Alright, before we look at our passage this morning, let us again turn to God and ask Him for help.

“Our great God and our eternal Father in heaven, we acknowledge we are privileged people once again, being able to draw near to Your presence, having in front of us Your Word, the Word that is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. And so we pray that this morning may You do us much good. May You open our eyes that we may see wondrous truth in Your Law. For these, we ask and pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Now because of the coronavirus and its impact over the last two years or so, I think most of us have, it’s been a while since most of us had the opportunity to visit the theater or the cinema to watch a movie, watch a good movie. But I trust you remember the process of buying the tickets and buying the drinks and the popcorn and then going to the designated hall and then sitting down in your seat and watching a good movie. And at the end of the movie, feeling satisfied because the hero wins. Now we are happy when the hero wins, unless you are brother Woei Chyuen who doesn’t like the hero to win, then you’ll feel it’s not a good movie. But generally, the hero wins, we are happy. Now it’s a good movie worth watching.

And this is where we are at as we come to the last part of this book- the book of Ruth. Now just like a movie that comes to an end, now we too come to the end of Ruth. Now for those of you who are joining us for the first time or have maybe missed one or two parts of this short little series, see this small book of Ruth has only four chapters as you probably have noted. And the curtain first opens with us looking at two women, the two widows in fact who lost everything, who lost their entire family. Now we come face to face with Naomi and with Ruth. Now these two women. Naomi lost husband, Elimelech and their two sons, and Ruth likewise lost her husband because her husband was one of Naomi’s sons.

And so here are two women who were suffering. And we saw that in chapter 1. They were in distress. They were in despair and they only had each other left. So right at the start of the story we see two women in need of two things alright. They were in need of food because they have lost all the men in their life. And in those days, the men were the ones who brought back the food or the bread. So they were in need of food and they were in need of a family now because they only had each other left. And these two poor women, we saw started their journey back from Moab where they went to Bethlehem because they heard that there would be some food there. So they went back to Bethlehem.

And when they came back to Bethlehem, now Ruth who was the younger of the two, now this foreigner decided to go and work and to get some scraps for the both of them to survive, now not eat luxuriously or lavishly but just to survive. Now when lo and behold, we know the story. She ended up in the field of a man by the name of Boaz. Now Boaz was a close relative which she didn’t know because she probably is meeting him for the first time. And Naomi also didn’t know because she was at home waiting for Ruth to come back.

And so they didn’t know this but Boaz in the providence of God now took much notice of this poor foreigner and lavished on her so much kindness that you know the both of them really didn’t have to worry about food for a long period of time. So the problem of food resolved. First problem, resolved. And then we see the camera rolled towards Naomi in Ruth chapter 3, this ever concerned mother-in-law concerned for her daughter-in-law. Of course concerned for you know for her in getting her husband. Of course she had in mind Boaz, this man to be her husband. And we saw the exciting drama that happened in Ruth chapter 3.

And if you’re watching, you almost held your breath as Ruth did what Naomi told her to do and made that request to Boaz. And Boaz responding favorably and saying that yes, I want to marry you, now but. But, there is a suspense. There’s a cliffhanger. There is actually somebody closer to me that’s qualified to redeem you. And so that matter has to first be sorted out, closer to you than me rather. And so we saw that. And then we saw in chapter 4 as they come that the climax of this entire story where Boaz had this showdown with the close relative now mainly to negotiate the redemption of Naomi and the land in front of all the elders, in front of the city gates, in front of the people.

And the close relative thought to himself that he got a good deal, good financial investment and he said yes, I want to redeem Naomi and the land. And we were looking at this and like oh no, this is not how we wanted the story to end. But then, just then Boaz countered back with a plot twist with more information and say that if you are to redeem Naomi and the land you have to also take the consideration this woman by the name of Ruth. So she’s a foreigner. She comes from Moab, and you need to take care of her. And if she bears you a child, now this child has all the legal claims to the land, to the title, to everything.

And so with that, the close relative said then I cannot. I cannot redeem this whole package because I’m not ready to commit myself to this whole thing. And on that, Boaz quickly jumped on the opportunity and say that then if that’s the case then I will redeem. I will redeem Naomi, I’ll redeem the land, I will redeem Ruth and the associated implications that come with it. And what’s more, I will take Ruth to be my wife. Second problem resolved, the problem of family. And we can again hear the audience in the theater cheering as soon as Boaz said Ruth the Moabites I take for my wife. And we saw the sandals exchange ceremony taking place to confirm that Boaz is now the legal kinsmen redeemer.

