Let's pray together as we look at God's Word this morning.
Father, we come before you and we are thankful for your Word, your Word which gives life,
your Word which tells us about you, and your Word which reveals the wonder of salvation
and the wonder of the God that so many of us have come to know and love.
Father, this morning we pray that as we look at your Word, you will speak to us.
And we pray, Holy Spirit, that you'll take the words on these pages and you'll apply it to our hearts.
God, won't you cause us to love you more and to trust you more, to obey you more and to fear you more
because of your Word this morning.
Bring this time before you in your wonderful name.
Amen.
Okay.
So this morning we come to the end of our study of the book of Ruth, the Old Testament book.
And for me personally, it has been such a wonderful journey.
And I hope it has for you too.
It's been challenging studying the book of Ruth, trying to get my head around some things.
As Leah was saying, I'm sure there have been some fiery discussions in the CG.
But over the last few weeks as we've been going through the book of Ruth,
two lines have stood out to me.
The one is found in Ruth chapter 2 where Boaz says to Ruth,
And then in chapter 3, Ruth almost demonstrates what that means when she goes to Boaz and she says,
Boaz, spread the wings of your garment over me.
And I found myself over the last few weeks saying,
God, won't you make me a person that comes to take refuge and safety and security under the shadow of your wings.
Won't you spread your arms over me.
God, make me someone that comes to find my identity and my rest in you.
And I hope it's been encouraging for us as a church as well.
Now let's just recap the story for those of us that maybe have missed parts of it or some of it.
The story goes like this.
In Ruth chapter 1, we meet this family.
Elimelech and his wife Naomi and their two sons, Marlon and Chilian.
And they leave Israel because there's famine in the land of Israel.
They go up north to the country of Moab.
And this all takes place in what we are told is the time of the judges,
which was a very ungodly time in the nation of Israel.
It's a time when everybody did what was right in their own eyes,
which meant that nobody did what was right.
And so they leave Israel.
They go to Moab.
And Moab is an even more ungodly place.
And in Moab, tragedy strikes.
First, Elimelech dies.
And then Naomi's two sons marry a local Moabite woman.
And then the two sons die.
And so Naomi, an Israelite, is in a foreign land, foreign country,
with no land of her own, no sons, no husband,
no one to farm the land or to go and work in the fields.
And she's left with no security, just her two foreign daughter-in-laws.
And so Naomi, the one day, hears that the famine in Israel has broken.
And so she decides to go back to Judah, to Bethlehem.
And Ruth, the one daughter-in-law, decides to come with her.
The other decides to stay.
When Ruth and Naomi come back to Bethlehem in Israel,
they've got land which belongs to the family,
but the land hasn't been worked for decades.
And so it's lying fallow.
And so Ruth says, I better go out and find some work.
And so Ruth goes and works in the field of a man called Boaz,
who unbeknownst to her is a very godly man,
but he's also a relative of her late husband, Marlon.
And she just so happens to work in the field of this relative, Boaz.
And Boaz is incredibly kind to her.
He says to her, stay close to me.
I will look after you.
Don't go wandering away.
I will do you good.
And Boaz is incredibly kind.
He's generous to her.
He lavishly blesses her.
And so at the end of chapter one,
Naomi, when they come back, say, I've come back empty.
God has been bitter to me.
God has dealt unfairly with me.
I've got nothing left.
And just one day later at the end of chapter two,
because of Boaz's kindness,
Ruth and Naomi are now overflowing with provisions, with food.
And so they come to a place where they say,
God has been kind to us because of this man, Boaz.
Now, key to understanding the book of Ruth
is to understand the ancient Hebrew practice of redemption,
of redeeming a widow.
And the way it worked was like this.
If somebody in Israel fell on hard times,
maybe your husband died or you got into excessive debt,
the closest male relative, called the kinsman redeemer,
it is his obligation to buy you out of your tragic situation,
even at great personal cost to himself,
and to look after you.
So for instance, if a man dies,
his wife is left a widow,
maybe with children or no children,
this kinsman redeemer,
this family relative,
would buy the family land,
but marry this widow to do three things.
One, to look after her and provide for her.
Two, to look after the family land.
Land, remember, was a family safety and security.
In those days, you didn't have RAs and pension funds.
Your land was your provision.
But three, the redeemer would marry this widow
and then have children with her
in order to continue the name.
