Thoughts on seeing Christ in all of Scripture

Last week I was preaching on 2 Kings 3. It's an easy passage to get a lot of moral lessons from, but what does it have to tell us about Jesus? I found myself scratching my head often.

I have a problem with how some preachers make the 'leap' from Old Testament narrative to Christ. A number of commentators say something like this about 2 Kings 3: "v20 tells us that God's provision was made about the time of the morning sacrifice. This speaks to us of Christ, where God provided what we needed at the time of the sacrifice."

I appreciate that the writer of 2 Kings tells us of the morning sacrifice for a reason, but I'm not convinced that this is how we best see Christ here. It often seems as if preachers scrabble around in the dust of the text for a key word that they can seize on and milk for all it is worth, for example, "red" - Rahab hung a red cord from her window", or as in this case "sacrifice". (Although admittedly 'sacrifice' is a much more substantial key word than 'red').

It always seems a bit random to me: a bit 'hit and hope', a bit 'pulling a rabbit from a hat'.

It seems like a man standing close to a large red brick wall, peering intently at the lines of mortar. You ask him what he is doing and he answers, "I'm looking for something red". And after a long search he points to a fragment of red grit, and exclaims, "If found it!". And yet all the while, all he had to do was step back and look at the whole wall of red bricks.

Consider 2 Kings 3. What is the chapter about? It's about three foolish and disobedient kings who get stuck in a desert without water. They cry out to God for help and he answers and graciously and miraculously gives them more than they ever ask for or imagine. It's a chapter that contrasts man's folly and the grace of God to undeserving sinners. The contrast is heightened by a fourth king who feels that the only way he can gain his god's attention is by sacrificing his son, whereas all the other three kings had to do was to come to God. It is about a gracious God who yoke is easy and whose burden is light.

The lostness of man without God, the folly of ignoring God, the heavy yoke of false religion, and the abundant grace of God to those who seek him - if that's not the gospel I don't know what is!

Sometimes it's not a matter of 'finding' Christ in the text, but of standing back and seeing the whole picture.

Of course I got all this figured out after I preached the sermon!

The severity of God at Bethel

(Looking at 2 Kings 2:23-25. Again - much owed to Stuart Olyott and Dale Ralph Davis)

God still punishes unrepentant sinners
Here is the miracle of the cursing of delinquent children. And the purpose of this passage is to teach us that God's wrath is just as real as his grace. The unchanging God who is good is also severe.

Elisha leaves Jericho and travels to Bethel. Now Bethel is almost the exact opposite of Jericho. Bethel is a place with a great history. This is where Jacob lay down to sleep and he had the dream with the ladder with angels ascending and descending, and he awoke and said, "Surely God was in this place and I knew it not." He called it Bethel, meaning house of God. It was the place where God had given his people a great victory in the days of the Judges. Samuel visited Bethel in his preaching circuit.

It was a place that had known blessing from God, whereas Jericho had known God's curse. And where we saw God bringing forth blessing in the city of the curse, now we see God bringing a curse in the city of blessing.

Straight away we see that we must never think that God's blessing and grace clings to a particular place, or a particular congregation or family. The place of blessing can become a place that provokes the wrath of God. God's house can become a house of wrath.

In fact in the intervening years Bethel had actually become a place of idol worship. In two generations it went from being the House of God, to what Hosea calls Bethaven, The house of Wickedness.

Elisha travels to this town, and news of what had happened in Jericho surely travelled before him. Certainly news of Elijah's going to Heaven had reached the town - that's why the children cry out, "Go up!". But such is the town of Bethel, that before he has even made it inside the city walls, a crowd of young boys come out to him.

Now the NIV says youths, and that conjures up ideas of 18-25 year old louts. The KJV has 'little children' - and that gives ideas of 5-6 year olds. Neither gives the right impression. NKJV - young lads - You'll not be far off if you think of 8-14 year olds - really, little youths. Boys, not teenage thugs.

And as Elisha is approaching the town they spy him and go out to meet him. Note they went out of the town - they had to go out of their way to mock the man of God. This wasn't the case of Elisha walking down the High Street and a few of the town wags having a bit of a laugh. They saw him and left to harass the man of God. And it's a sizeable crowd - because look at v24, 42 of them were mauled. Those words, "of them" are significant. More than 42 children were involved.

And it is not a childish prank. They weren't just calling him "Baldy". They were shouting "Go up, Go up". They were telling him to do what Elijah had done. Get up to Heaven, you baldy man. GO on get out of Bethel and go up, go up to Heaven. They were mocking the things of God, and they were mocking God and they were mocking the man of God.

You might be thinking "That sounds a bit advanced for 10, 11 year olds to be thinking". And you might be right - but where do children learn things that are beyond their years? How often have you heard a child express an adult opinion, and where has he heard that adult opinion? In the home. Have you ever noticed this happen, much to the embarrassment of parents? Children repeating swear words and its obvious where it has come from? Where do loyalist children in the north learn their hatred?

And you can be sure that in the homes of Bethel in the days before, there were parents talking over the dinner table, and they were talking about Elijah, and the rumours of the fiery chariots, and they were wishing him good riddance, were talking about Elisha - baldy so and so, and the school of the prophets in Bethel, and they knew Elisha would be visiting the prophets - and they wanted nothing to do with the baldy old goat, and if he would just get away on up like his master that would suit everyone nicely.

And at the table were little ears drinking it all in - the distain and disregard of the parents for the man of God and for the things of God. That's the way mummy and daddy think, so that must be the way to think.

When children snigger and sneer at holy things, that is because they have learnt it at home. And when children hold the things of God and the prophet of God in contempt, then we have reached an all time low. And children don't get there until their parents get there.

So here is a warning for parents. Your attitude to the things of God, to God's word, and to God's house, and to God's day, and to God's people, and to God's ministers will hugely influence your children. Some of you aren't parents, some of you have children who are grown up, but nevertheless there are still children who see you at church each week. And you set them an example either for good or for bad.

What happens next? Look at v24.

Note carefully this is no act of a petty petulant man, who has had his pride wounded by some likeable but high-spirited children. If this had been a rash act of revenge, then the LORD would not have confirmed Elisha's words by sending the bears. God is under no obligation. And Elisha can't command bears. This is the punishment of a righteous judge.

And God had warned the people that if they forsook his covenant, if they abandoned him, then this would happen. In Lev 26 God states the blessings that follow when his people walk in his ways. But he also states what happens when his people will forsake his ways.

Leviticus 26:14 "But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror. 19 I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.

They had just had three and a half years of drought.

20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit.

Jericho had experienced this, and they had repented.

21 "If you remain hostile towards me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted."

If you look at the text, you'll see that Elisha didn't call the bears, he simply called down a curse - a covenant curse on a covenant breaking people. And God did what he said he would do.

Because God will not be mocked. He says in Gal 6:7

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."

And God will not allow his messengers to be mocked either. Matthew 10:40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.

How do you think the parents felt? Those boys had only spoken what they had heard their mum and dad say, those boys only had attitudes and beliefs that their parents had had.

Their children had paid the penalty because of the godless lives of their parents. Make no mistake - it was the children's sin, but they wouldn't have been in that terrible condition if their parents had been different. Their parents had broken the covenant, and God was faithful to his word. At each baptism we recognise the covenant that God makes with believers and their families, that covenant carries great promises for those parents who are faithful, but it also carries terrible promises for those who squander the blessings available to their children, who fail to bring them up in the ways of God.

And I say this in love, if some of you have children that are not interested in the things of God, or who despise the things of God, it may be the case that you need to seek forgiveness from God for the signals they have picked up from you. I say signals, because you can go to church, but children aren't stupid, they can see whether or not this Christianity is a living breathing reality for mummy and daddy.

And God's promises of judgment are real. He is slow to anger, but he will display that anger. He is not some unhearing unseeing god like the Baals. He notes, he sees. And those who breaks God's rules will find not the God is gracious, but that he is severe. He will not let the guilty go unpunished. And across the centuries comes this warning voice - "Be not deceived, God is not mocked."

Because God is a God who is severe with unrepentant sinners.

Conclusion
So what have we seen?

We have seen that those who live and displease God, in which God will show that he is severe.
Or like those who lived in Jericho, they can repent and turn to God, in which case they will discover that God is a God who delights to show grace and mercy.

Behold the goodness and severity of God.

The wonderful grace of God at Jericho

Behold the Goodness of God - 2 Kings 2:19-22
(This is part one of a sermon entitled "The Goodness and Severity of God". It owes a lot to Stuart Olyott's sermon on the same passage and to Dale Ralph Davis' commentary on 2 Kings.)

Elisha tours back through Bethel and Jericho. And the purpose of this tour back through the towns that Elijah and just travelled through it for the people in these towns to see that although Elijah may be gone, God is still present and working through his prophet Elisha.

The circumstances may have changed but God has not changed. More specifically we learn in these passages that his saving power has not changed, and his wrath at sin have not changed.

This section and the next could be summed up by one New Testament verse, Rom 11:22

Romans 11:22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God (NASB)

And that is what we are going to - to consider the goodness, or the grace of God and also the severity of God.

God still saves undeserving sinners v19-22
Elisha has travelled up from the banks of the Jordan, towards the city of Jericho. It was a fantastically situated city. One commentator describes it as, "A situation of remarkable natural beauty." It stands in the middle of a broad plain, majestic views with mountains rising steeply behind the city. It had been famed for its rich fertile soil, where palm trees of various kinds flourished in abundance.

But now it was the city of the curse. When Joshua and the children of Israel, 600 years previously, had travelled into the Promised Land, Jericho was the first city in Canaan to defy Israel. And it defied not only Israel, but God. And it came under the curse of God. Joshua 6:26 records Joshua speaking God's curse on this defiant city:

Joshua 6:26 At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates."

