G'day, and welcome to Stories of a Faithful God for Kids.

Have you ever had something go much better than you thought it would?

You thought it would be bad, or even just okay, but it turned out to be awesome.

Like you had to eat some food you thought would make you throw up,

but then it turned out to be the greatest thing you've ever tasted.

Or you were terrified of going on a rollercoaster, but it was

the most fun you've ever had.

Or you thought your life as a prince was basically over because you've been

turned into a frog, but it actually means you get to meet a fantastic princess.

Well, that's a bit of a silly one.

But sometimes you think things will go really badly, and then

they turn out to go really well.

Sometimes things actually have gone really badly.

Maybe you've had to go through something really awful, and you think there's

no one who could possibly fix things.

That's how Naomi felt back at the start of the book of Ruth.

She'd said that God had made her life bitter.

She'd said that Ruth wouldn't be able to get married if she came back to Bethlehem.

She said that she, Naomi, could never have any more children.

Thankfully, God has a plan.

A plan so good, and so big.

It won't just help Ruth and Naomi.

It'll actually help the whole world.

Get ready for our next episode.

Of Stories of a Faithful God for Kids.

At the end of our last episode, Boaz had made a promise.

He promised to make sure that Ruth got married.

And that Naomi's land was bought and looked after.

He would really like to do it himself?

But there's someone else who has the right to do it before him.

Because Boaz is such a good man, he wants to do the right

thing and ask that man first.

What we don't know is if that man is a good man.

If he's as good as Boaz.

Have you ever seen a movie where you really hope two people will

get married, but one of them looks like marrying someone else?

Oh, it's so frustrating.

And strangely, It's happening here because Boaz is such a good man.

If he wasn't so good, we might not like him so much.

But because he's good, he may not get to marry Ruth.

Well, Boaz keeps his word.

He goes to the city gate of Bethlehem.

That's where people usually do business deals and decide legal matters.

He waits there until this other man comes walking past and he calls him over.

Then he calls over ten old men.

The old men, or elders, used to sit by the city gate so people could come and

ask them questions and get their help.

Boaz calls these ten over so that they can check that everything's done

properly and fairly, and so they can be witnesses to whatever decision is made.

So you've got Boaz sitting on one side, The man sitting on the other,

and the ten elders sitting around watching what's going to happen.

Boaz begins by talking about the land.

Remember, this is the land that belonged to Naomi's dead husband, Elimelech.

So Boaz says to the man in verse 3 of chapter 4, Naomi has come

back from the country of Moab.

She wants to sell the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.

So I decided to say this to you.

If you want to buy back the land, then buy it.

Buy it in front of the people who live here, and in front

of the elders of my people.

If you don't want to buy it, tell me.

I am the only person after you who can buy back the land.

If you don't buy it back, I will.

Now, it's worth remembering that for these guys, land was basically

the greatest thing you could own.

It'd mean more food, more wealth, And God had put laws in place to make sure

that families could keep their land.

To stop really rich people buying up all the land and making

everyone else work for them.

So it'd be quite rare to actually get another piece of land.

And this guy's really excited by the idea.

He doesn't even hesitate.

He says in verse 4, I will buy back the land.

Okay.

It sounds like he's willing to do the right thing.

But you've got to know.

Buying the land from a close relative, it isn't about helping

yourself out, it's about helping out the family of your close relative.

It's about loving and caring for them.

The idea is that the land will eventually end up being given

back to a Limalex family.

The biggest problem is though, a Limalex family looks like it's about to die out.

He's dead, his sons are dead.

His wife is too old to have more kids.

All is not lost, though.

There's still Ruth.

It would normally be the job of the close relative to marry her,

the lady whose husband died, so he can have kids with her.

Their first son would actually not be in this man's family.

He'd become a part of a Limalek's family and take over a Limalek's land.

Except, it doesn't seem like this guy's even thought about Ruth.

He seems to think that he can get the land.

And he doesn't have to do anything for anyone else.

Boaz lays it all out for him though.

He says in verse 5, When you buy the land from Naomi, you must

marry Ruth, the dead man's wife.

She is the woman from Moab.

That way, the land will stay in her dead husband's family.

Suddenly, this man isn't so keen.

Suddenly, Doing the right thing doesn't seem so exciting anymore.

He's worried that if they only have one son, then that son will

get a liminal ex land and his.

He doesn't want his family's land to be at risk.

He doesn't trust that God will look after his family.

