"Redemption" “More to the Story” 9-1-24
Overview
From Death to Life: The Story of Ruth
The book of Ruth is bookended by remarkable contrasts. It opens in the dark days "when the judges ruled" Ruth 1:1—a cyclical era of apostasy, foreign oppression, repentance, and deliverance—and quickly descends into death. Famine drives Elimelech and Naomi from Bethlehem to Moab, where Elimelech dies, then his two sons, leaving three widows with no provision and no future. Yet by the close of chapter four, the story ends with the birth of a son and the blessing of the women of Bethlehem: "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next of kin" Ruth 4:13-15. The story moves from death to life.
At the heart of the narrative stands Ruth's astonishing confession of faith to Naomi: "Where you go, I will go… your people shall be my people, and your God my God" Ruth 1:16. This is conversion language sealed by an oath. When Ruth later "happens" upon the field of Boaz Ruth 2:3, Scripture is not crediting luck. There is no such thing as luck; if a single "maverick molecule" ran loose in the universe, God would not be sovereign. Behind every detail of this meeting stands the providence of God. Boaz proves himself a man of blessing, protection, and provision, and though he is not the closest kinsman, he is willing to act when the nearer relative refuses Ruth 3:12-13. Two people who could not redeem themselves—a destitute widow and a foreigner with no claim—are bought back through the costly action of another.
But there is more to the story. Ruth's son Obed becomes the grandfather of King David, and the genealogy carries forward until we read in Matthew, "Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David… " Matthew 1:5-6. Ruth stands in the line of Jesus the Messiah. Her story is not merely ancient history; through Christ it becomes our story.
The same themes that govern Ruth govern our salvation. We are born spiritually dead with hearts of stone, wanting nothing to do with God. Yet God planned our redemption before the foundation of the world Ephesians 1:3-10, claimed us in the waters of baptism, and bought us back through the blood of Jesus Christ, our true Kinsman-Redeemer. From death to life. The sovereignty of God. Those who cannot redeem themselves, redeemed. And the road still bends ahead of us, for our homeland is in heaven, "and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" Philippians 3:20. Until that day, we have stories to tell—including the story of a woman named Ruth, whose place in the genealogy of grace touches every one of us.
Transcript
Would you open your Bibles please with me to the fourth chapter of the book of Ruth. 3s
If you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the Old 8s
Testament page 226, the fourth chapter of the book of Ruth. 13s
Well as a congregation, we have been doing a lot of driving around together. 20s
These past Sundays this summer, 14 different Sunday drives that we have done. 26s
And over the span of time, we have gone to eight different countries and been by two different 36s
seas. 46s
We searched for the garden of Eden. 48s
We stopped by the church at Leodicea. 51s
We spent some time in Egypt and we followed the road to the land of us. 54s
And today in our final stop, we find ourselves in Israel. 65s
The story today from the book of Ruth is such an amazing story. 74s
There are such details and intricacies with regard to it. 79s
And here's the point I want to make. 86s
As we study this, the book of Ruth noticed how this story directly affects you. 89s
If you're like me, sometimes I will turn to the end of a book and see how it all turns 106s
out before I read through the entire book. 114s
It's probably not the best of habits. 117s
But if you were to peek ahead in this book of Ruth, you'd be quite pleased. 120s
Because in the fourth chapter, the story ends with the birth, this birth of a baby. 125s
Look, please, at verse 13. 131s
So Boe as took Ruth and she became his wife. 135s
When they came together, the Lord made her conceive and she bore a son. 139s
Then the women said in the only, but less it'd be the Lord who has not left you this day 144s
without next of kin and may his name be renowned in Israel. 149s
He shall be to you a restore of life and a nourisher of your old age. 156s
For your daughter-in-law who loves you, who's more to you than seven sons, has borne him. 162s
What a wonderful way for a story to end with the birth of a child. 173s
That is quite different, isn't it? 177s
The end of the story from how the story begins. 180s
The story ends with life. 185s
It begins with death. 189s
Look when he pleases. 194s
At chapter 1 of Ruth and we'll start in verse 1. 195s
Ruth chapter 1, verse 1. 200s
There we read this. 202s
In the days when the judges ruled, let's pause there. 204s
So often when we think of judges, we think of how we see judges today. 210s
And black robes, presiding in a courtroom. 214s
That's not the biblical understanding of judges. 217s
As we read through the book of judges, what you see is a cycle. 221s
It's a same pattern. 226s
It's really the same story that keeps being told over and over again. 228s
The people of God fall into sin. 233s
They fall into apostasy. 235s
So God sends a foreign nation to act in a disciplinary role. 237s
The people repent of their sins. 243s
God sends a judge who's a military leader that then addresses the foreign nation. 246s
And then the judge leads the people back into correct worship. 255s
That story ends the cycle begins again. 261s
People fall into sin and apostasy. 266s
God sends the foreign nation to people cry out in repentance. 268s
God sends the military leader to judge. 273s
There's the restoration of true worship that segment ends. 276s
