Well, I'll take your Bibles this morning and turn to Ruth chapter 4. I think you know where we are, near the end of Ruth chapter 4. I'm estimating approximately another four weeks, including today, and we will finish this study in the book of Ruth. But for now, we've been working down through the first 12 verses of Ruth chapter 4. It's a section that is all about the legal proceedings involved in Boaz finally becoming the kinsman redeemer and the lever for Ruth and Naomi. And so if you're there now, follow along, please, as I read that section of text for you one more time, verses one to 12. And then we're going to finish that section today by looking at what I think to be some rather interesting verses in verses 11 and 12. So pick up with me now, please, in Ruth chapter four and verse one, as I read the sacred text of God's word. Now Boaz went up to the gate. Of course, you remember what happened the evening before out on the threshing floor, his promise to her and all of that. Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by. So he said, turn aside friend, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. He took 10 men of the elders of the city and said, sit down here. So they sat down. Then he said to the closest relative, Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. So I thought to inform you, saying, buy it before those who are sitting here and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if not, tell me that I may know, for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you. And he said, I will redeem it. Then Boaz said, on the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance. The closest relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself. You may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it. Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter. A man removed his sandal and gave it to another. And this was the manner of attestation in Israel. So the closest relative said to Boaz, buy it for yourself. And he removed his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belong to Elimelech and all that belong to Chilion and Malon. Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Malon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birthplace. You are witnesses today. and watch verses 11 and 12. Now that will be our text for today. All the people who were in the court and the elders said, we are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home, like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel. And may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. Moreover, May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah through the offspring, which the Lord will give you by this young woman. So our questions this morning are these, what is all of that about? We'll explore the meanings of those things this morning, but before we go any further, let's bow and ask the Lord to be our teacher and our guide, shall we? Our father, I was thinking of the hymn we just sang, and the prayer that was there to make your word alive to us. Father, your word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing down in between the joints in the marrow. And so father, I pray, I echo that prayer this morning. I pray that you would make your word alive for all of us today and that you would use it to change our lives. Teach us Lord, we're dependent upon your spirit to be our teacher and our guide. And so we ask him to do that and to be those things for us now as we study. We love you and we thank you for this opportunity in Jesus name. Amen. Well, this is our fourth week in this text. And so you know what happens when we get that far along, the review starts getting real skimpy. All I'm going to give you this morning by way of review is just a list of the sub points that the first three sub points, maybe with a few brief comments along the way as a lead up to the fourth and final one for today. And so here we go. In the first two verses, all right, this was a long time ago now. In the first two verses of this text, you remember what happened? Boaz fulfilled his midnight promise to Ruth by showing up there at the city gate and convening a legal assembly. And we just read about it. He did that early that next morning. And in verses three to eight then, those legal proceedings unfolded. And you remember there are two parts to the legal proceedings. In verses three to six, There was some back and forth dialogue between Boaz and the other kinsmen. There were two exchanges between the two men, to be exact. And let me just run them down for you real quickly. Boaz first explained to the other kinsmen Naomi's need to sell and his obligation to buy her land, to which the other kinsmen quickly agreed. Remember how it unfolded. He said, I'll buy it. I'll take it. As long as it was just a land deal, he jumped on it quickly. That is until Boaz interjected again and added the other necessary part of the deal. He went on to say, my friend, when you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance. And so now almost as quickly as he had first agreed to buy the land, to make the land purchase. The other kinsmen now just as quickly backed out of the deal again as he thought about all the implications of marrying Ruth. And we have talked about all of those things in weeks past. And so now our hearts kind of sunk when he agreed to buy the land. Now he's back out of the deal again and this thing is where we wanted it to be. And with that now, we looked last week at verses seven and eight, I hope you remember, where the second part of the legal proceedings took place. Legal matters like this were confirmed or ratified in ancient Israel through a very interesting and rather strange ceremony we called the ceremony of the sandal. I'm not going to go back through all of that again, but to put your foot down on a piece of property symbolized your ownership of that property. And so as a way of finalizing these transactions, of course, it didn't require any signatures or any paperwork. As a way of finalizing these transactions before the gathered witnesses, the seller of the property would remove his sandal and hand it to the buyer, which symbolized, which made it legal and symbolized putting that man's foot down on the property that used to belong to him. And keep in mind here that it's not actually the property itself, in this case, that's getting exchanged. In this case, it's the right to purchase that property that's getting exchanged. When he handed his sandal to Boaz, this other kinsman was forever forfeiting his right to be Naomi's kinsman redeemer. He was forfeiting that immediately when he handed his sandal to Boaz. And you know what else he was doing when he handed his sandal to Boaz? He was, like Orpah did, he was marching right off the pages of scripture, never ever to be heard of again. Well, with the right to redemption having been won now, we also made it through verses nine and 10 last week, if you recall. And in these verses, Boaz just completes the transaction from his end of the deal. If you will, he completed the land transaction before the gathered witnesses in verse nine, which by the way, ended up including, I think I mentioned this to you. It ended up including far more than just the land itself. When he mentioned it to the other kinsmen, he just talked about the land, but what is it? Look at verse nine again. What did it end up being? Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, you are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi, all that belong to Elimelech and all that belong to Chilion. And so there was more involved in the transaction than just the land. In verse 10 then, Boaz went on to complete the marriage transaction, what he had been waiting for all along before these gathered witnesses. And he did that in verse 10 by stating his decision to marry Ruth, as well as the reasons why he made that decision. Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Malon, to be my wife. And why did you do that, Boaz? Here's why. Mark this, it's important. I did that, Boaz says, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birthplace. You, our witnesses today, we'll talk about that again. little bit later on today. Be reminded here again that Boaz brackets this two-part statement in verses 9 and 10 with the phrase, you are witnesses today. When did he promise to do this? The very next morning. And when did he do it? On that day, he said, you are my witnesses today. I think I mentioned this as well last week. Should anyone ever come along to contest either part of this transaction, Boaz would have two things to fall back on, right? Number one, he would have in his possession that other man's sandal that was a legal and binding thing. And number two, he would have all of these witnesses, the elders, the 10 elders, and all of the people who had gathered there around for that courtroom setting. And that's review now. If you're ready, we're going to jump into new material for today. Oh, that brings us up to the final two verses in this section for today, where the public witnesses, let me say now in a very enthusiastic way, are going to affirm Boaz's twofold transaction. And these two verses now officially end this courtroom session that began way back in verse one. And we're gonna look at verses 11 to 12 today. And let me say to you that two things, two things happen in these verses. At the beginning of verse 11, the gathered people and the elders unanimously accept their role as witnesses. That's the first thing that happens. And then from there on down through the end of verse 12, They go beyond the call of duty. I don't know how else to explain it to you. They do what they don't have to do. They go beyond the call of duty to pronounce a very enthusiastic and very interesting three-part blessing on Boaz, Ruth, and their new household. And so let's just take them one at a time. Note with me first what it says at the beginning of verse 11. As he completed the transaction from his end of the deal in verses nine and 10, Boaz had said twice to these gathered people and elders, you are witnesses today. So at the beginning of verse nine, he said at the end of verse 10. In verse 11 now, what happens? The elders and the people officially accept that role. Now, just one little side note here that I would point out to you in verse nine, Boaz had addressed the elders first and then all the people. Here for some reason, not sure why, but here for some reason, the author switches that around. He reverses that order and mentions the people first, maybe, maybe as a way of emphasizing the importance of their role in this whole thing. You see, these gathered people were not just bystanders. They were more than just bystanders along with the elders, they were a necessary and legal part of this process, this courtroom process. All the people who were in the court, those would be all the folks who had gathered around the gate area that morning. They're mentioned first this time. And the elders, those would be the 10 city officials that Boaz had rounded up and summoned. All of them together said, we are witnesses. Something else you should note here, more literally, according to the Hebrew text, They didn't say we are witnesses. They shot at just one word. Witnesses. That's all they