Improbable Faith (Ruth 1:16)

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One of the most amazing parts about the Bible is that, while it was written over hundreds of years by multiple authors, it has one main theme which is Jesus Christ! Every part of Scripture points to the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Kings, the Savior of the world! 

As the calendar approaches the time of year where Christ Followers celebrate His birth, it is appropriate to look back into the Old Testament to see the prophetic foreshadowing of the Messiah. 

Throughout history, God revealed His plan of salvation to the human race over and over again. One of the most beautiful of these foreshadowings is found in the Book of Ruth, where readers are introduced to the idea of the “Kinsman Redeemer.” This redeemer is one who, through familial relationship, possesses the standing to alter the hopeless state of a destitute relative. 

The incredible relationship of Ruth and Boaz serves as a remarkable picture for all humanity of God’s love for His people. Join us as we take a deeper look at the Christmas story through the biblical account of Ruth and Boaz and strive to gain a better understanding of just how much God loves us.

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Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:06):
Welcome to drippings from the honeycomb, the official
podcast of Another 12ministries. We are so glad that
you have decided to join us aswe enjoy the sweetness of God's
word, one verse at a time.
Welcome to Season Two ofdrippings from the honeycomb. We
had a great time in season onelooking at 28 verses from the

(00:29):
book of Matthew one from eachchapter. And we decided with the
holidays coming, we wanted to dosomething a little bit
different. So in this secondseason of our podcast, we're
going to contemplate the beautyof the Christmas story. But
we're going to do it through thebook of Ruth. The book of Ruth
is an amazing picture of thekinsman redeemer, this idea that

(00:51):
someone steps in to redeemanother person in a helpless
state. And it really sets abeautiful stage for the story of
Jesus Christ for His birth, forhis life, for his sacrifice for
his resurrection, it kind oflays this picture of his love
for the people that He came tosave his love for his children.

(01:12):
And so, entering into theholiday season, we thought this
would be an amazing time to openup this little book of Ruth,
this beautiful love story. Thatis a type and a picture of the
love that Jesus has for Hischurch and what he has done for
them and how he gave himself upfor them. Our goal is to look at

(01:32):
six specific verses in the storyof Ruth and also talk about the
whole story in general and seewhat it can teach us about the
heart of Jesus, and how much heloves us. The first verse we're
going to look at, and Ruth isfound in chapter one, it's verse
16. And it says, But Ruth said,do not urge me to leave you or
return from following you. Forwhere you go, I will go and

(01:56):
where you lodge, I will lodgeyour people shall be my people,
and your God, my God. Thisincredible statement by Ruth was
made to her mother in law,Naomi, and it was a statement of
deep love and loyalty. Thebackstory to this whole setup
here that we see in Ruth is thatthere was a famine in Israel,

(02:17):
God was bringing some judgment,some discipline against his
people, and he sent them afamine. And we know that this
was discipline because when Godbrought his people into the
promised land, he explained tothem this land was watered by
rain. And if they followed himand they obeyed His words, and
they kept their side of theCovenant, he would send the rain

(02:39):
and the land would grow. But ifthey didn't, he would remove the
rain and there would be famine.
And so the book of Ruth openswith Israel in a famine, which
indicates that God is upset withthem, he is disciplining them
for sinning against him. And thestory focuses in on one family
that has two sons, and thefather of this family makes the

(03:01):
decision that it would be betterto leave Israel and move to a
pagan land than to wait andhumbly repent with the rest of
the nation of Israel and seekGod's provision in God's
blessing. And so they leave,they go to this land where God
is not worshipped, they go to aplace where idolatry is the

(03:22):
prevailing religion, they go toa place where pagan sacrifice,
even potentially human sacrificeis practiced. And they go there
for one simple reason. Becausefood is more readily available.
They go there because the fatherof this family would rather
pursue his own selfish goalsthan wait on God who promised to

(03:45):
provide for them if they obeyedHim. And in the course of time,
they stay there long enough thattheir sons grew up and they
marry women from this pagansociety. No, of course, for an
Israelite to marry someone fromone of these pagan nations was
absolutely contrary to God'scommand. It was not to be done.

(04:06):
And in the course of time, thefather and both sons die,
leaving only the mother Naomiand her two daughters in law.
And when Naomi finds out thatthere is food in Israel again,
she makes up her mind to go backhome, and she sends her daughter
in law's back to their homesback to their people to find new

(04:27):
husbands. And at first, both ofthem want to stay with her. Both
of them want to accompany her,but she urged them back, which
in and of itself, is a stunningthing for an Israelite to do.
Someone who had knowledge of theone true God, someone who lived
in a society where the one trueGod is worshipped somebody who
understood the heart of God andHis judgment towards sin, his

(04:49):
judgment towards the pagannations to actively send back to
young women who wanted to followher to Israel to tie themselves
to her society. Need to tiethemselves to her God is simply
stunning and it shows thebitterness of Naomi's heart
towards God for the trials thathe has caused her to walk

