Last week, we looked at how Ruth stepped forward and in a bold move, visited Boaz at the threshing floor in the middle of the night to propose marriage.
Scene 1: Taking Care of Business (vv. 1-12)
Boaz went to the city gates where the official business was taken care of.
In the presence of several elders, he makes the offer to the closer relative to redeem the land having to be forfeited by Naomi. (Notice his name is never mentioned? There is probably a significant reason for that… I’ll just call him John Doe).
John Doe agrees to redeem it!
(No wait!!!! We don’t want him to do that! We want Boaz to be the redeemer!)
Oh, yeah… by the way… Boaz tells John Doe that on the day he redeems the land, he must also marry Ruth, the widowed daughter-in-law and raise up children who will one day inherit the land!
Well John Doe had a fast change of mind! He didn’t want it after all – it would jeopardize his own inheritance. So he gave his redemption right to Boaz.
To finalize the deal in the presence of all the elders and other witnesses, they traded sandals. This custom probably signifies that the man is given the authority to walk on the other man’s property as the new owner.
· (YES!!!!!!) Don’t you know that Boaz was doing cartwheels in his heart!
The elders blessed Boaz’ endeavor by wishing upon him great wealth and fame in Bethlehem with many children, as Rachel and Leah gave.
Scene 2: Marriage and a Child (vv. 13-22)
So we read in the next scene that Boaz and Ruth are married. So little is said of it, but you know that it must have been a beautiful and meaningful ceremony for all of them. It was a day of great rejoicing and happiness.
It also says that Ruth bore a baby boy. Think about it… for ten years she was barren in her marriage to her husband back in Moab. Suddenly God allows there to be a child born from her. Let’s remember that children indeed are a gift of the Lord, and not a one of them is born “accidentally” as far as God is concerned.
And all the women praised God for the baby because he would be a restorer of life and sustainer of old age. Furthermore for the faithfulness of Ruth, who turned out to be better than seven sons. (A common expression for the supreme family blessing).
Then Naomi became the baby’s nurse (v. 16). What joy that must have been for her!
So out of the brokenness and sorrow of chapter 1, God faithfully brought hope and a future to the family name! The text tells us that Obed would be the grandfather of King David!
When we come into a relationship with God, we realize:
1. God has a way of working things out!
This picks up much of what we looked at in the first message out of Ruth 1. God is provident over the affairs of our lives, to accomplish all things to work together for our good and His glory.
God’s purposes cannot be thwarted. What God wants done – WILL BE DONE!
This matter of settling the legal issue between Boaz and the nearest kinsman was but a bump in the road. From a human perspective, it was probably the cause of much anxiety for Ruth and Naomi, waiting at home, and Boaz as he talked the matter over with the man.
But it was not a cause of any anxiety in the mind of God.
He has a way of working things out just the way He purposes them to. The only way that this could not be so is if somebody were smarter or stronger than Him.
· Can you just imagine God saying,
“Oh no! I’m so sorry Boaz and Ruth… I couldn’t fulfill my plan for your life because your relative “John Doe” outwitted me and figured out a way to sneak in and botch things up!” or…
“Oh no! I’m so sorry Boaz and Ruth… I couldn’t fulfill my plan for your life because your relative “John Doe” outmuscled me and yanked you two out of my hands to have his way instead of things going the way I intended them…”
Silliness!
And yet, if we were truly honest about it, I would bet that we’ve all struggled at times at wondering if God’s will had been thwarted in our own lives:
· God just may have overlooked something in my life… It seems that Satan snuck in and craftily outwitted God’s plan for my life.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. (Psalm 33:11)
· Or, “God may have just lost a battle with Satan. I guess you can’t win them all…”
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. (Isa 40:26)
God was orchestrating a beautiful romance between Boaz and Ruth that He intended to be bring to marriage. He put a hope in their hearts that was not going to lead to a dead end. God’s will was for Boaz to be Ruth’s Redeemer and Husband. And nothing was going to ultimately prevent that from happening.
Illustration: Rudy
Several years ago there was a movie entitled “Rudy.” It was a true story of a small statured young man who dreamed all his life of playing football for Notre Dame. Everybody laughed at him and even mocked him. But he did eventually make the team and was allowed to play. In his struggles through it all, he developed a relationship with a kind elderly priest on campus.
As they were talking about Rudy’s ambitions to make the team, the priest gave some good advice. He said, “In all of my life I’ve come to the conclusion that there are two things that I know with all confidence. Number one: There is a God. And number two: I’m not Him.”
Challenge: Trust in Him! Trust God with your whole life. You can’t be in any safer place than in His hands.
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)
Entrust into the hands of God your:
health, job, church, marriage, future, family, children, money, friends, grandchildren, time, pains, & disappointments...
Entrust your whole life to God. Rest in His faithful hands. God is in control. His purposes for your life will not and cannot be thwarted. Trust Him. He has a way of working things out…
There’s no better place to be than at rest in the faithful, strong hands of our God.
2. What is impossible for us is possible for God!
"The things that are impossible with people are possible with God." (Luke 18:27)
What were some of the “impossibilities” in the book of Ruth?
· It seemed impossible that God would ever show favor toward these destitute women.
· It seemed impossible that Naomi would ever hold her chin up again. Do you remember her statement in Ruth 1:21, “the Lord has brought me back empty…”?
