A Son is Born (Ruth 4:13–22) | Redeeming Love (Part 6)

Transcript

JROT 43
12/21/2025
Redeeming Love (Part 6) A Son is Born
Ruth 4:13-22
Jesse Randolph

Well, this morning, we are indeed wrapping up our study of the Book of Ruth. We’re about to see in our time together today, should bridge nicely to our Christmas Eve service, in just a few days and that will be for reasons which I hope will become apparent as the sermon goes on. What is already apparent, though, and this is always the case this time of year. It is that with Christmas on the horizon, and with people from out-of-town visiting family there will be more people in churches this Sunday than there were last Sunday. Some of those will go to more of the liturgical churches, where they will hear a more traditional Advent message, from the priest or the rector as he or she delivers a 10–15-minute homily from a church-ordered or church-sanctioned book. They just read it straight off the page.
Some will head to one of the more “big box” mega churches where they’ll hear some message which attempts to connect the birth narrative of Jesus to our everyday problems. You know, Joseph and Mary couldn’t find a room in the inn and that’s kind of like how we can’t find a parking spot at Gateway Mall this time of year. Then some will head off to one of the impostor churches, the apostate churches. These would be more the performative churches, who are more into putting on a music and light show than they are actually proclaiming the Light of the World. Those who are more about tickling ears than bringing the Word to bear in convicting the hearts.

Then, there’s our church, Indian Hills. A few days before Christmas, and we’re in the Book of Ruth. It’s about par for the course. But it makes total sense, right? That would be in the Book of Ruth, leading up to Christmas Eve. I would actually say and argue that it does make sense that we’re in this book, and at this point in this book, leading up to Christmas Eve. It makes total sense. You know, the Old Testament is as much the Word of God as the New Testament is. The Old Testament is every bit as profitable as the New Testament is. It just so happens, that the text that we’ll be in today, the text we’ll be looking at this morning, actually flows in really nicely into the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus. Meaning, this is a sermon from an Old Testament book, and an Old Testament sermon from the Book of Ruth, specifically. This definitely qualifies as a Christmas sermon. Just like Die Hard qualifies as a Christmas movie for those in the know; this sermon qualifies as a Christmas sermon. I’m not advocating watching Die Hard, by the way, just to be very clear, but I’m saying it’s a Christmas movie. Why is this a Christmas sermon? Well, because I said so. No, I’m kidding. It’s a Christmas sermon because our text makes so clear these bridges to the line of David through who’s line the Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth, would be born, to Joseph and Mary, in a little town of Bethlehem. That that qualifies as a Christmas message.

But back to Ruth for now. Let’s remember some of the key characters from this short, four-chapter book. There’s Naomi, who was this older woman from the town of Bethlehem. Who had been through a lot. That included a move to Moab with her husband, Elimelech, during the days of famine in Bethlehem. Then she got to Moab, and then she lost her husband, Elimelech and then she also lost their two adult, married sons to death, Chilion and Mahlon. Naomi had since returned to Bethlehem, and she was now husbandless and childless, and just scraping by. That’s Naomi.

Then there was Ruth and she was from Moab. Ruth had married one of Naomi’s sons, Mahlon, before he died. So, Ruth, like Naomi, was a widow. But Ruth, unlike Naomi, was a young widow. When Naomi decided to leave Moab to go back to Bethlehem, Ruth really had a choice. She could either stay in Moab and start her life anew and meet a new husband and have children. Or she could accompany Naomi back to Naomi’s hometown of Bethlehem, where she would be supporting her mother-in-law in this foreign land, which was openly hostile to her people, the Moabites. We saw that Ruth chose the latter path. She went to Bethlehem. She pledged her loyalty, not only to Naomi, but to Naomi’s God. The God of Israel, Yahweh, the one true God of all that lives.
It was in Bethlehem that Ruth met the third major character in this story – Boaz. Ruth met Boaz while they were out working one day in the field owned by Boaz. And after learning through Naomi that Boaz was a relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s late husband, and therefore a possible kinsman-redeemer – go’el. Ruth approached Boaz one night on the threshing floor, at the end of harvest season. And she proposed marriage to him. And though Boaz was honored. And though Boaz was interested, he wasn’t able to accept Ruth’s proposal, because there was a still closer living male relative of Elimelech who was more qualified to be a kinsman-redeemer. Meaning there was somebody with a right of first refusal to marry Ruth, before Boaz.

That’s what we studied last week, in the beginning part of Ruth 4. Where Boaz had this dialogue with this other redeemer who we called “Mr. So and So.” And ultimately, this nameless, faceless man, he passed on his rights to marry Ruth. Meaning that Boaz was now free to do so. He was now first in line. That catches us up. Now, we can turn to this final section of the Book of Ruth, where we’re going to see some resolutions and conclusions to this wonderfully-woven-together story. One which ties together various loose ends from earlier in the account. But also prepares us for this bigger story that’s being told of the genealogy of a future king – king David.