And sometime in the past 22 years, in the reign of Ahab, sure enough someone decided to rebuild Jericho. And as he started we read in 1 Kings 16 his oldest son died, and yet he persisted in his disobedience, and as he finished and put gates on the city, his youngest son died.

It was the city of the curse. Nothing grew well there now. In v19 the men of the town come to Elisha seeking his help. For twenty years they have been seeking to live in this town. Everything is perfect, the view, the city layout, the roads, but there is one problem.

19 The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive."

The trees and the fields and the vineyards were unproductive. In fact the situation is worse than the NIV translation. Literally it says "the land causing to miscarry". The Hebrew phrase vivid in its words, applies not just to the ground, but to the animals and people too. For 20 years they had struggled, crops would die, animals would come to give birth and miscarry. When the fruit trees blossomed and looked as if they were about to give fruit, the fruit came to nothing. When the mothers were pregnant they lost their children before they were born.

Here is a very clear picture of our world, and the lives of many of its inhabitants - the situation of their life is pleasant, well situated, they have a good job, friends, nice house, but they are under a very real and lasting curse. When Adam and Eve sinned they ruined it for all of us, just as surely as the inhabitant of Jericho 600 years previously had ruined the city for these people.

This teaches us straight away that it doesn't matter how materially blessed we are, if we are under the wrath of God, it ruins everything. It is the one thing that we need to get sorted out in our lives. Here also we see that God's wrath and his curse is both real and lasting. It was nearly 600 years since Joshua had in God's name uttered those words that declared God's wrath on the place.

And we learn here that when that is the case there is only one thing to do - come to God and seek his help. In the city for three days there has been this eminent man of God, so the men of the city approach Elisha.

Now look at v20-21.

He tells them to bring a bowl with salt. It is symbolic, as with many miracles. It is to be a new bowl - not one that can be associated with anything else. It doesn't belong to anyone, it hasn't been used for offering incense to another god. In it they are to put some salt. Again symbolic. Salt was used in biblical times for a host of different uses. It was used to preserve meat. It was used to make things palatable. Elisha takes the bowl with the salt - that which preserves, that which makes tasty, and goes to the source of the problem, the spring itself and throws in the salt. But it is not the salt that works the change. Nor is it Elisha. v21 gives us what Elisha said, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'"

It is the Lord who works the miracle and Elisha makes sure the people know it. It is a work of God. It is God who is putting the situation straight. And we read in v22 that the cure was permanent.

Here is a great picture of the grace of God
In the place of the curse, God is good. He is actively good to those who don't deserve it, to those who have flouted his laws, and have come seeking his help. And now there is life where once there was death.

There's hope for those who have lived life without God, and come knowing that they have defied God, there is grace where there should be judgment.
Here is encouragement for those whose past holds pain and hurt, and who wonder "How can God delight in me?". God's grace transforms that. Look at Jericho.
Here is encouragement for those whose sin as Christians has clouded their walk with God - and you have wondered "Will I ever enjoy the sunlight God God's smile again?"
Here is encouragement for those of us who have loved ones whom we care for that aren't converted. God brings life where there was death.

Here is a God who delights to show grace to undeserving sinners. V22 is a marvellous verse

2 Kings 2:22 And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

When a person is changed they remain changed. And sometimes we need to take ourselves mentally to Jericho, or even take others to Jericho and make them stand and look at the city once under the curse of God, now enjoying his grace, and say to them, "Here is your God" - the God who "binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted." (Is 30:26)

What a great encouragement this is to us as individuals and as a fellowship - How like Jericho Letterkenny is. Yet as Elisha found - God hasn't changed. He still delights to display his grace.

Here is a great picture of the gospel.
The source needs to be put right if we are to be right. All the problems in Jericho were down to the water. The problems in men and women's lives are down to sin. If there is to be any hope for them, they need to go to God.

And it seems an unlikely answer, that a message about death can bring life, people need hope, and we tell them that they are guilty before God. People need their lives put back together and we tell them that they aren't broken enough, that they need to humble themselves before God and seek forgiveness. People need life and we point them to the cross, a place of death.

But how unlikely did Elisha's actions seem - that by adding salt to the water that life could be brought. Victorious armies scattered salt it on land to render it infertile, to curse the land, yet here is God taking the thing used to curse land, and using it to bring life.

But in the place of the curse there is life. When we look to the place where Jesus suffered the wrath of God, there we find life.

Here is a great picture of the power of God in the gospel
How unlikely it must have seemed when Elisha stood with the little bowl of salt at the great rushing waters that fed the town. How insignificant the cure seemed, when such a vast area needed to be covered.

We live in a vast town. Each citizen is under God's curse - they have gone wrong right at the source. And the source needs to be healed if there is to be any hope. And all we have is the gospel, and it mightn't seem like much as we look at all the effects of sin in Donegal, the godlessness, the immorality, the suicide, the depression, disobedience - and we can wonder, what do we have to offer? Elisha learns this lesson early on in his ministry that God solution is enough for the task. His grace is sufficient.

Here is great encouragement for us as we go out with the Gospel. Here we see that God delights to transform curse-ridden sin laden judgment deserving sinners into men and women of grace. God's word through God's people brings God's grace - even to Jericho.

Isn't there hope here for all sinners? Don't you see how powerful God's grace is?

A great picture of the gospel - we go to people whose hearts are poisoned by sin, we take with us the gospel, in a weak earthen vessel, neither looks very impressive, but it doesn't matter because it is God who works!

Behold the goodness of God

Words of Christ in Red

Over at Shall we sing a song for you, Stevie Steele is surveying whether he should get a 'words of Christ in red' bible.

I suppose I wasnt just being provocative in my comments in his blog. I was saying what I really feel!

This really gets my goat!! I appreciate that it can be helpful to see what Jesus said (helpful for those who can't see the phrase "And Jesus said"!), but I find it theologically and physiologically offensive.

Three reasons why I don't like it:

One - It seems to suggest that the rest of scripture is somehow less inspired than Christ's actual words. This works out in practice with people saying things like, "Yes, I know that Paul says that but Jesus says this" as if the two were in conflict, and as if Paul's instructions on something like church discipline, for example, are somehow unbiblical! Believe me, I've heard this happen.

Two - It's harder to read. See this slightly tongue in cheek article. It concludes:

According to Wheldon's study, to print the words of Christ in red is to ensure that they will be poorly comprehended by 81% of readers! It is difficult indeed to see how this does him honour. To be sure, it makes his words stand out—it's just that it's almost impossible to read and remember them. I trust that little further needs to be said. Out of reverence for the Lord Jesus, we must put a stop to red-letter Bibles. They are rendering his words largely unreadable, thus affecting the spiritual well-being of who knows how many unsuspecting Bible readers. In the interests of Christ's words being read, we must ensure they cease being red.

Three - its hard to get plain text editions of bibles in a format you like without having the words of Christ in red.

Sabbath Sermon - Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

In 1983 when Bob Paisley the manager of Liverpool FC retired, Liverpool were at the peak of their greatness. They had won the European Cup, the League Cup, the Milk Cup - they were sweeping everything before them.

The questions on everyone's lips were - Who would take over? and Would the team be as successful?

Unfortunately as time proved, a succession of managers have been unable to repeat the majesty of those glory days.

Elijah the Prophet is about to go to Heaven. Elijah had stood like a mighty giant in the scenery of Israel - standing boldly and bravely for the cause of God. He had opposed Ahab, and Jezebel, and seen them off. He had single-handedly, from a human perspective seen off the prophets of Baal. He had given a strong and firm lead in days of desperate crisis. And now God was going to take him from the life of the church and the nation. Who would take his place? And the people knew that it wasn't just a matter of stepping into his shoes, the successor needed God with him. Was Elisha the man? Was he really up to the task?

It was an uncertain time. Kings were changing. War was on the horizon. What remains for the people of God in shifting times? Is Elisha the successor? Is God with Elisha?

Those are the questions that run through this passage. The chapter finds its climax with one question, finally the question everyone has been wondering, but has been afraid to ask is asked, v14 "Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?"

The whole chapter seems to focus in on this one moment

They leave Gilgal in Samaria, head for Bethel, head for Jericho, Cross the Jordan, Elijah is taken away - then we have this cliff hanging question - "Where is the Lord the God of Elijah?" And then Elisha crosses the Jordan, travels back to Jericho, then back through Bethel, then back into Samaria.

At the centre of it all stands this question - "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?"

Such an important question. It is a key question for each of us to be asking ourselves. Last week we saw that we live in a world very similar to Elisha - days of wickedness and unbelief and sexual immorality, days of indifference to the things of God.

And where is God? Do we even need God?

The Question - Why do we need the God of Elijah?
Why did Elisha need God?

Because he is majestic
You can imagine that as Elisha grew up in his home, and as his father Shaphat taught him about the one true God, that they would have followed the events of the prophet of God with great interest. News would filter in to their home in Abel-Meholah of the great events of Eliajh's ministry. And then for ten or so years Elisha had served Elijah. He had seen at first hand what God was like, and what it was like when God acted. Not only so, but he had opportunity to hear of all the mighty acts God carried out through Elijah.

Elijah's God - called that because the country was rife with so many false gods - Elijah's God was the God who had sent fire from Heaven on the glorious night at Mount Carmel when the false god Baal was shown to be a figment of the imagination. How that must have thrilled the hearts of the faithful believers in Israel.

Elijah's God was the God who controlled the weather, stopping the rain for three years, sending rain after the triumph of Mt Carmel.

Elijah's God was the God who miraculously provided the flour and oil for the faithful believing widow at Zarephath and her son.

Elijah's God was the God who, when the widow's son died from sickness, sent life back into the corpse of that young man as he lay on the bed.

Elijah's God was the God who commanded the ravens to lift bread and meat and fly to the Kerith ravine where Elijah was in hiding and to deliver food to his faithful prophet.