(05:09):
through in her life. And one ofher daughters in law, orca does
return, she leaves and she goesback to her people. But Ruth
will not be parted from Naomi.
Ruth is loyal. Ruth loves hermother in law, Ruth wants to
serve her mother in law. Andthis heart we see clearly stems
from a work of the Holy Spiritthat is going on in Ruth's

(05:34):
heart, her faith is soimprobable, it could not have
come from her it could not haveself generated from within her
heart, it must be put there bythe Holy Spirit. But we see this
improbable faith, building andgrowing. Not only that she wants
to leave her home, leaveeverything that she's known as a
widow, leave her society whereshe might perhaps have some

(05:54):
social network to support hercould potentially find another
husband, she wants to go away toa foreign land, where she will
be an outcast with a mother inlaw who doesn't have any other
sons for her to marry. She wantsto live in a country where she
will have to adopt a newreligion, putting off a religion
that she has known since she wasa child. This can only be

(06:15):
motivated by God. And of course,it's perfectly reasonable to say
that Ruth doesn't have a fullunderstanding of what she's
actually doing. Ruth doesn'thave a full understanding of
what life could potentially looklike for her as a widowed
Gentile woman in Israel. But itdoesn't matter. She's motivated

(06:36):
by love. She's motivated by adesire to serve her mother in
law, by a desire to live whereher mother in law lives, and a
desire to know what God hermother in law knows. Now, where
did this immense love for Naomicome from? Is this just
something that happened? BecauseRuth was her daughter in law?
No, that's impossible. Such alove could not be generated

(06:59):
outside of the work of the HolySpirit. And we know that the
first fruit that Paul lists, andthe fruits of the Holy Spirit is
love. And so we see thistremendous sacrificial love on
the part of Ruth, for her motherin law who has gone through
these incredible trials. Don'tforget, in the midst of all
this, Ruth has lost her husband.

(07:22):
It's not just Naomi, who's lost,Ruth has also lost and yet, it's
almost like Ruth suffering neverreally ever appears. Because
Ruth is so focused onsacrificing herself to serve her
mother in law. Now, of course,we know that Ruth is going to
play an integral part in thehistory of the Messiah. But

(07:42):
Ruth, of course, doesn't knowthis at this point. However, the
love that has been built in herby the Holy Spirit, this
fledgling improbable faith thatis starting to burgeon in her
heart drives her to desire to bewith God's people. It pushes her
to make a radical life change.
And we can see the sovereigntyof God all over this story. Ruth

(08:04):
is going to play a part in theline of the Messiah, God wants
Ruth to play that part God hasfor ordained that Ruth would
play that part in the line ofthe Messiah, he's done it not
just randomly, but for a purposeto show that a Gentile woman and
not just one there are severalin the line of the Messiah. But
here a Gentile woman is going toplay a major role in the line of

(08:27):
Jesus Christ. Amazingly, thework of the Holy Spirit going on
behind the scenes here and Ruthis a beautiful foreshadowing of
the work of the Holy Spirit inthe life of Mary that would put
the baby Jesus inside her body.
The Holy Spirit is motivatingRuth's heart, it is driving Ruth

(08:50):
to new faith in his driving Ruthto self sacrifice. And as a
result of that self sacrifice,Ruth will ultimately give birth
to the grandfather of KingDavid. The work of the Holy
Spirit is the starting point ofthis entire story. Just like the
work of the Holy Spirit is thestarting point of the Christmas
story. The work of the HolySpirit is the starting point of

(09:13):
the Messiah interruptingmankind's existence and changing
everything. Ruth was a willingservant. She was willing to give
up herself to serve Naomi to gowhen Naomi went to serve the
garden and Naomi served thatcould not have happened apart
from the Holy Spirit's work inher heart. Just like in the

(09:35):
story of Jesus birth, how Maryresponded to the angel with the
line, Behold, Iam the servant of the Lord. Let
it be to me according to yourword. So Ruth by her actions
shows the same obedience inloving Naomi in accompanying
Naomi and putting her own painand suffering aside to be with
her mother in law, who has justlived through a devastate

(09:58):
waiting period of loss andsuffering. Mary's name would be
disgraced her reputation wouldbe slandered because she was
pregnant without a husband. Sheentered a time in her life of
suffering, but she did sowillingly. in obedience to the
command of God. Ruth wasentering the nation of Israel as
a widowed mo abiertas, a womanwho was a Gentile, she had less

(10:23):
than no value in Israelitesociety, she was little better
than a dog to the people ofIsrael. And yet she willingly
entered that society, to serveher mother in law, to be there
for her needs, and to be anencouragement to her and to seek
a relationship with the one trueGod. And God would meet this

(10:45):
woman in amazing ways, withprovision with a future with a
hope with a place in the lightof the Messiah. And through that
he would show all people that hewas bringing the Gentile nations
into the covenant that Jesuswould eventually initiate on the
cross.

(11:11):
I hope you enjoyed this episodeof drippings from the honeycomb.
If you would like to learn moreabout another 12 ministries and
the work that we are doing totrain youth ministry leaders to
bring the Gospel to youngpeople, visit another
twelve.org. If you would like tosupport our ministry, click on
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