Walter Lopez: All right.
Walter Lopez: Well, thank you, pastors, for that wonderful report.
Walter Lopez: That was very encouraging.
Walter Lopez: Good evening, beloved.
Walter Lopez: It is a joy to share God's word with you this evening.
Walter Lopez: Let me begin by thanking those of you who have been praying for me and my family.
Walter Lopez: Your prayers have been a huge encouragement and I have no doubt that, by God's grace, we are where we are today in answer to your prayers, and so thank you.
Walter Lopez: Let me pray quickly.
Walter Lopez: Oh Lord, our God, how excellent is your name in all the earth, from the rising of the sun to its going down, your name is worthy to be praised.
Walter Lopez: And so, father, as we look to your word this evening, we ask that you would help us understand your word better, help us understand you better, so that we could have more reasons to praise you and worship you.
Walter Lopez: We ask that you would encourage our hearts this evening.
Walter Lopez: Bring glory to your name, god.
Walter Lopez: We ask In Jesus' name, amen.
Walter Lopez: All right, we are continuing our Route 66 series, and today we have arrived at what should be Route 8, since Ruth is the eighth book in our series so far, and so I have the task of giving you a big picture perspective of the book of Ruth, which means that, to my own disappointment, I am not going to be able to do a verse by verse sermon.
Walter Lopez: I understand that that's not the goal.
Walter Lopez: However, I will attempt to touch on some of the major themes in this book.
Walter Lopez: Lord Willing, let me begin by providing a little bit of historical background.
Walter Lopez: I'll be giving some more as we go along, but just for starters.
Walter Lopez: First of all, there is no mention of the author in the book of Ruth.
Walter Lopez: Jewish tradition suggests that it may have been written by the prophet Samuel, which is possible, since it was Samuel who anointed David to be king.
Walter Lopez: And David is mentioned at the end of this book.
Walter Lopez: But in the end, we really don't know as to when this book was written.
Walter Lopez: Again, since David is mentioned, some suggest that it may have been written during his reign, which dates from about 1011 to about 971 BC, according to chapter 1 and verse 1,.
Walter Lopez: We do know that the story of Ruth took place during the days of the judges, which means that the events in this book happened somewhere between 1380 to about 1050 BC.
Walter Lopez: Now, one of the ironies of this book is that Ruth presents a glaring contrast with the book of Judges.
Walter Lopez: Judges records one of the darkest periods in the history of the people of Israel.
Walter Lopez: It portrays a people who sought to govern themselves so that everyone wanted to do what was right in their own eyes.
Walter Lopez: A people who fell into gross idolatry and constant rebellion against God and bringing upon themselves God's judgment, which God executed by handing them over to their enemies.
Walter Lopez: The people would then cry out to God for mercy, and God would rescue them over and over again.
Walter Lopez: But in the midst of all of that, the book of Ruth focuses its attention not on the whole nation of Israel, but on a remnant few, particularly one family, a family who suffered much loss at the beginning of the story but providentially experienced the faithfulness of God through an unexpected character.
Walter Lopez: It's a beautiful story of God's faithfulness, but even more than that, it communicates God's redemptive plan through one of the greatest love stories in all of scripture, a love story that points to the greatest love story of all time, the story of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed his.
Walter Lopez: And so, in that sense, ruth is God's answer to one of the darkest periods in Jewish history.
Walter Lopez: It is God's answer to a nation that was enslaved to sin and deserved to be cut off with no hope for the future.
Walter Lopez: Ruth is a message of hope and redemption for a people who are undeserving, and therefore Ruth doesn't just speak to the people of that day, but it speaks to us as well.
Walter Lopez: Now there are five major scenes in this book.
Walter Lopez: We have scene number one, and that's where calamity comes upon the family of Naomi.
Walter Lopez: Not only did her family have to escape a famine, but her husband and her two sons both die.
Walter Lopez: We see that in the first five verses of chapter one, and that immediately follows with Ruth's testimony and Naomi's return back to Bethlehem.
Walter Lopez: We see that in verse six of chapter 1, and that goes on to the end of the chapter.
Walter Lopez: And then scene 3 is where Ruth meets Boaz and is allowed to glean in his field.
Walter Lopez: That's all of chapter 2.
Walter Lopez: And then scene 4 is where we see Ruth at the threshing floor with Boaz and something very interesting happens there.
Walter Lopez: That's the entirety of chapter three.
Walter Lopez: And then finally, scene five, and that's where Boaz redeems Ruth and Naomi is blessed with a new family.
Walter Lopez: And so those five scenes pretty much cover this entire book.
