Ruth 4:1-22

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Ruth 4:1-22

“Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, 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 ye down here. And they sat down. 3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s: 4 And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. 5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. 6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. 7 Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel. 8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. 9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. 11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is to come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem: 12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman. 13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. 14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. 15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him. 16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. 17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez [and Tamar] begat Hezron, 19 and Hezron begam Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 20 and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21 And Salmon [and Rahab] begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22 and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED645]

“We have come to a place where Ruth has proposed to Boaz, and let it be known to him, she desires him to fulfill the role of the kinsman-redeemer and to take her to be his wife. He said that he agreed to do that, would love to do that, but there was one other who was closer to her than he was, who had the right. So he sent her home from the threshingfloor where they were, he loaded her up with six measures of barley, and old Naomi when she saw the load that came home said ‘You got him, he’s on the hook, just rest now, don’t follow him around Bethlehem, don’t try to be God’s little helper, you just stay still, let’s just rest, because I know this, he ain’t gonna rest until he gets this nailed down. Nobody gives up six measures of barley unless they’re on the hook.’ And that’s where we kind of left the record here. And that’s why chapter 4 begins with the word “Then,” in fact it’s “Then went,” so Boaz isn’t resting, that’s exactly what Naomi said.

“Then Went Boaz Up To The Gate”--Boaz Deals With The Selfish Kinsman

“Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat himself down there:” (verse 1a) the gate of the city, those of you who have been to Israel, you know that many of the gates of the cities that are still in good enough shape to walk into, you’ll see inside of that gate there are benches carved in the walls. The gate of the city is where the elders sat, it’s where court was held as it were. It’s where they made their battle plans, it’s where they decided what would take place in the city. When Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church, again, he wasn’t talking about gates chasing us down the street. He was talking about the strategies hell, he was talking about the stratagems that come out of the gates of hell, the plannings of Lucifer and so forth, would not prevail against the Church, it’s his [Jesus’] Church and that he would care for it. So, he goes and sits himself in the gate now, and the next word is “and, behold,” think of this, consider this, “behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.” (verse 1) “Ho, such a one!” King James, gotta love it. Boaz goes, he seats himself down in the gate, as he’s there, it just so happens that this man comes by, and all of human history is walking by with this man. The Plan of God that was enacted before the world was formed, passing by as it were, Behold, it says, think of this. And Boaz sees him, King James says “Ho, such a one!” It’s two Hebrew words, very difficult, the entomology, scholars argue, it’s hard to break down. My favorite scholar says it probably should be translated “Mr. so and so, sit down here.” “Ho, such a one” indicates that Boaz knew his name, and it was probably used in the historic dialogue, but as the Holy Spirit inspired our writer, he left this man’s name anonymous, He had no desire to embarrass or put this individual by name in front of us, and he passes into obscurity. So it says that Boaz said ‘Mr. so and so,’ he knew his name in reality, we just don’t know it, he called him over and said, ‘sit down here, I’ve got something going on.’ “And he turned aside, and sat down. And he [Boaz] took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.” (verses 1c-2) he must have known them afore time, seems to be some thought here. “And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s: and I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.” (verses 3-4) “And he,” the other unnamed person “said,” and it’s in the emphatic in the Hebrew, he says ‘I’ll redeem it, I’ll buy it. Parcel of ground, great.’ Now, this is what this other guy is thinking, ‘Naomi’s old, she’s past childbearing age, this is a no-brainer, I buy the field, she kicks the bucket, my own parcel is enlarged,’ and that’s what he’s thinking here. He has what we call today “the right of first refusal,” he has the right to say “yes, I want it, no I don’t want it.” And there’s a theme that’s being developed here. In this chapter, “buy” to “buy something, to purchase something, to redeem something,” is used 15 times in the chapter. This is the chapter where we get this interesting beautiful picture of Boaz as a type of Jesus Christ, as the Redeemer. There is a price that has to be paid, that is the price of Redemption, to liberate, to set this all free. And to be a kinsman, to play the role, you first of all had to be of the family, it was necessary for Christ to come in the incarnation and take flesh and blood, and be Immanuel, God with us, he had to be one of us, to be the Redeemer. The second requirement is that you had to be able, certainly, to afford to do that. And he is the only one that had the price needed to be paid. And you had to be willing. And we know that he came willingly, he laid down his life. And the picture kind of develops here. So we have this unnamed kinsman, who just sees the field, and he says ‘Ya, I’ll take it.’ Now just let me read fast, Deuteronomy 25, it kind of gives us the background of this ruling, beginning in verse 5, “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die,” that’s our situation, Elimelech, his two sons are gone, “and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.” that’s why it’s called a Levirite marriage, “And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.” (verses 5-6) that of course, in the families, the 12 tribes, and then broken down into families, they each had a parcel, an inheritance of land, and that was theirs from generation to generation, even if they sold it, in the Year of Jubilee it would come back to the family. So, to preserve the family’s right to the land, and the land was Jehovah’s, and they leased it from him with the tithe, to preserve their right to the land as given by God as the lots had fallen out, if your brother got married and he died and he didn’t have any children, there was no male child to take the inheritance and name on, then it was the brother’s responsibility or the nearest male kin to go in and to have relations with that woman, and when a male child was born, then the name of that family and the inheritance then would fall to the male child. And it says “And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife,” and there could be a number of reasons why he might not like to do that, could be her, could be your own wife, who knows, “then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother. Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her; then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.” (verses 7-10) “and spit in his face,” doesn’t say that, too much to fit on the mailbox I guess. So the central part of this is relative to the inheritance, and raising up seed to the family. Because he thinks that Naomi is old and past childbearing, he realizes then if he buys the parcel, there won’t be the responsibility of having children, then when she passes the land would be his with no inheritor, so he says ‘Ya, no problem, I’ll buy it.’ “Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead, upon” notice “his inheritance.” (verse 5) “And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.” (verse 6) What he says is, ‘Bad deal, what you’re telling me is I gotta pay for this parcel of ground, and then I have to sleep with Mahlon’s wife and have a child, and then raise him up, and then when he’s an adult, I give him the land, I get nothing out of the deal, I can’t do that, my wife will shoot me, this doesn’t make any sense,’ and he passes the opportunity to step into this. Now, he was interested in the field, he wasn’t interested in the bride. And there’s a lot of people like that, interested in the field and not the bride. We see that around the church sometimes, people get territorial, they think they have a sense of entitlement or something, and they’re more interested in the field than in the bride of Christ. And it’s an interesting picture here, because he says ‘No, I can’t do that,’ because he wants to preserve his own inheritance, which would include his name, we don’t know who he is, we don’t know his name. The interesting person in this picture is Boaz, because Boaz wanted Ruth, Boaz didn’t care about the field. But Boaz was willing to be obedient to the Word of God over his own heart’s desire. And it’s in that where we find God working in such a powerful way in this picture to bless him. And that is always the challenge in your life and in my life. Are we willing to be obedient to the Word of God over our own heart’s desire, or maybe the thing we want the most? Or do we feel like ‘Now if I do it that way, it ain’t ever going to work out. If I wait to run into a cute guy whose a believer, and whose sane, I’ll be 70, I got to go fishing out there in the world to find someone.’ Or ‘If I do this the way the Bible says to do, this ain’t never going to work out.’ And so many of us, and that’s idolatry, by the way, if we put our own heart’s desire over the revealed will of God. And it happens at all kinds of levels, and it can happen in my life and it can happen in your life, where we have something we want so much we’re willing to wrestle the Bible out of the way to get what we want. And here’s Boaz, and he is in love with Ruth, he’s got a lot of barley invested in this. But he is willing to trust the Living God and to be obedient to God’s Word and to let this fall out the right way, if it’s going to fall out. He gives the guy the option, and the other kinsman says ‘I’ll buy it,’ everybody goes ‘Oh rats!’ because they want to get Boaz and Ruth together here. He said ‘That’s great, but here’s the other part of the deal, you have to take Ruth too, and then you have to raise up children unto the dead, and then the inheritance will ultimately be theirs.’ And the guy said ‘Un-uh, bad deal, I’m not going for that, that’s not gonna happen.’ So he backs out, Boaz’s name is preserved forever in the line of David and in the line the Messiah, Jesus Christ, he was willing to do what was right. He had no idea how high the stakes where, what was going on. Never read the Book of Ruth, Boaz, never read it, he had no idea how high the stakes were. And this guy, I think that’s why the Holy Spirit didn’t give us his name, he'd be embarrassed forever, turned away, because all he wanted was the field. And he didn’t want to honour God’s instruction to raise up seed unto someone who was fallen, to do it the way God had prescribed. He says ‘I can’t do it, I can’t do this, I’ll mar my own inheritance,’ “redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.” “Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.” (verses 7-8) This is why we find John the Baptist answering when they asked who he is, John answered them saying “I baptize with water, there standeth one among you who you know not, he it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” because he would be the real Kinsman, he would not give up the right. Here, when the sandal is handed to Boaz, as it were, it seems he has the right to walk the land, which isn’t what he really was interested in, but the shoe is given to him.