The children would be in the late husband's name
so that his family line wouldn't die out
but would continue.
Okay?
And so this was the obligation
of the closest male relative,
the kinsman redeemer.
So at the end of chapter two,
Ruth, after working in Boaz's field,
comes back to her mother-in-law, Naomi,
and Naomi says,
where did you work today?
And she says,
I worked in the field of Boaz.
And Naomi says,
Boaz, that man's a close relative of ours.
And her mind starts to think,
I wonder if this man can redeem us.
And so then in chapter three,
we saw that last week,
Boaz takes notice of Ruth.
She's a good-looking young lady.
And he spots her out,
but he doesn't make any moves on her
because Ruth is still wearing the mourning gear.
She's mourning her late husband.
And Naomi says to Ruth,
it's time to put away your mourning clothes.
It's time to prepare yourself for marriage.
And Naomi realizes that Ruth needs
not just Boaz's kindness,
she needs his love.
What Ruth needs is not just Boaz's provision,
she needs his loving protection.
And so Naomi prepares her daughter-in-law
and then at great risk to herself,
Ruth, in the middle of night,
goes to Boaz and she says,
marry me.
In this great act of vulnerability
and surrender and submission,
she goes to Boaz and says,
you are my Redeemer.
You are my rescuer.
Marry me.
Redeem me with your love.
And we saw that in many ways,
this is what it means to be a Christian.
A Christian is someone
who has recognized their emptiness,
recognized their need for a Savior,
recognized their need for redemption,
and come to the great Redeemer, Christ,
and says,
God, marry me.
Rescue me.
Redeem me with your love.
And so at the end of chapter three,
Ruth comes to Boaz in the middle of the night
and says,
rescue me.
Redeem me with your great love.
And Boaz says,
absolutely.
He's noticed Ruth, right?
He says,
sure thing.
Tomorrow I'm going to make it happen.
Except there's a problem.
And the problem is,
there's another guy.
I know that feeling.
When I first noticed Claire,
there was another guy.
And I had to get rid of him.
He's still alive.
I didn't get rid of him like that.
He's still alive.
So Ruth and Boaz
kind of make this arrangement.
Okay.
We want to get married.
But there's another guy.
There's another family relative,
a closer relative
that has first rights
on redeeming Ruth.
And so Boaz says,
tomorrow I'll go and talk to him
and let's see if we can arrange it.
And that's where chapter three ends.
And so today we get to Ruth chapter four.
Now today's passage,
there's three things I think
we're going to see.
Three things to learn.
We're going to learn that God's ways
are counterintuitive.
God's ways are grounded in grace.
And God's ways are all inclusive.
Okay.
Counterintuitive,
grounded in grace,
and all inclusive.
So first thing,
God's ways are counterintuitive.
Now chapter four starts off
with Boaz going down
to the city gates.
This is where business
and civil affairs
and transactions take place.
And so Boaz goes down
to the city gates
to meet this redeemer,
this family relative, right?
And look at verse one with me.
What does verse one say?
It says,
Boaz went to the gates
and he sat down.
And behold,
the redeemer of whom
Boaz had spoken
came by.
So Boaz said to him,
turn aside,
my friend.
Sit down here.
And he turned aside
and he sat down.
Now quick question.
This other redeemer,
what is his name?
Anyone know?
You shouldn't know
because nobody knows his name.
In fact,
the man that wrote
the book of Ruth
a couple of decades later
doesn't even know his name.
His name is lost
for all eternity.
In fact,
in the original Hebrew,
it actually says,
such a person.
It's kind of like,
it says,
Boaz says to him,
turn aside,
such a person.
It's kind of like
this catch-out phrase.
They don't know
what to call him.
It's like Mr. So-and-so.
Or I guess you'd say like,
sit down, Guilo.
You know,
it's like,
it's just this,
I don't know
if that's offensive,
but it's like
this kind of phrase
that we don't know
what to call him.
He's just this
Mr. So-and-so,
right?
And so Mr. So-and-so
comes along
and Boaz explains to him
that Naomi,
who's returned from Moab,
is selling her land
that belonged
to her husband,
Elimelech,
and that he,
Mr. So-and-so,
is the nearest relative
and has the first rights
to buy it
and to redeem it.
Now,
Boaz doesn't mention Ruth,
right?
He just talks about the land.
And so this relative,
Mr. So-and-so,
says,
sure,
sounds great.
I would like to buy the land.
Count me in.
And at that point,
Boaz's heart drops,
right?
He loves Ruth.
Ruth loves him.
Ruth doesn't want to marry
Mr. So-and-so.
Ruth wants to marry Boaz.
And so at that point,
he's like,
ah,
I was hoping
it wasn't going to work out.
And here's this guy
that's messed up
their whole plans.
And so then Boaz
very gently reminds him
and says,
well,
the day that you
buy the land,
you also get to inherit,
you also get to marry
Ruth,
the Moabite.
Now,
you see what's going on here?
Mr. So-and-so,
when he redeems
Naomi's land
and property,
he also gets
to marry the widow
in order to protect her,
but in order to
perpetuate the name
of the late husband
so that his line
will continue.
Now,
Naomi is too old
to be married
and to have children,
and so Ruth
will now become
this man's wife
in order to continue
the family line.
And so Boaz
reminds this Mr. So-and-so
about Ruth
and suddenly
he starts to back off.
He says,
ah,
actually,
I just forgot.
I ran out of money
and I would love to,
but it's not going to work out,
right?
He starts to backtrack a bit
and he says,
but you marry him.
And Boaz jumps to it
and says,
I would love to.
Now,
why does Mr. So-and-so
back off?
Why does he not want
to marry Ruth?
Well,
he tells us.
He tells us what happens.
He says,
I don't want to impair
my own inheritance.
And the way it worked
was like this.
Remember in the nation
of Israel,
there's this law
called the law of Jubilee,
right?
So every 50 years,
all the land
that was sold,
any transactions
had to be returned
to the family of origin
every 50 years.
And the reason this happened
was so that to stop
the rich getting richer
and the poor getting poorer.
So if you fall
in difficult times,
you can sell some land,
but rather than people
taking advantage of that,
every 50 years,
all the land is returned
to the family of origin.
So when this man
buys Naomi's land,
he knows that,
hey,
in a couple of years' time,
maybe 20 years
or 30 years
or 40 years,
the land is going
to be returned
to the family.
If I take the land
and I marry Ruth
and we have children,
these children belong
to Elimelech,
that family line,
this land will be returned
to them.
So he buys the land,
but not forever,
just for a time period.
But he takes on two women,
Ruth and Naomi,
forever.
And so in a sense,
his estate,
his wealth,
now needs to support
these extra people,
but he doesn't get
the land forever.
And so when he has
children with Ruth,
now his inheritance
is no longer split,
let's say,
three ways
with his children
and now might be
split five ways
or six ways
or seven ways.
And so he realizes
my inheritance
is going to be diluted.
But furthermore,
he realizes
that he's going
to create children
not in his own name,
but in the name
of Ruth's late husband,
Elimelech and Marlon,
right?
And so he starts
to back off.
He says,
no thanks,
you marry her.
Now in the nation
of Israel at the time,
there was a law,
well actually not
at the time,
in the Bible
there's this law
that if a lady
was widowed,
she goes to her
kinsman redeemer,
this relative,
and says,
marry me,
protect me,
cover me with your wings,
put your redeeming love
around me.
And he says,
no.
Then she takes him
down to the city gates
and once again
in front of all the elders
and the leaders,
she says,
this man is my redeemer,
I'm asking him
to marry me.
And if he still refused,
she takes off his sandal,
she slaps him
and then she spits
in his face,
okay?
That was the law.
And the reason was
because it was
considered
extremely offensive.
It was extremely selfish
not to care
for your family member,
not to look after
your family member.
So Mr. So-and-so
says no
and he says no
because he wants
to protect
his own inheritance
and he wants
to protect
his own family
and he wants
to protect
his own name.
Now look what happens here.
Three and a half thousand
years later,
whose name
do we remember?
whose name
is recorded
under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit
for all time
in the Bible?
Not Mr. So-and-so,
nobody knows his name.
And yet,
Boaz,
this man who does
the exact opposite,
the man who marries Ruth,
what does he say?
In order to perpetuate
the name of the dead,
Boaz who marries Ruth
knowing that her children
will technically
not carry his name
but carry the name
of her late husband,
Boaz who gives up
his own reputation
and marries Ruth
to protect her
and care for her
and make children
in the line of Marlon
and Elimlich's family,
his name is recorded
for all time
in the scriptures.
Now friends,
this is the way
that God's,
this is the way
of God's ways.
