God's People Reflect God's Character, Pt 3

Last two weeks, we've been looking at the book of Ruth.

Two weeks ago, we looked at Ruth chapter 1.

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

Last week, we looked at Ruth chapter 2.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

And this week, we're going to look combined at chapters 3 and 4.

And so as a result, we're going to move a little bit more quickly through these chapters

and summarize some things.

Our natural tendency is to think only about ourselves.

We tend to twist everything for our own benefit.

And yet, we want there to be good in the world.

Everyone wants that.

Everyone wants people to treat each other well.

And we want to be good ourselves.

We want there to be some basis for our ethics.

But why should we?

We've been exploring the answer to that question in the book of Ruth over the last couple of weeks.

And the answer that we've found so far is that God's people are good because God is good.

That God's people reflect God's character.

And in hard times when it's not easy to do the right thing,

when our true character sort of comes to the surface,

God's people treat each other like God has treated them.

And they reflect His character.

So today, we're going to look at chapters 3 and 4.

And the story is long, and we're not going to read the whole thing.

So we're going to summarize some parts of it

and then talk in detail about some other parts and draw some conclusions at the end.

So would you turn there with me?

Ruth chapter 3 follows Joshua and Judges.

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

It's a small book.

And let's review where we are while we turn there.

It's the period of the book of Judges.

It's a very dark time in Israel's history.

In those days, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

There's a woman named Naomi.

She's from Israel, but she's traveled to the nearby enemy country of Moab

with her husband and her two sons in a time of famine.

And the sons married Moabite girls, and then all three of the husbands died.

And that left three widows in a very, very vulnerable and precarious situation

without any means of taking care of themselves.

And not only that, but over the course of ten years, there were no children.

And so the family line is going to end, which is a great tragedy.

When Naomi decides to go back to Bethlehem, because she hears there's food there,

she urges her daughters-in-law not to come with her,

because there's no future for them there.

There is no possible way that these two Moabite girls are going to find a husband in Israel.

I mean, after all, who would ever marry a Moabite girl?

And Orpah, one of her daughters-in-law, realizes that Naomi is right.

And so she heads back to her mother-in-law.

But Ruth clings to Naomi, and she says,

No matter what, I am with you, and we are going to die together,

even if it's in the side of a ditch somewhere.

And not only that, but she says,

Your God is my God.

It's nice for Ruth to come along,

but by the time Naomi comes back to Bethlehem, she is angry.

She's angry at God for all of the pain that she's experienced.

She thinks that God is against her, and he has made her way very bitter.

Back in Bethlehem, it's the time of the barley harvest,

and Ruth goes out to the field to glean.

She's going to go after the harvesters to try and pick up some scraps of food left in the field.

It's a very dangerous thing for her to do.

She's a foreigner.

She doesn't have any protection.

She's alone.

And there's as good a chance as any that the Israelite men will sexually or physically assault her,

or they just might kick her out and not allow her to get any food at all.

But she comes to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, and he is kind to her.

He protects her and welcomes her, and he gives her food and water,

and he even, in an extreme act, tells his servants to just pull out some of the grain out of the bundles

and just leave it in the field for her to pick up.

And so as a result, she goes home with a huge haul, a huge bag of grain on her back,

probably two weeks' worth of work after one day,

and Naomi blesses Boaz for his kindness.

And then we wonder, maybe there's hope for them after all.

And now our story continues in Ruth chapter 3.

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

This is the word of the Lord.

Ruth chapter 3, verse 1.

Ruth 3:1

Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her,

Here's the story from my daughter.

finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies, then go

and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. And Ruth replied, all that

you say I will do. Now the barley and the wheat harvests are no longer than seven weeks, so it

hasn't been any longer than two months since chapter two when Boaz had shown incredible kindness to

Ruth when she first met him. And remember, we said last week that Boaz went way above and beyond

even what scripture commanded, even what the law commanded in the ways that he had provided for

Ruth. But gleaning will only get you so far. You can go out in the field and kind of pick up the

scraps, and that will only get you so far. There is not a future in gleaning. And so Naomi decides to

try to secure a long-term solution for Ruth. Back in chapter one, verse nine, if you remember,

as Naomi was saying goodbye to Ruth and Orpah, she blessed them and she said, may the Lord grant you

rest each in the house of her husband. Now in that society, their future depended upon them having a

husband who would provide for them and anchor them in society. Now she uses that word rest again in

chapter three, verse one. She says, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well for you?

