about came by. Boaz said, come over here and
sit down. So he went over and sat down. Then
Boaz took 10 men of the town's elders and said,
sit here, and they sat down. He said to the redeemer,
Naomi, who has returned from the territory of
Moab, is selling the portion of the field that
belonged to her brother, to our brother Elimelech,
and I thought I should inform you. Buy it back
in the presence of those seated here and in the
presence of the elders of my people. If you want
to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to
redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because
there isn't anyone other than you to redeem it,
and I am next after you. I want to redeem it,
he answered. Then Boaz said, On the day you buy
the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the
Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate
the man's name on his property. The redeemer
replied, I can't redeem it myself, or I will
ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption,
because I can't redeem it. Now at an earlier
period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and
gave it to the other party in order to make any
matter legally binding concerning the right of
redemption or the exchange of property. This
was the method of legally binding a transaction
in Israel. So the redeemer removed his sandal
and said to Boaz, Buy back the property yourself.
Boaz said to the elders and all the people, you
are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi
everything that belonged to Limelech, Killian,
and Milan. I have also acquired Ruth, the Moabitess,
Milan's widow, as my wife to perpetuate the deceased
man's name on his property so that his name will
not disappear among his relatives or from the
gate of his own hometown. You are witnesses today.
All the people who were at the city gate, including
the elders, said, we are witnesses. May the Lord
make the woman who is entering your house like
Rachel and Leah, who together built the house
of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and
your name well known in Bethlehem. May your house
become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar
bore to Judah. Because of the offspring the Lord
will give you by this young woman. Boaz took
Ruth, and she became his wife. He slept with
her, and the Lord granted conception to her,
and she gave birth to a son. The woman said to
Naomi, Blessed be the Lord who has not left you
without a family redeemer today. May his name
become well known in Israel. He will renew your
life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed,
your daughter -in -law who loves you and is better
to you than seven sons has given birth to him.
Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap,
and became a mother to him. The neighbor woman
said, A son has been born to Naomi, and they
named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse. the
father of David. Now these are the family records
of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered
Ram. Ram fathered Aminadab. Aminadab fathered
Nashon. Nashon fathered Saman. Saman fathered
Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse.
And Jesse fathered David. Well, We are coming
to the end of our study in Ruth. So this was
four weeks. Some of you may have noticed there
were four chapters, which was convenient. But
we are going to be closing this book up. And
as we get started with that, if you don't have
a Bible, there are some on the back tables, on
the black tables there. Grab that. It's yours.
Take it home with you. And we are going to dive
in to God's word. But before we do that this
morning, let's pray. Lord, you are so good. We
give you all honor, praise, and glory. Lord,
as we open your word this morning, I pray that
we wouldn't be distracted, Lord, but that we
would just... allow you to work in our hearts
and our minds. Lord, thank you so much for the
richness of your word. And as we get to explore
it together, we just ask that it would teach
us more about who you are and what you have done.
I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So, I mentioned
we've been in the book of Ruth, but I have a
question first. Have you ever looked at a season
of your life and wondered, how did my story end
up here? See, often we go through times of struggle,
of grief, of loss, and maybe we're not where
we expected. We're not where we planned to be.
Maybe we even feel like... Everything that made
life stable has fallen apart. And that's exactly
where the book of Ruth begins. See, over the
course of the last three weeks, we have explored
Ruth chapter 1 through chapter 3. And the book
begins with a man named Elimelech, whose name
means, my God is king. But... He doesn't live
like God is his king. See, instead of trusting
the Lord during famine, he moved his family to
Moab, and then everything collapsed. Elimelech
dies. Malon dies. Kilion dies, his sons. And
now there's three widows that remain in Moab.
So Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem, believing
her story has ended in emptiness. And she leaves
and she tells her daughter -in -law, don't come
with me, there's nothing for you as foreigners
into Israel as widows. One daughter -in -law,
Orpah, goes home. Ruth comes and she says, no,
I am going to choose to follow you, but more
importantly, I am going to follow you. And so
they go back, and it sure just seemed like there
was nothing left for them. It was all just empty.
It was hopeless. Many of us have been there.
Many of us feel like, I'm in that season right
now. But the surprising thing that happens in
the book of Ruth is, we're going to see a shift.
See, because they return to the land of Israel
and they return to Bethlehem. And that's where
this story takes place. Now, typically when we
think of Bethlehem, we don't typically think
of the story of Ruth. We often think of the town
of Bethlehem and we think... of some shepherds
that were watching their flocks by night outside,
and these angels came, and they come, and they
come, and they're told that the Messiah has been
born in Bethlehem, and they rush down, and we
think of, we sing songs about Bethlehem, a little
town of Bethlehem, and that's often what we think,
but long before Christmas, there was actually
another redemption story that was unfolding there.
