SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: This morning and for the last two weeks here at Faith, we have been working our way through the Old Testament Book of Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: This evening we have the privilege of finally hearing the conclusion to this story.
SPEAKER_01: It's a conclusion really unlike any other in the Old Testament, but it's one that we often don't recognize fully.
SPEAKER_01: If you haven't been here, I'll recount briefly that we have followed the tragic story of two widows.
SPEAKER_01: A family left Bethlehem, the house of bread, because there was no bread.
SPEAKER_01: They left during a time of famine and during their time of sojourning across the Jordan River in the land of Moab, the husband and the two sons died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law.
SPEAKER_01: One daughter-in-law remained in Moab, the other daughter-in-law, Ruth, traveled with Naomi back to Bethlehem, where they scrounged around for some kernels of barley and wheat to be able to survive.
SPEAKER_01: They needed redemption.
SPEAKER_01: They had nothing.
SPEAKER_01: And along comes two redeemers, at least two potential redeemers.
SPEAKER_01: One we learned this morning was not worthy of being a redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: And so the narrator, the storyteller, doesn't give us his name, just refers to him as Mr.
SPEAKER_01: So-and-so.
SPEAKER_01: To raise up in our estimation this man named Boaz, who is worthy to be called a Redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: So this morning we heard the happy ending of the story.
SPEAKER_01: A knight in shining armor named Boaz rescues the girl, and they get married and lived happily ever after.
SPEAKER_01: Or something like that.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz wasn't a knight, and there was no shining armor, but he did get the girl.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz, though, rescued the two widows by redeeming them.
SPEAKER_01: He paid the price for their redemption.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the book of Ruth is a conclusion to the entire story.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what it says.
SPEAKER_01: So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went into her, and Yahweh gave her conception, and she bore a son.
SPEAKER_01: Then the women said to Naomi, the woman who called herself Ms.
SPEAKER_01: Bitter for a while, but is now pleasant.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: And may his name, that is the child's name, be renowned in Israel.
SPEAKER_01: He shall be restored to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age.
SPEAKER_01: For your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.
SPEAKER_01: Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse.
SPEAKER_01: And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, A son has been born to Naomi.
SPEAKER_01: And they named him Obed.
SPEAKER_01: He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
SPEAKER_01: Now these are the generations of Perez.
SPEAKER_01: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Aminadab, and Aminadab fathered Nashon, and Nashon fathered Salmon, and Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
SPEAKER_01: What an exciting end to the story.
SPEAKER_01: A whole bunch of names that most of us have never heard of.
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's a satisfying conclusion to Ruth and Naomi's story, but it's much more than that.
SPEAKER_01: It's really the end of Elimelech's story.
SPEAKER_01: Going back to the very beginning of the book of Ruth, Elimelech is a man whose name means my God is king.
SPEAKER_01: But it's in a time when there is no king in Israel because everyone does what's right in his own eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Elimelech, Naomi's husband, dies after leaving the land of promise instead of trusting in God's provision.
SPEAKER_01: But by the end of the story, Elimelech's land is redeemed.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz buys back the property that Elimelech had sold.
SPEAKER_01: He marries Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: They have a baby.
SPEAKER_01: They name him Obed.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we remember that Ruth is connected to the book of Judges, we see that God rescues Elimelech's family from the consequences of doing what's right in their own eyes.
SPEAKER_01: They thought they were doing what was right when they left the land.
SPEAKER_01: God did that through a redeemer named Boaz, a man who graciously bore the cost of rescuing that family.
SPEAKER_01: That was God's loving kindness to a family from Bethlehem so long ago.
SPEAKER_01: So we have a sentence here that tells us that this story is true.
SPEAKER_01: These people lived and experienced these things.
SPEAKER_01: These are real people who lived real lives.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a made-up story.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a sentence here that tells us that it's not just about them.
SPEAKER_01: It's about God's people.
SPEAKER_01: In the same way he visited not just Bethlehem, not just Ruth and Naomi, but all of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Because the 17th verse tells us that the women of the neighborhood gave Boaz and Ruth's son a name.
SPEAKER_01: How would you like to entrust the women of the neighborhood to name your children?
SPEAKER_01: That's what happens.
SPEAKER_01: A son has been born to Naomi, and they named him Obed.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not just about Ruth and Naomi and Obed, it's about all of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Because from Obed we get Jesse, and from Jesse we get the great King David.
SPEAKER_01: Kids, I need you to think with me for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: I know there are some kids in here tonight.
SPEAKER_01: I can hear you.
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you're here.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to think with me for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Kids, think about this.
SPEAKER_01: You know your dad.
SPEAKER_01: Most of you know your dad.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you know your granddad.
SPEAKER_01: Or your grandpa.
SPEAKER_01: Papa, however you refer to him.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe some of you know your great-granddad.
SPEAKER_01: That's your granddad's dad.
SPEAKER_01: That's four generations.
SPEAKER_01: There's a great-granddad, there's a granddad, there's a dad, and then there's you.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz is the great-granddad.
SPEAKER_01: And Ruth is the great-grandma.
SPEAKER_01: Their son was named Obed.
SPEAKER_01: Their grandson was named Jesse.
SPEAKER_01: And their great-grandson is named David.
SPEAKER_01: Boaz rescued Ruth and Naomi.
SPEAKER_01: But God would rescue all of Israel through David, the great-grandson.
SPEAKER_01: So the story of Ruth and Naomi is not just about their redemption.
SPEAKER_01: It's about a family who ends up rescuing all of Israel from the consequences of their choices.
SPEAKER_01: But that's not all.
SPEAKER_01: The final part of the story is in the very last sentence.
SPEAKER_01: It says, now these are the generations of Perez.
SPEAKER_01: Peres fathered Hezron.
SPEAKER_01: Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Aminadab, Aminadab fathered Nashon, Nashon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
SPEAKER_01: That's a long sentence.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't practice that.
SPEAKER_01: The whole story of Ruth comes down to that last sentence.
SPEAKER_01: Because it's not just about Naomi and Ruth being rescued.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just about the entire people of Israel being rescued through David.
SPEAKER_01: What we have here is a generation of people that goes all the way back to a man named Perez.
SPEAKER_01: This list of people shows us that Boaz and David, the two redeemers, are from the tribe of Judah.
SPEAKER_01: Because Perez was the son of Judah, one of Jacob's sons.
SPEAKER_01: And did you know that Judah means praise?
SPEAKER_01: So the story of Ruth ends with this little bit of a hint that God's people are to praise him for rescuing them through Boaz and David.
SPEAKER_01: The birth of a boy named Obed was the birth of hope for Ruth, for Naomi, and for all of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what does that have to do with Christmas?
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: That might be the best part of the story.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to the first part of another list of names that we find in the Gospel of Matthew.
SPEAKER_01: It says, this is the book of the genealogy of Jesus, Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
SPEAKER_01: Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah, and his brothers.
SPEAKER_01: And Judah, guess what?
SPEAKER_01: The father of Perez, and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Aminadab.
SPEAKER_01: Is it beginning to sound familiar to you?
SPEAKER_01: And Aminadab the father of Nashon, and Nashon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David, the king.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew shows us that God prepared the way for Israel's rescue through David when he redeemed Ruth through Boaz.
SPEAKER_01: And when God rescued Israel through David, he was also preparing the way to save everyone who trusts in him.
SPEAKER_01: Because if we follow down at the end of Matthew, it tells us that we get to Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ.
SPEAKER_01: My friends, if you believe in Jesus who is called the Christ, then Ruth is your story.
SPEAKER_01: The story of redemption through Boaz and through David and through Jesus who is called the Christ is your story.
SPEAKER_01: It's the story of people who lived the tragedy of going through life doing whatever they thought was best, and it's not pretty.
SPEAKER_01: Life is always complicated and tragic when it's lived without trusting God.
SPEAKER_01: But Ruth doesn't end there because it's the story of God redeeming a family who did what was right in their own eyes.
SPEAKER_01: And then the life of David is the story of God saving a nation who did what was right in their own eyes instead of trusting God.
SPEAKER_01: And Ruth and David's stories can become your stories, for Jesus is the account of God rescuing everyone who believes in Jesus from the tragedy of doing what's right in their own eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth and Naomi could believe in God's redeeming work when they held that tiny baby named Obed.
SPEAKER_01: Israel could believe in God's deliverance when David became their king.
SPEAKER_01: And Mary and Joseph could believe when they held that little baby named Jesus who would save his people from their sins.
SPEAKER_01: And you can believe that Jesus will redeem you and rescue you from the sin of going your own way.
SPEAKER_01: And you can believe because God has traced his redeeming work from Abraham to Jacob to Judah to Boaz to Obed, to David, and to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And the little village of Bethlehem is the box, if you will, containing the details of God's gift.
SPEAKER_01: Because Boaz was from Bethlehem, and Obed was born in Bethlehem, and Bethlehem was the birthplace of David, and so it became known as the city of David.
SPEAKER_01: And so it was when the time came for God to send the ultimate redeemer, he would do so in tiny little Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_01: For we read that after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, the king's city, saying, Where is he who has been born, king of the Jews?
SPEAKER_01: We saw his star when it rose, and we've come to worship him.
SPEAKER_01: When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, and assembling the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them, Where is this Messiah to be born?
SPEAKER_01: And they told him, Naturally, in Bethlehem of Judea.
SPEAKER_01: For it is written by the prophet, and you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.
SPEAKER_01: My friends, the children's song reminds us that Jesus loves us.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because the Bible tells us so.
SPEAKER_01: My friends, this Christmas, remember that God sent a savior from the little village of Bethlehem to rescue you from doing what's right in your own eyes when you trust in this infant.
SPEAKER_01: Because the Bible tells you so.
SPEAKER_01: He laid it all out in a list of names, all from the little village of Bethlehem to show you here's the worthy Redeemer who came to give his life for you.
SPEAKER_01: Trust in Jesus, your Redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: Would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, we give you thanks and praise on this Christmas Eve that we can give all of the praise.
SPEAKER_01: That you, a descendant of Judah, is the one worthy of all praise and all glory and all honor.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you that you would be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophets foretold.
SPEAKER_01: So that we could look to you for our redemption.
SPEAKER_01: May you be the recipient of all of our praise, all of our thanks, and all of the honor as the most worthy of all redeemers.
SPEAKER_01: For it's you we praise.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.