There Is a Redeemer

, dear God, we just come before you. And we ask Lord that you would help us to be able to quiet our hearts before you. Lord, I pray that whatever. The various distractions and the burdens.

That your people may be bringing. to church here today, I'm asking Lord, that you would grant to them the grace. To be able to lay, lay those burdens at your feet. I pray, Lord, that you would clear away the fog.

And that Lord, you would help us. To be attentive. To your word We ask Lord, that You would give us eyes to behold Jesus. and ears to hear him speak to us here today.

Lord, I pray that if there is anyone who is here and I have no doubt that there is someone, who has yet to place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, for a miraculous work of your spirit. To come upon that person or those persons and by your grace to draw them to yourself. And help them, Lord.

To profess Christ. As their redeemer. Lord, we come to seek shelter under the shadow of your wings. And we ask, Lord, that you would provide such shelter for us this morning.

Lord, we come to you in the righteousness of Jesus and through his shed blood, we come to you boldly and we ask God to speak. Word of God speak, would you pour down like rain, washing our eyes to see. Your Majesty. We ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Well, I'm very sad to say that we will finish this four-part series through the Book of Ruth here today, though I'm tempted to just go back and do it all over again. I will refrain. But we do complete, we will complete a four sermon series on the Book of Ruth, and you will recall that in chapter one, we examined the mysterious mercy of Almighty God.

And we learned that along dark paths, God often provides rays of light. It is during these dark times in our lives that we must look for these rays of light. We must look for the places where we can have hope, and our ultimate hope, as we all know, is found at the foot of the cross in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was raised bodily from the dead. But in chapter two, we learned that nothing happens by chance.

There is absolutely nothing that happens by chance. God works through the ordinary events of life in order to accomplish extraordinary things. And we saw in that chapter how Naomi grants Ruth permission to glean. And then Ruth happens to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boa.

She just happens to get there. And no one at the time has any clue the significance of this day in history in which Ruth meets Boaz. Brothers and sisters, this is a day that alters the course of history forever, and I'd like to think that my life has been changed by this day in chapter 2. And then the stage is set for chapter 3.

Here we see the human side of Providence. While God rules over the details of life, we as humans are responsible for the choices that we make. We see how God accomplishes His purposes through the decisions we make and the things that we do. In this chapter, remember Naomi devises a plan, and Ruth implements the plan and then Boaz responds with immediate action.

He wants to marry Ruth, but his first priority is to God and to obey his word, and Boaz knows that there is a closer relative, a nearer kinsman who has first dibs on Ruth. His conscience will not allow him to marry Ruth before he clears it first with the closer relative, and this is where chapter 3 ends. And then we come to chapter 4. Chapter 4 is for today.

And in chapter 4, our focus is on the theme of redemption. The whole focus here is the theme of redemption. And for those of you who don't know, redemption is the purchase of something and or someone by the payment of a price. Now, it might come as a shock to some of you that I am losing my hair.

to be honest, I have been losing my hair for quite a while now. I can remember before I got married, speaking to my, to my bride-to be and telling her, I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my hair. It was already thinning and I knew that, bad days were coming. Now, really, if I were bothered by the loss of my hair, I might choose to buy a product known as Rogaine, and, and some of you may not know, but Rogaine is designed to restore hair and to buy or purchase that product parallels the idea of redemption.

To redeem. is to purchase by the payment of a price, and the one doing the purchasing can be referred to as the redeemer and so if I go to, to buy this Rogaine, I would be the one redeeming it. I would be purchasing it. I would be the redeemer if you will.

And in the message today, we will be reminded of a great redeemer. We will be reminded of the fact that there is a redeemer. I want you to wrap your mind around the reality that there is a redeemer. We are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people in the city of Riverside alone.

The city alone, there are over 300,000 people and roughly 10% of these people consider themselves to be Christian. So what that means is that 270,000 people in the city of Riverside reject the fact that there is a redeemer. I submit that God desires to use you in the lives of some of these 270,000 people to communicate to them the good news that there is in fact a redeemer and so our message this morning is entitled, there is a redeemer, there is a redeemer. And we will look at 5 developments involving the marriage between Boaz and Ruth that point to the ultimate redemption story.

