The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Nineteen - D May 31, 2020 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/THE-WORD-OF-GOD---A-SURVEY-OF-THE-BIBLE---PART-NINETEEN---D-.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ru 1:11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Today we will deal with Ruth and the inheritance. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button Sunday May 31st 2020 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 19D This My Inheritance 1). Ru 1:1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband. We have seen from our study of these verses in previous weeks that there was a certain set of circumstances that were in place when Ruth and Orpah became part of the Jewish family of Naomi, circumstances that are of particular significance because of the type they form. a). Firstly, we see that the Jewish family was in a Gentile land, separated from the land of their inheritance, during a time of famine. At a time in Jewish history when ‘the judges ruled’; a time characterized by disobedience and unfaithfulness epitomized by Elimelech’s family’s own disobedience to God’s prohibition concerning Moab – De 23:3 “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord……….6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. Secondly, there was death in the Jewish family when Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died leaving her and their 2 sons. Elimelech’s name means ‘My God is King’ and the picture given through his death would be entirely consistent with what the Scriptures record about the time of the judges – Jg 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now this verse is not talking about the absence of a monarchy in Israel as seen through Saul or king David, but rather Israel’s rejection of God as their King, remembering that the Theocracy had begun when Israel left Egypt - 1 Sa 8:7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. And so, in the death of the one whose name means ‘My God is King’, we see the rejection of God as Israel’s King. A spiritual condition within the nation that existed from the days of Samuel, the last judge, to the present day. b). And continuing the theme of the rejection of God as King, seen in the death of Elimelech, will can also add another layer to the type by coming to a day closer to our own when God was again rejected as King, when He came in the flesh to offer Israel the Kingdom of the Heavens – Jn 19:15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” And we have no doubt come to realize that the circumstances that surrounded Ruth and Orpah, 2 Gentile women, becoming part of the Jewish family of Naomi are the exact same as the circumstances that existed when the ‘Church’ was brought into being and was grafted into the natural olive tree. c). Following the crucifixion of their King and following the rejection of both the offer and the reoffer of the Kingdom, Israel has remained exiled in the Gentile world, in a time of spiritual famine – Am 8:11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, But shall not find it. They remain in a place of death, and those typified by Orpah and Ruth have continued to become part of the family of the Jewish Christ during this time. 2). Now, Ruth is a Book about inheritance – Ru 1:11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? And that which Naomi said to Orpah and Ruth here must be seen within the context of the law of Moses – De 25:5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 6 And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. God had decreed that inheritance must stay within the family, and it was ‘the duty of a husband’s brother’ to take his brother’s widow as his wife so as to raise up a firstborn son to receive the brother’s inheritance that became forfeit at his death, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. a). This all sounds a little strange to our modern ear, but we are dealing with a type that teaches profound spiritual truth – Ge 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Adam died in the Garden and that which should have been his inheritance, the earth and its rulership, was then forfeit remaining in the hands of the disqualified, incumbent ruler. b). Adam in a natural sense had no brother, but as Adam was a created son of God, we could see the only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Man the last Adam, in this context as Adam’s ‘Brother’. And it is this ‘Brother’ who has the duty to both redeem the inheritance and take His dead brother’s widow, those typified by the Woman, the wife of Adam, to be His Wife with a view to raising up a firstborn son to receive the inheritance forfeit at His brother’s death. And following Christ taking His Bride to be His Wife there will be 3 firstborn sons, the Divinely complete and perfect firstborn son, who will receive the previously forfeited inheritance. c). And so, in Elimelech’s death we might also hear the echo of the death of Adam. d). If we now go back to the account of Ruth we will understand that upon Elimelech’s death the inheritance would have passed to his firstborn son, but as both Mahlon and Chilion also died there was no longer a son to fulfill the duty of a brother to redeem the inheritance and raise up a firstborn son to receive it. The inheritance was forfeit and remained in the possession of another. e). And from Naomi’s perspective, even if she could have produced a son that night it would have been too many years before that son was old enough to fulfill the duty of a brother with respect to Orpah and Ruth Nu 27:8 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.’ ” And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, just as the Lord commanded Moses. And it would be in the tension that exists between what could be had in the present and acting entirely by faith with respect to the future that the separation of Orpah and Ruth is found – Ru 1:14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” And this same tension exists for every Christian. We know what the present world system and the pleasures of this life have to offer us. They are readily available and tangible and appealing and alongside them we have the hope concerning a land we have never been to and a marriage relationship with a Man whom we have never seen. We have that which we can tangibly grasp now in the present and that which at the moment only exists in the realm of our faith. g). Orpah, like so many Christians, chose present gratification over future hope, going ‘back to her people and to her gods’. Ruth of course chose an entirely different direction – Ru 1:16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” Rather than her own people and her own gods Ruth chose Naomi’s people and Naomi’s God. And in that choice, there is the rejection of what the world has to offer in favor of that which has its reality through the eyes of faith. And the death to self, necessary to walk this out, is implicit in v17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. h). And to go back to the type/antitype structure of Ruth, perhaps in the deaths of Mahlon and Chilion we might also catch a glimpse of Israel’s rejection of both the offer and the reoffer of the Kingdom of the heavens. An inheritance that was lost to national Israel for all time, but an inheritance that could be redeemed for a Gentile Bride of the seed of Abraham by the closest relative in the family, by a Kinsman Redeemer. 3). As we noted earlier, the Book of Ruth is a Book about inheritance and as we have seen it is primarily a Book about the redemption of a forfeited inheritance. And it is the redemption of this inheritance that is the focal point to which all of the Book inexorably moves. a). All things in the Book then move toward one end, Ruth’s appearance on Boaz’s threshing floor and Boaz’s subsequent actions because of her appearance there. b). And if we think about it, this is the exact same end to which all of Scripture moves. c). Beginning in Genesis the focus of Scripture is the redemption of that which was lost in the Garden, a redemption that must include the material creation and a Man and a Woman in a marriage relationship. And in the final Book of Scripture we see a Bride revealed at Christ’s Judgment Seat and the inheritance subsequently redeemed – Re 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And with respect to our own study of the Scriptures towards this same end, we can find a parallel between the Gospels and the Book of Acts with Ruth Chapter 1; the Epistles with Ruth Chapter 2 and the first 5 verses of Chapter 3; the first 4 Chapters of Revelation with the remainder of Ruth Chapter 3 and Revelation Chapters 5-20 with Ruth Chapter 4. d). Or to present this from a slightly different perspective, our journey begins following our eternal salvation, based on the death and shed blood of Christ. Our eternal salvation has occurred within the context of us becoming a part of a ‘Jewish family’, where the Kingdom of the Heavens is on offer to us during a time when Israel has been set aside. And it would be the Gospels and the Book of Acts that provide us with the NT Scriptural account of this. e). Having made a decision to go, as Ruth did, it is in the NT Epistles that we find the instructions we are to follow in anticipation of our appearance at Christ’s Judgment Seat. Instructions foreshadowed in the type from the Book of Ruth in – Ru 2:8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”…………. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Ru 3:1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security [Lit – rest] for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. And as we have said, this is all with a view to our appearance at Christ’s Judgment Seat, which we have studied in Revelation Chapters 1-3 – 2 Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 4). Ru 3:7 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” We know that all Christians at the Judgment Seat will be judged according to their works, but that judgment is not dealt with directly in Ruth. Ruth herself, forms a type of the faithful Christian, the one who is an overcomer and therefore the events on Boaz’s threshing floor deal with that which takes place after the decisions and determinations of the Judgment Seat have been concluded. a). Now, although judgment is not specifically dealt with, its completion is implied through the symbolism used, much like the use of the rainbow in Revelation Chapter 4. b). Here in Ruth 3:7 Boaz, with a cheerful heart, has laid down ‘at the end of the heap of grain.’ This is the grain that he had been winnowing, the grain that had been separated from the chaff; where that which was of value had been removed from that which was worthless – Lk 3:17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” The winnowed grain then symbolizes that judgment has passed, separation has taken place and judgment itself is seen through the reference to ‘midnight’ – Ex 12:29a And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt……….. It is at ‘midnight’ that God’s judgment is seen in Exodus, providing us with a first mention principle. c). And in conjunction with this we know that Ruth’s preparations for going to the threshing floor had already been completed. She had already gleaned in the field until evening and had beaten out the grain. She had already, according to Naomi’s instructions, washed herself, anointed herself and put on her best garment. And it is in this thoroughly prepared condition, having done all that was required of her that she made her request known to Boaz, ‘Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” d). Within the context of the focus of the Book, which is inheritance, Ruth’s request to Boaz is twofold – to redeem the inheritance that had been forfeited through the deaths of Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion and for Boaz to take Ruth as his wife that he might do the duty as the next male relative in the family, which would otherwise have been done by a brother. And neither her actions nor her request can be seen as in anyway presumptuous, but rather to be entirely proper and in keeping with the law of Moses that we had seen in Deuteronomy Chapter 25. e). The properly prepared Ruth and her entirely lawful request meant that Boaz was obligated to respond in only one way if he was to remain faithful to God’s Word – Ru 3:10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. Then to take this to the antitype, those who are overcomers will have done all that is necessary to be prepared to meet Christ on His Threshing Floor, the Judgment Seat. They will have followed the instructions given to them through the Epistles. They will have beaten out their own grain by separating that which is worthless, the man of the flesh, from that which is of value, the man of the spirit. They will have died to self and been led by the Spirit. f). They will have washed themselves through the washing of water by the Word – Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. They will have anointed themselves through being continually filled with the Spirit – Eph 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, Jas 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. And through being doers of the Word they will have ‘put on’ their best garment – Re 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And when these completely prepared individuals, the overcomers, the Bride, are revealed at the Judgment Seat, their very presence demands that Christ must act in accordance with the promises He has given; action that will bring about the redemption of the inheritance forfeited in the Garden and the marriage that accompanies it. Ru 4:3 Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.”5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”6 And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” Re 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. But this will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Nineteen - D May 31, 2020 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/THE-WORD-OF-GOD---A-SURVEY-OF-THE-BIBLE---PART-NINETEEN---D-.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ru 1:11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Today we will deal with Ruth and the inheritance. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button Sunday May 31st 2020 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 19D This My Inheritance 1). Ru 1:1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband. We have seen from our study of these verses in previous weeks that there was a certain set of circumstances that were in place when Ruth and Orpah became part of the Jewish family of Naomi, circumstances that are of particular significance because of the type they form. a). Firstly, we see that the Jewish family was in a Gentile land, separated from the land of their inheritance, during a time of famine. At a time in Jewish history when ‘the judges ruled’; a time characterized by disobedience and unfaithfulness epitomized by Elimelech’s family’s own disobedience to God’s prohibition concerning Moab – De 23:3 “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord……….6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. Secondly, there was death in the Jewish family when Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died leaving her and their 2 sons. Elimelech’s name means ‘My God is King’ and the picture given through his death would be entirely consistent with what the Scriptures record about the time of the judges – Jg 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now this verse is not talking about the absence of a monarchy in Israel as seen through Saul or king David, but rather Israel’s rejection of God as their King, remembering that the Theocracy had begun when Israel left Egypt - 1 Sa 8:7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. And so, in the death of the one whose name means ‘My God is King’, we see the rejection of God as Israel’s King. A spiritual condition within the nation that existed from the days of Samuel, the last judge, to the present day. b). And continuing the theme of the rejection of God as King, seen in the death of Elimelech, will can also add another layer to the type by coming to a day closer to our own when God was again rejected as King, when He came in the flesh to offer Israel the Kingdom of the Heavens – Jn 19:15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” And we have no doubt come to realize that the circumstances that surrounded Ruth and Orpah, 2 Gentile women, becoming part of the Jewish family of Naomi are the exact same as the circumstances that existed when the ‘Church’ was brought into being and was grafted into the natural olive tree. c). Following