 Okay, good morning to all of you who are here in the class and good morning to those of you who are online Trust you had a good weekend and We stopped last time with the book of judges. So now today we would be getting into the book of Ruth Judges and Ruth have been placed next to each other because Ruth Belongs during the period of the judges. That was the time line During that time when the judges period was going on that is when the story of Ruth takes place And that is why you have the book of Ruth being placed immediately after the book of Judges now as most of us know The book of Ruth is about this lady who is a Moabite. She is from the land of Moab and She chooses to become part of the Israelite nation and We are also aware that she becomes the great-grandmother of King David So this is her story and so even as we begin this Maybe we could first look at what God had to say about Moabites in the first place And he did not have anything positive to say regarding them. Okay, so That makes it very interesting here is a story which talks about Ruth in a very very positive manner But who is she what is her background? She is a Moabite as someone that the People group against whom God's judgment had been already declared and spoken So if we could maybe turn in our Bibles to Deutronomy chapter 23 Verses three to six if we could have one person here in the class read it out And those of us were online if we can just follow these verses in our Bibles Deutronomy chapter 23 verses three to six Very clear wording. It says nobody no Moabite even up to the 10th generation May enter the assembly of the Lord and also it says in verse six Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live very strong Wordings and here is this lady who is a Moabite and so We need to keep these verses in mind even as we look at this particular story So we are kind of familiar with how the story begins. You have Elimelik who takes his two sons and His wife and they go to the land of Moab God has so clearly instructed saying Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live. This man is not only Thinking of friendship. He's actually going and settling among them and then after going and settling over there in Moab Against God's commandment. He even gets his sons married to Moabite women. Okay, so If you remember when we did the book of Judges, we are the wording that we read over there I think in four different places where it was mentioned Everyone did whatever they felt was right in their eyes Whatever they felt like doing they went ahead and did it and they had no regard for Lord's commandments and what God had Desired so here is Elimelik He's trying to escape a famine and he knows very clearly that God does not want them mixing with the Moabite people yet chooses to take his family and he goes there and he goes to the extent of marrying his sons to Moabite women that is the extent of the disobedience. It was very common in the time of the Judges, but then of course we see how things turn You know Elimelik Who went away from the land of Israel to escape from the famine to escape from death? He dies. His two sons die as well. And now only you have Naomi left with the two daughters-in-law and So right in the beginning of the book of Ruth She gives permission to go back to there You know to their native places wherever they have come from Because she points out that if they come with her she has no money. She has no You know well-established home. So if they come back with her she has nothing to provide them and so being a very kind-hearted lady Because she could have imposed her you know Rights as the mother-in-law and said you have to come back with me You have you know made a covenant of marriage. You chose to enter into our home now You have to be with me. You have to come back with me She could have said that but even though she's all alone in the world now in her kindness She tells these two young ladies go back to your homes, you know now that you're widowed You can marry again. You can have a life once again. So she gives them permission to go back and One of them decides to do exactly that and we should not really criticize her for going back Because after all it would it be a very difficult thing for her to come all the way to the land of Israel It's it would be a new language. It would be a new culture None of her family would be there no known relatives She would be in a completely foreign land and she would be with an old lady who has no money in her pocket And no provisions. So actually it's a very hard life and so one of the daughters-in-law You know things about the whole thing in a sensible way and she decides I think it's better if I go back to my own people I can get remarried once again and I can have a life and we should not you know grudge her for wanting to do that On the other hand you have this other person Ruth She looks at this old lady who's going to be completely helpless was not going to have any means of supporting herself So she thinks how can I leave her? How can I abandon her? I must go with her and share her sorrows and so we have this Ruth who is such a beautiful example of loyalty and love and so she chooses to come to this Strange new land along with her mother-in-law Even though this would be an entirely new place and the greatest thing is that when she goes over there to the Land of Israel, she knows that nobody is going to lay down the red carpet for her Because she is a morbid test Someone that they look down upon someone that they pass comments about someone that they