5 developments involving the marriage between Boaz and Ruth that point to the fact that there is a redeemer. So development number one. Development number 1, Boaz initiates a meeting for the purpose of securing Ruth's hand in marriage. Boaz calls for a meeting.

He initiates a meeting for the purpose of securing Ruth's hand in marriage. Now look at Ruth chapter 4 verse 1. Ruth 4 verse 1, it says, and I want for your noses to be buried in the text, and we're just going to basically stay there the whole time. There's a lot of verses to read, and so I would halfway expect to see that you're just Boom, you're right there in your Bibles, whether computer form or paper form, doesn't matter, but you're in the text and please follow along and pay close attention and glean as much as God wants you to glean from what we discovered here, but in verse one, it says, now Boaz went up to the gate and he sat down there and behold, behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by.

Now I want you to underline the word behold. You get a sense of sovereignty through the word behold. The text says that Boaz went up to the gate and he sat down there. He does not seem to wait long at all before, behold, behold, the close relative shows up.

And so it is amazing how when God wants something to happen, he is able to get it done in no time at all. The immediate attention that Boaz gives to the matter of Ruth's redemption is met here with God moving on his behalf to ensure that his unnamed closer relative shows up. God's sovereignty is thus highlighted once again, we have seen his sovereignty throughout the entire Book of Ruth. And we've been blown away by the fact that God is just sovereign over the affairs of humankind.

He is sovereign over the details of life. He is in control. He is the king, and he's causing things to work after the counsel of his own will, and so he is sovereign and his sovereignty, I believe, is being highlighted by the simple word behold. Behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, and then, so the closer relative shows up and then the narrative continues and so continue with me.

So he said, this is Boaz speaking and Boaz is speaking to the closer relative. He says, turn aside, friend, sit down here. And he turned aside and he sat down, verse 2, and he took 10 men of the elders of the city and he said, sit down here, and so they sat down and so Boaz is here calling for a formal meeting in which the matter of Ruth's redemption is to be settled. He has the closer relative and now he's got the 10 elders and court is now in session and let the deliberations begin.

But before we address the details of the deliberations, I want you to consider how Boaz serves as a shadow of Christ. Think with me, he serves for us as a type of Christ or as a shadow of Christ. Boaz calls for this critical meeting in which the redemption of Ruth is the subject. Likewise, There was a meeting way back in eternity past in which Almighty God discussed the matter of our own redemption.

Before time began, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit held council for the purpose of securing our own salvation. It was decided back then that the Father would send His Son. to die on the cross so that we would be redeemed. Jesus is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

According to the Bible, he is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world who would do his bloody death On the cross secure yours and my salvation. The Bible declares that we have been purchased with a price, that price was the blood of Christ and through the payment of his dead body, we have been redeemed. This plan of God was settled by the members of the Trinity in eternity past. Even so, Boaz calls for this critical meeting for the purpose of discussing and securing the redemption of Ruth.

Let us now take a look at those deliberations as we turn to development number 2. Development 2, Boaz exhorts the nearest kinsman or the closer relative to redeem Naomi's lands. And so in verse 3, it says, then he said to the closest relative, Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother or our relative Alemelech. So I thought to inform you, saying, buy it before those who are sitting here and before the elders of my people, if you will redeem it, redeem it.

But if not, tell me that I may know, for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you. Now, we should commend Boaz for his faithfulness to the word of God. He does not just go and marry Ruth, though I believe the temptation would have been there. He knows that the right thing to do is to first present the opportunity to the closer relative.

Make no mistake about it, he wants to get married to this woman. But he refuses to violate his own conscience by ignoring what God's word says regarding his situation and so he presents the opportunity to the, to the nearer kinsman. Boaz begins by addressing the matter of the land. Naomi must sell her deceased husband's land.

It is not clear why she has the land or why she is selling it. Perhaps she has the land as a result of there being no lineage to whom the land would be owned. Her husband was dead, so her sons could have presumably inherited the land, but both of her sons had died as well. And neither son had children to whom the land would be inherited.