said. Witnesses. We accept our role as witnesses. And mark this now, as they shouted that single word, they legally notarized Boaz's two-part transaction. By saying we are witnesses or saying that single word witnesses, they are affirming this. We have witnessed today, Boaz, that you have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belong to Elimelech. and all that belonged to Chilean and Malon, all of that is a sealed up deal now. And we have witnessed number two, Boaz, today that you have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Malon, to be your wife. With that single word of affirmation by the people and the elders, Boaz just became the owner of Naomi's estate and Boaz just became the husband of Ruth Moabites. That's what we've been waiting for all along, right? The story is beginning to pull together, isn't it? Not far to go and it's pulling together. And let's go on now to the second part of this affirmation by the public witnesses. First of all, they accept their role. Secondly, now, as I said a minute ago, in the rest of verses 11 and 12, they go on to make a very enthusiastic three-part pronouncement of blessing on Boaz and his soon to be wife. Now, because this pronouncement of blessing is rather lengthy, lots of words in it, I don't think that it would have been uttered by all the people in unison. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. All of the people together probably shouted, witnesses. They probably said that word, but then it was most likely just the elders, perhaps on behalf of all the people who proceeded with the three part blessing. And then even among the 10 elders, it very likely could have been just one who was a spokesman. You remember how it was among the 12, right? Who was the spokesman among the 12? You know, right? Peter, right? He was always the one who spoke up. And so very likely it was here, maybe just one of the elders on behalf of the rest of the elders and all the people went on to pronounce these blessings. And we're going to look at the blessings one at a time. Very interesting stuff, by the way. But before we even look at the details of this three-part blessing, let me make this note for you. Let me first say to you that absolutely none of this was necessary. Absolutely none of what we're going to get for the rest of the morning was necessary. This whole thing could have rightly ended with that single word, witnesses. Soon as they said that this thing was done legally, there was nothing more that needed to happen. Nothing more than needed to be done. And so what does that mean for us? It means this, it means that we need to understand that what we're going to get now from the people and the elders from here down through the end of verse 12 goes beyond the call of duty and equals a magnanimous affirmation of these transactions. That's what we're getting. Didn't have to be. They added this. It's a bonus. It's a plus. All right. Extra, no extra charge for this. These folks are not just, what does it mean? It means that these folks, these elders and these people who are gathered around there are not just okay with what just happened. They are overwhelmed with excitement and enthusiasm for what just happened. And let's work down through the blessings now one at a time. Beautiful stuff. And as we do, they're going to very interesting, interestingly point us back and remind us of some significant events and people in Israel's earlier history. Look at the first one. Part one of the blessing comes in the middle of verse 11, and it has a focus on Ruth. Okay. Look at it with me. Here's what it says in verse 11. middle of verse 11. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home, these people and elders and people say to Boaz, may the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home, like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel. Now, what do you suppose he's getting at there? What are these people saying to him? As I just said, The focus of this first part of the blessing is on Ruth, but did you notice that her name is not mentioned? Instead of using her name, the elders referred to her as the woman who is coming into your home. Why did they say that? Well, that's probably a reference to that Jewish wedding custom that we've talked about and studied through on various other occasions. Remember what happened? How long was the Jewish wedding? Seven days, right? Wasn't just a, an afternoon event. It was a week-long event. And on the seventh day, what happened? The final day, the wedding party would all go to the groom's house where the groom would then formally usher his new bride into his home. That's why they're probably saying it that way. This blessing from the elders is directed toward Ruth and refers to her as the woman who is very soon going to be coming into Boaz's house. And what now is the essence of this blessing? What are they asking? Well, the essence of this blessing is, and it's pretty clear, the essence of this blessing is a comparison. It's a likeness, isn't it? May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like, that word like is a comparison word. The essence of this blessing is a likeness or a comparison. The elders are wishing and the elders are praying that Ruth would be like Rachel and Leah. And so what is it about Rachel and Leah that these elders want for Ruth as well? Well, notice that it goes on to say that Rachel and Leah did something. What did they do? They built the house of Israel. Now I'm going to remind you here in a minute of what the Bible says in Genesis 29 and 30 about Rachel and Leah, but for right now, let's just go ahead and cut to the chase and let me tell you what they're asking. For right now, just understand the essence of this first blessing to be a prayer for Ruth's fertility. This is a prayer for Ruth's fertility. What the elders of the people are asking Yahweh to bless Ruth with here is fertility in the likeness of Rachel and Leah. And then going right along with that, they're also asking Yahweh to give this foreign woman a place among the matriarchs of Israel, if you can believe that. Remember where she came from and who she was and how despised she was? All of a sudden now, she is rising to the ranks of the matriarchs of Israel. She is rising up to be within the ranks of Rachel and Leah. That's what this prayer request is all about. Fertility and status. Rachel and Leah were the founding mothers of the 12 tribes of Israel. I think you know that. And to give this first blessing the background it needs for support now, Let me take a few minutes to remind you of what the Bible says about how Rachel and Leah built the house of Israel. If you know your Old Testament, you know that Rachel and Leah were the daughters of Laban, whom Jacob married and who, along with their two handmaidens, Zilpah and Billah, became the matriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. Now I can't take the time to read all of Genesis 29 and 30 for right now. I am going to take the time to read another chapter later on this morning. So I can't read Genesis 29 and 30 right now, but let me say this because in God's sovereign plan for faith Bible church this morning, we're studying Ruth 4.11. Can I suggest to you that maybe reading Genesis 29 and 30 might be a good endeavor for you sometime this afternoon. Go ahead and read it. It tells the story of Rachel and Leah and how the 12 tribes of Israel came to be. For right now, I'm just going to give you a very quick summary of what it says there about Rachel and Leah and how they built the house of Israel. Jacob, as most of you know, agreed to work for Laban for seven years, right? For the hand of Rachel. But you remember what happened at the end of the seven years? Laban deceived him and gave him his older daughter Leah instead of Rachel. And then he made Jacob work another seven years for Rachel and And it was right here now during that seven years, that second seven years where he's working again for Rachel, it's right here where the house of Israel started getting built. During those next seven years, while Jacob was still working for Rachel, his first wife Leah conceived four times, the Bible says, and bore four sons to Jacob. Let me tell you their names. Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. And so we have the beginnings now of the tribe of Judah. There's a lion of Judah coming, isn't there, according to Revelation chapter five. So we have the tribe of Judah. At the end of that second seven years, when Laban finally did give Rachel to Jacob, lo and behold, Rachel was barren. And so what happened? Because she was barren, Rachel gave Jacob her handmaiden, Bila, and Bila bore to Jacob two sons by the names of Dan and Naphtali. And so what do we have now? We have six of the 12 tribes of Israel. By this time Leah had stopped burying children as well. And so she gave her handmaiden Zilpah to Jacob who bore him two more sons, Gad and Asher. Leah's womb opened again. And you'll read this if you read those chapters this afternoon, this entire account. Leah's womb opened again and she bore two more sons to Jacob, Issachar and Zebulun. Just by way of side note, Leah also had a daughter right in here named Dinah. God finally remembered Rachel and opened her womb. He's the only one who can do that, by the way. He's done it many times all through the Old Testament scriptures and the New Testament. God finally remembered Rachel and opened her womb, it says in Genesis 30.22, and she bore a son to Jacob and named him Joseph. And so now we have, I don't know if you've been counting, but now we have 11 sons of Jacob who, by the way, would have his name later changed to Israel. Jacob's name would become Israel. In Genesis 35, 18, we finally have the 12th and final son born to Rachel. She died, in fact, in childbirth. It says there when Benjamin was born. And so from Rachel and Leah and their two handmaidens, we have the leaders. of the 12 tribes of Israel. That's all in the background of what these elders and people are praying for Boaz here in our text today. Go back with me now to Ruth 4.11 and understand with just that brief summary, go back with me to Ruth 4.11 and understand again the significance of this prayer of the elders and the people for Ruth. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel. We've read ahead a little bit. And so we know how it's going to come out, don't we? Because we've already read the last verses in this chapter. We know that the Lord answered that prayer, didn't he? Before this chapter is over, Ruth is going to bear a son by the name of Obed, who will become the grandfather of King David and whose line the Savior will one day be born. And let's go on now to the second part of this blessing. at the very end of verse 11, which this time is focused on Boaz, right? The first part was focused on Ruth. This one's on Boaz now, and here's what it says. And may you, the elders say to Boaz, achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. Now the second part of the blessing builds on the first part by expressing a desire for what would be the happy results of Ruth's fertility. The elders and the people wish two things for Boaz here. Wealth and fame. May he achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. Now I have to say to you, when we have a request