(You can listen to this sermon here.)
Ruth is a prodigal story. A story where a daughter, Naomi, goes out full and returns home humiliated and empty only to be lavishly restored by a prodigal Father in the end. This story follows God’s familiar pattern of death and division and then resurrection and redemption and restoration—fertility made barrenness to be made abundantly fruitful at last.
Ruth is a story of a king ascending like a sunrise to break into our dark night and banish hopelessness and despair. By faith, we see the story of a son and king who comes to receive his inheritance and who brings gifts with him. A son who himself becomes a gift.
Ruth points us to Christ the Light of the world and to the good news of God’s sovereign grace and it is by this light that we are to see everything else.
And now here we are at the fourth and final scene of the story of Ruth. We finally come to the conclusion to this particular story which is as it turns out is only a small piece of an even greater story with an even greater redeemer and an even greater inheritance and an even greater son.
As we conclude the book of Ruth, let us pray that our faith would be strengthened and that our hope would abound.
Heavenly Father, as we open Your word yet again this morning, we plead with You that You would open our hearts to receive it. As we come to the end of our journey through the story of Ruth and of a redeemer and of an inheritance and of a son, we ask that You would go on to remind us daily of our own redemption and of our own redeemer and our own inheritance. That when we feel like bitter Naomi, You would grant us faith and a softness of heart to continue hoping and trusting. We ask that You would make us like Ruth and Boaz to lay down our own lives for those around us in order that we would be fit to take them up again eternal and imperishable in Jesus Christ our Redeemer. It is in that name we pray. Amen.
Read Ruth 4
We do not have the time to review the storyline of Ruth this morning, however, we must go back to the very beginning in order to see clearly where this story is finally going.
Remember I said names in this culture are important? And the author and narrator makes it abundantly clear that names in this story are significant as we have seen with Naomi and Boaz. Well, look who the very first person mentioned by name in this story is. Elimelech.
This father and husband, whose name is in jeopardy of being forgotten, has yet another significant name. In fact, the name of Elimelech reveals the primary thread in the redemptive storyline of this entire book.
Elimelech means “God is King”. This man who’s character dies at the very beginning of the story, is pointing us, throughout these four chapters, to the much older and deeper catholic (read: all-embracing) story of God’s redemption and plan for human history.
God is King. He is the King of kings. He is ruling and reigning on His eternal throne and nothing happens apart from His divine will and royal decree. No famine. No marriage. No barren womb. No death. Nothing that happens, ever happens apart from the sovereign will of the King of kings.
Keep in mind that Ruth is taking place during the time of the judges. This is before Israel rose up and demanded an earthly king like the gentile nations had. But do not be fooled. Israel had a king. Elimelech was a testimony of this reality.
(vv. 1-2)
Boaz goes up to the gate because this is where the elders are and this is where people in that day did their business. He waits for the relative who’s name the narrator never mentions, he is only referred to by the hebrew phrase palony almony which means something like “so and so” or “such a one”. In other words, Boaz says, “Hey old what’s your face come on over here and let’s talk.”
Newer translations translate this phrase as “friend” which I believe can be misleading. After all, Boaz was very aware of this man’s relationship to Elimelech and to himself. It would be unreasonable then, for us to assume that Boaz knew this much without knowing the would-be redeemer’s name. Which means the omission is purposeful and therefore important.
(vv. 3-13)
Naomi’s family land is eligible to be purchased and this man wants it but the catch is that the man who redeems the land acquires Ruth with it and this is a deal-breaker for old what’s his face.
He wants the land but wants no part in redeeming Ruth and Naomi and the reason he gives is that he does not want to impair his own inheritance. That is to say, he does not want to spoil or corrupt his own legacy. And how would redeeming Ruth spoil or corrupt? We are going to get to that in just a moment.
But for now here in verse six, Boaz has accomplished his task and is going to soon marry his beloved. The men go through the custom to confirm their transaction in the presence of the elders and all the people, and Boaz finally buys the land and redeems Ruth.
But that isn’t the end of the story.
The elders pronounce this blessing upon the marriage of Boaz and Ruth and it is somewhat interesting. Boaz is a descendant of Judah who was a son of Jacob who was married to Rachael and Leah. If you remember the story of Judah you will no doubt remember Tamar (Genesis 38).
(We can’t go down that rabbit hole today but if you go and read the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38 later today, you will recall that it is a crazy story of unwilling redeemers, scheming, and unlikely redemption for a widow who insisted on staying a part of this family line. (See the parallels?) And then if you go a bit further on to Genesis 49 and read the blessing that Jacob pronounced upon Judah, you will see the prophetic pronouncement of perpetual kingship from the tribe of Judah.)
One thing that strikes me is the fact that even though Ruth was married for ten years and was barren all that time, Boaz and the elders pronouncing the blessing do not even begin to doubt that this marriage will lead to offspring.
And right on time the Lord gave her conception. Ruth the moabite and Boaz the son of a prostitute conceive and bear a son, Obed who fathers Jesse who fathers David.
(vv. 14-22)
Notice how in verse 14 the narrator shifts back to Naomi. The narrator says a son is born to Naomi. Obviously it was the child of Ruth and Boaz but by this we see the contrast from the beginning until now.
