The Cost Of Redemption - [Ruth 4:1-6]

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It wasn't that long ago when I was at T .J. Maxx, I think with Kim, and we just were shopping.
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Some of the Marshalls and T .J. Maxx stores, they don't have suits or sport coats, but this one did.
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And I went over and I thought, boy, that's a nice -looking sports coat. It's about time they have something good here at this store.
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I thought I'd look good in that. I looked at the price. It was $500, some
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Hugo Boss deal. And then I looked at the original price and it said $24 .99.
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I thought, well, I'm still not going to buy it even though the value is $24 .99.
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$500, maybe if I take off a zero I would do it. It's perception of what something costs and what the value is.
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Sometimes when I'm in a third -world country, I'll ask myself the question, why are these churches and Bible seminaries charging a lot of money to people who are living in third -world countries to come hear the
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Bible taught? And behind the scenes, one man told me, because if you don't charge anything, people will think they're not worth anything.
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Perceived value. For us as Christians, salvation is free to us, right?
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We didn't earn it. We didn't deserve it. But it costs God everything.
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Let's turn our Bibles to Ruth chapter 4 this morning and be reminded in this drama of redemption, the cost of salvation, the ransom price, the selfless act, the self -sacrificial act, not just of Boaz as a kinsman redeemer, but of Jesus Christ as well.
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Ruth chapter 4. We're almost home in Ruth.
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When I ride my bicycle, sometimes I'll think I'm close to home. It looks like there's one final descent, but it's a false descent because really it's an ascent.
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And we've got one more kind of dip in the road here. Will Ruth marry Boaz? And we'll find out this morning what happens in this suspenseful, dramatic book that preaches
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Christ Jesus through the work of Boaz, the kinsman redeemer.
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Now, if you take a look at chapter 1, because we haven't been in the book for a few weeks, if you've got any kind of a study
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Bible and you'd like to have a summary, one of the best things you could do is just look at the liner notes in your
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Bible. So I'm reading the ESV Bible this morning. And it says chapter 1, Naomi widowed. Remember, that's exactly what happened.
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Naomi loses her husband. Ruth loses her husband. Orpah loses her husband. They left wrongly the land of Bethlehem and the land of promise, and they went down to Moab, and there was a disaster there.
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Death. If you look at your liner notes, it says Ruth's loyalty to Naomi. Orpah, she said,
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I've got to stay, and I don't want to go back. But Ruth was loyal.
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She stuck with Naomi, and they head back to Bethlehem. They return. See the liner notes as well?
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Naomi and Ruth return. Ruth is marvelously recreated.
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She's born again. She's redeemed spiritually. And then chapter 2, it says
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Ruth meets Boaz. That's pretty much the whole chapter.
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They've lost husbands, and they need a protector. They need someone to provide.
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They need food and more. Is Boaz the one who's going to fulfill all those?
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And chapter 3, Ruth and Boaz at the threshing floor. Remember how gripping that was, suspenseful, kind of dicey, what's going to happen at the threshing floor?
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So much so that the narrator says in chapter 3, often of Boaz, the man.
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Often of Ruth, a woman. It's almost like we don't even want to mention their name because they're in such a precarious situation.
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Let's keep these good people, good in the society's eyes, righteous people's name, righteous because something bad could happen there.
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And now we come to chapter 4. And if you see your liner note there, Boaz redeems Ruth. But there's still one more false dissent.
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I think Boaz is the kind of guy that might redeem her. He's selfless.
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He's a blood relative. He's a kinsman redeemer. He seems like it, but I wonder if he will.
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Is that God's plan? The curtain opens on a new scene, chapter 4. Keep your eye on the kinsman redeemer.
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Verse 1, Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there, and as luck would have it, behold, the redeemer of whom
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Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, Turn aside, friend.
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Sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. Naomi was right.
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Didn't she say Boaz is going to take matters into his own hands? He's going to be aggressive and he'll be...
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Chapter 3, verse 18. Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.
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There's no rest for the righteous. Boaz has got to get this thing done. Don't worry,
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Ruth. He's going to take matters into his own hands. That was the right analysis of Naomi.
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And so the threshing floors were close to the city, and Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there.
