Pursuing Hope in the Lion of Judah - Ruth 4

0:42Hang in there with me. We're going to get to the last word of the book of Ruth, and that's where I get that. No flipping forward. The book of Ruth. I come here with mixed feelings. This is our last one in the book of Ruth, our last sermon. And I don't want to let this book go. This book has, God has really used this to speak to my own life. You think about providence in our lives. I think of this book.

1:08It's a multi-generational theological masterpiece of God's providential hand working in the lives of people who reject him. His providential hand working in the lives of people who are oblivious that he's even there. Or, at least, seemingly oblivious that he's even there. And then it's also his providential hand working in the lives of people who are seeking to live in a manner that's pleasing to him. In a land, in a period of history, what we're told is that this book takes place at a period of time when everybody was doing right in their own eyes. And yet, here's this refreshing little family in the town of Bethlehem who does right in God's sight.

2:07That's the book of Ruth. And I say multi-generational because the book of Ruth has 85 verses in it, just four short chapters, but it reaches down into the book of Genesis, to the people in the book of Genesis. And then it takes us through the Old Testament and it brings us into the New Testament. In Matthew chapter 4, excuse me, Matthew chapter 1, verse 5, Ruth's name is mentioned as being in Jesus' genealogy. And then David is mentioned, King David, and it takes us all the way through the book of Revelation. This is like a tree. The book of Ruth is like a tree with roots that extend from the very first book in the Bible to the very last book in the Bible. This is an important book that I have found great affection for, and I hope you have too. As we've said, this is a history book. And if you've been here for one or all of the sermons that we've done through Ruth, remember that Ruth can be summarized with four, well, five R words. Does anybody remember them? The first one is ruin. Chapter one is ruin.

3:20Yes? Then restoration? Well, we've got to get to return first, right? Ruin. Return. That's chapter one. Restoration is chapter two. Chapter three? Romance. Chapter four, redemption. And that's where we are today. So in Ruth 1, we found finding hope in the midst of ruin. Finding hope in the midst of ruin. Ruth chapter 2, discovering hope in the midst of restoration. And in Ruth chapter 3, we looked at the idea, developing the idea of pursuing hope in the midst of God's providence. And so it is today. We see ever so clearly the book of Ruth is a book of hope. It's a book that points us to the providential hand of God working in our lives. Here's what I want you to get away, or walk away from Ruth chapter 4 today. When you love God by bringing rest and security into the lives of others, you introduce them to their only hope, Jesus Christ, the lion of Judah. There's a reason you introduce them to Jesus Christ, the lion of Judah, so that they have eternal rest in him. This is a book about women looking for rest and security. If we stop there with women looking for rest and security, we forget that this is God's providential hand working through people's lives who extends eternal rest and eternal security.

4:52That's the book of Ruth, chapter 4. Would you follow along with me as I read chapter 4? As I said before, unfortunately, we don't have enough weeks to develop all the minor details in the book of Ruth. So I want to read each chapter so that you can get a sense of what that chapter is about. So, starting in verse 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. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit down here. So they sat down. Then he said to the closest relative, Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the price of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.

5:49So 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, read 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. Then Boaz said, On that day, or on the day you buy it, or the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitis, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance. The closest relative said, I cannot do it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it yourself. You may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it. Now, this was the custom in the former times in Israel concerning the redemption and exchange of land to confirm any matter. A man removed a sandal and gave it to another. And this was the manner of attestation in Israel. So the closest relative said to Boaz, Buy it yourself. And he removed his sandal. 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 Killion and Malon. Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitis, the widow of Malon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased in the inheritance, so that the name Of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birthplace. You are witnesses today. All of 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 Ephratha and become famous in Bethlehem. Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the Lord gave to you by this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went into her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the woman said to Naomi, Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a Redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.

8:40Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap and became his nurse. 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. Now these are the generations of Perez. To Perez was born Hezron. And to Hezron was born Rom, and to Rom, Aminadab, and to Aminadab was born Nashon, and to Nashon, Salmon, and to Salmon was born Boaz. And to Boaz, Obed, and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David, whom we know as King David. You're going to see in this text, if you haven't already, really four portraits of significant love in this text, in this chapter. There's four of them. Each one of them starts out with the word loves, and it's possessive. Love's strategy, love's strategy. That's the first significant portrait. And that's in verses 1 through 6. And then the second one is love's sealing, love's sealing. That's verses 7 through 11. And then, of course, love's blessing, starting in verse 11 through 17. And then love's significance. Why would he include this genealogy at the end of this book? And I would submit to you, love's significance is the lion of Judah, the lion of Judah. And we see that in verses 17 through 22. So let's consider a portrait of significant love right there in the first part of the chapter.

