Caption transcript for Divine Deliverance (2020): “Ruth” (6/11)

• 00:03 ♪♪ male announcer: Welcome to "Our Jewish Roots" with insightful
• 00:06 Bible teaching by Dr. Jeffrey Seif.
• 00:08 In this program, a show of loyalty by a young Moabite widow
• 00:13 leads her into the lineage of the Messiah.
• 00:16 Our focus is on Ruth today on "Divine Deliverance."
• 00:21 male announcer: From the beginning, our Creator revealed
• 00:24 his will to the common man.
• 00:27 Individuals listened to his call and responded in obedience.
• 00:31 From the first Hebrew Avraham to the culmination of salvation in
• 00:36 Messiah himself, the Lord faithfully intervenes with his
• 00:42 divine deliverance.
• 00:47 ♪♪
• 00:53 David: We're so glad you've joined us today.
• 00:55 I am David Hart.
• 00:56 Kirsten Hart: I'm Kirsten Hart.
• 00:58 Jeffrey Seif: Jeffrey Seif here.
• 00:59 And, guys, I love it.
• 01:01 It's fascinating.
• 01:03 It's a joy to tell stories about great women.
• 01:06 Case in point, Ruth.
• 01:08 Kirsten: Right, in Hebrew, "root."
• 01:10 Jeffrey: Yes.
• 01:12 Kirsten: Root, she's--oh, ooh, that's kind of good.
• 01:13 I just got that.
• 01:15 Right, there's not a "T-H" in Hebrew.
• 01:16 I've learned that from you and from your wisdom.
• 01:19 But even as roots go down, they're strong.
• 01:22 They hold firm.
• 01:24 Jeffrey: Yeah, well, we're gonna play with the pun.
• 01:25 We're gonna root for Ruth, yes, today.
• 01:28 Kirsten: That's good.
• 01:30 Now, let's go to our drama as we see Naomi return to Bethlehem
• 01:34 with her daughter-in-law, Ruth.
• 01:37 announcer: Grief-stricken by the death of her husband and two
• 01:40 sons, Naomi's return to Bethlehem has not been a
• 01:45 pleasant one.
• 01:47 Her daughters-in-law have accompanied her and offered
• 01:49 their support.
• 01:51 But it all seems so hopeless.
• 01:55 [speaking in a foreign language]
• 02:14 ♪♪
• 02:16 [speaking in a foreign language]
• 04:10 Jeffrey: What's particularly important to me is the
• 04:13 dramatic tension between those women, but before getting
• 04:17 to it, I wanna speak to the backdrop of it, something I
• 04:20 think we can all relate to, and that is sometimes when family
• 04:24 economies go bad, it sets in motion all kinds of tension,
• 04:29 problems, and movements.
• 04:31 The family was in Moab, modern Jordan, and things just
• 04:36 dried up.
• 04:38 Things weren't good.
• 04:40 There was death, there was tragedy.
• 04:42 They came to Moab originally because there was a famine in
• 04:45 Beit Lechem.
• 04:47 That's why Naomi and the family went, but things have improved.
• 04:50 The backdrop to our story now is a woman, a Hebrew woman, an
• 04:53 Israelite, who's returning to the homeland and, interestingly,
• 04:56 an Arab woman comes with her.
• 05:01 It's a beautiful story of family loyalty and I like it too
• 05:07 because we're looking at a woman, Ruth, whose beauty, whose
• 05:13 loyalty to her mother-in-law--you know,
• 05:16 mother-in-laws are subjected to a lot of jokes and the God's
• 05:18 honest truth, I've told one or two.
• 05:21 But here, there's a woman who is so connected to her
• 05:24 mother-in-law, Naomi is going back to Beit Lechem to face an
• 05:28 uncertain future.
• 05:30 She doesn't really know what the outcome's going to be.
• 05:32 And neither does Ruth, but just Ruth is so loyal.
• 05:36 And that sterling virtue that she possesses, Ruth possesses,
• 05:39 has left such a mark on the language that to be without
• 05:43 virtue is said to be, quote, "ruthless."
• 05:48 I like the story in the text in chapter 1, verse 16.