See, it says that Naomi and Ruth returned to
Bethlehem at the start of the harvest. The narrator
gives us a whisper of hope. They arrive at the
start of a season where there is food where there
wasn't before. In Ruth chapter 2, Ruth goes to
glean, and the Bible says it just so happens.
She landed in the field of Boaz. Or what's interesting,
the way it's written in the Hebrew, it's like
a tongue, not quite a tongue twister, but it's
like her hap happened to be. So it was really
clear that this wasn't just coincidence. It was
actually the providence of God. And then she
meets this man, Boaz. Boaz, who has the potential
to be a kinsman redeemer. for Naomi. And Boaz
shows remarkable chesed. We've talked about this
word. There's no perfect translation to English,
but it's this idea of a covenant loving kindness.
And Boaz shows remarkable chesed toward Ruth.
And then the whole book quietly moves towards
one central moment. In Ruth chapter three, Verse
9, Ruth says to Boaz, spread your wings over
me or spread your cloak over me. You are a kinsman
redeemer. And that moment sits at the center
of the book because the whole story up until
then is about there's emptiness. And maybe there's
this redeemer, but can we be redeemed? And then
that moment sits at the center of the book. Will
there be a redeemer? Everything before leads
to the request. Everything after then flows from
it. Because redemption begins when Ruth turns
to the Redeemer and says, I'm willing. I want
to be redeemed. And then Boaz says he's willing.
But there's a closer Redeemer. And Boaz promises
the matter will be settled in the morning. Well,
guys, Ruth chapter 4 is that morning. See? To
recap it simply, Ruth chapter 1 shows us a broken
story. Ruth chapter 2 gives us a hint at redemption.
Ruth chapter 3 brings the request for redemption.
In Ruth chapter 4, we actually ask, will the
redemption be complete? So that's what we're
going to look at today. So please open your Bible.
to Ruth chapter 4. We're going to read verses
1 through 6. Boaz went to the gate of the town
and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer
Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, come
over here and sit down. So he went over and sat
down. Then Boaz took 10 men of the town's elders
and said, sit here. And they sat down. He said
to the redeemer, Naomi, who has returned from
the territory of Moab, is selling the portion
of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
I thought I should inform you. Buy it back in
the presence of those seated here and in the
presence of the elders of my people. If you want
to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to
redeem it, tell me so that I will know because
there isn't anyone other than you to redeem it
and I am next after you. I want to redeem it,
he answered. Then Boaz said, on the day you buy
the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth,
the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man,
to perpetuate the man's name on his property.
The redeemer replied, I can't redeem it myself,
or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right
of redemption because I can't redeem it. So let's
look at what's going on here. See, It starts
off, if we remember from last week, where there
was this whole thing going down where Ruth comes
to the threshing floor. She's laying at the feet
of Boaz. She got all nice and dressed up. And
Caleb said, smelled nice and looked nice. And
she says, I am available for you to redeem me.
I want you to redeem me. And Boaz then says,
okay. If there's someone else closer, I'm willing
there's someone else closer. And if he's willing
to do it, good. If not, I will. So no matter
what, have hope in redemption. And then she goes
back and talks to, Ruth goes back and talks to
Naomi. And Naomi's like, oh, it's going to be
settled tomorrow. And so that is where we start.
So Boaz goes to the gate of the town and sat
down there. We don't really have town gates all
that much today. Maybe if you go over into like
some of the old cities in Europe. But in Israel
and in the Middle East in this time, the town
gate was pretty much where all of the business
was done. It was the courtroom. It was the center
of commerce that was outside of the market. It
was kind of where the business deals got done.
And so Boaz goes to the city gate. And then what's
really interesting, so the CSB translation doesn't
quite help it land, but it says, soon the family
redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. ESV,
I think, says behold. The Hebrew says, lo and
behold. He just happened to walk by. And so we
see this really interesting piece again where
we're seeing the author saying like, hey. Knuckleheads,
here's the providence of God. Because back in
Ruth chapter 2, Ruth just happened to land in
Boaz's field. And here, Boaz goes to settle this
business, and scripture says, and lo and behold,
the exact guy that he needs to deal with happens
to walk by. He probably would have come through
at some point, but there is evidence of the...
providence of God at work. And so Boaz explains
the situation. He says, hey, you come here, sit
down. And then he goes over and he grabs 10 of
the elders. The elders would have been in the
gate, but it seems like Boaz has a bit of respect
and sway to be able to be like, hey, you sit.
