The following is a lightly edited transcript and may contain errors.
Contents
The Gate, the Sitting, and the Witnesses
The Failed Redeemer
Redemption in Israel’s History
The Unnamed Redeemer’s Choice
Walk in Repentance
The Redeemer of Redeemers
Closing Prayer
Chapter 4, verse 1.
Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. 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. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 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. 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.” Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 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.” (Ruth 4:1–6)
Let’s pray. Father, thank you, Lord, for the privilege of gathering together for worshiping you, for singing your praises. Lord, we want to pray today that your word goes forth, not just from this pulpit, but from the many pulpits across this land and really across this world, Father. And we pray, Lord, for faithfulness in the pulpit, that your word would be preached in its entirety and its truth, Lord. And we thank you for many faithful churches, Lord, in this area who continue to stand strong, who continue to hold fast to your gospel. Continue to bless them, God, let your hand of favor and mercy and grace be upon them. Lord, we pray for our children as they’re learning about you. Let them have their hearts fast attached to you. And be gracious to them, Lord. Give much, much wisdom and knowledge for all the parents here in shepherding their children. Let them instruct their children to know you, to honor you, to fear you, to love you, to seek you always. And Lord, may the same be true for us. May we set the example, Lord, and seek you always. Continue to fill us with your Spirit. Continue to produce the fruit of the Spirit abundantly in our life, all for your glory. Amen.
The Gate, the Sitting, and the Witnesses
All right, well last week we were kind of left with a cliffhanger at the end of chapter 3, and the question is, hey, what’s going to happen? So just kind of a quick rehash of what we’ve seen so far. There’s been one complication in the story so far that we saw in the first chapter, and that’s a woman loses her husband, leaves her as a widow in a foreign land, then her sons die leaving their wives as widows, and now they’re destitute and they’re homeless and they’re poor, so they ask what are they going to do? Well, the solution is they return to the promised land, and provision is found working in a field with a gracious man named Boaz. Then last week we saw the second complication arise. Boaz is interested in redeeming Naomi and marrying Ruth, but there is another redeemer who gets first dibs. He’s a closer relative and has the first right to redeem. Well, what’s the solution? Well, we’re going to start to find out today. And in chapter 4, what I want you to notice is you’re going to see actually four redeemers in this chapter. You’re going to see four redeemers. We’re just going to look really at the first one today, and we’re going to call him the failed Redeemer. He’s going to fail in his duty, so he’s the failed Redeemer. But let’s begin by looking at the backdrop to where all this occurs. Boaz is waiting for his opportunity, and so he sees the best place for this to occur is in a public meeting space. This is where business was conducted, and it usually involved three aspects. The first was the gate. So oftentimes you will hear about the gate and that’s where the people, the elders gathered. In fact, a long time ago, one of our ministries here was called Gathering in the Gates, and it was our men’s ministry where we would gather together. But the gate was the place where official business happened. Then there’s actually the act of sitting down. And then there’s the witnesses. Let’s talk about the gate for a second. It was more than just an entrance, more than just a place where you went through the city wall. It really was a place of legal decision-making. And a lot of times people think, oh, how big was it? Actually some places that they’ve excavated, it turns out that they’re actually quite large, as large as 2,200 square feet. All right, that’s larger than some people’s houses. Think about this concept of the gate. Where do we find Lot when the angels come to Sodom? Right? Lot’s at the gate. Why? Because he’s one of the elders, and this is conducted. Abraham, when he wants to buy a place to bury Sarah, where does he go to conduct the business and look for the place to bury her? It says that he goes to the gate of the city. So what’s the idea of the meeting in the gate? Well part of it is just that business is done out in the open. Right? You’re at the gate. It’s out in the open. You’re not trying to hide anything. You’re not trying to be subversive. No, the transactions that are occurring, the civil transactions, the criminal proceedings would be there for all to see. Also, it’d be easy to find. I mean if you know it’s always at the gate of the city, you got business to conduct. You