The Book of Ruth

[0:00] Get in your Bibles to the book of Ruth this morning for Sunday School. So we got two weeks into the book and took a break last Sunday with Brother Josh Stevenson being with us.

[0:19] Enjoyed that meeting. Glad he was able to come. Glad for the whole thing. It was just great. And now we're going to get back into the book of Ruth. Really just got through an introduction and I think we stopped at verse 6.

[0:33] I really only got through verse 6. Kind of, if you recall, gave you a thought to ponder that I had come across. Just threw it out to you. Studied it out a little bit to connect the last couple chapters of the book of Judges into the time frame of Ruth.

[0:50] Knowing that all of these, the book of Ruth as well as those last five chapters take place early in the book of Judges. And the thought was about a teaching priest potentially vacating his spot in Bethlehem, Judah.

[1:07] And this family and others not having the law being taught to them as they should. And off they went to Moab, whom they were not to have contact with.

[1:19] They were not to seek their peace forever, Moses said. So I'll just pick it up at verse 1, catch us up to verse 6, and then we'll begin moving forward in the book. Verse number 1.

[1:29] 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 sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi.

[1:43] And the name of his two sons, Malon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they came into the country of Moab and continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband died, and she was left and her two sons.

[1:56] And they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. And Malon and Chilion died also, both of them.

[2:07] And the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, and she might return from the country of Moab. For she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.

[2:21] Now, as we studied the last time we were together, this is great news to hear that God visited his people. And giving them bread, that was why they left.

[2:35] And Bethlehem's called the house of bread. That's what it means, the house of bread. And there was a famine there. And now hearing that God was giving them bread, rather that the Lord had visited his people, was the blessing and the good news.

[2:47] And we finished last time looking at that thought about God visiting. And it's been a prayer of mine, as I said last time, from Psalm 80, that the Lord would visit, as it says, visit this vine.

[3:00] And pray that the Lord would visit our church, would visit us here, and renew some things, and restore some things, and revive some things, and start with us, and start with me. And it's a prayer of mine that God would visit.

[3:12] It's good news when God visits. But there's a balance to that, as always. And we're not going to run the references here. But you'll read in your Bible the Lord visiting, and it's not a pretty thing.

[3:23] God threatens to visit people, and to visit the iniquity. And so there's a visitation of God that can be a blessing, and a help, and a good thing. It can be a revival. And then there's a visitation of God that you may not want to be a part of.

[3:37] And he says often, the day of thy visitation. And so when the Lord uses that word visit, he's going to, here's the point. He's going to visit. You just, depends on how you live and what you're doing with him, which side of the visitation you're going to be on.

[3:52] You can be on the visitation side of him showing up and blessing and ministering to you. Or you can be on the side of, he that soweth to his flesh, shall of his flesh reap corruption.

[4:03] Because God's not mocked. You'll either reap corruption, or you'll sow to the Spirit and reap life everlasting. But the Lord will visit. And that's, again, not the references I want to run here. This visitation is a positive one.

[4:15] And it's one that's going to draw her out of Moab and bring her back into the land. So verse number seven, let's continue. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her.

[4:28] And they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. So it's probably a bittersweet kind of feeling here, leaving behind the wreckage, and leaving empty, and leaving, as she says later, bitter.

[4:41] And it's not a good thing. But at the same time, she's hearing good news, and she wants to get out of Moab. So there's hope ahead, destruction behind, yet still she's hurting.

[4:54] In verse number eight, Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead and with me.

[5:06] The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept. The Lord deal kindly with you, is what she says to these two young ladies.

[5:22] Later she says, look at verse number 20. Personally speaking, she says, at the end of this verse, she says, The Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. But she's praying a blessing upon these young ladies.

[5:36] In the name of the Lord, the Lord deal kindly with you. He hasn't dealt kindly with me. He's dealt bitterly with me. But may he deal kindly with you, because you've been good.

[5:47] You've been good to me. You've been good to my sons. They're dead, but she's just pronouncing a blessing on them as she sends them back to their homes, to their mother's house, it says.

[5:58] I thought that was interesting, to return to your mother's house. I ran some references on that just out of curiosity, and I don't have anything really to say about it. But I found a few places to connect it to, but nothing really that made sense to me.