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Why would he go to the gate and sit down? I thought gates were to be entered. I thought they were ways to go in and ways to go out.
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Well, once you would go into a city gate, there would be like an open area there. You could buy things. You could sell things.
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And judicially, you could have hearings there. You could have business transactions there.
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There was no courthouse. So right there, the elders would sit, and you could do business.
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You could do contracts. You could sign things. You could have witnesses. People were going in and out of there a lot, and so that's where you would go to do a transaction.
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Boaz needs to do a transaction, so that's right where he goes, this public place where businesses and legal transactions take place.
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Right there at the main entrance, Proverbs 31, the
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Proverbs 31 woman, it says of her, her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.
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That's a strategic spot. That's a public spot. That's a spot where they're not going to go do some secret, behind -the -scenes, smoke -filled room transaction nobody knows about.
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Business transactions, the elders are there. Witnesses are there. Everything's above board.
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Boaz is a man of integrity. Going to go right there. Plus, that's probably a good place to run into the guy.
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And behold, boy, this didn't take long, the Redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken came by.
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The Hebrew is, and just then, wow! This is a marker for you, the reader, to say, pay attention.
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It just seems like God's working behind the scenes, doesn't it? It seems like providentially this is all driving us to chapter 4 at the end where David is born, and then the ultimate
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David. It's just so obvious. Everything's working according to plan.
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I've had to preach this to myself many times, and I do it this way. Lord, my life seems crazy.
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It seems stressed out. It seems like no one's in charge. But I know
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Romans 8 .28 is true. I know you're working everything together for good to those who you love and love you and are called according to your purpose.
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But I also see when I read Scripture, God's sovereignty rules over all these people.
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It is so obvious to look at Joseph's life and say, God's sovereign. You can count on Moses' life,
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God's sovereign. I was just reading that to the kids the other day. Well, you know, they're going to kill the babies. Moses is too old now.
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His lungs are too big. He cries too loudly. What are we going to do? Let's just put him in this little boat. In Hebrew, it's let's put him in the ark.
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Tell that to the Noah movie people. Moses was put in the ark. True or false? True. He was put in a little ark and pushed to the side, and it just so happens that a lady sees, that a lady has compassion.
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A lady says, you know what? I'll take that baby. By the way, I can't nurse the baby. I'll go find a nurse for the baby.
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Oh, this lady nursing the baby, and it's the mother of Moses. How lucky.
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And you go, you know what? I need to be reading Scripture because my life seems chaotic. My life seems upended.
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But the God of this book who's sovereign, the God who is sovereign over Ruth, Boaz, Joseph, Moses, up until the point of the execution of Jesus, He's sovereign over my life as well.
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And I can't see it in the future. That's why you're to trust in the Lord with all your heart, not to lean on your own understanding.
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In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths what? Straight. You want to see the providence of God in your life?
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Look backwards. You might have to look a long way, but then you'll see. Yeah, see how He worked it all perfectly.
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This language here in Ruth chapter 4, verse 1 is, just so happened, coincidence, chance, accident, whoops, all trying to tell you, you know what?
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It's not that at all. Even though the language is like that, it's to let you, the reader, know God's sovereign over everything.
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He shows up and just so happens, by coinkydink, this guy walks by. Wow. Ann Waring said,
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I love to think that God appoints my portion day by day. Events of life are in His hand, and I can only say, appoint them in thine own good time, and in thine own best way.
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Isn't God sovereignly caring for His people, including you? Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father?
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But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.
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God's sovereignly working over the life of Ruth. No small circumstances. And it says, the text does, do you notice?
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And behold, the Redeemer, the close relative, the kinsman Redeemer. That's the language there.
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The kinsman Redeemer shows up. Now remember, loosely, here's what a kinsman Redeemer does. There's trouble in a family, and the family member says, the
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Redeemer, the kinsman, the brother, the kin, next of kin, he says,
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I'll help. There's trouble with land, trouble with avenging death, trouble with someone.
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Who do we call? FBI? CIA? ATF? NCIS?
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I mean, who are we going to call? Don't you dare say. Don't you dare say what's in your mind right now.
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I know what you're thinking. Secular viewers beware, you ungodly worldly watchers of movies.
