I want to commence a short series of study upon this fascinating book of Ruth. And it truly is a fascinating book of the Bible for a number of reasons. I think one of the reasons is its size. It contains only four chapters. It is a very short book of the Bible compared to others. When you think of the book of Joshua, or the book of Judges, or 1st and 2nd Samuel, and Kings, and Chronicles, this book, when it's viewed in comparison to the other books surrounding it, contains only four chapters. And yet, when you begin to read this short book, you'll find that it contains a fullness of spiritual teaching and instruction in the things of God. Always remember not to despise that which is small. I was reading through the week a sermon on small things. And the many times that the word small is used in the Bible, and how God uses small things. And here is a small book of the Bible that has much to convey to us. It's a fascinating book also because of its location. It's located in the historical section of the Old Testament. The first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, are described as the law of Moses, the Torah. God giving his law. And then we step out of the law into the historical section that runs from Joshua all the way through to Esther. covering hundreds of years of history concerning the nation of Israel. Josh of course records that time when the people came out of Egypt through the wilderness and entered into the land of promise. A new generation entering in and all the battles and all the conquests in conquering the land of promise. Then we come to the time of the judges, 13 judges in all that ruled the tribes during that long period of about 430 years. Then we come to the time of the kings, Saul and then David and Solomon and then the division of the kingdom. Eventually, the nation being carried away into Babylonian captivity there for 70 years, returning under Ezra, the temple being rebuilt, the city being rebuilt under Nehemiah, and then finally the book of Esther which deals with those Jews that were still dispersed and scattered all the way through the Persian Empire. It is momentous history, this section from Joshua all the way through to Esther. It is a momentous period in the history of Israel. It covers great events. and great experiences and then in the midst of it all, in the midst of this momentous epic history is found this little book, the book of Ruth. And that's what makes it fascinating. It stands out from all that surrounds it and all that envelops it, tracing the rise of the nation, the establishment of the nation, the rise and fall of kings, the spreading of the kingdom, and all the events that fell upon the nation of Israel and the kingdom of Israel, and then right in the midst of it all, this little book, the book of Ruth. It's fascinating also because of its content. It's surrounded by the trials and triumphs of the nation, the rise and fall of kings and empires. And then in the midst of it all is this book of Ruth that turns the spotlight upon one family in Israel. It is essentially the history of one family. And yet the history of this one family in Israel, focusing primarily upon this young woman named Ruth, the history is pivotal to the entire nation of Israel, and indeed to the entire future of the church and kingdom of Messiah, and the purpose of God in redemption. This little book is not here by accident or by mistake. It is fascinating. Now when you come to study any portion of the Bible, you must always remember the two main rules of Bible study, or the two main methods for studying the Bible. Before you come to consider the detail, you must first of all gain a bird's eye view. Before you begin to study any verse or any detail of that given passage or book of the Bible. You can describe it by or illustrate it by the telescope and the microscope. If you think of the telescope, the telescope is used to bring an item or an object that is far off, to bring it right up in the view so that you get the whole picture. You're able to see it in its entirety. Think of some of the telescopes that have been produced and invented that can peer away out into space, that which is far off. And it brings those distant objects right into our view so that we can see the whole object. If you are going to study the Bible and discover its meaning, you must first of all find out how to use the telescope in Bible study. You get the whole picture. And then you take the microscope, and what is the microscope used for? The microscope is used in order to look at every detail. To look at every detail. Every molecule. Every atom. Bring it right into view. If you're going to find out the meaning and the purpose of the Bible, You must learn to use the telescope to get the bird's eye view, to get the whole picture, and then progress to consider the minute details that God has put into His Word. That's what I want us to do as we come to this book of Ruth. I don't know how long we will be here. I commence by saying that it would be a short series of study, at least that's what I anticipate, but I don't know. I don't know how long we will be in the book of Ruth. I literally don't know what the next study will be. I don't know where we will go after today. But I know the Lord wants us to consider this book of Ruth. Now, Ruth is history. And today as we begin this study, and we begin this journey through this little book of the Bible, I want us to get a bird's eye view. I want us to get an overall view of what this book is about. It's a history book. It's the history of one family and in particular it is the history of this young woman called Ruth. So that's where we will begin. We will begin with the history and we'll get a bird's eye view. Now to help you I want to take the first letter of Ruth's name