[6:12] Some would say, well, the father might be dead, so it's the mother's house. But typically, as you understand, it's kind of the house of the father and the patriarch versus emphasizing the mother.

[6:24] And so I don't know why that is that way. Maybe there's something there. Maybe you could dig into that yourself if that interests you. But I didn't come up with anything. So return each of you to her mother's house.

[6:35] The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead. She says in verse 9, the Lord grant you that you may find rest. And that means from the grief, because they felt the grief too.

[6:46] They were widows. They all three were widows together. And Naomi wasn't claiming that, well, I lost my husband and my two sons. It's so much heavier for me. She understood the two of you are widows as well.

[6:58] But there's hope for you. Why? Because you're young. Because you can remarry, as she says, in the house of her husband in verse 8. Each of you in the house of her husband. So they'll find rest by remarrying.

[7:12] And this brings up something I'll just point it out, because there it is in the Bible, that remarriage is not a sin. And despite what some of the brethren teach about this kind of thing, there it is right there in Ruth.

[7:25] You could say, well, that's just a Moabite practice. You can spin it your way if you want to. But I'll give you some scripture on it just to nail it down. Turn to Romans chapter 7.

[7:39] Romans chapter 7. Paul is going to use the analogy of this remarriage to talk about setting aside the law to remarry someone else.

[7:54] To be dead to the law and to marry Christ. Or to be coming in a union with Jesus Christ. So he's using this to teach a doctrinal point. But in doing so, he references the law and he states it very plainly.

[8:08] Verse number 1, Romans 7. Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law. How that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which hath an husband is, notice the word bound.

[8:22] This is the word the Bible uses for this. Being married is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she is loosed, is the Bible word for not being bound anymore.

[8:37] She is loosed from the law of her husband. So then, if, verse 3, While her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she is free or loosed.

[8:49] She is free from that law so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. That would be a remarriage. So if your spouse is deceased, by the law of Moses, Old Testament practice, there was no law against that.

[9:06] Remarriage was acceptable. And there's a case, Paul brings that into the New Testament as far as teaching a point. And so there's no problem with them remarrying. Now, I'm not really going to spend the time.

[9:18] I think we've done this when we were in Matthew a couple years ago. Maybe it would be profitable to run through some of this again for some of you. Okay, we'll look at one verse. Look at 1 Corinthians 7.

[9:32] 1 Corinthians 7. Here's where Paul talks about this again. And verse number...

[9:53] We'll start in verse 8. I say, therefore, to the unmarried and widows... How are you a widow? If your spouse dies, you're a widow.

[10:04] It is good for them if they abide even as I. And that's from verse 7. That's unmarried. But, verse 9... But if they cannot contain the unmarried and the widows, if they cannot contain, let them marry.

[10:16] That's a remarriage for the widows. It is better to marry than to burn. So there again, Paul in the New Testament now puts the same truth out there.

[10:29] Now, there's other allowances. Verse 10 says, Unto the married I command, yet not I but the Lord, let not the wife depart from her husband. But if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.

[10:42] And that would be the ideal situation. But notice a little bit later, verse 15, he describes if one spouse departs. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart.

[10:55] And notice what happens. A brother or a sister is not under, notice the word, bondage. They're not bound, as he said in Romans 7, bound to the law or to that marriage.

[11:07] They're not bound. They're loosed if the spouse departs. Look a little bit later in the chapter. Verse 27.

[11:17] So if you're loosed from a wife and it's legitimate.

[11:38] There's another case, and we're not going to turn again, but there's for fornication, Christ says, or we call it adultery. If they're unfaithful, there you have grounds to be loosed from your spouse. If they desert you or if they die.

[11:52] And then you are, you have biblical grounds to be loosed from that spouse. And Paul even says to stay married if you can. Don't, don't seek to be loosed. But if that takes place and you can't control if your spouse leaves you and takes off and marries another.

[12:05] The brethren in some circles would say, nope, too bad. If they're alive, no matter what they're doing, you can't do anything. You're, you're still bound to that law. Now, come back to Ruth.

[12:17] So, um, if you have more questions about that, I could maybe deal with you privately a little more in detail on the subject. In the book of Ruth, Naomi is granting and even praying that the Lord would grant them rest in a remarriage in verse number nine.

