Ruth 4

Turn with me to Ruth chapter 4.

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

Ruth chapter 4, it's on page 224 if you've got a church Bible.

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

And there's a really famous photograph from 1972.

! It's a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph.

And many believe that that photograph put an end to the Vietnam War.

Some of you will have seen it, most of you will have.

It's of a little girl running down the street naked in pain.

Her eyes are squeezed tight with terror.

It was one of the most disturbing pictures,

one of the most poignant snapshots of the Vietnam War.

24 years later, that same young lady was standing at the podium

in the Vietnam Veteran Memorial in Washington.

It was Veterans Day.

And as a child, Kim Yook brought home to Americans the horror of war.

But 24 years later, she's a grown woman at that ceremony.

And she brings a very different lesson.

It's the lesson of the Book of Ruth.

The healing power of forgiveness.

As she laid a wreath against the wall.

And Kim told the assembled crowd of war veterans,

these are her words,

As you know, I am the little girl in that photograph.

I'm the little girl who was running down the road,

running to escape from the napalm fire.

I've suffered a lot from both physical and emotional pain.

There were times when I thought I couldn't live.

But God saved my life.

And gave me faith and hope.

How did that happen?

Well, soon after the infamous photo was taken,

Kim was rushed to hospital

by the Associated Press photographer who'd taken the picture.

And years of painful therapy followed.

After the war, she'd enrolled in Saigon University,

hoping to study medicine.

But she was far too valuable,

a propaganda tool for the communist government.

She was put to work in a government office.

And eventually, she was sent on a goodwill visit to Cuba in 1996.

And while she was in Cuba,

she fell in love with a man.

They got married.

He became a Christian.

And she became a Christian.

And eventually, both of them managed to defect.

And this is what she said more recently on national radio.

She told of her plans to go to Bible college

that she and her husband had

so that they could go and spread the good news

amongst the Vietnamese people.

As she shared the message of forgiveness

to thousands of toughened soldiers

on that Veterans Day ceremony,

she publicly forgave the pilot

whose load had scarred her skin

and killed her two younger brothers.

It's reported that at that moment,

many hardened war veterans began to weep.

Now, why do I tell you that story?

What is the moral of that story?

And this is it.

It's that there is no limit

to the reach of God's forgiveness.

There's no limit to the kindness of God.

This book, this 3,000-year-old story

set in the days of the judges,

in days just like ours,

days of overwhelming spiritual apostasy,

moral anarchy.

This little story,

the key word in the story

is that word kindness.

It's God's loving kindness,

God's steadfast love,

his covenant love.

It is the heart of God

that we see in this lovely little story.

And so for many,

for many,

what they would have considered

to be a hopeless situation,

an insignificant, nameless girl

running down a road in Vietnam,

God began to restore the nation.

And on that bleak day

when Kim lost her family

and was herself engulfed in flames,

she would not have been able to predict,

would she?

Not in a million years,

the unlikely outcome of her ordeal.

She would never have guessed

that through a series

of seemingly chance events,

she would somehow

come to know God's love herself.

And she would be able to shelter

under the wings of the God of Israel.

She would never have guessed

that she herself

would become a messenger of God's grace

to share God's love with others,

which he's still doing to this day.

And through her testimony,

many have discovered for themselves

what it is to take refuge in Jesus

as their redeemer.

That's the story of Ruth, really.

If you had asked an Israelite then,

back in the days of the judges,

where is your God?

What has happened to the promise

that he made to Abraham?

That you people would be a blessing

to the whole earth?

What's happened to that?

Where is your God?

What's happening to your covenant promises?

I very much doubt they would have pointed

to a little Moabite girl called Ruth.

But that is where God

was working out his purposes.

Somebody has called the book of Ruth

the love story that changed the world.

And that's no exaggeration.

If you were making a film out of it,

you'd call it Three Weddings and a Funeral.

Chapter 1, there are three funerals.

Elimelech and his two sons,

Marlon and Cilion.

There's three graves in Moab.

