's sitting on
empty. Everybody. Since the fall of
our father Adam. Man who was blessed is cursed. The earth made for man, now is
turned against him. Everything is just the reverse.
That's what happened in the garden. Chapter two. Here we're given
a picture of Christ's free love to sinners. And Naomi had a kinsman
of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech.
And his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to
Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn, after
him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her,
go, my daughter. And she went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers. I love this next three words,
and her hap. And her hap. She didn't know
it, but it wasn't just a stroke of luck. She didn't know, but
it had just happened to be. Her hap was to light on a part
of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, the
Lord be with you. And they answered him, the Lord
bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant
that was set over the reapers, whose damsel is this? He looks
out over the field, sees all these poor folks reaping in his
field, very happy that they are, but then one of them caught his
eye. He said, who's that? Who is that? I've not seen her before. Who
is that? Verse 9, chapter 2. Let thine eyes be on the field,
he says to this damsel, Ruth. that they do reap. Go thou after
them. Follow after my reapers. Have
I not charged the young men, these my servants, that they
shall not touch thee? And when thou art a thirst, go
into the vessels and drink of that which the young men have
drawn. Verse 16. And let fall also some
of the handfuls of purpose for her. As you're gathering in the
barley, you drop some handfuls in her path. You can find out
where she is and you put some handfuls of barley there so she
doesn't have to work for them. She just pick them up, things
you drop there. Handfuls of purpose. And leave
them that she may glean and rebuke her not. Don't speak a word to
reproof her. Don't make her at all uncomfortable.
She can take anything she wants to. As I said before, Naomi and
Ruth came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest season. These poor, poor folks, no inheritance,
no one to care for them, no one to provide for them. But God
had established a law, not only a law for the kinsman redeemer,
But God had established a wonderful welfare system in Israel. It
was a great welfare system. Folks say, you folks don't believe
in welfare. Oh, yes, I do. Yes, I do, too.
We ought to have a welfare system just like this, just like this.
Everybody who ate had to work. Everybody who ate had to work.
Poor people were to be taken care of, taken care of by rich
folks. Yes, sir. God required it by
law, is right. How's that? How can you do that?
Everybody has to work, and the poor folks take care of the rich.
A fellow has a farm. He's not allowed to gather all
his hay or all his corn or all his beans. He's not allowed to
gather all the apples out of his orchard. He's not allowed
to gather all the grapes out of his vineyard. He's required
to leave a portion. Leave it there. Don't pick them
clean. Don't pick them clean. When we had a garden, after Shelby
got done with the green beans, unless, we just had a bumper
crop. After Shelby got done with the
green beans, the rabbits better get them early, because they're
not going to be in the left. She'd pick them clean. The vines
were picked clean. Not by God's law. Can't do that.
Can't do that. What do you do? Well, there's
some poor folks, and they need to eat. They need to have their
food supplied for them all year long, just like you do. You leave
enough in the field for the poor to come behind you, every one
of them, and gather up everything they need. So the poor have the
right by law to take that which was left for the gleaners. And
the man who had the field, if he gathered up his sheaves and
one of them fell off the wagon, he's not allowed to go back and
pick it up. If he, oh, I forgot to clean that field, and he left
a whole stack of sheaves over there, he's not allowed to go
back and pick them up. Leave those for the poor. That was
required by God's law. And so Ruth goes back to Bethlehem,
Judah with Naoma, and she's heard about all these things. She didn't
just happen to, wow, I'll go out and see if somebody will
let me clean. No, she heard about a kinsman redeemer. And she heard
about God's law providing for the poor. And she said to Naoma,
she said, Let me go out today and glean for us after whose
kindness and goodness I may find grace. And Naomi said go. She knew that there was a kinsman
who could redeem her. Naomi told her about him. We
read about him in verse one. She didn't know who he was. She
didn't know where he was. But she knew the most likely
place to find him, and she knew what God had said about him.
He was a kinsman. He was a mighty man. He was a
man with great wealth. Now let me remind you of four
things required for one to be a kinsman redeemer. Four things. First, the kinsman had to be
related by blood to the one he redeemed. Got to be a blood relative. Blood relative Ruth sang about
it just a little bit ago a blood relative The Lord Jesus Christ
our kinsman Redeemer is described this way 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 power of death. That is the devil the Lord Jesus
because his elect were the sons of Adam, because his elect were
men and women of flesh and blood, he likewise took part of the
same. God took into union with himself
our nature. God became a man. Oh, what a step down. God became
a man. for this purpose that he might
redeem fallen sinful man. No other way he could do it.