and I want to set out three characteristics concerning the history. of this family, beginning with the letter R. First of all, this is real history. When you read these four chapters of this small book, you must remember it contains the history of real people, entering into their sorrows and joy, We've read already how when Naomi returned to her home, came back to Bethlehem, she said, do not call me Naomi, but call me Mara, which in the Hebrew means bitter. And you can think of other names, Hebrew names, Miriam and Mary, they come from the same root that relates to the experience of bitterness. And she says, call me Mara, call me bitter. I have had a bitter experience, an experience that has brought heartache, and sorrow, and grief, and trial, and affliction. This is real history. When you read these four chapters, you will enter into the real experiences of people who lived upon this earth in past generations. It begins with one family belonging to the tribe of Judah, the family of Elimelech, his wife Naomi, their two sons Malon and Keleon. Famine comes to their locality, to their neighborhood, prompting them to take action which they thought would be for the best. to pack up their belongings to leave Bethlehem and to find shelter in the land of Moab. And while they were there, their two sons met and married two Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. And in the process of their ten year sojourn in the land of Moab, Elimelech dies And then the two sons die, and Naomi as a widow decides to return to her hometown. She urges her daughters-in-law to remain in the land and seek new husbands, and Orpah remains at the suggestion of her mother-in-law, but Ruth, Ruth, follows after Naomi, and refuses to leave her, but decides that she will go with her, and she will live where she lives, and she will dwell where she dwells. It's real history that unveils the providential works and dealings of God in the lives of real Did you notice in the reading how Naomi refers to the dealings of God with her? Verse 20, The Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me, Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? It is a book that deals with real history. And that history comprises the providential dealings and works of God in the lives of real people. And from that there is much to be derived. There is much for our benefit and for our profit. And we will consider that as we progress through the book. It is real history. The next part or characteristic of the history, can be described as romantic history. For it unfolds the drama of romance, love, and marriage. The opening chapter sets before us the scene of Ruth accompanying her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem and she as a widow herself now in her new adopted land and home is introduced to Boaz who was a near kinsman, a near relation of Elimelech. And as you progress through the chapters, you'll discover the unfolding of a beautiful relationship of love based upon integrity, high moral principles and ethics, eventually blossoming into marriage, the marriage union between Boaz and Ruth. It is a history of romance. that highlights the traditions and customs surrounding love, courtship and marriage that pertained in that time, in that era. And those traditions and those customs carry tremendous significance and relevance for our generation today. And we will consider that as we go through the book. But the third hour is what we might refer to as being the most important aspect of this history. And it is the fact that it is not only real history and romantic history, it is redemptive history. And one of the words that will appear prominently as you read through the chapters is the word redeem and redemption. That concept is encouched here in this little book. And it's the very reason why this short and personal narrative focused upon one family is included in the inspired volume of scripture. Remember that all history in the Bible is not only selective history, but it is selected by God for inclusion in the divine volume because it is redemptive. history. It relates to the Redeemer. It relates to God's great purpose of salvation and redemption. When we come to the book of Ruth, it fits into that category, redemptive history. It is pointing to Christ. It bears direct relation to the promise, to the birth to the work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the fruit of this beautiful romantic relationship that blossomed into marriage, the fruit of that marriage union is recorded in the very last chapter, chapter 4 and verse 18. And I want you to notice this, because as we just take this introductory look at this book, this is the main theme that I want us to focus on. Verse 18, now these are the generations of Perez. Perez was the son of Judah. And the interesting thing is that Perez was born of Tammah, who was Judah's daughter-in-law. He had been deceived and tricked by his daughter-in-law. and she came from a Canaanitish woman. Tamar came from a Canaanitish woman. Perez was born and Perez begat Hezron and Hezron begat Ram and Ram begat Amimadab and Amimadab begat Nashon and Nashon begat Salmon and Salmon begat Boaz and Boaz begat Obed and Obed begat Jesse and Jesse begat David. You see, it's only when you get to the end of the book that you discover the reason for its inclusion. This is tracing the family line right from Judah to David. And David, of course, was the king, the shepherd lad who became the king. But he was also the one from whose line the Messiah would come according. to the flesh. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1. The study of the family tree is a fascinating study. I don't know if you have ever followed your own family tree. If not, I encourage you to do so. I did a little tracing a while back and I discovered that my great grandfather's signature is on the Ulster Covenant. of 1912. And you can look it up and there it is, his actual signature. Fascinating what you can find out. And the Bible is full of this subject of the family tree. It's tracing the line from Adam to Abraham, and from Abraham to Judah, and from Judah to David, and from David to Christ. And you see it here in verse 1, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. There's the family line. Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judas, and his brethren, and Judas begat Phares, and Sarah of Tamar, and Phares begat Ezra, and Ezra begat Amram, and Amram begat Emimadab, and Emimadab begat Nation, and Nation begat Salmon, and Salmon begat Boaz. Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David the king. And then you go right down, verse 16. And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, and from David on to the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations, from the carrying away into Babylon on to Christ are fourteen generations. I want you to see here this connection. This is why this little book, Real History, Romantic History, is included in the Bible. It's set in place in order that you can see the following through of the ancestral line all the way to the birth of Messiah. And what that says is this, that had this union between Boaz and Ruth not taken place, there would have been no Messiah. Do you see the significance now? Had this union not have taken place, and Obed and Jesse and David not being born from the line of Boaz and Ruth, there would be no Messiah. The reason for the inclusion of this book is to trace the fulfillment of the promise that God gave to Abraham. The children have been learning about this in Sunday school. God gave the promise, shall all the nations of the earth be born from the seed of Abraham, from the offspring of Abraham. And you remember, he and Sarah passed the time of childbearing. Abraham thinks to himself, how is this going to come to pass? Can I adopt the son of Eliezer, my chief servant? God said, no, from your own vials. Time passes still, no natural born heir, and so he takes Hagar, the handmaid of Surah. Now we'll have a surrogate son. And when Ishmael is born, God says, this shall not be thy vice, Abraham, but he that is born of thine own foils from the wood of Surah. And Isaac shall be his name. And from this line, the blessing of salvation will be provided. In other words, the Savior, the Messiah, will be born. And this book of Ruth is included in order to show the fulfillment of that promise. in the bringing together of these two people, Boaz and Ruth, Obed, Jesse, David, and then another 28 generations until Messiah is born. It is redemptive history. It unfolds here. the great plan and purpose of God in redemption, in providing a Redeemer according to the flesh, the seed of the woman. And in addition to this aspect of redemption, the provision of the Savior, we also find in the book of Ruth the extent of the salvation that will be provided in the Messiah. It will extend beyond the natural seed, the natural descendants of Abraham. The Savior born of David's line will be for all nations. And that's what we find in this beautiful romantic union between Boaz and Ruth. Have you ever recognized that Boaz and Ruth are connected, both of them are connected to Gentile nations, Gentile people, not descendants of Abraham. I want you to look at Matthew chapter 1 and verse 5 again and notice something interesting, we are told that this story took place in the time of the judges The judges followed the time of Joshua, the initial entrance into the land of Canaan. And we're told here, I want you to notice the detail, verse 5, And Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab. Who was Rahab? was the harlot, Joshua chapter 6. Remember she lived in Jericho and the spies came and she hid the spies. And they said to her, put the scarlet thread in the window and when the army enters, when they see the scarlet thread, you'll be spared, you'll be saved. Joshua chapter 6 verse 25 records these words. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had. And she dwelleth in Israel unto this day, because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out of Jericho." It was this woman who was the mother of Boaz. This Canaanite woman, this Amaral woman, this harlot, And she's brought in. She brought into the tribe of Judah. She marries into that tribe. And the offspring of that union is Boaz. Yes, he had an Israelite father, but he had a Gentile mother. And then he himself marries a Gentile woman. Because Ruth is described as a woman of Moab. Now there's three things that you should note about the Moabites. First of all, their origin, where they came from. Do you remember, some of the children have been learning about this. And God came to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And the angels came and they took Lot. and his family out, and his wife turned back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. And Lot and his two daughters were taken to the place of Zoar. The Bible records the incestuous relationship between Lot and his two daughters. And with the eldest daughter, there was a child born. And that child, we're told in Genesis chapter 19, became the father of the Moabites. The Moabites descended from that incestuous relationship between God and His eldest daughter. Genesis 19, verse 37, "...the firstborn bear a son, and called his name Moab, the same as the father of the Moabites unto this day." Do you see the background now? It's not good. Lot was the nephew of Abraham, so Ruth did not come from the direct line of Abraham. She came from a line that was illegitimate, a line that was sinful. Their origin. If you turn to Judges chapter 11 and verse 17, you'll find something that's not recorded in the book of Numbers. It's only when you come to Judges chapter 11 that it is added, and it gives a little bit of detail. When the children of Israel were getting near the land of promise, they passed by the land of Esau, the Edomites, and they wouldn't let them pass through. And then in the book of Judges, chapter 11, verse 17, we read this, Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land. But the king of Edom would not hearken thereto, and in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab, but he would not consent. Not only their origin, but their opposition to the people of God. They wouldn't let them pass through the land. They wouldn't give them water to drink or bread to eat. Their obstinacy, their hardness of heart, their malice, their enmity against the people of God. The Moabites were an ungodly people. And even when Naomi was returning, she says to them, return to your gods. They did not worship the true God. They were idolaters. They had a corrupted worship. They were opposed to the people of God and to the name of Jehovah. Yet this is the nation that Ruth came from. And added to that in Deuteronomy chapter 23, we discover not only their origin and their opposition, but we discover that they were outcasts. Verse 3 of Deuteronomy 23, an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever. They were outcasts. They were cut off. the Gentile people, whose origin began in sin, who were characterized by enmity against God and His people, a people who were cast out, cut off. And yet, the Book of Ruth reveals how this woman from a sinful people A people that enmity with God, a people cut off and cast out, was brought in. Brought into union with Boaz. And brought into the direct ancestral earthly line of the Messiah. It is an illustration of the grace of God in redemption. Not only revealing the fulfillment of God's promise, the unfolding of that promise, the Messiah coming from the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, from the line of Judah, and then from the line of David. But the extent of the salvation which Messiah will bring, a salvation that will extend to all people born in sin, at enmity with God, cast out, cut off, banished. Yet the Messiah will gather them in, will bring them in. There's a beautiful verse, it first appears in Hosea and then it's quoted by Paul in Romans chapter 9. And Paul here gives the explanation and he shows how this prophecy relates to the Gentile people and their inclusion within the covenant of grace. Verse 25 of Romans 9, as he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people which were not my people, and her beloved which was not beloved, and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. I want to say today that that verse is the basis of your acceptance by God. We are a Gentile people, we are not the direct relations of Abraham. Born outside of the nation of Israel, the chosen nation, the nation to whom the covenants of promise were given, of whom Christ came concerning the flesh. We are Gentiles. And the only reason that you and I have been brought in and included in the covenant of grace, the covenant of the Gospel, is because of this promise. Those who were not my people, they shall become my people. In the place where it says you are not my people there, shall they be called the children of the living God. And there it is illustrated in the book of Ruth. Boaz coming from a union that comprised both an Israelite father and a Gentile mother. The two brought together. And then Boaz joined with Ruth a woman of Moab. Is it not that beautiful picture that Paul presents in his letter to the Ephesians? How the two are made one. And the middle wall of partition between us is broken down. That wall separating Israel and the Gentiles is broken down. They are brought together as one. As one body and one people in the covenant of grace. And when you go through the book of Ruth, you'll find this is the emphasis, not only pointing us to the Messiah, but the extent of the salvation that He will provide, a salvation to all people, all nations. And as we will go through this book, we'll discover how Ruth was loved by Boaz. And then she was bought by Boaz. Look at chapter 4 and verse 10. He says there, Moreover, Ruth the Moabite is the wife of Malon. Have I purchased to be my wife? She was loved by Boaz. She was bought by Boaz. And she was joined in union to Boaz. He says, she's my wife. This woman who was from a sinful origin, characterized by opposition to God, an outcast from God's people, and yet she's brought in. What a beautiful picture. A beautiful picture. of how the Lord will not only provide the Messiah, but the Messiah will be for all people, not only the earthly seed of Abraham, but all nations, the Gentiles. You look at chapter 3 and verse 9. When Ruth sought after Boaz, He says, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. How was she brought into this union? She sought Boaz. This phrase here, spread thy skirt over thine handmaid. It's the idea of being covered, of being covered with the kinsman's garment. We'll come to this, but what a beautiful picture. How will any Gentile be saved? How will any Gentile be brought into the family of God and redeemed and saved? It is when we seek great Kinsman Redeemer with the covering of the garment of His righteousness. Oh, there's so much here in this little book. What a beautiful picture it is. It is real history. It is romantic history. It is redemptive history. Lying in this small book of the Bible is the revelation of how you and I as Gentiles will be reconciled to God and made members of His family forevermore. May the Lord bless us in the coming days and may the Lord guide us as we study the book of Ruth.