Remember when Naomi came back to Bethlehem? What she said? The Lord has brought me back empty. And now we see her fullness! Her husband and two sons died and Naomi is left barren, but now we see her fruitfulness. She was left hopeless and in despair, but now we see her joy and complete restoration.
“More to you than seven sons” (Ruth 4:15)… Biblically speaking, the number seven represents perfection and completion. Remember, Ruth was not just seeking to comfort and care for poor old Naomi until she finally kicked the bucket. Ruth is not aiming to see Naomi’s wounds lightly healed, she was seeking Naomi’s complete redemption and restoration.
So then look what else verse 15 says. “He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age…”
This is the exact hebrew phrase, Restorer of nephesh (which encompasses life, soul, heart, mind, body), that is used in a later psalm of Naomi’s great great grandson, David in Psalm 23,
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul:… (Psalm 23:1-3a)
Who is this restorer of life, soul, heart, mind, body that these women are talking about? They aren’t merely talking about just any grandchild. They aren’t talking about David’s great-grandfather. They are talking about the same Shepherd-Lord that David is. The same Restorer who ministered to David and who ministers to you.
Do not miss the preeminence of God that is being magnified! It is God who restores life. It is God who chooses when to give life—give conception. This is the Lord, the Good Shepherd. The promised King from the tribe of Judah.
And this is the point of ending the story with the genealogy—with “Jesse fathered David”. Of course the shepherd boy David becomes a great king of Israel which itself brings this incredible story to a whole new level. But we would be amiss if we ended this book simply by gazing adoringly at King David.
Listen to what Isaiah later wrote about this piece of genealogy:
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Isaiah 11:1-5)
Like I have said, Ruth is a story of a king ascending like a sunrise to break into our dark night and banish hopelessness and despair. By faith, we see a story of a son and king who comes to receive his inheritance and brings gifts, and who Himself becomes a gift.
Just like this son of Ruth and Boaz becomes even himself a gracious gift given to Naomi, this is only a portend, a foreshadowing, a prophecy or the true Son, of Mary and Joseph, who would be given as a gift to the whole world.
The son of David who would be the King of king David. The shepherd-Lord who would restore our souls to the uttermost. The man who was and is our everlasting redeemer and the purchaser of our incorruptible redemption.
This is the point of the story of Ruth—redemption. “God is King” is vindicated and lifted up from fruitlessness and darkness and impossible despair and even from death, to glory and majesty in the end. Why? How?
Because when that single grain of wheat fell to the ground and died, it produce a lasting harvest. A harvest of other seeds who likewise fell to the ground and died. And so the ending of this story was really just the beginning of another story.
The bitter providence, rampant in the beginning of this book, turns out to be the very thing that is being worked together for the good—for the happily ever after.
This is exactly what Paul teaches us in his letter to the Romans.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)
Do you see that? For those who love God all things work together for good. He predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Glorified Son. The Son that was promised in Genesis 3 who would finally and fatally slay the dragon. And who will eternally wear the glorified scars (John 20:20;27) from that painfully victorious battle.
This means plenty of things for us, but let me tell you one thing it most certainly means for you today. It means that your suffering, your tears, your trials, and even your sinful failures, are not meaningless. They are tools in the hand of the Almighty who is working for your good and glory. They are the rod and staff of the Shepherd who promises to restore your soul.
Look what Paul goes on to say.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)
You see, Boaz was the redeemer because old what’s his face was more concerned with corrupting his own inheritance. How would this happen? Well raising up this offspring would mean his material legacy would diminish. This man stood to personally gain Elimelech’s wealth in addition to the social capital that Elimelech had accrued since his two son’s died childless. However redeeming Ruth and giving her a child would mean that the child would receive what was his father’s instead of old what’s his face.
That forgotten nobody was dead set on protecting his legacy and he sought to do this by clinging to the temporal, fleeting things of this world.
The tragic irony of course is that this self-seeking man gets nothing that he is after. We don’t even know his name! Because he is not willing to lose himself to raise up the banner of Elimelech—the banner that proclaims God is King.
This is in sharp contrast with the selflessness of Ruth and Boaz both. And it is in direct opposition to what our Lord Himself has taught us. That whoever would save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for Jesus’ sake and the gospel’s will save it (Mt. 16:25; Mk. 8:35; Luke 9:24).
Being a kinsman redeemer truly was a completely selfless task. Put another way, this man wasn’t willing to decrease in order that this son might increase. He was not willing to lay his life down that the son of his redemption would be glorified.
Boaz and Ruth are pictures of Christ our redeemer, but because we are in Christ they have become to us a reflection of our own call and commission to be conformed to the image of the Son of God. They are examples of how we who have been redeemed, are to live in light of that redemption. How we who have been reconciled, are to carry out this ministry of reconciliation to the world.
So then in the story of Ruth, who are you? Are you willing to lay down your life? Are you going to willingly decrease that the Son of your redemption might be magnified? Will you cling to what you cannot hold? Or will you give yourself up completely and trust the Restorer of life?
In Christ, your story will be one of death and division and resurrection and redemption and restoration—of fertility made barrenness to be made abundantly fruitful at last. It is a fruitfulness that will cost you absolutely everything, but when you do finally let go—step off the side of that cliff and desperately and hopefully pray “Geronimo. Amen.”—you can finally rest. Rest assured, that He is the Restorer of life, that your Redeemer has secured your inheritance, and God is King.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Follow the links for additional resources in this series: