Today with Jeff Vines

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today, Today, Today, Today with Jeff Finds, we are taking
the Gospel to the world. Pasta apologist and Bible tea Jeff,
bringing people far from God near to God.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
We believe in one truth that will be delivered in
love and compassion passion, connecting every one person to all
that God has promised.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Thems you.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
With everything, Today, Today, Today, Today with Jeff Fines.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
Welcome to Today with Jeff Finds. My name is Aaron,
and today Pastor Jeff is asking us the question are
you courageous? We'll hear the story of Naomi and the
courageous love of her daughter in law Ruth, as they
lead their land of Moab for an uncertain future in Bethlehem.
Let's join Pastor Jeff as he begins with an overview

(01:11):
of Naomi's circumstances from the Book of Ruth.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Listen, I need to jump right in this weekend. We're
in this series call there is more. I want you
to turn in your bibles to Ruth is in the
Old Testament Routh chapter four, verse thirteen through seventeen.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Don't worry if you don't have it, It'll.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Be on the screen. As we approach this. I really
need to ask you.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
To pray a silent prayer.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
To God that he would help you glean out of
this scripture what it is that the Spirit has specifically
for you. Now, I say that because there is so
much hair. It is packed filled with application for.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Our everyday life and living.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
But if I try to take the time to apply
everything that we're gonna come across, then my sermon will
be even longer than it usually is.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
And I know you don't want that, And so the.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Best thing you can do is just ask God to
help you apply the truths that you're going to learn
along the way, which means the Spirit of God then
will bring to light things in your life that He
really needs to speak to you in.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
This moment and this time in this place.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
And so we come to this powerful narrative in the
Old Testament. We're trying to learn is there more that
God has for me? And we encounter a man by
the name of Thelimelech Elimelek has a Hebrew wife by
the name of Naomi. There is famine in their land,
and so they're gonna leave their land in Israel where
there is famine and go to a very very bad
place called Moab. Moab is a place where they worship

(02:52):
false gods and offer their children up for sacrifice to
these gods.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Now, let me just take a side note just quickly.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Some of you know that I spend some time traveling
around to some of our universities, and sometimes a university
student will ask me a question like this, how can
I believe in your God when I read in the
Old Testament that your God had the nation of Israel
go in and annihilate entire people groups?

Speaker 1 (03:16):
How can I believe in that kind of God?

Speaker 2 (03:18):
And usually I respond by saying, Okay, I'll answer your
question if you'll answer mine. Why didn't God take out
Hitler in the Third Reich? And they'll usually say, yeah,
why did God not take out Hitler in the Third Reich?
And I'll say, well, wait a minute. You can't have
it both ways. On the one hand, you're angry at
God because he sent the Israelites in to wipe out

(03:39):
a people group. On the other hand, you're angry that
God didn't come in and wipe out a.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
People group Hitler in the Third Reich? Which one is it?

Speaker 2 (03:46):
And the problem is, when you read the Old Testament,
most of us are in there. The assumption that when
God said to the Israelites, go in and devastate this nation,
that they were just kind, compassionate, everyday people that God
wanted to onihilate just because they were not Hebrews or
did not agree with Hebrew life and culture and religion.
But the truth is, as you look at the Old

(04:07):
Testament history, these are some very bad folks. They're sacrificing
their children on altars. They're raping their own families, women
and children. And God sends them messengers to try to
get them to repent, as Jonah goes to Nineveh, as
they did in.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Sodom and Gomorrah.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
But the time comes when God says, men, I have
got to stop this general relational age of atrocities or
it's just going to continue.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Now.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Moab was one of these nations that God was so
patient for so long, even though they were evil and oppressive.
That's why it's difficult in the story to understand why
a man named Elimelech. By the way, his name comes
from two words el which means God Eloheim and Malek,
which means king, so his name means God is king.