And we see and we hear celebrations and praising and singing and blessings prayed over Ruth as those of us who are looking sink into our seats and we look at each other and we say oh, that is a good movie, a good story. A wonderful, wonderful story. And so as this movie, now this drama draws to a close, now we come to our first point. Now this morning I have only two points for our sermon as we look at the last part of Ruth chapter four. Just two points. And the first point is this. The birth of a son. Now the birth of a son.

Now look with me at verse 13. Verse 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.”. Now the title of our sermon this morning: She Bore A Son. And here then is the closure, the closure to this story of two women who initially had nothing, especially for Ruth this foreigner. From a dejected foreigner in chapter 1, we see that she became a slave now bowing down before Boaz, so amazed at the kindness that he showed her. And then in chapter 3 in the threshing floor that night she called herself his maidservant in chapter 3. And then to chapter 4, finally becoming his wife and now to a mother holding a baby in her arms.

Now see but isn’t it interesting that in just one verse- in this one verse in verse 13, the author flies over a long period of her life? I mean Ruth 1 we saw one conversation in the desert between Naomi and her daughters-in-law. And Ruth 2, we saw one day in the fields of Boaz. And Ruth 3, we saw one night in the threshing floor. And then Ruth chapter 4. At the beginning of Ruth chapter 4, we saw one transaction between Boaz and the close relative. And here in verse 13, we see Ruth became his wife, was pregnant, and had a baby. I just flew over this nine, ten months, a period of her life.

You see, some people would say that it sounds like maybe the author has kind of lost some steam, wanted to just quickly close off the story. But I don’t think that is the case because let’s not miss this. Now let’s not miss what the author is doing in this one verse flyover. Now look with me at the second part of verse 13 that we’ve just read this just now. Now it says: “he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son.”. Now do you see the LORD there? You see, Yahweh, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. This is the name of God, Yahweh. God was the one who gave conception to Ruth and she bore a son. It was God who did this. It was Yahweh who gave her this blessing.

Now you see you would recall that there was actually that exact same acknowledgement from Naomi in chapter 1. You see, you turn with me back to chapter 1. Look at just one verse. Ruth 1:8. Second part of verse 8, here’s Naomi speaking to her daughters-in-law. Now she said: “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD (or may Yahweh) deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. (Now verse 9) The LORD (or Yahweh) grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!”. Now that was the prayer of Naomi in chapter 1. Now see, what a wonderful fulfillment of that prayer in this baby that Ruth is holding here in chapter 4. Now God has answered Naomi’s prayer.

Now Ruth not just has the husband, but at this point she has a baby as well. And I think here’s the point the author wants us to see. Now here’s the point that the birth of this son to Boaz and to Ruth and the birth of this grandson to Naomi was all under the control of God. Cannot miss this point. It was all under the control of God. That’s why the LORD is our highlight here. Yahweh is our focus. It was all under the sovereign plan of God. Now we’ve been studying the sovereign plan or the sovereign will of God. Of course we know that the birth of any child is under the control and the sovereign plan of God alright. Now there see this. The psalmist. The psalmist certainly knows this in Psalm 127:3.

Let me read Psalm 127:3. Here’s what the psalmist said. The psalmist said: “Behold, children are a heritage from the parents”? Now no, it doesn’t say that. He said: “Behold, children are a heritage (from Yahweh) from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” That’s what the psalmist said. Now you see, God also told Hagar, Abraham’s maidservant in Genesis chapter 16:11. Now Hagar was in distress. She was in affliction, but here’s what God told her: “Behold”. Again take note: Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael. See, there’s nothing that testifies more to the sovereignty of God than child bearing.

Now let me say that again. There’s nothing that testifies more to the sovereignty of God than child bearing. Not sure if you agree. And I know we have a number of young adults in our midst, young couples who have just gotten married or who are about to get married. I think we need to constantly remind ourselves this that God is the One who gives children. Now God is the One who gives children. Now we really don’t get to determine how many children we have alright although in this day and age of modern science and technology people seem to have that idea that they have some form of control over that. Now you see, ultimately God is the One who blesses. God is the One who blesses.