Hey, you 10 elders? Yeah, sit. We're going to
get this done. So they all sit down and Boaz
explains the situation. And this guy hears, hey,
there is a chance that I could get some land
probably at a pretty good discount because I
can redeem this land that Naomi's selling. Boaz,
it's really interesting how he goes about this
because he talks about the land first, and then
he says, yeah, and, because the Redeemer's like,
yeah, I'll buy the land. And then Boaz is like,
right, cool. Also, With this business transaction,
you're going to acquire Ruth the Moabitess. And
yeah, also with that, you have to do all the
duties of Leverite marriage. And your inheritance
from this land isn't going to go to your posterity.
It's actually going to go to our dead brother,
Elimelech. And he's like, maybe not. Never mind.
I actually can't do it because it's going to
endanger my inheritance. He's telling this guy
he has to marry Ruth and then raise the first
of the offspring as the child and legal inheritance
of the deceased. So he backs out and he says,
I can't redeem it or I might ruin my own inheritance.
And what's so interesting, there's irony here
that we can miss because it's really clear in
the original language. But this guy who is so
concerned about his inheritance and his name,
the original language, when it talks about when
Boaz is inviting him over, the Hebrew is basically
saying, hey, Mr. So -and -so, come sit over here.
It's intentional in actually leaving this guy's
name out. So I find a little bit of irony, and
I think the author was intending some of that,
of the guy who is most focused, on his inheritance
and his name, refuses to redeem and his name
is left out of the inheritance and in moving
forward. So he becomes the character whose name
is forgotten. And yet the man who risked in his
inheritance, Boaz, who is still willing to redeem,
his is remembered and lasts forever. When I was
reading through this, it just made me think,
of Matthew chapter 16, verse 25. So Matthew 16,
25 says this. For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life because
of me will find it. Boaz was more focused not
on a land deal and transaction. and getting to
marry this lady, he was more focused on what
was right before the Lord. So he was willing
to lose on inheritance because this is what would
honor God. So we see there's a redeemer that
was put into play here who was not willing to
redeem. He said, No, I can't do that. That has
personal cost to me. I'm not going to do it.
So then we have Boaz, and he's the redeemer here
who chooses to redeem. So we're going to look
at verses 7 through 13. At an earlier period
in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave
it to the other party in order to make any matter
legally binding concerning the right of redemption
or the exchange of property. This was the method
of legally binding a transaction in Israel. So
the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz,
buy back the property yourself. Boaz said to
the elders and all the people, you are witnesses
today that I am buying from Naomi. everything
that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Malon.
I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Malon's
widow, as my wife to perpetuate the deceased
man's name on his property so that his name will
not disappear among his relatives or from the
gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.
All the people who were at the city gate, including
the elders, said, We are witnesses. May the Lord
make the woman who is entering your house like
Rachel and Leah, who together built the house
of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and
your name well known in Bethlehem. May your house
become like the house of Perez, the son of Tamar,
bore to Judah because of the offspring the Lord
will give you by this young woman. So Boaz took
Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her
and the Lord granted conception to her. And she
gave birth to a son. So Boaz steps forward. And
he tells the people there, you are witnesses
today. And Boaz redeems the land, the family
line of Elimelech and Ruth. When I read this,
I thought, why? What? was the motivation of Boaz
in choosing to redeem Ruth, who's an outsider,
Naomi, who was bitter at cost to himself. And
as I chewed on that, I also shot a text to Josh
and to Josiah, and I said, hey guys, what do
you think? And what was really cool is we all
kind of came to the same point, which was Boaz
was motivated by this chesed, this covenant loving
kindness. And this word runs throughout the entire
book. See, in Ruth chapter 1 verse 8, Naomi prays
that God would show chesed to her daughter -in
-law. Ruth chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, Ruth shows
chesed by staying with Naomi and choosing the
God of Israel. Ruth chapter 2, verses 11 through
12, Boaz shows chesed in his protection and provision
for Ruth. Ruth chapter 2, verse 20, Naomi sees
God's chesed again in the provision of a redeemer.
In Ruth chapter 3, verse 10, Boaz calls Ruth's
request for him to redeem her chesed. And then
in Ruth chapter 4, Boaz shows chesed by redeeming.
Throughout every single one of these moments,
this loving kindness, throughout all of this
redemption, we see God's providence at work.
Because God is moving the story toward redemption.
That piece about the sandal, we're not going
to unpack that today. It's kind of interesting.
We don't really normally use sandals anymore.
Like when Jay closes a real estate transaction,
he's not like, cool, here we go. It's all done.