Boaz The Kinsman-Redeemer, Jesus Is Our Kinsman-Redeemer

“And Boaz then said to the elders, and unto all the people,” now evidently a crowd has gathered “Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.” (verses 9-10) And in this Boaz is the most remarkable type of Jesus Christ, because it’s the same, Jesus Christ was more interested in the Bride than in the field. He was more interested in the Bride than in the field. In Matthew’s Gospel, it’s interesting, when Matthew gives us the parable, there Jesus says ‘The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field, the which when the man hath found, he hideth for the joy thereof, he goeth and he selleth all that he had that he might buy the field.’ He buys the field to get the treasure. And Jesus wasn’t interested in the field, he was interested in the Bride. The field to him, the earth, was just a stage, set up for the Bride. Look, from the beginning, we watch God through creation, and at the end of the days, ‘You know, this is good, he saw everything that he made, the trees bearing fruit after their kind, this is good,’ again, you have to stand back, what was he thinking? He wasn’t saying ‘This is great, I’ve been waiting for so long to eat a Georgia peach, this is really cool.’ No, what he was saying was ‘Wait till Adam bites one of these, this is good, this is going to blow his mind.’ Because to him, the field was only the stage for the romance of Redemption to be played out. For him the field was only the stage for the Bride. Satan didn’t understand that. You see, when Satan came and tempted Christ, one of the temptations was, it says he took him to a high mountain apart, and he showed him all of the kingdoms of the world, and all of the glory of them, and he said if you’ll bow down and worship me I’ll give you all of this. And Jesus said “It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord God, him only shalt thou serve.’ He didn’t understand that Jesus was more interested in the Bride than the field. The field was no real temptation to him, as it will be to the anti-christ, as it is to people that are unsaved. Jesus, remember, he said ‘What does it profit a man if he were to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?’ Just think what he’s saying, what profit is in that? He says if a man gains the whole world, that word “world” is “cosmos,” what profit is there for an individual if he were to gain the entire Universe and to lose his own soul? And what Jesus is saying, is a single human eternal soul is worth more than the entire Universe. That you, this evening, as his Bride, you, whatever heartache you have in this life, whatever brokenness there is in you, whatever failure, whatever compromise, there is something about you that will outlast the heavens and the earth, they are temporary [cf. Revelation 21:1], you are eternal. And he knows that if you go and ignore him, without ever turning to Christ, you will be lost forever, you will live forever, lost. [Comment: Now there are various beliefs within the greater Body of Christ about what the fate of the “unsaved dead” is. To view a few of these, see https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm] We can’t do anything in and of ourselves, to remove the guilt of sin in our lives, so a Redeemer has to come, has to be one of us, Emanuel, God with us [who is that Emanuel? see https://unityinchrist.com/prophecies/1stcoming.htm]. He has to be of Adam’s race, he has to be able to pay the price, as the Scripture says, he bore the sin of the world. God laid on him the iniquity of us all, he paid the price of Redemption, he had it, he was able to pay it [see https://unityinchrist.com/lamb/lastsix.htm]. And he did it willingly, he did it willingly, with the glory that was set before him, he did it willingly, looking at you and looking at myself, he did it willingly. Sometimes it takes a lifetime for the Bible to convince us of that. But he did it willingly. In the Book of Revelation, John says he says ‘I beheld…and there was the scroll in the hand of him who sat upon the throne,’ that was the title-deed to the land, that was the title-deed for a Redeemer, for a Kinsman-Redeemer, a Goel to redeem. He said, very interesting, John (verses 3-4) began to weep and convulse, because it says “And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.” It had to be a Kinsman-Redeemer, it had to be a man, but there was no man, in heaven, on the earth, or under the earth, that relieves all the pressure from us, if you realize that it’s a wonderful thing. Because for years you thought you had to be the one that was worthy, you ain’t. “And one of the elders saith unto me,” [talking to John in this narrative in Revelation 5] “Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” John turns around to see the Lion of the tribe of Juda, and he says “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, stood a Lamb” King James says “as it had been slain,” literally ‘with the marks of slaughter upon it,’ “having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” (verses 5-6) an omnipotent, all-knowing Lamb with the marks of slaughter on it. “Thou art worthy to take the book [scroll], and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (verses 9-10) he has redeemed us, don’t let anybody tell you different, “by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation,” the story of redemption played out in Ruth in a remarkable, remarkable way. Boaz says in front of everyone, ‘I’m buying the field, I’m paying the price,’ he’s the willing redeemer, paying a price there, Naomi couldn’t afford to make anything right. Charles Spurgeon says of the Redeemer, “He paid a price he didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.” And interesting to see here, Boaz standing up in a place, he really didn’t care about the field, man, he had it for Ruth. He didn’t go to bed thinking ‘That’s good soil in that field,’ he went to bed thinking ‘Those dark eyes, that dark hair, she’s haunting me, she is beautiful, I’ll give anything.’ So he says ‘I bought it, I paid for it,’ “Moreover” ‘I want everybody to understand here, that’ “Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.” (verse 10) “And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah,” they had 12 between the two of them, I don’t know if Boaz wants that, “which two did build the house of Israel:” and more specifically Leah, Judah came through Leah, and Boaz was of the tribe of Judah, “and do thou worthily in Ephratah,” “Ephratah” means “fruitful,” notice this, “and be famous in Bethlehem: and let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.” (verses 11-12) Little did they know what in the world was taking place here. Look, it’s gonna say in verse 17, you can cheat and look down there, you have my permission, we’ll look real fast, “And the women her neighbours gave it” the baby “a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed:” look how fast the author changes, “he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” David the king, “be thou famous in Bethlehem” and boy, it was the family of David, famous there. But Micah says this, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from of everlasting.” be thou famous of Bethlehem and of Ephratah, how little did they know what they were saying, and what would actually take place there. Isn’t it interesting too, “be like Rachel and Leah,” Rachel, if you go to Genesis chapter 35, is buried there by Bethlehem Ephratah, she died alongside the road there, buried. But Bethlehem is not famous for Rachel’s grave. Now amongst the Jews certainly there is great respect, but for you and I, Bethlehem is famous for the birth of Jesus Christ [Yeshua haMeschiach in Hebrew], the story of Redemption. You know, let your life be like Rachel, she died on the side of the road giving birth, “and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem: and let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.” (verses 11c-12) Now that’s a very strange story, if you remember back in Genesis, the whole story about Judah and Tamar and Pharez and Zerah, the twins that are born there. But again, you find these names in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. You remember, Judah had sons, one of them died, the next one took the wife, didn’t work out, he died, and then Judah was promising his last son, and never delivered, and Tamar dressed like a prostitute, tricked him into sleeping with her, she got pregnant from Judah, well the Scripture seeing this as a Levirite marriage that worked in spite of itself, and the line of the Messiah comes through Pharez, we have that, born of Tamar in Matthew chapter 1, verse 3. So, interesting here, the blessings. Now those in Judah took note of that, because Bethlehem-judah, Bethlehem’s in Judah, so they were very sensitive to their own family history and so forth, so their blessings were all relative to that. You know, ‘Let it all work out remarkably, like the situation with Pharez and Judah,’ and so forth.

This Grandson Of Naomi Was A Restorer Of Life To Her--Jesus Is The Restorer Of Our Lives.