As it is, Naomi is in possession of the land and she is looking to sell. But why? Why would she feel a need to sell? One possibility is that she needed money and the sale of the land would help her to pocket some needed cash.

Another possibility is that she did not have the wherewithal to harvest the land and thereby profit from the land in any reasonable way, and whatever the case, she is selling the land. Understand also that there is provision in the law for the land to be returned to its rightful owner every 50th year. This is known as the year of Jubilee. But the problem we run into is that there is no direct descendant to whom the land would go.

Alemelech is dead, his two sons are dead, they have no children, there is no direct descendant. Thus, there is no lineage through whom the name will be carried on and to whom the land inheritance will be given. But God's law provides a remedy for the situation, and such a remedy is the very thing that Boaz is seeking to address. He begins with the matter of the land.

He brings the opportunity to the nearer kinsman. In short, he wants to know if the closer relative is willing to redeem the land. Well, let's read on to see what the kinsman says. And he said, I will redeem it.

He's no dummy He recognizes opportunity when it is presented. This one seems like a no-brainer. He can redeem the land and reap the profits from the produce of the land. Not only that, it is an honorable act that serves to help Naomi.

The Neerkinsman seems wise to agree to redeem the land, but there is one tiny little catch which is gonna take us to development number 3. Boaz informs the nearest kinsman that along with redeeming the land he must marry Ruth. Boaz informs the nearest kinsman that along with redeeming the land he must marry Ruth. Read with me in verse 5.

Then Boaz said, on the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabbias, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance. Boaz begins his deliberations with the good news first. You have a wonderful opportunity to redeem Naomi's land, but now Boaz addresses the matter of Ruth. Now we all know that Boaz loves Ruth.

He wants to marry her, but you will know this, how he presents the situation to the nearer kinsman. He is very careful to say, on the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitis. The widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on this inheritance. Boaz did not have to refer to her as a Moabitis.

He could have left that little piece of information out, but he is a clever man. He knows that such a reference may deter the nearer kinsman from accepting the offer. She is a Moabite and as such, there is a stigma attached to her. He also knows that the responsibility of the nearer kinsman to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance means that such an inheritance will remain in the lineage of Alemelech.

It is his hope that such a possibility might also deter the nearer kinsman from marrying Ruth. And so let's read on to see if the strategy of Boaz works. Verse 6, it says that the closest relative said, I cannot. redeem it for myself, lest I jeopardize my own inheritance, redeem it for yourself, you may have the right of redemption, for I, I cannot redeem it.

And so Boaz breathes a sigh of relief. This is exactly the outcome that I believe he was hoping for. He is now free under the law in obedience to the law to take on Ruth as his wife. A careful observer will note the difference between Boaz and the nearer kinsman.

Boaz was more interested in Ruth than the land. The closer relative, on the other hand, was more concerned about the land than Ruth. Boaz is willing to take on the responsibility of the land if it means he can marry Ruth and the closer relative is eager to increase his inheritance as long as he does not have to marry Ruth the Moabitis. And so Boaz has been granted a green light to move forward and to marry the love of his life.

But I want for us to consider the following points before we press on to the next development. I want to paint for you just a portrait of Boaz himself before we move on because I think there is much that we can glean from the example of Boaz as we look at the man that he was. Consider the following. First, Boaz is a godly man.

And this is evident in his language, his relationships, his prayers, and his uncompromising commitment to the Word of God, as we have seen in chapters 12, and 3. You will recall how Boaz was determined to obey God even to his own hurt and in the end, God blesses his obedience. Second, Boaz is a man who is prepared to marry should the Lord open the door. Now, I have made this statement a few times, but I just don't wanna, let this one pass us by, I just want to say it again.

That he is prepared, he is ready, he has, he has prepared himself so that if and when the day comes that the Lord would call him to marry, he's ready. Third, Boaz is a man who genuinely cares for Ruth, and we can trace this all the way back to the very first day he met her, and you remember that day. And the kindness of Boaz to this destitute and downtrodden and desperate woman. His kindness is evident from day one all the way until the present.