Ruth 4 is the text we’ll be in this morning, going from verse 13, all the way to the end of the book, in verse 22. Again, to put a little bit more meat on the bone to remember where we ended last time. There is this city gate scene in Bethlehem, and these elders and these witnesses are gathering to watch Boaz and Mr. So and So negotiate. Boaz is negotiating with the nameless one. This negotiation is happening before these elders and these witnesses to see if Mr. So and So, Mr. X, is going to exercise his right, not only to purchase some land that belonged to Naomi, but that was also in the line of Elimelech. But whether he was going to exercise his right to redeem Ruth by marrying her. And Mr. So and So passed on his right, to not only redeem and purchase the land, but to redeem Ruth. So, the coast is clear for Boaz now to redeem both. Both the land and Ruth and he did just that.

Let’s get our eyes on verse 13 of chapter 4 here. Where this scene shifts to the home of the new Mr. and Mrs. Boaz. Verse 13 says, “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And Yahweh granted her conception, and she gave birth to a son.” So, Boaz redeemed and acquired this piece of property from Naomi, that’s what we covered last time. And that piece of property we saw came not only with boundaries and descriptions, it came with a wife, Ruth. We saw that that was the very reason why Mr. So and So passed on the deal. He was interested in the land, not so much in the bride.

Boaz didn’t see that as a problem. Boaz didn’t see Ruth as a toss-in to the transaction, nor an impediment to the transaction. Rather, he saw her, he saw Ruth as the centerpiece of this exchange. Boaz had this opportunity to marry Ruth, and that’s what he did. That’s what’s being said here, when it says that Boaz “took Ruth.” He took her, not by force. He took her not by trickery. The narrator here isn’t describing something that was done either against Ruth’s will or against Naomi’s will. No. The sense here is very much in line with the expression that we hear at weddings all the time “Do you take this man to be your husband?” Or “Do you take this woman to be your wife?”

Whenever I use that expression, I’m always extra careful. Because I think back to one of the first weddings I ever officiated. Where I made this massive blunder, on camera, for all to see. It’s now memorialized in somebody’s wedding video. It’s a wedding back in California. The bride and the groom are standing before me and somewhere in my speech, my wedding sermon, I make mention of the fact that this man, I did it again, this man was now taking this woman to be his husband. See, you all got it. I didn’t get it in that moment. I just kept on preaching. And even back then, this is before all the crazy, you know, laws, or cultural shifts in California, about “gender identity” or respecting people’s “pronouns.” This was horrific, because to see the look one the poor bride’s face, when the officiant, the pastor, in this major moment of her life, most important moment of her life, on her biggest day she hears me say these words, that she is now this man’s husband she was mortified. I’m going to go out on a limb to say that no such slip-up occurred in the Boaz/Ruth wedding ceremony.

In fact, we don’t really know much about the Boaz/Ruth wedding ceremony. We don’t really know what happened on their wedding day, in terms of the ceremony, because no details are given about the ceremony itself. Instead, the narrator takes us straight to the fact, which is of utmost importance here in this account which is that “Boaz took Ruth, [and it says] and she became his wife.” They got married. They were united as husband and wife. They became one flesh. In doing so, they entered into this lifelong covenant, to understanding that what God had joined together no man was to separate.

Now, it’s easy to overlook this. We can read this just on the fly here, but having studied this book, we’ve got to be careful not to overlook this fact, that there had been many prayers that had been prayed for both Boaz and Ruth, leading up to this wedding, to this marriage. And prayers, specifically, for blessing. In fact, if you will go back with me to Ruth 1:8-9. We see Naomi praying this prayer for Ruth. Ruth 1:8-9, she says, “May Yahweh show lovingkindness with you as you have shown with the dead and with me. May Yahweh grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” There, she’s speaking both to Ruth and to Orpah, the other widow of her other son. Boaz, if you’ll look at Ruth 2:12, had prayed this prayer for Ruth he said, “. . . may your wages be full from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”
In Ruth 2:20, Naomi had prayed this prayer for Boaz, she said, “May he be blessed of Yahweh who has not forsaken his lovingkindness to the living and the dead.’ Then, on the threshing floor, Boaz had prayed this prayer for Ruth, he said, “May you be blessed of Yahweh, my daughter. You have shown your last lovingkindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.”
So, the point being, each of these individuals in this story, these individuals of excellent character, had prayed for one another. They had prayed specifically for God’s blessings on one another. Now, those prayers are being answered. Boaz’s marrying Ruth is a direct answer to prayer.

Ruth had arrived in Bethlehem, let’s remember. And as she did so, she was this helpless, foreign widow, who was just scraping by on whatever she could glean from the fields. But now, she’s Boaz’s wife. It’s such an interesting study, as you work through Ruth, and you see the various words that she’s referred to by. Early on, she’s called a “foreigner” in Ruth 2:10. Or a Moabitess, to get that word “foreigner” even more specific. Later on, she’s called a “servant-woman.” A shiphah, we learned. Which is the lowest form of slavery that was recognized at this point in Israel’s history. Later, she’s called a “maidservant” – an ammah. A marriage-worthy maiden. Now, she’s called Boaz’s “wife.” Everything about Ruth’s experience had changed forever. She’d gone from salve to spouse. From Moabite to prominent woman in Bethlehem. From pagan to worshiper of the one true God. It all, ultimately, was an answer to prayer.

Verse 13, “. . . Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife . . .” it says, and now, look at this next part, “. . . he went in to her.” Now, the narrator, of course, is speaking of the physical act of sexual intercourse, whereby this marriage was consummated. Note the order of things here, as these two went along, with God’s log-defined design.