God sets the number of children we have. He decides the gender of each children that we have. He decides the timing as to when we will have each children or each child. Now He decides even the place, the location, the hospital maybe. He decides all these things. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t plan for it or we don’t do anything. See, but in the final analysis we have to remember that God is the One who blesses. It’s up to Him to bless alright. And every child we bear, whether it’s a son or a daughter or how many sons or how many daughters, it’s all from the Lord. I think this verse is trying to highlight that point- it is all from the Lord. The LORD is the One who gave conception.

And those here who are fathers and mothers who have grown up children, I think you can testify to that. It is the Lord. God is the One in control in this regard. But not just in this regard. Now in this story again and again, we see that God has shown Himself to be in control of every single detail. God has been in control of every single detail. And I want to say make no mistake that God is also in control of your story as well and not just the story of Ruth that we see here. See, God is in total control of everything that happens to us. So it doesn’t matter if at this point of time you find your situation in Ruth 1 or Ruth 2 or in Ruth 3 or even in Ruth chapter 4.

Now maybe some of us here have been grieving over the past pandemic. Maybe some of us have been mourning. Perhaps some of us are discouraged, are depressed. Maybe we are tired. Perhaps you may be in a situation where you find yourself at a dead end, don’t know what to do. Or you may be hoping against hope. Or maybe everything may be going on very well for you. But as believers we need to remember this as a truth that God is in control. God is sovereign. The sovereignty of God means everything, everything to us as believers. So whatever your situation is if you are a Christian, can you be like Naomi in Ruth chapter 1 or here in Ruth 4:13 and put the LORD in front of a situation?

Put the Lord there in front of your situation. Can you do that? Can you say that? Can you say the Lord has put me through this or the Lord has allowed this to happen? Now because we know that nothing happens apart from the Lord allowing for it and everything that happens has a purpose to it. Now if all is well with you today, don’t forget the LORD. But if it is not, let us also not forget the LORD. Don’t forget Yahweh. So that’s what we see in verse 13. Now verse 14. Verse 14: “Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the LORD”. Again you see it is the LORD is Yahweh “who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be famous in Israel!”.

Now if you can picture this scene, now picture this scene as here is Naomi, the grandmother. Now she’s holding the baby in her arms, and all the women around her are praying blessings over her and over the baby. They’re saying blessed be Yahwehm blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer. Now in other translations this word ‘redeemer’ is translated as close relative or kinsmen-redeemer. I think you’ll recall that we have looked in depth at this word, this word that comes from the Hebrew word ‘goel’. Kinsman redeemed, and how Boaz was the goel, was the kinsman-redeemer to Naomi and to Ruth.

But take note who is being referred to here this time. Who is being referred to as the kinsman-redeemer? Now it’s not Boaz. It’s not Boaz; it’s the baby. It’s the baby that’s being referred to as the kinsman-redeemer. Now all personal pronouns point to this baby. Look at the next verse, verse 15. Now it says: “May he be to you”. The ‘he’ here is the baby. “May he 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 borne him.”. See, it’s all pointing to the baby that Naomi is holding in her arms. Now Boaz was a goel. Yes, we know that he was a kinsman-redeemer.

But this son, his son will also become a goel. Now he will grow up. He will take care of Naomi and Ruth and ensure that the lineage continues. He will become a kinsman-redeemer, and that is so important for Naomi and for Ruth to know. That’s so important for them to know. And I believe even in this world there’s something for us to learn as well. There’s something for us to learn and that’s this. You see, children have a biblical duty to take care of their parents, especially their aged parents. You see, I think even the world can understand that. I mean the world, if you have some conservative upbringing, you know that children are expected to take care of your parents when they are old.

But more so for us as believers. We have a biblical duty, a biblical mandate or biblical mandates in fact in the Bible to take care of our aged parents when they can no longer take care of themselves, now remembering that they were the ones who took care of us when we were young alright that they brought us up. Just let me read what Paul said to Timothy. If you can turn with me as well, turn with me to First Timothy chapter 5. First Timothy chapter 5. Now here is Paul giving some instructions to Timothy as to how to lead the church. And he was giving instructions about how the church should handle this issue with regards to widows. Widows, women who lost their husbands like Naomi, like Ruth.

