Amen. Right, so the last chapter of the Book of Ruth. I've enjoyed going through
this book. In chapters one to three, if you remember, just a little recap, we had
Elimelech and Naomi went into the land of Moab. If you remember, it was in a
time of famine and they left, went into the land of Moab with their two sons and
then Elimelech died, the two sons died as well, but before they died they'd
married these two women, Orpah and Ruth. Now, basically when they died they left,
they left three widows, they left Naomi, Orpah and Ruth and one of those, Ruth, ends up
going back with Naomi back to Israel, having been in Moab, back to
Jerusalem, sorry, back to Bethlehem and she ends up working the field in harvest
time, she's trying to help out and provide, help provide for Naomi. She meets
Boaz, so he's this wealthy landowner, he's an upright guy, he's kind to her, he says
he's going to reward her. Ruth then offers herself in marriage to Boaz, if
you remember that, we saw that in the last chapter and he says in Ruth chapter
three, so if you just go back to chapter three and verse 12, he said, and now it is
true that I am thy near kinsman, howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. So
there's a closer family member of Elimelech and Marlon specifically here,
his son, verse 13, he says, tarry this night and it shall be in the morning, that
if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman well, let him do the kinsman's
part, but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part
of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth, lie down until the morning. So she goes
home to Naomi, he tells her to now wait and see what happens and that's where
we got to at the end of chapter three. Let's have a word of prayer before
we get going. Father I thank you, I thank you for this book in the Bible, I thank
you for the lessons it's been teaching us, the pictures, the illustrations we're
seeing in it and I pray that you just help me to preach this last chapter just
accurately, boldly, effectively, just help everyone here to stay awake and to just
just be alert, to listen to your word and and just bless us all please as well
while we hear what your words got to say. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Okay so verse one there in chapter four it says, Then went Boaz up to the gate
and sat him down there and behold the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by, under
whom he said, Ho, such a one! Turn aside, sit down here! And he turned aside and
sat down. Now the gate is the entry and exit of the city so it's a bit of a
meeting place isn't it? You're going to see people coming and going to work
outside of the walls, so outside of where really the majority of them are going to
be dwelling, to go work you know obviously in the fields a lot it's going
to be, so Boaz goes there to sit down and wait to see this kinsman, this
family member. I like the greeting there as well don't you? Ho, such a one! Turn
aside, sit down here! So yeah, ho, such a one! That's how Boaz addresses
him so he gets him to sit down. Now verse two, And he took ten men of the elders of
the city and said, Sit ye down here! And they sat down. Now elders in the Old
Testament being men of authority, okay, these are men of authority. Verse three,
And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi that is come again out of the
country of Moab, selleth a past of land, which is our brother Elimelech's, and I
thought to advertise you, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, before the
elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it, but if thou wilt not redeem
it, then tell me that I may know for there is none to redeem it beside thee.
And I am after thee, and he said, I will redeem it. So what's going on here? Well
turn to Leviticus 25. If families fell into hard times in the nation of Israel
and needed to sell their inherited land, it would first be offered to family
members to then keep it within the family. Okay, so Leviticus chapter 25, we
see this spelled out in verse 25, Leviticus 25, 25, where it says, If thy
brother be waxen poor, and have sold away some of his possession, and if any of his
kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. Now
brother being family here, he says here, and if any of his kin, so obviously it's
referring to to family here. Now remember that the children of Israel were given
the land as an inheritance, weren't they? God didn't want certain families and
maybe then tribes to eventually lose their right to the land, did he? Okay,
Elimelech here would have had some land, but obviously it was
useless to Naomi without the wherewithal to farm it, wasn't it?
