You: Practising

I'm going to pray that God would help us to understand his word.

We pray, Lord Jesus, that as we come to your word now,

we pray that you would speak to us by your spirit,

that you'd grow us in Christ.

And we pray that we would glorify your name

in response to the things that you say to us.

In Jesus' name, amen.

We've spent the last few weeks in this series

preaching about the kingdom of God,

going from beginning to end in the Bible.

So we've looked right across the Bible

from creation to new creation.

We've been in Genesis 1, the first chapter of the Bible,

and we've gone to Revelation 22,

the very last chapter in the Bible.

And we've been looking at what it means to be God's people

in his place and under his kingship.

And today what I'm going to do is I'm taking us back to the book of Ruth,

which we've just had read to us so helpfully,

to a particular part of the Bible,

to try to make sense of it in terms of God's big picture purposes.

You can blame Brian Tung for this.

I think he said we need to apply what we've been learning

over the last few weeks.

So that's where we are.

But I would say also that we've been applying it

as we've been going along as well.

And I think what I'm doing this morning is...

One of the courses that I taught when I was in South Africa a few weeks ago

was called Promise to Fulfillment.

And the course teaches a method for coming to a Bible passage,

any Bible passage,

and teaching it with regard to God's big picture purposes.

The process has got a technical name, biblical theology.

I don't think I'm going to use that expression again

in this message this morning.

But it doesn't matter where you go in the Bible,

it's like going to a particular passage

and asking these questions about it.

Where does the passage fit with regard to the whole of biblical history?

What type of literature are we reading?

That's the second question.

A third question is, where does this fit in the Bible?

Where does it fit in the immediate context

and where does it fit in a wider context?

A fourth question is,

what did it mean to its original readers?

So when they picked this up and read it,

what's it saying to them?

And the fifth question,

for us sitting in church here in Chatswood this Sunday morning is,

what does it mean to us?

When we read this passage now,

what's it saying to us?

What is God saying to us?

So the first question is a historical question.

I want you to have the passage open,

or the little sheet open.

I know it's hard to read for some of you.

But the historical question,

chapter 1, verse 1,

in the days when the judges ruled.

Starts to put it in a historical context,

and the very last verses,

chapter 4, verses 21 and 22,

Salmon, the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David.

So when we talk about David,

we're thinking King David,

we're going back a thousand years before the time of Christ.

We're talking about three thousand years ago.

And in the days when the judges ruled,

we're talking about a period of time

between when Joshua led the people of Israel

into the promised land,

and settled there,

and the two or three hundred year period

between them and God establishing a kingship

under King David.

So that's the history.

From a literary point of view,

I hope you see straight away from what we did this morning,

it's a story, it's a narrative.

By reading the parts,

we see that there's a story

which is being told by the writer,

and so it's a true story.

It's not just a parable

which is made up to teach something true from.

This is a true story,

and the characters are in a historical setting.

Now the biblical question,

Ruth is between Judges and 1 Samuel.

So in chapter 1, verse 1,

it says,

In the days when the judges ruled.

In the days when the judges ruled.

And really,

if you know your Bible,

that is a very negative way to begin the tale.

It's not a very glorious time in Israel's history.

It's about a two or three hundred year period

from 1300 BC,

roundabout after Joshua conquered the land,

to 1000 BC,

when David was king.

And then you go to the end

where we went a minute ago,

and it finishes with the words,

or Judges itself finishes with the words,

chapter 21, verse 25,

In those days,

Israel had no king.

Everyone did as he saw fit.

And if you read across Judges,

you will see that it's a time of escalating decline,

which finished in civil war,

with one tribe, Benjamin,

almost being obliterated

from amongst the people of God.

Not a happy time in Israel's history.

And the recurrent theme,

which is mentioned several times

in the book of Judges,

is,

In those days,

Israel had no king.

In those days,

Israel had no king.

Chapter 18, verse 1.

Chapter 19, verse 1.

In those days,

Israel had no king.

And it's the author's way

of saying to us,

those days were really bad.