First Timothy chapter 5, now let me read verse 3. Here’s what Paul said to Timothy: “Honour widows who are truly widows.”. Verse 4: “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.”. Now here’s what Paul is telling Timothy. Let the children, let the grandchildren first learn to take care of their parents. Why? Because this is pleasing in the sight of God. So the point again is clear. Children has a duty to take care of their parents.

Proverbs 23:22: “Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”. You see, I don’t claim to know the background of every family struggle and I know that they are unique in different circumstances. But as a general pattern we have a biblical duty as children to not quickly abscond our responsibilities especially in the business of our life, in the transition that we are facing as we are growing up as adults in work, in your family, in your own children. Now let’s remember not to quickly relinquish our duty in this area because it is pleasing to God. See, this son here it says would grow up and be a restorer of life to Naomi and to Ruth and the nourisher of their old age. So let us remember that nourishing the old age of our parents.

Again verse 15, back to Ruth chapter 4. Chapter 4 and verse 15: “May he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”. Seven sons, the number of perfection. Now the women are looking at Naomi and they’re saying to her look at this daughter-in-law beside you. Look at Ruth beside you. This foreigner who has just borne you a grandson that you’re holding in your arms. Now she is to you better than one son or two sons or three sons or any number of sons. Now why is she better to Naomi than any number of sons? Now because of her loyal love for Naomi. Because of her loyal love for Naomi.

Again if you have been following, you can see how different this is compared to the first chapter in Ruth chapter 1. Now Naomi came back from Moab and the women went out to greet her. And they said: Is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? But what did Naomi say? Why do you call me Naomi? Don’t call me Naomi. Don’t call me pleasant now call me Mara. Call me bitter because I went away full and I’m coming back empty. Empty now all this while Ruth was by her side. She was always there with the loyal love that Ruth showed to Naomi on full display. That’s why the women are saying here is your daughter-in-law, better to you than seven sons. I guess Naomi’s response now would be what? Don’t call me Mara. Very Naomi, very pleasant. Very, very Naomi.

So that’s the progression that we see from Ruth chapter 1 all the way to Ruth chapter 4. Now verse 16. Verse 16: “Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom and became a nurse to him.”. Then Naomi took the child, laid him on her lap (in the ESV) and became a nurse to him. But did you also notice something? Did you notice that at the ending section of this book, the book of Ruth is actually all about Naomi and the baby. In fact, Ruth is not mentioned as being directly involved in anything throughout the entire chapter 4. Now her name is mentioned, but she’s not involved in anything or have said anything at all. If the camera rolls in and zooms in as it will on Naomi as she holds this child like this baby I think just like all grandmothers do.

I remember Aunty Joyce holding baby Levi like all the babies around here held by their grandparents, so happy, so joyful. And you see, now we can resonate with Naomi. Took the child, laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. You see, that’s why we can see how the circumstances have changed. That’s why I said some commentators call this the book of Naomi instead of the book of Ruth because it begins with Naomi and it ends with Naomi. And as Naomi looks down at this boy and smiles and she looks back at her life, thinking about how God has been so faithful to preserve her all this while, I mean we as the invisible audience, we are almost ready to, you know take out our bags, get up from our seat and leave the hall and get to the exit.

But have you ever experienced this? As you are making your way out of the hall or the movie theater, walking up the steps towards the exit, the screen credits rolling behind you. And suddenly, a scene pops up on the screen, now catching you by surprise. Catches you by surprise, and then you turn and look back. And you wonder to yourself: Now is there more? What could there possibly be more? Now it is already a very good story. Is there a second part? Is there a sequel? Verse 17. Verse 17: And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.”. Now of course we know that it’s not her son. The son is Ruth’s son. But the son here simply means that this boy is born in the lineage of Naomi.

So a son or a grandson has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed. And you look at this and you say: What? Obed? You mean that Obed, the Obed, the father of Jesse, now the father of David? Now you mean David as in King David, now the king, the greatest king that Israel has ever seen, the one that ransomed or rescued the Israelites from the Philistines and who killed the great giant, Goliath when he was still a little boy? You mean that David, that King David? Now how can this story get any better than it already is? And then you are quickly sitting back down in any random chair in the theater, looking and thinking this through.

