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Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. Our passage today comes from the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. We will look at verses 1-14 during our time together this week and next week. In it Ezekiel writes…
Ezekiel 37:1-14 (ESV)— 1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;[a] it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath[b] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,[c] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” Jesus in the Sunset Picture— Some time ago I found what I think is perhaps my favorite picture of Jesus. And when I first saw this picture, I thought “My goodness, what a beautiful picture.” In it Jesus is peacefully sitting on a hillside looking out towards the sunset. I mean just a beautiful picture. But then I noticed two things. The first is where Jesus is looking specifically. He is not looking at the sunset but at the city of Jerusalem off in the distance. And I thought, “What a beautiful picture of our Lord looking on His city; His temple.” But then I noticed something else. And that is what stands between Jesus and Jerusalem. A withered tree. Now at first glance you might not make much of the tree, but then you look at every other tree in the picture. They are luscious and green and full. But this tree is dead; there is no fruit on it. And the most chilling part of the picture is when you realize Jesus is looking at Jerusalem over that dead tree. Now I don’t know what all the artist was trying to communicate here; but to me it gave me a very vivid picture of the struggle God had had with His people for hundreds of years. They bore no fruit. While they were meant to be that city on a hill; that light to the nations, they instead chose to walk in darkness; in barrenness; in lifelessness; in fruitlessness. They had the appearance, but not the fruit. And therefore they consistently, all throughout their history, fell under the judgment of God, who patiently endured with them, but (because of His holiness) had to send them into captivity in order that they might be brought to repentance and turn back to God; and to the fulfillment of their purpose to be that light and that fruitful tree God called them to be. But in the opening of the New Testament we see God the Son, coming to His people in the flesh of Jesus Christ; and He finds that same barrenness. And this ought to cause us to ask ourselves what condition God will find us in when we see Him for that first time face to face. Will we be luscious and green, having born fruit for His kingdom? Or will we be like this tree? And the ultimate question we need to ask ourselves is, how can we be made truly alive? How can we have lives that are truly fruitful? And that is what I want to talk with you about today; how we are made alive and can live a life that is fruitful. Background of Ezekiel-- For those of you who have studied the book of Ezekiel, you will know that it is a book of oracles. Ezekiel was man who, along with several thousand of Judah’s other leading citizens, was carried away into exile. He was about 25 at the time and watched as his people were forced from their homes and driven into exile; exiled because they had broken faith with God and spurned His glory before the people in view of the surrounding nations. And therefore Ezekiel’s message centers around restoring that glory. And, being a member of a priestly family, he is very concerned with recognizing the holiness of God. Therefore sin is taken seriously and judgment must take place; but with that judgment comes also the promise of restoration; a new Israel, which is spoken about clearly in chapter 36, but profoundly imaged in our passage this morning. Go ahead and look with me at verse 1 of chapter 37. Ezekiel writes… 1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. My Wife and Graveyard Drive-bys-- I remember when my wife first came to the states, she was met by many different cultural shocks that surprised her. The first of these was unlimited refills of her drink at McDonald's. It absolutely blew her away that she could go back as many times as she wanted. But another thing that she shared with me that stood out to her as a significant difference between our culture and hers is how we view cemeteries. And what shocked her the most was seeing how many people will drive through a cemetery in their car. This was so strange to her. And she would tell me, "We just don't do that in Ukraine. It's just strange." But for us it is nothing to drive through a cemetery. But in many places in the world it is either disrespectful, creepy, or both. In Jewish culture you would never be so casual about it for the primary reason that they saw these places as unclean places. A Place of Uncleanness-- So this valley of dry bones was more than just a place of death. Contact with dead things was avoided by the Jews because it made them ceremonially unclean. So we have a place of death; but also a place that, for Ezekiel as member of a priestly family, would have been the height of uncleanness. This should really help the next phrase sink in... 