Boaz is doing the honest thing, he's offering it to, you know, the land
first as this guy's a closer family member. So I think in a way you're
probably doing well to be able to just purchase land, aren't you there? Because
they're not just all buying and selling land the whole time because it's
an inheritance. So it's a good thing, isn't it, for him in terms of from his
point of view from this this kinsman here. Verse 5,
Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy
it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the
dead upon his inheritance. So I should have said maybe just keep a finger
in Leviticus 25 because it's easy then to go to Deuteronomy 25. So go to
Deuteronomy 25, which we looked at briefly last week. So as with the land
God made a way for the family name to continue as well. So if you look at
Deuteronomy 25 and from verse 5, Deuteronomy 25 5, the instruction is this,
If brethren dwell together and one of them die and have no child, the wife of
the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger, her husband's brother
shall go in unto her and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an
husband's brother unto her. So as we just saw in Leviticus 25, brother being a
family member here, but verse 6, And it shall be that the firstborn which he
bearers shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be
not put out of Israel. So the name of the dead relative is continued there, you can
see through the firstborn son. But this is optional as we're seeing in Ruth. Look
at verse 7, And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his
brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders and say, My husband's brother
refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the
duty of my husband's brother. Then the elders of his city shall call him and
speak unto him, and if he stand to it and say, I like not to take her, then shall
his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his
shoe from off his foot, spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be
done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house, and his name
shall be called in Israel the house of him that have his shoe loosed. So an
extra incentive there to do the right thing. If not, you're going to be spat at,
you're going to be mocked, you're going to be, your name's going to be kind of at
least at least mocked to some degree by others. Okay, verse 6. Sorry, back to
back to Ruth there and look at verse 6. So this is the this is the instruction
here. They do still have the option. And look at verse 6, And the kinsman said, I
cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance. Redeem thou my
right to thyself, for I cannot redeem it. So this other family member still
refuses because he doesn't want to risk ruining his own inheritance, he's saying
here. Now, perhaps he's concerned that maybe he won't have another son if he
does have one after that to carry on his family name. Now, let's stop for a point
here. So these first few verses, these six verses, if you remember in the last
chapter, we saw many pictures of Christ in Boaz, if you remember that in Chapter
3. Okay, so we saw Boaz representing Jesus Christ. And you remember, if you
remember, we looked at how she came to Boaz to ask him to redeem her. Yeah, you
have to go to Jesus and ask him to redeem you, don't you? Okay. And that just
comes by calling on the name of the Lord in faith. Well, in the last six verses,
there's also another picture here. If anyone's seen this before, Boaz is still
that picture of Christ, isn't he? The nearer kinsman represents the law, the
old covenant. So verse 1, we saw there, it said, Then went Boaz up to the gate,
sat him down, and behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by unto him, he
said, Ho, such one, turn aside, sit down. Okay, so that near kinsman, he
represents the law. Now, verse 2, and he took ten men of the elders of the city.
The law is basically summarised in the Ten Commandments, isn't it? Hence the ten
witnesses in verse 2. Now look at verse 3, and he said unto the kinsman, Naomi,
that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth the parts of the land that was
our brother Elimelech. So look at verse 4, and I thought to advertise, he's saying,
but before the inhabitants, before the elders of my people, if thou wilt redeem
it, redeem it, but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me. I may know, for there's none
to redeem beside thee, and I am after thee, and he said, I will redeem it. So the near
kinsman, picturing the law, is able to redeem land and possessions. Okay, the law
was able to keep them in the land, wasn't it? Was to basically redeem the land, but,
look at verse 5, then said Boaz, what day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi,
thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead, to raise up the
name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it
for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance, redeem thou my right to thy
self, for I cannot redeem it. The law is unable, the law is unable to redeem to
save people, right? Okay, so you've got the picture there, the law, and then you've
got the picture of Jesus Christ, who is able to redeem and to save people,
because the law is unable to save you, isn't it? Okay, no one is saved by the
law. You don't have to turn to Galatians 2, 16, says, knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of
the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Okay, and I hope
everyone here understands that, that the law cannot, cannot justify you. It's not
happening because we've all sinned to come short the glory of God, haven't we?
Okay, every single person here has sinned, every single person here will continue
to sin. We have all sinned. John 1-8 says, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Okay, not, not, it's not just what I have,
but now, now that you're saved, you can, you're gonna have to be perfect. Now, no,
look, we all have sinned, okay? We all continue to sin. The law cannot save you,
the law cannot justify you. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1. There's only one way
that we're getting redeemed, and it's not through the law, and Boaz is a picture of
that Redeemer, isn't he? Okay, Boaz is a picture of that Redeemer, and Ephesians
chapter 1 and verse 7, talking of Jesus Christ, says, Ephesians 1-7, in whom we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the
riches of his grace, because it's his blood that redeems us, isn't it? It's his
grace that's bestowed upon us. Now, how often do you get people who say, what, are
you saying you can just live how you want? Are you just saying you can live
how you want now, because you're saved? Well, no, you shouldn't live how you want,
but where's your line? Where is your line? Because that's, I mean, I don't know,
probably a lot of you will say, saying, what's your line then? So what is it? Oh,
well, you can't just do what you want. So, so, what is your line? There is no line, is
there? You're either saved by the blood of Jesus Christ or you're not, because
there's no, well, it depends on the sin, it depends how extreme. There is no line.
