Waiting for Redemption

Ruth 3, “Waiting for Redemption”
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Introduction:
Have you ever watched a movie series? Or followed a serial western? It seemed that every episode answered some question, but also set us up for the next episode to follow. “Next time, join the Lone Ranger as he says….” In some ways, that can be our experience when teaching through narrative books of the Bible – especially Ruth. Each chapter sets up tension & solves problems, all the while looking forward to what lies ahead. Ch 3 is no different.

Remember our context: a man of Bethlehem Judah took his wife & two sons out of Israel during a famine (demonstrating a fundamental lack of trust in God – despite his name, “My God is King”), and takes them to pagan Moab to try to eek out a living. His two sons get married to Moabite women (Gentiles), and the sons & father promptly die in Moab. His wife (Naomi) heads back to Judah, with one of the son’s widows (Ruth) committing herself to Naomi & Naomi’s God – no matter what. They get back in the middle of harvest time, but they are impoverished & Ruth sets off to glean in the fields just to try to find food for survival. Ruth providentially comes to the field of a kinsman of theirs (Boaz), who showers Ruth with kindness & offers her a bountiful provision. Ch 1 ended with despair, Ch 2 ended with hope – and that brings us to Ch 3.

In our 4 episode series of “Ruth”, we have 4 scenes in Act 3: (1) Naomi’s instructions, (2) Ruth’s request, (3) Boaz’s response, (4) Boaz’s provisions. There’s drama as Ruth lays everything on the line & there’s sweet resolution in Boaz’s answering in righteousness. One would almost think that the Author knows exactly how to tell a story. Keep in mind, this isn’t fiction. It’s a wonderful love story that outlines the process of redemption, but this is absolutely true. God is simply a Master storyteller & teacher.

Ruth 3 (NKJV)
- Naomi’s instructions…
1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security 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. 4 Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.” 5 And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.”

A. What’s our timeline at this point? It’s hard to pinpoint it exactly – but Naomi & Ruth had arrived in Bethlehem sometime at the beginning of the barley harvest & now they are close to the end of the harvest, when the field owner would start to thresh/winnow the barley harvest. Obviously several weeks had passed by this point. Keep in mind that Boaz’s field was the 1st field Ruth went to, and she had stayed in his field the entire time. They would have had the opportunity to get to know each other fairly well by this point – they certainly weren’t strangers any longer.
__a. Winnowing barley was the process of separating the grain from the chaff. The grain would be tread out (varieties of ways – mills, oxen, etc), the whole mess was gathered together & thrown up in the air, where the wind (often the night sea breeze) would blow out the chaff, leaving the heavier grain to fall to the ground. Boaz was either doing this at night for the better wind, or staying in the threshing house till the job was completed in order to protect the harvest from thieves.

B. Naomi sought to provide for her daughter-in-law… Marriages were arranged by the parents, so Naomi filled this role for Ruth. Practice was done via the law of kinsman-redeemer (more details in Deut 25 – we’ll see it played out in Ch 4). Naomi knew that Boaz was the “goel” – and she instructed Ruth on the customs surrounding invoking it.
__a. Keep in mind Ruth was still a fairly new convert to Judaism; she needed someone to instruct her on the customs & practices. Not unlike modern-day discipleship – new Christians need mature believers around them to help them understand what this walk with Christ is all about.

C. Uncovering his feet? Hold that in mind for later…

D. Ruth was willing to do it. To point it out is to state the obvious, but it’s an important step. If Ruth hadn’t been willing (due to the age gap between her & Boaz, or whatever), she surely would have still had the invitation to glean the fields (with the abundant blessing Boaz had already given her), but she wouldn’t have been redeemed. I.e., she would have gotten by on the bare minimum, but wouldn’t experience all that God desired her to have. [] Make no mistake, God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Eze 33:11), He’s not willing that any should perish (2 Pet 3:9), & He commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). Yet obviously, not everyone is saved – many do perish & will suffer eternally in Hell outside of the presence of God. Does it have to be that way? Jesus has already made provision for their redemption at the cross & resurrection. Yet some are just not willing to be saved.
__a. It’s interesting how many people throughout the gospels simply aren’t willing to be saved. “Eternal life & salvation? Sure! Giving up my prestige & selfish desires? Ehh…I dunno.” The rich young ruler left Jesus in sorrow because he couldn’t give up his idol of money (Mark 10:22). Luke shows 3 in a row – [BIBLE: Luke 9:57-62] All had valid reasons from a cultural perspective to say “No” or “Wait” – but Jesus cuts to the heart of the problem: they simply weren’t willing to immediately surrender their lives to God as Lord & King…which meant they didn’t acknowledge God as Lord & King.
__b. Is it our will or is it God’s will? Anytime the idea of a “will” is brought up regarding salvation, people start sharpening their swords for a passionate debate on the subject. I’d suggest that to do so is to miss the forest for the trees. We know that no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws them (John 6:44) & that the Holy Spirit is the One who convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). But we also know very plainly that the Bible repeatedly calls people to respond – and thus it follows we have to be willing to do so. … Let’s be content to leave the mystery at that – and continue to give the call for people to respond to the glorious gospel message.
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- Ruth’s request…
6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. 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.”

A. Ruth followed through on everything Naomi had instructed her regarding Boaz. Boaz would have known Ruth well, but understandably couldn’t recognize her in the dark (and his sleepiness – not to mention what he drank that night!).

B. What was she doing? Requesting redemption – this is exactly what she’s referring to when she said, “Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” Not only does she acknowledge him as her redeemer (goel) – she specifically asks for him to take action, using his own words on the issue. Ruth 2:12 The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” [] Before, Boaz had blessed her & prayed that God would provide her with the protection she needed as an honorable widow; here, Ruth’s basically saying, “You’re the answer God provided.”

C. Ruth’s asking for redemption goes hand-in-hand with her willingness to be redeemed. After all, her willingness wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans if she didn’t somehow act on it. We do the same thing with Jesus! The difference is of course Jesus has already made the provision for our redemption & invited us to receive of it. But we MUST ask/respond to that offer… The crowd at Pentecost asked what to do to be saved (Acts 2:37) – the Ethiopian eunuch asked to respond through baptism (Acts 8:36) – the Philippian jailer asked what to do to be saved (Acts 16:30). Whatever our particular circumstances, when we come in contact with Jesus Christ through the gospel, we MUST respond somehow. The Pharisees saw the miracles & heard the teaching, but many died in their sins – because they didn’t respond. They may have wanted to be saved, but they didn’t receive the salvation Jesus offered them.
__a. God answers those who respond to the gospel in faith!

D. Some have suggested that by “uncovering the feet of Boaz,” Ruth was making an improper sexual advance. There’s absolutely zero evidence for that. (1) Just from the description in the book, there’s no hint of anything but innocence & wholesomeness in what she did. (2) Culturally, laying at a person’s feet was an indication of submission. Servants slept at the feet of their masters (note Ruth’s own identification as a “maidservant”). She was simply showing that she had submitted herself completely to Boaz & placed her life in his hands.
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- Boaz’s response…
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. 12 Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. 13 Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.”

A. Wonderful response from Boaz! He gives her a blessing – a commendation – and a promise.
__a. The blessing: At 1st glance, this almost seems out-of-place. After all, this was a widowed Gentile woman in a Jewish culture who gleaned fields for a living. Not exactly the 1st candidate for “Lifestyles of the rich & famous”! How exactly was she blessed of the Lord? Ruth was blessed of the Lord because she was putting her trust into the word of the Lord. Naomi had obviously taught her about the law of the kinsman-redeemer & now Ruth was in the process of applying it. Other than simply trusting the promises of God in His word, she had no reason to believe that Boaz would do anything for her regarding redemption. Her claim was based upon the word of God. And in God’s word & promises, she was blessed.
__b. The commendation: In Ch 2, Ruth’s upright character showed through in how she was known to provide for her widowed mother-in-law. In Ch 3, Ruth’s character shows in how she sought God’s will (through the law of the kinsman-redeemer) in proposing marriage to Boaz, rather than seeking out a more fleeting love from younger men her own age. Boaz seemed to think that Ruth could have her pick of any of the young men in town; but instead she seeks the kinsman-redeemer for her late-husband’s family. Obviously Ruth wasn’t only looking out for herself, but also her mother-in-law…and that kind of selfless love was to be commended.
__c. The promise: This was what Ruth was waiting for – Boaz promised to fulfill the duty of the kinsman-redeemer. The one hitch was that there was another relative that was closer in line for the duty – and the offer needed to go to him 1st. Note Boaz wants to do the right thing the right way… Everyone does in this chapter.
____i. Naomi sought the best for Ruth
____ii. Naomi knew how Ruth was to ask
____iii. Ruth asked the right person (instead of the youth)
____iv. Ruth asked in the right way
____v. Boaz responded with compassion
____vi. Boaz responded in righteousness. (Following the law with the closer relative)
____vii. These are all things that glorify God…

B. Do the right thing! What catches us on this point is usually one of two things:
__a. We don’t want to do the right thing. If we’re being honest with ourselves, many times we don’t do what’s right simply because we don’t want to. Our flesh gets in the way of thing. Turning the other cheek is hard – keeping no record of wrongs gets in the way of our grudges – submitting to one another in the fear of God simply doesn’t appeal. Or maybe it’s something more specific: we just want the temporary pleasures of sins & think we can deal with the consequences later. Whatever the case, when we don’t want to do the right thing, the problem is our flesh. And the solution is the same that it’s always been: kill it off. Romans 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. [] Deny yourself, pick up your cross & follow Christ in the power of the Spirit…
__b. We don’t know the right thing to do. Sometimes we’re not quite sure what God would have us do in a particular situation, so we just sit on our hands and do nothing. All-in-all, this isn’t too much better than the issue of our flesh, because whatever the case, the right thing still isn’t done. The good news here is three-fold:
____i. God has given us all the instruction we need. It’s in the Bible. It’s enough to give us doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness – giving us everything we need to make us complete in Christ (2 Tim 3:16-17).
____ii. God has given us all the confidence we need. It’s in Christ Jesus. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13). Where we feel we lack, we rely on our Savior. Even where we feel we are strong, we STILL rely on our Savior!
____iii. God has given us all the power we need to do it. It’s the Spirit. You say, “But it’s impossible for me to love someone else as Christ loved me,” & the Bible says, “You’re right! But what is impossible for man is possible with God” & we have the promise from Jesus of being endued with power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us & fills us (Acts 1:8; Eph 5:18).

C. Do it in the right way! There are a lot of good things worth doing. But if they are worth doing, it’s worth doing them in the right way. A poor motive or an “ends-justify-the-means” method can taint the whole thing… Proverbs 28:6 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich. [] We ought to seek to honor God in the process as much as the end result.
__a. Does this mean God can’t use our mistakes to glorify Himself? Of course He can. He can work good out of all things (Rom 8:28)… When the gospel was preached out of selfish motive, Paul still rejoiced (Phil 1:18)… And if (when) we mess up & do things the wrong way, we always have an open door for repentance & forgiveness (1 John 1:9)… But God is certainly glorified when we do it the right way the 1st time!
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- Boaz’s provisions…
14 So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 Also he said, “Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.

A. Boaz protected Ruth’s character & reputation. By keeping his servants quiet, he did two things: (1) It kept news of the arranged redemption from going to the other relative before Boaz could tell him. The other relative deserved to hear it from Boaz himself; not through the grapevine. (2) It also deprived gossips of any ammunition about impropriety during the night.
__i. Why was this necessary? After all, Boaz & Ruth had acted completely honorable with one another. Answer: they may have been honorable, but not everyone is. Gossips spread rumors 1st and ask questions later. (And it’s something Christians have zero reason to participate in!)

B. Boaz provided for the widows…in abundance! By some estimates, this may have been around 60 pounds. Whatever the amount of an “ephah,” Boaz basically gave Ruth as much as she could possibly carry. Obviously, he’s sending enough food home for Ruth & Naomi to last weeks – even through it wasn’t going to be necessary due to his diligence to fulfill the redeemer vow. Why’d he do it? Because it was just the right thing to do.
__i. Just as in Ch 2, this is a practical demonstration of Boaz’s love for Ruth. He’s protecting her & providing for her…nourishing & cherishing her, just as Christ does the Church (Eph 5:29)

C. Note what Ruth is doing here: resting till morning. Seems insignificant until we remember who she’s resting beside – her redeemer. (Unger) “…Rest is only found at the feet of the Redeemer.”
__i. As a born-again believer, you have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ – One far more influential and powerful than Boaz. Are you resting at His feet? [Martha & Mary] Choose what’s best – worship God; sit at the feet of Christ!
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16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “Is that you, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her. 17 And she said, “These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ” 18 Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

A. As at the end of Ch 2, Naomi sees the writing on the wall & rejoices! Why? Naomi knows Boaz’s character. He’s a man of his word & He’s going to see things through. … Wonderful thing to be known for! Let your yes be yes & no be no – and do what you say you’re going to do…

B. Keep in mind our type here. Just as Boaz was trusted to keep his word, so we can trust our Redeemer to keep His word…. Jesus is faithful to His promises! He has promised to redeem us & save us – and He has! How do we know?
__a. Jesus made provision for our redemption from eternity past: He was slain before the foundation of the world…
__b. Jesus made provision for our redemption at the Cross: what was already accomplished spiritually was provided physically in 33AD (+/-) when Jesus became the sin sacrifice for mankind, and shed His blood for us.
__c. Jesus gives assurance of His redemption through the resurrection: The Resurrection is our ultimate proof that the wages of sin have been paid! Now death has no more sting & no more victory.
__d. Jesus gives us a guarantee of our redemption through the Holy Spirit: He is the seal of our salvation – our guarantee & down-payment on eternal life.
__e. Jesus continues to promise our redemption in that one day He’ll come back for His church & receive us to Himself, that where He is, we may be also. Every single promise Christ has given, He’s been faithful to fulfill – there is no one more faithful & trustworthy than our God! We can be confident in our hope & promise of redemption, because it’s based upon none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

Conclusion:
In a sense, “Act 3” (Ch 3) can seem somewhat an awkward place to leave off with…the entire chapter is a setup to get us ready for Ch 4. After all, Naomi & Ruth leave their fate in the hand of Boaz, who wants to help but has to get some legal matters solved 1st…the tension isn’t exactly all resolved yet. But God isn’t just interested in the end result in our lives; He’s deeply involved in the process as well. For Ruth & Boaz, God was to be honored in the details as they went about doing the right things in the right way. It’s no different for us; God is glorified in the details of our lives as well.

Think of it this way: if God was solely interested in the end result, then the immediate consequence of anyone being born-again would be for them to die & go be with Jesus. After all, at that point, our sins are already justified – we’ve been declared righteous in the sight of God – we’ve been spiritually set apart as holy in His eyes – we’ve been given the seal of the Holy Spirit. Why not just have us drop dead & go see Jesus? It’d save us the trouble of further sin along the way…

Ultimately, this is a question only God can answer, but the Scripture does give us at least one huge reason: through Christ, God has made us new creations, but He wants to transform our hearts as well (Rom 12:2). We’ve got a new nature, but we’re also slowly being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). Our character needs work, and God is willing to do the work that it takes to make us into the men & women He wants us to be. And for the vast majority of us, that process takes time.

