Ruth: The Story in The Stories

Intro- Do you know your family background? Where do your ancestors come from?

Bottomline: God will redeem the story of those who are willing to walk by faith.

Everyone’s story Can be redeemed if we trust in God.

Joshua 2 (NIV)

Rahab->Boaz->Ruth->Obed->Jesse—> David

Ruth is the only book in the OT named after a relative of Jesus and its also the only book named after a non-jew

Ruth

The New International Version (Chapter 1)

In the days when the judges ruled, a there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

The New International Version (Chapter 1)

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Orpah loves but does leave…but Ruth will not let go!

The New International Version (Chapter 1)

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

The New International Version (Chapter 1)

19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty q has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

The New International Version (Chapter 1)

22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

The New International Version (Chapter 2)

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.

The New International Version (Chapter 2)

8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

The New International Version (Chapter 2)

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

The New International Version (Chapter 2)

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

20 “The LORD bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers. m”

Kindsmen redeemer...

A kinsman-redeemer , family redeemer, or guardian means the closest blood relative who willingly regains the possession of something or someone by paying their redemption price. This was practiced in the Israelite culture, God gave them directions on how to conduct it in the Levitical laws.

-Naomi pushes ruth to make herself own as available to Boaz

-Boaz is willing to redeem Ruth and marry her but he is an honorable man and there is one who is closer, meaning they should get first chance

-When presented with the offer to redeem the land the person is interested but bows out when he realizes it would require marrying Ruth the moabite outsider.

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

God will redeem the story of those who are willing to walk by faith.

God’s grace is for all people and can make outsiders feel like insiders.

The love of God takes foreigners and makes them family.

Kindness will lead to healing.

God will always bless kindness and generosity.

God honors bold faith.

Death doesn’t have the final word. Redemption is always possible.

Naomi’s- Trust that God will redeem your heartache.

Ruth’s- Trust that God will honor your boldness and loyalty

Boaz- Trust that God will bless your kindness and generosity.

Skip Heitzig Sermon Archive Destination: Ruth 1–4

If you wanted to give an outline to this book you could simply give it four points by the four chapters: chapter 1 is love’s resolve; Ruth makes a resolute commitment to follow Naomi to another country and to adopt the country and the culture but more than that, the God of the Children of Israel. Chapter 2 is love’s response; in response to the decision, she’s there in poverty gleaning out in the fields and she meets a man by the name of Boaz and responds to his initiation. Chapter 3 is love’s request; based upon the response, she now makes a request for her family and herself to be redeemed. Chapter 4 is love’s reward; she gets redeemed, the family land goes back to the original owners and she is wed to Boaz.