And then fourthly, Boaz is a man who prays for the woman whom he would one day marry, though he did not realize it at the time. Remember how Boaz had prayed for Ruth and he prayed blessings upon her, and lo and behold, he will become the one who will be her blessing. And then 5th, Boaz over time develops a love for Ruth that proves to be more than a mere friendship. It grows, it develops, but in time, Boaz discovers that in his heart, he loves this woman.

6, Boaz is careful not to push his love upon Ruth. Rather, he relates to Ruth as a gentleman. He doesn't push her. He doesn't let it be known that he has any interest for all intents and purposes, he just treats her as a gentleman.

He doesn't tell her straight up, that's the reason why God has to put it upon the heart of Naomi to go to Ruth and say, say, yo, Ruth, you need to go to that man and, and let him know that you have some interest, OK? Now, I don't know if I want to commend Boaz for just sitting back that long, but nevertheless, God, he knows what he's up to and God is able to accomplish his purposes and that is a great encouragement. But he is, he is careful not to push his love upon her. 7, he waits upon the Lord to make it clear to him that Ruth is a woman he should marry.

You will not go wrong to wait upon the Lord for his timing if you are single, for his will and his plan, his timing, he knows what he is doing and wait upon the Lord, and the Lord has a way of making things clear. And 8, Boaz allows God's word to direct his decision-making process regarding the matter of marriage. Remember, throughout the whole time, he has the word of God in mind. He knows what God's word has to say regarding these things, and it's God's word that he submits to that gives direction to him regarding the path he will take and especially here on the way towards marriage.

9th, Boaz allows the community to participate in his decision to marry. He doesn't just Lone Ranger, this one, but he allows for those around him to be active participants in his decisions. He brings the people in and he has the liberate. and all he is trying to do is seek the mind of God and the counsel of God, and yeah, he wants to marry her, but he's not gonna force it.

He is going to wait to see what God has to say and he will utilize the community to help him in the arrival of his decision to marry. And 10th, Boaz takes immediate action as the Lord leads every step of the way. So whenever the, the Lord makes it clear that there is something he needs to do, that's what he does. He moves and so he takes action, and such action leads to development number 4.

Development number 4, Boaz marries Ruth. Boaz marries Ruth. His marriage to Ruth is directly linked. To redeeming the land, as you will recall, this is clear in the interaction between Boaz and the closer relative, and now Boaz formalizes his redemption of the land along with his marriage to Naomi.

His redemption of the land is signified by the removal of a sandal. So look at verses 7 to 8. Now, this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter. A man removed his sandal and he gave it to another, and this was the manner of attestation in Israel.

So the closest relative said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself, and he removed his sandal. When the closer relative removes his sandal, he testifies that he will not tread upon the land in question. And removing his sandal from his foot, he is thus removing himself from ownership of the land. And so his redemption of the land, that is Boaz's redemption of the land is signified by the closer relative removing his sandal from his foot, but Boaz's redemption of the land is also signified by way of direct communication.

So we've got this symbolic act, but he's going to communicate directly in verse 9, Boaz said to the elders and to all of the people, you are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Alimelech and all that belonged to Chilean and Melon, and so he is basically redeeming the land here. And this is being affirmed. He states in no uncertain terms that he is purchasing from Naomi the land of Alimelech and his sons, and remember that such a purchase, it is linked to the responsibility to marry Ruth, and so Boaz goes on to say, look at verse 10, and I love the way it starts, verse 10, he says, moreover, More importantly.

Let us get to the matter that is of greatest concern to me.

Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitis. The widow of Melon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birthplace. You are witnesses today. Boaz states clearly that in connection with his purchase of the land, he is also taking ruth.

As his beloved bride, as his wife, he understands that in taking Ruth, he is responsible to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance so that the name of the deceased may not be cut off. He understands that he is responsible to perpetuate the lineage of Alimelech and Melon by coming together with Ruth in order to bear a son. Such a son will carry the name and inherit the land of Alemelech and Malon. And so Boaz declares that in purchasing the land, he takes Ruth as well to be his wife, and the text makes it clear that this marriage is affirmed and blessed by witnesses.

