Boaz, if you want to marry Ruth, marry her. Who cares what people think? You love her. She loves you. That's all that matters in the story. Why all of this unnecessary, in our minds, attention to details? Boaz, marry her. Elope. Naomi, you wanna sell your land? Sell it. Don't worry about this kinsman redeemer stuff. Just do it. You'll notice that the title of the sermon this morning is God's, it's God's law. Naomi needs to sell, but she is obligated to follow the law. Boaz wants to marry Ruth, but there's a little bit more involved in it than him just marrying her. He too is committed to a law. It's God's law. Folks, how refreshing that they are committed to God's law in a day when every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Judges 21, 20, the very last verse of Judges. Every man was doing that which was right in his own eyes. And then you come to the book of Ruth and it says, and in the day of the judges, and now you've got this refreshing contrast. Here's a couple who said, we're gonna do what God wants us to do. We see in chapter one of Ruth, Naomi's loss. Tragedy strikes, her husband dies, her sons die in the land of Moab. Her daughter-in-law, one of her daughters-in-law comes with her. And in chapter two, we see Ruth's luck. Remember I say that facetiously because it is not luck, it is God's providence. Then we get to chapter three and you see Ruth's loyalty. And now we come to chapter four and we focus on the main character of the book of Ruth. It's not Elimelech, it's not Mahlon, it's not Kilian, it's not Orpah, it's not Ruth, it's not Naomi, it's not Boaz, it's God. What allows the joyful events of chapter four to take place? It's God's law. You know that thing that gets in the way sometimes in our lives? The thing that restricts you and cramps your style and, oh, the law, don't talk to me about the law. It is the very thing that allows to take place in the book of Ruth, what takes place. You go from Naomi's loss in chapter one of verse 21, and now, Her dilemma is solved in chapter four by God's law. It's the law of redemption. Oh, how I love thy law, the psalmist says in 119 and 97. And then you'll read this in chapter one of Psalms, in thy law he doth meditate day and night. Joshua chapter one in verse eight, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success. Wait a second, you mean that if I follow God's law, that gives me success and it makes my way prosperous? It doesn't cramp me? It's the same question that Christians today are having to deal with. Well, if I want to have standards according to God's law, then I have to dress modestly. I mean, if I do everything by God's way, then it cramps my style and I can't do what I want to do. That's right. Even believers sometimes think that if things are going to get accomplished, that if I'm gonna be prosperous, if I'm gonna be happy, if I'm gonna have good success, God's word stands in the way. Think about it, isn't that the way you sometimes think? God's way stands in my way. And so you've got this competition going and it's either God's way or your way. And what the law of God says restricts me from getting some things done. You've got this short book of Ruth. And yes, the book itself is short, but the events within the book of Ruth cover more than a decade. You probably read that this morning if you're following your Bible chronology. I think it's chapter one, verse four. Let me go back to see if that's where it is. Yeah, and they dwelled there about 10 years, it says in verse four of chapter one. So a minimum of a decade is taking place in these four short chapters. Which tells me something. Resolution of the problems that Naomi is experiencing, that Ruth are experiencing, the resolution of their problems is not immediate. And neither is it for us. Problems that we face that we wanna get solved right now, they could have said right there when those tragedies were taking place, oh, something needs to be done right now in a period of at least 10 years. One seventh of a lifetime. God's law to so many is seen as restrictive, as limiting, rather than what it really is, it's liberating. And God, in the book of Ruth, providentially leads through His law being followed and obeyed. You mean you're talking about the Old Testament law? Yeah. What did the psalmist have when he said, oh, how I love thy law? Did he have the New Testament? He did not, but he still said, oh, I love thy law. And what is it that Joshua 1.8 says is going to make my way prosperous and give me good success? Did he have the New Testament? No, he had God's law, which is a reflection of God himself. And so we see here in the book of Ruth, here in chapter four, God's providential outwork through obedience to his law. And Christian this morning, if you're going to have success, if you're going to prosper, you've got the full law of God. You've got the law of God in the Old Testament. You've got the law of Christ in the New Testament. They do not contradict and neither does the one abrogate the