“So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.” (verse 13) notice this, the LORD, Jehovah, gave her conception, and she bare a son. You know, this is a remarkable story. We find them in chapter 1 headed into Moab, wrong reasons, not trusting God, Elimelech and Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, and Mahlon and Chilion take Moabitesh wives, Orpah and Ruth, and Elimelech dies, Mahlon dies, Chilion dies, this tragic story of great difficulty. They were there ten years, and Mahlon and Ruth never had children, she never conceived. Isn’t that interesting? And then the decision, that’s what chapter 1 was all about, making a difficult decision, in the midst of all of these circumstances and all of this difficulty, a decision has to be made, and they made the right decision. Orpah made the wrong one, but Ruth made a heroic and I think a spiritual decision to come with Naomi. That was the first chapter, the difficult decisions that have to be made sometimes that bring us closer again to the LORD and to his people. Chapter 2, the labour began, it wasn’t just ‘We’ll go back and God will bless us,’ they never read the story of Ruth, she decided to labour in a field, they had to do something, they were destitute. And yet in the decision, and in the labour, we can see God superintending, his sovereignty, his providence is there. And it says “her hap, was to hap upon the field of Boaz,” just coinkidentily she ends up there. And the whole story then begins to develop, because the right decision was made, and they were willing then, obedience, there was labour. And the 3^rd chapter then brings us to rest, resting at the feet of the redeemer there. And of course, the 4^th chapter, the redemption taking place, gives us a picture of the reward, the decision, the labour, the rest, the reward. God superintending in all of those things, and remarkably it says ‘Now Jehovah [Yahweh] gave her conception, she had a son.’ He’s a fertility specialist, she couldn’t get pregnant for ten years, and now, in the right circumstances, Jehovah gave her conception. Isn’t that interesting? Look, there’s a very important picture here, and we can’t miss it in some ways, all of the trouble and all of the pain, all of the loss, all of the death in this family, they didn’t need a counselor, they needed a redeemer. I think counseling’s wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but all of the heartache in your life tonight, if you don’t know Christ, and all of the things, you can talk to a psychologist until his head falls off or until your head falls off, till your ears bleed, what you need is a redeemer. If that’s not real, we might as well pack up here and go home. The truth is, there is a spiritual experience that takes place in our lives that the Bible speaks of that is called “conversion,” when Christ comes to us, he reveals himself, we open our hearts, we receive him, there is a spiritual dynamic that takes place that no counseling in the world will ever settle. And we see this interesting thing, in the heartbreak of life and all the great difficulty of life, this whole scene of redemption plays out to where someone is there to pay the price, someone is there who loves the Bride more than the field, someone is there that pays the price that no one else could pay, and only by paying the price of redemption is this person set free. And it’s interesting, it says ‘God grants conception, gives that to her.’ All of these difficulties, and all of these pains of life had to be first in the hands of a Redeemer before they could be anywhere else. I think God wants us to know that, because, look, we get hurt, we go through betrayal, there is difficulty in this life, this is earth, it ain’t heaven [the kingdom of heaven] if you’ve noticed. And even for you and I as believers, there are things that our Redeemer does that no human can ever do for us. And there are times when we’re overwhelmed with the pain, and sometimes we need to get alone and remember that he cares more about us than he does about the field. And we don’t feel worthy of that sometimes, that’s why it doesn’t matter what you feel, it matters what this says. No man was found worthy, in heaven, on the earth or under the earth, there’s nowhere else to look, no man is worthy. But he cares more for the Bride than for the field, he paid the price, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, if you’re here this evening and you don’t know Christ, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, he paid the price to make you his own. He paid the price you couldn’t pay, you owed a debt you couldn’t pay, so he paid it, the price he didn’t owe on your behalf. As a believer here this evening, there are times when things don’t work out, and we need to get back to the feet of the Redeemer to find rest and reward. It just, you know we go through this, and it just, the Holy Spirit moving on the author here, it just says “Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.” because, the seed that he talked about in Genesis chapter 3, was being passed through her womb to Bethlehem where the Messiah would come. “the LORD gave conception, and she bare a son.” Notice, “And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.” (verse 14) They didn’t know, boy, and her name is no longer Mara, it’s Naomi again, she has now got this little grandkid, look in verse 15, we’re not talking about Boaz, we’re talking about the baby, “And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.” (verse 15) now they bless Ruth, and that was the ultimate blessing in Israel, you wanted to have seven sons, to be barren was a picture of God’s displeasure, and sons where to be admired, and to have seven sons, was to be really blessed of God, so they say to her now ‘your daughter-in-law, which loves you, is better to you than seven sons, hath born him, this baby.’ They say this baby, in this baby, in this baby is the restorer of thy life. And so it is, Jesus is there, the nourisher of thine old age. And the practical sense, you can have a grandkid, you can have a grandkid. But look, you and I, this evening, to me, and to you Jesus is the restorer of our life, he’s the nourisher of our old age, isn’t he? You can’t all say yes, some of you young whippersnappers, but for us older folks, he’s the restorer of our life, I had no life until I was saved, I was trying so hard to live that I was killing myself with everything this world was putting in front of me. I was snorting it and drinking it and it was all going in and I was partaking of all of it, and I was killing myself. And to come and find that Jesus Christ was not some guy in a stained glass window in the church I grew up in, but that he was alive and that he loved me, and that he’d been waiting for our paths to intersect, to the degree that this thick skull of mine would recognize him, the change that took place, he was the restorer of my life. I hadn’t lived until then. And he’s the nourisher of my old age, he really is, I’m still excited, I’m 59 years old now [that was in 2009, he’s now 59 + 13 = 72 years old now and still going strong in 2022], I never thought I’d say that. The worst thing about it, I’m a 20-year-old trapped in a 59-year-old body [yes! me too!] It’s murder, isn’t it. But man, life, because I know more of him, you know. People ask, you know, sometimes, would you like to be young again? Only if I could know what I know now and be young again. Man, if I know what I know now and could be young again, if I could just know what I’m forgetting now and be young again. But what I know of the Lord that I know now, I wouldn’t trade that away for anything, he’s the restorer of our lives, and he is the nourisher of our old age. Look, people in this world are doing everything trying to keep young, aren’t they? Watch the commercials on TV, they’re getting nipped, they’re getting tucked, they’re getting pulled so tight that if they need surgery, their skin’s gonna slap the surgeon when he cuts it. [laughter] Diets, they’re taking all kinds of stuff to make their adrenal glands work more so they burn my fat, none of it works. You may look great in a casket, but it ain’t doing nothing. [no, when they die, their bodies will instantly age where they look like they were Egyptians mummies.] But he’s the restorer, he’s the nourisher of our old age. How wonderful to grow and know that I’m headed back to 30-years-old again when the Trumpet blows [I think we’re gonna have 20-year-old spirit composed bodies in the resurrection to immortality, that’s my guess (see https://unityinchrist.com/corinthians/cor15-16.htm]. To live with hope, to live, period. Not to have death as a threat hanging over our heads, it is part of our vocation, we’re supposed to walk worthy of the vocation that we’re called to. And the passage from this life to the next is part of that. It’s as much, it’s the crux of the whole thing. This is not our life, our life is hidden in Christ with God, and it’s there that we have that inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, we’re passing through, we’re passing through, we just got here, we ain’t stayin’ long. And he is the restorer of our life, he’s the nourisher of our old age, as this grandchild was to Naomi, but in this grandchild was the lineage of Christ, so it’s a beautiful picture. And it says, “And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.” (verse 16) it’s not indicating that in her old age she began to nurse, it’s the idea of a nursemaid, she cared for it, she held this child, the baby’s born, all the neighbours are there, takes this newborn babe, and lays this child on her own bosom, assuming responsibility towards it. What a picture. I think it was hard to get Obed from Naomi, I don’t think she let go of him very much. He was nourishing her in her old age. I left home tonight and the three grandkids were over my house, and it’s so great to have grandkids. Warren Wiersby said they’re called grandkids because it’s grand when they come, and it’s grand when they leave. [Mine are older, so they stay longer in the summer, weeks at a time, and it restores me to my youth, skin-diving, sailing, going places, cooking for them, eating meals with them, awesome, totally awesome, and I got two boys from one family, and a boy and a girl from the other, and two spare bedrooms to put them in.] I just love to sugar them up, I do things I shouldn’t do, but I’m getting even to some degree, I have a great time with them. I can’t tell you some of the things…they’ll be mad at me if I tell you some of the things. I can’t, I want to. I tell them some things to say, if my kids said them I would have smacked them a little, but it makes me laugh so hard…But what that is, it’s nourishing me, it’s restoring me in my old age, it’s making me young again. And that’s what happened with Naomi, she took this child, she couldn’t let go, you couldn’t pry little Obed away from Naomi. And look what it says in verse 17, “And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” the neighbours named it, they probably, somebody went into the field and got Boaz, ‘Quick, Ruth is in transition, she’s screaming, the baby’s coming,’ and by the time he got there, it was normally the father’s place to name the baby, they said ‘Oh, too late, the neighbours named the baby.’ Her neighbours gave “it” a name, “saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed” What about Ruth there, she’s all tired, she’s gone through delivery, they called his name Obed, which means “servant, the one serving.” And the idea is, this little Obed would serve Naomi in her old age, and be the restorer of life and the nourisher of her old age, and bring pleasure. He was her servant in that he bore Jehovah’s faithfulness back into her life, this woman who had thought she had lost everything, including the favour of Almighty God. She had judged God and his faithfulness by circumstances, which I do sometimes, sometimes it’s hard, painful, and I think ‘Lord, if you’re on the throne and you love me, can you cut me some slack here, where’s your love? My heart is broken, why are you letting this happen?’ It’s hard sometimes, but in the final analysis, she ends up with this little Obed. And I don’t know whether they called him Obie, Obie wan Kenobi, to serve her, to encourage her, to nourish her in her old age, to be by her side.