You mean this baby that Naomi is holding in her arms is going to be the grandfather of King David? Which also means that Ruth, this Moabite foreigner was actually the what? The great, grandmother of King David. Now did anyone see that coming? Did anyone see that coming? See, I mean what are the chances that the greatest king of Israel even to this very day. King David is recognised as the greatest king of Israel. What are the chances that the greatest king of Israel would come from the midst of two widowers? One of them a foreigner, who were about to almost give up on life itself.

You see in Ruth chapter 1 they were about to give up on life itself. What are the chances that this could happen? You see, the late R. C. Sproul wrote a book with a title that answers that question. The title is, Not A Chance. Not a chance. Now there’s no chance that this would have happened if it was really left to chance alright. And so now we begin to see that the story of Ruth is not simply a love story between two random people. Once upon a time in the Middle East that happened thousands of years ago. It was not merely recorded in our Scripture, in the Bibles today for our entertainment, for our pleasure, to give us some learnings. But, it’s actually part of a bigger plan of salvation that God had in mind now to save the nation of Israel from their enemies.

Now you see that. You see that, but that is not all the author wants us to see. That’s not all the author wants us to know. He doesn’t just want us to know that this plan started from Boaz and Ruth in this very book. Look at what the author is doing in verse 18, and that’s where we read all the genealogy. Verse 18: “Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.”.

Now the author takes us back to Perez. Now you will recall this man, Perez, already mentioned in the same chapter, Ruth chapter 4 in verse 12. We already saw this man. Perez was the son of Judah, and Judah was the son of Jacob from which we get the nation of Israel. And so we go way back. And the point is this. The point is even from the time of Perez, now Perez this son that was born as a despised, illegitimate affair between Judah and Tamar, his daughter-in-law. From the time of Perez up till the time of Boaz and Ruth, now God already had Obed in mind.

You could say from an illegitimate affair to another despised relationship or despised relationship to one despised relationship because Boaz and Ruth is technically also something like a not a glamorous relationship. She was a foreigner. Israelites marrying foreigners is a big no-no in those days. So even from these two relationships, in between these two relationships God already had Obed in mind. And it’s easy for us to go back even further. We can extrapolate this even further from the time of Joseph and Jacob and Abraham and Enoch and Adam, now God already had Obed in mind. God had this baby in mind. This was all part of God’s plan.

And so do you now see the big picture unfolding in the plan of God so carefully and so intricately carried out now to bring about the greatest king that Israel had ever seen through this Moabite woman? And Ruth, God had Obed in mind from the very start of human history. Now if you’re a Christian today, you need to know this. Now you need to know this. Now it doesn’t matter what circumstance or what situation you find yourself in at this point of time. Know that God has had this situation designed specifically for you. It’s part of his bigger plan, designed specifically for you from the time of Adam. In fact, we can say before the time of Adam, this situation has been designed specifically for you.

See, the same God that orchestrated all that happened in the book of Ruth. We see the wonder of God’s orchestration in the book of Ruth. This same God that is faithful and is gracious and is merciful, that is kind, good, and great, this same God is also orchestrating all things. Your situation, your circumstances, the people around you, everything that you come in, who you come to contact with. What happens to you, the same God that is working here is working in your life and in my life as well. Now see, that changes your view about everything, changes how you view everything. It kind of gives you immense comfort for the future.

Well, that’s why the hymnwriter can say: “I don’t know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day. I don’t borrow from the sunshine for its skies may turn to grey. I don’t worry about the future, for I know what God has said. And today I’ll walk beside Him, for He knows what lies ahead. Many things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand.”. Now as a Christian, you can know this and you must know this. You can sing with the hymnwriter many things about tomorrow. Many things about today I don’t seem to understand, but I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hand.

That’s the great confidence, the great assurance we can have as a child of God. That comfort and that quiet assurance that God, the One that is in control of all things, that have proven Himself He’s the One who holds our hand. But this morning if you are not a believer, you cannot say that. You cannot sing with hymnwriter I know He holds my hand. You cannot say all things work together for good to those who love Him because the truth is you don’t yet love Him. You don’t yet love Him. And my prayer is that God may open your eyes to see His love for you so that in return you may also love Him.