Now, in some ways,

Ruth doesn't start much better.

Chapter 1, verses 1 to 5,

it says,

In the days when the judges ruled,

there was a famine in the land.

And a man from Bethlehem in Judah,

together with his wife and two sons,

went to live for a while in the country of Moab.

The man's name was Elimelech,

his wife's name Naomi.

And the names of his two sons were Marlon and Kilian.

They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah.

And they went to Moab and they lived there.

Now, Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died,

and she was left with her two sons.

They married Moabite women,

one named Orpah and the other Ruth.

And after they had lived there about 10 years,

both Marlon and Kilian also died.

And Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Now, one of the commentators I read,

a man who I love,

he's spoken at the SMBC preaching conferences a few times,

a man called Ralph Davis from the States.

He's written about this and he says,

Take a look at Ruth 1 to 5.

Right away we meet the big word famine.

Quite likely a judgment on Israel at large.

And then we hear of the big move.

Whether justified or not, need not concern us here.

And then of a bad fact, Elimelech dies.

And so now we have one death, one widow, two sons.

And next we read of two marriages to foreigners, 10 years,

two more deaths, and so three total losses.

And he says you can tally up the mathematics of trouble.

One famine, three deaths, three widows, 10 years.

Five verses.

Five verses.

That's the opening block of the book of Ruth.

It's sudden and sobering and instructing it.

Instructive.

And is it not telling us that one's whole life can fall apart in five verses?

That such stuff can actually happen to the people of God?

Five tightly packed verses that ought to cure us of falling for the prosperity gospel.

So in a time of national disaster,

Ruth begins with personal disaster for a particular family.

And that's captured when Naomi says in verse 20,

Don't call me Naomi.

Call me Mara.

Means bitterness.

Because the Lord Almighty has made my life very bitter.

I went away full.

But the Lord has brought me back empty.

Why call me Naomi?

The Lord has afflicted me.

The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.

Her name describes her circumstances at that point in her life.

And they are very bitter.

And she lays her circumstances at God's feet.

He has afflicted me.

He has brought misfortune on me.

Her faith tells her that her circumstances haven't happened outside of God's control.

Are you comfortable when you hear that?

Would you be comfortable sitting with a friend who has lost their husband and their sons?

Who has been cut off from their descendants?

Who won't be provided for by social security and into old age?

Are you comfortable sitting with them in absolute agony and allowing them to say,

The Lord has done this to me?

I've sat with friends in agony.

And sometimes it's really tempting to give an apology for God at that point.

And sometimes it's better to allow them just to pour out their grief and their agony and their distress.

Because even when they're saying,

The Lord has done this to me,

in some measure they're expressing faith in his sovereignty and his control,

even though it seems in the most negative way.

You read across the book of Ruth,

and God is strangely silent.

He does not speak anywhere.

He does not say a word.

And we're told the story of a particular family's life.

And we watch and we see what it means for them to live by faith in an unseen God, the Lord.

When you read across Ruth, there is a recurring expression.

The writer continually refers to Ruth,

The Moabites.

The Moabites.

He almost shouts at us.

She's an outsider.

She's an ethnic.

She's not true blue.

She's not one of us.

She's not a Chatswood original.

And Naomi, in chapter 1, verse 15, says to her,

Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods.

Go back with her.

And Ruth says,

Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.

Where you go, I will go.

And where you stay, I will stay.

And your people will be my people.

And your God, my God.

And where you die, I will die.

And there I will be buried.

And may the Lord deal with me,

be it ever so severely,

if anything but death separates you and me.

And so this Moabites, this foreigner,

attaches herself to Naomi

and to the people of Israel

and even more remarkably to the Lord.

You look in your English Bibles

where it's got the Lord written in capitals.

What it means is Yahweh in the Hebrew.

It's the personal name of God

which is only known amongst his people.

And Ruth attaches herself to Yahweh.

So despite all the difficult circumstances of her life,

she has come to know Yahweh.

She knows his name.

