Sermon Cloud

• We have spent the past month discussing the promise that God is at work in this world and in our lives whether or not that work is visible. A lot of the time, we have no idea where things are going or what God has planned. Because of that, the call of going where God takes us leads to a life of humility, trust, and patience. For example,
• We’ve followed Naomi
o From fleeing Israel during a famine,
o Through losing her husband and two sons,
o To her return to Israel with daughter in law, Ruth,
o To her expressed anger at feeling abandoned by God.
• We’ve followed Ruth
o From being a pagan, Moabite
o To becoming a widow herself
o To leaving behind her family and culture
o To professing faith in Jehovah God
o To working in the welfare fields so she and Naomi can eat
o To catching the eye of Boaz whose field she works in.
• Many of us have stories like that where we start in one place in life but wind up in another. Rarely are we able to chart out our life from point A to B and if we do decide where we want to be and wind up there, rarely is the road the one we thought it would be.
o In this crowd alone we have folks who started out as social workers who are now training to be librarians.
o We have folks who were in the interior design field who now work at hospitals.
o We have folks who were homeless who are now headed to the military.
o We have folks who were school teachers who are now…pastors.
o We have folks who thought they would never get married who have are now happily married.
o And folks who thought they would never have kids but now they do.
• We may or may not like where we have ended up in life, but the big question all along has been and needs to be, “Can you rise up and call God good and blessed no matter the circumstance?”
• I mentioned a few weeks ago that God does have a purpose and a plan for everything, but it is important for us to remember that His purpose and a plan is just that…His.
• And we should think about that at times other than just when things don’t go our way. We often hijack our own tribulations with the expectation that God is going to bring about some blessing other than our knowing Jesus better as if knowing Jesus better was not enough.
• I’m reminded of a conference that I attended a few months ago where one speaker said that failure was God’s means of leading us to success. Then the following speaker stood up and said, “Only in America would a Christian say that failure was God’s means of bringing you success. When it is all said you and done, you might just fail and all you will have is Jesus. The big question is…is Jesus enough?”
• Though the book of Ruth seems to be a million miles away from Jesus, I think that is a fair question to ask as we prepare to close this study. So this Sunday’s Big Picture Question is this:

Big Picture Question: No matter the consequence, whether good or bad, rich or poor, sickness or health, dreams fulfilled or dreams deferred, is Jesus alone enough for you?

4:1 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

• Our story picks up where we left off last week. Last Sunday, we saw Ruth approach Boaz, lay at his feet, uncover them and say “I am your servant.” Boaz pledged to approach the kinsman redeemer closest to Ruth and if he did not want to marry Ruth, Boaz pledged to.
o The kinsman redeemer was a practice initiated in the OT where a woman might marry the brother of her deceased husband so that their family line and land would continue. It was a practice of cultural continuity.
• We spent a great deal of time last week discussing how Jesus is our kinsman redeemer and he is even called such in the book of Job.
o Jesus redeems us his fallen kinsman by taking the church as His bride.
o He pays our ransom on the cross so that we might be purchased out of death into life.
o When the line of Godly people seemed to come to an end at Adam’s sin in the Garden, the promise came of Jesus who would redeem His kinsman and defeat their enemy.
o At the cross and the subsequent resurrection which we will begin celebrating next week, Jesus paid all the ransom necessary to redeem His children.
• At the end of chapter 3, we see Ruth and Naomi waiting to see if Boaz will be able to marry Ruth. We also spent a great deal of time talking about what the posture of the believer should be as we wait on God. That is primarily a picture of our contentment of God being our Redeemer and our Refuge. I encourage you all to pursue those notes online and on audio if you didn’t get to catch it last week, especially pursue Psalm 40 which is a great picture of waiting on God.
• This week, we see Boaz sitting at the city gate which functioned sort of like a city hall back in the day. He gathers all the officials of the city together so he can conduct some business.
o After waiting a while he comes upon the kinsman redeemer who is closest to Ruth. Now, pay attention here because Boaz doesn’t do anything dishonest but he is apparently a shrewd business man who knows how to get what he wants.
o He tells this nameless guy that we will call Mr. So and So that if he wants to redeem the land that Elimelech owned, he has first dibs according to Leviticus 25:25.
o Boaz goes into full car salesman mode. He says, “Listen what’s it gonna take get you to buy this land today. I can talk to manager in the booth that’s 10 feet off the ground. Cuz I’m telling you, if you don’t buy it, I’m next in line and I’m scooping that land up.”
• Well, Mr. So and So is like “Oh yeah, I hadn’t even put that together. Yeah I plan on buying that land.”
• And here is where Boaz’s shrewdness shines through. He says, “Okay, by the way, when you redeem that land, you also have to marry Ruth, you know, that pagan Moabite girl, so as to continue the name of the deceased.
o Now, Mr. So and So was all for getting some land cheaply but apparently marriage was not in his plans.
o He decides to back off “lest he impair his inheritance.” Apparently this guy has a child already and if he has a child with Ruth, then there will be some confusion as to who is going to inherit his land one day.
o Mr. So and So says, “Um, tell you what. You can have the land. I am not going to redeem it.”