that they treat badly when you go out Public so she knows that she's not going to be receive a wall warm welcome In spite of knowing all of that she chooses to come over here to Bethlehem along with Along with her mother-in-law Naomi and the God who is watching from above Sees her attitude sees the heart that he are that she has and he begins to prepare and plan a future for her He allows a series of coincidences to fall into place Which will lead her into a future where she can have You know a home once again where she can have a family once again. So The decisions that we make people may notice or not notice they may appreciate or not appreciate But there is someone about who watches who sees these things these sacrifices which are made silently inside the heart, you know They're not they're not anything great or big but God notices and God makes arrangements accordingly So we see this very beautiful opening and this is how the story of Ruth opens now You know just for us to go over some details regarding the book of Ruth before we get into other details We observe in Judges chapter 3 verses 12 to 30 Where it talks about how there was some they were not very good Relationships between the Moabites and the Israelites Especially in Judges chapter 3 You have the King of Moab Eglon He oppresses the Israelites. He treats them very badly and in fact The suffering is so bad that finally God, you know decides to send them a judge named Ehud Who will deliver them from the hands of Eglon the King of Moab and so Relationships between the Moabites and the Israelites were not good And then of course Ehud comes along and he is able to you know Kill the King of Moab and it says in verse 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel and the land had peace for 80 years so after a battle after Israel is able to once again subjugate Moab then there is peace for some time So they're not exactly sure when Elimelech takes his family and goes over there But obviously he must have gone at some point of time when peaceful Relationships had been restored between Moab and Israel. Basically when Elimelech goes and settles down in Moab So coming to the genre of this book of Ruth Obviously most of it is a narrative because it's a story that's being written But we also have one other form of writing which is the genealogy at the very end of the book of Ruth Coming to the author Some people say that Samuel maybe wrote it but the general agreement is that It must have been written by somebody during the time of David Because David is mentioned by name at the end of the book So if David was not yet alive his name could not have been mentioned So obviously the book would have been written sometime during his lifetime I know during the the kingship of David So maybe one of the royal court writers one of the royal court scribes would have probably written down You know about his background now David would not have been very happy on having his background highlighted because He does not come from a noble lineage of Israelites He is a mixture of an Israelite and a Moabite So it's not exactly a very honorable background. And so God Deliberately specifically you wanted this particular story written down Which is why we find it in the bible if David could have his choice I'm sure he would not have had this story written out But God wanted it recorded. God wanted it written down. And so David's mixed lineage is exposed for everyone to see When this when this record of his ancestry is written out What else can we see? Maybe we can look at um, you know The in the very last portion root chapter four verse seven it talks about A custom which is being explained, you know a sandal being exchanged Uh, you know the sandals which people wear the footwear that is being given to another person And so the writer who is writing that gives an explanation of why that particular Custom was followed. He's giving an explanation in that particular verse chapter four verse seven Which indicates that when the story was written down That custom had stopped It is a it was a custom which had happened many many many years ago And so now when he is writing the story for his current readers He has to explain to them that there that there was such a custom and what was the meaning of that custom So we get an idea that this book was written rather late, you know Sometime maybe during the last years of David's life or or something like that So many many years have passed by and people are no longer familiar with the customs which were there in Ruth's day Okay, so all this kind of gives us an idea of when this particular book would have been written um and um Yeah, we see that God chooses to uh record this story about how uh a moabite How a gentile is being included in the israelite family And also we see the same thing being done with other people tamar and rahab Are are the other two examples of gentiles who are um, you know mentioned As being part of israel and moreover we see that these ladies also become part Of christ's genealogy. They are part of the genealogy of jesus. I know leading up to his birth so God chooses to include gentiles in the genealogy of the messiah Which means he does not have anything against gentiles in general the You know the directive that he gives in deuteronomy chapter 23 about the ammonites and the moabites It's only up to the 10th generation He is willing to allow them to have a second chance beyond that if they wish Of course, we see that there's an exception made over here regarding Ruth. We will come to that later But