The Prince of Peace Who Provides

Introduction

Part of being a human is facing and dealing with problems. Some of us attack our problems and others more often than not allow their problems to consume them. Some of our problems are people problems, other problems are personal problems. Some of our problems are big and others are small. Regardless of the problem you face, each and every problem requires a solution. Some solutions to problems come to us pretty easily. What is the solution to the math problem 2 +2? Well we know that the solution to the problem is the number 4. Sometimes the solution is simple! Other times, though, the solution is much more complex… and expensive!

Several years ago there was a person in Seattle who happened to be deathly afraid of spiders who happened to see a spider in his laundry room and he was trying to come up with a solution to that problem… after several minutes he arrived at a conclusion: He was going to make a create a homemade blow torch and burn the spider. He grabbed a can of spray paint and a lighter and attempted to light the spider on fire and he certainly succeeded at eliminating that problem in his life! The issue with this solution, though, was that it also caught his house on fire and by the time all was said and done, he was left with over $60,000 in damages and repairs to his house and things inside of it! He solved the problem but his solution wasn’t very helpful because it caused more problems than it actually solved.

In our life, we face problems. Sometimes as we attempt to solve them it seems like we create more problems than we initially had! In our study through the book of Ruth we have seen problem after problem after problem. Specifically, we’ve seen 2 key problems. Ruth had a lack of Food and a lack of Family. These are genuine problems that require significant solutions. As we’ve made our way through this book in the month of December, we’ve been reminded that God provides for His people as they face problems. This has been demonstrated clearly in this book. God has provided for Ruth as Boaz has given her food and protection. Yet, we leave off in chapter 3 of Ruth and Ruth has yet to have her family problem be solved. Boaz has promised to redeem her if another relative does not do so. How will this resolve? How do our problems resolve? How can you and I have peace in the middle of waiting on our problems to resolve? We trust in the goodness and provision of our faithful God. He is the prince of peace who provides. Let’s see how He provides for Ruth and how He continues to provide for His people today

Ruth 4 CSB

1 Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down. 3 He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the territory of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I should inform you: Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you.” “I want to redeem it,” he answered. 5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.” 6 The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it.” 7 At an earlier period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of redemption or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel. 8 So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.” 9 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.” 11 All the people who were at the city gate, including the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and your name well known in Bethlehem. 12 May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the Lord will give you by this young woman.” 13 Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the Lord granted conception to her, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel. 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a mother to him. 17 The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now these are the family records of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

As we conclude the book of Ruth today, we see that their waiting has found its end. Darkness has been replaced with light. Fear with Hope. Famine with food. Loss with love. From cover to cover, this book demonstrates that our God provides for his children, even those who didn’t grow up knowing him. In the middle of this Advent season of busyness, do you know the peace that God alone can bring to your life? Do you trust that He still provides today? This morning, let’s pray that God would help us to always remember the peace that is found in Jesus Christ.

God Provides Redemption (1-6)

What does the word redemption mean? This is a word we see in our Bibles often but we often struggle to fully understand what it means in the Bible and its implication in our lives today. We sing songs that talk about how we are redeemed and how we love to proclaim it but what are we truly proclaiming? What is the good news of redemption? What does it mean? Maybe you think of redemption in terms of finance as you redeem a gift card or coupon and that is appropriate in our world but Biblically redemption is so much greater than simply getting a free pizza or discounted roll of toilet paper. Biblically, redemption is the process and practice of reclaiming someone or something by purchase. See, redemption is costly - it isn’t a coupon that you collect out of your mailbox. This will be expensive more times than not. We see this process in the New Testament often in reference to our salvation - how we are redeemed from the punishment and penalty of our sins. Look at how the New Testament talks about redemption

Colossians 1:13–14 CSB

13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

God, through Jesus Christ, has rescued us (Christians) from the domain of darkness and into His Kingdom. This is adoption language! This is all because Jesus has redeemed and forgiven us. How was Jesus able to do this, though? There was a cost to our redemption, wasn’t there? The cost for Jesus to redeem sinners like you and me was His own life! Redemption is always costly and in our text this morning we see a person willing to redeem and we see another who is not willing to do so. Chapter 3 left us off with Naomi saying that Boaz will resolve this situation ASAP because marriage is a big deal and this man is in love with this woman! Boaz goes out to the town gate and has a conversation with this other family redeemer along with several men of the town and they discuss what to do with Ruth and the territory of land that used to belong to Naomi’s husband, Elimelech. What is happening here is Boaz is setting the stage for a legal declaration. Every quarter here at FBC Salem, we have a business meeting and we have to have a certain number of people to constitute what is called a quorum - the number needed in Old Testament times was 10 so basically you have an old school Baptist business meeting happening here and the New Business being discussed was this land and this woman.

