Ruth 4

We are finishing out the book of Ruth today. As Brian said, Ruth Chapter 4 and a playwright. A

playwright once said that every play has a very simple, exact outline. Act one, you put your hero

up a tree. Act two, you throw rocks at him. Act three, you bring him down. This book has exactly

that outline. In Act One, Naomi and Ruth went up a tree. In act two, they had rocks thrown at

them and in act three they came down. Today is the day that both of these women get out of the

tree. I said last week, this is a genre called a comedy. Not meaning it's ha ha, funny, meaning it

ends well. It's not a tragedy where there's trouble and hardship and then the hero dies. This is a

comedy. There's trouble and hardship and then the hero lives and things turn out.

Wonderfully for them, when we know Christ, we are living in the genre of a comedy.

There's hardship, there's struggle, there are miserable days, but it always ends well. We've read

this last chapter. We all understand that it always ends well. And so we are people who are

saying, I'm trusting in my father. I'm up a tree right now. There's rocks coming at me right now.

But because I have a father, because I have a savior, I always get down. That said, let me recap

this book.

Chapter one, Ruth, chapter one. There's the famine, the sojourn. They go to Moab, three people

die, and Ruth and Naomi come back to Jerusalem virtually penniless. That's their situation. We

talked about that chapter and said what if there is an all powerful, all compassionate God who is

working behind the scenes, who is deeply committed to our well-being? What if he's about to do

something great? Because that was the reality for those two ladies. All powerful, all

compassionate. God, they were. Naomi kept saying. Oh, I'm full or I'm empty. The issue is not

full or empty.

The issue is do I trust my father? That's the big deal. In chapter 2 Ruth starts gleaning because

they have no food and she ends up accidentally in the full Providence of God in the field of

Boaz. She ends up in the field of Boaz and we said there in any and every circumstance, seek

refuge under the wings of God and watch with hope to see what will happen.

It specifically says of Ruth, Boaz said to her, you have sought refuge under the wings of God.

You abandoned the small G of the Moabites and you sought refuge under the wings of Yahweh.

What a brilliant choice she made. We need to make the same choice. Ruth. Chapter 3 Ruth

goes in the night, uncovers Boaz's feet, lays down, he gets cold, he shivers awake and she says

to him, spread your covering over your maid. In other words, marry me, redeem the field of

Elimelech, provide for me, and Naomi spread your covering over me. She made that request of

him in the darkness in the middle of the night. The idea we said was when you need something

that you can't provide for yourself. Take initiative.

Act and wait to see what God will do. I told you last week I needed an ablation. There's no self

ablation kit. Can't do it for myself. I gotta ask somebody. This woman took initiative and asked

for help and God worked. So Ruth chapter 4, The Hidden Hand of God works all of it out. Boaz

takes initiative and God works through his initiative. The hidden hand of God worked things out

for these people 3000 years ago and for us as well.

So let me read Ruth chapter 4 and then we will think about this final act in the play together

when Ruth and Naomi come down out of the tree

Chapter 4, verse one. “Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the close

relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by. So he said, Turn aside friends, sit down here.”

(We said last week there was a man who was closer in relation to Naomi than Boaz. He had the

1st right to redeem the field and to marry Ruth and Boaz had to ask his permission before he

who had the 2nd right could ask for it. He said turn to his side friend and sit down here. I'll say

more about this in a minute, but the word friend is not a good translation of what he actually said

to him.)

“And he turned aside and sat down, and he took ten men of the elders of the city and said.

Sit down here. So they sat down. 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

Elimelech. So I sought 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, then tell me that I

may know, for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you. And he said I will redeem

it. Then Boaz said to him, On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also

acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the

deceased on his inheritance. The closest relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself because I

would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself. You may have my right of

redemption, for I cannot redeem it. Now, this was the custom in former times in Israel

concerning the redemption and exchange of land.”