the crucifixion of their King and following the rejection of both the offer and the reoffer of the Kingdom, Israel has remained exiled in the Gentile world, in a time of spiritual famine – Am 8:11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, But shall not find it. They remain in a place of death, and those typified by Orpah and Ruth have continued to become part of the family of the Jewish Christ during this time. 2). Now, Ruth is a Book about inheritance – Ru 1:11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? And that which Naomi said to Orpah and Ruth here must be seen within the context of the law of Moses – De 25:5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 6 And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. God had decreed that inheritance must stay within the family, and it was ‘the duty of a husband’s brother’ to take his brother’s widow as his wife so as to raise up a firstborn son to receive the brother’s inheritance that became forfeit at his death, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. a). This all sounds a little strange to our modern ear, but we are dealing with a type that teaches profound spiritual truth – Ge 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Adam died in the Garden and that which should have been his inheritance, the earth and its rulership, was then forfeit remaining in the hands of the disqualified, incumbent ruler. b). Adam in a natural sense had no brother, but as Adam was a created son of God, we could see the only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Man the last Adam, in this context as Adam’s ‘Brother’. And it is this ‘Brother’ who has the duty to both redeem the inheritance and take His dead brother’s widow, those typified by the Woman, the wife of Adam, to be His Wife with a view to raising up a firstborn son to receive the inheritance forfeit at His brother’s death. And following Christ taking His Bride to be His Wife there will be 3 firstborn sons, the Divinely complete and perfect firstborn son, who will receive the previously forfeited inheritance. c). And so, in Elimelech’s death we might also hear the echo of the death of Adam. d). If we now go back to the account of Ruth we will understand that upon Elimelech’s death the inheritance would have passed to his firstborn son, but as both Mahlon and Chilion also died there was no longer a son to fulfill the duty of a brother to redeem the inheritance and raise up a firstborn son to receive it. The inheritance was forfeit and remained in the possession of another. e). And from Naomi’s perspective, even if she could have produced a son that night it would have been too many years before that son was old enough to fulfill the duty of a brother with respect to Orpah and Ruth Nu 27:8 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.’ ” And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, just as the Lord commanded Moses. And it would be in the tension that exists between what could be had in the present and acting entirely by faith with respect to the future that the separation of Orpah and Ruth is found – Ru 1:14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” And this same tension exists for every Christian. We know what the present world system and the pleasures of this life have to offer us. They are readily available and tangible and appealing and alongside them we have the hope concerning a land we have never been to and a marriage relationship with a Man whom we have never seen. We have that which we can tangibly grasp now in the present and that which at the moment only exists in the realm of our faith. g). Orpah, like so many Christians, chose present gratification over future hope, going ‘back to her people and to her gods’. Ruth of course chose an entirely different direction – Ru 1:16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” Rather than her own people and her own gods Ruth chose Naomi’s people and Naomi’s God. And in that choice, there is the rejection of what the world has to offer in favor of that which has its reality through the eyes of faith. And the death to self, necessary to walk this out, is implicit in v17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. h). And to go back to the type/antitype structure of Ruth, perhaps in the deaths of Mahlon and Chilion we might also catch a glimpse of Israel’s rejection of both the offer and the reoffer of the Kingdom of the heavens. An inheritance that was lost to national Israel for all time, but an inheritance that could be redeemed for a Gentile Bride of the seed of Abraham by the closest relative in the family, by a Kinsman Redeemer. 3). As we noted earlier, the Book of Ruth is a Book about inheritance and as we have seen it is primarily a Book about the redemption of a forfeited inheritance. And it is the redemption of this inheritance that is the focal point to which all of the Book inexorably moves. a). All things in the Book then move toward one end, Ruth’s appearance on Boaz’s threshing floor and Boaz’s subsequent actions because of her appearance there. b). And if we think about it, this is the exact same end to which all of Scripture moves. c). Beginning in Genesis the focus of Scripture is the redemption of that which was lost in the Garden, a redemption that must include the material creation and a Man and a Woman in a marriage relationship. And in the final Book of Scripture we see a Bride revealed at Christ’s Judgment Seat and the inheritance subsequently redeemed – Re 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And with respect to our own study of the Scriptures