Favoring

My Pastor has been preaching on prospering in bad times. The last message in the series was entitled The Law of Favor. In that message he mentioned Ruth 2:2 which reads “And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.”

So here Joseph’s sons (they were Ephrathiites) had married daughters from Lot’s Moab lineage.

During his sermon I drifted back into my mind in awe of the favor of God because I had a problem and in a moment, God revealed just HOW much He favors us.

Moabites verses.... (every doggone body)

Let me see how quickly I can run this down.

1. God tells childless Abram to leave his native country and he will give him land and make him a great nation. He leaves with Sarai and Lot.

2. Lot & Abram both prosper and part ways because they have so much stuff. Lot gets captured and Abram comes to his rescue with 300 men from his own house. He even pleaded with God for his rescue before Sodom & Gomorrah was destroyed. In the aftermath of that and his wife turning to a pillar of salt, Lot births 2 sons Moab & Ammon with his daughters, yikes, incest.

3. In the midst of this Abram becomes a baby daddy to another woman. But ultimately the promise is fulfilled by through 3 barren women. Sarah (Abraham begat Isaac), Rebekah (Isaac begat Esau & Jacob), and Rachel (Jacob begat Joseph & Benjamin).

4. Abraham feared for his life and gave Sarah to 2 different Kings.

5. Name changes occur: Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel who has 12 sons who become tribes that were enslaved for 400 years with another post freedom 40 years to get to the Promised Land.

WHAT WAS MY PROBLEM?

Soooo, a Lot happened to Abraham and his generations and Lot and his descendants happened not to ever come to their aide at all. No rescue nor plea on their behalf. They even denied the Israelites passage through their land on the way to the Promised Land and kept them in Kadesh... Judges 11:17 and you will find I other places like 2 Chronicles 20 their attempt to go to war against Judah.

Lineage of Jesus

Matthew 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rahab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

Oh with all the Begats, it is note worthy when women are mentioned. Rahab, a prostitute, was Boaz’s mom who married RUTH the Moabite, incestuous people. What in the hemoglobin and haberdasheries is going on here?

OH THE BLOOD

I’ll tell you what. It was the blood of Jesus. It reaches from the highest mountain and flows to the lowest valley. In Jesus’s blood line we see how God “SEW” loved the world that he gave His only begotten son to whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

• Rahab heard about the God of Israel and chose Him over treason.

• Naomi did a lot to live her lifestyle. But lost her husband and sons in a strange Moabite land... in anguish she said don’t call me Naomi, which means pleasantness, call me Mara because she was dealt with bitterly. Ruth chose to stay anyway. Question: do you live in such a way that even in your bitterness, others want your God? 🤔

Why the Title: Favoring?

Favor is defined as something done or granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice or for remuneration.

The whole Moab thing had to happen so that God could, Romans 8:28, make all things work for our God. Ruth came from Moab’s line. Not only did Jesus tear the veil. But He is the 3 stranded cord that sewed us back together through His blood making us whole!

God Favored us with the gift of Jesus. It’s time we favor God in the way we live. Stop having a problem with nouns and start thanking God for His omniscient and omnipotent FAVOR!

Think about what you know about Joseph, Naomi, Abraham and Lot. Now think again: they were favored and so are we!

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