“To confirm any matter, a man removed his handle and gave it to another, and this was the

matter of attestation in Israel. So the closest relative said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself, and he

removed his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, you are witnesses today

that I have brought from the hand of Naomi all that belong to Elimelech and all that belong to

Chilion and Mahlon”

“Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess. The widow of Mahlon to be my wife in order to

raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance. So that the name of the deceased will not

be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birthplace. You are witnesses today to all the

people who were in the court sitting in the gate. It was a courtroom scene and they said to the

elder that we are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like

Rachel and Leah, both of whom built. House of Israel and may you achieve wealth in Ephraim

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 will give you by this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, and she

became his wife, and he went into her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave

birth to a son. Then the woman said to Naomi, Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without

a Redeemer today. And may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be a restorer of

life and a sustainer of your old age. For your daughter-in-law who loves you is better to you than

seven sons to whom he has given birth to him. The line of David verse 16. Naomi took the child

and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. The neighbor women gave him a name saying a

son has been born to Naomi, so they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of

David.

Now these are the generations of Perez.To Perez was born Hezron, and to Hezron was born

Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadab, and to Amminadam was born Nehshon, and to Nehshon

fathered Salmon. And Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz fathered Obed, and to Obed

fathered Jesse, and to Jesse David, David the king.”

Let me pray for us a moment, friends, please. Father, we need your guidance as we think about

this. Final act of the play. We need to know what you said. We need to know what you meant.

We need to know what we should each individually and as a body do. We need your Spirit to

help us. We're not confused about that, Father. We need your Spirit to help us. We pray in

Christ's name, Amen.

Friends, this is a courtroom scene. There's something about live courtrooms that we all love.

There's the OJ Simpson trial. I don't know how many people watch that thing. There's the Alex

Murdoch trial. I don't know how many people watched it. We have a Brian Coberger trial coming

up in our own in our own state. And there's something about these that are just fascinating.

What's going to be said? Who's going to be said? Are there any? What are the witnesses going

to say? What will the verdict be? It's just fascinating to sit and watch these things happen. And

in some courtroom cases, there is a twist. There's something, whoa, I didn't see that coming.

Remember the Alex Murdoch trial? He said, I didn't kill my wife. I didn't kill my son. I wasn't even

there. I wasn't even there. And then they find a video on his son's phone and his body is not

shown on. Video but his voice is, it was the twist. I didn't see that coming.

He was convicted of murder based on many things, but in part on that video, This is a trial

with A twist. There's something coming here that we don't necessarily see coming, but it is a full

trial. Boaz made a midnight promise, a middle of the night promise to Ruth first thing in the

morning. He follows through on it. He's going to deal with it. He's going to see what happens.

Here's the situation in Israel. If a person died without a child, their land had to be redeemed and

a child raised. Up to that name, Leviticus 25:25 and about three other passages deal with that.

And so Naomi has this land. It belonged to her husband Elimelech. Now it belongs to her. But

there's no heir and somebody needs to marry his widow and raise up a name. But of course,

Naomi's beyond bearing children. She already told us 3 chapters ago. So, now Ruth is in line for

that. Someone has to buy the land. Marry Ruth and raise up a child on this land. Will stay in the

name of Elimelech and stay in the tribes as it was divided up by Joshua a long time ago.

So here's the courtroom. The case is set up. Gather the two parties vor Dyer, gather the

jury and then you seat the jury and then you begin this trial versus one and two preparation of

the court. Boaz initiates the action. He goes to the gate, a very public place. Anybody can watch

it. It's where the Elders sit. It's where the people of Gravitas sit. The people who are wealthy and

who have proven themselves to be people of character and the people who don't have to work

anymore, It's where they are. It's a very public trial. Anybody can look at it. They need 10

reputable witnesses. And Boaz said the previous chapter, Chapter 3:13, as the Lord lives, I will

redeem it. I will redeem it, if he won't redeem it. And he says I'm going to take care of this today.