She wants a secure home and a husband to provide for Ruth. And she has an idea that this husband could

be Boaz. He's been very kind to her. He's been a relative, which means that he might feel some sense

of obligation to take care of Ruth. And so Naomi hatches a scheme. She says in verse two, look, Boaz is

winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Now a threshing floor was an area out by the fields.

It was a large area of very flat rock, often on high ground where there was a breeze or some wind

going across. And the farmers would take their sheaves of grain after they had beat on them a

little bit to loosen them up and they would toss them into the air and the wind would carry away the

chaff and the stuff they didn't want and the heavier grain would fall back onto the smooth rock surface

where they could sweep it up. Because the threshing floor was somewhat secluded and because that's

where all the grain was that they had harvested, they would spend the night there and protect the

grain. But because it was a place where there were a lot of men alone at night out there sleeping

in a secluded area, that's also a place that was known where prostitutes would come and visit.

Hosea chapter nine verse one says, you have loved the prostitutes wages on all the threshing floors.

Yikes. So Naomi tells Ruth to wash and anoint herself with perfumed oil and put on her cloak. She

probably wants Ruth to be as attractive as possible, but it also, this change of clothing, might be a

signal that the period of mourning is over. Ruth mourning for her dead husband and it might be a

way of saying, I'm available. She's supposed to go under the threshing floor, but she is not supposed

to let Boaz see her until he is finished eating and drinking. Now, Ruth is a Moabite. Remember what we

know about the Moabites? In Genesis 19, Lot's daughter got him drunk and had intercourse with

him and the Moabites came from that act of incense. In Numbers 25, the Moabite women came and seduced

the Israelite men. They whored with them and introduced them to false gods. So, I mean, at this point,

we're getting a little nervous. Ruth is supposed to wash, put on perfume, go down to the threshing

floor, which already doesn't have a great reputation, at night, but only after Boaz has been eating and

drinking. Then Naomi gives her more instructions. She should uncover his feet. Now, if you're reading

this passage in Hebrew, that makes you even more nervous because the word uncover is often a euphemism

in the Old Testament for uncovering someone's nakedness. And the word feet in Hebrew is often a

euphemism for genitals. And then she is supposed to lie down. And just like in English, in Hebrew,

to lie is often a euphemism for intercourse. And Naomi says at the end of her instructions,

he will tell you what to do. Yeah, I'll bet. I'll bet he will. So, are you feeling nervous yet?

I mean, what is Naomi asking Ruth to do here? Here is Ruth, a typical Moabite. They have their

reputations of their own. And she's, you know, we're just assuming, okay, it had to happen sooner

or later. Her true character had to come out. Sooner or later, here we go, a Moabite woman,

once again, going out to seduce a good, upstanding Israelite man. Here it is, Numbers chapter 25,

Numbers 25 · chapter mention

all over again. The question is, how is Boaz going to respond to this? It seems like he has two

options. He can either wake up sort of groggy and then treat her like a prostitute, or he can wake up

and maintain his own integrity and sort of kick her out and say, get out of here. We don't want

your kind, right? That would be better, I guess. So, Ruth goes down to the threshing floor and she does

exactly what Naomi had told her. She waits until Boaz is in a good mood and has gone to sleep. She

uncovers the place of his feet, the lower portion of his legs, and she lays down nearby.

And as the night goes on, the air gets cooler and his legs are uncovered and he gets cold.

And so, he wakes up. Oh. Turns out that whole uncovering the feet business was just like an

alarm clock, right? You uncover his feet, he gets cold down there in the night air and he wakes up.

At midnight, it says in chapter 3, verse 8,

the man was startled and turned over and behold, a woman lay at his feet and he said, who are you?

It's dark. And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant,

for you are a redeemer. And Boaz said, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this

last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.