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” The Bones of Israel-- Now for Ezekiel and the rest of the exiles, that question is very intimate and personal, because he recognizes that those bones represent them in their current situation and condition. They, in captivity, are just like those bones. And you can hear that agony and that sense of hopelessness in Ezekiel’s voice, as he says. And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. God’s Breathes the Life-- Now Ezekiel, in obedience to the command of God, begins to prophesy to these dry bones. And you have to catch the hopelessness of the situation, because how can Ezekiel ever hope to bring life to these bones. And this is comforting because I have often wondered at times, "God, how am I going to say anything meaningful to your people?" But He is always faithful to remind me that I won't. But if I am faithful to preach obediently, He will. It is not the word of Ezekiel that causes these corpses to rise. It is the Word of God. Neither is it the breath of Ezekiel that brings them to life. It is the breath of God. God Has The Power, Not Us-- The breath of life is what brings the fruit in any ministry, even in your witnessing to that lost friend or family member. You may speak, but you have not one bit of power to bring someone from life to death. And if you don't approach them with that basic humble understanding, you may do more harm than good. Because it is not your responsibility to save them. All you are called to do is to speak with a humble trust, believing that if you speak the truth in love (and in the right spirit), God will be the one to move in their hearts and bring them from death to life. Life can only come from the breath of God. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath[b] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” Human Constitution Paper— Now I want to focus here for a minute on this word breath. It is a very interesting concept in scripture. In seminary I remember I had to write a paper for one of my theology classes. And I remember choosing a topic that I thought would be fairly simple, and that was the human constitution debate; what we as humans consist of; how and what we are made up of. However, I quickly came to find out that the views on this subject are many. Some say you have a soul and body; others say you have a soul, a spirit, and a body; but then you also have questions of how the heart and mind come into play. And though scripture doesn’t lay it all out for us as fully as we would like, we are given at least the most important foundation to the answer to this question in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. Genesis 2:5-7 (ESV)-- 5 When no bush of the field[a] was yet in the land[b] and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist[c] was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. It is interesting to me how reflective this phrase Ezekiel uses: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. is of these opening chapters in Genesis. In fact, we see at the end of chapter 36 that God's promise is to restore Israel, and make them like the garden of Eden. And what God is doing here is He’s pointing back to the original moment of creation and saying to them, "I'm going to remake you." How? Just as I made you the first time; I am going to put my breath in you and you will live. And what God is saying to you and me today is that He wants to do the same thing in our lives. He wants to put the breath of His presence in US so that WE might live. And that breath is His very Spirit; His very presence. Have you received that presence? If not, I want to encourage you to open your heart to Him today. Because in you God wants to make all things new. Let Him do it. Amen.
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You know, the oneness we are to have with God and with one another is truly a remarkable thing. In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that God created man and woman in His image. And the text says that Adam and Eve were one flesh. And this wasn’t just figurative. The woman (as we see in 2:22) is quite literally taken out of the man. Their relationship with one another is that they are one. In fact, they are so one that when the serpent asks Eve about what God had commanded to Adam before she was even created, she implies that she also is not to eat of that one tree. Though the command was never given directly to her but to Adam, it extended to her because she was Adam; she had been taken out of him. Therefore what is commanded to Adam extends to her because they are one. That is how close their relationship is. And in many ways their one-fleshed-ness mirrored what their relationship with God was to look like. It says that when man was created God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And that word breath in Hebrew is ruach, which is the same word used for the Spirit of God. So their relationship with God was as close as the very air they breathed.