other. except in a few cases where Jesus Christ came to fulfill the ceremonial law. I no longer perform those ceremonies. Three truths I want you to see this morning about God's law, and one particular part of his law is the law of redemption. God's law of redemption. Here's the first thing I want you to see. It's found in chapter four and verses one through six. And let's just read those verses before I tell you what this is, what my first point is. Chapter four, verse one. Then went Boaz up to the gate and sat him down there. And behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by, unto whom he said, ho, such a one, turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. And he said unto the kinsmen, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's. And I thought to advertise these, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people, if thou wilt redeem it. Redeem it. But if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me that I may know, for there is none to redeem it beside thee, and I am after thee.' And he said, I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess. the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Redeem thou my right to thyself, for I cannot redeem it." Here you see in these first six verses what I call the impediment, the impediment to the law of redemption. That is the obstacle, the jeopardy. of the law of redemption. It's an impediment because the redemption has obstacles for both relatives. Now, let's get something straight. Who are the two relatives here? Boaz and this other man. If you haven't been here for the past few Sundays, you don't know what we've been looking at in chapters one, two, and three. Chapter three, you see where Ruth goes to lie at the feet of Boaz by the instruction of Naomi. And we see there the beginnings of the kinsman-redeemer relationship and what is taking place there in chapter 3. Now in chapter 4, Boaz is fulfilling what he said to Ruth in chapter 3. And so now Boaz goes to the city gate and something takes place here. There are some drawbacks to God's law. You believe that? There are some drawbacks to you with God's law. Let's look, first of all, at the impediment for the chosen relative. The impediment for the chosen relative. Now, again, there's two relatives. There's Boaz. He's the chosen relative. How do we know that? Because Naomi sends Ruth to lie at his feet in chapter three, having come to know the character of Boaz and the fact that he's a kinsman. He is the chosen relative. but there's an impediment in God's law of redemption for Boaz. Again, I say, Boaz, if you want to marry Ruth, just do it. Why jeopardize this by going to the closest relative? You're the one that she has chosen. Why are you going to this other guy and giving him a chance? He may marry her. He may do it and you blew it. But there's this thing called the law of God. And that could be viewed by Boaz as an impediment to his desire to marry Ruth. Folks, there's times when you know what is right. but you depart from God's law to get what you want. And when you get what you want and not what God wants, you will find later that's exactly what you did not want. Let's look at the place of the case. I'm calling this, let's kind of look at this as a court case because Boaz is calling together some witnesses. And here you have something that is very kind of interesting to us in our modern day world. Somebody said, Ruth is one of the few documents from the ancient world which tell how a legal process of this kind was carried out. And you see this in his first six verses. You see, he goes to the city gate. By the way, the city gate was kind of the hub of city life where justice would be meted out. Remember where Absalom sat in the place of David, his father? He sat at the city gate to try to pull the hearts of the men toward him. It was at the city gate. Legal business was transacted at the city gate. It's the place where men and women would exit the city to go to the fields. It's the place where they would come in from the fields to go back into the city. It was the place of people traveling and going back and forth. Everybody would go through the city gate, perhaps sometime during the day. And so this is the place where the chosen relative, Boaz, knows that the closest relative let's just call him the other guy, is sure to pass by. A fact that the chosen relative, Boaz, knows full well. And sure enough, he's sitting there. And you see there in verse one, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by, unto whom he said, ho such an one. And then he calls 10 witnesses. Now folks, calling witnesses is a double-edged sword. If things go my way, I'm glad I called these 10 witnesses. Now they can verify that, hey, this, yeah, this is, but if things don't go the way I desire, what about those witnesses? I wish I'd never called them. Do you see the jeopardy that Boaz is in? Boaz, you better just go marry her. but no Boaz is concerned about God's law. There's the place of