Elijah's God was the God who sent fire from Heaven not once, but twice to protect his prophet from arrest by the soldiers of wicked king Ahaziah.

Elijah's God is the God who provides for his people in need
Elijah's God is the God who defeats his enemies and triumphs
Elijah's God is the God who controls the universe
Elijah's God is the God who protects.

Elijah's God is utterly majestic - Don't you want to know him? Don't you want him with you?

Because he is the one true God
When Elisha shouts, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?", he isn't calling forth one God out of a myriad of gods. He doesn't have to identify God in such a manner because there are other gods. He does so because Elijah was the foremost representative of the one true God in Israel.

And even in this passage God demonstrates again that he is the one true God. Unbelief, if it weren't so tragic is almost comical. Baal was the nature god. He was the god how provided the rains. Baal was the god of the crops. In ancient Canaan Baal was known as the "One who rides upon the Clouds". His voice thundered forth, and he carried lightning as his spear. Baal was the god of storms.

Here's the irony - in the ministry of Elijah, God systematically challenged the people at every turn by demonstrating that Baal was no god, and that he was the true God.

In the country of the rain god, He sent a drought
In the country of the god of crops and fields, He stopped the crops
In the country of the lightning god, He sent fire from Heaven to consume the prophets of the lightning God
In the country of the rain god, He sent the rains when He decreed
In the country of the Fire god, He sent fire from Heaven to consume the soldiers
And now even the way Elijah departs is a snub to the worshippers of Baal.

How does God take his faithful servant home?

In a whirlwind! And he sends a chariot of fire and horses of fire so that we know that it is not just a freak of weather conditions. And Elijah the prophet of the true God departs in a storm, with the Chariot of God - the true Rider of the Clouds beside him.

The Warrior God, the captain of the armies of Heaven, has come to retrieve his servant.

How great is Elijah's God. He alone is the true God. The miracles proved it, the ascension confirms it.

Just like the one described as "One greater than Elijah is here" - the Lord Jesus Christ.

What God was doing with Prophet Elijah in his life was to give us a picture of the Great Prophet to come. Jesus came and worked mighty miracles. Except in this case it was different. God worked through Elijah - the miracles were not Elijah's but God's. But with Jesus, he spoke and it was done because he spoke it. He is the one true God. Jesus' ascension confirmed his deity. When God took Elijah to be with him, he sent a chariot and a whirlwind, because Elijah wasn't capable of going himself. But with the one greater than Elijah, there was no chariot, no whirlwind, because he wasn't some servant of God, he was and is God.

Jesus is the only one who really meets our need.

And so, why do we need Jesus? Because he is who he says he is - he is the one true God, he is the Saviour that the world needs, he is the way the truth and the life, he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He is the door, he is the resurrection and the life. He is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

He is the one true God.

Because good character and hard work aren't enough
It would be easy to study Elisha's life and learn a lot of great lessons about Elisha, because he was a fine man of God. He was diligent - see him stick to his God-given task in the opening verses, despite the efforts of the prophets and even of Elijah to dissuade him. He refused to be sucked in to the pessimistic outlook of the other prophets - "Don't you know Elijah's going today."

That was all they could think about, but Elisha cuts them off before they get into full flow, "What are we going to do? What will become of the cause of God now? All is lost!" Elisha silences them.

But nevertheless, it is not Elisha's hard work, or effort, or his optimism, or his obedience, or his sacrificial following of God, or his humility that will see him through the trials that lie ahead of him. And he knows it. And so he calls, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah."

He needs God. And good character, and good moral uprightness are not enough. We need God in our lives.

Elisha is a man who knows that. Do you? Or are you counting on being moral and upright and decent and hard working? It isn't enough. Human effort isn't enough for anyone to live in this world to serve God or even be acceptable to God. You need to cry out for the God of Elijah, you need to seek the Lord Jesus who is the God of Elijah, to come and rescue you.

Do we know that as a fellowship?
Do you know that in your own life? - not enough to work hard at being a Christian, reading your Bible, going to church, praying. You need this hunger for God. We need God with us, working in us. We need to be often on our knees with this prayer. It needs to be our cry every week as we come to church, every morning as we get up.

Like Elisha we can't take it for granted - Where NOW, today is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

Because He is our only hope
Elisha about to step into Elijah's shoes, feels the crushing weight of responsibility. Elisha knows that if there is to be any hope for this messed up world that he needs the Lord, the same God that Elijah had.

Not simply Elijah that he wanted - he doesn't pray to the dear departed saint for help in the trials he is about to face, because Elisha knows that God is his only hope. There is no saint or departed man or woman of God who is of any use to us now. God is our only hope.

It was God who enables Elijah to stand firm in the trials he faced. That man, when the waters raged about him stood like a rock, unmoved and unmovable. That is the kind of men we need in the church today. Men who will stand for what they believe. And they are vital for the health of the church. And not only that for the welfare of this nation. Elisha phrase, "My father, my father, the chariot and horsemen of Israel." This isn't Elisha referring to the fiery chariots and horses, this is a phrase used in scripture to describe the defence of a nation. It is used of Elisha on his deathbed when there were no fiery chariots. But Elisha realises that men and women of God are the true security of any nation. They are the ones that uphold the nation before God in prayer, that are a witness to the truth of God, that uphold God's laws.

But to be such a man or woman of God we need God, we need to be made strong by God. We need to be filled by the Holy Spirit. Ireland's welfare lies not in the hands of politicians, or civil servants, or in business men and women, but it lies in the hands of men and women of God, who will pray and confront, and witness, and resist evil.

We need the Lord, the same God as was the God of Elijah

So here is our prayer - Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

The Hunger - Desiring God
Elisha has seen enough to know that he wants the God of Elijah to be the God of Elisha. And we see how earnest he is in his desire. He knew that God was present in the sense that he is present everywhere. But he wanted more than that. He wanted God to work through him, and to know God's power personally at work in his life. And when he got up that morning he set himself resolutely to pursue this?

He had a hunger for God that is unmissable. He knew Elijah was going, he knew God had called him to do the same work Elijah had been doing. And he knew he couldn't do it on his own, so he wasn't going to let Elijah out of his sight until he had received an assurance that Elijah's God would be his God too. See his hunger:

In his Persistence
He got up that morning somewhere in Samaria, Elijah informs him that he is going to Bethel. It would seem that either Elijah or God has told Elisha that this will be Elijah's last day on earth

And Elijah takes a less than straight route across the Jordan, starting off at Gilgal, heading for Bethel, then for Jericho, then across the Jordan. Some 20-30 miles. It is his final farewell tour of the prophets, men that he has acted as leader to over the last number of years.

And at each place - Gilgal, Bethel, then Jericho - Elijah makes a strange request of Elisha. Three times he asks Elisha to stay behind. Elijah suggests to him to stay. But Elisha persists for these 20-30 miles. He has been made a servant of the prophet of God by God, and he is going to stick to his God-given task. It is a test, to see how much Elisha wants the to be Elijah's successor. And we know it is a test because in v9 he has passed the test and he is rewarded for his commitment. Elijah says to him, "What can I do for you before I depart?".

And now his persistence pays off because he can ask for what he so badly wants. He has hiked over 25 miles with Elijah for this moment. And we see his hunger for God in his persistence. Will you be persistent in your desire for God?

In his request
Elisha asks for a double portion of the Spirit of Elijah. This isn't asking that Elisha would be twice as holy, or twice as godly, or twice as powerful as Elijah. In biblical times, when a father made out his will, he divided the property between his children. He would give a double portion to the one he choose as his successor, the head of the family, usually the oldest son. If he had 5 sons, the property was divided in 6 and a double portion given to the one who had greater responsibility.

Elisha is asking that he be appointed as the successor of Elijah. He is a man who fervently wants to serve God, and to be equipped by God to do so. Here is a test of a person's character - The man of God asks "What do you want me to do for you?" How would you respond? If you were told as a Christian that you could have anything you wanted. What would you ask for? He didn't ask for wealth, or honour, or safety, or success.

Elisha wants the necessary spiritual gifts to do what God has called him to do. He recognises that he can't do the task ahead without the equipping of God. He wants the same spirit that rests upon Elijah to rest upon him too. And here we see his hunger - anything in all the world - and he wants the Spirit of God to rest on him. And again we see his persistence. Elijah acknowledges that Elisha has asked for a difficult thing - not the blessing itself, God gives that, not Elijah. But Elijah recognises what young Elisha is asking for - he is saying "I want to stand where you have stood, to be God's ambassador to kings, to stand in the teeth of the storm and speak for God. And Elijah says, "You are asking for a difficult thing." And then he again seems to offer Elisha a way out - all along he has been giving Elisha an escape route, and now he does it again - "If you see me go, it will be yours." I understand this to be a challenge to count the cost of discipleship. It is going to be a hard life Elijah tells him, you can turn away now, but if you want the blessing stay here with me. And he stays.

In his Cry
"Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?"

The next thing that happens is that a fiery chariot and horses sweep between them, separating Elijah and Elisha. And then a whirlwind comes along and in the whirlwind Elijah is taken up to Heaven.

And at this Elisha is overwhelmed with grief - "My father, my father." It was a personal loss to Elisha. God's servants are not inhuman machines, and Elisha feels greatly the loss of the man whom he had lived and worked with for the last 10 or so years.

And as Elijah disappears from view, left behind is his cloak, and Elisha lifts the cloak. It is his token that he is to Elijah's successor, that his request has been answered. And he heads for the Jordan and as he gets to the Jordan, what does he say? Does he say, "Here is Elijah's cloak, a relic of this great saint of God - I must build a shrine to it and worship it."? Or "Here is the cloak of mighty Elijah, it will spilt the waters as it did before"?

No - he cries out "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah" because he knows that is the only solution. And he cries out - "where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" A passionate heartfelt plea.