This is the way
that God works.
This is the upside down
nature of God's ways
in the world.
That those who try
to save their lives
end up losing them.
Those who try
to save their name
end up losing them.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
said it like this,
the gospel tells us
that the infinite worth
of that which seems
so worthless
and the infinite worthlessness
of everything
that is seemingly
so valuable.
And this is the way
of God.
This is the way
of the Bible.
Throughout the whole story
of the Bible,
those who try
to save themselves
end up losing themselves.
And those who say,
God it's not about me,
have your way,
actually end up
saving themselves.
We see this
in the book of Genesis,
right?
Right in the beginning,
Adam and Eve
are in the garden
with God's presence
and the devil comes to them
and says,
you want to be like God,
don't you?
I know God said,
don't do this,
but God doesn't really
want you to be powerful
and majestic.
Listen to me.
You eat that fruit,
you will be made like God.
What do they want to do?
They want to be like God.
And so they eat the fruit
and they listen.
And what happens?
They end up being
expelled from God's presence,
expelled from God's paradise.
And the end is death
and destruction.
They sought to be like God
and they ended up
losing God entirely.
A couple of chapters later,
the people of God
decide to build
this massive tower
to heaven.
They're going to build
this tower
to the praise of their name
and to their own glory.
And what happens?
The result is tribalism,
racism,
death,
and destruction.
And all throughout the Bible,
throughout the Old Testament
and the New Testament,
whenever the people of God
try to save their lives,
try to pursue their own glory,
try to live for themselves,
the result is always
death and destruction.
And whenever the people of God
in humility
would come and say,
God, not my way,
would come and die
to themselves,
say, Father,
have your way.
In that place,
they found life.
And we see this
in our own lives,
don't we?
We see this in our marriages.
We see this in our parenting.
You want a happy marriage?
The secret is,
not my will,
but your will.
Love, right?
Anyone that tries
in their marriage
to say,
hey,
fight for their own will,
fight for their way,
ends up losing it.
But when you come and say,
not about me,
about you,
let's have your way,
that's the way
to find a happy marriage.
And friends,
this is the way of God.
This is the counterintuitive
nature of God,
that those who try
and hold on
and find their life
actually end up losing it.
And of course,
the greatest expression
of this
is found
in the carpenter.
The man who came
from Bethlehem.
The man who was born
to a teenage mom,
born in the back
waters of Israel,
born in an animal
feeding trough
in a stable.
The man who was born
to die.
The man who came
to lay down his life
so that we could live.
Jesus said,
all who try
to hang on
to their lives,
their reputation
and their pride
will end up losing it.
But if you come to me,
if you trust me,
if you come open-handed,
you'll find,
you'll find life.
You'll gain your life.
And friends,
what is true for us
was equally true
for Jesus.
That Jesus who came
to lay down his life
ended up getting life.
But the difference is
where we lay down
our lives,
we find our lives.
Jesus died
not so that he could
find life,
but that we could
find life.
This is the ways
of God.
Friends,
this is the good news
of Jesus.
And this is what
the Bible is all about.
That though we have
fallen short
of God's standards,
though we've fallen
short of the wonder
of Jesus and who he is,
though our loves
are distorted
and we follow
other gods,
Jesus came to lay down
his life for creation.
And he tells us
to do the same.
He tells us
not to live for ourselves,
but to say,
not to us,
oh God,
but to your name
give the glory.
And in that place
we find life.
And this is what we see
with Boaz
and Mr. So-and-so.
Mr. So-and-so,
this man,
tried to protect
his own reputation
and in the end
lost it.
And Boaz,
who gives it up,
his name is preserved
for all time.
First point,
the counterintuitive
ways of God.
Second thing is this.
The thing that we see
is that God's ways
are grounded
in grace.
Grounded in grace.
Now,
when we listen
to the first point,
you might be tempted
to think,
okay,
I get it.
I understand
the way it works.
Those who deny
themselves,
those who punish
themselves,
those who make
themselves lowly,
earn God's love
and acceptance,
right?
So you might be tempted
to think,
I know how to get
God's love and acceptance.
I've got to deny myself.
I've got to punish myself.
I've got to fast
and I've got to
go through hardship.
And if I do that,
God will reward me
with good life.
But look at what
happens next.
Mr. So-and-so says,
sorry,
I don't want,
you know,
Ruth anymore.
You take it.
Boaz says,
I would love her.
And so they get married.
And they get married
and they live happily
ever after.
Okay?
And the Lord blesses
them with a son.
Now look what happens
in verse 13 to 17.
Naomi,
not Ruth,
is called
blessed by the Lord.
And Naomi
is the one
that the townsfolk
say is redeemed.
And in verse 17,
it said of Naomi,
she has a son.
Now remember,
this son,
called Obed,
has none
of Naomi's blood
in it.
Right?
Remember,
it's the son
of Ruth and Boaz.
Ruth is not
Naomi's descendant.
She's her daughter-in-law.
Boaz is not
Naomi's descendant.
This is a relative
of her late husband.
So their son
has zero
of Naomi's blood
in it.
And yet,
the townsfolk say,
a son has been
born to Naomi.
And later on,
in verse 15,
this grandson,
which is actually
a step-grandson,
is said to Naomi,
he says,
he will be
a restorer of life
and a nourisher
of your old age.
So Naomi,
who came back
in chapter 1
saying,
God has been
unfair to me.
God has dealt
bitterly with me.
God has given me
nothing.
I went away full
and I've come back
empty.
Now,
this Naomi
is given
a grandson
who is told
that this son,
this grandson,
will nourish you
in your old age,
will restore
your life to you.
And remember,
she comes back
and Ruth is
standing next to her
and she says,
I've got nothing.
God has taken
everything from me.
And as Chris
reminded us
three weeks ago,
Ruth is standing
right next to her
as if to say,
Ruth is nothing to me.
And now look at
how the townsfolk
speak of Ruth.
They say,
Ruth,
your daughter-in-law
who loves you,
who has become
more to you
than seven sons.
That's quite a statement
in a culture
that pries
the birth of sons,
right?
And so here
is God's amazing
blessing to Naomi.
Now,
in the book of Ruth,
Naomi is quite
a tricky character,
right?
If you've been following
the last few weeks,
it's like,
it's hard to get
your hands on Naomi.
Is Naomi good
or is she bad?
Is she faithful
or is she a schemer?
Is she deceptive?
What's going on
with Naomi?
It's kind of like,
it's hard to get
our hands on her,
right?
And I think
the truth is
that Naomi
is conflicted.
There's a part
of her
that wants
to trust God
and there's a part
of her
that also wants
what's good
for her,
right?
There's a part
of her
that wants
to be faithful
and kind of
wants to serve God
but there's a part
of her
that also wants
to organize
things that work
out well
for her own life.
In a sense,
Naomi is quite
a conflicted
human being.
Friends,
if we're honest
with ourselves,
though we more
readily like to
associate with Ruth,
the beautiful,
young,
obedient,
attractive young lady,
if we're honest
with ourselves,
we're probably far
closer to Naomi
than we are to Ruth,
right?
If we're honest
with ourselves,
we're all a little
conflicted.
If you're a follower
of Jesus this morning,
there's enough goodness
inside of you,
there's enough of the
Holy Spirit inside of you
to want to please God
and to want to honor Him
but if we're honest
with ourselves,
there's also enough
selfishness,
there's enough self-love,
there's enough self-glory
in us that actually
we often find
ourselves conflicted,
not too dissimilar
to Naomi.
And remember
the Apostle Paul
in Romans chapter 7,
the great Apostle Paul,
he says this,
I do not understand
myself.
That which I do not
want to do,
I end up doing.
The very things
I hate.
And so I realize
that it's no longer
I who do these things
merely,
but there's this sin
that dwells inside of me.
I have the desire
to do what's right
but I somehow
don't have the ability
to carry it out.
For I do not do
the things that I want
to do
and the evil things
that I don't want to do,
I find myself
keep on doing.
Even the great Apostle Paul
finds himself
conflicted.
And then what does he say?
He says,
Wretched man that I am,
who will deliver me
from such a body of death?
Friends,
I find myself
agreeing with Paul.
Wretched man
that I am,
who will deliver me
from this confliction
of my soul?
And then he says this,
Thanks be to God
through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And friends,
I want to say that
if you're a human being,
which chances are you are,
every one of us
are slightly conflicted.
Every one of us,
there'll be times
in our life
where there's a pull
and a heart
to do the right thing
but there's a self-love
that wants to look
after ourselves.
