WE ARE WITNESSES
Ruth 4:9-22 (KJV)
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 Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, 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.
And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.
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.
And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
And the women her neighbours 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.
Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
Naomi had returned to Bethlehem, her hometown, having lost everything but one daughter in law, Ruth.
Her husband, Elimelech was dead and so were her sons, Mahlon and Chilion.
Really, everything was at risk.
· Their family name
· Their family property
· Their hope for the future
It all seemed lost.
But we sometimes think everything is lost when really, they’ve just been planted as seed, about to spring into new life.
Naomi returned with the Moabitish Ruth, who
· Converted to Naomi’s faith,
· Dwelt in Naomi’s home and
· Embraced the promises of Naomi’s God
Having met Boaz, a near kinsman and able to redeem them according to the plan of God, Boaz set about in the first part of chapter four to remove the obstacles of another kinsman, and redeem Naomi, Ruth and their inheritance.
The obstacle cleared, Boaz turns to the people who were present and proclaims twice
Ye are witnesses this day.[1]
I read that this week and was reminded of,
Acts 1:8 (KJV)
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Jesus Christ, who is your kinsman-redeemer, and mine, turned to his disciples and told them, “ye shall be witnesses.”
· He said I want you to be witnesses unto me. And
· He said I want you to witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Boaz was, without any question, a foreshadowing of our Saviour, Jesus.
He looked at the crowd and said to them “ye are witnesses.”
And then notice the reply, Ruth 4:11 (KJV)
And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
I want to focus this morning on those things they witnessed.
They were witnesses
I. OF THE ONE BORN IN BETHLEHEM
Ruth 4:9-11 (KJV)
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 Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, 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.
And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
Someone left me a question on the communication sheet, “Why, if Boaz redeemed Ruth to raise up the name of the dead, doesn’t the Bible credit the line of David, and of Jesus, to Elimelech?”
Let me begin by saying that, since the Bible doesn’t specifically answer that question, any answer I give is just going to be my answer.
I think it’s like the two genealogies of Jesus.
Matthew, written from the Jewish perspective, gives the genealogy of Jesus on His stepfather Joseph’s side.
It’s the legal pedigree of Jesus to the throne of David through the family of Solomon.
The Jews would have been most concerned with what was legal.
Luke is written from the Gentile perspective and to the Gentiles.
The Greek reader would have had less interest in the legal pedigree of the Jews and more interested in “the facts.” Whose blood ran through Jesus veins?
Luke’s genealogy gives Christ’s family lines through his mother Mary, since it was only her blood, and not Joseph’s that Jesus carried.
I think what we see is
· The family of Elimelech being legally redeemed by Boaz and
· The fact of the genealogy being documented as that of Boaz
One of my cousins had several children that were put up for adoption. One of those children also has a child who has been adopted. My cousin eventually passed away but a few years ago the couple who adopted her granddaughter found me and made a connection.
The little girl’s name is Alex.
She is legally adopted, the legitimate child of her parents.
But her DNA is not her parents. It is that of my family. They were interested to know my family’s history, because only our history will provide clues into their little girl’s future health.
· There is a legal family but
· There is also a blood family
The Bible is not ignoring the legal redemption for Elimelech.
It is merely providing the factual line of David through Boaz.
We are witnesses, they said,
· of the redemption,
· of the wedding, and
· of the birth of this baby born
in Bethlehem.
Micah 5:2 (KJV)
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Bethlehem is one of the oldest cities recorded in the Bible.
Originally named Ephrath or Ephratah, it has an incredible history.
It is the place Jacob buried his beloved with, Rachel.
Later on, after Israel returned to the Promised Land, it was occupied by the family of a man named Bezaleel.[2]
· He was the man filled with the Spirit of God to make the tabernacle in the wilderness.
· He was also related to Hur,[3] the man who, along with Aaron, held up Moses’ hands as Joshua led the armies of Israel in battle in the valley below.
Bethlehem was the city where the sacrificial lambs were raised.
As I understand it, the concept of raising lambs specifically for sacrifice had not begun in the days of King David, but imagine – those fields where David watched his father’s sheep may have been the very ones where the shepherds were the night the angels announced the birth of Christ.
I don’t know – but what if the very land Boaz redeemed from Elimelech[4] is the very land those sheep for sacrifice were raised?
They were witnesses
II. OF HIS FAME AND HIS WORTH
Ruth 4:11-15 (KJV)
And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.
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.
And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
The witnesses agreed to be witnesses and then began to pray.
I know it’s a blessing, but it is prophetic in nature. And any real blessing is a prayer – it’s a plea to God for His blessings upon a person.
A. Let Ruth be like Rachel and Leah
The original mothers of the tribes of Israel.
Every one of God’s promises to Abraham find the beginning of their fulfillment in Rachel and Leah.
B. Let Ruth be like Tamar who gave birth to Pharez
This narrows the promise down to Judah, the family from which the king would come[5] and even more importantly, the family from which the King of kings would come.
And though this blessing comes after the birth of the child it is still prophetic
C. Let Obed be:
· Famous in Israel
· A restorer of life and
· Better than seven sons
They were witnesses,
III. OF HIS PROMISE OF THE FUTURE
Ruth 4:16-22 (KJV)
And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
And the women her neighbours 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.
Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
I am reminded here of the genealogies of Jesus.
What intrigues me though is that this one looks into their future.
The account ends with Obed as a baby.
Yet we have in the preserved Word of God, his son and grandson.
How they could know about them is not that difficult to explain.
· The book of Judges
· The book of Ruth and
· The book of 1 Samuel
Are all believed to have been written by the same author, I believe it to be the prophet Samuel.
Samuel, you will remember, was the man who anointed David to be king.
He is the last of the judges, so connected to the history of the Judges and moves the history into the time of David.
It seems very obvious that he would want to tell us the roots of the man whose heart was after God.
What I think is the most important thing is how God is zeroing in His plan to one man.
He called out Abraham
From his family, like the stars in number
He called out Judah
From this family, based in Bethlehem
He singled out David to be king
From the family of kings
God gave us Jesus
Who is:
· Famous in Israel
· A restorer of life and
· Better than seven sons
Conclusion
We are witnesses today.
Not of an old story, but of a future promise all centered around one man, Jesus.
The importance of Boaz and Ruth is not the birth of Obed.
In the grand scheme of things, it is not even the birth of David.
The importance of Boaz and Ruth is in Jesus.
The importance of Bethlehem, of Christmas, of the manger, is not merely in the birth of a baby.
The importance is in the plan of Godand in the reason He was born.
We are witnesses today that Jesus Christ
· Is God the king
· He lived a sinless life
· He died for your sins and mine and
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[1] Ruth 4:9-10 (KJV)
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 Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, 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.
[2] 1 Chronicles 2:50-51 (KJV)
These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim,
Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hareph the father of Bethgader.
[3] Exodus 31:1-5 (KJV)
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
[4] His name means “God is king.”
[5] Elimelech, God is king
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