First, they were married. Then, only after they had been joined together in marriage did, they enjoy the gift of sexual intimacy which God has given for husbands and wives to enjoy with one another. There were no trial runs. There was no test drive. There was no making sure we’re sexually compatible before we made a real commitment to one another. There was no getting the milk for free and not buying the cow. No. This “mighty man of excellence” and this “woman of excellence” they followed God’s law to the letter, including God’s design for marriage and for sex. I mean, they had opportunity. Let’s not forget the old threshing floor experience. In the evening, many nights before. If there was an opportunity for either of these two to fail and to fall and to get these out of order, that would have been the opportunity. But they didn’t. Rather, they embraced God’s design for sexual purity leading up to marriage. They embraced God’s design for preserving sex for being within the safeguards of God’s design for marriage and they waited to pursue sexual intimacy until they were “one flesh.” and God blessed them. Look at what comes next in the second part of verse 13, it says, “And Yahweh granted her conception . . .” Now note how that’s worded. It was Yahweh, Himself, who granted Ruth conception. It was the Lord who opened her womb.

Now, we remember from last time, that the elders and the witnesses who were witnessing that transaction between Boaz and Mr. So and So at the city gate of Bethlehem. That they said, as it was becoming evident, that Ruth was going to become Boaz’s wife, they said this this is Ruth 4:11,
“May Yahweh grant the woman who is coming into your home to be like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel.” You remember that language, and that transaction? Well, an interesting parallel is that both of those women, Rachel and Leah, these were sisters who each married Jacob, one of the patriarchs. Both of these women, these sisters, were barren, meaning they were unable to conceive. They were unable to have children. That is, until the Lord sovereignly and graciously opened each of their wombs. Genesis 29:31 says, “And Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” And then later, in Genesis 30:22, we’re told, “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.” Similar language is found over in I Samuel, where God is said to have “closed” Hannah’s womb. But then later, after “remember[ing]” Hannah it’s not that He actually forgot Hannah, it’s a way of expression He opened her womb, granting her a child, a son, who she named Samuel.

See, it wasn’t just that Ruth “got pregnant.” That’s the way we talk about it today, right? You know, “I got a raise”, “I got a discount on my car insurance”, “I got pregnant.” That’s not the expression here. There’s no sense of this happening accidentally or passively. There’s no sense of this happening without divine involvement or divine enablement. No. The “God who causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, and who are called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28. The God who sovereignly causes each and every detail in every single one of our lives. And each and every detail in this world, this planet He’s created. Whether that be the snapping of a twig in the forest, or the forming of an icicle on the corner of a roof, or the opening of a womb. That God the God who Ruth now worshiped, He “gave her conception.” Just as that God had taken the life of her first husband, Mahlon. He had now created life in her womb through this union with Boaz. He’s the author of both death and life the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Note, we are still in verse 13, there’s no question that this child that was conceived now in Ruth’s womb, was considered a blessing and a gift by both Ruth and Boaz. The Lord hadn’t burdened Ruth with a pregnancy. He hadn’t, you know, saddled her with a pregnancy. He hadn’t weighed her down with the responsibilities of motherhood. No, note how it’s phrased. We’re told that He “gave her, [granted her] conception.” That child who was now growing in her womb, was a gift, a God-given gift. Children, we’re told in Psalm 127:3, “are an inheritance of Yahweh.” Or, as the NASB says it, “a gift of the Lord.” Then that text goes on to say, that “The fruit of the womb is a reward.” I mean, how opposite is that from the abortion culture of our day today. I don’t have time to get into that one, unfortunately, this morning.

But I can say, for those of you who are packing out the Suburbans and the Sprinter Vans and simultaneously wondering how you’re going to keep it all together. And how are you going to keep all these mouths fed. Well, I’ll just say, may the Lord bless you, and keep you and make His face shine upon you. Children are a heaven-sent blessing. They are a God-given gift. And to be able to fill one’s quiver with them is a tremendous reason to praise God. Well, verse 13 doesn’t end with the report of Ruth conceiving. Rather, the narrator goes further and says, “. . . and she gave birth to a son.”
We’ll learn later, in verse 17, that this son would be named “Obed.” and we’ll soon see, in the final few verses of this book, that this child would be very significant – genealogically. But here in verse 13, the stress really is on Ruth and Boaz. These individuals of “excellent” character. Being faithful to God’s design for marriage. Then being gifted with this blessing of a son. A son who would not only bless them, but a son who would carry on the family name, keeping the name of Elimelech alive. But also paving the way for the future royal line of David.

Now, moving on to verses 14-15, we have a new scene before us now. Verse 13, you’ll note, that covered at least nine months, perhaps longer. There is a wedding in verse 13. There is marriage. Theres is consummation of that marriage. There is conception of a child. There is an ordinary gestation period, some 9 months or more of pregnancy. And then there’s the birth of that son to Boaz and to Ruth. Now, as we turn to verses 14 and 15, the scene now shifts to a single interaction between the women of Bethlehem and Naomi.

Now, these are the same women, by the way who, back in chapter 1, when Naomi returned to her hometown of Bethlehem; after ten years of sojourning in Moab said, “is this Naoim?” It’s the same women. At that point, you’ll recall when she first returned to Bethlehem. These women were addressing a Naomi who had lost her husband, Elimelech. Who had lost her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. And they were addressing a Naomi who had become embittered. A Naomi who had become very vocal about her feelings about God having abandoned her and turned His back on her. That’s how Naomi looked at things.

