Ruth

[0:00] Please be seated and turn with me to your Bibles if you've got your Bible there. If you'd like a Bible, wave your hand, we'll get you one. We've got the intentions to look through the book of Ruth together now.

[0:12] I think it's the eighth book in your Bible, so near the front there, just after Judges. Ruth, four chapters. The book of Ruth, a short yet moving story.

[0:27] Over 3,000 years old. Only 85 verses long. One of the shortest books of your Bible. It takes 15 minutes to read.

[0:40] So you could probably read it three times while I'm preaching tonight. You might get more out of that than what I say. But four chapters, 15 minutes of your time. You can read the whole book. It teaches many powerful lessons.

[0:52] It tells of a remarkable woman, a forebear of Christ. It tells of faith and faithfulness in difficult seasons. It starts with the death of a husband and it ends with the birth of a baby.

[1:08] The book begins with sorrow and it ends with joy. It begins, Ruth, strangely enough, chapter 1, verse 1. That's where it begins. Ruth, chapter 1, verse 1.

[1:21] Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land. There was a famine in the land.

[1:31] It was terrible. A dry and barren time. A time of hardship and despair. A desperate time. And it says, And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

[1:50] Naomi moved from Bethlehem to the pagan land of Moab with her husband Elimelech and two sons Marlon and Kilion.

[2:02] Now Moses was a despised pagan people. A cursed nation. Often hostile to Israel. Often in hostility to the nation of Israel.

[2:16] And it says, verse 3, And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. And she was left and her two sons. Naomi's husband died.

[2:28] She was left with just her two sons. We read on that her two sons found wives. Ruth and Orpah.

[2:39] But ten years later, both sons died as well. So this left Naomi and her two daughters-in-law stranded as widows.

[2:51] Three widows together. And they were childless. Things were going from bad to worse. Now why did they even move to Moab? We could question the wisdom of that.

[3:08] We see there was a famine in the land. Naomi's husband died. And her two sons died also.

[3:20] A desperate time. At times like these, we can learn to trust in the Lord. Someone has said, Trial is the school of trust.

[3:34] Another saying, The darker the night, the brighter the stars. The hotter the fire, the purer the gold. Another saying, The jam cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

[3:52] Where there are no trials in life, there are no triumphs. So, Naomi and Ruth and Orpah were in the school of trust.

[4:07] Trial is the school of trust. Now Naomi decided to return back home to the land of Judah. She had lost her husband and both her sons suffered much loss and grief in this desperate time.

[4:20] She had no home, no husband, no sons. And she got word that the famine was now over in Judea. So she decided to return to Bethlehem.

[4:33] Now Bethlehem Judah means house of bread and praise. What's the house of bread? And praise. What a better place to be in a time of famine. Go to the house of bread, Bethlehem.

[4:46] So, she gave Ruth and Orpah her blessing to go back home to Moab, go back home to their hometowns to find husbands there. Naomi knew she couldn't provide the women new husbands.

[5:00] Now, she was beyond that time of life as well. What would have taken so long for them to become men, of course, so, if she had had sons.

[5:11] So she wanted them to move forward, as it were, to find another spouse if it be God's will. we pick up the story again, verse 8, of Ruth 1, and Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, go, return each to her mother's house.

[5:31] The Lord deal kindly with you as ye have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord deal kindly with you.

[5:45] This is one of the themes of the book of Ruth, the loving kindness of God. The loving kindness of God. It's a repeated theme. This word kindness or like words or the same word translated in various terms, the loving kindness of God.

[6:03] The hesed. It is his love, his kindness, his mercy, his grace. It's a major theme through the book. You can look through your strongs at this same word translated kindly.

[6:15] You have dealt kindly with me. It's a major theme of the book of Ruth. Self-giving love. God's kind of love. And we see here also in the book of Ruth another repeated theme is the reference to redemption.

[6:30] The redeemer, the kinsman redeemer is oft found in the book of Ruth, this theme, this reference to redemption. So Naomi offered to Orpah and Ruth, go home to Moab.