But it ends with a wedding.

And Boaz marries Ruth.

And out of this marriage comes King David,

who was the great grandson of Ruth and Boaz.

And from David, of course, comes Jesus.

David's greatest son.

And of course, he is the reason

why you're here this morning.

Who would have thought that a story

3,000 years old,

a tiny little volume that you can miss,

can't you, as you skip through the Bible,

it's just four or five pages.

That's the reason why you're here.

It's a story about the Lord Jesus.

It's a story of redemption.

Like every story in the Bible,

it points to Jesus as our kinsman and regimen.

So I've got three things to say to you.

And the story is, first of all,

a story of costly redemption.

It's a story of costly redemption.

So, do you remember?

Ruth, at Naomi's instigation,

Naomi, the interfering mother in all,

but not really.

She's a godly lady.

She's got Ruth's best interest at heart.

Ruth, at Naomi's instigation,

has proposed to Boaz

in a cornfield in the middle of the night.

And in asking Boaz to marry her,

according to the laws of Israel,

she's invoking the principle

of a kinsman redeemer.

She's asking him,

not only to be her husband,

but be the one who will redeem

and rescue my family.

Who will give me a future

and a hope in Israel.

And as we've seen,

Boaz is more than willing to do this.

In fact, he's determined to do it properly

or not to do it at all.

So do you notice, in verse 1,

he goes up to the gate, doesn't he?

He goes to the town hall,

the hub of that community.

That's where the town councillors

met to transact their business.

The finance matters.

All sorts of issues

were settled at the town gate.

It's not a matter, Boaz is saying,

to be settled in the middle of a cornfield

in the middle of night.

It should be done publicly

in accordance with God's law

in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.

And the law provided

that a close relative

could marry a widow.

There's no welfare payments,

no social security,

or anything like that.

3,000 years ago in Israel,

but there was a very rich

and generous provision.

in the law of God

for people who were destitute,

for people who were marginalised,

people who'd lost everything,

the law allowed a close relative

to marry into the family,

to marry the widow,

to produce offspring,

to whom the property rights

would be transferred,

the debts would be taken on.

And so up to this point in the story,

everybody's hoping it's going to be Boaz.

But the path of true love

is seldom smooth.

We find out, didn't we,

in chapter 3 last week,

there's been a complication.

It's complicated.

In fact, there is a closer relative

than Boaz.

There's somebody higher up the queue.

And so verse 1,

can you see it?

Of chapter 4,

now Boaz had gone up to the gate

and sat down there,

and behold,

it just so happened.

We've seen that many times

in the book of Ruth.

Behold, the Redeemer

of whom Boaz had spoken

came by.

Boaz grabs hold of him

and challenges him

before witnesses

to fulfill his duty.

So he says,

verse 3,

he said to the Redeemer,

Naomi,

who's 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 about it.

I'd say,

buy it in the presence

of those sitting here.

There's witnesses

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's no one

besides you to redeem it

and I come after you.

What's he going to say?

Well, the man says,

I'll redeem it.

I'm in.

But do you notice

who Boaz hasn't mentioned yet?

He's not mentioned Ruth yet,

has he?

He's just spoken

in terms of

the parcel of land

of prophets.

And obviously,

this nameless Redeemer,

he's a guy

with an eye for a bargain.

This could be

a nice little earner.

Naomi is an old lady.

She's not going to have

any children.

If I marry Naomi,

well,

the land will become

mine automatically.

When Naomi dies,

she's not going to have a son.

She's not going to have

somebody who will be able

to reclaim their inheritance.

And the land would become

automatically mine.

It's a nice little earner.

It sounds like a good investment,

a good option.

But then Boaz plays

his trump card.

Look what he says.

He says,

did I mention Ruth?

Did I mention Ruth,

the Moabitess?

And I think the writer

of the story

is emphasizing something there.

Did I mention Ruth,

the foreigner?

Ruth,

the Moabitess,

who's come to Israel.

She comes as part

of the deal.

She comes as part

of the property.

