GODS PURPOSE SPAN GENERATIONS

 

Naomi holding baby Obed

A prayer meeting was held for Tony Campolo just before he spoke at a Pentecostal college chapel service.  Eight men took Tony to a back room of the chapel, had him kneel, laid their hands on his head and began to pray.  They prayed a long time and to make matters worse, one of the men was not even praying for Tony.  He went on and on praying for somebody named Charlie Stoltzfus

He prayed “Dear Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus.  He lives in that silver trailer a mile down the road.  You know the trailer Lord, just down the road on the right-hand side. Lord, Charlie told me this morning he’s going to leave his wife and three kids.  Step in and do something, God.  Bring that family back together.” Tony wanted to inform the man that it was not necessary to furnish God with directional material. 

He finally got the Pentecostal preachers off his head, delivered his message and got in his car to drive home.  As he drove onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike, he noticed a hitchhiker.  Tony tells it from here “We drove a few minutes and I said “Hi, my name’s Tony Campolo.  What’s yours?”  He said, “My name is Charlie Stoltzfus.”  I couldn’t believe it! I got off the turnpike at the next exit and headed back. 

He got a bit uneasy with that and after a few minutes he said, “Hey mister, where are you taking me?”  I said, “I’m taking you home.”  He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why?”  I said, “Because you just left your wife and three kids, right?”  That blew him away.  “Yeah!  Yeah, that’s right.”  With shock written all over his face, he plastered himself against the car door and never took his eyes off me. Then I really did him in as I drove right to his silver trailer. 

When I pulled up, his eyes seemed to bulge as he asked, “How did you know that I lived here?”  I said, “God told me” (I believe God did tell me). When he opened the trailer door his wife exclaimed, “You’re back!  You’re back!”  He whispered in her ear and the more he talked, the bigger her eyes got. Then I said with real authority, “The two of you sit down.  I’m going to talk and you two are going to listen!”  Man, did they listen! … That afternoon I led those two young people to Jesus Christ. (John Ortberg 2002)

The book of Ruth ends with marriage between Ruth the Moabite and Boaz. The writer uses only one sentence to summarize the wedding, the consummation and the birth of their son “Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the Lord granted conception to her, and she gave birth to a son” (Ruth 4:13). Why are we not given details about these joyful events? Perhaps because those events, momentous as they were, were not the main point; God was up to something much greater.

The women of Bethlehem made two important proclamations (Ruth 4:14-17): First, they called Obed “the family redeemer”. This means the little boy would carry on the name of Elimelech and when he grows up, he would protect and give Naomi hope in her declining years (old age).  Second, they call Ruth better than seven sons. Because of her loyalty God, she placed Naomi in the family line through which the messiah would come; therefore Naomi would be remembered in all generations.

The story ends with a genealogy (Ruth 4:18-22). This genealogy is repeated in Matthew 1:3-6 as part of the genealogy of Jesus. A genealogy is a striking way of bringing before us the continuity of Gods purpose through the ages. In the Bible we can see connected history flowing from Genesis to Revelation, spanning thousands of years and hundreds of generations. We are limited to our lifetime, we see so little of what happens, but God works out his purpose generation after generation. We come and we go, but God’s purposes span all generations.

There are no miracles in the book of Ruth. We do not read of a voice speaking from heaven, sea water parting to give way, multiplying of bread or raising of the dead. Life in Bethlehem continues as it has from the beginning; that is the wonder of this story. When the story began, Ruth was in Moab unaware of the strange path her life was about to take. As the story ends, Ruth and Boaz are raising their son Obed under Naomi’s watchful eye, just like any ordinary family would do.

God accomplished his purposes through the normal outworking of life.  He was at work behind the scenes, orchestrating every detail as each person in the story goes about the normal day to day life. So, they all end up exactly where God intended they would be. In the story, we hear from Naomi, Ruth, Boaz and others. God never utters a word, yet he is the Prime Mover behind the scenes. Every detail points to the Sovereign Lord of the universe.

The writer wants us to see God at work in the ordinary details of life. When God is involved, there are no “ordinary” days because every day matters to him. God is to be seen not just in the big events of our lives, but also in the tiny details of our day to day activities. If you just look around, you will find God’s fingerprints in your life. If you keep your eyes open, you will see him everywhere. This God is our God forever and ever, he will be our guide even to the end (Ps. 48:14).

The story teaches us how God works through the ordinary people to accomplish his purposes. Boaz and Ruth were not aiming to be part of Jesus’ family tree. Neither of them knew a thing about David or Jesus. God brought this unlikely couple together as part of his larger plan. When they consummated their marriage, they had no clue of the larger meaning. They were simply doing what married couples have done since the beginning of time.

Ruth did not live long enough to see the full impact of her decision to take refuge under the wings of the God of Israel, but it’s recorded for us to read. In chapter one she seemed to be giving up on her best chance of marriage by leaving her homeland and giving her life to the God of Israel. But God brought her in a relationship greater that she could ever have imagined.  

She became the great grandmother of David, the greatest king Israel ever had. In the genealogy of Jesus only five mothers are mentioned by name and Ruth is one of them. This is a marvelous demonstration of what God can do to any person who seeks refuge under his wings. “How precious is your loving kindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings” (Ps 36:7).

When the story began Naomi said “the almighty has dealt bitterly with me. The Lord has brought me home empty (Ruth 1:20-21).  If only Naomi could have seen then how greatly the Lord would bless her at the end. In chapter 2 the light of God's love finally broke through bright enough for Naomi to see. And she said to Ruth, " the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead” (2:20). God's kindness had not forsaken Naomi; it was He who bound Ruth to her in love. It was He who preserved Boaz for Ruth. It was He who led Ruth to Boaz's field.

The whole story teaches us an important lesson on how God works in our life: We rarely see all he intends by what happens to us. Just as Ruth knew nothing about David and Jesus, God’s children mostly know nothing about how God will use the good and bad things that happens to them years down the line.

Some things make no sense now, some may never make sense in their lifetime; but God will make sense of them someday (John 13:7). He has no unfinished business; but it often seems that way to us. Ruth’s story teaches us that Gods plan is perfect and filled with love. And even when we can’t figure out what he is doing and it all seems so desperate, he still knows what he is doing.