All Things for Good (Ruth 4)

At the movie theater, what happens at the end when the

closing credits begin to roll? It's not a trick question.

You know the answer. Everyone leaves.

Apparently we're not very interested to know the names of

those people who spent three to four years of their life to

entertain us For about 120 minutes, Everyone leaves.

That is, unless you're watching a Marvel movie.

During COVID, many of you took up new hobbies.

Some of you became woodworkers or started to become bakers of

bread. I, on the other hand, enjoyed a

Marvel movie marathon during our lockdown.

We were in Dubai. Lockdown lasted a few months and

so each week we'd watch a movie. At the time, we lived in a big

villa with another couple and two Single Ladies from our

church. We're all together, and so after

dinner together, we'd part ways. The ladies would go upstairs,

they'd watch Downton Abbey. The men would stay downstairs to

watch Marvel movies. In chronological order, you can

pick you have a British historical drama or superheroes

saving the world. You can decide for yourself

which one was more edifying at the movies.

After a Marvel movie, no one moves because after the closing

credits roll, there's a post credits scene.

Often these include little Easter eggs, little hints that

foreshadow the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or

little hints that resolve plot lines of movies past.

When you watch a post credits movie scene, it makes you wonder

and think, wait a second. It makes you anticipate

something that might be coming in the future.

Sometimes it makes you rethink the whole movie.

Today, as we finish the book of Ruth, don't miss the important

post credits scene while the book of Ruth.

And if you have your Bible, go ahead and turn there.

It's a microscopic look as we've talked about at 1 little family

in the little town of Bethlehem. The post credits scene, the

epilogue actually zooms out. It zooms out from that one

little family facing hardships. It zooms out of the little town

of Bethlehem. It zooms out of the nation of

Israel. It even bursts out far into

future generations. It even zooms out to us.

So turn your Bible to Ruth Chapter 4.

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

A brief, brief recap before we consider it.

Remember, this is a story of two widows, 2 poor widows, Naomi and

Ruth. They're in need of redemption

and they've met Boaz. And Boaz in chapter 3 said he

was willing and able to redeem. And that's how we ended chapter

3. Today we consider the final

scene, chapter 4. How will Boaz settle the matter?

How will scene 4 end? As I read Ruth Chapter 4, hear

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

the word of the Lord. Now Boaz had gone up to the gate

and sat down there, and behold, the Redeemer of whom Boaz had

spoken came by. So Boaz said, turn a side,

friend, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat

down, and he took ten men of this elders of the city and

said, sit down here. So they sat down.

Then he said to the Redeemer, Naomi, who has come back from

the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged

to our relative Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of

it and say buy it in the presence of those sitting here

and in the presence of the elders of my people.

If you will redeem it, redeem it.

But if you will not, tell me that, I may know, for there is

no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.

And he said, I will redeem it. Then Boaz said, The day you buy

the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the

Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name

of the dead in his inheritance. Then the Redeemer said, I cannot

redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance.

Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem

it. Now this was the custom in

former times in Israel concerning redeeming and

exchanging to confirm a transaction.

The one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, And this

was the manner of attesting in Israel.

So when the Redeemer said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself, he

drew off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and

all the people, You are witnesses this day that I have

bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech,

and all that belonged to Killian, and to Malon also Ruth

the Moabite, the widow of Malon, I have bought to be my wife to

perpetuate the name of the dead and his inheritance, that the

name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and

from the gate of his native place.

You this is this day then all the people who are at the gate

and the elder said we are witnesses.

May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like

Rachel and Leah, who together built up the House of Israel.

May you act worthily in Ephratha and be renowned in Bethlehem.

And may your house be like the House of Perez, whom Tamar

bordered Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will

give you by this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth and she became

his wife, and he went into her. And the Lord gave her

conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi,

Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a

Redeemer. And may his name be renowned in

Israel. He shall be to you a restorer of

life and a nourisher of your old age.

For your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you

than seven sons, has given birth to him.

Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became

his nurse. And the women of the

neighborhood gave him a name saying a son has been born to

Naomi. They named him Obed.

He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Now these are the generations of Perez.

Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram Father A

Minidab, Minidab fathered Nashan, Nashan fathered Salman.

Salman fathered Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed, Obed Father

Jesse and Jesse fathered David. Friends, we've seen that Ruth is

a story of bitter Providence. And we've all tasted our own

bitter providences too, haven't we?

Those times in life when it feels like you're being pressed

on every side, or like you're walking in pitch black with no

clue where you're going, or like you just keep getting hit by one

blow after another and you're just trying to catch your

breath. Is God at work in our pain?