Walter Lopez: Now, as I seek to give you this big picture perspective of the book of Ruth, I want to draw your attention to four areas of focus, or four key points, if you will, to help us get a sense of what the book is about, and in the process, we will actually get a glimpse of these five scenes that I just mentioned.
Walter Lopez: Number one we're going to look at how God's faithfulness to Naomi comes through an unexpected individual.
Walter Lopez: God's faithfulness to Naomi comes through an unexpected individual.
Walter Lopez: Secondly, we're going to look at the Christ-like character of Boaz.
Walter Lopez: The Christ-like character of Boaz, and we'll spend a significant amount of time there.
Walter Lopez: Thirdly, the restoration of Naomi and the providence of God.
Walter Lopez: The restoration of Naomi and the providence of God.
Walter Lopez: And then, finally and briefly, we will discuss the gospel message illustrated through Boaz.
Walter Lopez: The gospel message illustrated through Boaz, and so God's faithfulness to Naomi comes through an unexpected individual.
Walter Lopez: As I've noted already, the story begins with one of the saddest portions of scripture in the whole Bible.
Walter Lopez: Similarly to the book of Job, a family is struck with one calamity after another after another.
Walter Lopez: The scene begins in Bethlehem of Judah.
Walter Lopez: Naomi and her husband Elimelech are forced to leave Bethlehem along with their two sons, malon and Kilion, because of a famine that had struck the land.
Walter Lopez: Bethlehem, by the way means house of bread.
Walter Lopez: And so, ironically, naomi and her family leave Bethlehem, the house of bread, because there was no bread.
Walter Lopez: A place that should have been a place of blessing and a place that represented God's provision, became a place that was cursed and a place where there was no sustenance.
Walter Lopez: And where did they go?
Walter Lopez: Well, we are told that they moved to Moab.
Walter Lopez: Of all places, moab would have been enemy territory for the Jews.
Walter Lopez: If you remember, the Moabites were the descendants of Lot, abraham's nephew.
Walter Lopez: Lot had a son through one of his daughter's immoral acts, who would eventually become the nation of Moab.
Walter Lopez: And so, first of all, we see that this nation was birthed through sin, particularly the sin of incest.
Walter Lopez: The Moabites would become an idolatrous nation whose supreme deity was Chemosh, a war god.
Walter Lopez: They would sacrifice their children on the altar of Chemosh with the hopes that he would give them victory over their enemies.
Walter Lopez: And so their idolatry and detestable practices inevitably made them enemies of the God of Israel.
Walter Lopez: Isaiah 15, isaiah, chapter 16, jeremiah 48 and verses 8 through 13,.
Walter Lopez: Ezekiel 25 and verses 10 through 11, and Amos, chapter 2 and verses 1 through 3, all pronounced curses on Moab.
Walter Lopez: This was a nation destined for God's judgment.
Walter Lopez: Furthermore, in Judges, chapter 3, and verses 12 through 14,.
Walter Lopez: The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of God, and God used Moab to punish Israel and allowed Moab to oppress them for 18 years.
Walter Lopez: Other wars recorded between these two nations are in 2 Kings, chapter 3, and 2 Kings, chapter 24, in verses 1-3.
Walter Lopez: And so these two nations were bitter rivals, which means that Naomi and her family may have been heading towards unfriendly territory.
Walter Lopez: Now, the fact that the book of Ruth seems to be silent about any conflict between these two nations suggests that things may have been a little bit more peaceful during this time, which may be the reason why Naomi was willing to take that risk.
Walter Lopez: But nevertheless, there are still some hints of hostility between these two nations in the book of Ruth, and I will try to point those out for you as we go along.
Walter Lopez: Now, unfortunately, things go from bad to worse for Naomi.
Walter Lopez: Like I said, shortly after her arrival at Moab Elimelech, her husband died and if that's not bad enough, 10 years later her two sons, malon and Kilion, both die after they had taken Moabite women to be their wives.
Walter Lopez: Naomi, of course, is devastated, and understandably so.
Walter Lopez: Away from home, no husband and no heir to the family line, she is left to be a widow with two daughters-in-law who were also widowed.
Walter Lopez: She might have thought that coming to Moab was a greater curse than living in Judah in the midst of a famine.
Walter Lopez: Now, after all this bad news, naomi did get a glimpse of hope when she heard rumors that God had visited his people with food, and so she packed her bags and initially heads towards Judah with her daughters-in-law.
Walter Lopez: But it wasn't long before she thought twice about them coming with her.
Walter Lopez: One commentator says this about widows in the ancient Near East.
Walter Lopez: He says, quote widows in the ancient Near East had lost all social status and generally were also without political or economic status.
Walter Lopez: They could be equated to the homeless in our society.
Walter Lopez: Status they could be equated to the homeless in our society.