7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” 11 Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12 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 young woman.”

• In that day, to confirm a transaction had taken place, one person would take off his sandal and give it to the other person. This is sort of the OT equivalent of a Notary stamp.
• So Mr. So and So says, “Boaz, you redeem the land,” and gives Boaz his sandal.
• Boaz looks at the elders to make sure that everything is kosher. He declares,
o I have redeemed Ruth and she will be my wife. I will be her kinsman redeemer so that the name of her dead relatives will not be cut off from this earth.
• Everyone at the gate respond with 3 blessings:
o May the Lord make Ruth like Rachel and Leah who built the house of Israel.
 Why Rachel and Leah? Well two reasons.
• Both of them were barren and God blessed them with children and their offspring helped build the nation of Israel.
• Leah was a relative of Boaz and so if Boaz has children it will continue that line that God had established.
o May you act worthily in Ephrathah and Bethlehem
 This is actually a prophecy as Ephrathah and Bethelehem were the towns that Boaz’s grandchild Jesse would claim as his home and Jesse was the father of King David.
o May your house be like the house of Perez who Tabar bore to Judah.
 The house of Perez is also a story where God blessed children to a family and the Levites were born out of this blessing.
• The elders of the city are praising Boaz for his redeeming of this woman and his willingness to see the line of Elimelech continue.
• Yes, Boaz is gaining a nice tract of land but he is also willing to marry Ruth and not everyone in those days as illustrated by Mr. So and So was willing to do that.
o There weren’t a lot of kinsman redeemers going around. Most brothers already had lives and families, so taking on another, especially one that is seemingly as helpless as Naomi and Ruth was rare.
• So Boaz pays the price to redeem Ruth so that “the name of the dead may not be cut off.”
• Again, folks, study Boaz. He is a Godly man that takes risks to obey and trusts God for the outcome.

13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then 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! 15 He shall be to you a restorer 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.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

• So Boaz marries Ruth and there was much rejoicing. Yay! God immediately blessed them with a child and she bore a son.
o How is that for the bible? Verse 13 covers the wedding, conception of a child, 9 months of pregnancy and the delivery.
• The women of the town pray a blessing of Naomi, let’s not forget her, saying,
o “Blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a redeemer and may his name be famous in Israel.
o He shall restore your life and make sure you are cared for in your old age.
o May Ruth your daughter in law love you and she is better than 7 sons as she has given you a grandchild.
• Naomi returned to God’s people in bitterness, but she walked in obedience and faith. She lost her husband and two sons, but God blessed her with a Godly daughter in law who pursued obedience and faithfulness, and God is blessing her for it.
• Naomi had the privilege of being this child’s nurse or nanny but more than else, the child’s grandmother.
• The women of the neighborhood even help name him and give him the name of Obed. Obed means servant or worshiper and that would be his legacy as he would become the father of Jesse who would become the father of David.