So,

verse 5.

And 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.

Now it's not looking

such a good deal.

Ruth,

by all accounts,

is a very attractive

young woman.

She's likely to have

children of her own.

And he doesn't mind

buying the land.

But there's no

commercial advantage

to marrying Ruth.

And so he backs out.

He says the deal is off.

And he takes off his sandal.

It's a bit strange to us.

He hands it to Boaz.

But that is the legal way

of transferring property

in Israel.

It's the equivalent

of signing a contract,

of shaking on the deal.

He's relinquishing

his rights to the land.

And then we're told,

verse 9.

Then Boaz said to the elders

and all the people,

you are witnesses this day

that I've bought

from the hand of Naomi

all that belonged to Emelach,

all that belonged to

Kilian and Malon,

and Ruth the Moabite,

the widow of Malon.

I bought to be my wife.

There's such a contrast,

isn't there,

between the two redeemers.

Boaz was not

the closest relative.

He had no obligation

to buy the land.

He had no obligation

to marry Ruth.

He didn't have to do that.

There was another relative

who was more closely connected

with the family.

He could have walked away.

But he freely chose

to do this.

He freely chose

to bear the cost,

to take on the responsibility.

And of course,

that's the real difference,

isn't it,

between a real redeemer

and a false redeemer.

So, remember the Lord Jesus

in the Gospels,

he talked about himself

as the good shepherd.

The good shepherd,

the great shepherd

who comes

and lays down his life

for the sheep.

And he contrasts that

in the Gospels

with the hirelings

who were only in it

for what they could get out of it.

They don't care about the sheep.

They're only in it

for the money.

And that's the contrast

between Boaz

and this other man.

This other man

is only in it

for what he can squeeze out

for himself.

He's not concerned

with the plight

of these two

widowed women.

He's not concerned

with their future

in Israel.

It didn't enter

into his thinking at all,

but not so with Boaz.

He acts out of

unselfish,

sacrificial love.

It's not usually

what we mean

by love.

But the key word here

is the word hesed.

That's covenant love.

It's hard

to put it

into English.

Somebody has called it

love with Velcro,

which is quite a good way

of putting it.

Covenant love

is not lust.

It's not infatuation.

It's not hormones

raging

through the body

in testosterone.

Alec Mateer

puts it like this.

He says,

covenant love,

it is the wonderful love

that combines

the warmth

of God's fellowship

with the security

of God's faithfulness.

And that's a lovely

unpacking of that word.

It's like the wonderful love

that combines

the warmth

of God's fellowship

fellowship

with the secret

of God's faithfulness,

the security

of God's faithfulness.

And that's what Ruth

has come to expect

by sheltering

under the wings

of God.

And that's what Boaz

knew

and experienced

in his life.

He knew what it was

to trust

in the God of Israel.

And you see

that covenant love

and covenant faithfulness

supremely in Jesus.

And Boaz

is a prototype

of Jesus.

You know what a prototype is?

It's not the real thing.

But it points

to the real thing.

It points

to what the real thing

is

and how it will function.

And Boaz

is not Jesus.

He points

to Jesus.

And so Spurgeon

calls Jesus

our glorious Boaz.

Do you remember

what Jesus said

in the gospel?

The Son of Man

has come into the world.

This broken,

fallen, damaged world.

The Son of Man

has come into this world

not to be served

but to serve.

That's the difference

between Jesus

and all these

other redeemers.

Difference between Jesus

and all these

other gods out there.

The Son of Man

came not to be served

but to serve

and to give his life

as a ransom

for many.

To pay the price.

The ultimate price

that would redeem us

and sell us free

from our sin

and give us a future.

Our glorious Boaz

the Son of Man

he looked down

the corridors

of eternity

and he saw you

and me in our plight.

Just like Boaz

saw Ruth

in her plight

and his heart

was moved for us

willingly and freely.

And it wasn't robbery

for him to claim

equality with God.

