WEBVTT

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 We're going to read together from the Old Testament, Ruth chapter 2, and this is God's holy word.

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 Now, Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

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 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him,

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 and whose sight I shall find favor. And she said to her, go, my daughter. So she set out and went and

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 gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging

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 to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to

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 the reapers, the Lord be with you. And they answered, the Lord bless you. Then Boaz said to his young man

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 who was in charge of the reapers, whose young woman is this? And the servant who was in charge of the

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 reapers answered, she is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.

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 She said, please, she said, please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.

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 So she came and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.

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 Then Boaz said to Ruth, now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one,

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 but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping and go after them.

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 Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink

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 what the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him,

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 why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner?

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 But Boaz answered her, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your

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 husband has been fully told to me and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came

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 to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done and a full reward

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 be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

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 Then she said, I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly

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 to your servant, though I am not one of your servants. And at mealtime, Boaz said to her,

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 come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.

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 And so she sat beside the reapers and he passed to her roasted grain and she ate until she was

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 satisfied and she had some left over. When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men saying,

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 let her glean even among the sheaves and do not reproach her and also pull out some from the

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 bundles for her and leave it for her to glean and do not rebuke her. So she gleaned in the field

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 until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned and it was about an ephah of barley and she took

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 it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and

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 gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. And her mother-in-law said to her,

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 where did you glean today and where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.

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 So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, the man's name with whom I work

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 today is Boaz. And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, may he be blessed by the Lord whose kindness has not

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 forsaken the living or the dead. Naomi also said to her, the man is a close relative of ours, one of

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 our redeemers. And Ruth the Moabite said, besides, he said to me, you shall keep close by my young men

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 until they have finished all my harvest. And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, it is good, my

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 daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted. So she kept close

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 to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived

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 with her mother-in-law. This is God's holy word. I don't know if you have ever been in that horrible

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 situation when you go to an event or maybe a work meeting, team building exercise, and they say,

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 we're going to go around the room and we're all going to talk a little bit about ourselves. It's the

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 most awkward situation you can possibly find yourself in. And when we got to the end of Ruth one,

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 and we look at how Naomi's life has played out so far, if Naomi was in that situation and she's

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 sitting in the circle in the chair, when it gets to her, she's probably got two words that she's

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 going to say that sum up who she is and what she is. She's going to say bitter and she's going to say

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 empty. She came, her name, Naomi, means pleasant, but she renames herself Mara, which means bitter

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 because she says, God has dealt bitterly with me. And you'll remember maybe from last week,

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 Naomi, her husband and her two sons traveled out of the land that God had promised to his people,

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 to a strange country. And there her husband and her sons died. And Naomi has come back home alone.

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 And she's left destitute. She has nowhere to turn. She went out full, she says, and I've come home

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 empty, bitter and empty. That's where Naomi is. She's hit rock bottom. She's nothing left. How could any

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 good at all come out of my situation? But as readers, when we read the book of Ruth, we're given

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 clues that brighter days might just lie ahead. The writer tells us that when Ruth and Naomi arrived

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 in Bethlehem, it was right at the beginning of barley harvest. The barley is the first grain to be

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 harvested. So since they've arrived right at the beginning of barley harvest, there's going to be

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 food now. There's going to be more good stuff to come in the future. As readers, we see that.

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 Naomi doesn't see it. She's in despair. And so when we pick up again now in chapter two, we see that

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 she doesn't even have the energy to go and get food yet. What we're going to see in Ruth chapter two is

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 that because God is faithful to those who he loves, he's constantly working through his people for his

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 people. Naomi looks ahead and sees only darkness. But by the end of this chapter, hope has been

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 begun to break through. God provides for her daily needs. He's already preparing a future blessing

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 that's going to move Naomi from her emptiness to fullness. And so the big lesson for us tonight

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 is that no matter the circumstances you're in, no matter the hurt that you feel, the pain that you've

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 caused or whatever it is that prevents you from seeing a bright, hopeful future, God provides for

