Piper's Notes

July 22, 1984

Bethlehem Baptist Church

John Piper, Pastor

RUTH: THE BEST IS YET TO COME

(Ruth 4)

As we come to the end of our series on the book of Ruth the main question we

should ask is, What is the lesson of this book? What one main thing does the

author want us to take away from reading this story?

Here's what I would suggest as the main lesson:

The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there.

The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Nebraska, but a state road through

the Blue Ridge mountains of Tennessee.

There are rock slides and precipices and dark mists and bears and slippery curves

and hairpin turns that make you go backwards in order to go forwards. But all along

this hazardous, twisted road that doesn't let you see very far ahead there are

frequent signs that say, "The best is yet to come." And at the bottom right corner

written with an unmistakable hand are the words, "As I live, says the Lord!"

The book of Ruth is one of those signs for you to read. It was written and it has been

preached to give you some midsummer encouragement and hope that all the

perplexing turns in your life lately are not dead-end streets. In all the setbacks of

your life as a believer God is plotting for your joy.

The story of Ruth is a series of setbacks.

In chapter one Naomi and her husband and two sons were forced to leave their

homeland in Judah on account of famine. Then Naomi's husband dies. Her sons

marry Moabite women and for ten years the women prove to be barren. And then her

sons die leaving two widows in the house of Naomi. Even though Ruth cleaves to

Naomi chapter one ends with Naomi's bitter complaint: "I went away full and the

Lord has brought me back empty … The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me."

In chapter two Naomi is filled with new hope because Boaz appears on the scene as

a possible husband for Ruth. But he doesn't propose to Ruth. He doesn't make any

moves. At least that's the way it seems at first. So the chapter closes brimming

with excited hope, but also with great suspense and uncertainty about how all this

might work out.

In chapter three Naomi and Ruth make a risky move in the middle of the night. Ruth

goes to Boaz on the threshing floor and says in effect, "I want you to spread your

wing over me as my husband." But right when the tragedy of Ruth's widowhood

seems to be resolved into a beautiful love story, a big Blue Ridge boulder rolls out

onto the state road of Ruth's life. There is another man who according to Hebrew

custom has prior claim to marry Ruth. The impeccably honest Boaz will not proceed

without giving this man his lawful opportunity. So chapter three ends again in the

suspense of another setback.

(Chapter 4)

And Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the next of kin,

of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, "Turn aside, friend; sit

down here"; and be turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the

elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here"; so they sat down. 3 Then he said

to the next of kin, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is

selling the parcel of land which belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. 4 So I

thought I would tell you of it, and say, Buy it in the presence of those sitting

here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If You will redeem it,

redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one

besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And he said, "I will redeem it."

5 Then Boaz said, "The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you are

also buying Ruth, the Moabitess, the widow of the dead, in order to restore the

name of the dead to his inheritance." 6 Then the next of kin said, "I cannot

redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of

redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it."

7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and

exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to

the other and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the next of

kin said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself," he drew off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said

to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought

from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to

Chilion and to Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have

bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance,

that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from

the gate of his native place; you are witnesses this day. 11 Then all the people

who were at the gate, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD

make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who

together built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and be

renowned in Bethlehem; 12 and may your house be like the house of Perez,

whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the children that the LORD will give you

by this young woman."

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. 14 Then the women said to

Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next of kin;

and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall 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." 16 Then Naomi took the child

and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the

neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." They

named him Obed; he was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18 Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19

Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of

Salmon, 21 Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, 22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of

David.

After the midnight rendezvous in chapter three, Boaz goes to the city gate where the

official business was done. The nearer kinsman comes by, and Boaz lays the

situation before him. Naomi is giving up what little property she has, and the duty of

the nearer kinsman is to buy it so that the inheritance stays in the family. To our

dismay the kinsman says at the end of verse four, "I will redeem it." We don't want

him to redeem it. We want Boaz to do it. So again there seems to be a setback.

And the irony of this setback is that it is being caused by righteousness. The fellow

is only doing his duty. Sometimes the Blue Ridge highway is all clogged up, not

with boulders or bears, but with good workmen only doing their duty. Our frustrations

are not only caused by sin but also by (apparently!) ill-timed righteousness.

Just when we are about to say, "O no! Stop the story! Don't let this other fellow take

Ruth!" Boaz says to the nearer kinsman, "You know, don't you, that Naomi has a

daughter-in-law. So when you do the part of the kinsman redeemer you must also

take her as your wife and raise up offspring in the name of her husband Mahlon?"

Then, to our great relief, the kinsman says in verse 6 he can't do it. Perhaps he is

married already. Whatever the reason we are cheering in the background as Boaz

gets through the bottleneck on the Blue Ridge and highballs it to the wedding feast

with the beautiful young Ruth on his arm.

But there is a cloud overhead.

Ruth is barren. Or at least she seems to be. In 1:4 we were told that she had been

married ten years to Mahlon and there were no children. So even now the suspense

is not over. Can you see why I said that the lesson of the book of Ruth is that the

life of the godly is not a straight line to glory? Life is one curve after another. And we

never know what's coming. But the point of the story is that the best is yet to come.

No matter where you are, if you love God the best is yet to come.

The cloud over the head of Ruth and Boaz is big with mercy, and breaks with

blessing on their head in 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." But

notice how the focus in verses 14-17 is not on Ruth at all, nor on Boaz. The focus is

on Naomi and the child. Why?

We had a grubby looking fellow come in the church office a few years ago looking

for help. I asked him what his name was, and he said, "Hardtimes, that's my name,

Hardtimes." Well Naomi's name at the beginning of this book was Hardtimes …

Hardtimes Naomi. That's the way the author of this book wanted us to meet her.

Because the point of the book is that the life of the godly is not a straight line to

glory, but they do get there. The story began with Naomi's loss. It ends with Naomi's

gain. It began with death and ends with birth. A son -- for whom? Verse 17 is the

great destination of Naomi's long and twisted road. "And the women of the

neighborhood gave him a name, saying, 'A son has been born to Naomi.'" Not to

Ruth! But to Naomi! Why? To show that it was not true, what Naomi had said in

2:21, that the Lord had brought her back empty from Moab. And if we could just

learn to wait and trust in God, all our complaints against God would prove untrue.

Ruth was written to help us see the signposts of the grace of God in our lives, and

to help us trust his grace even when the clouds are so thick that we can't see the

road let alone the signs on the side. Let's go back and remind ourselves that it

was God who acted to turn each setback into a stepping stone to joy and

that it is God in all of our bitter providences who is plotting for our good.

First, when Naomi's whole life seemed to cave in in Moab it was God who gave Ruth

to Naomi. We know this from two verses. In 1:16 we learn that at the root of Ruth's

commitment to Naomi is Ruth's commitment to Naomi's God: "Your God shall be

my God." God had won Ruth's allegiance in Moab and so it was to God that Naomi

owed the amazing love of her daughter-in-law. Also in 2:12 it says that when Ruth

came to Judah with Naomi she was coming to take refuge under the wings of God.

Therefore it is owing to God that Ruth left her home and family to follow and serve

Naomi. All along it was God turning Naomi's setback into joy -- even when she was

oblivious to his grace.

Second, Naomi gives the impression in chapter one that there is no hope that Ruth

could marry and raise up children to continue the family line (1:12). But all the while

God is preserving a wealthy and godly man named Boaz to do just that. The reason

we know that this was God's doing is that Naomi herself admits it in 2:20. She

recognizes the behind the "accidental" meeting of Ruth and Boaz was the "kindness

of God who has not forsaken the living or the dead." In every loss that the godly

endure God is already plotting for their gain.

Third, who was it that gave to the barren womb of Ruth the child so that the

neighborhood women could say, "A son has been born to Naomi"? God gave the

child. Look at 4:11. The townspeople pray for Boaz and Ruth. They know that Ruth

was married for 10 years without a child. So they remember Rachel whose womb

the Lord had opened long before. And they pray that God will make Ruth like Rachel

and Leah. And so the author makes very clear in verse 13 who caused this child to

be conceived. "Boaz went in to her and the Lord gave her conception."

So again and again in this book it was God who was at work in the bitter setbacks

of Naomi. When she lost her husband and sons, God gave her Ruth. When she

could think of no kinsman to raise up offspring for the family name, God gave her

Boaz. When barren Ruth married Boaz God gave the child. The point of the story is

made in the life of Naomi. The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but God

sees that they get there.

Maybe you think the word glory is a little overdone. After all its just a child. A

grandmother holding a little child after a long hard life of much heartache. Ah, but

that's not the end of the story.

In 1912 John Henry Jowett, then pastor of the Fifth Presbyterian Church in New York

City, gave the Yale Lectures on Preaching. There is a passage in one of his lectures

which describes great preaching and gives us a vision of what the author of the book

of Ruth was doing when he ended his story.