know, it’s not like, oh, it’s, you know, one mile this way and then turn right at Hank’s jewelry store and then go down a little bit farther and then take a look. No, just go to the gate. Just go to the gate. Today, if you want to conduct official physical business, where do you go? You can go to City Hall or the courthouse. A lot of times they’re connected. And most legal proceedings in America, and in fact all Missouri courts, are open to the public except for confidential proceedings like juvenile cases. But all Missouri courts, if you want to go, you can head down to the courthouse and go into any of those courtrooms and be a part of what’s going on. You could be a witness, so to speak, as to what’s going on. So there’s the gate. There’s also the sitting. Now chapter 3 included a particular action. Do you remember what chapter 3 included? There was a lot of what? A lot of resting. There’s a lot of laying down. All right, the rest of you need to go listen to last week’s sermon again. Chapter 4 begins with not a lot of sitting down, but, or sorry, not a lot of laying down, but a lot of sitting down. So you’re going to see a lot of sitting that occurs. In fact, when they’ve excavated some of these cities in the ancient Near East, it showed they actually had benches for people to come and sit down on. To sit was the position of authority or doing business. Have you ever been in the courtroom before? If you have, hopefully just as a witness or as a bystander. But if you’ve been there, what happens? The judge comes in and what does everyone do? Rise for the honorable judge so-and-so. [audio unclear]
Even this idea, we see it in the Old Testament, but we also see it in the New Testament. Think about Pontius Pilate, Matthew 27, it says, besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, right? So Pontius Pilate, this is the part where she’s like, have nothing to do with him, but it’s the judgment seat. Same thing in 2 Corinthians, actually, it kind of mirrors what we’re going to see in heaven. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10, we must all appear before the what? The judgment seat of Christ, the judgment seat. So you have this idea of sitting down. Then you have witnesses. Is that a common theme in the Old Testament, to have witnesses? Yeah, over and over again. Two or three. So then you have the witnesses. So that’s kind of the backdrop of where this scene occurs. At the city gates, they’re sitting down because official business is about to begin. And he makes sure that there’s witnesses there because he wants this to be official.
The Failed Redeemer
So let’s look at this first Redeemer mentioned. He’s going to drop the ball, and we’re going to see him not do his duty. So let’s take a look at verse 1. Boaz doesn’t waste any time. In less than 12 hours of his encounter with Ruth, he goes to the city gates. What does he say at the very end of chapter 3, verse 18? “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out.” Oh, this is Naomi saying it. Boaz earlier tells her, sorry, let’s see. Verse 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.” Right? So what does he do? She lays till the morning. Immediately Boaz springs into action. And look what happens. “Behold, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken came by.” Again, we see providence at work. God is working this story for his own glory and good pleasure. I mean, we have seen it every single step of the way. We can see it and we continue to see it throughout the Scriptures, and we continue to see it in our own lives. Sometimes the Lord makes it very clear. Sometimes it’s not as clear to us, but his providential working is continuing on. So we see it again here. Those two words, “and behold,” I’ve mentioned it before, I’ll mention it again. The writer wants to take you basically into the story so that you’re looking at it through the lens of someone who is actually there. And behold. And behold. So it’s like you’re there standing and you’re seeing and he’s waiting and you’re looking for that person that you need to talk to. And behold, there he is. You’re seeing it with your own eyes. It’s very much like Ruth 2, we see the same thing, “and behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, ‘The Lord be with you.’” Right? Boaz enters the scene in Ruth 2; now the unnamed Redeemer enters the scene. Notice what Boaz calls him. Most versions say “friend.” It’s actually two Hebrew words. Peloni almoni. It’s actually a type of speech called [audio unclear]. It’s when you have two words that rhyme right next to each other and combined they mean something else. We use words like that in English actually. Hodgepodge, helter-skelter, heebie-jeebies, hocus-pocus, right? It literally means so-and-so. That’s what it means. There’s only a couple occurrences of this in the Old Testament, but one is when David is talking to Ahimelech and he’s like, “I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place.” That’s those two words. They’re peloni almoni. 2 Kings 6, you actually see it again. It says, once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” Well, why this word? Well, because we’re going to, as we’ve talked about and as we see, the writer of the book of Ruth will not refer to this person. It’s not going to refer to him. Why not? So it’s basically like, oh, and so-and-so came along the way. He’s not going to use any terms of endearment for the person. Why? Because he’s the failed Redeemer. He’s not even going to, we kind of insert that word “friend,” he’s not even a friend. Why? Because he’s going to fail to do his duty. So also why not refer to his name? I’ve mentioned it a few times, maybe to save face for his ancestors, perhaps. And perhaps as a type of judgment. The man who didn’t do his job doesn’t get to be mentioned in such a glorious story. But just like Orpah, we have a contrast with Orpah and Ruth. Now we’re seeing a contrast with Boaz and this unnamed Redeemer. So the story continues. What does Boaz say? Look at verse 3. “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab.” This is picking up on the theme that we saw in Ruth chapter 1. It’s the theme of returning. It’s that same Hebrew word. She has come back. Why? Because the writer wants to begin to wrap up this theme of return. Has Naomi returned? Yes, she’s returned to the promised land, but what has she returned to? Well, we’re not quite sure yet. This is kind of the crux of the issue. She’s returned to the promised land, but what’s going to happen? Well, we’re going to find out what she has returned to. Now, initially, it looks like the story might have a sad ending. Initially, it looks like we might not get the storybook ending that the writer of the book has been leading us up to. I mean, you ever been like reading a book or watching a movie and then it just takes like a total curve at you and you’re like, that’s not cool. Like you set us up. Well, that’s what’s going on here. He’s kind of, “I will redeem it.” And you’re like, oh boy, that’s a problem. So I want you to notice two things in verse 4. One, Boaz lets the unnamed Redeemer know, like I come after you. But that word “I” is emphasized in the Hebrew text. So it’d be like him, he’s talking to him, and he’s like, but if you will not, tell me that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I, yes, I come after you. So he’s emphasizing like, hey, I’m next in line and basically I’m ready to go. But the response of the unnamed Redeemer, he actually emphasizes the word “I” as well. So when he says “I will redeem it,” he’s like, okay, but yes, I will redeem it. Again, this climax to the issue of what’s going to happen. Why does he say yes so quickly? It’s a great land deal. It’s a great land deal. Get a good deal on the land, pick it up on the cheap from a widow. I mean, how much is the land worth to Naomi without any men to work it? It’s probably not worth much. Get it on the cheap. Also, he initially wants to carry out the respected family duty. Also, it enhances his civic reputation. And at that point, there’s no risk involved since there’s no other heirs of Elimelech to come and lay hold of it. There’s just Naomi. She has the claim, she has no progeny, so no one can later come and try to claim it back. Naomi is unlikely to have another child. So at this point in this story, the Redeemer should turn to the elders and formally declare his redemption of the property. But here’s our plot twist, right? Boaz speaks up. He’s prepared and he’s done what he says, “The day you buy the field, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” So, I mean, he’s saying you can have the field, but you get the women too.
Redemption in Israel’s History
Now listen, Israel understands redemption quite well. It’s embedded in their history. God takes them out of Egypt. Their history as a nation, right? They go to Egypt. Do you remember how many people they had in Egypt when they went down there? Joseph sends and brings back his family. There’s, I think, like 70 or so, right? They come down at 70. And then they’re in Egypt for a long time, hundreds of years, what happens? They multiply, they’re fruitful, they multiply, and they turn into like hundreds of thousands. So when God brings them out, it’s not just like, oh, it’s just this 70 family that’s kind of grown a little bit. No, now they’re a nation. So God takes them out of Egypt. Their history as a nation, it really begins with them being redeemed out of Egypt. And over and over again, if you’re reading in the Scriptures, you’ll see like God will remind, hey, don’t forget who you were. Don’t forget where you were. I brought you out of the land of Egypt. You better be nice to the sojourners. You better be nice to the aliens. Why? You were sojourners and aliens yourself. So the theme of God being the Redeemer, it’s echoed throughout the Scripture. Actually, Exodus 6, we see it pretty early on in the Egypt story. “Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.’” So there’s a large emphasis on being redeemed, there’s a large emphasis on redemption. But there’s also a big emphasis on the Israelites being redeemers. That makes sense though, and God redeemed them with a capital R, if you want. He’s the Redeemer, capital R, but now he wants them to be redeemers. He wants them to be the goel, the little r. So the average Israelite would actually know many redeemers, little r. He’d know many goels, and he would see redemption carried out regularly. Where would he see it carried out? The city gates, right? Every day you’re headed out to the fields to go to work, you’re passing by them conducting business, and you’re seeing various acts of redemption. Remember the various jobs the goel had? They would redeem clan members sold from economic necessity. That’s kind of what we’re dealing with here just a little bit. They would redeem relatives whose poverty had forced them to sell themselves into slavery. They would avenge the killing of a relative by tracking down and executing the killer. They would receive money as restitution for a wrong committed against someone now deceased. And they would assist the clan member in a lawsuit to see that justice was done. A whole lot of the little redeemers always going on. Now, some people, they take pause or they take issue with the word in verse 5. Most versions say, “acquire Ruth.” You acquire Ruth, like it’s some bride purchase or something. Here’s what one author said: it would be wrong to be offended about the word “acquire” as though it implied that a wife was a husband’s property. It does no such thing. It means something like take under your wings of protection and provision to care for her and look after her. We see this in Exodus 15. Look in Exodus, keep your place in Ruth because we’ll come back, but look at it in Exodus 15. This is Moses and the Israelites singing a song after they were delivered from the Egyptians crossing through the Red Sea. Exodus 15, picking it up in verse 13.
You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O Lord, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased. (Exodus 15:13–16)
“You have led in your steadfast love”—that’s that word, hesed—“the people whom you have redeemed.” So there’s this idea of purchase, but it is woven in the idea of redemption. Redemption. We’ve been a people that are redeemed, right? God has purchased us with the blood of his own Son. So you see those words linked at times. So the purpose of taking Ruth as the Redeemer’s wife, right, is to maintain the name of the deceased Elimelech and his sons. But Israel here at the Exodus is “the people that you purchased,” verse 16, but back in verse 13, “the people that you redeemed.”
The Unnamed Redeemer’s Choice
So what’s this person’s options? This goel’s options? This Redeemer’s options? Well, he can purchase the land and marry Ruth, right? That’s an option. He could purchase the land and pledge to marry Ruth, but later renege on his promise. I mean, that’s an option, but that wouldn’t go over well in the community. He could let Boaz have the land and Ruth, and he could let Boaz have Ruth, but still try to take the land. Again, this wouldn’t go over well in the community. Plus, even if that did happen, if Ruth had offspring, they could grow up and make a claim to the land. But I want you to notice this because it’s important. What was the priority of the unnamed Redeemer? What’s his priority? It’s the land. He’s focused on getting the land. That’s what he wants. What’s the priority of Boaz? His priority is Ruth, right? He’s looking out for them. The unnamed Redeemer is looking out for himself. He even says, oh, I can’t do this, I can’t do this. You know, I got, that’s going to mess up my inheritance. What does he mean by that? Well, because if I end up marrying Ruth and then she has kids through me, they’re going to have a claim to the inheritance. So the land was key for the unnamed Redeemer, but the woman or the women were key for Boaz. And so again we see with Boaz true hesed at work. Now I want you to notice Boaz trusted the Lord to work things out, but he didn’t sit idly by, right? I mean, when he’s at the threshing floor with Ruth, he’s not like, okay, well, there is a small situation and let’s just pray about it and see what happens. No, he trusts God’s providence, but what does he do? He takes action. A lot of times we use God’s providence as an excuse for inaction. That is an abuse of God’s providence. And sometimes we feel like, whatever God wants to do, whatever God wants, that’s great. But guess what? God wants you to do something. God wants you to take action. Those of you who are married in here, you’re married for a reason because you took action, correct? And if you’re not married, maybe it’s because you haven’t taken action. True? You take action. You trust God’s providence. You trust him to provide a spouse, but he’s like, do something. Do something. Same with here, right? Boaz trusts the Lord to work things out; he doesn’t sit around idly. He acted. Boaz took action and he does his part trusting that God would work and continue to work providentially.