Is he working through our discouragements and our

disappointments? The book of Ruth reminds us that

God often does his best work behind the scenes, though his

hand is often hidden. The book of Ruth reminds us of

the subtle Providence of God, who works all things together

for our good. That's what we see God do in the

book of Ruth. He works things together for

good. The book of Ruth is a story.

It's a story from death to life, from curse to blessing, from

famine to feast, from emptiness to fullness, from barrenness to

fruitfulness, from the days when there was no king in Israel to

the greatest king of Israel. David And chapter 4 teaches us

that God providentially provides our costly redemption through

our King, Jesus Christ. Redemption.

That's what chapter 4 is all about.

But not just Ruth's redemption ours. 2 We'll consider chapter 4

and three points .1 redemption accomplished, verses 1 to 12

redemption accomplished, .2 redemption applied, verses 13 to

17 redemption applied, and .3 Redemption anticipated verses 18

to 22 first .1 Redemption accomplish verses 1 to 12 tell

of a worthy Redeemer who is willing to pay the price of our

costly redemption. Remember what Boaz swore to Ruth

at the end of chapter 3. As the Lord lives, I will redeem

you. And remember what Naomi assured

Ruth about Boaz at the end of chapter 3.

He will settle the matter today. Chapter 4 begins with Boaz

sitting at the gate. He's come to settle the matter

of roots, redemption. The gate in ancient Israel was

the place for legal business. And look who shows up to the

gate in verse one, Verse 1. Behold, the Redeemer of whom

Boaz had spoken came by. Behold, Remember, the author set

up chapter 2 in the exact same way, chapter 2, verse 4.

Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, meaning the author

wants us to know. This is not a coincidence.

The author takes us behind the scenes and shows us the hidden

hand of God at work. Friends, this is divine

Providence, that sweet doctrine that God is the one who

constantly cares for creation. God was working when Boaz was

sitting, and Boaz sees the man and he asks him to sit.

Then he asked 10 elders of the city to sit, and with everyone

seated at the gate, they're ready for business.

So Boaz tells the Redeemer, Naomi's selling the land that

belonged to Elimelech why she's selling it.

She's likely selling it because she's returned from Moab with

nothing to her name. She's a poor widow.

She can't maintain the land, She can't retain the land.

And according to the law, her family had an obligation to make

sure that the land was not lost. So Boaz presents the Redeemer

with a proposition. Look at verse 4.

But in the presence of those sitting here, if you will redeem

it, redeem it. But if you'll not, tell me, for

there's no one beside you to redeem it.

And I come after you, and the man responds quickly, I will

redeem it. But there's one more thing Boaz

says, verse 5. The day you buy the field, you

also acquire Ruth the Moabite in order to perpetuate the name of

the dead. It seems that Ruth also has a

stake in the land. So if this Redeemer buys the

field, then he also has to marry Ruth.

And if he marries Ruth, then he also has to seek to raise up an

heir for her. Put yourself in his shoes.

When you're making a large investment, maybe a large

purchase, what do you do? Well, you count the cost, you

run the numbers. Well, what's the upfront cost,

and can I afford that right now? And then what's the return on

investment? And is this a good deal?

Ultimately, the nameless Redeemer ran the numbers, and at

first he knew if he bought the land, he'd have to care for

Naomi. But once Naomi died, the land

would come to him. But with this new information,

he knew that if he bought the land, he'd have to care for

Naomi and Mary Ruth and try to have a child and feed them all.

And then in the end, that child would inherit the land, meaning

this man would have to pay the price of redemption with no

promise of financial gain in the future.

And so for this unnamed Redeemer, the cost of redemption

was too high. So in verse 6, he backs out and

he gives the right of redemption to Boaz.

And in order to understand what happens next, the author gives

us a little historical background.

Imagine if you were at the store, somebody was making a

large purchase and they took their sandal off and then handed

it to the cash register, the cashier.

You'd be thinking, wait, what is happening here?

But in Israel this would have made sense, which the author

tells us in verse 7. Transactions of redeeming and

exchanging were attested to an ancient Israel by taking off

your sandal and giving it to the other person.

So the Redeemer takes off his sandal, takes it off his foot,

passes it over, and by doing so in front of the elders, in front

of everyone else there he publicly passes on the right of

redemption to Boaz. And so Boaz turns to the 10

elders and to all the people and says, verse 9.

You are witnesses this day. He says he's bought from the

hand of Naomi all that belonged to her, and Elimelech and

Killian and Mulan, and also Ruth the Moabite.