(04:56):
He leaves Israel his people, and he moves with his
wife Naomi to escape the famine, he moves to Moab. Now, friends,
that's like saying things are bad in San Diego, let's
move to Tijuana.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
He marries a Canaanite.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Woman who's the enemy of Israel, has two sons, gives
them Canaanite names, which you never do is a Hebrew
as a follower of God, Maylan and kill Yon. So
somewhere along the line, Elimelech, god is king, abandons his king,
his God, leaves his land, abandons his people, marries a Canaanite.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Woman Israel oppressors.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Lives in Moab, a place of demonic influence and dark
religious ritual, but the very thing that he and Naomi
are trying to escape in Israel. They find in Moab
tremendous poverty, so much poverty that they are forced to
sell the only piece of property they have back in
Israel just to survive, which now means they are in
poverty with no fallback position.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
This is it.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
Things go from bad to worse, and all the men
end up dying. Ilimelech dies his two sons that he
gave canaan Knite names too. They die, and the only
people left are Naomi and her two daughters in law
that came not from her, but from the Canaan knite
wife the Ilimlec married when he.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Got the moabb.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
So now even though she's alive, she's as good as dead.
She doesn't have any grandchildren, no land, it's been sold.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
She's old. She'll never marry again.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
Not because she's not beautiful, but because in ancient civilization,
you didn't marry for love or for sex or for
a relationship. You married for family, to progress the family name.
And I think it's interesting that you and I refer
to the biblical ancient world as archaic and uninformed. And
yet we in the modern world, we're enamored with individualism,
aren't we. I mean, we're the ultimate narcissist. Think about it.

(06:49):
Our big concern is what is our next pleasurable satisfaction?

Speaker 1 (06:53):
What am I going to do today that's fun?

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Two thirds of the rest of the world their main
concern is what am I gonna eat later today? Will
I have food on the table? You and I think
about what are we going to do later? And is
it going to be fun? In ancient world, it was
all about not about the individual, but the individual gave
up his or her rights for the sake and the
benefit of the family. How is this going to produce
our family name and progress our family land so that we.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Can have honor in the world.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
So marriage was about expanding your family, and you would
gain labor through having sons and daughter who will bring
honor and expansion to the family name. Now here's the point.
Naomi has no sons and daughters. She got nothing in
any land that she owned has now been sold. No husband,
no sons, no family, no land, no money, no assets, nothing.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
Her life is basically over.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
In her world. She is now going to die in
old age and poverty. Then there's a little turn in
the story. In the first chapter of Ruth, verse six,
we read that when Naomi heard in Moab that the
Lord had come to the aid of his people by
providing food for them, she and her daughters in law
prepared to return home from there. So evidently God heard
their prayers. God said, enough is enough, he heard, he responded,

(08:01):
he supplied. So now Naomi, who's Hebrew, decides to go
back to her country, and her two daughters in law,
all right, they want to come with her. They're Moabites,
though they came from alimelex Knaannite wife. But Naomi is
as popular and Hebrew time and culture.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
She took the men as their own.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
And because of that, it surprises the two daughter in
laws and they grow in love with their mother in law.
So just one more time, I want to mention this.
All the men have died and all the daughters in
laws survived. Don't you find that a little suspicious? The
names of the two daughter in laws, Orpah and Ruth.

(08:44):
They're Moabite women, and they love Naomi, their mother in law, their.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Hebrew mother in law.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Both Orpah and Ruth want to go back to or
go to the land of Israel with Naomi.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
They want to leave their land.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Now I've got a fast forward a little bit because
when they say to Naomi, we want to go with you,
she says, no, do not come with me. You don't
want to come with me. I mean, I got nothing
to offer you. You're a Moabite women. You won't last
one day.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
And it's not like I'm gonna go and find a husband.
No one's gonna marry me.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
And then even if I did find a husband, and
you're gonna wait till my kids grow up, so that
you can marry them and have a life of your own.
But the two daughters loved her, Orpah and Ruth, they say,
we're going back with you.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Now.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Why would Naomi, if she loves her daughter in law,
say don't, don't come with me. And again it goes
back to the fact that the Moabites were evil people,
and they were bitter enemies of the Hebrews. And as
soon as the Hebrew thugs, which every nation has them,
would see these Moabite women, it would be open season
on rape and torture and abuse and slavery. It'd be

