Which I've seen, seen that earlier,
we've sung that every single, every single... I left my notebook downstairs. Okay, open your Bibles to the
book of Ruth, chapter four. So engrossed in Brother Terry's
prayer. Our Lord spoke in parables, simple
stories. Nearly every time he stood up
to preach, he spoke in parables, very simple stories, earthly
stories with a spiritual or heavenly meaning. And he did not always
tell the meaning of his story. He did not always reveal the
meaning of that story, because one time his disciples asked
him, they said, Lord, why do you preach in parables? And he said, because it's not
given to the Pharisees. He particularly preached in parables
before the wise and the prudent. He said, it's not given unto
them. And you'd think if anybody would understand it, they would,
but they didn't. And neither does the world understand
this story. Seems like a simple enough story,
doesn't it? It certainly is clear enough,
clear enough picture of Christ. You'd think that anybody who
knew Christ would see him in these pages, but they don't.
But unto you it's given, he said. To you it is given. So tonight, what I want to do
in this concluding message is just retell the story, the whole
story, from start to finish. The Lord gives me the grace to
retell the whole story. Can you hear it again? The whole
story? from start to finish. I didn't
need my notebook, really. I could have just read it. That's
what I'm going to do, basically, just recount the whole story
with not very many comments. Because we've gone through it,
we've commented on it, and I think you'll be blessed just in your
mind remembering, bringing to remembrance all of these things,
and things will click to you, things that we've studied, things
that happen, God's wonderful dealings. with this woman named
Ruth and Naomi. There's no more marvelous and
mysterious and wondrous story of redemption in all of the Scriptures.
This may be my favorite. If I had a favorite, it'd be
a toss-up between this one and Mephibosheth. And this may be
it. Every time I hear it, every time
I read it, I get a blessing. even on tape. I remember listening
to someone preaching on tape and just weeping, tears of joy
after hearing it on the tape. And there's no more beautiful,
no more moving rags-to-riches story. Cinderella doesn't hold
a candle to this one. That's fiction. This is a true
story. And it's your story. That's what
makes it even better. It's your story, because there's
no clearer picture, no clearer picture of salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ in all of his holy words. So once upon a time, a
long, long time ago, in a faraway land called Moab, there was a
young heathen idol-worshipping sixteen-year-old girl named Ruth
living in a place called Moab, which was a very wicked town,
a town that was full of the enemies of God, strangers to all of the
covenants of promise in Israel, not knowing nor caring about
how God is worshipped. in the temple and in Israel,
there lived this young maiden named Ruth, sixteen years old
or so. And one day a family moves in
to town, moves maybe next door or down the street, a family
of a man called Elimelech. And this young girl meets one
of the young boys, one of the young sons of this man named
Elimelech. whose name was Charlie on Charlie
on and this time went by this young Ruth and this young Charlie
on began to fall in love and so many young people do and she
fell in love with him and one day Charlie on takes Ruth home with
him to meet the father and the mother. to introduce Ruth under
his father and his mother, and he introduces her to his father.
This is my father, Lemmelech. This is a true story. This is
my father, Lemmelech, and this is my mother, Naomi. Naomi, this is Ruth. And it starts there. And Naomi,
being a godly woman that she is, and Israelite being brought
up in the ways of God from the town of Bethlehem itself. She
hears the name of this young Moabite maiden, Ruth, and she
thinks to herself, that's a strange name for a Moabite maiden, Ruth. She knew the meaning of that
name. They didn't name people back then, just any old name,
Tom, Dick, or Harry. They named them something that
had a meaning. And the people knew the meaning. And she thought
to herself, Ruth, she's not appropriately named. I don't know why they
named her that. At any rate, these children,
these two young people, Charlie and Ruth, they fall in love and
eventually they get married. And so does the brother of Ruth's
husband named Malan. He gets married also to another
young Moabite maiden there in town. And Ruth and Naomi become
fast friends, very close friends and as close as family, as close
as family. Now this wasn't a rich family
by any means. It wasn't rich because they had
lost all that they had in a famine. God had sent a famine and sent
Elimelech's household down into Moab to try to find some sustenance
and they had to sell out, sell everything they had in the land
of Israel, sell it all and move to one of their relatives and
then move down into the land of Moab and try to eke out a
living so they weren't rich they were working class family and
all they were doing is trying to make ends meet. Just trying
to make ends meet. And then a few years pass and
tragedy strikes this family. Terrible tragedy. Terrible. Elimelech the father dies. And they're all terribly grieved
over this. Terribly grieved. And then, to
top that, a little while later, both young men die. Both Chalion and Malon die. The husbands of these two Moabite
maidens. And all three men then have died
in this family. And this is a sad... Now, enter
into this story. This is a true story. This is
a terribly sad home, isn't it? They are absolutely torn apart. They were poor to begin with,
and now they are heartbroken and they're left widows without
a penny and no means to support themselves. And they are heartbroken
and in fear and anxiety for the future. And Naomi begins to reflect
back on her past, and she begins to have second thoughts about
what she'd done, if only. Have you ever done that? If only
I had. And the first thing she thought
of was, if only I had stayed in Bethlehem. We didn't have
much, but we had each other. And if only we had stayed where
we should have. God told us not to leave, and
certainly not to come down into a heathen land. And this famine,
the famine couldn't have been worse than all of this death
if only, and Ruth speaks of this, but mother, by this time she
was that close, mother, if you had not left, you wouldn't have
met me. You wouldn't have met me. And
Naomi says, you're right, child. You're right. So one day, Naomi
is talking with one of her neighbors. And she overhears her neighbor
say, I heard that the Lord had visited your people and given
them bread. I heard that Bethlehem now has
bread and bread aplenty. Barley is being harvested there
in great quantity. Bread in Bethlehem. And Naomi
hears that good news. And she resolves to go back,
however she can get there. And by whatever means she can
employ, she's going to get there. So she resolves to go back and
start over in her homeland. But she's concerned for these
two young girls, Ruth and Orpah. She's concerned about these two
young Moabite daughters-in-law. And she says to them, you all,
you stay here. I don't have any more sons. And
besides, if I were to find me a husband today and we'd have
children, would you stay around and wait on these children to
grow up so you could marry them and have children and stay in
my family line? You go back." And they said,
no, no, we'll go with you. Naomi said, no, you go back.
So she dissuades them. And after much talk and much
urging, one of them One of the two goes back, Orpah. She goes back to her people,
and the Scripture says, to her gods. And ultimately, she's condemned,
isn't she? But Ruth, the Scripture says,
was steadfastly minded. Steadfastly minded to go with
Naomi. She says, Mother, I don't want
to go. I don't want to go back to my
mother and father. I don't want to go back to my
gods. I want to go with you. Wherever you go, I will go. Where
you lodge, I will lodge. Your people be my people. Your
God will be my God. I want to go with you where you're
going." But Ruth didn't know where she was going. Ruth had
never been there. Ruth didn't know anything at
all, really. She didn't know why, really. She felt this urge
to go with Naomi. But she did. And she didn't know
what lie ahead for her. There was no real hope of any
life or happiness or opportunity. So Naomi leaves off persuading
Ruth. She sees she's steadfast in mind
and she says, OK, you can come with me. And so they go. And
they head off to Israel on foot with all of their belongings
and a little knapsack on their back. So here they are. Two poor, destitute,
sad. They're still sad. They're still
broken down with grief and heartache and pain and sorrow. With no
real hopes of any kind of future laying ahead for them. No hope,
no help. Seems like they were without
God in this world, doesn't it? What a sad case. Why are you
laughing? Well, I know the answer. Well,
they come into town. These two poor ladies come into
town weeks later. It took them a long time to walk
on foot over the mountains, around the Jordan, around the sea there,
the Red Dead Sea, whatever that sea is. And they walk for weeks,
and they finally come into Bethlehem, come back into Naomi's hometown. And all the city, all the city
for some reason beholds these two widows coming into town.
And they're dressed in rags. And they're so downtrodden and
downcast. And all of the city says, is
that Naomi? Is that Naomi? And Naomi cries
out as she passes by, call me not. Naomi. Call me Mara. But the Lord has dealt very bitterly
with me. I don't know why God has done
all this to me. I don't know why. I just don't
understand it. But He's dealt very bitterly
with me. Call me not Naomi. Call me Mara. No, Naomi, you've got a good
name because God is sweet. And you're going to experience
His sweetness like never before. Take heart, Naomi. You think
it's all meant for evil, don't you? God meant it for good. God meant it for good. You wait
a little while, Naomi. Take heart. Wait on the Lord.
You'll see the Lord's wonderful dealings with you. And little
did she know, little did she know, and Ruth didn't know anything.
Naomi knew a little bit. Ruth didn't know anything. They're
a sad lot, aren't they? Little did she know. that God
Almighty had a marvelous purpose in all of this. Yes, a wonderful
plan for her life. I will quote that. But famine,
poverty, death, sickness—is that God's wonderful plan for one
of His choice ones? Yes, it is, because God's ways
are not our ways. God's thoughts, not our thoughts. And these light afflictions,
death, the death of your husband, a light affliction. Yes, these
light afflictions will work for Naomi and Ruth a far more exceeding
weight of eternal glory. And her eyes hadn't seen, her
ears hadn't heard, neither have entered into her heart yet the
things that God had prepared for her. And ultimately for his great
glory. So time goes by. Time goes by and Naomi and Ruth
find a little shack. Somebody maybe takes them in
and lets them live in a little guest house in the back of their
property. A little shack to live in. And they scrape up pennies trying
to live. Trying to get by. I mean they're
dirt poor. Dirt poor. And then one day Naomi
says, to Ruth after they finished the last can of pork and beans. Honey, we're going to starve
to death. We've got to have something to
eat. There's a law on this land. There's a law that if you ever
get down and destitute, this is a law, this is God's welfare
program, that if you ever get down and so destitute and poor
that you cannot support yourself You go out in the field, and
the people that own the fields, by law, are obligated to leave
some grains, some food there for the poor beggars to glean
for themselves. And it's the barley harvest now. So, Ruth, you go out first thing
in the morning, you go glean and find us something to eat,
or we're going to starve to death here in the land of promise.
In the land of plenty, we're going to starve if we don't do
some gleaning. Real fact. So, the next morning,
Ruth gets up early. She said, I will arise early.
And she gets up early, and she goes out, and there's a lot of
fields out there. It's a large land. And she looks,
and she beholds, and she sees field after field after field
after field, and she says, where shall I go? And she sees a bunch
of reapers over here and a bunch of reapers over there. She says,
well, I just don't know. Well, eeny, meeny, miny, moe. I choose this one. That's the
right one. And she goes into that field
and begins to pick up a little grain here and there. Well, there's
good pickings here. I picked the right field. She
begins to pick up a little grain here and there. And the day goes
on. And she finds one of the other
little beggars there. One of the other little beggars
begins to talk to her as they're gleaning along in that field.
And she asks the little beggar, By the way, whose field is this
that we're in here today? And the other little beggar says
to Ruth, He's a mighty man. You don't know? You don't know
whose field you're gleaning in? Well, you ought to know him.
He's a mighty man, a man of wealth. He's a glorious man, such a kind
man. I hope you can meet him. He's
such a nice man. He's a bachelor. He's a bachelor. His name is Boaz. Boaz. Well, lunchtime comes around
and all of the beggars are allowed to come up to the house. They
come right up to the house and eat right at the table with the
owner himself. And Ruth is just astounded at
all of this. This is too good to be true.
Well, she goes up to the big house or wherever it is they're
eating, and she goes up there and begins to eat with all of
the others. And along comes this man. She notices him. Everybody stops. She hears the
people say, The Lord be with you, Boaz. And she hears his
beautiful voice, And the Lord bless you. And she sees this
man. But little did she know he spied
her before he came up. He looked at her and he took
notice of her right away. He immediately noticed this young
woman because you see like a wise landowner that he is known under
him or all of his workers from the beginning. All of his people. and all of his workers, and all
of the goings-on in his field. There's not a stranger, there's
not a gleaner or a reaper that he doesn't know them and know
everything about them. He's boast. He knows full well. And after
inquiring of her to make sure that his servants are doing likewise,
that they're on the ball, who's this maiden? He knew who she
was. He knew that Naomi and Ruth had
come into town. He knew exactly who they were.
And after inquiring about her, he tells his overseers, he tells
his reapers and his overseers to, he brings them over to the
sides and says to one of them, the one that's in charge there,
he says, now, you see that little maiden over there? I want you
to take special care of her. I've got my eye on her. You can't
have her. I've got my own or she's mine
from this day forward she's mine and I'm going to have her and
you take special care of her over her you watch over her you
protect her don't let anybody else touch her and you feed her
and you don't touch her you provide for her safety and he tells his
men and all of his ladies you you take care of her and you
leave her some big portions of grain. You leave her some handfuls
on purpose out there in the field for her to claim so that she'll
not go home empty. And then to beat all that, the
fact that he would take such an interest in her at all, to
beat all of that after talking with his overseers and providing
all things and covenanting with them in all things, ordering
all things and making them sure concerning her. He says, OK,
now you see to it. And then he personally walks
over to where she is, and she's eating out there, and he walks
up behind her. Ruth? Yes. I'm Boaz. Oh? Oh? Well, I'm Ruth. I know. I know all about you. I know
all about you. Have you got any cornbread there?
