5-31-26 Jesus in the Book of Ruth

DW CLIP

For those unfamiliar that was The Doctor from Doctor Who and he always has the right thing to say usually at the wrong time. Or the wrong thing to say at the right time.

But the key thing there was his astute observation that in his over 900 years of life he never met anyone who wasn’t important.

The neat thing about people in church is that we all come from different walks of life. Some are teachers, businessmen, grocery store employees, it doesn’t matter, because we know that we are first and foremost followers of Jesus.

Galatians 3:28 ESV

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

When it comes to Jesus we are all the same.

But in the world people may look down on those who are, in the eyes of some, less than them.

A guy with a yard full of “junk” might be thought a hillbilly, but is really an engineer.

A guy with more funny t-shirts than not might be thought slow or mentally disabled, but is a man with two bachelor degrees.

And the old lady with a donkey that looks cranky all the time, but is really just a cranky old lady with a donkey.

The point is there are a lot of people in the world who look down on others and call them unimportant, but in reality, God says each and every one of us is important.

And if there’s a book of the Bible that takes someone who is seemingly unimportant and shows them as someone who is, then that is the Book of Ruth.

Just a bit of background to some of the Characters in the Book of Ruth.

First, there is Ruth, who is a Moabite, but has a Hebrew name that means Friend.

There’s Orpah, the sister-in-law, whose name means “back of neck”

There’s Elimelech whose name means “God is my King.”

Mahlon and Chilion, Elimelech’s sons whose names mean “sick” and “dying” respectively.

Naomi the mom means “to be pleasant”

And Finally we have Boaz whose name means strength.

These are important names to know, because in Hebrew culture people would name people after their essence or their perceived future.

So why parents would name their kids sick and dying is anybody’s guess, but with all that being said, let’s dig in.

One of my big goals in any Old Testament books is to find Jesus.

This can take many forms. In Genesis we see him appear bodily in several chapters. Other times we see him in other people, like Moses, Joshua, or one of the Judges.

Tonight we’re going to see Jesus in the book of Ruth in a very different way. One thing Jesus did in his life on earth was he presented and lived the Gospel message.

And tonight I’m going to present the Gospel to you through the Book of Ruth. Which occured just over a thousand years before Jesus birth.

The bullet points of the Gospel are simple

We have all fallen away from God and gone our own way

Jesus came to save us by giving his life as payment for our sins.

He then rose again, to show his authority over death

Those are the basics of the Gospel. Let’s find them in Ruth.

Ruth 1:1–2 ESV

1 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. 2 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.

One more name here. Bethlehem means House of bread.

And Moab is a neighboring country that has had conflict with Israel for centuries.

Remember Balaam and his talking donkey. All that surrounded that incident is why anyone from Israel going to live in Moab is not a good idea.

And remember all those name meanings?

Let’s rewrite what happened in the first 2 verses.

“There was a famine in the House of Bread (Bethlehem). And the Man who said “God is my King” (Elimelech) took a Pleasant lady (Naomi) with their sick and dying kids (Mahlon and Chilion) and went to their enemies household to live.”

All this stems from the first 7 words of the Book of Ruth.

Ruth 1:1 ESV

1 In the days when the judges ruled

And if you look at the very last line in the previous book of Judges you see this.

Judges 21:25 ESV

25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

We saw this when we looked at the Book of Judges. The writer was likely not talking about a human king, but God as their King.

Which is Elimelech.

This is a great illustration of our first bullet point.

We have all fallen away from God and gone our own way

This is true of every human being. Me you, your neighbor down the street.

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Elimelech took his family away from the promise of God and went another way.

But just because we do the wrong thing, doesn’t mean God leaves us completely alone.

There is a friend in Moab and her name is Ruth.

The interesting thing about Ruth is that she is a Moabite with a Hebrew name.

Today, when a woman marries she takes her husbands last name as her own. Kati Johnson became Kati Prantner.

Back then, sometimes peoples names would change to match a change in character, or in marriage, a foreigner would be given a native name that matched their character.

Ruth shows she is a friend, just like her name means, while Orpah shows the back of her neck, just like her name means.

Ruth 1:11–12 ESV

11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,

Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion die, leaving the women all alone. As men provided for the needs of their wives and families, they are, in Moab, with out hope of salvation.

They are utterly condemned if they stay.

Naomi’s only hope is to return home and Ruth is the true friend. She stays with Naomi. SHe turns her back on her home and her pagan lifestyle and

Ruth 1:16–17 ESV

16 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. 17 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.”

This is big.

We’re still in the separation point here. Gone from God, but there is a light here. Even when we are at our worst, God leaves a light on for us to find our way.

Naomi is not in a good place. She’s far away from where she should be, but now there's a friend to help Naomi.

Naomi is in a rough spot check out how she describes herself when she and Ruth get to Bethlehem.

Ruth 1:20–21 ESV

20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

How often do people in the world blame God for their choices? Granted Naomi followed her husband to Moab, but they lived there. All the men died there, and now the place they all left to escape death, she now returns to once everyone dies, and blames God for her troubles.

This attitude could drive some away, not Ruth. She stays and continues to care for Naomi.

Ruth is not the Savior in this story, but she is the picture of one. She’s acting like Jesus, which is weird, because she’s a foreigner. She shouldn’t be acting with love and compassion, but she is truly living out her name and being a friend to a bitter woman.

But the real savior of the story is coming.

Ruth is doing well, she’s great, She’s working very hard to take care of Naomi, but it’s not enough to just throw food or money at a problem. Naomi has lost everything and needs a redeemer to restore her.

Enter Boaz, they guy whose name means strength.

You know, all of this is starting to sound like a cheesy Hallmark movie.

But maybe a little far fetched to find a Hallmark movie featuring a young widow who falls in love with her dead husbands relative.

Oh wait.

Loving Leah (2009)

Here comes Boaz and he not only loves his family, which includes Naomi, he wants to help. He makes sure that Ruth gets as much to bring home as she needs.

It was law in Israel that bits of the harvest was to be left behind for the widows, the poor and the foreigners. Ruth is all three and Boaz makes sure she is taken care of.

Chapter 2 even opens with Boaz instructing Ruth to go no where else for her grain. He will take care of her.

We see a full circle promise fulfillment here

Genesis 12:3 ESV

3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Ruth has left her life to serve and bless Naomi. WOW!

And this is what Boaz does

Ruth 2:12 ESV

12 The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

Ruth already proclaimed that YHWH was now her God, and now Boaz is affirming the blessing and promising protection.

Just like Jesus. Boaz is giving of himself, just as Jesus gave of himself. We’re not to the giving life part yet, but Jesus spent much of his time preparing those around him for his death, so here Boaz is preparing Ruth for her salvation.

Chapter 3 is a shinning moment for everyone, except Naomi. remember, she’s bitter, so what she says here isn’t perhaps the best adive.

Ruth 3:1–4 ESV

1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.”

Naomi says, wait til he’s drunk, uncover his feet, and wait for him to tell you what to do. Which might be something not so wholesome.

But Ruth and Boaz have something else in mind.

Ruth 3:8–9 ESV

8 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”

She doesn’t wait for him to speak. She proposes marriage. She’s not there for hanky panky, she’s there to be saved. And he agrees

Ruth 3:10–11 ESV

10 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. 11 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.

Boaz has agreed to save Naomi and Ruth.

If you ever thought you bring anything to the table in regards to your salvation. Let me tell you different.

Some out there think that works compliment our salvation or that other things are required to be saved.

Look at what Naomi and Ruth bring to the table. They are broke, they are widowed, and Ruth is from Moab. This salvation will only benefit them and cost the redeemer everything. Check out the saving act.

Boaz is a redeemer, he is the one who can save, but in Bethlehem there is a closer relative.

Ruth 3:12–13 ESV

12 And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 13 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.”

magine that someone comes up to you and says that there is a free big box of treasure with your name on it. It’s all yours; gold, silver, property. It’s worth millions. All yours all free.

Except you have to marry someone and have a child with them and then all that treasure goes to your first born son.

That is what is happening here. The redeemer must use much if not all of his resources to save Ruth and Naomi, but they get all the benefit and he gives up his.

Boaz is like, sure, I’ll do it, but there is another guy closer to the family line that gets the first right to refuse.

We don’t get his name or much about him other than he is a closer relative than Boaz.

He’s given the same offer. But Boaz knows how to negotiate.

Hey, you want all of Naomi’s land?

Yeah, you bet I do, I’ll redeem it.

Oh by the way her daughter in law is part of they deal, you have to marry her and all the land and inheritance belongs to the son you would produce.

The guy says no. It will cost him much of his inheritance to redeem Naomi and Ruth. The cost is too much for him.

Ruth 4:6 ESV

6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

Boaz steps up and says, I’ll give everything for her.

Much like Jesus did for each and everyone here. He gave his very life for our eternal life.

Because Jesus redeemed us, we are adopted into his inertance.

That’s the neat thing about the Book of Ruth. 1000 years before Jesus came it showed us a picture of sacrificing your very life to save someone, who according to the culture, was an enemy.

Which brings us to the resurrection.

Boaz doesn’t die, but the result of him saving Naomi and Ruth, is a new life.

Ruth 4:13 ESV

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.

Ruth 4:17 ESV

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.

Jesus rose from the dead, resurrected. Boaz father’s a son that restored Naomi’s family. Culturally, Obed was Naomi’s son, she even nurses him.

And get this his name means “to serve.” Obed is the product of restoration and redemption.

And Obed carried on. He’s King David’s grand father.

Obed was accepted into the family line and it kept going to David and further down the line to Jesus the best redeemer.

The Book of Ruth gives us a great picture of the Gospel message.

Naomi and her whole family are a mirror image of us who sin and separate ourselves from God.

Ruth is a great picture of one who seeks salvation.

And Boaz is a picture of Jesus who gave up everything to save a little unimportant group of ladies.

So, next time someone points at someone and says, for whatever reason, they aren’t important.

Turn them over to the book of Ruth and show them what God does with the ones the world calls unimportant.

It’s my joy to usually share a song with you and I’ve got one from Phil Wickham. It speaks of what Jesus has done for each of us and tells us that we are all invited into his house, even if we think we are unimportant.

“house of the Lord” Phil Wickham