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Who do you call? You call the kinsman Redeemer.
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And maybe they have to redeem land. Maybe they have to provide a son for the lineage. All kinds of things generally, but it's a blood relative who will step in and help.
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And Boaz is a man on a mission. He's determined.
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He's a man of integrity. He's a man of hesed, which is loyal covenant love. He's a man who's just like Jesus.
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Except Jesus is better. Hey, friend, turn aside here. The word means, hey, swerve over here.
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You probably came in off the fields working, and you're just kind of on your way to go buy a few things or going home.
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Hey, turn in here. Swerve in here. Take this exit. Come over here in this area.
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And then amazingly, the ESV and lots of translators do a horrible job, but the
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ESV says, turn aside, friend. Hey, friend. Now, wait a second.
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Turn aside, friend. They're at a very public place where legitimate, legal, business, financial decisions are done.
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If you ever have to go, if you've ever gone to the court and said, we'd like to get married, one of the first things they'll tell you is, can
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I see some what? Identification. Well, they'll first say, give me money. But then after that, they'll say, we need identification.
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Certainly names are known in this book. Melon and Chileon and Orpah and Ruth and David and Obed.
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In Chapter 4, there's a genealogy. Names are important. This guy is just friend. Hey, friend. And this
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Hebrew word friend is a figure of speech. You're going to learn a new figure of speech today.
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For those of you that like similes and metaphors and Lydotese, here's a new one for you. F -A -R -R -A -G -O.
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A farago. If you don't know what a farago is, just think of Fargo. Fargo, North Dakota.
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You'd be close enough. A farago. And it gives words that don't seem to make any sense unless you get them in context, and they rhyme.
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Trying to show ambiguity. So the actual words in the
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Hebrew are poloni, almoni. Poloni, almoni.
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Has nothing to do with alimony. Hey, poloni, alomi. Come on over here.
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Hey, such and such. Hey, so and so. They're words that go together that show no name, but just trying to draw your attention in.
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Hodgepodge, helter -skelter, heebie -jeebies.
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Those are all faragos. See? What's happening here?
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The narrator is going to let you know. In a book of genealogies that lasts forever, ultimately leading up to David and the
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David, Jesus Christ, the man who is going to be selfish gets no name.
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I've been through the desert on a horse with no name. Except this guy gets no name, because if you're selfish and you're not going to redeem and you're not going to be a kinsman redeemer, you have no hesed, you have no integrity, you don't have any giving, guess what?
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You're a nobody in the eyes of this author and in Scripture. Everybody's got a name, and the author certainly knows it.
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Boaz knows his name. He's a redeemer, but a kinsman redeemer. Near kin, he's probably some cousin.
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He's a relative. Boaz knows who he is. It's not like he's just a nameless guy. But in Scripture, yes, he is the nameless guy.
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He's an unnamed person. John Doe just shows up.
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Mr. So -and -so. The storyteller deliberately has, because of shame, because this man is shameful in not fulfilling the role of kinsman redeemer.
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A family member needs help. No. He's not even known by name.
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Daniel Block said, why would the narrator, who is otherwise so careful with name, keep this character anonymous?
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Because he only thinks of himself and he doesn't think of anyone else.
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I don't care about the land. I don't care about the name of the dead. I don't care about the air. Sounds a lot different than Boaz.
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Sounds a lot different than Jesus, doesn't it? But friend isn't a bad translation for this particular verse.
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Matthew 11, 19, the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, look at Him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
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Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
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There is a friend in the Lord. What a friend we have in...
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Verse 2 of Ruth. And he got a quorum together. This is a legal deal, so he gets a quorum.
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And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, sit down here, so they sat down. So ten men.
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Why ten? To be a jury? No, to be witnesses. A witness to the transaction of what's going to take place here at the gates in this little legal area.
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Later, ten men to have a prayer meeting in Hebrew culture.
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Ten men to have a Jewish marriage benediction. Ten men to have a synagogue meeting.
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And so they get ten, not just men, but ten... Here's what the elder literally means in Hebrew. Ten graybeards.
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Let's get some graybeards. He says, sit down here, so they sat down.
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There's going to be a proceeding here, a business proceeding. You need to have witnesses.