The Genealogy Of King David--Leading To Christ

And it says “he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” What an interesting picture. Listen, here the family lineage to the Messiah, Immanuel, here is the blood of Gentiles mingled with the blood of Jews, that will flow in Immanuel’s veins, when he dies, he will die for all people, the blood of Rahab the [Canaanite] harlot, the blood of Ruth the Moabite, the blood of Tamar the Canaanite, the blood of Bathsheba [no, no, the actual DNA bloodline that went into Mary mother of Yeshua came through Nathan, the son of David, not through Bathsheba, then Solomon to Joseph, Mary’s husband] the blood of David and the royalty of Israel, Abraham, the mingled blood of nations flowing in Immanuel’s veins, the Redeemer of the world, a picture of God’s grace. What a picture of God’s grace that he lets us be part of his family. It says “Now these are the generations of Pharez:” way back in Genesis chapter 38 “Pharez begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon began Salmon, and Salmon [and Rahab] begat Boaz, and Boaz [and Ruth] begat Obed, Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.” (verses 18-22) And it doesn’t say it here, but Salmon of the tribe of Judah [who was one of the two spies Joshua sent to Jericho to spy out the land] married Rahab the harlot, the Canaanite. So Salmon, married to a prostitute who turned to Jehovah [the LORD] in genuine faith. Salmon has Boaz, Salmon and Rahab, that’s why Boaz was completely open to a Moabite, because he had heard from his Canaanite mother for years of the love and faithfulness of Jehovah to the Gentiles, of any that would trust him, and he learned never to look down on a woman. He probably learned that even in the hooker in the street there’s a little girl, somebody’s daughter there, somebody with a broken heart and a broken life who Jehovah loved. This man was as gracious as the God that he worshipped. It tells us in Psalm 115, ‘Woe unto those who make idols, and bow down before them, because they have eyes, but they see not, they have ears but they hear not, they have mouths but they speak not.’ and it says ‘Those who worship them have become like them.’ When we bow down to some idol, some other thing, pleasure, money, whatever it might be, it says we don’t really see, we don’t have ears to hear the Truth, and we don’t really have anything to say, we become like our god. And Boaz, he is one of the most gracious men, remember, this is during the days of the judges, when everything is wicked, everybody is sinful, this man standing in the middle of all of that with a demonstration of gentleness and grace and integrity, it’s incredible. And it’s a story, look, it’s a story that’s happening today. We follow this from Pharez to David, when you follow that, the reason it tells us, it takes us through ten generations here. The reason it takes us through ten generations is, you’re looking at this lineage, the people who are not aware of what God is doing, he was superintending. They were not aware of the fact that the Messiah [on his mother Mary’s side of the family] was being carried from one body to the next, you know, through travail, through droughts, through journeying, through all kinds of travel, through wars, through famines, through marriage, through joy, through real-estate investment, through all of that the Messiah was there, present, moving from generation to generation, and they were completely unaware. And it is a picture of his sovereignty, let me tell you something, his hand is involved here tonight, his hand is involved in your lives. You are his children, you are his Bride, little do we know sometimes what he’s going to do. When we stand in eternity, just some of the things we’ll see, some of the things that are just going to blow us away, that we’ll want to do nothing but throw our crowns at his feet. It just gives us this long picture. We got to Nahshon, he begot Salmon, Salmon begot Boaz of Rahab, and Boaz begot Obed from Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, the grandson of Naomi, and Jesse begot David, the great, great grandson of Naomi, the king, David. It’s ten generations, the way this is written out, it’s actually more, from Pharez to David, and possibly, trying to point to something, but it’s only three generations really from Obed, it’s interesting, it says this in Deuteronomy chapter 23, you don’t have to turn there, Deuteronomy 23:3, it says “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD forever:” ‘because they didn’t meet you with bread and so forth.’ Now I think maybe the author, backing up to Pharez, tries to bring ten generations there, but the problem is, from Ruth, who was a Moabite, it’s only three generations to the king, David. And the Law said it wasn’t to be till the tenth generation of any Moabite or Ammonite, that anyone was even allowed to enter into the congregation of the LORD, and there is a picture of the grace of God here that is just staggering, David, the great king of Israel. Now look, read ahead, we’ll have communion next Wednesday evening, if the Lord tarries, this Book builds a bridge from the days of the Judges to the days of the birth of Samuel at the Tabernacle, to bring us through Saul to the life of David. That even in the worst of times, God was working, even in the worst days the nation saw, God was working. In our nation today, no matter how pessimistic you might be, God’s hand is moving. You know, God wrote about these days, he’s not shocked at all, CNN doesn’t surprise him, Fox News doesn’t surprise God, he’s not sitting on his throne saying ‘Boy, I didn’t think of that.’ We’re exactly where he said we’d be, and every man is doing what is right in his own eyes, great wickedness in the eyes of the Lord, but there’s always a Ruth, there’s always a Boaz, there’s always someone trusting and choosing the Word over their own heart’s desire. There’s always someone making their decisions based upon what God says, and God finding a pathway there to do miraculous things. I’m excited about the days we live in. Let me tell you about what the Lord is doing here, in my own family, but here in the church, in Philadelphia, there’s just great things going on. If you’re here and you don’t know Jesus Christ, personally, as we sing a song at the end, if you want, look, you make this decision, we’re all going to stand in front of a Holy God, Jesus said every idle word is going to be given account for, our thoughts, Jesus said ‘You have heard of them of old thou shalt not commit adultery, but I’m telling you, if you lust after a man or lust after a woman, you’ve already committed adultery in the kingdom,’ the problem is the heart. But God has provided a Redeemer, one who walked among us, to pay the price that we can never pay, to make all of that right. That’s Jesus Christ, not church, not Christianity, not playing religion, certainly not playing church. I’m just saying if you don’t know him tonight, it doesn’t matter what your resume’ is, how dark or how impressive, it doesn’t matter how much sin, you might think ‘Oh man, my sin is like a black mountain, God don’t want nothing to do with me,’ you’re a rookie, you got to meet some of the people in the Bible, and their lives are there, God doesn’t hide the sins of his people, he puts them there so they’ll realize his love and his power. [Comment: and the study of history, all accurate history, black as it is, is so mankind can take a good honest look at himself, so as to not repeat those things. All of history is going to be eventually revealed, driving mankind to Christ in the final analysis. Sorry, I’m a history nut 😊] If you don’t know Jesus Christ tonight, as we sing this last song, you come, he loves you, he’s paid the price. Look, it’s here, you’re hearing it now, it’s on record in heaven, here you are sitting there in the crowd, I see you right there, and you have an opportunity tonight to jettison your old life, like one of those rockets going into space, you need to just jettison that first stage, that’s no good anymore, that’s empty, with all of your sin, all of your failing, to let that fall away and have a fresh beginning with Jesus Christ. We’re just going to offer that to you, and as we sing this last song, ask you to get out of your seat and come forward. The rest of us, what a great opportunity to realize, you know what, there’s going to be decisions this week that we need to make, and they’re hard sometimes, sometimes we ask God ‘Help me to discern, show me in your Word,’ the times for all of us to make decisions, to be obedient to his Word when our heart’s desire is to do something else or look for a loop-hole. If we’ll do it his way, we end up in the middle of a remarkable saga, a beautiful story. Let’s stand, and let’s pray…[transcript of an expository sermon on Ruth 4:1-22, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]