And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do all that you ask, for my fellow townsmen know

that you are a worthy woman. Boaz wakes up in the middle of the night. He feels around down there

for the covers and instead he finds a girl and he doesn't know who it is. It's pitch dark. And he

says, who are you? And she says, I am, first of all, Ruth. Notice this time she does not say the

Moabite. We keep seeing that through the book, but not this time. She says, I am your servant.

Remember last week in chapter 2, when she said, I am not one of your servants, she used the word

for servant that is the lowest, bottom rung of society, the women that were only used for manual

labor. But now she uses a different word for servant. Now when she says, I am Ruth, your servant,

she uses a word for servant that could become a wife. It's a different status. And she says,

spread your wings over your servant. The word wing could refer to the edge of his cloak. And if so,

then it would have a triple meaning. First, she might be saying, it's cold, please cover me too.

Second, she might be saying, protect me. Because remember in chapter 2, Boaz said,

you have come to take refuge under the wings of the Lord. Now she's asking Boaz to be a means of that

protection. And number three, she's asking him to marry her. Because in the ancient world,

when a man spread his garment over a woman, that was related to marriage. And then she says one more

thing in verse 9. She says, for you are a redeemer. This was an official role that a member of the

family took on behalf of needy and vulnerable relatives. There are several passages in the Old

Testament law that explain what a redeemer is supposed to do. Number one, he might purchase

land to keep hereditary property in the family. Number two, he might buy back relatives who have

been sold into slavery. He might track down and execute someone who had murdered a family member.

In other words, the redeemer was supposed to deliver a needy relative from any kind of harm or

misfortune. And so when Naomi sent Ruth to the threshing floor, she did not say anything about

a redeemer. That's Ruth's word. Now Ruth is asking Boaz to function as a redeemer by marrying her,

which will restore the broken family line of her dead husband and take care of Naomi as well.

So Ruth isn't seducing Boaz at all. She's not acting like a typical Moabite woman.

And Boaz says to her, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. Boaz doesn't treat Ruth like a

prostitute. He blesses her and he calls her my daughter. And I think what is happening here is

that the author is choosing words that are intentionally playing on our stereotypes of

Moabites. He's intentionally making us a little bit nervous. He's making us think, oh, here we go again.

We know how these Moabites are. And then he turns those expectations on their head because

these people are good. Ruth is not trying to seduce Boaz. She's trying to take care of Naomi and the

family line. And Boaz isn't trying to take advantage of Ruth. He's impressed that Ruth is showing kindness

to Naomi by her request. And Boaz says something very interesting in verse 10. He says, you have made

this last kindness greater than the first one. This word kindness is the word chesed. It's the same word that we

saw in chapter 1 and in chapter 2. The first time Ruth showed chesed or kindness, it was when she

sacrificially decided to come back to Israel with Naomi, even at the cost of her own future.

Now, Boaz says that by asking him to marry her, she is showing a kindness toward Naomi that is even

greater than the first one. How can that be? The first kindness was a sacrifice of Ruth's future. So

how can Ruth asking Boaz to marry her be an even greater kindness than that? I mean, he seems like a

great catch. He's rich. He's established. He's kind. He's been good to her. He's got a great reputation.

He follows the Lord. Why wouldn't he be the greatest catch in town that she can think of? I think there's

possibly two reasons why he thinks that this is sacrificial on the part of Ruth. First, he says,

you could have gone after the younger men, but you didn't. You came after me. I think that's because

Boaz is probably quite a bit older than Ruth. Remember, he keeps calling her my daughter.

And second, the reason that she is pursuing Boaz rather than the young men is because he's a relative

and because she wants it to be a marriage of redemption, which will raise up a child for Naomi's

family. When Ruth asks Boaz to marry her, he says, wow, I thought you were kind to Naomi before.

This kindness is even greater than the first one. And Boaz agrees. He says, I will do for you all that

you ask for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. He calls Ruth a worthy woman.

