We are wrapping up the story of Ruth today. You are goin to be so encouraged to you, especially if God is calling you to be obedient in a hard area of your life. Ruth was faithful and you and I can be faithful too.
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Transcription:
Hi, I’m Erica. Welcome to the Bible for Busy People. This is Ruth – wrap up. Boy, I hope that you have been as encouraged as I have by the story of Ruth. It’s a story of redemption and obedience and seeds of selfless love that turn into the fruit of God’s faithfulness, and we’re gonna see that in a big, big, huge way today. I don’t usually read genealogy on this podcast because reading line after line about who was the father of who almost sounds kind of boring. But you are going to be so encouraged today, especially if God is calling you to be obedient right now in a really hard situation in your life.
Before we read the genealogy together, get ready, because you’re gonna love this. I want you to know that Ruth was faithful, and you and I can choose faithfulness too. Think about it, here she was, she lost her husband and her mother-in-law, very kind says to her, go back to your homeland and your people. Go back to the land of Moab, you don’t have to come with me to Bethlehem. Listen, my son is dead, you don’t have to stay with me anymore. And Ruth says to her mother-in-law, her Jewish mother-in-law. Nope. Where you go, I will go. Where you stay. I will stay. Ruth is faithful to Naomi and God blesses her on the other side of that because she travels home to Bethlehem and meets Boaz. The family’s kinsman Redeemer. Boaz, I gotta believe he fell in love with her at first sight. You just get that feeling when you read the story. But he says, I will, I will redeem you. I will marry you. I will bear the children that your husband could not help you bear because he died. He steps in. Do you see a foreshadowing here? Do you see how Jesus would come later, centuries later to redeem?
Here’s the cool genealogy part of the story. We are gonna hop into Matthew chapter one. I’m gonna read you the first few lines, and then we’re gonna skip down because we have less than seven minutes. Okay? This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham. You’ll recognize these names. “Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah, and his brothers.” We’re gonna skip down to verse five. “Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.” A prostitute, by the way, in this genealogy that God used in a mighty way. “Boaz was the father of Obed.” Boaz was the father of Obed! “Whose mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David.” King David! Yes, he made mistakes as you and I make mistakes, but the Bible says that David was a man after God’s own heart, just like Ruth. Just like his great grandmother, Ruth, who we’ve been studying over the last few episodes, is David’s great grandma. All right let’s skip down to the end of this genealogy. “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.”
Just as Boaz came sweeping in to redeem Ruth to give her a family, the Lord Jesus Christ came to redeem you and to redeem me. He died on the cross for your sins and mine because he loved us that much. He loved us while we were sinners, that’s when he died for us. And then he rose again, defeated death, hell, and the grave to redeem you from a life of sin and hopelessness and emptiness, and to give you a family. That’s what Jesus came to do. Boaz was, was like a foreshadowing of what Jesus would come to do and that’s why this story makes me cry. Good tears. It’s beautiful, you have a redeemer. There’s a beautiful old hymn, There is a redeemer. Jesus, God’s own Son, and he redeemed you. Yes. That’s why at the end of every episode, you hear me say, you are loved. That’s what that means. And you know, if you have never given your heart to Jesus, I wanna give you this opportunity right now. I wanna just take a hot second here and invite you to pray with me. If you have never invited Jesus into your heart, if you’ve never said Jesus, please redeem me, this is your chance. Father, we come to you in Jesus name. I pray for my friend right now who’s never heard this message before, that you died for their sins and that you loved them so, so much that you wanted to redeem them and give them a family. I pray right now for my friend, that you would just enter their heart and give them peace on this earth and eternal life as you promised. Thank you for loving us so much, even while we were yet in our sins. And Lord, make us like Ruth’s great grandson David. Make us people after your own heart, for it’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen. All right. Until next time, remember, this is why I say it, you are really loved.
Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.