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 those who take refuge in him. When I came in today, somebody opened the bulletin and said, oh, that's a

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 big reading, a big passage. It is a big passage, 22 verses. So what we're going to do is we're going to

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 go through it in stages, three different stages. And the first stage we're going to look at is Ruth

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 trusts God's provision. So Naomi and Ruth have arrived in Bethlehem and it's the beginning of

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 the first harvest. Great news because previously there was famine, but bad news because Okado doesn't

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 deliver to Bethlehem. And so if Ruth and Naomi are going to eat, they're going to have to go and get

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 food for themselves. Ruth, who you'll notice throughout the reading is referred to as the Moabite,

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 marking her out to us as an outsider, the one who doesn't belong here. She's the one who asked Naomi

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 for her blessing to go and get food for them both. You'll remember as well, maybe that the book of

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 Ruth begins with the line, it was in the time of the judges, the time of the judges ruled. And if you

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 know anything about the book of judges, you know that shorthand for chaos and lawlessness and disorder,

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 turbulent and dangerous, couldn't be more dangerous for a young woman on her own wandering into fields

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 looking for some food. So Ruth shows real bravery because she knows what could happen to her.

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 Naomi, on the other hand, well, Naomi seems paralyzed by grief. I think sometimes we picture

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 Naomi, maybe we've seen drawings of her in children's books as a decrepit old lady who can hardly move,

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 so we could hardly blame her for not leaving the house. Of course, Ruth would have to go and get

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 food for her. But actually, if we think about the fact that she probably had her children in her teens

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 and the boys weren't married when they were left, so they would have been young men, probably teenagers

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 as well. And then they were in Moab for only 10 years. So when she comes back from Moab to Bethlehem,

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 Naomi's probably 40, 50 years old. It's all the way through the passage, we've not had any hint that

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 she's hindered physically. In fact, she's just traveled from Moab to Bethlehem, probably on foot.

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 She's got to have a pretty good level of physical fitness in order to do that. So when Ruth says to

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 Naomi, will I go and get food? It's not because Naomi can't, not physically at least. So Ruth goes to

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 Naomi and says, I'll go get food. And Naomi says, okay, go, on you go. She doesn't say, I'll come with you.

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 After all, you came with me all the way from Moab to Bethlehem. Or she doesn't even say, be careful.

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 Remember, it's the time of the judges. She says, just go. But Ruth can go alone into the fields,

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 not sure where she's going to end up because she trusts Yahweh. She trusts the God of Israel.

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 And you see that God has built laws into the life of Israel. So in the Old Testament early books,

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 in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, we see how God has taken care of people who are sojourners,

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 people traveling through the land, widows and orphans and the poor. God's providing for these

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 people all the time. In Leviticus, people, God tells people that they're not to harvest their fields

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 all the way to the edges. They're to leave some at the side for people to come after them who don't

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 have anything so that they can eat. And then in Deuteronomy, God says to the people, if you're

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 harvesting a field and you drop some grain, you drop some sheaves, you're not allowed to turn back and

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 pick them up. Leave them for the people who are coming after you. So God's making provision

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 for all kinds of people, sojourners, the fatherless, the widow. They're just some of the people that are

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 referenced in the Old Testament. What we see in Ruth's actions is someone who's arrived as a stranger

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 in Bethlehem, but who's very quickly adapted to the customs and traditions of God's people.

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 But even more than that, we see a foreigner, an outsider, putting their trust in Yahweh, the God of Israel,

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 to deliver for her more than somebody who was born and raised into that tradition.

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 So Ruth goes to work. And then in verse 3, we see some pretty loaded words in this sentence.

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 It says, so she set out and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz.

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 When we read that in English, it's really easy for us to skim over it,

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 but it literally says something like, her chance chanced upon. I love the phrasing in the old King

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 James Bible. It says, and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz.

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 What does that mean? Well, we might interpret it today as something like, and wouldn't you know it,

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 as luck would have it? Would you believe it? She's just gone and ended up in Boaz's field.