Have you tried the cornbread? Excuse me. Get your little corn.
And she feels him brush you. And she has a sweet smell about
him. And a kind smile on his face, and his voice is so pleasant
to her. And she shivers. He's flirting
with her. He's flirting. He says he's going
to have her. He's going to have her. He's going to have her.
And he speaks kindly to her. And he tells her all that he
has done for her. He says, Now Ruth, I've instructed
my young men not to touch you and to take care of you. And
if you need anything, you just come to the young men and they'll
fetch you water. Anytime you want to drink water,
if you thirst, you just come get a big drink. Come get a big
drink. Stop what you're doing, rest,
and come get a drink. And Glean, you stay here now
in this field, don't go over next door. I know that man over
there, he's not very kind, he's not very charitable, but I am. You stay here in my fields and
you'll be glad you did. I assure you, you'll be glad
you did. And then he speaks with her a little more and then she
leaves. She leaves and goes back out
in the field to Glean. That afternoon, that evening,
she comes home. She comes home with a wagon load of grain. Her mother had sent her with
a tow sack. You know what a tow sack is? Sure you do, all of
you fifty years old and up know what a tow sack is. I don't know.
I've heard that a tow sack is a sack anyway. I don't know. You put, what do you put in? But I know TOSAC is what the
poor people used to carry around, you know. TOSAC. Well, she carried a TOSAC to
the field and came home with a wagon load. She had to have
somebody help her bring it home. And she comes charging in the
house where Naomi is. Naomi's doing the wash or whatever.
She comes charging. Oh, Mother! Mother! Oh, I was
lucky today. I was lucky today, look how much
I've gleaned. Look what I've gleaned. And Naomi,
Naomi knows better. By this time she's come to her
senses a little bit. She had backslid, but now she's
in the land and she's around the people she should be. She
knows the language that she had forgotten. She knows better and
she overlooks this little girl's Arminian language. And she says,
honey, you're not, no, it's not luck. No, somebody has blessed
you. Somebody has taken notice of
you. Naomi saw right away, somebody
took an interest in this girl. Somebody's been kind to you and
blessed be the one who has shown such grace and such kindness
to you. By the way, whose field was it?
that you were gleaning in today. And Ruth said, well, the other
workers said his name was Boaz, and I met him. Boaz! Naomi says, what'd you say? Well,
they said his name was Boaz, and he came up to me and spoke,
Boaz! Honey, do you realize? You don't, do you? Honey, let
me tell you, that man is no ordinary man. We're related to Him. He's our kinsman. He's the kinsman. He's the only one that's got
the right to redeem us. He's the only one. Honey, you
just happened into the field of the only one that can help
us, the only one that can save our lives. You just happened,
lucky. Praise God Almighty, from whom
all blessings flow, for sending you into the field of Praise
God, honey. That's Boaz. Oh, Boaz. Boaz. I forgot his name. Well,
more time passes by, and Ruth keeps gleaning. They kind of
get in a little rut there, and Naomi gets anxious for Ruth.
She gets anxious for this romance to proceed. Women are a little
bit like that, you know. They're matchmakers. None of
you all are. I've known some women in the
past do this, but Naomi's real anxious for this romance to proceed,
and she's seeking a husband for Ruth. She wants a husband for
Ruth, and if she hears that name, she knows that nobody else will
do it. She wants Boaz. She seeks a real husband, and
she realizes Boaz is available, and he's willing. And so she wants Ruth to marry
Boaz. And so she schemes a little bit.
She schemes a little bit. And she tells her, now honey,
Ruth, honey, it's time we get serious about finding you a husband. It's time that you found you
a husband. And by the way, I need redemption.