I'm going to, I'm going to deal with this right now.

And the preparation for the court involves a very interesting statement. God pulls it all together.

The witnesses are there, Boaz is there, and the man walks by who has the 1st right of refusal.

And Boaz says turn aside friend and sit down here. But he doesn't use the word friend. He uses

a Hebrew word that is translated best, so and so.

Such a one. Hey you, hey buddy, hey cowboy. It's a very generic word. Hey, so and so sit

down here and let me ask you a question. In this situation, verses 3 to 8, here's what happens.

The question is, who's going to redeem back this land? So and so. You have the 1st right to it, I

have the 2nd right to it. We are looking for what the text calls the goel. GO dash El goel

it means in our language. Kinsman Redeemer, who is the person who is a close relative, who

has no personal debt, who has the money to buy the field and who is willing to buy the field?

Who is that person? So and so is in first place and then boys in second place. This is a type, as

I said a couple of times, this series of Jesus, He is our kinsman Redeemer. He's a close relative.

He became a man. He has no personal debt. He never sinned. He has the price to pay for our

sin, His precious blood, and He's willing. He said He would do it. Why did He have to do it?

Because we're sinners. We are sinners by having a sin nature. It's our bent. We are sinners

because we are under the condemnation of sin from a holy God. And we are sinners because

we do sinful stuff strikethrough. We are people who are separated from the holy God of the

universe. We are as bad off as we could be. We are not as bad as we could be. We could be

worse, but we're as bad off as we can be. You can't make this story worse. We are separated

from God and we cannot fix it.

And Jesus, God the Father, God the Spirit in eternity past, said we'll take care of it. Jesus was

crucified before the foundation of the world. Before we physically, personally existed, he decided

I will rescue them. And he sent that Redeemer to pay for our sin, so that we could put our hope

in Christ and be forgiven. Central message of the Bible. You must trust Christ. If you have not,

will you please come speak to me? Please come speak to people in this room. Please come

speak to people in the worship team. Please come speak to the prayer people. This is a

critical message. I made this decision when I was 19, changed my eternity, and changed my life

in time starkly. You must trust Christ, the Goel, the Kinsman, Redeemer. Boaz is next in line, and

so he says so, and so will you redeem it. And the guy says absolutely, basically thinking I

could use another barley field, I'll take it.

Yeah, you bet I'm in. But then here is the dog kennel video. It comes in verse five, the major

twist, Boaz says on the day you buy it, you must acquire Ruth, the Moabitess. She's not a Jew.

The widow, she's been married before in order to raise up the deceased. His name on the land,

not your name. So and so is his name. Now the stakes go up. Before it was just money. Now

you have to marry a foreigner and raise a child in his name and the field will be his and go in his

name. And the stakes go so much higher. And Boaz, I think, goes out of his way to say, this is a

foreigner, buddy, this is a Moabitess. She's not one of us. And the man says, oh, yeah, I can't do

it, won't do it. I'm not going to jeopardize my own.

By doing this, I give you the first right of refusal. Instantly the goel, the first in line backs out. I'm

worried about my name, not about Mallon's name. He fears that his own name would vanish

from the genealogy of Israel. And it did.

We know him for eternity as what? Hey, so and so. I'm gonna protect my name, OK? We know

him for eternity as so and so. I'm not saying it wasn't a God fearing man. We're probably going

to see him in heaven. He's probably gonna have a chat with me about what I just said to you.

But we'll both be sinless people, so it'll be a great conversation.

So he backs out and he says I must protect my name. When you save your life, you lose it.

When you give up your life, you save it. And he tried to save his name and he lost it. So he

takes off his sandal and gives it to him. It's the act of attestation. I would bet that Boaz took that

sandal, put it in a shadow box and held it above his fireplace. He just said that it was a great day

for me. I got a sandal to prove it. Everybody knows they all saw it happen. So here's his

response to the outcome. Boaz has his response. That is versus 9 and 10. His response is. It's

a long response, but the single Hebrew word that stands for that response is Yahtzee.