It is affirmed and blessed by witnesses. We see this in verse 11, look at 11, and all of the people who were in the court and the Elders said, we are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel. Thus, the decision of Boaz to redeem the land and take Ruth to be his wife is affirmed by the community.

All of the people and the elders declared, we are witnesses. But what are we to make of their reference to Rachel and Leah? So I wanna ask you to gird up the loins of your understanding and to do the best you can to track with me here. What do we make of this reference to Rachel and Leah?

We're gonna get into a little bit of history here and so follow with me. You will recall in Genesis chapters 29 to 30. That the patriarch Jacob loved Rachel, but Jacob was tricked by Rachel's father Laban to first marry his oldest daughter, Leah. So he married Leah and then 7 years later, he would go on to marry Rachel.

Rachel was barren, but the Lord would eventually open her womb and she gave birth. To Joseph, Joseph, the one to whom the early Israelites were saved. God in His goodness opened Rachel's womb and the witnesses are praying that likewise God would open Ruth's womb so that she might bear a son. In fact, they are expecting that this is what God will do.

There's this expectation in this prayer that they make that God would in fact open her womb, and this becomes more clearer as we continue on in the prayer. The witnesses here though also referenced the fact that through Rachel and Leah, the house of Israel was built. Their desire and prayer for Ruth then is that through her lineage would be preserved and that her descendants would be many. They anticipate that through her, the house of Israel will be built, and they go on in their prayer, follow along as they continue to pray, they said, and may you achieve wealth in Ephratha and become famous in Bethlehem.

Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah through the offspring which the Lord shall give you by this young woman. They pray That Ruth would go on to experience fortune and fame. They're praying for God's blessing upon her in this way, but what shall we make of the reference to Peres, whom Tamar bore to Judah? Follow along, follow along.

The significance of Perez is the fact that he descended from Judah, Jacob's son with Leah. Let's turn this around. Jacob and Leah have Judah. Judah goes on to have Perez.

You remember that Jacob declares in Genesis 49:10. That the, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes, until Messiah comes. Jacob here prophesized that through Judah would come the Messiah. So Jacob and Leah give birth to Judah.

Judah is the father of Paris, to whom Shiloh will come, the Messiah, the savior, Christ will come. God is preserving his lineage to see to it that the Messiah would eventually come. But note also that Judah has Paris through his union with Tamar. Let's back up now to get the scoop on Tamar.

Now listen to this, it gets juicy and for some of you, it might be a little bit X-rated, so a little kid, you might want to close your ears, I don't know, but listen to this. Jacob's son Judah, OK. He had 3 sons, Onan, and Sheila. Remember Judah, the one through whom Shilah would come, 3 sons, Air, Onan and Sheila or Sheila, a woman named Tamar married.

But then he died, leaving her a widow. Since it was required that the next of kin care for a brother's widow, Tamar was given to Onan. But he also died. You will recall that he suffered the discipline of the Lord as a result of dropping his seed to the ground.

God is very concerned about the perpetuity of the lineage. He is very concerned about the offspring. Sheila was still a boy and could not marry Tamar, so Judah asked her to return to her father's house and wait until Sheila was grown up. However, once Sheila was old enough, Judah did not honor his promise.

Tamar remained an unmarried widow. Tamar then went into town disguised as a prostitute. Tricked Judah And she got him to sleep with her. Judah, bro.

What are you thinking? That's not what it says in the text, but that's my. Really, you think you, a prostitute? Now we all know that that was sinful, but nevertheless, that's the very thing he does, and yet somehow, some way God still saw fit that I am going to allow Judah to be the one to whom the savior would come, huh?

It's amazing how God will use destitute and depraved people and to raise them up for the purpose of His glory. And so if you were to ask Judah, I am sure he would say no credit at all to me. He would be able to point to all of his failures and all of his sins, and he would point to the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who is good, as he in eternity is praising the Lamb of God, who preserved his lineage and saw fit to use a sinner like himself to do so, through which the Savior would come.

Well, at any rate, she, Tamar, became pregnant by Judah and bore twin sons named Peres and Zarah.

Peres, remember that name, we're gonna come, come across it again a little bit later in the text. He's part of the lineage. The house of Peres was blessed and Peres, in fact, is included in the lineage leading to King David and ultimately the savior, and with all of this being said, we now come to a summary statement. Look at verse 13, it's basically a summary.

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife, and he went in to her and the Lord enabled her to conceive. Well, she was unable to conceive in a previous marriage. Her husband died after 10 years of marriage or whatever it was, and they didn't have any children, but here she is, in no time at all, it seems as if the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. And I want you to note the order, ceremony, consummation, children.

This is the proper order. This represents God's design. For those of you single, I exhort you to embrace God's design. The path of wisdom is to practice sexual purity and to wait upon the Lord for his will and his timing regarding the possibility of marriage.

It's not until after marriage that God extends to you freedom to enjoy conjugal interactions with your spouse. Now how do you like that, conjugal interactions with your spouse. You will also note that marriage is between a man and a woman. Nowhere in the Bible is homosexual or lesbian marriage ever affirmed.

Marriage between a man and woman is the context inside of which sex is experienced and children are birthed. And I want for you also to know that little attention is given to the wedding, right? Little attention is given to the wedding. In our day, the average couple will spend $255,000,000 to $30,000 on a wedding ceremony.

To me, that is a lot of money and it scares me because I have two girls. There is much planning and preparation that goes into the wedding day. Young ladies dream of their wedding day with visions of perfection. It is not uncommon to work extra jobs in order to afford the expense of the wedding day.

Couples will often go into debt in order to experience the perfect wedding, but you will notice that in our passage, any elaboration of the pomp and circumstance of the wedding is missing. In commenting on this passage, the well-respected Southern Baptist preacher Vode Baum says it was not necessary to speak of the wedding because there is something more important. He then goes on to answer the question, what in the world can be more important than a wedding? And the answer to this question will pave the way towards the next development, but as we get to the next development, let me go ahead and preclude it by answering the question, what in the world can be more important than a wedding?

First, the picture of redemption that marriage paints is more important than a wedding. And the marriage between Boaz and Ruth is a beautiful picture of redemption pointing to Christ and his relationship to his bride, the church. Second, the protection, provision, and comfort that marriage provides is more important than a wedding, and we observed that this is exactly what Boaz desires. In marrying Ruth, he becomes her protector, her provider, and her comforter.

Third, the offspring that marriage produces is more important than a wedding. It is amazing that couples who invest $25,000 to $30,000 in a wedding are the same ones often who hold back on having children because they cost too much. I know people who don't want to be hassled with children in part because of the expense. But God's word gives command to be fruitful and multiply.

We are told that children are a blessing from the Lord and happy is the man whose quiver is full of them. God blesses us with children, and as we raise them to the glory of God, that is one way in which the earth is filled with His glory. God's vision for a world filled with His glory is linked to having children who are image bearers of Almighty God. You will note that once Boaz and Ruth were married, they wasted no time in their attempt to have a child.

And all of this, we know that God is sovereign. He is the one who closes and opens wounds. Ruth experienced for a season a closed womb, but now God saw fit to open it up and to bless her with a child. Now we've got people who try to get pregnant, And under the sovereign hand of God, for whatever reason, we may not ever have the answer, but they struggle in their efforts to get pregnant.

I want to submit to you that we should be praying for those people, we should be coming on their behalf before the throne of God's grace and asking God to open up wombs and to enable so that our dear brother and sister so and so might be able to get pregnant. But there are times in which the answer from the Lord is a no, and he keeps the womb closed, and he does not allow it to be opened, and if we learn anything from the book of Ruth, we must learn that we have to trust in a sovereign God who knows what he is doing and in all that he does, he does good all the time.

And fourth, God's redemptive purpose is more important than a wedding. This is a critical point within the narrative and that leads directly to the 5th development, the last development.