• 05:52 In Hebrew: "[speaking in a foreign language].
• 05:56 Where you go, I will go."
• 06:04 And she stuck with Mom and you know what?
• 06:07 She experienced a future that was beyond her wildest dreams.
• 06:15 A lot of people are driven by circumstance and, to be sure,
• 06:18 circumstance is driving this, deprivation is driving this.
• 06:22 Lack of income, lack of work, drove the family, Naomi and her
• 06:27 husband and sons, to Moab, away from the Promised Land.
• 06:31 And then abysmal circumstances in Moab, modern Jordan, drove
• 06:36 'em back.
• 06:38 And it's interesting, the driver--the drivers behind the
• 06:41 story are difficulties in human affairs that we all face but
• 06:46 what fascinates me is how redemption and deliverance
• 06:52 emerges from this.
• 06:56 When we think of deliverance, we think of kings, generals,
• 07:00 and saviors.
• 07:02 I get that.
• 07:04 But here, there's a story of deliverance coming not through
• 07:08 power, not through pomp, but through peasantry.
• 07:12 You saw the tattered robes of these women.
• 07:15 They're not wearing fancy regalia.
• 07:17 They're just wearing the inner beauty of a beautiful inner
• 07:22 disposition and out of that, God is going to bring forth the
• 07:26 woman who is gonna give birth to the Savior of Israel.
• 07:31 Not just in a spiritual sense as in Jesus, because Ruth is
• 07:37 mentioned in his genealogy but similarly to the line of David.
• 07:43 It's a great story and it's a story that we're gonna attend.
• 07:48 announcer: So Boaz took Ruth as his wife.
• 07:55 ♪♪
• 08:36 announcer: And the Lord blessed them with a son.
• 08:41 ♪♪
• 08:49 Jeffrey: Truth be known, I almost hate to interrupt the
• 08:53 drama or to come out of it because the teaching is so much
• 08:57 in the picture, as it's such a beautiful story of finding love
• 09:02 at the ragged edge of life.
• 09:05 Boaz is gonna be dead in short order and Ruth is going to go on
• 09:10 and bring forth a line that's gonna facilitate in a material
• 09:15 and spiritual sense the salvation--the deliverance
• 09:19 of Israel.
• 09:21 It's a beautiful story and just finding love itself is a
• 09:24 beautiful story.
• 09:26 Just finding blessing, you know, Ruth--it's this rags to
• 09:31 riches story.
• 09:33 It's this from being unemployed to getting a great job.
• 09:38 Anyone that's experienced the contrast can relate.
• 09:41 And if what you're experiencing right now is deprivation, not
• 09:45 resolution, well, it holds out hope in the biblical text that
• 09:50 life can turn around and it does.
• 09:55 Oftentimes, we go down the aisle when we're married and we say,
• 09:59 "I do," but the first "I do" or the first "I will" wasn't a
• 10:03 transaction between Ruth and Boaz.
• 10:09 It was between someone else.
• 10:12 In chapter 3, verse 5, I'll give it to you first in the Hebrew:
• 10:17 [speaking in a foreign language]
• 10:21 It translates: "Ruth said to her, 'I will do everything
• 10:26 you say.'"
• 10:30 The advice was given through Naomi, the mother-in-law.
• 10:35 "Listen, honey, I wanna give you some advice."
• 10:38 And there's a younger woman whose minded to abide it.
• 10:42 Now, that in and of itself, by the way, is a message for today
• 10:46 where the young tend to press against the previous generation.
• 10:50 It's all about autonomy and younger people are
• 10:53 less inclined.
• 10:55 I know for me, with my boys, the way to not see a relationship
• 10:58 get started is for me to advise it.
• 11:01 That--how could I possibly be right in these affairs?
• 11:05 But here there's a story of a woman who says, "Honey, listen
• 11:10 to me."
• 11:12 And a little matchmaker going on.
• 11:14 But good things came from that.
• 11:17 I believe that God has great plans for our lives and there
• 11:23 could be some that are listening that are
• 11:25 experiencing deprivation.
• 11:28 This story began by deprivation in Bethlehem so they went to
• 11:33 Moab, modern Jordan.