This foreigner has somehow come into God's kingdom.

Now the writer doesn't say it,

but I think that he expects us to realise it.

A foreigner has come amongst the people of God.

A Moabites calls him by his personal name Yahweh.

Now Israel's in a terrible state in the time of Judges.

And yet here is God

continuing to be faithful to his promises

that he made so long before to Abraham.

God promised Abraham

that all the nations of the world

would be blessed through him.

And now in this one family

during a time of national disaster,

God has brought a Moabite woman

named Ruth into his kingdom.

And you see it especially,

chapter 2, when Ruth says to Boaz,

why have I found such favour in your eyes

that you notice me a foreigner?

And Boaz says,

I've been told all about

what you have done for your mother-in-law

since the death of your husband

and how you left your father and mother

and your homeland

and you came to live with a people

that you did not know before.

May the Lord, may Yahweh,

repay you for what you have done.

May you be richly rewarded by Yahweh,

the God of Israel,

under whose wings you have come

to take refuge.

It only just came to me,

it's not in my notes,

but the whole notion

of coming to refuge in the Lord,

the whole notion

that somebody might come

from outside our church family

knowing nothing of God

and come amongst us

and find refuge in him

by the beauty and the love of his people.

We bear a high responsibility

in how we present ourselves

to the outsider.

And Ruth has taken refuge in the Lord

and Moses spoke,

if you go back in Exodus,

Moses spoke about God

being a refuge for his people

in Deuteronomy chapter 32.

Deuteronomy 32 · chapter mention

He said,

the Lord's portion is his people

and in a desert land

he found him

in a barren and howling waste

and the Lord shielded him

and cared for him.

He guarded him

as the apple of his eye

like an eagle

that stirs up its nest

and hovers over its young

that spreads its wings

to catch them

and carries them in its pinions.

The Lord alone led him,

no foreign God was with him.

God is a God

who is concerned

for his people

and God is a God

who is concerned

about outsiders.

And Ruth comes

and finds refuge

and protection

in the Lord.

When I was in South Africa

the other week

I had the privilege

of meeting Michael Cassidy

on a number of occasions

and one of those

he was shuffling,

he was jogging along the road,

my friends were a bit unkind

and said he was shuffling

along the road,

jogging

and we stopped beside him,

pulled up

and had a conversation

for a few minutes

and he,

a very funny man,

he told us a few stories

but one of the stories

he said he was incensed,

he went to his local church

and the annual meeting

they were carving up

the budget,

they were cutting the budget

to mission

and to outsiders

and he stood up

and he said

the church

is the only organisation

in the world

that exists

for the benefit

of non-members

and he told me

that he was greeted

by an Antarctic frost.

Steve Jeffrey

was talking to me

the other day

about Islam

and you know

sometimes we get in a flap

and we worry about Islam

and all the threat

that it is to the world

and you know what he said to me?

It will never stop us

preaching the gospel

but we are fearful

of losing our lives

and our lifestyle.

We don't want to lose

our stuff.

You come into chapter 3

in Ruth

and Ruth

and there is a change

of pace.

Boaz has noticed

and he has protected

Ruth

and Naomi

notices

Boaz's protection

and his care

and so

in verse 9

or verse 11

Naomi says

my daughter

should I not try

to find a home

for you

where you will be

well provided for?

Is not Boaz

with whose servant

girls you have been

a kinsman of ours?

Tonight he will be

winnowing barley

on the threshing floor.

Wash

and perfume yourself

and put on your best clothes

and then go down

to the threshing floor

but don't let him

know you are there

until he has finished

eating

and drinking

and when he lies down

note the place

where he is lying

and then go

and uncover his feet

and lie down

and he will tell you

what to do.

He sends it

she sends him

to a day spa.

I think it's really hard

to read this

and not think sex.

A woman

beautifies herself

perfume

best clothes

goes to a man

alone

who is alone

in the middle

of the night

and goes to him alone

uncovers his feet

and lies down

is that what you want

your teenage girls

to do with their boyfriends?