This is amazing because remember in chapter two, the narrator said that Boaz was a worthy man. He was

significant. There was gravitas to him. He had character. Two months ago, Ruth was a destitute woman

from Moab, scavenging around in the fields, looking for food to keep from starving. And now Boaz says to her,

you are a worthy woman. She doesn't have wealth or any kind of social standing. It's because of her

character and her reputation that has impressed him so much. But unfortunately, there's a complication

here. There is someone who is a nearer kinsman, a relative who is first in line. And Boaz tells Ruth

that he is committed to helping her. And in the morning, he's going to see if that nearer redeemer

will redeem Ruth. But if not, he'll do it. So in the morning, Boaz goes to Naomi, goes home to

Bethlehem. And meanwhile, Boaz goes to the city gate. This was the front of the town, the busiest

part of the town. And this is where the official business was conducted. Boaz sat down and the nearer

redeemer comes wandering by. We're not told his name. And Boaz calls out to him. He comes over and

they get 10 of the town elders and they all sit down and they begin to have this conversation.

Look with me at chapter 4. Let me skip ahead a little bit here. Chapter 4, verse 3.

Boaz says to the nearer redeemer, to so-and-so, that's what they call him,

that Naomi has put land up for sale. She's allowing it to be transferred to a relative who will function

as a redeemer. Widows couldn't own property. See how Boaz says in verse 3, the parcel of land

that belonged to our relative Elimelech. That was Naomi's husband. The nearer redeemer is first in

line. So he says in verse 4, okay, I'll redeem it. I'll redeem the land. And it's just kind of like,

oh, you know, that's not what we were hoping would happen.

But Boaz responds in verse 5 with a statement that we can understand in two different ways. He says,

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, most English versions say,

on the day you acquire the field, you also acquire Ruth in order to perpetuate the name of the dead.

But I don't think this is the right translation.

There's two reasons for that. First, actually, there's three reasons for that. First of all,

this is a type of leveret marriage. A marriage when a man marries a widow of his brother.

A man marries the widow of his brother and they have a child to carry on the family name of the dead

brother. That's in Deuteronomy chapter 25. But that was not required for any relative. It was only

Deuteronomy 25 · chapter mention

required for the brother of the dead man. So it seems funny here that Boaz would be telling him he

has an obligation to do this. I don't know why that would be true. Second, in verse 6, that seems to be

new information. That's something that the other guy doesn't know about. That seems strange. How could

he not have known about Ruth and her status in such a small town? Third, the nearer Redeemer says that

marrying Ruth would impair his own inheritance. But why would that be? There's another version in the

Hebrew text, another tradition that reads, on the day you acquire the field, I am taking Ruth as my wife.

And I think that is actually the correct translation. These are two separate acts. There's a field and

there's a girl. Two separate acts. The Redeemer can buy the land if he wants. He can redeem Naomi's land,

but Boaz is going to marry Ruth. And that might produce an error for Elimelech's family. In fact,

that's the whole point. And then the Redeemer says, eh, no thanks. I can't redeem the land because that would

damage my own assets. I think he's worried that if he pays all that money to redeem the land,

and then Ruth and Boaz have a son, and that son grows up, then he'll be the heir. And then that land

will revert over to them, and then he'll be left with nothing. So why would he pay good money only to

have the land go to somebody else's heir? He would damage his own estate. So Boaz is going to do both.

He's going to redeem the land, and he's going to marry Ruth. Look at chapter 4, verse 9.

You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech.

He has redeemed the land. And, verse 10, also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Machlon,

I have acquired as my wife to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.

He is marrying Ruth to continue the family line of Elimelech. And now Boaz has taken care of

everything. He has, just like he did in chapter 2, when he went above and beyond,

he has gone above and beyond here and given Ruth and Naomi more than they could have ever hoped for.

Why are the people in this book so good to each other?

Why does Naomi look out for Ruth and try to get rest for her?

Why does Ruth show concern for Naomi first, even when she's trying to secure her own future?

Why is she prioritizing Naomi like that?

Why does Boaz spring into action when he sees a need,

working not only to be a redeemer for Naomi, but also to marry Ruth in order to

raise up an heir for someone else's family line?

It's because they follow the Lord.

It's because the values of God have shaped their values, and this is just what they do.

It's simply in their nature to care for each other and redeem each other,

because that is also God's nature.

The word kindness, chesed, occurs three times in the book of Ruth.

We keep saying this over and over.