• 11:36 Deprivation and tragedy in Jordan, so they go back with
• 11:39 little more than the ragged clothes on their back.
• 11:42 They go back to Bethlehem to face an uncertain future and
• 11:44 here's this woman, Ruth.
• 11:47 Folk could have said, "Oh, here's this Arab woman.
• 11:50 What's she doing here," whatever.
• 11:52 But it's not a racist culture and, by the way, Jews are not
• 11:54 racist people as a rule of thumb, contrary to
• 11:56 popular misconception.
• 12:00 But it's a story where you could say these women have it all
• 12:03 stacked against 'em.
• 12:05 They're acted upon forces beyond their control that tend to be
• 12:08 more negative than positive but you know what?
• 12:11 God can pull the rabbit out of the hat, make the miracle
• 12:13 to happen.
• 12:16 He did and he does.
• 12:18 Great things to come in Ruth's life through this wonderful son
• 12:23 that was born through this miracle-made union, a match made
• 12:28 in heaven.
• 12:31 David: If you only watch us on television, you're missing
• 12:34 additional content available only on our social media sites:
• 12:38 Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
• 12:41 You can always visit our website which is home base for all of
• 12:44 our ministry activities and information.
• 12:47 There you can sign up for our free monthly newsletter, watch
• 12:50 the TV program, or visit the online store.
• 12:54 Join us as we tour Israel and Petra.
• 12:58 Please contact us for more information.
• 13:00 We would love to hear from you.
• 13:03 David: Please join us on our social media: Facebook, YouTube,
• 13:07 and even Twitter.
• 13:09 Now let's go to the celebration of the birth of a son.
• 13:15 announcer: Naomi's life has completely changed.
• 13:19 Once overcome by despair at the loss of her husband and two
• 13:22 sons, she's found new hope in the birth of Ruth's son.
• 13:27 And the women of Bethlehem are equally delighted.
• 13:32 [speaking in a foreign language]
• 14:11 announcer: There's reason for celebration here at the
• 14:14 city's gate.
• 14:16 A once tragic story has miraculously turned for
• 14:19 the good.
• 14:22 Heartbroken at the loss of her family while in Moab, Naomi has
• 14:26 returned with her daughter-in-law Ruth and become
• 14:29 a vital chapter in a love story for the ages.
• 14:36 Ruth, ever faithful to Naomi and the God of Israel, has gained a
• 14:41 loving redeemer in Boaz.
• 14:44 And now, on a little road in Bethlehem of Judah, they rejoice
• 14:49 over the son of Ruth and Boaz.
• 14:54 And they name the child, Obed, meaning servant of God.
• 14:59 Obed would become the father of Jesse and Jesse would become the
• 15:03 father of David, king of all Israel.
• 15:10 Rejoice they should, and it's just begun here in this little
• 15:16 town of Bethlehem.
• 15:20 Jeffrey: Moving drama, is it not?
• 15:23 Great story, to be sure.
• 15:26 And the Bible is full of that.
• 15:29 People that are just pushed to the ragged edge but God bringing
• 15:32 beauty out of ashes.
• 15:36 It so fascinates me how deliverance comes through very
• 15:40 difficult circumstances, and it happens on more than one
• 15:44 occasion, and it's facilitated through women in the
• 15:48 Bible, interestingly.
• 15:50 Women that are tortured by lack of success, mothering
• 15:53 problems--birthing problems, I should say, and so forth.
• 15:57 But God has a way.
• 16:00 Here we're told as we noted when we saw it visually depicted in
• 16:04 chapter 4, verse 16, that Naomi the mother-in-law took the child
• 16:10 and held the child and then all the neighbors were coming and
• 16:13 doting on the child.
• 16:17 Little did they know how special the child would be.
• 16:22 There's a tradition in the Jewish world, by the way, when
• 16:25 boys are born to say, "And this one might be the Messiah."
• 16:27 Well, truth be known, this one was giving birth to the
• 16:31 lineage here.
• 16:34 This woman, Ruth, was holding Obed, whose name is servant.
• 16:38 We're told in verse 18 it begins:
• 16:41 [speaking in a foreign language]
• 16:45 "These are the generations."