And guess what starts again? 281s
It's the same thing. 283s
It's over and over and over again. 284s
It's a cyclical. 287s
It's this pattern. 288s
That's the time period in which this story occurs. 291s
It says in the days when the judges ruled. 295s
And then going on in verse 1, 299s
it says there is a famine in the land. 301s
And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moe. 303s
He and his wife and two sons. 309s
The name of the man was a limilek and the name of his wife, Naomi. 313s
But his story goes on. 321s
We read that a limilek dies. 323s
And within 12 years, the husbands of the daughters that have now of course grown up. 329s
They die. 341s
So you're left now with three widows. 344s
Naomi and her two daughters in laws. 347s
They've all lost their husbands. 352s
The story tells us that Naomi turned to the two women and said, 356s
return to your homeland. 362s
It's start to start a new life there, but they both refused. 364s
She says it again. 369s
She encourages them. 370s
Return to your homeland and one of the daughters in law does that. 372s
But Ruth doesn't. 376s
I can notice the words here. 380s
That Ruth says chapter 1 verse 16. 382s
But Ruth said, do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you. 388s
Where you go, I will go. 395s
Where you lodge, I will lodge. 397s
Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. 400s
Where you die, I will die there, will I be buried. 405s
And then it goes into oath language. 410s
May the Lord do thus and so to me and more as well if even death parts me from you. 412s
That was an oath structure. 419s
In other words, Ruth is calling down God as her witness with regard to that. 421s
What an incredible commitment here. 427s
Huh? Ruth says, I am going with you. 431s
I'm going to lodge with you. 434s
Your people are going to be my people. 435s
Your God is going to be my God which indicates the conversion then of Ruth. 437s
Where you die, I die. 443s
There will I be buried and then the oath. 445s
What an amazing story, amazing story. 451s
It ends with with life but it begins with death. 455s
And now these two widows, they make their way to Bethlehem 465s
and they glean, they glean. 471s
The law said that poor people and sojourners could glean 474s
off the edges of people's land or if land was harvested and there was some of the harvest that was 480s
left, they could then take the harvest. 488s
They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. 491s
That's how they eat. 499s
They're gleaning. 502s
And then, 506s
the place at chapter 2, verse 3, 508s
chapter 2, verse 3, there we read. 513s
She, that being Ruth, came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. 517s
As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boez, 523s
who was of the family of Elimilek. 529s
You see that phrase there where it says, 534s
as it happened, we still often associate a phrase like that with regard to luck, right? 536s
With luck. 542s
And remember, we've studied this and the past. 543s
There is no such thing as luck. 546s
There is no such thing as luck. 550s
Period full stop. 552s
I like how the late and great theologian R.C. Sproul put it. 554s
That if there is one maverick molecule in the entire universe that is doing its own thing, 559s
one maverick molecule, doing its own thing, then God isn't sovereign. 566s
Everything is under the sovereignty of God. 573s
There is no such thing as luck. 576s
And under the sovereignty of God, Ruth, 584s
and Boez, they meet. 588s
God is behind the meeting. 595s
And we learn things about Boez. 601s
We learn here in chapter two, verse four, that Boez blessed others. 604s
We learn that he protected Ruth. 609s
That's verse nine. 611s
We learn that he had heard of Ruth's kindness toward her mother and law. 613s
That's verse 11. 618s
We learn that Boez provided food for Naomi and Ruth. 620s
We don't know what the relationship was between Boez and Ruth's husband that was deceased. 627s
We don't know precisely what that relationship was. 637s
But we do know there's a relationship because it describes Boez. 640s
It describes here as being part here of the family of a limoic describes Boez in that way. 645s
We don't know here the connection. 654s
Here's the point. 657s
In ancient day, it was expected that the closest relative would marry the widow. 660s
And also the closest relative had the opportunity to purchase the land of the deceased or 671s
to redeem it to redeem the land. 679s
So the closest relative, they were expected to marry the widow and also they could redeem. 684s
They could purchase the land. 693s
But here's another thing. 697s
Boez, it turns out, wasn't the closest of the relatives. 700s
So Boez here wants to do what's right. 707s
So look over a chapter three, verse 12. 711s
Boez says to Ruth, 718s
but now though it is true that I am a near-kinsman. 721s
There's another kinsman more closely related than I. 725s
Remain this night and in the morning, 729s
if he will act as next of kin for you good, let him do it. 733s
If he's not willing to act as next of kin for you, 737s
then as the Lord lives, I will act as next of kin for you, lie down until the morning. 742s
Turns out that the closest relative, 754s
the story tells us, didn't want to marry Ruth, 759s
didn't want the responsibility of purchasing the land of the extra responsibility 764s
that would come with that land. 769s
And so Boez, Boez, 774s
redeems the land and marriage, Ruth. 779s
Such an amazing story, isn't it? 789s
Such an amazing story. 793s
It starts out with death and it ends with life. 796s
There's no luck involved in this story. 804s
There's no such thing as luck, but you see the sovereignty of God behind it all. 807s