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 If this was a film adaptation that we were watching, the narrator would kind of look to the side of the

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 camera and he'd raise his eyebrows like that, as if to say, you guys know what's going on here.

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 What an incredible coincidence, except we know it's not coincidence at all. This is God's providence at

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 work. Providence is not fate. It's not blind luck. It's not the cold machinery of an impersonal universe.

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 Providence is wise, loving, and personal. It's the rule of God over all things.

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 God's governing ordinary events for the good of his people and the glory of his own name.

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 Ruth thinks that she's looking for grain. She is looking for grain, but God's leading her towards redemption.

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 Do you feel today the way that Naomi has at the start of our chapter?

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 No matter what you're going through today, how hard it feels. If you're convinced that the hand of the Lord

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 has gone out against you, like Naomi said, that the Almighty's dealt bitterly with you, this chapter forces

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 us to look again, to look at the ordinary texture of our lives, the ups and downs, at the people God's

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 put into our path, the doors that God has left ajar for us to walk through. And we have to ask ourselves,

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 is the Lord's faithful chesed love at work in ways that we just haven't seen yet?

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 Okay, so the second section we're going to look at together is Boaz shows obedience to God.

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 So before Ruth took us into the field as she gathers grain, the narrator drops a name in verse one,

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 and the name's Boaz. He's introduced as a gibber haiel, a man of great worth, standing and substance.

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 And he's from the clan of Elimelech, Naomi's late husband. And he is, as we discover later,

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 a kingsman redeemer. We'll come back to that in a little while. And the narrator tells us about Boaz

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 before Ruth even arrives in the field. And this is God's way of saying, before you even know what you

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 need, I'm already preparing the answer for you. The provision of God is not reactive.

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 He doesn't scramble when his people are in need and look for a solution. Boaz was already in place.

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 He was already there in position, part of God's plan. The first part of this chapter shows us

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 that God's invisible hand of providence is at work. The second section shows us the highly visible

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 kindness of God as it works through his people. So Boaz's name can be rendered in him as strength,

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 and Boaz lives up to his name. But we know that in the Bible, strength is not brute force.

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 Strength protects the weak. It uses its power for the good of others. True strength reflects the character

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 of God. Up until now, Ruth has been identified by the things that make her an outsider, Ruth the Moabite.

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 She's a foreigner, a widow, the poor woman gleaning behind the harvesters. And in the eyes of society,

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 she's almost invisible. But Boaz sees her. And more importantly, God sees her.

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 One of the greatest comforts that we have in Scripture is that God sees the people that society

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 overlooks. Boaz sees Ruth, and he provides three peas for her. He gives her permission. She's allowed to

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 stay close to his workers as she gathers food in the field. He gives her protection. Boaz says,

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 I've told my men not to touch you. Remember, we're in the time of the judges when everyone was doing

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 what was right in their own eyes. Ruth's a foreign widow. She's a prime target for anyone wanting to do

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 harm. But Boaz offers her protection. And then the third P that Boaz offers to Ruth is provision.

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 So she's not only allowed to work in his field. In verse 15, he tells his reapers to deliberately

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 drop bundles for her way more than is demanded of him in the law. And culturally significant,

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 in a culture where eating together was really significant, Boaz invites Ruth to come and eat

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 at his own table at lunchtime. And Ruth reacts maybe in the way that we would all react. She

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 collapses at his feet. And she says to him, what have I done to deserve this? So Ruth's completely

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 overwhelmed by the grace that Boaz offers to her. And if we think about all that she's been through,

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 that's not surprising. She's lost her husband. She's left her people, her religion, her traditions.

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 She's traveled for miles in danger with her mother-in-law. Since she's left her own country,

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 she's been practically invisible to everyone. Nobody's taken notice of her. And even in Bethlehem,

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 when she arrived with her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law's been quite happy for her to go out

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 into the fields without as much as a take care. But now, probably the most rich and powerful man

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 that she's come across so far, the person with the most means, the highest position,

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 his lavishing kindness on her. It was Yahweh's provision for the poor and the downcast that brought

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 Ruth into the field. But now we see what happens when Yahweh's kindness, his hesed, is extended

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 through his people. And it's important as well, Boaz's response to Ruth. Because he doesn't say to

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 Ruth, well, I saw how hard you were working. So I thought I would give you a hand up. He says,

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 you've left everything to come to the land of the Lord. May the Lord give you a full reward.