It describes how God acts toward his people because of who he is,

and it's his faithfulness, it's his mercy, it's his grace, his loyalty, his benevolence, his goodness.

God acts on behalf of his people, not because they deserve it,

and not because he's going to get anything in return, but because that is his nature.

He wants his people to treat each other that way as well.

And so in chapter 1, verse 8, Naomi blesses her daughter-in-law, and she says,

May the Lord deal kindly, that's that word, kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

Naomi links good character with God's character.

Ruth is sacrificially going to care for Naomi.

And the second time the word appears, in chapter 2, verse 20,

Naomi blesses Boaz this time.

She says, May Boaz be blessed by the Lord whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.

When Boaz accepted Ruth and protected her and welcomed her and gave her food,

Naomi says that was the kindness of God.

And the third time, in chapter 3, verse 10, that we read today, Boaz blesses Ruth,

and he says, May you be blessed by the Lord.

This last instance of your kindness is even better than the first,

because you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.

Here it is Ruth again showing chesed.

She is asking to marry Boaz not only because it will secure her own future,

but because it will help Naomi as well and the entire family line of Elimelech.

And Boaz interprets it as a sacrifice.

In his view, Ruth is acting in some way, even though it sounds crazy to us,

in some way against her own interests here in order to help Naomi again.

So here, I think, is the main point of chapter 3 and 4.

God's people act redemptively because God is a redeemer.

People in this story just go around redeeming each other.

Naomi is destitute, but she doesn't even mention her own need for a redeemer.

She sends Ruth to the threshing floor so that Ruth will find rest.

And Ruth agrees and chooses Boaz instead of a younger man

in the hope that he will rescue Naomi as well.

And Boaz redeems the land for Naomi and he'll marry Ruth and raise up an heir for Elimelech.

Everything these people do is kindness.

They just keep redeeming the broken and the hurting and the helpless

because their values have been shaped by God.

Let's stay on this for just a minute.

Look at the way that these three people have been redeemed.

First of all, Ruth has been redeemed.

Look at chapter 4, verse 13.

We're going to keep going here.

4, 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.

If we recall back in chapter 1, verse 11,

Naomi told Ruth and Orpah that they would never possibly find husbands in Israel.

In fact, she said,

What?

Do I have husbands in my womb right now that they're going to grow up and become husbands for you?

No, of course not.

This is the same wording, except they're reversed.

It says,

Ruth became his wife.

And the Lord gave her conception.

Remember in chapter 1, verse 4,

Ruth had been married to Machlon for 10 years

and they had never had any children

and now the Lord graciously intervenes.

Deuteronomy 23.3 says that no Moabite will ever be allowed into the assembly of the Lord

because of how they had treated Israel.

But now Boaz calls Ruth worthy.

She is significant in Israel.

She has a good reputation

and Boaz marries her.

Moabites were the enemy.

Moabite women were associated with idolatry

and all kinds of deviant sexual immorality.

Isn't it interesting that Boaz would marry her

and bring her into his family?

Why would he do that?

I think it's because

he was acquainted with grace.

Do you remember Tamar in the book of Genesis?

After Tamar's husband died,

she was cast aside and isolated with no future.

She waits

and she is not going to be taken care of

and so finally she's desperate.

She dresses up as a prostitute

and tricks her father-in-law Judah

into coming in and having intercourse with her

and she gives birth to a child named Perez.

And that child, Perez,

is Boaz's

great, great, great grandfather.

Which means

that Tamar

is one of Boaz's great grandmothers.

and Perez

is in the promised line of God,

the line of David.

Do you remember Rahab

in the book of Joshua?

She was a Canaanite woman.

She was also

probably a prostitute.

She was devoted to destruction.

The Israelites had been given

explicit instructions to kill her

when they entered Jericho.

No one was allowed to be left alive.

But she converted to the Lord.

She hid the spies.

She joined Israel

and Israel's God.

And so instead of being killed,

the Canaanite woman

joined the promised line

of God's salvation

in the line of David.

And Rahab

is Boaz's

mother.

Rahab

is Boaz's

mother.

So imagine the conversations

that Boaz had around the dinner table

as a boy.

of God's grace

shown to sinners.

Of God's grace

shown to outsiders

and foreigners

who did not belong.