the case, it's at the city gate, and there's all these witnesses, we're gonna witness what takes place here. And then you see in verses three to five, the proofs of the case, or the facts of the case, and the facts are stacked against who? The chosen relative or the closest relative? The facts are stacked against the chosen relative, Boaz. Why? The closest relative has the advantage here. All he has to do is say, yes and yes, and Boaz must relinquish everything. Again, the law seems to be an impediment. The law is standing in the way. According to two passages, and we're not gonna go to these passages, I list them for you so you can look at them later, but according to Leviticus chapter 25, verses 25 to 31, there's proofs about the land, there's facts about the land. Boaz wants to marry Ruth. Nevertheless, he's up front with the facts of the law of God, and according to what God has said in Leviticus chapter 25, the land belongs to? the closest relative, not to the chosen guy, Boaz. So the chosen relative, Boaz, confronts the closest relative, the unnamed man, and he says in verse four, you need to make up your mind something, closest relative. If you're gonna redeem it, then redeem it. But if you're not gonna redeem it, then you need to tell me so that I might know. because there is none to redeem it besides you, and I am after you. In other words, you have the first right, but I have the second right. Make up your mind, what are you gonna do? And here's what the closest relative says. Would you read with me the last four words of verse five? I will redeem it. Boaz's heart must have sank. He's gonna do it. Why did I follow the law? If I had just averted the law, we should have just eloped. But no. He stated the case of Leviticus chapter 25. But then he states the case according to Deuteronomy chapter 25. That's easy to remember, isn't it? Leviticus 25, Deuteronomy 25. Two 25s, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. According to Leviticus 25, it's about the land. According to Deuteronomy chapter 25, it's about the lady. Just to put it kind of humorously. See, there's this additional fact from God's law in Deuteronomy. Redeeming the land must be combined with preserving the name of the owner of the land. What does it say there? to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. The name of Elimelech, his two sons, Malon and Kilion, namely here Malon because he's the husband, the dead husband of Ruth, you need to raise up his name upon the land, upon the inheritance. That can only be done through Ruth since Naomi is past her childbearing years. Closest relative? You have to marry Malon's widow, Ruth, according to Deuteronomy chapter 25. This is jeopardy for Boaz since, no doubt, what's this closest relative going to do? He's going to marry her. So there you see the impediment for the chosen relative, but let's go to the second point. It's found in verse six, it's the impediment to the, or for the closest relative. Does he have an impediment? Is there a problem with him? I see an impediment here because by marrying Ruth, what does he say in verse six would happen to his own inheritance? He says, lest I mar my own inheritance. I'm gonna risk my own inheritance. I'm gonna complicate things if I marry her. This is what he's thinking here. Now this is where we've gotta get some Bible interpretation here and we have no answers, but here's probably why he's saying this would mar my inheritance. Here's two things that I've written down. Number one, it would double his financial burden. It would double his financial burden. He's not just acquiring land, he's inquiring a wife. And you guys know that when you get married, what happens to your finances? That's the first thing. Marrying her would double my financial burden. But here's the second one, and here's the one that I think is kind of interesting. This closest relative may be thinking, this would invite tragedy into my life. You see, he's looking at the calamities that fell upon Naomi's husband. And he's thinking, he should have never gone to Moab. He should have never gone. And the calamity fell upon him, Elimelech, and also on his two sons, because now their boys married strange women, Orpah and Ruth. And perhaps he is fearing a similar fate, and if so, this is a superstition on his part that overlooks the fact that Ruth had placed her trust in the God of Israel. Either way, this closest relative refuses to act as a kinsman-redeemer. Is he wrong in so doing? Well, I wonder, because you know how the Holy Spirit refers to this closest relative? And this, I find humor in this, and I hope you get a kick out of this like I did. Go back to verse one, and notice how the Holy Spirit refers to this closest relative, and it's the way that Boaz refers to him. He is referred to as, ho, such a one. Now, why is his name not listed here? I find this interesting. The Hebrew expression ho such and one is similar to our oh so and so. When you refer to somebody as so and so and you don't remember somebody's name, in the eyes of other people, what do you think about such and one? You can't even remember his name. Two Hebrew words translate ho such and one. Poloni almoni. Poloni almoni. It's like our saying John Doe and Richard Rowe. It's like us saying, oh, what's his face? Seriously, that's what it means here. Ho, what's his face? Hey, John Doe, sit down and bring in your 10 witnesses. Two other times this expression is used in the Bible in the Old Testament. I want you to see these two other times. The one is in 1 Samuel chapter 21 and verse 2. Would you go there with me please? 1 Samuel chapter 21 and verse 2. And David said unto Himalek the priest, the king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee. Okay, nobody's supposed to know this business. And what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. Polonium moni. You're not supposed to know where this is, so it's such and such a place. There's one reference. Now go to 2 Kings 6 and notice verse 8. 2 Kings 6 and verse 8. Remember when the king of Syria can't figure out how the people are knowing exactly where he's going to fight his next battle? How does the king of Israel know this? Because he says in chapter 6 in verse 8 of 2 Kings, Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In Poloni Elmoni place shall be my camp. In other words, this is a secret. This is something nobody else is supposed to know. This is anonymous with everybody else. How does Israel know where I'm going to fight? Poloni Elmoni. And so you've got these three instances in the Old Testament where you've got Polonii Almoni. By the way, this is kind of interesting. I thought, I wonder if there's anything on the web about this. So I typed in Polonii Almoni. Boom. Did you know that there's an article in a Jerusalem Post about Polonii Almoni? And they refer to Ruth chapter four, 1 Samuel chapter 21, and 2 Kings chapter six. There's websites called Polonii Almoni because they don't want you to know who the author is. or I shouldn't say websites, Facebook pages. Poloni almoni. And so you have here, inspired by the Holy Spirit, a reference to the closest relative who should be taking upon him the responsibility of redeeming. He doesn't do it, and you know how the Bible refers to him? So and so. God made sure that throughout the annals of history and down through the years that nobody would ever know this man's name. Why? He didn't fulfill his responsibility. I like what Cundell and Morris say in their commentary in the book of Judges and Ruth. It is an instructive fact that he who was so anxious for the preservation of his own inheritance is now not even known by name. Nobody even knows who this guy was now. And who was it who was concerned about his inheritance? Who was it who was concerned about his name being carried on? Mr. Polonialmone was. What's his face? So-and-so, John Doe, or as my wife says, what's his head? What does that teach us, folks? Those who do not take their God-given responsibility seriously are no-names. Those who think that following God's law is just a pain in the neck, you know what happens to them in their lives? They become no-names. unless it's infamous. Those who neglect God's law, those who are so self-focused, so concerned about their own possessions and their own inheritances, more concerned about those things than they are about God, more about those things than they are about his church. Those who neglect the Lord's day for their own advancement because God's law gets in the way. Sunday should be for something else. I can make so much more money on Lord's day. And what happens to these people? I'll tell you what happens to them. Poloni almoni. Would you say the words with me, please? Because you're teaching, learning Hebrew this morning. That's exactly how you pronounce it. Poloni almoni. Or ploni, as some put it. Say it, poloni almoni. Poloni almoni. No names. Are you a poloni almoni? There's a lot of poloni almoni Christians. They're like the people that Paul describes in Philippians chapter two and verse 21. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. Everybody seeks what they want. Polonium seeks his own, not the things of Jesus Christ. He neglects prayer and he neglects prayer meeting. Because that just gets in the way of me getting my rest on Wednesday. It gets in the way. Wednesday night's the worst time to do it. The tithe. What can I do with that money? That's gonna mar my inheritance, you see? And the applications are absolutely endless. There was a man who surrendered to God to go to the mission field. His brother went to make a name for himself. And this lowly brother of his went to China. At the time, no one knew him. But people knew his brother. And today, you look up the brother who didn't want his inheritance marred, who did not become a missionary, or if you look in the encyclopedia, that few people have today. And it says, brother of Hudson Taylor. The brother who tried not to get his inheritance marred became Poloni