10:12Just like we observed in chapter 2 and in chapter 3, we saw with Ruth and Naomi, they took it upon themselves. They took personal responsibility to provide for their family. We see in chapter 4 what's going on here. We see that Boaz has taken personal responsibility. Responsibility for his family. So, right there in the very beginning, we see Boaz goes to a gate. He goes to the city gate, which is their culture's way of saying he went to court. We're about to enter a courtroom. Only this is not a courtroom, it's a gate, an entrance to the city.

10:51He's going to law. This is Boaz seeking legal restitution or resolution to Elimelex's estate, his property. So, Boaz sees the problem, he sees that there's a problem with Ruth, and he has a four-part strategy to solve it. He does four things. If you were here last week, you've heard me talk about the word fade. It's what they do in the business world: they focus on the problem, they analyze it, they develop a solution, and then they execute the solution. It's what Naomi did last time when we were looking at her strategy to get Ruth married off. So, just like Naomi, Boaz focuses on the problem. It's a three-part problem.

11:35Ruth's a foreign widow, and she's in a foreign land in Bethlehem. What's Ruth going to do when the work's over? Ruth doesn't have a husband or a family to keep her safe. Again, she's in a foreign land. How on earth will Ruth care for her mother-in-law? How will she keep her safe? That's the problem. As well, On chapter 3, Ruth and Naomi, they had a solution to the problem. Ruth tells Boaz, Ruth tells Boaz, you got to marry me, right? She tells him, You got to marry me. Why? Well, because he's a goel.

12:16He's a kinsman redeemer. And that's what's required in the Old Testament. Family has to take care of family. So that's how she addresses the issue. I would urge you to go back. If you haven't listened to chapter 3, go back on our website. We have all our sermons available. Go back, listen to it. Remember, since Boaz wasn't Ruth's closest relative, Boaz, knowing the right thing to do, deferred to the closest relative. He said, there's one closer than I. And his idea here is that if any redemption is going to take place, he's the one that gets the first right of refusal. He's the one that gets to make the decision whether or not he wants to redeem you or whether it goes on to somebody else.

13:04So here's Boaz's second part of his strategy. He analyzes the situation. And he concludes that he doesn't, that if he doesn't solve the problem, Ruth's family, Naomi's family, will perish. He has to deal with this problem. How does he deal with it? Well, that's the third part of Boaz's plan. He develops a plan. He develops really two plans, a primary plan and a backup plan. Called it plan A and plan B last week. Plan A, do you remember what it is?

13:35If the closest relative will marry you, good. Let him marry you. Let him redeem you. And then plan B, if he refuses to do that, then he says, I'll marry you. So there's two plans. Either way, she's going to get married. So Boaz, he executes his plan. The first part of his plan is found in verse 1. Take a look at it. Boaz, he sits at the gate and he prepares his legal case. And as he's preparing his case, what happens? Look at that word behold again. It's right there in verse 1. The word behold, again, when the book of Ruth was first communicated, it was communicated verbally, probably for a few generations. And so when you see the behold, it's because the narrator is saying, look, look. Remember last time it was, there's a woman laying at his feet. This time he's saying, look, there's plan A. There's plan A in the flesh. He's here. He's just sitting by the gate and he stumbles across. It looks like a chance sort of a thing, but we're not big into chances, are we? This is a book of Providence. God leads him there.

14:42How does this happen? This is the guy Boaz is looking for. He wastes no time. And look at the text. He notices him and he says to him, turn aside, friend. Sit down here. He gives him two commands. Turn aside, sit down. Stop going in that direction and sit down. There was a sense of urgency in this. Voice. Remember, it was just a few hours earlier that he was telling Ruth about plan A and plan B. So now he's carrying it out. He tells the guy to stop and sit down.

15:12There's really an empathetic tone in his voice in doing this. The word friend here is a bit awkward. The author is very careful to use specific names in the book of Ruth. This time he doesn't use a specific name. He says friend. He uses the word friend. And I like the way the Hebrew word sounds better than friend. It's Polony Almoni. That's what he calls him, Polony Almoni. And it simply means, and I like this, there's a Bible translation out there that directly translated as, hey, so-and-so.