No other way he could do it. He couldn't just forget it. He
couldn't just forget our sin. He couldn't just pretend it didn't
exist. He could not redeem. He could not save, except he
come as a man to fulfill for men what men had destroyed and
restore that which he took not away. And so it behooved him
to be made like unto his brethren. Number two, the kinsman had to
be able to pay the price required for redemption. He couldn't redeem
if he didn't have something with which to redeem. He must have the perfect righteousness. of a perfect life of infinite
worth. That's what man destroyed. A
perfect life of perfect righteousness of infinite worth. You see, in
order for you and I to be redeemed, God requires righteousness. It must be perfect to be accepted.
And we can't give it. We can't perform it. You can't
do righteousness. Righteousness is not something
you do. It's something God gives through Jesus Christ, his son.
When God came into the world, he walked on this earth, the
full age of a man, 33 years in perfection. Not for himself. He didn't need any. He did it
to bring in everlasting righteousness. And God requires satisfaction.
God says the soul that sinneth it shall die. In order for Don
Rennerich to live before God, you got to die. You cannot have
God's salvation until you satisfy the justice of God, which requires
infinite satisfaction to God's holy wrath for having broken
his holy law in every part. You understand that? He can't
do that. The reason hell is forever, whatever
hell is, it's forever. It's because all men together,
suffering the wrath of God forever, should God send every one of
us to hell right now. We could never satisfy God's
justice for one transgression. Can't be done. Except by a man
of infinite worth. Jesus Christ, the God-man. When
he had sinned, had been made sin for us and died for our sins
under the curse of God's law with his own blood, he put away
sin. I love the way the book describes
it. He put away sin. He removed it from us as far
as the East is from the West. He buried our sins in the depths
of the sea so thoroughly so that God says, I will not remember
thy transgressions. What? God doesn't remember them
because Christ took them away. Third, the kinsman redeemer had
to be willing to pay the price. The son of God lifts his eyes
to his father as he's coming into the world and says, Lo,
I come to do thy will, O my God. He said, I lay down my life of
myself. No man taketh it from me. I lay
it down in myself. I have the power to lay it down.
I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Our Savior, when He was about
to be made sin for us, cried three times, Oh my God, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. That which he was about
to experience when he would be made sin for us was the most
horrible, obnoxious, vile thing imaginable to his holy soul. I want to use polite speech. I want to speak with Respectfulness. Speaking publicly. But I want to be heard. And I
want you to understand. It would be easier for you and I
to take spoons and eat from a privy than for him to be made sin for
us. We would have a greater appetite
for it. His soul broke within him as
he anticipated being made sin. So that gags me to think about
it. Word to God, it did. He told
my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. And
yet at the same time, he took the cup of God's wrath with greater
eagerness than any man thirsty ever drink a cold drink of water for the joy that was set before
him. You get that, Murrah? To have
you at his side is I come to do thy will. Oh, my God. He's willing to redeem, willing
to redeem. But it's got to be a fourth thing.
He had to be free himself. He couldn't be a kinsman redeemer
if he had to redeem something of his own. Oh, no, he had to
be free himself. So the Lord Jesus, he who came
to be made sin for us, himself knew no sin. He was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Ruth went out to the fields,
verse two, chapter two, to glean with the poor. hoping that she
might find grace in the eyes of this kinsman. She says to
herself, if it's possible for me to have my inheritance with
God's people redeemed, the inheritance I lost through the foolishness
of my father-in-law, the inheritance I lost when my husband died,
if it's possible for me to have it, I'm not going to perish in
poverty. I don't know whether you're one
of God's elect or not. I'm not going to stand here and
pretend that I do. I don't know. But I know this. Seek the Lord
while he may be found. And if you seek him, he will
be found of you. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. So Ruth, seeking her place of
inheritance, went to the place where she was most likely to
find Boaz. Where do you reckon you're going
to find a wealthy man who owns property? He's got barley growing all over
town. Where do you reckon you're going
to find him when the barley harvest is in? You're likely to find
him somewhere in one of those fields he owns. So she starts
walking in the barley fields and she's gleaning. She went
to where she was most likely to find him. I couldn't help but think about
Carl and Emily back there this morning. Where are you most likely to
find the Son of God? In that place where he gathers
his wheat into his garner, in his house, in the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ where the gospel of his grace is preached. If
you're interested in your soul, if you're interested in your
soul, You'll be mighty wise to find your place under the preaching
of the gospel every time you have opportunity. You'll be mighty
wise to gather with God's people in his house. But when she came
to his field, Boaz spotted Ruth and had compassion on her. He
said in verse 5, whose damsel is this? Who is this girl? That dark-skinned, boar-bite
woman, who is she? All right, look at chapter two
again. Here's a picture. The third thing. Of God's special
providence for his people. What a story. This is of God's providence.