Will you make it your plea - for your congregfation, for your own life? Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

And the whole chapter is building up to this climax - Is Elisha going to be the divinely appointed successor to Elijah or not? Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? Will God act for this servant as he acted for the previous servant? For this generation as in the previous generation? Is God with this follower of God as he was with Elijah?

The Answer
Imagine the scene. Elisha approaches the river with the cloak in his hand. On the other side 50 of the Prophets from Jericho were standing watching. They had seen Elijah and Elisha cross over. Now they watch as only Elisha returns they see in his hand Elijah's cloak. What will happen next? Elisha approaches the banks of the Jordan and strikes the waters and cries out "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah" and the waters part.

Here is the answer. The Lord the God of Elijah is with Elisha. Poor Elisha has lost Elijah, his grief is real, but he has not lost Elijah's God, and therefore all is well. The servant of God has gone, but God has not gone.

This passage teaches us that although times may change, and godly leaders come and go, God does not change. Is there any truth more comforting in an uncertain world than this? God, the same mighty God that was with Elijah, and so powerfully worked through Elijah was the same mighty God that was now with Elisha, and our God does not change and when in our day and in our generation we cry out, "Where NOW is the Lord, the God of Elijah?"

The Lord Jesus Christ answers, "I am with you always until the very end of the age."

And we see God's presence with Elisha in the next few verses as first of all the prophets recognise that Elisha is the successor - look at v15. Not only so, but when they seek his opinion about where Elijah is, and they set out to search for him, they learn that he not only has God's power present with him, but the wisdom of God with him as well.

Christian friends, not only do we have God's power at work in us and through us, and God's presence with us, but we have God's wisdom at our disposal. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

Elisha retraces the path taken by Elijah through Jericho and Bethel and there displays that God is with him by the miracles he works there.

Friends the great lesson here is that our God remains with his people and works through them. And so our great hunger and longing should be to know God's presence with us, the God who said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," the God who said to Paul, "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you", that is the God who is with us. And like Elisha we should hunger, not just to know in our heads that he is with us, but to see him at work in us and through us, to have his power and wisdom evident in our lives.

Will you pray this prayer?

Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

Introducing Elisha - 1 Kings 19

We're starting to look at Elisha over the next number of weeks in church. Here's the outline of where we went in the introduction.

Context – It is possible to serve God in Difficult times
Time: 850-800 BC After David and Solomon.

Place: Israel is split in two. The Northern kingdom is a godless place
Elisha & Elijah serve God in the Northern kingdom

Situation: Several generations of idol worship
Sexual immorality widespread
False teachers in the church
A coldness among the people of God

Often we think that no time is as bad as our own. Yet Elisha's world was much like 21st century Ireland

But God still had his people and still had his messengers
Even when God is angry with a nation, God is still tender towards his people

Contrast – God has shaped each of his people the way he wants them to be
Elijah – Possibly a poor background
Elisha – Well off family

Elijah – A lonely life mostly in the countryside
Elisha – Lived with the prophets and with people in cities

Elijah – A Prophet of Judgement
Elisha – A Prophet of Grace

Elijah – Extremes of temperament
Elisha – Even tempered and self controlled.

Elijah’s Message – God is Holy
Elisha’s Message – God is tender

Elijah's miracles - mostly judgment
Elisha's miracles - mostly healing and restoration

Both godly, both the men God made them.
God has different men for different times, different people for different situations.
Elisha doesn’t try to be Elijah. We need to be content with who God has made us, while yet striving to grow in godliness.

Calling – The Marks of the Servant of God
God’s call is an authoritative call that he expects to be obeyed. He calls all men and women to follow Christ.

Four characteristics of the man or woman who follows God

• Diligent at whatever work God has given them – v19
• Immediate obedience to God’s word – v20a
• Willingness to sacrifice – v20b
• Humble service – v21 (see 2Kings 3:11)

How do you read your Bible?

I came across this quite challenging bit from JI Packer recently:

"So let us read the Bible - if we can. But can we? Many of us have lost the ability. When we open our Bibles, we do so in a frame of mind that forms an insurmountable barrier to reading it at all. This may sound startling, but it is true. Let me explain.

When you read a book, you treat it as a unit. You look for the plot or the main thread of the argument and follow it through to the end. You let the author's mind lead yours. Whether or not you allow yourself to "dip" before settling down to absorb the book, you know that you will not have understood it till you have read it from start to finish. If it is a book that you want to master, you set aside time for a careful, unhurried journey through it.

But when we come to Holy Scripture, our behaviour is different. To start with, we are not in the habit of treating it as a book - a unit - at all; we approach it simply as a collection of separate stories and sayings. We take it for granted that these items represent either moral advice or comfort for those in trouble. So we read the Bible in small doses, a few verses at a time. We do not go through individual books, let alone the two Testaments, as a single whole. We browse through the rich old Jacobean periods of the King James Version or the informalities of the New Living Translation, waiting for something to strike us. When the words bring a soothing thought or a pleasant picture, we believe the Bible has done its job. We have come to view the Bible not as a book, but as a collection of beautiful and suggestive snippets, and it is as such that we use it. The result is that, in the ordinary sense of "read," we never read the Bible at all. We take it for granted that we are handling Holy Writ in the truly religious way, but this use of it is in fact merely superstitious. It is, I grant, the way of natural religiosity. But it is not the way of true religion.

God does not intend Bible reading to function simply as a drug for fretful minds.

The reading of Scripture is intended to awaken our minds, not to send them to sleep. God asks us to approach Scripture as his Word - a message addressed to rational creatures, people with minds, a message we cannot expect to understand without thinking about it. "Come now, and let us reason together," said God to Judah through Isaiah (Isa. 1:18), and he says the same to us every time we take up his book. He has taught us to pray for divine enlightenment as we read. "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Ps. 119: 18). This is a prayer for God to give us insight as we think about his Word. But we effectively prevent God from answering this prayer if after praying we blank out and stop thinking as we read. God wants us to read the Bible as a book - a single story with a single theme. I am not forgetting that the Bible consists of many separate units (sixty-six to be exact) and that some of those units are themselves composites (such as the Psalter, which consists of 150 separate prayers and hymns). For all that, however, the Bible comes to us as the product of a single mind, the mind of God. It proves its unity over and over again by the amazing way it links together, one part throwing light on another part. So we should read it as a whole. And as we read, we are to ask: What is the plot of this book? What is its subject? What is it about? Unless we ask these questions, we will never see what it is saying to us about our lives.

When we reach this point, we shall find that God's message to us is more drastic and at the same time more heartening than any that human religiosity could conceive."

From JI Packer's God's Plans for You

Do you need to kiss your wife in private if you have already said, "Hello", to her in public?

Or, Do you need to do your daily Bible reading when you are at a Christian camp or conference?

Here is something that I was asked recently - if you are at some sort of Christian teaching event (camp, conference, mission team) where you are already receiving a lot of teaching, do you need to spend time in personal, private devotions? Surely you are getting enough in the teaching.

I don't know what anyone else thinks, but my instinctive reaction was, "Of course you should still spend time with God in private." But I couldn't really think of a good strong reason. I knew that in my life, I felt I was copping out in not to spending time with God in personal Bible reading, prayer and worship - even when I was at a ministers' conference.

However, a day after the conversation had occurred (why is it always a day later you get these insights?!), the answer came to me. Or rather it wasn't the answer, but my wife that came. She came to see me while I was leading a church camp. We stood and chatted a while with everyone standing around, and we talked as a group, and I heard what she was saying.

But that wasn't enough. I wanted to talk to her by myself, I wanted to hear what she had to say, I wanted to tell her about my week, I wanted to know how she was, I wanted to spend time with her on my own. It wasn't enough that I had heard her speak generally to others, and even specifically to me in front of others. I wanted to talk to her and talk to her about personal things.

It dawned on me that our relationship with God is similar in many respects. Its not enough to take in the teaching - we should long to commune with our Saviour. I'm not suggesting that we seek private revelations from God, but rather that we need to spend personal time with him, even at conferences or camps.

It may be the case at a conference or a camp that we do put our regular Bible reading pattern on hold, and take the talks and use that to form the basis for our personal meditation. Or we can read the passages that we have been studying, or are about to study. Or perhaps we take what has convicted us and pray over it and apply it to our own lives.

In any case, I suspect that when we start asking questions that begin with, "Do we need to…" - then there might be a more pressing issue of perspective that needs to be looked at. If I have to ask myself, "Do I need to kiss my wife?" - then I know something's wrong! Why do we read our Bible and pray? Is it just for knowledge? If so, then there is no real need to read and study more when we are being well fed at a conference. But it's not about knowledge; it's about relationship. And any man who is content to say '"Hello" to his wife in public and not long to converse with her personally in private has missed the point.

I wonder are we missing the point sometimes in our relationship with God?

Book Review - Sex Romance & the Glory of God by C. J. Mahaney

Sex - God created it, the world abuses it, and most Christians are embarrassed by it.

The way the world treats sex is like using a Stradivarius violin to hammer in nails - a thing of wondrous beauty misused and trashed beyond all recognition. For years Christian men have been sold a pack of lies by the media. We have lost the vision of what God intended in marriage.

CJ Mahaney's book returns us to the maker's instructions and restores a much profounder biblical perspective of romance within marriage as God intended it. He uses the Song of Solomon to illustrate how men should treat their wives. He puts the masterpiece of marriage back into its God-given frame, showing the significance of what marriage demonstrates - the relationship between Christ and his people. He calls Christian men to selfless sacrificial love, like Christ's love for his Church. He calls men to be leaders, a much-needed truth; and to be thoughtful caring servant husbands, possibly a more needed truth.

One of the great lessons repeatedly brought home is: "Before you touch her body, touch her heart and mind."

Too often men are more focused on their needs and pleasures. This is not what God intended in marriage - a selfless giving by each person. Mahaney then proceeds to illustrate what this means, and to help us men with the task of romancing our wives, and to develop marriages that go way beyond the physical side of the relationship.