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There are not a lot of written records back in those days for these things. And here comes the court proceeding.
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Let me read to you the court proceeding that was read out. Verse 3, then he said to the Redeemer, the court proceeding restarts here.
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Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative
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Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, by the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people, if you redeem it, redeem it.
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But if you will not tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, for I come after you without thinking, without sleeping on it, without praying about it, without anything.
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I will redeem it. Boaz could have said, this guy doesn't know anything about it.
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I'll just redeem. I'll just function as a kinsman -redeemer. I am a close relative.
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There is one closer. This guy didn't know that he was closer. Boaz could have just blown it off, but he wanted to do the right thing, the biblical thing.
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I'm going to talk to this man first. By the way, I think that's good advice for people who are dating, thinking about marriage, wanting to marry someone.
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Boaz is obviously in love with Ruth, and vice versa. And Naomi is in love with the idea.
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But Boaz is willing to trust the Lord with the outcome. Trusting the
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Lord with the outcome. The way through, the way out of Egypt is through Pharaoh, not around Pharaoh.
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I'll redeem it. I'll take that land. No problem. Now, Boaz has some good strategy here.
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It's very careful. It's very meticulous. And he says, you know, Malon died.
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Naomi's around. Naomi's too old to have kids. You can have some land if you want.
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And Naomi's not going to have any child, because she's too old. She's not going to have a child like Sarah would at 90.
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She's too old to have children, so you're never going to have to give the land back to the kid. Here's an old grandma, and she's not going to have a kid, and so she's got this land.
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Do you want to redeem it? Sure. Why wouldn't I? I just was walking into the gate after work one day, and somebody said, hey, how would you like some more land?
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You got a deal. Works out perfect. But Boaz has a punchline coming up.
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The rights to the land passed from Malon when Elimelech dies. What's the text say?
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Well, it says, Naomi, who's come back from the country, is selling. It's perfect in Hebrew.
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She's about to sell. She's in the process to sell. It's got to be sold. She's determined to sell it.
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She's resolved to sell it. We need a kinsman redeemer to buy it, to redeem it.
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So I thought I'd tell you. Interesting. Verse 4, So I thought I would tell you. What's this mean?
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Here's the Hebrew. Here's another fun one for you, besides Farago. Here's another fun one for you.
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When the text says, so I thought I would tell you, literally it means, I'd like to uncover your ear.
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Let me uncover your ear. Now, this is hard for us to understand what uncovering ears are in our society.
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But if I took you back to 1969 in Altamont Speedway and Woodstock and other places, you would say, that guy's got so much bushy hair, his hair is so long,
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I don't think he can hear me, so I'm going to have to part the waves of his hair so he can hear me. That's the idea.
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It's language of, I want you to really pay attention. Get the earwax out of your ear.
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Pay attention. Look at me. I'm going to speak and I've got to talk to you about this. I've got to uncover your ear.
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Exact same word that's used just earlier about, hey, I've got my feet uncovered by Naomi, excuse me, by Ruth, says
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Boaz. And I've promised that I'm going to cover Ruth and make sure she's married.
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Hey, uncover your ear. Part the hair over your ear so you could hear better.
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This guy didn't even know he was the closest Redeemer. Boaz could have circumvented and went around the whole deal, but he didn't.
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And the grammar is emphatic by this closer Redeemer. I, I will redeem.
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Hey, a limeleck has no heir. I get the land. Great. No seed is going to come from Naomi.
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I don't even have to think about it. Hey, you want some free land? Sure. No strings attached.
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I'll do it. The land needs to stay in the family.
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I'm close enough. Verse 5. Look at how masterful Boaz is.
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The suspense. I mean, we know what happens, but when you first would read this, what must you have been thinking? Then Boaz said,
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I think Boaz had to quick speak before if Ruth and Naomi were watching, saying, quit, hold the phone, somebody intervene.
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Don't let this man marry Ruth. Stop. Here comes the trump card.
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P .S. Little bug in your ear. It's almost like the guy was walking away.
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Yeah. Oh, yeah, just one more second. Let me tell you this. The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi. Yeah. She can't have any kids.
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She might have to give the land back too. You also acquire Ruth, and to make it worse, she's a what?