• 16:48 And, by the way, the same kind of context and the same kind of
• 16:51 words are the opening words of the ultimate deliverance story
• 16:56 in the Bible in Matthew chapter 1, verse 1:
• 17:02 [speaking in a foreign language]
• 17:05 The book of the genealogies," or the book of the generations, "of
• 17:11 Jesus the Messiah, Ben David, the son of David, or Ben
• 17:16 Avraham, the son of Abraham."
• 17:20 Inasmuch as the Ruth text speaks of the beginning of
• 17:24 generativity, here you can see where this all points to.
• 17:30 It's interesting, by the way, in the genealogies of Yeshua in the
• 17:34 Newer Testament, there are a number of women who are
• 17:38 participants in the drama.
• 17:41 They're named and Tamara's named.
• 17:45 She was a woman, blacklisted in effect.
• 17:47 Judah, her father-in-law disrespected her and he had
• 17:50 wicked sons who died and he blamed the woman.
• 17:53 And she, however, is going to, through interesting
• 17:58 circumstances, give birth to a son.
• 18:01 She's in the line.
• 18:03 Ruth is noted in the line as well and she is a Jordanian.
• 18:05 She had a Jordanian passport, an Arab woman if you will, a
• 18:08 beautiful woman.
• 18:10 And Bathsheba is noted, who was married to a man from Turkey.
• 18:16 I say that because Uriah the Hittite, if you look where the
• 18:20 Hittites frequented, were on the Anatolian peninsula, Asia Minor,
• 18:23 modern Turkey.
• 18:25 There's lots of interesting people in the drama.
• 18:28 I don't think God's a racist and I don't think you find that in
• 18:30 the Hebrew Bible.
• 18:32 You find in the lineage of Yeshua a lot of people from the
• 18:35 region that have come together to give birth to the King of
• 18:38 the Jews.
• 18:40 In fact, it's interesting for my money, even when you look at the
• 18:43 Matthean text, the Gospel of Matthew, the first to
• 18:45 acknowledge Yeshua are not women and men of Jewish extract.
• 18:49 It never says there were three wise men that came.
• 18:52 That's just a tradition.
• 18:54 But the fact that they came with gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
• 18:56 attests to them being what we'd call Arabic traders.
• 19:00 These are commodities that were moved around on dromedaries, on
• 19:03 camels, by Arab peoples.
• 19:05 It was a major trade in that part of the world.
• 19:08 It's a beautiful story about estranged Arab cousins coming to
• 19:12 worship he who is King of the Jews.
• 19:16 Deliverance is fascinating.
• 19:19 Lots of surprises, yes?
• 19:21 It's a rhetorical question.
• 19:23 When I say "Yes," I'm kind of asking but I think I know the
• 19:26 answer to it.
• 19:29 And I hope that you know the answer too.
• 19:31 We're looking at the drama of the ages as found in the pages
• 19:34 and we're tracing the story of deliverance, how it came through
• 19:38 this book and I hope it came to you.
• 19:42 David: As we've been preparing for this program today, I've
• 19:45 watched Kirsten really intrigued with the story.
• 19:49 And I'm thinking one of the reasons may be 'cause I'm older
• 19:53 than you?
• 19:55 Kirsten: Ha, ha, ha, ha, you're not that much older.
• 19:57 David: No.
• 19:58 Kirsten: Dave's eight years older.
• 20:00 We'll put that out there.
• 20:02 But it is interesting.
• 20:04 There are so many parts to this story.
• 20:06 Now, I kind of say, sometimes you chew on things.
• 20:07 There's a lot.
• 20:09 Ruth was a foreigner, she wasn't Jewish.
• 20:11 Ruth was a woman, strike two.
• 20:16 I mean, not strike, but you understand what I'm saying.
• 20:19 And she was a widow.
• 20:21 I mean, she's--Boaz was her second marriage.
• 20:24 There's so much--so many different parts of her life and
• 20:26 yet, Yeshua chose to come from her.
• 20:29 I think that's very interesting.
• 20:31 Jeffrey: She doesn't look like, you know, her high school
• 20:34 yearbook wouldn't have "Most likely to succeed."