But as believers, we have much now to be assured of. So can you then see that the richness. I mean this first point, the birth of a son to Ruth is so rich in these last few verses that we see in this book here. See, the birth of a son to Ruth is not just a birth in and of itself but has been part of God’s plan from a long, long time ago. That’s why we are still left kind of in awe and actually trying to get over what we have seen on this invisible movie screen.

Now let me take you to another height in our second point and our final point to close up this chapter and to close up this book. Now we have just looked at the birth of a son, now let’s look at the birth of the son. The birth of the son. With all that we have seen in mind, turn with me to the New Testament to the book of Matthew. The first book of the New Testament to the first chapter. Matthew chapter 1, and let me show you something. Let me show you the reappearing of Boaz and of Ruth now this time hundreds of years later. Matthew chapter 1. Now I’ll begin reading from verse 2. Verse 2.

Matthew 1:2. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. It’s the exact same genealogy as Ruth chapter 4, isn’t it? Same genealogy, only this time now Matthew’s list doesn’t end with David the king.

Now Matthew’s list continues on. And so look at verse 15. Same chapter, verse 15: “and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”. Now Matthew’s genealogy continues all the way to this person. This person who is Jesus, who is called the Christ. And who is this Jesus? You ask who is this Jesus. Verse 21. Same chapter, verse 21, here’s the angel speaking to Joseph and telling Joseph. In verse 21, she (referring to Mary) “She will bear a son”.

Again she bore a son, the title of our sermon. “And she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins.” Now here is who Jesus is. Here is who Jesus is. The last part of verse 21, He is the Saviour of His people from their sins. Now do you know Jesus this morning? Do you know who Jesus is? Now to answer that question, you have to first know if you are a sinner. Do you know you are a sinner? Do you know that you have sinned?

Do you know that there is a pandemic greater than a pandemic that we have just seen, and you and I are all sinners and we have fallen short of the glory of God and we are standing each day before a God that is angry and holy and who will judge one day the sins of the world? Do you know this Jesus? Who is this Jesus? This Jesus is the One that was born of the virgin Mary who is the Saviour of His people. And so can you see now that if going back to Ruth, if there was no Elimelech and there was no Naomi, there was no migration from Bethlehem to Moab to escape the famine, now there would be no Mahlon and Chilion, their sons taking foreign wives?

There will be no Ruth coming back with Naomi. There will be no Ruth going to the fields to work and meeting Boaz. There will be no marriage between Boaz and Ruth, no birth of Obed, no King David, no Jesus, no Saviour, no hope for you and me. Now but because- because there was an Elimelech and a Naomi who migrated to Moab, there was Mahlon and Chilion taking foreign wives. There was Ruth now coming back together with Naomi and a hardworking Ruth working in the fields of Boaz, and Boaz meeting Ruth and marrying Ruth, having a son together who was called Obed. So then there was the greatest king of Israel, King David leading to the ultimate birth of the Son will save His people from their sins.

Again it’s not even remotely possible that all this just so happened. And so now you see the beautiful story of Ruth. The beautiful story of Ruth now finds its fulfillment not really in the last few verses of the book of Ruth. It does not find its fulfillment in Obed. It does not find its fulfillment in David, the greatest king that Israel has seen. It does not find its fulfillment in King Solomon, the wisest king Israel has seen. But ultimately, its fulfillment is in King Jesus. King Jesus, now this one King who comes with one mission and that is that in Matthew 1:21. The mission is to save His people from their sins.

See, the story of Ruth is a story of redemption. It is a story of redemption. The story of redemption of two women from the despair of their situation. But it is a story cast against a greater story of Redemption (capital R, Redemption). Throughout the course of history, biblical history, stories in the Bible, the Old Testament, there’s only one plan of redemption. God has only one plan of capital A redemption. No plan B, no plan C, no plan D. And all the stories of redemption that we see in the Old Testament builds and works and grows and intersects at this pinnacle and that is the Redeemer. That is this Son, the Redeemer. Here is the One that is the climax of this entire story.

And so the birth of a son in Ruth chapter 4 is part of a bigger picture pointing us to the birth of the Son who will one day redeem us not just from political turmoil or broken marriages or physical ailments or weakness or sickness or unhappiness. But more than that, the birth of this son is the answer for our redemption from sin. From sin. Now today, you may not have a broken marriage. Now you may have a broken marriage. Today you may not have unhappiness or you may have unhappiness. You may have this and that and different, different things which not everybody has. But one thing for sure. All of us have this pandemic of sin in us.

