Please turn with me to the book of Ruth - chapter 4 - starting at verse 13.  This morning I’d like to share a love story with you.  One that is worth being reminded of as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Ruth 4:13:  So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her.  And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

There are five statements in this verse that describe the love story of Boaz and Ruth.

First Statement:  Boaz took Ruth.  Say that with me, “Boaz took Ruth.”

Do you remember how this story goes?  There was a man by the name of Elimelech who was living in Bethlehem with his wife - Naomi - and his two sons - Mahlon and Chilion.  There was a famine in Judah - so Elimelech moves his whole family to the land of Moab - east of the Dead Sea.  Which shows how desperate they were.

The Moabites were the decendants of the oldest of Lot’s two surviving daughters.  After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah - Lot’s two daughters got their father Lot drunk - two nights in a row - so they could have children by him.  From one daughter came the Moabites and from the other the Ammonites.  So the Moabites are descendants of Lot by incest.

Moab through the years had been a bitter enemy of Israel.  Different cultures.  Different gods.  Always rivalry.  Often bloody.  For generations there’s been conflict and hostility and hatred between these two nations.  It was a pretty bold and desperate move for Elimelech - taking his family to Moab. 

When they got to Moab - Elimelech dies and Naomi is left alone with her two boys - Mahlon and Chilion.  In time the boys marry two Moabite women:  Orpah and Ruth.  Hold onto to that - Ruth is a Moabitess.  She’s got a past - a stigma about her.

10 years go by and then Mahlon and Chilion die.  After the famine is over Naomi decides to return home to Bethlehem.  Orpah stays in Moab with her family.  Ruth goes with Naomi to Bethlehem

When they get back to Bethlehem - Ruth begins to glean in the field of a man named Boaz.  After the barley harvesters finished picking in the fields - Ruth would go out each day and collect the barley that had fallen on the ground.  From this left over barley she and Naomi would have enough to eat.

Come to find out Boaz is a close relative of Naomi.  Which is important - right?  He is, what in Hebrew is a “go’el.”  Say that with me, “go’el.”  “Go’el” means “to redeem.”  Or in Boaz’s case - a “kinsman redeemer.”

Back in Leviticus 25 God had established the law of the kinsman redeemer.  That law said that if a family fell into poverty - which was the situation of Naomi and Ruth - poverty where they would have to sell everything or themselves into slavery in order to survive - the “go’el” was suppose to step in on their behalf and buy everything back - redeem it - so that nothing would be lost. (Leviticus 25:23 ff)

In a similar way - God had established a law that - if a married man died without children - a brother or another near relative of the deceased man - was to produce children by the widow.  In this case - Ruth.  The children then would be raised as the children of the deceased husband - being considered the children of the deceased man - not the brother.  Are we tracking on that?  The brother - the kinsman - would redeem the widow - “go’el” her - along with the family name and property - so that nothing would be lost. (Genesis 38:8,9; Deuteronomy 25:5-10)

The statement here in verse 13 tells us that Boaz did that for Ruth.  Boaz took Ruth.  A woman who began life as a foreigner - in the hated land of Moab - living as an idolater apart from God - a childless impoverished widow.  Boaz takes her away from all that.  She’s set free from her past - set free in the present - given a future - by her “go’el.”

Second statement:  She became his wife.  Say that with me, “She became his wife.”

The law of the kinsman redeemer required the “go’el” to acquire the widow and have a child by her.  Marriage was not required.  This all could have been taken care of in a formal - legal - manner.  But, Ruth becomes Boaz’s wife. 

Boaz falls head over heels in love with Ruth.  He didn’t just do the minimum to get by.  He loved her.  He gives her his heart.  He brings her into his home.  He honors her.  She becomes his partner in marriage.  When they walked through town they were arm in arm.  She is esteemed and respected as his wife.  There’s romance here.

“Ahhhh.”  Try that, “Ahhhh.”  After all, this is a love story.

Third Statement:  He went in to her.  Say that with me, “He went in to her.”

That’s the Bible’s “G” rated way of saying they were intimate.  Maybe that’s obvious.  They’re husband and wife.  Of course they were intimate.

