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Sermon Notes - February 13, 2022
Choose: Ruth - Chapter 4 - Brian Becker
Our hope in Christ:
"Your past may explain you, but it doesn’t have to define you."
Numbers 25:1-2 (NLT)
While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab.
Setting: Time of the Judges
"Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes."
A question we all must ask ourselves...
Who gets to define your sexual ethic?
Ruth 1: 16-17 (ESV)
“Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried…”
Ruth 3:18 (ESV)
She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”
Ruth 4:1 (ESV)
Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down.
And Behold:
Ruth 2:4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem.
Ruth 3:8 And behold, a woman lay at his feet.
Ruth 4:1 And behold, the redeemer came by…
Behold:
God is at work
God has a plan and a purpose
Ruth 4:1-6 (ESV)
Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
Ruth 4:7 (ESV)
Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel.
Boaz was living according to God's instructions for his people from hundreds of years earlier.
Deuteronomy 25:5-10 (ESV)
“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.’ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.’ And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’
Ruth 4:8-11 (ESV)
So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day." Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.
Ruth 4:11-13 (ESV)
May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.” So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife.
The results of Boaz trusting God's way:
- Boaz gave Ruth the dignity she deserved both privately and publicly.
- Boaz didn’t keep things a secret.
- Boaz took responsibility but didn’t take matters into his own hands.
The results of Ruth trusting God's way:
- Ruth adopted a new way of living.
- Ruth trusted and waited.
- Ruth refused to let her past dictate her future.
Who gets to define your sexual ethic?
Definition of Christianity:
Christianity is trusting that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life…for all aspects of life.
We follow Jesus in all aspects of life.
2 Types of Purity:
- Outward Purity: The Behavior
- Inward Purity: The Heart
Outward Purity: The Behavior
“Flee from sexual immorality...You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” - 1 Corinthians 6:18, 19-20
Inward Purity: The Heart
“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.” - Psalm 119:9-10
3 Responses to Impurity:
- Defensiveness
- Remorse
- Repentance-The Biblical Response
- God is a redeeming God.
- He has plans and purposes for you.
- He wants to guide you in all aspects of life.