Elimelech’s land belonged to his family, but his children were gone. Therefore in this culture this family redeemer or relative had the opportunity to buy it or redeem it. At first this other man who is not named by the author is willing to do this! He likely thought that it makes sense to redeem this land. There was just a great harvest after a famine about 10 years before. More land = more harvest = more money = more power to leave to your children. This seems like a no-brainer situation for this person! But there’s a problem here… Ruth. Boaz shares that not only must the man buy the field from Naomi but he must also take Ruth as his wife and their firstborn son legally would be Elimelech’s grandson, and the inheritor of this field of land.

Deuteronomy 25:5–6 CSB

5 “When brothers live on the same property and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man may not marry a stranger outside the family. Her brother-in-law is to take her as his wife, have sexual relations with her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her. 6 The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

The man immediately sings a different tune in verse 6 as he shares that suddenly “I can’t redeem it myself… or I will ruin my own inheritance.” What does this mean? Some believe that he refuses to redeem the land and Ruth because he doesn’t want part of his inheritance going to a son who is legally not his own. Others believe, though, that he refuses to redeem this land and Ruth because Ruth happens to be a Moabite woman. The Moabites were bitter enemies of the Israelites. They had defeated the Israelites several times. They didn’t get along. You can imagine why a wealthy Israelite man wouldn’t necessarily want to marry a Moabite woman.

Aren’t you thankful that God doesn’t play this game when it comes to redeeming sinners? Aren’t you thankful that He doesn’t just look down the list and check it twice to find out whose been good and whose been bad? Aren’t you thankful that He doesn’t do what makes sense in our eyes? If God only redeemed people who checked all the right boxes, no one would ever be redeemed! After all, this is why the Bible tells us in Romans 5:8 that

Romans 5:8 CSB

8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus redeems sinners - this is the best news of all because we’re all sinners! This doesn’t make sense to some people because they’re too busy looking at all of the boxes they check and they can’t imagine God’s grace reaching down to the gutter post like a random Moabite woman. This is the problem that this other family redeemer has, but thankfully this isn’t the perspective of Boaz. Boaz is willing to redeem and now, he is the one with the legal right to do so.

God Provides Life (7-17)

Counting the cost - the other man was only willing to go through with this if it didn’t cost him anything (just like us today) but Boaz was willing to go through with this even though it would be costly. We must count the cost when it comes to following Jesus. See, God provides life, peace, joy, and hope unlike anything this world can offer. We talk a lot about how it’s all free! To a point that’s true because we know that we can’t buy it… but salvation is costly. God’s peace came at a great cost. It cost Jesus His life and it costs us our throne. In order for you to be redeemed, the Bible shares that you must be born again. In order to be born again, that means that your old self must die. This probably doesn’t sound very positive or encouraging, but it’s the truth. In order to be saved and born again, your old self must die and Jesus alone must sit atop your throne.

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

God provides life where there used to be death. In Ruth chapter 4, God provides life in a very clear way as Ruth officially has a family unit to belong to other than her aging mother-in-law. She has a husband. The elders of the town bless Boaz and Ruth and pray that God would give them children because of their obedience to follow after the Lord and sure enough, this is what we see happen as Boaz and Ruth have a son, Obed. Life is a beautiful thing. It is a gift from our God. During the Christmas season we celebrate life and light coming into this world in the person of Jesus Christ as John’s Gospel opens up with

John 1:14 CSB

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The giver of life is God. He sent His Son. He went before Ruth and prepared the way for her and Boaz to meet. He provided her with food through Boaz. Now, God provides this newlywed couple with life in the person of Obed. We’ve seen God provide in the background throughout this book but now the author of Ruth brings this truth of God’s providence to the spotlight in verse 13 as the Lord granted this right to Ruth. God was providing all along, but if there was ever a shadow or doubt about this, verses 13-14 dispel any ounce of doubt. God had performed a miracle. God had come through. God had provided for her biggest problems and God continues to do this today!

God’s Provision Must Give Us Peace (18-22)

God uses unlikely people to accomplish His good pleasure for His glory and for our good. In these closing verses we discover that Ruth is the Great-Grandmother of the greatest King Israel ever had, King David. Does that make much sense to you? A pagan, Moabite woman, who was an enemy of Israel is used by God’s grace to not only demonstrate His provision and protection, but to bring about His chosen King generations later. This story makes no sense in a culture that prided itself on power and strength - the story of Ruth would have been one of weakness. Yet, our God uses unlikely people to demonstrate His divine strength. He provides and makes a way where there is no other way.

Think of a way that God has provided for you today. Maybe you’re having difficulty with this. Let’s start with the obvious: God woke you up! God provided you with another day. He has provided for you a loving church to worship with today. He has provided you with clothes or if you’re worshipping with us online He’s provided you with the technology to do that! He is good and He has provided for us.

God provides opportunities for us to be witnesses for Him. This includes the hospital when you’re suffering with a smile on your face and the staff is shocked. This includes the grocery store whenever the check-out line is long and eating away at your limited free time. This includes the traffic light whenever someone cuts you off and you’re stuck waiting even longer than you otherwise would have had to. This includes the basketball court whenever the official makes a controversial call and you’re tempted to raise your voice and forfeit your Christian witness. See, God provides not only for us whenever we’re facing adversity… He also provides opportunities where people undoubtedly are watching you and me to see how we respond to certain things. Not only did God provide for Ruth and Naomi in this text… God also provided for Boaz. God provided him with an opportunity to redeem this Moabite woman whose people were bitter enemies of the Israelites. Everyone at the city gate was watching to see what Boaz would do and lo and behold he redeems Ruth. God uses Boaz and Ruth to magnify His greatness and show His wonderful plan of salvation for the nations. God will use Ruth and Boaz and from them will come king David and from King David, as we’ll look at on Christmas Day next Sunday, will come King Jesus! God’s provision must give us peace as we trust in Him and His perfect plan.

Peace doesn’t mean that you just sleep the day away. It doesn’t mean that you and I take the hands off the wheel of our lives and coast and never take responsibility for our actions. God’s provision isn’t a call to laziness but it’s also not a call to panic. There are things that we must do as followers of Christ. We are responsible for our free actions, after all! But in the middle of the tension, waiting, and confusion… you can have peace because you’re not alone. You can have peace when you receive life-altering news, not because of your power or performance but because of the presence of your God with you in that situation. You can have peace whenever things don’t go your way in the classroom, office, or sports arena because you know that that thing doesn’t define who you are whenever you first remember Whose you are. This isn’t a call to not care or be passionate - this is a call to remember our priorities and what must come first! If you’re a Christian, you’ve been redeemed by Jesus Christ. He has purchased you! He has won the battle for you! He has paid for your sins! He has adopted you into His family! The worst thing that happens in this life pales in comparison to what is awaiting you because of what Jesus has done

Romans 8:18 CSB

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Church, this must give us peace!

What is attempting to steal your peace today? Just as this world can’t touch our joy, this world can’t rob us of our peace. Our eternal peace and rest with God has been won because of Jesus Christ! Because of Jesus, you can have peace when problems arise. You can have peace in tribulation as John 16:33 states. Think about this truth of peace during times of suffering… Years ago there was a pastor who had just lost his wife suddenly and he was taking his daughter to the funeral service and it was a sunny afternoon until a semi-truck pulled up alongside their car casting a large shadow that blocked out the sun. The dad was trying to explain the hope that Christians have even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death as Psalm 23 tells us. It immediately clicked in his head and he asked his daughter, “Would you rather get hit by that semi-truck or by its shadow?” The daughter without hesitation said that she’d rather get hit by its shadow… The dad said that what Jesus has done for sinners like you and me is He took the full blow of getting hit by the semi-truck of sin and death so that you and I only have to face its shadow.

The shadow of sin and death is still a real foe. It still obstructs our view and judgment. It still causes us problems. It still stings. It still hurts and we still suffer! But as we suffer, we can have peace in knowing that Jesus has paid our price. He has provided a way. He provides us with joy and hope and even with peace during our present problems. How can we have this peace today? Because God says that His people - Christians - experience this very thing

Luke 2:14 ESV

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Is God pleased with you today? That’s a frightening thought at times, isn’t it? If we’re being honest based on our own works and actions, we displease God as we sin and we sin all the time. So many at Christmas time use Luke 2:14 and stop with Glory to God and peace on earth… that’s not where the verse stops though so we can’t stop there either. Friend, if you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, if you are not redeemed today then understand that you do not know this divine peace and you are not at peace with God either. This peace that God extends to us is only experienced by those who have faith in Christ. Those who are redeemed by His blood. Matthew Henry put it like this centuries ago, “What peace can they have who are not at peace with God?” If you do know Jesus, if you do have faith in Him, and if you have been redeemed - If that is you, then Luke 2:14 tells us that God is pleased with you. What an honor and what a statement! How is it true? Because God has provided forgiveness for you in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Whenever God looks at you as a Christian, He see’s the blood of His Son and Jesus’ perfection is credited to your account so that God looks at you as though you lived a perfect life and therefore, He is well pleased. This is grace. This is provision. This is mercy. This peace is found in a person and His name is Jesus! Do you know this Jesus?

Conclusion

Ruth and Naomi came back to Bethlehem empty in chapter 1 but here in the end they are filled. Maybe you enter this Christmas season empty. You’re suffering and struggling and you feel as though the Almighty has afflicted you. Friend, if this is you, understand this: The God of the Bible Provides for His People! He provides food to the hungry. He provides strength to the weak. He provides salvation to the sinners. He provides hope to the hopeless. He provides peace to the peaceless. I’m not sure about you, but during the Christmas season peace and contentment can be so hard to find. It’s easy to grow envious during this season. We’re jealous because this side of the family got more time with the kids and grandkids. We’re jealous because this couple is experiencing something that we wish that we were experiencing. We’re jealous because this church is experiencing this and ours is not. As much as we talk about being satisfied and happy and content during this time of the year, this time of the year actually seems to make us grow even more discontent than we previously were! Maybe this is you today. Maybe you’re here and you’re fighting for peace. You’re fighting to stay content. You’re fighting because you’re not feeling the normal way you feel at Christmas.

If your cup is running empty today, understand that God does His best work with empty cups! Know that Jesus alone can not only fill your cup but He can give you living water that will forever satisfy your soul. He provides you with peace that weathers the problems in this life. What does God’s peace do in our lives? What must you and I do to experience it today? The Bible tells us that there are 2 things that we must do

To Experience God’s Peace, you must Repent of your Sins

In order to experience God’s peace, you Bible tells us that you must be right with God… until that happens, you will not have peace. How can you and I be made right with our God? We must have our sins be forgiven. We must be redeemed. This means that we are called to repent or turn away from our sins and trust that God is faithful to forgive us. If you’re anything like myself back in the day you want God’s peace without desiring God’s unrivaled rule in your life and that simply won’t work. If you want the peace that Jesus alone can provide, you must repent of your sins. Admit that you have said things, done things and thought things that displease God. Understand that your only hope is for Jesus to pay for those sins and trust in Him today.

To Experience God’s Peace, you must Follow after Jesus Daily

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not enough to simply understand that you have sinned and need Jesus and never do anything with that information. The Bible tells us that if you want to be His follower, you must Luke 9:23

Luke 9:23 CSB

23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

If you are serious about wanting the peace that only Jesus can bring to your life, you must repent of your sins, deny yourself, and follow after Jesus daily. This is a war that we go through daily as our sinful self and our fallen world try to rob us of that peace and joy… Don’t let your heart be troubled. Don’t let your heart be afraid. Trust in the Prince of Peace. Trust in His Word. Trust in His provision. Trust that He will provide maybe not what you want… but exactly what you need to glorify Him and fulfill your purpose!

Wherever you are and whatever you’ve done, you’re not too far gone for God’s grace. You haven’t sinned too much to experience the peace and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. If God could save a widow, pagan worshipping, Moabite woman and use her in the lineage of King David and eventually Jesus Christ, don’t believe the lie that God cannot save, forgive, and use you. He still uses crooked sticks to his straight shots! Trust in Jesus and experience His peace today.