Almoni. The man who wasn't out to make a name for himself, but out to fulfill God's way in his life was known as Hudson Taylor. Yeah, the impediment for the closest relative. It would jeopardize his inheritance if he married her, if he followed God's law. Instead, he became a no-name, Poloni Ammoni. And although we may see God's law regarding redemption, and that it might be an impediment to our own desires, Here's the second thing we see. We see obedience in the implementation of the law of redemption. The implementation of the law that is given in verses 7 through 15. Now the law is implemented. And we see in verses 7 and 8 the renunciation. And first of all, we see the custom stated, verse seven. Now, this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing. For to confirm all things, a man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor, and this was a testimony in Israel. Notice what it says here. This is interesting. This was the manner in former time in Israel. This tells us, number one, that the book of Ruth has not been written right after it happened. The book of Ruth is written years later because it talks about in former time, this is what happened in Israel. And so this is what causes many Bible scholars to think, you know what, David's probably the one who writes the book of Ruth. And whose name is the very last name in the book? Look at it. Out loud. David. When a man took possession of land, it is being stated here, he would set his shoe on it. He would walk on that land with his shoes. Thus, the shoe symbolized possession, upon which he could tread with his feet at will. Therefore, by taking off his shoe that would walk upon his land and giving it to another is an indication I am transferring the title from myself to you, but not here as a title. I am transferring to you the right to this land. Here is my shoe. It's kind of interesting what the Arabs and so forth have regarding shoes. Do you remember when they threw the shoe at George Bush? It was a matter of contempt. If you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 25, if the brother refuses to marry his brother's widow, you know what she does? She takes his shoe off and spits in him. This is for you who will not fulfill your responsibility. It's better, somebody said, to remove your own shoe in agreement than to have it removed by a spurned woman. And Boaz is making it simple here because he does not bring the woman with him. He does not bring either Naomi or Ruth to the city gate to talk to Polonialmoni. Furthermore, Boaz expresses his willingness to discharge all the duties of the redeemer should the closest relative decline those responsibilities. And by the way, there's always somebody who's willing to do the will of God that you refuse to do. And there's always that person who will get the blessing that you will miss out on. There's the custom stated, and then you see very simply in verse eight, the custom applied. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. So there's the renunciation in verses 7 and 8, but then you see in verses 9 to 15, the restoration. The restoration, number one, as expressed by the witnesses. And you see in verse 9, the restoration of the land. And Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Killian's and Malon's of the hand of Naomi. Now the land will remain in the family, Leviticus chapter 25. Assuming that there will also be the restoration of the number two line, verses 10 through 12. The land is now restored by faith. The line will be restored. What line? The bloodline, the family name. The name of Ruth's deceased husband, Malon, is to be raised up upon the inheritance of the land. Verse 10, Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Malon, have I purchased to be my wife, for what reason? To raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place. Ye are witnesses this day, according to Deuteronomy chapter 25. His name is not to be erased. His name is to be established upon his land. His name is to be restored. How's that gonna happen? There has to be a son born. Boaz is kind of getting ahead of himself here. Hasn't even married Ruth. He's already talking about having kids and here's what's gonna happen. The name's gonna be restored. He is assuming by faith that he is going to have a son. How do you know he's gonna have a son? He could be like a man by the name of Zelophehad. Does that name ring a bell? You know what happened to Zelophehad? Man, couldn't have any sons. It's all daughters. What if that happens to Boaz and Ruth? But by faith he's saying, you know what, the line's going to be restored. Listen, I am following God's way. I am following God's way. In verses 11 and 12, And all the people that were in the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. We are witnesses. And not only do the elders and the people verify witness, now they confer a blessing. Note the blessing, number one, upon Boaz. The blessing upon Ruth in verse 11. The Lord make the woman that has