towards this same end, we can find a parallel between the Gospels and the Book of Acts with Ruth Chapter 1; the Epistles with Ruth Chapter 2 and the first 5 verses of Chapter 3; the first 4 Chapters of Revelation with the remainder of Ruth Chapter 3 and Revelation Chapters 5-20 with Ruth Chapter 4. d). Or to present this from a slightly different perspective, our journey begins following our eternal salvation, based on the death and shed blood of Christ. Our eternal salvation has occurred within the context of us becoming a part of a ‘Jewish family’, where the Kingdom of the Heavens is on offer to us during a time when Israel has been set aside. And it would be the Gospels and the Book of Acts that provide us with the NT Scriptural account of this. e). Having made a decision to go, as Ruth did, it is in the NT Epistles that we find the instructions we are to follow in anticipation of our appearance at Christ’s Judgment Seat. Instructions foreshadowed in the type from the Book of Ruth in – Ru 2:8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”…………. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Ru 3:1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security [Lit – rest] for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. And as we have said, this is all with a view to our appearance at Christ’s Judgment Seat, which we have studied in Revelation Chapters 1-3 – 2 Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 4). Ru 3:7 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” We know that all Christians at the Judgment Seat will be judged according to their works, but that judgment is not dealt with directly in Ruth. Ruth herself, forms a type of the faithful Christian, the one who is an overcomer and therefore the events on Boaz’s threshing floor deal with that which takes place after the decisions and determinations of the Judgment Seat have been concluded. a). Now, although judgment is not specifically dealt with, its completion is implied through the symbolism used, much like the use of the rainbow in Revelation Chapter 4. b). Here in Ruth 3:7 Boaz, with a cheerful heart, has laid down ‘at the end of the heap of grain.’ This is the grain that he had been winnowing, the grain that had been separated from the chaff; where that which was of value had been removed from that which was worthless – Lk 3:17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” The winnowed grain then symbolizes that judgment has passed, separation has taken place and judgment itself is seen through the reference to ‘midnight’ – Ex 12:29a And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt……….. It is at ‘midnight’ that God’s judgment is seen in Exodus, providing us with a first mention principle. c). And in conjunction with this we know that Ruth’s preparations for going to the threshing floor had already been completed. She had already gleaned in the field until evening and had beaten out the grain. She had already, according to Naomi’s instructions, washed herself, anointed herself and put on her best garment. And it is in this thoroughly prepared condition, having done all that was required of her that she made her request known to Boaz, ‘Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” d). Within the context of the focus of the Book, which is inheritance, Ruth’s request to Boaz is twofold – to redeem the inheritance that had been forfeited through the deaths of Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion and for Boaz to take Ruth as his wife that he might do the duty as the next male relative in the family, which would otherwise have been done by a brother. And neither her actions nor her request can be seen as in anyway presumptuous, but rather to be entirely proper and in keeping with the law of Moses that we had seen in Deuteronomy Chapter 25. e). The properly prepared Ruth and her entirely lawful request meant that Boaz was obligated to respond in only one way if he was to remain faithful to God’s Word – Ru 3:10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. Then to take this to the antitype, those who are overcomers will have done all that is necessary to be prepared to meet Christ on His Threshing Floor, the Judgment Seat. They will have followed the instructions given to them through the Epistles. They will have beaten out their own grain by separating that which is worthless, the man of the flesh, from that which is of value, the man of the spirit. They will have died to self and been led by the Spirit. f). They will have washed themselves through the washing of water by the Word – Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. They will have anointed themselves through being continually filled with the Spirit – Eph 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, Jas 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. And through being doers of the Word they will have ‘put on’ their best garment – Re 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And when these completely prepared individuals, the overcomers, the Bride, are revealed at the Judgment Seat, their very presence demands that Christ must act in accordance with the promises He has given; action that will bring about the redemption of the inheritance forfeited in the Garden and the marriage that accompanies it. Ru 4:3 Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.”5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”6 And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” Re 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. But this will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing.