Author: the Josh Benner Blog
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Sermon: Chain links – Ruth 4:1-22
In this final chapter from the Book of Ruth, we see a happily ever after to a story that started out so bleak. We also see this book ending with pointing forward to the future king of Israel who would one day come as a result of Ruth’s marriage to Boaz.
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We’re moving to Connecticut!
I’ve accepted the position of senior pastor at Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Woodbridge, Connecticut and my family is set to move out east in late August or early September. Trinity is located in a suburb of New Haven, Connecticut and is a church that was founded in the 1880s.
We’re excited to be moving to Connecticut but sad to be leaving Illinois, and all of the great friends we’ve made.
When I first moved out of Ohio in 2012, I never imagined the path life would take. First to Chicago for seminary. Then to Minnesota, St Louis, back to Illinois.
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The Kinsman Redeemer – Ruth 2:18-3:18
Ruth meets Boaz, but Naomi doesn’t know it. Naomi is related to Boaz, but Ruth doesn’t know it. In this passage, it comes to light that Boaz is a relative and they hatch a plan to see if he will marry Ruth. He says he will, but there’s a catch that could derail the entire proposal.
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The good harvest – Ruth 2:1-16
Ruth and Naomi have arrived in Israel. In an act of providence, Ruth “happens” to go into a field owned by a relative of her deceased husband. We see a man show extraordinary kindness to someone who was on the outside looking in of Israelite society. She wasn’t an Israelite and she was a poor widow. Boaz’s acceptance of Ruth points us to how we are to treat our fellow man and it points us to the gospel and the savior who redeemed a sinful world.