come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which too did build the house of Israel. A blessing upon Ruth. And then there's this blessing upon Boaz. Follow with me to the last part of verse 11. And do thou, and I'm gonna put Boaz's name in here so we get this clearly. And do thou, Boaz, worthily in Ephrata. And be famous, Boaz, in Bethlehem. And let thy house, Boaz, be like the house of Phares, whom Tamar barren to Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee, Boaz, of this young woman, Ruth. So you've got these blessings pronounced upon Ruth and pronounced upon Boaz, but something very curious is named in verse 12. Let your house be like the house of? Who? Who? Phares, who is Phares? Why wouldn't these people who are Israelites go back to Father Abraham? Instead they come down the line and they come to some guy by the name of, Who is Perez? Well, at least he's not Poloni Almoni. He's got a name. Who is Perez? Well, if you go back and read in your Bibles, you're gonna find this in Genesis chapter 38. If you go back and read about it, why do these people talk about Perez? Because the birth of Perez was from, who are the parents named here in verse 12? Tamar and Judah. You have a good remembrance of Tamar? Does Tamar ring a bell? I mean, but is it a good thought? Was she a virtuous woman, Tamar? Perez was born out of prostitution. Why? Because Tamar's husband, Judah's son, had died. And Judah had promised Tamar that she would be able to marry his next son when he grew old enough. When he grew old enough, Judah forgot about it and she married somebody else. And it ends up that Judah has a son by Tamar via prostitution, and his name is Peres. And Judah is literally raising up a line through Tamar, not through something that God would endorse. Nevertheless, who is mentioned in Matthew chapter one in the line of Christ himself? Perez and Tamar. So what you have here is a similar situation where the name has to be held in line by someone taking the responsibility for somebody who has died with that man's widow. And so then you see, in verses 18 and following, now these are the generations of, and who is it? It's not Polonii Almonii, it's Phares, Phares. And so you see here, the restoration of the land, verse nine, the restoration of the line, verses 10 through 12, as expressed by the witnesses. But secondly, as expressed by the women. Here's the restoration as expressed by the women. Look at verses 13 and following. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was, literally it means, and she became his wife. And when he went under her, "'When in unto her the Lord gave her conception, "'and she bare a son.'" The fact that God gave her conception, gave her conception, makes clear that children are a gift of the Lord, by the way. As it also says in verse 12 by the witnesses. Verse 14, "'And the women said unto Ruth, "'Blessed be thou, the Lord.'" Is anybody following me? Did anybody notice what I said wrongly there? Wouldn't you expect them to be talking to Ruth? But the women are saying unto whom? Naomi. Notice that the congratulations are given not to the mother of the child, but to the grandmother, to Naomi. They knew her story. They knew her tragedies. And now they witnessed God's blessing upon Naomi. And the women said unto Naomi, blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. Now notice the kinsman being mentioned in verse 14. To whom does that word kinsman refer? You would think it refers to Boaz. It does not. It refers to Naomi's grandson, Obed. So let's read this with the names put in there. And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord with hath not left thee, Naomi, this day without a kinsman. that his name, Obed's, may be famous in Israel. And he, Obed, shall be unto thee, Naomi, a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age. For thy daughter-in-law, Ruth, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him, Obed. He, Obed. is her kinsman-redeemer, Naomi's, like Boaz was to Ruth. And whereas the wish is for Ruth's kinsman-redeemer, Boaz, to be famous in a city, verse 11, I know I'm going through a lot here, but we are almost out of time. Look at it, and may he be famous in Bethlehem. The last part of verse 11, who? Boaz. May he be famous in Bethlehem. Now talking about Obed, verse 14, the last line, that his name may be famous where? In all of Israel. As such, Naomi, he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life. Folks, Naomi's hope is restored. That's where you go from chapter one in verse 21 where you see where all hope is gone. Now God's law has been followed and Naomi's hope has been restored. The nourisher of her old age would be Obed. And what about Obed's mother, her daughter-in-law Ruth? Again, as throughout the book, she's referred to as the one who loves you. When God's law is implemented, Only then will you see, number three, the impact of the law of redemption. The impact of the law of redemption. Number one, upon the Naomi of Israel. Naomi