Walk in Repentance
Now here’s the thing. It would be easy for the application of this sermon to be, don’t be like the unnamed Redeemer. That’d be easy, and that is maybe. Maybe. But really, I want to focus on the truth of the matter, and that is we are much like the unnamed Redeemer. Because we fail miserably. Over and over again, we get responsibilities and duties, and what do we do? We sin. We fail. And we failed one another and we failed God. But listen, we have a merciful and gracious God. And what does he call us to do when we walk sinfully, when we sin? You repent, right? Did anyone make it through the last week without sinning? Not me. Did you make it through the last 24 hours? Not me. Well, what do we do in that? What’s our reaction sometimes? And I think this is overlooked a lot. Personally, we know we’re having our quiet times and we’re reading our Bible and we’re praying, we really don’t spend too much time repenting before the Lord. I’m just going to be straight with you. We kind of miss that aspect and it’s almost like if we’re not careful, we can end up making repentance be something that we did 10 years ago when we first got saved. And hopefully, yeah, in order to be saved, you have to repent and trust. That’s the initial thing, but hopefully the trust from 10 years ago you’re still trusting today. Yes. I mean [audio unclear] talks about it. A good tree produces what? Good fruit. Yeah, and occasionally there might be some fruit on there that needs to be plucked off because it’s not really fruit. It might look like fruit, but it’s not fruit. You got to pick it off. You got to prune it. John 15, you prune the vine. Well, same thing with us, brothers and sisters. Like we have to continue to walk in repentance. Walk in repentance. 1 John chapter 1, if we say that we have not sinned, what does it say? We deceive ourselves. Yeah, so we sin, we sin, we sin, we sin, we sin a whole lot. Now we better not be sinning meaning this continual process where we’re walking in a particular sin repeatedly. That’s not good. That’s not of God’s children. If that’s you, you definitely need to repent. But God’s children will fall short repeatedly in all sorts of areas. One, don’t use that as an excuse to keep on sinning. The precious blood of your Savior was spilled because you sinned. And if you take sin flippantly, you’re treating the blood flippantly, and you’re treating your forgiveness flippantly, and you’re treating your Savior flippantly. If your sin doesn’t break your heart, then something is not right. If your sin doesn’t break your heart, then something is not right. Because it grieves the heart of God. That’s what your sin does. So if it grieves his heart, how much more should it grieve ours? Because it’s our sin. And so when we talk about our sin, one, let’s take ownership of it. Own your sin. That’s what I have emphasized to my kids over the years. Don’t try to excuse it. Don’t try to brush it away. Don’t try to minimize it. Like, own it. If you did it, then own it. Don’t minimize it. Own the sin. Not like own it like, yeah that’s mine and I’m going to keep doing it. No. Like own it like I did that and it was wrong and I need to do something about it. And brothers and sisters, if you’ve trusted in Christ, you have the answer every single time. You come to Christ and what does he do? He cleanses. He gives you, he wipes it, he wipes it away. But if it’s been more than a couple days since you’ve done that, you need to get right with the Lord and you need to inculcate that more into the practice of your walk with him, walking in repentance. Take your sin seriously. Realize the big deal that it is. [audio unclear] this for a moment. The Israelites, you know, they [audio unclear] to the Israelites. So every day you’re walking by and you’re seeing redemption, little r, occurring. Every single day you’re seeing it occurring. And what was God preparing them for? The Redeemer of Redeemers. He’s preparing them for that. He wove this concept deep into Israel’s nature and constitution. It was what they did.