It's not a Hebrew word. Yahtzee. He is extremely happy and listen to what he says. Verse nine,

“You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi all that belonged to her husband and

her sons. And I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess to be my wife and to raise up his name on his

inheritance so his name will not be cut off from Israel. You are witnesses today.”

Boaz said in the middle of the night. I will deal with it today, Naomi said to Ruth. Today the man

will deal with it and now he says today I have bought it. God worked through his initiative.

And it happened. We are people who are called to take initiative. The Hebrew construction of

these two verses make it clear that his main focus is on Ruth. His main focus is not on another

barley field. He's got plenty of barley fields. His main focus is on that public reaction versus 11

and 12. Just profuse blessing. Make this woman like Rachel and Leah, these two Aramean

women who. Jacob married and they built the House of Israel. Make this foreign woman one of

the matriarchs of Israel. May she build your house, have children. Prosper have a name and a

reputation and they said God will make Boaz famous in Israel.

And he did, and he made him famous in the Treasure Valley. He made him famous everywhere

that people love this book and love the God of this book. He gave up his name and then got his

name in the book forever.

When you lose your life for the sake of others, you save it. And that's exactly what Boaz did.

Scene #2 the line of the Messiah, verses 13 to 17.

Now listen. Who is Ruth chapter 2, verse 10? She's a foreigner. Chapter 2, verse 13 she's a

maidservant. Chapter 3 verse nine she is your maid speaking to Boaz. Chapter 4, verse 13,

she's a wife and a mother. Chapter 4 verse 15 she is better to bow to Naomi rather than seven

sons. What is the perfect Hebrew family in ancient Israel? Perfect Hebrew family, Seven sons.

This Moabite daughter-in-law is better to you, Naomi, than seven sons. Everybody sees it. What

a towering blessing.This woman blew into town as a destitute foreigner four or five months ago,

and now she's better than seven sons. That's what you call a meteoric rise. That's what you call

God in the life of a woman who put herself under refuge of the wings of God. It's what happens

when we go under his refuge. And so verse 13, Obed is born, remember? Ruth was married for

10 years and had no children. Now she is married and immediately has a child because God

gave it to her as a gift. And I understand that children are gifts and I pray for everyone who

wants one that God gives them that gift. It is a mighty blessing of God. And God doesn't consult

with me on this stuff, which is brilliant on his part, but I understand it's a struggle.

This precious baby boy was born to a Moabite and a widowed grandma. Here is the reaction of

the women to the birth versus 14 to 15. The blessing of Yahweh is given. Praise God for

Naomi's Redeemer. Please keep the name alive. May Obed revive Naomi's spirits. May he

provide for you in your old age. She came into town and said who am I? I'm Mara. I'm bitter. My

spirits are shot and these women say this is going to help Naomi, this is going to help. I have

some friends who had their first grandchild at the age of 68. And you talk about reviving some

spirits, people whom I know and love wonderfully. What a gift that is. What a gift that child is. So

Naomi's response to the baby, verse 16. Was ridiculous joy she's come from famine so journey

and Moab and daughter in laws 3 deaths bitterness, poverty and now to joy. She has this baby

boy that she lays on her lap and becomes a caregiver for this child. Here's the narrator's

conclusion verse 17. This name Obed means one who serves he will serve God. He will serve

Naomi. And all of these names are preserved: Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David, the

King, Jesus. All these names are in this book forever, friends. These are people who cast

themselves under the wings of God. Their names are in the book forever. What is an amazing

massive gift of God? One man said that Providence. Rewards the pious, but not always in

preferred timing.