[6:46] Orpah took the option, but Ruth decided to stay with Naomi and head to Bethlehem together with her mother-in-law. Ruth would not let her go.

[6:58] She would not let Naomi go. We see in chapter 1 verse 16 one of the key verses of the book. Ruth 1 verse 16 Here was a turning point in this Moabite's woman's life, a turning point in her declaration of her love and loyalty, but what's more, the wonder of conversion.

[7:40] We could see here, whether at this time or at an earlier time in her life, she identified with the God of Israel. Your God will be my God. What a wonderful character trait of Ruth here.

[7:52] Her selfless devotion to her mother-in-law, her compassion, but what's more, her faith in the Lord. Your God will be my God.

[8:04] She made that commitment to Naomi's God, the true God. She chose to forsake her home, her homeland, her people, and the idol worship of Moab.

[8:14] She turned her back on that and said, I'm going to go with your God. He will be my God. Conversion. What a dramatic statement, a declaration of faith on her part here.

[8:27] She goes on in verse 17, Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.

[8:38] She said, nothing's going to separate me. Nothing but death could part us. When Naomi and Ruth made it to Bethlehem, verse 19, we see that people started to wonder what's going on.

[8:51] Can this be Naomi? She looks different. There's something different here. There's something that made them question, can this be Naomi? In verse 19, so they too went until they came to Bethlehem, and it came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about then, and they said, is this Naomi?

[9:14] She looked different from the woman who had left Bethlehem. Life had taken its toll on her. She even said to call her name Mara, no longer Naomi.

[9:25] Naomi means sweet, Mara means bitter. It's like some bitterness had come in her life's journey. As she headed to her hometown, she felt bitter about what had happened to her.

[9:38] It's like she was mad at God, in a sense, for those hard times. But really, this was a faulty view of God. she did not see that the painful circumstances in her life were still an expression of God's love and grace, because his plan was her good.

[10:01] Trial is the school of trust. Ruth 1 verse 20, And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty have dealt very bitterly with me.

[10:13] It was overwhelming for her. It seemed a hopeless, helpless situation. Now, Naomi, commentators compare her to a female Job.

[10:25] She's like a female Job. She lost everything, her home, her husband, her sons, and her livelihood. She became the lowest of the low, an outcast in her society.

[10:38] She was poor and widowed, not someone that had much status in that kind of society. Later, we see Naomi's faith was strengthened and restored, for now she cried out, for the meantime, though, in her great grief.

[10:58] Yet, even in her grief, God had given her a gift, Ruth. Naomi and Ruth got to Bethlehem, just in time for the early spring harvest, the barley harvest.

[11:11] We see the story picks up again in verse 22 of chapter 1. So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law with her, which returned out of the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

[11:29] Here was the harvest time, a time of celebration, of great joy and praise. It was spring, a time of new life, of new beginnings. Naomi had there a kinsman, a distant relative of her husband named Boaz.

[11:47] Ruth 2, verse 1, it says here, Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.

[11:59] We'll read more about him shortly. When they had reached their new home, Ruth decided to get work to help support herself and her mother-in-law. And the Lord had made provision in the law of Moses for the poor and the stranger, so that in the land, this land of promise, no one who would work would ever have to starve.

[12:24] Even the poorest could pick small amounts of the scraps, the leftover grain, to earn some kind of living. This was God's provision that he made in the law of Moses, so that these ones less well off, could glean in those fields.

[12:42] So they followed the harvesters as they went along and cut the grain and harvested it and took it to the store, that some of it was left deliberately on purpose for the others to pick up and glean and collect those bits and pieces of grain, so that they still had something from that harvest time.

[13:03] And so Ruth, we see, joins this harvest time. In Ruth 2, verse 2, And Ruth the Moabite said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn.

[13:20] After him in his sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. Ruth wanted to help take care of Naomi and herself.

[13:33] She decided to glean in a nearby field and follow the harvesters. Verse 3 of chapter 2, And she went and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And her hat, in other words, just kind of happened, the happenstance, just by pure chance, her hat, and you know, obviously God's kind of sense of humour here of sorts, or you know, how would you put it, as a word for it, you can't think of it, you're the one who helps me all the time.

[14:03] You know, that's just that, just by pure coincidence, by God incidence, her hat was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

[14:15] God's providence, God's providence, God's providence, God's providence, God's providence, also just happened to be related to the family of Naomi's husband.

[14:37] So one of the themes of the book of Ruth is God's providence, God's providence, he has provided in all the changeable, changing, you know, all the circumstances, all the changeable circumstances of life, that God is still the unseen one working behind, just those happenings of life.

[15:02] And it's not really happenstance, it's God's leading, it's God's providing. That's what Ruth was to find, God's providence, one of the themes of the book of Ruth.

[15:13] In chapter 2, verse 4, Boaz came on the scene, and he greeted his worker, saying, the Lord be with you. It was obviously a man of God. The name Boaz means powerful or strong.

[15:28] Next, while she was working in the fields, Boaz, this wealthy landowner, happens to notice Ruth. Ruth was working hard, Boaz took notice of her, and he asked the foreman about her, who is this woman?

[15:43] Who does she belong to? We see that in chapter 2, verse 5, then said Boaz unto his servant, that was set over the reapers, like the foreman, the leading hand, the one who was set over the reapers, he said to this man, whose damsel is this?

[15:58] Here's this woman, and the foreman replied, chapter 2, verse 6, in part it says, it is the Moabitesh damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

[16:11] And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

[16:24] Ruth, so what he was saying here, she's been working non-stop since she got here, from sun up, without a break, from sun up to sundown, she's scarcely taken a break.

[16:39] She tarried a little in the house, maybe just a quick five minutes or five seconds, but other than that, she's continued even from the morning until now. It shows the great character trait of Ruth in her, a character trait of hard work and of faithfulness.

[17:00] She wanted to provide for herself and for her mother-in-law. It was a great character trait, but she was diligent, she was industrious. We could take note of that, that commendation.

[17:13] Boaz introduced himself to Ruth, and he spoke to her tenderly. Boaz asked about this hard working and devoted young widow, working in his field. He took notice of her.

[17:24] This was surprising to him. He told her to stay with his workers and to keep on gleaning in his field. Ruth 2 verse 8, Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter, go not to glean in another field, neither go from hands, but abide here fast, by my maidens.

[17:42] He says, stay here with me, stay here in my field, with my workers. Now Ruth was poor and helpless, yet she had worked hard, taking little time for rest.

[17:53] Ruth pictures for us that no one is unimportant in God's eyes. A great mistake we can make is respect persons. Isn't it?

[18:06] Let's not have respect of persons. No one is unimportant. She's a foreigner. She doesn't belong here. She's from another country. You know, maybe she's got a funny accent like I used to have.

[18:22] I'll let's get rid of her. She's a poor widow. You know, she's just a nobody. That's what people might have thought. But no one is unimportant in God's eyes.

[18:34] We're all equal at the foot of the cross. And God saw Ruth as important in his master plan. Ruth was important. His strength is made perfect in weakness.

[18:47] Sometimes God uses the weaker to confound the more powerful, doesn't he? He just puts to shame the pridefulness of men. We're all equal in unworthiness, really, I put to you.

[19:02] So Boaz realized that this woman also was his relative by marriage. So we see the character of Boaz. It's kind of like a type of Christ. Boaz was kind.

[19:14] He was generous. He was gracious. A man of honor. A righteous man. And Boaz cared for Ruth. And he acted as her protector and her provider. What a picture this is of how God provides and protects and nourishes his people.

[19:30] He sustains his people. Ruth 2 verse 9. Boaz speaking to Ruth. Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap and go thou after them.

[19:42] How have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn. So he's saying here I'm going to make provision for you.

[19:54] When my workers have their smoko, when they have their meal break, when they have their lunch, when they have their supplies furnished to them, I want you to join in with them.