He could have stayed

in the glory

couldn't he

but he willingly

and he freely

took the form

of a servant

and became obedient

unto death

even death on a cross.

He paid the ultimate price.

From heaven

he came

and sought her

to be his holy bride.

with his own blood

he bought her

and for her sake

he died.

Because as we

see at the Lord's table

redemption is costly.

There's a price

to pay

and when the moment

comes

and the price

for our rescue

has to be paid

we're told Jesus

sell his face

like a flint

to Jerusalem.

He didn't back out.

He didn't hesitate.

He didn't linger.

He didn't withhold

anything

he gave of himself

freely and willingly.

He went to the cross.

How willing

was Jesus to die

that we fellow sinners

might live?

The life

they could not take away.

How willing

was Jesus to give?

And freely

and willingly

he dies

on the cross

and with his last breath

he cries out

doesn't he?

Tatalestai

it is finished.

Not I am finished.

It's a business term

at the cross.

He's not saying

I am finished.

He cried out

with a loud voice

it is paid for.

Campbell Morgan

he was a minister

in London

in the kind of

early part

of the 20th century

and he was preaching

in South Wales

in a coal mining village.

And he spoke

of the salvation

that is offered

to us

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He spoke to this man

and he said

there is nothing

that you have to do.

There is nothing

you can do

but receive it.

That's all you've got to do.

I think it's one

of the many things

that keeps people

from becoming a Christian.

The person said

but surely

that's just too easy

isn't it?

It's too good

to be true.

Surely

I've got to do something.

Surely

I've got to make

some contribution.

Surely

I'll have to pay something.

Campbell Morgan

said to him

tell me

how did you go down

into the mine

underground this morning?

Man said

I went down

on the lift.

He said

well

that must have

cost you something

wasn't it?

Man said

well no

it didn't cost me

a thing.

Well isn't that

too easy?

Didn't you have

to pay

to go down

in the lift?

Wasn't there

a cost to pay?

The man said

well no

it didn't cost me

a thing.

The man said

it cost the company

to have that lift

installed.

It cost the company

an awful lot

to have that lift

installed

but it didn't

cost me a thing.

It's precisely.

And salvation

is free.

It is not cheap.

But it is free.

It cost me

nothing.

It cost him

everything.

It cost God

his own

beloved son.

We have

redemption

through his

blood.

And so that's

the first thing.

It's a story

of costly

redemption

but secondly

it's a story

of surprising

grace.

Surprising

grace.

Look at

verses

11 and 12.

There's a prayer

in there.

In fact I'm not

really sure

whether it's a

prayer or testimony

meeting

in verses

11 and 12.

But after the

ceremony

the witnesses

who've witnessed

the transaction

they pray

in verses

11 and 12.

And you might

have noticed

that Ruth

actually is

laced with

all these

little prayers

all the way

through it.

And here

are the

witnesses

the town

counsellors

and they're

praying

and they pray

for Ruth

you notice

in verses

11 and 12.

And they pray

don't they

that she might

become like

Rachel and Leah

the founding

mothers of

Israel

who produced

enormous amounts

of children.

And then

Ruth the Moabitess

this pagan

girl

who comes

from a place

where they

used to

sacrifice

their children

to Chemosh

this girl

who used

to worship

other gods

and now

these elders

are praying

for Ruth

the Moabitess

that she

would become

like Rachel

and Leah

the founding

mothers of

Israel.

And they

pray for

Boaz

for his

name

to be

honoured

where

in

Bethlehem

Ephrathah.

And they

pray for

this little

family

may your

family be

like that

of Perez

who

Terah

brought

to Judah.

And Perez

was the

result of

the same

kind of

marriage

that Ruth

and Boaz

would have

a Leverite

marriage

marrying

the brothers

widow.

And he

was one

of Boaz

ancestors.

It's

easy for

us to

forget

with all

these

wonderful

sentiments

being

expressed

in this

little

prayer

meeting

that

this

is

Ruth

the

Moabitess

a

childless

widow

from a

despised

foreign

tribe

and now

her name

is up

there in

lights

with Rachel

and Leah.