(09:50):
like going to Dodger Stadium dressed in a giant's uniform
and sitting in the bleacher area.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
You just don't do that.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
So out of love, Naomi says to Ruth and or Uh,
return home. You're young and beautiful. You still have an
opportunity to find a husband. Go find a husband, Go
build a family, man, restore and build your family name.
Because Naomi, down deep inside knows she's not going to survive.
She's expecting to die.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
She's going to go home to die because she has nothing.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
But at least she's going to die at home. So
she says to her daughters in law stay here. At
least if you come with me, you're surely going to die.
But if you stay here, you got a fighting chance.
Now it's important if we're going to glean everything we
need to glean out of this, we got to understand
what's happening here. And Naomi has four chances, four options,

(10:38):
one of which would help her survive. One she could
work in the fields when she gets back to Israel,
but she's too old.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
She can't work.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
Two she could get married, but she's too old, she
can't bear children. Nobody's going to marry her. Three her
children could support her, but they all died back in Moab.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
They're dead.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Her daughters in law won't survive one day in Israel.
And four she could rent the land that she owns
for cash and live all that. But Alimelech, her husband
sold the land when they were in Moab to try
to survive. She's got nothing.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
She knows it.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
She's going to die, which is why in Ruth one thirteen,
she says, it is more bitter for me than for you,
because the Lord's hand has turned against me. In other words,
I got nothing. You at least got something. You got
your looks and your your age. Stay here, Mary, she
says later, don't call me Naomi, her name means pleasant,
call me Mara, which means bitterness.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
But then the story turns.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Ruth comes back now orpa does not. She heeds Naomi's word.
Ruth goes to the land of Israel with Naomi, her
mother in law, and when they arrived, they start to glean.
Now what is gleaning, We've used it a few times,
A little different here. Jewish law states that landowners cannot

(11:52):
harvest all.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
The way around the edges. They cannot maximize profits.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
They've got to leave the last ten percent around the
field for those who are pulled, so they can bring
one bucket, fill the bucket and move on.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
And that was Israel's way of taking care of the
needs of the poor.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
The problem is Naomi can't do this, so it's gonna
be Ruth. If Ruth starts doing this, she's a Moabite woman.
What do you think Hebrew men are gonna do to
a Moabite woman who starts to glean on their property?

Speaker 1 (12:17):
And what about the other poor?

Speaker 2 (12:18):
They're gonna say, wait a minute, girlfriend, you ain't his reel.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
What you doing here?

Speaker 2 (12:23):
And they're gonna send her away, probably beat her or
a worse kill her. Now, despite all of this, Ruth
the Moabite goes to Naomi, her mother, and losses, let
me go glean, let me go do this, let me
try to find.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Some food for us.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
And according to scripture, Naomi agrees. Why because Naomi knows
it's either this or nothing. You either go glean or
we're gonna die anyway. Be better to die quickly by
being killed than to die.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Slowly through starvation, so verse three.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
So she went out, I'm in chapter two, entered the
field and began to glean behind the harvesters.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
As it turned out, don't you love this?

Speaker 2 (12:57):
I wish we could a whole sermon on As it
turned out, she was working in a field belonging to
bo Az, who was from the clan of a Limelech.
Who's a Limelech, Naomi's husband that's died. Well, this is
a relative. So, as it turns out, somebody else is
in control. I mean one of the chances that she
goes and gleans in a field of a relative of Naomi. Now, folks,

(13:23):
what does as it turns out mean? It means that
somebody's working behind the scenes means somebody else is in
charge of this narrative in the story. And when I
think of Ruth's story, I think of Humphrey Bolgarden, Casablanca.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Out of all the fields in Israel, you chose to
glean on this one.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
Now, bo Az Alimeli's relative hears that there's a Moabite
woman gleaning in his field, so he goes out because
he knows the danger she's in.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
But he's a good dude, and he speaks. Listen to
how he speaks to Ruth the Moabite.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
He says, my daughter, listen to me. Don't go and
glean in another field. Man, don't leave this one go
to another.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
They'll kill you. And don't go away from this one.
You're welcome to stay. Stay here with the women who
work for me.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
In other words, don't glean around the edges, watch the
field where the men are harvesting, and follow along those women,
the women who are taking the good harvest, not what's
left over. I have told the men not to lay
a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go
and get a drink from the water jars the men
have filled.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
Most of the time.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
The women have to get the drink for the men.
But he says, I'm going to have my men get
water for you to cure your thirst. Another sermon.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
But Ruth, the.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
Moabite, which the Bible keeps describing her like that, had
to be astounded by the generosity of somebody who had
the power to kill her. This would be like a
raiders fan being kind to anyone. She goes home, she
tells Naomi she brings with her, not merely gleaning from

(14:46):
the field. She brings the best of the best, and
the harvest is running over. This is the difference between
what the butcher sleep sweeps off the floor and the
rack of meat hanging in the freezer.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
She brings the good stuff. And I guarantee you that
Taomi would have said something like, girlfriend, where'd you get
this stuff?