This book is a must read for all married men. Some may find Mahaney's frankness startling, but he deals with this delicate subject without being crude or explicit. Mahaney's wife, Carolyn, has added an appendix, "A Word to Wives", which contains much of what we might want to say to our wives, but are afraid to.

I strongly recommend you read this book, and put his suggestions into practice so that in a world where marriage is unfashionable and often self-serving, we will be able to live God-honouring, God-glorifying marriages.

Men, buy it and surprise your wife. Ladies, buy it for your husbands.

A subject close to my own heart!

Here's a post that I might even print out and distribute to some people I know!

Food for thought - The power of images

(My local newspaper column. This post was inspired by this one by Doug Groothuis.)

Something has happened to the news. I wonder if you've noticed a change?

I noticed it on holiday when I was reading the newspaper. Then when I came home I noticed it on the RTE news; one report in particular stood out.

Towards the end of July there was a news report on the 6.01 evening news bulletin concerning vandalism of a parish church, school and community centre in Moycullen, Co Galway. Quite rightly, the whole tone of the report was one of disgust and outrage. Yet in the footage that accompanied this report the camera zoomed in and panned across the walls so that we could see the exact terms used in the sexually explicit and vulgar graffiti. We were left in no doubt as to what four-letter obscenities had been scrawled and sprayed.

Given that the newsreaders would not have been permitted to read what was daubed, why was it permissible to display it? As a father of a little girl I have no desire for her to grow up using such language. If my daughter was at an age where she could read, I would not allow her to read books with such explicit language - yet in the act of watching the news she would have been subjected to it.

Bizarrely, it was almost as if RTE news was doing the vandals work for them - the vandals had a message they wanted to convey and RTE happily conveyed it for them.

I don't think it's a one off either. It seems to be part of a growing trend amongst news reports to be more gritty (I almost typed 'grotty'!) and realistic. It used to be that we would see a distant shot of a body covered with a white sheet, now the camera often zooms in to show the blood seeping through. Close-up shots of injured bomb victims have become much more common in the newspapers.

I'm not convinced that just because an event has happened that I need to see it in graphic detail. There are some images that should not be shown. Not merely extremely gruesome images, but indecent things also. It might be news, but there are times when decency looks away. St Augustine wrote about this 1600 years ago in words that have a curiously modern ring to them:

"What pleasure is to be found in looking at a mangled corpse, an experience which evokes revulsion? Yet wherever one is lying, people crowd around to be made sad and to turn pale. To satisfy this diseased craving, outrageous sights are staged in public shows."

He goes on to describe such curiosity as a vice, a sin.

Images are powerful, and burn themselves into the memory for much longer than verbal descriptions. News broadcasters and newspaper editors have a responsibility to their public to choose wisely what they show. Because the more they show, the more they shape society. What we see influences how we think. The more filth and violence we see, the more desensitised to filth and violence we become.

And so far I'm only thinking about the news. This doesn't even begin to touch on the vast variety of other programmes and advertising, and their use of images.

But as well as there being a burden on broadcasters, there lies a burden on us as well to take care over what we look at. Mankind is made in the image of God, and certain images are not befitting to that dignity.

Food for thought - "Relationship advice"

I was preaching at a friend's wedding a few weeks ago. As part of the sermon I was encouraging them to read over and put into practice an article written by my own minister, Ted Donnelly. It had some really good advice, not just for newly weds, but for all people, for all relationships. So I thought I'd share it with all of you, for there is wisdom here for all of us.

"Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them" - Matthew 7:12

"Personal relationships seem to cause more trouble than anything else. Friendships are broken, families destroyed, drugs taken, and murders committed because of them. Efforts are made to provide guidance - clinics, books, and counselling. But nothing seems to do much good. People are so different, circumstances change so rapidly, situations prove so complicated. We almost despair.

Here, in one luminous sentence, aptly called 'the golden rule', is the Lord Jesus' recipe for personal relationships. Easily understood and applied, it has the touch of a teacher of genius. In the words of JC Ryle: 'It prevents the necessity of laying down endless little rules for our conduct in specific cases. It sweeps the whole debatable ground with one mighty principle.'

The golden rule is positive. It tells us not merely that we are to refrain from harming our neighbour, but that we are to do him good - not merely that we are not to rob, but that we are to give - not merely that we are not to murder, but that we are to save life. It is concerned and compassionate. And this is because God, who gave his only begotten Son, has been supremely positive in his dealings with us.

The golden rule is liberating. The common ethic 'do to others what they do to you' is enslaving, because it means that our behaviour is dictated by others. They act - whether kindly or otherwise - and we merely respond in kind. We become their mirrors, their echoes. But Christ offers a pattern of behaviour which is truly free. We choose to behave as God wants us to, irrespective of what others may do. And this freedom has its roots in the sovereignty of our Heavenly Father, who chooses to love us, not as a response to who or what we are, but out of his own free grace.

The golden rule is substitutionary. It demands an effort of the imagination. Whatever you wish that others would do to you - if you were in their place - do also to them. The employer, the husband, the wife, the parent, the pastor - all must ask: 'How would I want to he treated if I were in the position of my employee, wife, husband, child, church member?' - and then act on that basis. It is a fruitful approach to personal relations. And that is because it echoes the mighty reality at the heart of salvation. For Someone took our place, not just in imagination but in fact, on the central cross at Calvary. The golden rule is based on the self-giving of Jesus and to obey it is to walk in the steps of the Saviour."

Book Review - The Big Picture for Small Churches

The Big Picture for Small Churches
John Benton
Evangelical Press

I was talking to someone recently and they were amazed to find out that I was the pastor of two congregations, and they oohed and ahhed over this, assuring me that this work was an amazing calling. Their face and enthusiasm changed somewhat when I told them that one congregation had 35 people out on a Sabbath, and the other about 12.

We live in a world that values only the big and the successful. As John Benton puts it, "a society that worships at the shrine of size." And let's face it, we are part of a small denomination with small congregations. When we look around us and the bigger churches in other denominations, even our biggest congregations look small. And it is easy to become discouraged.

It is for such moments and such congregations that John Benton has written this book. It is a wonderful little book and a timely corrective in a world obsessed with size. Benton reminds us that God is not obsessed with size but with the heart. And he goes on to argue that since God will not give his glory to another, a small congregation is perhaps better situated to be used by God. In a small congregation with little or no earthly resources the credit for success cannot be laid at the feet of "two little old ladies, a blind man and his dog", and so God is seen to be all-glorious. This is no spin job, but an outworking of biblical truth.

Benton outlines some of Satan's tactics in seeking to destroy small fellowships, before going on to set out five key aspects of church life that are attainable in any congregation, no matter its size: Quality presence, Quality welcome, Quality teaching, Quality hospitality and Quality prayer. Closing chapters on 'Heaven's Resources' and 'How to fight discouragement in a small church' make this an extremely helpful and practical book.

Benton doesn't beat about the bush, and he writes in a plain straightforward style. There is much practical pastoral wisdom here to recalibrate our thinking. It would be a great book for every church member to read - not just because of our size, but especially because of the five key qualities he sets out for churches. If we were putting these five into practice, things might be a lot different!

A couple of reviews on Da Vinci Code books

(Sorry fo the absence - I was away leading a church camp for 13-15 year olds)

Most Christians, on this side of the pond at least, don't seem to realise how big Dan Brown's best selling novel, the 'Da Vinci Code', is. It is a publishing phenomenon - 36 million copies in print (as of August 2005), translated into 44 languages.

It is a very readable novel that combines a fast paced action thriller with a series of claims that undermine historic Christianity. True, it contains nothing that is new - many of these claims have been bandied about for years, but now everyone is reading them.

It is easy to read the book and dismiss it as nothing to worry about. But although there is nothing here to worry the believer, there is another, very real, danger. Someone once said, possibly Goebbels (Hitler's propaganda minister), "If you repeat a lie often enough, people will begin to believe it". Therein lies the danger of "The Da Vinci Code". Many people will read the Da Vinci Code yet never lift the Bible to verify the claims made.

Here is a fantastic witnessing opportunity for Christians. Next year the film will be released. Now is the time to get your head around some of the facts. Already it has been a topic for discussion in numerous places.

Here are a couple of books (a third book will follow later, DV) that will get you started. You only need to read one of them - that will give you enough to work from!

The Da Vinci Code on Trial
Stephen Clark
Bryntirion Press

Stephen Clark was a solicitor before becoming a minister. In this book he places a very different defendant on trial: Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code".

At 90 pages, this is a short, but very readable book that highlights many of the errors in the Da Vinci Code. It deals specifically with the aspects that relate to Christianity, and provides solid answers to many of the claims in the book. Areas outside of scripture and Christianity are largely left untouched, such as the Priory of Sion hoax. Clark also includes a chapter at the start giving an overview of the book, and its key claims.

Clark states his intention in the introduction:

"I wish to demonstrate that real Christian faith is passionate about the truth. Far from encouraging or confirming a closed mind, the exact opposite is the case: real Christianity engages the mind and intellect."

This is excellent and would also be suitable for giving away.

Cracking Da Vinci's Code
James Garlow & Peter Jones
Victor Books

At 240 pages this is a longer book than Clark's and covers the Da Vinci Code in more in-depth fashion.

Jones and Garlow have taken a leaf out of Brown's book and sought to interweave a fictional story throughout their book, in an attempt to personalise some of the questions that readers of the Da Vinci Code might have.

The strength of this book over Clark's is also its weakness: It has more detail and covers more aspects of the novel, and so takes longer to read. However it gives the reader a broader knowledge of the Bible's teaching on different topics, the history of the church, the reliability of scripture etc. Scattered throughout the book are sidebars that discuss some of the side issues raised by Brown.

Again this is an easy-to-read book.

It comes with a pull-out copy of Da Vinci's 'Last Supper' which is subject to many claims in the Da Vinci Code. Also included is a discussion guide. On their website they have provided an index to the book to make it easier to reference.