But not

only that

look at

verse 15

there's

something

shocking

about that.

In chapter

one

when they

turned up

the people

were whispering

behind their

hands about

Ruth and

Naomi.

But now

look what

they say

in verse

15.

He shall

be to

you a

restorer

of life

and nourisher

of your

old age

for your

daughters-in-law

who loves

you

who is

more to

you

who is

more

valuable

than

seven

sons.

That is

a really

radical

thing

to say

in the

patriarchal

culture

of

Ruth.

When

having

lots

of

sons

was

seen

to be

a

great

blessing

from

the

Lord

and

seven

is

the

perfect

number.

And so

do you

see what

they're

saying

to

Naomi?

Ruth

is

better

to

you

than

an

infinite

number

of

men.

That's

a radical

thing

to say

3,000

years

ago.

In

Israel.

Isn't

that

surprising?

You

didn't

see

that

one

coming.

In

a

day

when

women

were

nobodies,

do you

see what

God does

here?

God

recruits

the

women.

And

he

recruits

a

widow

and

a

foreigner

from

a

despised

race.

And

he

recruits

her

for

a

leading

role

in

the

unfolding

of

his

eternal

purposes.

She

is,

as it

were,

spliced

into

the

line

of

David,

the

great

king,

and

ultimately

into

the

line

of

Jesus.

Because

when you

come to

the

New

Testament,

Ruth

turns

up on

the

first

page.

The

racial

outsider,

the

poor

widow,

the

outcast,

she's

identified

with the

name that

is above

every

name.

And

isn't

that

God's

grace?

It's

outrageous,

it's

surprising,

it's no

wonder we

sing

amazing

grace.

Ruth

the

Moabitess

becomes

one of

the

mothers

of

Jesus.

And so

family

trees in

Jesus'

day

normally

only

included

the

names

of

men,

but

Jesus'

genealogy

has

got

four

women

in it.

Bathsheba,

Tamar,

Rahab,

and Ruth.

Ruth

the

Moabitess,

four shady

ladies,

as one

commented

it

calls

them.

It's

probably

a bit

unfair.

And

yet they've

got a

history.

And

grace

has

put

them

in

the

Saviour's

family.

And

grace

can do

that

for you

today,

whatever

your

background.

Whatever

skeletons

are

rattling

around

in your

cupboard,

God's

kindness

is so

wonderful

that it

can put

you in

the

Saviour's

family.

So

listen to

what Paul

says,

the

mercy

of God

extends

beyond the

boundaries

of race

or class

or gender

or culture

or ethnicity.

It

isn't

restricted

to the

rich

and

powerful.

No,

it's a

kingdom

of

grace

is what

Paul

says in

1 Corinthians.

Think of

what you

were,

he says

to the

church.

He says,

when you

were called,

not many

of you

were wise

according to

the worldly

standards.

There's not

many PhDs

in the

Corinthian

church,

not many

influential

politicians,

not many

of noble

birth,

but God

chose the

foolish

things of

the world

to shame

the wise.

God chose

the weak

things to

shame

the strong.

God chose

the lowly

things of

the world

and the

despised

things and

the things

that are

not to

nullify the

things that

are,

so that

no one

may boast

before him.

God

is God's

grace,

that is

what he

does.

Sometimes

I think

we are

tempted to

think that

God could

never really

use me.

God

couldn't

use us

because we

don't meet

the kind

of index

of worldly

success.

And we

look around

this room

and we

just think,

well,

I'm just

a nobody.

We're just

nothings.

sometimes we

think God

could never

use a

person like

me because

we don't

match up

to our

own

expectations,

let alone

the expectations

of others.

And we

feel God

couldn't

possibly

use a

person

like

me.

But we

mustn't

forget God's

surprising

grace.

Jacob was

a cheater.

Peter had

a temper.

David had

an affair.

Noah got

drunk.

Jonah ran

from God.

Paul was

a murderer.

Gideon was

insecure.