Well, now, these women are interacting with a completely different Naomi. A Naomi who, far from being empty, and far from having occasion to be bitter has this cup that’s now overflowing with the blessings of God. An these “women” helped her see that. Look at verses 14-15, we’ll take it in as a whole, then break it down. It says, “Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed is Yahweh who has not left you without a kinsman redeemer today, and may his name be proclaimed in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.’” Now, presumably, this interaction took place wherever Naomi lived. Some place in Bethlehem, in her home. The interaction begins with these words, “Blessed is Yahweh.” “Blessed be Yahweh.” “Blessed be the Lord.” What these women are doing, publicly, right there before Naomi, is praising God. They’re saying, in effect, “Praise the Lord!” They are praising Him because reading on in verse 14, He “has not left you without a kinsman redeemer today.”

Now, we might, on first read there think that these women; in referring to a kinsman-redeemer are still on that track of referring to Boaz. We might make that initial assumption because up to this point in the narrative, there have been only two options for kinsman-redeemer, that the kinsman-redeemer offered. We had had Boaz. But we’ve also had that nameless individual, Mr. So and So, who we interacted with last week. But grammatically, that can’t be so. Grammatically, we know that the women in this scene are referring a different kinsman-redeemer when, as they did here say, verse 14, “Blessed is Yahweh who has not left you without a kinsman redeemer today.” They’re referring to someone else. And we know this because, if you drop down to the end of the passage in verse 15, which is part of this same section of praise, from these women, in the presence of Naomi. You’ll note this reference at the end of verse 15, to Naomi’s daughter-in-law. We know that to be Ruth having “given birth to him.” Who is that? Who is the “him”? Well, the “him” is Obed the child of Boaz and Ruth. You know, he’s the one, as we work our way back up to the passage here who would be, in verse 15, a “restorer of your soul and a sustainer of your old age.” He is the one, verse 14, whose name would “be proclaimed in Israel.” He is the one who, as these women spoke here, in blessing and praising God would be this kinsman-redeemer, this baby boy, Naomi’s grandson. He is the one being spoken of here, as the kinsman-redeemer.

Now, no doubt, Boaz had stepped in, when he stepped in, we saw last time. He had redeemed Naomi’s property and he had redeemed Ruth. He was in fact, a kinsman-redeemer in that sense. In that role, of kinsman-redeemer Boaz would support Ruth, now as his wife. But he’d also support Naomi, who was this widow of his relative, Elimelech in her old age. But the child who had just been born to Boaz and to Ruth – Obed, he would be a kinsman-redeemer to Naomi in another sense. Because legally speaking, he would be viewed as the son of Mahlon- who was the son of Elimelech. Remember that in marrying Ruth, this wasn’t just a romantic exchange. Boaz was stepping in legally on behalf of Elimelech. Remember that because Naomi was beyond the age of childbearing, she was an older woman, Boaz redeemed and married Ruth, not Naomi. So, while this baby, Obed was his seed, with Ruth; there was a legal sense, a legal perspective in which he was deemed to be the heir of the son of Mahlon Ruth’s first husband, who was the son of Elimelech. This is a Boaz/Elimelech transaction. That is why he, Obed, this infant, would be the one here in verse 14, who would be the “kinsman-redeemer” and that’s also why, if you drop down to verse 17, it’ll be said of Obed “A son has been born to [who] Naomi.” That speaks of the legal relationship between that son and that line of Elimelech. We’ll get to that in just a moment.

The point though is, back to verse 14 here, these women are rejoicing alongside Naomi. They’re reminding her of God’s goodness and His faithfulness to her, as they say to her, “Blessed is Yahweh who has not left you without a kinsman redeemer today.” Now, as we consider this scene, and how these women were coming alongside Naomi, who, as we have seen over and over, especially early on was prone to forgetting the faithfulness of God. Who was prone to ignoring the hidden hand of providence in her life. Who was prone to growing embittered toward the God who had only been good to her. There’s this timeless, bridge crossing truth that we can cling to today, as we look at this account of these women who came alongside Naomi.

As people of faith, we need people like the women that were surrounding Naomi from the beginning to the end of this story. We all need fellow believers, in our context, to remind us, to encourage us, to point us to the truth from God’s Word. To direct us to the scriptures, and to re-center and recall thoughts of that which is true and that which is real. And from time to time, if we’re not thinking thoughts which are true and real and in alignment with God’s Word, to correct us, and if needed, to rebuke us. We all need those types of people. Because we can all be like Naomi. Especially the Naomi from the beginning of this story, from time to time. We all can be prone to growing cynical about whatever. A situation involving a relationship. We can all be prone to growing embittered by our circumstances. We can, all of us, be prone to developing a mentality of perpetual victimhood where we can start to distrust, or doubt, or outright blame the people in our lives. Not only the people in our lives, but the God who placed those people in our lives. Where it gets very dangerous is where we begin to isolate ourselves. We become these self-righteous, self-justifying echo chambers of our own sinful thoughts. Where we start ignoring the words of Proverbs 18:1, which says, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”

It’s a recipe for disaster. So, the question I want to put before all of us here this morning is and specifically, for those who would call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ it’s this:
“Do you have someone here in this church you not only can you go to – but you would go to – in your seasons of distress and doubt?”
“Do you have someone in this church that not only can you go to – but you would go to – when you’re feeling anxious or fearful or embittered or worried?”
Or, instead, have you isolated yourself? Have you created a deep moat around yourself? Have you put up a wall between yourself and fellow members of the Body of Christ? The very people God has placed you in community with, to shoulder one another’s burdens. Have you, to quote the Proverbs again, broken out “against all sound judgment?”

Well, that’s where Naomi had been earlier in this account. She had grown hardened and she had grown embittered. But these women of this town of Bethlehem kept pursuing her. They were there in the beginning of the story, in Ruth 1, and they’re still here at the end of the story, in Ruth 4. Now, as they continue speaking to Naomi here in verse 14 and offering her ongoing words of encouragement and prayer regarding her new grandson, Obed. First, they say, in verse 14, “. . . may his name [this is the end of verse 14] be proclaimed in Israel.” Meaning, may his name be famous in Israel. May he be remembered in Israel. And this is a request, we know, that God granted as not only has Obed’s name been carried forward on the pages of scripture for generations, but we’re also mentioning his name all these years later, across the globe. On Christmas, the week of Christmas, but we also know his legacy was cemented by the fact that he would go on to be the grandfather of the revered King David, highly revered figure in all of Israel. Look down the page in verse 21 where it says, “. . . and Boaz became the father of Obed, [that’s what we just looked at] and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.” Obed, in other words, became famous, in answer to this prayer, through his more famous grandson, King David.

When I see this account, I’m always reminded of the story of Solomon Stoddard. Solomon Stoddard was a pastor in Massachusetts in the mid to late 1600’s. He was a faithful man, but he otherwise would have been a forgotten man whose name we all would have never known, were it not for the fact that he is the grandfather of Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards, of course, is that famed thinker and theologian whose thoughts really provoked the First Great Awakening in America. Stoddard is like Obed here, grandfather of the more famous David. Well, these women of Bethlehem continued. Their words of encouragement to Naomi and their prayers continue on in verse 15, it says, “May he also be to you a restorer of your soul and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Again, the “he” being spoken of here, is Obed the son who had just been born to Ruth and Boaz, Naomi’s new grandson. Look at what these women desired for him, and for Naomi, it says, “May he also be to you a restorer of your soul and a sustainer of your old age . . .”

Now, let’s go back in time a little bit. When Naomi lost, not only her husband, Elimelech, but lost her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion back in Moab. She faced, not only a bleak future, in terms of provision where her livelihood would come from. But she faced a lonely future. Right? I mean when she first returned from Moab with Ruth, she was widowed, and she was grieving. Her entire world had been turned upside down. You know, any dreams that she had had about seeing her own sons turn into fathers. Any dreams she had had about seeing her own children running around in the home she shared with Elimelech they’d all been shattered. I mean, she had her “crown of glory”, her “crown of beauty”, Proverbs 16:31 speaks of gray hair being the “crown” of the aged. She had that, she had the silver streaks overtaking the black hair that she likely had. But she didn’t have this other crown, the crown of grandchildren as they are referred to in Proverbs 17:6. Like any other older woman during this time, and really any older women today, Naomi desired both crowns. She didn’t only want the gray hair; she wanted grandchildren. But God had seen fit to give her only one. But all of that had now changed, as we look here in this scene in Ruth 4, because here was little Obed who would be to her, verse 15, “a restorer of [her] soul.”

I’m not yet a grandparent myself. But I have seen many, many times by now a new grandparent’s face light up when they first meet that grandchild. There’s something about the passing down of that name and the passing down of that legacy. There’s something about that heart being so swollen with love, that it looks like and feels like it’s going to burst. There’s something in that grandparent’s face about their anticipation of how sweet it’s going to be to create memories with this child and to leave a lasting imprint on this child. I know there are many grandparents in this room. And I know there are many of you who can relate to everything I just said. About those swollen feelings of love and affection for that child now in your hands. And how that grandchild can in many ways be and feel like a restorer of your soul. You know, all of the worries of the world go away for just a moment, as you look into the eyes of this precious little life. At the same time, knowing you have a dinner and movie reservation in about an hour, and you don’t have to change diapers or go to bed with that kid later. Right?

Well, that’s what Oben would be for Naomi “a restorer of [her] soul.”
And also, as these women said to her, he would be, “. . . a sustainer of your old age.” Literally, the phrase is a “sustainer of your gray hair.” Meaning, as the one who represented the future of her family. Obed would not only continue the family name and the family line, legally speaking but practically speaking, and in the meantime, he would provide for Naomi. He would offer security for her, in her old age. We must remember what Naomi had been through once before. She’d been through a famine before. That’s why her husband, Elimelech, took them out of the land of Bethlehem to begin with, and placed them in Moab to escape the famine. Well now, Elimelech’s legal grandson, Obed, would be taking on this role making sure that Grandma Naomi was provided for and had her daily bread.