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 It's Ruth's faith in Yahweh, ultimately, that has led to her receiving this blessing from Boaz.

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 And it's Boaz's faith in Yahweh that's allowed him to bless her in this way. So Boaz has noticed Ruth,

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 but we know as Boaz, as readers, because from the first words that he speaks to his workers,

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 he doesn't speak to them just with respect. He speaks to them with Yahweh-centered language. He says,

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 the Lord be with you. And he inspires a Yahweh-centered response from his people who say,

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 the Lord bless you. It's as though the first words that come out of Boaz's mouth are praise of God.

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 And Boaz shows incredible kindness to Ruth, way beyond what Leviticus or Deuteronomy told them

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 that he had to do. And he can do that because he understands that the things that he has stewardship

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 over, his crops, his land, his people, even his reputation, they're all a result of the hesed love

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 that he's been shown by God. Boaz knows that he's a man of authority under someone else's authority.

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 He rightfully manages what God has entrusted to him, and he protects the people that God has placed

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 under him because he knows that obedience to Yahweh isn't merely about following the rules to the

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 letter. It's about reflecting the character of the lawgiver. Boaz knows that God is a God of hesed love,

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 faithful, steadfast, loyal, trustworthy love. And so for Boaz to be obedient to God means to be a

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 person who shows faithful, steadfast, loyal, trustworthy love to others. God's generosity

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 provides the foundation, the power, and the pattern for God's people's generosity.

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 which means that as followers of Jesus tonight, we're forced to ask ourselves,

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 who is the person that God has put directly in your line of vision today?

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 Who is the person that God has given you the opportunity to show hesed love to?

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 We're tempted, aren't we, I think, to immediately think of the person on the street, the homeless

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 person in the street who doesn't have anything else, people who are invisible to other people.

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 And that's a good place to look if you want to show steadfast, faithful love to people, definitely.

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 But often, I think, God puts people even more immediately in our path.

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 Sometimes the people whose need is invisible to everyone else but you.

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 Someone, you've got a unique opportunity to show hesed love to.

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 Yes, we look on the streets for how we can help people. Of course we do.

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 But we also look in our friendship groups, in our city groups, in our marriages, in our friendship groups.

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 Because that might be the very place God is giving us the opportunity to show loyal,

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 lasting, faithful, and yes, sacrificial love to somebody else.

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 And remember, hesed love is not merely sentimental.

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 It clings like Ruth did to Naomi.

00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:57.579
 It sacrifices and it keeps showing up.

00:21:58.639 --> 00:22:01.899
 The world understands love as a feeling.

00:22:02.899 --> 00:22:05.179
 But biblical love is covenantal.

00:22:06.399 --> 00:22:08.559
 It says, I will not let you go.

00:22:10.099 --> 00:22:14.240
 Who's God asking you to show hesed love to tonight?

00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:17.920
 Okay, the third section that we're going to look at together.

00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:21.420
 Finally, God's love heals the brokenhearted.

00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:27.980
 So, at the closing section of this chapter, we begin to see Naomi is changing.

00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:36.480
 When Ruth returns home with an ephah of grain, which commentators say is about up to 20 kilograms of grain,

00:22:36.620 --> 00:22:39.420
 which seems an awful lot for her to carry home by herself.

00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:40.579
 Naomi is shocked.

00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:42.640
 She says, where did you get that from?

00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:45.860
 Who would let you walk out of their field with that much stuff?

00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:50.940
 And Ruth said, well, look, he's also given me a takeaway box for my lunch as well.

00:22:52.540 --> 00:23:00.220
 The woman who said, I came home early, begins to realize that perhaps she's not, I came home empty, not came home early.

00:23:00.560 --> 00:23:01.300
 I came home empty.