For all of us, it’s important to do things the right way – including Boaz, who honored God in the process of redemption; not just the result. For the greater-than-Boaz, it’s even more important! Jesus did not skirt “the rules” when He came incarnate to rescue & redeem His creation. Jesus didn’t look for loopholes to see how He could outsmart the Law of God…after all as God, He created the Law of God! Instead, Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Law in our redemption. Not a single requirement was left undone. He did all that His Father called Him to do & was able to proclaim with confidence from the cross that “It is finished!” He did the most righteous thing imaginable in the most righteous way possible…all to the glory of God.

For Ruth & Naomi – at the end of the night, they only had one thing to do: wait upon their redeemer. Their lives rested in his hand, guided by the hand of God – and likewise for us. Our only hope rests in our Redeemer, so we wait upon Him. We wait upon Him in worship, prayer, and the Scriptures – we wait upon His faithful promises – and we wait upon His glorious coming. Jesus is definitely worthy of our waiting.

Don’t Cast it Off!

Hebrews 10:26-39, “Don’t Cast it Off!”

Introduction:
The 1st time many people read the end of Hebrews 10, they end up quaking in their boots! All the time, people read it with terror & start wondering if they’ve reached the “point of no return” in their walk with Christ & spend many sleepless nights in worry. There’s a big problem in all of this: that reaction is exactly the opposite of what this passage is meant to teach. There is indeed a major warning here (and having some healthy fear about it is good!) – but moreover, there is much assurance! The writer is not wagging his finger at the 1st Century Jewish Christians & accusing them of having already denied Christ & fallen into complete apostasy. Instead, he’s warning them of some very real danger for some among them, but rejoicing over the very real faith that they’ve already demonstrated.

3 major sections here: The warning (vs. 26-31) – The assurance (vs. 32-34) – The exhortation (vs. 35-39).

Hebrews 10:26-39 (NKJV)
- The warning…
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

A. This is a pretty fierce warning! There are some pretty severe consequences being listed out here – thus it’s important to look at this statement very carefully. It’d be easy to take it out of context & be left with something pretty awful (and very incorrect)… As with any passage (especially the difficult ones!), we want to be diligent in our Bible interpretation. After all, we want to be an approved student, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). It’d be easy to take a verse out of context & make up a powerful teaching surrounding it – but we would be rightly dividing the word… So let’s walk through our Bible study method: Observation – Interpretation – Application…
__a. Always (ALWAYS) in context! Verse, paragraph, chapter, book, testament…
__b. Why take the time to walk through this together? Because YOU need to know how do to this; not just hear it from a pastor up front… (Bereans – Acts 17)

B. Observation: This is a conditional statement (if – then). The result (the “then”) is pretty straightforward: (1) there’s a loss of sin sacrifice, (2) there’s an expectation of judgment. Considering everything the author of Hebrews has been looking at in regards to the sin sacrifice in Jesus & the satisfaction of God’s righteous wrath (thus fulfilling His judgment), it’s easy to understand what the author is referring to from context… What all the results hinge upon is the actual condition:
__a. What? “if we sin willfully” (action)
__b. When? “after we have received the knowledge of the truth” (1st action is based upon this previous action)
__c. What does that all mean? Move to interpretation…

C. Interpretation: 1st let’s look at the meaning behind our “what” & “when”:
__a. What? “if we sin willfully”: What makes this interesting is that the Greek makes it plain this is present, ongoing action. Obviously the person’s will is involved (indicating a conscious, purposeful act) & that purposeful act is to go on engaging in sin. IOW, this is a reference to someone who’s deliberately engaged in wanton sin.
__b. When? “after we have received the knowledge of the truth”: “received” = “to grasp/seize/take” What is it we are to have taken hold of? “the knowledge of the truth.” “knowledge” is that precise & correct knowledge we’ve seen before. Not a vague idea; but something specific & correct. “truth” is simply “truth.” That makes “truth” fairly important here. This what has to be rejected before the sacrifice for sin is lost.
____i. Do you see how we’re narrowing it down? We have a difficult passage, so we’re looking for the crucial parts to help us in our interpretation, in order to avoid jumping to conclusions. 1st we saw the whole sentence – we took it down to the conditional phrase – defined the terms – and now see it hinging on what this “truth” refers to.
__c. So what does “truth” mean here? This is the only time the word is used in the whole epistle, so we need to look at our overall context…and to do so, we’ve got to go back to the very beginning of the book, where the author laid out his entire theme for the letter. [BIBLE: Hebrews 1:1-4] That’s the truth that the author has been stating throughout the book thus far! God did speak through the ancient angels, prophets, and priests, but now God has spoken to us through His Son, Who is indeed God Himself, and provided the perfect all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins, offering us true forgiveness & life.

D. Application: So put it together… If someone had a precise & correct understanding of Jesus being the Son of God who died for our sins & offered us new life – If that person received that truth at one time, but then ignored that truth to go on sinning willfully & spitefully in the sight of God. Then that person would no longer have a sacrifice for their sins. They would have rejected outright the message of the gospel, but yet they have no other options for salvation. Thus they are left with a fearful expectation of the righteous judgment of God to come.
__a. Does this mean this can happen to someone who is truly born again? Great question. There are some who truly seemed to be saved prior to rejecting Christ & then never turned back to Him again (Charles Templeton). Were they truly saved to begin with? Doubtful; but only God knows. Others seemed to be saved, walked in a period of flagrant disobedience & then truly repented and are walking with Jesus to this day. Had they ultimately & finally rejected Jesus as Savior? Obviously not. In the end – I’m not sure we’re supposed to be able to put this warning in such a nice little box. When we do, we end up taking the ‘teeth’ out of it (we get self-confident & trust in our own abilities rather than the grace of God). It was given as a warning not to reject Christ, so let’s leave it at that & take it to heart: don’t reject Jesus Christ!
__b. Also – what is it NOT saying? It’s NOT saying that the 1st moment we commit a sin after receiving Christ that we lose our salvation. … It’s NOT saying that Christians can bounce in & out of their salvation depending on their works (that’s actually the opposite of what’s being said here). Question: can we be sure? Because the NT says the opposite so very clearly! This is where context in the whole of the NT comes into play. Paul mourns over his ongoing sin in Romans 7 & then thanks God there is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus in Romans 8. John declares that if a Christian says he has no sin, he’s a liar – but then affirms that if we confess our sins, God is faithful & just to forgive us our sins & cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). And the list could go on. There’s no other option for the author here other than referring to continual, ongoing, apostasizing sin where the person actively rejects Jesus as Lord & Savior.
____i. Interpret difficult passages in light of plainer ones!
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28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

A. As seen in the OT law’s dealing with apostasy (Deut 17:2-7)… This is what the mock trial with Jesus had a hard time with – they couldn’t get 2 witnesses to agree (Mark 14:56)…
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29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

A. Sobering question. If breaking the covenant of Moses meant dying without mercy, then what would it mean to treat the Son of God as garbage? How much worse?! Those who apostasize from Christ commit a far greater offense. They:
__a. “trampled the Son of God underfoot”: The greatest gift ever given to mankind, they have treated with utter disgust and disdain. The One Whom God exalted to the highest place & gave the name above every name (Phil 2:9), the apostate treats as the lowest of the low – and ultimately claims to be that much better than Christ Jesus.
__b. “counted the blood of the covenant…a common thing”: This is the blood by which we are sanctified! We have NO covenant with God outside the covenant of Jesus’ blood. As Gentiles, that’s obvious. As a 1st century Jew, this would have been pretty eye-opening. He had a covenant with God through Abraham & Moses, but neither promised salvation & being made holy in the sight of God. That only comes through Messiah Jesus. To commit apostasy away from Christ & go back to temple sacrifice was to call the blood of the Son of God worthless.
__c. “insulted the Spirit of grace”: Two of the primary reasons God sent the Holy Spirit after the Resurrection of Jesus was to testify of the Son (John 15:26) – to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). To deny the Holy Spirit’s testimony (esp. to walk away from it!) is to insult the Holy Spirit of grace.
____i. It’s possible this is part of Jesus meant when He referred to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. [Jesus had just cast out a demon; Pharisees blamed it on Satan] Matthew 12:31-32 (31) “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. (32) Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. [] It’s one thing to have been confused about Jesus’ identity & miracles; it’s another thing to be convinced of His Deity through the witness of the Holy Spirit & to deliberately cast it aside.

B. The point? There is no more serious offence against Almighty God. To reject His marvelous (undeserved) offer of grace – especially after hearing it – is to spit in the face of God & tell Him, “I know You sacrificed Your only begotten Son for me, but I don’t care. Let Him die.” … All vengeance God would pour out at that point would be utterly deserved!
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30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

A. This is a side of the Lord we don’t often want to consider. Is God loving? Yes. Is God merciful? Yes. Does God desire that all men repent & that He can bring them salvation? Absolutely! But, God is GOD. He is just – mighty – all-powerful – jealous for righteousness – and there is none more powerful that ought to be feared…

B. Ought we fear the Lord? Yes! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Pro 1:7); the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10)… There’s no wiser thing than for us to be reconciled to God. We are His creation – we were born of His will – we breathe His air – we were made to give Him glory; but instead we lived in rebellion & sin against Him. We were His enemies & were servants of His enemy, the Devil. You bet we ought to fear the Lord! Our present lives & eternities rest in His hand…

C. What about those who belong to Jesus? Ought we still fear the Lord? Yes! But our fear is based in reverent awe of Who God is & what He’s done for us… … Hence the warning to keep the faith & keep walking with Christ Jesus. See vs. 32…
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- The assurance…
32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

A. What assurance! The writer of Hebrews was convinced that his readers had NOT fallen away from the faith…he was sure that they were believers walking with Christ. At some point they had been “illuminated” – enlightened (i.e. they received the light of Christ & were born again). Even though they had their doubts, they had proven their faith through their persecution for the Lord Jesus & their care for others…
__a. Brings up the question: are doubts sinful? [] Scripture never indicates that doubting is helpful, but neither does it condemn it as directly sinful either. The problem we have with doubt is when we are content to dwell in it. Instead of going to Scripture & finding the answer to our doubt – instead of trusting the word of God & His promises, we’ll just dwell in doubt & allow it to infect our entire walk with Christ. That’s not what Jesus would have us do! He would have us walk in abundant life with Him!

B. Note that the abundant life isn’t always an easy-going prosperous life. The Hebrew Christians had their assurance of faith proven through their persecution. What had they endured?
__a. “a great struggle with sufferings”: We’re not talking about 1 or 2 bad days here; they had an ongoing struggle. Like an ongoing wrestling match, the 1st Century Jewish Christians knew what it was like to struggle everyday among their own people who viewed them as heretics & cultists. And they suffered for it.
__b. They had been “made a spectacle”: Gk θεατρίζω (~ “theater”) They were drug out into the open & scorned. KJV “gazingstock” is very descriptive!
__c. They shared in the sufferings of others when they had “compassion” on them. Even if only some of them within the church had been jailed and/or ridiculed, the rest of the congregation publicly associated themselves with them (taking them food in jail, etc.) & opened themselves up to persecution.
__d. They “joyfully accepted…plundering”: Even their possessions were stripped from them; for no other reason than they were believers in Jesus Christ.

C. The point? Apostates wouldn’t do this sort of thing! They wouldn’t put up with it – what would be the point? Why sacrifice your health, livelihood & families for something you don’t believe? But these Jewish Christians obviously DID believe, because they were willing to endure. Their persecution showed that they did indeed belong to Christ. John 15:19-20 (19) If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (20) Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. []
__a. ‘What if I’m not being persecuted?’ If you belong to Christ Jesus, you ARE hated by much of the world; you just don’t know it. The United States is the exception to the rule in most of the world, where believers are persecuted daily for their faith. Even though we may not directly experience it here (yet), we can still stand with those & support those who do.
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- The exhortation…
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

A. Therefore? Keep the faith! Don’t throw it away! There’s nothing more valuable… Like the pearl of great price, it’s worth more than the value of everything we have. No matter what is being offered that may seem “more attractive” than walking with Christ (and a LOT is offered that way!), nothing is worth it. What profit is it to even gain the entire world, yet lose our soul? (Mark 8:36) Nothing compares to salvation in Christ Jesus!

B. What’s needed to keep the faith? Endurance…to stand fast/persevere in the face of opposition. Will there be doubts along the way? Sure…that’s why faith is so necessary (as we’ll see in Ch 11). We must be willing to endure in that faith. Specifically here, they needed endurance to do the will of God. What’s the will of God? It could be to walk in the midst of persecution (per vs.32-34 ). But considering the “promise” & “reward” mentioned here, it seems more likely we’re looking at the much broader context of the warning: not casting away the faith & turning to apostasy. Thus the will of God would be to persevere & keep walking with Christ! To believe that Jesus really is the Son of God who died for our sins, shed His own blood for our sacrifice, rose again in victory & lives today at the right hand of God.

C. To those who do that will (believe on Jesus & are saved), they receive the promise. What’s the promise? See vs. 37-38…
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37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

A. LXX version of Habakkuk 2:3-4. Originally, the Lord was speaking to the prophet about a prophecy concerning the Chaldeans (Babylonians) who were going to come & take Judah into captivity because of their sin against God. Here, the writer of Hebrews changes the thing that’s “coming” (Hab = the prophecy) to God – a reference to Jesus’ coming for His Church.

B. The point? If we endure & abide in Christ, we can be assured that Jesus will be faithful to His word. He won’t tarry; He’ll come back again for us. This is a direct promise He gave the disciples! John 14:1-3 (1) “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. []

C. In the meantime, we need to walk by faith…
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39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

A. The conclusion? Those who continue in Christ have not been the ones who apostasized away from Him… We can be sure of our salvation!

Conclusion:
Three things today:
A. The warning: Don’t be one of those who cast Jesus aside! Outside of Christ, there is NO hope for salvation, and the alternative to eternal life with God the Father through God the Son is unthinkable. God is just & righteous & He will by no means spare those who have rejected His grace.
B. The assurance: Praise God that those reading were not of the apostasy! They had shared in the sufferings of Christ & comforted those who were afflicted. Their faith had fruit; it had been seen in action.
C. The exhortation: Don’t cast your faith aside! Walk in faith with Christ trusting His grace & in His return…

If you’ve doubted your salvation – if you’ve even doubted the gospel – the Scripture here does not condemn you. But it does exhort you to keep walking with Jesus. [Billy Graham’s crisis of faith in 1949. Accepted God’s Word “by faith!”] If you prayed a “sinner’s prayer” at one point, but from then on have been walking in rejection of Christ Jesus – the fact that you’re still breathing means God has given you one more opportunity to repent. Don’t waste it. If you reject His offer of forgiveness, all you’ve done is proven there’s no further sacrifice for sin. If you receive it, you’ve shown you hadn’t finally rejected Christ in the 1st place.

To the rest of us: keep walking with Jesus! Take the warning for what it is: a sober look at what it would mean to reject Christ – and then let it further your resolve to walk in faith. Not trusting upon our own works or abilities, but simply throwing ourselves upon the grace & mercy of our Lord & Savior.

Hope of Redemption

Ruth 2, “Hope of Redemption”
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Introduction:
“It’s always darkest before the dawn.” It’s somewhat of a trite cliché, but sometimes it can be true. It certainly proved to be true with Naomi & Ruth! Naomi had left Bethlehem with a husband & two sons; she came back a widow with no children, only accompanied by the widow of one of her sons. From Ruth’s standpoint, not only is she a widow at a young age, but she’s now in a strange land among people she doesn’t know. Together, they’re facing a life of hardship & likely starvation.

