I'm going to pray that God would help us to understand his word.
We pray, Lord Jesus, that as we come to your word now,
we pray that you would speak to us by your spirit,
that you'd grow us in Christ.
And we pray that we would glorify your name
in response to the things that you say to us.
In Jesus' name, amen.
We've spent the last few weeks in this series
preaching about the kingdom of God,
going from beginning to end in the Bible.
So we've looked right across the Bible
from creation to new creation.
We've been in Genesis 1, the first chapter of the Bible,
and we've gone to Revelation 22,
the very last chapter in the Bible.
And we've been looking at what it means to be God's people
in his place and under his kingship.
And today what I'm going to do is I'm taking us back to the book of Ruth,
which we've just had read to us so helpfully,
to a particular part of the Bible,
to try to make sense of it in terms of God's big picture purposes.
You can blame Brian Tung for this.
I think he said we need to apply what we've been learning
over the last few weeks.
So that's where we are.
But I would say also that we've been applying it
as we've been going along as well.
And I think what I'm doing this morning is...
One of the courses that I taught when I was in South Africa a few weeks ago
was called Promise to Fulfillment.
And the course teaches a method for coming to a Bible passage,
any Bible passage,
and teaching it with regard to God's big picture purposes.
The process has got a technical name, biblical theology.
I don't think I'm going to use that expression again
in this message this morning.
But it doesn't matter where you go in the Bible,
it's like going to a particular passage
and asking these questions about it.
Where does the passage fit with regard to the whole of biblical history?
What type of literature are we reading?
That's the second question.
A third question is, where does this fit in the Bible?
Where does it fit in the immediate context
and where does it fit in a wider context?
A fourth question is,
what did it mean to its original readers?
So when they picked this up and read it,
what's it saying to them?
And the fifth question,
for us sitting in church here in Chatswood this Sunday morning is,
what does it mean to us?
When we read this passage now,
what's it saying to us?
What is God saying to us?
So the first question is a historical question.
I want you to have the passage open,
or the little sheet open.
I know it's hard to read for some of you.
But the historical question,
chapter 1, verse 1,
in the days when the judges ruled.
Starts to put it in a historical context,
and the very last verses,
chapter 4, verses 21 and 22,
Salmon, the father of Boaz,
Boaz the father of Obed,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David.
So when we talk about David,
we're thinking King David,
we're going back a thousand years before the time of Christ.
We're talking about three thousand years ago.
And in the days when the judges ruled,
we're talking about a period of time
between when Joshua led the people of Israel
into the promised land,
and settled there,
and the two or three hundred year period
between them and God establishing a kingship
under King David.
So that's the history.
From a literary point of view,
I hope you see straight away from what we did this morning,
it's a story, it's a narrative.
By reading the parts,
we see that there's a story
which is being told by the writer,
and so it's a true story.
It's not just a parable
which is made up to teach something true from.
This is a true story,
and the characters are in a historical setting.
Now the biblical question,
Ruth is between Judges and 1 Samuel.
So in chapter 1, verse 1,
it says,
In the days when the judges ruled.
And really,
if you know your Bible,
that is a very negative way to begin the tale.
It's not a very glorious time in Israel's history.
It's about a two or three hundred year period
from 1300 BC,
roundabout after Joshua conquered the land,
to 1000 BC,
when David was king.
And then you go to the end
where we went a minute ago,
and it finishes with the words,
or Judges itself finishes with the words,
chapter 21, verse 25,
In those days,
Israel had no king.
Everyone did as he saw fit.
And if you read across Judges,
you will see that it's a time of escalating decline,
which finished in civil war,
with one tribe, Benjamin,
almost being obliterated
from amongst the people of God.
Not a happy time in Israel's history.
And the recurrent theme,
which is mentioned several times
in the book of Judges,
is,
In those days,
Israel had no king.
In those days,
Israel had no king.
Chapter 18, verse 1.
Chapter 19, verse 1.
In those days,
Israel had no king.
And it's the author's way
of saying to us,
those days were really bad.
Now, in some ways,
Ruth doesn't start much better.
Chapter 1, verses 1 to 5,
it says,
In the days when the judges ruled,
there was a famine in the land.
And a man from Bethlehem in Judah,
together with his wife and two sons,
went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
The man's name was Elimelech,
his wife's name Naomi.
And the names of his two sons were Marlon and Kilian.
They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah.
And they went to Moab and they lived there.
Now, Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died,
and she was left with her two sons.
They married Moabite women,
one named Orpah and the other Ruth.
And after they had lived there about 10 years,
both Marlon and Kilian also died.
And Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
Now, one of the commentators I read,
a man who I love,
he's spoken at the SMBC preaching conferences a few times,
a man called Ralph Davis from the States.
He's written about this and he says,
Take a look at Ruth 1 to 5.
Right away we meet the big word famine.
Quite likely a judgment on Israel at large.
And then we hear of the big move.
Whether justified or not, need not concern us here.
And then of a bad fact, Elimelech dies.
And so now we have one death, one widow, two sons.
And next we read of two marriages to foreigners, 10 years,
two more deaths, and so three total losses.
And he says you can tally up the mathematics of trouble.
One famine, three deaths, three widows, 10 years.
Five verses.
That's the opening block of the book of Ruth.
It's sudden and sobering and instructing it.
Instructive.
And is it not telling us that one's whole life can fall apart in five verses?
That such stuff can actually happen to the people of God?
Five tightly packed verses that ought to cure us of falling for the prosperity gospel.
So in a time of national disaster,
Ruth begins with personal disaster for a particular family.
And that's captured when Naomi says in verse 20,
Don't call me Naomi.
Call me Mara.
Means bitterness.
Because the Lord Almighty has made my life very bitter.
I went away full.
But the Lord has brought me back empty.
Why call me Naomi?
The Lord has afflicted me.
The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.
Her name describes her circumstances at that point in her life.
And they are very bitter.
And she lays her circumstances at God's feet.
He has afflicted me.
He has brought misfortune on me.
Her faith tells her that her circumstances haven't happened outside of God's control.
Are you comfortable when you hear that?
Would you be comfortable sitting with a friend who has lost their husband and their sons?
Who has been cut off from their descendants?
Who won't be provided for by social security and into old age?
Are you comfortable sitting with them in absolute agony and allowing them to say,
The Lord has done this to me?
I've sat with friends in agony.
And sometimes it's really tempting to give an apology for God at that point.
And sometimes it's better to allow them just to pour out their grief and their agony and their distress.
Because even when they're saying,
The Lord has done this to me,
in some measure they're expressing faith in his sovereignty and his control,
even though it seems in the most negative way.
You read across the book of Ruth,
and God is strangely silent.
He does not speak anywhere.
He does not say a word.
And we're told the story of a particular family's life.
And we watch and we see what it means for them to live by faith in an unseen God, the Lord.
When you read across Ruth, there is a recurring expression.
The writer continually refers to Ruth,
The Moabites.
He almost shouts at us.
She's an outsider.
She's an ethnic.
She's not true blue.
She's not one of us.
She's not a Chatswood original.
And Naomi, in chapter 1, verse 15, says to her,
Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods.
Go back with her.
And Ruth says,
Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.
Where you go, I will go.
And where you stay, I will stay.
And your people will be my people.
And your God, my God.
And where you die, I will die.
And there I will be buried.
And may the Lord deal with me,
be it ever so severely,
if anything but death separates you and me.
And so this Moabites, this foreigner,
attaches herself to Naomi
and to the people of Israel
and even more remarkably to the Lord.
You look in your English Bibles
where it's got the Lord written in capitals.
What it means is Yahweh in the Hebrew.
It's the personal name of God
which is only known amongst his people.
And Ruth attaches herself to Yahweh.
So despite all the difficult circumstances of her life,
she has come to know Yahweh.
She knows his name.