A Vulnerability-- And the Genesis 2:25 says that they were both naked, and they felt no shame. This means they were completely vulnerable with one another. There was intimacy; there was trust, just as there was vulnerability, intimacy, and trust between them and God. A Broken Trust-- Now it is interesting to me how the serpent approaches Eve; how He tempts her. And what he basically does is he attacks that trust. He says to her that God (rather than being loving) is being selfish. He is holding back from her. He gets her to question His goodness and His love for her by inciting distrust between her and God. And once that distrust had been created, she takes of that fruit and eats; and gives some to Adam as well, who also eats. And isn’t it interesting what the text says. It says: then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Vulnerability Lost-- The vulnerability and trust is lost. They withdraw into hiddenness. They hide themselves from each other and then they proceed to hide themselves from God. And then it says in… Genesis 3:8-13– 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Adam Turns on Eve-- Now here we see clearly what sin does to the human heart and to human relationships. Adam, who had said of Eve: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; now turns on her; and even places the blame back on God, saying: “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” So we see that their relationship implodes from self-less, outpouring, one-flesh love inwards to self-preservation; to a placing of their needs before the need of the other person. And from that moment onwards mankind has never recovered from that self-orientation. Sin is more than an action; it is an orientation of the heart. And 6,000 years later we still find ourselves wrestling with this same implosion of the heart. Selfishness Revealed in Marital Counseling-- I am telling you, in every pastoral marital crisis counseling situation I have witnessed, either one or both persons have been turned inwards on themselves; on gratifying their own needs to the neglect of those of their spouse. And there’s little or no trust because there’s no selfless love, only an enslavement to personal wants and desires. Marriage Reveals our Selfishness-- I remember when I got married, I thought that loving and serving my wife in the way that she needed would be any easy thing. But the funny thing about marriage is that it reveals just how selfish we really are. And if there doesn’t come a point of surrender of both spouses in love to one another, there will always be tension. After the Honeymoon Stage-- And the same is true in our relationship with God. When we come to faith in Christ, we are filled with excitement and emotion. We are in the honeymoon stage with God. But soon after that initial emotion wears off, we find that often times our nature is at odds with God more often than not. There is a struggle in us. And even after we come to Christ, there is still often times this war going on inside of us. We know we ought to love God a certain way, but find ourselves incapable of doing so. We have two natures that are at war with one another. We want to love God but cannot love Him the way we ought. Because we have divided hearts. The Psalmist senses this in his own life when he cries out to God in… Psalm 86:11 (NIV)— 11 Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. Now many Christian do not believe that we can have a united heart this side of heaven. They trust in Christ to forgive them; but not to transform them. Coke in the Face-- Once [A man entered a restaurant, bought a glass of coke and then immediately threw it into the waiter’s face. Quickly grabbing a napkin, he helped the waiter dry his face while he apologized with great remorse. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I have this compulsion to do this. I fight it, but I don't know what to do about it." "You had better do something about your problem," the waiter replied. "You can be sure I'll remember you and will never serve you another drink until you get help." It was months before the man faced the waiter again. When he asked for a coke, the waiter refused. Then the man explained that he had been seeing a psychiatrist and that his problem was solved. Convinced it was now okay to serve him, the waiter poured him a coke. The man took the glass and splashed the coke into the waiter’s astonished face. "I thought you were cured," the shocked waiter screamed. "I am," said the man. "I still do it, but I don't feel guilty about it anymore.”] Free from Guilt, Not the Power-- Now this may seem ridiculous to us, but that is how many of us often times approach salvation. We believe that Jesus came to set us free from the guilt of sin, but not its power. It’s like that bumper stick you see all the time on the back of cars, “I’m not perfect, just forgiven.” In other words, “I’m no better than anybody else; no more holy; it’s just that Jesus forgives me constantly.” I wonder what they do with Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:48… Matthew 5:48 (NIV)-- 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Christ’s call is for more than just a receiving of His grace for forgiveness; it is a call to follow Him in holiness of heart and life. In looking forward to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God says through the prophet Ezekiel… Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NIV)— 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. “Comforter”-- And of course God is talking here about that day when He will pour out His Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which we see in Acts chapter 2. And we see in scripture that the primary title given to the Holy Spirit is “comforter”. But the actual Greek word doesn’t mean comfort in the sense that the Holy Spirit makes us feel good. A better translation is “empowerer” or “the one who strengthens”. Empowers us and strengthens us to do what? To be holy. And this is what we see here in Ezekiel 36:27: And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. That is the primary role of the Holy Spirit in our lives; to empower us to be holy. God Supplies A Power-- [Ludwig Nommensen traveled to begin mission work with a tribe in southeast Asia. The village chief welcomed Ludwig and said, "You have 2 years to learn our customs and convince us you have a message worth hearing." After 2 years, the tribal leader asked the missionary how Christianity differs from the moral rules and traditions of the tribe. "We already know what is right," the chief explained. "We too have laws that say we must not steal, or take our neighbor's wives, or tell lies." The missionary replied, "That's true. But my God supplies the power needed to keep those laws." This startled the chief. "Can you really teach my people to live better?" "No, I can't," responded Ludwig. "But if they receive Jesus Christ, God will give them the strength to do what is right." The chief invited him to stay another 6 months, during which Ludwig preached the gospel and taught villagers how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of Christians. "You can stay as long as you want," the chief finally announced. "Your religion is better than ours, for your God walks with men and gives them strength to do the things He requires.”] THE TRANSFORMED LIFE— Now I don’t know about you, but that is encouraging to me; to know that Jesus can end the war inside me. That God can change the orientation of my heart; that He can unite my heart to fear Him; that I don’t have to remain in bondage to myself and my way of doing things. I can be empowered to treat my wife right; to treat my kids right; to make the right choices. My relationship with God can be made whole again; His breath can be breathed anew in me. And God wants to breath new life into your marriage; into your work. He wants to unite your heart to fear His name; He wants to give you true freedom. But that freedom only comes through surrender; through a decision you make before Christ to live a life fully surrendered to Him. And in and through that surrender, you will find a new life and a new heart. And your life will never be the same. Give your life to Him today. Amen. Hello, and welcome to the show today!
[Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are camping-- I don’t know how many of you like detective stories, but my wife and I thrive on them. And {not long ago I read a story telling of a time when} Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson were going camping. They pitched their tent under the stars and went to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night Holmes woke Watson up and said: “Watson, look up at the stars, and tell me what you see.” Watson replied: “I see millions and millions of stars.” Holmes said: “and what do you deduce from that?” Watson replied: “Well, if there are millions of stars, and if even a few of those have planets, it’s quite likely there are some planets like earth out there. And if there are a few planets like earth out there, there might also be life.” And Holmes said: “Watson, you idiot, it means that somebody stole our tent.”] The Basics-- You know, when it comes to the Gospel, I think that it is often times the most basic truths that are the easiest to overlook. And something can be right in front of your face for decades before you really discover it. I find that often to be true in my own life when I study the scriptures and think about the Gospel. Even when it comes to the most basic doctrines; the obvious things in scripture; the absent tents, if you will. But it’s the basic things that often carry the most weight when it comes to our relationship with God in and through Jesus Christ. And one of the things God seems to be showing me in my own personal life is His amazing ability to reach into the depths of everything that you and I face and give us promise and hope for the future. And as I read through the scriptures, I keep coming across what I believe to be the central desire of God, and that is to have a people to Himself who are willing to enter into fellowship with Him and to share in His life. It is obvious, but we can still miss what it means for our own lives. Face to Face-- What does that fellowship look like? If we look at scripture, we see that that fellowship involves sharing in a face to face relationship with God. That is what Adam and Eve had with God before they fell into sin; from the moment of their creation, they got to live before the face of God. Kinlaw & Michelangelo-- Growing up, I remember in our house in Indiana my folks had a large picture hanging up on our living room wall. It was a reproduction of Michelangelo’s famous painting that he did on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel depicting […the famous scene of God creating man. {And one of my favorite authors (Dr. Dennis Kinlaw) pointed out that} Michelangelo was an absolute master of painting the human form, and in this painting Adam is strong, muscular, and vigorous, but he is also lifeless. God’s finger is extended, and the spark of life goes into Adam. {And what is so powerful in this painting is to observe that} Adam’s face is positioned so that when the spark of life comes into his being from the finger of God and consciousness breaks into his soul, his eyes open, and he sees his first sight. The first image Adam beholds with his eyes is the face of God. This is the way human creatures are to live, gaining life from the finger of God and gazing into his face.] Eden-- Now everything changed in Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating that forbidden fruit from the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil, they lost something. They lost the ability to share in that face to face relationship with God. And the reason that there is death in the world is because that sin has cut us off from the source of life itself: The FACE of God. And not only that, but (as we see later in scripture) the face of God becomes dangerous for man because of man’s unholiness. And that is why throughout the Old Testament you see this recurring fear in men and women who have encountered God in a special way, fearing that because they have seen God, their lives are in jeopardy. There was this understanding that because of how mankind had become unholy, exposure to the presence of God must mean death. And that is why throughout the Old Testament, no one sees the face of God. Moses’ Request-- However, there is a remarkable passage in Exodus where Moses, perhaps the greatest man who ever lived outside of Jesus Christ gives to God a very unusual request. And it is perhaps this request that God is most pleased with. And it comes within the context of [the sorrowful story of the Israelites’ betrayal of Yahweh with the golden calf and Yahweh’s desire to bring destruction on them. Moses interceded for the people, and God relented. Then he instructed Moses where to lead the people next: “Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way” (Exod. 33:3). {But} Moses was not about to continue the journey {to the promised land} without God’s presence. He knew the necessity, the value, the delight of God’s company, and he refused to move or to lead without his