Positioned for Redemption

Notes
Transcript

The Road to Redemption

Ruth 1:22 KJV 1900
22 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 Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
Ruth chapter 1 ends with Ruth and her mother leaving Moab with only each other

It was a new venture

New ventures are marked by
++Uncertainty
During this time foreigners in Judah
++Were looked down upon
++Were mistreated
New ventures are marked by
++Uncertainty
++The unfamiliar
++Fear
They were in unchartered territory
The distinction is highlighted

They were on the roads to redemption

The Road to Redemption is
++A walk in spite of fear
++A walk of faith
++A walk of favor
Ruth 1:19 KJV 1900
19 So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

They called her Naomi

Naomi means
++Kindness
++Pleasant
++Delightful
Names were
++Given with purpose
++Mark of destiny
At this point in her life her name did not tell her story
Ruth 1:20 KJV 1900
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

Where is God in This?

She declared
++Call me Mara
++I walk in bitterness
++I have been rejected by God

Have you every felt rejected by God?

To all that have
++Felt rejected
++Felt lost
++Felt overwhelmed by life

This was Naomi’s Story.

The book of Ruth
++Is not about Ruth’s mom
++Is not about Ruth’s past
++Is about Ruth
Ruth was
++A Moabite
++A Foreigner
++Outside of the Israel’s Covenant
She had lost
++Her Husband
++Her Father
++Her Family

Positioned for Redemption

Ruth 2:1–10 KJV 1900
1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto 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. 3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. 4 And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. 5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? 6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: 7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. 8 Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: 9 Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. 10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

The Set Up

Ruth 2:1 KJV 1900
1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
Boaz was
++Related to her dead husband
++A mighty man
++A man of wealth
Boaz had money but money didn’t have him
DIY Bible Study Why You Should Care about Ruth

A kinsman-redeemer (in Hebrew: go'el) is responsible for buying back family land that had been sold (Lev 25:25), buying a family member who had sold himself into slavery (Lev 25:47–49), or marrying the childless widow of a family member (Deut 25:5–10). Historically, this responsibility went to the nearest male relative; if he passes on his responsibility, it falls to the next nearest male relative

Kinsman-Redeemer

Israel were challenged
++Insure the bloodline continue
++To insure that their is an heir
++Keep property in the family
Leviticus 25:25 KJV 1900
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 shall he redeem that which his brother sold.
Ruth 2:2 KJV 1900
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto 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.
The Field of Possibilities
++Ruth found hope in the field
Sometimes all we have is hope
Ruth 2:3–5 KJV 1900
3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. 4 And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. 5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
The Field of Possibilities
Ruth found hope in the field
++God had a plan for redemption
Ruth the Moabitish
++Still and outsider
++Still carried the label
++She came with Naomi
++She asked to reap from his field
Ruth 2:7 KJV 1900
7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.
Ruth 2:10 KJV 1900
10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

Ruth did not understand the whole story

What she saw as loss
++He saw as gain
++He saw grace

This story of redemption is not unlike our own

We were
++Subject to life’s issues
++ Outsiders looking in
++Without hope
Ephesians 2:11–13 KJV 1900
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
But we have grace.
++Unmerited favor
++Undeserved value
Because of Christ
++We have been changed
++We have been delivered
++We have been redeemed
Psalm 107:2 KJV 1900
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
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