The Redeemer of Redeemers
It was who they are, why? So that when the Redeemer of Redeemers came along, they’d recognize him, they’d be prepared for him. They would see it, that concept would already be there. So God was pointing them to the Redeemer and pointing them to their need for a Redeemer. You know, you start your Bible plan each year and most people get tripped up around Leviticus, right? But I mean all these different sacrifices, you’re like, dude, all these sacrifices, like I’m just like, dude, if I had a farm, there wouldn’t be any sheep or goats on the farm. All right. I mean I’d be, I wouldn’t be able to be in animal husbandry. I’d have to be doing the wheat or something. I mean, seriously, all these different sacrifices. Every time, unintentional sin, here’s what you do. Intentional sin, here’s what you do. This type of sin, here’s what you do. I mean, right? The nation has sinned, here’s what you do. All this sin, all this sin, right? All this sin. And you’re like, all these rules for the sacrifice, what is it pointing them to? Like the sacrifice was ingrained into their DNA. What’s it pointing them to? The greatest sacrifice of all, right? Pointing them to Jesus. The sacrificial system, it points to Jesus. Even these laws, you should find Christ in each of these laws. But how much more clear than these laws of redemption pointing us to Christ, that what? We need a Redeemer. We need a Redeemer. And yes, there’s little redeemers, but they can just do some of these little things. Now we need a Redeemer who can do some big things. And Jesus comes along, and he does the big things. He does the thing that none of us can do. He lays his entire life down. All of it completely, entirely. He lays his life down. All of it for, why? So that we, each one of us, can have life. Not just the life here, but the life to come. The zoē, the Greek word, the zoē life, the eternal life. Jesus is the one who brings that. No Jesus, no eternal life. But if you know Jesus, then you can know eternal life. You do know eternal life. Brothers and sisters, let me encourage you, have a walk with the Lord where you’re walking in the fruits of repentance, where you’re walking. I mean, if you’re walking in right relationship with your spouse, and hopefully you are, I mean you are walking in repentance in the sense that if you sin against her or you sin against him, then you make it right, correct? What happens if you don’t make it right? What happens if you don’t make it right? Are you still married? Yeah, but how’s that marriage going to go? It’s going to be a little rough, right? It’s going to be a lot of rough. But you’re still married. Well, here’s the same thing. Like, if you’re just like constantly sinning and you think that’s no big deal, like you’re sinning against the holy God. Now, if you are a believer, your sin against him, it doesn’t break that covenant that you have with him. It doesn’t break the relationship. What it breaks is the enjoyment that you have of that relationship. It’s just like your relationship with your spouse. I mean, if there’s sin there, and one of you sins against the other, I mean, you still have the relationship, you’re just not going to enjoy that relationship that much. And then what happens? Oh, you know, one of you that’s sinned, sometimes both, if you’ve both sinned, I mean you come back together, you apologize, right? The relationship is restored. You still have the relationship. It’s the same thing with our holy God. You still have that relationship, but the relationship is restored. Let’s make sure we are walking in the restoration of that relationship that we have with the Father. We have it. But what is that really symbolizing? It’s that we can fellowship with him. I mean, meals, and we did a study many years ago in our life groups on hospitality, but what is essential? What is one of the key aspects with hospitality? I love it. It’s food. I mean, food’s a big deal, right? I mean, the Baptists, they got something right there, okay, with the food. Let’s give it to them. Give them the props. Food’s important. But food, so here we’re having, I mean, it’s a meal. I mean, it wouldn’t really satisfy just a little piece of bread. But it symbolizes the meal, the fellowship that we have with the Father. It symbolizes one day we’re going to dine with him in heaven at the marriage feast of the Lamb. I’m going to be there. Are you going to be there? I hope you’re there. I hope you’re there. It’s going to be a great feast. All right? I don’t know if there’s a limit on the food, but I’m definitely going back for seconds and thirds, okay? Like it’s going to be a great time. It’s going to be the best marriage ceremony ever. Make sure you’re there. All that to say, God has been very gracious to us. Let’s make sure that our hearts are right. Let’s make sure our hearts are right and that we are walking in repentance before him. Let’s pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you that by the blood of the Lamb we have been redeemed. By the blood of your precious Son our sins are forgiven. It was spilled for us. It was shed for the redemption of your people. Thank you for [audio unclear] for the areas we fall short just today. And Lord, I do pray, if anyone here is in some type of habitual sin, that they would repent. You’d set them free, break those chains of bondage, let them experience freedom in Christ. Let them walk no longer in the darkness, but walk in the light. Be true for us, Lord, that maybe we’re not walking in darkness, maybe we don’t have a habitual sin, Lord, but we are messing up. May we come before you to receive forgiveness. We’ve received it in Christ, but may we continue to come and have the relationship with you restored so that we can enjoy it fully. Thank you that you are a God quick to forgive. Exodus 34, you’re slow to anger, but you abound in the hesed love. Thank you that you abound in the hesed love, that you are quick to forgive, that you are a merciful and good God for us. We love you. Amen.