Kaween: September 2007

Religion is like looking at your sons and daughter and say that here’s a list of things, if you do them, I will love you and I will be your dad, if you don’t do them, I won’t love you and I will not be your dad. But redemption is God saying to us “I love you, therefore, love me, obey me, my commands are good, I will protect you.” Redemption says God loves you, and because God loves you, you can obey Him because He will change your heart, mind and life. Roman says His kindness will lead you to repentance.

Religion also says that the world is filled with two kinds of people, good people and bad people. Redemption teaches that there are two kinds of people, repentant and unrepentant people. Redemption says there are bad people who repent and there are bad people who don’t repent, that’s the only difference.

Religious people care about your birth, did you grow up in a Christian family, did you go to a Christian school? Did you win the Bible quiz? Did you? Being born into a Christian family, having a mom and dad who loves Jesus and a grandma and grandpa who loves Jesus. That’s not a problem if you love Jesus. If not, there’s really no benefit at all because religious cares about your birth, but redemption cares about your new birth, that’s what redemption is all about. You need to get born again, spiritually born again. God needs to be your Father, the church needs to be your family, men and women who loves God need to be your brothers and sisters. You need a new life. Have you been born again?

Religion tells you it’s all about what you do, so do this and do that, but it’s not even in the Bible. Religious people love to make a long list of rules. Redemption says it’s not about what you do or what you don’t do, it’s about what Jesus has done, that’s what it’s all about. Jesus went to the cross and on there He said, it’s finished, it’s all done, there’s nothing else we need to do because He has done everything.

Religion never leads to joy, or humility. Religious only leads to pride, “I did it,” or despair, “I can’t.” It never leads to Jesus, it never needs to humility or joy. Jesus alone is humility, Jesus alone brings joy.

I have been listening to a series of 1-hour+ sermons online from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. One of my favourite series of sermons by Pastor Mark Driscoll is the series on Ruth. So many things in my life right now keeps reminding me of this beautiful short story in the Bible. So I want to share with you things I learned from Ruth. One thing I especially love about Mark Driscoll's sermons is that he always brings his sermon back to Jesus in the end, every sermon should be about Jesus, that's what the scripture is all about.

Here are some of the many things that really stuck out to me..

** Bethlehem means "house of bread" where ironically famine spread throughout
** Elimelech means "God is my King" who ironically lived without faith.
** Naomi means "pleasant" or "sweet" who later on called herself "bitter"
** Malon means "sickness"
** Chilion means "failing" or "dying"
** Ruth means "companion" and was exactly what she was to Naomi in difficult times
** Boaz means "strength" which is fitting because he was able to "hold up" both Naomi and Ruth
** Obed means "worshiper/servant of God" who was the son of Boaz and ancestor of David

** Ruth professes her loyalty to God as one of the only 3 non-Hebrews to do so in the entire OT. The others are Rahab, the converted prostitute in Joshua 2:11 and Naaman in 2Kings 5:15-17. Perhaps Ruth had even more faith than Abraham when he also left his hometown. God never spoke to Ruth and she was a new Christian. Also knowing that as a Moabite woman going to Bethlehem, she would most likely face racism and constant danger, with only the help of and old, broke, lonely and bitter woman, Naomi.

** There are many functions of prayers, one of which is that many times, we fail to act to have those prayers answered. Boaz prayed for Ruth and Naomi as well as for other workers in the field. The prayers that Boaz said for Ruth, he acted to answer those prayers himself. Jesus did the same thing. Jesus prayed that sinner would be forgiven which He hung on the cross. Jesus died Himself to answer His own prayer. And He enabled forgiveness.

** You and I are Ruth, the pagans and sinners, we come to the Lord hungry and empty handed. Boaz is like our Lord Jesus. Boa pursed Ruth, Jesus pursed us. Boaz spoke to Ruth kindly, Jesus spoke to us kindly. Boaz went beyond the requirements of the law all the way to grace. Jesus went beyond the requirements of the law all the way to grace. And we found favour in the eyes of our Lord Jesus, our glorious Boaz. Boaz understood that he too came to the Lord empty handed and because everything he has belong to the Lord, he was very generous.

** Men, treat your friends like sisters, wives like princesses and daughters like gifts.

** Men, don't just look for a girl from a good Christian family, good Christian home who have never gone through much afflictions. If you're looking for that kind of woman, you will never find a woman like Ruth. Do look for a woman that if she had been through hardships, she had run to God and to His people (just like Ruth and Naomi did after their husbands died, they went back to Naomi's home land where there were Christian brothers and sisters there, unlike in Moab). That God had used the afflictions to make her into a woman of character, nobility, work ethic.

** Ladies, be like Ruth. We see in Ruth that she is hard working, she is loyal, she is devoted even to the one Christian friend she had, who was a bitter old woman, and she trusted God with deep faith.

** Naomi speaks of the kindness of God by using the word hesed which is an important theme throughout the book. It means "deal kindly." It summarizes all of God's attributes such as love, mercy, grace, kindness, patience, and faithfulness. The word rightly reveals the nature of God. Hesed is occasionally used to describe godly people who reflect and imitates the characters of God, such as Ruth and Boaz.

** The hero (Boaz) of this book is ultimately illustrated in the Hero of all of Scripture, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the glorious Boaz who came to His earth to look upon us with love and care for us though He had no obligation to do so. Jesus is our hesed, extended to us as a gift from God for our eternal life, much like the hesed that was given to Ruth. And like Boaz, Jesus is our great Redeemer who died to pay our debt of sin, thereby redeeming both us and, one day, the earth.

