GOD’S HAND IN OUR S H R E W D N E S S & R E D E M P T I O N

RUTH 4:1-22

RUTH 4:1-22Now 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 belong to our relative, Elimelech.

RUTH 4:1-22So, 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.”

RUTH 4:1-22Then, 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.

RUTH 4:1-22

Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” Now, this was the custom in

the former times in Israel, concerning redeeming and exchanging. To confirm a transaction, the one drew of his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel.

RUTH 4:1-22“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 Elimelechand all that

belonged to Chilionand to Mahlon, also Ruth, the Moabite. The widow of MahlonI have bought to be by 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.”

RUTH 4:1-22“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. May you act worthily in Ephrathahand 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.”

RUTH 4:1-22“So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he went

into her and the Lord her gave her conception and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi: ‘Blessed be

the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer. And may his name be renowned in Israel. He

shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisherof your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is

more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap, and became

his nurse.

RUTH 4:1-22And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying a son has been born to Naomi. They named him

Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now, these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,

Hezronfathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadabfathered Nahshon, Nahshonfathered

Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz father Obed, Obedfathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.”

IT ALLOWS THE MAN TO SETTLE THE ISSUE IN HIS

HEART, OF HOW DEVOTED HE TRULY IS TO THAT WOMAN.

IT REVEALS THE DEPTH OF HIS COMMITMENT TO THE

WOMAN.

GOD’S HAND IN OURS H R E W D N E S S

RUTH 4:1Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town

gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came

along, Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over

and sat down.

THREE KINDS OF MENWHEN IT COMES TO BUSINESS HERE IN THE BOOK OF RUTH

ELIMELECHWho is a bold, courageous, confident

man with a plan, who took risks, but he was fool. And it destroyed his family and

it led to death.

THIS OTHER MAN (UNNAMED)

He is a man who doesn’t do anything wrong, he just doesn’t do anything. He’s a guy who doesn’t follow through on his responsibilities.

He doesn’t take care of that which is his to look after,

BOAZ The guy who is picking up the mess of these other failed men, and he is trying

to help these women who are in this dire circumstance. What will the answer of the man be? He said, “I will redeem it.”

All right, so here’s what Boaz is going to do. Shrewdly negotiate the deal. And he is not going to take no for an

answer. He wants to marry Ruth.

Boaz finds a way legally, ethically, morally, Biblically acceptable to get rid of the other man, and so

he is going to negotiate shrewdly.

This is the shrewd negotiating of a deal in the favor of Boaz. But, is he

lying? Not lying, he is just using Spirit led negotiating. That’s what we’ll call

it. Spirit led negotiating.

Here’s what he’s saying, “I will buy the land. I’ll take care of Naomi. I’ll marry Ruth. I will honor her deceased husband. We will have a child. The family line will not die. I’ll perpetuate it. I’m Boaz. I’ll fix everything.”

Jesus is coming through this family.

And Boaz is a redeemer and Jesus is the redeemer. And Boaz is the foreshadowing of the

ultimate redemption of Jesus and Ruth. The bride is the foreshadowing of the Church of Jesus Christ, which is his bride. And I’ll draw

some parallels so you understand the Gospel out of the Book of Ruth.

The FIRSTis that Boaz was a near kinsman to Ruth and Jesus Christ, our glorious eternal God, became a man –entered into human history,

took upon himself human flesh, to identify with us to become our near kinsman.

SECONDthing is that Boaz was able to redeem Ruth and Jesus, alone, is

able to redeem us.

THIRD, not only is he able to redeem us, he is like Boaz, willing to redeem us. Boaz was not

forced or obligated to marry and redeem Ruth, Jesus is not forced, or obligated to redeem us,

but he is willing. Boaz did it out of love, likewise, Jesus redeems out of love, and he’s willing and

able.

FOURTHLY, Boaz paid the price for redemption. Likewise, Jesus has paid the price for

redemption.

AndLASTLY, Boaz not only redeemed the woman, he also redeemed the land. We’re

waiting for the Lord Jesus to return to finish and complete his work of redemption, and also to redeem the earth, which is his proverbial land.

GOD’S HAND IN OURR E D E M P T I O N

RUTH 4:13

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive,

and she gave birth to a son.

We would encourage you to not be sexually active until you’re married, and then make up for lost time. That

would be our official position.

If you already have been sexually active, Jesus died for those sins, he will forgive you, and you can have a clean, new life of holiness. And if you are here and you are remaining chaste, then we

would say, Praise be to God. You want to be chaste until marriage; you want to be faithful in

marriage. That’s what you want.

“Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer. And may his name be renowned in Israel.” Talking about this little boy, he’s gonnabe the redeemer, “He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisherof your old age.”