[20:05] I want you to feed with them. I want you to drink with them. I want you to have that nourishment with my workers. And the grace of Boaz to this nobody. Ruth 2 verse 10 Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

[20:31] Who am I? The humility of Ruth as a gentile, such as we, that God would have grace, that he would have grace in his eyes unto me, to us.

[20:45] Thank him for it, his grace. Boaz commended Ruth for her faith and her faithfulness to Naomi, her mother-in-law. He saw that there was something about Ruth that was special.

[20:57] She had faith and faithfulness. Ruth 2 verse 11, and Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

[21:19] Boaz saw that she had taken pains to leave that pagan nation, the idol worship of Moab, to come and to stand with her mother-in-law as a support to her.

[21:31] And Boaz encouraged Ruth in her faith. He saw that she had faith. This was what made the difference with Ruth. Ruth 2 verse 12, The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

[21:50] Ruth had put her trust under the wings of the God of Israel. What a picture of the wings of God. God, you know, have you ever picked up a bird? I had to go looking for my chook today, and I had to pick up the chook, and I got under her wings, as it were, because they had to grab hold of her.

[22:08] It took some catching, mind you. But, you know, the feathers, and you hear stories about birds in time, a bushfire, and that, and their little chicks come under the wings to find their shelter, to find their safety.

[22:21] The wings of God! We are under the great feathers, under the great covering of God's wings, as it were, like unto a bird. We see this picture, in fact, numbers of times through the word of God.

[22:34] We don't have time to touch on each reference here, but if you have a look through your concordance, at the wings of God. I'll just give you some brief references you might want to jot down.

[22:47] The wings of God provide safety, Psalm 17, 8-9. The wings of God provide a place of refreshment, Psalm 36, 7-8.

[22:59] The wings of God provide a stillness in the midst of the storm, Psalm 57, 1. The wings of God provide help and joy, Psalm 63, 7.

[23:09] And the wings of God provide hope in the midst of fearful circumstances, Psalm 91, verse 4. If you want, I can give you those references if you missed any at the close.

[23:21] The wings of God, the point is there's many references to God having wings covering over us. What a picture of that warmth, of that comfort, of that protection, of that oversight over our lives, that he is like a bird that shields us and holds us and covers us as a mother hen would cover her cheeks.

[23:47] Boaz saw, you have found refuge under the wings of God. You've found, he's given you a full reward, or he's praying that the Lord will give a full reward under whose wings thou art come to trust.

[24:05] She comes to have faith in this God as her refuge and strength. She found her refuge in God. And the Lord saw in Ruth her godly character and commitment, her unselfish acts and servanthood.

[24:21] There's much symbolism through the book, and we really don't have time to do it justice, but the symbolism in the book of Ruth, in how it pictures Boaz, Boaz, how Boaz would redeem Ruth.

[24:37] He redeemed Ruth. And that pictures for us of the work of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus, in redeeming his church. We see Ruth humbled herself to Boaz, so should we humble ourselves to our great Redeemer.

[24:53] We see Boaz gave supply of all that Ruth needed. Likewise, our Redeemer gives supply of all that we truly need. Boaz gave her comfort, chapter 2, 14.

[25:07] Likewise, our Redeemer, he provides our comfort. He is the God of all comfort. We see the supply in Boaz telling his men, drop extra handfuls of grain for her.

[25:19] Drop those handfuls on purpose. God has ways of blessing, of providing that we can't comprehend, that he has done. Drop those grains on purpose.

[25:33] Where did that come from? It's what God does, isn't it? When we don't expect he can give beyond our understanding, beyond our expectations.

[25:49] That's what Boaz did for Ruth. That's what God does for us. From his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. When Ruth had got home, Naomi saw that she had gleaned so much.

[26:01] This was astonishing, the amount of grain that she had gathered. Just picking up those gleanings, those little bits and scraps, that she would amass such a huge wealth of grain that she had gathered from the fields.