presence. “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (v. 15). So God agreed, “My Presence will go with you.” The Hebrew actually says, “My face will go with you.”] [THE "YES" FACE-- {Not long ago} I read a story about our 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson, him and his companions were traveling the countryside when they came upon a river that had overran its banks because of heavy rain. The bridge had been washed out and they had to cross the river on horseback fighting against the rapid currents. It was a dangerous situation. There was a traveler who was not a member of the group watching it all take place. After several had plunged in and made it to the other side, the stranger asked president Jefferson if he could hitch hike a ride with him and so the two crossed safely to the other side. After he had gotten off, one of the president's companions asked the man why he had asked the president of the United States for this favor. The man was shocked, he had no idea it was the president who had helped him. Then he said, "All I know is that on some of your faces was written the word 'No' and on some of them was the answer 'yes.' His was a 'Yes' face.”] God’s Yes— Isn’t it wonderful that whenever we ask for the presence of God to come into our life and help us, the answer is always yes. Now He may not always answer or help us in the way we want Him to or think He should. But He will always respond to our cry for help and will always be faithful to carry us through whatever it is you and I are facing. His face is a YES FACE; and especially when the cry of our hearts mirrors the desire of Moses in that we want to know God more. It says in… Exodus 33:17-18 (NIV)-- 17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” {(But Moses doesn’t stop there.)}18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” His presence, not His signs-- Now Moses at this point had already seen God perform miracle after miracle after miracle; and many people might be satisfied with just seeing the signs. But interestingly, Moses was not. He didn’t want God’s miracles alone. In fact, what we see instead is this thirst; this desire; this craving in the heart of Moses to see God Himself. “God, the signs are great. But I want to see you! Show me your glory.” And what is amazing is that God says “Okay. What you can handle, I will show you.” And He shows Moses His back. Now what is interesting is that while Moses never does see the face of God, the Bible says that God spoke with Moses face to face. But we see in context that [In this instance, the phrase “face to face” is {simply} a figure of speech indicating they were in very close communion {having heart to heart communication}. God and Moses were speaking to each other as if they were two human beings having a close conversation.] Jesus, The Face of God-- But that real face to face relationship where we could once again behold God in ALL of His glory was always what God wanted, and was always the aim of God’s plan of salvation; to restore that relationship. And therefore God revealed His face to us in a way that nobody could have ever have imagined; in our very flesh, in the face of Jesus Christ, who Himself (through His atoning death) mended the gap created between us and God by our sin. And we cannot miss the wonder of this. In Jesus, we get to experience intimidate, close, and glorious fellowship with God again. In Jesus, we get to behold the face of God. Listen to the language of… 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)-- 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. His Presence Within Us-- You see, Jesus made way for that restoration. In Jesus, we can once again know God face to face through the Holy Spirit and not only appear before His holiness, but can have His Holy presence within us. And instead of consuming us, it purifies us. It makes us like Him. Soldier Reunions-- One of the most enjoyable things to watch on TV is when a soldier comes home from military service and surprises his family. I was blessed to watch a number of videos in which some soldiers did this during Christmas. One lady took the lid off a large box and out popped her son. Another woman, surrounded by family, was wondering who it was who was dressed in the Santa costume. Pulling the beard down, she saw the face of her son. And the reactions were overwhelming. There was screaming for joy; there were tears the moment their child’s face was recognized. And there was an unbridled overflow of joy in that wonderful reunion. And you know, the same kind of reunion happens in your life and in my life when we come to Christ. And it happens in an even more tangible way when we enter into heaven. Revelation 22:3-5 (NIV) Eden Restored-- 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The Bookends of History— You see, history begins in fellowship with God and for those who are in Christ, it will end in fellowship with Him, as in Jesus we become new. Has God made all things new in your life today? Do you