Then came this description, not only of Obed, but his mother, Ruth, in verse 15 still, these are the women of Bethlehem speaking, and they say, “. . . for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better for you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Now, let’s note a couple of items there about Ruth, as she’s being described by these women. First, is this statement that she “loves” Naomi. “. . . for your daughter-in-law, who loves you” and that certainly was true. I mean, the love of Ruth for her mother-in-law, Naomi, shines throughout this book. No place more brightly than back in Ruth 1:16-17, where Ruth famously says, “. . . where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.” I’m not sure you can find a stronger sentiment of commitment in all of scripture, than what Ruth expressed to Naomi with those words. She was committed to Naomi. She was devoted to Naomi. She loved Naomi. Because of Ruth’s overall sterling character, this “woman of excellence”. The women of Bethlehem describe her next, in verse 15, as, quote, “. . . better to you than seven sons.”

Now, you want to talk about “high praise” during these days in Israel that is about the gold standard right there, this was high praise. “Seven sons” was considered to be the highest form of blessing that a parent, a person could achieve in Israel in this time. You know, Job, in the Book of Job, the very first verse of the book named after him says that Job was a man who was “blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil.” The very next verse, verse 2 of Job, says he has “seven sons.” That’s not an accident, those two are connected.

So, for Ruth to be declared by the women of Bethlehem, to be “better to you than seven sons”, that was incredibly high praise. It was this amazing affirmation of Ruth’s value and her worth, and her character. She wasn’t only the Moabitess. She wasn’t only a foreigner at this point. She was this woman to be praised. A woman who was being praised, by these other women of Bethlehem, in this scene. Proverbs 31:29-30 reads this way, “Many daughters have done excellently, but you have gone above them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.” As I mentioned earlier on in this series, many have said Ruth is considered the inspiration, the prototype of the Proverbs 31 woman and that could be so. At minimum though, she embodied the character, the virtue of the Proverbs 31 woman.

Well, as we turn to verse 16, we have another shift in this scene. Having had this interaction with the women of Bethlehem, as they spoke of Obed, her grandson, and what he would do for her. In verse 16 now, Naomi scoops up this child into her arms. Look at verse 16, “Then Naomi took the child and put him on her bosom and became his nurse.”

Now, through our normal tendency to associate words in the language we all speak – English . . . we might get the wrong idea here. Especially when we put those words “bosom” and “nurse” together as though Naomi is taking on the role of nursing like a new mother would do, like providing mother’s milk to the child. That’s not what’s being described here. What’s being described here, especially with that word “bosom”, is something incredibly sweet. What’s being described here is little Obed, baby Obed, snuggling peacefully in the crook of Naomi’s arm, as she’s snuggling that child up to the warmth of her chest. What is also being communicated here, I would say on a much deeper level, we have to remember that Naomi is this one, who when she came back to Bethlehem talked about how she was empty. And how God had made her empty. Well, now she is experiencing this overwhelming feeling of fullness, as she’s holding this child close to her, and looking into his little eyes, and hearing the little breaths he’s taking and seeing that little toothless mouth open as he’s sleeping.

Now, for this word – “nurse.” Where it says that Naomi “became his nurse.” The word there has a wide range of meanings. It can mean “attendant”, “caretaker”, “guardian” some of the more modern translations say “nanny.” The sense here is that Boaz and Ruth, the parents perhaps because of the unique situation here, where this child was not just a child, and not just Naomi’s grandchild but her kinsman redeemer. That they gave her some more direct role in the child’s upbringing. It would be beyond what was normal, beyond what was customary, but normal for the occasion.

Well, speaking of going beyond normal and customary parenting practices, look what happens next in verse 17. Next, it says, “The neighbor women gave him a name . . .” So, it wasn’t Boaz and it wasn’t Ruth, or even Naomi who gave the child the name. Rather, it was this same group of women in Bethlehem, who had been coming alongside Naomi, from all the way back in chapter 1 who named him.

Ladies, can you imagine, after giving birth to your son or your daughter instead of discussing the matter with your husband calling your mom and not only getting feedback from her, as to what you want to name your child but saying, “You know what? Go running around the neighborhood real quick and solicit, I don’t know, three or four neighbor ladies, and not only pole them as to what they think I should name my child but, you know what? Go ahead and give them exclusive rights to name my child.”
That’s what happened here. Naomi’s neighbor women in Bethlehem, gave the name to this child of Ruth and Boaz. I did research on this. And I did verify this, that this is the only place in the Old Testament where a child is named by someone other than an immediate family member. It is always the father or the mother – except here. Now, application time. There is no application to that one. This is what’s called a description not a prescription for how we name our children today.

Moving on. These women of Bethlehem, still in verse 17, are next recorded as “saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi!’” Again, that’s an interesting expression, given that, just up the page in verse 13, we’re told that it was Ruth who “gave birth to a son.” So, what’s going on here? Did little Oben have two birth moms? No. That would be biologically impossible. There is a different explanation for this. That language: “A son has been born to Naomi!” Is, yet again, harkening back to the fact that there are legal rights involved here. And, with Obed’s birth, as we’ve already seen, the family name of Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimelech, and her deceased son, Mahlon, they were restored, through Obed’s birth. So, to say that “a son has been born to Naomi” is really just saying that the whole kinsman-redeemer process has worked. It’s done what it’s supposed to do. Now, Mahlon’s line and Elimelech’s line will live on.

Then, verse 17, we’re told what these women named the child, the neighbor women. “So they named him Obed.” Now, that name means “servant.” It could be a shortened form of the Old Testament name “Obadiah”, which means “servant of Yahweh.” That would be fitting, because this child, we’ve seen, would go on to serve Naomi. He’d be her “sustainer of [her] old age.” And in doing so, he’d be serving the Lord.