Things had indeed been bad – so much so that Naomi had become embittered against the Lord & even changed her name to “Mara.” But just because Naomi was bitter towards God doesn’t mean that God was bitter towards Naomi. God had a plan of provision for Naomi & Ruth, and in Ch 2, the idea of redemption becomes a possibility. What seemed utterly impossible before is now possible through the hand & work of God. Trusting in the Lord’s promises always brings hope – which is exactly what Naomi & Ruth learn in Ch 2.

Ruth 2 (NKJV)
1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.

A. Chapter 1 ended off with Naomi claiming she had come back empty. In a sense, that was true, but she wasn’t completely without family in Judah…she had at least two relatives, including Boaz. Later, we’ll learn he’s a “close” relative; this is crucial to Naomi’s & Ruth’s fate…

B. Translation “Boaz” = “in whom there is strength.” Keep in mind where we came from. My-God-is-King (Elimilech) & Pleasantness (Naomi) decided to leave the land where people actually worshipped God & took their sons Sick & Weakness (Mahlon & Chilion) to Moab where they got married and died. Beaten down physically, spiritually, and emotionally, Naomi comes back Bitter (Mara) with only one person at her side: Friendship (Ruth). Poor & destitute, one might think God had allowed them to perish, except for the fact that He now brings in the one in-whom-there-is-strength.
__a. Sound familiar? It should – most of us can relate! We turned away from the righteous God to willingly engage in sin & rebellion against Him & many of us found ourselves in a place where we were beaten down & bitter. But what did God do? He loved us even when we were sinners (Rom 5:8) & turned us to the Ultimate One in Whom there is Strength: our strong Savior & Redeemer, Jesus Christ!
__b. Throughout the book, Boaz is going to be a type of Jesus. Like a lot of typology, it’s not necessarily perfect, but he presents a beautiful picture for what Christ does for us in our helplessness.

C. How wealthy was he? Wealthy enough not to worry about the amount of food he was leaving behind for Ruth… Hebrew leaves open the possibility that he was a mighty man of valor – perhaps a warrior retired in his older years & with plenty of land for farming. I.e., this is a man of good character & standing in the community.
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2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

A. What’s “gleaning”? Biblical basis found in Lev 19 (among other places) – Leviticus 19:9-10 (9) ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. (10) And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God. [] Basically, this was the Hebrew version of welfare, with 2 main exceptions to today: (1) It was managed by the individual people & not the government, (2) the poor were expected to go gather the food themselves.
__a. NT affirms the same principle. The church was expected to help those who needed help, but at the same time Paul wrote, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” (1 Thess 3:10) God expects us to be productive…

B. The fact that Ruth was willing to go glean in the fields demonstrates a lot about her character. (1) She was a new convert to the Hebrew faith, but already she had learned about gleaning in the law. (2) She may have been poor, but she was willing to do what it took to survive. (3) She understood that her mother-in-law wasn’t able to go, so she was going to provide for her as well. Ruth may have been in a place where she needed a lot of help, but she was seeking to honor God in everything she did!
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3 Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered him, “The LORD bless you!” 5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.”

A. So Ruth goes to Boaz’s field, asked permission to glean there & worked hard all day. Boaz comes along & asks about her & his servants fill him in on the details. “She rested a little in the house” doesn’t mean that she went into Boaz’s house uninvited for some lemonade; rather it’s a reference to a shelter in the field that Ruth could rest in some shade.

B. Note a bit of irony here: the writer tells us Ruth just “happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz.” As if anything here is left up to chance! Now, was Ruth aware of whose field she was in? Probably not. But God surely was. Through His providence, He took her to Boaz’s field. All Ruth was looking for was a meal for the night; God had something much grander in store for her.
__a. The providence of God is a wonderful thing! Can we systematize it? No. Can we completely analyze every detail for how the providence of God works? No…God is infinitely complex. Yet we can be assured that God is absolutely sovereign! Ruth was not there by chance that day; God had arranged a divine appointment for her to be in Boaz’s field when Boaz just ‘happened’ to stop by. Boaz: the exact person necessary for Ruth & Naomi to be redeemed. If one thing could be guaranteed from this book, it’s that Ruth was not at all dependent on ‘luck’ to be there that day; she was dependent upon Almighty God.
__b. So are we! Everything we have in life & come across in life is what God allows to come to pass. Every good & perfect gift is from above (Jas 1:17) – the steps of a man are ordered by the Lord (Ps 37:23) – God causes all things to work for good for those who love Him & are the called (Rom 8:28). Whatever we come across in life (whether it causes us to jump for joy, or crumble to our knees in prayer), we can (and ought to) ask, “How can I glorify God in this situation?” Whatever the immediate causes, God allowed it to be there, so we know God can be glorified somehow.

C. Question: had Ruth told the reapers any of her background? Not likely. But Bethlehem was a small city, and news would have likely carried fast. In any case, the compassion & love Ruth showed towards Naomi was evident. People took notice of it, even if Ruth wasn’t trying to show it off…
__a. What are our neighbors noticing about us? We’re witnesses…
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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.”

A. Magnificent promises & response from Boaz! He immediately takes compassion on her & invites her to keep gleaning on his land.
__a. Promises provision: By gleaning in Boaz’s field & his field only, Boaz is telling Ruth that there will be more than enough food provided for her & Naomi. There wouldn’t ever be a need for Ruth to go off & look in another field. In addition, he was providing water & rest for her while she was there.
__b. Promises protection: Keep in mind, this was the time of the judges – which wasn’t exactly known for good-behavior! Boaz commanded the young men under his authority not to touch Ruth, so she would be free to glean as much as possible without interference.
__c. In the process, he’s already demonstrating love for her in that he’s protecting her & providing for her. That’s what love does: it nourishes & cherishes…

B. Again, we see more typology with Jesus. This is what He does for His church: He nourishes & cherishes it as His own body. Ephesians 5:29-30 (29) For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. (30) For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. [] We are the body & bride of Christ & He cares for our every spiritual need!
__a. Jesus promises provision for us: Every debt we incurred because of sin (an infinite amount!) is completely provided for in Christ. He is our all-sufficient sin offering & the blood He shed at Calvary was enough to pay for your sins (and mine & everyone else’s) one time, for all time. Today, He sits at the right-hand of God the Father because there’s no more price to be paid! (Heb 9-10) In addition to forgiveness from the wrath of God, Jesus provides new life for us – He provides the seal of the Holy Spirit – He provides a new identity for us – He provides the promise of inheritance with Him, and more!
__b. Jesus promises protection for us: He protects us from the past in that our sins are forgiven. He protects us in the future through the promise of eternal life. Death has no more sting because the Resurrection of Jesus ensures that death only serves as the cause for us to see Jesus face-to-face. He even protects us here in the present in that we now have the power to resist the devil & temptation. As born-again believers, we are under the protection of our All-powerful Lord & King!
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10 So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

A. Ruth’s response is interesting by today’s standard. Many of us might have just said “thank you” & been on our way, but she responds in complete humility & gratefulness. What makes the difference? She understands the grace that is being shown to her. (1) She is a foreigner in the land & was less likely to receive any favor at all from anyone. (2) What Boaz is doing for her is well up & beyond what the minimum of the law required.
__a. Fast forward to today. Many Christians give God a brief amount of “thanks” for their eternal life & go on their way… It’s likely those who do so don’t really understand the grace that has been shown them. Just like Ruth, we are foreigners to God’s promises – we are outside His covenant…and even worse, we are His enemies in our sin! But not only does God show us His grace in Jesus Christ, He gives us far more than we could ever imagine (as we just saw)… Our response to God ought to be the same as Ruth’s to Boaz: utter humility & thankfulness to our Lord, God, King, and Abba Father!

B. Boaz passed on what he had heard about Ruth. He understood what Ruth gave up at home in order to provide for Naomi. … He blesses her, not only that God would ‘cover her expenses’ (so to speak), but bless her abundantly beyond what she would have had in Moab. She gave of herself to her mother-in-law & Boaz prays that God would do the same for her. That God would give to her in “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over,” (Luke 6:38). (And God does! Just as He does for us in our salvation – we truly have an abundant life in Christ!)

C. When Ruth committed herself to Naomi, she wasn’t putting her trust in what the people of Israel might provide for her under the law (Israel wasn’t steadfastly following the law during the time of the judges, anyway)… Ultimately, she was entrusting herself to the Lord God – “under whose wings you have come for refuge.” (Like a mother hen…) Boaz understood that God was using him to help provide for Ruth & Naomi (though he may not have yet understood how much).
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13 Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.” 14 Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back.

A. Again, Ruth responds in humility…

B. Boaz not only allows her to glean, to drink the water, and to have protection – but he even invites her in for lunch. He gave her a helping big enough for her & for her to take leftovers back home to Naomi…
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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.”

A. Even more grace shown from Boaz. He allows her to glean even beyond the corners of the field (which was the minimum of the law) & instructs his servant to “accidentally” drop whole stalks of grain on the ground so she can come by behind them & glean what they left behind.

B. How much this is like God! He gives us so much in abundance…much of what we probably never realize. We’ve received of His fullness; grace upon grace (John 1:16)
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17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

A. Ruth was looking for food for a day. She came back with enough for a week. Some estimate this was even equal to up to a half-month’s wage. And Boaz said she could do that every single day! This truly was grace being showered down upon her.
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18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

A. The amount of food doesn’t escape Naomi. Even before she knows whose field it was Ruth worked in, she’s blessing the owner of the field.
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20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.”

A. Huge difference in Naomi’s attitude towards the Lord from the end of Ch 1! There, she was depressed & blaming all her problems on the Lord. Here, she understands God’s provision & basically giving Him praise. Is Naomi right to do so in Ch 2? Of course…but she ought to also have given God praise in Ch 1 in the middle of her adversity as well. [Job’s loss] Job 2:9-10 (9) Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (10) But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. [] The NT affirms the same thing. Paul tells us whether we abase or abound, we are to be content in the Lord because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13). James tells us to count it all joy when we fall into trial, because God is working on us in those times (Jas 1:2-3). We’re to trust God in ALL our circumstances (good AND bad), knowing that God is in control & He’s going to glorify Himself through it.
__a. Question: why is it so important to give God praise in both good times and bad? Why not just give God the praise in the good times & leave the bad times alone? Because God is still God even in the bad times. Because even when things seem as if they’re spiraling out of control, God is still on His throne & giving Him praise acknowledges that fact. Not that God needs to be reminded; but WE do.

B. What’s one thing that makes the difference for Naomi? She understands that the Lord is faithful to His covenant. “kindness” = Hb “chesed” – speaks of His loyal, covenantal love towards His people. She & Ruth both had sought the Lord’s wings for refuge (vs. 12), and God was faithful to provide.

C. From our perspective, it may be rather difficult to see what’s so important about Boaz. Not for Naomi. She understands two things about Boaz:
__a. He is a “relation” of theirs. This isn’t a reference so much as to him being some sort of distant kin (like 4th cousin twice removed…), but that he was close enough in relation to be qualified for the levrite marriage. Thus the “dead” (her husband & sons) have a possibility of their names being carried on through the lineage of Boaz. Although Naomi came back from Moab empty, there’s now a possibility of restoration.
__b. He’s a “close relative” – literally speaking, he’s a “redeemer.” Hebrew word is more often translated “redeemer” in OT (and used often of God in that context!), which meant that not only was saving the family line a possibility, but redeeming the family land was as well. We’re not told much about the family land in the Book of Ruth – but this is the primary reason behind the kinsman-redeemer in the Law (Lev 25:25). Ultimately, what is being redeemed here isn’t land, but people. (Just as with Jesus, WE are the purchased possession He has redeemed – Eph 1:14).
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21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

A. End of Act 2: Naomi confirms what Boaz had said to Ruth – that she should glean in his field only. They have solid provision throughout the time of the harvest & things are looking up…

Conclusion:
So much hope here at the end of Ch 2! What looked so terrible in Ch 1 now has a solid ray of light shining here. Once they were looking at starvation & death; now they have a possibility of redemption & long abundant life.

If that’s not an easy transition to the gospel, I’m not sure what is. This is OUR story. WE were looking at death, destruction, and an eternity of suffering for our sins. We were outside of the favor of God & actively working against Him. But God drew us to Himself & through some method shared His gospel with us. We heard of the promises of forgiveness & eternal life, repented & trusted Jesus as our Savior & King. The result? We were redeemed! We were washed, justified, and sanctified in the sight of God! We were sealed with the Holy Spirit & given the promise of power for living in the rest of our days! This is a message of hope! We’ve been given the promise of redemption & the hope of eternal life.

Question: what made the difference for Ruth & Naomi? What took Naomi from despair at the end of Ch 1 to hope at the end of Ch 2? An encounter with Boaz. Ruth had met her kinsman-redeemer & that changed everything. I suggest that hasn’t changed a lick in the thousands of years since this was 1st written down. Everything changes after we meet our Redeemer. Abram was a pagan moon-worshipper…until he met Jesus. Moses was a murderer on the run & shepherd in training…until he met Jesus. Peter was a nervous fisherman…until he met Jesus. Paul was a murderous Pharisee…until he met Jesus. I don’t know what you were, but I know what I was…and then I met Jesus.

If you’re sitting here tonight & haven’t yet turned from your sins & surrendered your life to Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died for your sins & rose from the grave – you need to. Don’t let tonight pass you by…

But what if you’re a Christian who’s simply struggling? You’re saved, but you still feel as if you’re in the depths of despair at the end of Ch 1 & you haven’t experienced that kind of hope in the end of Ch 2 for a while? The solution for you is no different. Go spend time at the feet of your Redeemer. Remember what He’s saved you from – how He protects you & provides for you. Spend some time considering what you were from an eternal standpoint & then what you now are because of Jesus’ work on the cross. And then give Him the worship He deserves simply because He is God. Even if you have zero other reason, every born-again Christian has reason to hope because we’ve been saved according to the gospel of hope through Jesus Christ who is the hope of glory.

Great Exhortations

Hebrews 10:19-25, “Great Exhortations”
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Introduction:
For 5 chapters now, the writer of Hebrews has been systematically showing that Jesus is superior in every way to Aaron as our true High Priest. In Ch 5, he laid out the qualifications for a high priest. In Ch 6 he took a break for a bit, warning of the need to keep walking with Jesus, but showing that He is our sure anchor who goes behind the veil as our High Priest. In Ch 7, he lays out the basis for Jesus’ priesthood (foreshadowed in Melchizedek). In Ch 8, he compares the covenants establishing the priests, demonstrating that God was going to provide a new & better one. In Ch 9-10, he looked at the location of priestly service & what happened during the priestly service, demonstrating that Jesus is again superior in both His place & what He brings as a sacrifice.

That’s a lot! For the Jewish Christian struggling with whether or not the Old Covenant priests were still necessary, this was a powerful argument addressing every area of doubt they could have possibly brought up. Jesus is superior in every respect.