And Naomi’s life has been very hard, but this grandson is gonnamake all the difference in the world. So, it

continues, they say, “He shall be a restorer of life and a nourisherof your old age. For your daughter-in-law,

who loves you –is more to you than seven sons, and has given birth to him.” Seven is the number of perfection;

seven sons is prototypical in Scripture of the perfect family.

RUTH 4:16

Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for

him.

THE FIRST IS

HAPPINESSTHE SECOND IS

LEGACY

KEYS TO HAPPINESS

GROW UP, right?GET A JOB.

GO TO REHAB.GET MARRIED

GO TO CHURCH.

LEGACY

You don’t want to just have a good weekend; 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 GOD OF THE BIBLEHATES RELIGION

Religion is the enemy of redemption. Religion and redemption are constantly at odds.

Martin Luther says, rightly, that religion is the default mode of the human heart, and that

we must constantly be saved, redeemed from religion.

RELIGIONIS THE ENEMY OF THE WORK OF JESUS

FIRSTRELIGION SAYS THIS, “IF I OBEY,

GOD WILL LOVE ME.”

SECONDLYRELIGION SAYS THAT THE

WORLD IS FILLED WITH TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE; GOOD

PEOPLE, BAD PEOPLE.

THIRDRELIGIOUS PEOPLE CARE ALL

ABOUT YOUR BIRTH

We see that with Ruth. She sits there quietly while Boaz redeems her. The

church is the bride of Christ. We’re gonnasit there and receive from the Lord Jesus,

our glorious Boazianredeemer, redemption. He does all the work.

JESUS DIED.HE DID EVERYTHING.

HE LOVES YOU.

RELIGION NEVER LEADS TO JOY OR HUMILITY, BECAUSE RELIGION

MAKES A LONG LIST OF RULES THAT AREN’T IN THE BIBLE.

REDEMPTION ALSO LEADS TO JOY. GOD LOVES ME. GOD BLESSES ME. GOD HAS GOOD THINGS FOR ME.

If I walk with him, whether it’s a difficult season or it is a blessed season, God will give me joy. Jesus alone gives joy. Jesus alone gives legacy. Jesus

alone makes today worthwhile and gives hope for tomorrow. Religion can do none of that.

From: Jesse Robredo <j.......@yahoo.com>

Date: XX/XX/XXXX 9:26 PM

Subject: Re: :(

To: Aika Robredo <a.....@gmail.com>

dear aiks,

do not worry. I also felt like that when i was working. kaya palipat lipat ako ng office sa San Miguel corporation. give it a little time. meanwhile, actively look for other options. (you might want to help me muna. hahaha)

It is too early to tell what you are meant to do. but quitting this early will not be good for you. while you may be unhappy and stressed, there is a better way of coping with it. the more unhappy and discontented you are, the more you will dread every day you work. as I have said, you are not in the worst place at this stage in your career. sometimes, having too many choices is not that healthy. i think sticking on to your job for a significant amount of time is a good idea. it will test your ability to cope with something you are not too happy doing. the sad reality is that we have to bear it because it is part of the learning process. If i encourage you to quit early, the next time you feel the same discomfort, you will not learn to cope but quit again.

I know of quite a number of people who were as good as you – or who were even better than you, but did not achieve their full potential because they always wanted to be happy with what they were doing. we need not go very far. Person A and Person B had to struggle with Company X because they did not have much choice. It is only now that they can do as they please because they have established themselves already.

I do not think you should lose sight of what you want to do. If you do decide to quit, be responsible enough to find another job before quitting. It will not look good if you quit without any definite job waiting.

I do not suggest that you immediately take the NGO route unless it is the CSR of a prominent company. while it is true that you will study later on, remember that your studying will require you to return back to the real world that you are in right now. burn out kana, bok. you might want to take a vacation muna. madali naman maghanap ng rason at this point in time. while I am not against you doing social development work, I must say that those who succeeded in this field went through the regular careers that we have gone through. Tony Melotoworked in the private sector for a long time. Manny Pangilinan, etc.

I will always support you in any way you want me to. while the job might not be for you, you might have to grin and bear it while you are looking for a new one (whether corporate or NGO). i have taken less fulfilling jobs in my career but i have looked at them as the dots that connected me to where i am now. the more you despair, the more you will be unhappy. many people would love to take your place, given the opportunity. just look at this stage as the difficult stepping stones in testing your character and patience. probably, later on, with the benefit of hindsight, you will conclude that it was all for the better that you were not too hasty in making the decisions on this matter.

having said what I think, do not be afraid to make the decisions you think that best suit you. Lagi langnaman kaming nandito. but as they say, do not make decisions when you are unhappy (or emotional). they tend to be the less logical ones.

Labs always,

Pops