[12:37] And the verse closes with her kissing them and lifting up their voice, and they're just weeping all over the place. This is a sad moment. And no doubt it's a painful morning that they're all, it's not just one supporting another, but they're all in it together, and they're all hurting.

[12:59] All right, verse number 10, and they, and they said unto her, surely we will return with thee unto thy people. So they already went on their way with her. They've already left their homes.

[13:09] They've already left the town, maybe, of where they're at in Moab, because they went forth out of the place in verse 7. And they went, in verse 7, on the way, which is a highway, a road.

[13:23] They're walking a road, it appears, to return unto the land of Judah. So they've already exited. They're on their way. And here she says, turn again. They're not standing at the threshold of their house, of their door.

[13:36] They've already covered some place, and they're saying to her, we will return with thee. She tries to say, go back. No, we're coming with you. They both say it. Verse 10, we will return with thee unto thy people.

[13:49] And Naomi said, turn again, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb that they may be your husband? Turn again, my daughters.

[14:01] Go your way. For I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope. If I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear sons, would you tarry for them till they were grown?

[14:14] Would you stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters. For it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.

[14:24] Now, she never implies to these Moabite girls that they would find a husband in Israel. She never says, well, if you want to come, you'll find plenty.

[14:36] There's plenty of young. She never even implies that. Her statement is, we're family now. And would you wait for me to deliver another son and for them to be grown? No, you would never do that.

[14:47] That's not possible. And so the only assumption she has is that she would bear sons that they could marry and raise up the seed unto the name of their father or of their deceased.

[15:02] Here's a statement. I like to point this out just because it's the King James Bible. In verse 12, she says this. If I should say, I have hope. You know what that means?

[15:12] She's saying, if I should tell you that I'm expecting a child, that I'm pregnant, we say expecting. And the Bible says hope. And it's an interesting thought there because the word hope in the Bible is used that way.

[15:25] It's used as an expectation, not as a wish. And so somebody's saying, well, I hope I get such and such for Christmas. That's them kind of wishing for it. And that's not really the way the Bible uses it.

[15:36] You'll find that all over the book. And you'll find it has to do with a current expectation to take place. And you can run that through Pauline epistles.

[15:47] He talks about hope a lot. And it's connected to that. It is a good way to understand your Bible. If I was teaching that, I would come back here and make the point. So kind of doing it in reverse.

[15:58] I suspect that if these girls were to go with Naomi, as she expects, they wouldn't be anything more than servants in the land of Israel.

[16:12] Surely they would not be husband or wife material. Now, it's great to notice this, though, that their mindset's this way because the story turns out far different than any of these three ladies expect.

[16:26] What we find in just a few chapters is a completely total different and nobody to date reading from verse 1 up to verse 10, 11, 12, 13 is thinking and knowing what's about to take place in a few chapters.

[16:41] There's a twist to this story that nobody sees coming. And the only thing that you can do is know that God knows what's coming. God knows how this is going to work out. And all they can do is trust the Lord and seek him and go forward and go toward him.

[16:57] And as far as Ruth goes, even Naomi as well, the story works out far better than either of them imagined it would. Now, Orpah missed out on something.

[17:09] We'll get to that in a second. Look at verse 14. They lifted up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. She's kissing her goodbye. But Ruth clave unto her.

[17:24] So more weeping. This story is replete with death and mourning and pain. And you just can't get out of Moab soon enough. In verse 14, the one kissed, the other clave.

[17:37] So we see two different decisions from these two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. The goodbye kiss and leave versus the clave unto her and refused to depart.

[17:51] Clave is an interesting word. It's one of those English words that has two meanings or really it's two different words but they're spelled identical. So we know it as a homonym where they have, they're the same, they sound the same, look the same but has alternate meanings.

[18:08] But in this case, they're actually opposite meanings. So they're antonyms and they're homonyms which makes them, I just learned this word, a contronym. I never knew that before.

[18:19] That was a thing. But a contronym is a homonym and an antonym. And so clave, in this case, she clave unto her. She's joined unto her.

[18:29] But the opposite of that is separating. And you read that in Genesis 22 that Abraham claved the wood for the sacrifice. He split the wood. So it means to split.