15:49His name is so-and-so. And so we're going to stick with so-and-so this morning. When we're talking about the closest kinsman redeemer, we're going to call him Polony Almoni. Better yet, we'll just call him so-and-so, okay? So this morning, this guy is so-and-so. He sees him, he tells him to sit down. So the second part of Boaz's plan is there in verse 2. You might see it if you glance down at it. With the same sense of urgency, Boaz rounds up ten old guys. Actually, the literal translation is a bunch of gray hairs. He gets a hold of 10 gray-haired guys because they're the guys with wisdom, and he wants them to be his, our modern-day equivalent of a jury, right? That's his plan. He rounds them up. He's in a hurry here. The third part of Boaz's plan is in, well, verse 3. His plan is unfolding very rapidly. He's in a hurry. With the crowds gathering and with the elders listening and looking on, Boaz presents only one fact about his legal case here. Just one concerning Naomi's case to so-and-so. It's right there in verse 3. You see, the land that once belonged to their relative, Elimelech, must be transferred to another family member. That's the legal case he presents here. And I find this very odd after studying through chapter 3. Just a few hours earlier in chapter 3, the facts of the case are different. Ruth needs a husband. And all of a sudden, he's sitting in a city gate. The ten gray hairs are looking on. All the witnesses are surrounding him. And he says something about land.

17:28What happened to chapter 3? What about the girl? You'd think Boaz would have said something like, hey, so-and-so, Ruth needs a husband, and you're the guy. Wow, that would be great news. He doesn't do that. He has a strategy. Not one word about Ruth being the excellent Proverbs 31 woman, right? Just that Naomi's land needs to be taken care of. Fourth part of Boaz's strategy is in verse 4. Do you know anybody that struggles with listening to you? Well. He wasn't going to allow so-and-so not to listen. It's going to be very clear so so-and-so doesn't get distracted. Verse 4 tells us how he does it. Literally, when he says, I want you to hear something, he's saying, I thought I would talk to you to open your ears. So, when somebody's having a hard time listening, you just hold their chin and say, I want to open your ears. Listen. This is what he does. He opens his ears and he explains to him what's going on. So, he'll listen very carefully. Here it is in verse 4. Here's what he wants him to know: he says, Agree to take over Elimelech's land in the presence of the court. That's his case. He lays it out. This is all you got to do, take over the land. Boaz, he likes these plan A, plan B scenarios. So, here's his plan A in verse 4. Look at verse 4. He says, If you'll redeem it, redeem it. And it's a command. If you'll do it, do it.

18:57What's in his mind is taking care of a family. So he's commanding him, do your job, take care of this family. This is legal language in a court. They are in a court, and the law requires this transfer of land, which is the reason Boaz gives this commanding voice. Don't want to miss that here. The plan B in verse 4 also. He says, if you're not going to redeem it, he says, I'll take it. There's another guy, I'll take it. So there's only two people that could legally take the land, either so-and-so or Boaz. Well, so-and-so realizes this property is a pretty good deal. He just heard that there are no other people in Elimelech's family, right? Elimelech's dead. Malin's dead. Chilean's dead. Those are the sons. There's nobody else that could take it. He's thinking about this land. In this case, the 50-year jubilee wouldn't apply to this because there's nobody else to take it. So the guy's like, yeah, I'll take it. What's the downside? I could work this land forever and nobody can take it away.

20:02It's all upside. No downside. The biggest no-brainer. You know the saying, if it sounds too good to be true? It just might be too good to be true. My dad taught me that very well. Well, the witnesses in the court probably thought the case was over. He said, I'll take it. They can go on their merry way and continue their lives for the day. And we say, what about the girl? Plan A or plan B? Because he doesn't know about the girl yet. Now, there's a fifth part to Boaz's strategy in verse 5. You see, he's really thought this through, but loves strategy. Verse 5 is where we see the fine print in the agreement. Hmm. Notice how Boaz sticks with the facts of the case. Look at verse 5. It says this. Then Boaz said, On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, Let me tell you what else you get. Does it say that? You get the most excellent, godly woman on the planet and the mother of your future children. Hmm. Not what he says, is it? Here's what he does say: here's the fine print of the agreement here, as the elders and the witnesses are looking on. Here's the real deal. Then Boaz says: On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitis, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased's children on their own inheritance. There's a deal for you. I want that land, he's thinking. So there's two terms of the land transfer here: two things. If so-and-so wants the land, he's got to marry Ruth the Moabitis, a foreigner, a worshiper of the god Kimosh, which doesn't exist. Not just any foreigner, but a widow in a foreign land. Second, he has to raise up a family to the deceased husbands.

