Have you ever done anything really important?
Something with lasting impact?
!
I should really ask, what has God done through you?
Oftentimes God uses us, uses our lives, uses our circumstances to accomplish his goals.
And we have no idea of the significance.
Many years ago, my wife and I were moving from one city to another.
And before we left, we asked members of our church for recommendations for a new church in the new city.
That first Sunday in that church was sort of a strange one.
The minister was gone.
The music director was gone.
No one spoke to us.
And we left rather discouraged.
But the church had been so highly recommended, we thought we would give it another chance.
Well, this church has a time in their worship service
where they asked everyone to stand up and greet someone around them.
And we were going to make sure that whoever was around us did not suffer the same neglect that we had felt the week before.
There was a couple sitting next to us.
We said, hi, glad you're here.
Welcome.
And as we talked to them, we found out that that was their first Sunday there.
Well, time passed.
We moved on to another assignment in the Air Force.
And years later, we returned to that church.
And that couple had remained.
And by that point, they had significant positions in the church.
They were leaders in ministry.
And one Sunday, they were speaking about how they came to that church.
And they pointed to us and said, they welcomed us.
A simple word of welcome.
We had no idea of the impact that that would have.
Sometimes God uses miracles.
Often, though, God, who knows the end from the beginning, simply uses the faithfulness of his people.
And that could be as simple as a kind word of encouragement to someone else.
And often, we don't see the final outcome.
Today, we finish the book of Ruth.
Now, seven weeks ago, we met Naomi and Elimelech and their sons, Kilion and Malon.
Remember, they had fled to Israel, fled to Bethlehem, the house of bread, to live in the land of Moab.
The land of a long-despised enemy.
Elimelech, whose name means my God is king, trusted his own judgment rather than God's promises.
After all, he lived in the time of the judges.
There was no king in Israel.
And each man did what was right in his own eyes.
Elimelech died in Moab.
And Kilion and Malon died, leaving behind two Moabite widows.
But then Naomi heard that God had visited his people and that there was food back in Israel.
And she returns to Bethlehem.
On the way, she blesses her daughters-in-law and sends them home.
Back to Moab.
Saying, the Lord grant that you might find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.
But Ruth refuses to leave Naomi.
And says, where you go, I will go.
And where you lodge, I will lodge.
Your people will be my people.
Your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die.
And there I will be buried.
Ruth embraces the God of Israel and his covenant people.
Well, once back in Bethlehem.
In the midst of the harvest.
In the house of bread.
Naomi and Ruth are hungry.
And Ruth goes out into the field to glean.
And providentially comes under the wing of Boaz.
Under the wing of the God of Israel.
And then later.
Ruth goes to Boaz by night.
And asks for his intervention.
As a near kinsman redeemer.
One who would restore their land.
And care for them.
And Boaz promised to settle the matter.
For remember.
Ruth needed a redeemer.
And last week we saw Boaz do exactly that.
He approached the nearest kinsman redeemer.
But this kinsman refused to redeem Ruth.
He refused to raise up a son.
In the name of the dead.
To remember that name.
So that the name would not be blotted out in Israel.
For redemption has a cost.
And that cost was too much.
For that nearest kinsman.
The kinsman whose name.
Is no longer remembered.
But Boaz.
Commits to redeem the land.
And to marry Ruth.
This kinsman redeemer.
Who saves.
Not because of obligation.
But because of love.
Risking the rejection of his own people.
A man worthy.
Of a worthy woman.
And Boaz redeems Ruth.
In front of the elders of Bethlehem.
In this week.
We will see the results.
In three blessings.
We'll see the blessing.
Of Boaz and Ruth.
We'll see Naomi's blessing.
And we'll see the blessing to Israel.
First.
The blessing of Ruth.
Of Ruth and Boaz.
The people.
Those at the gates.
Those who had gathered.
To watch this encounter.
And the elders.
Acting as witnesses.
Bless Boaz in this marriage.
May the Lord.
Make this woman.
Who is coming into your house.
Like Rachel and Leah.
Who together.
Built up the house of Israel.
In other words.
May Ruth.
Be like Rachel and Leah.
May she give you.