Basically the point that we see is that god does not have anything against the gentiles He judges each people group according to what they have done So the moabites and the ammonites chose to behave in a particular way and they were judged for that It does not mean that god hates all gentiles So which is why we see him always being open to people Who are willing to come to him and who are willing to submit to him If anyone is willing to submit to him, he is open to taking them, you know into his fold We see that very very clearly displayed We could also maybe look at the contrast that we see between the book of judges and the book of Ruth In the book of judges, you have story after story filled with people who are so faithless Who are so disloyal Who have no set of values who are living any way that they wish and over here in Ruth on the other hand You see people who are of integrity people who show loyalty and commitment towards others And so we see a great contrast and the real irony of the whole thing is that In the book of judges that the people of Israel gods own people who are behaving so badly And here in the book of Ruth, you have an outsider Showing these Israelites how a person should actually live. So that's the really sad state of affairs Where it took an outsider to come and show these people how they should really be live How they should live and what exactly loyalty means what exactly integrity means. So we see that Ironical contrast between these two books Coming to the structure of the book of Ruth the Chapter one, of course is the opening where you get to know that Naomi has now lost her husband and her sons and She decides to return back to the land of Bethlehem And then in chapter two is where you have a Ruth Who goes into the fields of Boaz because Naomi advises her to go over there and collect the grain which has fallen on the ground Again, this is a custom which we see referred to in Deutronomy was it Either it's in numbers or deutronomy where it talks about how The people who have land who have crops they should show mercy to people who don't have any land So when they are gathering the crops at harvest time If the if any of the crop falls on the ground while they are gathering it They should leave it there on the ground so that the poor people can come later and pick up the leftovers They are not supposed to be so greedy And so miserly that they pick up every little last bit and don't leave anything for the poor So it was it was a it was a Commandment that god gives to their Israelites saying that during harvest time when you are gathering your crops Anything that falls to the ground leave it there let the poor people come and gather it later so that they too can have food so Naomi and Ruth are now in this category. They are the poor people. They have nothing They have no they have no land nothing and so Naomi advises and says Why don't you go to boas farm because that's that he's supposed to be a relative of ours He may show more mercy and kindness. So why don't you go over there and gather the The grain which has fallen onto the ground. So which is why we see those details in chapter 2 Then of course in chapter 3 Naomi again advises Ruth to go to boas and you know make a demand that he fulfill the duties of a kinsman redeemer and boas Agrees to help so that would be chapter 3 and of course in chapter 4 We have the marriage of boas and Ruth taking place And they have a son obed who becomes the grandfather of king david. So these are the four chapters that we see So coming very quickly to this whole idea of kinsman redeemer What exactly is that? To understand to get a background of that We would maybe it would it would really help if we can look at deutronomy chapter 25 Versus 5 to 10. I know that's a lot of verses But it's very helpful to actually read it because you know, a lot of people skip the passages in deutronomy So it would be good for us to actually go through those verses deutronomy chapter 25 Versus 5 to 10 if someone could read out please I Okay, so rather harsh passage where Very strictly god commands that uh, you have a duty towards the widows in your family. So uh, the Directive given over here is that uh, The widow should be married by the remaining any any of the remaining brothers They should take up the responsibility for her and over here the instructions are so clear if If the brother-in-law refuses to fulfill his duty and if he refuses to marry this widow Then she has the right to in fact go up in front of the elders of the entire community And spit in his face and say you are not willing to take up your Responsibility so it's rather strong wording that is used over here and uh, so It was an obligation something that the closest relative Would have to do for the widow I mean closest relative in the sense an immediate brother of the deceased Now let's look at another verse, which is also, you know directly has relevance for this that would be leviticus 25 verse 25 And if one of us could read out please okay, so, um It's told in the beginning of this book of uh, Ruth that when uh, Naomi returns back to Bethlehem She's I mean they they are the family of elimilac has been known, you know to all the people they everyone knows that family So when she comes back, uh, they all say oh naomi has come back So she's a familiar figure they know about her and they also know about what condition she is in that she's penniless The property is gone because you know when uh when the famine had come elimilac had obviously sold the property to somebody And then