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The Moabite. The widow of the dead. In order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.
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Wait a minute here. I thought I was just going to get some free land. I thought this was going to be kind of some Jabez deal. I just wanted some land.
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One Bible translation translates it this way. Your purchase of the land from Naomi requires your marriage to Ruth, so that she can have children to carry on her husband's name and to inherit the land.
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That's the idea. Elimelech dies. The property goes to Malon. Malon dies.
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Now what? Ruth the Moabitess, you're going to have to buy her, acquire her?
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Wycliffe Bible Commentary says, both the alienation of land and the extinction of a family were to be prevented by the law of the kinsman -redeemer.
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Daniel Bloch said, this sentence is one of the most significant in the entire book. What's a guy going to do?
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Well, we'll find out next week, let's pray. No, let's keep reading. Verse 6, then the redeemer said, that's okay for the sake of Yahweh and his glory,
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I'll do it. I understand, but I want to be selfless.
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I know it costs me, but for the good of Israel, I'll do it.
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Then the redeemer said, then all what's -his -name said, then John Doe said, I cannot redeem it for myself.
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Listen to the unholy trinity here with me, myself, and I. I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance.
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Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it. I bet you if Ruth and Naomi were watching,
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I wonder what they were thinking at the moment. It's one thing to get some free land, and I know
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I've got to probably pay taxes on it, and cultivate it, and do some other stuff, but to have the woman as well, and then have to give back the land, he didn't say
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I can't, he's like, I won't, I'm just not going to do that. Mr. So -and -so is the calculating business person who's selfish, who's anything like Boaz, who's anything like Jesus.
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And this man walks off the pages of Scripture, and we never know his name. In a book that ends with a genealogy.
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He doesn't want to endanger his money, damage, spoil, the man with no name.
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See, it costs to redeem. There's a cost to redemption. And there are times in Scripture where you read about men who should redeem, but don't because there's a cost.
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Let me show you one, a very striking one. Genesis 38. Turn to Genesis chapter 38.
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Leopold, an otherwise good commentator, said this is entirely unsuited for homiletical use.
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Don't ever talk about this passage from the pulpit. But I want you to see it because when you understand the cost of redemption, you appreciate.
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That's what we're driving. If you understand what it cost the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to redeem sinners, then you'll say, you know what,
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I'm thankful. I'm thankful that Jesus is like Boaz, but better. Because the
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Scriptures are punctuated with men who act selfishly and will not redeem.
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That's why Boaz just shines. And you think, there's nobody like Boaz. Yet God is powerfully taking
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Egypt's claws out of Israel so she might escape. But is there a personal nature to this, redeeming
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God? Yes, He looks just like Boaz, but better. Genesis 38,
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It happened at the time that Judah, verse 1, went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain
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Adulamite whose name was Hira. So Joseph is sold and now this happens and they don't care about marrying into Canaanite families.
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Get the bit out of our teeth. There Judah saw a certain Canaanite whose name was
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Shuah. He took her and went into her. She conceived, bore a son. He called his name Ur. She conceived again and bore a son and called his name
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Onan. She again bore a son and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezeb when she bore him.
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Judah took a wife, Ur, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Ur, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the
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Lord. We don't know what he did, but does God believe in the death penalty, capital punishment? Obviously, and the
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Lord put him to death. But we do know what Onan's sin was.
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And his sin was not to do the Levite marriage, not to be a redeemer, kinsman type of person because of selfishness and because of his own love for himself versus the betterment of someone else.
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And Judah said to Onan, go into your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother -in -law to her and raise up offspring for your brother.
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So it had worked out in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Okay, the child that's conceived between you two is really the lady's child who's really the child of the lady and her deceased husband.
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They're going to get the land, they're going to get all the rights and benefits and all that stuff. They just need a son to carry on the line.
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But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. Oh, by DNA, yes, but not in a
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Levite marriage, not in a kinsman -redeemer sense. So notice, whenever, it's not a one -time deal, he just wants to please himself, but he doesn't want her to get pregnant, so he went into his brother's wife.
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Every time he did, he would waste the semen on the ground so as not to give offspring to his brother.