Walter Lopez: Typically, they had no male protector and were dependent on society for survival.
Walter Lopez: Close quote.
Walter Lopez: And so here you have three widows who had no male protector, and there's no mention of any political status.
Walter Lopez: And besides the land that belonged to Elimelech, naomi's husband, it's very likely that they did not have any economic status as well.
Walter Lopez: In fact, according to Numbers 27, a widow could not inherit her husband's property which was often a big part of his inheritance.
Walter Lopez: If her husband died, his inheritance would be given to his sons, who would in turn take care of his widowed mother.
Walter Lopez: But if he had no sons, as is the case here with Naomi, with both of them being dead, then her husband's inheritance would be given to his closest kin.
Walter Lopez: Bottom line is that, without a husband and without any sons, the bottom line is that, without a husband and without any sons, these three women were truly dependent on society for survival.
Walter Lopez: And so often widows would remarry because they needed someone to care and provide for them, but also because there was no greater curse in Jewish thinking than for your family line to be cut off forever.
Walter Lopez: And so Naomi, concerned for her daughters-in-law, pleads with them to return to Moab.
Walter Lopez: Perhaps she thought that it might have been easier for them to find husbands in Moab than in Israel.
Walter Lopez: She does appeal to the fact that she is too old to have children and therefore unable to provide husbands for them.
Walter Lopez: She may have also thought that, since they are more by women, they may face discrimination and persecution in Israel, and how are they going to defend themselves without a male protector?
Walter Lopez: And so all of this may have been in her thinking as she was trying to convince them to go back home.
Walter Lopez: As we know, naomi was successful in persuading Orpah.
Walter Lopez: But as for Ruth, we are told in verse 14 that she clung to Naomi.
Walter Lopez: And so Naomi says in verse 15, behold, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods.
Walter Lopez: Return after your sister-in-law, in other words, go and do likewise.
Walter Lopez: Go back to your people and to your gods, just like your sister-in-law.
Walter Lopez: And despite Naomi's persistence and seeing her sister-in-law heading back home to her people and to her gods, ruth responds with some of the most profound statements in all of scripture.
Walter Lopez: Listen to what she says in verse 16.
Walter Lopez: Listen, do not press me to forsake you in turning back from following you, for where you go, I will go and where you lodge, I will lodge.
Walter Lopez: Your people shall be my people and your God my God.
Walter Lopez: Where you die, I will die and there I will be buried.
Walter Lopez: Thus may Yahweh do to me, and more, if anything but death separates you and me.
Walter Lopez: This was a profound testimony of Ruth's faith in the God of Israel.
Walter Lopez: You see, unlike Orpah, her sister-in-law, ruth had counted the cost of leaving her own country, despite the troubles and oppositions that she might face.
Walter Lopez: Why was she willing to go Well, not just to be with Naomi, but even more than that, because Chemosh was no longer her God.
Walter Lopez: Yahweh was her God now, and for her, getting to know the God of Israel through her mother-in-law and through her people was worth the risk.
Walter Lopez: She gave up her country for Naomi's country, her people for Naomi's people, her traditions for Naomi's traditions, her gods for Naomi's God.
Walter Lopez: And she even says I want to die where you die and be buried where you are buried.
Walter Lopez: That was a huge statement.
Walter Lopez: If you think about it, you remember that Joseph wanted his bones to be carried away from Egypt and into the promised land.
Walter Lopez: The writer of Hebrews picks up on that in Hebrews chapter 11, in verse 22, and says that this was an act of faith on the part of Joseph.
Walter Lopez: You see, egypt represented a place that was cursed and alienated from the true and living God and his covenant promises to his people.
Walter Lopez: And Joseph wanted nothing to do with such a nation, to the extent that he didn't even want his bones to be in any way associated with a cursed nation like Egypt.
Walter Lopez: And here's Ruth, who was born in Moab, making a huge statement that, despite the fact that this was her own country, she didn't even want her bones to be buried in a cursed nation like Moab.
Walter Lopez: Her heart was now set on Israel.
Walter Lopez: She had come to believe that the true God was Yahweh and that his blessings and his promises were with the people of Israel and not with Moab.
Walter Lopez: And if that wasn't enough, she even seals her testimony with an oath.
Walter Lopez: Look at what she says in verse 17.
Walter Lopez: She says Look at what she says in verse 17.
Walter Lopez: She says Thus may Yahweh do to me and more.
Walter Lopez: If anything but death separates you and me, naomi, may God's severest punishment be given to me if I ever forsake you.
Walter Lopez: That's essentially what she was saying.
Walter Lopez: What a daughter-in-law and what a gift she became to Naomi.
Walter Lopez: And even more than that, what an unlikely individual for God to use to bless Naomi.
Walter Lopez: A Moabite woman, an enemy of Israel, a widow with no social, political or economic status, was used by God to restore what Naomi had lost.
Walter Lopez: She truly became greater than seven sons to Naomi, as the women of Bethlehem later on testify, and so Naomi had nothing more to say.
Walter Lopez: Ruth's testimony was compelling enough.
Walter Lopez: They both head towards Bethlehem, which was about a 40-mile journey from Moab, and, in God's providence, naomi's arrival could not have come at a better time.
Walter Lopez: This first chapter begins with a famine.
Walter Lopez: It begins with bad news, but look at the very last verse of chapter 1.
Walter Lopez: , verse 22.
Walter Lopez: So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the fields of Moab.
Walter Lopez: Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
Walter Lopez: Bethlehem, the house of bread now had plenty.
Walter Lopez: I remember my wife used to make these delicious chicken sandwiches, and what made them so good to me was the Portuguese bread that she would use.
Walter Lopez: She would always buy them from this place, where they were literally baked there every day, and so you would get them fresh out of the oven.
Walter Lopez: Usually she would be the one to go buy them, but one time she sent me, and when I arrived at the place I realized that my wife had neglected to tell me that if I don't arrive by a certain time, I'm going to have to stand behind a huge line.
Walter Lopez: It must have been what looked like about 100 people ahead of me that day.
Walter Lopez: I decided to stay on the line because I didn't want to disappoint my wife, but the bigger reason was that I was really craving those delicious chicken sandwiches.
Walter Lopez: Well, unfortunately for me, my efforts were in vain because Providence was not on my side, they had sold out by the time.
Walter Lopez: I was near the front of the line and we were told that they were not going to make any more for the rest of the day because they had completely ran out of dough.
Walter Lopez: That's how many they had sold.
Walter Lopez: And so when I arrived at home empty-handed, my wife did not fail to tell me that if I want some of her delicious chicken sandwiches, I'm going to have to go back tomorrow morning at 7 am when they open.
Walter Lopez: Well, you better believe that I rose up early the next day.
Walter Lopez: I was not going to go another day without her delicious chicken sandwiches.
Walter Lopez: Well, unlike me, providence was definitely on Naomi's side, and she arrived to Bethlehem, the house of bread, just in time to take advantage of the land's fresh produce.
Walter Lopez: You see, the book of Ruth is not primarily about a widow and her daughter-in-law.
Walter Lopez: It is primarily about God's providential care over his people and his covenant promise that he will provide a redeemer.
Walter Lopez: That he will provide a redeemer.
Walter Lopez: This becomes even more evident as the story unfolds.
Walter Lopez: Now, speaking of a redeemer, let's now turn our attention to the Christ-like character of Boaz.
Walter Lopez: In chapter 2, ruth meets a man by the name of Boaz, and we are told that he happened to be Naomi's husband's kinsman.
Walter Lopez: Ruth had asked her mother-in-law permission to glean in the fields.
Walter Lopez: Naomi lets her go, and we are told in verse 3 that it just so happened that of all the fields that Naomi could have went to, she ends up going into the fields of Boaz.
Walter Lopez: Again, keep in mind that she is a foreigner, she is not familiar with the land.
Walter Lopez: Now Boaz sees her gleaning in his field and questions the man that he had left in charge of the reapers and says to him in verse 5, whose young woman is this?
Walter Lopez: The man tells him that she is a Moabite woman who came with Naomi from Moab and that she pleaded with him to please allow her to glean after the reapers.
Walter Lopez: In verses 8 through 9, boaz basically does the unexpected.
Walter Lopez: He doesn't just tell Ruth to continue gleaning in his field that was surprising enough but he even tells her not to glean anywhere else.
Walter Lopez: Furthermore, he instructs her to stay with the other women that were gleaning and to follow them.
Walter Lopez: This was an important detail because Ruth, being a Moabite, could have been accused of wrongdoing if found alone.
Walter Lopez: And so he tells her to follow the women wherever they go so that no one may be suspicious of her, and this was very likely the same reason why he told her not to glean anywhere else.
Walter Lopez: He wanted her to glean in his field so that she can be under his protection and care, which is why he also commanded all of the men not to touch her, not to do her any harm.
Walter Lopez: Again, the fact that Boaz had to take some extreme measures to protect Ruth indicates that there was still some hostility between Israelites and Moabites.
Walter Lopez: Note that Ruth's response also reflect this.
Walter Lopez: We see that she was shocked and overwhelmed with his kindness in verse 10 and says why have I found favor in your sight, even though I am a foreigner?
Walter Lopez: And so she clearly recognized that this was not supposed to be the norm.
Walter Lopez: Boaz replied that it's because he had heard about everything she had done for Naomi and how she sacrificed so much to come with her to Bethlehem, and so Boaz already had some information concerning Ruth.
Walter Lopez: We're not told how he was informed, but nevertheless he knew enough to have an idea as to what type of person she was.
Walter Lopez: Later on, after mealtime, boaz gave some further commands to his young man and told him to let her glean among the sheaves, and normally the reapers would glean first and after the sheaves are done, whatever was left would be for the poor to glean, but Boaz allows her to glean not from the leftovers but from the best of the harvest.
Walter Lopez: He even goes further than that and commanded all of his men to purposely pull out for her the grains from the bundles and to leave it for her to glean.
Walter Lopez: In other words, he wanted to make things easier for her.
Walter Lopez: And so we see that Boaz demonstrated great kindness to Ruth.
Walter Lopez: He gave her all the provisions she needed and even protected her, despite the fact that she was a Moabite.
Walter Lopez: Boaz was a kind man, a man who was very generous and looked after those who were poor and needy.
Walter Lopez: You would have known what God said through Moses in Deuteronomy 24 and verse 19, where it says when you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheave in the field, you shall not go back to get it.
Walter Lopez: It shall be for the sojourner, for the orphan and for the widow, in order that Yahweh, your God, may bless you in all the works of your hands.
Walter Lopez: You see, unlike the nation of Israel, the book of Ruth portrays Boaz as a man who sought to be obedient to God's commands, which led him to love people, even those, like in the case of Ruth, who was supposed to be his enemy.
Walter Lopez: And doesn't this remind us of our Savior, perfectly obedient to his Father's commands, showing great kindness and generosity to the undeserving, loving those who are poor in spirit and destitute of any righteousness?
Walter Lopez: Like Ruth, we were accursed people and enemies of God, but when the kindness of our great God and Savior appeared to us, he saved us, not because of any righteous thing that we have done, but because of his mercy, and now he is our protector, provider and sustainer.
Walter Lopez: Everything he does is for our good.
Walter Lopez: No-transcript.
Walter Lopez: Now, ruth was very excited to get back home to her mother-in-law to bring to her what she had gleaned.
Walter Lopez: When she arrived at home, naomi was astonished at how much she brought and asked her in verse 19, where did you glean today?
Walter Lopez: Ruth, of course, tells her that she had gleaned in the fields of Boaz, and immediately Naomi remembered that Boaz was one of her kinsmen redeemers.
Walter Lopez: In the very next chapter, naomi had a plan, and it wasn't your ordinary plan, definitely not something I would recommend to any single woman out there.
Walter Lopez: People might think you're a bit weird.
Walter Lopez: And so let's take a look at Naomi's incredible plan.
Walter Lopez: So Naomi expressed her desire for Ruth to find a husband and recommends Boaz.
Walter Lopez: She tells her to wash herself, get dressed and go to the threshing floor tonight, and there she will find Boaz winnowing barley.
Walter Lopez: She tells her to wait for him to lie down, and then she gives her this instruction in verse 4.
Walter Lopez: Listen to what she says, but when he lies down, observe the place where he lies.
Walter Lopez: Then go and uncover his feet and lie down.
Walter Lopez: That doesn't sound very proper, and he will tell you what to do, all right.
Walter Lopez: Well, the plan does seem very strange from just a mere glance, and was very risky for Ruth, because if someone found her lying next to a man at night, she could have been accused of some type of sexual sin which was punishable by death, and so her life could have been in serious danger.
Walter Lopez: But let me note a couple of things before we try to unpack what's going on here.
Walter Lopez: First of all, based on the character of Ruth, which we've seen glimpses of already, there's no reason to think that there was any impropriety in what Naomi was instructing Ruth to do.
Walter Lopez: If there was, then Ruth would not have agreed to do such a thing and might have felt offended that Naomi would even suggest it.
Walter Lopez: Secondly, we also know that there was no sinful intent because of the way Boaz responded after Ruth had done what her mother-in-law commanded.
Walter Lopez: Look at verses 8 through 11 of chapter 3.
Walter Lopez: In verse 8, ruth laid at the feet of Boaz and he was startled and questioned who she was.
Walter Lopez: She identified herself and tells him, to quote spread his wings over her because he was a redeemer.
Walter Lopez: Now, no need to be concerned here.
Walter Lopez: To spread your wings or skirt or, as the NIV puts it, to spread your garment over me, was a sign of protection.
Walter Lopez: The Hebrew word there is kanaf.
Walter Lopez: It is often used in scripture to refer to God spreading his wings over his people as a symbol of refuge or protection over them, like in Psalm 91, in verse 4, for example, where it says he shall cover you with his feathers and under his wings, kanaf, you shall take refuge.
Walter Lopez: But in this instance it meant more than just protection.
Walter Lopez: Boaz was already protecting Ruth and so it doesn't make much sense for her to ask him to do what he was already doing.
Walter Lopez: So what is Ruth asking him to do?
Walter Lopez: Let's look at Boaz' response in verse 10.
Walter Lopez: His response, I think, reveals to us the answer he says May you be blessed by the Lord.
Walter Lopez: My daughter.
Walter Lopez: Now he calls her my daughter, not just because it was a more affectionate way of addressing someone, but also because Ruth was a lot younger than her.
Walter Lopez: Boaz was a lot older than her.
Walter Lopez: Some rabbinic writings suggest that Ruth may have been in her early 40s, while Boaz was somewhere in his late 70s, possibly even early 80s.
Walter Lopez: He goes on.
Walter Lopez: He says you have made this last kindness greater than the first, and that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
Walter Lopez: And so notice two things here.
Walter Lopez: First of all, note that Boaz calls this an act of kindness, indicating that Boaz did not see anything improper in what Ruth was doing.
Walter Lopez: Secondly, he says you have made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men.
Walter Lopez: The word there for after is a Hebrew word that can mean to chase or to pursue someone, and so Boaz knew exactly what she was doing.
Walter Lopez: She was pursuing a husband.
Walter Lopez: Boaz, being of a much older generation than Ruth, was probably not going to ask her for marriage, and so what Ruth was symbolically saying, by uncovering his feet and asking him to spread his garment over her, was I want you to marry me by becoming my redeemer, and so what we have here is a miracle of all miracles, a woman actually proposing to a man.
Walter Lopez: Boaz concludes in verse 11 by saying and now, my daughter, do not fear, I will do for you all that you ask for.
Walter Lopez: All my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
Walter Lopez: So that was a very long way of saying I do.
Walter Lopez: I will marry you.
Walter Lopez: Now it's clear that what attracted Ruth to Boaz was his kindness, his protection, his generous heart, his care for those who are less privileged, his love for people, even for outsiders.
Walter Lopez: And she was also attracted to the fact that, through Boaz, she could provide her mother-in-law the greatest blessing she could ever receive, which was to preserve her family line.
Walter Lopez: But there was something even more honorable about the character of Ruth.
Walter Lopez: In verse 12, boaz tells her that, yes, it is true that he is a redeemer, but he is not the next in line.
Walter Lopez: There was someone else who was nearer.
Walter Lopez: And so Boaz could have said I want this woman and I'm going to do everything possible to have her, even if I have to lie my way to get her.
Walter Lopez: That's not what he did.
Walter Lopez: You see, boaz was a man of integrity and a very humble man.
Walter Lopez: He was not looking after his own interests, he was looking after the interests of Ruth and Naomi.
Walter Lopez: He was a man that would have said I want God to bless you, and if he wants to bless you through me, then praise the Lord, but if he wants to bless you through another, even if that means I can't have you, then so be it.
Walter Lopez: I will be content with whatever way the Lord wills to bless you.
Walter Lopez: That was Boaz.
Walter Lopez: He was not a selfish man, but selfless.
Walter Lopez: And isn't this precisely what we are told about our Lord Jesus Christ?
Walter Lopez: He himself said I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many.
Walter Lopez: He did not count equality with God as something to hold on to, paul says but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond slave and coming in the likeness of man.
Walter Lopez: There has never been anyone more selfless than our Savior Amen.
Walter Lopez: More selfless than our Savior Amen.
Walter Lopez: Now, this law of the kinsman-redeemer was instituted by God back in Leviticus, 25 and verse 25.
Walter Lopez: But in Deuteronomy, 25 and verse 5 through 10 is where this law is used in the context of marriage.
Walter Lopez: This was called Leverite marriage.
Walter Lopez: Simply put, this was the process of bringing up children in the name of a deceased relative, so that his family and property line would not be lost.
Walter Lopez: Normally, the kinsman redeemer who accepted to marry his brother's wife would have to purchase the land that belonged to the deceased, and so often it would come at a great cost to him.
Walter Lopez: If the kinsman redeemer did not want to marry his brother's wife and the elders are not able to persuade him, then his brother's wife was to go up to him in the presence of all the elders and take off his sandal and spit in his face, indicating that he is a disgrace and should be ashamed of himself for not being willing to preserve his brother's inheritance.
Walter Lopez: And so here in Ruth we have a real historical example of how this law was performed.
Walter Lopez: In chapter 4,.
Walter Lopez: The very next day, boaz sees the kinsman redeemer and tells him that Naomi has returned from Moab and he inquires of him to purchase the field that belonged to Elimelech.