Now we were born under Adam and we sinned with him, sinned together with him. The only answer to this problem is our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the Redeemer that has overcome sin and death. Now Jesus is the answer. He is our Redeemer from sin. That’s why Obed, Ruth’s son, is called a kinsman-redeemer, now pointing finally to the coming of Jesus as our ultimate kinsman-redeemer. Now let me just read one verse for you from the book of Galatians. And Paul wrote to the Galatian church in Galatians 4:4.

Now he says this: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son (this is the Son), born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons.”. Now these two verses you see when the time is right, when all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle is put together, God sent forth His son with one mission to redeem us from our sins. That’s the one picture of redemption. That’s what we must see in this last few verses of Ruth. So the only question we have before us is this: What is your response? What is your response? What are you going to do with this Son?

Now this Son of whom has been spoken about in the beginning of the Bible (Genesis), has been prophesied about by the prophets and has come. Now this Son who was prophesied by the prophets, His life and His ministry recorded for us in the gospels and the epistles and Revelation looks forward to Him coming again. What are you going to do with this Son? This Son was born in a manger. He was born in a small town of Bethlehem. But He is the very Son of God. He is the God-man. He’s known in the Bible as the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Prince of Peace, the Saviour of His people from their sins. Now what are you going to do with this Son?

Now this morning He looks at each and every one of us here through the pages of Scripture demanding for a response. What is your response? The response that He demands comes from your heart. He demands for true response that comes from your heart, not the response as a result of having been in church for your whole life or having attended Bible study or Sunday school or having read the Bible growing up, having born into a Christian family. A response that comes from a broken and contrite heart. Now I said this morning you cannot ignore Him. You cannot ignore this Son. You’re either on His side, or you’re on the other side.

Now the Bible says: “Choose you this day whom you will serve”. All of us are serving something, but the question is: Are you serving this Son or are you not? There’s no standing on the fence. There is no middle ground. What is your response to this? Now this is a decision you must make and must not put off or delay until tomorrow because you do not know if you will have tomorrow. For some of us here, maybe this week, this day, this year may be our last year. Proverbs 27:1 says: “Boast not about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”. For those of us who are Christians, the birth of this Son is the greatest thing that has ever happened to us.

But for those of us who are not, the birth of this Son is actually the most terrible thing that will happen to us. And you say why? Because the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 that it’s appointed unto men to die once and after that the judgement. Now you see, all of us in this room or throughout the history of mankind, all of us have got two appointments etched in God’s calendar that can never change. Two appointments. The first is death. Now all of us will die. All of us will die one way or another one fine day and all of us will come face to face before the Judge alright. It’s appointed unto men to die once and after that the judgement.

And on Judgement Day, there will be a judge who will give the verdict as to whether you enter into eternal joy and say to you: Good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master or who will pronounce eternal condemnation upon you. Now you must know that the Judge on that day is this Son. It is this Son. So you must do business with Him before it is too late. We have two appointments in God’s calendar which can never change. So do business with this Son. Come, let us reason together, says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they may be white as snow. Or though they are red like crimson, they may be as wool.

Now this Son is your only hope for deliverance from sin and is your only hope for reconciliation with God. So what is your response? And just like the end of every great movie, well there are always the credits that roll showing the names of those who were involved in this movie. So also in this one drama of redemption there are the names that will roll to show those who are a part of this one great drama. Now you see, the Bible has a name for this credit roll. Now Revelation calls it the Lamb’s Book of Life that will have in it the names of all who belong to the Son. Now the Lamb’s Book of Life is also the Son’s Book of Life. So again I ask you: What is your response to this Son? Let’s pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we come face to face with truth, glorious truth recorded for us in this wonderful book, the book of Ruth. And we thank You for this opportunity thousands of years later to be able to hold in our hands and to read of this story, the story of the birth of a son that points finally and ultimately to the birth of the Son. We pray that You will be so gracious to open blind eyes and to revive dead hearts that all of us here may see the beauty of belonging to this Son.

May You grant us no rest until we have come to terms with what we are to do with Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who came to die for our sins so that we can be reconciled with You. We thank You for all these things, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.