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Literally, verse 9, it says, he destroyed to the ground. I don't want them to have an inheritance, but sleeping with the girl, okay, fine.
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And what he did was so wicked in the sight of the
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Lord that he put him to death also. The cost for redemption for this man was too great, yet it cost him his life.
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The cost was too great. By the way, people use these verses as some kind of birth control verses.
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These aren't any birth control verses. For Onan, any birth control would have been sinful, obviously.
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He was supposed to raise up a seed for this woman and for her deceased husband. Being a kinsman redeemer is costly.
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Not everyone in the biblical history or in history is willing to pay the price. So it makes me ask the question, if Boaz was able to pay the price and willing to pay the price, don't we shout, a man of integrity, a man of faith, a man of self -sacrificial love, a man who wants what's best for someone else, isn't that what love is?
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At my own cost, I help you. At my own debt,
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I'll want what's best for you. That sounds like Boaz. That doesn't sound like old what's -his -name, and that doesn't sound like somebody
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Onan who should be what's -his -name. But it does sound a lot like who?
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It sounds like who Jesus Christ is. The cost of redemption for Jesus.
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Turn your Bibles to Revelation 5, please. Revelation 5. I want to remind you that I firmly believe, because it's right here in Scripture, that in heaven you'll always remember what it cost
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Jesus. You're never going to forget the cost of redemption, the cost of the ransom.
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When I say redemption, we're bought out of the slave pit of sin at a price, at a cost, and that cost in Scripture is called ransom.
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That's the price. There was a price to pay to be ransomed. What was the price that Jesus paid to ransom us?
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Some wages, a few tables that He made in His dad's carpentry shop. What was the price?
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And you know the prices as 1 Peter says what? The precious blood of Jesus. And in heaven, you'll never forget the cost.
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You'll forget sins, but you're not going to forget what sins did. You say, how can that be heaven?
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Well, let's look at the passage first. Revelation chapter 5. I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within, and on the back sealed with seven seals.
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I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who's worthy to open, scroll and break its seals?
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No one in heaven or on earth or under earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.
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And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
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And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more. This is not a good time to weep.
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This doesn't fit the occasion of weeping. This is exactly what Jesus says when the widow's son at Nain dies.
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This is not the right occasion to weep. This is exactly what Jesus says when He's going to raise
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Jairus' daughter. Don't weep. Bad time to weep. There's a good time to weep. There's a bad time.
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This occasion isn't a good time. Weep no more. Behold the
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Lion of the tribe of Judah. Can you imagine
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Jesus comes from the Lion and the tribe of Judah?
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Wouldn't one quick reading of Genesis make you think the star of Genesis 37 -50?
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It surely isn't Judah. Remember what happened with Tamar? Forget Onan.
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What about Judah and Tamar? The real story is Joseph. Joseph is the guy.
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I want to be like Joseph. But here Jesus associates with, as Genesis chapter 49 would say, the tribe of, not
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Joseph, but Judah. The Lion of the tribe. Talk about a so -and -so.
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That's name would be Judah. But Jesus associates with the sinful.
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That's why I love it when God is often called the God of Jacob. Why would you call God the
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God of Jacob? Again, wouldn't Joseph be much better? The God of Moses. The God of Joseph.
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The God of Jacob. The Lion of the tribe of Judah.
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The eternal Son associating with sinful men and women like Judah. The blessings given by Israel were to Judah for the
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Lion of the tribe of Judah. The root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.
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Why do I think you'll always be reminded of the cost of redemption? It's right there in verse 6.
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And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders,
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I saw a lamb standing. The risen
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Savior. The Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We understand why
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Jesus is regularly called the Lamb. But I saw the Lamb standing as though it had been slaughtered.
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Slaughtered. That's the word. The Lion of the tribe of Judah conquers because He's willing to become the
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Lamb. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the eternal Son of God, cloaks Himself with humanity to be the representative.
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And He conquers by being a Lamb. One man wrote, he came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday like a king on the way to a throne.
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And he went out of Jerusalem on Good Friday like a lamb on the way to a slaughter.
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He drove out the robbers of the temple like a lion devouring its prey. And then at the end of the week
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He gave His majestic neck to the knife and they slaughtered the Lion of Judah like a lamb.