[26:19] And so Naomi asked her, what's happened? How is this so? And Ruth explained how Boaz had been so kind to her. Naomi wanted Ruth to find a home where she could be provided for.

[26:32] And Naomi believed now Boaz to be that kinsman redeemer, that guardian, that redeemer in her family line. And she saw what God was doing as she saw it before Ruth did.

[26:45] In Ruth 2 verse 20, Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, blessed be he of the Lord who have not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. There's that word kindness again, the loving kindness of the Lord, the loving kindness of our God, the grace, the mercy of our God, his kindness towards us.

[27:04] Naomi gave praise unto the Lord as the gracious covenant keeping God. And Naomi said unto her, the man is near a kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.

[27:18] Naomi saw that all of this was God's doing, that she just happened to come to his field, happened that he was a relative, one who could be a kinsman redeemer. In other words, Naomi discovered that Boaz was qualified to redeem Ruth.

[27:36] She was qualified to be the kinsman redeemer. Now the custom here of this time was that when a man died, his brother would take on the responsibility for the dead man's widow.

[27:48] So she would not be left alone. The brother would take responsibility. And he would take her on as an extra wife and ideally provide her with a son who would both carry on the name of his dead brother and provide for his mother.

[28:05] It was God's way of providing that support network, as it were, that provision that was of the custom of that time.

[28:17] So this meant that Boaz had the right to redeem Ruth, to save her, to provide for her, to make her one of his family. Now it was not the dumb thing for the man to make an approach.

[28:28] So Naomi told Ruth what to do, to make it known to Boaz that he could redeem her as her kinsman. It was making him aware that he had that right, he had that opportunity.

[28:41] And Ruth had a teachable spirit. Another character trait of Ruth was she was teachable. She was humble, she was willing to receive counsel from the mother-in-law and she took that wise counsel.

[28:53] So Ruth approached Boaz, she followed Naomi's instructions and she lay at his feet. Now this is a bit of an odd thing for us to comprehend, but what she did at this time in the setting involved no immodesty.

[29:10] It was the way of the east I'm told to communicate in the terms of these symbols. At this time, Boaz was at the threshing floor. It was an open space. The workers slept in their garments.

[29:23] They slept in this working space. And so Ruth was making Boaz aware of his obligation as a kinsman to marry the widow of the deceased relative and to continue his line.

[29:36] She came humbly to Boaz. When he was disturbed, he awakened, he noticed her and she called herself your maid, Ruth, your servant, Ruth.

[29:47] Boaz had recognised Ruth as this unselfish woman of noble character. He knew how she was hard working. He saw in her, I put to you, the Proverbs 31 woman, that Ruth was a virtuous woman.

[30:03] And she said to Boaz, cover me, cover me. What she was saying was, look, I'm your servant and I need covering. You're qualified to marry me.

[30:13] And I know it is, so it is, I know it, so spread your covering over me. This was again symbolic of his receiving her as one he could marry.

[30:27] And so Boaz spread his garment over Ruth and in doing so he declared his plan and his intention to do the honourable thing to protect her, to marry her, to cover her.

[30:38] Ruth was literally saying take me under your protective wings. Effectively she was asking for his protection through marriage. Boaz treated her with respect while fulfilling his lawful responsibility.

[30:51] So he recognised who she was, he received his responsibility that he was qualified to be her redeemer, to become her husband and her sustainer.

[31:03] And Boaz said in Ruth 3 verse 11, He saw the virtue of Ruth.

[31:17] She was a godly woman. Boaz showed his promise to care for her and provide for her. And as a token, as a pledge, he gave her six measures of grain. So this great sack of grain as a pledge of his promise.

[31:32] And although Boaz was in line for the rights of the land, yet there was also another, another kinsman redeemer, closer, with a higher claim to marry Ruth, a closer relative.

[31:46] So he says that in Ruth 3 verse 12, And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman, howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. So someone else had a higher claim to establish this marriage.

[32:02] This ownership of the land, this continuance of the line of Ruth. Boaz went to the marketplace the very next day. He wasn't waiting.