22:11He has to raise up a family to him, to a dead man. It wouldn't even be his own kids, legally speaking. It would be the dead husbands. What kind of man would do that? Really? Boaz's strategy includes a testing of this man's Hesid. Remember Hesid? It is the strongest Hebrew term for love. Mostly it's a verb. It shows action. It won't let go. He's testing this man to see if he's worthy of an excellent woman. Is he the kind of guy that really deserves a Proverbs 31 kind of a woman? Does he deserve Ruth? Hey, dads, listen up.

22:54When Prince Charming comes to you and says, and on his knee, in a suit and tie, and he says, Can I have your daughter's hand in marriage? Have a strategy in mind, right? You're going to have a strategy. You're not going to let him do it. Okay. Here's the strategy: Is this guy bowing on his knee before me, begging for my daughter's hand in marriage, is he, get this, is he going to love my daughter like Christ loves the church?

23:33Or are you just going to ask him, Are you going to love my daughter like Christ loved the church? No, you're going to have a strategy. That strategy may come in different flavors for certain people from Texas, whatever that is. I won't elaborate on that. But you need a strategy, right? So that's what he's doing. He's testing this guy. Is he the kind of man that will demonstrate hesid love, immovable, unshakable kind of love that clamps down like a pit bull? Not in a negative sense, but it won't let go.

24:01That's the kind of man that I got for my daughter. I have to say, it wasn't easy for him, but he did get the girl. Well, the idea is here, from Boaz's perspective, will so-and-so cling to Ruth and commit to Ruth like Ruth clung to Naomi in chapter 1 and says, I'm not letting go. I'm going with you to Bethlehem? Is that the kind of love that this man will give? Or is he the kind of man that clings to his possessions, his toys? He's got more important things than the girl. I'll take the girl for now, but she'll like my toys later. I'll spend more time with my toys, and she'll like that. That's the idea. So notice how so-and-so wastes no time in verse 6 with Boaz's strategy. Follow along with me as I read in verse 6. The closest relative, that's so-and-so. So-and-so says, I cannot redeem it for myself because, and now here's the reason, it might jeopardize my stuff.

25:10I don't want to lose my stuff. The girl ain't worth it. Let me tell you about that word jeopardize in verse 6. It also means destroy. She's going to destroy my stuff. Abraham used that word in Genesis 18 three times about the. Whole Sodom and Gomorrah event. They ask God, Are you going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, God? Is that what you're going to do? It's the same word. Jeremiah 13:9, Jeremiah 13, 9, God committed to destroy, the same word as jeopardize, the pride of Judah because they worshipped false gods. You see, so-and-so loves his stuff more than the land, and more than a land that clings to a Moabite widow and her dead husband. He doesn't want that. It's going to destroy his stuff.

26:06He isn't worthy of an excellent woman. He had a good strategy, didn't he, Boaz? Neither is the man who won't love your daughter like Christ loved the church. So, so-and-so tells Boaz, redeem it yourself. There's a great, famous theologian amongst our midst here, and he asked me a question a couple of weeks ago. He says, What happens if Boaz doesn't marry Ruth? He's ruthless. Right? Thanks, Scott Cardone. He's ruthless. That would be silly. Who wouldn't marry this woman?

26:55Well, sorry, Scott. I like the joke. Everybody else likes the joke. Well, at least I gave you credit. Well, for those who are married, I want you to think about something. I want you to think back to the exchanging of your vows at your wedding. Your husband, your wife, they're gripped to your hands. They're clinging to your hands like Ruth clung to Naomi. They looked in your eyes and told you in the presence of all the witnesses, but more importantly, God Himself, that he or she would be your husband or your wife. From that day forward, you know the drill: for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, for sickness and in health.

27:44Until what? Until death do you part. That's hesid. That's a verb. That's action and love in a relationship. That's what's going on in this book. Have hesid love in your marriage. Don't let go. True hesid love, unrelenting love, has a well-thought-out strategy. Daniel Block, one of my professors in my doctoral program, I took notes on what he said here, and I wrote it in my sermon notes here because I love it. Here's what he said in class: Boaz never trumpets righteousness. He just does righteousness, which seems right in God's eyes. He's doing the right thing. He's taking care of a family, even to the extent that he would allow the closest relative take this most excellent woman.

28:42Boaz's quest to do righteousness brings us to the second portrait of significant love, and it's love's sealing. Verse 7. Verse 7 is about the custom of those days, about how people transferred property. It's called the shoe custom or the sandal custom. When a man removed his sandal and he gave it to the buyer of the property, that was the legal deal that was signed. That was the contract in front of the judges, the gray hairs, in front of the witnesses. And so this is when the property changes hands. So verse 7 tells us about no probate, no Uncle Sam, just a shoe.

29:20This is precisely what so-and-so does in verse 8. He gives Boaz a shoe. Boaz seals the deal while the elders are looking on. The deal is done. In verse 9, Boaz, you can picture him here, he's holding so-and-so's shoe in his hand. He tells the witnesses the results of the case. Verses 8 through 10 is a summation of this legal case, about how the case was decided. First, Boaz bought the land from Naomi and everything that once belonged to the two deceased sons, Malon and Killion.

29:57Second, he acquired Ruth. Ruth decided. Described as the Moabitis, described as the widow of Malon, there in verse 10. Third, the witnesses must agree. There's a part for the witnesses. They must agree to defend the case in the future. And the purpose of marrying Ruth, it's right there in the text. So that he can raise up the name of the deceased in the land. Why? So that the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers. That's Hesed love. He cares for this family. What does it all mean? What do we get from this? You see, the firstborn child to Boaz and Ruth will be the heir of Elimelech's property, his estate, not just property, but his entire estate. And the descendants of that child, as long as Naomi is alive, will be responsible to take care of her. That's wonderful news. She's redeemed. And in verse 11, look at verse 11, we read these words. And all the people who were in the court and the elders said, We are witnesses. We will testify to the facts of the case. Each of these, if ever called upon to testify in the future, would be able to say that this is how the case was settled. Now, there's a third kind of love, and it's love's sealing, the third portrait of significant love, love's sealing. Verses 11 through 17. The people agreed to testify. Of the facts, didn't they? But their commitment is more than just a legal obligation to the landowner. There's more to it than that. They're so thrilled by the results of the case, of this hearing, that they extend love's blessing. There's more to it than just saying, yeah, I'll testify on your behalf. They give a blessing, not just to Boaz, but to his new bride. Notice there are three parts of the witnesses' blessing in the text here, starting in verse 11. The first blessing is a blessing of comparison between one person and other people. The witnesses pray that Ruth would be compared to, do you see it in the text? This is odd. Rachel and Leah, this extends back to the book of Genesis. The prayer is for Ruth to be counted as significant in human history as Leah and Rachel. What's significant about them? Well, without them, you wouldn't have the 12 tribes of Israel, at least not all the 12 tribes of Israel.

32:32Isn't it interesting that Leah is the mother of Judah? Wow. Second blessing is a prayer for wealth. Do you see it there in the text? The word also means strength, and it means power. That's what they're praying for this family. The third blessing is a prayer that his name would be made famous in Bethlehem. Matthew names Boaz and Jesus' genealogy. You want to know how famous Boaz ultimately becomes? Revelation 5-5, we read these words. Quote, Revelation 5-5, And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. Behold the lion. The lion?

33:16The lion of Judah. Behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David has overcome, so as to open the books of the seals. Boaz is famous because of, yeah, he's David's great-grandfather, and he's Jesus' ancestor. Fourth blessing is another prayer for comparison. Look at verse 12. The witnesses pray for Boaz's house to be compared to who? Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah. Does that ring a bell? Back to the book of Genesis. There's not enough time to go into the life of Judah, but let me just give you something that's important about him. From this tribe would one day come a ruler of all people. That day is still future to us, but it's coming from that tribe. He is coming from that tribe. We've got to get into some weeds before we mine some gold here for a second, so bear with me through some important details. Judah. Remember Judah. Judah is Tamar's father-in-law, father-in-law. So she's married to one of his sons.

34:23His son died, so now she's a widow. She's a widow, and her father, father-in-law, Judah, is still. Without an heir, because the son is now deceased, and the second son refused to marry her. Like so-and-so refused to marry Ruth. Sounds similar? This is where things get a little weird with this Tamar-Ruth illustration comparison. Tamar, Tamar knew that the future tribe of Judah would be at risk without Judah having an heir. And yet, Judah's not willing to make arrangements for that. So, what does Tamar do? She disguises herself as a prostitute and she seduces her father-in-law. Between the two of them, they have a son, and his name is in the text, Perez. Right?

35:14Perez. Again, this is descriptive, not prescriptive. They're telling us history. They're not telling us something to do here. God's work, in spite of human sin, is still, it still brings about his providential hand through the results of Perez, even down to through Boaz. Finally, the court case is over, and you'd think the witnesses are on their way out, but love's blessings aren't over. You can see it. God has a blessing of his own in verse 13. Here it is. He enabled Ruth to conceive and give birth to a son. Wow.

35:55Ruth was married to Malon for at least 10 years and was childless. There's only two times where the subject, God, is joined to a verb, action, in the book of Ruth. The first one is, God gave food to Bethlehem. The second one is, God allowed, or God enabled, Naomi to be pregnant. And nine months later, she has a son. The child is an answer to the prayer in verse 12. You remember? The people prayed for this, and now God is answering the prayer. The witnesses prayed for the Lord to give them a son. This prayer is bigger, much bigger than we might imagine. Like Rachel and like Leah, Ruth is the matriarch of the Davidic dynasty. She's an important woman.

36:41Notice how love's blessings continue in verses 14 and 15. This time, the blessings are directed to God himself because while Naomi in chapter 1 said that God afflicted her, she actually said it twice, that God afflicted her, and that he brought her back to Bethlehem empty. She'd gone out full, she came back empty. Now she's a woman that God has not left without a goel, that God has not left without a redeemer in her life. That's what the text is telling us. What an answer to prayer, God's sovereign hand at work. Verse 15, the women are floored by Ruth's love for her mother-in-law. Why would a foreign widow love her mother-in-law this much? The Lord directed Israel to love foreigners. Did you know that? Israel is not a great lover of foreigners, many of them. But God in the Old Testament, he directs them to love foreigners. Leviticus 19:34 says this: The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as a native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Love them because I'm your God. You were aliens, and I took you out.

38:04Who loves people like Ruth? You see, Ruth is a foreigner, and she's schooling Israel on how to love people with their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Notice verse 16, the next blessing of love. Then Naomi took the child and laid the child in her lap and became his nurse. The last blessing in verse 17. The neighbor women gave him a name. The neighbor women named him. We don't see that anywhere in the Old Testament where other people are naming a child, but it happens here. It says a son, right there in verse 17, the son has been born to Ruth. Is that what it says? No, the text says the son was born to Naomi.

38:46He had a responsibility to raise up children to Elimelech. So the child is born to Naomi, and so they named him Obed. That word Obed is not really clearly understood. I got an idea of how it works out. It's close. To the Hebrew word, it talks about servant or service. His service is to Naomi. Obed serves his grandmother, you might say, as her Redeemer. And he makes headlines, not in the Bible, because he's not mentioned many more places in the Bible. He makes headlines because he services, he serves his grandmother, Naomi. Obed loves his grandmother, even when nobody's looking. That's Hesid love. It seems like the whole book of Ruth is written to appreciate Naomi, written to appreciate Ruth and Boaz. They display characteristics that all of us would love to have. Their actions, both good and bad, not so good. They instruct us, don't they? We learn from this book. But if you're thinking I'm waiting for my Boaz or I'm waiting for my Ruth, I would say that you've missed a big chunk of what the book of Ruth is all about. Now, there's nothing wrong with waiting for your Boaz or your Naomi, or excuse me, your Ruth. But there's more to the book of Ruth than that. Let's consider the fourth point: the fourth portrait of significant love, love's significance, the lion of Judah. Where does that come from? Verses 17 through 22. In verse 17, Obed, if you'll notice, is the father of Jesse. And Jesse's the father of King David. If we're going to a Appreciate the significance of the lion of Judah.

40:34We need to know a few things about Jesse first. Who is this guy? Well, the next book over, 1 Samuel 16, verse 1, God tells Samuel that he is going to name a king from among Jesse's sons. David was one of his sons. In Isaiah 11, verse 10, we read that the nations will resort to the root of Jesse. Who's the root of Jesse? That's David. Jesse's mentioned right here in Ruth. And it says that his resting place will be glorious. Paul quotes Romans, in Romans 15:12, he quotes Isaiah, and he says, This, there shall come from the root of Jesse, David, a resting place, and his place will be glorious. Excuse me, that was Isaiah. He says, There shall come a root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule over the Gentiles, and him shall the Gentiles hope.

