*Read Ruth 4:13-22
In our home, there are a few unique pieces of furniture. They aren't necessarily unique because they were expensive or came from some exquisite place in the world. Their unique nature is connected more to their story and the people in our family who gave them to us.
One of those unique pieces of furniture is an old coal stove that's right by our front door. It's about the size of an end table, and when I was a child, my grandparents had it in their entryway. As a child, I was fascinated by it, so my grandmother made sure it was given to me when she passed away. Apparently, it initially belonged to my great-great grandparents who used it on their farm in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. I restored it a few years ago to make it look like it probably looked when it was new.
Another unique furniture piece is our dining room table. In many respects, it's the most important piece of furniture in our home because of the guests we've been able to eat with and the conversations we've been able to enjoy around it.
Before it was a table, it had a completely different life. It actually started out as a large barrel at a food manufacturing plant in Western New York where my father-in-law, George Pilgrim, worked as a food chemist. When it wasn't needed at the plant, he brought it home with him and turned it into a backyard shed for tools and lawn care items. After a couple of decades as a shed, he decided to extend its life by taking it completely apart, plank by plank, then building a beautiful dining room table with the wood he was able to salvage and restore. He gave the table to my wife and me as a gift.
Restoration projects are often fun to watch and participate in. It's certainly rewarding to see the outcome once they're finished. And as we look at the teaching of God's word, we quickly realize that our lives are a restoration project to the Lord. The Father looked at us in our lost and decomposing state and offered to make us a brand new creation through His Son, Jesus Christ.
A beautiful picture of the restoration we're offered through Jesus is shown to us in the events that are spoken of at the end of the book of Ruth. In the previous chapters, we were able to see the providential hand of God guiding and directing the lives of the people mentioned in these pages. Naomi was living a happy life with her husband Elimelech and their two sons, but famine forced them to leave Bethlehem, move to Moab, and set up a new life there.
In Moab, their sons grew up and got married, but Elimelech and both boys passed away much younger than traditionally expected. This forced Naomi and her daughters-in-law to make big decisions about what to do with their lives. Her daughter-in-law Orpah left Naomi and returned to her birth family, but Ruth, her other daughter-in-law remained with her and went with her to Bethlehem where she gleaned grain as a peasant in the fields of Naomi's relative Boaz.
In the first portion of Ruth 4, we're told that Boaz agreed to redeem Naomi's land and marry Ruth as his wife, according to the customs in ancient Israel that are explained in Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 25. The closing verses of Ruth 4 give us details related to their marriage and how their union played an important part in God's redemptive plan for the world.
After their marriage was made official, Boaz and Ruth conceived and gave birth to a son. That son was named "Obed" by the women of their neighborhood who looked at him as a great blessing, not only to Boaz and Ruth, but to Naomi as well. The name Obed means "serving" or "worshipping." He was a man whose name indicated that he would serve and worship the Lord. I love the meaning of his name, and if it could be said of me or my children that we served and worshipped the Lord, I would certainly be grateful.
Obed's birth and all the circumstances surrounding it, served as a powerful testimony to the providential care of God toward Naomi and Ruth. It's very clear when reading the book of Ruth that the lives of these women were on full display to the people in Bethlehem. They were clearly well-known. Naomi in particular didn't escape notice when she returned to her homeland after a decade away. Her story of adversity was widely discussed in the land, but the Lord used her experiences to help the people of that day, and the people of our day, come to know Him in a deeper way.
The women of the community openly testified that the Lord had not left Naomi without a redeemer. At first glance, it might be tempting to think they were speaking of Boaz who had just assumed the responsibilities of kinsman-redeemer for their family, but that doesn't seem to be who the women were speaking of. In Ruth 4:14-15, as they celebrated the birth of Obed, they said, “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.”
When you consider the ways in which women were cared for during the days in which Naomi and Ruth lived, you can see why the women of the community would speak of Obed in this way. While Boaz had assumed the role of redeemer by purchasing Naomi's land, marrying Ruth, and thereby providing for each of these women, we're also told earlier in this story that he was notably older than Ruth. That meant, ironically, that even though he was presently able to offer them his help, he also was likely to pass away much sooner than these women would. That meant the help he could offer them was really only temporary in nature.
But now, with the birth of Obed, it was clear that the Lord was providing generational help for these women for years to come. When Boaz died, Obed would continue his legacy of caring for Naomi and Ruth. He would assume the redemptive responsibilities his father had initiated.
Amazingly, as we celebrate the ongoing, generational work of redemption that we see playing out in this passage, there's more to this story of redemption than meets the eye. Ruth 4:21-22 gives us a picture of the generations that came from this redemption story. We're told, "Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David." The David that is spoken of here would one day become king of Israel and would offer us a foretaste of the ultimate kingly reign of Jesus.
During the course of David's life and reign, the Lord promised him that one with an everlasting kingdom would come from his own lineage. This future King from David's line would lead a divinely established kingdom. He would build a house for the name of God, and His kingdom would endure for all time. These references find their ultimate fulfillment in the one who was referred to as both the Son of David and the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
““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.” ”
When I was 12 years old, I attended Sunday School at our church. At that season of life, I was not very interested in being there. I often attempted to skip out, but got caught every time I tried. One Sunday, our regular teacher became ill and a last-minute substitute filled in for her. She was a woman who knew the Bible very well, but didn't have time to prepare a lesson because she was given no notice. So she walked into our classroom and asked, "From what you know about the Bible, what do you consider the most boring part?" I don't remember what my answer was, but one of the girls in the class said, "The begats!"
I had no idea what "the begats" were, but I quickly found out that she was referencing the portions of Scripture that list genealogies. In some translations, those lists of names say things like, "this person begat this person, etc." So our teacher said, "Great! Let's open our Bibles to the genealogy found in Matthew Chapter 1." Then she proceeded to teach us why portions of Scripture like this matter.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. (Matthew 1:1-6a)
This genealogy demonstrates the fulfillment of the Father's longstanding promise to send His Son into the world. God made this promise to Adam and Eve. The promise was elaborated on further to Abraham and his great-grandson Judah. The promise was given to David as well. And as we look at the earthly genealogy of Jesus, we trace the longstanding promise of God being fulfilled through the lineage of people like Abraham, Judah, and David. We also read the names of Boaz, Ruth, and Obed in Christ's list of earthly ancestors.
So while it's tempting to read the book of Ruth like it's a story about her or even a story about her great-grandson David, it's really a story that's revealing an important link in the redemptive chain that ultimately brings us to the divine Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
When Obed was born, the women of Bethlehem said of him that; the Lord had not left Naomi's family without a redeemer, his name would be great in Israel, and he would restore her life and nourish her in her old age. Naomi obviously took great joy in this blessing, and we're even told that she nursed Obed, offering him nourishment from her own body in the midst of his infancy.
But let's not miss the greater story that we're being shown here. It's true that a child was born in Bethlehem who would redeem His people, whose name would be great, who would restore life to the dead, and nourish those who felt worn out. Obed wasn't the ultimate fulfillment of these great promises, but he most certainly was a sneak peek at what was to come. Jesus, the Son of David and Son of God, born in Bethlehem just as the prophets foretold, would fulfill these promises with eternal ramifications.
Jesus came to this earth to redeem us. He came to fulfill the prophesies and pictures that foretold His arrival. He came to inaugurate an eternal kingdom and offer us a permanent part in that kingdom if we place our trust in Him.
While the rest of this world tries to build their own kingdoms and attempts to redeem themselves (if they even admit they need redemption), let's not forget who Jesus is and what He has promised to do on our behalf. Receive His offer to redeem you. Trust in Him and follow Him as your everlasting King.
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)
© John Stange, 2022
