Providence Baptist Church of Baton Rouge
March 29
  • Blessed Be The Name
  • Jesus Saves
  • Victory In Jesus

      • 1 John 1ESV

  • How Blest Are They (Psalm 32)
  • Ruth 4:1–22 NASB95
    1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Turn aside, friend, sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2 He took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the closest relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 “So I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, tell me that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” 6 The closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.” 7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel. 8 So the closest relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10 “Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.” 11 All the people who were in the court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. 12 “Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.” 13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. 15 “May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. 17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron, 19 and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, 20 and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, 21 and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, 22 and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David.

    Introduction

    The story of Ruth is supposed to be a light to shine on your own life.
    It was put in their to point how a normal life, with its ups and downs, will still be used by God.
    Now my life is extremely common.
    I came from a common family, with common means.
    I am not exceptionally smart.
    I am not exceptionally rich compared to my countrymen.
    I am not exceptionally talented.
    Denham Springs is not New York City, or Los Angelas.
    And as far as I know, everyone in this room are, more or less, the same in their commonness.
    The Bible does have stories of exceptional people, Moses, David, Solomon, and Paul.
    And when we read those stories, maybe we feel like we could never measure up.
    Like I don’t have the exceptional ability to rule a kingdom like David did, I can barely keep a hold of my own life.
    But Ruth is different.
    Our story began with an everyday Hebrew family, just trying to survive in this world.
    Running from a famine into a neighboring country, going about their lives until tragedy strikes.
    The husband and father dies, and then the two sons die as well.
    This leaves behind 3 widows in poverty and hopelessness.
    Then as we saw the last 2 sermons, Ruth and Naomi, in order to survive glean from a man named Boaz’s field.
    God provides means for a poor family to survive through His laws.
    This simple act of survival, turns out to be the working of God’s providence in these 2 widows’ lives.
    Boaz turns out to not only be a generous man, but also a kinsman redeemer.
    This was someone who would marry the widow of a relative for the purpose of raising up an heir to the deceased’s name.
    When Naomi realized whose field Ruth had happened to glean from, she told Ruth what to do to request Boaz’s help.
    Ruth did this in chapter 3 and we saw Ruth’s great courage in going to Boaz for help.
    Boaz’s generosity and love for Ruth as he promises to make sure she and Naomi will be taken care of.
    I want you to think about that this is just the story of a couple of people in the time between when judges ruled over Israel and when the monarchy came.
    These were just normal people living their lives the best that they could.
    I often thing about the billions of people on the earth, most will never know the names of the people in their cities, much less on the other side of the world.
    Millions being born and dying around the world every month, to no great notoriety, only known to their closest contacts.
    Each one of them experiencing joy and pain, success and struggle, just like us.
    Each one of them (and us) under the hand of the providence of God.
    And this is the story of Ruth, this is our story.
    All of our lives are under the almighty, all-knowing hand of a sovereign God.
    Working things out.
    And this story of Ruth shows us, that even common, poor widows’ lives are used in God’s wisdom for His glory.
    And, as believers, we will share in this glory one day.
    The end of of this life, no matter the pain or trials that we face going through it, will be the Glory of God.
    Piper says, “The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but we do get there.”
    That’s why each one of us, through the good times and hard times, must remember that the end of all things is the glory of God.
    The last chapter of the story of Ruth teaches us to do that using the lives of normal, everyday people like us.
    The first way we can do that is…