At this stage I am 'over read' on the Code - so don't buy any more than one of these, one is enough!

Ruth Chapter 4 - The Redeemer Redeems (3)

The Blessings on the Redeemed v11-22

This book of Ruth with its happy ending shows us what happens to those whom God redeems. I read a book called “A fine Balance” – a book about India. Two men from a low caste tribe, make a success of their lives tailoring, they break the system, but the book ends in tragedy. There is no happy ending. A miserable book. Possibly very true to life. But miserable. But for the man or woman who puts their hope in God there is hope.

The life of the redeemed is blessed by God. Naomi, is no longer empty, but her life has been turned around. Ruth the widow, for whom it would have made more sense to stay in Moab, but who committed herself to following God, she finds herself with a husband, and inheritance, a son. She who didn’t belong, finds herself belonging. God is no woman’s debtor, or no man’s debtor. If you commit your way to the Lord he will pour out blessing on your life. Not material blessings, but certainly spiritual ones, ones that can never be taken away.

We see some of them here in the closing verses of Ruth 4:

A place in God’s kingdom

Ruth’s son will bear the inheritance that was assigned by God to his father Mahlon. Ruth now has a place in the Kingdom of Israel. She has her tact of land there. V 10

Friends – if you are a believer you have a place, no less real than Ruth place, in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is your inheritance. It is being prepared for you right now. It has your name on it. I’m not talking a piece of heavenly real estate, but a place in the presence of God, where you will enjoy him forever.

A place in God’s people

The words of the women of the town as they speak their blessing on the wedding reinforce that Ruth the outsider has been brought in. They want her to be as blessed as the founder of the town of Bethlehem, Perez. There is a great sense of belonging here. It doesn’t matter what background you come from – there is no tier system in God’s kingdom.

You have a place in God’s people.

Ephesians Ch 2:11-21 is the New Testament equivalent of this passage.

You belong. See how both Ruth and Naomi have been given a new family. You too have been given a new family when you came to Christ. New brothers and sisters, a new elder brother, a new father. It doesn’t matter if like Naomi you grew up among the people of God, or whether you are like Ruth and have no Christian background. There is no such thing as a second class Christian.

A part in God’s plan

The elders on the day of the marriage pronounce this great blessing on Ruth and Boaz. But as they pronounce it they have no idea of how it will be fulfilled. They pray for honour and blessing to be on them. They pray for fruitfulness.

But little did they know what that honour and fruitfulness would mean. The family tree that the book ends with shows Ruth and Boaz place in the line of the greatest of Israel’s Kings. King David. And from Matthew ch 1 we see them again in the family tree of David’s greater son, King Jesus.

When God redeems people he has not just a place for them, but a purpose for them. And that purpose far exceeds anything you can imagine. And as you seek to live your life here with commitment and faithfulness, God will work through you. And although you may see nothing come of it – Ruth would have been in glory by the time David became King – Heaven will reveal to you what God did through your life. The effects of your prayers, the effects of your words. So don’t be discouraged or become weary in doing good.

A present provision from the hand of God

Amongst all the sorrow of the opening chapter, it would have been hard to explain to Ruth and Naomi the outcome. Naomi was so convinced of the harshness of her life, that she changed her name. Yet God had other plans. He provides the whole way through the book. And God provides, not just a redeemer for Ruth, but in the child, he has also provided a redeemer for Naomi. V14

And this child will provide and sustain Naomi for the rest of her life. Friends in the words of the townswomen we have a great description of the blessings of our redeemer – one who restores life, and who sustains us.

This book teaches us that no matter how dark the days are, and how stress filled, we have a father in Heaven who provides, and brings great blessing to those who commit their ways into his hands.

Ruth Chapter 4 - The Redeemer Redeems (2)

The Redeemer Pays a Great Price

And watching and waiting for the man and when he appears Boaz says, “Come over here my friend and sit down.” It is interesting to note that Boaz doesn’t call him by his name, but by a strange expression – to put it in our language today – it is as if Boaz calls him Mr thingme, Mr so and so, Mr whatever your name is. Boaz must have known his name, and probably used it. But the narrator of the story purposely leaves it out, and does to in such a way to tell us that he is leaving it out. This man’s name is not worth recording. And we see why.

And so Boaz explains the situation v3 “Naomi has come back from Moab and is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought that I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people.”

And the man initially replies “I will redeem it.” But then it is as if Boaz says – oh there is something else v5 “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the dead man’s widow in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”

And it is this extra information that changes the man’s response, He won’t do it now “You redeem it yourself I cannot do it.”

Why the change? Well when there was only Naomi to deal with that was Ok. He would buy the farm. Naomi is an old woman – and as soon as she dies he being the closest relative will get all – it is only an investment, better than money in the bank.

But this news about a young woman and the aspect of preserving the dead man’s line things are different. If he marries Ruth and she has a son, then the land automatically reverts to him, in which case he loses both the money he has laid out in his initial investment and the land. The land will never be his, for the land would go to any son who in law was the son of Mahlon, that they would have.

And so his true colours can be seen. He won’t redeem for there is nothing in it for him. Can you see why his name isn’t recorded?

You see this man’s name will not be recorded in the Word of God, there is no place for him amongst God’s people, as he turns his back on God’s Word. He is a selfish self centred man.

But how different is Boaz – he is willing at great personal cost to redeem knowing that the land will never be his. He paid an actual price for the land, but there was the further price of that investment wouldn’t be for his benefit. The land would belong to the family of Mahlon. Not only did he have to pay the price, but he was paying a price for the benefit of someone else.

And can’t we see again the great Redeemer. To redeem the lost there was a great cost. A substitute was required, someone who could pay an infinite price.

And so Jesus came born of a woman to redeem those under the law. And He willingly laid down his life, even death on a cross.

Fellow Christian our redemption cost Christ His life. It cost the Father His unique son. Some of you have sons – can you imagine any situation that you might sacrifice their lives for some stranger, some enemy. That is what God did.

The cost was real and great. See how He loves you. Having done this great thing will He not also give us all that we need for this journey?

What lengths Christ went to to save sinners. Why is it then that some people try to get right with God by good deeds. Imagine a wealthy father, son has wandered off but despite his wanderings the father at great expense wants to set his son up for life. And the son say – keep your gift I don’t want it, I’ll do it myself.

Could it be someone here today doing that with God. What lengths the Father has gone to save sinners like you – but throwing it back in his face saying keep your old gift.

Boaz, the redeemer, pays.

Challenge – because as Christians we are to be like our saviour in this regard – we are called to follow him wholeheartedly – to be willing to pay the price. And here from this Mr Nobody we learn the lesson, that there is a price to pay for not paying the price. Jesus demands and deserves, and his cause demands and deserves that we sacrifice whatever gets in the way, no matter how precious it is to us. And this man who was unprepared to make that sacrifice disappears off the record of the people of God, as someone whose name isn’t even worthy of mention.

The Redeemer Guarantees the Redemption

Much of the events of chapter 4 happen at the city gate – it was the civic centre of Bethelehem, the court of justice, high court. Boaz has gathered up 10 elders of the town. And Boaz sets all this up so that everything will be legal and guaranteed, and nothing ever called into question.

Boaz paid the price in full, to take on all the responsibilities in providing for these two desperate women. And he was going to be seen to be above board about it all - hence all this business about exchanging sandals - the equivalent to a signature at the bottom of a contract, in full view of witnesses. The sandal possibly assumed this symbolic significance because if you owned a piece of land you were free to walk over it, wherever and whenever you wished. Boaz paid the price in full, and this sandal exchange, and his words in v9-10 to the witnesses demonstrate that Boaz wants all and sundry to know that Ruth and Naomi have both been redeemed.

And when it gets to the wedding bit these civic leaders who are invested with legal authority are witnesses v9,10,11. Boaz is making sure that Ruth’s redemption is fixed for ever, without a shadow a doubt.

It is rubber stamped

It is witnessed by many witnesses

And isn’t the same true of the work of the great redeemer. His work has been guaranteed. When Jesus Christ rose from the dead it was God declaring for all time that the Redeemer’s work was guaranteed. The resurrection is the rubber stamp, the divine seal of approval on the work of Jesus.

You will remember how after the resurrection there were multiple witnesses. The work of Jesus Christ on the cross was accepted, the cost was paid in full.

The rest of scripture seeks to make it clear that our redemption is secure. The saints in Heaven are certainly more comfortable, but they are no more secure than you.

The apostle Paul tells us in Roman, “There is now no condemnation for those who ae in Christ Jesus.”

The price has been paid and we have the receipt stamped across it paid in full. Isn’t that one of the reasons we love this day, the Lord’s Day. It is the day that He rose, and as every Lord’s Day dawns it is as if God is writing out again the guarantee – the price has been paid.

If you are not yet a Christian – what is holding you back – salvation is certain in Christ. Redemption is guaranteed to all who are in Christ.

This is all part of the work of a redeemer. Ruth didn’t have to look over her shoulder all the time wondering whether the dream would break, wondering if she was really redeemed. Boaz made sure.

Ruth Chapter 4 - The Redeemer Redeems

The Book of Ruth has everything to make a good story - death, romance and a happy ending. But it is much more than a good story. There is a deeper story, a deeper romance - I hope you have seen something of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God.

We have seen our desperate need for redemption.
We have seen the commitment required of us in redemption
We have seen the character and goodness of the redeemer
We have seen the manner in which we are to come to the redeemer

As we come to Ruth 4 we see the Redeemer redeeming. And we see not just a wedding, but a birth of a child, a child that brings joy and happiness and purpose to the lives of many.

We see the work of the Redeemer and the blessings of the redeemed

The Work of the Redeemer v1-10
Now from one point of view, Naomi's story is the story of everyone in Israel at the time of the Judges. There was no king and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Which is exactly what Naomi's husband, Elimelech, had done. He had deserted the land of promise and had gone over to pagan Moab, bringing his wife and family to the brink of ruin.