I need some rest in my old age, and I need a grandbaby. I'm beginning
to think I'm never going to see my feet. You're going to see
your name you will see your feet. It's going to be a ball. And
the ball of the ball of the ball. If only you knew what lay ahead
so she tells her Ruth tonight. Boaz, he's a hard-working man. He's down in the field where
the people are. He's a hands-on owner, and he's
down there with the people. He's available today. He's going
to be down in the field. He's going to pass by today,
and you're going to have to reach out and touch him. Boaz is going
to be down on the threshing floor, and after he's eaten and drunk
and lays down, this is what you do. You go to where he is. Find where he is. He's only going
to be one place tonight. And you find out where he is
and you lift up his robe and you snuggle up down there at
his feet. Not up at his head. You don't
belong. You're going to be an intruder
here. You don't belong here. He didn't ask you to come here.
Now, you go down there where he is, and you lift up his robe,
his blanket there, and you get down there next to his feet.
And do it softly. Don't make yourself numb. Do
it softly. Now, lay down there at his feet, and whenever he
wakes up in his good time, according to his good pleasure, you wait
and see what he says to you. Don't say a word. Don't say any
more than you have to. And you wait and see what he
does. So, Ruth says, well, I'll just perish if I stay here, won't
I? Stay in poverty, I'll do it. I'll do it. Very humbly, unworthily, and
she finds where he is and she uncovers his feet and lays down
at his feet. And Boaz all of a sudden wakes
up and pulls the covers off. Who are you? And she says, I'm
Ruth. What? What's your name again?
Ruth. Ruth. You know, Ruth, your handmaiden. Spread your skirt back over me.
I'm cold. Take me under your arm." And
what she's saying really is, will you have me? Will you have
somebody like me? You're my only hope. You're my
kinsman. You're the only one that can
redeem me. Would you have me? I'm just a Moabite. I'm just
a no-good. I can't add anything to you.
I can't give anything to you. I'm unworthy to be here. And I'm intruding, I know, but
would you have me? Would you have me? And Boaz, being the kind and
gracious and loving man that he is, such a dignified man,
could have abused this woman. Could have abused her, couldn't
he? Could have used her for whatever purposes he felt like. He's a
great landowner. Nobody would have cared, would
they? He could do with his own what he will, but he didn't. He didn't. He spoke kindly to
her, and he said, Blessed are you, my daughter? Blessed are
you, my daughter? Yes, I'll do everything you need
to have done. I'll do it all for you. I'll
do the part of your kinsman. All that the law requires of
you, Ruth, I'll do it. You won't have to do a thing.
I'll do it all. There's something you don't know
about, but I do. There's somebody else that I've
got to deal with. There's another, a kinsman nearer
to you than I am, and he has to be dealt with. This other
kinsman who has some claims and some rights over you, and he
has to be dealt with, and I have to buy the property from him.
But you just leave that up to me. I think I can handle him. I think I know what to do. Leave the case up to me. Leave
it up to me. You know, because Ruth, and you
lay right here, I'm not going to rest until this thing's over
with. You just lay down there. You
just rest under my care and protection. Leave it all with me. And I'll
think this thing through. I might even stay up all night
and think about this thing. So he did. The next day, he rose
up a great while before day. Sound familiar? And he goes looking
for this man, this nearer kinsman. He goes out looking for this
man, and he finds him. He finds him. He was looking
for him, and he was going to find him. And he found it. He
found this man, and he said, Go! Stop right there. Me? Yes, you. I got something
to say to you. You come here. Remember who this
was? You come here. You sit down right
there. And then he calls ten men for
it. He calls these ten men. Brings them in here, and they
all sit around in a circle. And then Boaz says under this
nearer kinsman, he says, Naomi, Naomi has come into town. Do you remember Naomi, the wife
of a limeleck? She lost all, she sold all, and
you bought it. You've got it. Will you redeem everything for
her and set her free? Naomi, that's what the law requires
if a woman needs to be redeemed. then you're to redeem her. You're
to do the parts of the kinsman redeemer. Will you do it? And
the man said, yeah, I think I can handle that. Naomi, she didn't
have much anyway. Yeah, I think I can handle that.
He said, the man said, whoa, wait a minute, there's more. There's
more. There's somebody else. There's
Ruth the Moabite. Now, what you've got to do is
you've got to marry her. And you have to raise up seed
unto her. You have to do a lot for her. There's more than just
Naomi. There's Ruth. Will you redeem Ruth also? And
the man says, No, I can't do that. I can't do that. It'll mar my inheritance. I can't
do that. And furthermore, I don't want
to. I don't want to do that. Well, Boaz says, Give me your
shoe. What? Don't you remember the
law? Take your shoe off. You are a
neighbor. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no As far as they're concerned,
you're dead. Now, don't you ever come around
their property. Don't you ever say anything.
