Intro
- Halloween
- Safety is what makes fear fun -> in the pocket
Scripture
13 So Boaz married Ruth and slept with her. The Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian today! May he become famous in Israel! He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She is better to you than seven sons!” Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap; she became his caregiver. The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. Now he became the father of Jesse—David’s father.
Prayer
Verse-By-Verse
13
So Boaz married Ruth and slept with her. The Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son.
May I be controversial for a moment? I’m going to ask everyone to safely stow and fresh tomatos they have brought along with them today. But here’s the thing – and it bothered me a little, maybe it bothered you, too? – but the author of Ruth never cites a source here. They simply state that the Lord enabled Ruth to conceive. But, unless the author is themselves omnicient, how could they know this information?
We read stories throughout the old testament of God speaking to people. To Adam, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and we see many accounts of prophets speaking on behalf of God… ‘Thus sayeth the Lord’ we read time and again in the Old Testament. But we have no such account here. There is no record of an angel appearing to Ruth and telling her she will conceive a son.
“But Conrad, you flirter with heresy”, I hear you say, “does this mean this event has been misattributed? Does this mean God was not involved!? DOES THIS MEAN WE TAKE ONE AWAY FROM GOD’S SCORE COLUMN!?!?”
No. Not at all.
What I am saying is that the author of Ruth rightly recognizes that every good and perfect gift comes from the father of heavenly llights.
What gifts? Good gifts! How many? All of them? (repeat)
This is a beautiful reminder that just because God didn’t part the heavens, send an angel, or commission a prophet, doesn’t mean he isn’t at work. God is always working.
[[[ NEVER NOT WORKING AD MEME ]]
So let’s always remember that God is never not working, and be thankful for every good thing that He gives us. Amen?
Moving on…
14–15
The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian today! May he become famous in Israel! He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She is better to you than seven sons!”
Was anyone else thrown for a loop there? We already knew who the redeemer was. We spent a whole book learning about him. It was Boaz… the redeemer was Boaz. The guardian was Boaz. Then this happened.
[[[ FROM OUT OF NOWHERE – ORTON-HOGAN ]]]
Would you believe this is the first – wait, did I say first? ’Cause I meant only. That’s right. This is the only time in the entire Old Testament that a child, a baby was the redeemer. Can you believe that!? A child as the redeemer!? A child.
- This child will be an encourager!
- This child will be a provider!
- This child will be a restorer!
- This child will be a sustainer!
- This child will be a grief consoler!
- This child will be a life extender!
- This child’s name will be famous among the nations!
- The birth of this child will change the course of history!
That is a lot of weight to put on the shoulders of a baby! It’s no wonder this is the only time it occurs in the entire Old Testament! Why, I bet we’ll never see anything like this again in all of human history…
I hear those chuckles out there. You know where this is headed. You see the foreshadowing here. It’s almost as if – and hear me out here – it’s almost as if God has a plan. And his plan is good! His ways are good. His will is good. HE is good… and he cannot be defeated! Amen?
So let’s put that thought in our other pocket and keep going…
16
Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap; she became his caregiver.
There is actually speculation within Biblical scholarship that Naomi might have formally adopted the child and became his legal mother. The idea that Ruth would give up this child – her only child – her firstborn, and firstborn son to Naomi to raise is certainly possible. I mean… it could have happened that way, but do I think that’s really how it went down?
[[[ HOME ALONE – I DON’T THINK SO ]]]
The more likely scenario is that Naomi is a very involved Grandma. And this is her very first grandson. Do we have any Grandmas out there this morning? You know the Grandma excitement. You paid your dues as a mom, and now you get to do all the fun parts and give the baby back to mom & dad when the diapers are soiled. It’s probably been a few years since your kids were young enough to cuddle, and now there’s a new little one to curl up with. I remember the day my first son was born. Kelly woke me up easrly in the morning and told me that her water broke. So I called my mother, like I promised I would. She lived in Calgary at the time. And I told her the situation. She replied, “the baby’s coming today!?”. I said, “yes”. She said, “Ok. I’ll talk to you later.” and hung up the phone.
A couple hours later we went to the hospital and shortly after that Jonas was here. Well, Jonas must have been about 10 minutes old when an enthusiastic knock came at the door to our hospital room. I answered it and it was my mother. She didn’t even say ‘hello’, she just said, “Where’s the baby?”. I said, “Mom, we’re not ready for visitors in here yet.” She said, “That’s alright. Just bring the baby out here!”.
Do we really think it was any different in Naomi’s day? Not likely. The simple truth is probably that Naomi was just in there like a dirty shirt. She’s happily involved in what’s going on.
Let’s wrap up this book with verse 17:
17
The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. Now he became the father of Jesse—David’s father.
I should clarify: is was customary to name girls on the 8th day and boys on the 9th back then, so it’s probably not the case that Naomi kidnapped the newborn and took him to show off to her Bridge Club.
Also worth noting is that while it appears that Obed was named by committee, the truth is more likely that he was, in fact, named by his parents. And that the women gathered here suggested the name Obed, because of it’s meaning: “to serve”. Some have suggested that Obed – which is a unique name to this child – is very liekyl a shortened version of ‘Obediah’, which means “to serve the Lord”. Shortened because Obed’s service was limited in scope to his grandmother, Naomi.
So What?
Now here is where we go back to that first thought we put in our pockets. Fear is only fun when you know you’re safe, when there is a sense of control. Why? Because there is comfort in safety. There is comfort in control.
The funny thing about control, though, is that I always know how best to use it. I want to be in charge of my own destiny. In fact, I think the misguided desire to control our own destiny is the issue most reposnsible for causing people to reject Jesus… Not only is being ‘in charge’ desirable, it is venerated and celebrated in the popular culture. I think this attitude is perfectly captured in Frank Sinatra’s timeless classic, “My Way”.
For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows
I took the blows
And did it my way
Yes, it was my way
But, at least in my experience, it often ends up more like this…
[[[ HOME BBQ PIT ]]]
But even those most stubbornly self-reliant among us find times when we recognize that a professional should probably step in. (FIRE/CRIME/FLIGHT)
But it’s worth keeping in mind that not every person who claims to be a professional is a professional. (MIRROR GUY) So, when you find yourself thinking, “I’m a professional, not like these other bozos”, I have one question for you:
Are you, though? I used to work with my father in the summers doing roofing and residental repairs in Toronto. And I will tell you, every guy with a truck in the Greater Toronto Area thinks he is Mike Holmes. I spent many a summer day in my youht repairing junk work. So, are you a pro, or do you just think you are? Do you have it under control, or are you like this guy?
[[[ DR. NICK ]]]
So, friends, when you’re looking looking for a pro, who has a plan, and knows how to execute… what about the God who ensured that Naomi and Ruth safely completed the dangerous journey from Moab to Bethlehem? What about the God who saw to it that Ruth just-so-happens to find herself in Boaz’s field. What about the God who ensured that the other redeemer would not be an obstacle for Ruth and Boaz? What about the God who foreshadowed his own son – the Saviour of every sinner who repents and calls on his name – 1200 years before he was born?!
Now that’s planning ahead!
So, here’s the thing I want you to walk out of this room with tonight…
Are you tired of stressing out??