But there was significance to that. We just don't
get to unpack that today. So if you have questions
about it, dig further. We can talk about it.
But we see that God is moving the story toward
redemption. we started with a redeemer who was
not willing to redeem. Then we moved to a redeemer
who did choose to redeem. But what's kind of
interesting in this text here is after the Lord
grants Ruth and Boaz a son, Boaz's name kind
of fades out of the story. Like he's mentioned
again in a genealogy, but this guy who, you know,
if we're writing this as a book, we're going
to think, oh, wow, look, we're going to focus
on the end of their story. We see him fade out.
So let's look at verses 14 through 17. So this
is after Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife.
So verse 14 says, The women said to Naomi, Blessed
be the Lord who has not left you without a family
redeemer today. May his name become well known
in Israel. He will renew your life and sustain
you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter -in
-law who loves you and is better to you than
seven sons has given birth to him. Naomi took
the child and placed him on her lap and became
a mother to him. The neighbor women said, a son
has been born to Naomi, and they named him Obed.
He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
So Boaz marries Ruth, and the Lord gives them
a son. But the focus then shifts to Naomi and
to this child. And this was the first time I
read this. where this actually kind of like clicked
and sunk home for me. Because every time I've
read this before, when I'm reading through the
book of Ruth, I've read this and it's like, oh,
you know, he hasn't left you without a family
redeemer. May his name be well known in Israel.
I was like, yeah, go Boaz. No. Boaz actually
isn't the redeemer at the culmination of this
story. The child is. This little baby is the
Redeemer. The women of the town say, Blessed
be the Lord who has not left you without a Redeemer
today. So while there is this thread all throughout
the book of this story of the desire for redemption,
and then redemption happening. And we see this
interplay between Ruth and Boaz. We get to the
end, and this child is the redeemer. But notice
who the women praise. The Lord. The Lord was
the one who was at work bringing about the redemption.
Throughout the entire process, we see God at
work in amazing ways to bring about this redemption.
And the women helped remind us, and probably
Naomi at the end. We talked about how Naomi had
said when she came back at the end of chapter
one, call me Mara because I'm bitter. The Lord
has oppressed and afflicted me. And then in chapter
two, we said about how her theology actually
started to change a little bit. Because she said,
wow, the Lord is at work in this. And now she's
reminded by the women in the town, blessed be
the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer.
And they said something surprising. And this
was the piece that for me was like, what, wait,
Boaz isn't the main redeemer? A son has been
born to Naomi. So the last time I checked, the
way that typically works is if Ruth and Boaz
got married and loved each other very much, and
the birds and the bees, that child was the son
of Ruth and Boaz. And yet, throughout the rest
of the story, it talks about how he sat on Naomi's
knee and she was a mother to him. See, the community
is recognizing the work the Lord has done. that
this child is God's restoration for Naomi. And
then the women in the town name him Obed, which
means servant. So Obed's actually the redeemer
in the story. The whole culmination of the story,
all of this subplot of redemption, we see a culmination
in the redemption that is brought by Obed. See?
The Redeemer restored Naomi's life. The whole
line describes future generational restoration,
not just the legal act. That's actually what
Boaz redeemed, was essentially a legal transaction.
But Boaz, through faith, then brought about Obed,
because the Lord granted that. And then he now
continues. the generational line. And what's
so interesting is Ruth, sorry, not Ruth, Naomi
said, I came back empty. And what's so cool is
at the end now, she holds this child in her arms,
the product of God's remarkable provision. So
we're going to go back to our text. And it says,
and Ruth and Boaz married, and the Lord gave
them a son, and Naomi was redeemed, and everyone
lived happily ever after. the end. Right? No?
Some of you are looking at me like, dude, did
you just like go crazy? No, that's not what God's
Word says. We transition to a genealogy, everybody's
absolute favorite type of read in the Bible,
a list of names that are tricky to pronounce.
But I want us to focus on this. Because there
is so much that is cool about this, so much richness
in this. And generally, anytime you see a genealogy
in the Bible, it's not there because somebody's
like, well, I had a word count for my assignment
today, and I'm going to throw in a whole bunch
of names. It actually has important theological
significance. So, Ruth chapter 4, verse 18 through
22. Now these are the family records of Perez.
Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram. Ram
fathered Amenadab. Amenadab fathered Nashon.
Nashon fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered Boaz.
Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. And
Jesse fathered David. See? The author includes
this genealogy, I believe specifically to sink
home that God's providence and redemption is
at work. See, we talked about at the very beginning
of this, this is set during the time of the judges
when everyone did what was right in their own
eyes and they were crying out for a king. And
through this book, we see that God was preserving
and bolstering and bringing about the line of
King David. So the question of the book of Ruth
as we've been going through it is, will there
be a redeemer? And we got to see a culmination
of this book. But then the author says, yeah,
but look forward. This was all coming towards
King David. And guys, I want us to look even
a little bit further forward because there's
something really interesting about this line.
See, the question of the book of Ruth was, will
there be a redeemer? But the story actually continues
in the gospel of Matthew chapter one. See, the
answer of scripture to will there be redeemer
is yes. And his name is Jesus Christ. If you
have your Bible with you there, turn with me
to Matthew chapter 1. And we're going to look
first at verses 1 through 6, and then we're going
to skip ahead. We're going to look at verses
16 and 17. Matthew chapter 1, verse 1, an account
of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of
David, the son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.
Isaac fathered Jacob. Jacob fathered Judah and
his brothers. Judah fathered Perez and Zerah
by Tamar. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered
Aram. Aram fathered Amenadab. Amenadab fathered
Nashon. Nashon fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered
Boaz by Rahab. Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. Obed
fathered Jesse. And Jesse fathered King David.
and then we go through a whole bunch of more
names, but I want us to skip forward to verse
16. This is the same lineage. And Jacob fathered
Joseph, the husband of Mary, who gave birth to
Jesus, who is called the Messiah. So all generations
from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and
from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations.
From the exile to Babylon until the Messiah,
14 generations. What's interesting in the book
of Matthew, Matthew actually adds in even a little
more detail than we saw back in Ruth. Because
we see something that would have been really
unique back then. He's including some names of
some women. He says that Boaz was the son of
Rahab. Rahab was the prostitute from Jericho
when the people of Israel were first coming in
to the promised land. She's the one who hid the
two spies and let them down. When the city of
Jericho was destroyed, only her and her family
survived. See, she was an outsider rescued by
grace. And then it specifically mentions, and
then Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. Ruth, a Moabitess
widow of Israelites who left the promised land
when things got tough, she came back, but she
was still an outsider rescued by grace. There's
more there. There's so many pieces that if we
had the time to unpack, I'd love to. This whole
thing about Perez via Judah and Tamar, that's
a crazy story. It's like, it's real crazy. But
there's so much here where you're seeing this
pointing to God working through what you would
least expect in his providence to bring about
redemption. And see, the line leading to Jesus
Christ is filled with stories of redemption.
That baby that Naomi holds becomes part of the
family line that leads to Jesus Christ. So all
this time, throughout all of this story, God
was quietly preparing the way, not just for redemption
for Ruth, not just for redemption for Naomi.
Not just to bring about a king in Israel, but
to bring the redeemer of the world. Naomi believed
her story had ended in emptiness. But that wonderful
reminder from the women in Bethlehem, blessed
be the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer
today. See, Naomi thought she had been abandoned,
but she hadn't. God had already written redemption
into her story. That truth of God writing redemption
into Naomi's story, guys, that's true for my
story. That's true for your story today. See,
if you belong to Jesus Christ, you are not without
a Redeemer. If you feel empty right now, your
story is not without a Redeemer. Maybe your emptiness
looks like grief. Maybe it looks like a broken
relationship, a future that didn't happen. Maybe
you're wondering if God has forgotten you. Naomi
felt much of that too. But the women of Bethlehem
saw something Naomi couldn't see. And as a reminder,
even for myself this week, and it's a reminder
I want to pass on to you guys this morning. Sometimes
we can't see the redemption that God is writing.
But that doesn't mean he's not writing it. See,
God restores broken stories through a redeemer.
And that story leads to Jesus. Let's pray. Lord,
you are good. You are sovereign. We praise you.
Lord, thank you that we get to praise you in
music and as the team comes up to lead us in
that, Lord, I just pray that our hearts would
be tender to what you would have even as we respond
in song. Lord, thank you that you are at work
in each and every story. of each and every person
here. Lord, you love us deeply, beyond all comprehension.
We thank you for that. Lord, thank you that we
are not without redemption because of the work
of your son, Jesus Christ. His perfect work on
the cross, his death, his burial, his resurrection.
Lord, if there are any... this morning that don't
know you, that just feel like their story is
irredeemable, that their emptiness is too great,
Lord, I pray that today would be the day that
they would surrender that to you. Lord, for those
who are here who do believe you are Lord and
Savior of their life, but are wrestling with
emptiness, are wrestling with struggle, Lord,
Give peace. Draw them to yourself. Help them
to trust in your chesed, your loving kindness.
Lord, you are so good, and we praise you. We
pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.