Miriam was

a gossip.

Martha was

a worrier.

Thomas was

a doubter.

Sarah was

impatient.

Elijah was

depressed.

Moses

stuttered.

Zacchaeus

was short.

Abraham was

old.

And Lazarus

was dead.

That's how

God works.

God doesn't

call the

qualified.

He qualifies

the called.

God's

God's

God.

And that's

what he

does.

It's all of

grace so that

no one would

boast.

And so

whoever you

are this

morning,

and wherever

you're from,

and whatever

your background,

and whatever

your baggage,

and whatever

your story,

your life

becomes

significant

as it is

taken up

into the

greater story

of the

Lord Jesus

himself.

And that's

the story of

Ruth.

It's a

story of

costly

redemption.

It's a

story of

surprising

grace.

And then

lastly,

it's a

story of

joyful

restoration.

Some

people read

the end of

Ruth and

they think

it's a

little bit

Disney-esque.

The girl

gets the

guy,

they have

a baby,

they all

live happily

ever after.

That only

ever happens

in fairy

tales,

doesn't it?

So if you

write a

modern play

and you

give it a

happy ending,

the critics

laugh at

you.

They say

it's

superficial and

unrealistic.

Real life

isn't like

that.

It's only

like that in

fairy tales that

people live

happily ever

after, or

is it?

Why is it

that fairy

tales end

that way?

Why do you

think fairy

tales reflect

that?

What do you

think fairy

tales are

trying to

tell us?

There is an

echo of

something there,

isn't there?

There is an

echo of what

this book is

telling us,

of what the

Bible is

telling us,

that in the

end,

that in the

end,

God's people

can look

forward to

the restoration

of all

things in

Jesus Christ.

And that

is how the

story ends.

And it

comes back

full circle to

show how God

restores.

The years that

the locusts have

eaten,

God can

restore.

And when God

renews his

people, when they

put their trust in

him, let me just

point that out

for you, he

restores Ruth

and Naomi from

emptiness to

fullness.

Do you remember

chapter 1?

Ruth and Naomi,

they came back to

Bethlehem and

Naomi says,

don't call me

Naomi, I

went away full,

but the Lord has

brought me back

empty, call me

bitter.

But now chapter

14, can you see

what she says?

The women say to

Naomi, blessed be

the Lord who has

not left you this

day without a

redeemer, and may

his name be

renowned for

by all in

Israel.

He shall be to

you a restorer

of life, a

nourisher of

your old age,

for your

daughter-in-law

who loves you,

who's more to

you than seven

sons has given

birth to him.

She's renewed,

there's a sparkle

in her eyes

again, she's

restored.

She's returned

to Bethlehem

empty, but now

she's come full

in chapter 4.

God has

answered her

prayers.

The woman who

despaired of

ever having

grandchildren has

got a little

baby on her

lap.

He's filling

Naomi's

emptiness, and

you can see the

sparkle in her

eyes.

As she gazes

down at this

little bundle on

her knee, she's

no longer bitter

anymore, the old

Naomi is back

again.

It's embarrassing

at the end of

chapter 1 when

they go back

from Moab.

They can't even

recognize it.

They say, is

this really

Naomi?

Ten years have

taken their

toll.

But now the

years that the

locusts have

eaten have been

restored from

emptiness to

fullness, from

prayer to

praise, because

what you have

here in verse

13 is answered

prayer, isn't

it?

So Boaz took

Ruth and she

became his

wife and he

went into her

and the Lord

gave her

conception.

And she

bore a

child.

I think in

verse 13 there

is a clue that

Ruth had

struggled to

conceive.

I think that's

the most obvious

reading of

verse 13.

For ten years

she'd known the

pain of not

being able to

conceive with

Malon.

And so Naomi

in chapter 1

verse 8 urges

her daughter's

in-law to go

back to Moab.

That's part of

her prayer.

And it's a

mixture of

good and

bad, that

desire.