This foreigner has somehow come into God's kingdom.
Now the writer doesn't say it,
but I think that he expects us to realise it.
A foreigner has come amongst the people of God.
A Moabites calls him by his personal name Yahweh.
Now Israel's in a terrible state in the time of Judges.
And yet here is God
continuing to be faithful to his promises
that he made so long before to Abraham.
God promised Abraham
that all the nations of the world
would be blessed through him.
And now in this one family
during a time of national disaster,
God has brought a Moabite woman
named Ruth into his kingdom.
And you see it especially,
chapter 2, when Ruth says to Boaz,
why have I found such favour in your eyes
that you notice me a foreigner?
And Boaz says,
I've been told all about
what you have done for your mother-in-law
since the death of your husband
and how you left your father and mother
and your homeland
and you came to live with a people
that you did not know before.
May the Lord, may Yahweh,
repay you for what you have done.
May you be richly rewarded by Yahweh,
the God of Israel,
under whose wings you have come
to take refuge.
It only just came to me,
it's not in my notes,
but the whole notion
of coming to refuge in the Lord,
the whole notion
that somebody might come
from outside our church family
knowing nothing of God
and come amongst us
and find refuge in him
by the beauty and the love of his people.
We bear a high responsibility
in how we present ourselves
to the outsider.
And Ruth has taken refuge in the Lord
and Moses spoke,
if you go back in Exodus,
Moses spoke about God
being a refuge for his people
in Deuteronomy chapter 32.
He said,
the Lord's portion is his people
and in a desert land
he found him
in a barren and howling waste
and the Lord shielded him
and cared for him.
He guarded him
as the apple of his eye
like an eagle
that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young
that spreads its wings
to catch them
and carries them in its pinions.
The Lord alone led him,
no foreign God was with him.
God is a God
who is concerned
for his people
and God is a God
who is concerned
about outsiders.
And Ruth comes
and finds refuge
and protection
in the Lord.
When I was in South Africa
the other week
I had the privilege
of meeting Michael Cassidy
on a number of occasions
and one of those
he was shuffling,
he was jogging along the road,
my friends were a bit unkind
and said he was shuffling
along the road,
jogging
and we stopped beside him,
pulled up
and had a conversation
for a few minutes
and he,
a very funny man,
he told us a few stories
but one of the stories
he said he was incensed,
he went to his local church
and the annual meeting
they were carving up
the budget,
they were cutting the budget
to mission
and to outsiders
and he stood up
and he said
the church
is the only organisation
in the world
that exists
for the benefit
of non-members
and he told me
that he was greeted
by an Antarctic frost.
Steve Jeffrey
was talking to me
the other day
about Islam
and you know
sometimes we get in a flap
and we worry about Islam
and all the threat
that it is to the world
and you know what he said to me?
It will never stop us
preaching the gospel
but we are fearful
of losing our lives
and our lifestyle.
We don't want to lose
our stuff.
You come into chapter 3
in Ruth
and Ruth
and there is a change
of pace.
Boaz has noticed
and he has protected
Ruth
and Naomi
notices
Boaz's protection
and his care
and so
in verse 9
or verse 11
Naomi says
my daughter
should I not try
to find a home
for you
where you will be
well provided for?
Is not Boaz
with whose servant
girls you have been
a kinsman of ours?
Tonight he will be
winnowing barley
on the threshing floor.
Wash
and perfume yourself
and put on your best clothes
and then go down
to the threshing floor
but don't let him
know you are there
until he has finished
eating
and drinking
and when he lies down
note the place
where he is lying
and then go
and uncover his feet
and lie down
and he will tell you
what to do.
He sends it
she sends him
to a day spa.
I think it's really hard
to read this
and not think sex.
A woman
beautifies herself
perfume
best clothes
goes to a man
alone
who is alone
in the middle
of the night
and goes to him alone
uncovers his feet
and lies down
is that what you want
your teenage girls
to do with their boyfriends?
Do what he tells you.