So now that we know all that, what do we do with it? Surely there must be some way in which we respond? There is. Wrapping up the priestly comparison with a nice bow, the author gives us a promise & 3 exhortations. The promise is the privilege we have through Christ (complete forgiveness & access to God); the 3 exhortations are how we apply those promises – in faith, hope, and love…

Hebrews 10:19-25 (NKJV)
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,

A. The result of that fact (of Jesus’ superiority to Aaron) is that we have “boldness” (confidence) to spiritually enter the Holy of Holies alongside our great High Priest. The average Jew probably would never even dream of doing such a thing! Before Christ Jesus, we would never have had that boldness! Nadab & Abihu (the eldest sons of Aaron) came ‘too’ boldly into the tabernacle, offering strange fire (unsanctified fire) before the Lord & God killed them on the spot (Num 10:2). King Uzziah tried to be bold in coming before the Lord God & was struck with leprosy (2 Chr 26:19). Why? Their sin was in the way! For Nadab & Abihu, they were invited into the tabernacle, but offered something tainted by sin. For Uzziah, he had not even been invited & still thought his position was all that was needed to remove his sin. Sin taints everything we do! [] All of that changes in Christ Jesus! When we are covered by His sacrifice – when our sins are completely forgiven through Him & we have Jesus’ righteousness imputed to us – NOW we can go boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy in our time of need.
__a. Are you starting to grasp the privilege & invitation we’ve been given? Even Queen Esther feared for her life when entering the throne room of her husband uninvited. Through Jesus’ work on the cross, we have a constant invitation! Thus we approach God in reverent awe, but we can approach Him in bold confidence – knowing without a doubt that when we ask for grace in the name of Jesus Christ, God is faithful to grant it because of the sufficiency of the work of Christ on our behalf.

B. By what means do we enter? 2 main ways – 1st is “by the blood of Jesus.” Picks up the context from the end of Ch 9 & beginning of Ch 10. We needed a sufficient sacrifice of blood given for our sin. Bulls can’t do it – goats can’t do it – nothing is sufficient other than the blood of Jesus Christ. Even our blood would take an eternity in Hell to atone for our sins – it’s never fully atoned for through our blood. Only the blood of Jesus is sufficient. So sufficient that He offered one sacrifice & sat down. What would take us eons upon eons to pay & still never come close to paying was paid by Jesus in one fell swoop. Praise God for the blood shed by His Son for us!
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20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,

A. The way into the Holy of Holies is “by a new and living way.” There’s a play on words here that we don’t quite get in the English. “new” = “fresh” comes from a compound word originally meaning “freshly slain/newly butchered.” The Gk word is not always associated with sacrifice (hence, “new”), but considering the context of sacrifice, the idea is tough to escape. Jesus’ blood is not some old worn-out sacrifice given for us; our sin sacrifice is new & fresh. Yet Jesus doesn’t stay dead; He’s alive. It’s as if Jesus just died for our sins right now, but yet already is resurrected in power & glory.

B. His sacrifice is new & living, but it’s also the “way.” Exactly what Jesus tells us in John 14:6 – He is the way! This way is the “consecrated” way – the way made holy & dedicated by God for this very purpose of salvation.

C. The 2nd means is by the veil. Just like the old way (covenant) had a veil in the tabernacle, so we have a veil in the new covenant Holy of Holies. Only this time is the veil is the “flesh” of our Lord & Savior, His body which was broken for us. Be careful here – the text isn’t saying that Jesus’ body separates us from God (as was the primary purpose of the OT veil). On the contrary, Jesus came to declare the Father to us (John 1:18) & he who had seen Jesus had seen the Father (John 14:9). But just as the only way back to the Holiest sanctuary was through the veil, so we only come to God the Father through the broken body of Christ the Son.
__a. Interesting tie to Communion here. We come through Jesus’ blood. We come through Jesus’ body. This is exactly what we remember & celebrate when we take part in the Lord’s Supper. It’s only through His body that we are received into the presence of God & it’s only through His blood that our sins are forgiven & we are given a new covenant with Him.
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21 and having a High Priest over the house of God,

A. In all of this we have the promise of our Jesus being our Great High Priest. Jesus provides the sacrifice – Jesus prepares the sacrifice – Jesus IS the sacrifice… Everything that was unattainable to us in the old covenant is now open & available to us in the new. Jesus is over the “house of God.” What more would we need?

- Now that we have boldness to enter the Holy of Holies through the blood & body of Christ Jesus…now that we have this new way & our great & wonderful High Priest, what do we do with all this? The writer gives us 3 exhortations:

- Exhortation #1: Draw near in faith!
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

A. “Let us draw near”: takes us directly back to vs. 19. We CAN enter the Holiest through Jesus, thus we SHOULD draw near to God through Jesus. Christ has made the way possible, so we ought to take full advantage of what He’s making available to us as His church.
__a. God doesn’t want a long-distance relationship with His people. He wants us to be near to Him. What does it mean to say we “draw near” to God? It means we boldly & readily come before God our Father in worship, prayer, adoration, thanksgiving, etc. WE come. We have a wonderful & great High Priest, but in our new covenant, we don’t send the priest into the tabernacle to worship on our behalf; WE come unto God through Christ & worship Him ourselves.
__b. What’s your worship like? Not talking about singing; we have a tendency of reducing worship down to the music… [Music is a tool for worship; not the worship itself] But when you’re singing (or praying or somehow otherwise consciously praising & worshipping God), are you drawing near to Him? Are you actively engaged? Are you truly ascribing to God His worth? Or are you going through the motions. It’s easy to fall into a rut… God is worthy of worship! Draw near to Him to give it! Psalm 29:1-2 (1) Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. (2) Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. []

B. What state are we in when we come before our King? We bring a “true heart.” “true” = “genuine/sincere/real.” This is not a state of emotions; it’s a spiritual fact. IOW, you can fake out a lot of people, but you can’t fake out God. There are many many people who know the right words to say, who can put on the right attitudes around other people, and everyone thinks they’re such a wonderful Christian by the things they say. But God knows the truth. When we come before God through Jesus Christ, we have to come before Him in truth & genuineness. There simply is no other way.

C. How do we know we have the freedom to draw near to God? Because we know this “in full assurance of faith.” … We have faith in the work of Christ Jesus on our behalf. Ch 11 is going to describe and define that faith for us. Suffice to say for now, we know that we don’t draw near to God because of our work (all those things we do that makes us good ol’ American Christians)… The only way we draw near is by trusting Jesus’ work.

D. What happens through Jesus’ work? Not only are our hearts made true, but our consciences and works are washed and made clean. Everything that was only symbolized through the numerous sprinkling of blood & ritual washing is spiritually accomplished through Christ Jesus. Unlike the brazen altar & other tabernacle instruments, our hearts have been sprinkled with the blood of Christ for cleansing & sanctification. Unlike the laver which was there for the priest’s physical washing, we’re made spiritually clean through Jesus. As we saw in Ch 9, that was the symbol; this is the true. We are truly cleansed, made righteous, and set apart as holy in the sight of God because of the Lord Jesus.
__a. Do you see what’s happening here? Any objection we might bring up as an excuse for us not to draw near to God is exposed for what it is. We say, “I know Jesus did all that for me, but I really can’t draw near to Him in prayer; I’m not worthy.” Of course you’re not worthy; that’s why Jesus died for you! If you were worthy, the cross wouldn’t have been necessary. But because Jesus went to the cross for you & He’s called you to Himself & made you a new creation, then He’s MADE you worthy to draw near to God because it’s not your worthiness; it’s His! When we dole out excuses to make us feel better about not growing nearer to God through prayer or the word, all we’re doing is exhibiting our own pride. Jesus has already done the work; we simply trust in Him & what He’s done.
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- Exhortation #2: Hold fast to hope!
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

A. Once we place our trust in Jesus’ work via faith, then we are to “hold fast the confession…” Keep in mind that this was the problem the Jewish Christians were having. They trusted Jesus initially, but they weren’t holding fast to Him…as if Jesus were optional to their relationship with God. Jesus is never optional! What does it mean to “hold fast”? “To possess or occupy.” Like one man holding another & not letting him get free… We are to hold to our confession steadily; without wavering or faltering. As if we were holding on to a lifejacket in the middle of an ocean, so we hold on to our confession of Jesus Christ…there is no other option.

B. Note we’re not just holding fast to anything; we’re to “hold fast the confession of our hope.” IOW, we’ve got to hold fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ by which we are saved. Paul said the same thing (repeatedly) – 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 (1) Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, (2) by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. [] We need to be firm in our conviction & confession that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the 3rd day in victory according to the Scriptures & will of God. This is what we stand upon! When everything else in your life falls apart, you can know that Jesus died for you & rose again.
__a. ‘Well you keep holding fast. That’s good for you; it works for you. I’m glad you’re sincere in your beliefs; I’ll be sincere in mine.’ No! What we hold fast to is important! People are often sincere in Russian Roulette & people often die from playing it. Faith is important, but faith means nothing without a credible object to entrust with your faith…

C. So the obvious question is: is the subject of our faith credible? Is our confession trustworthy? YES! We can trust everything about the gospel of Jesus Christ because it’s about Jesus Christ. “He who promised is faithful.” That’s why this confession is a confession of hope. (KJV incorrectly has “faith” – translates the exact same word 53 other times as “hope.”) Through Jesus we have a true hope – a hope of eternal life. Because we’ve believed the gospel & received Jesus as our Lord, we have a confident assurance that what do have faith in is true, because He is faithful
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- Exhortation #3: Consider one another in love!
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

A. IOW, we’re to take note of one another. None of us are “lone ranger” Christians. Just as we are concerned to hold fast to our confession of faith, so we ought to be concerned about one other – that others are also holding fast to Jesus & growing in their walk with Him.

B. This is part of being the Body of Christ. We are to bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:1), to weep & rejoice with those among us (Rom 12:15), to love one another as Jesus loved us (John 13:34), and to be unified with one another as in the Lord (John 17:21). This is all part of considering one another… To some extent, we ARE our brother’s keeper. We’re all members of one Body and what one person does affects the rest of us.

C. What do we do in considering one another? Two things here – joined by one action: stirring up one another. Gk: παροξυσμός (paroxysms). English refers to a sudden action (like a physical convulsion or outburst) – similar in Greek: it’s stimulation to action…usually with some sort of intensity. Loving one another & doing good works are not things that come very naturally to us (people are naturally selfish!) & part of what Jesus calls us together in one body is to help spur us on to do these things.
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25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

A. How do we go about considering one another? How is it done practically? Partially by meeting together regularly. It’s tough to stir up one another to love & good works if we never see each other. There’s a lot that can be done over internet, TV, & radio ministries, but this isn’t one of them! The early church made a habit of meeting together from the very beginning, and God blessed it. Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. [] (Goes on to say that they continued daily in one accord – vs. 46)

B. Some might argue that meeting together isn’t necessary. ‘We have a personal faith in Christ Jesus, so why bother tying ourselves down to one particular congregation? All Christians are part of the body of Christ, so why not float from congregation to congregation?’ That’s not what the Bible says! We need to continue meeting together. “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” Apparently some people had already quit coming together as a church body. They had left the faith & gone back to the temple &/or Old Covenant method of sacrifices. In the process, they stopped meeting with the local church altogether. BAD idea! It’s not just a bad idea for the ancient Jewish Christians; it’s a bad idea for us too! Yet some people who claim to be Christ continually try to argue that being part of a local church isn’t necessary… Why is it important to be part of a local congregation?
__a. We’re told to do so (from this passage). The word for “assembling” is only used twice in the NT. 1st in 1 Thess 4:17 regarding the Lord Jesus catching us up & meeting Him in the air (the Rapture). 2nd, here…but the assembling is not done by Jesus, but by us. Obviously not speaking of mass meetings of the entire church, but local gatherings of believers. (Gk is actually a plural form of ‘synagogue.’) If for no other reason to come together as a local church body, we do so because the NT tells us to.
__b. The Body hurts when you’re not there (1 Cor 12:15-19) – we all have need of one another. Jesus formed us together as His body with Himself as the Head. Each of us are called by Him & each of us are necessary.
__c. Jesus expects us to minister to each other (Rom 12:6, 1 Cor 14:26; 1 Pet 4:10). The Holy Spirit has given us spiritual gifts in order that we would use them within the body of Christ for our mutual edification. It’s tough to do that if we’ve been hopping around from church to church.
__d. What happens when WE fall somehow? (Gal 6:1-2) We need other people in the Body of Christ just as much as they need us. I am grateful for the men who have pointed out areas where I’ve messed up & helped me overcome it…

C. One specific reason to continue the assembly: we need to be “exhorting one another.” We have an exhortation to exhort. Goes back to stirring one another up. We can’t do it unless we’re around one another & building relationship with one another.

D. Especially in these last days! Some think that at the time this letter was written, the handwriting was on the wall about the coming destruction of Jerusalem & the temple. It’s possible…but even if that’s the case, it’s likely that they were anticipating Jesus’ return at that time (just as we expect Jesus’ return at any time). The idea here is that the church was to be doing these things, exhorting one another & worshipping God until the day Jesus comes back. What better way to be caught up in the Rapture than either proclaiming the gospel or worshipping God & building up His people?

Conclusion:
One glorious promise & three great exhortations. The promise? We have a great High Priest in Christ Jesus Whose work is absolutely sufficient for our every need. He has made the way to God open and available to those who come by faith through His body & blood sacrificed at the cross. What do we do as a church in response?
A. Draw near in faith
B. Hold fast in hope
C. Consider one another, stirring up love & good works.

How are you doing in these areas? Are you drawing near to God in worship, trusting that Jesus is truly sufficient to allow you to come before God in praise? … Are you holding fast to your profession of faith in Christ Jesus, having a solid hope for eternity? Every day Christians come under attack and ridicule for holding to the gospel, but there’s nothing that gives us more hope than the faithful promises of God. … Are you considering others in the body of Christ – not merely looking for what you might receive, but how you might minister to them? To exhort them & comfort them in Christ & stir one another up to love & good works? …

What a marvelous privilege we have in the Lord Jesus! We’ve been given access to intimate worship of God, promises of eternal salvation based upon His sure word, and a family of fellow-believers through which we can help one another in our walk with Christ.

The way into all this? The body & blood of Christ. The privilege to draw boldly near to God in worship goes out only to those who repent from their sins & trust in the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross. The invitation to be saved goes out to the entire world, but the only ones that have access to worship are those who ARE saved. Jesus has already performed the work. He’s already paid the price for your sin; but you must respond.

A Sufficient Sacrifice

Hebrews 10:1-18, “A Sufficient Sacrifice”
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Introduction:
In the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” there’s a running gag about the father using Windex to solve any issue. Got a wart? Spray Windex on it. Got a pimple? Windex, etc. Of course, it’s funny…but just not effective. Windex is very good at cleaning windows – its designed purpose; but it’s terrible as skin medicine. Using a product beyond its designed purpose sometimes works; but usually is a failure.

That seems to be what happened regarding the sacrificial system in the old covenant. God designed the old covenant offerings and sacrifices with a very specific purpose in mind; but the Hebrews & priests took it beyond God’s designed purpose of merely covering over their sins & pointing to the need for His grace, & they tried to claim it was effective to ultimately forgive them their sins & give them righteousness.

Thus for the Christian that was raised as a 1st Century Jew, it’s very easy to understand how they could become confused about going back to the sacrifices of the law. They may have put their faith in Christ, but they were so ingrained about the need to sacrifice, that they wanted to keep on doing it. Thus the writer of Hebrews has been comparing the priesthood of Aaron & Jesus for nearly 5 chapters – showing Jesus to be superior in every respect.