here for wealth and fame, those are a couple of things that don't strike us exactly the way they're meant to be taken here in this context. There are a couple of things that on the surface, to us anyway, sound kind of worldly and maybe like the kinds of things a godly man had not to want to begin with, right? Wealth and fame. But as we understand what these things mean in their context here, we're going to see that they really aren't selfish worldly things at all. Let me try to explain them to you. Number one, the elders of the people say to Boaz, may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah. That's kind of interesting. Notice it's Ephrathah once and then Bethlehem the second time. What is Ephrathah? You remember what that is? We talked about a long time ago. Ephrathah, as you may recall from one of our earlier studies of this book, is probably the ancient pagan name for Bethlehem. See, before the Jews came in under Joshua and conquered the promised land and renamed this little town. The pagans had named it Ephrathah. And so what is the significance when that name is used? Whenever anyone was thinking back to the early days, when anyone was ever thinking back to the charter families in Bethlehem, the pillars of that community, if you will, they always referred to it by its ancient name, Ephrathah. That's what it was back then. Elimelech and his family, if you recall from way back in chapter one and verse two, were referred to as Ephrathites of Bethlehem. And you remember what that meant? What did that mean to us? Well, it signified for us, the fact that Elimelech was apparently one of the founding fathers of Bethlehem. Remember talking about that? It apparently means that he was one of the pillars of the community. He was one of the families, one of the original families there when the Israelites took it over. Elimelech's roots go all the way back to the earliest point in Bethlehem's history. And listen, before something else we know about him, before that famine occurred there in Bethlehem, Elimelech was a wealthy man in that community. And so understand this prayer request now for Boaz now against the backdrop of that. The people are asking Yahweh to continue Elimelech's wealth in Boaz through roosts, fertility, and many children. That's what they're praying here. That's what they're asking. That's what they're wishing. In our culture, we sometimes see many children as more mouths to feed. something that leads to poverty. But in that agricultural economy of Bethlehem, it was different. Many children meant many laborers in the field, which was something that led to wealth. And then before we leave this first part of the second blessing, I should mention to you that wealth translates, the same Hebrew word that was used in chapter two and verse one, where the author sort of stopped the story, interrupted the story to introduce Boaz to us. And one of the things he said about Boaz is that he was a man of great wealth. Now, I know I'm stretching your mind a little bit to remember that far back, but if you recall from our study that day, there is no perfect English word to translate this Hebrew word that means far more than just wealth. Certainly that's a part of it, wealth and prosperity. definitely a part of it, but those things are not the only part of it. Also included in the meaning of this word wealth are things like nobility, honor, and integrity. And so all of that is what these witnesses want for Boaz through his willingness to be Naomi's kinsman redeemer and through his union with Ruth. Wealth. And let's get to the second part of the second blessing now. From wealth, the witnesses go on to wish fame for Boaz and This time, as I said a minute ago, instead of referring to Ephrathah, they use the current name of Bethlehem. May you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. Now here again, we have one of those words, fame is a word that has kind of a negative connotation for us as New Testament believers. Becoming famous is not something that we would ever see as a worthy goal for a godly man. We understand that desire, don't we? to become famous. We understand that to be a fleshly desire. We understand that to be a worldly desire. And it is both of those things. Becoming famous, mark this, becoming famous should never be the goal for any godly man. But tragically, I just have to throw this in there. Tragically, you might come to a different conclusion about that. just by observing much of what goes on in the evangelical church today. You know, when you really stop to think about it, against the backdrop of scripture, it sounds pretty strange. And the term itself is even an oxymoron, but we actually have celebrity pastors today. Lots of them. I mean, literally we do. I don't know what to say about it other than it's disgraceful and offensive to Jesus Christ, who has clearly called pastors to be humble shepherds of the sheep. But we have celebrity pastors today, God forbid, but we do. I could elaborate on that more. I'm sure you know that I could. But instead, let's just separate ourselves from that popular and very wrong understanding of this desire to be famous. and focus in now and understand what it means for Boaz in this context. It's nothing like that at all. Become famous translates just one Hebrew word that literally means, here's what it means, to call a name, to call a name. That's what it means. What these witnesses are wishing and praying for Boaz is that he would call a name, that he would become famous in Bethlehem, that he would call a name in Bethlehem and mark this now If you're falling asleep, wake up now because this is the punchline to understand