You are witnesses this day here at the gate.

Sitting down with all the witnesses present, Boaz settles

the matter. He buys Naomi so her land won't

pass outside the Limelux clan, and he buys Ruth so her

husband's name won't be cut off so it won't be forgotten.

The matter is settled, The court is adjourned.

And back then in ancient Israel, when court adjourned, apparently

everyone prays verses 11 and 12. The scene closes with prayer.

Listen to their prayer. May the Lord make the woman who

was coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together

built up the House of Israel. May you act worthily in

Nephratha and be renowned in Bethlehem.

And may your house be like the House of Perez, whom Tamar bore

to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will

give you by this young woman. They pray for Ruth.

They pray for Ruth by looking to the past.

They asked the Lord that he'd make her fruitful like Rachel

and Leah. Those are the two wives of Jacob

who bore eight of his twelve sons, and those 12 sons would

become the 12 tribes of Israel. And then they pray for Boaz by

looking into the future. They asked the Lord to bless

Boaz, who's a worthy man, that he would keep acting worthily.

And they asked the Lord that Boaz, his name, would continue

on for generations to come. Keep in mind, the unnamed

Redeemer was unwilling to exchange his own inheritance to

redeem Ruth. The cost was too great.

But Boaz was willing. And now the unnamed redeemer's

name is forgotten, but the name of Boaz continues in renown.

Boaz is a worthy Redeemer who was willing to pay the price for

Ruth's costly redemption. And in that we see a picture of

our Redeemer of Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, Jesus

Christ is a worthy Redeemer who was willing to pay the price for

our costly redemption. What a precious title Redeemer.

It reminds us that He saved us and at great cost to himself.

A cost he was more than willing to pay.

What was the price that God paid for the redemption of His people

on the cross? God did not spare his only Son,

Jesus Christ, but gave himself up for our salvation.

And Christ himself obtained the Church by his own blood.

He shed his blood, He died for our sins.

He bore God's wrath for our salvation, and he rose again.

And if you're united to him by faith, then your inheritance,

your eternal inheritance is secure.

You'll never be cut off because you are now a fellow heir with

Jesus Christ. Friend, if you're not a

Christian, would you believe in the only Redeemer who was able

and willing to pay the price for your redemption?

Would you trust in Him and turn from your sins?

And church, it's good to remember what God has done for

us in the Gospel. Consider even further the cost

of your redemption. You were dead in the grave.

To bring you to life, Christ had to die himself.

You were empty, living a hopeless life, and to fill you

up, Christ had to empty himself. You were destined for wrath and

judgement and eternal condemnation.

And to free you from wrath, Christ had to bear the wrath

himself. That's what God's done for you

in the gospel. And if God didn't spare his own

Son for your salvation, will he not also, with Christ,

graciously give you all things? Think for a moment about how

God's generosity to you in the Gospel reframes how you receive

the bitter Providence that God sends you.

Like when you meet the trials of various kinds that every

Christian faces unexplained sickness, job loss,

discouragement, depression, conflict in your family or with

your friends. Like when you're reviled and

persecuted. Like so many Christians around

the world face when you're slandered, denied promotions,

even shunned from your family. Like when you meet the troubles

of the Book of Ruth, the loss of your security, the loss of a

loved one. Even the unexplained inability

to have a child like when you face the bitter Providence that

you face today, how do you respond?

How can we possibly rejoice in the midst of those difficulties

and discouragements? How can you, Christian, count it

all as joy as we're called to brothers and sisters?

The answer is only by faith. Only by believing that the God

who gave up his only Son for your costly redemption, that

he's the same God who gives good gifts to his children.

And that's what the book of Ruth teaches us.

It teaches us that the way to walk through bitter Providence

is to keep walking back to the Lord by faith, patiently

trusting the Lord that his good purposes will be revealed in due

time. In due time, Christian God,

who's a restorer of life, will restore to you the years the

locusts have eaten. He will make up for everything

you've ever lost. He will Himself restore,

confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

He's accomplished your redemption.

You can trust Him with every trial.

In verses 13 to 17, we see .2 Redemption applied, Redemption

applied. We see the fruit of redemption.

So far every chapter in Ruth has ended with barley.

How does scene 4 end? Look at verse 13.

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife and he went into her

and the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son.

Scene 4 doesn't end with barley, it ends with a baby.

After the wedding came the baby shower.

Children are a gift from the Lord and children are gifts

given by the Lord. That's what the author says.

The Lord gave Ruth conception. Notice the author tells us the

Lord did this. Ordinarily in the book of Ruth,

the hand of God is hidden behind phrases like behold or back.