· It seemed impossible that these women would ever get to rest and security. They seemed consigned to a life of hard labor and/or begging.
· It seemed impossible that Ruth and Naomi would ever eat anything but leftovers again.
· It seemed impossible that Ruth would ever marry again, being a foreign Moabite who committed herself to look after Naomi in Bethlehem.
· It seemed impossible that Ruth would ever have a baby. She had been barren through 10 years of marriage.
But what seemed impossible in their eyes, was possible in God’s eyes!
What are some of the things that seem impossible in our eyes, yet are indeed possible by the will and power of God?
It may seem impossible… to rebuild our church,
It may seem impossible… When a marriage is torn apart by divorce,
It may seem impossible… for a hardened heart to ever grow soft and accept Jesus as Savior,
It may seem impossible… for there to be forgiveness between feuding family members,
It may seem impossible…that a prodigal son or daughter could ever come back to the Lord,
It may seem impossible… That God would ever accept me back again when I have sinned...
What is impossible for us is possible for God!
Challenge: Hope in Him! Never close the door on God. Never give up hope on His love, grace, goodness, and provision.
What I am encouraging you to do right now is to HOPE AGAIN. Because hope in God never disappoints.
…and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom 5:5)
3. The Best is Yet to Come!
· Isn’t it just wonderful how simple and easy life is? (I don’t see many nodding heads…)
We all know that in reality, the road of life has many potholes, detours, hills, valleys, obstructions, traffic jams, set backs, irritations, long monotonous stretches, flat tires, harrowing turns, victorious mountaintops, dark and ominous tunnels, dead ends, turnarounds, slick pavement, with both storms and sunshine all along the way…
That would be a fair way to describe Ruth’s and Naomi’s life experiences.
I like the way John Piper said it, “The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there.”
A Christian’s life is not like driving through the Panhandle of Texas, but rather through the Hill Country.
Life just cannot be packaged nice and neatly the way we have it imagined in our dreams:
· The puzzle pieces of life don’t all fit
· You don’t always get what you want
· You never get a free lunch
· There does always seem to be a “catch”
· People break their promises
· We break our promises
“The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there.”
I don’t think these women could have ever dreamed of all the blessings that would come out of the sorrow they were experiencing. But with hopeful hearts, they responded in faith to the romance of God – and He providentially turned:
· despair into delight,
· sorrow into salvation,
· brokenness into blessing,
· pessimism into praise.
We learn that this new baby, Obed becomes the grandfather of Israel’s great king, David (vv. 17-22). And yes, David was the ancestor of Jesus Christ, the Kinsman-Redeemer of the world!
Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king… Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. (Matt 1:5-6, 16)
· Ruth’s story endures to this day in the inspired Word of God as a constant testimony of the love of God.
· Ruth’s name endures to this day in the genealogy of the Savior of the world.
· Ruth’s hope endures to this day in the hearts of millions, such as myself, who have found a Kinsman-Redeemer for their souls.
When we respond in faith with hopeful hearts to the romance of God by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, I don’t think that we really realize what takes place:
We are given everlasting life We are born-again, made spiritually alive,
We are given a new life We become altogether new creations
We are given an inheritance We become co-heirs with Christ,
We are given a new family We are called God’s children
We are given the H.S. within us We are baptized by Him into the body of Christ
We are given a ministry We are called a kingdom of priests in the New Cov
We are given the peace of God There is no longer animosity between us
We are given assurance We can have confidence of our eternal destination
We are given joy Happiness comes and goes, but joy abides forever
We are given love Unconditional - no strings attached
We are given power Not worldly power – resurrection power
We are given fruit of the Spirit Maturity in Christ brings blessedness in life
We are given hopeful hearts Our faith keeps us looking ahead to glory
· All these are but a “…foretaste of glory divine!” (Blessed Assurance)
"Things which eye has not seen and hear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (I Cor 2:9)
Challenge: Praise Him! Give continual praise to God because, although we may be richly blessed in this life, the best is still yet to come.
Just as in Boaz’ romance of Ruth, God’s Romance toward you and me also ultimately ends in marriage:
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write, "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." (Rev 19:7-9)
What a study of contrasts between the despair of chapter one and the blessings and delight of chapter 4. What an encouragement for all of us on our path to glory. The best was yet to come for Ruth and Naomi in chapter one, and they got there, by the love and grace of God. Yes, and the best is yet to come for us too.
Conclusion:
I don’t know where you are at in your spiritual journey.
· Maybe you are still in Ruth Ch. 1, feeling the heaviness of sorrow and pain.
Even so, God is romancing you to come to the end of yourself, to find the beginning of Him.
· Maybe you are still in Ruth Ch. 2, wandering through life, looking for refuge.
God is romancing you to find refuge under His wings.
· Maybe some of you are in Ruth Ch. 3, needing to find salvation, but you don’t know how to do it…
God is romancing you to go to the threshing floor and by faith claim Jesus as your Kinsman-Redeemer.
· Maybe some of you are rejoicing in Ruth Ch. 4, glowing with the joy of God’s goodness to you…
God is still romancing you to just hold on… because the best is still yet to come!
1. God has a way of working things out! - Trust in Him!
2. What is impossible for us is possible for God! - Hope in Him!
3. The Best is Yet to Come! - Praise Him!