The writer is making a point - emphasizing it so that we take time to dwell on it.  The coming together is not just a legal marriage.  Boaz loves Ruth.  And, Ruth also loves Boaz.  Even beyond that - there’s openness and trust in their relationship.  Nothing between them.  No barriers to intimacy.  Depth of relationship - oneness.

Fourth Statement:  The Lord enabled her to conceive.  Try this, “The Lord enabled her to conceive.”

God steers Ruth into Boaz’s field.  Arranges the circumstances of their meeting.  God gives Ruth a child.  When Ruth had been married before - for at least 10 years - and she hadn’t produced a child.  Now, the childless widow conceives.  Behind all this is God at work.  Bringing these two together at the right time in the right place.

God is at work here.  It’s no coincidence that all this takes place in Bethlehem.  That both Boaz and Ruth are listed in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus - also born in Bethlehem - is not mere chance.  God is showing us something in this love story.  Something about Himself.  Boaz is given to us as an example of Jesus - who is our kinsman redeemer - buying us back - saving what was lost.

Fifth Statement:  She gave birth to a son.  Together, “She gave birth to a son.”

Boaz takes a wife.  Gives his heart to her.  They are in love.  A child is born.  The grandfather of King David.  A new generation - a posterity.  A future and a hope.

Verse 14:  Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous 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.”

“It was the best of times.  It was the - what?  worst of times.”  The glass is either half empty or - what?  Half full.  It all depends on how we look at it.  Sometimes we wonder if there’s a glass.  That was Naomi.

The book of Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges.  Remember when we looked at that?  Heroes Of Faith?  Remember how we saw that during the time of the Judges there were these seven cycles of sin?

First what?  Israel would sin in the sight of God - idolatry - paganism - immorality.  Second, God would send punishment - war - captivity.  Something to get His people to turn back to Him.  Third, Israel would cry out to God.  Fourth, God would send a Judge - someone to deliver them.  Fifth, Israel would enter a time of peace and rest.

Each time through the cycle things got worse - God’s people moving farther away from God - going deeper into sin.  Each punishment would get more severe.   The whole of Judges is a descent into failure and defeat and depravity.  In many ways like today.

Having fled the famine in her own land, Naomi is left in Moab with her two daughters-in-law.  She has no real support.  No future.  When she returns to Bethlehem - without sons - a Moabitess in tow - she’s greeted at the gate by the women of the town.  They ask, “Is this Naomi?  This is not the same Naomi who left here ten years ago.”

Naomi responds to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara - meaning bitter - for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.  I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty...the Almighty has afflicted me.” (Ruth 1:20-22)

During this time of depravity - evil - Naomi’ comes back to Bethlehem.  She’s crying out.  She’s broken.  She’s lonely.  Thinking only about what she’s lost.  She’s angry at God.  Bitter.  In her mind, the worst of times.

Remember these words?  Ruth speaking to Naomi, “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.  Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” (Ruth 1:16,17)

Ruth - on the other hand - has encountered the living God.  In the midst of the worst of times - she’s been pursuing God’s will for her - trusting Him - following Him - even leaving behind her own people - their customs and their gods.  For Ruth - the best of times.  In Bethlehem she finds love - given by God through Boaz.

That makes these words - here in verses 14 and 15 - all the more significant.

“Naomi, think about how good Ruth has been to you - better than seven sons.  She’s stuck to you like glue.  She’s been there for you..  Naomi, think about how God has blessed you through her.  He’s even given you this child - a future.”

Naomi has a redeemer who gives her hope and a future.  And she has a choice - as Ruth had a choice - how to respond.  The worst of times or the best of times?

Verse 16:  Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse.  The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!  So they named him Obed - servant of the Lord - He is the father of Jesse, the father of David - ancestor of the Redeemer - Jesus   

Christmas - when we get past all the things of Christmas - Christmas  -ultimately - is a love story.  God loving us.

We all have a past - sins - wounds.  We all live in the present.  We all have circumstances that surround our lives.  We all crave a future - either here or in eternity.  We all need the Redeemer.  This baby born in Bethlehem - who’s birth we celebrate today.

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