In chapter 2, she happened to come to the part of the field

belonging to Boaz. In fact, the author only

explicitly mentions the Lord doing something two times in the

book of Ruth. Turn quickly.

Chapter one, verse 6. Naomi heard that the Lord had

visited his people and given them food.

That's the first instance God gave them bread in Bethlehem.

Here in chapter 4 is the second incense the Lord gave Ruth

conception 2 explicit acts of God and they're both regarding

fertility. One in chapter 1, one in chapter

4, meaning they function as bookends to the book 1 marks the

end of the famine. The other marks the end of

infertility. For remember back to chapter 1,

Ruth had been married 10 years with no children.

The author implied there she was unable to have children.

What are these bookends then teach us?

Together these two acts teach us that the Lord is the one who

providentially provides for his people.

And how does God providentially provide for his people?

According to the book of Ruth, one of the ways God provides is

through prayer. Now, God doesn't need our

prayers, but we need to pray. And God doesn't need our

prayers, but he's chosen to govern the world through

secondary means, like the prayers of his people.

There are five prayers in the book of Ruth and did you know

that God answers every single one of them?

Chapter 1 Naomi prays that the Lord would provide Ruth rest in

the House of her husband. Chapter 2 Boaz prays that the

Lord would reward Ruth for her loyalty to Naomi.

In chapter 2 also Naomi prays that the Lord would bless Boaz.

And in chapter 3 Boaz prays that the Lord would bless Ruth.

And in chapter 4, which we just read, the people pray for Ruth

to have a baby and for Boaz, his name to be renowned in

Bethlehem. And all of these prayers

culminate in chapter 4, verse 13, as the Lord answers with the

blessing of a baby. God is sovereign over

everything. And the God who's sovereign over

everything commands us to pray about everything.

We're commanded. Ask, seek, knock.

We're even rebuked you have not because you asked not.

Psalm 65 calls the Lord. You who hear prayer that should

make us marvel. God hears our prayers and he

answers them. I wonder who the first person

you call is when you're in trouble, first person comes to

your mind, or who's the most important person in your

contacts if you need to get something done, Who's getting a

phone call? Who do you have personal access

to? Christians.

We have a personal audience with the Lord Almighty of the

universe, a personal audience. Therefore, prayers should be

like the background music for our life.

You go to the grocery store, you see a lot of people walking

around with headphones. They are literally living their

life according to a soundtrack. In a sense, that's what our

prayer lives should be like. We should always be praying.

That's what Paul says. Pray without ceasing.

Every circumstance we face should be fodder for our prayer

lives. And the Almighty God of the

universe acts through our prayers.

So church, we should pray with great expectation.

Our prayers this morning, they were not performances.

We are calling on the name of the Lord together as a church.

And as we gather tonight for our prayer meeting, our prayers are

not perfunctory. They're not just out of duty.

We are privileged to approach the throne of God with great

confidence. I wonder, what are you

personally praying for? Peace in your marriage?

Wisdom for a difficult decision? Provision for the future?

Comfort for a suffering friend? Courage to do the right thing?

Boldness to share the gospel? The salvation of your family and

friends? God hears every prayer, and

He'll answer. In the book of Ruth, we have the

privilege to see how God answers every prayer.

But I recognize that on earth this is not always the case.

Each of us sits here with many prayers that remain unanswered

prayers. Some of us have prayed for

years, maybe for decades. But brothers and sisters in

heaven will have the privilege to hear how God answered every

one of our prayers better than we could have asked or imagined.

What good might God accomplish through the prayers of His

people? After Ruth has a baby, the

author turns back to Naomi. Look at what the women say to

Naomi in verse 14. Blessed be the Lord who has not

left you this day without a Redeemer, and may His name be

renowned in Israel. He shall be to you a restorer of

life and a nourisher of your old age.

For your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is more to you

than seven sons, has given birth to Him.

Does it surprise you that in the closing scene of Ruth, the

author shifts back to Naomi? If you paid attention, at the

end of every chapter, the author does this.

The author always turns back to Naomi.

It throws us off a little bit because the book is called Ruth.

But the spotlight, if you think of a play, each scene ends with

a spotlight on Naomi. She's the one who closes out the

scene. She's always left on the stage.

Why? Remember what Naomi told the

women of the town at the end of Chapter 1?

She said the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

She said the Lord has brought me back empty.

As she considered her life, she felt like God was against her.

That was her perspective in the beginning.

But in each chapter we've seen that behind the scenes, the Lord

wasn't against her. He was working for Naomi's good.