It sounds like
Naomi
is sending
Ruth to Boaz
to use
her feminine charms
to seduce him.
Ruth
and Boaz
both understand
perceptions
because she gets up
and leaves
at his instruction
presumably
while it's still dark
in the morning
before anybody
can recognise them.
Those gay
Hollywood
gossipers
on breakfast
television
would have a field day
with this story.
There is sex
but not because
they've slept together yet.
this is a love story
which is full of
tenderness
and nobility
and honour.
Nothing sleazy
in this story.
Boaz is a near
relative
of Naomi's
a kinsman
redeemer
a man
under God's law
in a society
without social security
a man
who would have
been required
to bring
protection
to a widowed
near relative.
And Ruth
shows her
willingness
to come
under his
protection.
She's willing
to love
and to trust
this man
and he's
a normal man
and he goes
wow
you'd marry me
and he blesses
her for not
chasing younger
men
whether rich
or poor.
Great story
and Boaz
recognises
that there is
a nearer
relative
that he must
now deal
with.
So he gets
his witnesses
he tells
the near
relative
that Naomi's
lands for sale
you can increase
your empire
you get
first dibs
you're a nearer
relative
than me
and the other
relative says
I'll buy it
and then Boaz
very cannily
says
or points out
that he doesn't
just get the land
you get
the widow
as well
Ruth
the foreigner
to maintain
the name
of the dead
with the property
and a good
looking deal
suddenly doesn't
look as attractive
to him
he doesn't want
his own estate
falling into the
hands of a foreigner
buy it yourself
happy ending
so verse 13
Boaz took
Ruth
she became
his wife
he went
to her
and the Lord
enabled her
to conceive
and she gave
birth to a son
and then there's
even more
because the women
said to Naomi
verse 14
praise be to the
Lord who this
day has not
left you
without a
kinsman
redeemer
may he become
famous
throughout Israel
he will renew
your life
and sustain you
in your old age
for your daughter
in law
who loves you
and who is
better to you
than seven
sons
has given him
birth
and then Naomi
took the child
laid him in her lap
and cared for him
and the women
living there
said Naomi
has a son
and they named
him Obed
he was the
father of Jesse
the father
of David
this then
is the family
line of Perez
Perez was the
father of Hezron
Hezron the
father of Ram
Ram the
father of
Amminadab
Amminadab the
father of Nashon
Nashon the
father of Salmon
Salmon the
father of Boaz
Boaz the
father of Obed
Obed the
father of Jesse
and Jesse the
father of David
what a mouthful
thanks Ken
this wonderfully
tender story
finishes with a
genealogy
what a way to
finish a love
story
Naomi's
fortunes are
reversed
she has a
son Obed
his name means
servant servant
of the Lord
the genealogy
is tantalizing
in itself
simply put
Boaz and
Ruth are the
great grandparents
of David
the son of
Jesse
and so the
very last words
of this love
story tell us
that Naomi is
the great great
grandmother of
the great future
king of Israel
David
and the writer
here doesn't
need to say the
great future
king like I
just said
he only has to
mention the
name David
word and it
resonates
throughout the
room because
everybody knows
immediately who
he is talking
about
so we did
history quickly
we did literature
quickly we've done
bible over a fair
bit longer and now
we come to
application
and we ask the
question
what did all
this mean to
the original
readers and
then we want to
ask the question
what does it
mean to us
and in some
measure I've dealt
with them both a
bit even as I've
been speaking
but come back to
the first question
the original
readers why
you could ask the
question why is
Ruth in the
bible
and I think I
would say to
you I'm not
sure what you
said to one
another what did
you say to one
another
it's a bit
unfair when I've
already been
preaching for 20
minutes or
whatever
so the genealogy
so an outsider
and the genealogy
to David
anybody else
for anybody
who can't
hear
Richard took
us to the
genealogy of
Jesus at the
beginning of
Matthew's gospel
and drew the
link to Ruth
I'm not going to
say more than
that because I'm
coming to that