00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:05.820
 Starts to realize that she's maybe not so empty after all.

00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:09.939
 Because God's hesed love is starting to break into her bitterness.

00:23:10.859 --> 00:23:13.460
 And notice what Naomi says in verse 20.

00:23:13.639 --> 00:23:19.859
 She says, may he be blessed by the Lord whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.

00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:22.399
 That word kindness is hesed again.

00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:24.659
 It's that faithful, loyal, steadfast love.

00:23:25.579 --> 00:23:26.779
 But whose hesed is it?

00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:30.220
 Does she mean Boaz or does she mean God?

00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:33.559
 Well, as we've seen, it's both.

00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:39.059
 God has worked through Boaz and Ruth to provide for Naomi.

00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:43.480
 So even although she believed that God's hesed had abandoned her,

00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:47.960
 now she begins to see God's love had never stopped.

00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:55.380
 Even in Moab, even in her grief, in her bitterness, even in what she thought was silence.

00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:01.120
 Boaz's hesed love has turned Ruth's life around in the field.

00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:07.019
 And now Ruth and Boaz's hesed love combined is going to change Naomi's life.

00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:12.059
 And Naomi says something that's loaded with hope.

00:24:12.059 --> 00:24:18.259
 She says, the man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.

00:24:19.159 --> 00:24:21.159
 And then for the first time in the book of Ruth,

00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:26.859
 redemption, the concept of redemption enters the conversation really explicitly.

00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:34.279
 A redeemer is someone who was obliged to buy back his relatives if they fell into debt

00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:37.099
 and had to sell themselves into slavery to repay it.

00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:44.859
 Sometimes the redeemer is also marry a widow and raise up children to continue the name,

00:24:44.939 --> 00:24:47.480
 the family name, and for their heritage.

00:24:49.579 --> 00:24:53.339
 Naomi doesn't yet know how far this redeemer is going to go.

00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:56.779
 But the clouds of sadness are beginning to part.

00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:58.899
 There's light at the end of the tunnel.

00:25:00.199 --> 00:25:04.599
 As readers, we've known all along that God's at work in Ruth and Naomi's story.

00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:10.539
 In chapter one, he provided Naomi with a companion despite her great losses.

00:25:11.419 --> 00:25:17.259
 We saw God provide Bethlehem, the house of bread, with food, with grain after a famine.

00:25:18.199 --> 00:25:20.919
 And the author has given us background information on Boaz,

00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:23.399
 so we've got a heads up on what's coming next.

00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:24.879
 Would you believe it?

00:25:25.079 --> 00:25:29.879
 Well, yeah, we would believe it because we've seen God's hand at work at every stage.

00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:33.579
 But then, do we do that in our own lives?

00:25:34.599 --> 00:25:38.939
 Do we believe that God shows us hesed love?

00:25:39.099 --> 00:25:43.839
 Do we truly believe that God's with us in our most difficult circumstances,

00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:46.319
 in our lowest moments, in our deepest pains?

00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:50.759
 Because the same God who was with Naomi and Ruth is with us.

00:25:51.959 --> 00:25:55.299
 He gives us the most hesed of hesed love.

00:25:55.299 --> 00:26:02.319
 The most determined, faithful, merciful, steadfast love that there is.

00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:08.740
 Because God himself entered into our devastation to bring us restoration.

00:26:10.379 --> 00:26:14.299
 Chapter two ends with a seemingly innocuous line.

00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:17.519
 And it says, and she lived with her mother-in-law.

00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:20.660
 But it's not actually innocuous at all.

00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:23.900
 It's a line that reminds us about seed.

00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:29.220
 Naomi's been emptied of both kinds of seed that are a huge deal in the Bible.

00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:35.599
 One kind of seed's grain, which provides food, and it's a major indicator of wealth.

00:26:36.879 --> 00:26:40.319
 Well, thanks to God working through Ruth and Boaz, Naomi has grain.

00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:41.139
 She has food.

00:26:41.140 --> 00:26:45.020
 But there's a second kind of seed that Naomi is still without.