And very often,
even the good things
that we do,
our motives are mixed up
and our motives
are partly good
but partly self-preserving.
Oh,
wretched man that I am,
who will deliver me
from such a turmoil?
Thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ,
our great Redeemer.
And friends,
when you hear
that the way to life
is to deny ourselves,
those of us
that are more religious
might think to ourselves,
might be tempted
to think,
if I do the right things,
if I deny myself,
if I behave the right way,
then I'll be sorted.
If I make the right decisions,
God will look after me.
Friends,
don't believe the lie.
Don't believe the lie
that God is on the side
of those
who've got their religious credentials
all in order.
Don't believe the lie
that if you just do
the right things
and make the right choices
and everything's
going to work out fine.
God rewards Boaz
with the amazing girl,
right?
He gets the girl.
And Boaz is faithful
and righteous.
And Boaz is blessed by God.
And Ruth is blessed by God.
But so is Naomi.
The conflicted mother-in-law
is also extremely,
abundantly,
extravagantly blessed by God.
Why?
Not because of her faithfulness.
Not because she's the perfect
God-fearing woman.
Not because she's got
all her credentials in order.
But because of the unprecedented
grace and kindness
and the mercy of God.
Robert Deffenboer,
I think that's how
you say his name,
said this,
The book of Ruth
is not written
so that we can glory
in the goodness of man.
It is written
to reveal the glory
of our righteous God.
Ruth shows us
that the fulfillment
of God's purposes
and promises
depends on the goodness
and the greatness
of our God,
not on the goodness
of man.
God is able to cause
all things to work together
for our good,
but primarily
for his glory.
Friends,
those of us
that are followers
of Jesus this morning,
I hope you realize
the profound,
the gravity
of the grace of God.
That everything God does,
the way that he,
the way that he treats you
and I
is grounded
on not our goodness
or our righteousness,
but of the grace
and the mercy of God.
And this should cause us
to sing.
This should cause
our hearts to rejoice.
This should put a song
in our hearts
as we realize
the great mercy
and the kindness
of our God.
God's ways
are counterintuitive.
God's ways
are always grounded
in grace.
Third thing is this.
God's ways
are all inclusive.
Now,
look at how
the story of Ruth ends.
If you've got your bulletin
or your Bible,
look at verse 17
with me.
It says this,
the woman of the neighborhood
gave this boy
a name
saying,
a son has been born
to Naomi.
They named him Obed.
He was the father
of Jesse,
the father of David.
And then the book
ends with this
seven generations
talking about Perez
through the family line
of Boaz
and ultimately
it ends
in David.
Now,
let's just zoom out
a little book,
a little bit.
the book of Ruth
is a hinge,
it's a pivot
in the history
of Israel.
Remember chapter one,
the first sentence
of chapter one
started like this,
in the time
of the judges,
right?
So,
before the book of Ruth,
it's an era
or an epoch
in Israel's history
which is known
as the time
of the judges.
They didn't have kings,
they had these rulers,
these prophets,
these men and women
of God
called these judges.
And then the book
of Ruth ends,
the last verse
of Ruth,
talks about David.
And David was
the great king
of Israel.
And so,
sandwiched in between
these two epochs,
these eras
in Israel's history
stands this little book,
this hinge of a book,
the book of Ruth,
right?
Now,
following on
from the book of Ruth,
we get to the time
of the kings,
okay?
We've just spoken
about that.
Now,
you might remember
in 1 Samuel,
1 Samuel is the next
book in the Bible,
in 1 Samuel chapter 8,
the people of Israel
come to Samuel,
the prophet,
and they say,
give us a king.
We want a king
like the other nations.
And God answers them
through Samuel saying,
why do you want a king?
I'll be your king.
Everything you want
from a king,
I will be with you.
I will lead you.
I will guide you.
I will protect you.
I'll go out
before you in battle.
I will be your great king.
And the people of God
say,
no,
we want a king
that we can see,
a king that we can touch,
a king that we can revere,
a king that we can worship,
right?
And so God says,
okay,
I'll give you a king.
And so he gives them
the king Saul.
And Saul starts off
a right,
but pretty quickly
things get out of hand.
Saul's own conflicted self
gets in the way
and things go wrong.
And so King Saul,
the first king of Israel,
he actually spends
kind of the last 15 years,
the last decade
and a half of his life,
his rule is marked
by jealousy,
by anger,
murder,
by murder.