They're mine. They're mine. And everything
they have is mine. You can't touch them. I bought
them with a price. And Boaz pays the full price. Not a down payment, not an installment.
He pays the full price. and purchases everything, all
the property inheritance of Naomi and Ruth. Not one jot or tittle
is left unfulfilled of this law of redemption. He does it all.
Then he goes back home with the good news. He goes back home
to where Ruth and Naomi is and he says, Ladies, come here, I've
got something to tell you. And they both come out and he
says, You're afraid. Huh? You're free. I've bought you with a price.
You're redeemed. You're free. Yes, I paid the price in full. I've bought you and everything
you have, and now I'm giving it back to you. Bought with a
price. You're mine, and I'm giving it
all back to you. You're redeemed. You're bought
with a price. And then he pulls Ruth over to
the side. Naomi? And Naomi's just rejoicing. This
is a real story. Naomi's over there. She's rejoicing. She got charismatic. Over on
the side. Glory! Glory, hallelujah. Can
I go see it? Yeah, go back down and see the
old home place. Ruth, I want to talk to you.
And he pulls Ruth over to the side, and he says, Honey, I've loved you ever since I laid
eyes on you. I set you as the apple of my
eye ever since the day I saw you. But Boaz, I'm nothing, I'm
a nobody, I'm a handmaiden, I'm a stranger. It doesn't matter. But you can have anybody you
want. You're the great Boaz. But I
want you. Would you be my wife? Would I? Would I? Oh, most certainly. I am made willing in the day
of your mercy and your grace and your power. I'm made willing. So the next day, here in our
text, he says in verse 9 of chapter 4, the next day Boaz calls a
town meeting. There's going to be another town
meeting. It's going to be a great citywide
meeting. some day, or our Boaz is going
to make an announcement. Verse 9, And Boaz said unto the
elders, you see there are four and twenty elders gathered around
him, and all the people, a multitude of people throughout Bethlehem,
gathered around Boaz. And Boaz says, Hear ye, hear
ye, behold, your witnesses this day That I bought all, not tried
and failed, not wanted to but couldn't. He said, I bought it
all. All that was in Limelex, and
all that was Chalyons, and more, yeah, all. I'm Lord over it all. And all that was Malins of the
hand of Naomi. And they're buzzing, wow, isn't
he great, isn't he wonderful for doing all that? First thing, Moabites, Ruth,
the Moabites. Oh, and in there stirring, Moabites,
Ruth? Moabites, a stranger? Yes, Ruth,
that sinner. I've purchased to be my wife. I've purchased to be my wife,
to raise up a name of the dead. upon his inheritance, that the
name of the dead be not cut off, but give her a name among the
brethren, and from the gate of his place y'all are witnesses
this day of my grace and my mercy." Any objections? Oh, no, no, no,
no. You're Boaz. Do whatever you
want to. any objections. You think is
the objection with her when he said Henry when he said I bought
her to be my wife. She's going to be my wife. She
she she needs to say this thing that she let's ask her. Are you
will yes. Let's do it now for it changes
his mind. Today is the day of a marriage.
He's my beloved and I'm his. Yes, I'll go with this man. Now
all the people, verse 11, all the people that were in the gate
and the elders said, We're witnesses, thou art worthy. The Lord make
the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah,
that is, they bore the children of God, God's people, which two
did build the house of Israel. That's not the true Israel. Well,
they did build the house of Israel anyway. You do worthily in Ephratah. You've done mightily, is what
they're saying. You've done worthily in Ephratah. Get thee riches and power. You just become great. Boaz,
you're worthy. All riches and honor and power
and glory and fame belong unto you, and you'll be famous in
Bethlehem. You'll be famous. We'll proclaim
your name in Bethlehem. In verse 12, And let thy house
be like the house of Phares. In other words, that was a big
house, a large house. Go back some time over the genealogy
of Phares. There was a lot of people in
that house, a large and a multiplied people. Oh, it will. Boaz's house,
it will be a lot of people. I'm speaking to somebody else
this whole time, this whole story, I'm speaking to somebody else.