with whatever money they had gathered they went and settled down in moab So everyone knows about the condition that no naomi is in But nobody comes forward to do anything about it And nobody is fulfilling the commandments given in deutronomy chapter 25 and in leviticus 25 So the closest relative who is there for naomi has a responsibility according to deutronomy 25 and leviticus 25 But that person has not come forward that person is watching from a distance and doing nothing to help naomi Okay, so that's a very important point that we need to see So in chapter three when naomi, you know, uh, Realizes that bow boas is a kind man and he's showing a little kindness Maybe he will be willing to do this obligation. So she sends off her daughter in law and says, you know, go go and I know manipulate him into uh Into uh into the marriage because if she goes over there to that, uh, uh, Bear house where the store grain is stored and if she lies down over there Then people would say oh a young lady went over there all alone And no, it will spoil her name. So boas would be pressurized into marrying her. It's actually a very pathetic Scheme which this naomi comes up with very mean thing to do to your daughter-in-law and I really don't appreciate that you know, uh, but that is the Silly scheme that naomi comes up with, you know, so to put pressure on boas I'm sure boas being such a noble man if she had just gone to him in daylight and said, no, please Can you help my daughter-in-law and you know my family by doing this the poor man? Probably would have said yes, but she wants to manipulate him into you know into the whole thing and so, uh Ruth being such a I don't know amazing woman. I would have said no If someone had said that to me, I mean I have left my land. I have come over here I have nothing here people don't even respect me, you know, because I'm a mobitis the way people are are treating me And now all I have is my good name my reputation And now if I go over there to that warehouse and lie down over there Even that little bit that last one bit of dignity that I have would be lost But this lady she only thinks about her mother-in-law. What an amazing woman And so she goes over there. She lies down in the warehouse and boas is shocked when he finds her over there And you know, he he says I will help I will help but you know, this that's one closest relative I think I'll go talk to him if he's not willing to help then I will step in I will do what is needed So we see uh boas, uh, you know The integrity which boas has in this situation So we in chapter four we see the you know the The legal discussions which are made between this closest relative and boas and when boas says, you know The land which has been sold by elimelac to so and so are you willing to buy it with your money? Are you willing to buy elimelac's land? So the paperwork will not be in the closest relatives name The paperwork will be in elimelac's name because it will be to continue the name of elimelac and mahalon Okay, so the property will be in their name But this closest relative who's buying that land all the profits which come from that will obviously be his You know, he's the one who has to invest in that land and put fertilizer and you know grow the crops and all of that But all that investment is Useful in the sense when the profits come start coming he'll anyway get all of those profits So very very readily the closest relative he says yes, I will redeem the land and then boas says But one more condition you will also have to marry this widow You'll have to marry Ruth and the child that is you know that they that they that they give birth to That child will be known as the son of mahalon Not as your son And so what will happen to that property that property which this man has Purchased it will go into mahalon's name And so the profits also will all go into mahalon's Lineage so all the investment which this closest relative has put into this land now He will not get the benefits. It'll go into someone else's title deed So the minute that is told he says no, I cannot do this and in fact, these are the wordings that he uses Where is that now in chapter 4 Ruth chapter 4 verse 6 And at this the guardian redeemer said then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it. Very point blank. He says no, no, no You know, I won't really get any profit out of this. So no, it's not something that I want to do So the kinsman redeemer the closest relative who was supposed to do the redeeming Refuses to do it and that is when boas steps in and he says fine, you know, I will do it I'll take care so Just with regard to that, you know, so the sandal is exchanged. So in those days The sandal is exchanged to show that now the inheritance belonged to this person But now the property is going to this person So they would take off the sandal and give it to the other person Indicating that now the property has been transferred from so and so to the other person And we have records of this even in the You know in the other cultures of that time Now you have these akkadian tablets, which the archaeologists have discovered and those akkadian tablets are called By tablets. I'm not talking about your you know, your medicine tablets. Those tablets are those Yeah, you know those kind of slabs the stone slabs on which they would write down the edict of the king and things like that So those are those stone tablets. They were called the nuzy tablets in that there is a reference to this custom Where one person would take off his sandal and give it to the