Sunday 12:09:12

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. God’s love is unfailing, loyal, faithful, stubborn, inexhaustible, and enduring. Hosea & Gomer – God is unwilling to let us go. He will not cut the bonds of love. God's love is merciful. He desires reconciliation, peace, forgiveness. He does not hold grudges. “The Lord is compassionate (merciful), gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. (His Name) Today, God’s redeeming love. Job lost everything, his sons and daughters, his livestock, his health. He was empty, broken, and hopeless. Talking to his “friends”…. Job 19:13-27 Though Job has suffered terribly, lost sons and daughters, wealth, friends… He knows that God is his redeemer and that God will not leave him empty, broken, hopeless. God is his Redeemer, Deliverer, Avenger. In the midst of all his trouble, Job says, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” There is hope for Job; there is hope for you and me.
God is our Redeemer – he takes up our cause. He will stand on the earth – and we will see him with our own eyes. 
Redemption in the Bible is to pay the price to secure the release of a person, animal or property • Prisoners could be redeemed by the payment of a ransom. (padah) • Slaves could be redeemed by paying a price to purchase their freedom. (padah) • Property that once belonged to a family but that was lost or sold could be bought back so that it could be brought back under the family name. In fact, Israelite law gave family members of a deceased person the right to buy back property that had been lost so that it could be brought back (redeemed) under the family name. This is the background of the book of Ruth. Ruth is a young widow – he husband had died.
She was not a Jew, so, when her husband dies, her mother-in-law, Naomi, encouraged her to go back to her own people, the Moabites. But Ruth is unwilling to leave her alone – Naomi was a widow too. The first part of the book shows Ruth’s great love for her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth is unwilling to leave her, unwilling to leave her alone. Naomi had no sons, no husband, and no hope of any life, but the life of poverty. Ruth was unwilling to leave her alone and hopeless. Themes: bitter/pleasant. Empty/full. Ruth, by the providence of God, as she picks up dropped grains, meets a man named Boaz. It turns out that Boaz is a relative of Ruth’s husband. Boaz is kind to Ruth and makes sure that his servants leave a little extra grain behind for her to pick up. The turning point in the story is when Naomi’s bitterness and emptiness finds hope. Ruth 2:20 “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.” In Jewish law and practice, the “kinsman-redeemer” was the next closest living relative responsible for protecting the interests of needy family members. • Provide an heir for a brother who had died. • Redeem land that a poor relative had sold. • Redeem a relative who had been sold into slavery. • Avenge the killing of a relative – also translated “avenger” When Boaz learns of Ruth’s state, he makes up his mind to do something about it. He will buy back the land that belonged to Ruth’s husband and will marry Ruth. The problem: there is a closer relative than Boaz. He has the first right of redemption, but once he hears there’s a widow attached to the property, he relinquishes his right to buy the property. Ruth 4:6-10 The book of Ruth is about two people showing God’s love. Ruth’s unwillingness to leave her mother-in-law alone and hopeless. Boaz’ love for Ruth to be kind to her, not to leave her a widow, but to provide for her and pay the price to buy back the land to restore Ruth’s husband’s name. This is God’s redeeming love, not willing to leave us, willing to pay the price to save us.
 John 15:13 – Jesus’ redeeming love. He was unwilling to leave us, willing to pay the price. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. God would not leave us alone, empty, broken, hopeless. He willingly paid the price to save us.