Joy in the End

This week we closed out our series of sermons on the Book of Ruth at FBC Okeechobee. The Book of Ruth isn’t a happy book at the beginning, but by the end of the book there is joy for all of the main figures of the account. I love the end of this book. It has a little bit of a fairytale feeling to it. My favorite part of Ruth is when Naomi is holding her grandson Obed who will carry on the line of her family. Can you imagine the joy in her heart as she sits with that little boy on her lap while the women of Bethlehem bless him and even name the little boy Obed. She had been through so much, but now she is on a mountaintop of emotions. I know how much my parents love their little granddaughter, Charlotte, we call her Charlee. I can’t imagine how much Obed meant to Naomi. He was in that culture like being given back a son. I just love that image from Ruth 4, and I think it is the perfect ending.

As I think back on the Book of Ruth as a whole having just finished teaching through it there is one thing that is easy for us to miss. We can easily overlook God’s presence in this entire story. He doesn’t speak audibly once. There is no parting of the Red Sea or the Jordan River. No one walks on water or kills a giant. Through this whole book God doesn’t overtly make His presence felt, but He is present throughout all of it. He is moving behind the scenes, and He is directing everything that is happening. The famine in Chapter 1 is no accident. The death of Naomi’s family did not happen by chance. Ruth didn’t wander into Boaz’s field without God’s direction. Everyone in this story made freewill choices, but they all ended up exactly where God wanted them to be because He is our sovereign God. As I read about the Book of Ruth in preparation to teach through it I found several people that referred to the Book Ruth as being full of ordinary miracles. God used everyday things to see His plan become reality. This is often how God works in our lives as well. He uses the ordinary to see our lives move in the direction He desires. I have seen God do the extraordinary, but more often I’ve seen Him use the ordinary. Many times I didn’t see His hand working in the moment, but when I looked back at what had happened I saw Him moving things as He desired so His will came to be. What a God we serve!

God wasn’t just moving in the background of the lives of Ruth, Boaz, and Naomi in the Book of Ruth. God also was working in a larger context. The Book of Ruth ends with a geneaology. It starts in Ruth 4:18, This is the genealogical record of their ancestor Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron.
19 Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.[a]
21 Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
22 Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David.

Why end this book in this fashion? It was a nice ending with Naomi holding Obed. Always remember that with God nothing is happening by accident. God’s purpose is to show this story in the larger context. Ruth was just one part of a bigger picture. God is working across all of human history with one thing in mind, our salvation through Christ. Ruth’s marriage to Boaz will lead us straight to David. She is David’s great grandmother. David’s great great grandmother was Rahab the prostitute from the Biblical city of Jericho. David’s line will lead us straight back to Bethlehem 1,000 years later to Mary, Joseph, and a baby in a manger. God was moving through all of this to bring us Jesus and the forgiveness of our sins. We serve such a mighty God. He sees the whole picture of history. I have throughly enjoyed this journey through Ruth’s life and her part in God’s plan for all of us.

This link will take you to our youtube channel so you can view all of this series or any of our other services and bible studies. https://www.youtube.com/c/FBCOkeechobee/playlists

Below is a link to final sermon in this series if you would like to view it.