other person as part of the legal proceedings To show to all the people that now the property has been transferred from this person to the other person and So these this was one of the customs of that time Okay And just another point that I want to make regarding this book of Ruth You have all these western commentaries saying that this book of Ruth is a love story But I don't see any romance happening over here. So it's not really a love story If you want to call it a love story, it's the story of the love which Ruth showed towards Naomi It's the story of the love which boas showed in his kindness to Naomi All the love and loyalties being shown towards Naomi because she's the one who is benefiting from this whole thing She is determined. She has set her mind that she is going to Go on you know for the future generations the name of elimelac and mahalon should go on That is her heart's desire and Ruth is willing to go to whatever length she has to go to make this Old ladies wish be fulfilled and even boas is willing to do that And so there are two things that we see, you know two places where boas talks about Ruth and I had my bible references written down somewhere Can't seem to find them. Um, I think it is probably well in chapter two. I think Yeah, in Ruth chapter two versus 10 to 12 Is where, you know boas Speaks to Ruth and he says to her What you are doing for your mother-in-law is amazing The loyalty that you have shown the kindness that you are showing, you know in coming over here Leaving your people leaving your land and coming over here to look after her So he admires her and praises her for the loyalty that she is showing her mother-in-law And then in Ruth chapter three Where she goes to the warehouse Again, he expresses his appreciation for her because he says I am an old man And you are willing to marry me because you know, you're so that you're your mother-in-law can You know have her heart's desire And he says so easily you could have married one, you know, some younger person But here you are willing to make this sacrifice And so he appreciates her and that is why he says there is somebody younger. There is another relative whose duty it is So maybe he will so he he offers to to be to be the mediator and speak on her behalf You know on behalf of Naomi and Ruth with that person But of course we see that that person is does not is not willing to fulfill his duty So I would not say that this is a love story. I would say this is a loyalty story Where a great amount of loyalty is being shown towards Naomi And who is Naomi Naomi is a penniless widow. She has nothing left at that point of time And in that culture Somebody who is widowed and who has no property Their value would have been nothing Why are these two People showing such great love and loyalty towards this widow who is nothing who is nobody You know that goes to show the the kind of heart that they had Even though she's not really worth anything much They choose to show kindness to Naomi. They choose to uh, you know fulfill her dreams And god who is watching that is amazed at the level of their uh, you know, uh love and so he chooses to bless them And so we see god's blessing coming upon Boas and Ruth and So after they get married, they are able to have a child And his name is Obed and a very interesting thing that we see is that in the genealogy Even though, you know, according to the customs of that time It should have been written the son of mahalon Obed the son of mahalon over there We see so clearly whose name is being exalted It's the name of boas forever and ever the name of boas is exalted because here was a man of integrity Who though having wealth on his side chose to show kindness to a penniless woman and her daughter-in-law So we see this beautiful details coming out over here in this In this book another amazing thing that we see is that The god who said up to the 10th generation nobody will even enter the assembly of the lord The exception is made for Ruth because uh, if you look at david david had not reached the 11th generation David would have been how many generations who is good at mathematics here? Certainly not me He would have been what the fifth generation Probably don't know. Okay. Let's leave it to the more intelligent people But one thing i'm very very sure The david was not the 11th generation But david is allowed to bring the ark into jerusalem with singing and dancing God allows him to honor No, god allows david to honor him in that way and then When it when you come to solomon solomon is still not the 11th generation But solomon is the man who builds the temple So God Makes his directives. He gives his commandments But he's always on the lookout for people with that heart Which is willing to love him and follow him and be loyal to him and show faithfulness such people He will make an exception for which is why we have in the book of Jeremiah a whole story about the potter and the clay So the lord says i am like that potter If you choose to change your ways I will change my word, you know my commandment which i have given i'm willing to go back on that Not commandment the word of judgment I'm willing to go back on my word of judgment and forgive you and know Not allow the judgment to come upon you So in Ruth's case, we see that the judgment was not brought upon her and her family rather god appreciated what she had done So she was the right kind of clay in the In the lord's hands So even today we all can have that same choice. We can choose to be people who Have such an integrity in our hearts