Spirit of Ishmael
Ruth the Moabite #6
Text:
Ruth 1:4-18
4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.
7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.
8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
9 The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.
11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;
13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.
14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. (KJV)
Intro: Here we find Ruth the Moabite
We know the history of the Moabites
They were founded by Moab
- The illegitimate son of lots eldest daughter
- They were a cursed people
The book of Deut. tells us they would never be allowed in the house of God
- In fact latter God utterly destroyed both the Moabites and the Ammonites
- The curse of illegitimacy completely consumed these races of people.
So how did Ruth a Moabite
- A cursed race
- A daughter of illegitimacy
- How did she break the curse and end up being in the genealogy of Jesus
I. There must be a conversion
The first step in finding deliverance from this spirit of Ishmael
- This curse of illegitimacy
- There must be a conversion
No amount of counselling will break this curse
- No government handout
- No programme
- No amount of religion
The simple fact is you must be born again
Ruth 1:16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: (KJV)
There is a conversion that has taken place in Ruth’s heart
- She has turned from her sins
- She has accepted the God of Israel
- She has been born again
For you to find deliverance you must be born again
- You have to have a new family
- A new linage
- A new inheritance
There is no such thing as a blessed curse
The curse that comes with illegitimacy can’t be blessed
- It can’t be covered over
- It can’t just be ignored
- Or prayed over
You must be birthed into a new family
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (KJV)
This spirit can only be driven away by aliening yourself with God
- By becoming his child
- By being born again
Josh 24:17-18 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God. (KJV)
Notice it says in Vs 18 “and the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land”
For this illegitimate spirit to be driven from your life
- There must be a choice to serve God
- You must repent
- You must accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour
- You must be born again
II. Must renounce your past
Ruth 1:16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: (KJV)
Not only must you accept Jesus as Lord and be born again
- You must renounce the past
- You must turn away from the past life
It is amazing how many people accept Jesus but they refuse to give up the past
- They refuse to let go
- They want to hold onto their old relationships
- They want to keep their old lifestyles
- They want heaven
- They want to be blessed
- They want deliverance from the curse
But they don’t want to move from were they are at spiritually
- They won’t confess were they come from
- They wont say yes I am illegitimate
- I come from an illegitimate people
- I come from an illegitimate race
Ruth said, “Thy people shall be my people”
She is saying
- I give up the past
- I choose to follow God even if it means I must find new friends
- Even if it means I must change the way I live
But something more is happening than first meets the eye
- She is renouncing her Moabite roots
- She is confessing who she is and from were she comes
She is saying
- I know I am from an illegitimate race
- I know I am from a cursed people
All in one breath she is renouncing
- Her Moabite roots
- Her past
- This spirit of Ishmael
- This illegitimate spirit at work in her life
If you do not turn from this spirit
- Renounce it
- Reject and forsake it
- It will destroy you
Look what this spirit did to Naomi and her family
The moment they chose to move to Moab
- There was a curse that was loosed
- The moment they began to associate with this spirit
Notice the first thing this spirit does is it Kills Naomi’s husband
- Even though her children were legitimate
- The goal of this spirit is to leave the children fatherless
- To leave the home without a head
- To destroy the leadership and authority of a family
- It then begins to destroy the sons
Why didn’t the daughter’s in-law die?
- This spirit not only wants to destroy the headship it wants to destroy the inheritance
- The linage
- The birth right
Years latter when Naomi returns to the promise land
She says don’t call me Naomi call me Mara
When she left her name meant pleasant
When she returns her name Mara means bitter
You cannot associate with this spirit and not be burned
- It will destroy you
- Destroy your family
- Destroy your inheritance / blessing
How many here were left any kind of inheritance from your father
- A house
- A lot of money
Very few and those that were left something were left very little
How many here have something to leave your children
In fact we see just the opposite at work
- Parents living off their kids
- Charging them rent for their room
- Instead of sending them to collage sending them to work to help support the family
What we see is the spirit of Ishmael at work
- It is this illegitimate spirit
- Destroying families
- Destroying the inheritance
- Stealing away the birth right
2 Cor 6:16-18 …for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (KJV)
We have a father a heavenly father
- We have an inheritance
- We have a birth right
But we must come out from among them
- We must separate ourselves
- Touch not the unclean thing
Then he will receive us
III. Lasting freedom comes from a Lasting commitment
The way to stay free from this spirit of Ishmael
Is to stay committed to God
Ruth 1:17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. (KJV)
Ruth is making a lasting commitment
- Till death do us part
She is saying
- This is final
- This is settled in my heart
- I will not turn back
- She was decisive
For you to be free you will have to make a decisive life changing decision
A lasting commitment
I am not saying it will all be easy
I am not saying you will not have trials
- That your decision and faith will not be tested
- It will be
Look at Ruth
She enters the promise land in absolute poverty
- She is gleaning in the fields
- This is the lowest of the low
- She is picking up the scraps left after the harvesters have gone through
- She is barely surviving
As she is gleaning we see God begin to bless her
And why did God bless her
- Because she had forsaken the past
- Because of her faithfulness
Ruth 2:11-12 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. (KJV)
As she continues to serve
As she remains faithful
I want you to see the blessing of God unfold on her life
Under the curse in the land of Moab
- Her father in-law had died
- Her husband had died
- Her inheritance had been lost
- Her fruitfulness had been destroyed
But now she has accepted Christ
- The curse has been confessed
- The spirit of illegitimacy has been rebuked
And God begins to restore everything she has lost
Boaz begins to bless her
- He tells his men to leave hands full on purpose
- Let her drink from their water pot
- To protect her
But it even gets better
Ruth 4:9-13 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.
10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. (KJV)
Everything that she had lost God restored to her
- Her inheritance was restored
- Her fruitfulness was restored
- Her linage was restored
She who was once cursed becomes the great grandmother of King David and ends up being in the very genealogy of Jesus
Listen to me lasting freedom comes from a lasting commitment
- You want to be set free
- You want the curse to be broken
- You want deliverance from this spirit of Ishmael
- This spirit of illegitimacy
You must make a lasting commitment
- A lasting decision
You must be willing to give up the past and begin a new life
It doesn’t matter how bad the curse has destroyed your life
If you will make a commitment to serve and follow God
- Regardless of the trials
- Regardless of the difficulties
Your end can be grater than your beginning
And if not here we have an eternal inheritance that no man no curse can ever take from us
Matt 25:31-34 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (KJV)
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (KJV)
John 14:2-3 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (KJV)