know His life-giving presence; His very face in your life? If not, then you have missed the very heart of the Gospel. The Gospel is not about signs or legalism or all that other religious stuff; it is about coming again into the glory of the presence of God and experiencing His face once again in the face of Jesus Christ, in whom we have the hope of everlasting salvation. And you can have that kind of relationship with God right here and right now in and through Jesus Christ. If you ask Him to come into your life, He will make all things new in you; He will restore your life by (in and through Him) bringing you back into a face to face relationship with God. If you want that today, all you have to do is ask. Don’t miss out today on the opportunity to come to know God face to face. Receive Him; and you WILL have life. Amen. In the story of Ruth we have no come to the part of the story where Ruth proposes to Boaz at the threshing floor, wanting him to claim her as her redeemer. And he wants to; and promises to do so if he can. But there is a problem. He says in…
Ruth 3:12-13 (ESV)— 12 And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 13 Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.” Order of relations-- Now what Boaz is saying is that the man who is the closest in relation gets to have first dibs on being the redeemer. And [The order of these relations is: brother, uncle, cousin, or close clan relative (Lev. 25:48–49; Num. 27:11;] And so although Boaz is a close clan relative, apparently there is somebody who is even more closely related. And so after Ruth returns to Naomi, Boaz (as Naomi predicts) takes immediate action to try to secure Ruth as his wife. That very day it says… Ruth 4:1a ESV— 1 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. The City Gate-- Now the city gate was more than just an entrance to the city. [The gate served as a combined town hall and courthouse (2 Sam. 15:2; Job 29:7–17; Prov. 22:22; 31:23; Amos 5:10).] where the [Elders witnessed transactions (Ruth 4:4, 9–11; cf. Deut. 25:7) and decided cases (cf. Deut. 21:19; 22:15).] So Boaz naturally comes here. And it says… Ruth 4:1b-4a ESV— And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth2 the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” An Unwanted Obligation— Now this redeemer apparently is really excited at the opportunity of gaining this extra land. It is a good thing for him. More land means more harvest. It would also increase the inheritance he could pass down to his children. [However, when he learns that Ruth will become his wife as part of the transaction, he changes his mind,] And he says he can’t do this lest I impair my own inheritance. In other words, he was [concerned that any son born to him and Ruth would share the inheritance already planned for his present children.] So this man is all about the property redemption because the land will benefit him, but he doesn’t want to deal with this whole “levirate” marriage business because he knows that if he provides Ruth with a son, that son will share in his inheritance but will do absolutely nothing to perpetuate his name. Ruth’s son would carry the name of her dead husband Mahlon in order to preserve his name. That’s the point. So this redeemer’s estate would (should Ruth bear a son) be divided between two names and he doesn’t want that. If Ruth wasn’t involved, he would accept. But things being the way they were, he will have nothing to do with it. And so he says to Boaz, Take my right of redemption yourself. Not Willing-- Now I said before that the closest in relation gets to have first dibs on being the redeemer. And while that is true, I don’t want you to think that the redeemer who is the closest was allowed to just arbitrarily pass off the responsibility to someone else as we see here in this passage. It was more than just a bonus he could turn down. It was his responsibility; his obligation to produce an heir for the deceased’s wife so that that man’s name might not die out. But this other redeemer, we see, isn’t willing to fulfill his obligation. He passes. And some speculate that this is why his name is not mentioned anywhere in the book. It’s interesting. I was reading a commentary on this section by Dr. Victor Hamilton. He was one of my professors at Asbury University. And he makes the point that many of our translations, when Boaz first calls out to this man at the gate, say that [Boaz introduces this closer redeemer as “friend” (NRSV; NIV). {But} The Hebrew is peloni almoni, which cannot mean “friend.” Many commentators render {(more accurately)} something like “Mr. So-and-So.” Perhaps it is the Hebrew equivalent of “John Doe” (Pardes 1992: 107). {So the fact} That the closer redeemer is denied a personal name and identity may be the narrative’s way of pronouncing a condemnation upon him for withdrawing from his (levirate/go’el) responsibilities.] A Sharp Contrast— And in doing so […this unnamed man marks himself as dramatically different from Ruth in {regards