Ephesians 1-13, while you're there, look at verse 13, says, talking about Christ, in
whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that
Holy Spirit of promise. You're sealed, okay? You're sealed. Nothing's changing
that. The Holy Spirit comes in, he's not going back out, okay? You are sealed with
that Holy Spirit of promise, isn't it? I mean, that's an amazing truth, isn't it?
And sometimes it's good to be reminded of this, because you will get, you know, the
devil wants to try and get you a little bit doubting, the devil wants to try and
get you to, oh, damn, I really, is it really eternal? But, you know, when you're
saved, you know, but you'll still get those doubts sometimes, different people,
sometimes that might be something they find harder, other things will be,
things that they find harder, but the Bible says you're sealed, you're sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise. When you're sealed until, until the day of
redemption. Look at Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30 says,
Ephesians 4 30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto
the day of redemption. He redeemed us with his blood, he paid it, he redeemed us
with his blood, we believed, and then the Holy Spirit seals us into the day of
redemption. And, yeah, we don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit, because the Holy
Spirit's going to stay in you and we don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit in us, but
you can grieve the Holy Spirit, can't you, otherwise we wouldn't be told not to, but you
are sealed, you are sealed with that Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption,
because, look, there's nothing about the law, past, present or future, that's going
to save you, that's going to redeem you, okay. The kinsman, the law cannot redeem
us, that's what, that's what that picture is there, he cannot, he says, I cannot, the
law cannot save you, but what the law can do is show you how you need a redeemer,
can't it? The law can show you that you need Jesus Christ, but it cannot save you
itself, and Boaz, the picture here is of Jesus Christ, is the only one that's able
to redeem us, right. That's why Romans, you don't have to turn to 3, Romans chapter 3 23, we
know, says, for all have sinned and come short the glory of God, but verse 24 says,
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, it's the only way, isn't it, and it's free. Back to, back to Ruth there, back to
Ruth chapter 4, so it's a picture there of the law, the law cannot redeem us, and
the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself,
Ruth 4 6, lest I mar mine own inheritance, redeem thou my right to thyself, for I cannot
redeem it. So is it time now for the shoe loosing and spitting? It should be, but
Ruth, Ruth isn't there is she, and Boaz is there to step in, she's not, she's not the
one there threatening him, you know, hacking up greenies and stuff, so it's
Boaz there, so maybe it doesn't call for it because it's a woman we saw that does
that when we looked, looked back in Deuteronomy 25, and look at verse 7, now
this was a manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and
concerning changing, and changing here is exchanging, for to confirm all things a
man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor, and this was a testimony in
Israel. So this was a manner, it's not saying it's a law is it, this was a
manner, so kind of like a tradition, which doesn't mean it's automatically wrong, I
mean we all do things at traditions don't we, I mean some of this church
service is a tradition that we do, that we believe is God honouring, but it's not
necessarily spelled out, this is exactly the format you have to do, this is a
tradition, this is something they do here, some might, you know, you could probably,
there's probably a picture there to be honest, that I'm not so sure about, but it's
basically like a signed statement isn't it, it's a signed statement, no one could
say that he didn't agree to this, as he gave his shoe in front of witnesses
didn't he, okay, well does this fit your foot, maybe put it on his foot like
Cinderella or something, but okay, so he's not gonna be able to get out of it,
therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, buy it for thee, so he drew off his shoe, and
Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, ye are witnesses this day that
I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Kylian's and Marlon's, of
the hand of Naomi, now remember that, you know, Kylian and Marlon were the names of
Naomi and Elimelech's sons, okay, so that's what they're talking about here,
moreover Ruth, the mower by Tess, the wife of Marlon, have I purchased to be my wife,
to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, the name of the dead be
not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place, ye are
witnesses this day, so he's saying that by purchasing the field, he's also acting
as a kinsman redeemer of Ruth, verse 11, and all the people that were in the gate
and the elders said, we are witnesses, the Lord make the woman that is coming to
thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which too did build the house of Israel,
and do thou worthy in Ephrata, and be famous in Bethlehem, Ephrata is the
ancient name of Bethlehem, they're just interchanging it here, but they're
basically giving their blessing here aren't they, saying we hope that God
makes Ruth like Jacob's wives, it says here like Rachel and Leah, who along with
their handmaids, by the way, were the mothers of the twelve tribes, yeah, notice
how they said which two did build the house of Israel, and Israel being Jacob's
name given by God after wrestling with him, if you remember Genesis 32 28,
you don't have to turn there, but it says, and he said thy name shall be called no
more Jacob but Israel, for as a prince has our power with God and with men and
has prevailed, so I think it's literal meaning something like who prevails with
God, prevail being more like endures rather than defeats, okay, but even though
it's Jacob that as a prince has power with God and men and has prevailed or
endured, as we just saw here, who built the house of Israel, did it just say, who
built the house of Israel, yeah, Rachel and Leah built the house of Israel, and
no they didn't literally lay brick, although maybe if they, you know, had
their loins girded with strength, maybe they could have laid some brick, but they
didn't literally lay brick, but they carried in pregnancy, they fed, they cared
for, and raised the house of Israel, didn't they, now the first bit is hard
enough, isn't it, pregnancy is hard enough, I've heard a rumour it's pretty tough,
I'm no expert myself, but I've been around pregnant women a little bit and
and it looks pretty tough, okay, that bit's hard enough, isn't it, and carrying a
baby for nine months and all those changes and all, look, it looks tough, okay,
let's be honest, it looks tough, and what a responsibility it is as well, isn't it,
they built the house of Israel from start to finish, it's a massive
responsibility, isn't it, a precious baby being carried inside that mother, it's
it's one of the miracles, isn't it, that I think everyone when they go, you know, I
think, you know, you talk to men when they've witnessed the first ever birth
they've seen, it's pretty, pretty amazing, isn't it, men, and look, it's an amazing
thing, it's, and what a responsibility that women are entrusted with a baby
that literally from conception relies completely upon their mother, okay,
relies a hundred percent on their mother, they're entrusted with that baby, with
that new life, with that precious life, yeah, you know, children are a heritage
of the Lord, okay, so they're given by God, they're entrusted with that baby and
that, interesting, can continue for many, many years where they're basically still
completely reliant on their mother, for some it probably goes on too long, and
you probably see in this nation today many grown men that are still completely
reliant on their mother, but look, women are entrusted with that, and that is some
sacrifices, isn't it, okay, that's a sacrifice and we can often maybe just
look over that as men can't, we, well, I've still got to go to work, but no, that
that's a sacrifice, they sacrifice their body, they sacrifice, you know, so much,
their time, their sleep, a lot of the time as well, don't they, the amount of care
that has to be given to that baby and to multiple babies from beginning to end, is
there anything demeaning about that, anything demeaning about being entrusted
with that, it's not, is it, nothing demeaning at all about that, in fact it's
the opposite, isn't it, like what an amazing thing to be entrusted with, yet
we live in a backwards world where it's almost apparently demeaning to talk
about what an amazing thing that is to do, that somehow that women, it's
demeaning to talk about, not to talk about that strength and not just imagine
and pretend that they have the same strengths as men, but that is a strength
to be able to do that, isn't it, because a woman, look, a woman is entrusted
with something that a man isn't entrusted to do, yeah, and a lot of the
time I would say it's probably a bit more demeaning, some of the donkey work
that we've all probably done and continue to do at work, literally putting
things from A to B and whatever else and lifting things and just typing something
on it, because it's not really that glamorous, is it, most of your working
life, contrary to popular belief, yet in some way we have this twisted, mixed-up
world where people almost act as if a woman raising a child, that's, you
know, that's kind of a simple thing and how demeaning to suggest that's all
that they're suited to, but they are suited to it, aren't they, in fact
they're more than suited to us, they're made for it, aren't they, okay, they're
entrusted with precious lives, precious lives which maybe that should be told to
those murderous whores down at the abortion clinics, that it's a precious
life that they've been entrusted with by God, and if we men want to have houses of
believers to be that happy man that have his quiver full of them, we need to look
after the builders, don't we, yeah, look after your builder, because when you get
the builders in, and just let's go into an analogy of builders here, when you get
the builders in, if any of you have ever had builders in your home, and maybe, you
know, nowadays it's probably harder to own your own home and do all that, that
maybe, you know, the previous generations did from a bit younger, but when you do
get the builders in, or you've seen people get the builders in, it's a good
thing to be nice to the builders, isn't it, because when you're not nice to the
builders, you end up with bad builders, and you end up with bad building, don't
you, and there's nothing worse than having unhappy builders in your home,
because you get to end up with a bit of a mess of a house, aren't you, and you've
got to be nice to them, and I don't know, if you've ever had workmen, and I've
done, you know, I've done that sort of work for many years, especially in
gardens and stuff, and it's nice when, you know, when they're looking after you,
they're getting the tea and biscuits in, and I remember I had this one, one lady, I
still remember her name now, Mrs. Goodison, yeah, she was a dear old lady, and she
used to bring out a cup of tea and a biscuit on the hour, every hour, okay, you
actually didn't even have to look at your watch, because you knew she was
coming out on the hour, every hour, and I was like, look, I can't, I can't drink that much tea, and she'd be like, oh, please, but she was such a sweet old lady, that you would
do anything for her, did she ask you for an, oh, you wouldn't mind just laying a
couple of extra slabs down, sure, no problem, Mrs. Goodison, you wouldn't
charge her a penny more, I remember her son actually ringing me up, saying, thank
you for looking after my mum, and I said, no, she'd be looking after me, she'd be in a
pleasure to work for, she'd be nothing but nice to me, she looked after her, in
effect, builder, and, look, if you've ever done that sort of work, you know, because there's
different ends of the spectrum, aren't there, there's people that treat you like you're
absolute dirt, like you're just scum, you're something they've trodden in, do you want
to do a good job for them, does it inspire you, does it motivate you, no, but, look, I
think it's the same with wives, you've got to look after your builders, men, yeah, okay,
so, those of you that have wives, those of you that are hoping to have wives in the future, look
after your builders, you've got to look after them, you've got, you've got to make
them want to do a good job, don't you, you want to make them happy, you want to care
for them, you want to, you want to provide what they need to do the job right, but you
can also go too far with builders, as well, okay, so, if you, again, if you've ever done
that sort of work, or had the builders in, look, you, you can get the builder in, and
then you can just start letting them do what they like, yeah, you can get the builder in,
and you can just kind of, oh, yeah, you just tell me what needs doing, you know, next thing
you know, you've got this huge bill, next thing you know, the builder's taking liberties,
they're there for a year, when you only got them in for a five-minute job, and they're
dreaming up more and more, telling you what needs to be done, yeah, the people, people
get that, don't they, you know, get taken advantage of by the builders, because there's
a fine balance to achieve, isn't there, okay, get the builder in, but you're still the boss,
yeah, don't let the builder forget that, and that's the same, that's the same, I believe,
you know, look, your wives, you got to look after them, you got to take care of them,
but you've also got to still make sure that you're the boss there, don't you, okay, and that's how
God's Word spells it out, there's a fine balance to achieve, but you can have a successful,
you can have a successful builder, yeah, who's going to build your house, and going to be a
happy builder, which is what you want, and the lesson to be learnt from that is, husbands love
your builders, okay, husbands love your builders, but look, because the joking aside, joking aside,
women are entrusted with such a job, aren't they, okay, and we want to look, we want to remember
that, I want to remember, you know, what they're doing, what a massive responsibility they're
taking on, and what they're given, and we want them to, we want them to be happy during that,
don't we, as well, okay, and they're going to do, they're going to be, ultimately be able to do a
much better job if they're happy at the same time while they're doing it, okay, but like I said,
there's a fine balance there, now look at verse 12 there, they said, and let thy house be like
the house of Phares, whom Tamar bear unto Judah of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this
young woman, so Tamar, like Ruth, was widowed after Judah's two sons die, and if you know the story,
she basically, she waits for Judah's next son to do the role of a kinsman, that Judah promises him
he will, the youngest son, but it never happens, so she ends up tricking Judah into thinking that
she's a harlot and conceives by him and gives birth to two twins, one being Phares that they
just talked about here, okay, the point here being that she was also in effect redeemed by a kinsman,
wasn't she, okay, it was in a bizarre indirect way and there was a load of scheming, it's quite
a crazy story there, but the point I think they're making here is that she was redeemed by a kinsman
and then what went on after that, rather than that she played the harlot, okay, so I don't think
they're trying to knock poor Ruth here, they said, and let thy house be like the house of
Phares, whom Tamar bear unto Judah of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman,
but from Phares there was then Hezron and Hamel in Hezron's line and then there was like,
there was this Narshen that was prince of the children of Judah, so I don't know if you're aware
of that and by the way this is Boaz's grandfather, okay, so they're talking about
Phares and the house of Phares which he came from and I was looking back at this and basically he
was the head of the tribe of Judah at the time when it had an army of 186,400 men, okay, and this
guy was the head of that, so this was, he was Boaz's grandfather, he was obviously quite a big deal,
wasn't he, and bearing in mind that Bethlehem was part of the tribe of Judah, they're saying, look,
they're all aware of this, aren't they, they're aware, you know, genealogies obviously were well
talked about then and they're saying, you know, let God bless you, you know, and have a successful
family, okay, and continue on that successful line, okay, now look at verse 13. So Boaz took
Ruth and she was his wife and when he went in unto her the Lord gave her conception
and she bare a son. Who gave her conception? The Lord. Well, was it just in this instance to be in
the line of Christ, is that why it was the Lord? Well, you have to turn in Genesis 33.5, Jacob
talks about the children which God hath graciously given thy servant, talking about himself. Again,
you don't have to turn them in Isaiah 8.18, Isaiah says behold I and the children whom the Lord
have given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in
Mount Zion and of course famous Psalm, Psalm 127 verse 3 says lo children are in heritage of the
Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Turn to Matthew chapter 5. So God obviously gives us
children, doesn't he, and it's something that I've often thought about as well
and it does kind of, when God's given you that child, it does add an extra importance,
doesn't it, I think, to raise your child but something I used to think about is well, what
about the wicked in life that have children? You ever wondered that before? I wonder when they're
literally just complete reprobates and they're given children. Well, what's that about? And
it's something I used to think about, I think it's explained in Matthew 5 and from verse 43,
it says you have heard that it has been said thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy
but I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and
pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. By the way it's talking about your
own personal enemies, they're not enemies of God. That you may be the children of your father which
is in heaven for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. So the unsaved get to live life too,
don't they? They benefit from the blessings of life as we do. It just said there, didn't it,
in verse 45 for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust. So they live and then it still ultimately comes down to faith, doesn't it? And
for them they get to still live life and people can see them living life and see them seeming to
get children and everything else but as saved people, as God's children, the blessings in life
come from God, don't they? Now look at verse 14, back to Ruth there, back to Ruth 4 and verse 14.