And each and each chapter we've seen that Naomi's heart was

softened to see God's kindness. And now Naomi doesn't tell the

women of the town. The women of the town tell Naomi

that she is blessed. For Naomi has a Redeemer, a

little baby who will preserve a Limelux line and provide for

Naomi in her old age. And Naomi has a daughter-in-law,

Ruth the Moabite, who clung to her, who loves her.

That's the only verb. That's the only use of the verb

love in this entire story. It's Ruth's love for Naomi.

And that means she's worth more than seven sons, a shocking

statement in a culture that prized sons.

So the scene ends in verse 16 with the baby boy sitting on

Naomi's lap. Her hands are not empty, they're

full. But just before the epilogue,

the author drops one more detail.

Verse 17, they named him the baby Obed.

He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Why does the author wait 4 chapters and then 17 verses to

tell us this one little detail, David, To understand what the

author is doing. I think a little illustration

will help. The first time I hiked up a

mountain, I learned the hard way about false peaks.

Have you ever been hiking? False peaks are miserable.

You hike up a mountain and all you can see is a peak.

When you get to the top, you realize that was not the peak.

There is another one coming. You get to the top of that one.

You exert all that effort and energy and guess what?

There's one more and you do it again and again and again until

you get to the final peak. You could ask what's the peak of

the Book of Ruth? Well, for Ruth and Boaz, it's

certainly verse 13. They get married, they have a

baby. But for Naomi, it seems it's

verse 16, also the baby. Then you read verse 17 and it

presents you with yet another peak, the final one, David.

That is King David. And we find that King David, who

played no part in the story whatsoever, appears to be the

very reason the story was ever written at all.

He's the Easter egg, he's the detail, the one discovery that

once you find it, it makes you rethink the whole book.

And once again, the author's revealing to us, the reader, the

hidden hand of God, the glorious Providence of God.

Finally .3 redemption anticipated.

The book concludes with a post credits scene, an epilogue in

the form of a genealogy. Verse 18.

Now these are the generations of Perez.

Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered

Aminidab, Aminidab fathered Nashan, Nashan fathered Salman,

Salman fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered

Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. Notice the time spanned in

chapter 4. Verses 1 to 12 take place over

one day, one day at the gate. Verses 13 to 17.

Well, those must have taken place at least over nine months.

That's how long it takes to have a baby.

And what about verses 18 to 22? Hundreds of years, 10

generations. Do you see God's hidden hand at

work all over history? Think about it in the book of

Ruth. Without the famine, Elimelech

wouldn't have sojourned to Moab. Without the sojourn, his son

Malan wouldn't have married Ruth and Moabite.

Without Malan's death, Ruth and Naomi wouldn't have returned to

Bethlehem. Without Ruth and Naomi and

Bethlehem, Ruth wouldn't happen upon Boaz's field.

And without Ruth and Boaz's meeting, there's no Obed.

And without Obed there's no David.

And therefore God's people would have remained in the days when

there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in

their own eyes. Yet as we read in Matthew 1,

without King David there be no King Jesus.

For as we heard in Matthew 1, the genealogy continues from

Ruth four. And David was the father of

Solomon, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the

father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph.

And he goes on and on and on and on in Matthew 1 until verse 16.

And Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom

Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

But friends, now we've reached beyond the vision of the

original author. For the story of Ruth reaches

beyond the rest that David provided for Israel.

The rest received in Ruth is just a hint, a taste of what God

would do through the King of heaven, through Jesus Christ.

Like David, he was born in Bethlehem.

He is David's son, yet David's Lord, born miraculously of the

Virgin Mary, born to pay the price of redemption, to save his

people from their sins. Genealogies like this one force

us to zoom out. We have just a small vantage

point, a lifetime. That's it.

God works through generations, He's faithful through

generations. And we need to zoom out because

our lives often seem mundane just one day after another.

Sometimes we wonder, is it going anywhere?

And then when we look at all the various events, they seem

disparate. Is there a purpose behind any of

it? A move here, a new neighbor

there, a sickness, A promotion, a new opportunity, a new church.

How do all the pieces fit together?

The book of Ruth reminds us that though we don't know exactly how

God will work all things together for our good, we can

trust that He certainly will. Let's pray.

Father, we are grateful that even though you send us bitter

Providence, You have good purposes in our pain.

Lord, would you help us to look to Jesus Christ our King and

remember the great price that He paid for our redemption, that we

could trust You through every bitter Providence far into the

future, when you'll make all things new in Jesus name, Amen.