A dozen sons.
And may each of them.
Be the head of a tribe.
The foundations.
Of a nation.
And then they say.
May you act worthily.
In Ephrata.
And be renowned.
In Bethlehem.
Now Boaz.
Has already shown himself.
To be a worthy man.
He's already acted.
Honorably.
With respect to Ruth.
And Naomi.
With respect to Elimelech.
And Malon.
And beyond that.
Boaz.
Is to this day.
Remembered.
In Israel.
The fulfillment.
Of that blessing.
And may your house.
Be like the house.
Of Perez.
Whom Tamar.
Bore to Judah.
Because of the offspring.
That the Lord.
Will give you.
By this woman.
Like the house.
Of Perez.
The line.
Of the firstborn.
Of Judah.
The royal line.
The line.
That will.
That will forever.
Retain the scepter.
In Israel.
May the blessings.
To Perez.
The ancestor.
Of Boaz.
Be extended.
To you.
And to your descendants.
To the yet to be established.
Royal family.
Now.
Was this a typical.
Wedding blessing.
Or was it merely.
Was it merely.
A wedding blessing.
Or was it prophetic.
Well.
We'll see.
So Boaz.
Marries Ruth.
And soon.
The Lord.
Has given Ruth.
A son.
The Lord.
Has given Ruth.
A son.
A reminder.
That children.
Are a gift.
From God.
And recall.
That God.
Had not given her.
A child.
Through all the years.
That she was married.
To Malon.
But now.
Through Boaz.
Ruth has a son.
And Naomi.
Has a grandson.
Grandchildren.
Are wonderful.
Aren't they?
It's just.
Such a joy.
To see them laughing.
And playing.
And growing.
And Naomi.
Gets to hold her grandson.
Hold him.
On her lap.
And here then.
We see.
Naomi's blessing.
That the women.
Said to Naomi.
Blessed be the Lord.
Who has not.
Left you this day.
Without a redeemer.
And may his name.
Be renowned.
In Israel.
He shall be.
To you.
A restorer.
Of life.
A nourisher.
In your old age.
For your daughter-in-law.
Who loves you.
Is more to you.
Than seven sons.
Has given birth to him.
I call this.
Naomi's blessing.
You know.
In many ways.
It's really.
A song of rejoicing.
Among the women.
Of the village.
And as we see.
In verses 14.
And 15.
There are many.
He's.
And hymns.
And sometimes.
It's kind of.
Hard to follow.
The beginning.
Of verse 14.
Is clearly.
Referring to the Lord.
Blessed be the Lord.
Who has not.
Left you this day.
Without a redeemer.
A reminder.
That it is.
The Lord.
Who provides.
The Lord.
Who provided.
For Naomi.
And while.
Certainly.
Boaz.
Played a role.
In that.
As the.
Redeemer.
We see.
The Lord's hand.
In redeeming.
Ruth.
And Naomi.
Remember.
David.
Calls God.
My rock.
And my redeemer.
In Psalm 19.
It was the Lord.
Who provided.
The redeemer.
It was the Lord.
Who is the redeemer.
And may his name.
Be renowned.
In Israel.
Here.
It's not the redeemer's name.
But the Lord's name.
May the name.
Of the Lord.
Be renowned.
May it be declared.
May his name.
Be honored.
In Israel.
Remember the name.
Elimelech.
Which means.
My God.
Is king.
The Lord.
A mighty king.
The Lord.
A sovereign king.
With the power.
To make crops grow.
And to move the hearts.
And minds.
Of his people.
A loving king.
Who provides.
For his people.
Who remembers.
His people.
May his name.
Be renowned.
But in verse 15.
We start to see a blurring.
Of the he's.
Between God.
The redeemer.
The son.
I believe here though.
The subject.
He changes.
He shall be to you.
A restorer of life.
And a nourisher.
In your old age.
Certainly.
It is the Lord.
Who does.
Give.
And restore life.
He gives nourishment.
To us.
In our old age.
But the full sentence.
Doesn't quite.
Support.
The interpretation.
Of God.
Being the he.
In that sentence.
For if we read.
The whole verse.
We see it says.
He shall be to you.
A redeemer of life.
And a nourisher.
Of your old age.
For your daughter-in-law.
Who loves you.
Who is more to you.
Than seven sons.
Has given birth.
To him.
Here the blessing.
And the focus.
Has shifted.
From the sovereign.
God.
King.
To this baby.
This grandchild.
Obed.
Naomi.
Who called herself.
Mara.
Fitterness.
In chapter two.
Has now been fully restored.
She went away full.
With two sons.
And a husband.
But returned to empty.
A widow.
With no sons.
And now once again.
She is full.
A grandson.
Security.
In her old age.
A gift of God.
And a promise of blessing.
And Ruth.
The daughter-in-law.
Is finally honored.
Among the villagers.
As a worthy woman.
Worth more than seven sons.
According to the women.
Of the village.
Ruth receives.
That prayed for blessing.
Rest.
In the house of her husband.
And a son.
To continue.
God's blessing.
Through the generations.
And here.
Specifically.
God's blessing.
Is extended.
Not just to Boaz.
And Ruth.
And to Naomi.
And to this son.
That next generation.
But look at the genealogy.
Boaz.
Fathered Obed.
Obed.
Fathered Jesse.
Jesse.
Fathered David.
David.
The shepherd boy.
Who wrote Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd.
David.
The boy warrior.
Who defeated Goliath.
With just his sling.
And his God.
David.
The great king of Israel.
David.
To whom God promised a son.
A son.
Who would sit on the throne of Israel.
Forever.
And just as the books of Judges.
Ends with.
There was no king in Israel.
And the book of Ruth.
Ends with the genealogy of David.
If we read to the next book.
First Samuel.
We see the people.
Demanding.
A human king.
Rejecting God as their king.
And God gives them Saul.
And the results.
Are disastrous.
But that then leads to David.
Becoming the king.
A man described.
As the man after God's own heart.
But this is not the last time.
That we see this genealogy.
For Matthew 1.
Shows us the genealogy of Jesus.
The son of David.
The son of Abraham.
His ancestry is traced through David.
Through Jesse.
Through Obed.
Through Ruth.
And Boaz.
And while the book of Ruth.
In the book of Ruth.
The genealogy names only the fathers.
Matthew adds the names of four mothers.
Tamar.
The Canaanite.
We talked about a few weeks ago.
An outsider.
Who was brought into this covenant line.
Through Judah.
Even when Judah was unrighteous.
Rahab.
The mother of Boaz.
A prostitute.
In Jericho.
At the time.
When God was taking.
The Israelites.
Into the promised land.
An outsider.
Both racially.
And socially.
Who protected.
The Israelite spies.
And was honored.
And protected.
For her faith.
Ruth.
The outsider.
We've been reading about.
For seven weeks.
Who forsook.
Her Moabite heritage.
And became part of that royal line.
Not just the royal line of David.
But the royal line.
Of the great redeemer.
And lastly.
One identified.
Merely as the wife of Uriah.
The Hittite.
We know her better as Bathsheba.
The mother of Solomon.
The wife of David.
Another foreigner.
Another outsider.
Brought into the royal line.
I believe that these four women.
Are specifically named.
To show God bringing in.
The outsider.
Into his covenant family.
Into the royal family.
Of the redeemer.
The family line of Jesus.
Who is our near kidsman.
Beginning that process.
Of reconciliation.
Assembling a people.
Chosen.
From every nation.
Tongue.
And tribe.
Jesus.
The son of David.
The true son.
The son promised by God.
In the garden of Eden.
The seed of the woman.
Who would crush Satan.
And redeem his people.
From the slavery of sin.
God chose Abraham.
Isaac.
And Jacob.
As the forefathers.
Of his chosen people.
And Judah.
And David.
As part of that family line.
The prophet spoke of this son.
Who would come.
Isaiah tells us.
That the son.
Would be called.
Wonderful counselor.
Mighty God.
Everlasting father.
Prince of peace.
All terms.
For God himself.
But he would be.
A redeeming king.
A king who would take.
Upon himself.
The sins of his people.
Isaiah also says.
That all we like sheep.
Have gone astray.
And turned everyone.
To his own way.