He wraps up the comparison here in Ch 10, demonstrating that Jesus’ sacrifice is the only sufficient sacrifice to offer true & eternal forgiveness of sins. The old covenant sacrifices were a shadow of the substance of Christ – the Old Testament clearly proclaims the sacrifices to be insufficient – and the old covenant sacrifices never produced the results that Jesus did.

In comparison to what Jesus did for us in cleansing us from our sin, setting us apart as holy in the sight of God, and granting us the blessings of complete forgiveness, the old sacrifices are like putting Windex on a wart.

Hebrews 10:1-18 (NKJV)
1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

A. Reiteration of the same theme he’s been hammering home of the Day of Atonement. (Repetition can be good!) God wants us to understand that the law was insufficient. As detailed as the law is, it is only a “shadow”. It gives us an idea of what’s behind it, but it’s not really effective for anything of substance. There’s something real that causes the shadow & that’s what we should be looking toward (and what the shadow indicates); we shouldn’t be chasing after the shadow itself.

B. Strong language here. The law can “never” make us “perfect.” It’s not that it could ‘sometimes’ make us perfect; nor could it make certain people perfect under special circumstances. The law can NEVER make anyone who attempts to approach God through the law perfect.
__a. And if the law of God can’t do it, then how much less of a chance do false religions have? God gave the sacrifices in the Law – He commanded His people to perform them. Yet it is impossible for those God-given sacrifices to make anyone perfect. We can be sure that Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. have even less to offer. The only way to be made perfect is through the way God Himself provides & makes for us – thus Jesus is the way, truth, and life.
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2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.

A. Therein is the proof of the argument. How can the writer of Hebrews (and thus EVERY Hebrew) be so certain that the animal sacrifices in the law were always insufficient? That those sacrifices would “never…make those who approach perfect”? Because otherwise, they would have ceased long ago. Why keep making a sacrifice if the sacrifice was sufficient. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!)

B. The Jew’s own conscience should have convicted him/her of that fact! If their sin was truly forgiven – forever done away with…if the person was already made perfect by sacrifice, they would “have had no more consciousness of sin.” … Keep in mind that one’s own guilt (or lack thereof) over their own sin has nothing to do with whether or not we’re actually guilty. (A lot of criminals never feel remorse!) But the Jew would have not have ever been able to claim a complete righteousness (even within his heart), because he was already looking forward to the next sacrifice as soon as the present one was completed. See vs. 3…
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3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

A. Every single year had the same sacrifices, because every single year had the same need for sacrifices…

B. Bottom line, it’s impossible for animal blood to “take away sins.” It makes perfect sense when we stop to think about it. Why would we have ever had an expectation that the blood of a bull could truly satisfy the wrath of God for our sin? The BULL had not sinned against God; I had. The bull’s death merely acknowledged that God did indeed have wrath against sin & that the wages of sin is death. All the sacrifice does is basically say, “I’m sorry God – please don’t kill me yet.” But the blood of a bull was not required for my sin; the blood of a MAN is. A man committed my sins, and a man has to pay for my sins.
__a. If it’s impossible for animal sacrifice to take care of sin, what’s a good Jewish worshipper supposed to do? His only means within the law to save himself makes salvation impossible. Exactly. And what’s impossible with man is possible with God (Matt 19:26). The insufficiency of the sacrifice was always supposed to make worshippers fall on their face before their holy God & cry out for grace…
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5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”

A. Quoting Ps 40:6-8. A psalm of David, written in a time when David obviously felt surrounded by enemies & he was trusting the Lord for deliverance. Messianic… Regarding Jesus, it goes to affirm the argument of the writer of Hebrews. Even the OT affirms that the sacrifices in the OT were insufficient. God had always told the Jews about this & prepared them for this fact.

B. God commanded sacrifice & offering, but “did not desire” it regarding complete & total cleansing. … What DID God want? Sacrifices of the heart – Psalm 51:16-17 (16) For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. (17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. []

C. God DID desire to provide Jesus as a sacrifice – the eternal, immortal Son of God had a physical body “prepared” for Him & Jesus became the Son of Man in His incarnation. (Just as God told Abraham, God provided Himself a lamb…)
__a. BTW, if you compare the rendering of Heb 10:5 with Ps 40:6, you’ll see a big difference. Instead of “But a body You have prepared for me,” it’s “My ears you have opened.” The difference is due to the use of the LXX by the author of Hebrews. Does that mean the author was wrong? No. He was just as much under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as was David. The Holy Spirit preserved the LXX rendering for us here, we can trust this is what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us.

D. The sacrifice of Jesus was the “will” of God & prophesied throughout the “volume of the book” of the Torah. $20 word of the day: “Christocentricity” – meaning simply that Christ is at the center. All throughout the Scriptures (OT AND NT), we find a Christocentric message in that the gospel is both hinted at & openly proclaimed from Genesis to Revelation. This “will” of the Father was plainly known & the whole of the book is about Jesus dying for our sins & rising again, giving glory to God & new life to His people.

E. Did Jesus actually say this? There’s no recorded instance in the gospels about it. It just goes to underscore the inspiration of the Scripture. David wrote it – under the power of the Holy Spirit – Who gave Him the words of Christ that applied during His incarnation, even if we don’t have a record of Jesus saying it in His incarnation.
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8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.

A. Goes into detail about the quote from Ps 40. Basically shows that the sacrifices were indeed lawful – they were “offered according to the law.” Even though God did not find pleasure in them (in regards to final propitiation of sin), God did require that they be given. But now that Jesus has come, His new covenant (the 2nd) takes away the need for the sacrifices from the 1st. …

B. Question: “How can God have no pleasure in burnt offerings, etc., when the Law affirms that those offerings are indeed a sweet aroma to Him?” Good question! The 1st 5 books of Moses refer to various burnt offerings and sacrifices as a “sweet aroma” no less than 38 times, so obviously they pleased God in SOME way. This is where context becomes so important! … The writer of Hebrews has been hammering home the point that the legal sacrifices had to be done repeatedly, so they never truly made anyone perfect & without need for any further sacrifices. But that doesn’t mean that they were totally without benefit! God gave the law & the law is good (Rom 7:7). The sacrifices helped to maintain the covenantal relationship God had with His people & provide temporary atonement for sin. In that sense & in their worship, God was indeed pleased. But regarding the ultimate propitiation of sin – having the wages of sin completely addressed through the righteous wrath of God, the legal sacrifices did not please God; they were woefully insufficient.
__a. Only in Jesus – the One Who came to do the will of God…only He accomplished the will of God in providing a perfect sacrifice. See vs. 10…
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10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

A. “By that will”: IOW, by the will of God in sending Jesus as our perfect sacrifice…

B. What was offered? “the body of Jesus Christ.” The very body that God prepared for Jesus in Ps 40 was given as our sin sacrifice – the ultimate offering for sin. Just as Communion celebrates, Jesus’ own body was broken for us. As bread is broken for us to give us nourishment, so was Jesus’ physical body broken for us to give us spiritual life…
__a. Why is this important to realize? We have a tendency of spiritualizing a lot of these very literal truths. We think, “Oh – Jesus suffered for me & became my sacrifice. Isn’t that nice?” NO! Jesus was punched, beaten, had His beard yanked out – had a mess of thick & long thorns shoved down on His skull – had a cat o’ nine tails shred His back almost to death – had massive nails the size of tent stakes driven through His hands & feet – hung on a cross, laboring to breathe, just waiting to die – had a spear shoved through His rib cage & pierce His heart. The SON OF GOD, Whom most of us would be like Mary & wash His feet with our tears – the One for Whom most of us wouldn’t let Him walk through mud – truly the most valuable VIP who ever existed – He suffered for you. This is a very REAL thing that happened; this was true history that took place. And He did it all for the glory of God because of sin.

C. What happened as a result of that offering? “We have been sanctified.” Remember what sanctification is… [justification, sanctification, glorification] If there’s any part of salvation that we take an active role in, it’s sanctification. We make conscious decisions about the way we live, the things we say, the way we act in desiring to glorify God, etc. But by no means does this mean that we are able to accomplish our sanctification in & of ourselves. … We have been saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9) – and that applies to our justification, our glorification, and even our sanctification! Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, “we have been sanctified.” PAST tense. Technically, in the Greek it is the perfect tense (action occurred in the past & has ongoing results in the present). That’s exactly what happens in our sanctification through Christ Jesus! Jesus through His grace set us apart – Jesus through His grace made us holy – Jesus through His grace empowers us to walk away from sin & more. Everything about our walk with Jesus Christ is due to the grace of Jesus Christ!
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11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

A. Jesus did it once; the priests did it every day. Not that they went into the Holy of Holies every day; but the sacrifices for sin & burnt offerings were laid upon the altar every day of every year of every decade of every century. And NONE of those sacrifices (as numerous as they were) could ever “take away sins.”

B. Think about that for a moment. Even the very best of all the sacrifices…nothing that was offered in all its grandeur, could ever take away sins. They had some massive sacrifices at times. When the Tabernacle was dedicated, it was done with a massive offering of gold, silver, 36 bulls, 72 rams, etc. (Num 7:84-88) When Ezra recorded the rebuilding & dedication of the temple, there were 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs & more sacrificed (Ezra 6:17). When Solomon dedicated the 1st temple, there were so many sacrifices going before the ark that the sheep & oxen “could not be counted or numbered for multitude” (1 Kings 8:5). Those are some BIG offerings! But yet what does the Bible say about them? They “can never take away sins.” Every single one of those offerings was done out of worship to God, but ultimately they were all the work of man. When it comes to taking care of sin, our work can’t affect anything. In effect, that’s what our attempts at self-righteousness through sacrifice is like: filthy rags! (Isa 64:6) Thus it can’t be OUR sacrifice; it must be HIS…
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12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.

A. Jesus provided an effective sacrifice: The previous sacrifices under the 1st covenant were numerous & repeated. Not Jesus’…His sacrifice was singular & unique. He provided “one sacrifice” & now He no longer in is the process of sacrificing; He “sat down at the right hand of God.” In contrast to the priests who continually stood, Jesus gave one sacrifice & sat down. Even His posture in heaven speaks of His sufficient sacrifice!

B. Jesus provided an eternal sacrifice: So important! Not only was Jesus’ sacrifice singular; that one sacrifice was sufficient for all time. “one sacrifice for sins forever…” Gk “forever” used 3 times in this passage (vs. 1, 12, 14) & means exactly what we think: “always, continually, for all time.” (Louw-Nida), “unlimited duration of time, with particular focus upon the future – ‘always, forever, forever and ever, eternally.’” Get the picture? For the born-again Christian, there will never be a time when the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf is not effective; there will never be a time when it doesn’t work. When Jesus died for sin; He didn’t temporarily satisfy the wrath of God for the 1st million years & then we’re on our own. It’s forever & ever!
__a. If there was ever a verse that should drive the final nail in the coffin of works-righteousness, this would be it! There’s not a single thing in all the universe that you could add to the blood of Jesus to make you “more righteous” in the eyes of God. There is never an area of your life or a sin that you committed that is “too stained” for Jesus to handle. His sacrifice has an eternal significance. The price for sin has been paid; and it always will be.

C. Jesus provided a victorious sacrifice: Not only did Jesus’ sacrifice satisfy the righteous wrath of God toward us, but it also provides the basis for His ultimate victory over death & the devil… [“footstool”: Ps 110:1] In such grand irony, what the devil probably thought was his victory blow (the crucifixion of Christ) was his own death knell. The cross is where Satan bruised the heel of Jesus, but Jesus crushed his head (Gen 3:15).
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14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

A. Note the change in tense. In vs. 10, “we have been sanctified” through Christ. In vs. 14, we are “being sanctified” through Christ…moves from the perfect tense to the present tense – which demonstrates the “here & now” aspect of our sanctification. In a very real sense, Jesus set apart those Whom He saved & made us holy through His sacrifice. But that process of being conformed into the image of Christ goes on & on throughout our lives. (So we sin-less & less…)

B. We can’t emphasize it enough; His work is sufficient! We have been “perfected forever.” Not that we are sinless & forever without error in the future (that’s a definition of heaven; not earth). But no longer are we in need of anything regarding sacrifice for sin. Jesus has brought us to perfection in that.
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15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

A. Hearkens back to Ch 8 a bit, comparing the 1st covenant & new covenant. Jer 31…

B. The point? Jesus had said through David that there was a different sacrifice to be given. The Holy Spirit said through Jeremiah that a new covenant would be given & in this new covenant, our sins would be completely forgiven. If there were any doubters that remained among the Jewish Christians reading this letter, they’ve just been shown the double-testimony of God Almighty! By 2 or three every matter is established (Deut 19:15), and the Tri-Une God has made His thoughts perfectly clear on the matter.
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18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

A. The final summation of the argument. In vs. 2, the writer noted that because of the ongoing sacrifices, the Jews had an ongoing consciousness of sin. But in vs. 17 we read how God declared that through the one sacrifice of Jesus (in the new covenant), God’s OWN consciousness of sin is fundamentally changed. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, He remembers our sins “no more.” Guess what? That means we’ve experienced true forgiveness; true remission. And where there has been true forgiveness, there is no more need ever to have an offering for sin again. Jesus has taken care of it at the cross…

Conclusion:
There are certain things in life we can scrape by on: we don’t need the highest quality blue jeans on the planet when a pair from Wal-Mart will do, etc. There are other things we don’t dare skimp on, such as health care for our loved ones. A sugar pill will never do if we need to treat real disease…we want the best medicine & healing from God. How much more with eternal salvation & forgiveness from sin? We dare not trust in anything that is insufficient for the task – after all, we’re dealing with eternity here! … The ONLY sufficient sacrifice is the sacrifice Jesus provided on the cross for our sin. His sacrifice is the substance; not the shadow. His sacrifice is what the entire OT prepared us for. His sacrifice is the only sacrifice that brings effective, eternal, and victorious results.

It’s not likely that in this room we have anyone in the same boat as a 1st century Jew. There’s no one here looking to put their trust in an ongoing sacrifice at the Jewish Temple – and even if you did, there’s no more Jewish Temple to sacrifice in. But it is possible you may be here with the idea that Jesus’ sacrifice isn’t enough…that you need to add to it in some way. Perhaps if you engage in certain rituals, it’ll “help” Jesus along. Or that if you give to the right ministries, that you’ll add more favor to your account. Or that if you impose as much of the OT Law upon yourself as possible, you’ll be made “more” sanctified in the sight of God.

All those things are insufficient means! They’re like Windex on a wart, when what you need is the all-sufficient blood of Christ Jesus on your entire life. Cast yourself upon His mercies & rejoice in His grace today!

Needing Redemption

Ruth 1, “Needing Redemption”
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Introduction:
Welcome to Ruth! After the tough, sordid history of Israel during the time of the Judges, the book of Ruth is a welcome change. But at 1st glance it doesn’t start that way. Ruth is the story of one family’s descent into tragedy, and when things look their worst, they begin to hope in God & see His providential provision in every area of their lives.

The overall theme is Ruth is one of redemption; more specifically – a redeemer. There is much theology behind redemption (as we’ve seen in Hebrews), but we’ve got a problem if we let that theology stop at our heads & don’t let it become more than Bible trivia. Our redemption was bought by a very Personal Redeemer: Jesus Christ… In the Book of Ruth, that’s exactly what we see: people in need of redemption, but not just some truths…they need a person. They need a redeemer to bring them from the brink of death to abundant life.

