As we conclude our fall sermon series, Walking with Wisdom, we consider one more character from the Hebrew Bible and what her story reveals to us about Wisdom’s path. Naomi is a woman who, like Job, experiences incredible losses and is left to cope with the aftermath of grief and heart-ache. By the end of the book of Ruth, Naomi is pictured, holding an infant boy whose descendants chart a path all the way to King David himself. Naomi is a woman with a remarkable legacy – but how did she go about securing this legacy? Was it completely within her control, or did her path to Wisdom invite her to rely on others in her time of need? What can we learn from her about what it means to Walk with Wisdom?

Scriptures:

• Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-22
• Psalm 127
• Hebrews 9:24-28
• Mark 12:38-44

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-22

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing-Floor
Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing-floor. Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing-floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.’ She said to her, ‘All that you tell me I will do.’

The Genealogy of David
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. The women of the neighbourhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.