Number 5, the marriage of Boaz to Ruth gives way to a much greater story. It is not just about their marriage. There is a greater story, one that should captivate us, one that should cause us to arrive at a place where we fall on our face before Almighty God, and we say glory to you, oh God, praised be your name. Let's look at verse 14, it says, then the women said to Naomi, Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without the redeemer today.

God has answered the prayers that were prayed for you. He has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and she is better to you than 7 sons, has given birth to him. Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap.

And she became his nurse. I don't know yet what it's like to be a grandparent, but I have seen a few grandparents in my days, and there are names that come to my mind even now, and the joy that is theirs when they get to hold their beautiful grandchild. I can't tell you how many times I have heard amongst the elders of the term Gemma time. Gemma time.

Now the person who uses that term, he knows who he is and the elders know who I am talking about, but it's like you can't get him to talk about his grandchild without his face just lighting up. He just gets happy. I see it in my mother-in-law, as she, as she has, seen her grandchildren. she's got 7 grandchildren, as she has seen her grandchildren, grow, it's just so clear that, that they are a source of joy to her.

And, and I cannot help but to think that Naomi would have been just absolutely thrilled. At the thought that she has this child. And she is the one who even gets to nurse him. Well, verse 17, the neighbor women gave him a name saying, the neighbor women gave him a name saying, a son has been born to Naomi, to Naomi, so they named him Obed.

He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Peres, to Paris was born Hezron, Hezron was born Ram to Ram, Amenadab, and to Amenadab was born Nashon and Nashon, Salmon and to Salmon was born Boaz and to Boaz Obed and to Obed was born Jesse and to Jesse, David, the king of Israel, the one with whom God would make a covenant and the promise of a king would be on the horizon. This is a magnificent story that transcends the mere marriage of Ruth and Boaz that we have been looking at and here beginning in verse 14, our attention is now directed away from the marriage and to Naomi.

You remember from chapter 1 that Naomi hits rock bottom, but here her situation is completely different.

Her story is one of tragedy to triumph. It was but a few months back that she was in the dungeon of despair, totally depressed. But God has reached down and he has plucked her from her despair, and she is brought to a place of joy inexpressible and full of glory, all because of the mighty hand of her God. Never in her wildest dreams could she have envisioned giving birth to a son, yet that is exactly what happens, the Lord provides her with a son through her beloved daughter-in-law, Ruth.

Yes, Ruth. The Moabite The barren one The widow The destitute one. Yet God chooses her among all of the women in the world to be the one through whom the sacred lineage of the savior would be preserved. You will know this That Ruth's son is identified as a redeemer.

Who for Naomi is a restorer and sustainer in her old age. She is not barren after all. She will be well cared for, she is not alone, and not only has the Lord provided her a son through Ruth, but Ruth herself has proven to be better to her than 7 sons. It's like she has 8 of them, and the text tells us that Naomi would be the one to nurse the child.

Sometimes It is not through the natural means that the Lord chooses to bless us with children. There are other means through which God's people often experience the joy of child rearing. I think of some of our elders, as well as former elders and their wives who have adopted children. I think of 3 children in my own care group who have been adopted.

By tremendous parents. In each instance, the children were purchased by the payment of a price, and I cannot express the joy that these children have brought, not just to their parents, but to the members of my care group as well. I believe that I can speak for their parents when I say that these children are their very own, and as a member of their community, I can say that there is no question That they are family and that they are loved very much. What a joy to see these adopted ones running around through the hallways of my home and messing things up so that I have to clean it up afterwards.

What a joy. It is a privilege to see these kids. Who only God knows. What their life would have been.

Who through adoption. have been brought into families. Where they are loved and cared for and raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They serve as tangible reminders of the goodness and the grace of God.

And so Naomi has a son to her daughter-in-law, Ruth, and you will notice that the neighbor women joyously declare, a son has been born to Naomi. But you will also notice that Naomi is not the one to name the boy. The last time we see her naming a person, she calls herself Mara, Bitter. At the same time, she failed to realize or at that time, she failed to realize.