00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:46.640
 And that's offspring.

00:26:47.580 --> 00:26:52.740
 Particularly a son who will carry on the family name, provide for Ruth and Naomi.

00:26:53.320 --> 00:26:56.020
 And Naomi, as she gets older, take care of her.

00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:59.640
 So while Ruth lives with her mother-in-law, it means she doesn't have a husband.

00:27:00.620 --> 00:27:01.880
 And she doesn't have a son.

00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:09.000
 The anticipation is palpable as we wait to hear what's going to happen to Naomi.

00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:12.960
 Look, all the way through this chapter.

00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:15.079
 The field, the bread, the redeemer.

00:27:15.779 --> 00:27:17.579
 The kindness it's shown to the outsider.

00:27:18.579 --> 00:27:19.700
 The seed of the woman.

00:27:20.579 --> 00:27:23.319
 All this is pointing us beyond the fields.

00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:27.319
 And beyond Boaz to someone greater.

00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:28.920
 To Jesus.

00:27:29.619 --> 00:27:31.559
 Jesus, who is the better Boaz.

00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:35.259
 The one who provides abundantly for the outsider.

00:27:35.259 --> 00:27:39.480
 Boaz offered Ruth permission to work in his fields.

00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:44.039
 But Jesus welcomes sinners into the kingdom of God.

00:27:44.819 --> 00:27:47.019
 Boaz protected Ruth from danger.

00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:50.420
 And Jesus offers us protection from the evil one.

00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:54.000
 And he promises that no one can snatch us out of his hand.

00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:58.879
 Boaz fed Ruth with bread from his harvest.

00:27:59.660 --> 00:28:03.160
 Jesus gives us himself the bread of life.

00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:11.120
 Boaz gave Ruth grain that would keep her and Naomi alive for two weeks.

00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:11.620
 I don't know.

00:28:12.040 --> 00:28:13.440
 20 kilograms is quite a lot of grain.

00:28:14.800 --> 00:28:17.200
 Jesus gives us eternal life.

00:28:18.860 --> 00:28:22.900
 And while Boaz showed generosity out of his abundance.

00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:28.279
 Jesus chose to give us redemption through his poverty.

00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:32.480
 The eternal son of God stepped into our famine.

00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:34.579
 He entered our grief.

00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:35.139
 Our sin.

00:28:35.319 --> 00:28:35.920
 Our emptiness.

00:28:37.139 --> 00:28:39.039
 And at the cross he took our judgment.

00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:41.480
 So that we can receive his fullness.

00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:46.839
 One more thing that Boaz offered to Ruth.

00:28:46.899 --> 00:28:47.460
 One more P.

00:28:50.259 --> 00:28:51.379
 In verse 8.

00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:53.920
 Boaz offers Ruth a place.

00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:57.000
 He says work here and don't go anywhere else.

00:28:57.000 --> 00:28:59.700
 Boaz says to Ruth.

00:28:59.779 --> 00:29:00.400
 I know who you are.

00:29:00.660 --> 00:29:01.599
 I know your background.

00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:04.000
 I know the hardship you've been through.

00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:06.500
 I know what you've lost.

00:29:07.539 --> 00:29:08.839
 But don't be troubled anymore.

00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:10.240
 You can trust me.

00:29:10.819 --> 00:29:12.359
 This is a safe place for you.

00:29:13.740 --> 00:29:16.339
 And that's what Jesus says to his people.

00:29:17.180 --> 00:29:19.660
 In John's gospel Jesus says to his disciples.

00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:22.359
 I'm going to prepare a place for you.

00:29:22.900 --> 00:29:24.759
 And if I go and prepare a place for you.

00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:27.039
 I'll come again and I'll take you to myself.

00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:28.660
 So that where I am.

00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:30.299
 There you may be also.

00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:33.039
 Whatever you're going through.

00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:35.859
 Whatever crosses your bearing.

00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:39.359
 Jesus himself has prepared a place for you.

00:29:39.779 --> 00:29:41.099
 Where you truly belong.