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So, He conquered sin and death and Satan not just because He was a lion but because He was a lamb -like lion.
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You see the text? Though as it had been slain.
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I firmly believe you'll see the scars in His wrists, the scars in His feet, and the scars on His side forever reminding you redemption cost.
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Yes, it is finished, but it cost. It cost a lot. That's a technical word there for that Lamb describing the crucified
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Messiah. Twenty -eight times used in Revelation.
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Lamb. Often, little lamb.
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And look at the text again. As had been slain. Perfect tense. Slain once but with ongoing significance forever and ever and ever.
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Lamb standing as if its neck had been slit. Of course, Jesus' neck wasn't slit.
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But He was violently slaughtered. That's the language here. When I was a kid, they would take us in Nebraska.
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You want to know why I'm weird? They would take us to places for field trips. You know, here they take field trips to...
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Let's take the kids to Lemonster and go to the House of Plastics or something. They still have that? Let's go to Johnny Appleseed.
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And so you'll learn. Let's go to Walden Pond. When I was a kid, let's go have a field trip in Nebraska.
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Where? The Stockyards. In S. Lewis' day, S. Lewis Johnson's day, they would stand there and watch the throats get slit of the cow.
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Cow after cow after cow after cow. But this thing has been slaughtered, but it's standing.
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The word slain could mean to mutilate. Bloody, violent, gory crucifixion of Jesus.
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Let alone the Father's wrath poured out on the Son. My God, my God, why have You forsaken
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Me? But you can't see that. You understand it when you see the five holes in Jesus.
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And you go, it wasn't just physical. Why have
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You forsaken Me? The answer to that question is so He wouldn't have to forsake us.
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So He wouldn't have to forsake us. This metaphorical language of the slaughtered lamb reminds us of substitutionary atonement.
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My neck, my blood, my sacrifice, it should have been.
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Yet Jesus dies for me. I love it when Jesus said to Thomas, reach here with your finger and see my hands and reach here with your hand and put it in my side.
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And do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to Him what?
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My Lord and my God. No wonder Isaiah says, like a sheep
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He was led to slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent.
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And Jesus sitting on the right hand of the Father for billions of eons, now in heaven and the swirling worship of all the creatures, there's a lamb standing as if slain.
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Amazing. The love of God in this substitutionary atonement.
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For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous that He might bring us to God.
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That's why when Arminian revivalist Sam Jones says, God never did throw a javelin into the heart of His Son.
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That's why when people say, you know, God is more like a mother nurturer, He doesn't go for these bloody sacrifices anymore.
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One lady said, we don't need guys hanging on crosses with blood dripping and all that weird stuff.
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And even today, the Presbyterian Church USA in their hymnal cannot sing in Christ alone with the original lyrics.
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Why? Instead of saying, and on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was what?
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Satisfied. They have to change that according to the committee. The love of God was magnified.
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A man on that committee, the Reverend Chris Joiner, old what's his name, of First Presbyterian Church in Franklin said, sorry we had to drop the song, but the author
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Stuart Townend and Keith Getty wouldn't change it. Plus the words don't really work anyway because, quote, that lyric comes close to saying that God killed
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Jesus. The cross is not an instrument of God's wrath. And yet, forever and ever in heaven you will be reminded that it cost
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God, the triune God, something to redeem you and something to redeem me.
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Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you loved us.
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The Son loved us and the Spirit loved us and therefore set the plan in motion as Jesus Christ cloaked
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Himself with humanity, born in some stable someplace, in the house of bread.
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Thank you that you've shown us through Scripture that even though we believe, the only reason we believe in this great
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Savior Jesus Christ, only reason we're not Mr. So -and -so, only reason we're not utterly and hopelessly selfish is that you've opened our eyes to see these things.
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They're wondrous things. And now instead of saying, Who's Jesus? We don't care. We can work for our own salvation.
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We say to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.
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Father, I pray for the church today that you would help every member here, every person who attends that's a believer.
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I pray that you'd increase their thankfulness, increase their gratitude, increase their desire to give
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You glory. I pray for the unbelievers that they would glorify You by bowing their knee to the
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Lord Jesus Christ and calling Him Lord for Your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.