[18:39] It also means to join together. It's interesting. It's very few of those words in English. I looked them up. There was, I saw a list of them and don't want to take the time to tell you others. But that's one of those words.

[18:52] If you're unfamiliar with the word though, by the way, the text will tell you. The text will just be as clear as can be. And without any trouble, you can see Ruth's intentions and her actions here.

[19:04] In verse 15, and she said, Naomi speaking, Behold, thy sister-in-law has gone back unto her people. So we do know that then. She took off. She kissed her goodbye and left.

[19:16] And unto her gods, return thou after thy sister-in-law. Now, nobody knows how things are going to turn out back in Israel, like I said.

[19:28] Orpah started off. She took steps to follow the Jew toward the land of promise, toward that land where she could.

[19:39] She had the option as a Gentile. She had the option to convert. To learn their ways, the laws of their God. And to obey.

[19:49] And it's written in the law. Moses said, if they come, then they need to convert. They need to, they'll be accepted in there. And they're following the law. She had this option.

[20:00] She started off, but she was quickly convinced to give up and to go back to what we would call just an ungodly life. A lost life. What could have been for Orpah, she'll never know, will never know.

[20:17] And she'll never know the worship of the true God. She'll never know the worship of him with his people in their land. But there's more than that. She forfeited something. Turn to chapter 4.

[20:28] Ruth chapter 4. She forfeited something that was hers. Or hers for the taking. And I'd say she was completely ignorant of it.

[20:42] Ruth chapter 4. Now, borrowing that you know the story, that you've read the book. There's a man, Boaz, that we'll be introduced to in chapter 2.

[20:52] And he's going to attempt to take Ruth to be his wife. To do that, he's going to have to pay up. Because there's some land involved.

[21:05] And there's another person that's kind of in line before him. Verse 5, He's speaking to that man and his kinsman that's kind of in line before him to the right to this stuff.

[21:18] What day that thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

[21:30] And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Redeem thou my right to thyself. I cannot redeem it. So he backs out. Now, Boaz is the guy in line. Verse number 9.

[21:43] And Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people, Your witness is this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and Malon's of the wife of Naomi.

[21:56] Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Malon, have I purchased to be my wife. No mention of Orpah because she's gone. She forfeited it.

[22:07] No mention of Chilion there of the inheritance because he's gone as well. But had Orpah followed back, there would have been payment going out for her.

[22:19] So Boaz buys the whole thing. But understand that Orpah, being married into the family, as Ruth was, he bought Ruth the Moabitess. It says in verse 10, have I purchased to be my wife.

[22:33] And to have that inheritance and the completion of it, he would have had to do the same thing for Orpah. And what she did was she forfeited what could have been her inheritance through the marriage to Chilion.

[22:46] And she was ignorant of it or careless of it. And she turned and walked away and went back. She had a right to marry into the family in Israel. To be locked in and to gain an inheritance of her deceased husband.

[23:03] And so there's two different decisions from these two girls. They both had opportunity to be connected to the true God through his chosen people, the Jews.

[23:14] These are Moabitess girls. They're just brought up in a heathen land. But because of the Jew that went there, they both had opportunity to come into connection and knowledge of the true God.

[23:27] And to live in his land and even to be planted in the land and have inheritance in the land among his people. Orpah made the choice to go back to live among a wicked people. Orpah refused what was hers.

[23:40] She refused to, as Paul says later, to come out from among them and be ye separate. She refused to live with the people of God. And some would say, well, she's a carnal Christian. But I'll say, no, the picture is different.

[23:50] The picture is in this Old Testament. It's her refusing to convert. And the result of that is that she passed on knowing the true God. She passed on being accepted of the true God by learning his ways and obeying his laws.

[24:05] And then forfeited this inheritance that was hers to obtain if she chose for it. Now, the other choice was Ruth. Ruth was instructed to return by Naomi just like Orpah was.

[24:19] She was told multiple times, go back, return, turn again. However, Ruth took a bold stand. Ruth made her intentions clear. She's going to serve the God of Naomi.

[24:32] And that's later. We'll just read that in a moment. She will conform. She will convert. She will proselyte. Not knowing what lay in store for her. She would be redeemed.

[24:44] Purchased. By a mighty man of wealth. She would be accepted among God's people. She would inherit a possession among those people. She had no idea. And this brings me to something that we'll cover a little bit later in the book.