00:29:43.099 --> 00:29:43.819
 Last thing.

00:29:44.859 --> 00:29:46.019
 In the book of Revelation.

00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:47.660
 The final book in the Bible.

00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:49.740
 We're given a word picture.

00:29:49.740 --> 00:29:52.140
 Of what's going to happen at the end of time.

00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:53.779
 In chapter 14.

00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:55.519
 It says that one day.

00:29:55.579 --> 00:29:57.160
 The Lord of the harvest is going to return.

00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:00.579
 And he's going to bring in another grain harvest.

00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:02.120
 Not barley.

00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:02.940
 Not wheat.

00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:04.779
 But everyone.

00:30:05.019 --> 00:30:06.660
 Who's taken refuge in him.

00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:08.559
 He'll gather them up.

00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:09.960
 Under his wings.

00:30:10.220 --> 00:30:11.359
 And bring them safely home.

00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:13.299
 Would you believe it?

00:30:13.299 --> 00:30:16.759
 That the God who guided Ruth into the field.

00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:20.379
 Is the same God who's guiding your life tonight.

00:30:21.220 --> 00:30:23.500
 That the God who saw Naomi in her bitterness.

00:30:24.039 --> 00:30:24.940
 Sees you too.

00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:27.500
 That the God who welcomed the outsider.

00:30:28.220 --> 00:30:29.440
 Welcomes sinners still.

00:30:30.919 --> 00:30:32.099
 Because if that's true.

00:30:32.619 --> 00:30:33.879
 Then you're never abandoned.

00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:34.799
 Never unseen.

00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:36.639
 Never beyond redemption.

00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:39.300
 The chesed love of God.

00:30:39.580 --> 00:30:41.540
 Is a love that never lets go.

00:30:42.320 --> 00:30:43.400
 No matter the cost.

00:30:44.660 --> 00:30:45.300
 Let's pray.

00:30:48.900 --> 00:30:50.600
 Lord God of steadfast love.

00:30:51.380 --> 00:30:53.100
 We ask tonight that you would remind us.

00:30:53.280 --> 00:30:55.020
 That no matter our circumstances in life.

00:30:55.280 --> 00:30:56.080
 You are with us.

00:30:56.860 --> 00:30:57.759
 You're the Lord of the harvest.

00:30:57.880 --> 00:30:59.400
 Who controls the times and the seasons.

00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:00.560
 The sun and the rain.

00:31:01.040 --> 00:31:02.500
 Nothing happens without you knowing.

00:31:03.420 --> 00:31:04.500
 And so when things are good.

00:31:04.580 --> 00:31:05.480
 And when things are hard.

00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:06.900
 Lord help us to have faith.

00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:09.839
 That you are ultimately working all things together for good.

00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:11.960
 For those who trust in you.

00:31:12.779 --> 00:31:14.940
 Lord we ask that even tonight.

00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:15.900
 You would open our eyes.

00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:18.660
 To see the people who have a place.

00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:21.920
 In our line of vision.

00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:23.860
 People for us.

00:31:24.299 --> 00:31:26.700
 To show faithful sacrificial love towards.

00:31:27.500 --> 00:31:28.500
 Melt hard hearts.

00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:30.680
 So we will love others in the way that we should.

00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:32.980
 If we want to be imitators of Christ.

00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:34.200
 Steadfastly.

00:31:34.339 --> 00:31:34.720
 Loyally.

00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:35.600
 Sacrificially.

00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:37.940
 Expecting nothing in return.

00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:39.740
 But that your name Lord.

00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:40.519
 Would be praised.

00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:42.920
 Help us now to sing to your glory.

00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:45.759
 For your faithful love towards us is great.

00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:47.559
 And you are worthy of all praise.

00:31:48.299 --> 00:31:49.220
 In Jesus name.

00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:50.259
 Amen.

00:31:50.259 --> 00:31:50.400
 Amen.

00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:50.440
 Amen.

00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:50.440


00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:52.440
 Amen.

00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:52.440


00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:52.440


00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:52.440