Walter Lopez: Initially he agreed to redeem it, but as soon as Boaz mentions that he will have to acquire Ruth the Moabite, he immediately retracts from his decision, very likely because he did not want a Moabite woman to put a stain on his family tree.
Walter Lopez: And so, in accordance with the law, he takes off his sandal in the presence of all the elders, and Boaz redeems Ruth and everything that belonged to Elimelech, naomi's husband.
Walter Lopez: He marries her and the Lord gives them a son, thus preserving the family line of Naomi.
Walter Lopez: We can only imagine the emotions that Naomi was experiencing at this time, but, as we've seen, things were not always that rosy for Naomi.
Walter Lopez: And that leads us to our next point, the restoration of Naomi and the providence of God.
Walter Lopez: I mentioned earlier that chapter one ends with some good news In God's providence.
Walter Lopez: Naomi arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest harvest, but what I did not mention was that at that time Naomi was not in a good place spiritually speaking.
Walter Lopez: She could not see what God was doing, because she had allowed the loss of her husband and her two sons to bring her to a place of hopelessness.
Walter Lopez: Look at how she expressed herself back in chapter 1.
Walter Lopez: In verse 13.
Walter Lopez: You remember that she kept insisting that Ruth and Orpah should return back to Moab.
Walter Lopez: And in verse 13, she gives them what seems to be her most persuasive argument by saying that quote the hand of Yahweh has gone forth against me, which was enough to persuade Orpah to go back home.
Walter Lopez: And then, in verse 20 of chapter 1, when she arrived in Bethlehem, she kind of lets it all out.
Walter Lopez: She said this to the women who recognized her when she arrived, and I want you to notice the play on words here.
Walter Lopez: So the women said in verse 19, is this Naomi?
Walter Lopez: Naomi responded Do not call me Naomi, which means pleasant.
Walter Lopez: Call me Mara, which means bitter, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
Walter Lopez: I went out full, but Yahweh has caused me to return empty.
Walter Lopez: Why do you call me Naomi?
Walter Lopez: Why do you call me pleasant?
Walter Lopez: Yahweh has answered against me and the Almighty has brought calamity against me.
Walter Lopez: Can you hear the hopelessness in these words?
Walter Lopez: Far from Job's initial response after he had lost everything the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Walter Lopez: Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Walter Lopez: She almost sounds more like Job's wife, just hopeless.
Walter Lopez: You see, from her perspective, god had abandoned her.
Walter Lopez: God was no longer on her side.
Walter Lopez: In fact, god was against her.
Walter Lopez: She thought.
Walter Lopez: No longer on her side.
Walter Lopez: In fact, god was against her, she thought.
Walter Lopez: And yet she could not be farther from the truth.
Walter Lopez: Despite her bitterness and losing her hope in God, god remained faithful to her.
Walter Lopez: 2 Timothy 2 and verse 13 says if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.
Walter Lopez: By God's grace, naomi's faith was restored and she was able to rejoice and even worship God for his faithfulness.
Walter Lopez: How do I know that?
Walter Lopez: Well, go back to chapter 4 and verse 16.
Walter Lopez: Look at what it says there.
Walter Lopez: Chapter 4 and verse 16.
Walter Lopez: This is shortly after the baby was born.
Walter Lopez: It says there the Naomi took the child and put him on her bosom and became his nurse.
Walter Lopez: The neighbor women gave him a name, saying a son has been born to Naomi.
Walter Lopez: Now stop right there.
Walter Lopez: Notice, brothers and sisters, it was not Naomi who gave him a name, it wasn't Ruth who gave him a name, and it wasn't even Boaz who gave him a name.
Walter Lopez: It was the women who lived next to Naomi, who saw her every day and knew her struggles.
Walter Lopez: And what did they name him?
Walter Lopez: It says so.
Walter Lopez: They named him Obed, which means worshiper, worshiper, you see.
Walter Lopez: I believe the neighbor women named him worshiper because they saw that God had restored Naomi from a bitter, hopeless woman to a woman who worshiped Yahweh, because he remained faithful when she was faithless, remained faithful when she was faithless.
Walter Lopez: Like Naomi, we too need soul restoration because we are not always faithful.
Walter Lopez: We are like sheep, constantly going astray.
Walter Lopez: But the good shepherd is always willing to leave the 99 and go after that one wayward sheep.
Walter Lopez: The psalmist says the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.
Walter Lopez: And so when I am faithless, when you are faithless, the good shepherd remains faithful because he has sworn by himself that he will finish the good work that he has begun in us.
Walter Lopez: Amen.
Walter Lopez: Back to verse 16 of chapter 4, it ends with these words so they named him Obed.
Walter Lopez: He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Walter Lopez: As we know, the New Testament lists only five women in the genealogy of Jesus, and in verse 5 of Matthew, chapter 1, he mentions two of those women.
Walter Lopez: Both of them were foreigners.
Walter Lopez: One of them was a harlot by the name of Rahab.
Walter Lopez: The other one was Ruth who, as we've seen, was once a cursed idolatrous Moabite woman.
Walter Lopez: Rahab, by the way, was the mother of Boaz, which gives us more insight into why Boaz was very welcoming to Ruth.
Walter Lopez: How gracious is our God right that he would include in the genealogy of Jesus not just those within the covenant community of Israel, but even cursed Gentiles like you and me.
Walter Lopez: I mentioned the word providence a couple of times, and it was Wayne Grudem who defined providence this way.
Walter Lopez: Listen to what he says.
Walter Lopez: He says, quote Providence is the doctrine that God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he number one keeps them existing and maintaining their properties with which he created them.
Walter Lopez: Two cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do.
Walter Lopez: And so God, like a master conductor, orchestrated all of his creation by directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do, in order to fulfill his good purpose, which was, on the one hand, to bless Naomi and her family and, on the other hand, to bless all of his people from every generation.
Walter Lopez: You see, while the whole nation of Israel was living one of its darkest periods in their history, god was at work, fulfilling his eternal plan in the midst of their rebellion.
Walter Lopez: It's as if God were saying to them through the book of Ruth you are going to continue on in your rebellion, you're going to continue in your defiance of me, but despite the fact that you deserve for me to wipe you off the face of the earth.
Walter Lopez: I will provide a redeemer who will purchase you back to me from your slavery to sin.
Walter Lopez: And so it was God's purpose all along to bring a famine to Bethlehem so that Naomi could end up in Moab and so that Ruth could become her daughter-in-law.
Walter Lopez: And it was his purpose to bring her back to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest so that Ruth can meet Boaz.
Walter Lopez: It was God who brought both of them together, removing all obstacles, including the kinsman redeemer who was next in line, so that, through Boaz, god might give to Naomi a son who would not just save her family line, but whose lineage would lead to the one through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed, including the remnant from among that wicked and perverse generation.
Walter Lopez: There are no mistakes in God's plan, brothers and sisters.
Walter Lopez: Everything is working out precisely as he has ordained it for his glory and for our salvation.
Walter Lopez: In closing, we have seen how Boaz in many ways was an Old Testament type of Jesus.
Walter Lopez: His character was often a reflection of the character of our Savior, and so it's no marvel that his deeds were also a reflection of the gospel.
Walter Lopez: Briefly, let me give you three ways that the gospel message was illustrated through Boaz.
Walter Lopez: First, the gospel message is seen in a great price, a great price.
Walter Lopez: Boaz saw the need of Ruth and paid a great price to redeem her by purchasing the land that belonged to Elimelech.
Walter Lopez: And note that he did it willingly.
Walter Lopez: He was not forced to do anything.
Walter Lopez: He was motivated by his love for Ruth and Naomi.
Walter Lopez: Our greater Boaz, the Lord Jesus Christ, looked upon our miserable condition and with eyes of compassion he saw our need, that we were without hope and without God in this world.
Walter Lopez: That we were without hope and without God in this world.
Walter Lopez: Motivated by his love for us, he willingly paid the ultimate price.
Walter Lopez: He redeemed us, peter says, not with corruptible things like gold and silver, but with his precious blood, as a lamb without blemish.
Walter Lopez: Secondly, the gospel message is seen in a better future, a better future.
Walter Lopez: And so there was a great price that was paid so that we could have hope and be brought back to God and, as a result, we could have a better future.
Walter Lopez: When Boaz preserved the family line of Naomi by providing a son, her hopes for a better future was restored.
Walter Lopez: No longer did she have to worry about her family being cut off forever, she could die in peace, knowing that her family line would continue for many generations.
Walter Lopez: God has given us his one and only son so that whosoever believes in him will not perish, will not be cut off, but have everlasting life.
Walter Lopez: Through him, we have hope for a better future, and not a temporal hope, but one that is eternal and never-ending.
Walter Lopez: And lastly, the gospel message is seen in a great inheritance, a great inheritance.
Walter Lopez: So there was a great price that was paid so that we could have a better future, and what awaits us in that better future is a great inheritance.
Walter Lopez: Boaz purchased the land that belonged to Elimelech so that his descendants can possess it as their inheritance.
Walter Lopez: Jesus has purchased for us an inheritance reserved for us in heaven, which is incorruptible, undefiled and shall never fade away.
Walter Lopez: One day we will glean in his heavenly fields and reap unspeakable joy, amen.