Once Upon a Time

When did election, when did the redemption, the awakening of a redeemed sinner, the calling of a sinner to join the bridal party just become some cold, emotionless transaction between us and our Savior?

When did it get stripped of its joy? J. Vernon McGee goes on to write in his commentary, The Book of Ruth declares that redemption is not a business transaction, it is a love story. Today on Wisdom for the Heart, Stephen Davey begins a series from the Book of Ruth.

Every good fairy tale begins with the classic line, Once upon a time. In some ways, Ruth's story is a fairy tale, but it's true. Ruth is known as a love story, but it's much more.

Ruth serves as an illustration of the redemption God brings us through Jesus Christ. Today's lesson serves as an introduction to the book. Stephen's going to identify the major themes in Ruth and clarify why God wanted us to have this wonderful story. Today's lesson is called, Once upon a time. Well, there are very few texts or books that I have the opportunity to preach twice. We've been preaching through the Bible now for almost 20 years. I thought we'd balance it a little bit by going to a book of the Bible I've preached before. In fact, 16 years ago, I preached through the little book of Ruth. So I thought we'd go back to this and redo it. In fact, I'm starting from scratch.

I'm not even using my material I did 16 years ago and we're going to take a little slower pace. I'm sure that's a shock to you as we go through this book. A Christian magazine that I subscribe to carried a number of kind of interesting humorous stories about love. And I thought, well, you know, this is one of the reasons all of our men probably need a good love story. You could probably identify perhaps with this poem carried by this magazine. See how many of you relate.

Roses are red, violets are blue, daffodils cost 30 bucks, so will dandelions do? How many of you women can feel that pain? Yes, hands all over. Well, maybe that's why, ladies, you can identify with this one single woman who'd been dating a guy for a number of years. She tried everything to get him to commit.

Nothing worked. And so she finally just sort of gave up. She'd been praying, you know, asking the Lord for wisdom. And finally she decided she would place an ad in the classifieds. She listed her phone number. She just in desperation gave up. The ad simply read this, husband wanted. Her phone number underneath.

The next day she received over 100 phone calls from women and they all said the same thing. You can have mine. Now we all probably enjoy fairy tales.

And I'm keeping the title I used 16 years ago. But we all know that they don't come true, do they? But one did.

One did. In fact, it has all of the elements in here of a great instant classic. An angry, bitter stepmother. A beautiful but poor damsel in distress.

And a wealthy prince who comes in to save the day. J. Vernon McGee wrote in his commentary, This book reads like a novel, but it is not fiction. It's for real. There's no evidence in this story of poison apples or wicked witches and glass slippers. All that stuff is make believe. But this one's for real.

In fact, there will be plenty of evidence that God's hand is behind the scenes arranging all of the details. So that the damsel in distress could be rescued at just the right time in just the right way by just the right man. This powerful little love story is only four chapters long. And you can read it in about 25 minutes or less. There are some who believe that this little book was written by an anonymous author.

In fact, it is anonymous. But others find good reason, as I do, to believe it was probably written and recorded by the prophet Samuel. We can't know for sure, but a Jewish tradition dating back centuries considers Samuel to be the author of this little love story. There are six action-packed, emotion-filled scenes in this dramatic tale of true love. In fact, if you look at the opening, just the opening words, now it came about in the days when, sounds a lot like once upon a time, doesn't it?

Once upon a time, long, long ago. But before we turn too many pages, let me give you several reasons why God preserved this 25-minute love story for us in our Bibles. Each one of these, I think, will deepen our appreciation of the truths that are embedded in this fairy tale that comes true. So let me just give them to you as we introduce this book. Number one, first, one of the reasons the book of Ruth is provided by God in his word is to demonstrate the gospel of grace.

We might miss the richness of this truth as we read the story. I found it interesting in my study just recently that in the Hebrew arrangement of the Old Testament, Ruth was one of five scrolls that was read annually by the Jewish people at a festival. Some of the other scrolls read annually.

I knew this one, perhaps you do. Esther was read annually at the Feast of Purim. Another book, or scroll, was Ecclesiastes that was read every year at the Feast of Tabernacles.

And Ruth was one of the five that was read annually. And Ruth was read at the Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost. It's more than just a coincidence that the love story of a kinsman redeemer who would win his bride would be read at the Feast of Pentecost. Centuries later, on the day of Pentecost, the kinsman redeemer would initiate the redeeming of his bride as the bride of Christ, the church, would be created at Pentecost.

And our love story would begin. It's the work of grace, then and now. Here you have a Gentile girl, a descendant of Moab, we'll look later at all that that would mean, condemned by the law, forbidden to enter into the temple of God, for under the law it declared, and I quote, an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 23 verse 3. Yet she will give herself to Boaz. She will, by the way, ask him to redeem her, which is significant for her own story, which he will do, and he will redeem her not because she meets the requirements of the law, but because she will be saved by grace. This is a story of grace. The law says you can't. Grace says you can.

The law says keep out. Grace says welcome in. Which leads me to another reason for preserving this wonderful love story.

It not only demonstrates the gospel of grace, but it illustrates the love of Christ for his church. Did you know that Ruth provides the only clear example in the Bible of the goel? That's the word translated kinsman redeemer. The law of Moses allowed for a near relative or kinsman to marry the widow of a deceased relative in order to provide everything she needed, including an heir to his estate. Now not just anybody could marry the widow. He had to be a relative of the family.

And the closest family member had the right of first refusal, so to speak, as we'll discover later. Well, Boaz was related to Naomi's husband, Elimelech, and he could legally redeem Ruth if he chose to do so. So in this, he becomes an illustration of Jesus Christ, the ultimate and final goel, and his love for the bride. And in this, we discover one of the reasons then for the incarnation of God the Son. He became a human being so that he could become a relative of the human race.

Now he's able to redeem the bride. This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Galatians and he said, When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them who were under the law, Galatians 4, 4 and 5. So just as Boaz was a relative of Elimelech, so Jesus Christ would become a near relative of ours, capable of redeeming us. Furthermore, just as Boaz was not responsible for the bankruptcy of Ruth's estate, Naomi's estate, Jesus Christ is not responsible for the sinful bankruptcy of the human race. Just as Boaz will accept the bankruptcy of Naomi and Ruth and their estate, so Jesus Christ accepts our bankruptcy bearing in his body on the tree our sin so that we being dead to sin can live under righteousness. Let me add to that, just as Boaz had to be wealthy enough to redeem the estate, it didn't matter if he wanted to, he had to be wealthy enough to buy it. So our Lord, according to the riches of his grace, redeemed us through his blood. Ephesians 1, 7. The legal tender for Boaz was money.

The legal tender of our redemption was the blood of Christ. But would you mark in your minds that this transaction was neither cold nor emotionless? If you've read this love story any time before, you know, especially the first time you read it, how the tension builds, doesn't it?

I mean, it just builds. Each dramatic scene builds upon another and you find yourself saying to that other potential kinsman redeemer who's more closely related than Boaz, don't buy the land, get lost, go away, don't, Boaz loves her. You find yourself just on the edge of your seat and you can sense that Boaz is about to jump out of his skin. When that man says to him, I tell you what, you can have the land and you can have Ruth and you go, oh yes, this is exciting, this is thrilling. I know we're in church, but it's exciting. Do you know, as you've been led from one dramatic scene to the next, that at that point Boaz can hardly contain his joy? This is the joy of a man who has just proposed and after some convincing, she has said yes.

I mean, men, you know, up to that point in your life, that's the greatest moment of joy you've ever experienced. Amen? Amen? Ah, you're quick learners, good, gentlemen. I don't want to be in the car on the way home with you, that's all I can say. Listen, Jesus Christ isn't saying, okay, I'll take Stephen and Marsha, I'll take Mark and Irene, yeah, I guess they'll do.

I guess they'll do. The redemption of one sinner is cause for celebration of joy in and among the hosts of heaven. Luke 15, 10. When did election, when did the redemption, the awakening of a redeemed sinner, the calling of a sinner to join the bridal party, just become some cold, emotionless transaction between us and our Savior? When did it get stripped of its joy? Perhaps more than likely it comes out of our more recent theological past, writers like, we certainly respect, writers like Jonathan Edwards in the history of redemption and Stuart Robinson in the discourse of redemption.

They entirely omit any reference to the book of Ruth, even though they are tracing redemption through the Old Testament. They got the concept right. They got the theology right. But they missed the passion of the transaction.

They missed that. One author said that this method of writing theological truth brought redemption to mean a cold business transaction. He says a thousand times no. Redemption is the love story of a kinsman who neither counted the cost nor figured up the profit and loss, but for joy paid an exorbitant price for one that he loved. J. Vernon McGee goes on to write in his commentary, the book of Ruth declares that redemption is not a business transaction.

It is a love story. The truth is, I thought about this in my study, I'm not sure we believe that. We know that he's supposed to be special to us, but we're not really sure we're all that special to him. We know us. Would he get excited over us?

Yes. He does. You know, I'm fairly convinced that in Heaven we're going to spend a long time at the outset amazed at what he's provided for us, amazed at what he's done for us, amazed at what he's created for us, amazed at how he will reward us. I think we're going to go around saying, this is unbelievable.

This is amazing. He really loves us, doesn't he? See, this book wraps theological truth inside of deep passion and emotion. It's a love story of the grace of Christ and his love for the church. Third, the book of Ruth also defends the lineage of Jesus Christ. The book of Ruth provides a clear line between David, Perez, the royal line, and Judah, this line of the coming king. In fact, the last genealogy between David and Jesus Christ providing the link between David and ultimately Jesus Christ is the genealogical table discovered at the very end of the book of Ruth. Ruth's genealogy, that table, will be brought over by Matthew and by Luke in their genealogy of Jesus Christ. In fact, so critical is the link that Ruth provides in her genealogical table that Old Testament scholars Kyle and Delich are convinced that this is the reason why the book was recorded.

Everything else is secondary. It is the provision of that genealogical link between Christ and the royal line of David, which proves he has all that's necessary legally and in the bloodline to serve as the king of Israel. One more comment on that particular point. You'll discover in the genealogy that Boaz's Gentile mother, Rahab, the what? The harlot. Isn't that amazing how God continually reinforced that? Every time she shows up, it's that. Not to denigrate her, but to remind us of his great love and grace. That's Boaz's mother, Rahab the harlot. And she didn't marry just any Jewish man as she fled Jericho, remember? The scarlet cord and her desire to leave and follow the God of Israel. She marries a Jewish man, we'll learn from the genealogy, but not just any Jewish man. He happens to be the nephew of Aaron. She marries a man within the priestly line of this nation. So also, Jesus Christ, who marries his bride, the church, is not really only a member of the priestly line. He is the high priest. He is the greater than Boaz.

He fulfills all of the little illustrations of what Boaz reflects. And Ruth, the church. The book of Ruth demonstrates the grace of God. It illustrates the love of Christ for his church. It defends the lineage of Jesus Christ as the literal descendant of David, and therefore heir to David's throne. And fourth, the book of Ruth is proof that godly living can take place in an ungodly culture. The fairy tale that really does come true, if you notice in your Bibles, begins with the word and, or you can translate it, now.

It's a continuation of the previous book. Look at Ruth 1, verse 1 again. Now it came about in the days when the judges governed.

Now stop. That was given to us not because God needed some space to fill up. He wants us to know the setting. It takes place in the days when the judges governed. What was it like in the days when the judges governed? Well, all you have to do is look across the page to the last verse of the previous book, which happens to be the book of judges. And the last verse of that last chapter says, in those days, that is in the days of the judges, there was no king in Israel, and guess what?

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now this immediately informs us that this beautiful love story of Boaz and Ruth will shine against the troubled, sinful, anything-goes, immoral backdrop of its times. One author wrote, the book of Ruth is a pearl in the pigpen of the judges.

That's what's happening. And you might come to the conclusion, if you just sat down and you just read the book of Ruth, you might come to the false conclusion, but isn't that wonderful? What a wonderful time to raise a family. What a wonderful time to seek a bride.

It's just perfect. I mean, men are respectful and godly and kind to women and those in need, and women are respectful and discreet toward men. I mean, you might get the impression that all the landowners care about those who are foraging, and they care about widows, and they use their money to help the needy. Nothing could be further from the truth, which makes the pure love story of Boaz and Ruth all the more remarkable. What were the days of the judges like? They were the lowest points in Israel's history, for starters, division, cruelty, immorality, idolatry, apostasy, civil war, and national disgrace. In fact, based on clues that we won't get into, but I had an opportunity to research, Old Testament scholars believe that Boaz was probably a contemporary of Gideon, and they probably knew one another. But Gideon's biography, if you've ever studied, it goes from good to bad, and then from bad to evil. Gideon starts out well, but he ends up marrying a number of women. His heart turned away from the Lord, he bears 70 sons who will be assassinated in cold blood as soon as Gideon dies, Judges chapter nine. Then there is the judge named Samson.

You probably know about him. His life was one fornication after another until he sold his soul to his latest mistress named Delilah who discovered his secret, pulled it out of him, and then cut his hair one night, and the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes, Judges 16. There goes one of your judges. And there's the unbelievable story of the Levite later on in Judges who took his mistress from none other than the town of Bethlehem, probably knew Boaz. The town of Bethlehem, he travels to Ephraim, and where she was, and he, spending the night in the open, they're finally greeted and welcomed into a home. Unfortunately, Israelite men come, they take her, they rape her, and she dies.

And that story spreads, nearly bringing the nation to the brink of civil war. This was front page news in the Bethlehem Times. These are the days of the judges. These were no easier times to find a spouse and raise a family and have a godly testimony than today.

And yet, the lives of Boaz and Ruth then shine all the much more brighter, don't they? You discover in here the sanctuary of a godly home. You discover the commitment to humble service to those in need. You find the description of godly manhood that shepherds a family. You discover the presentation of godly womanhood that pursues a virtuous life. You discover the sanctity of the marriage vow. You discover the high standards for marriage and fidelity, even in the days of the judges when mistresses were as common as wives. These are the dark days of the judges, and this is the shining testimony of Boaz and Ruth. It's possible to live a godly life in the midst of an ungodly culture. This book will reveal it's possible to be pure when surrounded by impurity. It's possible to not have your culture rewrite your character, but for your character to remain unwritten by your culture and so influence your culture for the glory of God. Well, the book of Ruth is a demonstration of the grace of God, the love of Christ, the proof of Christ's lineage, the proof that godliness is possible even in ungodly times.

Let me give you one more. The book of Ruth reveals the providence of God in the smallest details of life. Let me just give you a quick overview of this book. The patriarch of this family, Elimelech, in his faithlessness left the land of God, as we'll see in our next session, and the people of God, but he just so happened to go to Moab to live. And it just so happened that one of his sons in his rebellion married a Moabite girl who just so happened to be Ruth, who just so happened to desire to follow after God and return with Naomi 10 years later. And she just happened to glean in a field which just so happened to belong to Boaz, who happened to be a relative of Naomi's. And he just so happened to be riding his horse out to the field on the very day when Ruth just so happened to choose his field in which to forage for leftover grain. What's more, he just so happened to be a godly single man, the son of a Gentile woman named Rahab, who happened to have converted to Judaism years earlier, and it just so happened that she married a Jewish man so that their son just might happen to be open to the idea of a Gentile wife. And it just so happened that they married, became part of the lineage of Christ, who would then carry not only Jewish blood, giving him the right to sit on David's throne, but Gentile blood and the right he came to win would include both Jewish and Gentile believers. And isn't that amazing how it all just so happened?

Well, not quite. This is a book that reveals that God is the director of the symphony, and he is orchestrating all things to fulfill his purposes, even faithlessness, even some of those events that don't make sense to us now. And they may never make sense to us.

They're going to make sense generations later. I imagine at the outset of this dramatic tale, Boaz would be thinking, why doesn't God give me a wife? He's an older, godly man, wealthy with financial resources to provide for a family. I wonder if he rode around on his horse wondering, God, why don't you give me a wife? I would imagine Naomi will be asking, God, why did you take away my husband? I imagine Ruth would be wondering, what kind of God have I decided to follow? What kind of people will be waiting for me?

What will my life be like? I think even Elimelech might have thought in his dying breath my faithlessness to follow God during the famine. It has ruined everything. Everything is lost. They have no idea.

The truth is, neither do we. So as their story line begins, as the curtain prepares to rise on this drama, I want you to take heart. Take heart. God happens to be the one writing not just their story, but yours and mine. As believers in Jesus Christ, God has already written our story. And as Stephen just reminded us, it's not a story with an ending. Our story is forever, because the hope and the promise of every believer is eternity in heaven with God. This is wisdom for the heart. With today's message, Stephen began a series from the book of Ruth, a book that illustrates the redemption Jesus Christ brought to us. I hope you'll be with us for this entire series.

This series has been turned into a book. We have more on the way, but we do have a limited supply on hand. If you'd like information on how you can get a copy, call us at 866-48-BIBLE. Again, that's 866-48-BIBLE. That's all for today. Please join us again tomorrow as we continue through Ruth on Wisdom for the Heart. . .