{"id":24940,"date":"2023-01-25T22:00:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T05:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ruth-3_1-18-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-01-17T14:15:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T21:15:26","slug":"ruth-4_1-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ruth-4_1-12\/","title":{"rendered":"The Purpose of Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ruth\u00a0 4:1-12\u00a0 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

today’s passage:\u00a0Ruth\u00a04:1-12.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ruth\u00a04:1\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-9: \u00a0I’m intrigued by the interaction between Boaz and his relative and how different these two men are.<\/p>\n

On one hand there’s Boaz.\u00a0 Boaz was thoughtful, considerate, and intentional in his dealings with people and in business.\u00a0 Before making a decision, he would do his research, count the cost, and plan ahead.\u00a0 I get the sense that Boaz would try to think two steps ahead of everyone else.\u00a0 Boaz was also respectful in the way he communicated with those he dealt with.\u00a0 Thoughtful decision making and good EQ \u2013 these are part of what made Boaz an effective leader and a successful businessman.\u00a0 You see these traits of Boaz in play often in the book of\u00a0Ruth, but especially here in\u00a0Ruth\u00a04:1-12.\u00a0 Boaz thoughtfully speaks to his relative (v1), wisely invites the elders of the town to be witnesses to a transaction (v2), skillfully leads his relative to relinquish his right as kinsman redeemer (v3) and eloquently announces to all the people that he will step in as\u00a0Ruth’s kinsman redeemer (v9-10).<\/p>\n

On the other hand we have Boaz’s relative.\u00a0 The Bible doesn’t disclose his name, so let’s call him Mr. X.\u00a0 From the perspective of consanguinity (closeness by blood), Mr. X was a closer relative to Elimelek (Naomi’s late husband) than Boaz was.\u00a0 Therefore Mr. X had priority (what lawyers call a right of first refusal) to act as\u00a0Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer, to acquire Elimilek’s property and to take\u00a0Ruth\u00a0as his wife.\u00a0 Notice that apparently without asking any questions or doing any research at all, Mr. X quickly promises to redeem Naomi’s land (“I will redeem it” – v4). But then when he learns that he must also marry\u00a0Ruth\u00a0as part of the transaction, he backs out of his promise “because I might endanger my own estate.” (v6).\u00a0 This of course was great news for Boaz.\u00a0 But it also shows a bit of folly from Mr. X, who says yes at first, only to back out later.<\/p>\n

What’s the lesson here? \u00a0Before you make any major decision, think through it thoroughly, count the cost, and plan ahead.\u00a0 Otherwise, you can look foolish if you say yes at first and only later reconsider or regret your decision.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ruth\u00a04:10 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>I have also acquired\u00a0Ruth\u00a0the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-12: \u00a0Of course, Boaz was in love with\u00a0Ruth\u00a0and was thrilled to marry her.\u00a0 But Boaz also understood that his marriage to\u00a0Ruth\u00a0was more than just about the two of them.\u00a0 He knew he was also fulfilling his role as kinsman redeemer and maintaining the name of three deceased relatives — Elimelek and his sons Kilion and Mahlon — “so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records” (v10).\u00a0 What Boaz didn\u2019t know was that, in addition to all this, God would use the marriage of Boaz and Ruth to do something even greater: to bring forth King David and ultimately Jesus the Messiah.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Marriage is not just about two people who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together.\u00a0 God has a greater purpose for marriage, a purpose that is bigger than the two people getting married<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you are married, or hope to get married one day, I pray you would see your marriage that way too: that your\u00a0marriage is for a purpose greater than yourself and your happiness.\u00a0 It’s to give God glory and to carry the name of Jesus into the next generation and every generation after you.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0God wants Jesus to show up through your marriage.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, help me to be a thoughtful planner like Boaz.\u00a0 And\u00a0thank You for perfect plans for me.\u00a0 Today I recognize that Your plans for me are not just about me; they’re about how I fit into a much bigger story You are writing, a story that will impact nations and generations after me for the glory of God.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

today’s passage:\u00a0Ruth\u00a04:1-12.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ruth\u00a04:1\u00a0(NIV)
\n1\u00a0Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-9: \u00a0I’m intrigued by the interaction between Boaz and his relative and how different these two men are.<\/p>\n

On one hand there’s Boaz.\u00a0 Boaz was thoughtful, considerate, and intentional in his dealings with people and in business.\u00a0 Before making a decision, he would do his research, count the cost, and plan ahead.\u00a0 I get the sense that Boaz would try to think two steps ahead of everyone else.\u00a0 Boaz was also respectful in the way he communicated with those he dealt with.\u00a0 Thoughtful decision making and good EQ \u2013 these are part of what made Boaz an effective leader and a successful businessman.\u00a0 You see these traits of Boaz in play often in the book of\u00a0Ruth, but especially here in\u00a0Ruth\u00a04:1-12.\u00a0 Boaz thoughtfully speaks to his relative (v1), wisely invites the elders of the town to be witnesses to a transaction (v2), skillfully leads his relative to relinquish his right as kinsman redeemer (v3) and eloquently announces to all the people that he will step in as\u00a0Ruth’s kinsman redeemer (v9-10).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24940"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24943,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24940\/revisions\/24943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}