It's mixed, but

she prays and

she urges them

to go back to

Moab, which is

not a good

thing, but she

wants them to

find rest and

security in her

husband and in

her family and

she prays for

them and God

has answered

that prayer now.

There's a

high priest at

God's right

hand.

We've got a

friend in high

places.

What a friend we

have in Jesus.

All our sins and

griefs to pay.

What a privilege

to carry everything

to him in

prayer.

He cleans up

our prayers, if

I can put it

like that.

He can make

sense of our

confusion, like

Naomi's confusion

in chapter 1.

He can improve

what we bring to

God in prayer.

He's given us

the spirit of

adoption who

groans with us

in our pain and

our suffering, who

makes sense of

our intercession.

And that's what's

happening here.

He takes our

poor and

misguided prayers

and he improves

them and he

answers them in

ways we never

thought possible.

And that's what

he does for

Ruth.

The Lord

enabled her to

conceive.

Verse 13, the

Lord gave her

conception and she

bore a son.

And so the line

of Elimelech,

which everybody

thought had dried

up and died

out, is now

restored.

And Ruth and

Boaz are not so

much starting a

family as they're

rescuing a family.

It's a story of

redemption and

restoration from

full, from

empty to full,

from prayer to

praise.

And then

lastly, from

chaos to

Christ.

Because as I've

kept reminding you,

this happened in the

days of the

judges.

A day when

Israel had no

king and

everyone did

what was right

in their own

eyes.

And it was an

individualistic,

hedonistic

society.

It was a

society that

had made peace

with sexual

brutality and

criminal violence.

Where might was

right, where the

law of the

jungle prevailed.

That is how it

was in the days

of the judges.

If you don't

believe me, just

read it.

It's an X-rated

book.

And that's how it

was in the days

of judges, how it

is in our society

today.

Where everyone

does what is

right in their

own eyes, and

we will have no

king in Israel.

We will not have

this king to rule

over us.

We will not

have God telling

us how to run

our lives.

And God says,

you shall not.

And we say, I

don't care, God,

what you're saying,

I'm going to do

it anyway.

That's what sin

is.

It is rebellion

against the God

who created us.

And he gave us

such a wonderful

environment to

flourish in.

And he set the

parameters for

human flourishing,

and we just take

our puny little

fist and we shake

it in his face.

Elimelech,

what does that

mean?

It means my

God is king.

What did Elimelech

do?

He wandered

into Moab.

He rejected

God as the

rightful ruler

of his life.

And isn't that

what you have

done?

What?

Haven't you done

that?

Isn't that what

the world has

done?

Because the world

is made up of

people like you

and I?

And we've

brought upon

ourselves to

the brink of

eternal ruin.

And we can no

more rescue

ourselves this

morning than

Naomi could.

And we need

help from

outside.

Outside of the

human race.

We need a

redeemer who

will come and

restore us and

rescue us and

save us.

that's precisely

what these

verses promise

us.

Because it's

almost as if

isn't it in

verse 18

somebody has

pressed fast

forward on

the DVD.

And suddenly

we're nine

months on and

Naomi is

cradling a

grandchild and

before you know

it somebody's

pressed the

fast forward

button again

and you're

three generations

down the track

and there's a

king in

Israel,

King David.

Israel's

greatest king.

And if you

keep your finger

on the fast

forward button

do you know

where you find

yourself?

in the fields

of this little

town of

Bethlehem,

Ephrathah.

And you hear

the sound of

angels saying

today is

born unto

you this day

in the city

of David a

saviour who

is Christ the

Lord.

And that's

where this story

is pointing

us from

emptiness to

fullness,

from prayer

to praise,

from chaos

to Christ.

Christ.

And we are

living in a

society and

in a time

that is

struggling to

find a new

morality that

will allow

almost anything

to happen.

And this

story points

you away from

the chaos of

our world to

Christ.

And ultimately

of course to the

restoration of all

things when Christ

returns.

and the

universe will be

restored to its

original settings.

And then

indeed we will

all live

happily ever

after in the

new heavens

and the new

earth.

Thank you.