Title: The World of Perez
Ruth 4:18-22
This is the world of Perez: Perez begot Hezron, Hezron begot Ram, Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nashon, Nashon begot Salmon, Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Obed, Obed begot Jesse. Jesse begat David.
How many times does the word "begotten" appear in today's text? It comes out 9 times. So how many people will appear in total? 10 people appear.
First, let's look at how long that period is. Who is Perez's father? This is Judas. It's already in verse 12.
"May the LORD give you this boy and woman heir, so that your house will be like the house of Perez, which Tamar bore to Judah."
Who is Judah's father? Because Judah is one of the 12 tribes of Israel, his father is Jacob. According to Genesis 46, Perez was one of the seventy who left the land of Canaan with his father Judah and with his grandfather Jacob and entered Egypt.
How many years did the Israelites live in Egypt? Lived 430 years. The Exodus was about 1440 B.C.E. If you add 430 years to this, you get 1870 B.C. Perez didn't come to Egypt right after he was born, so I think he was born in the 1900's.
Then David is a man in the 1000's B.C. So how many years is there between Perez and David? There is a gap of about 900 years. So, how many years are the teenagers from Perez to David? It is said to be 900 years old. So how many years is a generation? 90 years. How many years do you count a generation these days? Take 30 years as a generation. If so, it is too long to think that there were only 10 generations from Perez to David. Perhaps there were other generations besides these 10 people, but you can think that they were omitted.
I mean, how old was Isaac when he got married? I got married at the age of 40. I did not have children, so I prayed a lot to God. At what age did Jacob and Esau begot? I was born at the age of 60. That's too late. So even at that time, it may be longer than it is today, but it is too long to see a generation as 90 years, and it can be viewed as 40 or 50 years.
When Jews record genealogies, in order to meet the necessary numbers, such as 10 generations for 10 generations and 7 generations for 7 generations, people who are not very important are omitted from the genealogy records. In Matthew 1, 42 generations are recorded from Abraham to Jesus. There are 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David to Babylon, and 14 generations from Jesus to Jesus. In this way, the 14th generation, the 14th generation, and the 14th generation are set, but compared to the genealogy in the Old Testament, three kings of Israel are missing in the middle.
The Jews were okay with this. Because the word "begotten" does not refer to only one father and his son.
4:17, "His neighbors gave him a name, saying that Naomi has given birth to a son."
Who actually gave birth? The child was born to Naomi's wife, Ruth. Actually, Naomi and Obed are grandmother and grandson. Still, I said I was born.
The word “begotten” in the Bible means that. So, the word “begotten” means to link the company, to pass on from generation to generation. If it's not important to you in the middle, you can skip it. Therefore, it is wrong to calculate the age based on genealogy in the Bible. Someone calculates the genealogy in Genesis, and when Adam was created, it was 4000 B.C., and 2000 years from the birth of Jesus until now are added up to make the earth's history 6000 years. much longer. Because there is something missing in the middle.
4:18, "This is the world of Perez, who begat Hezron."
The word world here does not refer to the world we live in. In Matthew 1, it is called “the world of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham and David”. World means genealogy. The genealogy of David is introduced from Perez, one of his ancestors.
James 5:16, "Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous has great power at work."
Also, as we looked for it last time, when Joshua cursed, the curse was fulfilled.
The first number is the most important and which number from 1 to 10 is the most important? 5 in the middle. Who is fifth when looking from Perez to David? This is Nathan. There are no special records in the Bible of Hezron, Ram, or Amminadab in the middle. Find records about Nathan.
Exodus 6:23, "Aaron took Elisheba, the sister of Nashon, the daughter of Amminadab, as his wife."
What, then, is the relationship between Aaron and Nashon? It is between brother-in-law and brother-in-law. So, from Perez to Nathan, they are pre-Moses. From Salmon to David are after Moses. You can make a distinction like this: Fifth is so important.
The next important thing is the seventh. Who is the seventh? Boaz, the male protagonist of the book of Ruth. Boaz came out the seventh. The next important thing is the last number. Who is the tenth? David. Looking at it this way, important figures are always included in important numbers.
It is no exaggeration to say that the purpose of writing the book of Ruth was actually to explain the birth of King David. How did the book of Ruth begin in the first place?
1:1, "When the judges ruled."
Why was there confusion at the time when the judges ruled at that time? Because there was no king. Now there is a king in Israel. This is the end of the chaos of the times of the judges. This is what I want to tell you.
The book of Ruth begins with confusion and ends with order. It started out dark and is showing bright and happy results. It starts with a difficult task, failure, and ends with King David, success, victory, and so on.
The story contained in the book of Ruth is the story of ordinary people like us. There are many things that you will experience during your lifetime. There was a picture of economic damage due to famine and famine. Because of that, a family had a difficult life where they had to leave their hometown. There is also the sadness of losing loved ones. He returned to his hometown, but was empty-handed.
There is also this story. There is a filial pride. I have a mother-in-law who cherishes and loves herself. There are people who protect and help these poor widows. They also show a willingness to take on their responsibilities as a relative. Of course, there are people who give up on buying a company because of their own interests.
What we need to realize from all of the things we've seen so far is that there is a God working behind the scenes. God does not ignore us in the painful path of life. Provide by the hand of grace. So there is no need for us to be discouraged and discouraged.
Even if there has been a lot of chaos in your life in the meantime, I hope that it will change and become order now. Even if there has been sorrow in the meantime, I want that sorrow to disappear cleanly and to be filled with joy. Even if you have lived a life of failure, I pray that it will change and become a life of success and victory in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah!