Emptiness Gives Way to Fullness

Paul Harvey

He told the story of Dick and Alvah, who worked together selling and repairing watches in the late 1800s. Before long their business expanded and they ventured into selling other items, eventually printing a booklet—a catalog, they called it—so their clients could order without ever having to leave home. Dick and Alvah even opened a few stores and began to sell a variety of goods. Their business quickly flourished but so did the debts. Alvah became concerned that he might be held personally liable in a bankruptcy, so he sold his share to Dick in 1894 for $20,000.

A depression hit in 1907 and sales declined. Dick sold his shares in 1909 for 10 million dollars and retired. The name of the business remained the same, with both men’s names on the store fronts.

1. The marriage ceremony

Ruth 4:13 “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.”

2. The miraculous difference

Ruth 1:1–5 (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 name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 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.

Ruth 4:14 “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!”

3. The mention of 7 sons

Ruth 4:15 “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.””

Seven sons symbolized the supreme blessing that could come to a Hebrew family

1 Samuel 2:5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.

Job 1:2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

4. The maternal love shared

Ruth 4:16 “Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse.”

5. The meaning of a name

Ruth 4:17 “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.”

Obed means Worshiper

Paul Harvey Ending

Dick died in 1914, a multi-millionaire, while Allen—though never poor—did not have the financial success of his former partner. His retirement was interrupted by the Great Depression, which led him to return to the company as sort of a historical icon, making heavily advertised visits as late as the early 1940s to stores across America that bore the name of these two men: Dick Sears and Alvah Roebuck.

6. The millennial King is coming

Ruth 4:18–22 “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.”

Matthew 1:5 “and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,”

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (B. A Surprising Genealogy (4:18–21))

Perez’s family line provided documentation for God’s providential care. The seemingly ordinary events in the Book of Ruth (e.g., travels, marriages, deaths, harvesting, eating, sleeping, purchasing land) revealed the guiding activity of the sovereign God.

2 Samuel 7:12–16 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ””

Revelation 20:4–6 “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

1 Peter 1:4 (ESV)

to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,