• 20:37 If I understand your point, you wouldn't expect to get so much
• 20:39 out of her in a sense.
• 20:42 In the biblical economy, it's fascinating, and the author of
• 20:46 Matthew alights upon Ruth as in the lineage.
• 20:50 I think it's very important.
• 20:52 It's a great point.
• 20:54 Kirsten: And she followed her mother-in-law to a land she
• 20:57 didn't know, to people that does different customs.
• 21:00 Jeffrey: Now, listen, following your mother-in-law, that's
• 21:03 worthy of merit in and of itself.
• 21:05 Kirsten: A handclap for Ruth, just for that.
• 21:08 Jeffrey: Mom, I hope you're not watching.
• 21:10 Why do mother-in-laws get such a bum rap anyway?
• 21:12 Kirsten: I have to be careful 'cause mine watches this.
• 21:15 No, I'm just playing.
• 21:17 I don't know.
• 21:20 Because it's not--oh, it is your family but it's not really
• 21:22 your family.
• 21:24 I mean, Ruth left the people that she knew, the traditions,
• 21:27 the food, everything of her country, to go to a foreign
• 21:30 place and then she met--she was out of sorts, right?
• 21:33 Jeffrey: It's interesting.
• 21:35 No one would have thought the less of her if she would have
• 21:38 just stayed and waved goodbye to her mother-in-law.
• 21:41 Kirsten: Right, they would--that would have been what you would
• 21:43 think she would do.
• 21:45 Jeffrey: But sometimes there's this radical edge.
• 21:47 What do you think, Dave?
• 21:50 People with faith, they just do things that kind of defy sense
• 21:53 and sensibility and look what happens.
• 21:56 David: I'm thinking about your beautiful wonderful wife, right
• 21:59 now.
• 22:01 I think she relates a little bit to the story with both of
• 22:04 you, yes?
• 22:06 Jeffrey: Well, God bless--she was--
• 22:09 Kirsten: Wasn't Boaz 80, are you close?
• 22:11 I'm just playing, ha, ha, ha, sorry.
• 22:12 Jeffrey: Well, Barri's two years older than me, you know?
• 22:15 But when we married, Jack Hayford, very wonderful
• 22:17 minister, with some others, came and did the wedding.
• 22:19 He said, "You really should tell the story."
• 22:22 Barri was 62 when we married and I was 60.
• 22:25 She'd never been married before.
• 22:28 And to me, it's like, goodness gracious, guys are so stupid.
• 22:33 I mean, how could this jewel just be there.
• 22:37 She must have been just so intimidating that guys were
• 22:40 just afraid.
• 22:42 With me, I was just pushy.
• 22:44 I'm 60, I go after what I want.
• 22:45 Kirsten: You're getting good points right now.
• 22:47 Jeffrey: No, I tell her all the time and it's true.
• 22:49 But the point is that, you know, God is great and, you know,
• 22:52 Barri had to take a little risk to go on a journey with a guy
• 22:55 like me later in life and, certainly, Ruth had to take a
• 23:00 risk too to kind of forsake everything that was familiar to
• 23:05 go into an unknown world where she might not have been treated
• 23:09 kindly because people aren't kindly disposed always
• 23:12 toward foreigners.
• 23:15 Kirsten: And she was extremely humble.
• 23:18 I mean, she was gathering wheat from Boaz's field and he noticed
• 23:21 her humility.
• 23:24 Probably like you noticed your gorgeous wife's humility.
• 23:27 There was something in her spirit that was noticed, that
• 23:30 was different.
• 23:32 Jeffrey: Yes, and that, you know, I say of Barri she's
• 23:34 beautiful inside and out.
• 23:36 And there's just nothing like that testimony.
• 23:38 Ruth does show that something special that would that our
• 23:43 daughters all possess that, and our sons found women like that.
• 23:45 Kirsten: So many women are waiting for their Boaz.
• 23:49 Don't give up.
• 23:51 Keep winning.
• 23:53 Be humble in spirit, pray to the Lord, and the Lord, I believe,
• 23:56 will bring that man into your life.
• 23:58 We will be right back.