Speaker 2 (15:04):
And Ruth tells her bo asfield, and she says in
verse twenty, she says, the Lord bless him. He has
not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Well, how's he?

Speaker 2 (15:14):
How is bo As being kind to the dead Because
a Liimelake is dead, but Alimelech's wife, Naomi is still living,
he is being kind to her. And then she adds
that man is our close relative.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
He is one of our guardian redeemers.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
He's a go well, a guardian redeemer, a kinsman redeemer.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
Now what's that?

Speaker 2 (15:32):
Stay with me, Because you do the hard work, it's
fun in the end. In Leviticus twenty five, when Joshua
and the people came into the Promised Land, all the
land was divvied up between the twelve tribes.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
But God was so gracious. He knew that some of
them weren't ready for the land.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
So through misuse or debt or hardship, they would lose
the family land, which means they lose everything. So he
made two provisions in the law in order that the
family he's the children of the families who lost it
could get the land back.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
Why did he do this?

Speaker 2 (16:01):
God wanted his people to model grace and mercy to
the rest of the world, the kind of grace and
mercy that would be extended to all people, poor, middle class,
upper class, whoever. God's grace and mercy. And second, he
did not want the rich to be able to exploit
the poor.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
So what God did?

Speaker 2 (16:17):
He said, you know what, every fifty years, the year
of Jubilee, all the land that the children lost goes
back to them. They get a second chance at taking
this land and expanding their family name. However, if you
have a wealthy relative, you don't have to wait till
fifty years. Your kinsman redeemer, your go well, your guardian redeemer,
your relative can come in and buy back the land

(16:37):
for you. People say wealth is relative. I say yeah,
but it's never my relative. So if you have a
wealthy relative, he or she can come in and ransom
and redeem the land. Some third party can't come in
because they're wealthy and buy up this land and take
it out from under you, thus forfeiting your chances the
children of the parents who lost.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
That land to get back the land and restore your family.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
This is simply a picture of God's graciousness to people,
and it was God's way of keeping the family together.
God knows if the family is destroyed, so a society.
That is another sermon as well. So you can understand
why Naomi, she hears this. What the land that you
just happened to go to God named bo ass I

(17:19):
know that name. He's a kinsman redeemer. He's related to Alimelech.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
He's part of the family and then she gets her
hopes up.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
Man.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
She starts thinking, maybe he can buy our landback. Maybe
maybe we can be restored as a family, our family
name can keep going on, maybe we can expand our territory.
But that would be one an incredible act of compassion
on boass part. He doesn't have a lot to gain,
but it would also be costly to him because he

(17:47):
would have to go in net for that land that
was lost while he continues to operate his own enterprise.
Because Naomi's family could not truly be restored because she
doesn't have any children, there's no one to pass the
lan onto, so her husband, along with her children of
all passed and for the family to be totally restored,
then bo Az would have to marry the last member

(18:11):
of the family and then raise up children with her.
But the last member of the family's Naomi, and she
can't have children anymore. Her days of Mary and children
are over. So if bo as Mary's Naomi, all the
heirs of his treasures would be to the two dead sons,
which means everything would go back to the state, and
no man's going to do that.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
But there is another option, you know what.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
It is yet Mary Ruth, the daughter in law who
came with her. If bo As were to marry Ruth
the Moabite, this would give Naomi life and maybe even
grandchildren who become heirs, who expand the family name. And
we're going to look at this in a moment. But
Ruth loves her mother in law so much. Imagine loving
your mother lost so much like this. I mean, this

(18:55):
is a lot of love here. First you left, you
left your home to come with her, and now you're
going to marry this dude. And your primary motivation for
marrying bo Az not because you're in love, because you
know it's going to save your mother in law's life.
And so she does what is quite common in the
ancient world. She goes to bo Az while he's sleeping

(19:16):
at night. She uncovers his feet and puts her head
down at his feet.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
The Bible says, in the.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Middle of the night, something startled the man that will
startle youned.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
He turned and there was a woman lying at his feet.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Who are you, he asked, I am your servant, Ruth,
she said, spread the corner of your garment over me.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
Now what does that mean?