[32:13] He found the other man, who as the closest relative, had the right, the first choice to buy the family land and take Ruth as wife. For the meantime, Ruth had to wait.

[32:24] The patience of Ruth, the patience of Job, has the patience of Ruth. She had to wait. Sometimes we have to wait. still one day waiting was probably a bit daunting.

[32:37] She might suddenly have to be forced to marry a complete stranger who was the closer kinsman. Sometimes our answer from God to fix our situation can take a time of waiting and we need to have patience.

[32:52] So Boaz went, as soon as he could, he went to the kinsman redeemer himself and it ended up, as they had that meeting, there was witnesses there, it was a legal proceeding at the gates of the city to follow the governance procedures of the time and as he extended the invitation to this closest kinsman, the man did not want the land and Ruth.

[33:23] And so this left Boaz clear to marry Ruth. Now someone has observed here, again the typology, the symbolism, the three qualifications of the kinsman redeemer.

[33:34] Notice this, the three things that were special about the kinsman redeemer that likewise picture for us our redeemer, Christ. And the kinsman redeemer, first they had to have the right to redeem, they had to be related.

[33:52] The man had to have the power to redeem, the ability to pay. And the man had to be willing to redeem. Those three things, the right, the power, be willing. Of course that's true for our saviour, our Lord, our great redeemer, our great wonderful God in Christ who redeemed the world.

[34:11] He has the right as born of the seed of the woman that he is related, he is God God in flesh, God incarnate.

[34:27] He had the right to redeem us, he has the power to redeem us, the ability to pay. It's the precious blood of Christ, the right and the power, the ability to pay, the great price that he paid of the cross.

[34:42] And he had to have the willingness to redeem. He is not willing that any should perish. He is willing to redeem all who will come unto him. Boaz. What a picture of our great redeemer in Boaz.

[34:55] So Boaz was then able to declare that he would buy the land and take Ruth as his wife. Boaz again, it foreshadows, Christ our redeemer, in his grace, in the great redemption price, that he paid the price in full.

[35:11] And after Boaz purchased the land, he also took Ruth's hand in marriage. The marriage itself pictures the grace of our redeemer. Christ redeemed a bride for himself.

[35:23] It shows the divine love plan for saving us. His eternal plan, his eternal redemption plan. It's all pictured right through the Old Testament, right through, from Genesis through Revelation, God's great, wonderful redemption plan.

[35:40] And we see that in a micro setting of the book of Ruth, that the divine love plan for saving us is like Boaz's marriage to Ruth, as the church is the bride of Christ.

[35:59] Ruth was accepted into this common wealth of Israel. She was a Gentile, such as we. She, some would have looked down upon her.

[36:13] She's not fitting, not qualified, entitled, not worthy. But God made her his own. And he received Ruth, accepted, into the nation of Israel, into the promises of God, by faith.

[36:34] By faith, Ruth. And by faith, it's interesting that Boaz's mother, who was she? Rahab. Rahab. They didn't have great credentials, did they?

[36:47] Boaz. His mother was Rahab the harlot. And she was a Canaanite, another Gentile, a heathen, of the pagan land of Canaan.

[37:01] Yet God received Rahab, who bore Boaz, and Boaz received Ruth, the Moabites. Doesn't it show for us the grace of God, that he extends his grace so widely, the wideness of God's grace, in his willingness to save, to save to the uttermost, to the guttermost.

[37:22] His grace is so extensive. And we see Ruth gave birth to a son, named Obed. Obed, the name means a servant who worships.

[37:36] Boaz and Ruth became the grandparents of King David. I think they should say great grandparents, rather. Great grandparents of King David.

[37:47] So Boaz and Ruth, they bore Jesse, and then Jesse bore David. They were great grandparents of King David, from whose line came the Saviour of the world.

[38:01] What a wonder that Ruth was used so mightily of God, this poor widow woman, an outcast, a foreigner in the land, yet God's grace extended to her, such as to us, his grace, the kindness, the loving kindness of Boaz, as the loving kindness and mercy of God towards us.