Jowett described a great preacher as one who seems to look at the horizon rather

than at an enclosed field, or a local landscape. He has a marvelous way of

connecting every subject with eternity past and with eternity to come … It is as

though you were looking at a bit of carved wood in a Swiss village window, and you

lifted your eyes and saw the forest where the wood was nourished, and, higher still,

the everlasting snows! Yes, that was Binney's way, Dale's way, the way of Bushnell,

and Newman, and Spurgeon -- they were always willing to stop at the village

window, but they always linked the streets with the heights, and sent your souls

aroaming over the eternal hills of God. (The Preacher, His Life and Work, p. 95.)

If this story of Ruth just ended in a little Judean village with an old grandmother

hugging a new grandson, glory would be too big a word. But the author doesn't leave

it there. He lifts his eyes to the forests and the mountain snows of redemptive

history. In verse 17 he says very simply that this child Obed was the father of Jesse

and Jesse was the father of David. All of a sudden we realize that all along

something far greater has been in the offing than we could imagine. God was not

only plotting for the temporal blessing of a few Jews in Bethlehem. He was preparing

for the coming of the greatest king that Israel would have, David. And the name of

David carries with it the hope of the Messiah, the new age, peace, righteousness,

freedom from pain and crying and grief and guilt. This simple little story opens out

like a stream into a great river of hope.

One of the great diseases of our day is triviality.

The things with which most people spend most of their time are utterly trivial. And

what makes this a disease is that we who were created in the image of God were

meant to live for magnificent causes. None of us is really content with the trivial

pursuits of the world. Our souls will not be satisfied with trifles. Why is there a whole

section of the newspaper devoted to sport, and almost nothing devoted to the

greatest story in the universe -- the growth and spread of the church of Jesus

Christ? It is madness, sheer madness, that insignificant games should occupy such

a central role in our culture. It is simply one of many signs that we are enslaved to

trivialities. We live in the Swiss village shop staring at the wooden figurines, and

rarely lifting our eyes to the forests and the everlasting snows. We live in a perpetual

and hopeless struggle to satisfy our longings on trifles. So our souls shrivel. Our

lives are trivial. And our capacity for great worship dies.

The book of Ruth wants to teach us that God's purpose for the life of his people is to

connect us to something far greater than ourselves. God wants us to know that

when we follow him our lives always mean more than we think they do. For the

Christian there is always a connection between the ordinary events of life and the

stupendous work of God in history. Everything we do in obedience to God, no matter

how small, is significant. It is part of a cosmic mosaic which God is painting to

display the greatness of his power and wisdom to the world and to the principalities

and powers in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:10). The deep satisfaction of the

Christian life is that it is not given over to trifles. Serving a widowed mother-in-law,

gleaning in a field, falling in love, having a baby -- for the Christian these things are

all connected to eternity. They are part of something so much bigger than they

seem.

So the word glory is not too strong. The life of the godly is not a straight line to

glory, but they do get there -- God sees to it. There is a hope for us beyond the cute

baby and the happy grandmother. If there weren't we would be of all men most

miserable. The story points forward to David. David points forward to Jesus. And

Jesus points forward to the resurrection of our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:23) when

"death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any

more, for the former things have passed away" (Rev. 21:4).

The best is yet to come.

That is the unshakable truth about the life of the woman and the man who follow

Christ in the obedience of faith. I say it to the young who are strong and hopeful, and

I say it to the old, for whom the outer nature is quickly wasting away. The best is

yet to come.

I saw it in a parable Friday. I was visiting some of our elderly people at the Caroline

Center, and got on the elevator with a woman in a wheel chair who was old,

misshapen, and confused. She shook her head meaninglessly and uttered

senseless sounds and let her mouth hang open. Then I noticed that a well dressed

man, perhaps in his mid-sixties, was pushing her chair. I wondered who he was.

Then as we all got off the elevator I heard him say, "Watch your feet, Sweetie-pie."

Sweetie-pie. As I walked to the car, I thought … if a marriage covenant between a

man and a woman can produce that kind of fidelity and commitment and affection

under those circumstances, then surely under the great and merciful terms of the

new covenant in Christ, God has no difficulty calling Odette McAviney, and Harold

Holmgren and Mary Agnes Danielson, and you and me (sick as we are!), "Sweetie-

pie." And if he does there is no truth more unshakable in all the world than this: For

them and for us the best is yet to come. Amen.

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