Do what he tells you.

It sounds like

Naomi

is sending

Ruth to Boaz

to use

her feminine charms

to seduce him.

Ruth

and Boaz

both understand

perceptions

because she gets up

and leaves

at his instruction

presumably

while it's still dark

in the morning

before anybody

can recognise them.

Those gay

Hollywood

gossipers

on breakfast

television

would have a field day

with this story.

There is sex

but not because

they've slept together yet.

this is a love story

which is full of

tenderness

and nobility

and honour.

Nothing sleazy

in this story.

Boaz is a near

relative

of Naomi's

a kinsman

redeemer

a man

under God's law

in a society

without social security

a man

who would have

been required

to bring

protection

to a widowed

near relative.

And Ruth

shows her

willingness

to come

under his

protection.

She's willing

to love

and to trust

this man

and he's

a normal man

and he goes

wow

you'd marry me

and he blesses

her for not

chasing younger

men

whether rich

or poor.

Great story

and Boaz

recognises

that there is

a nearer

relative

that he must

now deal

with.

So he gets

his witnesses

he tells

the near

relative

that Naomi's

lands for sale

you can increase

your empire

you get

first dibs

you're a nearer

relative

than me

and the other

relative says

I'll buy it

and then Boaz

very cannily

says

or points out

that he doesn't

just get the land

you get

the widow

as well

Ruth

the foreigner

to maintain

the name

of the dead

with the property

and a good

looking deal

suddenly doesn't

look as attractive

to him

he doesn't want

his own estate

falling into the

hands of a foreigner

buy it yourself

happy ending

so verse 13

Boaz took

Ruth

she became

his wife

he went

to her

and the Lord

enabled her

to conceive

and she gave

birth to a son

and then there's

even more

because the women

said to Naomi

verse 14

praise be to the

Lord who this

day has not

left you

without a

kinsman

redeemer

may he become

famous

throughout Israel

he will renew

your life

and sustain you

in your old age

for your daughter

in law

who loves you

and who is

better to you

than seven

sons

has given him

birth

and then Naomi

took the child

laid him in her lap

and cared for him

and the women

living there

said Naomi

has a son

and they named

him Obed

he was the

father of Jesse

the father

of David

this then

is the family

line of Perez

Perez was the

father of Hezron

Hezron the

father of Ram

Ram the

father of

Amminadab

Amminadab the

father of Nashon

Nashon the

father of Salmon

Salmon the

father of Boaz

Boaz the

father of Obed

Obed the

father of Jesse

and Jesse the

father of David

what a mouthful

thanks Ken

this wonderfully

tender story

finishes with a

genealogy

what a way to

finish a love

story

Naomi's

fortunes are

reversed

she has a

son Obed

his name means

servant servant

of the Lord

the genealogy

is tantalizing

in itself

simply put

Boaz and

Ruth are the

great grandparents

of David

the son of

Jesse

and so the

very last words

of this love

story tell us

that Naomi is

the great great

grandmother of

the great future

king of Israel

David

and the writer

here doesn't

need to say the

great future

king like I

just said

he only has to

mention the

name David

word and it

resonates

throughout the

room because

everybody knows

immediately who

he is talking

about

so we did

history quickly

we did literature

quickly we've done

bible over a fair

bit longer and now

we come to

application

and we ask the

question

what did all

this mean to

the original

readers and

then we want to

ask the question

what does it

mean to us

and in some

measure I've dealt

with them both a

bit even as I've

been speaking

but come back to

the first question

the original

readers why

you could ask the

question why is

Ruth in the

bible

and I think I

would say to

you I'm not

sure what you

said to one

another what did

you say to one

another

it's a bit

unfair when I've

already been

preaching for 20

minutes or

whatever

so the genealogy

so an outsider

and the genealogy

to David

anybody else

for anybody

who can't

hear

Richard took

us to the

genealogy of

Jesus at the

beginning of

Matthew's gospel

and drew the

link to Ruth

I'm not going to

say more than

that because I'm

coming to that

now no more