And so King Saul
spends the last
kind of half of his rule
trying to annihilate
this young man
in his temple,
this military leader,
this young man
in his palace,
who's also his chief of staff
and his military general,
this young man
called David.
And so Saul
tries to take him out.
He chases him down
all over the country
to try and kill
this young man
called David.
Now ironically,
the counterintuitive
nature of God,
Saul dies in battle
and the man
who takes the throne
is this young man,
David.
And David sits
on the throne
that Saul
once occupied.
And David becomes
the greatest king
that Israel ever had.
In many ways,
he's like Boaz.
He's not perfect.
He has his own issues.
He has to deal with sin.
But in many ways,
his heart is after God.
He really does want
the things of God.
And he forgives
his enemies.
He forgives the people
that try and make
his life difficult.
David, like Boaz,
really is a God-fearing man.
And he's a righteous king.
And under him,
Israel flourishes.
Israel grows
and prospers.
And who is this man,
David?
Well, we read,
he's the great-grandson
of Naomi and Boaz, right?
And so from this wrangled,
kind of twisted family tree
of Naomi and Elimelech,
Boaz and Ruth,
remember Boaz and Ruth,
half Jewish,
half Moabite,
half God-fearing,
half foreigner,
half Jew,
half Gentile.
From this kind of
twisted family tree
of Naomi and Elimelech,
Boaz and Ruth,
comes Israel's greatest king.
And during his time,
Israel,
prosperous,
they flourish,
it's a time of safety,
it's a time of great blessing.
And because of David,
for all his faults,
because David is a God-fearing man,
God makes him a promise.
And God promises David this,
he says,
as long as you trust me,
there will forever be one of your descendants
on the throne.
For all time,
one of your descendants
will sit on the throne
of the nation of Israel.
Unfortunately,
that doesn't solve things,
because David eventually dies,
and things in Israel start to unravel.
And things get really bad,
and eventually,
after 400 years,
God says,
enough is enough.
He brings the Babylonians,
and he attacks Israel.
The Babylonians take Israel
into exile for 70 years.
Eventually,
they come back,
but Israel is never the same.
Civil war breaks out
after David's life,
the north attacks the south,
they fight,
and Israel is never the same again.
And so,
throughout Israel's history,
the people of God
are looking for this king,
this great king
that will rule them in righteousness,
this great king
who will rule them in truth.
Forever,
Israel's looking,
longing,
waiting for the king
that will redeem them,
the king who will buy them
out of their tragic situation,
even at great cost to themselves.
And they're waiting for this king,
and when will this king arrive?
And one king dies,
and the next king arises,
and suddenly you think,
this will be the king.
He will rescue us.
And eventually,
he dies,
and things go wrong again.
And then another king emerges,
and then we think,
this will be the one to save us.
And things just get worse again.
And forever,
Israel's waiting,
longing for the king
who will rescue them
and redeem them.
Until such time
is one of David's
great,
great descendants,
born in a town
called the town of David,
the town of Bethlehem.
This descendant
is true king of Israel,
the king that Israel's
always waited for.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And not only is the true
and better David,
being a descendant of Boaz,
he's the true
and better redeemer.
He's the one
who came to redeem
not just Ruth and Naomi
out of their tragic situation,
not just Israel
out of their tragic situation.
He's the redeemer
who came to redeem
the whole world.
And notice the scandal
of this great redeemer.
This great redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
the scandal is what?
That his ancestors
aren't even fully Jewish.
His great,
great grandmother
is what?
A Moabite,
a pagan Gentile,
someone from the land of Moab
that they were enemies
of God's people.
And this great ancestor
of Jesus and of David
is not one of God's people.
And yet God includes her
in the bloodline
of Israel's greatest king,
King David,
and ultimately
in the bloodline of Jesus.
Friends,
you see what God
is saying here?
God is saying
no matter what your past,
doesn't matter
where you come from,
it doesn't matter
what your background is.
You can be Jewish,
you can be Gentile,
you can be Buddhist,
you can be Hindu,
you can be,
your background can be Taoist,
you can be agnostic,
it doesn't matter
what your background is,
heaven and earth's true king,
heaven and earth's true redeemer
has come for you.
If you'll come to him,
if you'll bow down to him,
if you'll come to him
like Ruth did
and said,
let your people be my people,
let your God be my God,
if you'll come to him
like Ruth came to Boaz
and said,
cover me with your wings,
come and rescue me,
redeem me
with your redeeming love.