Her only hope was to turn for home, and throw herself on the mercy and provision of God. And as we have seen God had provided a way - a way in his word, the provision of a kinsman redeemer, and he had actually provided a good and godly man who would fulfil that role and ensure that not only would the family name continue, but family land lost would be secured - redeemed.

However, not only is this the story of one family and one nation, it is your story and mine. For we too have behaved in a similar fashion. Rejecting God as our rightful ruler, we have wandered off doing what is right in our own eyes, bringing ourselves to the bring of eternal ruin.

We too can no more rescue ourselves than could Naomi, we need someone to look upon us in kindness, so as to provide a way whereby we can be restored and have a future hope, an inheritance which will last into eternity. And that is precisely what the final chapter of this story promises - a kinsman-redeemer who can begin to mend the most messed up of lives, restore us to God, and secure for us a destiny which no one can ever take away.

Something I haven't thought of until now was this fact - Boaz had to be some sort of relation in order for him to rescue Ruth and Naomi. That is why the NIV calls him a kinsman redeemer. He was one who was from the same family as Naomi. Our redeemer is one who was made like us, who was God and is God, but who became man in order to rescue sinners. To rescue us he had to be God, to take our place and pay for our sins, he had to be man, a kinsman. He is our kinsman redeemer. How thankful we should be that God the Son came to earth and took on human likeness and was made in appearance as a man, and humbled himself and was obedient to death even death on a cross.

There is part of the character of the redeemer - like us, and yet not like us. Boaz was like Naomi, in that he came from the same family, and he was not like her, in that he had the means to redeem, to do what she couldn't do.

The Redeemer Does All That Is Necessary
Last time as we worked through the third chapter we saw how Ruth approached Boaz the Redeemer and asked him to marry her, to answer the prayer that he had earlier prayed for her.

Throughout the book Ruth has been the one who takes the initiative. She has been centre stage. She returned from Moab. She spoke out. She went into the field to glean. She went to Boaz. She asked.

But now as we come to ch 4 when it comes to the actual act of redemption in chapter 4 there is not the least mention of Ruth doing anything more. Boaz is now centre stage. Previously Ruth had come with her need and now this chapter is given over to all the work that Boaz the kinsman redeemer has to do.

He is busy with the task of redeeming Ruth. In v1 Boaz seems to have been up early that morning and goes to the city gate

Ancient cities were fairly compact, filled with narrow streets. The gate area provided a spacious spot for people to gather and do business. In general there was a large area outside the outer wall, and perhaps another bench lines area just inside the wall. was a It was the place where prophets would later address kings, and where Ezra would read the Law. It was the equivalent of the public square or the market square. But most importantly it was the courthouse, the place where public officials sat to administer justice and to oversee legal transactions.

Boaz arrives there and he sits and waits for the arrival of the other closer relative. Most cities only had one main gate. So everyone entering had to go through it. So Boaz gets there early to make sure he doesn't miss this relative. In those days most people would have lived in the city for safety, but their lands were outside the town walls.

v2 he has taken 10 elders with him, he has a quorum of the town council gathered up to oversee proceedings.

As we look at these verses we see that Boaz has taken everything into consideration. He has worked out a careful plan and he carries out every detail of that plan - the interview with the other kinsman, the gathering of witness and the marriage to Ruth. Boaz does everything that is needed to redeem this needy woman.

And is that not the same with our great Redeemer, Jesus Christ?

But God did all that was necessary for our redemption. There was a plan made in the counsel of God before the beginning of time. There was the election of a certain number to everlasting life. Jesus Christ came and lived the life of obedience that God's law demands. He died, taking the punishment that our sins required, and rose making the way possible for redemption, and the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of the work of Jesus Christ to all who have been chosen from eternity past.

The Redeemer does everything. And the only thing that we contribute is our sin, our need.

Now of course that is not a message that fallen mankind likes. We like to think that we have something to give in return. This message that God does everything wounds the pride of fallen man.

It ought to remind us of our inability to do anything to please God before we are Christians.

It ought to humble us. And for the Christian there is great assurance in this - for if our salvation is all of God we are safe and secure forever.

And for the person not yet a Christian - what hope this brings. There is an answer, given by God to your deepest needs.

The redeemer does all that is necessary. There is a great difference between us and Ruth. Ruth in 3:18 is told to wait until the matter is settled. The KJV has it "He will not rest until he has finished the thing". She is told that Boaz will finish the thing. So Ruth, and the reader are on the edge of their seats as we enter into ch4 - will Boaz be able to redeem. Will he be able to finish what he set out to do? How happier it is to be on this side of Calvary. Ruth looked forward and hoped that her redeemer would be able to finish the thing, but not us, there is no edge of seat stuff for the Christian. Our Redeemer has already said, "It is finished". All that is necessary for salvation has been done.

The Redeemer Is Motivated by Love
In these verses we are introduced to the other nearer kinsman redeemer. He happens to pass by. There's that phrase again that we met in Ch 2. Its funny how co-incidences happen! For God there are no accidents. He is the one who orders everything for the well-being of his people.

Here again we are reminded that Boaz is not the closest relative to the dead, there is another one closer than Boaz. As we saw last week Boaz was therefore under no obligation to take up the task of kinsman redeemer. It was within His rights to turn and walk away from the whole situation.

What is it that motivates this man to do this? He did what He didn't have to do because He loved her.

That is made clear by the reaction of the other kinsman. When he hears of property that could increase his bank balance, he is all interested, and is willing to redeem, even willing to pay a price.

This is brilliant story telling - as you read it you, think "No! Boaz has lost out, its all gone wrong."

It teaches us the lesson that sometimes things will look as if God's plans have been thwarted, but they are never thwarted.

But when he hears that it will involve taking a Moabitess under his roof, and marrying her, and having children with her. He suddenly backs off. This man appears in the story as a artist paints a shadow, to make the focus of the painting stand out all the more brightly. And this man's money centred, land grabbing motives cause Boaz's love to stand out in all its brilliance. He is going to redeem Ruth because he loves her, not because of what he can get out of it.

Just like Jesus, the great redeemer.

John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 15:13 Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

The great Triune God, Father Son and Spirit, was complete, and completely content before time began. He did not need to make us. He did not need to redeems us. He wasn't lonely. He wasn't needing anything. He simply chooses to.

He looks at you, helpless, sinful, and he chooses to redeem you. Why? Because he loves you!

Its worth noticing here that anything else that seems to offer hope and salvation in this life is just like this other redeemer. Not motivated by love for you. Only interested in lining it's own pockets. Only interested in you for what it can get out of you. We see that clearly with alcohol. We see it clearly with drugs. We see it clearly with sex outside of God's design in marriage. These things offer love or peace or promise to forget the past, but they are only interested for themselves. Some people give themselves to pleasure - it will chew them up and spit them out. Some people give themselves to being famous - and they are famous, but only for a short time. And that fame brings its own price.

Only Jesus is motivated by unselfish love.

Ruth Chapter 3 (2)

Christ redeems us voluntarily v12
As I thought through this passage there was one thing I couldn't get my head around. All along I've been saying that Boaz is a picture of Jesus. He is the one who shows us what a redeemer is. Why then does he say to Ruth in v12

"Although it is true that I am near of kin, there is a kinsman-redeemer nearer than I."

Does this mean that somehow our redeemer might not redeem us, even when we ask him? No. I think the reason why God has ordered the events in the book of Ruth in this way was to show Ruth that Boaz wasn't doing this because he had to, but because of love.

Boaz was under no obligation to take up the task of kinsman redeemer. It was within His rights to turn and walk away from the whole situation. What is it that motivates this man to do this? He did what He didn't have to do because He loved her. Boaz is filled for compassion of this needy woman and pledges that he will do all that is required to see to her redemption.

Why did God plan out and carry out every detail for redeeming sinners. Why did He establish a plan from before time, why did He send His Son, why did the Son lay down His life?

Was God under some sort of obligation? No, none at all. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish nut have eternal life."

Our redeemer did it solely out of love for us. It was love, loving kindness, grace and mercy that motivated our redemption.

Our Redeemer wants to give us more than we ever dream of asking for
Where man's ways, even though they might seem wise, lead to a loss of our integrity and our honour, the ways of the redeemer guarantee our personal integrity.

And before daylight begins to dawn Boaz takes care to send Ruth away v14 so that her personal integrity will be protected.

And she is not to leave empty handed either - she has six measures of barley. Huge quantity - lays it on her - 6 or 7 stone bag.

There is a hint here that Boaz has heard of Naomi's bitter complaint in ch 1.

20 "Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty.

And so as he sends Ruth back with this huge bag of grain, it isn't just so that she'll look like someone out carrying grain, look at what he says,

"He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, 'Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'"

The Redeemer is the one who supplies our greatest need, but he goes far beyond that.

I think these ladies are a picture of some people today. Still at a distance from the one who can truly satisfy. I think that Ruth is here a picture of many Christians picking around the edge of the fields of God's provision, but not walking close with Jesus, feeding off scraps each Sunday. Will you draw close like Ruth did and find that your Saviour will provide more than you ever dreamed possible?

And isn't she a picture of the unconverted person also. That person who is perhaps on the periphery of the church, quite enjoys picking up a few spiritual morsels at the edge of the field of the church service, or a Christian home but as yet does not know Christ for themselves.

Why would you stay at the edges, come close, and have your greatest need met, and provision made for your life?

Ruth Chapter 3 (1)

Coming to our redeemer
We have been seeing that the book of Ruth is in some ways a picture book. In Ruth herself we have seen a picture of us all by nature, weak, helpless, hopeless, no place amongst the people of God. In Ruth we were given a simple picture of conversion. In the changed Ruth we can see the Christian - all her needs met by someone very special.