this term, become famous. Here now is where this whole thing completely departs from our contemporary understanding of what it means to become famous. The name they want Boaz to call in Bethlehem people is not his own name, but someone else's name. And so all of a sudden we take a selfish kind of worldly kind of thing and turn it into a completely selfless thing. Same word, same term, completely different meanings. And to help you understand that even more, remember a while ago when I read the text, I said, hang on to that. We're going to talk about it later. Now's the time. To help you understand the meaning of this even more, let me remind you of what Boaz himself had said in verse 10. as he completed the transaction before the gathered witnesses in that courtroom. Moreover, I've acquired Ruth the Moabite as the widow of Malon to be my wife. And why are you doing that, Boaz?" I think I even asked that question when I read it earlier. Here's why I'm doing it. In order to raise up the name of the deceased, not my name, but the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased, there it is again, will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birthplace. witnesses today. Making Boaz's name famous is not the point here at all, people. Making Olimelech's name famous is the point here. And you know what that makes Boaz? That makes Boaz a selfless, godly man. What these witnesses are wishing and praying for Boaz is that as the kinsman, redeemer, and the lover, he would successfully be able to keep not his own name, but Elimelech's name and reputation alive in Bethlehem. That, of course, was one of the selfless obligations and responsibilities of a kinsman redeemer. And you know what? When faithfully executed, it did also bring honor. to and establish the reputation of the man himself. Remember, I think the other kinsman was trying to sort of skate in on some of that when he wanted to buy the land deal. He thought, you know, he was thinking to himself, maybe I can sort of enhance my reputation a little bit by doing that. But then when Ruth was added, nope, I'm out. He immediately backed out. And so we have now the second part of this three-part blessing from the elders and these very enthusiastic witnesses. There's one more interesting part to go that we'll finish with. Now let's move on. The very interesting third and final part of that blessing now in verse 12, which like the first part is another likeness or comparison from a request for Ruth's fertility to a request for Boaz's wealth and fame. Would you notice with me now that we have a request for Boaz's house or his household or his family to be like another household or family in Israel's history. Look at verse 12. Moreover, May your house, Boaz, people in the elders now are saying this. Moreover, Boaz, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah through the offspring, which the Lord will give you by this young woman. Now we've seen it in Matthew chapter one. We're going to see it again from the genealogy at the end of this chapter. We're going to learn that Boaz was a direct descendant of Perez, who was a son of Judah. And let me just say this, when I read the story for you in Genesis 38, which I'm going to do here in a minute, about how Perez came to be, you're going to wonder why in the world these people would ever want to wish anything like that on Boaz and Ruth. When I read that chapter, you're going to see that the story of Perez is a shameful story. that is filled with sin and wicked things." But let me go ahead and read that story for you anyway, and then we're going to talk about what these witnesses are and are not asking Yahweh to do for Boaz's household. We're going to talk about what the desired comparisons are here and what they aren't. And so if you have your Bibles there on your lap, turn, if you would, please, to Genesis 38. This is a chapter, by the way, that may well have been in the back of the author's mind as he penned this entire book of Ruth. And here's the reason why I say that. Genesis 38 is one of the most well-known chapters or accounts in all of scripture having to do with that leverate law marriage law that we have been talking about for some time now. It's here where we get another good example of that in the book of Ruth, but it's also here in Genesis 38. Like the book of Ruth, this account in Genesis 38 features a widow whose husband had died without an heir. And like the book of Ruth, the heir that comes through the leberate marriage in this chapter will be in the line of King David and ultimately in the line of Jesus Christ. And let me read this chapter for you now. I'll make a few comments along the way. Genesis 38 is rather long, but I couldn't figure out any better way to get this story into your minds other than to read the whole chapter. And so that's what we're going to do. That's why I want you to turn there. Pick up with me, please, in Genesis 38.1. We'll read down through it. As I said, comments along the way. And it came about, it says, at that time that Judah, we already met him earlier, right? He was born of Leah. Judah, of course, was the fourth son born to Jacob by Leah. And it came about at that time that Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adulamite whose name was Hira. All right. So we have the fourth son born to Jacob by Leah and the leader also of a prominent tribe in Israel. according to the account that we read a little while ago about Rachel and Leah. Verse two, Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua and he took her and went into her. So she conceived and bore a son and he named him Ur. So now Judah has his firstborn son. Then she conceived again and bore a son and named him Onan, a second son. She bore still another son and named him Shelah. And it was at Chezeb that she bore him. Now Judah took a wife for Ur, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. Now Tamar, you should recognize that name. We just saw it in Ruth 4.11. This is Judah's daughter, or 4.12 rather, this is Judah's daughter-in-law now, married to his firstborn son Ur, and the one who is mentioned in our text in Ruth 4.12. But Ur, It goes on to say in verse seven, Judah's firstborn was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord took his life. We don't know what he did. It doesn't tell us what his sin was, but it must've been bad. The Lord decided to take his physical life prematurely. And so he did. The Lord took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, this is the second born son, go into your brother's wife. We recognize that now, don't we? Go into your brother's wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her and raise up offspring for your brother." What is that? We've been talking about it for weeks, probably months. Right here we have a clear reference to that leverate marriage law that we've been talking about for weeks. Onan was to be the lever for his dead brother's wife Tamar. But watch what happens now. Verse nine. Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. He knew that the offspring would not be his. So when he went into his brother's wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. Now we've said before concerning this leverate marriage law, that it takes a selfless, godly man to be a lever. Onan was not that selfless, godly man. And you know who else wasn't a selfless, godly man? this other kinsman, this rival kinsman that was just in the courtroom with Boaz. Neither of these men were interested in raising up an heir for someone else, will of God or not. Both of these men were selfish men and both of these men were worldly men. Let's go on to verse 10. But what he did, that is Onan, what he did, verse 10 goes on to say, was displeasing in the sight of the Lord. So he took his life also. And so now, Judah's family is diminishing. The first two of his sons are dead and there's only one son left, but that son is too young to marry Tamar. And so in verse 11, Judah asked Tamar to wait for him. It's sort of a half promise that he doesn't really mean to keep. Look at it. Verse 11, then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, remain a widow in your father's house until my son, Sheila grows up. For he thought, you know, Two of his previous sons have died. He's a little bit reluctant. I'm afraid that he too may die like his brothers. So Tamar went and lived in her father's house, waiting for Sheila to grow up, to be of age, to marry her. Judah made that promise to Tamar, but as the text just revealed, he really had no intentions of keeping that promise. And let me just stop right here and say that that was a very big deal. Understand how big of a deal that was in the plan of God for the line of Jesus Christ. The tribe of Judah people simply cannot cease to exist, right? Sheila is the only son left. The tribe of Judah cannot go out of existence because, as I said a little while ago, there is a lion yet to come from that tribe of Judah, according to the plan of God and according to Revelation 5.5. Judah, the tribe of Judah, cannot go off the map. Tamar knows what Judah should have known, and that is the fact that she simply has to bear a male child from one of his sons to carry on the line of Judah, and Shelah is the only one left, and Judah's withholding him from her. And so because much was at stake, and because Judah was dropping the ball here, Tamar decided to take matters into her own hands. And let's go on now and watch this terrible, terrible thing that happens now as we pick up the story again in verse 12. And this time I'm going to read all the way down through verse 26. So we'll cover some ground now with our reading. Now after, verse 12, now after a considerable time, Shuah's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. His wife died. And when the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheep shears at Timnah. He and his friend Hira, the Adulamite, it was told to Tamar, behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep. So she removed her widow's garments. and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself and sat in the gateway of Enam, which is on the road to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah had grown up and she had not been given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face. So he turned aside to her by the road and said, here now, let me come into you, for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, what will you give me that you may come into me? He said, therefore, I will send you a young goat from the flock. She said, moreover, will you give a pledge until you send it? He said, what pledge shall I give you? And she said, your seal and your cord and your staff that is in your hand. So he gave them to her and he went into her and she conceived by him. Then she arose and departed and removed her veil and put on her widow's garments. When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adulamite to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her. He asked the men of her place saying, where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enam? But they said, there has been no temple prostitute here. So he returned to Judah and said, I did not find her. And furthermore, the men of the place said, there has been no temple prostitute here. Then Judah said, let her keep them. Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her. Now it was about three months later that Judah was informed, that Judah was informed, lost my place. There it is. Now it was about three months later that Judah was informed, your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot and behold, she is also a child by harlotry. Then Judah said, bring her out and let her be burned." Wow. It was while she was being brought out that she sent to her father-in-law saying, I am with child by the man to whom these things belong. And she said, please examine and see whose signet ring and cords and staff are these. Judah recognized them and said, she is more righteous than I. And as much as I did not give her to my son, Sheila, and he did not have relations with her. again. Well, it's a sad story filled with sin and wickedness, like I said before. And it's really kind of hard for us to understand how Tamar could be in this situation, could be more righteous than Judah in this situation that was sinfully bad from every conceivable angle. But let me try to explain it to you. by ignoring his obligation to her, by withholding his son, Sheila, from her, Judah was committing a great sin against God and he was committing a great sin against Tamar by forcing her into childless widowhood. You see, she couldn't marry anyone else. And on top of that, by withholding his only remaining son from her, Judah was carelessly and sinfully endangering his own tribe. People understand that if Sheila died without an heir, the tribe of Judah would have ceased to exist. And so for understanding the seriousness of that, and for taking matters into her own hands to preserve the tribe, Judah says that Tamar was more righteous than he was. It's definitely not a contrast between righteousness and wickedness. The best we could ever say about it is that Tamar's act was the lesser of two evils. And so what do we learn from this story? Well, from this story, we don't learn that it was right to do what Tamar did, that's for sure. But what we do learn people here is this. And we learned it also in the story of Rahab, by the way, the same lesson. What we do learn here is that God's sovereign purposes will always be accomplished in spite of man's sinfulness, and sometimes even through man's sinfulness. That's what we learn. And pick up with me now. Let me go ahead and read the last few verses. Pick up with me in verse 27, and I'll just go ahead and read the last four verses since we've gone this far anyway. This is where Perez is born and he ends up being born as a twin. His brother came out first, but then went back in and Perez ended up coming out first. And you know how those things work out. What does that mean? That means that God is making his choice concerning who would be the heir. It came about at the time she was giving birth to behold, there were twins in her womb. Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth. One put out a hand and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, this one came out first. But it came about as he drew back his hand that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, what a breach you have made for yourself. So he was named Perez. Afterward, his brother came out who had the scarlet thread in his hand and he was named Zerah. All of that is background for what we're just looking at in Ruth chapter four, in verse 12. Go back to that verse now one more time, and let's wrap this up for today. Notice again what it says in Ruth 4.12. Moreover, the witnesses of the elders said to Boaz, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah through the offspring, which the Lord will give you by this young woman. As we close today with all of that story in our minds, as we close for today, please understand what the desired comparison here is. and what it isn't. The desired likeness here that these people are praying for certainly has nothing to do with the characters of the people involved, nor does it have anything to do with the sinful way in which Perez was conceived. And so if it isn't those things, what is it? The desired comparison here, people, is simply the common leverate nature of their unions, which both yielded an heir that would keep the tribe of Judah alive. That special chosen tribe from whom the savior of the world would one day come. That's the comparison that these people and these elders have in mind. And so as we come to the end of verse 12 this morning, the twofold legal, the courtroom setting is over. The legal transaction is now complete. The court session is over. Boaz has bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chileon and Malon. And he has acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Malon, to be his wife, all with the hearty approval of the 10 elders and the gathered witnesses who have embellished their approval this morning. with a very significant three part blessing. Two more sections yet to go in this chapter. Next time, Lord willing, we'll jump into verses 13 through 17, a section that I'm going to call a marriage and the birth of a baby. And then there's just a genealogy at the end that we need to look at that we're going to call an historical destiny. So that's where we're going in the days ahead, about three more weeks after today. And I think we should be able to finish up this book of Ruth. Let's pray together. Thank you, Father, for your word that always feeds and nourishes our souls. Bear fruit with it, God, we pray, with this portion of your word that we've studied today, in each heart and life as you see fit, and for your glory. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.