Love for the Empty

Ruth 4:1-22

– The book of Ruth started with the ‘Emptiness’ of death and despair, but

it ends with the ‘Fullness’ of love and new life, and points us toward the

greatest love of all – God’s love for humanity

I.  God’s Love for Ruth (vv. 1-13)

• A Legal Challenge
  
  • Boaz convenes the council of elders to discuss ‘redemption’
    • Elimelech had forfeited a piece of property 10 years earlier
    • Boaz is willing to ‘redeem’ the forfeited property by purchasing it
  • Boaz’ rival agrees to redeem the land but quickly changes his mind
    • Did not want to jeopardize his own inheritance
    • Hesitant to marry a foreigner??
• A Loving Redeemer
  • A Public Vow
    • To redeem a piece of property
    • To redeem Ruth through marriage
    • To raise up children on behalf of Mahlon (Ruth’s deceased husband)
  • A Public Blessing
    • Removal of Ruth’s stigma as a ‘Moabitess’
    • Prayer for more children

Application:   Jesus Christ did not care about jeopardizing His own inheritance (Eph 1:11, 18), but willingly paid the price to buy back what humanity had forfeited through sin.

II.  God’s Love for Naomi (vv. 13-17)

•  From Emptiness (chapter 1)….
  •  Famine and Exile in Moab
  •  Loss of husband and children
•  … to Fullness (chapters 3-4)!
  • •  Plenty of food back home in Bethlehem

  A new ‘son’ named Obed in her arms

Application:   God may discipline us or allow us to suffer hardship in this life, but He will never abandon us and leave us ‘empty’.   God humbles us in order to lift us up at the right time (1 Peter 5:6)

III.   God’s Love for the World (vv. 18-22) 

• Ancestor to King David
  •  Obed symbolizes God’s salvation from the dark days of the Judges
  •  The salvation that David provided for Israel was ultimately incomplete!
•  Ancestor to Israel’s Messiah
  •  Ruth, Boaz and Obed all appear in Jesus’ genealogy (Matthew 1:5-6)
  • Jesus is the true King of Israel who brings salvation to all of  God’s chosen people – Jew and Gentile