“The Future Is Bright”
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Intro: My life after coming to Christ was not easy wanted to know when things would change. God remained faithful even when I didn’t trust.
We’re in the fourth and final week of our series on Ruth. Last week we left the situation with hope for Ruth to be rescued by the kinsman redeemer, Boaz, and Naomi to be cared for.
But as we have seen in the book of Ruth, nothing comes easy. There was a catch.
There was another kinsman-redeemer in the family more closely related to Naomi than Boaz. So Boaz said to Ruth, "One way or the other, you will be taken care of. I’ll talk to him about it.
If he doesn’t want to redeem the land and take you as his bride, I will do it." He then sent Ruth on her way.
Today we arrive in chapter four, the thrilling conclusion. How will this story end? Will the kinsman redeemer buy back the land?
Will Boaz marry the woman of his dreams? And what about Naomi? Let’s hear the story.
There’s a revealing verse in chapter 3. After Boaz told Ruth he would take care of the matter, he gave her some barley to take home with her, then he went back to town.
Why does this verse reveal? Well, it's interesting that Boaz went immediately back to town. He was still finishing the harvest, but he stopped to go look for the other kinsmen-redeemer.
I think Boaz did this for a couple of reasons. One, he knew that Ruth and Naomi were counting on him and were waiting on him and he didn’t want to leave them hanging.
Two, it's obvious that he had an emotional investment in the outcome. He was eager to get it resolved. This is further demonstrated by the first verse of chapter four.
1 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down.
So as the man comes along that was to be the kinsmen-redeemer he calls him over and ten of the elders of that area as witnesses. I have no doubt that Boaz knew exactly what he was doing.
He discussed the redemption with the man in public, in the presence of the town leadership, so that the man would be pressed to make an immediate decision.
That was only fair to Ruth and Naomi, since they shouldn’t be kept waiting for weeks and months while the man decides what to do.
At first Boaz made it seem like a simple transaction: Buy some land, help a family member out. So the man said, "Sure why not? I’ll do it." Then Boaz let the man know what he was getting into.
5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.”
That changes everything. Instead of getting some good land at a good price, the man was told that he would be taking on the responsibility of a new family. And with a foreign woman.
6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon.
10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”
Today some would say that this is a barbaric way of living, but for those days, it wasn't barbaric at all. In fact, this law reflects a proper concern for the poor. This law was on the books so that widows and their children wouldn’t be left homeless and helpless when the husband passed away.
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.
So, there it is, a happy ending. Ruth and Boaz married, they started a family, and they built a life together. I love happy endings, don’t you?
I often talk to people who are living in a place like the place Naomi lived in chapter one of this story, in a land like the land of Moab, far from the experience of God’s blessings.
Instead they are experiencing one setback after another. Like Naomi, these people feel like their best days are behind them. Once their lives were full, now they're forever empty.
I want you to know that no life is forever empty, as far as God is concerned. He can redeem any life from any situation.
Maybe you think of yourself only as a person with a past. But God sees you as someone with a future.
As we bring this series to a close, there are three final lessons I want us to reflect on. These lessons remind you that, in God, you have a future. First, I want you to remember that ...
1. You are not _without_
1. You are not _without_
After Ruth had her son, the women came together and spoke to Naomi.
14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!
15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
He has not left you without a redeemer. They’re referring, on the one hand, to Boaz, whose generosity has saved the family’s land and has kept alive the family name.
They’re also referring to this baby boy. They're calling him a kinsmen-redeemer, because this little boy represents the completion of God's redemption in Naomi's life.
Maybe you think your life right now is about being without. You’re without the health you need, or the money you need, or the job you need, or the spouse you need, or the blessings you need.
Everything in your life spells "without." I want you to know that God will not leave you without forever.
The emptiness of the land of Moab and Ruth Chapter One will be replaced in your life by the fullness of Bethlehem and Ruth Chapter Four.
Naomi couldn't see these blessings coming, but they came, because God would not leave her in a state of without.
Illus: My stint at being homeless
God will not leave you without forever. Here’s the second lesson I want you to reflect on.
2. A perceived burden _can be a blessing_
The women said...
15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
Better than seven sons. They were right: Ruth was better than seven sons, but Naomi didn’t see it that way on the first page of this story.
Do you remember what she said when she tried to get her daughters-in-law to turn back and stay in Moab? Let’s look back at what she said.
12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,
13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”
Naomi saw her daughters-in-law as a burden. She could only think of the financial obligation she would face with them, and how she wouldn’t be able to provide.
So, she encouraged the young women to return to Moab and find husbands there.
As you remember, one daughter-in-law, Orpah, did go back to Moab. Ruth decided to stay. And what happened? Ruth certainly wasn’t a burden to Naomi. She was a blessing.
There are some things in your life today that you see as burdens. Take another look at them. God can make them into a blessing. Now we have come to the final lesson I want you remember.
3. There’s a big picture, _and you’re in it_
3. There’s a big picture, _and you’re in it_
16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse.
When her sons died, Naomi probably thought she would never have a chance to hold a baby in her arms again. But she did. And it wasn’t just any baby. The Bible says...
17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
David? King David. The one who killed Goliath. The one who wrote, "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want." That David. Naomi played a part in the birth of a king.
Still, that’s not all. Generations later, a young woman in the line of David, a young woman named Mary, gave birth to her son Jesus.
It was God’s plan that a Moabite woman be part of a royal bloodline, an ancestor to Jesus the Messiah. Naomi played a part in making it happen.
She then persuaded Ruth to go the threshing floor at midnight, so that the wedding could take place, so that a baby could be born who would lead the way to birth of God's son.
God has a plan, not only for your life, but for the lives of all those around you: your children and their spouses and your grandchildren and their future spouses and all their children, too.
God has a plan for them, and you have a part to play. You may not be able to see it. You may not fully understand it. You may not be able to anticipate it ... but God has a plan.
There’s a big picture, and when you live in submission to Him, He’s able to get you in the picture. That’s why I say that you have a future.
The story of Ruth is a story of redemption. Through God, the lives of two seemingly insignificant widowed women can go from tragedy to triumph and from bitterness to blessing.
You would think their lives would be lived in obscurity, and yet God made their names great throughout history. That’s the power of God’s redemption.
As we close this series, I want to remind you that Naomi experienced the events of chapter four because of the decisions she made in chapter one.
When she was at her lowest, she got on the road that would take her back to Bethlehem, the road that would take her back home.
You can experience God’s redemptive power, too. He can turn your life around. And He will. He’s waiting for you to take the first steps in His direction.
His direction is to guide you to the road that leads you to where you know you need to be.