Then, end of verse 17, the narrator drops in this little biographical nugget it says they named him Obed “He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” With that line, the narrative portion of the entire Book of Ruth, comes to an end. And then it leads into this genealogical conclusion in verses 18-22, it says, “Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmah, and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed, and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.”
Now, I won’t go through this exhaustively, but I do want to pick out a few highlights. And if you want to learn about genealogy, and this genealogy specifically, I did preach a sermon back in the spring, out of Luke 3, that covers the very same genealogy we have laid out here. The name of the sermon is “A Family Tree”. You can go find it and see me try to read the names really quick like I just did.

But, for starters here, verse 18, I do want to highlight this first expression: “Now these are the generations of . . .”
That phrase, that expression, “. . . these are the generations of . . .” is used a total of twelve times in the Old Testament. Eleven of those twelve are found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament most famously in Genesis, as I’ll mention in a minute.
The twelfth of the twelve, is right here in the book of Ruth.
But back in Genesis, this word – “generations” - toledot in Hebrew, is recognized as really being grounds on which the whole structure of Genesis is laid out.
Genesis 5:1 – “This is the book of the generations of Adam.”
Genesis 6:9 – “These are the records of the generations of Noah.”
Genesis 10:1 – “Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth . . .”
Genesis 25:19 – “Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son . . .”
Genesis 37:2 – “These are the records of the generations of Jacob.”
Each of those generation words open up a new section of Genesis. Each marked off by that word – toledot – “generations.”

Why is that important to bring up? What we have here in Ruth is yet another master stroke in excellent story telling. See, with the narrator is doing here, is he’s taking us forward in terms of where this is going to go, specifically to the kingship and the line of David. At the same time, he’s pointing us back to the beginning, back to Genesis, back to origins. And highlighting, ultimately, the big idea, that it is the same God who is working all of this out. The same God of the days of Genesis. The same God who ruled during the days of the Judges, Ruth’s days. The same God who takes us forward to the days of King David and beyond.

Now, another detail to note about the genealogy here in Ruth. Is that while it lists 10 names, in light of the number of centuries of this chronology covers, we know when these individuals lived. There are certainly gaps between these names. Meaning, what we don’t have here in Ruth is an exhaustive genealogy like we might have, let’s say in Matthew or in Luke’s genealogies. The narrator has, as he’s moved by the Spirit here, intentionally been selective about which names to put in and which names to leave out.

Now, in terms of these 10 names that are included. There are some interesting details about each of them mentioned in these, just briefly.
“Perez”, we saw last time, was one of the twin sons of Judah and Tamar . . . who came together under those very illicit circumstances in Genesis 38.
“Hezron”, the next one, we’re told in Genesis 46:12, was the son of Perez and was among the family of Jacob who went down to Egypt.
“Ram”, we’re told in I Chronicles 2:9, was one of the three sons of Hezron.
“Amminadab”, we’re told in Exodus 6:23, was the father-in-law of Aaron the priest.
“Nahshon”, next one, we’re told in Numbers 10:14, was the head over the army of Judah, when all the armies encamped in their encampments.
“Salmon”, who is also called “Salmah” here in the LSV, we’re told in Matthew 1:5, “was the father of Boaz by Rahab.” Interesting fact.
“Boaz”, mentioned here in verse 21, we’ve gotten to know well in our study of Ruth. He was this “mighty man of excellence.”
“Obed”, we’ve learned a lot about today. He’s the offspring of Boaz and Ruth, but he’s legally the heir of Mahlon, Elimelech and Naomi’s deceased son.
“Jessi”, was Obed’s son, and a shepherd from Bethlehem.
And then “Jesse” became the father, it says, verse 22 of David.

Now, speaking of David and going back to the first sermon that we had in Ruth. Let’s remember the historical context of this book. The Book of Ruth was written during a time that David was king in Israel. Somewhere around 1,000 B.C. That’s why the genealogy ends here in verse 22, with King David. It doesn’t go beyond David. We don’t have Solomon, or other future kings mentioned here. We must remember that though written during the time of David, this book is recording events that occurred earlier, in the days of the Judges. That was Ruth 1:1,
“Now it happened in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land.”

What the narrator is doing here, as he writes during David’s dynasty. He’s writing with that retrospective look-back to the days of the Judges. So, as he’s given us this wonderful story, made up of these four chapters of beautiful Hebrew prose. He’s taken us through some incredible character development, and some amazing stories. We’ve learned about Naomi. And we’ve learned about Ruth. And we’ve learned about Boaz. And we’ve learned about these real historical events, like a famine and a migration, and funerals, and return home, and a workday in a field, and a marriage proposal, and a transaction at the city gate, and an actual marriage, and a birth of a child. We’ve learned all of these things, but the narrator’s ultimate aim, in giving us what we hold in our hands, the Book of Ruth, his ultimate aim wasn’t actually to give us all the details that we’ve been studying over the past six weeks, sorry about that. Instead, his aim is to help his audience see, during the rulership of King David 1,000 B.C. How God had brought His people through.