Speaker 2 (19:36):
By the way, this is still done in a large
portion of the world. It means cover me with yourself,
take me to be your wife, be my husband, my provider,
cover me with your love and provision. Now, I just
wanted to be honestly and tell you that when Robin
was pursuing me, she did this kind of thing.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
What she did this kind of thing all the time.
You know, we went camping and she.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
Came into the tent and she uncovered my feet with
a sleeping bag. She would beg me to marry her,
be my husband. If you cover me with your love,
you are so handsome, and I am so lucky and privileged.
So in Rout chapter three, verse nine, spread the corner
of your garment over me for your my kinsman redeemer.
In other words, Ruth is saying, you can give us
our name back, you can give us our life back.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
You can restore us, you can redeem us, you can
deliver us.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
And to show you that bo Ass understands exactly what
marriage is all about. In Ruth three to eleven, he says,
I will do everything you ask. He's been to an
excellent premarital counselor. I will do everything you ask. And
bo As does two things in the story number one,
he takes on all the family debt, Bo's the land
back with interest. He's paying interest, he's paying monthly payments,

(20:54):
but he gets.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
All the land back in.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
All the wealth of bo As legally immediately automatically becomes
Naomi's and Ruth's that's paid and all the assets gained.
Just like that.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
It's like you go from poverty of.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
Wondering if you're gonna be able to exist to winning
me lottery, and now you have everything. And the life
that Naomi and Ruth are gonna have now is going
to be better than what they ever hoped or dreamed
for because of the Kinsman Redeemer. Now the truth is
the name of this book, though, is not the book
of Boass. The name of the book is the book
of Ruth. Now go back for a moment. Why did

(21:35):
Ruth come with Naomi. Naomi tried to get Ruth to
turn back, said, Ruth, you can have a husband there,
you can raise a family there, you could gain an
inheritance in Moab.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
You've got a fighting chance. If you come to me
and with me, you're probably gonna have nothing.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
Ruth's response to her mother in law is don't urge
me to leave you or turn back from you.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
Where will I go? Where you go, I'll go, Where
you stay, I'll stay. Your people will going to be people,
your God, my God. Where you die, I'll die, and
there I will be buried.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
May the Lord deal with me, Be it ever so severely,
if even death separates you and me. Now there's two
amazing things here. Ruth is saying, I'm coming with you,
and I expect a worse life. That's how much she
loves her mother in law, Naomi. She offers a sacrificial love.
And here's why we're told in verse sixteen to seventeen

(22:27):
she saw something in Naomi's God.

Speaker 1 (22:30):
May the Lord and she uses the relational.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
Covenant name, not the generic name for God, not elo Hean,
but Yahweh. May May Yahweh, the God of relationship, deal
with me. Be it ever so severely, if even death
separates you from me. Ruth says Naomi, I've seen something
in you that inspires me. I cannot turn back.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
Now.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
Something about your God and your people rescue me out
of the hellhole of Moab.

Speaker 4 (23:00):
You've been listening to today with Jeff Finds. Thanks for
joining us. Next time we'll bring you the rest of
this message from pastor Jeff.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
Can I say to you, some of you have got
to get out of moamp You have got to get
out this club that you're in, this relationship that you're in,
this job that you're in.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
Yeah, okay, it's feeding you. You're making some money.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
There's a monetary gain. You're gaining influence, your peers are
looking up to you.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
But the cost is too great. You're losing your soul.

Speaker 4 (23:31):
You can listen to more messages like this. Just search
for Today with Jeff Finds. Wherever you listen to podcasts.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
You met me with Everything Today, Today, Today, Today with

(24:00):
Jeff Fynes