    Every Believer Must Remember the End of All Things is the Glory of God

    By Recognizing He Uses the Actions of Men to Accomplish His Will v. 1-6

    Ruth 4:1–6 NASB95
    1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Turn aside, friend, sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2 He took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the closest relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 “So I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, tell me that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” 6 The closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.”
    The following day after the end of chapter 3, our man Boaz sets out to do his duty.
    Boaz was a godly man, seeking to do right by Ruth and Naomi, and also before God.
    Remember there is someone who has the first right of refusal to perform the duty of kinsman redeemer.
    Boaz had a duty to inform him of the opportunity to perform this sacred duty.
    But he is very wise, he does what has been called Boaz’s masterstroke.
    You see, Boaz has become very fond of Ruth.
    He knows of her faithfulness and her courage.
    A spark of love and admiration seems to have been formed.
    Ruth 3:10–11 NASB95
    10 Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 “Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
    So he sets off for the gates of the city.
    This is where business of all kinds in the city was done.
    The gate was the hub of the city.
    Being the place for access into the city, it was the place where trade happened.
    A marketplace would have naturally been built around it, and all of the people of the city would have reason to go to the gate to buy and sell things.
    Boaz goes here and waits for the redeemer who was closer kin to Elimelech, the deceased husband of Naomi.
    When he sees him he calls out to him.
    Ruth 4:1 NASB95
    1 “Turn aside, friend, sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down.
    Then he gets ten of the elders together to be a witness what is going to happen.
    He tells the closer relative about Naomi’s situation.
    She has come back a widow from Moab, and she has some family land that this man has the right to first refusal.
    This will be an expense for him, but it is also his duty to do it to help Naomi and to keep it in his family.
    Boaz sets it up, in front of the ten elders, asking him to redeem it, and letting him no if he doesn’t want to, Boaz will buy it.
    The man agrees to purchase it.
    Then Boaz’s wisdom shows through.
    Ruth 4:5 NASB95
    5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”
    If he is going to gain this land, there’s a catch.
    The privilege of the right to purchase the land, also comes with a responsibility to marry Ruth.
    This was the duty of the goel, the kinsman redeemer.
    The first son they would have had would have been considered Ruth’s deceased husband Mahlon’s heir and would have received the land.
    When he heard this, that there was a marriage involved he quickly changed his mind.
    Ruth 4:6 NASB95
    6 The closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.”
    And now, before all of the witnesses, he gives up his right to the land and the marriage.
    Think about how Boaz worked this out.
    The man knew about Naomi, but she was past the age of having children, so he wouldn’t be expected to have to marry her.
    But Boaz brings the reality that Ruth would come with the duty, but offers him a way to say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
    And he is able to do so saving face, because Boaz has already offered to perform the duty if he didn’t want to.
    So Boaz, in great wisdom, gets the duty, and to him privilege, to marry Ruth, and the closer kinsman gets to dodge what to him would be a great burden.
    This, as we will see, is the great working of God’s providence, turning the suffering of Ruth and Naomi into His glory.
    Hundreds of years before God had given the parameters for there to be a kinsman redeemer.
    Boaz was acting.
    He was making choices, and going to the gates.
    He called the meeting and laid out what was to happen.
    But God was working behind all those choices, God was working through all of the trials, God was working in the hearts and actions of men, all to work His own glory through the action of all of the people in our story.
    So remember this when someone is acting against you, God will work it out for glory.
    Remember this when you are confronted with tough choices, act righteously and wisely, God is working through your choices for His glory.
    God has also given us good gifts that we are to enjoy in this life.
    Even through suffering, there are many things that God has provided for us so that through the suffering we can bring glory to Him by praising Him for those gifts.

    By Enjoying the Good Gifts He Gives Us in This Life v. 7-15

    Ruth 4:7–10 NASB95
    7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel. 8 So the closest relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10 “Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.”
    This is another instance of a practice of the ancient near east that seems very strange to us.
    Today we just use a notary public!
    But here the closer relative, in the presence of Boaz and the ten elders, removes his sandal and gives it to Boaz.
    How weird!
    But this is how the levirate marriage was setup.
    When this law was given in Deuteronomy, if the goel refused to do his duty he was to have his sandal taken off his foot as a sign of humiliation for not being honorable.
    Deuteronomy 25:8–10 NASB95
    8 “Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak to him. And if he persists and says, ‘I do not desire to take her,’ 9 then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall declare, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ 10 “In Israel his name shall be called, ‘The house of him whose sandal is removed.’
    Apparently this custom was modified by Ruth’s time and by the time the account was written, not done at all.
    Boaz then officially announces his purchase of the land and his taking of Ruth as a wife.
    By this point a crowd had gathered, and when it was finalized they all began to celebrate.
    Ruth 4:11–12 NASB95
    11 All the people who were in the court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. 12 “Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
    This certainly was worth celebrating. The whole community of God’s people had an interest in its growth.
    Marriage is a gift from God, given at the creation of man and woman.
    It is a beautiful illustration of God’s covenant with His people and His sacrificial love.
    Bonhoeffer said this in one of his letters from the German prison:
    The Message of Ruth: The Wings of Refuge Witness a Marriage (4:7–10)

    Marriage is more than your love for each other. It has a higher dignity and power, for it is God’s holy ordinance … In your love you see only the heaven of your happiness, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is something more than personal—it is a status, an office … that joins you together in the sight of God and man.

    And the duty that Boaz showed, was also a product of his love for Ruth.
    This is in great contrast to the way marriage is viewed by our culture today.
    Today’s men and women do know why marriage even exists.
    They think it is only a piece of paper.
    And it is no question why it has come down to this as our culture has turned its back on God, as marriage is one of His gifts that illustrate His love.
    All of us, as a community, have an interest in families being created, and husbands loving their wives, and wives respecting their husbands.
    If you have had the experience of taken a wife or a husband, how much has that changed the way you look at the world.
    Not to mention children.
    So the people that have just heard the announcement of a wedding, bless the couple to be like Rachel and Leah, the wives of Jacob.
    They were the mothers of all of the tribes of Israel.
    And then they blessed them to be like Tamar and Judah, who also had children from a levirate marriage.
    So they are married.
    And the next part of the story, is another gift from God that He will use for His glory.
    Ruth 4:13 NASB95
    13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
    If you remember, back in November, we started this story by telling how Naomi and her husband and two sons came to Moab.
    Mahlon married Ruth, and after around 10 years he passed away.
    So in ten years they were not able to conceive a child.
    I’m sure this was a trial for Mahlon and Ruth.
    But when Boaz and Ruth are married she was blessed with a son.
    If she would have been given the blessing of a son in her marriage with Mahlon, she would not have been eligible to be married to Boaz in a levirate marriage.
    Sometime when we pray, God says wait, but what He provides every time is a gift!
    Ruth 4:14–15 NASB95
    14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. 15 “May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
    The women who felt sorry for Naomi when she returned, were now gushing over her in praise to God for providing for her a redeemer through Boaz.
    Now her physical needs will be taken care of through the inheritor of her deceased husband’s name.
    When at first everything seemed to have been snatched from under them, now, in a way that only God can do, everything was given back to them.
    Shaken, pressed down, and over flowing!
    And who gets the glory? God does.
    He gave the gifts. He provided for His people. He worked everything out in an amazing way that we could not even fathom to imagine ourselves.
    We get His amazing gifts, and He gets glory!
    Finally, we can see that our suffering and trials in this life will turn out to God’s glory in eternity…