Ruth 1 (NKJV)
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.

A. Provides the overall context. We don’t know exactly when Ruth was written (or whom it was written by), but we do know when the history took place: “in the days when the judges ruled…” It seems that the author is looking back in time somewhat at those days (implying that at least some generations have passed & it’s at least being written during the kingdom years; if not the exile)…but the placement of the book in the canon fits well where it is. We just got done reading about the “days of the judges,” and they weren’t exactly good times… …

B. How bad was this particular time? “There was a famine in the land.” … We can probably assume this was during one of the times of national apostasy when the Lord allowed Israel to experience the consequences of walking away from Him; otherwise they would have experienced blessing…

C. What was this man’s response to the discipline of God? To walk even further away from Him. He left Judah “to dwell in the country of Moab.” Not that he went there to go buy food & return; he left the inheritance God had given him & his family & abandoned his people to dwell among the pagans… It probably seemed practical (or even logical) at the time to do this; a great man-made solution to this problem outside of his control. Right? Wrong. 1st of all, this was a problem likely caused by carnal methods to begin with (thus the discipline of the Lord). 2nd, this was only a carnal solution to the carnal problem. What Elimelech should have done was repent & seek the Lord! Instead, like the judges ruling the land, he does “what is right in his own eyes” and walks even further away from God.
__a. How do we respond to the lean times with God? The three main characters in this chapter respond decidedly different from one another. But beyond the theoretical, this is something we need to be prepared for, because there WILL be times that we have our faith tested. Are we prepared to say “God is good all & time…” & mean it? May God give us grace for those times, if you haven’t experienced it already.

D. Note the city: Bethlehem. Obviously this story provides some key background to the genealogy of David & ultimately the Son of David: Jesus Christ… In fact, that would seem to be the primary point. Two women (a Hebrew & a Gentile) who were destitute & without hope needed a redeemer & God provided one. Likewise, two people who are otherwise without hope (Jews & Gentiles) need a Redeemer & God provides One: Jesus Christ.
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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.

A. Many of the names are going to be pretty significant in this book…we’ll be taking the time to look at their translations…
__a. Elimelech: My God is King. Rather ironic. This man actually left his King (God was the King of Israel), not trusting in His provision to go live elsewhere. Elimelech certainly didn’t act as if God was King. (Our actions often reflect what we believe – people can see if Jesus is really our Lord by what we do far better than what we say.)
__b. Naomi: Pleasantness or Delight. As long as she experiences the blessing of the Lord, she wants to be known as Pleasantness. When the lean times come, she’ll change her name to reflect her attitude & emotions.
__c. Mahlon: Sick. Chilion: Pining or Weakness. Both names are fitting!

B. Who were they? “Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah.” Family name (their clan). Otherwise, it looks like your typical American nuclear family: husband, wife, 2.5 children & a dog. There’s nothing overly significant about them…there’s not any indication of nobility among them or any mighty warriors. They’re just normal people. Tells us 2 things:
__a. Bad things happen to normal people. Sometimes we fall into this trap of thinking, “I don’t know why things are so tough for me! I work, pay my taxes, go to church, and I’m kind to children and small animals. I didn’t think bad things were supposed to happen to good people!” Technically speaking, you’re not a good person outside of the goodness given you by Jesus Christ… But that aside, bad things still happen to normal people. The only difference between most suburban homes & people living under a bride is a couple of really bad months. … Look at Job! Here was a guy who had it all: riches, family, favor in the sight of God – and he lost everything in less than a day! Job’s response? Job 1:20-22 (20) Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. (21) And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (22) In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. []
__b. God often has incredible plans for people who are otherwise obscure. From this ordinary family (who, by all circumstances should have died out), came the royal line of Israel & the Messiah & Savior of all the world. Those are some pretty big plans! That’s not to say that our children are necessarily destined for the Supreme Court, or that every evangelist is going to the next Billy Graham… But we may never realize what God has in store for “ordinary” families. Missionaries you support might win whole villages for Christ. People you pray for may experience the healing you interceded for. Whatever it may be, when we seek for God’s will to be done & for Him to be glorified, we can be assured that He’ll do it!

C. Where did they choose to dwell? “Moab” – this was definitely the wrong direction! [MAP] They left Bethlehem (“House of Bread”) during a famine to find food in a country that was born out of sin & opposition to God (Lot & daughters). In essence, they were leaving the Land of Promise to backtrack over Joshua’s provision into a land completely outside of the Lord.
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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.

A. Talk about your hard times! Put yourself in Naomi’s sandals for a minute. Not only did you pick up your children & move far away from all the friends & family you’ve ever known – not only are you living among people who are strangers to your God – but your husband dies leaving you widowed, which is bad enough in itself, but it also precludes you from any remarriage due to the fact you’re surrounded by pagans & far from home. At that point, your only hope for physical & financial support is in your adult children – and then not just one, but BOTH of them die in this strange land. Now you have not only your grief, but the responsibility of caring for their widows with absolutely no chance of being able to provide for them. At this point, Naomi was facing abject poverty and starvation…

B. Who were the daughters-in-law? Orpah (not Oprah ), meaning “the neck” or “the gazelle.” Ruth, meaning “friendship”. Scripture doesn’t give us any background on either one. Ruth definitely lives out her name, as we’ll see through her loving friendship with Naomi.
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6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread. 7 Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

A. Returning to Judah… The “House of Bread” had been given bread again & so Naomi decided to go back. Could say she ‘repented’ in that she had a change of direction. Her heart & mind is still going to take some time.

B. It seems that the daughters carried on with her for quite some time… However, Naomi has good reason to send them back; not for her sake, but for theirs. They would have greater family ties in Moab & more opportunity to remarry & bear children.
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8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

A. Naomi gives them her blessing to leave & remarry… Obviously they were pretty close – leaving each other is a painful thought.

B. Beyond giving them her own blessing, she blesses them in the name of the Lord (even though Orpah will return to idolatry). Specifically, she says “The LORD deal kindly with you…” The Hebrew there is significant in that she’s blessing them (1) in the name of the One True God… and (2) she’s asking for His loyal covenantal love (‘chesed’) to be shown unto them. Basically, her prayer is that God would treat these two pagan women as His own children.
__a. Any equivalent to this today? Sure: intercession! When we pray for a loved one’s salvation, this is basically the same request Naomi had…that God would show mercy upon someone who doesn’t deserve His mercy & draw them to Himself for salvation & adoption into His family.
__b. Who are you interceding for?
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10 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” 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? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, 13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!”

A. Naomi’s argument against the daughters-in-law carrying on with her: she doesn’t have any more sons to give them. It may sound a bit strange for us, but this was the custom of the day… If a man left a widow, his brother was supposed to marry her & raise up children in his brother’s name. Deuteronomy 25:5-6 (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. [] (We’re actually going to see this whole section in the law play out at the end of Ruth…)
__a. This is what the Sadducees were trying to trip Jesus up with… (Matt 22:23-33) How sad is it when people who supposedly worship God try to use the loving provisions of God to stumble someone else? … That’s exactly what happens with legalism!

B. Naomi’s whole point is that although she would encourage any of her other sons to take on these daughters-in-law, she has none to give. And if she ever did bear another son, the age difference would be insurmountable.

C. One big problem here (that we’ll see repeated later) is that Naomi blames God for this. “…The hand of the LORD has gone out against me!” The good part here is that she still wants to go back to Judah & that she understands the Lord is sovereign over all. The bad part is that it seems her whole view of God is wrapped up in her circumstances. When things are good, the Lord is personally blessing her; when things are bad, the Lord’s hand is personally against her. There is an element of truth in this in that God certainly allowed her to go through these things. But God is most definitely not to blame for her tough times & tragedies!
__a. The fact is: we live in a fallen world. We live in a world where people die, creation groans, earthquakes happen, cancer happens, all sorts of disease take place. And all of it has the same source: when Adam & Eve ate of the tree in the Garden of Eden & the resulting curse. The good news is that in Jesus, all of this is reversed! Rev 21-22 paint a wonderful picture of a restored creation – life as it was originally meant to be. Death is removed & life remains in Christ Jesus… Our problem is often we are looking for that restoration here on earth, when the Bible tells us expressly that we’re not going to get it. This place is going to be burnt up & done away with (2 Pet 3:10). For now, we’re to persevere in Christ Jesus! He gives us strength to walk with Him in times of abundance & hunger (Phil 4:12-13), and will continue to do so till we see Him face-to-face in glory!
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14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

A. Orpah left; that’s the last we see of her.

B. Ruth’s reasons for staying with Naomi are some of the most beautiful statements of love & commitment in the Bible! See vs 15-17…
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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.” 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.”

A. Ruth commits to Naomi’s presence, “wherever you go, I will go”: Whether in life or in death, Ruth declares that she will be with Naomi, no matter what. Moving is not easy for us today; it wasn’t any easier for the ancients. It meant giving up any claim to land or any familiarity with the place she once called “home.”

B. Ruth commits to Naomi’s people: The closest equivalent for us would be to change our citizenship to another country. This is a big commitment for Ruth; she’s closing the door to going back to Moab & her own personal family.

C. (Most importantly) Ruth commits to Naomi’s God. Unlike Orpah who returned to her pagan idolatry in Moah, Ruth is so committed to her love for Naomi that she even converts to a worshipper of the One True God. Note she doesn’t only refer to God as “God,” but by His covenant name “LORD”…that’s a profession of faith for her.

D. More than just a commitment to her beloved mother-in-law, Ruth provides a great example of what it means to follow the Lord. What does it mean to pick up our cross & follow Christ?
__a. It means that we’re dead to our old life, just as Ruth left Moab behind. We reckon ourselves dead to sin & alive in Christ (Rom 6:11).
__b. It means Jesus is more valuable to us than any old friend, ties, & even family members. (Matt 10:37)
__c. It means that our entire life stops being about us & starts being about Jesus & His glory…we follow Him simply because He is our Lord! Matthew 16:24-25 (24) Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (25) For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. []
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18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. 19 Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

A. Naomi’s bitterness against the Lord is in full swing here. “Mara” = “bitterness.” She renounced her name of the past (“My delight/pleasantness”) & took a name that reflected her outlook upon the Lord & what she thought He had done to her.

B. To be honest, Naomi has every reason to be hurt & sad & grieving. Scripture would not deny her any of those emotions – and neither should the church with those among us who are grieving for various reasons. We’re to rejoice with those who rejoice & weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15). But how ought Naomi have responded with God? By standing on faith! She understood mentally that God is still the Almighty One Who is sovereign over all things. But instead of looking for God’s sovereign provision during her tragedies & trust in His mercies & grace, she chooses to blame God & accuse Him of directly afflicting her.
__a. Contrary to what many people believe, God is not up in heaven with a giant magnifying glass shining down on us (the ants)! He does not sit around dreaming up ways to make our lives miserable. 1st of all, that’s an incredibly egotistical self-centered thought… 2nd, it denies God’s basic nature: He loves us! He cares for us! He has thoughts of peace toward His people (Jer 29:11), He desires for us to experience abundant spiritual life in Christ Jesus (John 10:10).
__b. This is where faith comes in. Other than Job, it’s tough to think of someone in the Bible who was in worse straights than Naomi was at this point. But even in her circumstances, it’s vitally important to walk by faith. We know that God is good, so we trust Him in His goodness. We know that God is faithful, so we trust Him for His promises. We know that Jesus will never leave us, so we trust Him for His presence. Instead of getting bitter, Naomi ought to have continued to trust in the God, who she claimed to trust in.
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22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

A. Now we have a Moabitess (a Gentile!) living in poverty with her depressed & impoverished mother-in-law in Bethlehem in Judah. Sets up the scene for Ch 2 & the next person we meet…

B. Looking back well over 2000 years later, it’s easy for us to say, “Cheer up! Things aren’t so bad. God has arranged things ‘just-so’ in order to give birth to David & ultimately to give birth to Jesus!” But we need to remember that to Naomi & Ruth at the time, they didn’t have a clue as to what God had in store. All they knew is that they loved each other & wanted to care for one another…they didn’t have a plan of how it was going to work out.
__a. This is exactly where faith comes in. When we face this kind of point in our lives, we could easily consume ourselves with anxiousness and worry, wondering what WE were going to do to survive. But although we always need to be diligent to do what God has in front of us, WE ultimately don’t provide for ourselves; that comes from the Lord. (Consider the lilies… Do not worry about what you’ll eat or wear – Matt 6:31-33) Philippians 4:6-7 (6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. []
__b. God is obviously going to provide for them (which is evident from the text: Naomi left during a famine, but returned during a harvest). But He’s using this trial in their life to provide for so much more than just them; but to provide a Savior for the entire world…

Conclusion:
So how do we face trials in our life? We get three possible examples in Ruth 1:
A. Elimelech: instead of seeking the Lord, he sought a carnal solution. Ultimately, he ended up with more problems than what he started with.
B. Naomi: she got bitter & blamed God. She knew God, but her heart didn’t match her head. She’ll learn what it means to walk in faith.
C. Ruth: She did what was right. She committed to continue to walk in love towards those around her & she committed herself to trust the Lord God. She left her old life to fully walk with the Lord…no turning back.

No one pretends that any of this is easy… It’s definitely not. To face trials and hardships with utter faith goes against every natural bone in our body! But we need to remember two things:
(1) We died to that carnal natural stuff; we’re new creations in Christ!
(2) God is sovereign & in control! He is good all the time – and when we come across things in our lives & walk with Him that we don’t understand, we fall back on the things that we DO understand about God. We understand that God is righteous – holy – sovereign – loving – compassionate – our Savior, and much more.

These people were in need of redemption, and although much has to play out before they’ll see it, God will indeed provide it. WE were in need of redemption – even before we knew it. … But God provided it through Jesus Christ. Praise be to God for His sovereign provision!

Millennialism – Ch 5-6 Combo!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on Dr. Charles Feinberg’s “Millennialism”, so let’s pick it up with a two-fer! Actually, Chapters 5 & 6 are rather short, so it makes sense to combine them into one blog post.

—Chapter 5: “The Historical Argument for Premillennialism”—

The title for this chapter is completely self-explanatory, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that somehow this is an unnecessary argument. A classic critique of Dispensationalism is that the theological system is such a recent innovation, appearing at the writings of John Darby in the mid-1800’s. Not that premillennialism belongs solely to Dispensationalism (it doesn’t), but the historical account shows that premillennialism is anything BUT a recent theological position within the church. As Dr. Feinberg argues, premillennialism was THE predominant school of thought among the Church Fathers until Origen’s allegorical interpretations & it was almost permanently set aside after Augustine.

As has been standard in the book, Feinberg shows where Amillennialists disagree, and then proceeds to demonstrate they were wrong. (One charge that cannot be made against the late Dr. Feinberg is that he was unbiased! But in fairness, he made it clear which side of the argument he stood on in the 1st pages.)

The bottom line Dr. Feinberg is getting across is that (1) premillennialism is absolutely biblical, and (2) premillennialism has a great historical basis within the church…and thus it is an absolutely valid alternative to amillennialism.
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—Chapter 6: “Pre- and Amillennialism as Systems”—

Admittedly, this chapter is one of the most circular arguments in the book thus far, at least to my reading. Basically, it says that premillennialism has an accompanying theological system & amillennialism doesn’t, so premillennialism must be the better system. Obviously an argument can be made on *why* a theological system matters, but it seems that Feinberg assumes this truth; he does not provide one.