that god takes notice You may be insignificant. You may be penniless. You may not have many skills and talents You may have no great name but When he looks at your heart That draws him it catches his attention and he decides i will make a future for this person We see the same thing him with ester, right? I mean who was ester. She was not even belonging to that particular land She was an outsider a foreigner But because she had the submissive heart she listened to mordechai She was willing to you know, uh live under him and follow his instructions When he saw that attitude of that heart he again arranges a set of coincidences for her life so God is a god we call it coincidences, but actually this not just coincidence It's god actually orchestrating the whole thing and making it fall into place So we can be those people. So it doesn't even matter whether, uh, you know That person is a Gentile or a Jew god will make an exception for that person if he sees that their heart is Right. So these are all some of the interesting things which we see coming out of this um book of Ruth um Okay, I do have other things to say um Maybe we could just look at uh, you know, uh, generally they talk about this term kinsman redeemer with relation to jesus christ so, um They say that boas was a representation of jesus in the sense the same way boas redeems the land And uh, it's willing to marry Ruth in the same way they say that jesus christ was willing to redeem mankind So we have deletions chapter 4 versus 4 to 5 where it talks about um Yeah, god sent a son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law Okay, so uh, it talks about how jesus became a kinsman redeemer So he did the redeeming part which is the second part the first part says kinsman, which means a blood relative So If jesus had sat there in heaven He would not have become an a kinsman of human beings He would still be god eternal god up there and we would still be humans down here with no hope So he had to become our kinsman. He had to become our Blood relative. He had to become a human being like us because only then can he become a kinsman redeemer Um, which is why it says in john 114 the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us So that he can become one of us only if he's one of us then he can redeem us as our kinsman Okay, so that's the that's the parallel that we can draw between boas and Jesus christ All right, we are at 11 40. So if anyone has any questions you can ask Otherwise, maybe we could look at another one or two things Yeah, any questions Okay, here nobody has any questions and no one has posted anything there um What are some things that we can look at? Huh that closest relative Maybe they didn't want to disgrace him too much. They left his name out Uh, the question was uh, is the clue that closest relatives name mentioned anywhere? So no, we do not know who he is So he is not mentioned No other questions Right, yeah Only thing yeah again in in that case. They did not want that responsibility. So This is a positive example where someone was willing to come forward and take response. The question asked over here is Isn't this the same similar to the juda and tamar story Where tamar was supposed to be given her legal rights by being married to the next person But then the people who married her were not willing to fulfill their obligation. So yes Okay, there are no other questions Maybe we could just stop with this I think this should be enough All right Mom We'll close with um, okay, so sorry. There is a question here. I think Most of you could hear what's happening here, right? So you're not talking about that kind of access, right? assignment all right, I will um I'll ask someone on the technical team To see what the issue is in case it's not showing for the google classroom students Uh, but anyway, the deadline is uh, September 15th. So for the online students not for those of you here. Okay, so So, yeah, you know, you have enough time and I will ask someone to look into that Because I thought I had posted it correctly with following all the rules But maybe I must have made a mistake. So very sorry about that Yeah, so I'll ask someone to look into that so that it'll open up and you will be able to access it Yeah, okay. Is there anyone over here in this chat right now who actually has been able to access it? even one person Because I did follow all the procedures as far as I know Okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'll I'll I'll I'll I'll request someone's help Sure All right, let's just close with the word of prayer Lord, we just thank you so much for um, the Lessons that we can learn From the people mentioned in your word. Thank you a lot for putting these examples and these stories here for us as Things that we can follow things that we can learn from So we pray a lot that you would help us to have integrity and loyalty in our lives That lord we would be willing to show kindness and mercy not only to the rich and powerful But even to the penniless and those who are not considered very valuable And we thank you a lot that even as we do our part faithfully you always reward those Lord who are loyal to you. Thank you a lot for your great faithfulness. We pray a lot that Whenever we would need the principles which are there in the story that you would remind us of these things a lot That we have learned today so that we can practice these things in our own lives. Thank you lord in jesus name amen Amen. Yeah, thank you so much and I will have this assessment, you know taken care of. Thank you