And you, you'll be like the house of Phares. You'll be like the
house of Phares unto you. Tamar, who Tamar bear unto Judah
of the sea, which the Lord shall give thee of this young And so, in conclusion, the end of the
story. Just like every good story ought
to end, happily ever after. So Boaz took Ruth. It doesn't say Ruth took Boaz.
It says Boaz took Ruth. From the very beginning, he was
supposed to have this woman, and he got her. He got her, and
she was his wife. And when he went into her, now
this was a sacred union. They'd been married. They got
married. There was no relations outside of marriage in the Scriptures. And he went into her, and this
was a most blessed time, a most glorious time, a beautiful picture
of regeneration, a new creature's about to come forth, a water
creature. And he went into her. in a very intimate way and revealed
himself literally unto her. And she saw his utter beauty. He unveiled himself. She unveiled
herself. And they got together and the
Lord, look at this, the Lord gave her conception. Yes, she had a baby. No, the
Lord gave her conception. And she bare a sign. And this
is what all the women said. The women said unto Naomi, the
same ones that stood out of the gate when she was walking into
town that day, saying, Is that Naomi? The same ones are saying
unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord. Blessed be the Lord which hath
not left thee this day without a kinsman. a Redeemer, blessed
be the Lord which hath caused thee to meet thy Redeemer." Why did he do this? That his
name may be famous in Israel. He didn't need you, Naomi, he
didn't need Ruth, but he did. And this is what he's going to
be unto you, Naomi. He'll be a restorer of thy life,
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
borne thee a son." And Naomi took the child and laid it in
her bosom and became their son to it. And the women, her neighbors,
gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi. And they
called his name Obed. who is the father of Jesse, the
father of David, from whom the Lord Jesus Christ ascended." The line and the lineage of the
house of David. So Boaz went inland unto her,
and she gave him herself, and he gave her himself, and she
bore a son. And after all this was over,
after all of this was over, Ruth, as she dandles that little boy
named Obed on her knee, she's thinking back on her past life. She remembers when she was a
stranger from the covenant of promise, a Gentile in the alien
from the commonwealth of Israel, having no hope without God in
the world, but now in Boaz. She who was sometimes afar off
was made nigh by his mercy and grace, and he had become her
peace and her joy and her comfort. And she began to look back and
reflect, and Naomi did too. And after all of these years,
Ruth finally realizes the full meaning of her name. Do you know
what the name of Ruth means? Anybody look it up? It means
satisfied stranger. Satisfied stranger. Give me the name of Ruth, would
you? Change my name. That's what I'm going to be in
heaven. I'm going to be a Ruth in heaven,
looking back over my past life, realizing the goodness, the grace,
the mercy, the loving kindness of my God to me. He's going to
show me everything he did for me from the cradle all the way
to the grave and then some. And I'm going to say, John, when
I wake with his likeness, I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. I'm glad he did it the way he
did it. It wouldn't change a thing. He knows best. He knows best. Because he's my kinsman redeemer, and he redeemed me for himself.
Under him be all the glory and the power and the honor. Amen. Stand with me and I'll dismiss
it. Lord, we rejoice in the glorious
and beautiful, beautiful parable, the story of redemption, the
romance of redemption. How you brought this lowly one
named Ruth all the way from a pagan, heathen land into the land of
promise. joined her with her kinsman-redeemer,
Boaz, and gave her all of his person and all of his riches,
saved her life and the life of her family, Naomi. And, Lord,
we see ourselves in this story and we rejoice. We rejoice. We don't see it as fully as we'd
like to. We don't rejoice as much as we'd like to from the
heart, but we do rejoice. And we see how our Boaz, our
Lord, our kinsman-redeemer has done all of these things for.
We see the providence of our great God in bringing us all
through this life in everything, working all things together after
the counsel of his own will, and all things working together
for our eternal good. And though we might not realize
it right now, we might be in different states of poverty or
destitution or Sadness, sorrow, trial, afflictions, you know,
you brought them about, and they all work together for our good.
Someday we'll be gathered together with the saints, gathered with
the saints at the river, and look back and see what you've
done for us, your mighty hand, what it's done for us. We'll
look into the face of our great Boaz, our Lord Jesus Christ,
and we'll be so satisfied, so satisfied. Thank you, Lord. And
we'll behold your face in righteousness, and be satisfied when we awake
with your likeness. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
and for His glory and honor, amen.