If there’s any critique I have thus far with the book, this goes to the heart of it. Dr. Feinberg’s work is extensive, no doubt…but he seems to have written it for the academia & not the layperson. I’m learning a lot from the book, but I would hesitate to give it to someone as a primer on premillennialism…most people (and I would include myself with them at times) would get lost with all the counterarguments to other theologians out there.

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Next time: we begin part 2 – Dr. Feinberg’s analysis of the premillennial system. I’m hoping we get beyond the counterarguments here & into the depths of the foundation of premillennialism.

A Bloody Covenant

Hebrews 9:15-28, “A Bloody Covenant”

Introduction:
Name that tune: “There is power, power, wonderworking power in the blood of the Lamb…” “Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow, No other fount I know…” “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins…” There are a ton of songs about the blood of Jesus; but for perhaps someone new to Christianity (or unschooled in some of these great hymns), it might sound pretty gory. After all, the only things today that are “filled with blood” are images from horror films.

The reason this can be tough for some to understand is the very reason in which we can rejoice in Jesus as our superior High Priest & superior sacrifice: the sacrifices don’t take place anymore. The blood of calves, sheep, and goats haven’t been shed at the altar of the Temple in nearly 2000 years (when God so thoroughly allowed the temple to be destroyed, that it has never yet been rebuilt). To a Hebrew Christian of the 1st Century, bloody sacrifices were well understood; it was the norm of how worship in the Hebrew faith took place. Morning, evening, baby dedications, repentance from sin & trespasses, dedications to the Lord – the reasons to offer up the lives of animals and their blood to God were numerous!

This is what the author of Hebrews is looking at in the rest of Ch 9 (as well as much of Ch 10). Since Ch 5, the writer has been looking at various comparisons between the Levitical priesthood & the priesthood of Jesus Christ. This was crucially important for Hebrew Christians to understand in order that they would know why Judaism had nothing to offer them any longer. But not only does the priest need to be better, the offering the priest gives needs to be better as well – and thus the writer introduces this idea by looking at the blood shed by Jesus Christ as our perfect sacrifice.

From our perspective, we’ll look at 3 basic questions in the passage: (1) What’s in the new covenant? (2) Why is blood & death necessary for it? (3) Why (specifically) is Jesus’ blood & death necessary? These are important questions to ask – both from a Jewish & Gentile perspective. From a Gentile perspective, just so we can understand why we can rejoice in such a bloody covenant with God. From a Jewish perspective, why it was necessary for the Priest Himself to die. In the past, the priest had always brought a sacrifice; Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself was vastly different than anything they had seen before.

Hebrews 9:15-28 (NKJV)
- Question #1: What’s in the new covenant?
15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

A. For which reason? This catches us up on our context from the 1st part of Ch 9. Because Jesus offered His own blood as a spotless sacrifice to God through His eternal Spirit (vs. 14). Jesus Himself died as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Thus because of Jesus’ shed blood (His death), He is the “Mediator of the new covenant…” He stands between us & God in our relationship with Him, perfectly satisfying the righteous wrath of God towards sin & providing us the righteousness we need to be brought into God’s presence as His children. He’s the perfect (and only) Mediator of our new covenant – which is why Jesus is the only way, truth, & life & no one comes to the Father except through Him.

B. What does the new covenant bring that the 1st covenant never could? “Redemption of the transgressions…” This is important to keep in mind. The 1st covenant could provide temporary atonement (covering over) of sin – it could provide a method for people to worship God & maintain a relationship with Him as His people, but it could never truly get rid of sins. The constant flow of blood in the Tabernacle & Temple was an ongoing reminder of this. As the writer already told us, “the law made nothing perfect,” (Heb 7:19), yet to be brought to perfection is exactly what we needed. In the new covenant, the death of Jesus bought our redemption.
__a. Keep in mind that “to be redeemed” applies to something far more valuable than coupons. In the culture, the people who were redeemed were slaves. Or kidnap victims, after a ransom was paid. A redemption price was the price paid for a life. When we sing of our “Redeemer,” we’re acknowledging that we were once enslaved to death & consigned to Hell because of our sin & transgression – but now we have been eternally redeemed by the blood of Christ Jesus!

C. What’s the result of this? We “may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance…” The people of Israel definitely had an inheritance with their old covenant – the promises concerning the land were intricately tied into both the covenants given to Abraham and with Moses (the 1st being unconditional; the 2nd being very conditional). In Christ, there is still an inheritance, but it is an eternal inheritance. We have “eternal redemption” (vs. 12), a pure sacrifice given through Jesus’ “eternal Spirit” (vs. 14), and through all of this, an “eternal inheritance.” So what? So our inheritance in Christ Jesus will NEVER end. NEVER. It will go on for eternity – those who are bought for by the blood of Christ will belong to Him for all time. God will always be your Father & you will always be His child. Your sins will always be forgiven, and even if you remember it, God will wipe away every tear from your eye. You will always spend eternity in the presence of your Savior & Lord, giving Him the praises He deserves through the Holy Spirit. Words fail to describe our inheritance; but one thing is for sure: it will never end because it is guaranteed by Christ Himself.
__a. Note not every receives the inheritance of the new covenant. Just “those who are called.” IOW, just because someone was a practicing Jew doesn’t mean that they’re automatic recipients of the new covenant in Christ. They (and we) must be called by Christ to be His church (“the called out ones”)…
__b. Have you been called? Don’t wait to respond to His calling; don’t harden your heart!
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- Question #2: Why is blood & death necessary for our new covenant?
16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.

A. “Testament” = the same Greek word for translated “covenant” earlier (διαθήκη). Here, it has the idea of a ‘last will and testament’…which is actually the primary & normal meaning of the word & how it was used among Greek speakers & writers. The reason the usual definition of the word in the NT is referring to a “covenant” (or contract) is because that’s how the LXX translators consistently rendered the word in the Gk OT. The Hebrew Christians reading this epistle would have understood exactly what the writer meant by referring to the covenant with God. In vss. 16-17, the writer shifts slightly to the normal usage of the word because it fits so well with the illustration here. Not only was our new covenant designed completely by one party (God – it’s non-negotiable for us; like a will); it’s also uniquely associated with death. Just as children receive an inheritance upon the death of their parent; we receive an inheritance upon the death of our Lord.

B. What does it mean that the testament is in force? It means that the person who designed it died. You don’t implement a last will & testament while the person in question is still alive; it has no power at that point. Only after a person has died…

C. How does a last will & testament relate to our new covenant? It was instituted through the very real death of Christ. Jesus HAD to die for our new covenant to go into effect; just like a last will & testament. If Jesus had just come incarnate to earth, gave us His word, & ascended to heaven without the cross, we would have been blessed by His presence – but still ultimately under the curse of sin. We would have no covenant with God. Just like any other testator of a will, Jesus had to die. The only difference is that Jesus didn’t stay dead. [the Resurrection!]
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18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.

A. Going to give a very specific example of how this all works through the 1st covenant. Because Jesus perfectly fulfills the old covenant while instituting the new, we can be sure that if the old covenant needed something to work, Jesus provides that as well (being our superior high priest & superior sacrifice)…
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19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”

A. Reference to Exodus 24, when Moses affirmed the covenant with Israel. Exodus 24:6-8 (6) And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. (7) Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” (8) And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.” [] God had given the 10 Commandments and the covenant (after the people sent Moses to talk to God by himself; they were too afraid). Moses offered a sacrifice… He sprinkled the book AND the people with the blood of sacrifice as a means of sanctification, symbolizing that the people were set apart to serve God through the book of the Law. The Hebrew doesn’t specifically say that Moses sprinkled the actual book with blood; but it’s certainly not unlikely. And considering the writer is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we can be assured that this is indeed what happened.

B. Note the close relationship between the sacrifice & even the giving of the law. Moses didn’t wait for the Tabernacle to be constructed or the priests to be consecrated before shedding blood for the covenant. It was done immediately, because that was what was needed. (Gory? Yes. But we see the pattern established…)
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21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.

A. Obviously Moses didn’t stop with just the book of the Law. God instructed him to consecrate Aaron, his sons, and all the implements of the Tabernacle. (Exo 29; Lev Scripture doesn’t say specifically that Moses “sprinkled” Aaron, etc., with the blood – but blood plays a primary part in the whole proceedings. (right ear, right thumb, big toe… fatty lobes…) The point? Everything dealing with the workings of the 1st covenant had to be consecrated by blood. If it was to be used in Israel’s sins being atoned for, it had to be sanctified & touched by blood (and death).
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22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

A. The law mandated the shedding of blood. It had to be done. WHY? Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. [] Anything tainted by the sin of mankind has to be purified with blood. This actually predates the law. We see the same thing in the Garden of Eden – with Noah – with Abraham – and then finally with Moses. Over & over again we see that when people sin, things die. And because people sin, when they enter into covenant with God, things have to die. Why would our new covenant in Christ be any different? A death had to be made; blood had to be shed. And as we’ll see in Ch 10, no other blood would do other than the blood of Jesus Christ.
__a. Sin is a serious business! We tend to lose sight of this & treat sin so very casually. ‘Oh well…I messed up again. Yawn. I guess I’ll ask forgiveness & go on.’ How apathetic we become! How little do we realize that we’ve just sinned against our Almighty God and Father! … Do we praise God for our forgiveness in Christ? Yes. Do we hesitate to run to Him in confession & repentance? Absolutely not. Does God ever hesitate to give us forgiveness? No – Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross was sufficient for all our sins for all time. BUT God help us never take that sacrifice for granted! Make no mistake that your sin required the very blood of the Son of God to be shed. (My sin too!) There can be no more costly price than what has been paid for you.

B. What does the shedding of blood accomplish? 2 things:
__a. Purification: The idea is one of cleansing. Gk καθαρίζω (cathartic). We think of it as releasing tension today; the original use was to cleanse something from defilement. As a tool for use in the tabernacle would have needed to be purified for it’s holy use before God, so we need to be purified (due to the defilement of sin) – and this was done through the shedding of blood.
__b. Remission: pardon/forgiveness. The penalty for our sins needed to be rolled back & done away with & that’s exactly what happens to every believer in Christ Jesus. Our selfish offenses – our traitorous deeds against a holy God must be addressed somehow. If God ignored sin or pretended it never happened, He could not truly be called good. (A judge who ignores a murderer is a terrible judge.) So God cannot ignore sin, but at the same time, He loves His created beings & He desires to see them saved. What to do? Sins cannot be ignored; the penalty must be dealt out. Once the penalty we deserve is dealt out to Jesus, then we can be forgiven. The penalty no longer comes upon us because the shedding of blood has already taken place.

C. Understand that this is the starting point of our relationship with God. Without our sins being taken care of, we can’t have anything else in God. No inheritance, no promise, no Father/child relationship, not even truly a God/God’s people relationship. Don’t miss out on this point. If Jesus had not gone to the cross and died there, we would not have forgiveness of sins, because there would be no new covenant. Our sin required blood to be shed & death to occur; if Jesus had not given His life & blood at the cross, we would have nothing – no chance of any relationship or covenant with God whatsoever. Our sins are in the way…which takes us to the 3rd question:
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- Question #3: Why specifically is JESUS’ blood necessary for this new covenant?
23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

A. If the earthly tabernacle and 1st covenant needed the shedding of blood, how much more the heavenly? And because it IS heavenly (a better covenant), we need better blood and a better sacrifice. After all, we’re dealing with eternity here! Not just a temporary covering over of sin, but true forgiveness – true purification – an eternal inheritance. We need something far better than an earthly sacrifice; we need a heavenly sacrifice.

B. Why would a heavenly tabernacle that is already serving as the throne room of God require any purification to begin with? It could not be any less than perfectly pure for the sheer fact that GOD is already there. Scholars have suggested various ideas: (1) Simply to fulfill the type & picture that God already mandated here for the earthly covenant. (2) It doesn’t need to be purified for God; it’s purified because we’re going to be there. We’re already seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6); those heavenly places needed to be sanctified in advance for our presence among God Almighty…
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24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

A. Reiteration of Heb 9:11-12. Jesus didn’t enter or minister in the copy. He wasn’t a priest here on earth. Jesus’ priestly role and sacrificial ministry is in the True… Jesus entered into the very presence of God; not any representation of it. Everything about the work of Jesus is true.

B. Which means it’s absolutely efficacious. We don’t need to worry about symbolic acts having no real eternal effects for us. There were many things Jesus did that were symbolic; but in addition to their symbolism, they all had a very real effect. Ex: Jesus is the bread of life (symbol); we must partake of His sacrifice for eternal life (true). Likewise, we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus (symbol); but His blood is literally the means by which we are made pure in the sight & presence of God (true). Jesus works IN the true; so we know that His work IS true.
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25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

A. Reminder of the Day of Atonement. Priests had to go in annually – repeatedly offering the sacrifices. They may have only gone into the Holy of Holies once per year, but they had to go in every year. Year upon year – decade upon decade – century upon century. Always offering new sacrifices for the sins of the priest & for the people because (1) the sins never stopped, and (2) the sacrifice wasn’t enough.

B. Not so with Jesus! Jesus went in once. Unlike the earthly high priests who could enter the presence of God through sacrifice, leave, do another sacrifice & re-enter next year…Jesus went in once & one sacrifice was all that was necessary. He continually ministers there, serving as our Mediator & Intercessor.

C. How can we be so sure? How do we know that Jesus’ one sacrifice at the cross was sufficient for all mankind for all time to those who repent from sin & trust Jesus alone as Savior? Because Jesus only died once. Jesus only suffered through the cross once. He doesn’t suffer over & over & over. Not every year at Easter; certainly not every week during communion or any other form of worship. Jesus only suffered & died once. To propose that God the Son needs to continually suffer & be sacrificed repeatedly for our sins is to propose that Jesus is less than God. If Jesus’ righteousness wasn’t enough to satisfy the requirements of God, then Jesus didn’t have an infinite perfect righteousness. If Jesus didn’t have an infinite righteousness, then Jesus isn’t infinite God – and thus He would have needed to be repeatedly sacrificed. But if Jesus needed to be repeatedly sacrificed, He wouldn’t do us any more good than the blood of goats & rams. We know that Jesus’ one sacrifice is enough because Jesus is GOD!

D. What happened as a result of Jesus suffering once? He “put away sin” – He cancelled the effects of sin on our accounts. The remission (forgiveness) we needed through the shedding of blood, Jesus provided. Our sin is completely done away with through the complete sacrifice of the perfect Son of God.
__a. BTW, to say “He has appeared to put away sin” does not mean that it was a possibility as in “He could have put away sin, but we don’t really know…He appeared to have done that.” That’s not the meaning at all. Rather, Jesus has appeared in His incarnation; He came to earth (visibly appearing) in order that He would put away sin. His sacrifice on the cross was the very reason Jesus lived as a man among us.
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27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

A. We tend to quote this verse away from the rest to show that men are appointed to face judgment (which we are), but the original context of this is the comparison with Jesus’ death. Jesus is the Son of God, but it’s also the Son of Man…and men only die once (excepting Lazarus, etc.). We can be sure that the chance of death is 100% for every human, but the good news about that is that it only happens once.