That her God-given name would prove to be the perfect name for her, Naomi, Pleasant. And as we see from this last chapter, surely the lot of her life has fallen on pleasant places. Nevertheless, the neighbor woman named the child, and they call him Obed. Obed Now get this The name Obed means worship.

or worshiper. And by the time we get to the naming of Obed, that is exactly what we feel inclined to do. Our own hearts are filled with worship. As we wrap our minds around the Book of Ruth, we cannot help but to worship the one who has wonderfully revealed Himself to us.

We join together with Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, and all of the inhabitants of Bethlehem, and we worship the one of whom this story is about. We worship the God who in Genesis 3:15 made promise that one day the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman, the serpent, through the seed of the woman that the serpent would be crushed, and we worship the God who throughout the ages has preserved the lineage that would one day result in the birth of our savior. We worship the God who is sovereign over the affairs of man and who sees to it that his plan of redemption would prevail.

We worship the God who takes the depraved and the destitute and he uses them as trophies for His grace. We worship the one who turns tragedy. into triumph, the God who would one day send forth His Son into this fallen world in order to live a perfect life and die a criminal death so that through him we might have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. We worship the God who has conquered death through his own resurrection from the dead.

We worship the God who in eternity past devised this plan to begin with, this great plan of redemption through which we are assured that the day will come. When we will live eternally in the kingdom of heaven, where there will no longer be any sin, no more sickness, no more sadness, no sorrow, there will no longer be any death, and we will one day finally behold our beautiful redeemer, and we will worship him perfectly throughout all of eternity, oh bed. Worship. We began this series by placing the story of Ruth in its historical context, and such a context is similar to our own.

In the days of the judges, the people kept doing evil in the sight of the Lord. At the end of the book of Judges, we read that everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Could there not be any better description of the days in which we live? And yet we are reminded afresh through the book of Ruth that the Lord is sovereign, He is gracious, merciful and kind, that the Lord preserves his seed, and there remains a remnant in the midst of a dark day, the Lord has those who are his and he worked in history to accomplish his redeeming purposes.

Brothers and sisters, the good news is that there is a redeemer. And we are to confront the unbelief that surrounds us with the good news that God is ever willing to reach down to the depraved and to the destitute and to turn them into trophies of His grace. We are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, some of which need to hear the gospel through the words that we speak as we proclaim to them, there is a redeemer. We have placed the story of Ruth in its context.

But let's not forget to place the Book of Ruth in its context. According to Jewish tradition, Ruth was written by the prophet Samuel. John MacArthur says it was likely written during the reign of David. This represents the golden age of Israel, and the book of Ruth serves as a reminder to the nation that theirs is a God who is worthy of praise.

As they read through Ruth, their hearts would be filled with praise as they consider what marvelous things their God has done and how God throughout history has preserved for Himself a lineage through which the hope of a Messiah would one day come. And here they are, looking forward to that day, and the difference between us and them is we are standing here on the other side of the cross and we look backwards, and we behold the day when Christ slain on the cross for us, took upon himself the wrath for sin that we deserved, and who served as our redeemer.

Brothers and sisters. There is a redeemer.

Would you pray with me, please? And as the ushers come forward to receive the offering, our God, we just come before your throne of grace right now and we just thank you for this book of Ruth, for the story that it is and for what it reveals about you, who you are and what you have done. Lord, we acknowledge that you are a good God and we thank you for giving to us, this story, this book, for preserving the lineage, Lord, for seeing to it that at the end of the day, a savior would come.

Lord, I pray if there is anyone here who has yet to come to faith in Christ, I ask Lord that you would just cause them to believe.

If they have any questions, they are free to ask anyone here. They can go to the connection table and ask someone there, lay it upon their heart, Lord, to engage in conversation. And now Lord, we return to you just a portion of what you have given to us. We ask Lord that our offerings would be used for the purpose of your glory, that Lord, you would reach the lost people for Christ, and that Lord, not just in our neighborhoods in the city and the state and this country, but even in other countries, Lord, that you would just, as we, as we, as we give that some of that giving that goes to our missionaries, Lord, that it, it would be multiplied and much would be accomplished and that the world would know there is a redeemer.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.