** Rather than taking advantage of Ruth, Boaz was humble, shocked and delighted that she loved him. Boaz was actually not legally obligated to marry Ruth (Another guy was legally and spiritually obligated and is the closest living male in the family to Naomi and Ruth to take care of them. A man in this position is called the redeemer - Leviticus 25). Boaz did not rush things, he wanted to make sure that he did things right in the eyes of the Lord. By not sexually sinning with Ruth or breaking the law, he shows a determination to remain in a place of holiness in faith that God would bless.

** The story of Ruth and Boaz is the greatest love stories in Scripture. It is an echo of the great love story of Scripture: this relationship is the picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ruth, like the church, which is the bride of Jesus, comes to Boaz as we come to Jesus and she asks "will you redeem me?" And who does all the work? Boaz does, who is a picture of Jesus. As Boaz is like Jesus, we are to be like Ruth, the church and the bride of Christ. More than the money Boaz spent, Jesus gave His own blood, He lives, dies and rises. He gives us Himself as a gift to redeem us to enter into a relationship with us. Why would He do this? He is not obligated, He doesn't owe us anything, that's grace, that's love, that's mercy. Jesus treats us like Boaz treats Ruth and Ruth trusts Boaz. She just sits there in faith that Boaz will redeem her in the same way that we did not participate in anyway in all of redemption. We simply acknowledged that it was Jesus, our glorious Boaz, who does all the work of redemption, we rest in that and we trust in that. We rest in the security that the God who is for us is always for us and that enables us to live lives of humility like Ruth, of boldness like Ruth, and occasional risk like Ruth, trust Him to work out the details because we love Him and we are not sinning and we are in a place where Jesus can bless us.

** There are three types of men in the book of Ruth. 1 - Elimelech who was a bold, courageous, confident man who had a plan and took risks, but he was a fool and it destroyed his family and it lead his family to death. 2 - Unnamed relative in chapter 4, he didn’t do anything wrong, but he just didn’t do anything. He was a guy who didn’t follow through on his responsibilities; he doesn’t take care of that which is his to look after. 3 - Then there’s Boaz, the guy who picked up the messed of these failed men. Are we Elimelech, the unnamed relative or Boaz?

** Boaz was in the state where he was able to redeem Ruth. What was he doing in his previous years? He had been building his business, making a living, he had been investing wisely and tithing generously and he had been conducting himself in a very responsible way, financially. Strategically invest your time. When you are a single man, you do not have the opportunity to extend adolescence until marriage. It is time for you to act like a man ‘cause marriage is for men, not for boys. If you get married, that does not make you a man, you become a man to prepare you for marriage. So that when the woman that God has prepared for you comes alone, you are able to get married, you are in the position to start a family. Otherwise, you are not ready to be a husband, you are not ready to do anything. The unnamed man missed the opportunity to have an amazing woman like Ruth, but Boaz was ready to marry her.

** If you're a Christian and you do business with a Christian, should you get a contract draw, meet with an attorney and write it all out? Yes. Too many Christians think that I love Jesus, he loves Jesus, it will be fine. No it won't be fine because the world is falling apart, things take longer, costs more, go bad, he said, she said, I thought you mean this, no you misunderstood, things go bad. So write it all down and have it legal and binding.

** Some women are drama queens, high maintenance, and they have learned that if they create a crisis, good men will come in and save them, and that’s wicked, that’s not what we’re talking about with Ruth. We are talking about a godly woman who was in a difficult circumstance and the right kind of man saw her character and absolutely adored her and wanted to assist her as her husband. Women who are drama queens, who create crisis hoping to attract a man like Boaz, need to repent.

** And if you’re a man who keeps tracing the most rebellious and unholy women thinking you’re like Boaz, you’re not, you’re being foolish like Elimelech. But if you’re a man who has the heart of Boaz and you meet a woman whose deep love for the Lord is like Ruth but her life is not easy and with love, if you can make it easier, than by all means, pursue her as your wife.

** We live in a nation that exists in the pursuit of happiness. How do you get happy? What are the keys to happiness? Seminars, books, pills, a lot of places are going to tell you you can get happiness. It’s simple. God made us male and female, God made us to be married, God made us to be children, God made us to worship Him. And when we do these things, we are happy because we are doing the things that God made us to do. That doesn’t mean that there’s no sin and difficulty, but because there’s the gospel of Jesus, even sin and difficulty and be overcome and there is joy and happiness.

** You want to have a good legacy. You want to put people and ideas like your children and the gospel into the future if you love God. The Bible calls us to think about our future and love others, not just ourselves. Patriarchy: a man should love God, be responsible, keep his hands to himself, marry a woman who loves God, honour her and her family, have children and raise the children, that the men would not divorce his wife, but would stay in love together, then they would see their grandchildren and great grandchildren who also love God. This is legacy. The future is in our hands.

** Boaz absolutely understands that when he made his publish pledge to Ruth, he said he will honour his deceased husband and deceased father because the family line is coming to an end. And Boaz said that through their children, there will be legacy, there will be joy for him in the presence, and there will be legacy for the family in the future. This is so important because ultimately Jesus comes from the genealogy of this family. You never know who your children will become.