Of God's grace

shown to desperate women.

It's no wonder

he married Ruth

and took care of her

because he knew

in his own family history

that God had done

the same thing

again and again.

Boaz married

a Moabite

because God

had saved his mother

and she was a Canaanite.

It's trickle-down grace.

It's trickle-down grace.

Captured by God's

incredible mercy

it just spills

into Boaz's life

and he can't help himself

he's just acting

like God.

We might ask ourselves

who are the Ruths

in our society?

Who are the people

who are tainted?

They're associated

with a particular sin

that is just not

going to work around here.

They have a certain reputation.

We don't want that

to rub off on us.

They're from a certain

ethnic group.

They're enemies

of the church.

That's okay.

Because if we've been

captured by God's grace

then we love and accept

and include people.

That doesn't mean

we change our mind

about their sin.

We love them

no matter who they are

and we love them tangibly.

Because we understand

that it isn't the healthy

who need a doctor

but the sick.

It isn't the righteous

who need the gospel

but sinners.

Second,

Naomi has been redeemed.

Do you remember

how bitter and angry

she was back in chapter 1?

She had lived

through famine

in an enemy country.

Her husband had died.

Her sickly sons had died.

She had no grandchildren.

She was a destitute woman

with no future.

She told Ruth and Orpah,

look,

I just have this big target

on my back.

God just keeps

striking me down.

He keeps hurting me.

You better leave

and get outside

of the blast radius.

But in his providence,

the Lord has been working

and just as Ruth

has been faithful

and Boaz has acted

as her redeemer,

God is using those things

to redeem Naomi.

Look at chapter 4,

verse 14.

Then the women said

to Naomi,

blessed be the Lord

who has not left you

this day without a redeemer.

See,

now it's Naomi's redeemer.

May his name

be renowned in Israel.

The Lord has not left Naomi.

He has restored her.

Back in chapter 1,

Naomi said to the women

of Bethlehem,

I went away full

and the Lord

has brought me back empty.

He brought me back

without my sons.

But now the women

have seen a change.

These same women,

the same women

of this little town

of Bethlehem say,

blessed be the Lord

who has not left you

this day,

without a redeemer.

In chapter 1,

verse 5,

when her sons died,

the narrator said,

the woman was left

without her two children

and her husband.

And now the narrator

uses the same word,

child,

here in chapter 4,

verse 16.

Naomi took the child

and laid him on her lap

and became his nurse.

Things have come full circle

in a beautiful character arc.

She had lost her sons,

she had been intensely bitter,

and then she began to hope

and God had worked

and at the end of the story,

she takes her child

and she lays him on her lap

that God had given to her.

Finally,

in chapter,

the third way

that someone has been redeemed

is a limeleck.

Or maybe we should say

the family line of a limeleck.

If we go back a couple of verses,

we're in 416,

if we just go back

a couple of verses

to chapter 4,

verse 12,

the people at the gate say,

the people at the gate of Bethlehem,

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 woman.

This word,

offspring,

is an important word

in the Old Testament.

It's the word

that we sometimes translate seed.

The word seed

or offspring

is a very important word

in the book of Genesis

because it describes

God's promised plan

of salvation

through a particular line.

It's going to be Abraham.

It's going to be Isaac,

but not Ishmael.

It's going to be Jacob,

but not Esau.

It's going to be Judah.

It's going to be Perez

from Judah and Tamar.

God has been preserving

this special line

of redemption

throughout the book

of Genesis

and Exodus

and Numbers

and Joshua.

And it's through this line

that he's going to bring

about his final promised solution

to the problem of sin.

But the problem is

that when Elimelech

and his two sons died,

that cut the line.

And when Boaz

raised up the dead man's name

over his inheritance,

then there's a new offspring

and that seed,

that offspring continues

the promised line.

So look at 417.

The women of the neighborhood

gave him a name.

They named the child

and they said,

a son has been born to Naomi.

That's an interesting way

of putting it.

They named him Obed.

He was the father of Jesse,

the father of David.

And then,

this very interesting story

with all the fascinating characters

and events

concludes

with the genealogy.

And that means it's important.

Look at 418.