And then in this book we have seen in a very clear way that Boaz, the kinsman redeemer is a picture, an illustration of the Great Kinsman Redeemer, the Lord Jesus.

And we have seen what sort of a redeemer he is - kind, generous, protective, loving.

In chapter 3 we see Ruth coming to her redeemer. And how it is that we should come to Christ.

4 main lessons in this chapter for us:

Christ redeems us, not because of our efforts v1-6
Do the opening verses of this chapter strike you as odd?

Naomi's actions have puzzled me for years. Her suggestion to Ruth that she get all dolled up and go and get under the blanket with Boaz in the dead of night, seemed more than odd, it seemed downright dangerous. But I always assumed that what she did was strange to me, but must have been ok then. Perhaps it was some strange custom.

But as I've looked at it over the last number of weeks, the more and more unhappy I've become with it.

And I think it teaches us the very serious lesson that you can go about the right thing in the wrong way.

There are a number of factors that contribute to this:

It seems to me that Naomi is guilty again of using human reason, instead of relying on God. We have seen this before. Naomi and her husband Elimelech reasoned that it was better to go to Moab, than to stay in Bethlehem because of the famine. A seemingly good idea, except that it ignored God's word. Then there was her terrible advice to her daughters in law "Go home to your gods and you'll be more likely to get a husband there - again very practical, very true, but utterly unbiblical. And here she is again in Chapter 3 giving advice that seems tinged with the same disease. Its full of human wisdom, but utterly lacking in godliness.

She is putting Ruth's virtue and her reputation on the line, and as well as that she is putting Boaz's reputation and his virtue on the line. She is playing with fire, and it isn't herself that she puts at risk it is two other people.

It is the end of the harvest, a time of celebration and enjoyment. The threshing floor, would be a place where the barley would be threshed with a heavy sledge dragged over the grain, or cart-wheels. The aim was to separate the husks from the kernels. Then with a fork or shovel the whole lot would be tossed into the air, and the breeze would blow the chaff, husks and stalks a short distance away, while the heavier kernels would fall nearer the winnower. The men would winnow the barley, and eat and drink there, and stay to guard the grain.

It wasn't an ideal place to send a young woman, dressed to kill, and scented with fine perfume. Naomi herself knows this and warns her to be sure to wait until everyone in asleep, and to be sure to go to the right man, because there will be others present. And to tell her to get under the blanket, admittedly at his feet, is almost beyond understanding.

Naomi doesn't want anyone to see Ruth, because she knows, as Boaz makes clear later in v14, that it will destroy her reputation if it were known that she went to the threshing floor. At best her reputation could have been irreparable damaged, at worst she could have been raped. Naomi is a giver of bad advice. So why should we follow her example here any more so than when she allowed her sons to marry unbelievers?

Not only that, but we see from Boaz reaction. In the middle of the night, for some reason he is startled, perhaps his feet are cold, since Ruth has lifted back the blanket. The word is "trembled" - he awakens, something is at his feet, and as the fog of sleep clears, an unusual scent hits his nostrils. It certainly isn't the aroma of sweaty farmers after a days threshing. There is a woman in the threshing floor, and she is at his feet! Is it any wonder he asks, "Who are you?"

And his reaction shows us that the last thing he expected was to find a woman at his feet. Least of all Ruth.

The goal was a good one, but Naomi went about it in completely the wrong way.

It becomes all the more apparent that it is the wrong way to go about things when we think of what is happening here on a spiritual level. This whole incident is designed by God to be a picture of the sinner coming to the redeemer. Is this how a person is to come to Christ? All dressed up in their own efforts, and putting on their best appearances? Certainly not.

What are you dressing yourself up in to come to Jesus? The rags of your own good works? Your own reputation? Christian do you think you are more acceptable to Christ because of your good reputation?

Boaz was a man who looked on the heart. Our Redeemer is one who looks on the heart.

You can do about a good thing in completely the wrong way. And it not just when we become Christians that we can make this mistake. That is a disease that many modern Christians are susceptible to - they seek to do a right thing in the wrong way.

They follow their own thinking, rather than God's instructions. Certainly, like Naomi, they have admirable motives, but it doesn't make it any less wrong or dangerous.

We want to see our friends or our colleagues converted, or even our own family members and so we push Christianity down their throats day and night. This can especially happen with our children. Like Naomi we can be so keen for a good thing to happen that we go about it in the wrong way. And we can get their backs up and put them off altogether.

Or as we tell people the gospel, we don't want to offend and so we maximise the bit about going to Jesus, and we play down their guilt.

Just the other evening a young man said to me, "This one is interested in me, she's doesn't go to church much, but I'm taking her to such and such a church event, and I'm praying that God will make it clear what I should do." Here is a young person who thinks like Naomi. He wants to witness to this girl, that's a right thing, but he's going about it in entirely the wrong way, by going out with her. That's asking for trouble.

A good idea - a wrong way to go about it

There are many lessons to learn from Ruth and Boaz here - don't play games with your reputation. Don't put yourself in a situation that you know is wrong, no matter for how many good motives. Here are Boaz and Ruth in a situation that can make or mar them. Our whole reputation can hang on one decision. Don't go to places where you know a Christian shouldn't be seen. Don't put yourself into those situations - Ruth shouldn't have been where she was.

Young People - Getting married is a good thing, but you can go about it in entirely the wrong way. There will be times perhaps when a boy or girl shows interest in you, and I know that its hard to find a Christian partner, and you may be tempted to see this as God's providence - Boaz could have seen this as God's providence - Nice evening, under the stars, and a beautiful woman under your blanket. Don't read into circumstances things that aren't there. If a non-Christian is interested in you - it is utterly against God's word, without a shadow of a doubt. Don't follow your instincts, follow God's word.

The situation might arise when you find yourself in a situation like Boaz and Ruth where no-one else is around, and the temptation is there, and no one will know. Like Boaz, the night was silent, the person beautiful, the invitation plausible, but he restrained his lust, putting godliness first. And he has no intention of taking advantage of the situation. He assures her, in v11, "Do not be afraid… tomorrow." He knows that his own reputation as well as Ruth's could be in tatters. And it is in your reactions and responses that you will be seen for what you are. It is not the crisis that makes the person, but the crisis always reveals the person for who they really are.

Be like Ruth she had set her heart on this man of God. Set your heart only on men and women of God.

Young people and all of us - let us learn to rely on God and his timing, rather than taking things into our own hands. Marriage isn't the be-all and end-all. Don't make it a god.

And be careful who you take advice from. By all means take advice from other Christians. That is what they are there for. But always measure it against God's word. And be very careful with the advice given by another Christian who is backslidden like Naomi was. If you don't see them living out the Christian life, and talking out the Christian life, be very careful what advice you take from them.

And you older Christians be careful with the advice you give - is it scriptural?

I can't help thinking that if Naomi had listened to her own advice in v18, it would have been a much better situation.
"Then Naomi said, 'Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.'"

Wait on the Lord.

Christ redeems us when we humbly ask v7-11
Ruth, a newcomer to the ways of the people of God, does what most in her situation would do - she takes the advice. She doesn't know any better. But when it comes to the bit, she departs from Naomi's advice in one crucial area

Naomi told Ruth to go and lie down at Boaz's feet, and to wait for him to tell her what to do. But instead of waiting for Boaz to tell her, Ruth instead makes a request:

9 "Who are you?" he asked. "I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer."

Now let us not imagine that there was anything untoward going on here, there is not even a hint of moral impropriety. This seems to be the equivalent of a proposal. Asking someone to spread their garment over you was asking them to protect and shelter you. And there is a play on words here. Earlier Boaz had said, (Ruth 2:12) "May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

The word 'wing' and the word 'garment' here sound very alike. So Ruth is saying, "Will you be the one God uses to provided refuge". Ruth takes matters into her own hands and she asks. She doesn't rely on her having washed herself, or beautified herself, she just asks that Boaz would fulfil his role as redeemer. That he would be her saviour.

Now that was all that was needed. Why this whole elaborate scheme? Dressing up, dolling herself up? All she had to do was ask. This didn't have to be done at night, this didn't require any great scheme. See how willing Boaz is. V10,13.

And we know from the character of Boaz that it isn't outward appearances that impress him. He has seen Ruth dusty and sweaty in the field gleaning, but instead he focuses on her character - "Ahh you are the one that came back with Naomi, May the Lord bless you richly for what you have done". He has heard all about her, and what she has done has made an impression. And again in v11 he speaks about her character, "All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character."

Boaz is a man who looks at the heart, at the inner beauty of a person, at their relationship with God and how that relationship works itself out in their lives.

All she had to do was ask. Which is what she did. And Boaz responds with "Yes".

And here is the lesson for each of us here. It isn't our good deeds, or our idea of how clean we are that impresses our Redeemer. Naomi's is a gospel of good works. Ruth instead relies on grace. She comes to the feet of Boaz, a sign of humility. She takes up her position there.

So here we see to great lessons about coming to Jesus - Jesus isn't interested in the outward appearance. He is much more interested in the heart. And the sort of heart he wants to see is a humble heart that comes asking him to redeem us.

Think for a moment what Ruth is asking him to do. She isn't just asking him to marry her. She is asking that he will go to great costs to redeem her. He will have to pay a price as we will see God willing next week. This will involve personal expense.

In reality these two ladies are still beggars, they are still living on the scraps that are around the perimeter of the fields, they still have no future, no permanency among the covenant community of God.

But Ruth does not remain a beggar with scraps she makes every effort to come close to the kinsman redeemer. And she comes humbly, asking to be redeemed.

When you come to Jesus you need to come humbly, acknowledging that we have no right to be there. You need to come humbly admitting that you need his help, admitting that you are in the wrong, that you have broken his commands and his laws, admitting that you deserve his punishment. And when we come humbly and ask him to redeem us, he will.

All you need to do is ask