There's two people. 814s
There's two people that can't redeem themselves and yet they are bought back 817s
by the actions of Boez. 823s
Incredible, incredible themes, isn't it? 827s
From death to life, the sovereignty of God, two people that can't redeem themselves 831s
and yet they're bought back. 839s
But friends, there's more to the story. 844s
His name was Albert Klossen. 857s
He was my grandfather. 862s
He died when I was seven years old. 865s
But I have some dominant memories of him. 870s
I remember one day I was just bored and he noticed it. 876s
He said, David, come here. 880s
So we went to the side of the house there and there was this stack of wood 883s
and he carefully carefully looked through for two pieces of wood. 887s
I had no idea what he was doing. 894s
He said, okay, now let's come into the garage. 896s
When did the garage? 898s
He fastened the two pieces of wood together. 901s
He said, David, I'm going to make an airplane. 907s
It was what we need now, though, for the airplane, we need propellers. 911s
So we went inside, we had some popsicles. 916s
Then he took those popsicles sticks and we went back out to the garage and he 919s
has to pass in them on the wings of the plane. 925s
He says, you know, now what she have to do. 927s
She got to put some stars on that wing. 931s
Decorate that plane. 935s
Well, I looked at that, I was delighted. 939s
I spent hours, hours flying that plane in the backyard. 941s
As you look at the genealogy of the family, 954s
Albert, I called him Bobby and for whatever reason it stuck. 959s
Bobby had married a woman by the name of Rue. 966s
Ruth, my grandmother. 974s
Ruth lived much longer than Bobby. 978s
In fact, my grandmother lived to almost see the niece and my 983s
our second born, almost to see her second great-grandcha. 990s
My grandmother Ruth, oh, she could cook. 998s
She could cook. 1002s
She'd make my favorite rainbow trout when I would sleep over. 1003s
And it must have been before the days in which one had an awareness of cholesterol, 1010s
because she could make dumplings that were just rocks. 1014s
And sour crowd in dumplings and spare ribs that smell would fill the house. 1020s
She had this purplish, Ford Falcon kind of car, and in the back trunk 1028s
was a blanket and some tools and we would go to the cemetery. 1036s
And together, we would clean around the grave marker of my grandfather. 1044s
We would bring flowers. 1053s
So look at the genealogy. 1057s
Why there is this Ruth that shows up. 1061s
And Ruth and Albert, we get Barbara. 1069s
And Barbara married a man by the name of John. 1075s
And Barbara and John, we get David. 1080s
And Mark, et cetera, et cetera. 1085s
In the middle of the genealogy, there's Ruth. 1096s
In Matthew, the first chapter, we read this. 1108s
Abraham was the father of Isaac and Isaac, the father of Jacob. 1114s
And Jacob, the father of Judah and his brothers. 1119s
And Judah, the father of Perez and Zira by TMR and Perez, the father of his run. 1124s
And his run, the father of Erum and Erum, the father of a minidab. 1131s
And the minidab, the father of Nashon, and Nashon, the father of Selman. 1136s
And Selman, the father of Boaz, by Rehab and Boaz, the father of Obed by Ruth. 1142s
By Ruth. 1162s
Then it goes on to say, an Obed, the father of Jesse and Jesse, the father of King David. 1167s
Ruth. Ruth. 1178s
Was the great grandmother of King David. 1182s
And all of this, under the banner, of an account of the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 1190s
You see, there's more to the story of Ruth because the genealogy affects you, you. 1208s
And it's familiar themes, isn't it? 1225s
We are born spiritually dead. 1229s
We want nothing to do with God. Absolutely nothing. Our hearts are hearts of stone. 1232s
There is no inkling in us to be in relationship with God. 1239s
But the Lord Jesus Christ, the second member of the Trinity bears all of our sin on the cross for giving us. 1246s
God coming in the waters of baptism and claiming us is His own washing us in the forgiveness one through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1255s
Birth in us faith that grasps the victory that has been one. 1266s
By our story, it's a story of from death to life. 1274s
And God's action isn't something where we say, oh my aren't we lucky? 1283s
Aren't we lucky that God did that? No, there's no luck. There's no such thing as luck. God had planned this as recorded 1288s
in Ephesians the first chapter before God ever said, let there be anything. God had his plan of salvation 1297s
already in place. From death to life, the sovereignty of God, us who cannot redeem ourselves, 1305s
we can do absolutely nothing to redeem ourselves. We have been bought back through the blood of the Lord, 1316s
Jesus Christ. Death to life, death to life, the sovereignty of God, we who can't redeem ourselves, 1325s
have been redeemed through the blood of the Lord, Jesus Christ. You see the story of Ruth, 1339s
the genealogy of Ruth, it affects you, you. So this the 14th stop. Our Sunday drives over 1349s
it. But we're not home, are we? We're not home. Because home home, that's heaven. 1378s
Paul says our homeland is in heaven and from there we await a Savior that Lord Jesus Christ. 1396s
That's home. One day the road's going to bend for all of us and by the grace of God, 1402s
baptize child, you'll be home and you will see the beauty and reality of heaven itself. 1415s
In God's very present home. But until then, we've got some stories to tell. 1431s
We've got some stories to tell of all the places that we've been 1449s
stories to tell, including one about a woman named Ruth, a woman named Ruth, 1459s
and how the genealogy touches us with familiar themes. 1474s