What an illustration of God overruling evil for good. I can't think of a more wicked,
abominable thing for a man to do who professes to know God
than to move his family away from the worship of God. I can't
think of a more wicked, abominable thing for a man to do. Take his wife and children by
the hand. Say, we're God's people now.
Let me show you how to live for hell. We're God's people now. Let me show you the way to hell.
And he takes them. Nothing could be more wicked.
Nothing more abominable. But God causes even the wrath
of man to praise Him. He causes even the wrath of man
to praise Him. And the remainder of wrath, He
will restrain. He gave a specific law. He gave
a specific law. He said, the children of Israel
are not to marry the heathen. Don't you give your daughters
to their sons? Don't you give your sons or their
daughters to your sons? Don't do it. Don't do it. They'll
turn your heart away from God. Don't do it. Don't do it. You take to yourself a companion
who refuses to worship God. You take to yourself poison.
The young people hear me. Don't do it. Don't get involved
with them. Don't date them. Don't let your
heart get attached to them. You're making a mistake. But
Malon saw that pretty Moabitess woman and said, man, I've got
to have her. I've got to have her. And he married her. Surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath
wilt thou restrain. God still overrules evil for
good, the good of his elect. He sure does. Elimelech perished
in Moab, and Malon perished in Moab, and Chilion perished in
Moab, and Orpah perished in Moab, but there was one elect person
in Moab who must and shall be saved. And for that reason, Elimelech
went to Moab to start with. And God brought Ruth back to
Bethlehem, Judah, the house of bread. And she comes out to the
fields, and look at verse 16, chapter 2. And Boaz said to his
young men, said, don't you touch her. You give her all she wants
to drink. Don't reproach her. Then in verse
16, let fall also some handfuls of purpose for her and leave
them that she may glean them and rebuke her not. I won't say
much about this right now. I'm planning to come back to
this text tonight. But as the fields of Bethlehem belong to
Boaz, so this whole world belongs to Christ, our Redeemer. And
he's given command to all the world. Don't touch my people. Don't you harm one of mine. And
he commands providence to let fall handfuls of purpose. to take care of his chosen all
the days of their lives before conversion and after conversion. Handfuls of purpose ordered by
God. Then in chapter four, I've got
to quit. I'll give you the last thing. Chapter four is a picture of
Christ's redemption. His work as our kinsman redeemer.
Boaz Ruth came to him in chapter 3, and she falls at his feet
and says, take me as your handmaid. And then in chapter 4, that picture
is repentance. But here, Boaz, he said, you
go home now. You go home, and I will do all
that thou requirest. I'll do all that thou requirest.
And she came home, and Naomi said, Ruth, where have you been?
Where did you get that? She said, I've been out in the
fields and I found a fellow by the name of Boaz, and I've been
greeting him in his field. She said, oh, bless God, he's
not left us without a redeemer. The man will not rest until he
has finished this thing. She said, you can rest easy now.
That man will not rest until he's finished this thing. And
Boaz said, go home, but I've got to take care of something.
You've got a kinsman closer to you than me. You've got a kinsman
that has a prior claim on you. You've got to deal with him.
And in chapter 4, he goes and meets and says, hold such a word.
Come over here. I'll talk to you. He said, you
remember your limelight? His wife Naomi is back with Ruth,
her daughter-in-law from Moab. And all the limelight had is
yours to buy. He said, well, I'll take that
deal. I'll take that deal. But in the day you buy it, you've
got to raise up a child from the Moabites, a child in the
name of Malon, in the child in the name of Elimelech. And the
fellows, oh, tell you what, Boaz, you take it if you want it. I
can't do that. Because to raise up the child of the dead brother,
you've got to raise him up as the firstborn. And that marrs
your inheritance. I can't do it, lest I marr my
inheritance. Boaz said, fellas, you're all
witnesses to this. I'm going to buy the field. And
that day, I buy Ruth to be my wife. So it is with our Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus. In order to redeem us and save
us, He's got to deal with God's law, because the law can't save. The law can't redeem. If the
law, if the law could bring in righteousness, then righteousness
would come by the law. For the law to forgive, the law
would be marred. The law can't bend. For the law
to pretend you didn't sin, the law would be marred. The law
can't bend. Christ came. and fulfilled every
demand of God's holy law. And he says to the universe,
it's finished! Bear me witness today, before
God, I bought everything Don Fortner lost in Adam today. And I bought him for mine. Amen.