18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

• Amazing. Our story starts with Naomi who was a hopeless widow in a foreign country and it ends with her becoming the nurse to the grandfather of the King of Israel. If we look at the book of Matthew, we see the line goes like this:
o Boaz , the father of Obed by Ruth, Jesse, David, Solomon , Rehoboam, Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh Amos, Josiah, Jechoniah, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
• All the hardship of Naomi’s life led to the lineage of King David and Matthew 1 traces Jesus’ lineage through Ruth’s line. All of Naomi’s suffering was redeemed as a bigger part of God’s plan to bring about the Savior.
o Naomi experienced famine.
o Naomi lost her husband.
o She lost both her sons.
• Was Naomi’s suffering worth it? As we read this we can probably say, yes. Why? Because on this end of things, we can see God’s grand design and plan of using famine, suffering, and death to bring about our Savior, Jesus Christ.
• When we read this, it might make sense to ask if you think your suffering is worth it. What if all you can ever hope for is God using your suffering for His glory and His kingdom? What if you never get to see it come about?
o Naomi definitely got to see Ruth get married and saw her fortunes change but she didn’t get to see David become king and definitively did not get to see Jesus Christ, the messiah be born, live, die, and rise again.
• What are you presently struggling with and suffering through, and do you have the proper perspective of it in light of God’s sovereignty? Do you have the faith to trust God in your circumstances even if you never see what God is going to do with it?
• Let me ask that again: Do you have the faith to trust God in your circumstances even if you never see what God is going to do with it?
o Is Jesus enough for you or do all the things of your life have to be worked out for you to praise God?
• Let me give us all a framework to think about these things. And I’ll be honest, much like last week, I found someone who says it better than I can, so let me read from an article entitled, “The Suffering Christian” by A.W. Pink
o He is going to begin by contrasting who we are in Jesus with the painful circumstances that many of us experience.
o As I read this, ask yourself if you can relate to it.
• A child of God oppressed, suffering sorely, often driven to his wit's end. What a strange thing!
o A joint-heir with Christ financially embarrassed, poor in this world's goods, wondering where his next meal is coming from...what an anomaly!
• An object of the Father's everlasting love, and distinguishing favor tossed up and down upon a sea of trouble, with every apparent prospect of his frail boat capsizing…what a perplexity!
o One who has been regenerated and is now indwelt by the Holy Spirit daily harassed by Satan, and frequently overcome by indwelling sin...what an enigma!
• Loved by the Father, redeemed by the Son, his body made the temple of the Holy Spirit, yet left in this world year after year to suffer affliction and persecution, to mourn and groan over innumerable failures, to encounter one trial after another, often to be placed in far less favorable circumstances than the wicked; to sigh and cry for relief, yet for sorrow and suffering to increase...what a mystery!
o What Christian has not felt the force of it, and been baffled by its inscrutability.
• Now it was to cast light upon this pressing problem of the sorely tried believer that Romans 8 was written. There the apostle was moved to show that "the sufferings of this present time" (v. 18) are not inconsistent with the special favor and infinite love which God bears unto His people.
o First, because by those sufferings the Christian is brought into personal and experimental fellowship with the sufferings of Christ (Rom 8:17; cf. Phil 3:10).
o Second, severe and protracted as our afflictions may be, yet there is an immeasurable disproportion between our present sufferings and the future Glory (Rom 8:18-23).
o Third, our very sufferings provide occasion for the exercise of hope and the development of patience (Rom 8:24,25).
o Fourth, Divine aids and supports are furnished us under our afflictions (Rom 8:26,27) and it is these we would now consider.
• "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities" (Rom 8:26).
o Not only does "hope" (a sure expectation of God's making good His promises) support and cheer the suffering saint, leading him to patiently wait for deliverance from his afflictions, but the blessed Comforter has also been given to him in order to supply help to this very end.
o By His gracious aid the believer is preserved from being totally submerged by his doubts and fears.
o By His renewing operations the spark of faith is maintained, despite all the fierce winds of Satan which assail.
o By His mighty enabling the sorely harassed and groaning Christian is kept from sinking into complete skepticism, abject despair, and infidelity.
o By His quickening power hope is still kept alive, and the voice of prayer is still faintly heard.
• And how is the gracious help of the Spirit manifested?
o Thus: seeing the Christian bowed down by oppression and depression, His compassion is called forth, and He strengthens with His might in the inner man.
• Every Christian is a living witness to the truth of this, though he may not be conscious of the Divine process.
o Why is it, my afflicted brother, my distressed sister, that you have not made shipwreck of your profession long ere this?
o What has kept you from heeding that repeated temptation of Satan's to totally abandon the good fight of faith?
o Why has not your manifold "infirmities" annihilated your faith, extinguished your hope, and cast a pall of unrelieved gloom upon the future?
• The answer is, because the blessed Spirit silently, invisibly, yet sympathetically and effectually helped you.
o Some precious promise was sealed to your heart,
o Some comforting view of Christ was presented to your soul,
o Some whisper of love was breathed into your ear,
o And the pressure upon your spirit was reduced, your grief was assuaged, and fresh courage possessed you.
• Here, then, is real light cast upon the problem of a suffering Christian, the most perplexing feature of that problem being how to harmonize sore sufferings with the love of God.
o But if God had ceased to care for His child, then He had deserted him, left him to himself.
o Very far from this, though, is the actual case: the Divine Comforter is given to help his infirmities.
• How can we who are so weak in ourselves, so inferior in power to the enemies confronting us, bear up under our trials which are so numerous, so protracted, so crushing?
o We could not, and therefore Divine grace has provided for us an all-sufficient Helper.
o Without His aid we had long since succumbed, mastered by our trials.
• Hope looks forward to the Glory to come; in the weary interval of waiting, the Spirit supports our poor hearts and keeps grace alive within us.