is of Israel, not of Moab. That's why I call her Naomi of Israel. And yet God uses a Gentile, a Moabite, to impact her. Look at verse 16. And Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. And the women, her neighbors, gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Verse 16, Naomi had lost hope for everything, and now she has a grandson. Not only that, she gets to nurse him. Verse 17, who names the child? Does Ruth name the child? Does Boaz name the child? Does Ruth name the child? No, the women name the child. How would you like that? People come along to the hospital saying, hey, here's what your kid's name is. And it says there in verse 17, the women, her neighbors gave it a name. And they call him servant. Obed. Perhaps because he would serve Naomi, we don't know. Or there's another name implied by the name Obed, it's worshiper. They name her son. But notice whose son Obed is called. Verse 17, there is a son born to Naomi. Now that word son can refer to grandson, even great-grandson. Nevertheless, Naomi's line has been reestablished. Why? The kinsman redeemer. Naomi had suffered tremendous loss. And at the time of her loss, nothing could console her. Go back to chapter one and read about it. Nothing could console her. Not even if she had known what would happen later on. But in God's time, the love of Ruth for her was greater than seven sons, verse 15. You know what that phrase better than seven sons is? It's a proverb for a perfect family in the Bible. Naomi, you've got the perfect family. And the book closes with the greatest of the impacts, which would not just be upon Naomi of Israel, but upon the nation of Israel. Because the book closes with a genealogy and it closes with a genealogy for a reason. By the way, this is one of the few books, perhaps the only book in the Old Testament that closes with a genealogy. That's not how you close a book, that's how you start a book. This one closes with a genealogy. Why? Because of the impact this would have upon the nation of Israel. Let's look at the impact. Now these are the generations, verse 18, of Phares. Phares begat Hazron, and Hazron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amenadab, and Amenadab begat Nashon, and Nashon begat Salmon, and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat? Close of book. David is born. Why? Somebody followed God's law. We haven't even gotten into the kinsmen redeemer part of this. This book leads up to the kings. The kings of Israel, and the greatest of these kings would be Naomi's great grandson, David. the last name of the book, but the greatest impact will come by his descendant. And that's that last point I have on your sheets. It's not just the kings, it's the king of kings, the redeemer of all mankind. God's law of redemption carries right into the New Testament. And that's a future study. Don't have time for it today. But as I close, understand something, folks. Did Ruth know all this was going to happen? Did Boaz know this was all going to happen? And yet, as a pagan, as a converted pagan, she follows God's law. She didn't know the full purpose. She did not know her importance. Of all the women mentioned in the Old Testament, she did not know that she would be one of the few mentioned in Matthew chapter 1, verses 1 through 5. I was going to take us there. I was going to read it. You need to read it. These be the generations of Jesus Christ. And right in there, not Polonii Almonii, but Boaz, who had Obed by Ruth. And as a great, great, great, go on with those greats, grandmother of the Redeemer of all mankind. And it's only from the perspective of eternity that we can look back. Indeed, godliness has promise of the life that now is and of that which is, that which is to come. God will work out his purpose. The characters of this book, Elimelech, Kilian, Melon, Naomi, Boaz, Ruth never got to witness the outcome of all this. They never saw it. David saw a little bit more of the story. And so perhaps he writes this book. Folks, we see the full story and yet we don't even see it all. God inspired this book so that his own would be able to see the broader picture in the Bible, that God will work out his purpose. And it is not even yet complete, but we know that it will be. Listen, loss is horrible. Luck is the vocabulary of pagans. Loyalty is rare, but it's honored, but obedience to God's law is what God uses to accomplish his purpose. Ruth chapter four, doing things God's way, which is synonymous with God's law may seem to be an impediment, but by faith, we implement God's law. We put it into practice and only then will we see the impact of his way. How do we know his way? Through his law. and this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. Meditate there in day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written there, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Praise God for Boaz, the Kinsman Redeemer. Praise God for Obed. Would you bow your heads? Even as Christians, we can sometimes