    By Remembering That This Life is Tiny Compared to Eternity v. 16-22

    Ruth 4:16–22 NASB95
    16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. 17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron, 19 and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, 20 and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, 21 and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, 22 and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David.
    The culmination of the account of the Moabitess Ruth and her widowed mother-in-law Naomi is a genealogy.
    The bible, especially the Old Testament is full of genealogies.
    I heard one preacher give a good reason why there are so many lists of names in the Bible.
    He said it is because God is a God who likes names, and He likes to write them down in books.
    But every person you meet, all of us, are connected all the way back to the beginning of creation by a genealogical tree.
    And God is telling the His story of history through people, every single one of us.
    Again, these are just people. Just like you and me.
    In podunk Bethlehem Ephratha, thousands of years ago, but God has weaved these nobodies into His great story.
    Naomi took this child, this gift from God, and laid him in her lap.
    Then all the women who were mourning with Naomi in the beginning of the story, now came to celebrate with her the birth of her grandchild.
    And then a little mini genealogy is given.
    Ruth 4:17 NASB95
    17 …So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
    This very son, who would not have been born outside of the sovereign hand of God working in the lives of His people, us the grandfather of David.
    The very David who will slay Goliath and become the first king in Israel.
    The man after God’s own heart.
    Then the official genealogy is given, going back to Perez, who was one of the twins born of Judah and Tamar (from a levirate marriage, remember).
    Tracing their lineage through all of Israel’s history.
    But this is not the only genealogy that mentions this great line of normal people.
    Matthew 1:1–5 NASB95
    1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.
    Our protagonists are mentioned in the genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
    This is the ultimate glory and good ending!
    Can you just close your eyes and picture what it must have been like for Naomi and Ruth, to stand in the presence of God for the first time, and see the rest of the story unfold?
    Maybe at first Naomi wanted to ask God why she had to go through so much hardship and bitterness in her life?
    Whatever the case may be, the end of it was them, just like we will, dropping to their knees and worshiping the sovereign God who weaved such a majestic tapestry from the suffering of their lives.
    And this is what I mean, when you compare the length of time you will personally be praising God in all of eternity for all of the bad things He worked out in your life, to the shortness of the suffering here in this life, there really is no comparison!
    Paul taught us exactly this in
    Romans 8:18 NASB95
    18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
    And in
    2 Corinthians 4:17–18 NASB95
    17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
    This genealogy is a fitting conclusion to the story of Ruth here on earth, but the real story of Ruth is an eternal weight of glory!

    Conclusion

    And I hope that I have done a little justice to this story in the last 5 months.
    It is a story that I hope has gotten us to look to the bigger picture of God’s work in each of our lives.
    I know there has been some immense suffering in all of our lives, but if you are a believer, that suffering will work out for good.
    Maybe not in this lifetime, but we can rest that in the end God will work it all out for our good and His glory.
    In ways that we cannot even imagine.
    Use the gifts that He has given you to praise Him in this difficult life.
    He has given us a community here, a fellowship of others who are on the same pilgrim’s journey that you are on.
    He has given us His word to remind us of what is going on behind the scenes that we cannot know.
    May God bless the story of Naomi and Ruth to our deeper faith in Him, and use that for His glory in this life and the next.

      • Ruth 4:1–22ESV

      • Ruth 4:1–6ESV

      • Ruth 3:10–11ESV

      • Ruth 4:1ESV

      • Ruth 4:5ESV

      • Ruth 4:6ESV

      • Ruth 4:7–10ESV

      • Deuteronomy 25:8–10ESV

      • Ruth 4:11–12ESV

      • Ruth 4:13ESV

      • Ruth 4:14–15ESV

      • Ruth 4:16–22ESV

      • Ruth 4:17ESV

      • Matthew 1:1–5ESV

      • Romans 8:18ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 4:17–18ESV

  • He Leadeth Me
Providence Baptist Church of Baton Rouge
broguay@gmail.com
http://www.pbcbr.com
4 members • 2 followers