Providence, the God of the universe, rewards us when we go under his wings, but not

necessarily in the timing we wanted. Here's the epilogue. Verses 18 to 22 basically says the

bloodline of the Messiah is preserved. We're going from Judah to David to Jesus, and even in

the dark days, God is working. God is wringing his hands in heaven about. Nothing.

Our signal to wring our hands is when God starts. Now there's plenty of time to be sad, plenty of

time to be discouraged, plenty of time to cry out, plenty of time to cry, plenty of times to say what

is going on, Lord. But the only time to wring our hands and scream that the sky is falling is when

God starts it and he doesn't do it. He's not wringing his hands in heaven about a woman who

goes down to Moab, about three people dying, about an impoverished mother and

mother-in-law, our daughter-in-law. He's not wringing his hands in those things in order to get

this baby lying on her lap. She went through at least 10 years of difficulty, probably more. 10

years, a decade. Poverty, living among the enemies of Israel. Death of her husband. Death of

her boy. Death of her boy. Coming back home penniless. Feeling embarrassed. Call me bitter.

Yeah, I'm back. All I've got to show for is a moabite woman. My husband's gone. My boys are

gone. I got no money. But you got this. You got this woman. She's better to you than 10 or

seven sons. May this boy Obed revive your spirits after a decade of darkness.

Friends. About 20 years ago, a friend of mine took a mission trip to Nigeria and he's talked

about it to me many times. He described it as the mission trip from Hades. He was there 21

days and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And he said there was a woman on

the trip that every time something went wrong. This Christian woman traveling with the team

would say everything is unfolding exactly according to God's plan.

So they showed up at a building, they were supposed to have a meeting, but it was locked.

And she said everything is unfolding according to God's plan. They showed up at another

location and people had been given the wrong time and nobody showed up. And the woman

said everything was unfolding exactly according to God's plan, and they showed up at another

place and the materials hadn't arrived. Everything is unfolding exactly according to God's plan.

They couldn't show up at the next place because they're car broke down. And the woman said

everything is unfolding exactly according to God's plan. Two days from the end of the trip, my

friend Michael said they're in some sort of a Land Rover and they're 80 miles off of the

pavement and more than 150 miles from the airport and he's got to fly out in two days.

And they break the fan belt on this vehicle. Broken fan belt lying on a dirt road dead. And he's

thinking I'm going to miss my flight. I don't know how long it'll take to get out of here. We're

sleeping in the desert tonight. This is a mess. And this woman said everything is unfolding

exactly according to God's plan. And my friend Michael got mad. He reported me. He said I

literally shouted at her. Why do you keep saying that? And, the woman said, because everything

is unfolding exactly according to God's plan.

Now, friends, I really believe everything is unfolding exactly according to God's plan. All of it.

God doesn't cause evil. That's sin. God doesn't rejoice in evil, it's the sin that rejoices in evil.

God allows evil because he decided to in his own counsel in the eternity past. Why take it up

with God? It's way, way above my pay grade.

But everything is unfolding exactly according to God's plan. And in the end, I think we have to

say one of two things. As individual Christians, as believers who say we love this book, as

people have taken refuge in Jesus Christ, as people with a kinsman Redeemer, we have to

say one of two things. We either have to say everything is unfolding exactly according to God's

plan, or we have to say Jesus is not a very Good Shepherd. I'm not willing to say that. He's

been an amazing shepherd to me. And so I for myself, in all pain and struggle, I for myself, I'm

going to say. Everything is unfolding exactly according to God's plan. And Jesus is an amazing

shepherd. That's what I'm going to say.

Pray with me, please. Father, we're deeply grateful for your love. Lord, we, almost all of us,

maybe all of us, have taken refuge under the wings of Yahweh, the God of the universe. If there

are people here who haven't, I pray today would be a day when they would courageously walk

up to me or to someone and say, explain this to me. Father, there's stuff unfolding in our lives

that we prefer not to be unfolding. But for me, Father, I'm going to say Jesus is an incredible

shepherd to me. Thank you. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.