[38:23] We see, as we wrap up here, chapter 4, verse 14, and the women said unto Naomi, they saw what God had done, they saw what has happened to Naomi, and in verse 14 of chapter 4, the women said unto Naomi, blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

[38:47] The Lord has not left you without a kinsman. Now this word, a kinsman equates to redeeming. God's given you a redeemer. God's given you a redeemer.

[38:59] There's reason for joy. There's reason for gladness. If you know his redeeming love, if you know the redeemer, there's reason for joy. And blessed be the Lord.

[39:10] He's not left you without a redeemer. He's provided a redeemer. God brought joy back to Naomi. It began with the death of a husband. It finishes with the birth of a baby.

[39:21] We see God lovingly help take care of Naomi. And she then was lovingly taking care of little Obed, that she was nursing him.

[39:32] What joy God brought back to her life, that the Lord brought Naomi and Ruth through that dark and lonely season and gave them joy, love, and blessing.

[39:43] Even Ruth. Even Ruth, a foreigner, from the despised Moabites. They were despised, hated. Maybe there's some racial features, there's something about her, oh, she's a Moabites, ex.

[40:00] She might be looked down on, oh, she's different. But she was part of God's plan, very much so. She was central to God's plan for the redemption of man, that she would become the great grandmother of King David, from whose line came the saviour, the redeemer of the entire world.

[40:22] Boaz and Ruth, great grandparents of King David. Praise God. Just to close the final reading here, chapter 4, verse 15 through 17.

[40:38] It goes on from, he's not left you without a kinsman, without a redeemer. Speaking of Boaz, but symbolic for us of Christ. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age, for thy daughter remore, which loveth thee, which is better to thee, than seven sons, hath born him.

[41:00] And Naomi took the child, young Obed, and laid him in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. She nursed little Obed, who would be the father of Jesse, the father of David.

[41:13] And the women her neighbors gave it to Naomi, saying, there is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed. They called his name Obed, which means a servant who worships.

[41:28] There is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Bless the Lord. What a picture. The book of Ruth, so many signs and symbols and types and hidden meanings and learnings we can picture from this book.

[41:48] It takes you 15 minutes to read it. Can you spare 15 minutes to read Ruth this week? And just dwell on these truths, these wonderful realities of this Redeemer, this great Redeemer that Boaz pictures for us, of his loving kindness, of his grace extended, of his mercy towards us, in Christ as our Redeemer.

[42:14] And let's humble ourselves as Ruth did before Boaz, trust his supply, find his comfort, find his redeeming love, and know his overshadowing wings.

[42:26] Let us pray. Our God and King, our Lord and Saviour, we thank you, Lord, that the great redemption price has been paid. Lord, that you are the one qualified to redeem in the person of your Son.

[42:40] You've had the price that you could pay to redeem us, and you have the willingness to redeem us. Lord, we thank you that you are the ultimate and absolute, entirely sufficient Redeemer for mankind, for all who will put their trust in you.

[42:56] And we see, Lord, that unworthy as we be, whilst we might be somewhat unworthy as Gentiles, yet, your grace is widened to the widest possible scope that all who will believe can receive and trust in you for your saving love.

[43:18] Lord, that your word tells us that we're redeemed by the blood of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus. And we pray, there's any here tonight, that are yet to get clear where they stand, that they might just in simple faith, bow their heart, their will to you, and say, Lord, save me, save me, by your blood, by your grace, by the love that you've extended in opening your arms to receive me, I come to you.

[43:51] I receive your forgiveness, your salvation, your setting free that redeeming power of who you are. And, Lord, help us each one to be reminded afresh of your great grace, your loving kindness is beyond our comprehension, Lord, yet you give it to us daily, day by day.

[44:14] And, Lord, help us to walk in the joy of that. No matter what the circumstance whilst it may seem a time of trial, yet it's a time to trust you.

[44:25] Even more, and know your strength is made perfect in our weakness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.