[24:59] Later when, back when we get to four, I suppose. Ruth's inheritance. The inheritance of Malon, her husband. It opens up and what it does is adds to a picture.

[25:12] A type. That Ruth picture shows us. We'll study that later. But this, just even that note there as we study it today. Remember it. Try to remember it for down the line. When we get to it.

[25:23] That Ruth is a type. She's a picture of something future to come. A bride. A Gentile that will be taken out of that land. And connected to Israel.

[25:34] Through a man from Bethlehem. And it's a beautiful picture. She even gets an inheritance among those brethren. That she otherwise would have no right to.

[25:45] And deserve none of it. And so this is an interesting thing. I'll just touch on it and we'll move on. Come to verse 16 now. Ruth 1 verse 16.

[25:57] Naomi tells her to go back with Orpah. And Ruth said. Entreat me not to leave thee. Or to return from following after thee.

[26:08] And here comes this famous line. Of her resolve to cleave to her mother-in-law. That we've probably heard many times over. Verse 16.

[26:19] For whither thou goest. I will go. And where thou lodgest. I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people. And thy God my God.

[26:30] Where thou diest will I die. And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me. And more also. If ought but death part thee and me.

[26:41] Now this is beautiful. This resolve. Insisting that she stay with her mother-in-law. All the way to worship her God.

[26:52] And to die with her. With her people. She is abandoning her life. She is abandoning her home. Her upbringing. All of it. Now doctrinally speaking.

[27:04] That's a repentance. That is rejecting what you were taught. rejecting everything in your life. Just to receive. To go forward.

[27:14] To be known of God. And to know him. Ruth here. This famous line. Of loyalty. Of commitment. It became popular. Surprisingly maybe.

[27:27] To be said. To be read at wedding ceremonies. It has nothing to do with a man and a woman. But everything to do with a woman. And her mother-in-law. And that might make you think twice.

[27:38] To say those things at a wedding. But nevertheless. That's Ruth. It's the idea of loyalty. And you know. Binding and vowing to pledge your life.

[27:49] To someone else. It's beautiful language. No doubt. Ruth chose. Or I say. Orpah chose. To go home. And to go with what's familiar.

[28:02] Ruth chose. To go to a distant land. Where she'd be a stranger. It'd be an easy choice. For her to go back. That'd be absolutely. The easiest choice to make. Because ahead.

[28:13] Is no certainty. Behind is everything familiar. Yet she went forward. She was insistent. In verse 17. You read a line.

[28:24] That is kind of a Bible phrase. In the end of Ruth's message. Back to Naomi. She says. The Lord do so to me. And more also. If ought but death.

[28:35] Part thee and me. And it's a common line. In the Old Testament. To read that. You've read it. From other speakers. It's a way of.

[28:46] Pledging. Or promising. It's swearing. To an oath. In the name of the Lord. The Lord do so to me. And more also. It's their way of saying. If I don't keep my word.

[28:58] Then may God. Hold me accountable. And judge me accordingly. And even worse than I deserve. And more also. She says. They kind of add some emphasis. To prove. The sincerity.

[29:10] Now this is the first occurrence. Of this phrase. In the scriptures. As chronologically speaking. Because this takes place. Well maybe this is the first occurrence.

[29:21] Of this one. There's another one. I'll mention in a minute. That takes place in judges. But I think Ruth comes before that. When you read through your Bible. You read Eli saying. This to Samuel. In that night.

[29:33] When he said. You tell me everything. That God told you. Lord do so to you. And more also. If you don't tell me. Every single word. Eli uses that same phrase. David.

[29:44] I'm sorry. Saul says it. To Jonathan. When Jonathan ate some honey. And Saul found out. That he violated his command. He was going to kill him. He was going to kill him.

[29:54] On the spot. And the people stood up against him. David says it. Referring to Nabal. When he was going to wipe him. Off the face of the earth. David says it. When he's promising Amasa.

[30:06] To be captain. In the stead of Joab. In his army. And David said it. A few other times. This phrase. The Lord do so to me. And more also. Solomon says it. But.

[30:18] Then it stops. This phrase is. What I think. It just falls out of use. Just as things happen. In languages. They just. A way of speaking. A manner of speaking.