41:35What about all these other people mentioned in verses 18 through 22? Very little else is known about Ezron, Rom, and Aminadab. But take a look at Nashon. That name there, he's a big deal in verse 20. He led in Numbers chapter 2 an army of about 74,600 people. Next in line from Nashon is Solomon. Do you remember Rahab the harlot? In Joshua chapter 2, Rahab was the famous harlot in Jericho. Her home was strategically located above the gate overlooking the city, overlooking the outskirts of town, so that she could sell herself and get lots of money from the highest bidder in this wicked city. She's the one who protected the spies of Israel in Hebrews, New Testament chapter 11, verse 39. She was commended for her faith and her support for helping Israel.

42:34Well, guess who married Rahab, the ex-harlot? Right there in Ruth 4:20, one of David's ancestors, Solomon, marries Rahab. New Testament identifies her as a godly woman, but back then, she was a woman who had a colorful past, but clearly repented of sin and trusted the Lord. Notice who comes after Solomon in verse 21, Boaz. Boaz is related to Rahab, the former prostitute. I want you to think about something very carefully here. Nobody is so far from the Lord, who's rejected him in their lives, that his hand of providence doesn't reach down and bring them to him.

43:17The hypocrite who doesn't want to come to church or come to Christ because he thinks he's a hypocrite. Well, he's right. He is a hypocrite. But his hypocrites. Hypocrisy doesn't stop the providential hand of God reaching down into his life and generating forgiveness of sin and believe and trust in him. Verse 22. The book of Ruth comes to an end, but not quite the end that you are maybe expecting. So, what about David in verse 22? Jesse's son, David, is recognized by God as a man after his own heart in Acts chapter 13. Revelation 5:5, we already read it, but I'll read it again. He says, Stop weeping. Behold, look, the lion from the tribe of Judah. Look at the lion from the tribe of Judah. The root of David has overcome, so as to open the book. And about his own self, look what Jesus says. Listen to what he says. Jesus declares these words, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches. He says, I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright and morning star.

44:29The book of Ruth ends with the word David and points to the future, to who Jesus is, Jesus being a descendant of Ruth. This genealogy demonstrates how God providentially works through the lives of people so as to bring about his plan to fruition, his redemptive plan, not just for Israel, but for all the nations. This genealogy, it connects us all the way back to the Exodus people, the book in Genesis, even. With those who have obtained the promised land and ultimately Jesus himself, Matthew 1:5, the root and the descendant of David, to whom all the nations look.

45:12What about this lion of Judah? What about this Jesus, who's the lion of Judah? What does he say to you? Here's what he says to you: John 6:40, quote, For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day. There is hope in the lion of Judah. John 14, 6, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.

45:45Luke 13, 3, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish yourselves. Revelation 2:5. Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, go the other direction, and do the deeds that you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. There's a theme here in what Jesus says in the three or four verses I read, believe, come, and repent. That's the gospel, isn't it? And Ruth ties in King David along with his genealogy all the way back from Genesis to Revelation.

46:27This is an amazing book. And I hope that you have learned from God's providence, not just in a family that lived 3,100 years ago, but do you see His hand in your own life? Are you confused this morning about where you are in life? If you're not, save these thoughts for the future, because you're going to be. Think about God's providence and honor him as a result of that. Believe. Come, repent. Let's pray. Father, we're so grateful. We're grateful to you, first of all, that you left us with the book of Ruth.

47:07You brought into our lives a family that lived 3,100 years ago whose lives touched lives from even farther back than that and even on into the future. We thank you for your providential hand in their lives. We thank you that though in this account, there were people who rejected you, they did things that were against your will, your purpose, but you forgave them. And you brought them close to you, Father. And you used them to display your love, your hesid, your unwillingness to let them go.

47:43And in that, we see it repeated in your Son, who, on that cross, died for our sins, rose from the dead on the third day, a fact to which 500 people or witnesses were told in Scripture. And he's coming back. And it's for that. Lord, we say thank you. Thank you for Ruth. Thank you for Naomi. Thank you for Boaz. Thank you for David. Thank you for Jesus. Lord, we're trusting you for your providential hand in our lives. It's moving in a different way than theirs, but the question is how?

48:20Maybe just in the remaining moments before we close this prayer, would you just think about how God's providential hand is moving in your life today?