questions you'll

take my sermon

away he did

well I would

say that this

story is a

crucial bridge

between the

dark days of

the judges

when we are

continually told

that in those

days Israel had

no king and

each people

each person did

what was right

in their own

eyes and I

think the story

is saying to

us that not

everything was

dark God was

still king even

though people were

rejecting him as

king and he was

working his

incredible purposes

and promises out

and even in

darkness God was

reaching out to

people beyond

Israel and

bringing them

under the

protection of

his wings even

if his people

weren't interested

in the job God

was doing it and

God was working

even through

foreigners to

prepare the way

for his king

David and David

was the king to

whom God will

promise an

everlasting dynasty

something that

we've looked at

in the course of

this series

Matthew's gospel

Richard's right

picks up on the

significance of

God keeping his

promises when he

opens with a

genealogy which

says a record of

the coming to be

of Jesus Christ

the son of David

the son of

Abraham

and so what he

does he places

the coming to be

of Jesus Christ

in direct line

with the promises

of God of

kingship to David

and of a blessing

to the nations

in Abraham

Matthew quotes

Ruth when he

says in verse

chapter 1 verse 5

this is Matthew's

gospel

Sammon the father

of Boaz whose

mother was Rahab

Boaz the father

of Obed whose

mother was Ruth

Obed the father

of Jesse and

Jesse the father

of King David

Matthew's not

subtle at all

he won't sanitise

the family history

he proudly reminds

his Jewish

readership that a

foreigner called

Ruth stands

firmly in the

family history of

King David and

of God's eternal

King Jesus Christ

himself

at a human

level

Ruth is a

story of lives

lived by faith

even in the face

of terrible

bitterness

real tragedy

struck Naomi

and her family

you don't have

to minimise it

calling herself

Mara or

bitterness was a

true reflection of

her circumstances

there was no

fresh word from

God for her

life seemed

over

she and her

family faced

ruin and

despair

not everybody

who sits

amongst us

this morning

is enjoying

life at the

moment

and a word

from God

may feel

very distant

but Naomi

still had

faith in

God

despite

feeling bitter

with him

for what

he had

given to

her

and what

does stand

out is the

constancy of

faith in

Yahweh

in Ruth in

particular

attached herself

to Naomi

attached herself

to the Lord

her hope

in God

is maintained

despite

his apparent

silence

and perhaps

that's one of

the places

where this

story

particularly

comes home

for us

we live

by faith

in the

promises

of God

our biggest

hope is in

God's ability

to raise

the dead

our hope

is firmly

rooted in

the resurrection

of Jesus

Christ from

the dead

and because

God has

raised him

we can face

death with

the hope

that God

can raise

us to

eternal

life

God is

faithful at

every place

in the

scriptures

in keeping

his promises

even through

the darkest

days

so Ruth

is a story

of living

by faith

through dark

and unrelenting

days even

when God

seems strangely

quiet

he is

absolutely

working his

purposes out

his graciousness

to this

family

is shown

in his

complete

reversal

of their

fortunes

not something

that he

promises

this side

of heaven

but in

this story

he does

do it

so brothers

and sisters

I would say

to you

that no matter

how difficult

life for you

is at present

no matter

how bitter

the circumstances

of your life

may seem

to be

no matter

how impossible

the future

may appear

I want to

say that

God is

absolutely

to be

trusted

he may

not reverse

your circumstances

this side

of heaven

but he

is

absolutely

faithful

hope in

him

is not

futile

and

persistent

faith

will know

great

reward

in faith

we cling

to his

promises

and we

join

to Paul

the writer

of Romans

and we

say

knowing

all these

things

we are

more than

conquerors

through him

who loved

us

for I am

convinced

that neither

death

nor life

neither

angels

nor demons

neither

the present

nor the

future

nor any

powers

neither

height

nor depth

nor anything

else in

all creation

will be able

to separate

us

from the

love of

God

that is

in Christ

Jesus

our

Lord

Amen