Remember, these events are all happening that we’ve been studying in Ruth chapters 1,2,3 and 4, in days “when there was no king in Israel [, and] everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” But it was written a couple of hundred years later, during David’s dynasty. So, the purpose of this narration, the purpose of this account and especially this genealogy at the end here, is to explain to the people of Israel, living during this time, during David’s reign, how they had gone from the dark days of the Judges “when people did what was right in their own eyes”, to now, the golden era of David’s reign.

As we wrap up here, hold on to that thought for just a moment. I want to take us through a similar exercise in the minutes that remain. In linking the events of the Book of Ruth, that we’ve been studying these past many weeks to where we sit today, in the year 2025, just a few days before the Christmas holiday. Now, if you’re a member of our church, you’ve heard enough of my preaching by now, to know that I’m very slow, I’ll finish that sentence, I’m very reluctant to find types and shadows in the Old Testament. I think we sometimes overspend that capital and find types and shadows when they’re not there. We need to be very diligent to read Old Testament books, like the Book of Ruth, in their context. We need to be very cautious to not read Jesus back into every single Old Testament passage, when sometimes, He’s just not there. We also need to be very diligent not to read ourselves back into the Old Testament narrative. That’s why you’ll never hear me, you know, preach a sermon about “daring to be a Daniel” or “slaying your Goliaths” or ladies, go “find your Boaz.” It won’t happen. At the same time, there are these striking themes and statements which have been woven throughout the book of Ruth, that we’ve been studying these past couple of months, that we simply cannot ignore. Especially this time of year, as we remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus.

I’m going to run through some of these themes. I think I’ve got four of these here and then we’ll close.
First, is this common theme of providence. As we’ve worked through Ruth, we’ve seen God’s providential hand steering each of the events that this book records.
God was at work when He sent Naomi to Moab with Elimelch.
He was at work when He sent Naomi back to Bethlehem with Ruth.
He was at work when Ruth was in that field of Boaz.
He was at work when Boaz and Ruth got married.
He was at work when Obed was given to them as a son.
He was at work when Obed fathered Jesse.
He was at work when Jesse fathered David.
And God was at work when He sent His own Son, the Lord Jesus into this world.
And also, God has been at work in every single detail and circumstance in every single one of our lives, from beginning until our future ends. So, that’s one connection between the book of Ruth and our times, is that of God’s providence.

Second connection point is the theme of hope.
You know, we go back to the very beginning of the book of Ruth. And it starts with this incredibly dark, doubtful note. That’s why I titled that first sermon “Behind a Frowning Providence.” It was on a very dark note. There was famine. There was despair. There was hopelessness. There was bitterness. Naomi says, “call me Mara.”
As we’ve gotten here to Ruth 4, we see the book ends on a much happier note, as God did what God always does, including in our day which is to “work all things together for good” Romans 8:28 “for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” This book screams of the hope that we can find in the God of all.

Third connection point is this. And it’s a word that we’ve seen multiple times in our study of Ruth. It’s “lovingkindness” – hesed which was shown over and over in this account, especially by Ruth, and especially by Boaz these two people of excellence. Hesed – lovingkindness, favor.
I would say, certainly as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ know a thing or two about what it has meant to have been shown lovingkindness by One who is not just excellent, but by One who is supreme. Titus 3:4-6, it says, “But when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Loving kindness.

Fourth and last, is this theme of redemption. Redemption, broadly speaking, redemption is a change of status. One moves from being a slave to a freeman, they are redeemed. One goes from being in the darkness to being in the light. They go from being lost to being found. Here, redemption was found for Ruth, when she was purchased and redeemed by Boaz, and ultimately married to him. And, of course, as followers of Christ, we have been purchased and redeemed in the ultimate sense. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace.”

So, providence, hope, lovingkindness, redemption, those themes carry throughout the book of Ruth, right into our day, right into our lives, as followers of Christ. Of course, each of those ties into the Christmas story. Which is, of course, about Jesus, who was born into the line of David. The same David whose name is at the very end of the book of Ruth. The whole Christmas story is about that same Jesus, arriving providentially on this planet He created, some 2,000 years ago. The Christmas message is about this message of hope to this lost and otherwise hopeless world. And the message of Christmas is about that act of supreme lovingkindness, that Jesus would demonstrate to the world, in going to the cross and dying for sinners like you and me. And of course, the message of Christmas is ultimately about redemption, salvation, forgiveness, eternal life, that can be found through the shed blood of the world’s one and only Savior, Jesus Christ.

My prayer for you this Christmas is if you have not yet received the greatest gift that has ever been offered or given to this world. That gift being forgiveness, salvation, hope, eternal life, through faith in what Jesus Christ has done for you. That this would be the year, the Christmas, that you receive that gift. That you’d accept His free gift of salvation. And leave here this morning and go on to your Christmas celebrations with true joy and true peace in your heart.

God, I thank You for this chance this morning to open Your Word and to mine its truths and to get into its riches. So much of which have to do with original Old Testament context. But even as we’ve seen just now. So many principles, so many themes carry over into our day. That of hope, that of providence, that of lovingkindness, that of redemption. God, if we have believed upon Jesus, for we who have, I pray that this would be a Christmas where we revel in and rejoice in having received hope and having received redemption through the blood of Your Son. And God, if there’s someone here, or many here, who have yet to receive that gift. I pray that this would be the year, and this would be the day that they receive that gift in faith. God, we love You. We pray that You would continue to do a good work in us, all for Your glory. In Christ’s name. Amen