He doesn't want to do what's good if there's any danger to him.

So 6, Then I can't buy back the land.

If I did, I might lose what I can pass on to my own sons.

I cannot buy the land back, so you buy it yourself.

That might not seem like a big deal, but actually it's really sad.

He's saying, I'm not willing to care for a Limelech's family.

I'm not willing to care for Ruth and Naomi.

I'm not willing to love them like God loves them.

He also doesn't trust God to look after his family if he does what's good.

It's really sad that this man isn't willing to show kindness.

But the great news is.

God's provided someone much better than him.

God's provided Boaz, and now Boaz will get to marry Ruth.

We're told in verse 9, Then Boaz spoke to the elders and to all the people.

He said, You are witnesses today of what I am buying from Naomi.

I am buying everything that belonged to Elimelech and Cilion and Marlon.

I am also taking Ruth as my wife.

She is the Moabite who is the wife of Marlon.

I am doing this so her dead husband's property will stay with his family.

This way, his name will not be separated from his family and his land.

You are witnesses this day.

So all the people and elders who were at the city gate said, We are witnesses.

This woman will be coming into your home.

We hope the Lord will make her like Rachel and Leah.

They had many children.

So the people of Israel grew in number.

May you become powerful in the district of Ephrathah.

May you become famous in Bethlehem.

Tamar gave birth to Judah's son Perez.

In the same way, may the Lord give you many children through Ruth.

And may your family be great like this.

Basically, they want God to make him and his family really great,

and give them lots of children.

And so, something happened that Naomi had thought was impossible.

She'd thought that God would not let Ruth marry in Bethlehem, but God had

a much better plan than Naomi thought.

Boaz and Ruth get married.

God makes Ruth pregnant.

And she has a son, which is another thing that Naomi had thought impossible.

She thought that God had brought her family to an end.

There'd be no more children, no more grandchildren.

She would be the very last.

But God had a much better plan than Naomi thought.

The women in the town say to Naomi in verse 14, Praise the Lord

who gave you this grandson, and may he become famous in Israel.

He will give you new life, and he will take care of you in your old age.

This happened because of your daughter in law.

She loves you, and she is better for you than seven sons.

She has given birth to your grandson.

Naomi took the boy, held him in her arms, and cared for him.

Back in Chapter 1, Naomi had told these women not to call her Naomi, but

to call her Mara, which means bitter.

She thought that God had made her life very bitter, and he had

nothing good in store for her.

But, God had a much better plan than Naomi thought.

In fact, God's good plan isn't just to bless Naomi in this

way, but to bless all of Israel.

In verse 17, we're told that Naomi's grandson is given the name Obed.

Then we're told that Obed grows up and has a son, called Jesse.

Then we're told that Jesse grows up and has a son, called David.

That's right.

Not just any David.

King David.

The king who loved to serve God.

The king who God would use to help people know him.

The king who all the other kings in the Old Testament are meant to be like.

You see, You might have thought that this was just a little story about

a little family, where God makes good, but little things happen.

Actually, God had a much better plan than we thought.

He was setting everything up years and years and years before King

David would be born, to make sure that David will be born, and to

make sure he's born in Bethlehem.

But if you thought that was the end of the story, you'd be wrong again.

Because God had an even bigger and better plan.

From King David's family, from the family of Ruth and Boaz,

God was getting everything ready for another king to be born.

A king who was even better than King David.

A king who wouldn't just bless one family, or even just the people

of Israel, but the whole world.

A king who'd die for his people to take away our sin, and rise again to new life.

A king who's born in the same town as Boaz, the same town as King David,

a king who's born in the town of Bethlehem at the very first Christmas.

The king, of course, is King Jesus.

When Naomi stood crying on that road back in Chapter 1, no one would have

guessed that God was going to use her to help bring King Jesus into the world.

No one would have suspected that it was a part of the plan.

But God had a much better plan than everyone thought.

There are going to be times when you have no idea what God's doing.

Why he's let this happen or that happen.

But remember, God has the biggest and best plans in the world.

He's shaping everything towards showing the world that Jesus is king.

We can trust that he's doing that good plan always.

G'day

again.

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Also, don't forget that there's the free episode from our club available on Grace

Alone, talking about how good it is that God gives us his grace and kindness.

You can check it out in the show notes.

There's a link there to a YouTube video.

Watch that.

See if you like it.

If you do sign up for the club.

Thanks everyone.

Keep trusting Jesus.

Bye for now.