B. Not reincarnation… Not soul sleep… After death, there’s only one thing on the agenda for every human being, and that’s to face God Almighty. Some would teach that people get a 2nd chance after people die to be forgiven; the NT tells us the opposite very clearly. Men die once and then have a divine appointment: they face the judgment of God.
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28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

A. It’s the exact same thing with Jesus. Because men die once, so Jesus died once, and then after His resurrection, He ascended into the presence of God – having already been judged, with the wrath of God upon Him for your sins & mine (“of many” – to all who will call upon Him for forgiveness). Once was all that was required because once was perfectly sufficient.

B. Follow up to vs. 26. Jesus appeared once at the end of the ages, bringing the sacrifice. Now:
__a. Jesus will appear again, “a second time.” As assuredly as the prophecies were true regarding Jesus’ 1st coming, we can trust that the prophecies are true regarding Jesus’ 2nd coming. “But it’s been 2000 years! Surely He would have come by now!” Who are we to say how long is too long? I’m glad Jesus waited past 1987 for me, past 1991 for my bride, and past 2008 for my daughter. There are more souls to be saved; God in His patient grace is waiting for them. But don’t wait too long; Jesus IS coming back.
__b. Jesus will bring salvation: “Wait a second – didn’t Jesus already bring salvation the 1st time?” Yes; He came to provide for our justification. But salvation is much bigger than that. The penalty for our sins have been paid for in the past; we’re empowered to live free from sin now in the presence; when Jesus comes again, we’ll be forever free from the presence of sin in eternity.
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Conclusion:
Is it a bloody covenant? Yes; no doubt. People try to clean it up all the time & sanitize the whole concept of salvation, but when they do, they miss out on what actually happened. When we make salvation all out to be “the abundant life with Jesus,” we’re only sharing a half-truth. Sure, there is abundant life in Christ Jesus – He gives us grace in good times & bad, and we can live with Him & walk with Him right now. BUT…that’s only possible because something very un-sanitized took place. All of that is possible only because Jesus suffered on the cross, took our sins upon Himself, shed His blood, and died for us to the glory of God.

A. We have a wonderful covenant with God! We have been redeemed from our transgressions, and have been called to an eternal inheritance.
B. Blood had to be shed for the covenant. It’s always been that way, and we can expect no different with us & Jesus. We must have blood for the remission of sins.
C. Only Jesus’ blood is sufficient. As the perfect Son of God, the sacrifice of His blood perfectly purified all things, once for all time.

So Christian, rejoice in your new covenant with God. Look forward to His coming again & receiving your eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus. Give Him praise for your forgiveness. But never forget what it cost. Never take this covenant for granted. Each and every sin you committed (and will commit) has been perfectly paid for with the highest price imaginable: God the Son shed His blood for you & gave His life for you. Our only reasonable response is to live our lives giving glory & praise to Him.

If you’re sitting here today & haven’t yet asked Jesus for forgiveness – if you haven’t recognized Him as the Son of God who died for your sins & rose from the grave – if you haven’t received Him as your Lord & Savior…what are you waiting for? Jesus is coming again & He’s bringing salvation, but only to those who “eagerly wait for Him.” To the rest, you can be assured that you’ll be standing before Him facing judgment – and you will be found guilty (just like everyone else was). Forgiveness is available, but you must receive it, by receiving Christ as Lord…

Civil War & Chaos

Judges 19-21, “Civil War & Chaos”
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Introduction:
Entire book of Judges has chronicled the gradual descent away from God for the nation of Israel…it’s the antithesis of the 1st 5 books of Moses. Genesis = the beginnings & promise of a nation (Abraham). Exodus = the birth of the nation. Leviticus = establishing the priesthood. Numbers = learning to trust God in His discipline – maturing as a nation. Deuteronomy = reviewing of the law; the national covenant with God. Even Joshua continued on in this line, with the nation applying everything that God had told them to do. But in Judges, the people turned their eyes away from God & put it on themselves…

Last week, we saw how the nation (exemplified through Micah, the Levite, and the tribe of Dan) had completely apostasized from God & invented their own man-made (and man-centered) religion. This week, we see the results of that in the culture. What happens when a nation abandons God? Every man does what is right in his own eyes – and people suffer.

Even here, we’ll see the mercies of God. Just stay tuned…

Judges 19 (NKJV)
1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months. 3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father’s house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him. 4 Now his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there.

A. What’s the Levite doing with a concubine?! It was certainly culturally acceptable, but never recommended by God for His people…especially those who were serving Him as Levites! Concubines were treated as wives, but left out of any inheritance. Not exactly the most loving way a man could treat a woman.

B. Apparently she sinned in adultery & went home to her family. The Levites seems to have forgiven her went to go collect her & hit it off with her father. This was the last thing the Levite did well.
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5 Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the morning, and he stood to depart; but the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.” 6 So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please be content to stay all night, and let your heart be merry.” 7 And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he lodged there again. 8 Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they delayed until afternoon; and both of them ate. 9 And when the man stood to depart—he and his concubine and his servant—his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your way early, so that you may get home.” 10 However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose and departed, and came opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him.

A. Seems like they had a drinking party for 5 days… Finally, the Levite decided to leave…
B. This put him into a dangerous position, as he was travelling late at night. (Not wise! Ok to be prudent!)
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11 They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.” 12 But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to Gibeah.” 13 So he said to his servant, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.” 14 And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

A. As it turns out, this may be ironic. They may have been safer in Jebus than in Gibeah. The intent was good (if a bit snobbish). They should have been safer among the people of God than the people of the world… Not the case here.
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15 They turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the city, for no one would take them into his house to spend the night. 16 Just then an old man came in from his work in the field at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ephraim; he was staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites. 17 And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?” 18 So he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote mountains of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to the house of the LORD. But there is no one who will take me into his house, 19 although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.” 20 And the old man said, “Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square.”

A. The Levite was well off; he just needed a place to stay. The old man was the only person in town that showed him hospitality (which should have been a bad sign!)…
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21 So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank. 22 As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!” 23 But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!”

A. How far Benjamin had fallen! Sound familiar? Just like Sodom (Gen 19)…

B. The old man protected the Levite, but at the expense of the women. Pathetic. Mercy ought to start with the household of God, especially your own family! If a man does not provide for his own house, he’s worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim 5:8)… The old man who thought he was merciful was worse than the Gentiles the Jews so readily despised…
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25 But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go. 26 Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light. 27 When her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 And he said to her, “Get up and let us be going.” But there was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place. 29 When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30 And so it was that all who saw it said, “No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!”

A. This is probably the saddest & worst history in all of the book of Judges (a book filled with sad histories). The men take the Levites concubine & rape her all night long. The Levite is so unconcerned with her that he goes to sleep while she’s been tortured. When he wakes up in the morning, he doesn’t even attend to her wounds, but just dismembers her into 12 pieces. We don’t even know if she was already dead at the time – many scholars assume she was, but the Scripture is silent on the matter. Whether she was or not, this Levite is surely one of the most callous individuals captured in the Bible.
__a. The Levite was a servant of God! His inheritance was the Lord. If ANYONE should have shown compassion upon the concubine, it should been a Levite…not to mention she was his OWN concubine.
__b. When a man or woman of God does not demonstrate the love of God, there is a BIG problem. John 13:34-35 (34) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (35) By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” [] By his actions, there was absolutely no way to be able to tell this man was a Levite of God. Our actions ought to tell a different story about us…
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Judges 20 (NKJV)
1 So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. 2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword.

A. In response, the nation actually gathers together to seek the Lord… Did they really? They certainly do consult the Lord, but only in regards asking God to bless their efforts, rather than truly seeking His will. They’re going to get humbled a bit before they do that.
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3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) [MAP] Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?” 4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. 6 So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel. 7 Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!” 8 So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; 9 but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. 10 We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.

A. The Levite recounts the story… Flagrantly attempts to justify himself in the process…

B. Israel’s response is to go to war against Benjamin. Technically, they are limiting their battle to Gibeah (which is appropriate), but all of Benjamin gets involved. Legally, this response is on shaky ground. For the sexual crimes, the individuals were supposed to be punished (as vs. 12-13 shows they tried to do), but destroying an entire city was reserved for when a city fell into idolatry (Deut 13). It’s obvious Gibeah had abandoned God, but it’s possible Israel was going beyond what the Word of God commanded in the matter.
__a. We can get into a lot of trouble when we do the same! For example, when addressing sin, we’re given a very specific method in Matt 18… But many times, people tend to go beyond what Matt 18 dictates, or they rush through the process altogether (or whatever) & instead of seeking repentance & restoration, Christians end up seeking retribution from one another… We ought simply stick with the Word!
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12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13 Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. 14 Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. 15 And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men. 16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss. 17 Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

A. The pride that Benjamin displays is pathetic. They refused to turn over those who committed the crime (which would be an admission that they couldn’t deal with it themselves), and knowing that they were facing civil war, they were willing to do it, putting their trust in their skilled warriors…

B. Benjamin has fallen. Is God still merciful to them? Absolutely – even knowing what’s about to take place, keep in mind Israel’s 1st king (Saul) was chosen from the tribe of Benjamin. …
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18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The LORD said, “Judah first!”

A. God definitely does allow Israel to go to battle; but we’re going to see a change in Israel’s attitude through the process…
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19 So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. 22 And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. 23 Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against him.”

A. Benjamin wins round 1; sorrowful Israel seeks God again & God again sends them to battle…
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24 So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword. 26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD ( the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

A. Benjamin wins round 2; Israel is even more sorrowful & seeks God again, this time fasting & giving burnt offerings & peace offerings. Only after being defeated twice do they seem to understand the gravity of the situation & are submitting themselves to God. Were they sorrowful before? Yes – but not sorry enough to repent for their own actions in allowing this to situation to arise in Israel in the 1st place. This time, they demonstrate a Godly sorrow that leads to repentance, and they get a very different answer: God tells them to go to battle one more time & this time, He’d give the victory to Israel.

B. It’s really easy to point the finger at someone else…especially if they’ve done something that is so obviously wrong. But just because they may have sinned doesn’t mean that we have not. We can want to be right so bad that we end up being wrong in our attitude & actions; and those are things that need to be repented of just as much as the sin against us. Matthew 7:3-5 (3) And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? (4) Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? (5) Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. []
__a. That’s not to say that the actions of the other person don’t need to be dealt with; but we are always to start with our own heart before the Lord.
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[MAP] 29 Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. 30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. 31 So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, as at first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba. 34 And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. 35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword.

A. Benjamin’s defeat… Details of the battle are found in vss. 36-46.

36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city, 39 whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east. 44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. 45 Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them. 46 So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor.

A. All totaled, 25K men died in the battle that God ordained. All for the crime of a handful of perverted men in Gibeah. (Sin always affects more people than just ourselves!) This is where the judgment should have stopped; Israel kept going.
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47 But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword—from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.

A. Here’s where things go wrong again. God commanded them to go to battle against Benjamin; not to ravage their towns & cities & destroy all the women & children. In the end, all that’s left of Benjamin are 600 men who fled.

B. Vengeance belongs to the Lord; not us! To nearly destroy the entire tribe was not the wrath of God; it was the unrighteous anger of Israel. Remember Deut 13 restricted them to destroying a single city if the city had fallen into apostasy; they had no instruction from the Lord that the Bible speaks of to set fire to all the cities in Benjamin. Like Simeon & Levi’s vengeance over their sister Dinah (Gen 34), their wrath was unstable & went too far.
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Judges 21 (NKJV)
1 Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” 2 Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, 3 and said, “O LORD God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?” 4 So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6 And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives?”

A. Among everything else, Benjamin had only 600 men left, and no women. Israel had swore they wouldn’t give any of their sisters or daughters in marriage to Benjamin. That’s a sure-fire recipe to kill off the tribe.

B. So what do they do? They blame God for their rashness & overreaction! “Why God? Why did YOU allow this?” Point of fact: DID God allow this to happen in His sovereignty? Yes. Was it God’s fault? Absolutely not. We are completely responsible for our own actions & our own sin. Never can we truthfully say, “The Devil made me do it” much less, “GOD made me do it.” We may be tempted by the Devil, but the Devil never makes us sin. We’re perfectly capable of that on our own. Why God allows sin is a different question altogether – but He does allow it. We simply cannot blame Him for it.

C. They made peace offerings & burnt offerings but did not wait upon the Lord for an answer. See vs. 8…
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8 And they said, “What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?” And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. 9 For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children. 11 And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.” 12 So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

A. How to solve this dilemma? Easy. Just kill off all the males of a city that had not come to battle, kidnap their virgin women & deliver them to Benjamin. Granted, the city was under a curse for not coming up to fight, but all that is happening here is sin being compounded with more sin.
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13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them. 14 So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough for them. 15 And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.

A. Even this plan wasn’t enough. They were still 200 women short.
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16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. 18 However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ ” 19 Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20 Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, 21 and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin. 22 Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ” 23 And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them. 24 So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his inheritance.

A. Their last solution? Simply to give Benjamin permission to kidnap women at will. That way, they can get out of their rash oath by saying, “We didn’t actually give them to Benjamin, so we didn’t break our vow.” Instead of simply repenting from their rash vow, they compounded a problem that began with rape with allowing more rape to take place… Carnal ‘solutions’ to a carnal problem. It never works!
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25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

A. This sums it up well. When rape, dismemberment, murder, war, and kidnapping are “right”, you can be sure that it was something that was “right” in the eyes of man & not God…

Conclusion:
“But what about the mercies of God? Where were they? Surely this ends the book in utter chaos & there’s no hope & no mercy or grace shown by God. God’s abandoned them!” Wrong. True, Israel is indeed in chaos at this point in history, but we still see the mercies of God here. Where? When you flip the page from Judges 21 to Ruth 1. Not a soul in history would have blamed God for utterly destroying Israel at this point – they had abandoned His covenant & broken every law they had sworn to uphold. God was perfectly within His rights to destroy them all & start completely over from scratch.

But He didn’t. He allowed them to face the consequences of their sin. He allowed them to be conquered by the very people they had been commissioned to expel. He even allowed them to devolve from a unified nation into civil war. But the fact that they could wake up the next morning demonstrated the mercy of God! He continued to give them opportunity to repent – He continued to work through the fulfillment of His promise to bring the Messiah (through David) – He continued to be known as the Holy One of Israel.

This is where we miss out sometimes. We fall into the trap of thinking that “God’s only blessing me when I’m experiencing happiness & roses.” Wrong. Sometimes He’s blessing us through discipline. Sometime He’s blessing us through strength. Sometimes He’s blessing us just by not killing us that day for our umpteenth sin against Him. Every single morning God gives to an unregenerate soul is another opportunity He gives them to repent and trust Christ. Every single morning God gives to a Christian (even one who is suffering) is another opportunity for that person to praise God in spite of their circumstances and give Him glory.

Praise God that He has forgiven us through Jesus Christ! To every person who has repented from sin & trusted Jesus as the Son of God for salvation, God has granted it. Our innumerable sins committed against our infinite God have been eternally forgiven! Amen! Yet sometimes there are still consequences to experience here. That’s to be expected. But praise God that He’s right here in the midst of it with us! He’ll never leave us nor forsake us. His hand of mercy is just as strong in our temporary consequences as they are in His eternal forgiveness.