now no more
questions you'll
take my sermon
away he did
well I would
say that this
story is a
crucial bridge
between the
dark days of
the judges
when we are
continually told
that in those
days Israel had
no king and
each people
each person did
what was right
in their own
eyes and I
think the story
is saying to
us that not
everything was
dark God was
still king even
though people were
rejecting him as
king and he was
working his
incredible purposes
and promises out
and even in
darkness God was
reaching out to
people beyond
Israel and
bringing them
under the
protection of
his wings even
if his people
weren't interested
in the job God
was doing it and
God was working
even through
foreigners to
prepare the way
for his king
David and David
was the king to
whom God will
promise an
everlasting dynasty
something that
we've looked at
in the course of
this series
Matthew's gospel
Richard's right
picks up on the
significance of
God keeping his
promises when he
opens with a
genealogy which
says a record of
the coming to be
of Jesus Christ
the son of David
the son of
Abraham
and so what he
does he places
the coming to be
of Jesus Christ
in direct line
with the promises
of God of
kingship to David
and of a blessing
to the nations
in Abraham
Matthew quotes
Ruth when he
says in verse
chapter 1 verse 5
this is Matthew's
gospel
Sammon the father
of Boaz whose
mother was Rahab
Boaz the father
of Obed whose
mother was Ruth
Obed the father
of Jesse and
Jesse the father
of King David
Matthew's not
subtle at all
he won't sanitise
the family history
he proudly reminds
his Jewish
readership that a
foreigner called
Ruth stands
firmly in the
family history of
King David and
of God's eternal
King Jesus Christ
himself
at a human
level
Ruth is a
story of lives
lived by faith
even in the face
of terrible
bitterness
real tragedy
struck Naomi
and her family
you don't have
to minimise it
calling herself
Mara or
bitterness was a
true reflection of
her circumstances
there was no
fresh word from
God for her
life seemed
over
she and her
family faced
ruin and
despair
not everybody
who sits
amongst us
this morning
is enjoying
life at the
moment
and a word
from God
may feel
very distant
but Naomi
still had
faith in
God
despite
feeling bitter
with him
for what
he had
given to
her
and what
does stand
out is the
constancy of
faith in
Yahweh
in Ruth in
particular
attached herself
to Naomi
attached herself
to the Lord
her hope
in God
is maintained
despite
his apparent
silence
and perhaps
that's one of
the places
where this
story
particularly
comes home
for us
we live
by faith
in the
promises
of God
our biggest
hope is in
God's ability
to raise
the dead
our hope
is firmly
rooted in
the resurrection
of Jesus
Christ from
the dead
and because
God has
raised him
we can face
death with
the hope
that God
can raise
us to
eternal
life
God is
faithful at
every place
in the
scriptures
in keeping
his promises
even through
the darkest
days
so Ruth
is a story
of living
by faith
through dark
and unrelenting
days even
when God
seems strangely
quiet
he is
absolutely
working his
purposes out
his graciousness
to this
family
is shown
in his
complete
reversal
of their
fortunes
not something
that he
promises
this side
of heaven
but in
this story
he does
do it
so brothers
and sisters
I would say
to you
that no matter
how difficult
life for you
is at present
no matter
how bitter
the circumstances
of your life
may seem
to be
no matter
how impossible
the future
may appear
I want to
say that
God is
absolutely
to be
trusted
he may
not reverse
your circumstances
this side
of heaven
but he
is
absolutely
faithful
hope in
him
is not
futile
and
persistent
faith
will know
great
reward
in faith
we cling
to his
promises
and we
join
to Paul
the writer
of Romans
and we
say
knowing
all these
things
we are
more than
conquerors
through him
who loved
us
for I am
convinced
that neither
death
nor life
neither
angels
nor demons
neither
the present
nor the
future
nor any
powers
neither
height
nor depth
nor anything
else in
all creation
will be able
to separate
us
from the
love of
God
that is
in Christ
Jesus
our
Lord
Amen