Ruth

Buck Braswell

Old Testament Survey • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Ruth 1–4

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Survey of the Book of Ruth

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I. Author and Setting.

A. Author

The author of Ruth is unknown.

II. The Doctrine of Suffering.

Some scholars offer up the possibility that Samuel or Solomon could have written the book of Ruth, however due to the date of writing. Neither one is probable. It is best to just accept and unknown authorship and trust that the Spirit inspired whomever he willed to give us this story and that the book is historically reliable, because of the content and ecclesiological acceptance of the book as canonical.

That brings us to the...

B. Recipients and Date

The book of Ruth was written around 1010-970 B.C. to the people of Israel.

C. What Type of Genre? Historical Narrative

The genre of the book of Ruth is historical narrative in the form of a short story. The book contains a simple plot that revolves around three main characters: Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz (Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The Reformation Study Bible)

Leon Morris writes,

Judges and Ruth: An Introduction and Commentary Introduction

The book of Judges tells of war and strife, but this is a quiet story of ordinary people going about their quiet lives. In one way it is a tale of two women. It relates how one of them, Naomi, underwent much hardship, but eventually won through to peace and security. It tells how the other, Ruth, attached herself firmly to her mother-in-law and to her mother-in-law’s God and how she received the blessing of that God. But most of all the book is a book about God. It deals with unimportant people and unimportant matters. But it deals with them in such a way as to show that God is active in the affairs of men. He works his purpose out and blesses them that trust him.

In other words, the book of Ruth is about God’s redemptive plan. The book of Ruth provides a historical example of a type of redeemer who saved a women and her family from famine and death while at the same time pointing us to the True Redeemer that would save His people from around the world from bondage to sin and the destruction that it brings.

Let’s consider....

II. Main Themes and Doctrines

A. Main Characters

Yahweh, Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz

There is no doubt that Ruth, Naomi and Boaz are the central character of the story. But there is no doubt that the LORD is in control of the story. We see the Providence of God in:

Suffering

Feasting

Salvation

Marriage

Protection and ultimately

Preparing the way in which Christ would come.

B. The Doctrine of Suffering.

Famine:

Ruth 1:1 ESV

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

The first five verses of the book of Ruth reveal to us the reality, certainty, and severity of suffering that was happening in the book of Ruth. We see first of all it was happening in the days of the judges when we know that everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. So famine came in Judah so Elimelech took his wife and two sons and decided to go out to Moab and find food. Instead of seeking and trusting in God the Father they set out on their own to try and overcome the famine. However, they could not escape it and famine came on the land of Moab.

Have know doubt, this famine was not a random act of nature is was a God ordained famine to accomplish his purpose. The famine was a fulfillment of God’s promise to use natural disasters to accomplish His purposes.

Deuteronomy 32:23–24 ESV

“ ‘And I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend my arrows on them; they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence; I will send the teeth of beasts against them, with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.

Deutoronomy

Deuteronomy 32:33–34 ESV

their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps. “ ‘Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries?

Not only do we see God’s providence over suffering in famine, we also see God’s providence in death.

Deuteronomy 3

First we see the,

Death of a Spouse:

Ruth 1:3 ESV

But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.

So here is a women of God, one of God’s people in a foreign land in the midst of a famine without a husband to care for her. But the suffering doesn’t stop there, Naomi we next experience the,

Death of Sons:

Ruth 1:4–5 ESV

These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

George M. Schwab writes, “She [Naomi] has become the female Job, acutely feeling the enmity of the very LORD she invokes when blessing her daughters. It is Yahweh who blesses women with houses and homes and husbands and sons; it is Yahweh whose hand has been against those whose husbands and sons die. This is so even in a foreign land. Ruth treats the subject of suffering, and as with Job, the ultimate answer to suffering is restoration.”

This is why it is so important as Christians we have a solid theology of suffering. This is why our belief and trust in God is so comforting. Even though these terrible things that happen to Naomi and Ruth are hard to understand and accept at times we have to remember God is in control. God is a good and loving God and even in the midst of tragedy we know He has a plan for ultimate restoration.

Consider Naomi and Ruth, they don’t know the end of the story, but we do!

The famine that ran them from the people of God is about to cause them to return.

The death of the Husband of Naomi is about to demand that she go back to God’s people.

The death of the sons of Naomi caused Ruth to be devoted to Naomi, her people, and her God!

Ruth is going to be redeemed and through her the Great Redeemer would come!

The book of Ruth begins with God’s Providence over Suffering, but next points us to,

C. God’s Providential Care

First we see,

The Lord Fed His People

Ruth 1:6 ESV

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.

The family of Elimelech has left the people of God because of famine, but now Naomi would get up and return to God’s people because he had visited them and give them food! God had fed his people, it was the time of the barley harvest and it sounds like the fields were flourishing!

Not only did God care for his people in feeding them, but he made sure the ones he wanted to enjoy the feast hear about it! The testimony of the blessings of the LORD had made it from Bethlehem to Moab!

Notice also, God’s Providential care,

Through the Kindness of His People

Ruth 2:8–10 ESV

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

Here we see one of the main characters show up. Boaz, the man who will come to be known as the kinsmen redeemer. He looks up and sees this foreign women in His field. He then asks his farm manager who does this young women belong to?

His man says, she is a young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi. Notice how he didn’t respond.

Ruth 2:8-

Don’t waste my grain on our enemy.

Don’t feed one who does not belong to us.

Get that women out of my field we need to keep all that we have for our people.

He said to Ruth, you stay in my field.

You don’t go anywhere else.

You get all that you need.

You will be fed and protected by my people.

Ruth 2:13 ESV

Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

God cares for his people through feeding, through the kindness of His people, and also

Through the LORD’s Own Kindness

Ruth 2:20 ESV

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”

Ruth 2:20

Do you see it, Naomi recognizes the kindness of Boaz, but also the kindness of the LORD whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”

It is because the kindness of the LORD he had provided Ruth a foreigner a what? A redeemer! Do you see the redemptive purpose of the book starting to unfold. We see a picture of God’s people in the midst of tragedy and suffering. When all of the sudden God calls them home. They are in the midst of suffering in need of deliverance and God provides someone to give them food, show them favor, and ultimately bring Christ through their line as the true Redeemer who provides permanent restoration!

We will come back to this doctrine,but now notice,

D. The Doctrine of Marriage

The book of Ruth consist of much marital language. Which primarily addresses and points to the customs and laws around leverite marriage laws and customs.

The New Bible Commentary rightly states, “Marriage is another theme central to the book. It was central in Naomi’s thinking. While she regarded herself as too old for marriage, for her daughters-in-law it was a priority which she urged them to pursue (1:9).”

Baldwin, J. G. (1994). Ruth. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 288). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.

The LORD’s Gift of Marriage

Ruth 1:9 ESV

The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

Naomi here recognizes that marriage is a gift granted by the LORD. It is something she is encouraging her daughters to seek. A husband would provide them assurance of care and continue the family lineage. We als see,

The Blessing of Marriage

Ruth 1:13 ESV

would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”

Naomi encourages Ruth to remarry. She understood marriage was a good thing and a gift from God. Naomi, thought of herself to old to marry, and past the point of being able to bear children and continue the family lineage.

D.A. Carson also explains in,

The New Bible Commentary Themes

Ruth, the young widow from Moab who had thrown in her lot with her mother-in-law and had embraced the faith of Israel, assumed that remarriage was not only right and proper but also her express duty. In order that she could provide for Naomi, she needed a husband who would accept Naomi as a member of the family.

The New Bible Commentary Themes

We see marriage held in a high esteem by both Naomi and Ruth. Naomi and Ruth seem to come to a realization that the place they must return to the people of Israel, God’s people to not only find food, but also to find a husband for Ruth. Notice, they didn’t look in the country of Moab to find Ruth a husband to marry.

They did not look out among the Pagans to find Ruth a husband. Naomi had made the decision to get up and return to the people of God and Ruth said your God is now my God and your people are now my people!

We can no doubt learn from these ladies when it comes to the blessing of marriage. First, get out from among the lost when looking for a spouse! Look to those who are committed to the people of God! Look to those who seek to live in covenant commitment to the community of God. Look among those who are devoted to the fellowship of the church of God!

There is another principle we can learn from the Theology of Marriage in the book of Ruth,

The Selfless View of Marriage

Ruth 3:11-

Ruth 3:11–13 ESV

And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

Notice how Boaz responds to Ruth’s request for redemption through marriage. He didn’t say, “absolutely, you are a beautiful young lady and I would be happy to add you to my family as my wife. He didn’t say I will do whatever it takes to have you as my wife.”

Instead Boaz followed God’s law at the time for marriage. He wanted to make sure that he didn’t just do what was right in his own eyes in redeeming Ruth through marriage. He instead said, it is right that we take this before the relative that is closer than me and see if he will redeem you. It is right if we put this before him and the elders to ensure we follow God’s rules for marriage.

This is a lesson for all single men and ladies. Marriage is not about you. Marriage is about the glory of God through a living illustration of the covenant between Christ and His bride the church. Marriage is about wives submitting to and respecting their husbands as the Church submits to Christ.

Marriage is about husbands loving their wives the way that Christ loved the church. Living with her in a kind and understanding way. Honoring her, recognizing her as the weaker vessel. This means putting aside our own selfish desires in order to sacrificially love and care for our brides.

Boaz was more than happy to marry Ruth, but he did not do it outside of God’s plan and he did not do it without the council, guidance, and affirmation Israel’s elders.

The marriage and courtship that takes place in the book of Ruth is full of lessons for all of us.

If you are preparing for marriage recognize that marriage is a gift from God it is a good an honorable institution. If you are preparing for marriage recognize that God has instituted marriage for a purpose, His glory therefore we should seek to follow His plan for marriage.

Another key doctrine taught in the book of Ruth is that of,

E. Gathering/Gleaning

As I mentioned in the beginning throughout this narrative gleaning is mentioned 12 times. Much of this story is happening during the time of the barley harvest and is set in the barley field or around the threshing floor. If gleaning is focused on throughout this much of the book what is it that we can learn about gleaning what is the importance and lessons we can glean from the text.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Glean, Gleaning

Glean, Gleaning. Practice of allowing the poor to follow reapers in a field to pick up missed spears of grain

God’s Providential Care

Throughout this narrative we see God in control of the provisions for his people. We see that famine had come upon the land causing Elimelech and Naomi to leave for Moab where they experienced famine as well. But we see God begin to provide a bountiful harvest for his people drawing Naomi and now Ruth back to the people of God. He had also provided gleaning laws so that those who where in need could find food in times of need.

We see gleaning laws taught in the Pentateuch.

Leviticus 19:9 ESV

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.

Levi

Leviticus 23:22 ESV

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus

The Scriptures then teach us that God is in control of every aspect of life from our physical care to our spiritual care. But we also learn something else through the teaching of Ruth on gleaning and gathering. There is...

Personal Responsibility

Ruth 2:2 ESV

And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Notice Ruth didn’t just sit around waiting on someone to take care of her. There wasn’t a government program to ensure she was fed. She got up an went and worked and gathered what her and Naomi needed to be able to eat and survive. Not only do we see Ruth taking on the responsibility to care for herself but she took on the responsibility to care for her mother in law. As you walk through the story you see that Naomi brought back plenty of grain because of the gleaning she had done.

The practice of gleaning not only required personal responsibility but it also required that the....

People of God Provide Opportunity

Ruth 2:

Ruth 2:15–16 ESV

When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

The law required that farmers leave some of the grain in the field so that the poor could have an opportunity to go out and gather food they needed to survive. They also as seen in Ruth had to allow folks to come into their field to gather this leftover grain. In this practice of gleaning they were providing a place for the poor to pick the crops they needed that they might show them grace and mercy. They didn’t just feed them and promote laziness or entitlement. But they did do all they could to make sure the poor were cared for by providing them an opportunity to work, glean, and gather.

I know what you are thinking, none of us have a field, none of us have a garden big enough to offer much to widows and the poor so what are we truly to learn from this doctrine? This doctrine is also covered in the NT.

1 Timothy 5:3–12 ESV

Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.

1 Timothy 5:3-11

Do you see what Paul lays out for the care of widows in the letter to Timothy?

Honor those who are truly widows, hold them in high esteem

Let the family of widows show godliness and care to them first.

If a family does not care for their own widows, relatives, and members of his household he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Enroll older widows, refuse to enroll younger widows.

Do you see the way the church is to care for the widows in the church? Teach and shepherd families to provide for their own household. Care for those who are truly unable and without relatives to care for them.

There is another teaching or doctrine the church needs from the book of Ruth. It is the...

F. Protection of Purity

Throughout the book of Ruth we see, special care for Ruth and her reputation. Even though she was an outsider, once she had committed herself to Naomi, her People, and her God they made sure they watched out for her, protected her, and counseled her.

We see,

Women of God Provide Protection

Ruth 2:

Ruth 2:22–23 ESV

And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Do you see how her mother-in-law counseled her. She told her to stay with the young women while you are gleaning. Naomi wanted her to be aware that their were men in the field that may assault or abuse her. They may be looking to take advantage of her, therefore she must take special precautions to ensure some evil person take advantage of her in the field.

Notice also, the means Ruth told her to take. Stay with the group of ladies. Keep yourself safe and pure by surrounding yourself with women of God so that they may watch over you and keep you safe amongst the laborers in the field who may be lost and looking to bring harm on you.

Are thse not practical lessons we can learn from the book of Ruth? Ladies surround yourself with women of God. Allow them to help keep watch over you and guard you from men who could possibly be a wolf in sheep's clothing, who may profess to be a of the people of God, but who may reveal to you he does not have your purity in mind, but the passions of the flesh!

Notice who else provides protection for Ruth,

Boaz Provides Protection

Ruth 3:9–11 ESV

He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.

Ruth comes to Boaz in a pretty vulnerable position. She asked him to “Spread your wings over your servant,” She comes to Boaz in humility and is essentially asking Boaz to provide protection, warmth, and fellowship to her. She is asking him to redeem her to save her from her dyer situation and to basically take her as wife.

Boaz goes on to commend her for her commitment and wisdom. She did not just run after the first single man she could find to fill her desire to be redeemed and married, instead she followed the counsel of her mother in law and sought out a wise godly man to be her husband.

Boaz

Boaz fulfilled her request, but not without compliance with the customs of Levirite Marriage. He first reminded her closer kin of his right to redeem Ruth and the land of Elimelech. However, he was more interested in the land than a wife so he gave his right of redemption to Boaz. Boaz was more concerned about her care and obedience than he was about fulfilling his own desires to take Ruth as his wife.

Here is another question of consideration for men and women seeking or entering into courtship. Who are you in it for? Are you in it to fulfill your own desires or to sacrificially love and serve another for the glory and honor of God?

Ladies are you more concerned with a desire to have a wedding and be married or do you have a heart that seeks to submit to, serve, and be a source of strength for your husband?

Men, do you have a fleshly desire to be married or is your desire to put the flesh to death that you may lay your life down for your wife and serve her, sanctify her through the washing of the Word?

Boaz was serious about protecting Ruth and her worthiness are you serious about protecting the honor and worth of your future bride?

Now we come to the central doctrine taught in the book of Ruth, the doctrine of....

G. Redemption

Look with me at....

Ruth 3:11–13 ESV

If this word redeem is repeated over and over in the book of Ruth, we must first consider what it means.

The word means to,

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 300 גָּאַל

300 גָּאַל (gāʾal) I, redeem, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman.

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 300 גָּאַל

The primary meaning of this root is to do the part of a kinsman and thus to redeem his kin from difficulty or danger.

Therefor Boaz is a picture and a type of Redeemer. He demonstrates what it means to rescue, redeem, or ransom Ruth from difficulty or danger. Consider again her situation.

Married into the family of God. She finds herself in the midst of a famine. Famine in that day was definitely difficult and could lead to death. Her husband, his brother and her Father in law dead. Leaving her widowed along with her sister in law, mother in law in the land separated from the people of God in the midst of Pagans. Do you see the bleakness, the despair. The sister in law leaves now they are down to just two of them. They seek to journey back to Judah. Now she must go out and glean in the edges of the field where the risk of assault exists. She is now able to eat, but must work to feed her and her mother in law.

But here comes Boaz, the man who is kin to them, who has the means to care for them, and has the heart and love to rescue and redeem them from their destitution and despair. Do you see the beauty of the book, how it turns into this beautiful rescue mission by a man name Boaz, he is no doubt a kinsman redeemer from an OT, Jewish, Hebrew perspective.

But he is also a type of redeemer. He is type of Christ. We not only learn the theology of redemption but we see the Typology of future redemption as Boaz points us to the future redeemer, the true Redeemer! The one who would not only redeem 1 poor women and her mother in law, but One who would redeem the entire people of God. Through his Virgin birth, His sinless life, His sacrificial death, and supernatural Resurrection Jesus Christ would be the Redeemer of God’s OT people, His NC people and the earth in which they dwell would be redeemed, rescued, and restored through Him.

Here is the central theme and doctrine of the Book of Ruth, it is a historical story of redemption that points us to the coming redemption in Christ Jesus.

This is where we see Christ in the book of Ruth, but it does not stop there. We not only see Christ through the redemption of Ruth by Boaz. We also see Christ in ...

III. The Message of Ruth

We also see Christ, what is that message? It is the...

A. Main Point

The main point of Ruth is God’s covenant commitment to save his people through a coming Messiah, one who would be the Christ who would fulfill every law and covenant to complete the work of redemption by His work on the cross.

So what do we learn about covenant commitment in the book of Ruth.

Covenant Commitment

First we see...

Covenant Commitment: The People of God

Ruth 1:16–18 ESV

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

Ruth 1:16-

Here we see what seems to be the conversion of Ruth and her initial covenant commitment to Naomi, Naomi’s People (God’s people), and God himself. We see

Ruth committing to stay with Naomi wherever she goes.

Ruth commits to move to, live with, and be faithful to the people of Naomi.

Ruth commits to serve, submit to, and worship Naomi’s God!

How, sure is this commitment? To the point of death!

Here is the question I put before us tonight. If you and have experienced the redeeming work of God through Jesus Christ do we have the same commitment to the People of God as Ruth did? Ruth was not only committed to Boaz to the point of death, she was not just committed to her mother in law to the point of death, Ruth was committed to God and His people to the point of death! How about me and you!

We ought not let famine separate us from God’s people.

We ought not let feasting separate us from God’s people.

We ought not let our own family separate us from God’s family. (Ruth left hers and moved to God’s family).

We ought not let sin separate us from God’s family.

All of this is because we are blood bought brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God the Father who redeemed us through His Son that we might covenant together in His Son!

Let’s not stop there, the book of Ruth is bigger than covenant commitment by the people of God. The book of Ruth is affirmation of.....

Covenant Commitment: God Himself

Look with me at....

Ruth 4:13–15 ESV

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

Who gave Ruth conception? The LORD! Then the women of God affirm God has not left you this day without a redeemer and he will be famous. Yes Boaz is famous because is name is immortalized in the Word of God, but there would be a redeemer to come who was greater than Boaz.

Ruth 4:13-

Ruth 4:16–17 ESV

Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Ruth 4:16

Here comes the line, the lineage of Christ! God has not only promised a redeemer He has promised a King. Through the redemption of Ruth and her conception by Boaz Obed would be born, who was the Father of Jesse, the Father of King David! This plan was not just brought up by God to figure out a back up plan because of famine. This plan was foreknown before the foundation of the world and shows God faithfulness to fulfill his covenant with Abraham, with Moses, and David. See....

Ruth 4:18–22 ESV

Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

See how far back God’s covenant commitment goes. But don’t forget God affirms His covenant commitment in the coming of Christ.

Matthew 1:1–16 ESV

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah 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 Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon 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. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

Matthew 1:1–5 ESV

The story of Ruth climaxes in the revealing of God’s covenant commitment to redeem His people through a coming King.

R.C. Sproul explains, “The eventual arrival of David, however, is not the ultimate climax of the book. In reality, the book has its final fulfillment in the coming of the last and consummate king—Jesus Christ, the son of David.”

So tonight as we finish up this survey of the book of Ruth my hope and prayer is that you see God’s covenant commitment to redemption through Christ as the message of the book! Maybe tonight through this survey of Ruth you realize you need a Redeemer.

Jesus Christ is that Redeemer.

God the Father has been committed since before the foundation of the world to save His people from their sins through His Son and the redemptive history that gets us to Christ runs through the book of Ruth, the story of redemption of an undeserving pagan women. That is how you and I can identify with Ruth.

We once were not God’s people, but through Christ we have become God’s people. Or you may still be outside looking in. If you are look to Christ, repent of your sin and believe on Him for the salvation of your soul!