to} their respective scale of values. For Ruth, loyalty…stands head and shoulders over everything else. {But} For this person, loyalty is expendable, especially when it may mean sacrifice.] God’s Khesed Love— Now in thinking on a larger scale about God, I am very thankful that we have the love of a God who is faithful and loyal to us no matter what it costs Him. Even though it cost His own son, our Redeemer remained faithful to redeem us; not because He was obligated to (because He wasn’t); but because He (like Boaz) wanted to take us under His wing and make us His bride. His love for you stretches beyond what you and I can fathom. His loyalty; His love never fails or falls short. Ruth 4:7-16 ESV— 7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” 11 Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12 and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.” 13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. God’s Restoration-- Now the women are blessing Naomi. Why? Because God has made her rich again. She came to Bethlehem empty and “bitter” (calling herself Mara). And she did so in front of this same group of women. But now the lord has shown her the rich overflow of His blessing and has restored her to being Naomi (which means “pleasant”). God has become new life for her. More Than 7 Sons-- Now I like what Edward F. Campbell said about the women’s blessing to Naomi: for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” He says “What more appropriate way to praise Ruth than to say she is worth seven times what the story has made such an absorbing concern—a son!” A Restorer of Life-- Now the women describe the child born as a restorer of life, which is an interesting phrase which in Hebrew means [Lit., “he who causes life to return [Hb. shub],”]. They are pronouncing that life has returned to Naomi. And interestingly it is not Boaz or Ruth (or even Naomi) who names the child. It is the women of the town. And keep this in mind it is this group of women that Naomi had mourned to upon her return to Bethlehem. So perhaps in order to serve as a lasting reminder to Naomi of the faithfulness of God, it says in… Ruth 4:17-22 ESV-- 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. Our Redeemer-- And this genealogy is especially important to us because it connects us with our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who is our ultimate “restorer of life.” He is the one who takes us when we are empty and makes us full. He takes us when we are bitter and makes us sweet. No Concept of a Loving God-- Naomi thought she had no hope. She thought that God had turned His back on her because she had to go through some difficult trials and circumstances. Ruth had no concept whatsoever of a God like the God of Israel; a God who cares for her as a person. And she certainly doesn’t get that idea from Naomi, who is struggling with bitterness and blame towards God for her situation. Yet in this story Ruth discovers for the first time that God is a God who will reward her; who will bless her; and not just sufficiently but abundantly; with fullness and overflow. Why? Because to God Ruth is NOT Ruth the Moabite. She is Ruth the daughter (as Boaz calls her); Ruth the bride; Ruth the one that He greatly loves. And Christ loves each and every one of us in the same way. He doesn’t want us as mere servants or slaves. He wants us as sons and daughters. He wants us as His children on whom He can shower an eternal outpouring of His love, dwelling in us even as we dwell in Him. And this Advent season, I want to encourage you to remember that no matter what you are going through, what you’ve done, or where you’ve been, Christ longs for you as a man longs for a bride. He has laid claim to you. He has paid for your soul and has bought you at a great price. Why? So that we might share in that richness of life that is found only in Him. If you don’t have that life today, ask, and He will pour it abundantly upon you. Amen. |
Rev. Cameron Ury graduated from Asbury University in 2007 with a B.A. in Bible and Theology. From there he continued his studies at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, MS. It was there that he met his wife Tanya, who graduated from WBS with her M.A. and M.Div. degrees. Cameron and Tanya got married in 2009. Cameron then graduated with his M.Div. degree with a pastoral concentration in 2011.
After shepherding churches in both Mississippi and Ohio, they joined the ministry team at Renton Park Chapel in January of 2018, where Cameron serves as Senior Pastor and Teacher. Cameron is also the founder and host of Lechem Panim, a weekly radio show that airs on KGNW 820AM "The Word Seattle". The ministry of Lechem Panim is centered around leading people into the life-giving presence of God in and through Bible study, prayer, and active discipleship with the aim of ministering to a world that is in desperate need of the healing touch of Jesus Christ. Archives
March 2020
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