And the Lord.
Has laid on him.
The iniquity of us all.
This redeemer.
Who would endure.
God's wrath.
For our sin.
Isaiah continues.
And says.
Out of the anguish.
Of his soul.
He shall see.
And be satisfied.
By his knowledge.
Shall the righteous one.
My servant.
Make many.
Be accounted righteous.
For he shall bear.
Their iniquities.
Second Corinthians.
521.
Speaking of Jesus.
Reflects that.
Says.
For our sake.
He made him.
To be sin.
Who knew no sin.
So that in him.
We might become.
The righteousness of God.
Jesus took upon himself.
That wrath.
As we saw last week.
Redemption has a cost.
It cost Boaz.
A lifetime commitment.
In marriage.
It would cost Jesus.
His life.
But this son.
This redeemer.
Would be a glorious king.
A universal king.
A heavenly king.
An eternal king.
The prophet Daniel.
Describes his vision.
Of him.
In the book of Daniel.
Chapter 7.
A vision of a son of man.
Presented before the ancient of days.
Before God himself.
And to him.
Was given dominion.
And glory.
And a kingdom.
That all peoples.
Nations.
And languages.
Would serve him.
His dominion.
Is an everlasting dominion.
Which shall not pass away.
And his kingdom.
One that shall not be destroyed.
And then we see this.
Echoed in.
The New Testament.
In Philippians 2.
That though he was God.
Jesus took upon himself.
The form of a servant.
A man.
He humbled himself.
To the point of death.
Death on the cross.
Therefore God.
Has highly exalted him.
And bestowed on him.
The name that is above every name.
So that.
That at the name of Jesus.
Every knee should bow.
In heaven.
On earth.
And under the earth.
And every tongue confess.
That Jesus Christ is Lord.
To the glory of God the Father.
But the Bible is also clear.
That salvation.
Is not universal.
There is a requirement.
And that is.
As Paul told the Philippian jailer.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you will be saved.
John 1.12 tells us.
That.
To all who did receive him.
Who believed in his name.
He gave the right.
To become children of God.
God.
A glorious legacy.
Which neither Naomi.
Nor Ruth.
Ever saw fulfilled.
Over the past seven weeks.
We've explored the book of Ruth.
A story of contrasts.
And ironies.
A story of loss.
A story of despair.
A story of integrity.
And of love.
A story of redemption.
A story of an outsider.
A member of a cursed nation.
Who brought nothing with her.
Loved by an insider.
And added to God's marvelous.
Eternal story of redemption.
We saw God provide rest.
Security.
Peace.
A son.
In the house of her husband.
We saw God use ordinary.
Normal people.
To advance his glorious eternal plan.
In extraordinary ways.
We saw Ruth.
And Boaz.
Become.
The great grandparents.
Of the king of Israel.
And to become the ancestor.
Of the great redeemer.
Jesus Christ.
We see that God.
Sovereignly knows.
The beginning from the end.
And we see.
That we can trust him.
Even when we don't understand.
His plan.
And while we can often.
Make things more difficult.
For ourselves.
Nothing surprises God.
And nothing interferes.
With his plan.
He accomplishes.
What he sets out.
To accomplish.
And we see.
That just like Ruth.
We all need a redeemer.
A spiritual redeemer.
And God has provided one.
Jesus Christ.
Through this redeemer.
We are made children.
Of the living God.
Gaining an eternal inheritance.
By grace.
Through faith.
Remember.
A perfect God.
Cannot.
Ignore sin.
And by pouring out.
His wrath on sin.
God demonstrates.
His perfect justice.
But by taking our sins.
On himself.
By taking that wrath.
On himself.
By dying on the cross.
God demonstrates.
His love.
And his grace.
Redeeming his bride.
The church.
So that we.
The outsiders.
The rebels.
Might become insiders.
Through faith.
In the redeeming work.
Of Jesus Christ.
And just as Ruth.
Found rest.
In the house of Boaz.
We too.
Can find rest.
Peace.
Eternal security.
And love.
In the house of our Lord.
For Jesus said.
Come unto me.
All ye who labor.
And are heavy laden.
And I will give you rest.
Let us pray.