And so what Boaz says
to Ruth in chapter two,
he says,
don't go anywhere,
stay close to me,
I will make sure
that you looked after,
is what this redeemer
says to all of us.
He invites us to his table,
he invites us
to come and eat with him,
he gives us bread
and wine,
he gives us food,
and when we accept it,
when we come
and we lie down
at his feet,
when we come
and take shelter
under the shadow
of his wings,
he comes
and he rescues us,
he comes
and gives us rest.
Friends,
the story of the gospel
is not
that God
looks after those
who look after themselves.
The message
of the gospel
is not that
the religious
and the pious
and that those
that have got it
all together
win in the end.
The story
of the gospel
is not that
the good guys
always come out
on top.
The message
of the gospel
is that though
all of us
are like Ruth,
foreigners
and outcasts,
though all of us
are like Naomi,
conflicted
and broken,
though all of us
may be like David
and Boaz,
trying to serve God
but conflicted
with our own sin,
though we are
like these people
conflicted
and broken,
the gospel
tells us that
though we have
fallen short
of God's standards,
both Jew
and Gentile,
religious
and secular,
conservative
and liberal,
the Ruths
of this world
and the Naomi's
of this world
and the Boaz's
of this world
are invited
to come
to the great
Redeemer,
invited to come
to his table,
invited to come
and find shelter
and safety
under the shadow
of his wings.
Friends,
can we come
to him this morning?
Can we come
to our great
Redeemer?
Can we come
to the one
who not just
redeemed Naomi
and Ruth,
not just redeemed
Israel,
the one
who's redeeming
the whole world,
Jew and Gentile alike,
the one who came
for sinners
like you
and me?
Let's come
to him this morning.
Let's pray together.
Can I invite you
to stand with me?
Let's come
to Christ,
our great Redeemer
this morning.
Maybe let's
close our eyes
and
if you're
comfortable
will,
I encourage you
to maybe
take a posture
that reflects it.
Maybe open
your hands.
It's a posture
that communicates,
God,
I come to you.
I'm open.
I'm not close
to you.
I'm not holding
on to my
pride and reputation.
I come empty.
I come vulnerable.
I come in a posture
of surrender.
Friends,
this morning
let's come
to our great
Redeemer
for his mercy
and his kindness.
Let's acknowledge
our need
for his mercy
and his kindness.
Friends,
this morning
let's acknowledge
that
though we might
be tempted
to think of ourselves
like Ruth.
There's probably
a lot more
of Naomi
in us
than we like
to acknowledge.
Let's acknowledge
that this morning.
Friends,
this morning
let's revel
in the unbelievable
kindness
and the mercy
of God.
The fact
that God's
kindness
to us
is extravagantly
more than
we could ask
or imagine.
this morning
let's revel
in the fact
that God's
hand is
all over history
working out
his purposes
generation
after generation
after generation.
God,
we come to you.
We come to you
this morning,
God,
and we acknowledge
that we need you.
God,
this morning
we don't come
to you
with our
religious
credentials.
We don't come
with our
accolades.
We don't come
deserving
or earning
your grace.
We come
as humble
recipients
of your grace.
And we say,
Jesus,
won't you
rescue us?
Won't you
redeem us?
Won't you
cover us
with your wings,
God?
We've come
to take
shelter
and safety
and refuge
in the shadow
of the almighty.
Jesus,
come and have
your way.
And Jesus,
we pray
that as you
rescue us,
won't you
also change
us to make
us more like you?
Won't you
settle our hearts,
God?
won't you
give us
great rest.
Father,
pray for those
of us
that are
anxious,
those of us
that carry
turmoil in our
hearts,
those of us
that are scared
and fearful.
I pray,
Christ,
that we come
and find
our refuge
in you.
I pray for us,
God,
those of us
that feel
conflicted.
God,
won't you
open the eyes
of our hearts
to see you
and to trust you?
God,
I pray for those
of us
that maybe
our hearts
have grown
cold towards you
and worship
has become hard.
Oh,
God,
won't you
ban the flame
of worship
in our hearts
again?
Won't you
cause us
to rejoice?
Won't you
cause us
to sing?
God,
won't you
cause our hearts
to overflow
with worship
for you,
God,
I pray.
Oh,
Holy Spirit,
come,
we pray.