Now these are the generations

of Perez.

Perez fathered Hezron.

Hezron fathered Ram.

Ram fathered Aminadab.

Aminadab fathered Nashon.

Nashon fathered Salmon.

Salmon fathered Boaz.

Boaz fathered Obed.

Obed fathered Jesse.

And Jesse fathered David.

The book of Ruth

ends by pointing forward.

Ruth's son

is King David's grandfather.

And King David,

most of all,

represents God's promised plan

of salvation.

Even in these days

of the book of Judges,

of despair

and all kinds of immorality,

God's promised plan

of salvation

going through King David

into the New Testament

is still intact.

He is working

to bring about

his Messiah

who will ultimately

redeem his people.

Amazingly,

Ruth's chesed

and her decision

to seek refuge

under the wings of God

has played a part

in God's redemptive program.

In time,

God's Messiah

would come

to save people

just like her.

The destitute,

the needy,

the poor,

even foreign people

who come from outside

the land of Israel

and come to take refuge

under the wings of God.

This is the gospel

of the book of Ruth.

God's redemption

in history,

in the lives

of these nobodies,

in the lives

of these people

in a little

backwoods community,

peasant farmers

that nobody knows about,

God's redemption

in history,

in their lives,

is a pattern

and a picture

of a spiritual redemption

that he offers

to all people

everywhere

in the death

and resurrection

of Jesus Christ.

He brings people

from hopelessness

to hope.

He brings people

from a death sentence

like Ruth

and Naomi

to a life

of flourishing.

He restores

the poor

and heals

the brokenhearted.

The people

in this story

act in chesed,

in kindness,

because they are

like a mirror

that is reflecting

who God is.

And we are learning

what God is like

with this picture

that's been presented

to us.

God is sacrificial

and that is why

Naomi and Ruth

were sacrificial

toward each other.

Because God

is sacrificial,

he was willing

to provide

his own son,

Jesus,

as a payment

for our sin

at a great cost

to himself.

God provides

for the needy.

We saw that

in chapter 2.

That's why Ruth,

that's why Boaz

provided for Ruth

in the way

that he did

in chapter 2.

God does for us

what we cannot

do for ourselves.

He forgives

our sin

because Jesus

has died for us

and gives us

the gift of mercy

even though we're

completely helpless.

And God

is a redeemer.

That's why

Boaz

redeemed Ruth

and Naomi

and the family

of Elimelech.

He finds people

like us

who are broken

and needy

without any hope

and he brings us

into his family

forgiven

and free

with nothing

to look forward to

but a glorious

future with him.

This

is a God

worth following.

He has

what we need.

He's the only one

who has

what we need

and he has

the one thing

we really need.

God

if you don't

know him

if you have

not committed

your life

to him

let me tell you

he's worth it.

He is a good

God.

If he has

not redeemed

you

the way that

he redeemed

Ruth

or if you're

not sure

then I encourage

you when the

service is over

to come down

here

and talk to

Pastor Mike

or myself

or Brian

or someone

else

we want to

talk to you

and pray with you

and introduce you

to this God

who is so good.

Come this morning

whether you're just

getting to know him

or have known him

for a long time

come to him

this kind

and redeeming God

who we've been

reading about

in the book of Ruth.

Let's pray.

Father at the end

of a book like this

there's nothing

to do

but to praise you

for who you are

reminded once again

of your great grace

the

the power

that created

the world

mixed with the

kindness

and the care

that you show

toward the people

who are broken

and needy

and Lord

we know

that it isn't

the broken

and needy

that

you pick up

along the way

as leftovers

but they are

of considerable

concern to you

we know

that's us

we're helpless

without your grace

lost in our sins

headed for nothing

but destruction

and death

and pain

but at the right

time you sent

Christ

to die on the cross

for our sins

and rise again

in victory

and we pray

that you would

help us anew

to understand

the implications

of what you have

done for us

help this story

to be an encouragement

to us

that the God

that we follow

is worth following

that we can trust you

that we can commit

our lives to you

and that it's also

worth reflecting

your character

in the lives

of the people

around us

we worship you

this morning

great God

and King

in your name

we pray

Amen

to have you

on the

on the

amazing

I