• 24:00 ♪♪
• 24:34 David: Please consider joining us on a Zola Tour.
• 24:37 You may feel like you're too old or maybe even too young, but we
• 24:39 have lots of age groups on our tour.
• 24:43 Please join us.
• 24:45 You'll find all the information right here on levitt.com.
• 24:47 Kirsten: Our ministry offers tours but we also offer
• 24:49 wonderful resources.
• 24:52 This week, for a gift of $50 or more, we're offering this
• 24:56 incredible book.
• 24:59 I have one at home--we have one at home.
• 25:02 It is written by John Parsons and it's "Zola's Introduction
• 25:04 to Hebrew."
• 25:07 Many of you absolutely love John Parsons' article in the
• 25:10 "Levitt Letter."
• 25:12 Every month he writes a "Levitt Letter" article all about
• 25:15 Hebrew: learning Hebrew, how to pronounce.
• 25:18 This--look, look, all kinds of pages.
• 25:23 You will finish this, you can go to Israel and talk to
• 25:26 any Israeli.
• 25:28 David: Ha, ha, ha.
• 25:30 Kirsten: Is that true?
• 25:32 Jeffrey: Yes, now, a little--
• 25:33 Kirsten: I know. It's wonderful and you're the Hebrew teacher.
• 25:36 Jeffrey: Speaking of going to Israel, to David's point, some
• 25:39 people think they're too old to go, but really, the tours
• 25:42 accommodate everyone, yes?
• 25:45 Kirsten: We do.
• 25:47 Jeffrey: And one of the most famous tourists was Ruth.
• 25:50 Look what happened to her on a Holy Land trip.
• 25:51 Kirsten: She made it into the book.
• 25:53 Jeffrey: She made it into the Bible.
• 25:54 Kirsten: She made it into the book.
• 25:56 And we love to end our program every week with some Hebrew.
• 25:58 Jeffrey: Yeah, we have a song coming up too.
• 26:00 David: We do.
• 26:02 It's really, actually, one of my favorites that I sing: "Israel
• 26:04 My Love."
• 26:05 We go there now but first-- Kirsten: Here's your Hebrew.
• 26:07 Jeffrey: To the Hebrew.
• 26:08 You heard what the lady said, do the Hebrew.
• 26:10 Shaalu shalom Yerushalayim.
• 26:11 Kirsten: Which means, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem."
• 26:16 ♪ Has the King returned ♪
• 26:18 ♪ Are we saved ♪
• 26:20 ♪ Oh, blessed be he ♪
• 26:22 ♪ When the King comes home ♪
• 26:23 ♪ To the land he loves ♪
• 26:25 ♪ Can we live ♪
• 26:26 ♪ Can we pray ♪
• 26:28 ♪ Can we be ♪
• 26:29 ♪ Israel, my love ♪
• 26:32 ♪ Israel, my promised ♪
• 26:36 ♪ Chosen of God ♪
• 26:40 ♪ Chosen for me ♪
• 26:45 ♪ Homeland forever ♪
• 26:48 ♪ Land of Messiah ♪
• 26:52 ♪ Israel, my love ♪
• 27:02 ♪ How God watches thee ♪
• 27:11 ♪♪
• 27:17 David: Join us right now for additional content that is
• 27:20 only available on our social media sites: Facebook, YouTube,
• 27:23 and Twitter.
• 27:25 Visit our website, levitt.com, for the current and past
• 27:28 programs, the television schedule, tour information,
• 27:32 and our free monthly newsletter which is full of insightful
• 27:35 articles and news commentary.
• 27:37 View it online or we can ship it directly to your mailbox
• 27:40 every month.
• 27:42 Also on our website is the online store.
• 27:45 There, you can order this week's resource or you can always give
• 27:48 us a call at 1-800-WONDERS.
• 27:51 Your donations to "Our Jewish Roots" help us to support these
• 27:55 organizations as they bless Israel.
• 27:58 Please remember we depend on tax-deductible donations from
• 28:01 viewers like you.
• 28:04 ♪♪
• 28:24 announcer: This has been a paid program brought to you
• 28:27 by Zola Levitt Ministries.