And the women said unto Naomi blessed be the Lord which has not left thee this day without
a kinsman that his name may be famous in Israel and he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life
and a nourisher of thine old age for thy daughter-in-law which loveth thee which is
better to thee than seven sons hath borne him. Now for me that sounds prophetic about Jesus Christ
as notice that they're talking about the child not Boaz, you see that there? So they said blessed
be the law which has not left thee this day without a kinsman that his name may be famous
in Israel and he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life and a nourisher of thine old age
for thy daughter-in-law which loveth thee which is better than seven sons hath borne him.
So obviously that's not talking about Boaz there, is it? He shall be a restorer of thy life,
a nourisher of thine old age. And who's the child in the line of? He's in the line of David who is
in the line of Christ, yeah? So the only way that Naomi could have real redemption eternal life is
through faith in the coming Christ. That's what I see, I think that's prophetic there.
And he is, he's a restorer of our lives, he's a nourisher of our old age.
But also see how Ruth is described as being better than seven sons. She says which is better to thee
than seven sons? And just a reminder here that Ruth wasn't raised in a religious home was she?
Ruth is a Moabites, okay? Ruth is a Moabites and she is better to her than seven sons and these
are talking about sons in Israel and people that have the word of God that are God's people
and she's saying that Ruth is better to thee than seven sons. Because look, there can be a
temptation as pretty much I would say almost I think everyone here is what you'd call a first
generation Christian to sit here or go about our life and say well yeah but I wasn't raised
a Christian. Well you know well it's well I'm never going to be that good because I wasn't
raised in a Christian home. Well almost to excuse, excuse certain sins, excuse certain ways we behave
because well we won't raise Christians so I've obviously had a bad start in life so I'm just
doing the best I can now and I'll see how I do. But look how Ruth turned out. Ruth here was just
an example to everyone. Ruth here is still an example to us to this day. She was a Moabite,
wasn't she? Yeah. Okay and I think that's a weak excuse because let's be honest whether you're a
Christian or not you know wrong is wrong don't you? Amen. Don't you? Yeah. You know when you're
sinning you know you're sinning really. Yes. Okay the law's written on our hearts really isn't it?
We know. Yeah okay we don't know all the final points. Yeah we're not getting it preached week
in week out and there's a thing on the flip side as well we want to also not expect perfection for
my children either yeah. Well you've been raised in a church so you know the standards up here
for you. Yeah look we want to have high standards for our children but we've got to expect them to
sin because foolishness is bound in the heart of a child yeah. Okay but but we don't have some
we don't have some get out. We don't have some buy oh well you're only saved later in life.
Hey you saved later in life so you got some catching up to do. Okay Ruth did some catching
up didn't she? Okay Ruth ends up being a great example. Ruth isn't going well I'm a Moabite
test so hey ho. Hey ho well I made a promise to Naomi but I'm from Moab you know we break promises
okay and Moab does break promises yeah at least at least they're not very nice to Israel when
they're trying to come through there okay but look they're not very loyal they're not they're
not particularly they weren't exactly the sort of people that God wanted as as as an example
of people were they but Ruth didn't use that as an excuse yeah we've got to make sure as Christians
we don't use that as an excuse yeah a lot of us have had a bad start some people have had terrible
starts in life some people have had terrible lives some people have had wicked lives some
people have had terrible parenting some people have had all sorts but you're saved you're saved
and second crisis 517 says therefore if any man be in Christ is a new creature all things
are passed away behold all things are become new let's get that let's get that in our heads
and try and get right you know I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me
and and yeah I'm not saying no one here is going to be perfect yeah and and look it's a shame
because it'd be nice to be perfect wouldn't it I'd like to be perfect but none of us are and
none of us will be but you know what let's not go back to excuses of what happened in our past
because we are a new creature in Christ and we should try and live right shouldn't we okay
we have the word of God here if you're thinking well I had such a bad so we'll read your bible
more then yeah read your bible more and play more yeah catch up even quicker and get up to speed
quicker and listen to more preaching come to church and go out so many more because you had
to work because you had a bad start yeah how about that how about instead of well you know I was like
well it's just that's the way I am yeah well I was raised like that not good enough and Ruth
Ruth obviously is a great example of that verse 16 and they only took the child and laid it in
her bosom and became nurse unto it now that sounds like she's breastfeeding the child too doesn't it
okay and other people try and explain this away that well actually it's a spiritual nurse it
maybe maybe is a picture of a spiritual nursing as well okay now before I preach this I quickly
went out to my wife to double check this because I didn't want to sound silly yeah because I'm no
expert on breastfeeding but apparently it's possible to breastfeed as a wet nurse even
after the menopause does anyone want to contend this with me okay good because if you want to I'm
just going to go okay because I don't really know but apparently it is apparently you know because
we don't know Naomi is here but I'd imagine she's coming on in age a little bit she definitely
wasn't out in the field gleaning maybe she just couldn't be bothered she just thought she'd let
Ruth do it all but I think she's probably got a bit of age now but it looks to me she says
that Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and became nurse unto it so it looks like that
she's she's basically a wet nurse here um and like I said it could be a picture of spiritually
nursing the child as well I look at verse 17 and the women her neighbours gave it a name saying
there is a son born to Naomi they called his name Obed here's the father of Jesse the father of
David um okay they said there is a son born to Naomi and there's a point here as well because
as we get older and sometimes we think about this more and some of us who are probably on on the
wrong side of 40 and and going on going on some years and and maybe for women as well
probably especially for women you can start to look and think well I'm you know I'm not
going to be as effective I've you know I'm kind of losing losing those best years and everything
else but we can still we can still do things for God can't we we can still be a help we can still
be something else and some people some some people do fine it feels a bit weird they could
have that like midlife crisis they don't really feel young anymore and they're kind of wondering
what their place is what their future is going to be but here we see Naomi she's laying it in
her bosom she becomes nurse as a child she was some widower that needed Ruth to provide for her
now she's doing you know she's basically giving something back isn't she and we can all there's
always stuff we can do isn't there okay we can always be be effective we can always be a help
to others we can always we can always be a worker for God can't we in some way or another okay and
here we see that that with Naomi they say there is a son born to Naomi and they called his name
Obed he is the father of Jesse the father of David so Obed ends up being David's grandfather
yeah which makes Burrows and Ruth great grandfather and great grandmother to King David
so you see obviously where this story fits in now you see why it's in there I mean obviously we've
just seen our hope for the last few weeks you've seen all the many reasons that this story's in
there because like I said it's easy to read the story just gloss over so much we just see this
quick story okay yeah it was in the line of David but there's so much in there now look at verse 18
now these are the generations of Phares Phares begat Hezron and Hezron begat Ram and Ram begat
Amminadab and Amminadab begat Naashon and Naashon begat Salmon and Salmon begat Boaz and Boaz begat
Obed and Obed begat Jesse and Jesse begat David I had a guy a while back
tell me that Jesus Christ was of the purest bloodline of Israel okay now this was basically
like the white version of the like kind of the black Hebrew roots movement type of people yeah
so he was just like he was like the pure bloodline and everything else I was like you do realize that
Ruth was from Moab and it kind of silenced him a bit there I was like what are you talking about
yeah but people love it they just love it they're so calm they love to get back to bloodlines
genetics you know race and everything else well Ruth was from Moab she was some pure bloodline
of Israel but yes the line from Abraham through Judah through David to Jesus Christ was important
wasn't it to fulfill the promise of Abraham's seed to get to Jesus Christ turn to Galatians 3
because that seed was Jesus Christ wasn't it I think Galatians chapter 3
it was another one obviously of the many qualifying you know the qualifications of Jesus Christ but
it stopped there didn't it Galatians 3 28 29 that's why it says there is neither Jew nor Greek
there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus
and if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise
that's why from Jesus Christ the genealogies aren't important anymore are they
anyone seen a genealogy after after that any genealogies in the New Testament going on and
then from Jesus Christ or obviously not from him but from this one came this it doesn't matter
no one cares anymore it's done isn't it there aren't any post-Christ are there any post-Christ
genealogies no they're done and why because that's all it was about it was about Jesus Christ it was
about the Savior it was about the Christ it wasn't about some special chosen people called Jews
was it and look we were out today and we were knocking some doors down a road and it was next
to some sort of you know covert synagogue wasn't it it had nothing about a bigger synagogue it was
like this sort of blank industrial building the only reason you knew it was a synagogue because
you had all sorts of bizarre outfits going in and out of there curly hair and all this weird stuff
yeah and look look those those people sure as hell are no children of God okay and look I'm
probably I'm gearing up for another sermon on that because that stuff needs preaching a lot
because it's such a it's such a heresy isn't it yeah it's such a heresy it's such a lie that these
wicked blasphemers these god haters are somehow some sort of genetic line is is just laughable
but I still think that a lot of Christians are still kind of pulled into the genetic part
you hear it a lot and good preachers and stuff a lot of the time we'll kind of talk about well
as if they're still like some sort of genetic Jews but obviously the genetics don't matter anymore
like what genetics what how wet like it doesn't make any sense does it most of them are converts
to a wicked religion that's the truth of it isn't it because look at what point can you go back and
go well the genetics because if you do any DNA testing they all basically go back to Ashkenazi
isn't don't know that the the Jews of of kind of Eastern Europe it's absolute nonsense because
it's a religion it's a religion that they claim now they're passing on through a genetic line
but none of that's important that's why how you have Christians still looking at genetic lines
look at or trying to talk about the genie this one's obviously of the tribe of it's always
Judah anyway isn't it I remember asking this this guy once this pastor I said well so who
are the 12 you know the 12 tribes what are you talking about they have to well god knows god
knows who they are what are you talking about what god knows they're people that are still
apparently a hundred percent of each of the 12 tribes what a load of nonsense and ultimately
they'll just call everyone that claims a Jew to be part of the 12 tribes talking about 144,000 this
guy well I know the 144,000 what are you talking about it's such a fable isn't it and that's why
we're told to avoid fables and endless genealogies okay avoid them there's but in the Old Testament
they're important weren't they okay in the Old Testament they're interesting they're important
you can see a lot from them obviously especially when it comes to the line of Christ and we see
that here but from now on we don't there's nothing to to worry about with that anymore and
on that there you have the book of Ruth yeah the book of Ruth and um yeah I've enjoyed that I've
enjoyed going through the book of Ruth seen some some stuff in there that I'd never seen before
as I went through it slowly and look I'd encourage you as well you know for me it's hard to fit in
other stuff to do other than when you know preparing for for the church sermons but look
if you've got time go through stuff go through some books slowly go through some some passages
slowly go through some of your favorite parts of the Bible slowly if you want even in your head
start writing a sermon on it and try and break down the verses because wow stuff opens up doesn't
it stuff opens up when you go through it slowly you see things that maybe you didn't before you
start to see like I said they're like you get the pictures of Christ you get just little tidbits in
there little kind of teachings and stuff which are hard to get when you're reading over it quickly
yeah so yeah something for me you know that I think you know hopefully everyone's benefited
from going through it slowly we'll continue to do the Bible studies um I think they're brilliant
um and they're in a way a bit of a contrast of sometimes some of the morning type preaching as
well um but yeah that's the book of Ruth um I hope you've all enjoyed it too on that let's pray
Father I thank you for for your word I thank you for this church I thank you for this day
thank you that we're all able to to have a day another day in your house um that we're able to
praise you and to hear what your word says to us and pray that um you help us as men here to to
appreciate appreciate the women of this world appreciate you know all the not not just our
wives but other mothers out there and just just the sacrifices the responsibility that they carry
on a on a day-to-day basis something that if it was if it was given to us we we would fail
miserably probably right away at the first hurdle of pregnancy but we thank you that that you know
that you've made women so capable of doing that and help us to appreciate that help us to care
for them help us to honor them um and help us also though to still lead and still still
be be be the rulers of our house and and to just just be the sort of men that you want us to be in
life and um I pray that you help us to to to have a good week this week to to all you know keep you
at the center of our of our week not just kind of drift away from you before coming back here next
sunday help us to to preach the gospel this week as well and to then all return safely
and soundly next week for another day in your house in Jesus name we pray all of this amen