[30:29] In this era. That carries on for a while. And then it just falls out of use. So you don't see it anymore. In the Bible. What I see interesting. And I won't turn you through the places. But there's. The last three times.

[30:40] This phrase is used. It's used by. Jezebel. It's not saying the Lord. But saying the gods. Small g. Do so to me. And more also. And so. The phrase is still out there.

[30:50] But it's not being used to swear. In the name of the Lord. But rather in the name of heathen. Gods like Baal. Ben-Hadad. The king of Syria. Said it as well. And then a king of Israel.

[31:02] Said it. Jehoram. In the wrong light. He was going to kill. Elisha the prophet. And he used that phrase. The Lord do so to me. Sounding awful spiritual. When he's trying to kill God's man.

[31:13] Go figure. So. It's an interesting thing. To see that. But I'm just pointing it out. That that's what it is. It's. It's swearing to an oath. Which is not a bad thing. A more popular one.

[31:26] Come to Jeremiah 5. I'll show you this one. A more popular one. That carries through generations. And through the entire Old Testament. Is swearing upon the life of God.

[31:41] Saying as the Lord liveth. Or the Lord liveth. You'll see that a lot. And this is just in. It might be weird to you.

[31:52] And you must think. Oh that's just Bible language. But. I just want to teach you what it is. It's an oath. It's declaring. Or promising. Or pledging. An oath. In the name of God.

[32:02] And I'll show you in a second. It's not frowned on. Jeremiah 5. Verse number 2. And though they say. Quote. The Lord liveth. End quote.

[32:13] Surely they swear. Falsely. See they're swearing. As they're. Adding the Lord liveth. To whatever their preaching is. Look a little later. At chapter 12.

[32:24] Of Jeremiah chapter 12. Notice it again. In verse number 16. Jeremiah 12.

[32:35] Verse 16. And it shall come to pass. If they will diligently learn the ways of my people. To swear by my name. The Lord liveth.

[32:47] That's. That's the ways of his people. Is swearing by. The name of the Lord. And saying. The Lord liveth. As they taught my people to swear by Baal.

[32:58] So. That's terrible. But you get the idea there. This is acceptable. This is something the people. Were taught to do. Is in their oaths. And in their promises.

[33:08] And covenants. One with another. To do it in the name of the Lord. By the life of God. The Lord liveth. As the Lord liveth. Such and such and such. All right.

[33:19] Come back to Ruth. And look at chapter 3. Because this is interesting to me. The first time this. Comes up. Chronologically. In the Bible. Is also. In the book of Ruth.

[33:29] In chapter 3. Verse 13. And. Just read the. Toward the latter part of the verse. Boaz is pledging.

[33:42] To Ruth. To do the part of a kinsman. To her. He said. Then will I do the part of the kinsman. To thee. Toward the end of the verse. As the Lord liveth. That's the first time. That shows up in your Bible. Lie down until the morning.

[33:54] It shows up. Again. I think it's. Maybe Gideon. But. Boaz is before Gideon. So. Chronologically speaking. Both of these. Oaths. Or swearing. By the name of God.

[34:04] That I found here. They're. They're both. In the book of Ruth. Okay. Look at. Leviticus. I want to just. Touch on this a little bit more. To clarify. Because I know.

[34:15] In your mind. You're thinking. Swearing's bad. And. We're not supposed to. And. And. Jesus said. Not to forswear thyself.

[34:26] Or. To swear not at all. And so. I know you think of that. As dirty words. Sometimes. But that's not what this is talking about. It's talking about an oath. Swearing to something.

[34:37] Binding yourself. To a promise. Leviticus 19. And. We'll start in verse 11. And we're going to notice that. Swearing by God's name.

[34:48] Was encouraged. It exalts him. To the highest authority. When you swear by something. People will say this. Oh. I swear by my mother's grave. Well.

[34:59] That's. Obviously. Supposed to be something. Super sacred to you. Right. You would never violate that. But. What's higher than your mother's grave. As far as sacred.

[35:09] And holy. And. It's the Lord God almighty. There's nothing higher than the name of God. So God. Allows and. Even. Teaches them. To swear by his name.

[35:19] Back in verse. Chapter 19. Verse 11. Ye shall not steal. Nor deal falsely. Neither lie one to another. And ye shall not swear by my name. Falsely. Neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God.

[35:32] I am the Lord. Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor. Neither rob him. And he's going to go on. To talk about just your dealings with mankind. And your oaths. And. You're not to bring God's name into it falsely.

[35:46] To lie. To be deceitful. To defraud. But come now to Deuteronomy 6. But you are. To do your dealings fairly.

[35:56] And honestly. And uprightly. And you are to bring God's name into it. And bind this. Between. Between. The two parties. As well as in the sight of.

[36:07] God himself. Lotus. Deuteronomy 6. Verse 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God.

[36:20] And serve him. And shalt swear by his name. He shall not go after other gods. You are to swear by.

[36:30] That's a command. To swear by his name. So that's what we read in Jeremiah 12. That that was the way of the people. Or the way that they were taught. Of the law of the Lord. Look at Deuteronomy 10.

[36:41] One more verse. Deuteronomy 10. And look at verse number 20.

[36:55] Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God. Him shalt thou serve. And to him. Shalt thou cleave. And swear by his name. So.

[37:07] Again. Pledging. Promising. Covenanting. And your oaths. And I. There's. There's a list of these verses. Or places where somebody swore. And they. By the Lord.

[37:18] And they swore falsely. They had to punish them. And there's other cases where. Some. Like you know. If you read the daughter. Swears something in the name of the Lord. But the. The husband or the father.

[37:29] Could kind of negate it. Because they were ignorant or something. So this is all over the Bible. This thought. The Old Testament at least. Of swearing. And that's what you're reading. In Ruth. When she makes that statement.

[37:41] And it's a Moabitess. Saying it to Naomi. And she's swearing in the name of her God. Jehovah. So that's interesting. The first time that it shows up. In time.

[37:52] That we can see recorded in the Bible. It's a Moabitess. And doing that. In verse 17. The Lord do so to me. And more also. A fault but death. Part thee.

[38:02] And me. So that's what that is. And as you see that the Lord liveth. Or you see the Lord do so to me. That's what that is. Bringing God's name. Into a promise. Into a swearing.

[38:13] An oath. Okay. So. We'll finish up here. Look at verse 18. Naomi now. When she saw. That she was steadfastly minded.

[38:25] To go with her. Then she left. Speaking unto her. So Naomi realized. That Ruth's mind was made up. She was steadfastly minded.

[38:38] Words from Naomi. Couldn't penetrate. Ruth's will. On this matter. She couldn't affect her. And so she just.

[38:49] Gave up. She left off speaking to her. I can just kind of see her just say. Just turn and start walking. Maybe she said as we would say. Whatever.

[39:00] Suit yourself. But at any rate. She tried. And she told her. And the one went. She said. I'll go with her. Go back. Go. Go. Go. I got nothing for you. And Ruth. Claved to her.

[39:11] Pledged to her. No. Never. All the way till death. So Naomi just. Okay. That's the end of that. It's settled. What was settled?

[39:22] Well Ruth's mind was settled. Her heart was settled. She was steadfastly minded. It makes me kind of consider that our minds as believers ought to reflect this kind of attitude.

[39:34] Toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And toward the Christian life. And toward the things of God. Just to get planted in it. To get rooted and grounded. And to be steadfastly minded.

[39:47] That no matter how bad it gets in life. No matter who's against us. Who's telling us to go. And who does turn and go. To say I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay put. I'm going to stay with Christ.

[39:59] I'm going to walk the Christian walk. The walk of faith. I'm going to fight the fight of faith. I'm steadfastly minded. I love that language. The song says I have decided to follow Jesus.

[40:12] No turning back. The Bible says be ye steadfast. Unmovable. And that's the mind of a soldier.

[40:23] That's not being stubborn. That's being dedicated and determined. And would to God that all of us here. Had that heart and mind inside of us.

[40:33] No matter what. No matter what. Where you die I'll die. It's all the way till death. Me and the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. And so she was steadfastly minded.

[40:44] To go with her. And next week we'll pick it up. With them coming into town. And the reaction in town. And then carry it into chapter 2. With them meeting a very powerful man.

[40:55] And so let's take a 10 minute break. Right there. And we'll pick this study up. Back next week. Thank you.